Note: Thanks for the support on the last chapter; it means a lot to me! Just wanting to warn that the Guardians call Daemon "Doc" or sometimes Pierce. Just for you to know if you bump in these terms. Enjoy this chapter!

The cockpit was very quiet, as Quill was waiting to start talking about the mission at hand.

Everyone's head turned as Daemon entered the room, mumbling a small "Hey guys" before taking his place in his chair. There were 6 in total, one for each one of them. Quill had asked Nova to add 2 more seats so they could all sit at the same time. It was kind of rare though, since while in combat some were piloting or using the attached ship guns (Rocket's place) the others were walking around the ship for repairs or even boarding the attacker's for a quick and efficient takeout.

Daemon acted as the field medic, so he was one to be following everyone around, but he could take care of himself easily. In these past months they had been attacked sometimes and in one of these situations he split off the group to take out the ships power supply while the others were cleaning the rest of the room. One of the aliens on the ship followed him and though he was an easy target.

When the Guardians went after him him they found the alien body lying on the floor with 6 knives coming out of his chest. And the power supply cables ripped apart. Daemon was scavenging the rest of the ship in search for anything worthwhile.

Quill made a discreet "aham" to draw their attention.

"Today's a simple one. Dey told me they were having uncommon readings on the surface of Marged – Z" - He pointed at the greenish small planet outside – "It's mostly a resource planet controlled by Nova, but they believe some thugs managed to land and are conducting illegal extraction of the planet's resources, even though the signal is coming from the opposite of the planet's mines, built by Nova. The planet itself is covered with forests and jungles, including some dangerous animals and such, so be careful when walking around it."

"What kind of dangerous animals EXACTLY Quill?" – Asked Gamora

"Funny thing, I have no Idea! Nor does Nova apparently, they just told us to be careful when operating inside the planet, and I think we should follow their advice"

"If there's a particularly plant or bug that is poisonous I need to know. It's not that easy to synthetize an antidote when you're not prepared for whatever it was the source of it." – stated Daemon

Rocket left out a provoking, yet soft chuckle. Like he didn't feel it was important.

Daemon thought: "Typical"

"As I said, Nova didn't give me details. So I guess we'll need to have extra-care in this case."

Daemon nodded, still concerned but satisfied.

"Alright, we'll be landing in about an hour. Enjoy the time to get whatever information or piece of equipment you might need. That's it for now."

They all scattered around to take care of their affairs. Only Rocket and Quill stood in the cockpit.

"Hey Quill"

"Yeah Rocket?" – Answered Quill as he started playing "Cherry bomb" on his music player

"What do you think of Pierce?

Quill lowered the volume of the player, caught a bit off guard by the question.

"I think he's fine. I've lost count the times he helped me around, he's good in what he does. Why? Is something wrong?"

"I don't like him…"

Quill lifted an eyebrow

"… At all." - Rocket completed

"What's that all of sudden? Did he do something that bothered you?"

"No… I just don't trust him."

"You trust me?" – Quill asked

Rocket stared at him with a questioning look.

"You're still a huge idiot, but I suppose so…"

"So there's nothing to worry, he's fine." – He hesitated – " Are you sure you're not letting your past blur your vision Rocket?"

Rocket's ears and tail flinched a bit; Quill knew that was a sign of the Raccoon's defensive state coming up.

"Maybe, but you would too if all you knew for freaking years was the look of coated scientist that came around, and all you could think when seeing them was what kind of crazy experiment and pain you would be put into. AND AFTER THAT PUT INSIDE A COLD CAGE LEFT ALONE TO WHIMPER IN THE DARK WAITING FOR EVERYTHING TO HAPPEN AGAIN." – He said that last words in an angry voice, but Quill detected a bit of pain on his tone.

"Rocket…"

Rocket stood quiet for a bit, turning his face the other way.

"Sorry… I just need to be alone for a moment"

Quill was reluctant in walking away, but he agreed anyway. Silently leaving the raccoon to his own thoughts.

Rocket stared out through the window with a sad look

It's not like he chose the things that happened to him in the past, but they had anyway and he couldn't erase that. He clutched his claws around his arms and pushed his tail up the chair, forming a protective position he had done so many times in his dark memories. He did like the Guardians, they were his family now… He was so afraid to be alone when Groot had "died" that he almost forgot about the other people that cared about him.

But Daemon was another story… His way of walking, talking… His coat… It was too much for Rocket to handle. The first time he saw him using all his equipment he almost shot him in the face. If it wasn't for Quill standing on the way things could have gone horribly wrong. His picture was exactly what Rocket remembered of the scientists.

On the other hand, he had never been angry or rude with him. Rocket was actually quite surprised when he brought a vase for Groot. And he kind of regrets being so mean sometimes, but he tries not to think about it and just let it roll. The "no touch" paranoia wasn't exclusively Daemon's fault. He didn't like being touched by anyone except Groot… Unless he voluntarily chooses to do so (in most cases, clawing whoever provokes him). And everything that involved medical terms scared him… Even simple ones like "Stitching" or "Doses".

He would never admit it though.

Rocket had too much pride to admit he was wrong, scared or needing help. And that was a very dangerous part of the raccoon, since it could put his life into risk. That never happened though.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden, yet very welcome call.

"I am Groot"

Rocket turned to see his long life friend standing on the hallway with a concerned look on his face.

"Hey Groot, what's up?"

"I am Groot"

"Oh… You heard…"

Rocket turned his face again to look through the window. They stood there for a few minutes before Groot breaking the silence

"I am Groot?"

"I'm fine, was just a bit startled that's all."

"I am groot."

"Didn't look like it? What DID it look like then?"

"I am Groot"

"Geez, you too? I just don't like him, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't like me either. Can't you guys just leave me to my own opinion?

"I am Groot"

"So what if we've been together for some time? He knows nothing about me."

"I am Groot"

"I freaking know he murdered a whole criminal gang for fun and that, as far as I'm concerned, is all I need to know. That profile fits perfectly the kind of those scientists on that freaking lab."

"I am Groot"

Rocket hesitated

"I suppose he isn't… What are you trying to say here Groot?"

"I am Groot"

"Look, I just don't feel comfortable around him. I'm harsh because I don't want to be close to him and that's all. Just respect my thoughts for god's sake."

Groot decide to leave it, the raccoon would obviously not be changing opinion anytime soon.

The hour went by as they landed in a small clearing of the planet's forest, a bit far from where they received the signals so they could sneak in.

"Alright, keep your eyes peeled, we don't want to be caught off guard" – Quill said that while putting his headphones on.

"Friend Quill, I don't think preventing yourself from hearing sounds with your device matches with the advice you just said."

"Wha..? Oh... Right…" He took the phones off and placed them in his "Purse".

"We could head for a bar in Verast-96 after that, huh Quill?"

Gamora rolled her eyes

"No doubts… I'm feeling thirsty already" – The planet was bathed by two suns, and they all were feeling the heat.

"The sooner we finish this the faster we'll get there, so let's focus to the matter at hand, alright?" – Gamora stated

"Can't blame us for dreamin'" – Rocket said with a small grin.

"Flora Marvilious, Exivenmous, Mistar Terialys… I'm no Botanic, but this place has a lot of different medicinal plant species. No wonder Nova uses it as a resource planet."

"Seen any poisonous yet Doc?" – It was Quill

"Some, but none of them were lethal. Yet be careful, this baby here, for instance, could make you sleep for 48 hours straight" – Stated holding a red and brown flower in his hands.

To everyone's surprise, he moved his hand to his mouth and ate the flower.

"The hell…?" – Said Rocket with a confused look on his face.

"I am Groot"

"It's okay; I'm immune to 98% of every known poisons and substances across the galaxy."

"Why would you eat it then?" - Drax questioned

"It's sweet beyond measure" – Said with a smile

They moved on through the woods for about an hour, Quill leading and Groot watching their rear. They eventually reached the source of the signal in a small clear part of the florest.

There was no sign of anyone, but there was a strange large metal arc with some mechanical parts attached to it, including a large battery and a control panel. Other than that the clearing was pretty much empty.

The Guardians walked slowly through it and scattered around the device.

"What is it Rocket?"

"Dunno' Gamora, let me give it a look"

They watched as the raccoon started detaching the cables and analyzing them, he had barely started when his ears twitched. His head moving around in a focused state, before saying:

"Guys…"

They all understood right in time, otherwise the shots would have killed every single one of them.

They all dodged the blasters coming from the woods, with guns in hand they started shooting and fighting back.

"Split up! It'll be harder for them to hit us if we're not together. Rocket, try to find what's the machine, we'll cover you." – Quill shouted sending blaster shots against their attackers."

Gamora and Drax quickly dived into the woods and Quill stood between them, preventing the armored thugs from shooting them in the back. Daemon stood back with Rocket sending knives throughout the bushes, not missing even a single one.

"How long?" – Gamora shouted back to Rocket

"I'M WORKING ON IT" – Yelled him back before pressing a button on the panel.

Rocket looked deeply as numbers and images started showing up on the small screen.

"Guys! I know what it is! It's a Tel…" – He couldn't finish his phrase as a bullet went through the panel and hitting the battery, barely missing Rocket.

The device started producing sparks and a horrible burnt smell started to spread across the clearing.

It was also producing an increasingly loud shrill noise…

Peter only had time to say two words.

"GET DOWN!"

The device blew up sending an energy blast across the place, blasting the trees around it and barely hitting Quill. It continued to send small explosions for about a whole minute…

After some time everything went silent and the Guardians slowly stood up.

"Is everyone okay?" – Quill shouted, cleaning his clothes – "Damn, I might need some patching up Doc." – Added him noticing the red bruise that was forming on his arm.

"I'm fine, but I can't say the same about these thugs." Gamora said kicking the body of one of them, who was hit by the explosion."

"At least it saved us some work. What did you say the blowing-killer-device was again Rocket?"

No answer

"Rocket?" – Quill started looking around

But there was no sign of Daemon nor Rocket…