Gamora was hiding underneath Kraglin's station while the adults were discussing their plans for the next mission. She was terribly hungry. This was her day off, and she had accidentally slept through breakfast as a result. Kraglin was snacking on sweet bread and coffee. The smell of the warm fresh bread made her mouth water. "So wait why are we going to Planet Moord," Tullk frowns at the holographic map open on Kraglin's station. "Shouldn't we go ta Lotiara?"

"Nah, after the civil wars they moved all their women to the homeworld. The capital is on Moord now," Yondu explains.

"But Moord is twice as far," He sounds a little concerned.

"Uh-huh." Kraglin rubs his eyes and sets his sweet bread down on the edge of his console. He quickly adjusts the holographic map, "We can make a stop on Wosjn'd if we need ta refuel." Gamora's hand snakes up from under the station and she steals the bread off Kraglin's plate. It was still warm and buttery. She tears it into pieces and nibbles on the untouched parts.

"So what's in the Badoon capital that's so interesting?" Jazinda intones dryly. Kraglin notices his food is missing and glances around with suspicion.

Yondu nearly grins, "Their military headquarters."

Jazinda sets her cup of coffee down on the console with a heavy thump. "They're one of the strongest military forces in the galaxy. Even if you could break in, you won't leave the empire." As stealthily as she can, Gamora crawls out from under the station and grabs Jazinda's coffee.

He shrugs, "That's why we're stealing their cloaking device before they sell the plans off to their allies, the Kree."

"Well, shit. I can't argue with that. Fuck the Kree." She spits in her native language, and slams her palm on the console.

"I'll drink ta that." Kraglin mutters, raising his mug to her. Yondu raised his own glass. It's at this point that Jazinda realized that hers was missing.

Gamora takes a big gulp of coffee. She coughs. It's horribly bitter, not at all like the sweet chocolate stuff the cook makes for her. Somehow she feels more thirsty than before. "I don't think that belongs ta you, wee lamb." Tullk was looking directly at her. Then so was everyone else.

Jazinda snatches her mug away, "You're eight, you don't need coffee!"

Gamora makes a squeaking sound and tries to crawl back under the station. Yondu grabs her by the arm. "What'd ya think you're doin' lil' girl?" Gamora struggles against him but Yondu manages to pick her up and tuck her under his arm. Yondu glances around the room, "Uh, give us a minute."

He carries her across the bridge and over to his station, he sets her down in his chair. She curls up into a ball, trying to make herself as small as possible. The second mate goes to get more coffee and Tullk returns to the helm. Kraglin and Jazinda are the only ones who don't make an effort to pretend they're not watching. "Are you mad at me?" Gamora whimpers, her pathetic tone of voice grates on Yondu's nerves.

"I ain't mad. Why the hell are you always askin' me that?" He snaps at her, balling his hands into fists. She squirms under his gaze, she looks past him directly at Jazinda. He snaps his fingers at Gamora. "No, don't look at her. Ya ain't talkin' ta her, you're talkin' ta me. Why're you always askin' me that?"

She stares at her shoes instead. "I don't want…"

"Stop mumbling!" He reaches forward to grab her chin but Gamora flinches away from him.

"I don't want you to hit me! You promised you wouldn't. You're scaring me."

Yondu takes two steps away from her and stuff his hands into his pockets. "I know what I said, girl." The bridge was deathly silent. Gamora is still watching him cautiously but she relaxed slightly once he's out of arm's reach. "But what am I supposed ta do wit' chu?" There was more exasperation in his voice than anger now. Gamora only offers a shrug in response, she still refuses to look at him. He sighs harshly, "Ya gotta give me more than a shrug and stupid look. I got half a mind ta put cha over my knee, girly."

Gamora's eyes widened, "No! I didn't even do anything! I just wanted a snack."

Yondu scoffs, "No, ya knew ya weren't suppose ta be takin' food from us or ya wouldn't have been sneaky about it." Gamora had been caught in a lie, she whined in protest. "Why didn't ya go to the galley yourself?"

"Horuz is down there right now. He's scary," she admits quietly.

Yondu sighs again, and looks over at Jazinda. "Wouldja take her ta get a snack?"

Jazinda sets her coffee down, "Sure." She offers her hand to Gamora, "C'mon kiddo. I'll stomp Horuz's ass if he tries anything." Gamora slides out of the chair cautiously. Yondu considers slapping her as she darts past him, but she looks at him like a frightened animal. He snarls at her and digs his fingernails into his palm instead. Gamora takes Jazinda's hand, and she escorts her out of the bridge. Yondu doesn't so much as blink until he's certain they're out of earshot.

Yondu grabs his empty plate and chucks it at the nearest wall. It shatters on impact. Shards of glass scattered in all directions. "That damn brat!" Kraglin quietly steps out of the way as Yondu continues to rant. "If it was anyone else I woulda broken her ribs and moved on, but she's so damn sensitive!"

"Uh-huh." Kraglin mumbles into his coffee.

"You'd think she'd have toughened up even a little after all this time, but she cries more now than when she got here! I swear she's doing it on purpose! She's trying to make me weak!"

Kraglin furrowed his brow. His mouth opened slightly, he wanted to say something but was uncertain if he should.

Yondu grabs his mug and pitches it against the wall. It shatters too. Coffee drips down the wall in a stream. Tullk jumped and turned to see what the commotion was. Yondu looks for something else to break. His fists are clenched at his sides as he paces. "If I don't punish her, then the crew will see me as weak! Hell, they might take it upon themselves ta teach her a lesson, and they won't be as nice as I am. But If I hit her and she ain't faking it then… then…" his voice gets softer as he begins to trail off. Yondu grabs Kraglin's empty plate, and stares at it for a moment. "Then I'm hurting her."

Kraglin takes a breath, "The crew hits her anyway, Cap'n." Yondu looks up, his brow furrowed in confusion. "I tried ta tell ya that night uh, when you sprained her arm–"

"I remember." Yondu says forcefully.

"Right. The uh, the crew, they hit her when we're not around. She won't fight back, cause she thinks she's being punished." Kraglin mutters.

"What the fuck am I supposed ta do, Krags?" Kraglin doesn't know what to say. Yondu throws the plate. It skids across the floor, slowly losing momentum, before it hits the far wall. The plate is cracked in a couple places but is mostly unbroken. It was a half-hearted attempt, at best.

Tullk clears his throat, "When my Nan misbehaves her mam sticks her in time-out."

Kraglin and Yondu both turn to look at Tullk, suddenly realizing he was still here. Their pilot was standing up and leaning against his chair, the autopilot was still engaged. His expression is a mask of neutrality but his eyes are pained. "Time out?" Yondu repeats dryly.

"Aye. Her mam might lock my Nan in her room all by her lonesome, or make her stand by the wall." He pauses to take a sip of his coffee. "Gives 'em both time ta cool down and think about things, I think."

Yondu nods slightly and rubs his chin thoughtfully. Kraglin raises his eyebrows at Tullk. "I didn't know that chu had a daughter."

"Wasn't important before," He muttered stiffly. "We all got secrets, mate. I'd appreciate it if you could keep mine." Kraglin frowns and then nods sadly.

Yondu settled back into his station, he was drumming his fingers against his console. He sighs heavily, and then he rubs his eyes, suddenly feeling very tired. "Kraglin, do we still have those handcuffs?"

"Uh," Kraglin's eyes widened slightly.

"Not those." Yondu stopped that train of thought before it got any further. Tullk suppressed a chuckle, and Yondu could practically hear the rumors already. He cleared his throat and continued, "The handcuffs you swiped off that Nova."

"Oh, those. Yes, sir, I still got 'em." Kraglin says with forced normality.

"You reckon that the Nova still use that kind?" Yondu asked.

"Uh I think so."

He nods towards the door, "Go get 'em." Kraglin sets his coffee down and heads for the door. Yondu opens a map of the military base. His client swore that this was where they were hiding the cloaking device, but he was going to need to do some reconnaissance to be certain. They couldn't afford to raid the wrong building. He would make Jazinda do it, she wouldn't have a problem getting inside. How to retrieve the device though, that was going to be the tricky part…

Gamora and Jazinda returned while Yondu was pouring over the hologram for information. Gamora is carrying a sandwich and a juice box. Jazinda sits down and gets to work, while Gamora hovers around her, uncertain as to where to go. She nibbles on her sandwich absently. When Kraglin returns, he sets the handcuffs down on Yondu's console. Gamora follows Kraglin over to his station looking like a lost puppy. He sits down and she immediately crawls onto his lap. He paid her no mind. Kraglin composed the work schedule for next month, while Gamora ate her sandwich and licked her fingers. The bridge settles into a peaceful silence.

Gamora emptied her juice box, and threw it on the ground. Some deckhand would have to clean it up later, along with all the broken glass. Yondu closes the hologram on his console and leans forward in his chair. "Gamora, you done eating?"

She looks at him suspiciously, and leans against Kraglin's chest, as if trying to hide from Yondu. "Yeah." Kraglin pinched her side and quietly corrected her. "Ow! Yes, sir…" She grumbles. Yondu curls one finger, gesturing for her to come closer. She doesn't move until Kraglin gives her a small push, and she slides off his lap. She drags her feet and hangs her head as she walks across the bridge. "Am I still in trouble?"

"Ya didn't think I would letcha go that easy, didja?" Yondu replied coldly. He stands up slowly, looming over Gamora's small form. He grabs her arm and attached one end of the handcuffs to her wrist.

"They're too tight! That hurts!" She whines.

"Wouldn't be a punishment if it didn't," Yondu grumbled. He tugs on the handcuffs, leading her out of the bridge, Gamora mewls pitifully as she's pulled along by her wrist. Jazinda turns to watch them curiously, Tullk walks back onto the bridge to watch as well.

Yondu drags her into the hallway and over to the bulkhead. He inspects one of the pipes running vertically along the wall, checking it to make sure they weren't blisteringly hot. Then he attached the other end of the handcuffs to the pipe. "That oughta do." He gives it his nod of approval before turning and walking away.

"W-wait, you can't leave me here!" Gamora yells after him. She pulls on the handcuffs with all her might and whines. It creates a small dent in the pipe but nothing breaks.

"Oh I think I can. Maybe spending the next hour here will improve your behavior," Yondu replied.

"No, no, no! Lemme go!" She yells after him but Yondu ignores her.

Jazinda and Tullk watch Gamora yank on the handcuffs until her wrist is raw. She eventually wears herself out and sits on the floor. "Well, at least he ain't hittin' her. Poor thing," Tullk remarks dryly.

Jazinda scoffs, "We'll see how long that lasts."

Gamora couldn't stop the tears from overflowing, and spilling down her cheeks. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts. The cuffs dug into her wrist, it was a stinging sharp pain. No matter how she twisted her wrist, it hurt. She tried to stuff the material from her shirt in the small space between the cuffs and her wrist. It softened the pain a little. Her eyes hurt from crying and she kept them closed. She wished she could take a nap at least, but she was too uncomfortable. She pulls her knees up to her chest and put her head down. Yondu really must have hated her to be so cruel, she was sure of it.

Once she stopped crying, she opened her eyes and stared down the hallway at the catwalk. She was utterly alone and it was dead quiet. Time dragged on very, very, very slowly. There was no way to know how much time had passed in the dark corridor. No clocks or windows to indicate that time was moving forward, and it was so painfully boring. She takes to playing with her hair, undoing her elaborate braids, only to braid her hair again. After she grows tired of that, she starts counting all the pipes along the wall, and then all the UV lights that she can see. She was further reduced to counting all the little squares in the grated floor. Anything to keep her mind busy. She twists her arms the wrong way and the metal bites into her skin again. She hisses in pain.

Footsteps and voices echo down the hallway. Gamora turned to see who was coming towards her. Her stomach turned. Horuz and Hazira were walking towards the bridge. Gamora felt her face heat up. She doesn't look at them hoping they would ignore her. Horuz looked like was going to pass her by, but Hazira stopped walking. "Why're you sitting in the hallway, honey? You lookin' ta get stepped on?" She chuckles lightly.

Gamora presses her forehead against one of the pipes. She managed to whimper, "Go away, please."

Horuz nudges Hazira and says, "I don't think she handcuffed herself that pipe, mate."

Another chuckle, "Ah. Did the Captain do that to ya then?" Her face burned with embarrassment. She felt she might cry again. She didn't want to admit it. She didn't want them to know. Hazira pressed Gamora further, her tone suddenly turning grave, "Or did somebody else do that?"

"Yondu did it…"

"Now why would he do a thing like that?" Hazira said in almost a taunting tone of voice. Gamora's heart sunk, she was really going to make her say it. It was too embarrassing. Gamora's vision started to blur again.

The door to the bridge slides open, and Kraglin appears, saving Gamora from this dreadful conversation. "Hey, leave her be, Captain's orders."

"Oh alright," Hazira says casually. Gamora can hear them walking away. "Wouldn't it have been easier ta just beat her, get it over with?"

"Moron, only a coward would beat on a little girl," Horuz remarks. They vanish inside the bridge.

"Your hour ended 40 minutes ago, kiddo. You can leave whenever ya want." Gamora was surprised to hear Kraglin's voice, and turned to see him still standing in the doorway. His arms are folded across his chest but he looks at her with pity.

She blinks in surprise, and tugs on the cuffs. "Can you let me out then?"

"I can't letcha out."

"But Kraglin–"

"Don't whine at me. Y'know I can't go against the Captain's orders," He scolds her quietly. Gamora blinks back tears and sniffles. Kraglin was going to leave her to Yondu's mercy. That stung. Kraglin was always on Yondu's side, he would never choose her. Kraglin clears his throat, and reiterates slowly, "I can't let you out." He drops something heavy, "but you can go whenever ya want." With that, he disappears back inside the bridge.

Gamora turns to see a leather pouch laying on the floor. Curious, she drags the pouch over to her and then opens it. She blinks. Oh. That was sneaky. Inside was a set of lockpicks, Gamora felt a smile tugging at her lips.

She grabs the set of lockpicks, inspecting each of the strange gnarled tools inside. There were no instructions on how to use them. Gamora inspects the handcuffs for a keyhole as she tries to puzzle it out. She knew she had to use the tools to hold down each of the pins inside the lock to open it, but how was she supposed to know when she had pressed the pin down. Anxiety squeezes her heart, If she broke the lock Yondu might yell at her again. She couldn't decide what would be worse, getting in trouble with Yondu or having to wait for him to let her out. She fiddles with the lockpick for a few minutes. Unable to make a decision.

Time dragged on slowly. The handcuffs were digging into her wrists again, she told Yondu they were too tight. She couldn't take this anymore. She grabbed the set of lockpicks and stuck two of them into the lock. There's the sound of metal scraping against metal. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to be listening for. There wasn't room to fit more than three lockpicks in. Gamora glares at the lock, feeling more and more frustrated with every passing second. She tried every combination of lockpicks, but the result was the same.

The door to the bridge suddenly opened and Gamora panicked. She tried to hide the lockpicks. Hazira left the bridge first, Kraglin and Tullk trailed after them. Gamora looks up at them for help. Kraglin throws her an apologetic look and shrugs, her heart sinks a little. The walk to the end of the hallway, ignoring her entirely. "You're still here?" Gamora turns slowly to see Yondu standing behind her.

She glares at him while rattling the handcuffs to make her point. She regrets it immediately as the metal digs into her skin.

Yondu sighs heavily, and kneels down next to Gamora. "Alright, where's the lockpick." She blinks at him. He rolls his eyes. "I know Kraglin gave 'em to ya. C'mon, hand 'em over." Gamora holds out the leather pouch, and he takes it from her. He pulls out two of the lockpicks. "Y'know how ta use these?" He asks without sparing her a glance.

"Kinda," She admits reluctantly. Yondu raises an eyebrow at her waiting for her to continue. Gamora takes a breath, "I know I have to push down the pins but..."

He inserts the lockpicks into the lock, and expertly maneuvers them around. "Here hold this one," Gamora grabs onto the lockpick, Yondu grabs her hand and carefully moves it. Yondu presses up on one pin in particular. There was a faint click. "That's what you're looking for. Each of the pins need to be pressed in a specific order. Look for the pin that is the most difficult to move." He repeats the process a few more times. The handcuffs unlocked. "Next time, do it yourself."

"Next time?"

"Wouldja rather I beat ya instead?" Yondu asked.

"No!" Gamora blurts out without hesitation.

Yondu shook his head, "That's what I thought." Were those really her only two options? Gamora hated them both.

He took off the handcuffs. Gamora pulls her wrist against her chest, she makes the mistake of touching her blisters and hisses in pain. Yondu clicks his tongue in disapproval. "Your wrist wouldn't hurt so much, if you hadn't made such a fuss," he scolds her. You're the one who handcuffed me to a pipe, jerk, Gamora thought but didn't say.

Yondu collects the handcuffs and lockpicks, before standing up. "They're serving lunch now. Get up." Gamora shook her head. She didn't want to. Her legs hurt from sitting for too long. "I ain't askin'." He picked her up.

"No," Gamora wails. She balls her good hand into a fist and hits Yondu's chest. Tears blurred her vision again but she blinked them back. "I hate you. Put me down! I hate you!" Yondu doesn't try to stop her. He carries her out onto the catwalk, heading towards the cafeteria. Her tantrum draws the eyes of some of the crew but she doesn't care. "You're so mean to me! I didn't do anything to you!"

Yondu stops walking. "That was punishment for your bad behavior earlier, little girl. I didn't do this for no reason."

Gamora squirms uncomfortably, her brow is furrowed in a scowl and her lower lip is trembling. "I hate you."

"That's fine." He leans against the nearest wall. "Go on and cry if ya need to, your punishment is over. It's done." Gamora hit Yondu's chest once more with her first. She leaves her hand there. Tears overflow and Gamora pressed her eyes into Yondu's shoulder. She sobs. Was that all she needed, someone to tell her it was over? Her sobs shook her body, and she took deep shuddering breaths. Yondu isn't sure what to do. Kraglin or Jazinda would know how to get her to stop crying. Anybody else would have been better at this than him. He only knew how to hurt people.

So, he just waited.

She turns her head to the side, nuzzling her head into the crook of Yondu's neck. Her other hand wraps around his shoulder as she pulls him into a hug. He froze. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Gamora murmurs, "I'm not a brat. I'm not."

He tried to force himself to relax. "I know," he replies hesitantly. Her whining didn't annoy him the way it usually did. She was hurting and he had caused it.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"I know you ain't a brat. You just make mistakes sometimes." She squeezes him a little tighter. He can't think of anything else to say, so just stands there listening to her cry.

Eventually, the tears stopped. Her sobs died down although her breathing was still staggered and shaky. He lets her cling to him for a minute longer before he gets too uncomfortable and pulls her arm away. Yondu takes a deep breath, "You ready for lunch now?"

Gamora wipes her tears away with her sleeve. "No, they're gonna make fun a' me for cryin'."

"The crew? Naw, I won't let 'em." Yondu reassures her.

Gamora replies hesitantly, "Okay." Yondu carries her down to the mess deck.