Whatever Peter had expected when Yondu told him to watch the Eclector while they went to Terra for a job, it wasn't this. Yondu and Kraglin came back from Terra with two kids in tow, two girls just a few years younger than him.

They hid away from everyone at first, refusing to leave the bunk that Yondu assigned them. Probably smart, considering Peter's own experience with Ravagers like Taserface who considered scaring eight year old Peter a fun pastime.

Grabbing a few sandwiches from the cafeteria, Peter sat outside their door and put his headphones in, keeping an eye out for Taserface and his friends. He waited for hours, letting his walkman play all of the songs on his mixtape over and over again.

Finally, the door opened with a hiss and the older girl stepped out cautiously. She shut the door and crept past Peter, giving him a wide berth.

"Hey." Peter gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile and held one of the sandwiches out to her.

"I thought you might be hungry."

She eyed him warily for a moment before quickly snatching the sandwich and moving back towards the door.

Peter stood up and moved away from the door before holding out the other sandwich.

"My name's Peter. Peter Quill." He said.

She took the sandwich and stared at him for a moment fearfully. Her hands trembled slightly as she clutched the food close to her chest, and the dark circles under her eyes told Peter she was probably exhausted.

Peter could understand that. He remembered being a scared kid surrounded by strange aliens and missing his mom. He remembered hiding under his bunk and crying because he wanted so badly to go home even though he knew his mom wouldn't be there.

Peter knew what it was like to be a scared kid on a ship full of terrifying strangers, and he wanted to show these kids that they could trust him.

"What's your name?" He asked gently, leaning casually against the wall and doing his best to appear non-threatening and friendly.

"Natasha."

"Nice to meet you, Natasha."

He sat back down a few feet away from the door and reached into his pocket for his walkman.

"Do you have a favorite song?"

Natasha shrugged, still eyeing him cautiously from her spot near the door. "Not really."

"Neither do I, there's way too many good songs to pick just one."

Peter untangled the headphones and held them out to her.

"Want to listen?"

Hesitantly, she took the headphones and put them on. Peter searched for Hooked on a Feeling and pressed play.

He watched her as she listened, leaning with his back against the wall. As the final notes of the song faded away, she removed the headphones and handed them back to him.

"What'd you think?"

"It is nice." She said quietly.

"Right?" He grinned.

"My Mom made this mixtape for me of all her favorite songs. I still listen to it all the time." Peter wound the headphones around the walkman and put it in his jacket pocket.

"Your mom made it for you?"

"Yeah." He smiled sadly. "She had cancer, and she knew she wasn't going to be around much longer, so she wanted to give me something to remember her by."

"Sorry."

He shrugged. "It's okay, it was a long time ago. Yondu picked me up and took me to space after she died."

"You're from Earth too?"

"Yep. Missouri. What about you?"

"I'm Russian. Or I was." She looked down at the sandwiches in her hands, frowning.

"We moved to Ohio a few years ago."

"We?"

"Me and Lena. My sister."

Peter thought of the other kid Yondu brought back with Natasha, a little blonde girl who clung to her as they boarded the ship.

"She like music?"

Natasha rolled her eyes and smiled.

"She loves that song American Pie. She always made us listen to it in the car, like, every day."

"She's got good taste." Peter grinned. "I love that song."

He held up the walkman.

"It's on the mixtape, actually. You're welcome to borrow my walkman, if you guys want to listen to it."

"Yeah. Maybe. Thanks."

"Just, yeah. If you guys want, you're welcome to it." Peter said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Although I guess you're probably sick of it, right?"

Natasha shrugged. "It's not so bad. It makes her happy, so I don't mind."

"You guys seem close."

Natasha smiled. "Yeah."

There was a moment of silence before Peter cleared his throat, nodding to the sandwiches.

"I'm sure you guys are hungry. Go ahead and eat, I'll keep watch out here if you want, keep away the rest of the crew."

Natasha nodded slowly. "Thanks."

She gave him a shy smile and opened the door, disappearing into the bunk. Peter shuffled closer to the door before getting out his walkman and putting the headphones back on. Leaning back against the wall, he put on Mr. Blue Sky and began tapping his foot to the beat as he mouthed along to the words.

Maybe he was slowly gaining their trust. It would take time, but maybe Peter wasn't alone anymore.

He'd always wanted a sibling when he was younger, someone to share things with. He'd never had many friends in Missouri, and after his mom's death he'd become even more isolated from his peers.

Even among the Ravagers, he was alone. For a long time, he'd been the only kid on the Eclector, and it got lonely at times. He had often wished for a friend his own age that he could hang out with, someone to listen to music with, to joke around with, someone who understood him.

Maybe something good could come out of Natasha and her sister being brought onto a strange ship full of aliens. Maybe the arrival of these two new kids meant they could be friends.

Maybe he had the chance to be a brother, if they would let him.