HELLO FANDOM!
First a bit of background. I wrote this way back in 2015 for my Nanowrimo (if you don't know what that is I highly recommend you check it out) and it's been sitting on my desktop ever since driving me crazy. I have finally gotten around to cleaning it up to start posting right before the second movie comes out. I wanted to post before than because my version will be vastly different for many reasons. I'm not sure how chapters will be spaced out because I still have to edit them, but we shall see how it goes.
This story is a sequel of The Girl Who Wanted to Fly but you really only need to read the first two chapters for this story to make sense, if even that. (though as a self plug I would recommend reading that story as well, I can honestly say it's not terrible)
Now with the exception of some of the characters I did actually create most of this story. The plot, Philly, the places the team visits, other things that will come later, all belong to me. I don't own Guardians of the Galaxy, one or two, but would like to personally thank James Gunn for them.
I hope you all enjoy,
Pen
A figure, feminine and dark, ran across the squashed together rooftops that made up the city of Corecasute. Hidden from anyone at street level, her strides were light and sure footed, maneuvering the dingy, sun-bleached tiles that made up most of the surrounding roofs with practiced ease. She was tall for a female, by most human standards, with green skin that stood out sharply next to her tight black clothes.
Coming to a street crossing, Gamora braced her feet for a split second on the building's edge before springing to the next roof top and landing with a feline-like grace that spoke years of honing and conditioning. Her pray was an armored land-speeder cruising along in blissful ignorance three stories below her. It slowed slightly at a stop sign and swung a right turn down another equally worn in street. This district was well broken in with visible cracks in the streets and sidewalks, paint peeling off some of the lamp posts, and a thin layer of grime gathered at every other corner. It was crowded; even now when it was well past mid-day meal time in the planet's rotation.
The vehicle pulled to a stop outside of a bank where one man jumped to the sidewalk, a locked brief-case handcuffed to his wrist and strolled lazily to the bank's entrance . He wore a thick vest around his torso which added four inches to his girth and had a clunky looking blaster strapped to his right hip.
On the roof top Gamora waited patiently and motionless, crouched behind a low wall. She spoke lowly, reporting every move into a short range communicator that was snugly jammed in her ear.
"We're about three blocks away from you." Peter Quill informed her, his voice was uncharacteristically serious. "Hold position until further orders."
Gamora indulged in an internal sigh and a half roll of her eyes. This was their first 'official' mission as a teaShe frowned slightly, tracking the truck with dark eyes fixated like a jungle cat targeting her pray.
Inside the truck its armed and occupants joked and talked and made idal guesses about their cargo. m; meaning it was sanctioned by a government. She had known, just by watching how his posture had shifted in the meeting with Nova Core, that the legality and formality of the request had gone straight to Peter's head.
Her sharp eyes scanned the street around the target. She could just pick out the point team who were stationed at street level in two different locations. Drax and Quill, identifiable by their matching Ravenger red jackets, were lounging near a food shuttle which was parked at the corner of the street. Peter was chatting up the man at the counter while Drax devoured whatever greasy, close enough to edible thing they served. Groot could be easily picked out in any crowd. He stood, partly stooped over, with his face close to on of the fenced in trees planted in the sidewalk at an interval. Though she could now see him, Gamora knew, or rather trusted, that Rocket was near him.
Her eyes flickered to the parked target. After the truck's cargo, a small black, unmarked box, was picked up and the guard was back inside, Drax would immobilize him; Groot's job was the driver and the door. The security system along with the passwords stored in the truck's memory were Rocket's problems. When the plan was completed the team would scattered contact Philly who, with the Milano, was waiting to extract and fly them into deep space before anyone could contact sector security. They'd be able to deliver the target to Nova Core with in Xander's next full planetary rotation as promised; getting payed and brownie points from the Core. In theory. If everything went to plan.
If they didn't kill each other first.
"Do not move until I give the signal." Gamora warned yet again. For her plan to work the box had to be in the truck and the guards immobilized before they could activate security protocols, which would delete the information they needed.
"I do not see the benefit of waiting for our target to be in position," Drax interjected, "When we could simply take the target now and immobilize the truck later."
Rocket jumped in at once, "I'm with Major Literal over here. Let's take 'um out separately and get it over with."
"Because I've got a plan that's why," Peter defended. Gamora cringed as sloppy chewing came over the comms with his voice, "And as the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy I say we-"
"Chew, swallow than talk, Peaty-boy." Philly cut him off, "and I don't remember when exactly we made you our leader."
"When Nova made me responsible for all of you right before we flew off on my ship!" he retorted. From her vantage point Gamora saw him throw the half eaten food into the nearest waste basket.
"Our ship." Philly snapped, almost automatically.
Peter huffed back at her, "Whatever, Philly. That doesn't matter right now. What matters is we have a job to do and a plan to do it. Are we all clear on what to do?"
There was a beat of radio silence.
"Seriously? Were any of you listening to my presentation?" The Terrain demanded, a slight squawk of indignation in his voice.
"One truck, mines two guards and a driver, plus a code splicing bounty hunter, equals brownie point from Nova Core. Right?" Philly recited. There was a slight buzzing from the ship's engines on her side of the radio behind her voice.
"Come on, guys I didn't make those slides 'cause I was board." Peter said with a slight whine in his voice.
"Perhaps you should have made them more interesting." Drax suggested in all seriousness. It was followed by an agreeing, "I am Groot."
Gamora's sharp voice cut off the chatter, "Target incoming."
The four males turned in unison, some being subtle and others less so, toward the guard strolling easily out of the bank. There was a sturdy looking lockbox handcuffed to his wrist that was swinging carelessly with his arms. Gamora could hear him whistling a merry tune through the comms from Peter's ear piece which was just close enough to pick it up.
"Get ready." Gamora murmured.
The man, instead of getting back into the truck, struck up a conversation with the driver, leaning against the door. They were both grinning and at one point the driver laughed loudly. The guard's shoulders moved with his own laughter. Neither looked in a hurry.
"Let's move!" Rocket said suddenly.
"NO!" Gamora told him firmly, "We wait until he gets in the truck. If they see us coming and trigger the alarm all of the computer system's data will be wiped and will not be able to be recovered. We must wait." She took a leap off the building into an alley and landed in a neat roll at street level.
"We can move fast enough." Rocket said suddenly.
Through the crowd Gamora could see the driver and the guard converse. And could also see Rocket, perched on Groot's shoulder, eyeing the case impatiently. "We need both at the same time." Gamora answered back.
"I am Groot."
To which Rocket was talking to it wasn't clear but he retorted very defensively, "Yes we can! Drax, Quill, are you two with me?"
"Why would I be with you? This is my plan!"
"I am with you, friend Rocket! Let us vanquish these bothersome beings and take what is ours!" Drax laughed loudly, seemingly to himself and several people eyed him warily.
Rocket cackled, and the radio picked up the unmistakable sound of his hand built blaster booting up, ready to fire. "Effing, yeah. We're moving, with or with out you guys."
Gamora grit her teeth and had to mentally hold herself back form marching across the street and causing the two of them physical pain, the only question would haven been which first. "Both of you hold. Wait for the green light and stick to the plan."
"I'm done with wait'n, Greenie."
There was a panicked "I am Groot!" as a warning before the truck was hit in the side by a close range plasma missile. It was the exploding kind that made a lot of noise and gave off a bright flash which left everyone around it in a daze.
But for those who knew what was going on Groot's warning was enough advance notice to take cover, shut their eyes and stuff their fingers in their ears. For a moment all Peter could register was Philly screeching in his ear, demanding to know what had happened.
"Rocket blew up the truck." he spat out, racing towards it as soon as his feet stayed under him. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Gamora flip the guard to the pavement before he could draw his gun. The case that he was holding onto out of reflex was twisted out of his grip and the flimsy chain attaching it to his wrist was snapped between her fingers like it was nothing. At the same time Drax and Groot were prying the back doors off their hinges. The bullet proof, reenforced doors gave slowly with creaking and groaning under the two's combined strength.
Peter, blaster set on stun, fired three quick shots in rapid secession at the driver. The third one made contact and the driver slumped forward in his seat, forehead hitting the steering wheel and causing the horn to blare obnoxiously. Rocket slipped through the warped doors as soon as the opening was large enough and went to work getting the information out of the truck's database.
Drax collected the driver and the man Gamora had knocked unconscious, arranging their unmoving bodies on a nearby bus station bench, then plopped down beside them. Groot, Peter, and Gamora, holding onto the case, tried to look as causal as possible and were failing miserably. Civilians either pasted them at a near sprint or stared dumbly at the wreckage. Sirens rang through the streets in the distance, bouncing and echoing off the buildings.
"Hurry up, Rocket." Peter warned tensely.
"Just a minute, Quill."
"…Rocket."
The bounty hunter's upper lip curled back in a reflexive snarl. His acute hearing could pick out the people outside. They were whispering words like 'robbers' and 'terrorists', could hear the sirens of the local law enforcement racing closer and he idly wondered who'd called them.
"Rocket!" Quill said again, much louder this time.
"Almost done, don't get ya panties in a knot!" He yelled back. The computer system was slightly more advanced then they'd anticipated and the data was being wiped faster then he'd calculated. They were losing what they needed for Nova Core.
Someone yanked open the doors opened and the dimly lit compartment was flooded with afternoon sun that blinded him for an instant. "We have to move now." Quill said so firmly Rocket did't argue.
When he got outside it was too late. The truck was completely surrounded on all sides. Groot, Drax, and Gamora, the case between her ankles, had their hands raised above their heads. About twenty officers had low tech blasters aimed in their direction and one man who seemed to be in charge was barking at them all to step out of the truck and get on the ground slowly.
Peter shot Rocket a dirty look as they did which he made sure the bounty hunter would see. "I can't believe you, Rocket."
"So what?" He rolled his eyes, "I told you I was going."
Peter sputtered, "And I told you to stick to the plan!"
The captain barked at them to be quite.
"Oh, like you've never improvised."
"That's not the point. You're not the one who gets to tell Nova Core why we lost the data, and you know what? You're the reason Philly's going to be insufferable after this."
"She'll get over herself sooner or later."
"Quiet!"
A low hum rumbled through the streets to slowly drown out the officer's yelling. It rose in volume until people stopped, their heads whipping up to the sky to see where it was coming from. A ship painted blue with orange rose off of the tallest roof top on the street and glided down in between the buildings. The air around them became warm as the Milano's thrusters kept the ship in the air. Philly's voice, slightly distorted and crackly, sounded from the speakers, effectively overpowering every other sound, "Attention everyone. We mean you no harm. Please allow us to escape and we will allow you to go back to whatever it was you were doing."
All the officers paused in various stages of confusion or shock, all gaping at the ship that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Gamora, kneeling and with her fingers laced behind her head, pushed herself back on her toes to a coiled squat. Her hands slowly moved to press down on the pavement, ready to spring up. Quill did the same, though he nearly fell leaning back.
The law enforcement's guns retrained on the Milano at the captain's order. He turned his megaphone on the ship as well, "Stand down or we will open fire on you."
Philly tried not to laugh but couldn't stop all of it from leaking into her reply, "you'll what? You do realize this is a starship and those are land blasters, right?"
There was a beat where all the officers seemed to consider her point. The Milano's forward weapons systems activated in an impressive display of strength.
"What is she doing?" Gamora hissed at Peter.
He shrugged as best he could resting his hands on the ground, "showing off."
"FIRE!"
The order was punctuated by an enthusiastic hand gesture that nearly pulled the captain off his feet with its force. Lasers popped out of the low tech weapons and tore through the air, bouncing harmlessly off the Milano's underbelly with dull clanks. In retaliation Milano's guns released a flurry of its own laser blasts. They peppered equally as harmlessly around the people, embedding fist sized craters into the street and the police vehicles. In this distraction, planned for just such an occasion, the rest of the team all scattered in different directions. Peter ducked into a shop and slipped out the back, climbing a fire escape to the roof. Groot, with Rocket perched on his shoulder, tore down the street and tuned a corner never slowing pace. Down the opposite way of the street, Gamora turned into an ally way holding the case tightly.
Drax, at the bus station bench, had been far enough away form the truck to not be targeted by the officers. They, by this time, had recovered from their fright and were organizing a chase after the fugitives. He reported this to the communication devise in her ear then trotted towards the rendezvous point.
Philly, up in the Milano, received the rough coordinates form the rest of her team. She lowered the cargo ramp and unlocked the loading doors with the flips of a few switches. She narrowed in on the locations she was receiving, making use of the open channel they were using the whole way.
"I can't believe you guys!" The ship rotated around to back up to Peter's location, "we defeated Ronan. Remember him? Power mad Kree warlord with a magic thingy in a hammer?"
Peter rolled his eyes and didn't say anything. He'd learned from experience to refrain from patronizing his pilot until after she'd saved his butt. With aid from his boosters he stumbled inside the ship's cargo hold and climbed up the ladder that led to the rest of the ship; bracing himself against the kitchen table. "I'm in."
The ship gave a rather violent lunge just like he had known it would, just like it always did when something like this happened. Now he'd have to put up with Philly telling him just how much and where he'd screwed up. At least it wasn't his fault this time. Heck, if Peter was really, really lucky she would rightfully take it out on Rocket.
Gamora's leather heeled boots made sharp clicks on the hollow drura steel floor and Peter slumped a little more casually in his seat. The green skinned woman's head poked up through the wide hatch at the end of the room. Her mouth was pressed together in a thin line and was pulled down at the corners.
Though Peter hadn't known her very long and the expression didn't look terribly out of place on her, he was very good at reading people and other beings with facial expressions. He could tell she was extremely unhappy.
Gamora's dark eyes trained in on him and her frown deepened. Peter gulped and took up an offensive measure before she could direct her negative emotions on him.
"Can you believe Rocket?" he scooted over enough for her and was ignored it in favor of standing near to stove silently; one hand resting lightly on it for balance and the other propped on her hip.
He pressed on; shaking his head disapprovingly, "We had a solid plan and he just threw it out the window. No regard for any of us." Peter swallowed again thickly and waited a beat for her to respond.
"It was unacceptable." Gamora finely said. Peter's body relaxed and he started to respond when the ship tilted abruptly until they were nearly flying sideways. He snapped his mouth closed so fast he grazed his tongue with his teeth. Used to the erratic and slightly reckless ways of Philly's flying Peter buckled down and braced his hands on the table. Gamora, on the other had ended up on the floor with her limbs twisted every which way. Peter had to force himself to give her a hand up instead of admiring the view. A moment later Drax clamored up the ladder a fierce scowl etched into his face.
"We should not have run like cowards or waited for our prey! We should have fought and conquered." His deep voice rumble and he somehow stayed easily upright through all the motion. "We should have won!"
"We were trying to not draw attention to ourselves by sticking to the plan." Peter retorted, "We can't do secret work for Nova Core if we setting off explosives in the middle of a city!"
"If our tactics had been direct from the start with no hesitation we would not have accomplished the same goal, only faster." He said simply.
By now the Milano had leveled off and Peter could feel they were ascending. He wondered briefly if Philly was leaving Rocket and Groot behind when the ship slowed ever so slightly and gave a subtle dip to the starboard side like it always did when someone heavy jumped on the wing.
They could hear the doors and loading ramp sealing and the main thrusters activating. The ship's nose pulled toward the upper atmosphere and outer space where the law enforcement had no jurisdiction.
…
It was a tense ride to the nearest planet in the sector. with an underworld. There would be bouts of snapping tensions when one or more of the team was in the same area of the ship before someone would storm off in search of alone time. A tough feat in a compact ship with six beings on it. The friction in the recycled air was negative and fit to burst by the time Milano set down on a dingy landing pad and settled docking arrangements. The forced and faux peace did hold out to the nearest bar but only really lasted until they parted ways just inside the door.