Authors note: I'm definitely going to continue with this. :) Hope you all like it. As ever, constructive criticism is both welcome and appreciated.

Rocket woke to Groot tidying up his alley-way, putting things into neat piles, or throwing them behind his back and over the buildings, ending up God knows where. In a panic, he jumped up to stop the giant, pulling Groots hand as he tried to throw another item.

"What are you doing? Stop, stop! This stuff is useful!" He yelled, only to be ignored as Groot shook his head and tossed a piece of scrap metal over the roofs behind him. "Hey! I needed that! I was saving it to make a stun gun! And I needed that to make a grappling hook!" Rocket continued to complain as Groot continued his 'organizing'. "This is what I get for sleeping in." Rocket muttered as he tried in vain to protect his most valued garbage.

Groot, however, was simply getting rid of the things he knew Rocket would no longer need. Rocket didn't need a grappling hook when Groot could just lift him up, and Groot did not appreciate the violence of the stun gun, except for when one was needed. He continued with his work, all the while ignoring his new companions protests. Eventually, with an exasperated sigh and a cuss, Rocket gave up and plopped himself on the ground to watch as his belongings were thrown out by a tree, cross legged with his elbows on his knees.

"Are you done yet?" Rocket asked bitterly a few minutes later, wishing he could have stopped his new acquaintance.

"I am Groot." The tree nodded, smiling proudly at his friend.

"Great, well now that you threw out half of my materials, I have no way of making any weapons to protect myself. Good going." He said sarcastically. "I can't believe you thew out all of my batteries. I needed those." Rocket rolled his eyes and he tried to think of what to do now, furious with Groot.

Groot watched as his friend paced the small alley, wondering why he was so mad all the time.

"Well, I'm starving, and now I have to go find something to eat, because apparently you thought it would be a good idea to throw my food out too." Rocket said, writing down a list of materials that he knew for sure he'd need.

Groot didn't see any food when he was cleaning. He saw almost empty chip bags and apple cores, but that wasn't food, it was garbage. He thought Rocket deserved better than garbage, so it made sense to throw it out.

"Alright you big buffoon, I know a place we can get more food, and the parts I need to make a stun gun." Rocket said, starting to walk off, gesturing for the tree to follow him.

"I am Groot?" He asked, wondering where Rocket could possibly be talking about.

"To the dump, of course. It's got almost any spare parts you can think of, if you know what to look for, and people are always throwing away perfectly fine food." Rocket said smartly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Groot didn't like the idea of eating garbage, but knew that their lack of money made it impossible for them to buy anything fresh. He followed Rocket, knowing he could be helpful in looking for the right parts. He was quite tech-savvy, especially for a tree. More intelligent than most humanoids, actually.

They made their way towards the dump, not having to worry about not being seen. Knowing they would be protected by each other. They took the quickest path through the middle of town, and nobody was stupid enough to try to start a fight, not with Groot around.

"Havin' you around ain't too shabby. Even if you do throw out things that I need. Best not do that in the future." Rocket said slyly, making fun of his companion. Groot rolled his eyes and shook his head, noticing a bakery cart that was left unattended.

"So," Rocket continued. "When we get to the dump, we're looking for all of these." He said, letting Groot quickly look at a list Rocket had made earlier, of things they would need. "Now, when we get there, there's going to be guards at the front gate, so we can't get in that way. There's a hole in the fence at the back that you can probably squeeze through, or you can just walk over the thing if that suits your fancy. These first seven items should be easy to find, but it's very rare to find an elector-shock charger that's still got some juice, so we might have to do quite a lot of rummaging. I've only ever found one once, but even half empty they can last a long time, which is why we need one." He explained, continuing to lead Groot towards their destination. He realized though, that Groot wasn't walking behind him anymore, and that he was several feet behind him, quickly catching up. He hadn't realized Groot had stopped while he was rambling.

"Oh bloody hell, now you missed my explanation and I'll have to go over it all again. What were you doing?" Rocket asked in frustration.

Shock took over his features as Groot handed him two cinnamon rolls and an apple. "Groot, did you steal this stuff?" He asked, ignoring the strange sense of gratitude he developed.

Groot shrugged and shook his head, pointing at the unattended cart. "I am Groot!" He explained.

"It doesn't matter if nobody was watching it, it's still stealing." Rocket laughed, and Groot shook his head again, he didn't think it was. He looked back when he heard yelling.

"Hey! What do you two think you're doing!? Did you just take those from here?" A man shouted from nearby, pointed at his food cart.

"Uh-oh, c'mon Groot! Let's get out of here!" Rocket said, having trouble running away from the accuser with his arms full of food.

"Get back here! I'm calling the police!" The man continued, pulling a phone out of his pocket.

Rocket ran about ten feet before being lifted up off of the ground and placed onto Groots back.

"Thanks, mate, now get a move on, we gotta go!" Rocket commanded, ignoring the humiliation of having man tree-man handled. It was a lot easier for him to carry his food up here anyway. "The dump is that way, just run!" He ordered, as he fumbled with his newly acquired food.

It was hard to hold the food and hold on to a running tree, so Rocket stuck the cinnamon rolls onto a couple of Groots poking out shoulder branches while he ate the apple with one hand, holding on to Groots head as he quickly ran from the man who was now angrily explaining to the police that 'a walking tree with a talking raccoon stole his cinnamon buns.' Rocket knew the police wouldn't believe him, so he laughed as Groot ran into the streets towards the dump, slowing to a walk in the protection the buildings provided.

"I can't believe you stole food- I can't believe you stole food for me!" Rocket laughed as he finished off his apple and started on one of the cinnamon buns. "These are great! Want some?" Rocket offered, extending the other cinnamon bun to Groot, who just waved it off and shook his head.

"I am Groot." He reminded Rocket.

"Right, the tree thing. How does that work anyway? I mean I get that you can absorb energy from the sun, but shouldn't you have to eat too? You're not just a tree." He asked Groot, who simply sprouted a leaf on his forearm and began to eat that instead. "Oh, um... Lovely." Rocket said, slightly grossed out by his new companion. "Suit yourself then." He shrugged, finishing the first cinnamon bun and starting on the second. "And um... Thanks." Rocket felt unsure, thanking someone for giving him food, riding on his shoulder. He never thought he'd see the day, and he would try to appreciate the company while it lasted. He knew though, that it wouldn't last, and he couldn't help but cover up that pain with bitterness.

"Alright, I can walk on my own from here." Rocket said, quickly climbing down and wiping his paws on his pants. "The hole in the fence is right over here." He gestured as they approached the dump. They easily avoided being seen by the guards, and quickly made it through the fence. Or over it, in Groots case.

As Rocket had predicted, they easily found almost every part he needed to make a stun gun. But the main component, the elector-shock charger, was nowhere to be found. They were also missing a couple compression coils. Much to rockets surprise, Groot sat on the ground next to an enormous pile of scrap metal, dismembered a microwave and an old computer, and made his own version of compression coils that would work even better with Rockets gun design. "You're a bloody genius Groot! Why didn't you say you understood quasi-dimensional super-positional engineering? That's fantastic!" He stated with enthusiasm.

"I am groot." Explained the tree.

"What do you mean it wasn't relevant until now? You seemed like a bloody idiot throwing away all my scrap this morning! You could have brought it up then and explained that you were just getting rid of the excess parts." Rocket scolded, too amazed to be completely serious about it. "Can you make an elector-shock charger?" Rocket asked excitedly, only to receive a shake of the head from Groot. "Bollocks. Well, I'll start putting this together, you want to keep looking for one?" Rocket asked, getting right to work.

Groot stood up and walked over to a different pile of tech pieces and started sorting. He sorted through pile after pile of disregarded parts, and still found nothing. He didn't even find any components to make the charger. He sorted for hours, every so often looking back at Rocket who was busy starting to put the stun-gun together. Rocket looked up at Groot every so often too. Just to make sure he hadn't given up looking, of course.

Eventually the stun gun was as put together as it could get without the charger, and Groot had sorted thought every pile of scrap metal and tech. Groot made his way back over to where Rocket was waiting, gun in hand. "You find a charger?" He asked, and got a shake 'no' in return. "Well, did you find anything to make a charger?"

"I am Groot." Groot sighed, disappointed that he didn't find anything useful after so much searching.

Rocket sighed in frustration. "An elector-shock charger costs 1000 units! I don't have a way to get that kind of money!" He complained, furious at himself and at the world. "Let's just go then, we'll try again next week with the new load they'll drop off. We'll get here before they sort it, so we don't have to go through everything again." Rocket began planning out their next visit.

Groot looked down in disappointment, but then shook his head and smiled at what he saw down there on the ground beneath him. He bent down and pulled a piece of paper out from under his foot, smiling again as he handed it to rocket.

"What's this rubbish?" Rocket questioned as Groot handed him the paper before he began to read it. "Well, look at that. What are the chances?" Rocket enthused, looking at the paper which was a warning of an escaped convict who had a bounty of 1000 units. All they'd have to do is turn in a man called James Montgomery Gumb. Rocket realized excitedly that he had even seen the man walking around a couple of times. "I know who this is Groot! I see him in the back alleys. It'll be easy to track him, I know his scent. He's pretty tough though, so we'll need to make me something else to fight with." Rocket said, getting excited at how things were turning out.

Groot nodded, and starting handing Rocket pieces that he knew were useful. They sat down together, in the middle of a dump, and started to make small weapons that would be easy for Rocket to carry. They sat there all day, and deep into the evening building tiny weapons. When they were done, Rocket had two small nail grenades that would do minimal damage, a weapon of Groots invention that tied the enemies feet together when thrown, and two very small punch-guns that only had one bullet each that only bruised the enemy badly, and a holder for everything, including the incomplete stun-gun.

They worked together in creating each of the pieces, helping each other make the best weapons they could with what little material they had They spent all day working and laughing with, and at each other. Rocket was amazed at Groots genius, and knew that Groot was equally amazed with his.

When they were ready to leave, Groot attached all the weapons to the carrier they had made, and handed it to Rocket, who slung it across his back. Groot stood up and started walking towards the hole in the fence, and felt Rocket climb up his legs and back, to sit on Groots shoulder. Groot slightly altered his shoulder to accommodate for Rocket, making his small friend more comfortable. They left the dump and started towards their alley, which was nothing close to a home, but with each of them in it, they both felt a little less lonely. Rocket quickly fell asleep on the way.