Gamoras expression soured and she deleted the message to her mother, she couldn't find the right words to say. She lays back against the cold metal, her feet are dangling off the edge of the platform. She was looking up at the stars through the large glass hatch in the docking bay. "How could mama not worry about me?" She asks the stars, as they blink in and out of existence. Lightyears away in a swirling multicolored cloud of stardust, there's an explosion of light. The stardust shifts colors as a star is born, joining her sisters in their dance. Gamora has never seen anything like that, it was the best nightlight she's ever had.

She doesn't realize Yondu is in the room until he turns on the lights. Gamora rolled onto her side, trying to shield her eyes. "This is where you've been hidin'."

Gamora didn't know she was going to whine until she opened her mouth, "I wasn't hiding. What do you want?"

"Ya wanna try that again, girly?" Yondu kicked her side, it wasn't hard enough to cause any damage.

Gamora cried out as she recoiled away from him. The unspoken threat of being kicked again made her consider her words carefully. "Did you want something from me, Captain?" She spits his title like an insult, her words dripping with malice.

"Now, that wasn't so hard." Yondu shook his head, he let the attitude slide because they were alone. He can't tell Gamora that he was worried about her, so instead, he says, "I want you to answer your transmitter when Kraglin calls. I thought ya got lost, you're missing breakfast." Gamora muttered a soft apology, but Yondu had a feeling she wasn't listening. She was staring intensely at a blank message on her transmitter. "Did you sleep here?"

Gamora pushed her messy hair out of her eyes. "I um, I did, yes. I was really happy to have my own bed, but it was um, it was too soft."

Yondu sighed, "Don't make it a habit. Breakfast ends in twenty." Gamora closed the message and stood up. She tucked her pillow under her arm and walked around the large ships. She paused outside the door. "Go left."

"I know!" She didn't know.

~~•˖✧•✩ •✧˖•~~

There were no empty tables left by the time she arrived. Gamora would rather eat alone than share a meal with her kidnappers, but Yondu intercepted her at the exit. He turned her back towards the tables while yelling something about bugs. Most of the crew ignored her or openly disliked her, the feelings were mutual. She reluctantly set her tray down next to Kraglin. "Nothing's going to go wrong." Kraglin didn't believe what he was saying.

"Something always goes wrong." Oblo insisted, "This junker is held together by duct tape and chewing gum."

Halfnut chimed in, "The port-side sensors are shot ta shit, and our water heaters trashed."

"Navigations on the fritz again," Tullk added through a mouth full of food.

Kraglin clapped Oblo on the shoulder, "That's why we got the best mechanic this side of the galaxy to fix it."

Oblo laughs, "why does it feel like he's making fun of me?"

Kraglin sipped at his lukewarm coffee and glances down at Gamora. "Food not good enough to bring you to tears, donut head?"

"They're not donuts!" She kicked him under the table. Kraglin kicked her back, so Gamora retaliated. "Stop!"

"You stop!"

Gamora slammed her palms on the table and stood up. "You're supposed to be the adult!" The other Xandarians at the table muffled their laughter as Kraglin glared them down.

Before Kraglin could say something sarcastic and insulting, the power went out. It would have been pitch black if it weren't for the blue glow from the emergency lights. The air recyclers choked and then fell silent, as the hull creaked as its spin slowed to a stop. For a moment, Gamora felt like she was at the bottom of an ocean as everything floated upward, then it all came crashing down. The lights and the air recycler sputter back to life, in the same instance Kraglin and Oblo transmitters clicked on. "Not to alarm anyone," Huhtar was trying to sound calm, "but I think the reactor core just died."

Oblo grinned and arched his eyebrows at Kraglin, "Yeah, you're so smart. Shut up."

"I didn't say nothing, sir." Oblo stood up from the table.

"Oblo!" Yondu yelled his name from the hallway.

"I heard, I'm coming!" He slammed what was left of his coffee.

Gamora wrapped up her leftovers in a napkin, and carefully put it in her jacket pocket. "What are-That's-no!" Kraglin exhaled slowly. He looked caught between being disgusted and exasperated. "Why? Just, just why?"

"I'm saving them for later," Gamora stated this as if it were common sense.

Kraglin decided to be disgusted. "You don't need to, now you're all sticky."

Gamora frowned, "but when we run out of food,"

"We're not gonna run outta food." Kraglin cut her off, "I don't have time for your nonsense."

She followed Kraglin as he pushed his way through the crowd to Yondu and Oblo, "It's not nonsense," Gamora mumbled, if Kraglin heard her, he didn't react.

"How much time do we got Oblo?" Yondu asked.

"Life support has enough emergency battery power for a day, more if we cut down on unnecessary functions," Oblo stated.

"Kraglin drop us to half a g, and turn off anything not keeping us alive," Yondu ordered.

"Aye, sir," Kraglin focused on his tablet. Gamora felt the gravity loosen its grip on her. She underestimated how far one step would take her and crashed into Yondu. He stumbled forward grabbing onto the railing of the catwalk.

He turned his head to look at her, "What is she doing here?" Kraglin offered a half shrug in response, Oblo didn't stop walking. "What are you doing here? And why are you sticky?"

"I want to help us not die." Gamora took a cautious step away from him. "Are you going to hit me again?"

Yondus tone softened slightly, he looked away from her. "No, stay outta my way, girly."

Kraglin looked sympathetic, "You're not used to low g yet, move slow." Gamora lingered in the hallway uncertain about what to do. She heard Kraglin say in person and over her transmitter, "We're going dark." The lights shut off, and the emergency lights flickered on. She had a hard time finding her way around the ship with the lights on, she'd never find her way back in the dark. Keeping one hand on the railing she hurried to catch up with them.

"Can you divert some of the power from life support into the turbines?" Yondu asked.

Oblo bobbed his head, going down the stairs four at a time, "We can try, might not get us far."

Gamora tried to hop down the stairs the way Oblo had and nearly fell. Kraglin caught her by the collar, he slowly set her down. Yondu sighed heavily, "Can ya walk without falling, or do I need to hold your hand like you're a toddler?"

Gamoras face flushed, when Oblo snickered, "I'm fine, I can walk." Yondu raised an eyebrow at her.

She felt relieved when Kraglin changed the subject. "What about the other ships in the garage?" Oblo looked confused, so Kraglin clarified, "can we use them to power the Eclector?"

"That's," Oblo slowed down, thinking, "Not a bad idea. Horuz knows more about fighter ships than I do, but I think that can work."

Yondu opened a private channel on his transmitter, "Horuz you think we can divert power from the ships in the garage to the thrusters?"

"That's not a problem. We're gonna need a lot of cables." Horuz chuckled nervously.

Oblo breathed a sigh of relief. "Report to the garage, and get the others to help." Yondu said.

"Oh I'd love to Cap, but uhm," Horuz muttered, Oblo stopped at the door that leads to engineering. When the door didn't automatically open Kraglin punched in the code to unlock it. It still didn't open. "The doors won't open without power."

"Whoops." Kraglin ran a hand through his hair. "Captain I can,"

"Don't bother, we need to save power." Yondu shook his head and grabbed half the door. Kraglin and Oblo caught on and grabbed the other half. "One, two... three!" They yanked on the door. The metal screeched as it scraped against the floor. The sound was like fingernails on a chalkboard. The door slid open, but not far enough for anyone to squeeze through. Oblo gave up first, he let go, the door slammed shut.

"This is pointless, we can't open them on our own." Oblo huffed between labored breaths.

"Can I try?" Gamora asked, drifting towards the door.

Oblo snorted, "The hell is a lil' girl gonna do?"

Yondu shrugged, "knock yourself out, kid." Gamora steadied herself against the door, planting her feet in the ground. Kraglin remembered what she did to the med bays door and took a step back. When her fist slammed into the door it rang like a gong, a massive dent forming in the center.

Oblo shook his head, "They don't open like-" She punched it again, and the cuts on her hand reopened. The doors caved inward creating a small opening. She places her hands along the edge and pushes until the doors folded open"-that."

She leaned against the frame, breathing hard, "I did it!"

"She grew up on a planet with five times the g that we're used to." Kraglin explained," it makes for strong kids."

Yondu wasn't impressed, "Next time you break my ship girly, the replacement is coming out of your paycheck."

Gamora blinked, "I'm getting paid!?" Oblo and Kraglin stepped through the door.

Yondu sighed, "You didn't tell her?"

"Must've slipped my mind," Kraglin called over his shoulder. The further down they went the more humid it was. The underbelly of the ship was an endless dark pit of pipes and machinery. If she looked up she could see the catwalk and above that the skylight. This was the closest thing to a wide open space on the ship, the only wide open space she had been in since she was on her planet. It had been a full week since she was home with her mother. Her chest felt tight, her breath caught in her throat. She picked up the pace and grabbed onto Yondus sleeve. He gave her a curious glance but didn't push her away. Gamora told herself it was because she didn't want to get lost. Huhtar and Retch were waiting for them next to the reactor core. Even shut down, it illuminated the area in a pale white glow.

"What did you do to my baby, Huhtar?" Oblo pushed him out of the way to get to the control panel.

"Your baby?" Yondu snorted.

"I don't know!" Huhtar held up his hands defensively. "Why do you assume it's my fault? Maybe Retch did something."

"The hell I did! I actually know what I'm doing." Retch snapped irritably. "I told you she overheated."

"I know," Oblo said flatly.

"Then why are you running diagnostics again?" Retch was watching over Oblos shoulder.

"I'm double checking," Oblo said pushing Retch away from the control panel. "I don't have time to explain it to you."

"See, ya ain't better than me." Huhtar snickered.

"Oh, stars," Kraglin pinched the bridge of his nose as they dissolved into bickering and shoving each other.

"Hey!" Yondu shouted over them, his voice echoing through the hull. Gamora yanked down on Yondus sleeve when she flinches at his outburst. He placed his hand on her shoulder, reassuring the kid that he wasn't angry with her. "Kraglin, are any of these morons an expert in fusion reactors?"

"Just our head mechanic, Oblo, sir." Kraglin looked down at his tablet to cover his smirk.

"Great." Yondu snarled, "ain't there a job any half brain-dead imbecile can do?"

"Yes sir, it's basic ship maintenance!" Kraglin said it like they had won a prize on a game show. "Go on down to the garage and get to work." Retch and Huhtar hurried past them occasionally shoving each other as they went. Gamora giggled watching them retreat, it surprised Kraglin. "You liked that, huh?"

Gamora clapped a hand over her mouth and ducked behind Yondu. "No! And I don't like you either!"

Yondu looked down at Gamora his mouth twitch into a smile for a moment. Kraglin would have missed it if he didn't know to look for it. "You should go with them." Yondu nodded towards the ramp. "Keep 'em outta trouble."

"Should I take donut head along?" Kraglin asked.

"They're not donuts." It was a half-hearted protest, "I'd rather stay here."

"A'right," Kraglin nodded and hurried after the others.

Gamora held the flashlight for Oblo as he worked on the reactor core. Yondu leaned against the railing, watching them work. "Can ya patch 'er?"

"A new cooling system might be a temporary fix," Oblo muttered his attention split between Yondu and the core, "But power failures have been more frequent lately. It might be time to replace her."

"Damn," Yondu turned to look out into the darkness, he clicked his transmitter on. "Kraglin where's the nearest pit stop?"

~~•˖✧•✩•✧˖•~~

Kraglin and Horuz were standing in the hallway while the muscle pried the door open. He opened up the star charts on his tablet. "Leeto is a hundred bits out, forty if we jump."

He heard someone in the background, Oblo says, "we could try using the cooling system from the warp drive on the reactor but jumping is…" Kraglin stopped listening. The doors were forced apart until they clicked in place. The garage was lit up, which was weird because Kraglin swore he turned off all the lights. The room was hotter than usual as well. Now that Kraglin was thinking about it, the whole ship felt warm, and he knew the air conditioner was turned off. Then he saw why.

"That'll be all," Yondu was going to close the channel but the panic in Kraglins voice stopped him.

"Hey, can you see out a window right now?"

"I'm in the underbelly Krags" Yondu replied dryly, "Why?"

"No reason, really, only without the thrusters keeping us afloat, we're being pulled into a freaking star!" Kraglin pulled at his hair with one hand.

"Get moving on those ships, now! Find Tullk he never keeps his transmitter on him, I want to know how much time we have!" Yondu barked the order.

Kraglin took a deep breath, "Aye, sir." He had to watch his step as wires cover the floor. The crew was already stripping apart the fighter ships to get to their power supply. The M-ships were the first ones done. Horuz was directing everyone, and working on the more complicated ships. Kraglin found Tullk underneath the Scarab, "I'll trade ya."

He rolled out from under the ship, Kraglin waved the tablet in the air. Tullk stood up wiping his hands on his pants, he glanced outside, "That sol looks a lil' big."

"Does it? Does it, Tullk? Almost like we're falling into it?!" Kraglin shoved the tablet and transmitter into Tullks hands. He laid on his back and rolled under the ship.

"You're mean when you're panic-y," Tullk muttered.

He heard Gamoras voice over the transmitter, "He's always mean. It's his dumpster fire of a personality."

"Hey, I heard that!" Kraglin yelled.

"You were supposed to!" Gamora shouted back, Tullk snorted.

Kraglin pulled a metal panel away, revealing the machinery. He started to redirect the power supply from the Scarab, and into the cables. He liked working with his hands, it distracted him from how terrible everything else was. Kraglin almost didn't want to ask the question that was burning into his mind. "How long until we die?"

"At our current acceleration, we'll hit terminal velocity and fall into the star in roughly an hour, the g-force will crush our internal organs and pop our blood vessels," Tullk stated this in a leisurely tone that was infuriating to Kraglin. "but first we'll reach what I like to call the Danger Zone, where the heat will cook us alive."

Yondu said several obscene things that matched the way Kraglin was feeling. "Fan-freaking-tastic," He muttered as he finished working on the ship. How could Tullk be calm about this? They were all going to die.

"We're all going to die." Gamora echoed Kraglins thoughts.

"We almost die every week, mate." Tullk handed the tablet back to Kraglin. "I trust that Kraglin and the Cap can get us out of it."

"Glad someone does" Kraglin sighed trying to keep his feelings of impending doom from overwhelming him. "Horuz this one's done!" He placed his hand on the ship and immediately pulled it away. The metal was burning.

"Tullk, take whoever you want and get to the control room, be ready to fly her out," Yondu barked the order. Kraglin could tell the stress was getting to him.

"Aye aye, Captain," Tullk tossed the transmitter back to Kraglin and headed for the door.

The room was sweltering. Kraglin had to wear gloves so the metal paneling wouldn't blister his skin. He abandoned the jacket a while ago. The star loomed ever larger, a physical countdown to their deaths. Kraglin needed to keep working, keep moving. He checked their power supply for the fifth time in ten minutes. They had drained the battery from nearly all the fighter ships. It still wasn't enough. He could feel the gravity pushing down on them. "Horuz how much longer?" Kraglin yelled across the room.

Horuz was bent over the Anilius, "Hang on!"

Kraglins heart leaped into his throat, his skin felt like it was on fire. Looking out the window the star eclipsed everything. He felt the ship shift under his feet, as the thrusters kicked on. Kraglin braced himself against the wall as the ship tilted to the left. Anything not nailed down slid across the floor. They pulled away from the star but it wasn't enough to break free from orbit. They needed the last ship, "Horuz!"

"Almost," Horuz muttered, holding onto the Anilius with one hand. The Eclector couldn't hold up under the stress for much longer. The crew wasn't doing much better under the force of the acceleration. "There!" Horuz slammed the key into the engine and started her. There was another burst of acceleration as the ship pulled free of the star's gravity well. Kraglins knees gave out, he slumped against the wall. The crushing gravity was dizzying, he was on the brink of unconsciousness. The room seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as the star became another light in the sky. The temperature dropped from hellish to tolerable. The crew cheered, as Tullk leveled the Eclector out.

"We can't celebrate yet, we're still dead in the water." Kraglin was thinking out loud, adrenaline made his heart pound. "Tullk can ya slow her down?"

"I can't she's all out of juice." Tullk sound apologetic.

Yondus voice came over the comms, "No we ain't."

~~•˖✧•✩•✧˖•~~

The force of the acceleration needed to pull out from orbit had knocked Gamora unconscious. She lay in a heap on the floor, she would have some nasty bruises in the morning. The first time in high gravity was never easy for anyone. The reactor core whirled and flickered to life, its white light mixing with the teal glow of the cooling system. Oblo laughed and rubbed his palms together. "Come on baby, come on!" The roar of the turbines echoed. Yondu could feel the ship shifting under him, the core flickered. An alarm went off and a moment later the core died. "That's all she's got. It has to be enough." Oblo shot Yondu a worried look, "has to be."

"Tullk where we at?" It wasn't so much a question as it was a demand.

The signal was bad at the bottom of the ship, Tullks voice sounded grainy. "We're on course, Captain, coming in hot."

Yondu nodded, "Oblo how long until you can do that again?"

Oblo arched his eyebrows, then looked at the core. "Well, uh,"

"How long, Oblo?" he stated each word like it was its own sentence.

"Hour maybe two." Oblo blurted out.

"Do it." Then said into his transmitter, "Tullk slow her down as much as ya can." Yondu forced himself to relax. All they could do now was keep busy and wait, he looked down at Gamora. They had been steadily dropping to low gravity for the past few minutes, Yondu lifted her up with some effort. She looked healthier and she was stronger than before. Gamora shifted in her sleep resting her head on Yondus shoulder. He thought that she was almost cute when she wasn't talking.