Chapter 1: Bound
Peter stirred in his sleep.
His dreams weren't always this somber. Usually they involved him jet-setting across the galaxy, being even more of a hero than he already was. He dreamt of hot alien babes and crazier alien monsters. Tonight, his mind imagined something far different.
Peter dreamt of Ronan.
The Kree was definitely not the hot alien babe he wanted to be dreaming of. In this dream, Ronan appeared just like he was the last time Peter had seen him: his body was cracking and dissolving into the purple light of the Stone.
Why would he dream of this? Ronan was dead and he had been glad of it. He had no reason to still be thinking of the Kree radical.
Ronan stared at Peter blankly. Even in Peter's dreams, the alien still looked haughty and above him. Peter would do anything to wipe that smug look off of Ronan's face: perhaps this would be a pleasant dream.
"Have you come to laugh at me, Terran?" Ronan's voice broke out, his body still splitting and fading into the haze around him. Peter was surprised that the man didn't scream.
"I don't think there's anything left of you to laugh at." He didn't even know why he tried talking to Ronan. His dreams had never been this lucid.
"I am not dead yet." Ronan continued glaring Peter down.
"Why am I dreaming of you? Can't you transform into someone sexier? Even Nebula would be an improvement."
Peter laughed, imagining what a dream about Nebula would be like. One second, she could kiss him and with another, she would slit his throat. Now, that would have been a fun dream...
"Who ever said you were dreaming?"
"Me."
"As always, you are an idiot." Ronan huffed.
Peter stared at the Kree, confused. "You're dead, Ronan."
"I may not know what this is right now...but I am surely not dead."
"You are dead and I'm dreaming. Soon, I'll either wake up or have another, much more fun dream."
"And here I thought spending time with me was fun." Ronan bit out, sarcastically. Peter was shocked that the Kree had any sense of humor let alone an emotion that wasn't bloodthirsty anger.
"You're playing tricks on me...I mean my mind is playing tricks on me. Whatever." He didn't even know how to make sense of this conversation. He really needed to lay off of the junk food before sleeping.
"Quit babbling at me, Terran."
"You're dead, Ronan. I can talk and do whatever I want in my dreams." Peter spoke, annoyed.
"Then do whatever you want. Free me from this." Ronan's voice was as cold and confident as always, but with a slight hint of begging. It was shocking.
"I will prove to you that this is a dream..." Peter wondered why he was even trying to prove this to Ronan. The Kree was just a subject in his dreams: he might as well be talking to himself. "By freeing you."
Ronan's eyes no longer stared at him blankly. Instead, they looked almost devilishly at him. Peter stepped closer to the Kree, not knowing what to do.
"Free me, Terran."
Something compelled him: maybe it was the words of the dark, alluring Accuser. This dream stopped feeling lucid; he didn't even know what his body was doing anymore. Instinctively, his hands grabbed Ronan, trying to pull the dissolving body. He didn't even know why he was doing this: it's not like there was anywhere to pull Ronan to.
Suddenly, Ronan's body stopped dissolving into the purple glow around them. The cracks on the villain's skin began to seal themselves, leaving no sign that anything that happened. All that stood left in this plane was Peter holding onto Ronan's body. The Kree eyed him strangely.
"You might be beneath me, but I will not forget this."
With that, the dream ended and everything dissolved to black.
Peter woke, panting. He remember that dream down to the finest detail of the purple haze and Ronan's body. It was silly, pointless dream. He needed to forget it.
He pushed back the covers, shuffling out of his room. Peter was tired and the only thing his body could concentrate on now was food. He hoped that something good was left in the kitchen: his friends had taken to eating most of it. They were amazed at anything he made, especially his crude attempts at making food from his home. Somehow, they even enjoyed his hamburgers cooked from alien wildlife. It gave the meat...a special spice to say the least.
Out of the corner of Peter's eye, he saw a brief flash of blue.
He didn't really know what he had seen, but he might as well follow the direction of it. Peter walked throughout the ship, trying to find out where it had come from, but to no avail. Eventually, he found his way to the kitchen. There was nothing blue in sight, only Drax.
"Star-Lord," Drax spoke. The Destroyer no longer mocked his codename.
"Drax...what are you up to? Destroying my fridge no doubt." He just couldn't resist. Drax was too easy for any joke that involved destroying things.
"I have destroyed beings far greater than a mere...fridge."
"Like a toaster?" He pretended to be serious, raising an eyebrow.
"I have slain armies, Star-Lord."
"So...a drawer full of silverware too?"
"You are as clueless as always." Drax smirked. Peter was still amazed just how friendly he had become with Drax.
Once again, Peter saw a blue figure off to the distance. It was only for a brief second: he couldn't even recognize the person's features. He wondered if he had even seen it, but Peter had a gut feeling about that dangerous flash of blue.
"Is there anyone else on the ship?"
"I don't know what you're asking, Star-Lord."
"Someone that isn't part of the team?" Peter didn't even know what he was asking. He didn't want to scare Drax.
Drax looked at him confused. "It's just us."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Have you been drinking?"
"No. It might be a surprise, but I can handle being sober...for a few more minutes." Peter laughed.
"Then I am surprised. There is no on else on this ship."
"No one...blue?" His question was dead-serious, but so ridiculous at the same time. This time, Drax couldn't help but laugh.
"I think that you are 'seeing things', Star-Lord."
"Since when did you learn idioms?"
"I have learned much since my time here." Drax spoke, sounding proud of himself.
"But seriously...have you seen anyone blue around?" Peter really needed to get to the bottom of this. He knew he had seen something.
"Do you think Nebula has somehow snuck aboard the ship?"
"No..." Peter might not have known what the blue being was, but he sensed it wasn't Nebula. This something...this someone was different.
"Then you are seeing things. I had a pretend friend when I was a child."
Peter smiled at the thought. Drax as a child let alone having an imaginary friend was hilarious. He wondered just how cute Drax had been as a kid. Surely, there existed baby photos somewhere out there in the galaxy to embarrass his friend.
"It's an imaginary friend." He tried correcting Drax.
"I'm glad that you have named your blue friend, but mine was pretend friend."
"No...you don't call it a 'pretend friend.' It's called an imaginary friend." Drax might be learning, but he still could be just so dense. What kind of name was 'imaginary friend' or 'pretend friend'? Creativity certainly wasn't the Destroyer's strong suit.
"I still have much to learn." Drax gave him a small smile.
Peter tried staying focused. "But I really have seen someone blue."
"There are no Kree aboard this ship, Star-Lord."
"Kree..." Peter's voice broke out.
Suddenly, his mind went back to that dream. There were no Kree aboard this ship, but Peter had dreamt of a Kree. The idea was ridiculous. Ronan could not be here.
"I think you need rest." Drax looked at him. Peter was glad his friend wasn't treating him like he was crazy. He hadn't locked him up yet.
"That's exactly what I need." The only Kree he had seen was in his dreams. He might as well return to sleep and hopefully figure this all out.
Once sleep finally hit him, Peter didn't see the purple haze of the Stone surrounding Ronan. Instead, there was only darkness surrounding the Kree.
"You're just a dream." Peter spoke, trying to make himself believe his words.
"If you say so, but I doubt you would come back here if you believed it." Ronan didn't look as angry as before. If anything, the alien looked amused. It worried Peter even more than seeing an angry Ronan.
"Then what's going on?"
"Would you believe me if I didn't fully know?" Ronan grinned.
"But you know something."
"I always know something, Terran."
"Just tell me. I freed you...in this dream...whatever thing...I don't know." He stuttered.
Ronan gave him another smug look. "Eloquent as always."
"Tell me what's going on." Peter looked at Ronan, the worry obvious on his face.
"The Stone did this."
He wanted to shout, but bit it back. Peter needed to stay calm. "The Stone killed you."
"So I thought so too." Ronan said, almost understandingly. It was the nicest that Peter or probably anyone had ever seen the intergalactic killer.
"Did you appear on the ship?"
"You saw that?" It was Ronan's turn to look surprised.
"Drax thought I had an imaginary friend."
"At least he doesn't think you're insane...yet." Ronan teased.
"Just tell me what's going on with us and the Stone."
"Fine. The Stone seems to have bound me to you, Star-Lord."
"What?"
"I'm bound to you. I tried manifesting myself physically in your ship...but I'm still weak."
"I don't understand how anything of this is possible."
"That makes two of us."
"You should be dead..." For a second, Peter believed that saying those words would dispel the dream and end this conversation. He wanted to go back to a life where Ronan wasn't alive...or whatever he currently was.
"My life is tied to yours."
"Like marriage? I really need to stop drinking if I suddenly wake up with a bond to a intergalactic villain. Or file for a divorce."
"I know you find this amusing, but I do not."
"I doubt that...you seemed quite eager to have me get close to you in my last dream, hubby." Peter just couldn't help himself.
"Terran..." Ronan tried sounding menacing.
If the Kree's words were true, Peter knew that he couldn't harm him. They were bound together...whatever that meant.
"You can't harm me."
He spoke, the disappointment clear, "I can't..."
"I bet you also can't go back to your quest for revenge and taking over planets."
"...I can't...probably." Ronan paused, not wanting to admit it.
"Our bond...marriage thing has really mellowed you out. It's practically tamed you."
"I might not be able to kill you, Star-Lord, but once I can start manifesting again I will harm you. Severely." Ronan glared: the only thing he could do.
"You no longer have the Stone or your armies. I bet the worst you could do is a slap."
"Like this?" Ronan clenched his hand into a fist, trying to hit Peter. The human dodged.
"We're already having our first lover's quarrel." Peter really enjoyed Ronan like this.
"I hate this. I despise you."
"I bet you secretly just love me..." He smiled, enjoying how easy it was to embarrass a powerless Ronan. This weird bond thing might actually be worth it just for that.
Finally, Peter woke from his second dream of Ronan. He really should not have enjoyed teasing the villain. It was just too much fun despite how completely wrong it was.
Peter knew he should be telling his teammates immediately and find a way out of this. Ronan would always be dangerous even if he couldn't kill Peter...or so he had said.
"I can't kill you now, but I will find a way." Ronan's voice boomed within Peter's head.
"You can't be serious. You're even talking to me in my mind now?"
"We are bound together."
"You don't even know what this bond fully means."
"No, but I will find out and destroy it, along with you and your team of runts."
"You're just excited to meet your husband's friends..." He teased, inwardly laughing at the anger he felt from Ronan.
Peter wondered just what would happen if he told the team. They would either think him crazy or believe him. The worse option might be if they believed him, because he doubted his team and especially Gamora wouldn't just kill him if it meant killing Ronan. Peter needed to remove the bond without the team ever knowing.
His life might depend on him destroying the bond: exactly what Ronan wanted. Although it was faint, Peter could sense the Kree laughing in his head.
AN: Is anyone interested in this pairing?