Jackson 5 "I want you back;" Jay and the Americans "Come a little bit closer;" Fine Young Cannibals "She drives me crazy;" ACDC "Guns for hire;" Don Henley "Dirty Laundry;" Collective Soul "December."

Thank you for the enthusiastic (at times demanding, sheesh) and fun support and reviews. Love them all. For the record: it was more than pee in the last chapter. Poor girl, and poor Yondu. Also, cheers to those who have put forward song requests! They very much direct where I go with the story so if you are mischievous and want something in particular then find a song (preferably from the 1980s or before…even Gregorian chants folks…ha!) and I'll do what I can to incorporate it accordingly. Like I said before, there's only a slight goal in mind for the story so it really can go in any direction and can end at any time. So if you want more then I suggest you give more (song requests at least). Thanks again and I hope you enjoy! Cheers

Tommiah glanced up at Drax and smirked at his obvious discomfort, "Why are you letting me drink water from your cup? Contagious as you seem to think I am?"

"I can get a new cup when we get back to the ship. You have need of water right now and my cup was the only one available." He tilted his head towards the sun and away from Tommiah, "And I do not think you are contagious. I think you smell like fecal matter and vomit and do not wish to procure any of your smell upon myself."

"My cup runneth over with your platitudes and grace, Drax." Tommiah wiped the back of her hand over her mouth. "But no reason to worry. You can turn your head now, I'll go to the other side of camp and you won't have to worry about my stench anymore." On shaky legs and bare feet—she'd thrown what was left of the boots at Quill's head when they'd first met up—she stumbled her way across the semi-circular area surrounded by stones on the edge of a small oasis that they called their camp. When she heard Drax's heavy breathing directly behind her she looked over her shoulder, "Why are you following me?"

"You are in need of assistance and though I am not in favor of the situation, until the others return I am the only one available to assist you." Though his words were kind, in their own fashion, his face was still grimacing at her appearance and smell.

It was true, about it just being her and Drax at the camp. Groot and Rocket had gone with Mantis to another town, not Paradise City, to retrieve some supplies while Quill, Gamora, Yondu, and Kraglin had disappeared to who knows where to argue about the profits of the job. Yondu was "treacherously" insisting upon ransom—her ransom—in order to get a share of the profits from Quill and the others for those dang blasted power packs. It had been alluded to her, the idea that Yondu would forcibly take her if Quill didn't agree to the ransom, but that had only made her laugh. One) she liked the idea of hanging out with Yondu again so there would be no forcing and 2) she was a fucking quarter Celestial and ain't no one MADE her do anything—the previous poisoning aside. It had made Quill laugh too because none of them had bothered to tell Yondu, yet, about her semi-Celestial nature. Poor Yondu wouldn't have had any reason to assume she had such powers considering he'd been the one to cut her free and carry her ass outta the sewers.

Poor, poor Yondu. After they'd rendezvoused with the others some hours before—she'd woken up just prior to that-he'd unceremoniously dumped her onto the ground near the Guardian's supplies and had promptly shed his coat and shirt and had stomped off to clean her shit off him, as he'd romantically declared to them all. Rocket had laughed, no surprise there, while Quill had had a bit of decency to look a little sorry for having made her wear this crap outfit for their mission.

Blinking at Drax as she came back from her thoughts Tommiah smirked, "No need to scream out your chivalrous nature, Drax."

"I do not recall screaming in any manner." Drax shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another as he watched Tommiah lower herself onto the ground. It amazed her that sarcasm still flew over his head as high as it did; he'd been in the company of Rocket and Quill long enough, one would think that at least some concept of sarcasm would've sunk in by now.

"No," Tommiah pointed to the pile of supplies, "you didn't scream. Would you be a doll and get me that rag sticking out of Quill's bag? I've a mind to clean up a bit."

Beside her was a small spring, where Drax had earlier retrieved the water for her to drink. She wanted more than anything to strip naked and roll herself into the cool water. But she would have to make do with a cup bath for now.

Drag grunted on his way over to the bag, "Doing this for you will not make me a doll."

Some clouds blessedly covered the hot sun, momentarily, and Tommiah sighed again before calling out to Drax, "While you're at it, would you mind looking around to see if he has anything I might be able to use to get out of this nasty outfit?"

Drax proceeded to hold up every item inside Quill's bag until Tommiah just told him to give her something he would most likely use. She ended up with Quill's jacket, nothing else could be found to suffice as underwear or pants. Well, she'd just have to watch how she sat until she could get her clothes back.

"All right Drax, just to be absolutely clear: I'm about to get thoroughly naked and then thoroughly wet. You have a choice," Drax was beginning to look panicked as she spoke, her voice deadpan and her face as serious as the grave, "You can stay here and watch me clean," there was no need to use innuendo with Drax, he didn't need it to look sick to his stomach, "or you can go find the others and hang out with them until they're ready to come back."

Drax beat a hasty retreat without protest and Tommiah laughed to herself, congratulating her acting skills—it'd been so hard to keep a straight face while watching Drax's discomfort. It took some fancy and groan-inducing movements to shed off the crusted, plastered-to-her-skin clothing, but eventually she was naked—having placed the dirty laundry under her bum otherwise she'd be sitting on a hot rock—and began to pour the water over her head.

She hummed to herself as she scrubbed and rubbed away the filth, "Kick 'em when they're up

Kick 'em when they're down," she wasn't sure why the song came to her head but then again in recent weeks she wasn't sure if logic was used often for many of her decisions, "Kick 'em all around..."

Tommiah had just finished the last of her washing—mentally dancing and singing the Hallelujah chorus for how completely better she felt—but had yet to put on the coat, when Kraglin's dirty blonde head rounded into view. He let out a high-pitched squeak and abruptly turned back around and would've gone back in the direction he'd come from but Tommiah's voice stopped him. She had a mischievous gleam in her eye as she watched him shuffle backwards, closer so she didn't have to yell as she spoke to him. It was most interesting, watching a hardened Ravager act like a flighty teenager.

"So, my gun-for-hire friend, are you going to tell me how you and Yondu ended up on the same planet as us or am I going to have to guess?"

Kraglin scratched his head, "We was after the same thing as y'all I reckon. The word was out about them and when something like that is said then it's everybody's pie to dig into with their dirty fingers."

Tommiah watched his body language carefully as she put on Quill's coat and zipped it up. She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, "You can't get the drop on me anymore Kraglin." Something in the quality of her voice had the man turning his head, then his whole body, when he saw that she was mostly decent. "When it's all said and done, I know your head of operations well enough to expect a few lies and secrets to be told before the truth of what's really going on is known." She winced as she stood up, tossing the dirty laundry onto the ground before dipping the cup back into the spring and dumping its contents on the rock, marginally cooling it off so she could sit back down. "Do you have a running bet with the boys back on the ship for how long you can keep the truth from me or something?"

"No, there ain't nothin' like that goin' on." Kraglin rubbed the back of his head, his gaze wandering around the oasis as if he was afraid to look at her directly. "So how did you get away from Stakar?" His wandering eyes finally came back to her and though his body language told her he was umcomfortable and skittish, Tommiah could see a strong discerning glint in his gaze.

She smiled, "I was on loan-out when it came to my attention that I'm more skillful than expected within certain avenues of life. So my loan-out became permanent. As far I know, there's no hard feelings between myself and Stakar. And I am fairly certain he won't be all fired up to come track me down." She smirked. "Did you miss me, is that what you're saying?"

"Now I never much spent time with you on board, so I can't say as that I missed you in particular." His honesty surprised her. Tommiah balanced her elbows on her knees and leaned forward. "But I gotta say that every street he's walked on since you left…well it's like he's left stains of his suppression on the ground."

"Pardon?"

"All these jobs we've been doing, and all the profit we've been getting, it ain't been enough for him ya know? He's been acting like he's chasing a ghost, following after one he didn't e'en know he'd want 'round." Kraglin further surprised her by coming up to sit on the small bit of rock left over beside her. She resisted the urge to scoot away, afraid that her movements would break his "confession" mode. "I mean, you don't really wanna know just how far he's gone. You should leave well enough alone." Kraglin looked away, then expectantly glanced at her over his shoulder. When she just blinked at him, he sighed and shook his head, kicking at the dirt at his feet. "Let him have his dirty little secrets."

It took her befuddled moment to realize that Kraglin WANTED her to dig the truth out of him. He'd just maneuvered himself, conversationally speaking, into a position that if Yondu growled at him later about spilling whatever beans he had locked away, that Kraglin could honestly say that he'd told her not to ask and had "tried" to keep it to himself. What a twerpish, and ingenious, move! Tommiah choked back her laugh and her smile. She'd play along, just to soothe Kraglin's manly pride.

"I will cut you down to size, Kraglin, unless you tell me exactly what I want to know."

Kraglin looked at her again and snorted, "How do you expect to do that? You still look like shit." His eyes got big and he blushed, "No offense ma'am."

"None taken if it's the truth," Tommiah leaned forward, "So Yondu's been a haunted man ever since I left, eh? He's not been finding pleasure in his gain?" She smiled. "Sounds like some big shot who can't get what he wants because he wouldn't acknowledge what it was he wanted."

"Now, I never said nothing like that." Kraglin looked like he was about to stand and move away, taking the truth with him, so Tommiah swung herself around until she was straddling his hips, legs wrapping around his waist and hands looped firmly around his neck. Kraglin looked both surprised and terrified while Tommiah could only smile at her triumph.

"Kraglin." Tommiah tightened her grip on his hips in response to his nervous shifting. "I will not move from this spot until you answer me, yes or no, a few questions." Kraglin again tried shifting and pushing at her body but she tightened her hold and pulled her face closer, causing him to tip his awkwardly backwards. "I give you my word that the information you give me will not be used to harm Yondu in any way. I seek no vengeance against him."

Kraglin stopped his squirming and narrowed his eyes at her, that wise look of discernment crowding out his fear. After another quiet moment his body relaxed under hers and he nodded, "What you got?"

"Has Yondu been acting strange ever since I left?" Yes movement from Kraglin. "Do you think it is directly related to me as a person and not just me as a profit?" Hesitation but then Yes from Kraglin. "Do you think Yondu would be a better captain and a happier man if I was around?" A confused look soon replaced by a hopeful one then Yes from Kraglin. Tommiah loosened her hold but didn't extract herself. "Thank you. But I must confess my own prideful hesitancy to come along in spite of your reassurances. When he had me to himself, he didn't want me around. Those pretty faces of credit made me stand out in a crowd and someone picked me from the bunch, one glance was all it took. And there's no guarantee that won't happen again, though I won't go so easily now. So maybe now it's much too late for me to take a second look at whatever it was that happened between us."

Kraglin scratched his head before he responded, "Is that a yes or no question?"

Tommiah opened her mouth to reply but then the voices of their comrades coming into the camp stopped her. Yondu's voice, directed over his shoulder to Quill, was saying, "Tell me what you've got in mind, 'cause we're running out of time. And this waiting 'round's killing me and," but as they drew into the camp and everyone saw Kraglin and Tommiah, he stopped talking. Kraglin stood up so fast then, at the look of burning anger in Yondu's eyes, that Tommiah fell on her butt. Drax's groans were enough evidence, as she scrambled around on the ground into a better position, that her momentary sprawl had advertised her goods to all present.

Kraglin was rambling all sorts of confusion, wildly gesturing between himself and Tommiah, while Quill doubled over clutching his stomach. Gamora lightly touched his shoulder in concern but when Quill lifted his head, red and weepy, it was obvious to everyone that he was laughing. "I feel like I just got a window seat on a plane ride of ridiculousness." He gasped out, trying to stand up straight but when Yondu lunged forward and decked Kraglin, he fell over again in more laughter.

Tommiah felt marginally bad that Kraglin was getting beat on for her interrogation tactics and moved to stop the fight but Drax stopped her. "A warrior must fight to show his virility to his potential mate." Tommiah raised an eyebrow and Drax pointed to Yondu, "He needs to fight for you or else he cannot have you."

"But," Tommiah frowned, "Kraglin wasn't trying to take me. This is all a misunderstanding."

"There are no misunderstandings when it comes to mating." Drax patted her shoulder before he walked over to the pile of supplies and calmly began to pack them away.

"I beg to differ," Tommiah again stepped forward to stop Yondu as he now took to chasing a fleeing Kraglin through the middle of the oasis. This time it was Quill who stopped her.

"He'll work it out of his system and Kraglin's fast." He rocked back on his heels for a philosophical pause. "Do you want to ride with Yondu or us?"

Tommiah looked away from the rustling foliage, "Where are we going?"

"Rocket reported not too long ago about finding another cache of these power packs. Apparently, what we found was supposedly the decoy to the real big deal. So we talked it over with Yondu and-"

"Talked it over?" Tommiah snorted. "That doesn't sound much like Yondu."

Gamora spoke over her shoulder, having joined Drax in packing up, "They agreed on a split of the cache in exchange for you."

"Meaning Yondu would get me instead of the cache?" Tommiah looked from Gamora to Quill. "Or vice versa?"

"No, we agreed on a split of the cache instead of me keeping you all to myself and going after the cache against him. It was rather uncharacteristically chivalrous of him to insist upon splitting the cache and working together for it, thereby guaranteeing your 'freedom' from serving me." Quill patted Tommiah's shoulder, "You must have driven him crazy like no one else, and he can't help himself." Quill kept his hand on her shoulder, "Can I have my jacket back now?"

Tommiah unzipped the jacket and unflinchingly took it off. Both Drax and Quill balked at her complete nudity: Drax for finding her ugly and Quill for the sheer surprise of it. Gamora smirked and gave her nod as she walked by towards the ship; Drax ostentatiously ignored her as he followed in her footsteps. It was as Tommiah handed Quill his jacket that Yondu emerged alone from the oasis foliage. At the sight of Tommiah, naked in the sun, standing so close to Quill, Yondu's eyes narrowed again. Quill grabbed his jacket, mumbled something about her staying with Yondu, then took off after Drax and Gamora.

Yondu advanced, "Am I gonna have to mark you with my brand to remind you and everyone else who it is you're with?"

Tommiah turned to face him head on, putting her hands on her hips, "Who says I haven't already marked you? And for someone who so happily rid himself of me not so long ago, who the hell are you to say I'm 'with' you or not?" Yondu's eyes narrowed at her words. She continued, "So you've come gunnin' for me, believing you get what you want, eh?" Tommiah held steady, not wavering under his scrutiny when he stopped just shy of her. "Aren't you hot to trot, thinking I need you to guarantee my freedom. You think I couldn't make it on my own? You know no one likes to go at it alone, but that doesn't mean that they can't do just fine alone. And I've been doing just fine. I didn't need you to swoop in and save me"

"You were dying when I found you and you shat all over me. I also didn't e'en know you were here." Yondu growled out at her through clenched teeth. "If I had I wouldn't have bothered."

"Don't make excuses, Yondu." Tommiah crossed her arms over her chest, inwardly smiling when she saw Yondu's nostrils flare at the sight her breasts pressing together. "Everything you say is lies so long as you don't acknowledge the truth to yourself." Tommiah changed tactics and softened her voice, tilting her head to the side. "You know what we had was true." Yondu drew back, as if her words had physically hit him. "But things go wrong, they always do. And you're a quick draw on the floor. Like some wanted man; a smooth operator. And you maneuvered yourself out of a situation that could've gotten too real for you."

Yondu mimicked her stance and crossed his arms over his chest, "I had an agreement. You weren't an expected part of the agreement."

"Yes," Tommiah laughed, "I'm a real entertainer, a mischief maker. A great dalliance to wheedle away time with. It's no surprise to me that you'd fall back on that agreement to cover your ass. The agreement served you well enough until you found a better one that outbid the original. While I can't fault you for that, in your line of work, I can give you hell for it since it got between us."

"There was no us." Yondu continued to glare at her.

Tommiah laughed, "Then why in the hell did you just beat the shit out of Kraglin? He didn't do anything. I was the one who made the advance. Trying to get him to spill the truth about what y'all had been up to." Tommiah gestured over her shoulder towards Quill's ship, which had begun to take off. "And why did you look like you were going to murder Quill just a few moments ago?"

"Lady," Yondu uncrossed his arms, "you're in trouble plenty. I just lost half a profit because of you. Now shut up and let's go before Quill makes off with the whole cache." Yondu turned and began his way back towards the oasis foliage; his ship and hopefully a still alive Kraglin being on the other side.

Tommiah rolled her shoulders and cracked her knuckles as she narrowed her eyes at Yondu's retreating back. She muttered to herself, "Why is it that I can speak of love in seven languages except the one that matters?"

"Let's go, lady, we haven't got-" Yondu's voice was cut off as the air left his lungs.

Tommiah only momentarily was dislodged from his back after her initial tackle when he fell into the ground and skidded a ways. She recovered quicker than Yondu, however, and laid herself upon his back, securing her arms on either side of his and her legs on either side as well. Under normal circumstances, Yondu would've been able to knock her off his back and be on his way without breaking a sweat. However, Tommiah had recovered enough in her rest to muster up some of her quarter-Celestial powers and now began to use them to increase her weight upon his back as well as the strength in her arms and legs as they continued to pin his own.

"What the hell?" Yondu's voice sprayed up a cloud of dust by his face. Tommiah didn't feel guilty in the slightest at making him figuratively and literally eat dirt for a few moments longer. "What did Quill do to you?"

"Quill didn't do a damn thing. This is au natural me." Tommiah turned her head and rested it atop his upper back and neck as she spoke. "Through a bizarre series of events I came to find out that I'm descended from a Celestial."

Yondu tried to squirm under her, "Fuck me! You're another Ego?"

"No, I'm not suddenly hell bent on remaking the universe in my image or shagging my way through the galaxy." Rocket had been the one to inform her of Quill's psycho father when she'd brought it to their attention about her powers and had had to deal with Quill's initial disgust towards her. "I'm only a quarter-Celestial so while I'm crazy, I'm not THAT crazy." Tommiah lifted her head. "If I let you up can we talk without you trying to walk away, or do I have to stay where I am?"

Yondu was quiet, apparently giving it serious thought, before he sighed—causing another dust cloud—and nodded, "You can let me up."

Tommiah immediately missed feeling his strong body beneath hers when she rolled off him, but she'd not force him to comply with her wishes—and she very much wished that he could get over his pride and let them be together already. She sat on the dusty ground while he pulled himself up onto his hands and knees, his gaze wary as he watched her, then turned and sat facing her. She kept her hands visible, placed on her knees, as she sat cross-legged. Sitting on the ground was not the most comfortable thing in the world but at least in their scuffle they'd ended up under the bit of shade the oasis offered. And there was no use feeling self-conscious. Yondu had seen and tasted everything she had on display at the moment, though in far different scenarios.

"Did you kill Kraglin?" Tommiah glanced over at the foliage then back to Yondu.

Yondu shrugged, "He's probably in the ship bandaging himself up now waiting for us." He eyed her another heartbeat before he leaned forward and asked, "Why'd you tell me about being quarter-Celestial?"

"I wanted you to understand that I don't need you." Yondu flinched and leaned back again. "I don't need anyone really. I semi-immortal and I'm still discovering how badass I really am."

"Then what the hell are we talking here for?" Yondu shifted on his haunches as if to get up. Tommiah reached out and, without using her powers, stayed him. She placed her hand on his forearm and squeezed lightly. He hesitated then relaxed again.

"As I said earlier, although I am doing just fine on my own, and can go at it alone, no one likes to be alone. I don't need you but," Tommiah looked him up and down and smiled, "I want you. And I'd like to think that the feeling is mutual. You don't need me, but you want me."

Yondu was quiet for far longer than Tommiah expected. She internally shifted around, fighting against a surge of disquiet under his calculating gaze. But then he shifted his position to be more open, sitting cross-legged like her but with his arms draped over his knees, and he tilted his head towards her.

"Come a little bit closer." Tommiah scooted closer, until their knees were touching. Yondu raised an eyebrow. "Not close enough." Tommiah didn't hesitate. She put her hands on his shoulders and used them to brace herself as she crawled into his lap, wrapping her legs around his waist and settling her rear in the "bowl" his crossed legs made. Yondu smiled, "That's better."

Tommiah smiled as she wrapped her hands around his neck, "I agree."

"Now," Yondu's hands, though dirt covered, felt a welcome warmth against her naked flesh when they came to rest on her waist and caressed up her back, "Let me tell ya, forget what happened before." He swallowed and looked pained, as if what he was about to say physically hurt him. Tommiah kept quiet, certain that he'd be able to overcome his own pride soon enough. "I was blind to let you go, but now since I've seen ya, and as you so eloquently put it you want me and I'd say," he shifted her in his lap so she could feel his semi-erect penis, "the feeling is quite mutual, why don't you spare me overly long dialogues about what you're feeling and what I'm feeling and shit like that. I want you back. I think that's simple enough."

Tommiah laughed, "Yeah, it is. And let me say that trying to live without your snark has been like one long sleepless night."

"That's just fine. I haven't been able to get much rest neither. Kraglin says I've been a man obsessed." Yondu shrugged. "Now how about we get the fuck off this planet and get ourselves some credits so you take a proper bath and not smell like shit?"

"Oh," Tommiah laughed, "you die hard romantic you."

Despite Yondu's protests, she kissed him: swiftly and playfully, before racing him back to the ship where Kraglin was indeed nursing quite a few cuts and bruises but who looked exceedingly glad to see Tommiah with Yondu. Of course, Kraglin knew that he'd get more cuts and bruises from the captain, directly because of Tommiah, but at least he'd be the captain again and he'd have that no-good snarling smile back on his face again.