A/N: Beware spoilers of Vol. 2 ahead!

Peter feels trapped.

The walls close in on him, accompanied by the sound of Ego's maniacal laughter. Visions of an angry, red planet fills his mind as the fate of the universe weighs heavily on his shoulders, pushing him down into the ground. Ego's voice floats in front of him, so Peter, seated on the ground, quickly pushes himself back with his hands, until he feels the corner of the room behind his back.

He can't move back any farther.

Bending his legs and pressing his knees to his chest, he curls up in a fearful, shivering ball, screwing his eyes shut knowingly and waiting for Ego's light to pierce through him. The world around him quakes with Ego's powers, the sounds of destruction and fearful screaming filling his ears. He begs for Ego to stop, to let his friends go, to just-

Something warm touches his hand and he screams.

"Peter!"

Opening his eyes at his name, the world around him stills. Ego's planet melts away from his vision, as he finds himself staring into the deep, calming eyes of Gamora. She squeezes his hands, clutched to his chest, but doesn't say anything. His frantic, uneven breathing fills the room.

Gamora carefully pulls his right hand away from him then, arranging his hand over the thin material of the black tank top covering her chest. Normally, Peter would joke about Gamora's intentions in making a move like this, but he can't find the words or humor within himself to do so. Instead, Gamora covers his hand with her own, and the extra pressure aids him in sensing Gamora's faint, but steady, heartbeat. She takes a deep breath. Peter finds himself copying her.

After a few moments, she finally smiles. "Are you with me?"

Words still seem a bit out of reach, but he nods.

"Good. I'm glad." She relaxes now, retiring her squatted position for a proper seat on the floor.

With their hands connected, Peter briefly thinks of magic, of a stone, of the first time his team, his family, defeated the enemy through the power of their trust and love (though no one would admit it) for each other.

A minute or two passes before Gamora, studying him, comments, "Must have been a bad one. You are usually more hyperverbal."

And now Peter's smiling with her, and his voice somehow returns. "I'm full of surprises."

He only sounds a little horrible for someone who had just screamed his head off. He decides to take it as a victory.

Gamora releases his hands then, opting to embrace him instead. She rests her chin on his shoulder, hugging him tightly to herself. Peter wraps his arms around her just as snug, leaning his head against hers and releasing a sigh. His eyes slip closed.

"I'm sorry," he murmurs, but she shakes her head.

"We'll get through this," Gamora says, her voice hardly above a whisper. "And we'll do it the way we do everything: together."

Peter almost laughs at that. "I think that's my line, as the leader and all, y'know."

"I can say it, too, if I so desire," Gamora responds, and Peter can practically hear her rolling her eyes. "I just want you to remember you're not alone."

Something gives in Peter's chest at that, triggering a pinchy feeling to attack his eyes from within, but he forces it down. "Did I wake you?"

"I was already awake before your nightmare started," Gamora reassures him.

"What about the others?" Peter recalls Groot snuggling up with him and Gamora before bed. "Where's Groot?"

"He's fine." Gamora breaks their hug then, pulling back to meet Peter's eyes. "He's with Rocket now. I believe they're working on something."

Almost as if on cue, the clatter of parts and tools spilling out across the ground in a separate room reaches their ears, followed by an angry string of curses. Gamora rolls her eyes again.

"That answers that," Peter says, sitting up.

"Peter," Gamora says gently, her smile falling. "What did you dream about?"

"Same thing as always. You-know-who."

"Peter."

According to Mantis, their new resident expert on emotions and mental health, sharing truly is one of the best natural remedies for the mind after a trauma, rather than bottling it up. Of course, the entire team didn't expect Peter to share everything he feels at all times, but he knows their support is there for him if he needs it.

And Gamora?

She's become his rock through it all, checking in with him regularly and staying by his side through the terrors of the night (which had decreased in frequency as of late, but still occurred every few nights or so). Groot had wanted to help fight the nightmares away tonight as well, but Peter is glad Gamora sent him away when things took a quick nosedive.

So Peter sighs. "I was back on Ego's planet. He was trying to use me as a battery again, and stuff. I remember being worried about where you and the others were, and I could hear buildings falling apart and people screaming, and all that. So, yeah, same old, same old."

Gamora nods. "Thank you for telling me."

"'Course," Peter says. He looks past Gamora, at his (well, now their) bed behind her, on the other side of the room. "Thank you, um, for helping me wake up and, just, taking care of me in general, I guess."

Gamora moves to sit beside him then, leaning her back against the wall and dropping her head against his shoulder. She finds his hand and grabs it, interlacing their fingers with a small, but contented, sigh. "I'm here for you, Peter."

"I know."

"I think that's what that unspoken thing you always love turning into a spoken thing is."

Peter turns his head toward hers, pressing a kiss to her hair. "I know."

They sit in a comfortable silence, occasionally interrupted by the distant sounds of Groot and Rocket dicking around. Peter leans his head against Gamora's, squeezing her hand. He allows his eyes to close, trusting her.

(He thinks maybe finding Ego had been a good thing, because it only reinforced the fact that his home and family are here, with the Guardians of the Galaxy, with Gamora, no matter what any blood-related kin of his had to say.)

A/N: This ship? Is killing me? Help