Gamora had no idea the kind of trouble it would get them into, the day their daughter was born looking just like her father.
She came out looking so much like her father, and that hadn't changed a bit. Their daughter looked so much more like Peter than she ever did Gamora.
Alyssa had the same fair skin tone as her father, had his curly hair, the light brown that had hints of strawberry pink interwoven. A lot of Peter's genes turned out to be dominant. Gamora's traits seemed to be passed down in things like their daughter's excellent hearing and superior vision in the dark. Peter got most of her observable traits. But Gamora didn't mind. She loved how much their daughter looked like him.
The day she was born Alyssa came out looking so much like Peter.
Their daughter was beautiful, and that hadn't changed.
Though, when Alyssa came out looking so much like her father, Gamora had no idea the kind of trouble that could lead to.
At first glance, Gamora didn't look much like her daughter, and that turned out to be the problem one day.
Even though it had been a decade since the infinity stone incident and they became galaxy saviors for the first and not the last time, there were still pockets of the galaxy that hadn't heard of the guardians, and hadn't gotten the memo that they were all part of the good guys now.
Unaware that this planet was as such, Gamora took Alyssa down to the market herself, though they really just ended up walking around the village without buying anything. Gamora soon discovered a path that led to a nice little creek, and Alyssa had fun running around. It was quite lovely, just the two of them in the beautiful nature.
It was relaxing, and peaceful. Idyllic.
"Hand us the child. Things will go easier if you release her unharmed," a sudden voice demanded from her left.
Gamora whipped her head up and cursed herself for letting her guard down when she saw they were close to surrounded by what looked to be a militia or some sort of police force. They had a loose formation, a sort of semi circle that was slowly closing in and getting tighter at the same time. Definitely military, she decided. Their uniforms were too, well, uniform to be anything less than official. Their weapons looked to be too… high end to be a backyard militia anyway.
She scanned the advancing soldiers, clocking three daggers, what looked to be two projectile weapons, a device hanging at one of the men's hips that reminded her of Rocket's photon weapon, and several holstered weapons that she couldn't identify. That's not to mention that every single one of them was pointing a gun at her. She couldn't take on 15 guns surrounding her on all sides, not with Alyssa here.
Gamora had been caught up in the game her 4 year old invented, playing by the spring, too distracted by Alyssa hopping and giggling like mad to notice anyone's presence coming into the vicinity. She should have stayed aware of her surroundings. But they were too quiet, slowly advancing behind her out of the clearing. They had announced their presence when each soldier was about 20 meters from the epicenter. She wasn't even sure when they arrived. But after they announced their presence the circle kept tightening as they steadily advanced forward.
Gamora tightened her grip on her daughter's hand and scooped her up in one smooth motion, wrapping her arms around her and holding her in a protective stance.
"What? No. I'm not handing you my daughter," she sneered, slowly backing up. The rock formation at her back (or maybe cliff side was a more accurate term for the weathered landscape) luckily meant she couldn't be completely surrounded, but it also meant nowhere to run. And it meant she was essentially pinned to a wall as the group advanced slowly, and she backed up slowly. She was aware she'd soon run out of steps. The loose semi-circle of enemies that started out 20 meters away had gotten smaller and tighter, already closing half the distance.
"Daughter of Thanos," the closest one addressed her, and Gamora's blood ran cold. That's who they considered themselves to be dealing with. This wasn't going to end well. "You will release the Xandarian child or else. Hand her over."
"No," Gamora growled.
A millisecond later she felt her arm twitch, and looked down to see a thin dart that must've been coated in some chemical because almost immediately her arm went numb, falling to her side. She was able to adjust her grip on Alyssa fast enough not to drop her when her right arm fell and became completely useless. She couldn't even feel it, much less move it, no matter how hard she tried to pick it back up again.
Gamora looked around wildly, trying to formulate a plan of escape, but before she could think of anything scores of these little stickers latched onto her. She didn't have enough time to contemplate the wires attached to them before they started electrocuting her.
Gamora fell to the ground in the dirt, and suddenly Alyssa was no longer in her arms.
It wasn't just a single round of shocks. It was a constant, painful assault of electricity coursing through her body, enough to basically short circuit her mods, and she may have blacked out for a few seconds.
She was still lying there in the dirt, her nervous system overloaded, when the figures gathered over her.
One of those figures picked Alyssa up, turning their back on her lying immobilized on the ground. They started carrying her daughter off, who was crying and wailing "Mommy!" At the top of her lungs as the stranger took her away.
Gamora grunted, her fingers overextended and twitching thanks to the electricity in her tendons and muscles, but she was able to use the stiff extremities to knock half of the pulsing shocking things off of her. She didn't even bother with the other half as she lunged for the knife strapped to the boot of one of the men, and used it to take down the two closest guards, sweeping another off his feet with her leg before using the now bloodied knife on her daughter's captor.
Gamora sliced his hamstring in a way that wouldn't leave him walking anytime soon, ripped her daughter away from his grasp, and buried the knife in his side. This all happened in the course of five seconds.
Then Gamora was crouching in the dirt, holding Alyssa as she cried, her left arm clinging to the little girl, her leg and back covered in the electrical shocking devices, crouched on the ground surrounded by the dropped bodies of four men, their comrades bewildered by the sudden attack.
She bared her teeth, staring up at them, panting, pushing past the pain of her overloaded nerves.
"Try to take her and you die," Gamora threatened, and the men wisely started backing up.
The officers went with a different strategy after that, which was a wise choice for them.
That strategy was letting Gamora carry Alyssa as they surrounded them in a loose circle with their weapons drawn as they were escorted to the nearest guard post.
The injured men were rushed off to a medic center, though none of their injuries were fatal. Gamora didn't like killing in front of her daughter, no matter how much the bad guys may have deserved it.
Their destination was only a 15 minute walk away, but halfway there they passed by some of the villagers who, of course, recognized Gamora. They were probably the ones who alerted the authorities in the first place.
All doubt of their culpability disappeared when the small crowd started shouting things like 'murderer' and other choice words as they passed by.
Gamora was starting to regain movement in her right arm, so she used her hand to cover one of Alyssa's ears. She raised her daughter higher and held her close, softly singing O-oh child into her unguarded ear to drown out the voices.
And that's what led to this. Gamora bouncing her daughter on her knees in a holding cell as they waited for Peter who was freaking out when they called him from jail, essentially. Everyone watched her warily, and Gamora glared right back at every one of them.
At least they stopped trying to take Alyssa from her.
When she convinced them to look up 'Guardians of the Galaxy' and the officers found all the news articles about the team they stopped trying to take her away. It was clear they still didn't believe Alyssa was her kid, but it was safer for everyone involved to just let Gamora hold her while everything was sorted out. And while they kept them locked in a jail cell.
The news reports on all the saving of the galaxy she did was what convinced them that letting Gamora hold her and locking them both in a jail cell was fine for now. Safe enough for the time being.
If looks could kill, though, every one of the officers outside the cell would be dead. She had a feeling they all knew that. The wise ones avoided her eyes as the most dangerous woman in the galaxy glared from inside a holding cell.
Then she heard Peter's voice, and it was like everything was okay again.
"Gamora? Gamora?"
When he turned the corner and she saw his face, Gamora knew everything was okay again. His whole face was etched in worry, obviously fearing the worst, but he sighed in relief when his eyes landed on them, safe and sound.
Well, Gamora looked a little worse for wear, but they were both safe, even though he had no clue what happened.
He immediately tried to go to them, and seemed surprised and very pissed off that their jail cell door was locked.
"Somebody open this. Now," Peter demanded, and Gamora couldn't help but smile at his familiar and comforting authoritative leader mode. The closest officer complied, nervously fumbling with the keys before he finally got the door swinging open.
Not two seconds later Peter was right there, kneeling on the floor in front of them, his arms wrapped around both of his girls as he swept them into a hug.
"What happened? Are you okay?" Peter checked them over worriedly, a quick visual inspection and also trying to feel for any injuries.
Alyssa looked fine, and she nodded up and down as he looked her over, Peter brushing her hair and checking for bumps and scratches. His jaw tensed when he saw how she had obviously been crying recently, tear streaks dried on her pale cheeks.
"There's my brave, strong girl," he said, giving her a little tickle to the side, and Alyssa giggled, squirming in her mother's lap.
"Are you okay?" Peter's question was aimed at his wife this time as he cupped her cheek that was covered in dirt. She had some scrapes on her forehead and cheek, nothing that seemed too serious, but she looked like she had been through a wringer.
"I am fine. Now," Gamora emphasized with venom, glaring at those standing outside the jail cell.
"What happened?"
"We were attacked. They tried to take Alyssa."
"And they arrested you?" He exclaimed in disbelief, very upset to see there was only one holding cell, and his family were the only ones inside it. Though he'd probably want to shoot whoever did it, so maybe it was a good thing the perpetrators weren't around at the moment. Still.
"Where are the people that attacked you? Why didn't they arrest them?"
"The ones who attacked us were the ones who arrested us, Peter," Gamora told him, and didn't have to explain it more than that. He instantly knew exactly what she meant, and pissed off didn't even begin to cover the darkened look in his eyes. Peter steeled his jaw, his expression hardening as he stood up and turned around to face their attackers.
Striding out of the jail cell, Peter left the door swinging wide open, and everyone was too afraid to close it behind him. Starlord could be a truly frightening figure when you messed with his family.
"Mommy, is everything okay now?" Alyssa whispered.
"Yeah, baby. Just gonna let your daddy handle this. He's good at this diplomat stuff," Gamora reassured her, tucking the soft wisps of hair behind her ear with a warm and gentle smile.
Alyssa beamed back, even after the scary experience, comforted by her dad's presence there now too. She knew that when her parents were together, they were unstoppable.
"What happened?" Peter's voice was sharp and low as he addressed one of the guards, the same tone he used earlier with clear cut authority- commanding and very intimidating.
Peter's eyes were downright icy as he stared the man down, and the guard nervously avoided his gaze. Instead, he read from the clipboard in front of him with a wavering voice. "Sir, the- the daughter of Thanos-"
"Gamora," Peter corrected sharply. "Her name is Gamora."
"... Gamora was seen with the Xandarian child, and all attempts at-"
"Which child?" Peter interrupted him
"That one," the guard said, almost a question, as he pointed back to Gamora and Alyssa in the jail cell. He seemed to be afraid that it was somehow a trick question, but he only had one answer anyway.
"One problem with that," Peter informed him. "That is not a Xandarian child."
"Well, it's definitely not a Zehoberi child," the guard chuckled, weak and strained, tugging at his collar. He looked around nervously for help, but all of his colleagues were very pointedly looking elsewhere- they might as well have been whistling for all they were doing to be nonchalant and not get roped into dealing with the, once again, very imposing Starlord at the moment.
"You're only half right about that. The other half is Terran."
It took a moment to register what he meant by that, but when the guard gained comprehension of it and everything implied, he started turning a little yellow, looking like he was going to be sick. "Do- do you have any proof of these claims?"
"You attack my daughter and my wife, and I have to bear the burden of proof that my daughter is my daughter?" Peter had been trying to keep his voice low, aware that Alyssa was still in the room and had been through what was most definitely a traumatic experience today, but he couldn't help raising his voice a little then. Outraged was putting it lightly.
"Uh… Yes? I mean, it's procedure, sir."
"When I got a call informing me that my wife and kid were in a jail cell, the first thought I had wasn't 'now, maybe I should bring some documentation just on the off chance someone asks me to prove my kid is my kid," he said, sardonic as hell. Peter then proceeded to pull out his communicator and shoved it in the guy's face.
Why he did this, Gamora knew, was because Peter hadn't changed the background of his communicator in ages.
The guard's eyes widened at the picture of Gamora smiling at the camera and holding a newborn baby girl that was half Terran and half Zehoberi in her arms- a baby with pale skin and light colored eyes the same as her father's. The guard looked back and forth between the picture of Gamora with a little girl in her arms and across the room at Gamora with a little girl in her arms.
"I've got four more years of pictures if that's not enough for you," Peter told him, somehow making the statement sound like a threat.
Without waiting for a response he walked back into the jail cell and Gamora stood up, still holding Alyssa as close as close could be.
"Me and my family will be leaving now," Peter announced, leaving no room for argument as he wrapped his arm around his wife.
They exited the jail cell, but before they could walk out the front door some silver dressed idiot tried to stop them. "You can't- you can't just leave," the bewildered guy spluttered.
"And why not?" Peter's fingers curled into a fist at his side, and it took all his self restraint to not just punch him. It wouldn't help to just deck the guard while they were in some foreign jail cell surrounded by 15 armed assholes. His main concern needed to be getting his family out of there. He let the bite in his tone do the punching, looking at the guy like he was just daring him to do something.
"You- she- she- two of our men have suffered permanent injuries because of her!"
"Yeah, well, that's what happens when you try and kidnap someone's kid," Peter snapped before stepping aside and leading Gamora and their daughter out the door, his arm still a protective comfort wrapped around her. Everyone let them pass.
They didn't waste anytime taking off when they got back to the ship. No way were they going to stick around even a second longer after that.
After Gamora got cleaned up, they let Alyssa play with Groot and Mantis in the kitchen as she sat Peter down in the privacy of their room to tell him the full story.
And after hearing it, he wished they were still back on the planet so he could at least punch somebody for it.
The rest of the night went without incident, and even though it was late they let Alyssa stay up a little past her bedtime and have her favorite frozen treat and watch her favorite movie.
It wasn't until her parents were tucking her into bed that night that their daughter brought it up again.
"They were calling mommy mean names today. It was scary," she said quietly, eyes wide and innocent.
"I know, baby," Gamora said, stroking her cheek. "You were so brave."
"Why did that happen?" Alyssa asked, and Gamora knew this question was coming, but she still froze.
Do they tell their daughter that her mom used to kill people's families for a living, or do they let her think that was just a random thing that happened and have her grow up being frightened that people randomly attack others for no reason?
She didn't have an answer for that.
Peter, however, did.
"They confused Mommy for a person she used to know a long time ago, and thought she was dangerous too. The important thing now is that no one's in any danger now, everybody's okay and safe, and you don't need to worry."
Gamora's heart swelled at Peter's explanation, giving him a teary eyed smile as a silent thank you.
"Is she okay? That lady Mommy used to know?" Alyssa asked, because she had a heart just like her father's.
"Yeah," he assured her. "She's doing really good now too. Just needed to be around the right influences." He winked over at Gamora at the last part, and she rolled her eyes before smiling back at him.
AN: Title has absolutely nothing to do with the story, I just had Little Bird, Little Bird by Elizabeth Mitchell stuck in my head one day, also known as that song from arguably the second saddest episode of Futurama ever (next to Jurassic Bark, of course), that plays at the end of Lethal Inspection (season 6 episode 6 - you know the one about Bender and inspector number 5, that always makes me so emotional)
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