"I thought they'd never leave."

Peter leapt to his feet, pushing Mantis behind him as Ego emerged from the shadows… well, sort of.

"What the hell happened to you?!"

Ego was glowing slightly, looking a little like someone had taken an axe to him to reveal exposed nerves and bone.

"You left Peter." Ego hissed, taking a step forwards even as Peter and Mantis took a step back.

"How did you find us?"

"Oh, it was easy…. I just listened out for the sound of complete and utter betrayal and followed that!"

"You kidnapped me as a child! How did I betray you!" Despite feeling like he was going to wet himself, Peter straightened up, "We're not going back with you, and that's that!"

"So, you'd rather hang out with pirates?" Ego chuckled, "You really think they'll treat you better than I did? As soon as they get fed up with you, they'll abandon you the first chance they get… and I will be there, waiting."

And then he was gone.

Ten minutes later, Kraglin and Yondu returned, only to see Peter and Mantis in the same position Ego had left them in.

"Hey?" Yondu frowned, "You brats, okay?"

"Y-Yeah." Peter managed to force out, "E-everything's fine.

The older pair clearly didn't believe him but didn't pursue the matter any further.

"So…" Yondu began, "…magical powers? Always had those?"

"Only when Ego kidnapped me."

"Ah." Yondu glanced over at Kraglin, who gave him a look that told him to 'drop it', "Right."

An awkward silence fell over the group.

….

"We should be able to buy a ship here." Yondu grunted as they walked through the streets, "Maybe not one that'll get us to Earth, but enough to get us away from here."

"Stick close to us." Kraglin warned the younger pair, "And keep your hands in your pockets. Stops the pickpockets."

Peter did as he was told, hand gripping his cassette player tightly, not wanting to lose it.

Not that anyone really came close to them, not when they were standing so close to Yondu and Kraglin, who both exuded 'fuck off' vibes.

"Come on brats." Yondu grunted, "Time to teach you the careful art of haggling."

…..

"Kid, I think you could charm the skirt off a nun." Yondu smirked at Peter, "Good work. We should bring you with us more- " He stopped, as street performers cut him off, dancing in front of them, the music lively and energetic.

"Wow!"

Before either of them could stop him, Peter was moving forwards and… dancing?

Yondu couldn't be sure, the movements too jerky and wild for him to class as dancing. It seemed to catch on though, as the rest of the crowd started to join in.

"Shit." He muttered to himself, as Kraglin gave him a knowing look.

"You want to keep him, don't you?"

"Yep."

"… Even though we gotta give him back to his Mama?"

"Yeah… even then."

...

"We found a ship." Yondu stated later that evening, when the sun was starting to set in the sky, "Let's get going."

Peter didn't seem to notice anything unusual about his tone, following on behind Yondu and Kraglin until they reached the ship.

"C'mere kid." Yondu gestured to the co-pilot seat, "I think we're just in time to hear it."

Peter frowned, taking said seat as Yondu fiddled with the radio system, "Just in time?" He queried, "Just in time for wha- "

"- Sssh." Yondu continued to fiddle for a bit longer, until a familiar, feminine voice suddenly echoed throughout the ship.

/" I don't know if anyone can hear this…" \\ She began, /" … Hell, I don't even know if this is working, but I have to keep trying. My son, Peter is still out there…" \\

Here, Peter couldn't hold back the sharp gasp, leaning closer to the radio as though that would help him hear her better.

/" Someone, please find him and bring him home to us… to me." \\

The transmission cut off, with a choked off sound that sounded like a sob, the sound hitting Peter right in the heart.

"I'd forgotten what she sounded like." He confessed, voice shaky as he turned away from the others, quickly wiping at his eyes in the hope that none of them had seen the tears building in them.

They had, but none of them were going to say anything about it.

"She never stopped hoping kid." Yondu muttered, before nudging Kraglin in the side, "Come on, let's get some supplies. Peter… guard the ship."

Kraglin looked over at Yondu with a knowing smile, knowing that Yondu wanted to give Peter the chance to calm himself down. "Mantis." He turned to her, "Why don't you come with us?"

"Come with you?"

"Yes… just for a little bit, okay?"

Mantis looked between the older couple and Peter for a few seconds, before nodding shyly and following them out of the door.

Once he was sure that they gone, Peter buried his face into his hands and let the tears flow.

"I'm coming home." He whispered, "I'm coming home Mom."

…

It felt like hours passed before Peter heard the ship door opening again, clearing his throat and turning in his chair, "Hey, I thought you'd just left me here! I was about to start her up and send out a rescue party."

It was them though.

Two thugs ducked in order to enter the ship.

"Well, looks like blue-skin was telling the truth…" one of them sneered, eyes focusing on Peter, "… a ship and a pretty boy, both ripe for the taking."

Peter rolled his eyes, "The fact that you don't even know his name, tells me you don't have a clue what you're dealing with."

Ego was a master manipulator.

He knew all the tricks.

"Where are they then? They left you behind pretty boy."

Peter straightened up, pushing himself to his feet, glaring at the pair. If they wanted this ship, he wasn't going to let it go without a fight.

There was a brief pause, before the two thugs lunged at him.

He tensed and prepared to defend himself, only for the pair of them to suddenly freeze, dropping their weapons to clutch at their heads, eyes bulging out of their heads before BANG!

Peter felt sick, wiping the blood and gore away from his face as Ego stepped onto the ship.

"Didn't I tell you the outside world was dangerous?" He stated, not seeming to care about the mess that he was stepping in.

"You didn't need to make their heads explode!" Peter snapped, "That's the definition of OVERKILL!" He moved to push past his father, to try and find Yondu and the others (and apologise for the grossness that was now all over the ship), only for the being to grab his arm.

"Where are you going?"

"To find Yondu, Mantis and Kraglin."

"They sold you out, remember?"

Taking a step back and frowning, Peter shook his head, "They wouldn't do that, especially not Mantis! And how would you know that anyway?" He looked down at the gore, "Did you pay them to say that? Promising them power or something when you got me back? They didn't know you would have killed them no matter what!"

There was a brief moment of silence, before Ego sneered, darting forwards and grabbing Peter's arm again before the younger man could respond, pressing the palm of his hand to Peter's forehead.

Everything went black.

….

"Lock them up!"

The Head Guard smirked as the prisoners were thrown into the cells.

Finally, he had Captain Udonta and his little first mate in his grasp.

The girl was a surprise, but he was sure that he would find a use for her.