Chapter 19
"Why didn't you tell me that we'd get killed if we got caught stealing from them?"
"Cuz then you wouldn't have come."
"Damn straight I wouldn't have! I don't have that much of an obvious death wish, Rocket!"
"But you do have one?" I pause in my pacing for a second before I continue and run my hands through my hair. "Look, if it'll make you feel better, you can have a whole pouch of batteries and do whatever you want with them."
"And if Captain finds them? What then?"
"Don't let him find them. They'll work for that thing," He points at my Walkman and I nod a bit to show I understand. "We good?"
"Yeah... I guess so... Yeah..." I keep pacing and hear someone pound on the door. "Systems are down on the ship... How do we know if it's Sparkles or not?"
"We don't. You want to take that chance?" I look at the door and run a hand through my hair, thinking. "Up to you, kid..." I undo my duster and move my blaster slightly as I go toward the door, hearing something from outside while Rocket follows me. "Move, kid! Take cover!" He yells as the thing gets louder and we both jump to the side of the door, rolling under two different things. I hide the batteries there and the door gets blasted.
Rocket was under a low table and I was under the short bunk, having to curl up to hide under it properly. "I can see you under the bunk, thief. If you come out now, your death will be quick." I glance at Rocket and he looks at me, not sure what to do. "Now, thief! Or we will destroy this whole ship!"
"OK! OK... I'm coming out..." I carefully come out from under the bed and stand, slowly reaching my full height of about 5' 5". "Happy? I'm out." One of them kicks me in the back of the knee and forces me to my knees while I grunt softly. "Guess not..."
"Where are the batteries?"
"What batteries?" I smirk slightly and one of them hits me across the face hard enough to send me sprawling to the floor.
"I am High Priestess Ayesha. Do not insult my intelligence in that manner again." The leader says as someone drags me back to my knees and I wipe a hand across my mouth, standing.
"How about this, then?" I swing at her and someone hits me with something that causes me to fall to my knees again, shocks going through my body.
"I will take care of these two, High Priestess. They are wanted and I can assure you that you will get your batteries back once we find them," Martinex says as he boards the ship, putting something in his pocket, and I lose consciousness as I fall onto my side.
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I come too as I'm being submerged in water and gasp for breath as Martinex and Rocket pull me back up. "That wasn't supposed to knock you out. You good?" I nod and wipe the water off of my face, panting a bit. "I swear I didn't know that was going to knock you out. It was just supposed to immobilize you so you didn't do anything stupid."
"It's cool... You mind moving so I can get out of this water? It's kinda freezing..." They both move and I try to stand, promptly falling back into the water with a curse. Martinex pulls me out and sets me against a tree while I shiver. "Damn... Where are we?"
"Behert. We got the batteries off the ship and got on mine. I kept trying to wake you and, when that didn't work, we landed here to try this," He explains and I nod a bit, carefully wringing my hair out while my hands shake.
"I think you fucked up my nervous system, dude."
"Shit. That wasn't supposed to happen either."
"Eh. I'll be fine in a bit." Rocket's wrist com starts to go off and he curses.
"Damnit, kid. We're in a tight spot here." I look at his wrist com and see Yondu was trying to get a video transmission with us.
"Shit... Shit, shit, shit, shit!" I run my hand through my hair and think. I take his wrist com off and throw it.
"What the Hell, kid? That doesn't solve the problem!"
"It does for a minute or so!" He goes to get his wrist com and I try to get my legs to work. "Damnit..."
"Now's a good time to tell him, Rogue."
"No, it isn't. He'll just kill me when I get back. Just... Let me figure out how to make my legs work..." He touches them and feeling goes through them. "Ouch! Son of a bitch! Fuck! Damnit!" He moves his hands and the feeling stays but the pain fades after a moment or two. I carefully stand with him stabling me and can hold my weight after a moment.
"Kid! Blue gave us ten minutes to get back in the ship we left in!"
"Where is it?"
"Sovereign." I take a deep breath and run a hand through my hair, my other hand on the tree trunk.
"OK... Let me think for a minute..."
"Your thinking is what got you into this mess," Martinex says drily and my shoulders barely droop, able to hear the disappointment in his voice and tone.
"Can you just take us back to the ship? I'll explain it to Captain Udonta..." They look at me and I work on walking toward Martinex's ship, limping a bit. They follow and we board his ship, Martinex pushing me onto the bunk. They strap into the seats and Martinex takes off while I work on thinking of a good lie.
"Here, kid." Rocket tosses me a pouch and I catch it, opening it to see the batteries. "You deserve some of them. Don't let Blue find them or we're both going to become ornaments on his ship."
"Thanks for the mental image," I mutter sarcastically as I put the pouch in my hidden pocket and he turns around to watch for the Eclector.
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We dock in the hangar six minutes later and Rocket and I disembark, carefully looking around to see if Yondu was there. Martinex leaves and I run a hand through my hair. "So, you gonna tell Blue about what happened?"
"Nope."
"He's gonna ask what happened to the ship."
"Then we tell him it malfunctioned and we crashed, which is mostly true. For now, I'm going to find a place to hide these then go find Segs so I can work with him some more. Have fun, Rocket." I leave the Hangar and quickly go to my quarters, freezing when I go in.
"'Ey, Girl. Le's talk," Yondu says from my bunk and stands, nodding at the door. I shut it and fold my hands at the small of my back so I don't fidget with them. That and Kraglin and Dad have told me to stand like that when talking to Yondu unless he says otherwise. He smirks that knife smirk at me and I wait for him to start talking. "'Ave a sit, Girl. Ya ain't gotta stand like tha' in yer quarters."
"Alright. Um, give me a second, though."
"A'ight. 'Urry up." I nod and get a new shirt, going into my bathroom. "Wha'cha need tha' fer?"
"Just need to change my shirt." I shut the door, locking it, and shove the pouch of batteries into the vent for now.
"Wha's all tha' noise, Girl?"
"Nothing! Just losing my balance a lot today!" I slide the vent cover back into place and change my shirt.
The door opens just as I pull it down and I look at Yondu. "I locked that."
"An' Ah locked m'Quarters."
"Fair point..." He moves to the side and I come out of the bathroom, grabbing my duster as I do. I lean against the small desk that had been brought in for me to work on my lessons at and he leans against the dresser.
"'Ow didja do with tha' Rat?"
"Good."
"Yeah? 'Ow good? An' 'ow ya do it?"
"Astroid belt and I hit all but two of the ones he told me to hit." He nods and looks at me, noticing something on my arms that I had crossed over my chest.
"Those look new, Girl. Wha'cha do ta 'em?" I look at my arms and notice the scars, shrugging slightly.
"Not sure. Might be from that door. Or something that happened while doing that list of things," I lie easily and he looks at them in a scrutinizing way.
"Naw. Ya did 'em. Why?"
"Cuz sometimes I just want to die. Other times, not so much. Is there anything else you need, Captain? Because I have to get to work." He looks me over and comes over to me.
"Don' be tryin' ta git rid 'a yerself, Girl. Yer too good 'a mechanic an' Ravager ta let tha' 'appen. Git it?"
"Got it, Captain."
"Good. Git ta work with Segs."
"Aye." I go past him and go to Segs workshop as I pull my duster on.
"Hello, my dear!" He smiles brightly and I raise a hand in greeting. "Are you ready to work with me some more today?" I nod and he teaches me some new things.
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I go with Segs to Mess to get some food and run a hand through my hair, going to a table with him. "You where you belong now, girl?" A sexist gunner yells and I try to ignore him at Segs insistence while he comes over, hand on my shoulder. "Good to see you learning your place, bitch." I set my food on the table, along with my Walkman, and hit him across the face with the tray, knocking him onto the floor.
"Got anything else to say, Hoill?" He holds his bleeding nose and glares at me, the mess silent.
"Fucking bitch! Learn your damned place, whore! Either with that f****t in the designer's area, underneath a man, or behind him!" I tense slightly and tighten my grip on the tray.
"My dear, calm down," Segs says carefully and I use the tray to beat the shit out of Hoill.
"Kid! What the Hell are you doing?" Drax tries to pull me away from Hoill and gets an elbow to the face before I continue to beat the shit out of Hoill.
Yondu whistles and I land another hit before I'm being restrained by Taz, Nudran, Doc, and Drax while Yondu and Kraglin come down the stairs. "The fuck ya think yer doin', Girl?" He growls at me and I glare at him.
"Teaching an asshole some fucking manners, obviously. Maybe you should get some fucking glasses, Cap," I snarl and the mess goes deafeningly silent.
"Wha'cha say ta me?"
"What? You need hearing aids now too or should I just speak louder?" Kraglin punches me in the jaw, sending my head to the side, and I flex my mouth slightly as I look back at him. "What? Don't want me teaching jackasses like Hoill a damned lesson? Maybe teach them yourself! How's now going to work, Cap? You going to beat the shit out of me? Or kick me out? Make your damned decision now so we can all get on with our fucking lives!" I say 'Cap' with suck venom in my tone that everyone's shocked and I glare at the two of them. "Because Gods know that all I am is something you have to deal with and might as well get some use out of it, right? Whether it's beating the shit out of me or using me to get shit done, just like the assholes that sold me for liquor," I growl softly to them and Yondu narrows his eyes at me.
"Take 'er ta the Brig an' throw 'er in! An' take all 'a 'er weapons!" He spins on his heel and starts to walk away before he notices my Walkman. He grabs it and looks at it before dropping it on the floor, turning to look at me. "An' as a lil' extra..." He slams his boot onto it and smashes it and the headphones. I feel my heart shatter as I see the pieces go flying and react in anger, trying to lunge for him despite the others still having a tight hold on me.
Kraglin hits me in the jaw again and, since I can't hit them back, I spit blood at both of their boots. "Fucking assholes," I snarl and they glare at me.
"Git 'er outta 'ere," Yondu says with a wave of his hand and they drag me out of Mess with Rocket, Groot, and Mantis following. They loosen up their holds on me once we're about halfway across the ship and I yank myself out of their holds.
"I can walk just fucking fine on damned own." They don't respond and we make it to the Brig.
"You gonna go in or do have to throw you in as Blue said?" Rocket asks as Taz opens a cell door and I start to step through it. Doc stops me and waits.
"We need your weapons, Rogue," They say sadly and I disarm myself, dropping them at their feet. "Would you please spread your feet and put your hands on your head?"
"Since you asked so nicely," I snarl and do it. They search me and put the gadgets with my weapons before stepping away.
"Please go into the cell so we don't have to throw you in."
"Oh? Not going to follow his orders to the letter? I'm shocked that you guys are allowing that," I scoff towards Nudran and Taz before going in and the door slams shut behind me while I stop just through it.
"I was hoping that you would be different from Quill..."
"Like father, like daughter." I walk further into the cell and hear them walk away, running a hand through my hair. "Great, going to need a whole bottle of shampoo to make sure it's clean when I get out of here." I sit against the wall across from the cell door and bend one knee so my foot's flat on the ground, resting my elbow on my knee. "Can't believe he smashed my Walkman and headphones... Fucking asshole..." I rest my head against the wall and try to find a way to pass the time.