Victoria Payne dodged a bullet, flipping gracefully through the air, wishing she hadn't gotten out of bed this morning. Sending a quick arrow out into the wave of enemies approaching, she pushed a strand of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail out of her face and gave an angry huff.
"Seriously guy, I just wanted to sleep in today! Did you have to start a fight?" She complained, sending another arrow out and hitting an enemy, knocking him down.
Both Peter and Groot gave her a sheepish smile, seeing as they started this by playing around then knocking into the king of this planet. The kings guards took this as a threat and immediately charged, ready to fight even as Groot and Peter apologized over and over.
She had been with the Guardians for over two months now, living in the Milano since a week after she joined the team. Her room was right by Gamoras, and the two woman had bonded over the fact that their boys were idiots. Her room was also across from Rocket, which kept her up some nights, thinking about the raccoon and his mysterious appeal. She and Rocket had grown closer during her time with the team, causing her crush on him to grow.
All in all, she had grown to love being a guardian, even if she did miss her old team and friends, and grew close to her new team members.
"Hey I missed my beauty sleep too ya know! You're not the only one suffering!" Peter pouted, shooting at a baddie that had manage to sneak up on Groot from behind.
Groot turned around and called out happily "I am Groot!"
Peter laughed and ducked, dodging a bullet, and said "Your welcome! And yea, we are so pranking Rocket later!"
"I am Groot?"
"Dude. Yes! We are so doing that!" Peter exclaimed excitedly, making her wonder exactly what the giant tree man said. She couldn't fully understand his way of talking yet, even though Gamora reassured her that it took everyone about a year to learn it, nor could she remember exactly what Groot was.
"I fucking heard that! Groot, Peter, you fuck with me and I swear I'll blow you to hell and back!" Rocket shouted, somewhere behind Drax if the large explosions and evil laughter were any indicator to his location.
Victoria felt her heart give a slight flutter at the sound of Rockets voice, and dodging another bullet then sending an arrow out thought 'man, I need to calm down, Rocket probably doesn't even like me.'
The last part thought sadly, she gave a surprised yelp when she was pushed to the side roughly, hitting the ground with a jolt.
Glaring, she turned around, only to gasp in shock and whisper "...Rocket..."
Ignoring Peters desperate cry of "Rocket!" And Groots cry of "I am Groot!", she stared in shock at the site in front of her.
There, standing tall and proud, was Rocket Raccoon, blood slowly seeping out of a wound at the very top of his chest. Staggering slightly, he fell to his knees on the ground, coughing slightly. Drax, witnessing the scene, gave a horrifying roar and charged through a large group of enemys, ruthlessly attacking them without guilt or remorse. Gamora also gave a cry and her knives were now just flashes of silver through the air, her arms moving at an amazing speed.
She scrambled as fast as possible over to her fallen comrade, crying out "No no no! Rocket please! Don't do this!"
Rocket slowly turned his head from where he kneeled on the ground and gave her a blood-stained grin as he said "What's the matter with you? You know I do whatever I want."
The saracasm and friendly bickering tone was clear in his weak voice, which cause the tears to run down harder on her face, making it hard to see clearly since the tears blurred everything around her.
"Why did you do it Rocket?" She whispered, feeling her heart break as Rockets shaking body fell to land on his side. Just before he hit the ground, Victoria wrapped her arms around him, saving him for impacting on the ground.
Holding the injured raccoon close to her body, She rushed back to the Milano, crying over her shoulder "Hurry guys! We don't have time for this!"
Rocket gave a slurred noise of protest at being carried, which caused her panic to grow. Peter and Groot were the first ones to be on the ship after her, Gamora and Drax not far behind. Victoria looked out of the closing door of the ship to see the undefeated guards rushing towards them, only for the door to close with a great CLANG.
Peter rushed towards the front off the ship, quickly getting the Milano off and away from the planet while talking to Gamora in hushed tones, asking where the nearest galaxy healing center was located. Gamora answered back in the same hushed tone, causing Peter to lean over a panel and type in coordinates.
Groot walked over to Victoria, who was still holding Rocket and muttering word of comfort and giving small, watery smiles at the quiet sarcastic answers Rocket would sometimes give her, and stared at his injured friend, a tear rolling down his face as he gave a broken "I am Groot?"
Rocket gave a whispering murmur, causing Groot to grow a tiny limb out of his finger and drag it comfortingly down his friends face. The scene made more tears roll down her face and she gave a silent cry.
"Oh if only I hadn't used my magic in battle! I could have healed him then! I'm such and idiot!" She muttered to herself, her grip on Rocket becoming tighter.
She jumped slightly as a large hand was gently laid on her shoulder. Whipping around, making sure Rocket didn't get hurt, she turned to see Drax staring, eyes full of grief. Slowly leaning in, he gently pulled their injured friend away from her and said "Go take care of yourself. There is nothing we can do for our friend now. All we can do is wait."
She opened her mouth in protest, only to close it once more as she realized he was right. Turning to walk away, Victoria made a noise and chased after Drax, who was taking Rocket to his room to watch over him and make sure his condition didn't worse, and said "Wait, wait!"
Drax turned around and she gently laid her hands on Rockets wound, trying her hardest to ignore the whimper Rocket gave as she did so. Closing her eyes and concentrating, she gave a small sigh as blue light glowed around her hands.
Stumbling backwards slightly, she said "There...that should stop the bleeding till we get to a hospital."
Drax made a noise and said "I have forgotten that you had healing powers."
She gave Drax a shaky grin then stumbled back to her room, feeling drained. Collapsing into her bed, her only thought was that they were close to a healing place, otherwise Rocket may not make it.
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Victoria was woken up by banging in her door. She jumped as she heard Peter scream "Hurry! We're here!"
Upon hearing this, she jumped out of bed and ran outside the Milano, joining the others as they marched towards the healing center. She ran ahead, bursting into the center and screamed loudly, ignoring the looks her bloody clothes earned her "PLEASE! SOMEONE HELP US!"
