When Gamorra, Drax, Rocket and Groot recognized that they were once again aboard the Milano, the four beings immediately got to work. Drax and Rocket took up their positions as co-pilot and pilot, respectively. Rocket smiled, caressing the controls with an uncharacteristic gentleness. "It's been too long, baby," he cooed to the ship. "Way too goddamned long."

Drax ignored Rocket's fondling of his cockpit controls in favor of getting down to business. He turned to punch in the travel coordinates, but then stopped when he realized that he didn't have any actual coordinates to punch in. Drax turned his chair back around until he was facing their two bewildered passengers. "Doctor...Strange, is it?"

Strange shook his head, tearing his attention away from the fact that he was in space and forcing himself to pay attention to Drax's question. "Yes...yes?"

"Earlier you said that you knew where your stone was," said Drax.

Strange nodded. "I do," he replied.

"Well would you please go ahead and tell the man so we can get the hell outta here?!" Rocket demanded, his patience rapidly wearing thin.

Strange's face fell. "I'm sorry, I can't do that," he told Drax.

Rocket nearly choked on his words as he, Groot and Drax wheeled around to stare down the sorcerer. "You what?!" Rocket gasped.

"I can't tell you where the stone is," replied Strange. "I don't know...exactly."

Having no luck with getting through to Xandarian High Command, Gamorra turned away from her communications console and looked up at Strange. "You do not know *exactly* where the stone is?" she asked Strange coolly. Strange shook his head. "What can you tell us about where the stone is?"

Strange closed his eyes, letting his eidetic memory replay the vision that the other carriers had given him. "It's on a spaceship...like this one, but much bigger. The ship is a wreck...like it had been destroyed and is in the process of rebuilding. And the captain of the ship...at least, I think he's the captain...although..."

"What is he doing?" Gamorra demanded, trying to keep Strange focused.

"He's...wailing," replied Strange. "Like he's grieving over every bit of rubble on the ship..."

Gamorra and Rocket glanced at each other, each suspecting that they knew the ship from Strange's vision. "What does this captain look like?" asked Gamorra.

"Human," Strange replied quickly. "Tall, like me...but with very tall white hair. And a patch of hair on his chin."

Rocket and Gamorra leapt into action. "Set a course to intercept with the Collector's ship," she ordered Rocket.

"Already on it, toots," Rocket agreed, tapping at his console with furious determination. "Don't worry, doc," he then told Strange, "you may not know where your stone is, but I think I got a pret-ty good idea..."

#

It took ten minutes of non-stop manipulation of her controls, but Gamorra finally sighed with relief when a voice came through the speaker of her communications console. "Milano, this is Xandarian Central Command," a young-sounding female voice announced. "How may we be of assistance, Lieutentant Gamorra?"

"I need to speak with Nova Prime," Gamorra replied. "About an urgent request from the Terran Guardians."

The rustling Gamorra heard on the other end of the speaker suggested that the young woman at the console was being pushed away from her station. "This is Nova Prime, Gamorra," the now-familiar voice announced. "You said you were speaking on behalf of the Guardians of Terra?"

"They would have contacted you in person, Nova Prime," replied Gamorra, "but the concerns on their home world are far too grave right now."

Silence on the other end of the line told Gamorra that her message had gotten through loud and clear. "Thanos?"

"On his way to Terra," Gamorra replied. "The Guardians expect that he will reach the planet in three Terran days."

Gamorra waited patiently for the silence to be broken on the other side of the console. "After the two attacks on our world we have very few resources that we can spare," Rael said grimly. "However, I am a woman of my word. We can launch one carrier within the hour. It should reach Terra in time to help, although I am not sure how much help it will be..."

"Thank you, Nova Prime," Gamorra sighed, clearly relieved.

"I wish I could do more," Rael insisted grimly. "One carrier isn't nearly enough fighters to defend a planet of Terra's size..."

"Quill once told an old Terran legend," Gamorra countered, cutting of Rael's apology, "of a holy man who could feed a crowd of thousands with five small loaves of bread and two fish. Quill called it a miracle."

Rael sighed loud enough for the sound to be heard on Gamorra's end of the console. "Let us hope that they have another holy man who can create one more of these...miracles."

#

Alexis came up behind Strange and handed the sorcerer a cup of hot coffee, which the older man accepted gratefully. "Thanks."

"No problem," said Alexis. "Rocket said we should rendezvous with this...collector's ship in a couple of hours or so." Strange nodded absentmindedly, so Alexis sipped her own coffee, giving the sorcerer his space.

Both cups were half-empty when Strange finally spoke. "Your dad told me his story," he began. "What about you?"

"My story?" Alexis countered with a shrug. "Not much to tell, really. I came into my gifts about a year after my dad did. I've been working with them ever since."

"You got your powers a year *after* your dad?" asked Strange.

"Yeah...?" Alexis replied. It was obvious how focused Strange seemed to be on that part of her history.

Strange started to examine his coffee with an increasing fascination. "Before you became a sorcerer in your own right, did you...did you know about..."

Alexis mouthed a silent 'oh' as she realized why their conversation was going where it was going. "Did I know about my dad and the Guardians before I 'joined the team'?" Strange nodded. "I did," Alexis replied.

Strange set his coffee down on the shelf next to his seat and turned to face Alexis, who now had his full attention. "Did Ricky actually *tell* you about the Guardians, or did he..."

Alexis decided to push them straight to the point. "Who is she?"

Strange blushed. "How did you know?"

"I haven't had a single conversation start like this where there wasn't a girl involved," Alexis replied with a sly smile. "So who is she?"

"Her name's Christine," replied. "She was...is...my ex."

Alexis nodded before starting to fish for more information. "So did you tell her...were you thinking about telling her..."

"My mentor was dying," Strange explained. "I had no other place to take her, so I brought her to my old hospital. Christine...she ended up having to perform surgery while I fought off the sorcerer who attacked my mentor."

"I take it this wasn't an 'ordinary' battle?" asked Alexis.

Strange shook his head. "We ended up fighting the battle on the spirit plane."

Alexis' eyes went wide. "How much did Christine see?"

"Enough to end up really, really confused," replied Strange.

Alexis mouthed a silent 'wow.' "How much did you tell her?"

"Not nearly enough," Strange replied. His eyes turned toward the ceiling as he sighed. "I feel like I owe her a full explanation..."

"But you're not sure how she'd take it?" asked Alexis, completing Strange's thought.

Strange nodded. "How did you handle it?"

Alexis took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "My first introduction to magic was watching my dad and the other Guardians appear out of thin air in my backyard," she explained. "So that was a bit of a shock."

"How long before the shock wore off?" asked Strange.

"A lot less time than you'd think," Alexis replied.

Strange was frustrated by Alexis' answer. "And?" he asked impatiently. "How did you feel after that?"

Alexis simply shrugged in response. "They had just gotten their powers themselves," she replied. "It was pretty clear that they were just as freaked out as I was. Once I saw that my dad needed me, I couldn't do anything but help him."

Strange thought about everything that Christine had done for him after his accident...and how he had treated her in return.

Alexis watched Strange's face fall as he hung his head in shame. It wasn't hard for the young wizard to put two and two together. "You still love her, right?" Strange nodded. "Do you think she still loves you?"

"I'm not sure," Strange replied sadly.

"But you hope so?" countered Alexis.

Strange's eyes sparked with hope for the briefest second before guilt washed over him once more. "I hope so," he admitted.

"Then be honest with her," declared Alexis. "If you can show her what you've shown me and she doesn't accept you, then she didn't deserve to have you in her life in the first place."

Strange's smile radiated with warmth and hope. "Thanks," he told Alexis.