Disclaimer: I do not own Guardians of the Galaxy, or any of the associated characters, and no profit is being made.

Summary: Yondu Udonta, on the Code, his life, and Peter Quill

Ain't Your Daddy

Yondu Udonta knew that it was against the Ravenger Code to deal in children.

He told himself that he was taking would-be orphans to their remaining parent, who had promised not to hurt them. It was a good deed, he insisted to the small part of his honour that protested the act, balancing the scales of his life a little, and profitable enough that he couldn't be accused of going soft by his crew or fellow Ravengers.

Ironic, that the deaths of those children, brought to what he believed would be a better place in an act of goodwill, weighed heavier upon him than any of his deliberate crimes. Perhaps it was true that no good deed went un-punished.

There were four children, between Yondu discovering what Ego was doing with his children and finding Peter. Four children among far too many.

Two of those, Yondu reported dead to Ego, while they went deep into hiding. Another, Ego's former lover killed personally, when she discovered the truth. The forth was executed, along with his family, when the Sovereign discovered that he was 'imperfect' and not as he had been designed.

With Peter, Yondu could no longer pretend that he wasn't breaking the code, even to himself. The Ravengers had cast him out, but Yondu had plans of his own. Instead of delivering Peter to his father and probably to his death, Yondu kept the boy, raising him as his successor.

Yondu might never be accepted by the other Ravenger Captains again, but with a new captain, perhaps his crew could return to the fold, and Yondu with them, concealed in the ranks.

He couldn't say as such, of course, not to a crew of Ravengers. A Ravenger who showed such perceived weakness didn't remain long among the living. Instead, he claimed that Peter would be useful, able to fit where grown men could not. Good for stealing, even if he was merely a Terran.

It didn't take Yondu long to realise that he had absolutely no idea of how to raise a child, even one as precocious as Peter. Yondu had been sold to the Arena by his parents too young to have any knowledge of how parents should act, his only examples in his trainers and owners.

Threats of eating Peter, insisting that he earn his way, harsh punishment interspaced with tiny moments of affection and praise when they were alone… that was the only way of child-rearing that Yondu knew.

Well, who could have expected that raising a free-born child with memories of a loving home could be so difficult? Certainly Yondu hadn't.

Peter Quill was a scrappy little thing, quick to start a fight and just as quick to finish one. He learned quickly in whatever he turned his hand or mind to, and had a knack for adapting to any situation. That bred arrogance, arrogance that Yondu had to stamp out before Peter mouthed off to the wrong person and got himself killed.

It backfired, and Peter left the Ravenger Crew, left Yondu, behind. He made his own family, and Yondu tried to pretend that it didn't hurt him.

Yondu was far from being a good man, and even further from being a good parent, but he still cared.

Besides, Peter was useful, as Yondu had always known he would be.

.

.

.

.

A/N: I absolutely loved the Yondu storyline in GotG2, but that didn't make Yondu a saint, and I honestly think that it cheapens his character to pretend that he was a good man. Does he have a few soft spots and deeply value his identity as a Ravenger Captain? Absolutely! Does this make him a hero in slightly grubby armor? Absolutely not!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story, and constructive criticism is always welcome. I'm a casual fan of the comics at best, so my knowledge of the backstory outside of the movies is very sketchy. Corrections are very welcome.

For those following my other stories, I'm working on several of them now, but my creative juices are still recovering from finishing Red Riding Hood and the Stalker, now available through Amazon under the pen-name Natasja Rose, and a frankly exhausting work schedule in an industry that is under appreciated and under paid, but personally rewarding.