Peter, Drax and Rocket were all waiting in the common area for Gamora. The green woman was fixing Groot a glass of water and placed a straw in it. She had become the motherly figure of the young sapling as Peter became his fatherly figure. Rocket acts like his big brother and Drax...well, he doesn't know what Drax would be to him. The muscled man never seemed to be very fond of the young sapling.

When Gamora joined the group, Peter took a deep breath and stood in front of everyone. He clasped his hands together and projected a map of Knowhere on the screen near the silver table that everyone was gathered around. He zoomed in on certain sectors and marking them.

"Since you two can't seem to get your act together, you're going to stay here." Peter said with a smirk. "Also, Groot's still a sapling. We're in Knowhere; it's not safe for him to be out there. Somebody needs to stay behind with him while we're out."

Rocket glared at him and wrinkled his nose. "What act?"

Gamora gave him the death eye. Peter shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Anyways, Gamora and I-"

"Wait, Gamora's going with you?" Rocket gasped dramatically. "I'm so surprised! Don't have too much fun. Don't want anymore little Quills running around."

Peter grew red, while Gamora turned a dark shade of green. They both took a deep breath and clutched their fists. "No, we're both going to get a break from you two assholes fighting." Peter said, trying not to go off on them.

"I do not see the problem." Drax said innocently.

Gamora stormed out of the room and into the cargo hold. "We're leaving, now." She called back to him, already opening the hatch.

Peter gave the guys one last glare before following Gamora. "Everything better stay the way it was before we left!" He yelled behind him.


The last time the team was in Knowhere was when they first met a month ago; when they first became a dysfunctional, but caring family. It was just how they remembered it; grungy and nothing but trouble spelled all over it. However, a job was a job and if they accepted the offer, it would only be because it wasn't going to get them locked up.

As they were on their way to the warehouse, where they were meeting the dealer, Peter and Gamora heard something different. Something that was familiar and rare at the same time; singing. What was unique about it; the lyrics were in English and it was coming from a little girl with an extremely beautiful voice.

Peter turned his head toward the harmonious sound and had a gut feeling that the little girl who produced it was someone extraordinary. She had beautiful brown eyes that were tinted green and lit up as she sang. Her ebony hair was grungy and gradually blended into a dark purple at the tips. Her ivory skin was covered with dirt and grime, but underneath it all, she was a beautiful girl.

A crowd of people were gathered around her, tossing small amounts of units into a rectangular, metal container that sat in front of her. "She has a beautiful voice. How do you think she knows Terran songs?" Gamora asked, snapping Peter back into reality. He turned his head towards her and bit his lip.

"I don't know. Maybe she's been to Earth?" Gamora looked over at her and smiled. "She's cute."

Gamora chuckled. "That's a new one."

Peter looked at Gamora confused. "What do you-"

"Normally it's women you're looking at and complimenting."

The man stopped and scoffed. "Okay, when have you ever seen me checking somebody out?"

Gamora stopped walking and turned around. She approached Peter with her arms crossed. "Xandar. Before we met."

Peter scoffed again and shook his head in disbelief. "Okay and how long ago was that?" Gamora was the one who scoffed this time and placed her hands on her hips. "Listen, I've changed, you've changed, we all have. Our whole lives changed when we met."

"Rocket's right; that orb did change you."

"Woah. Woah. Woah. What? Is that a bad thing?"

"No. It's just...different." Peter smiled a little and they started walking again.


After walking for a few minutes, talking and laughing, Gamora and Peter finally reached the warehouse. The outside of it was filthy and looked like an old metal shed, except bigger. The two analyzed it for a moment.

"What the hell?" Peter asked rhetorically.

"It's cleaner than your ship." Gamora joked, smirking at him.

Peter turned to her with his hands on his hips. "Is this how you're going to act the whole time we're here?"

Gamora shrugged and started to walk inside. Peter chuckled a little and followed her.

The inside of the small building was just as grungy as it was on the outside. There was nothing inside of it, besides hundreds of crates filled with illegal goods, a small metal table and some chairs.

A lavender skinned man walked around one of the crates. He had white feather-like hair and unfriendly golden eyes. Gamora already had a bad feeling about the job offer, but continued on with Peter.

"Hello, Mr. Quill and Lady Gamora. My name is Vladimir and may I say what a pleasure it is to finally meet you." He walked over to the duo, slapped Peter's back and kissed Gamora's hand. He backed up several inches and clasped his hands in front of him. "Where is the rest of your team?"

"They had some problems to fix back on the ship." Gamora responded quickly, smiling darkly. Peter glared at her and turned his attention back to Vladimir.

"You said you had a job offering?"

Vladimir smirked. "Of course. I need you to sneak into your friends', the Nova Corps, headquarters and retrieve me a prototype of a highly destructive weapon called the 'Rathinizor'."

"No. We just got our records expunged a month ago. We're not taking the job." Gamora said with her hands on her hips.

"Sorry, dude. She's right."

"I'm offering 200,000 units in return for the Rathinizor."

Peter's eyes widened. "So, what are you planning to use it for?" Vladimir smirked and Gamora slapped Peter, looking at him unbelievably. "You know what? I think we're good." The green woman rolled her eyes and shook her head.

Vladimir clicked his tongue and sighed. "The lady's always right. You're lovers?" He asked.

Peter took a deep breath. "No." He said, trying to prevent his face from turning red.

Gamora, just as embarrassed, turned around, pinching the bridge of her nose. "We're leaving." She said sternly, walking out of the warehouse. Peter went to say something, but followed the woman in silence instead. Vladimir watched them leave in anger and left behind them.


"What's with everyone thinking we're lovers today?" Gamora asked as they walked further away from the warehouse.

Peter exhaled loudly through his nose. "Well, a lot of people say we act like an old married couple. That might have something to do with it." He said with a playful smile upon his face. They both stopped walking and Gamora glared at him. She shook her head and continued her way to the Milano.

Then, Peter heard it again; the sound of the little girl singing in the distance. He turned his head towards her. She was now singing a familiar tune; Fox On The Run by Sweet.

Gamora turned around, knowing Peter was no longer following her and walked back to him. "Peter, come on! I don't know how much longer Drax and Rocket are going to survive being alone together." Peter held up a finger and started walking towards the girl.

"I don't know why but, there's something about her..." Peter started to say as they got closer to her. When they reached the young girl, the emerald woman placed a few spare units into the metal container.

After listening to the girl for a few minutes, Gamora placed a hand on Peter's shoulder and smiled softly. "We can't stay any longer. We have to go." The man nodded and they started to walk away.


I hope you don't mind/I hope you don't mind/that I've put down in words/how wonderful life is, now you're in the world.

The girl finished another song as the crowd cheered. Her thin pink lips turned upwards into a huge smile. Suddenly, a rough hand grabbed her arm and whipped her around.

"Scram! Get out of here before I kill every last one of you jackasses!" A voice shouted towards the crowd as they all fled.

Peter and Gamora turned around to see what all the commotion was.

"Vladimir." The young girl said in fear.

Vladimir, still not letting go of the girl's arm, grabbed the metal container and dumped all of the units in his pocket.

The girl ripped her arm out of his hold as several men who looked similar to Vladimir gathered around them. "Hey! I earned those fair and square!" She yelled in a cute, high-pitched voice.

"By what? Singing your wittwe heart out?" Vladimir asked rhetorically, mocking the young girl. "Please Maia, you can't sing for shit. You didn't earn those units. What are you gonna buy anyways? More parts for your stupid inventions?"

"They aren't stupid!" Maia yelled. "I make them to learn Terran songs!"

"And what is so special about Terran music?"

"I-I don't know! It's pretty and I like it!"

Vladimir laughed. Maia got even more pissed and punched the man, making his lip swell and drip with blood. She grinded her teeth and started to pant. Vladimir turned away from the girl and felt his bleeding lip. "I took you in when your father left you here to die. Two years of keeping you alive and this is how you repay me? I was your big brother."

"You were nothing, but a huge meanie who deserves to rot! I'd rather die than live any longer with you jerks!" Maia said, puffing out her chest. Vladimir yelled in rage and slapped her across the cheek, sending her flying.

"Okay, that's it." Peter pulled out one of his quad blasters and shot at Vladimir. Gamora ran towards his men and started knocking them out one by one. Vladimir stood up and punched Peter. Maia, who had a red handprint across her cheek, pulled out a small dagger and jumped at Vladimir's face. She slashed at his forehead, causing blood to start trickling out of it. She did a backflip and flung the dagger at one of his men who was running at Gamora. He fell to the ground with the dagger still stuck in his arm. As he cried out in pain, Maia pulled the dagger out and stabbed him again in the chest. Another one of Vladimir's men caught Maia off guard and sliced her arm open. She cried out in agony before backhanding him. Gamora finished him off by stabbing him on the chest.

As the trio continued to battle Vladimir and his men, hundreds more came running after them. "Peter, there's too many of them. We have to leave now!"

"You're right." Peter looked at Maia, who was barely fighting, grinding her teeth. "She's hurt, Gamora!" Gamora nodded and picked up the young girl, placing her on her side and covering her head.

"Let me go!" Maia yelled. Gamora and Peter started running towards the Milano. "I said, let me go!" Maia struggled out of Gamora's grasp, but it hurt to much. She finally gave up, realizing that it was no use. Her vision started to blur and her hearing became distorted. Everything was in slow-motion and the shots coming from Peter's blaster became three times louder, causing her ears to ring.

"Peter, she's losing consciousness!" Gamora yelled. She saw the young girl's eyes rolling to the back of her head as her eyes closed.

"We're almost there! We'll out run them!"

"There's no time!"

"Shit." Peter whispered to himself. He pushed a button on the side of his earpiece and yelled into the intercom. "Rocket! Drax! We have an emergency! Open the hatch now!" The trio came into the view of the Milano, but the hatch wasn't opening at all.

"Peter, she's out!" Gamora yelled.

"God dammit! Will you two stop being dumbasses and be useful for once? Open THE GODDAMN HATCH, NOW!" Peter finally screamed into the intercom.

"Jesus Christ, we're coming! Calm down!" Rocket replied as the hatch started to open and the ramp lowered down.

"Get the medical kit out, too!" Peter turned off the intercom as him and Gamora ran faster than ever into the Milano. The hatch closed and the ship flew off.


Next Chapter: After returning to the ship, Drax and Rocket see that Gamora and Peter brought back an injured little girl. Who is this girl? Why did Peter and Gamora go through all that trouble to rescue her? Most importantly, how will the rest of the Guardians react to her presence?