Author's Note: For my friend Vanessa Masters who let me bounce ideas and babble for way too long :D As always, please read and review.

The Jagged Edge of Knowhere

By: Silver Spider

Knowhere was as it always was; loud, boisterous, with denizens of more species than Peter had ever seen anywhere else in one place. Next to him, Victoria was clearly even more impressed. Spartax, being the capital of an empire, was certainly diverse but she'd never seen anything quite like this. Her eyes, which had steadily grown wider and wider since they'd left the Milano in the dock, kept darting from place to place, followed by a variety of 'oooh's and other sounds of excitement.

"Look over there!"

Peter caught her by the back of her coat just as she was about to dart off toward a booth where a large, heavy alien was selling some kind of exotic food.

"Slow down, kiddo. You really don't want to get lost in this place," he warned. "Here: hold my hand, please."

"It's so awesome!"

Peter wasn't quite sure what 'it' was, but clearly, she didn't hear him. Not for the first time since taking in the girl, he sent a silent apology to Yondu in the great beyond because Victoria was behaving almost exactly the way he did the first time the Ravagers made port with him aboard the Eclector, and that place had been nothing compared to Knowhere. At his other side, Gamora smirked and gave him a knowing look.

"Yeah, I know, I know. I asked for this."

"I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to."

They were running personal errands while the vendors Peter had reached out to for ship parts prepared their orders. He'd still have to go to each of them to argue about the prices because for some reason even galactic heroes needed to worry about their purse strings. Rocket had argued that he could just as easily get everything himself for a fraction of the price but the rest of the crew overruled him. Peter had no doubt that he could do it, but he didn't want to get the Milano banned from Knowhere because Rocket pissed off half the vendors by stealing from them.

But the boring stuff could wait.

He, Gamora, and Victoria were on a mission. Truth be told, he still had very little clue as to what to do for Drax and his mind was currently occupied with dodging other pedestrians and keeping track of his sister. Luckily the first place on their list was Gamora's idea. Not so luckily, as he saw when they got closer, it was a metal works shop, and aside from the usual assortment of jewelry, it was also filled to the brim with some very impressive knives, swords, spears, and other objects Peter didn't know quite the right name for.

"I'm... not sure about this," his glance darted between the shop and the little girl whose hand he was still holding.

Gamora all but rolled her eyes, and looked down at Victoria, "Remember to be careful in there, alright? You can look, but don't touch anything."

"Okay," the girl promised, and she actually looked like she paid attention to one of them for the first time since they set foot in the makeshift port.

"How did you do that?" Peter demanded, grudgingly impressed. "Also, promise never to say that last part to me when we're alone. I only have so much willpower."

"Are you really flirting with me right now?"

"Yes? How am I doing?"

By that point they had entered the shop and Victoria's attention was once again diverted from the two of them. She wasn't particularly interested in weapons, but many of the blades had very intricate hilts that Peter suspected simply looked pretty to her without having any idea how deadly most of the things in the shop were.

"Can we get Drax that?" she pointed up on the wall, which housed some sort of blade that looked somewhat like the Klingons' favorite weapon he'd seen on Star Trek.

"We'll have to ask the expert," he looked to Gamora, but the green skinned woman shook her head.

"Never buy a warrior a weapon without consulting him first," Gamora said. "Drax loves the knives he has. We're just here to get him some supplies to care for them."

Victoria, meanwhile, had been distracted yet again, this time by the two jewelry cases at the other end of the ship by the register, and Peter let her go off stare at them while simultaneously keeping an eye out to make sure she didn't reach for anything dangerous. Not that he didn't adore his sister, but flirting was damn hard with a little kid around.

"You people and your knives," he gave Gamora a look of mock disapproval then cleared his throat. "On a completely unrelated note, I was thinking… while we're on solid ground, maybe it's about time you and I went out. You know, for real."

Gamora stared at him, completely uncomprehending. "We've been out, Peter."

"I mean like a real date." Was there a reason he, Star-Lord, felt like a fifteen-year-old boy again? "Somewhere that involves food, music, dancing, and preferably people not shooting at us. I have very good memories of that club outside the Collector's old menagerie. Right before that knife came out."

The one she'd pulled on him the first time he'd tried to kiss her. It really had been both an awesome and terrifying evening.

"I do remember that knife," the woman gave a sigh, as if remembering a long-lost friend.

"Yeah, what a shame you lost it."

"I have others," she offered innocently.

"Oh, tempting, but despite all evidence to the contrary, pain isn't really my kink, 'Mora."

"Could've fooled me." Her expression sobered. "I'm all for… what did you call it?... date, but we do have responsibilities. Drax is off somewhere, and you can't really be thinking of leaving her," she nodded in Victoria's direction, "with Rocket."

"No! I was gonna leave Groot with Rocket… and if Vicky happens to be playing with him at the time…" Gamora's mouth curved into something that was between a smile and a smirk. "Okay, okay, I'm a terrible human being. I know."

She patted his shoulder, "Figure it out, Star-Lord. Then we can talk 'date'."

Brushing past him, she headed towards the cashier to ask for the cleaning supplies they'd come for. After a moment of conversation, the other alien woman whose species he didn't recognize nodded and disappeared into the back room. Peter trotted over, stopping behind Victoria who was still exploring the jewelry cases.

"Find something you like?" he asked. "How about that tiara over there? I bet that came from an actual princess." On Knowhere, that was very much possible. Gamora threw him a warning look with barely a glance away from the cashier. "Oh, come on. Let me buy her love while I can still afford it."

"You can't afford it," Gamora nodded towards the price tag. Peter winced.

Moot point, he thought, looking back towards his sister. Victoria eyed the sparkling headpiece with minimal interest then shrugged. In some respects she was very much girly, with most of her clothing choices in the range of pink or purple. In others, it was the complete opposite. She wrinkled her nose any time he called her 'princess'.

"Here we are," the shop owner returned carrying a box, then leaned over the counter and smiled at Victoria while Gamora inspected the contents. "Your daughter is adorable."

Peter opened his mouth but before anything - he wasn't sure what - could come out, Gamora simply smiled graciously and wrapped an arm around the girl.

"Thank you." Her voice was oddly sweet without that tint of pending murder. She closed the box and pushed it forward. "This looks in order. How much?"

The strangest part, he noted, was how his sister was now looking at Gamora. He imagined from Victoria's perspective there might have been a glowing halo and spotlight over the woman's head. The girl took a step closer to her, beaming from ear to ear. Peter felt slightly queasy.

The feeling lingered even after they exited the shop and went in search of a food market. It was just about the right time for some lunch, and Peter's idea for the second half of Drax's gift was to find something food-related, maybe a recipe book or some new implements and ingredients. It would also have the added benefit of finally injecting some much needed variety into the Milano's menu. Drax enjoyed cooking, but many of his dishes were less than appealing to the rest of the crew. Since they were his wife's recipes, no one had the heart to tell him to try something else.

They found a buffet that smelled appealing, gathered their trays, and sat down at one of the circular tables. The little girl chatted happily with Gamora, asking about the blade cleaning kit she had purchased and other interesting shops on Knowhere. Ever since the beginning of their training, Victoria was spending nearly half her time following her teacher around, and Gamora didn't seem to mind. Her cool demeanor, which usually thawed around him, melted almost entirely around her favorite pupil.

"Peter?"

"Huh?" He looked up from his bowl of stew to see both of them looking at him. Gamora was frowning. "Sorry. Got lost in thought. Did you say something?"

"Victoria asked if she could have desert."

"Sure." The tray of snacks and cash register were both well within their line of sight. He pulled out a unit and handed it to the girl. "Don't go spending it all in one place."

She grinned and ran off. Left alone momentarily, Peter could feel Gamora's gaze on him.

"I smell a lecture coming," he said moodily, never taking his own eyes from Victoria as she snatched a pastry he didn't recognize and made her way to the cashier line.

"Actually I was about to ask you what's wrong."

"Nothing," he bit back, turser than intended. Knowing Gamora was unlikely to let it go, he sighed. "I don't like it when people make assumptions."

"About Victoria?" From his peripheral vision, he could see her frown deepen. "What do you expect people to think when they see two adults and a small child?"

"Don't know. Don't care. Our relationships aren't anyone's business."

"That's absurd. You can't control what other people think, especially if the assumption is neither unreasonable nor malicious." She paused. "It isn't about that ridiculous skin color issue you have on Terra, is it?"

"No!" He tore his gaze away from Victoria for a second to glare at Gamora. "You know me better than that."

"Then I really don't understand your problem."

He didn't either. He defied anyone to claim he didn't love Victoria or would do anything other than make sure she grew up happy and safe. A shrink might have said that the title of her father was too closely associated with Ego, but that wasn't it. In his mind, there was almost no connection between the Celestial and Victoria. But the universe's apparent assumption that he was her father troubled him, and Peter couldn't even pinpoint why that was.

"Look, I…" He stopped, eyes widening suddenly as panic set in. "Where's Vicky?"

Knowhere was amazing.

Anywhere Victoria turned everything was interesting and exciting and so very new. The desert she'd gotten - a pastry with whipped berry-flavored frosting - was the most delicious thing she'd ever tasted in her life. Just a few feet away was a shelf of books with all kinds of foods displayed on the covers, and the girl figured it wouldn't hurt to take a look at it. One in particular caught her attention because of the massive gold seal on the cover and the claim that these were the royal recipes of someone named Queen Vanessa. Victoria didn't know who it was, but the pastries on the cover looked very appealing. Maybe they could get it for Drax, and he could make more yummy stuff for her.

Of course the bookshelf was close to another shelf of interesting stuff and so on. Distracted with the sites and preoccupied with her snack, she didn't realize how far she'd gone from the marketplace until the last bite. Looking around for a trashcan, Victoria was suddenly very much aware that nothing around her looked familiar. Somehow she'd ended up on a street, and all the alien beings that initially looked so fascinating were suddenly much bigger and scarier without Peter and Gamora there. Every time she tried to find her way back, she found herself more and more lost.

Doing her best to push the fear away, Victoria sat down on the edge of one of the sidewalks, tucking her knees to her chest, and tried to think of what to do next. Maybe she return to the ship. Surely someone was still there, and even if they weren't, they'd come back eventually. But thinking of the way back to the docks was even harder than the marketplace. Her eyes pricked, and the girl quickly swiped a fist over them. Crying would do nothing. Tears or panic were useless in a dangerous situation, her teacher had told her on more than one occasion. In fact, Gamora had warned that they usually made things worse, but Victoria was scared. Everything around her was so big and alien and all she wanted was her brother.

I'm lost, she told herself. When in doubt, Gamora had taught her to stop and take stock of her situation. I'm lost, and I'm alone, and I don't know the way back or where anyone else is.

Perhaps Cosmo can be of help?

Whatever she'd been expecting to happen, Victoria never expected anyone to reply to her thought. Tilting her head up and looking around - because most people she interacted with were so much bigger than her, looking up was usually the right instinct - she found no one. The voice that wasn't her own cleared its throat.

Over here, little girl.

It took a moment for her to understand that 'here' meant 'straight ahead', and Victoria finally found herself staring into the warm brown eyes of… a dog? Indeed, it looked like a chocolate colored canine, oddly dressed in some kind of space suit. No, that couldn't be right. Dogs didn't talk…

Eh, technically, Cosmo not talk. Communicate telepathically. The dog raised a paw. Shake?

Still bewildered but apparently driven by the age-old instinct that drew children to canines nearly every time without fail, Victoria tentatively took the dog's paw with her fingers and gave it a little shake. He stuck out his tongue, and she could practically feel the immense pleasure radiating from the creature.

Good humanoid. How can Cosmo help little girl?

Author's End Note: Cosmo makes a descent amount of guest star appearances in the Guardians animated series :) Some of his lines in this story were taken directly from his episodes, though addressed to other characters. I toyed with the idea of Vicky not actually knowing what a dog is but I figured if Mantis, having lived on/with Ego her whole life, knew then surely Vicky would.