Guardians of the Galaxy is one of my favourite films ever, and I loved the sequel (even if I cried a little bit…. Okay, a lot), however my favourite pairing of Kragdu doesn't have much of a fic-base… so I decided to expand it.

This series will mostly revolve around Peter and his OC brother getting raised by the grumpy duo, so the Guardians won't make an interest until much further on in the series.

I hope you enjoy it, and please read and review ?

…

Rhydian and Peter grunted and panted as they ran through the thick jungle grass, leaping over fallen tree and sliding through mud (or at least, they hoped it was mud).

They couldn't be caught.

Leaping over crevices and vaulting over rocks, the pair rolled and jumped to try and keep one step ahead of their pursuer.

From behind them, they could hear the one sound nobody really wanted to hear, causing them to increase their speed in a desperate bid for freedom.

As the sound got closer, the pair spotted a large tree and clambered up it, choosing to leap from branch to branch… until the last branch they landed on, cracked and broke away from the main tree.

Despite there being no injuries, Rhydian and Peter struggled to get to their feet… which proved to be a deadly mistake. Before they could start running again, there was a sudden, sharp pressure on the back of Rhydian's neck, and a blaster at Peter's.

"Bang…. Ye two are now dead."

Sheathing his blaster and arrow, Yondu cuffed the children around the back of their heads.

"Pathetic."

Peter frowned at this, "If that branch hadn't of broken, we would totally have made it!"

"But you didn't, and now yer both dead. If you don't learn to escape all proper like, then ye can kiss yer pretty faces good- PETER! Stop scratching yer head."

"But it itches!"

A couple of weeks ago, Peter had gone through a painful injection in order to have a universal translator chip implanted within him…. Peter hadn't stopped crying for hours afterwards.

As the trio walked back towards the ship, Rhydian tugged on his Father's coat and then gestured to the trees.

"Hmmmm…. Trees are an alright idea. More cover, but yer more likely to get injured…. As you two realise by now."

"We just picked the wrong tree!" exclaimed Peter.

"It was a dead tree brat!"

"Well how were we meant to know it was a dead tree?!"

"Didn't ye see the vines all around it?! Any tree with creepers like that, is either dead or close to it. These are things ye gotta know."

Peter rolled his eyes, chuckling as Rhydian made blah, blah, blah motions with his hand. "Yeah…" Peter grinned, "… but if that branch hadn't of broke, we would have made it!"

Yondu stopped in his tracks at this, pinching the bridge of his nose in between his eyes and sighed. "I know ye weren't born a pirate, but can't ye act like one?"

"Rhydian was born a pirate, and he got caught as well!"

Shaking his head, Yondu sighed. "Rhydian… Rhydian weren't born a pirate kid… far from it."

…..Flashback…..

"I hate this place…" Kraglin muttered under his breath, shuffling closer towards Yondu as he glared at approaching slavers, "… some of these kids can't be any older than fifteen!"

Yondu, who was trying to force his own memories back, nodded. "I know… but we gotta contract to uphold. Rare emeralds, for ten thousand units…. We'll just have to deal with it."

Kraglin clearly wasn't happy about this, but chose to remain silent… until he spotted something out of the corner of his eye.

He didn't want to leave Yondu's side…. Not after the last time they visited this damned planet.

And then he caught the movement again. This time, it appeared as though it was a small child.

Grabbing Yondu's sleeve, and ignoring the other man's protests, Kraglin raced over to where he had seen the child. As they rounded a corner, running into an alleyway, they heard a low growling noise.

"Over here…" whispered Kraglin, edging towards a dumpster.

"No way! So you can get killed by some wild animal?!"

"Ssssshhhh… it's not an animal."

Overwhelmed by curiosity, Yondu went to stand by his first mate, only to frown in concern. Huddled by the side of the dumpster, was a small toddler.

The child was dressed in a ragged tunic, an electronic collar beeping around his neck as it clutched a small loaf of bread. Covered in dirt, with cracked fingernails, shaggy long brown hair and yellowing teeth (what few he had), the child growled at them once again.

"Fuckin' hell…" Yondu hissed, watching as the toddler shuffled away from them and began tearing large chunks of bread away from the main loaf, shoving them into his mouth as he kept distrustful eyes on the two Ravager's, "… he's a &&**()&."

Recognising the clicks and whistles for what they were, Kraglin's eyes widened in shock. "I thought that planet specialised in Assassins…. Not slave trade."

"That's only one side of their… business. The other side is sex slaves. Unless yer rich, ye either become a sex toy or an Assassin… looks like this brat's parents made that choice for 'im."

Kraglin winced at this.

Due to his own experiences, Yondu had a burning hatred for any parents who would do that to a child, often believing that if a parent was struggling, they should give their child to someone trusted, not a slaver.

"What are we going to do?" asked the first mate, "We can't leave him here."

"Do ye wanna pick him up?"

Glancing back at the growling child, Kraglin winced. "Not really… d ye have any strong gloves?"

"None that would keep those teeth from scarring yer pretty skin."

"The slow approach it is."

In disbelief, Yondu watched as his first mate crouched low to the ground and held out a hand, plastering a gentle smile on his face.

"Hey…" whispered the first mate, "… we're not gonna hurt ye… we can give ye more food if ye want?"

The child just glared at him, holding his obviously stolen bread close to his chest.

"Please… what's yer name?"

The child held up five fingers, relaxing slightly.

"Five? Yer name is five?"

The child nodded, before tearing off another chunk of bread and shoving it in his mouth. In dismay, Kraglin turned to Yondu, "He don't have a real name?"

Yondu shrugged, "He's a slave… who gives a slave a name. Maybe when he got old enough to be… used, his owner would have given him a name. Somethin' pretty."

"That's disgustin'!"

"That's the life of a slave."

The child continued to watch them suspiciously, frowning as he watched the first mate shake his head.

Sighing, Kraglin tried not to think too much about the child's future and shuffled closer, resisting the urge to smile when the child only tilted his head in curiosity.

"Ye look really cold..." Kraglin whispered, shrugging off his poncho, "… yer legs are turnin' blue."

Slowly, he scooped the child up in the poncho and wrapped him up, flinching slightly as the child began growling again. "It's okay, everything's okay."

The toddler was clearly not convinced, as he started to furiously wriggle in Kraglin's arms. Simply tightening his grip, Kraglin turned to his Captain. "What should we do? We can't take him to his owner, right?"

"If he's out here, scrounging for scraps like this, then he's probably not got an owner…. Not anymore."

"Ye mean… he was just thrown away?"

"Or escaped. So, someone might be looking for him."

As they headed back out into the streets, Yondu covered the toddler's face with the rest of the poncho, narrowly avoiding being bitten. "Keep that there until ye get back to the ship. If anyone is lookin' for him, then I don' want ye bein' grabbed along with him."

Kraglin resisted the urge to smile at his Captain's concern, knowing that Yondu would only try to brush it off as not wanting to train another first mate. "Where are ye goin'?"

"I'm gonna uphold the contract. I ain't losing that many units because of some growlin' brat."

Before Kraglin could reply, Yondu stormed off in the opposite direction. As he and the child walked back to the ship, Kraglin glanced down at the growling bundle. "What do I call ye I wonder…" he mused, "… 'cause I ain't callin' ye Five. That ain't happenin'."

He thought to himself for a few more moments, "How about… Rhydian?"

****End Flashback****

Looking back at the memory, Yondu couldn't help but smile.

Yes, he'd been annoyed when he'd found out that Kraglin had named the brat, therefore showing that he'd grown attached, but after a few weeks of trying to get the toddler settled in, Yondu realised that having a child around wasn't the worst thing in the world.

As they entered the clearing where the ship was parked, Yondu watched as the two children ran towards Kraglin, leaping at him as Peter babbled eagerly.

Silently, Yondu watched as his first mate nodded along with what they were saying, smiling as the pair started to act it out.

"Alright, alright!" Kraglin laughed, "I think cook has your dinner ready… and possibly some cake?"

The pair whooped at this, and sped into the ship, pushing each other in the side as they fought to be first onboard. Once they were out of earshot, Kraglin walked over to Yondu, frowning at the weary look on his Captain's face.

"How did they do?" he asked.

"… I caught them. They got a little bit further, but they're still falling short."

Kraglin frowned at the tone of Yondu's voice, "They are only six or seven… very few children know how to live in the wild and escape captivity."

"Maybe more should know." Yondu sighed, his eyes focusing on an unseen point, probably remembering his own experiences at that age… there were probably many unsuccessful attempts to escape back then.

"Maybe then, there'll be more freedom."