NOTES: This is part of will chronicle Nebula's part in the lives of the Ironkids. Each chapter will be around 2000-6000 words. The chapters won't be in order, and I don't know how often the updates will be. But I promise, I'll write as often as I can
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you find familiar.
Nebula knew she wasn't good.
Hell, up until recently, she was most definitely a villain. A monster.
However, despite the horrible creature she'd become, Nebula knew the importance of promises.
"You'll come visit us, won't you, Nebula?" Pepper had asked her before the Luphomoid could get on Quill's ship with the rest of the Guardians.
Pepper, who reminded Nebula so much of her beloved sister in the past five years they knew each other. Pepper, who trusted Nebula enough around her precious daughter, even though she knew of her past. Pepper, who Nebula tried so hard to distance herself from, in hopes that by doing so, she wasn't insulting Gamora's memory.
"I…" Nebula started, swallowing heavily as her eyes flew toward the sight of the little girl who was carried in the arms of a tall young man, both of them watching that Spiderling closely as the young superhero tried to convince his aunt for the umpteenth time that he was alright.
"Nebula?" Pepper spoke again, turning Nebula's attention back to her. "Promise me you'll visit us, alright? You know you're always welcome here. So, please. Come and visit us."
Nebula knew all about promises. She knew how important they were.
And she never broke her promises.
"I will," Nebula said softly. "I promise."
"Hey, Nebster? Can I ask you for a favour?"
"After all you've done for me, I suppose I have no choice."
"Hah! I knew I found you likeable for a reason. Because it sure as hell not because of your temper."
"Stark, focus."
"Ah, right… Well, do you think you have some time to spare to look after my family? Make sure they're safe. Pepper, Morgan, Rhodey, Happy, and w-when they're back, Peter and Harley too."
"Are you implying what I think you are?"
"Nebula, I'm serious. Look after my family for me, will you?"
"Do it yourself, Stark. You protect your own."
"Naivety doesn't become you, my dear. We both know what will happen the moment we get those Stones back."
"Yes, and what will happen is you having your family back while I get my sister."
"Nebula, please. Promise me."
A beat, then, "Very well. I promise."
Nebula was going to kill someone.
Cross that. She was going to kill Peter Quill.
And Thor. And Drax.
And Rocket, that furry menace.
She'd spare Mantis though, and that was only if she'd stop giggling.
"Aww, look how the murderous murderess has gone all soft," Quill cooed, his ugly face twisted into another one of his obnoxious smirk.
Goodness, sister, Nebula wondered silently as she clenched her jaw. What exactly did you see from this stupid idiot?
Nebula considered how long it would take to kill these idiots and hide their stinking corpses. In the end, she had to accept that it would take too long. She was running late already – six months too late. She could always kill them another day anyway.
"Just drop me off at Stark's home," Nebula drawled out, already standing by the hatch of the ship's exit, ready to jump out even if the plane's still in the air. "And come pick me up again in two weeks."
"You sure two weeks will be enough? 'Cause, really, if you want to get all that tooth-rotting fluff out, we can always make it into two months – OW!" Quill yelped, not unlike a child as he rubbed his nose gruffly, where the silver triangle Nebula had flicked in his way had hit him.
I did it, Stark! Nebula thought childishly as she fought back a small grin. I flipped the triangle and hit a target.
"Next time, it'll be my knife flying towards your throat, Quill," Nebula said flatly. With a pout on his face, Quill opened the hatch and stomped away, a chuckling Thor following behind him. Nebula had no doubt that the newly recovered God of Thunder had gone to further humiliate Quill.
"See you in two weeks, Nebula!" Mantis bade her goodbye before Nebula jumped off the ship, landing rather smoothly on the freshly mowed lawn, despite the rather worrying distance between where she'd jumped from to where she'd landed on.
Nebula watched Quill's ship flew away, and only took her eyes off it once she saw it left the atmosphere. Then she turned to look around, her mechanic-eyes easily scanned the perimeter for possible hostiles even in the middle of the night with minimum lighting. When she was satisfied with the lack of threats, she slowly made her way toward the cabin where Pepper and her daughter lived. The same cabin that had harboured her during the rare times she'd sneaked out of the Avengers compound, when the good Captain was getting on her nerves with his self-righteousness. Nebula rarely felt fondness toward anyone or anything, not even for her sister. But she couldn't help herself but to recall fondly the memories of Tony Stark making fun of Steve Rogers.
She took her sweet time to reach the porch, long enough she suspected for the AI inside the house to alert its occupants of her arrival. Her assumption was proven to be correct when the door was opened before she could knock on it, revealing a beaming Morgan once again in the arms of that tall young man Nebula had seen at Stark's funeral. The little girl's happiness was blinding, and when she jumped off the man's arms to hug her tiny arms around Nebula's legs, the Luphomoid nearly failed in reigning the small smile that Morgan always seemed able to cause.
"Nebby!" Morgan exclaimed. "Nebby, you came! I told Harley and Peter that you would, but they didn't believe me! And now you're here! You've come home!"
"Alright, Morgy, I'll admit I was wrong," the young man laughed, raising his hands in mock-defeat. "I promise I won't doubt you ever again, princess."
"You better not!" Morgan said. She let go of Nebula's legs but reached up to grab on her mechanic-hand as she turned her attention on the approaching Spiderling. "You too, Peter! See? I was right! Nebby did come home at last! Like she promised!"
The Spiderling, whose real name turned out to be Peter, also let out a chuckle as he admitted his mistake. He then proceeded to tell everyone in the room that dinner was ready and that Pepper was expecting them in the dining room. Nebula saw that the tall young man, whom Morgan had called as Harley, said something to the Spiderling, but at that point, Nebula had stopped listening. She absent-mindedly allowed Morgan to drag her into the dining room, where she was directed to sit between Morgan and the empty chair that was supposed to be Pepper's. As they all waited for Pepper to come with dinner, Nebula's mind kept on repeating what Morgan had said.
You've come home!
Home.
Nebula never had a home. She never had a family. The Guardians and their wacky ship were the closest she could get to a home and a family.
But here, with Tony Stark's little family, she finally had both.
Nebula had been lying on her bed for awhile when she heard the tiny patters of feet she recognised as Morgan's coming to her room. She'd pulled herself to sit on her bed when the girl opened the door, her small figure bundled up in her blanket as she poked her head into Nebula's room. In an eerie reminiscence of her late father, the girl's eyes zeroed in on Nebula almost instantly, and a small smile appeared on her small face as she waddled toward Nebula. The Luphomoid watched silently when the girl climbed onto her bed, only quirking an eyebrow at the girl when she settled on the spot beside where Nebula had just lain moments prior.
"What are you doing?" Nebula asked, even as she lowered herself to lie beside the girl.
"I couldn't sleep," Morgan replied easily, her eyes already starting to flutter close. "And my brothers always told me to never disturb Mum when she sleeps."
"Your brothers?" Nebula asked, frowning. As far as she knew, Stark had no other child other than the little girl currently lying beside her.
"Harley and Peter," Morgan said matter-of-factly, oblivious to the confusion and surprise on Nebula's face at her claim. In a way that only a five year old spawn of Tony Stark could ever do, Morgan kept on talking. "Usually, I came to them. But I heard Peter had a nightmare, and Harley was busy comforting him. So, I came here. To see you."
"Me?" the former assassin said incredulously. "Why did you come to see me?"
Morgan let out a yawn before she answered. "Because, while Harley and Peter are my brothers, Daddy told me you're my sister. He told me you'd look after me."
For the second time that night, Nebula was rendered speechless in her shock. She barely even realised that Morgan had burrowed herself against Nebula's chest, falling asleep almost instantly. She stared at the girl in her arms, spending who knew how long marvelling how small she was, and how Nebula was ready to kill anyone who would ever dare to harm one precious strand of Morgan's hair. The clock above her head told her that it was four hours past midnight when she heard her door was opened. Looking up toward the intruders, she found Morgan's self-proclaimed brothers standing by the door, looking both wary and relieved to find the girl there.
"I'm sorry if she's interrupted your sleep," the one named Peter, the Spiderling, said apologetically. "She usually came to us when she couldn't sleep. But I…"
Peter trailed off, blushing slightly. Deciding to be merciful for the first time ever, Nebula shrugged, careful not to jolt Morgan into waking up. "It's fine. I don't really need sleep actually."
"Well, thank you, I suppose," Peter said, a ghost of a smile on his face.
They fell into an uncomfortable silence then, none of them knew what to say or to do without the little girl they'd all cared for as a buffer for their interaction. But, much to Nebula's surprise, it was actually the one named Harley who broke the silence. Through out the dinner, she was under the impression that Harley was like a younger and taller version of Stark, and if she hadn't known any better, she'd actually think that Harley was Stark's son for real. Therefore, she wasn't expecting Harley to be the one to offer an olive branch, so to speak. It seemed like something Peter would do, what with him being the gentler one of the two.
"I can fix that arm for you," Harley said, nodding toward Nebula's mechanic arm. It was only then Nebula realised, for the first time in six months, that her arm was ruined.
"Can you really?" Nebula asked, even though she remembered from Stark's stories that Harley was the one who was a tinker like himself.
A mechanic, Stark had said with a sad yet proud smile on his face, his eyes a little dazed.
At her question, Harley let out a cocky snort that was so Stark-like as he took a step forward, his eyes eyeing Nebula's arm that had wrapped itself around Morgan without the Luphomoid ever really realising it. "Lady, I have at least two thousand patented creations that I've built since I was only twelve. All of them sold under the SI brand, and at least a half of them are best seller. Not only I can fix your arm, I think I can build you a new one."
"You better say yes now before he's launched into a lengthy explanations about how great he is," Peter quipped with a grin. "And he's got a point, I guess. Last week, we fixed Pepper's broken Audi in only a day when it would have taken others at least two weeks. He considers himself the best mechanic ever to live."
It was obviously the wrong thing to say, because Peter instantly paled at the same time Harley clenched his jaw. The little mistake sobered everyone up, and they fell under another round of uncomfortable silence before Nebula decided to have mercy one more time.
"Alright," Nebula agreed. "You're allowed to build me a new arm."
Both Harley and Peter gave her an identical beaming smile that reminded her of Morgan, even though she knew that the three of them weren't related by blood. "Great!" Harley said. "Meet me in the garage at around ten then. And I promise, I'll have it done in before you leave."
"Five bucks if you can finish it in a week," Peter challenged, after he flashed her a smile that bade her farewell.
"You're on, Parker," Harleye replied, also giving Nebula the same smile as he led his brother out of Nebula's room. But before they could leave, she stopped them.
"Hold on," she said, stopping them from leaving.
"Yes?" Peter asked kindly, his smile made him looked younger than he already was at only sixteen.
"Why do you do this?" Nebula asked. "Why do you…help me?"
Why are you two so nice to me?
Why is everyone so nice to me?
"Isn't it obvious?" Harley said as he shrugged nonchalantly. "You're family, Nebula. And us Starks stick together."
That night, Nebula made an oath. She swore that no matter what happened, she would take care of Tony Stark's family.
She might be raised as a monster by Thanos. But she was also raised to honour her promises. Fortunately for Tony Stark, Nebula would never break her promise anyway.
She was going to protect her new family until her dying breath.