After they limped back to Nova space, the Guardians were overwhelmed by the reports coming in from all sectors of the galaxy. Terrifying forces had appeared in so many places, consuming and destroying everything they touched, threatening to engulf whole cities, nations, planets. Until suddenly it had stopped. All of it. Simultaneously on hundreds of different world light years apart, the threat had ceased then crumbled to dust.

Nova Prime had to see the evidence straight from the chronometer on what was left of Yondu's ship before she could believe the Guardians had anything to do with it. But it seemed the danger had been linked to the Celestial named Ego. And in defeating him, the Guardians had once again saved untold billions. The widespread chaos had stopped at the precise moment the ship's sensors registered the destruction of the planet that was Ego.

Nova mechanics offered to duplicate Quill's beloved Milano but he knew it wouldn't be the same. He'd retrofitted that ship so much, it couldn't possibly be reproduced and even if it could it wouldn't feel the same. It might look the same or fly the same but it would be hollow of memories. Peter just didn't have the energy right now to pull the wreckage of the original Milano off the planet it had crashed on to repair it. Since it had been destroyed trying to escape with stolen items rather than in the defense of the galaxy, Nova forces hadn't offered to help with THAT.

He settled for letting them repair the Third Quadrant and upgrade a bunch of its systems. The fragment of the former ship wasn't much but it was all he really had left of anything that connected him to Yondu. He had grown up on this old boat with Yondu as Captain and right now that counted for more than any shiny new ship.

When all upgrades and repairs were complete and Peter started making noise about leaving Xandar, Nova Prime seemed happy to see the back of them. She would never cease being grateful to them; she had family on 3 of the affected planets. But things were in such a state of chaos in the aftermath that there simply was no time for celebrating the heroes right now. And sometimes the Guardians got in the way of the clean-up process. They were eager to help but not trained in triage, or damage mitigation, or infrastructure management or frankly anything that was useful after the ass-kicking part was over with.

Peter did not need a neon sign to show him the door. He fired up the drive as soon as the Quadrant (they really needed to come up with a name for this hunk of space junk) made orbit and pointed them at the nearest jump point. Slapping on the autopilot, he turned to his friends.

"Where to, guys?"

It took a while to hash that one out. Where to go? Some people were in favor of joining relief efforts. Others, namely Rocket, wanted to hightail it where they wouldn't get conscripted by Nova Corp. He didn't want Prime to start thinking the Guardians were some hired goon-squad she could just order around. Surprisingly it was Drax who settled the matter with a compromise.

He had been on the infonet learning more about the widespread damage Ego has caused before Peter ended him. Drax's first concern was for the planet of his birth. Though his wife and child were dead, he still had blood there. He hadn't been in contact with any of them since he began his quest for venganc against Ronan. He was relieved to learn his planet was untouched by Ego's monstrosity. Relieved but not surprised. Women of his world would never fall for such a paunchy, soft being as the Celestial. A rival planet was not so wise in its females and his people had been able to conquer it in the ensuing confusion.

His own concerns satisfied, Drax regarded his friends for a moment before tapping new queries into his tablet. Quite gently. His fingers were infamous as deadly weapons.

"Friend Quill" Drax spoke up moments later, interrupting Peter and Gamora's argument over the merits of beaches with purple-pink sands versus jungles lush and verdant with sentient vines.

"I believe i know where we may be of assistance."

Drax passed over his tablet. The bulletin was about Terra. Earth. It was on the list of affected planets. Because it was a jerkwater world in the ass-end of beyond, no one really cared about it. There was no information beyond confirmation of the fact that Earth HAD suffered casualties and damage. No numbers, no details, no further facts. Peter was a little surprised anyone had bothered to write up and send the meager report to begin with. But Earth, man…. he'd never stopped to worry about his home planet.

Wow. Yeah, of course he knew intellectually that Earth had been touched by Ego. The overconfident man had said so, had spelled out every last detail of his big plan for universal domination. Like a cliche movie villain or something. Peter just… kinda forgot to think about it in the middle of everything. What with his planet-father exploding around him while his true daddy died and all.

Shit. How bad were things? Earth didn't have the technology the rest of the galaxy had. The affected Nova Empire planets would be cleaned up and back to normal within 2 months. Terrans didn't even know aliens existed before this; there could be panic in the streets! Suddenly Peter wasn't ready just yet to set aside his incredibly heroic Guardian role by swooping in and saving Earth from itself.

"I'll plot a course and get us flying." he said.

Peter passed the tablet to Gamora in response to the questions in her eyes. Then he took took the steps to the bridge at a run.

"Well, there it is." Peter swallowed as he stared out the viewer at his homeworld below. He hoped his team couldn't see the nerves that had suddenly dried his throat. "Terra. Also known as Earth. In all its pale blue glory"

Gamora's purposeful stride to the landing transport was halted by Peter's "Whoa, whoa, hold on a minute."

She crossed her arms and looked at him expectantly.

"You guys aren't Earth-norm and the locals around here ain't exactly enlightened about extraterrestrials. Green ladies and taking trees walking around is gonna cause chaos." Peter said. First thing they needed was some reconnaissance.

"You are the only human among us, Quill. Was your plan that we would sit here on the ship while you alone get shore leave?" Gamora asked.

"What? No! Not at all! I mean, I didn't exactly have a plan on how to deal with this before we got here…" sensing his companions displeasure he hastened to reassure them. "But I can totally come up with one now, how about that? Hmm?"

Peter brainstormed furiously. All his skills of improvisation and persuasion were needed now. They came in handy for a conman and Peter was a good conman.

"Disguises!" He cried with a snap of his fingers. "See? Easy. I'll head to the surface, throw some units around, and come back with everything we need to help you guys blend in."

Drax and Gamora looked unimpressed. Rocket could tell they were not optimistic there was anything to be had to make them look human enough to pass with skin that color. What was he gonna do, paint 'em? And what was Peter's half-assed plan for hiding fur and bark?

"Tell you what. I will make a supply run while I'm there and stock us up on the best Terran delicacies and intoxicants. My treat."

Peter knew the persuasive power of food and alcohol when it came to his friends and they grudgingly capitulated, not having many options anyway. He was going to need help lugging all that shit around though. Unless he got lucky enough to find a really good parking spot to hide the small cloaked transport, he'd probably have to hike into town. No grav field manipulation technology on Terra yet either so a cargo sled was out.

The members of the team were spread around him. Kraglin looked human enough. He would have been the obvious choice to come along but his new fan was going to attract way too much attention and way too many questions. And Kraglin knew how to handle the ship the best of any of them and Peter wanted him at the stick in case of surprises. Like more genocidal maniacs or genocidal gods.

Also, he had seen Kraglin on shore leaves. The man was menace in even the rowdiest port of call. Peter didn't have much faith he could find a place on Terra with a bar Kraglin couldn't drink dry or with enough prostitute to please the man. He wasn't inflicting that on his homeworld. Earth had been through enough.

That only left one person…

Peter rummage around before he spotted just the thing he was looking for and brought it over to Mantis who was standing back from the group, looking too shy to participate or ask questions. No one had bothered to explain to her the significance of where they were. Peter shook out the hat he had found and offered it to her.

Mantis only blinked her confusion at the bundle of black fabric.

"Oh, for-" Rocket sighed testily, stalking over. "She ain't no mindreader, you d'ast idjit."

He snagged the cap from Peter. "Prolly never even worn a hat in her life." he grumbled as he climbed up Peter to perch on his shoulder.

Quill bite his lip at the sharp claws scratching him but didn't wince. Those claws would grip a lot harder if he made Rocket lose his balance. But Peter clearly wasn't getting out of his with his dignity intact because Rocket cuffed him upside the back of the head to urge him forward. When he was close enough to reach, Rocket leaned over to pull the hat onto Mantis. One paw had to gently lay her antennae back against her head so they didn't get bent. The cool glide of her soft hair against his sensitive paw tickled for a moment before the hat was on.

It was a bit big but rolling the extra fabric helped disguise the lump of her antennae. When she looked to Rocket for affirmation, he gave her a nod before leaping to the floor. Mantis beamed at his approval. Creepy smile aside, he thought, she looked plenty like a humie to pass just fine. Assuming Quill could manage to keep her out of trouble.

"There, see?" Peter was turning back to the group. "We'll pick her up a pair of sunglasses and thats one disguise taken care of, no problem. We'll be back soon!"

Peter grabbed Mantis by the elbow and steered her to the transport hangar before the others could respond.

The first thing Quill did when they hit atmo was direct his cloaked ship to his old hometown. Ego had planted the seed of destruction there while courting his mom. The town had taken the hit when everything went to hell.

Ground zero was like a blast zone without an actual crater. Black husks littered the ground, crushed, burned and mostly consumed by the plant-turned-energy force that was an extension of Ego himself. Everything was covered with a dark film that Peter didn't want to know if it was ash or grime or something worse. From the air, the contrast between the damaged area and the untouched streets was jarring.

But the sharpest contrast was actually the people he saw from above. Sure there were plenty of clean up crews at work, police forces blocking off affected areas, but most people moved around the destruction as if it didn't bother them. Everything seemed to be… fine. These people didn't need a Guardian to save the day. There was no riot in the streets, no scream of sirens or wail of voices picked up by exterior sensors. This world too seemed to have moved on since the day Ego left existence. Everyone went about their lives, driving their cars, walking their dogs, doing their shopping.

Speaking of… Peter circled until he spotted a large shopping mart people were streaming in and out of. Perfect, a crowd to blend in to. Not far away they found a small wooded copse nestled in a residential area. They parked the cloaked ship there and went to buy their supplies.

Peter moved with confidence, grabbing a wheeled basket and pushing it through the doors to lead her inside as if he had been here a hundred times. He paused by a display near the front and casually examined the products before selecting a dark-colored headset to place on her. He had seemed so assured that Mantis was surprised when his fingers brushed her temple and she felt his nervousness. That nervous-confused-nostalgic-sentimental anxiety that she could feel him trying to smother with pride and cockiness.

Peter stepped back and waved Mantis to a mirror so she could see her reflection wearing the sunglasses he had chosen for her. She had no standard by which to judge what she was seeing. The glasses she wore didn't stand out as being different from the others in the display. If Peter felt they were necessary, she had no objections to wearing them. She turned back to him.

"Looks good." He said with a satisfied nod. It would do to cover her big dark eyes. "Keep 'em on. If you lose 'em, keep your head down and don't make eye contact with anyone."

Peter pushed their basket and set off down the first aisle he spotted, not really paying attention to what was it in. Everything was labelled and he'd never forgotten how to read Terran, but the walkways between the shelves were so crowded with people and their baskets and their kids and their stopping in the middle of everything to impede foot traffic that Peter was getting antsy already. Quarters tended to be cramped in ships and stations, Peter was used to stuff like this. Being crowded usually didn't bother him.

But being home on Earth, surrounded by everything so vaguely familiar yet wildly unfamiliar… suddenly Peter wanted nothing more than a few moments back on his own well-known Milano, alone. He marched down the aisle, ignoring the items around him, intent on putting space between himself and the main press of people. He drew to a halt near the end of the aisle, his hands gripping the handle of the shopping cart tightly. Peter noticed his knuckles were white just as he noticed Mantis catch up and come to stand beside him. She hesitated for a moment before ghosting a light touch over the back of one hand.

It was so fleeting and gentle but it was also relief. Like a whisper of a breeze on a hot day. Peter's emotions eased back from the verge of an anxiety attack to settle into the comfortably familiar territory of that nervous-but-eager anticipation for an adventure. Quill hadn't been too crazy about the idea of this skinny bug girl being able to control people's emotions. But he had to give it to her: she had picked a particularly useful and un-invasive (also un-embarrassing) way to demonstrate her powers this time. Peter was starting to think she'd come in real handy as a Guardian of the Galaxy after all.

Peter took a moment to surreptitiously scan a shopping list on his had seen plenty of people using various sized devices, but his was just different enough to attract attention they didn't need or want right now.

Mantis took the chance to examine the items around her. The shelf was lined with toys, colorful toys made soft materials and bright colors. The ones before her were shaped like animals. Others further down the shelf looked like people or objects or odd blobs she could not identify.

"What is the purpose of this item?" she asked.

"Hmm? Oh they are teddy bears, for kids." Peter's explanation did little to clear up Mantis' confused expression.

"Toys for children?" She knew of toys, of course. But Ego had entertained his children with his powers; she had never seen a child at play with a toy. How were they used?

"Mostly. Though plenty of adults i know still have toys." Yondu's collection came to Peter's mind. It had starred a trend among some of the crew. A number of Ravagers had adopted little personal mascots of their own. "They are kinda comfort items more than toys to be played with. You cuddle with them when you feel sad or scared, sleep with them when you feel lonely. They help you feel better and make you smile, I guess."

Peter told her about the small bear that had been in his pack when he'd left earth. How it had worn out within a couple months under the duress of a small boy's grief and constant fear. About the menagerie of stuffed animals he had begun to accrue when his mom first got sick. Concerned family and friends bringing him gifts to comfort and distract him.

Mantis turned back to the display, examining the different furry creatures until Peter, on his way to the next aisle, called back at her to keep up.

They made their quickly way through the store, Peter piling items into the cart haphazardly until it was overfull. Double checking the list as they made their way back to the front, he glanced at Mantis.

"That should do it, lets roll out." he said. But Mantis was gazing down an aisle. "Was there anything you wanted to get while we are here?"

Mantis startled and looked at him. She had not considered purchasing anything for herself. She explained that all her needs were currently met. She had food and clothing and a place to sleep, the resources on board the ship were for all to share if they needed to use them. Ego had never encouraged her to acquire personal items.

"Well, you don't live with Ego anymore. You should have something that belongs just to you, no one else." Peter had never seen any sign that Mantis owned anything other than the clothes on her back. "Besides, we did put some of that 'gratitude gift' from Nova into an account for you. You helped stopped Ego so you deserve some of the take. You have your own units now. You can do whatever you want."

She gazed silently at Peter for a long moment. Her gaze was full of expression but it was hard to read with the glasses covering those eyes that shined her emotions out like a deep-space beacon.

Just to be given the gift of owning something of her own, and being allowed to choose it, was enough to overwhelm her. But to be given such financial independence meant respect, and it meant freedom! Mantis had to work to keep her breath from hitching. Her new friends were so kind to her.

When she lived with Ego, sometimes she would keeps small items in her room. A shiny pebble she had found on a rare trip off world, or a scrap of fabric in a pretty color from an outfit Ego had discarded. They made for poor treasures though, and they tended to disappear eventually as Ego constantly shifted and rebuilt his surface features. Mantis knew anything she placed in her quarters on the Quadrant would be left there by her companions. It would be known to be hers and hers only and they would respect that. They would respect her, as a person.

Not wanting to give in to tears in this strange alien market, Mantis gave Peter a stiff nod before she turned and marched down the first aisle they had entered. Peter fiddled with the doodad Rocket had designed to override the unit-chip readers on this planet. He didn't exactly had local currency on him, but if there was an electronic payment system in existence Rocket couldn't hack, Quill would be surprised. When Mantis returned to his side, he looked up to see if she was ready to go.

And broke into a wide grin.

She stood there with a large stuffed animal clutched to her chest, making the innocent woman look like a 13 year old girl. She looked unsure until she saw Peter's genuine smile, which she hesitantly returned. They set off to pay for their items while Mantis cuddled her very first toy, nuzzling her face into the faux fur of the plush raccoon.