Chapter 8
“I am Groot,” Groot made his way down the main corridor of the Milano, his steps becoming more confidant with every passing day. That was about the only positive thing happening on the ship as far as Drax could tell. Both Rocket and Peter walked in circles around each other, neither one of them speaking to the other. Gamora seemed neutral though based on the overheard conversations with Peter, things were not going to get repaired between Rocket and Peter anytime soon, not even for Groot’s sake.
“You called him what?!” Gamora followed Peter into the common room the next evening. Drax hadn’t seen Rocket all day but the periodic lights flickering and small explosive noises from below told him the animal was busy working.
“I know, I know, I didn’t mean it! It was out of my mouth before I could take it back.” Peter flopped down on the stolen couch. “But he keeps making fun of me too and it’s really pissing me off.”
“That’s no excuse, you have to be the better person!” Gamora implored.
“You sound like my mom,” Peter grumbled, shaking his head. Drax watched Gamora look at him, he shrugged and she took a seat next to Peter.
“Someone has to!" Gamora's tenner rose with anger, cut off as Groot shortly appeared in the room, making his way to Peter and smacking at his pant leg with both arms. He had since regrown the broken one.
“Groot, go bother Rocket, please?”
“I am Groot!” The baby, well now toddler shouted, growing a small vine and slapping Peter across the knee in a tantrum. He gave up eventually and Drax watched him go down the hall, babbling to himself as he did so.
“Rocket just…he just doesn’t get it.” Peter resumed, “he’s a part of this family now and he’s got help with raising Groot but all he does is insult us and yell at us.”
“He is not friendly,” Drax put in. “The rodent does not show basic curtesy to anyone.”
“What was it Rocket said to you?” Gamora asked, “about him and Groot being partners?”
“he said, ‘Rocket is all I have left of anything,’” Peter repeated disheartened, “’now that Groot and I aren’t partners.’ Then he threatened to blow my brains out but no one’s remembering that part!” Peter complained, scratching his head. Personally Drax was glad that Groot was a toddler now, that meant he was clearly irrevocably the strongest and largest one on the team. Of course he did feel badly that Groot had to die. He’d seen that grief within Rocket that day. The shock and pain. He’d felt it too. As the they sat on the couch Drax wrung his hands together.
“The old Groot is gone and Rocket is upset about this,” he thought aloud. “He does not feel that this Groot is his partner anymore because we are a family and now Groot has all of us. He no longer needs Rocket exclusively. But Rocket still needs him.” Drax look at the two of them who stared, surprised. “This is painful for him to realize. It makes him feel vulnerable. On top of that he still blames himself for all of it. And he misses the old Groot.”
“Yeah, but…”
“He is insulting you because it is easier then feeling those other emotions.” Drax took a deep breath, preparing himself, “…when Hovat and Kameria were killed, I too smothered my pain with anger. I did not have a family any more. Or friends. But if I had, I too would have lashed out in anger.” Gamora nodded silently. “You called him Subject 89P13,” Peter winced. “This was wrong.” Drax continued, “it is also wrong of him to insult your name. It is dishonorable especially when we are working together.” Working together, that was something he had never said aloud before. Drax was used to a solidary existence ever since his family was murdered. He depended on no one and no one depended on him, until now. Ever since they destroyed Ronnan, and seeing Groot slowly grow and relay on them had made the aspect of familial teamwork all the clearer.
“Well,” Peter groped for some sort of response. “He just….forget it,” he stood, shaking Gamora off and going up to the pilot deck. Drax watched him, shaking his head.
“Peter, Drax is right,” Gamora began taking off after him. The ship’s omnipresent engine suddenly ceased, the Destroyer felt the Milano grind to a stand-still and involuntarily held his breath.
“Flark it Groot!” Came Rocket’s incessant shouting. The large man felt the ship slowly bend sideways, though luckily Rocket had long since bolted things like the community table, chairs and other furniture to the floor. The dishes were not as lucky. Jumping for them, Drax caught three plates just as the Milano listlessly continued to go slanting left.
The tattooed alien fell to the floor off balanced and watched as the cabinet doors flung open, sending their array of miss-matched dishes, mugs and bowls come clattering down.
“Groot! No! Gimme that!” Rocket’s urgency escalated. Drax gripped onto the table leg, heaving himself upward, gripping whatever he could to get to the engine room below.
“Rocket!!” Peter’s accusatory yelling echoed down the halls, “I can’t pilot this thing without the engine and the stabilizers! I know your pissed at me but this isn’t funny!”
“Not my fault Star-Bitch! Groot! Don’t!” Drax blinked, halting as the Milano’s lights flickered and went out.
“Rodent, you must control the tree before he destroys us all!” Clumsily feeling his way down the ladders to the engine room he went, eyes struggling to see in the pitch dark. Meanwhile the ship now tilted to the right, sending him off-kilter and fumbling for a grip on the metal rails.
“Groot give that to me right now,” he could hear the vermin ordering.
“I am Groot!”
“It’s not a toy! The entire damn ship is going to be pulled into the nearest moon’s orbit and stuck there!” Scratching and clanging of feet over metal sounded throughout as Drax made his way forward.
“I am Groot!”
“C’mon!” An exasperated Rocket now resorted to pleading, “I need that! Give it to me now or I’ll put you in another time out,” Drax reached out ahead of him, hands finding the metal doorway of the engine room and he stepped inside, throwing his weight as the ship curved to the right. “Tsch! Groot you’re not a damn baby c’mon!” Drax took a step
“Eeek!” He lifted his foot at the sound of Groot shrilling under his boot. He let-up and felt the small plant slapping at his ankles. Without missing a beat the Destroyer stooped down, picking up the little plant. Something hard and metal hit his arm without much impact.
“Good Drax!” Rocket shuffled over, “grab that krutukan desxter from him! He pulled it off!” The raccoon went back to whatever he’d been working on and there were several flashes of white-blue electricity before the power came back on. Groot’s hardened face became all the more sour, large eyes narrowing and putting his chin into a pout. But Drax grinned, Kameria would often pull such a look when she was deprived something she wanted.
“Groot how about this?” He offered reaching to his boot and pulling one of his knives. “If you hand me that desxter, you can play with this. How’s that?” Groot frowned and let out a yelp as Drax stumbled while the Milano rocked again. The little tree only hit Drax with his vines. Drax grinned, Kameria never relented either. He switched tactics,
“Fine, it is probably too dangerous for you anyway.” He put his knife back in his boot and placed Groot on the ground.
“What are you doing?” Rocket gasped, paws wracking his own face in anxiety
“I know what’ I’m doing,” Drax said through gritted teeth. He turned on his heel and turned to walk away. Sure enough Groot dropped the desxter and ran after Drax, reaching for his boot wound his little vines around its hilt. The Destroyer did nothing, watching him run down the hall as best as he could on the angle the Milano was drifting.
“Thank you!” Rocket growled, irritated. He picked up with device and made his way back to the engine. He watched the creature fiddle with the engine. Clapping his large hands to his ears as the ship groaned, only to slide back into its original trajectory. Rocket wiped his filthy hands with a rag and shook his head as Peter and Gamora came down,
“What was that?” Peter demanded
“It was Groot!” Rocket retorted, Drax watched the two of them stare at each other in contempt.
“Well its fixed now,” Gamora said, bringing snapping the two of them back to reality. Peter forced his gaze away from the animal and back to the group. Groot rejoined them evident by the clanging of the knife against some strange gun lying on the ground.
“Groot no! Don’t touch that!” Rocket rushed to the weapon on the floor and scooped up the gun with as much care as one would a child. “That’s a prototype for a new gun I’m designing!” He said, hefting the weapon.
“How’s it working so far?” Peter asked innocently. Rocket glared at him,
“It’s working fantastic Star-…Peter,” he faltered.
“That’s…great!” The human recovered. It seems small to me, Drax thought personally but he did notice the awkward exchange between the two of them. Peter even smiled, Rocket turned back to his gun as Groot let out an erroneous scream at being parted with the new-found plaything.
“Smaller Groot,” Drax knelt down to the tree’s level, “you cannot play with this weapon. You can play with other weapons.” He once again pulled his knife from his boot. “Here. Just be careful with it.” Groot held the knife with fascination, looking it over before growing his vines out as far as he could and went running down the hallway clanking the blade against the walls.
Meanwhile Peter looked over the gun and threw it back,
“It uhh, looks good Rocket. Seems really…bad-ass.” The enhanced raccoon just fiddled with it some more.
“Well Drax’s knives should keep him entertained for a bit so there shouldn’t be any more interruptions.”
“Thank you,” Gamora put in. She stared at Rocket awkwardly for a moment, opened her mouth, closed it, and left the engine room. Peter made some other idiotic excuse and shortly left as well. Rocket leaned over his gun with even more intensity. Drilling into the main body of the weapon to better lubricate the inner workings.
“Rocket.” Drax stated, the creature looked up, glaring. “I wanted to thank….you,” he began gently.
“Psshh, for what?” He snapped. Drax watched Groot scamper down the hall once more, trip on the floor, and make that face he knew all too well. Quickly he helped the little tree up,
“Cease your crying. You have not been wounded.” Saying such, he picked Groot up and gently took the knife back from him.
“I am Groot!”
“Yeah well playtime’s over bud.” Groot scowled.
“I wanted to thank you,” he began again. “After Kameria was killed, I had not thought I would ever get the chance to care for another little one.” Rocket’s glare softened by just a degree. “Now, I can once again care for something…instead of only fighting.” Rocket nodded, putting his weapon down.
“If I had it my way he’d be his full size already.” Drax nodded but made no reply for some time.
“I know,” he finally whispered and gently lay his large hand on Rocket’s shoulder. The creature let him, his mind flashing back to that same touch earlier right after….right after Xandar. When Rocket had been so small and shocked and broken. Peter was right, Groot had been the only one who had ever cared for him, up until now. They are your family, they care about you. He’d reminded himself of the guardians, but for the majority of his life “they” had been those strange scientists who poked him and stung him, locked him and twisted him.
“I am Groot?”
“That’s Drax, Drax the Destroyer,” Rocket explained and in that instant, everything became clear. His breath hitched in his chest, realizing.
Groot is dead….he's been dead for months. Rocket’s stomach welled with bile at the thought, his vision suddenly swimming. Groot’s first words to him had not necessarily come with memories attached. Groot, his Groot, was really, truly and totally gone. Forever.