**I'd like to take a moment to thank my first reviewer, RenInWonderlandd, for leaving me two reviews. I'm happy to hear that you like my story so far. I hope I can continue to write in such a way that will keep you, and everyone else reading my story, interested and entertained.
Also, thank you to everyone who has favorited and/or followed this story. It makes me thrilled to see that people are enjoying this. I get giddy like a school girl everytime my phone dings and alerts me that I have new followers and/or made it to someone's favorites list.
Anyway, this chapter only contains mild language and minor adult content so no mature chapter is available. If you are enjoying my story, please feel free to drop me a review, let me know what you think.
Enjoy!
Chapter Twelve: That's What She Said
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Picking at her food absentmindedly the following morning, Dani took another small bite of her once powdered eggs, her eyes casually sliding across the table at Peter. He was studying a touch screen layout of the planet, Dorang as he ate his own breakfast, his eyes occasionally meeting hers. He gave her a small smirk causing Dani's stomach to flutter as he rubbed his boot against hers under the table.
"My god! Would you two please give us a break? I'm trying to eat here." Rocket snapped, pointing at his plate. Peter shot him a fierce scowl, still pissed about his rude yelling last night. Drax glanced between them, clearly confused.
"Am I missing something? It seems as though I am missing something here." He stated, looking around the table for clarification. Dani stared intently down at her food, hoping that Rocket would keep his mouth shut for once.
"It would appear that we have blossoming romance on our little slice of heaven here. Quill and Princess spent the evening locked in her room last night. The walls of this ship are thinner than they realize." Rocket responded to the inquiry, pointing his fork back and forth between Dani and Peter. Drax's face lit up like a Christmas tree.
"That's wonderful news! What's life worth living without love in it?" He exclaimed. Dani furrowed her eyebrows, glancing at him, not one hundred percent sure how to take the statement.
"Um, thanks Drax, I think."
He smiled widely at the two of them.
"But of course. Are you already trying to procreate?" Drax asked, completely serious.
Dani coughed abruptly, choking on a mouthful of eggs. She leaned forward, coughing more violently to dislodge the trapped food from her throat. Peter damn near spit his coffee out, forcing it down between coughs. He stared at Drax in open disbelief.
"What the hell man? Why would you ask that?" He demanded, pointily ignoring the hysterical laughter coming from Rocket.
Drax stared blankly back. "What's the matter? This is what life is about. You find the one you want to be with, you lay together and have offspring of your own. My wife and I didn't waste any time. I can tell you about the story of the first time we…"
"No! No! Let's not!" Peter barked. Dani hid her face in her hands, wishing the floor would open below her and suck her into space. Rocket's laughter somehow grew louder.
"Why not? Did no one explain to you two how reproduction works? Is that the issue here?"
"Dude, seriously…"
"I'm just saying, you two aren't getting any younger. I also think that Dani could bear you many children. She has the perfect size of childbearing hips…"
Dani slammed her hands hard on the table.
"My god! Shut up Drax!" She yelled angrily, her face now beet red and hands shaking from embarrassment. Drax stared at her, opening his mouth to speak but stopped, his gaze focused behind her.
Dani turned, the red of her face instantly drained, leaving her a sick, ashy white. In the doorway stood Gamora, frozen hesitantly in spot, her anxious stare locked on Dani. All the air in the room went still.
"I Am Groot." Groot said from his seat on the table.
"Yes, Groot. It did get quiet. This is what you call an awkward moment." Rocket replied.
The two women stared at each other, one looking remorseful, the other frozen like a deer in headlights.
"Dani, I don't…" Gamora began but was interrupted by Dani scrambling out of her seat, bolting for the other doorway across the room.
"Please, Dani. I'm so sorry!" She called after her retreating form. Gamora made to follow her but was halted by Peter, who was now blocking the doorway Dani just ran through. He shook his head slowly at the brunette.
"You need to give her some space."
Gamora crossed her arms tightly, looking even more ashamed. "I need to apologize. I behaved horribly towards her. I have to do something; I haven't been able to sleep."
Peter laughed sarcastically.
"All I'm hearing is 'I this, and I that'. This isn't about what you need, Gamora. She needs some time and distance. You could've killed her." Peter snapped, anger vibrating through him. Gamora took a step back, the heavy weight of his words hitting her like a ton of bricks, knowing that what he said was true. She kept her eyes downcast, unable to look anyone in the eye.
"Peter, I owe you an apology as well. I was ignorant towards you yesterday and you didn't deserve that. You were merely being honest about how you felt, and I snubbed you. I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?" Gamora apologized, finally looking up at him.
"For that, yes. As far as I'm concerned, that's already water under the bridge. But that shit you pulled with Dani? I'm furious. I never thought in a million years that you of all people would be capable of that. She thinks of you as a friend and you used her as a punching bag."
Gamora didn't reply because it was true. There was nothing she could say or do. All she could do was wait and hope that Dani, at some point, would be willing to let her apologize.
"Not trying to interrupt the therapy session but we have a rescue mission that needs to be coordinated." Rocket spoke up.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Does everything you do end in gunfire?!" Dani screamed, throwing herself behind the dining room table that Peter had overturned for cover.
After doing some recon, the crew uncovered everything they needed to know about this Mr. Korvek. Turns out he is a co-owner of a large drilling company on Dorang. His home had been easy enough to find when you have a pocket full of units and a drunk, loose lipped foreman. After running surveillance on his mansion, they found their in, separating into two teams. One being Peter, Dani and Rocket. The other Drax, Gamora and Groot. They originally thought the inside had been cleared only to be hit with an ambush a few moments into their infiltration. A fight had erupted, separating Dani and Peter from the others. The inside of the man's mansion now resembled a war zone.
A smile broke out on Peter's face as he ducked back down beside her after firing a few shots.
"Only when things don't go as I plan!" He hollered back, checking the north side of the room.
"Well your plans suck! How have you survived this lifestyle so long?"
"Maybe it's because I'm so friendly and debonair?!"
Dani checked the other side of the room, ducking back down when a shot zoomed past her head, missing her face by inches.
"More like an equal amount of stupid and lucky!"
"Can we please bicker later? There's gotta be a sleeping quarters where the servants live. Maybe downstairs? Like a basement?" He called out, more to himself than to her. Dani scanned her memory, thinking over the quick look she had gotten of the first floor.
"I remember seeing a door near the kitchen with what looked like a fingerprint scanner. Maybe that's it?"
Peter nodded, turning to look at her.
"Ok, we're gonna make a run for it on the count of three. You ready?"
She shook her head, flinching when another shot splintered a chuck of the table above their heads, raining wooden debris down on them.
"Not at all."
"Too bad, Patrick, time to saddle up. Alright, one." He counted, taking a long pause to look over at Dani, silently praying it wasn't for the last time.
"Two."
A loud clang by their feet caught their attention, both of their eyes locating the source of the noise. It turned out to be a round metal ball rolling along the floor. Peter's face scrunched up in terror and he lunged forward, snatching it up.
"Grenade! Get down!" He screamed, throwing it back over their heads.
Dani didn't need told twice. She flung herself onto her stomach and covered her head with her arms. Something heavy landed hard on her back, momentarily stunning her until she caught a strong whiff of sandalwood and pine. Peter covered her body with his own and covered her ears, attempting to protect her from the blast that shook the room violently. The floorboards banged and the windows in the large room blew out from the concussive blast.
Peter rolled off her, groaning in pain from his ringing ears. Dani glanced over the shredded table, looking for a sign of any survivors. Peter's aim must've been spot on. All she could make out was a scorched blood splatter on the wall and she didn't dare look any closer than that. She scrambled to his side. Peter was clutching his head and staring at the ceiling in a daze.
"Peter, look at me. Can you hear me?" She called loudly, praying he could hear her.
"Peter, Baby, look at me. Can you hear me?" She cried out, worried that he may have damaged his ear drums from the blast. Dani lightly slapped his face to get him to look at her. He turned his eyes back to her, a stupid, dazed grin spreading across his face.
"You called me Baby."
Rolling her eyes, Dani huffed and pulled him into a sitting position. Peter gave his head a good shake, looking around the ruined room.
"I can't take you anywhere." She mumbled, picking her ray gun up off the floor.
The couple made their way to the kitchen, spotting the door that Dani had seen earlier. Peter popped the panel off the scanner, working on the wires. Footsteps echoed through the hall. Dani raised her gun quickly, the barrel mere inches from Gamora's face; Drax, Rocket and Groot in tow. She lowered her weapon, not taking her eyes off the other woman. She knew that Gamora wasn't going to try anything, but she was still nervous around her.
"I'm not going to attack you, Dani." Gamora said, knowing already what the other was thinking.
"Now's not the time you two. Got it." Peter short circuited the door, it popped open with a whirling noise. Weapons raised, they moved down some wooden stairs to a long hallway filled with individual cells. Unable to contain herself, Dani pushed her way forward past the others.
"Dani, wait!" Peter made a grab at her arm only to miss.
"Amelia! Amelia Mitchell, are you down here? Amelia!" Dani yelled as she ran down the hallway, checking between the bars of each cell, coming up empty so far.
"Dani?" A low, timid voice called from further down the hallway.
Running at full speed, Dani located the cell the voice called out from. She paused, grasping the bars to look inside. Her heart bounced up into her throat as she spotted a shock of familiar red hair first.
"Amelia!"
Dark blue eyes staring in disbelief, Amelia cried out, a sob ripping from her throat as she rushed forward. Dani reached through the bars, pulling her friend into an awkward embrace. Amelia pulled back, grasping her cheeks, both girls had tears streaming down their faces.
"I thought I would never see you again. Wait. How are you here? Is Terry ok? We were auctioned off separately." Amelia asked frantically, her dark blue eyes wild with fear and concern.
"We'll talk later after we get you out of here. We gotta go." Dani rushed, looking around the edge of the bars for a way to pry them out.
Drax stepped up beside of her, grasping the bars and looking through them to the astounded redhead.
"Move back, Friend of Dani." Amelia quickly obeyed, stumbling back to the other side of the cell.
Drax pulled hard, yelling in effort as he managed to yank the door completely off its hinges.
Dani snatched Amelia's hand, yanking her through the doorway.
"Wait! There are five others here beside me. They're good people, we can't leave them here." Amelia pleaded, pointing to a cluster of cells further down from hers.
"HEY! That's not part of the deal, Princess! We don't have room for that many more people." Rocket snapped. Amelia let out a yelp of surprise at Rocket's unannounced appearance.
"We can't leave them here. We can at least free them. There are plenty of small cities on this planet. They can figure out the rest for themselves." Gamora interjected, moving along to another cell. Peter nodded in agreement, moving to a nearby cell with a middle-aged man inside, blowing the lock off with his ray gun.
After freeing the other captives, the group boarded the Milano, which was parked near the mansion. Once on board, Rocket and Peter started the ship up and hauled ass off Dorang. Dani briefly thought about this Korvek guy and how surprised he would be when he returned to his mansion.
Dani fussed over Amelia, making sure that her friend was alright. The older woman had lost some weight, also appearing a little gaunt but was otherwise healthy enough. Amelia demanded to know if Dani had any news on Terry's situation. She did her best to fill her friend in what she knew about her brother's whereabouts. Amelia's face became paler as Dani went on before going silent all together. Seeing the current state of Amelia's appearance, Dani handed her some clothing and showed Amelia where the shower was.
Dani was sitting on her bed when Amelia returned quite a while later, freshly showered.
"My lord, I can't tell you how refreshing that was." Amelia said, appearing to be in slightly better spirits after a long shower. Dani climbed up, striding quickly across the room in a few bounds, snatching her friend up in a tight embrace. Amelia returned the embrace, a bittersweet smile gracing her face, the first one in longer than she could remember. A strangled sob tore from Dani's throat as she clung to her, burying her face into Amelia's wet hair as she clenched her eyes shut to stem the tears of joy that were threatening to fall as she tightened her arms around her shoulders.
"You scared the shit out of me, Mitchell." She rasped. A few tears escaped the redhead's eyes as she sniffled, releasing a shaky breath before responding.
"Like I did it on purpose, Patrick."
They pulled out of the embrace, Amelia holding Dani's face in her hands as the blonde placed her hands over top of Amelia's.
"Thank god for you, Dani and your friends. I had given up any hope of getting out of there.' Amelia whispered low, her eyes shining as she took in her friend's face. 'But how? You saved me. How's that possible? How did you do any of this?"
Before Dani could answer, a hesitant, slow knock echoed against the door. Stepping away, Dani pulled the door open, a slow smile pulling up the corners of her mouth. Peter stood in the hallway, his eyes watching her hesitantly as he held a tray of food in his hands.
"Hey."
"Hey you. I figured you both were hungry. I brought plenty. Also figured that the two of you needed some time to yourselves to catch up so I told the others to leave you be."
Dani's heart thumped joyfully at the sweet gesture. He was just so amazing sometimes. She took the tray from him.
"Thank you, Peter. That means a lot to me but come in for a few. I want you two to formally meet." She insisted, placing the tray on her dresser. He glanced nervously into the room, looking uneasy as he shoved his hands into his pants pockets.
"I can wait. You two need time to talk."
"Peter, get your leather clad ass in here." She snapped playfully, grabbing his arm and pulled him into her room. Amelia took a few tentative steps closer, her dark blue eyes glancing over Peter curiously.
"Well hello there, Tall, Tan and Muscular. I'm Amelia Mitchell. I have no idea who you are and what's going on here but thank you, nonetheless. I am indebted to you for rescuing me from that shit hole of a cell." The redhead said, extending her hand to shake his as she glanced between Dani and Peter.
Dani felt her spirits soar even higher. She had been worried about how badly damaged Amelia might be psychologically from her traumatic abduction. She seemed to still have her trademark iron will and sass intact. There was a reason why her friends back home called her 'The Unsinkable Amelia Mitchell'.
"You're welcome, Amelia, and we're squared. When Dani told me about what happened, I couldn't sit by and do nothing. I'm Peter, by the way, Peter Quill." He introduced himself as he returned her handshake. Amelia cocked her head to the side, staring curiously at him once again.
"Peter Quill? Why is that familiar? And how do you know Dani? There's no way she would've kept quiet to me about knowing such a hunk." She inquired, unabashed. Peter's face reddened. He had not expected Dani's friend to be so straight forward and flirty. He glanced awkwardly over to Dani.
"I, uh, well, that's a long story that I'm sure Dani is dying to explain, so I'll leave that to her. It was a pleasure to meet you, Amelia, but there's a few things I have to take care of.' He said, nodding towards her before turning to Dani. 'Can I talk to you for a moment?"
"Sure, I'll be right back." She said to Amelia, following Peter to the door.
"Ok, the pleasure's all mine, Handsome." Amelia called to him.
"What's up, Peter?" Dani asked when they reached the door.
He lowered his voice to a whisper, twirling one of his fingers up into one of Dani's curls subconsciously.
"We're running low on sleeping arrangements. The only place we have left for your friend is in here." Peter explained. Dani nodded, understanding the space issue.
"That's fine. Her and I will make it work." She replied. Peter paused, biting at his inner check before speaking again.
"If it's something you wouldn't mind, how about you stay in my room? It's bigger and it's not like we didn't sleep in the same bed last night." Peter offered. Despite the sweet gesture, Dani couldn't control her sarcastic tongue.
"Well, Peter Quill, I do declare! Are you asking me to move in with you so soon? What will the neighbors say? What kind of girl do you take me for?" She bantered in a scandalous Southern accent.
Peter glanced away briefly, biting the corner of his bottom lip, smiling and nodding his head in amusement. He knew she was teasing him. He looked back at her with that intense stare that made Dani's knees wobbly.
"The kinda girl that drives me crazy in an amazing way. The kind that I want to hold in my bed and see first thing when I wake up, insane bed hair included." Peter replied, nearly flooring Dani with his words. Her chest tightened as he gazed down at her, his finger still playfully toying with her blonde curl. She smiled widely up at him.
"There you go again." She whispered shakily. He raised an eyebrow quizzically at her.
"Oh, no you don't. Don't be coy with me. You know exactly what you are doing, saying such things so that I'm putty in your hands, Peter. One day, I'm gonna figure out a way to make you lightheaded and weak in the knees like you do to me." Dani promised, pointing a finger up at his face.
"Whose to say that you haven't already?"
She openly gaped at him; her mouth wide.
"See what I mean. What am I supposed to do with that?"
"Well, for starters, you can say yes." Peter offered, giving her chin a small squeeze with his thumb and index finger.
"I'll think about it." She half answered, feeling anxious suddenly about what his offer would mean. She wondered if maybe things were moving too fast between them. Hell, a month from now, she'll most likely be back on Earth and Peter would be lord knows where in the galaxy.
Peter, unaware of her troubled thoughts, nodded. He kissed her lightly on her forehead before heading out of the room. Dani stared longingly at the spot he had just vacated, her thoughts once again a jumbled mess. She turned back towards her bed, stopping abruptly upon seeing the look on Amelia's face. Her dark blue eyes were wide open in disbelief, her mouth gaping open as well.
(Shit! The one time that Unsinkable is quiet, I forgot she was there.)
Dani simply stared back at her, unsure of what even to say to what Amelia had witnessed.
The redhead raised a finger and pointed as she spoke.
"You. Sit. Bed. Now. Get talking."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Dani sat on her bed in silence, cross legged, wishing that her friend would just say something.
Anything.
Over the last hour, she fully explained everything that had occurred to Amelia. From Peter's disappearance in their childhood and his recent reappearance, everything that had happened since her abduction on Earth, Dani's journey, along with what had occurred on Alpha Bova. She evenly explained what was happening between Peter and herself, which was awkward all in its own right. By the time she had finished, Amelia was sitting cross legged in front of her on the bed, elbows on her knees, her hands tucked under her chin. She stared intently at Dani as though she was watching her favorite television program, thoroughly absorbed by Dani's every word.
"Wow." The redhead finally spoke.
"That's one word for it, I guess." Dani breathed out deeply, mentally burned out. Saying everything out loud made all of it that much more real for her.
"You've been through a lot, girl. Hell, I thought being kidnapped and forced into slavery sucked. So, what are you going to do about you and Peter?"
Dani didn't know how to answer that. Just thinking about returning to her life without Peter made her chest throb painfully in protest. The idea felt so very wrong to her, but she could never be so selfish to ask him to stay on Earth for her. This life he led was terrifying yet oddly exciting and Dani knew he loved it. It'd be like asking him to give up everything that made Peter so…Peter. Her head was starting to ache. Dani dropped her head into her hands, groaning.
"Oh god, Amelia. What am I even thinking? What am I going to do?" She whined, sounding pitiful to her own ears. She felt her friend lean forward, soothingly rubbing her back, tracing circles.
"Oh, my dear, sweet Dani. I'm going to tell you exactly what you need to do."
Dani raised her head, waiting for whatever pearl of wisdom she could get at this moment.
"You need to climb into that gorgeous man's bed and screw his brains out." Amelia responded calmly, as if stating what the weather was going to be tomorrow. Dani stared at her in disbelief, as though she just grew a second head.
"You gotta be kidding me. How in the hell is that suppose to help me figure this shit out?" Dani snapped.
Amelia pointed at her.
"My case in point, not at all. You have so much crap weighing you down that you can't think straight. Having an intense, passionate night with that man you are clearly crazy about, and who obviously is just as crazy about you, would be a great way to blow off some steam."
Dani laughed dryly at the line of thought.
"I asked what I should do. Not what you would do, skank." She teased.
"First off, eff you very much. Second, it's blatantly obvious that whatever is going on between you two, seems legit. I've only been around you two together for a few moments and, my god! The room was heavy with goo goo eyes and schoolgirl giggles. I have never seen you like that before with any guy ever, so that's saying a great deal right there. Its up to you crazy kids to make it work and that's not gonna happen unless you both come to an agreement on what you want from the other." Amelia explained, her hands moving wildly around as she spoke.
Dani stared dumbfounded at Amelia. Oddly enough, her words sort've made sense to her.
"That was strangely insightful." Dani complimented. Amelia merely shrugged, grabbing a grape off the tray she had been picking at.
"Meh, I have my moments. Now get out of here and go live a little, you uptight prude."
Dani smiled, shaking her head as she stood, gathering her stuff. She left behind some clothes and other accessories that she had bought for Amelia. The redhead's eyes followed her around the room, curiously.
"I said you should go rock his world tonight, not move into a house together. Geez, pay attention." She teased, picking at a few more grapes.
"He asked me to stay in his room so you can have some space and I want to. I'll be in Peter's room if you need me." Dani responded, pushing the strap of her bag up onto her shoulder as she gave the room a last once over.
"We're close but not that close. I'm not a voyeur…then again, he is very man yummy." Amelia added, smiling devilishly.
"Back off, bitch. I've been learning how to fight. Besides, I'm not having sex with him tonight."
Amelia rolled her eyes. "Ugh, why do I bother? You're hopeless, Daniella."
Dani smiled at her affectionately.
"Goodnight, I'll see you tomorrow." Dani said, pulling the door open.
"Dani." Amelia called out, sitting up in the bed. Dani leaned her head back around the door.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you, really, for everything. You're the little sister I never had. Or, at least the one I wouldn't have wanted to drown at birth. I love you, girl." She said, bringing a bright smile to Dani's face.
"I love you too, Amelia, get some sleep." Dani replied, pulling the door closed.
A moment later, Dani stood outside Peter's room, her fist raised in the air hesitantly as she willed herself to knock.
(God, Dani. Sack up already! He invited you.)
She knocked lightly, hoping that he wasn't already asleep. The door creaked open.
Peter, clad in a tight white tank top and matching boxer briefs, raised his eyebrows in surprise at seeing Dani loitering outside his door. She cleared her throat, her hands fidgeting with her bag's strap from nervousness.
"I hear you have a vacancy. Got room in there for me?" She asked, smiling anxiously up at him as she bobbed on the balls of her feet. Peter smirked, pulling the door open wider.
"For you? Always.' He replied, pulling her bag off her arm, throwing it over his. 'You'll have to squeeze in between the four other women I share a bed with though. Hope you don't mind?"
Dani snorted sarcastically as she entered his…scratch that, their room.
"Ha ha ha, funny man. I swear, one of these…"
She was cut off by his arm quickly wrapping around her midsection, flipping her around to face him. Peter's mouth claimed her in a tender kiss that would have made her knees buckle if he hadn't been holding onto her so tightly. Dani wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him closer to her as she put all the emotion that she felt for Peter into that one kiss.
They pulled back slowly, Peter cupping her cheek with his hand as he ran his thumb along her cheek bone.
"Honestly, I wasn't sure if you were going to take me up on my offer. You like to leave me dangling." He confessed, his warm breath tickling her face as he spoke. They were only a few inches apart.
"I can't stay away from you. I already said it earlier when you were in my old room earlier, do you remember?" She asked, moving her face slowly up to his. Peter's eyes lit up in playful curiosity.
"And what was that?" He inquired, his low voice washing over Dani like liquid velvet.
Leaning up as far as she could reach, her lips brushed his as she whispered. "I'm putty in your hands, baby."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-