Disclaimer: I don't own Guardians of the Galaxy, and knowing my luck, I never will. All rights go to Marvel.


It was an accident! Anyone could see that! Rocket would never deliberately aim a blaster at Groot's arm, blasting it into bits and causing him a ridiculous amount of pain, no matter what Drax said. His tail nudged it while he was fixing the wiring of the ship, and he had absolutely no idea it was loaded!

Yeah, well, maybe the fact that Groot was missing an arm was kinda his fault, but at least it wasn't permanent! Groot was a plant, for crying out loud! He could grow it back! But it was still deemed to his fault, so he had to be the one to clean up the debris of twigs left over from the fiasco. Oh, and he had to help Groot with all the two-handed things he usually did until his arm grew back. So, not long. It had only happened a half-hour ago, and there were already a few twiggy tendrils growing and twisting themselves around each other.

"Stupid Star-Lord," Rocket muttered, sweeping up the array of twigs that had been left behind. "Stupid Groot, saying he needs help with stuff now. He's eight feet tall and he's a plant! It'll grow back, you big baby! As if losing an arm will actually mean anything to the guy!"

As he swept up the twigs, he came across a particularly long, thick on that must have been one of Groot's fingers before it got blown off. That was when Rocket had an idea. Sure, the others might say it was mean and Rocket was just rubbing salt into the wound now, but Rocket wanted to have this moment to tell them all where to shove their stupid rules. So he found a plant pot filled with soil (he had no idea how long that had been there) unceremoniously shoved the severed finger inside and watered it.

"Screw all of you," Rocket muttered under his breath, as he left the severed plant finger to grow.

And then he forgot about it.


Rocket is an expert on making and using weapons. In his life, he has also designed some of his own weapons. However, despite having a plant for a best friend, Rocket knew very little about plants. He had no idea that Groot's finger would act as a plant cutting and end up growing a brand new, hopelessly adorable baby Groot.

But it did.

"I am in so much trouble when Quill finds out about this," Rocket muttered a week later, staring at the tiny baby plant that was busy dancing inside its little plant pot. "Good thing you're a plant and you don't need food. Our food bill is high enough with Drax living with us."

"I am Groot? (Who are you talking to in there?)" Groot asked, sticking his head in the gap. When he saw his friend standing over an infantile version of him, he almost fainted. The younger plant was delighted to see an older, wiser member of its species and assumed that Groot was his father. (From now on, they shall be called Baby Groot and Groot Senior to stop any confusion.)

"I am Groot! (You must be my daddy!)" Baby Groot smiled.

"I am Groot, (I guess so, little guy,)" Groot Senior confirmed. All of a sudden, Groot Senior felt a surge of paternal love for the little sapling. He would protect the littlest passenger on board with all his strength. Rocket looked on with a sense of apathy. He'd never cared for displays of affection, but at least it meant he got to palm the little twig onto the bigger twig. He was about to make a sarcastic remark about how hard parenthood was going to be to Groot Senior when Quill barged in and ruined the moment.

"Rocket, Groot, what's . . . going . . . on?" Star-Lord trailed off. "Whaaaa . . ."


Rocket, Groot Senior and Baby Groot all had to go to the deck of the Milano for them to explain the existence of Baby Groot to Peter, Gamora and Drax. Or rather, for Rocket to explain the existence of Baby Groot. "Well, after Groot's arm got blown off and I had to clean up the mess, I got a little frustrated, and I took a little twig that used to be one of Groot's fingers, stuck it into a pot of soil, watered it and left it lying around. A week later, I go to check on it, and I find this little guy," Rocket explained, pointing to Baby Groot. "How is this possible? If you don't water any other plant for a week, it dies! I forget about him for a week, and we get a baby plant!"

"I am Groot! (Hello, big person!)" Baby Groot chirped, reaching out to Peter. Peter couldn't help but smile.

"Hey, little guy," Peter cooed. "You're adorable, you know that, little guy? We should replace you with the trash panda who accidentally created you."

"I'm not a trash panda!" Rocket argued.

"I am Groot? (What's a trash panda?)" Baby Groot asked curiously.

"That," Peter said simply, pointing at Rocket.

"I am Groot? (You're a trash panda?)" Baby Groot asked Rocket.

"No!" Rocket growled. Peter and Drax was howling with laughter.

"If I had known of how angry my friend Rocket would get, I would have been the one to blast off Groot's arm!" Drax laughed. The big man was practically rolling around on the floor with hysterics. Peter was red in the face from suppressing laughter.

"Hey, Groot, can we blow another one of your arms off so we can grow more baby Groots?" Peter asked.

"I am Groot, (One is enough for me, Quill,)" Groot Senior calmly replied. By now, Gamora had started to take an interest in Baby Groot, watching the plant closely.

"Hi, Baby Groot," Gamora smiled, staring into the eyes of the flora colossus (a name like that seemed ironic when being applied to the miniscule being). Baby Groot smiled as he made grabbing motions in Gamora's direction. "You want me to hold you?"

"I am Groot! (Yay! The big green lady's going to pick me up!)" Baby Groot cheered, as Gamora lifted him onto her shoulder. "I am Groot! (Wow, I'm so high up! I can see everything from here! Thank you!)" Peter took a sneaky photo of the warrior woman breaking down her barriers for the helpless, adorable, fragile twig now known as Groot's offspring.

"Hey, Baby Groot, that big green lady is called Gamora," Peter explained. "That big guy with a lot of tattoos is called Drax. The trash panda who says he's not a trash panda is called Rocket. And I'm Peter Quill, AKA Star-Lord."

"He means Star-Loser," Rocket whispered.

"I am Groot? (Do you really mean Star-Loser?)" Baby Groot asked an infuriated Peter.

"What? No!" Peter yelled. Rocket lost his mind laughing.

"I am Groot, (Rocket's only saying that to mess with Peter,)" Groot Senior explained to Baby Groot. "I am Groot. (And it usually works.)"

"Of course it works. I wouldn't do it if it didn't," Rocket explained. "He doesn't get this angry unless you mess with his Walkman. It's amazing!"

"No, it is not!" Drax argued. "You will not teach the child such bad habits as yours, Rocket! He is pure and impressionable at this young age!"

"I am Groot! (I'm not a child!)" Baby Groot argued.

"I am Groot! (Yes, you are!)" Groot Senior told him.

"I am Groot! (Why do you think I'm a child?)" Baby Groot whined.

"I am Groot! (Because you haven't uprooted yourself yet! By flora colossus standards, that makes you the youngest child of all!)" Groot Senior told him.

"I am Groot! (You're not fair! I'm not a child!)" Baby Groot bawled, his bottom lip wobbling.

Groot Senior felt so guilty. He never meant to upset Baby Groot. His face softened to soothe the distraught younger plant. "I am Groot. (Oh, don't worry, little guy. Someday, you'll grow up to be just as big as me!)" Groot Senior smiled, rocking the infantile plant back and forth to calm him. Eventually, Baby Groot's eyes began to droop downwards. The baby plant began to yawn as he was held in Groot Senior's arms, who then carried the plant pot containing his precious child into his room. He set the plant child down on a shelf, making sure that Baby Groot would have plenty of access to light from the window, and watered him.

"I am Groot, (Thank you, Daddy,)" Baby Groot mumbled.

"I am Groot, (You're welcome,)" Groot Senior replied, as the older flora colossus settled down for the night.


A few minutes later, the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy found them both sleeping peacefully, snoring quietly. Groot Senior in a huge makeshift bed, Baby Groot in a plant pot near the window. Both looked hopelessly tired.

"That is so cute," Peter muttered. "Do you think this will happen all the time?"

"Well, Baby Groot's going to grow up eventually, so it won't last forever," Rocket explained.

"What do we do when Baby Groot isn't a baby any more?" Drax asked.

"There's a spare room full of junk we could get rid of," Gamora suggested.

"Hey, that's not junk! That's emergency spare parts!" Rocket protested.

"And half of those parts aren't even compatible with the ship," Peter argued. "Once Baby Groot gets old enough for his own room, he's sleeping there."

"Where do I put all my stuff then, Star-Lord? Huh?" Rocket asked angrily.

"In your own room?" Peter asked. Drax laughed openly at Rocket.

"He just ruined your entire argument!" Drax howled.

"It's not that funny!" Rocket whined, pouting.

"Oh, so you agree with me," Peter grinned. Gamora pinched the bridge of her nose as Drax howled with laughter and Rocket looked like he was about to kill someone but hadn't decided who.

"I'm going to bed, like the normal people," Gamora planned aloud, as she walked off to her room. Peter, for some reason, felt extremely tired and went to his own room. After that, Drax and Rocket decided to call it a night and went to bed.

The Milano was much quieter now, filled with the peace of sleep.