Author's Note: This is going to be a bit of a composite fluffy fic for scenes that take place in the months between the ending of "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and the yet-unnamed, more plot-driven fic that'll pick up some months later. I'm totally open to suggestions/requests. Enjoy and please review!

The Space Between

By: Silver Spider

Peter and Kraglin were fighting again.

That was nothing new because the Terran boy had a special talent for rubbing most of the crew the wrong way at one point or another. He had a tendency to run his mouth that had gotten worse since his mother's temporary departure a week or so prior. It wasn't exactly a rare personality trait around the Eclector, but he was quicker than almost everyone else on the ship. Where most Ravagers would've thrown a few punches at one another and gotten it out of their system, Peter left the target of his 'wit' annoyed, angry, or plain frustrated.

But fighting with Kraglin was strange, even for him. Being the two youngest people on the ship, they'd initially forged a sort of comradery, but ever since Yondu had returned from Dauntless, he'd observed more than one occasion of the boy and teenager sniping at each other just out of his earshot but instantly shutting up the moment they realized he was approaching. It was annoying to say the least, especially because he had a nagging feeling it was over something he should be aware of.

"You know anythin' 'bout this shit?" he asked Tullk one day.

"Aye, unfortunately," the scared man rolled his eyes.

"Should I care?"

"Not really." Tullk shrugged.

Meredith wasn't nearly as indifferent to the whole thing. Looking back at him from the view screen in his quarters through their personal communication line, she frowned when he told her what was going on. They had talked twice now in this fashion - though never about that kiss the day of his departure - with Meredith mostly asking about Peter, and Yondu enquiring about how things on Dauntless were going.

"You need to ask 'em about it," she said insistently. "Make an effort, 'cause I promise they're not gonna come to you."

"They can solve their own shit. They're…"

He stopped when he realized he was about to say 'they're grown-ass men', his default dismissal of any inter crew conflicts. This was new, Yondu realized. While he considered Kraglin more or less an adult, Peter had a way of dragging everyone down to his level in an argument. Except Meredith, but she wasn't here. As if reading his mind, the Terran woman raised a brow.

"I see yer point," he inclined his head. "I'll figure it out. How's everythin' over where yer at? You look…" Yondu hesitated, and Meredith narrowed her eyes.

"Tired. I look tired."

"Well…"

"Victoria cried non-stop for the first three days," she sighed. "I honestly think she figured out you were gone and no one was gonna be able to magically tell what she needs no more."

He wisely refrained from arguing that his limited empathic abilities weren't magic. "She better now?"

"Mostly. Usual baby behavior, at least."

Yondu didn't know what 'usual behavior' was, of course, but if Meredith wasn't concerned, neither was he. She knew what she was doing, though right about then, he would've happily switched kids with her. All hassles of dealing with an infant aside, at least Victoria couldn't talk back yet. Peter's attitude, on the other hand, seemed to have deteriorated without his mother.

"Any advice on what t' do 'bout Peter?"

Meredith actually laughed. "Just remember that bein' a parent's a lot like bein' captin'."

Which Yondu took to mean that he got to do more than just ask. The next day he dragged both Kraglin and Peter to his quarters. They looked almost as annoyed with one another as they did anxious being there. Good, thought the captain. Fear could be a very useful motivator.

"Now," he looked between the two, "I don't much care what y'all problem is, 'cept that it's gettin' on everyone's nerves. So who wants t' tell me what the hell's goin' on with you two?"

Peter spoke up first. "It's dumb."

"An' yet yer still at each other's throats, so try again."

The two youths glared at each other before Kraglin blurted out. "We had a bet that he lost, but now he won't pay up!"

Both of Yondu's brows went up. That was… interesting. Ravagers took gambling very seriously, and more than a few throats had been cut over unpaid debt. Whatever amount was in question in this case couldn't have been much - Peter's personal 'fortune' was no more than a fistfull of units - but why would the boy have risked even that? Unless he had thought there was no way he could lose...

"What was the bet?"

Awkward silence told him that he'd asked the right question. Kraglin fidgeted.

"Right 'round the time you an' Ms. Quill left," he looked abashed. "I… mighta said somethin' like… 'I bet they'll come back from this honeymoon with a new kid'."

Peter glared at him. "And I said, 'that's stupid'. 'Cept you did show up with her."

So that was it… Yondu felt an enormous headache coming on. He screwed his eyes shut and pressed his mouth into a tight line to prevent the urge of whistling and putting either the two youths or himself out of his misery. He wasn't sure which was preferable.

"Yer bet's invalid," he told Kraglin. "Do I gotta explain to you why?"

The glare he sent at the Xandarian told him in no uncertain terms that he'd better not make him explain, especially in front of Peter. Setting aside the dubious morality of fueling rumors and betting on his captain's personal relationship, Kraglin was one of only a few people who'd had prior knowledge that there was another one of Ego's targets on Spartax. It wouldn't have been a great leap to assume a child was involved, which meant that he would have known that as ridiculous as his statement sounded, it wasn't completely unlikely.

Thankfully, the young man just nodded.

"Good," Yondu glared at him. "Back to yer duties, an' I better not hear 'bout this stupidity ever again."

No doubt relieved to be released, Kraglin made a hasty retreat. Peter turned to go too, but Yondu crooked a finger at him and pointed at a chair right across from him. "You stay."

Peter looked annoyed, but sat anyway, and Yondu did the same, moving his chair closer and leaning down slightly so that they were on the same level. He'd seen Meredith do this several times. Apparently it was supposed to reduce the boy's defensiveness, though Peter still looked like he was sulking.

"What you got 'gainst 'er?" the captain asked, doing his best to sound more curious than accusing. Peter wrinkled his nose.

"Nothin'." Yondu continued staring at him, and he fidgeted. "You know how some kids beg their parents for a brother or sister? That wasn't me. I was happy when it was just me and Mom."

Lie, Yondu thought. His empathic abilities didn't work on kids as old as Peter, but he didn't need them to know at least the second half of that statement wasn't honest. Meredith had confided in him in the past how much she knew Peter felt like he was missing out not having a father. The topic of siblings, though, never came up until there was an actual one to speak of. He decided that now was not the time to discus the former and focused on the later.

"Don't think most kids get a choice," he said reasonably.

"Most kids have two normal parents and live in a house with a white picket fence."

Yondu silently winced. It wasn't even remotely true, but he knew enough about Terra from Meredith to understand where Peter's misconceptions were coming from. He thought about pointing out that out in the bigger universe, the typical family structure - if typical was even the right word - varied more than the boy could ever imagine. There were species of hive minds where many drones catered to a single queen. There were those that reproduced by cloning or had three or more genders that were all required for reproduction. Ultimately he settled on something more relatable.

"You've met my sister," he said. "What'd you think of 'er?"

Peter shrugged. "She seems cool."

"She is. She's one of the best people I know, an' I'm damn lucky to have 'er in my corner."

"So?"

"So sisters can be pretty damn awesome to have 'round."

"Yeah, but…" Peter clearly didn't see the connection. "Yours is a badass space pirate captain! Mine is just…" He spread his hands a foot and a half apart.

"Boy, she's not even two weeks old!" Yondu had to suppress a laugh. "Least give 'er till she starts walkin' an' talkin' before you decide yer disappointed. She might surprise you."

"I guess." But short answer aside, Peter seemed to take that suggestion in stride, and they sat in silence for a moment before he raised his eyes to him again. "Where'd you guys get her from, anyway? I mean, she's not, like, my real sister, is she?"

This was dangerous territory, Yondu realized. They never did prepare an explanation for the boy where the baby had come from. Ironically, the answer to Peter's question was 'yes', though the Centaurian doubted he could have been thinking along the lines of paternity. The truth was too dangerous as long as Ego lived - possibly forever - but neither he nor Meredith could reasonably claim Victoria as a biological child either. Intending to distract Peter from the question, he scowled at him.

"I don't like this word. Think me an' Aleta share a drop of blood?" The boy shook his head. "Think it matters?" Another head shake. "Then don't say stupid shit."

Peter looked sufficiently abashed, so Yondu eased up.

"Alright, get outta my sight, an' don't let me hear 'bout you bettin' 'gainst family." The boy rose to go, but he called after him. "Only ever bet for 'em."

For the first time since he entered the room, Peter grinned before running off to tend to the rest of his chores for the day. Yondo tipped his head backwards and blew out a sigh, wondering just how much of this stupidity he should share with Meredith. He didn't want her to worry about Peter's reaction to Victoria even more than he knew she already was. Besides, after this little chat, he was fairly certain the boy would outgrow it.

So when the Terran woman next appeared on his view screen the next day, Victoria cradled in one arm, Yondu went for a half truth.

"It was a stupid bet," he told her. "Somethin' 'bout if they could rig one of the M-ships to go twice as fast as it was designed to. I told 'em they ain't messin' with my ships, so that settled things."

"Good," Meredith nodded, thankfully not pressing further, and smiled. "See? Parenting's not so bad."

"I'm still willin' to switch." He looked at the baby in her arms. "She looks bigger. Less… scrunched up."

Meredith laughed. "That's usually how that goes. How's your homework coming along?"

"Slow." Yondu replied unhappily.

Before he had left Dauntless, Aleta had told him to compile a list of all of his current crew members he trusted and wanted to remain on the Eclector. When the reunion with the other Ravager factioned happened - if it happened, because Yondu still had strong doubts about the whole thing - he knew that the less savory members of his crew wouldn't be happy about it. If he had to guess, he would have said that more than half prefered exile precisely because they were no longer bound by the Ravager code. They would have to go, but planning for it was a delicate matter. The Eclector still needed at least a skeleton crew to fly, and if word got too soon…

"You've got time," Meredith assured him. "I don't think Aleta talked to her husband yet. Haven't seen much of her since she got back."

"Back? Where'd she go?"

"Don't know," the Terran woman shrugged. "She left right after you did and got back three days ago. Least I think that's how long it was. I'm still gettin' used to shifts here, plus this one's been keepin' me up at night."

She tickled the baby's nose, and Victoria promptly sneezed. Yondu would never have admitted it aloud, but she was kind of… adorable. He wondered how much she'd grow by the time he finally got a chance to visit Dauntless again to see them. Even with an open invitation, but there were only so many sudden trips he could justify to the crew before they started asking questions. He wasn't ready for that, and anyway, there was a lot of work remaining on the Eclector. Yondu turned the first part of her statement, regarding Aleta's absence in his head.

"Huh," he muttered mostly to himself, and almost asked to let him know if anything interesting came up, but it felt too much like he was asking her to spy. Instead he said, "I'll get Peter up here for you when his shift's done. He misses his mama somethin' fierce."

"I miss 'im, too." Meredith's smile was brilliant. "Anyway, Dauntless is nice, but it ain't home."

There was a lot in that statement, so much more than its face value suggested. They hadn't talked about that kiss, but… Yondu pushed the memory aside for now. Hope was still the most difficult of emotions, but he was trying.