I do not own Guardians of the Galaxy or any of the characters. Inspired mostly by the trailer of the scene with Mantis showing off her powers.
Friendly Shove
"You feel...love," Mantis said, staring at Peter curiously.
"Yeah, I would say I feel a generally unselfish love for everyone," Peter said.
"No, romantic, sexual love," Mantis said before he was even done speaking, then pointed at Gamora. "For her."
"Ha!" Peter laughed, pulling his hand away. "Your powers must be messing up because I definitely don't love Gamora. I hate that cocky bitch."
"The feeling's mutual you insufferable pig," Gamora shot back.
Rage filled Peter instantly. However, before he could say anything else, Mantis spoke again.
"My powers are never wrong," Mantis smiled. "I can even sense emotions that the owners themselves are not aware of."
Peter swallowed before forcing out a convincing chuckle and standing.
"Right," Peter said. "And I'm the son of a sentient planet."
He walked away, shooting Gamora a glare which she happily returned. Then, he left the room. Once he was out of the room he slowed to a stop, looking back the way he had come. He didn't love Gamora. He couldn't stand her. Right?
I can even sense emotions that the owners themselves are not aware of, Mantis's words rang in his head.
"Maybe I..." he trailed off before realizing where his train of thought was going and snorting in amusement.
What was he thinking? He hated Gamora. She spent every minute of every day telling him what an awful person he was. There was no way he felt anything but hatred.
His head suddenly hit his pillow and he blinked in surprise, not having realized how far he had gotten already. He shook his head, rolling over to face the wall of the ship, squeezing his eyes closed. He didn't love Gamora.
He groaned, forcing her out of his head. He needed sleep. That was it. He was tired from the fight with the inter-dimensional monster, and the chase by the remote-controlled ships, the fight for control of the ship with Rocket while flying through a field of teleporting asteroids, the crash landing, and now meeting a man who claimed to be his father but probably wasn't. It was all very draining, and he had had to deal with Gamora through all of it, constantly there to pinpoint exactly when and how Peter had messed up every single time he did.
He groaned, covering his face. How was it so hard to keep her out of his head suddenly? He finally managed to wipe his mind blank and slowly drifted off to sleep. A few hours later, he watched the beautiful scenery of his father's planet drift past. It really was beautiful. Flowers of every color, floating spheres of water that would separate into liquids of every possible color, which then spread and hot other spheres, bursting them too. He smiled slightly. The others would have loved this planet. Especially Groot. Groot would be in heaven among the plants here. He could imagine the little tree-man dancing with a flower. He chuckled at the thought.
"What's so funny?" Gamora demanded, sounding angry already.
Of course she was angry. She was always angry. Even in this beautiful place, she still managed to find something to be angry about. She could never relax. Never smile. Never simply enjoy being there. He hated that about her.
"It's nothing," he finally said. "Just thinking."
"Don't hurt yourself," Gamora said.
Peter's eyebrow twitched and he bit back several harsh words.
Peter stared up at the ceiling. A celestial. A god. His father was a borderline all powerful immortal. And he had the same abilities, as long as he was on the planet. The planet. He grinned as he remembered using being the son of a living planet to say he didn't believe Mantis. Never in his wildest dreams would he have believed that his father really was the planet. Ego, the celestial, was a planet, creating the man they had known as a mobile form to interact with living beings around the galaxy.
"I'm the son of a planet," Peter said to himself. "Jesus, if that was true then that would mean that she was always right."
He blinked, Gamora filling his head for the millionth time. He hated her so much. She infuriated him simply by being there. And she was never happy. He couldn't stand to be around her. He wished she had never come with him to his father's planet. She simply didn't understand.
A memory forced its way to the surface. A floating robot head with a city inside, a balcony. Almost a kiss.
No. He shoved the memory away. That had meant nothing. He had just been flirting, as always. He had just been flirting with a mildly attractive female. That was it. That was all it ever was.
He could feel emotions warring inside of his chest and grumbled in agitation, rolling over. He didn't love her. He couldn't. They hated each other. They always had. That was proven by the screaming match they had at dinner. She was arguing that they needed to hurry up and get back to the others. He was arguing that he was most definitely staying with his father.
"Well done Mantis. You impress me yet again. The easiest way to ruin a team like the Guardians of the Galaxy. I never would have guessed that would be to make those two question their feelings. What did you really sense?"
"Hate. So very much hate. They were about ready to kill each other. The confusion should have them attacking each other within a day."
Peter stretched, yawning, and stumbled out into the garden. His eyes felt numb, and were threatening to close, even as he reached his father.
"Whoa, son, you look like shit," Ego said.
"Sorry," Peter mumbled. "Couldn't sleep."
"Is everything okay?" Eo asked.
"Yeah," Peter nodded before yawning. "Just a lot on my mind."
Gamora once again drifting into his mind. Fighting, arguing, taking his hand to save him from the Orb. Dancing. Peter slipped then, losing himself in the memory of Gamora dancing with him the first and only time after their defeat of Ronan, as Peter was playing his Awesome Mix Tape 2 for the first time. She had seen he was in pain, missing his mother, and she had willingly started a dance with him. To help him.
His chest constricted slightly and he inhaled a long slow breath through his nose to regain control. He felt something on his cheek and wiped it away, his fingers coming away wet. He wiped his eyes, ignoring the concerned look his father was giving him. It was a fluke. That was all. Gamora had simply not wanted to have to deal with him moping. Nothing more.
"You miss your mother," Ego guessed, Peter nodding, jumping on it as a way to hide his inner conflict. "So do I, Peter. Not a day goes by that I don't regret never going back to her. If I had, I may have been able to save her. And then I could have raised you to be the god you are meant to be."
"It doesn't matter anymore," Peter mumbled. "I'm here now. So now you can teach me."
"Of course," Ego smiled. "It might take a thousand years for you to really get the hang of it, but we've got time."
"A thousand years?" Peter laughed. "That's funny. You say that like I'm immortal."
"Oh you are," Ego said, Peter gaping at him. "You're the same as me, Peter. As long as the light within this planet shines, you will not age. So long as you come back, of course."
Peter smiled at the thought before it faded.
"But, what about the others?" Peter asked. "Rocket, Groot, Drax...Gamora."
"That's the mortal in you talking Peter," Ego said. "Everything in the universe, everything besides us, is...temporary. They'll grow old and they'll die. Hell, in your line of work, they probably won't even get to be old."
Peter's eyes widened slightly, his mind conjuring an image of his friends, dead. Their bodies lying in the dirt, broken and bloody. Rocket with his fir singed and his arms around Groot, who was literally broken. Drax with countless wounds, born of fighting beyond his last breath, probably past the pint of his heart stopping. He was stubborn that way. And Gamora. He couldn't picture her wounded. She was too good. Too strong. Too amazing. But even so, even with a distinct lack of wounds, her eyes still stared up at him lifelessly.
His eyes suddenly itched. He could feel the tears welling up in them, slowly trickling down his cheeks. He wiped them away and banished the image from his head. He growled in frustration as he rubbed his eyes. Why was he getting so emotional? And over Gamora. He hated her. She hated him.
Call my name and I'll be there in a hurry. You don't have to worry. In Peter's head, Gamora began to sway before walking forward and taking his hands, pulling him to his feet.
He shoved the memory away. Fluke. Fluke. Fluke.
"You alright Peter" Ego asked.
"Yeah," Peter said. "Let's just start training."
"Alright," Ego nodded. "I'm going to teach you to build energy creations."
He demonstrated, forming a sword, then a blaster, then a flail.
"It's incredibly effective," Ego said. "Not exceptionally hard either. Give it a try."
Peter held his hands out, white energy beginning to flow from his palms before joining, beginning to form. He imagined a sword.
Ain't no mountain high enough...
Peter blinked, staring at the space between his hands. A tiny glowing silhouette of himself and Gamora danced between his hands. He growled in rage, dispersing the energy before sighing.
"That was excellent," Ego commended. "You learn fast."
"Thanks," he mumbled, not feeling like mentioning that he had had absolutely no intention of doing that.
"Good job Mantis. It worked better than expected. He can barely perform even simple functions properly now. He may not be up in arms to kill her, but it will be much easier to kill him now."
"Of course Master. I live to serve your glory."
Peter walked onto the balcony, staring out at the world before him, the beauty, yet seeing an entirely different beauty. Gamora's face had haunted his thoughts nearly constantly throughout training. He had tried to make a Pac-man but instead made Gamora. He tried to make a lightsaber, but instead came away with Gamora's sword. And on, and on, and on. Now, as he stared out at the landscape, all he could see was back when he was on the balcony of Nowhere with her. It hadn't been much, he had only meant to get laid, yet now he couldn't stop thinking about it. About how close he had come to kissing her.
"I hate you," Gamora's voice said from behind him.
"I hate you," Peter said, turning to her as Bring It On Home To Me by Sam Cooke drifted through the air.
After a moment of staring at each other, Peter finally said, "Dance with me."
Gamora stared at him a moment longer before stepping forward, taking his offered hand as her other hand went to his shoulder. They began to sway to the music, both remaining silent as their thoughts raged around in their heads.
"You alright?" Peter finally asked. "You look tired."
"I've gone weeks without sleep before," Gamora said. "I'm fine. You look like you could use a nap."
"I couldn't sleep," Peter said. "I haven't been able to focus since yesterday."
"Something on your mind?" Gamora asked, face devoid of emotion.
"You could say that, yeah," Peter said.
"Same," Gamora mumbled after several seconds.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Peter asked.
"No," Gamora said. "I don't even want to think about it. Especially not with you. I hate you."
"I hate you too," Peter said, inwardly smirking.
Here they were dancing to a love song while professing their undying hatred for each other and having probably the most emotional heart-to-heart Peter had ever had with anyone.
"I can't get it out of my head," Gamora finally said. "I wish I could, but no matter how hard I try, or what I do, I can't stop thinking about...Thing is, I'm not sure I want to anymore."
"Funny," Peter said. "I'm having a similar problem. And everything has been reminding me of it."
Gamora nodded slowly.
"So, what do you recommend?" Gamora asked.
"Well, when there's a song stuck in my head, the only way I can get it out is to listen to it," Peter said. "Maybe that would work for whatever you're thinking about."
"It's not a song," Gamora said. "Actually, what I'm thinking about is more...annoying than a song. But I can't help thinking about it."
"A person?" Peter asked.
After a moment, Gamora nodded slowly.
"Maybe if you talked to them, you'd be able to stop thinking about them," Peter said.
He listened, realizing the song had ended and the tape recorder was now playing Hooked On a Feeling.
"What if it's not talking I want to do?" Gamora asked. "What if I wanted to kill them, or break their bones, or stab out their eyes."
"I suppose the only way to get rid of the thoughts would be to do it," Peter said quietly, mind once again taking him back to the balcony back on Nowhere.
Oh how he wanted to try again. But she would kill him if he tried. She hated him. And dammit he was supposed to hate her. But here he was, dancing with her, unable to look away from her beautiful face. God only knew why she was wasting her time dancing with him.
"So, you think I should just give it a try?" Gamora asked. "That I should stop fighting it? Listen to the song, as you put it?"
"I can't tell you what to do Gamora," Peter said. "I don't know if it'd work. But it might help."
Gamora nodded, staring into his eyes for a moment before leaning forward. Peter's inside exploded with joy as he met her halfway, their lips joining in a passionate yet slow kiss. They remained there for God only knew how long. Minutes, seconds, hours. He lost track. His music washed over them, unheard by either as they wrapped their arms around each other, losing themselves in the moment. Finally, Gamora pulled away, Peter forcing himself not to follow.
"I hate you," Gamora said, voice barely above a whisper and lips still so close to him that he could feel her breath.
"I hate you too," Peter responded, also barely able to make a sound, mind reeling from the kiss just as much as hers.
Then, they were kissing again.
Peter stepped out into the garden, looking around for Ego but instead seeing Mantis admiring the flowers. Gamora spotted her too and gave his hand a small squeeze, smiling at him as they walked over.
"Hey, Mantis," Peter said. "You got a minute?"
"Of course," Mantis nodded. "How can I help?"
"You already did," Peter said. "We just wanted to thank you. Because you found out how I really felt, both of us realized you were right. Thank you for opening our eyes."
"Oh," Mantis said, noticing them holding hands for the first time. "Uh, you're welcome. I'm sorry, I have to go."
Peter nodded and Mantis rushed past them, leaving them to admire the garden. As she rushed inside, she glanced back, swallowing hard. Ego was definitely not going to be happy.
THE END
Read and review.