Consider me amazed. Thank you so much to everyone who read, and most especially to my reviewers: xfoxgamerx, Meow, Guest (05/23/17), pattersonfan, Eli-the-crockodile, DelerpTurtle, and GeekyGeekyGirl! I appreciate everyone of your unexpected presences.
Please enjoy!
Chapter 2: there ain't no easy way to say this
Andy's sitting in the most comfortable sofa chair playing Temple Run next to April when the doorbell rings. He sends his most pitiful look towards April who rolls her eyes and stands to get the door. From his place on the sofa he can't see who's on the other side, but he can see April who is entirely unamused. He glances at her from the corner of his eye as he swipes up to avoid a tree root.
"Is it Comicon?" she asks.
"What the hell is that?" a male voice asks. April raises a brow.
"We are here to—" another male voice starts.
"I don't give candy to adults." April shuts the door and starts back for Andy, hopefully to his lap. Before she gets very far the doorbell rings again and she makes a short sign of irritation before heading back and opening it again.
"What do you want?" she asks dryly.
"We're looking for Peter Quill."
Andy's eyes widen. He's surprised enough to mess up and let his character get eaten by monkeys. Which is disappointing, but the strangers seem pretty interesting too. He wonders how they know his grandpa.
It seems April has made the connection about Grandpa Quill too because she turns towards him.
"Hey, Babe, do you have a relative named Peter Quill?" she asks.
"I don't know. I can always call my grandpa," he replies. Andy hears some soft discussion from the visitors at the door about something he said, and he's curious by this point. Curious enough to put his phone down and leave the comfort of his chair.
Andy goes behind April, wrapping a hand around her waist as he takes in the odd appearance of their visitors. There's a girl with green skin and some seriously tight clothes. Her hair is pretty neat though, all red and black. A raccoon is on the doormat beside her dressed in a jumpsuit. It has a gun, so maybe a kid, or a little person. Then there's a massive guy who looks like he could be a heavy-weight wrestler. And a tree. A realistic tree Ent-thing.
Andy smiles. They're either on the way to a convention, or they got the date for Halloween confused; it happens to everyone once or twice.
His smile falters as he sees various looks of shock and disbelief on their faces as they stare at him. It's the big guy who acts first, moving forward and grabbing him. Andy barely pushes April out of the way fast enough. The life is being squeezed out of him. Like, ow.
"Let. Him. Go!"
He hears April shouting. If he had the air he'd tell her he's completely fine, but as he doesn't he just waits for unconsciousness.
"Alright, let up, big guy," the raccoon thing says, and the wrestler dude finally lets go, much to Andy's relief. He staggers back to the wall as he tries to catch his breath. He almost says thanks to the raccoon, when it scuttles up his body quickly and begins smacking his head.
"Where the hell were you?!"
The pain in the creature's voice is what catches Andy the most, and he feels some strange flow of compassion in his being. The green-skinned chick picks the raccoon off his head, and as Andy and she make eye contact, he sees the same pain, just unvoiced. Even the tree creature looks sad. But also happy. The tree thing actually smiles at Andy.
April quickly returns to Andy's side, half in front of him.
"What the hell do you people want?"
"We've been looking for you, Peter," the green-skinned girl says, keeping tight eye-contact with him. Andy doesn't understand for a minute until he does.
"Oh, OH. I'm not Peter; my name's Andy. Andy Dwyer. You must have me confused with someone else."
"This isn't funny, Quill," the raccoon thing says.
"Er, I'm not Quill. My grandfather's last name is Quill," Andy explains.
"We know. He's the one who pointed us here," the wrestler says.
"What? Why?" Andy asks.
The green-skinned girl pauses for a long moment before she speaks again.
"Because, we've been looking for you, Peter. For the past four years."
Something awful clicks in his mind, and he takes a step back.
"Oh! Shit."
"What is it?" April and the green chick both ask, intent, concerned. They then glare at each other.
"I, um, have amnesia." Andy winces at the looks of shock on the strangers' faces.
"That old man is a liar!" the big guy shouts.
"Huh?"
"Your grandfather failed to mention the amnesia. He merely told us that we shouldn't interrupt your life," the green-skinned woman says stiffly.
"Babe."
Andy looks down at April, and behind her harsh gaze he finds concern and worry. He smiles and wraps his arm around her waist. Now that he knows what's going on, he feels himself relax.
"You all aren't murderers and thieves, right?" he asks, looking back up at them.
The raccoon and muscular dude both look confused, but before they can say anything the green-skinned girl steps forward and shakes her head.
"No, we're not."
"Then come on in," he invites. All of them are startled by the offer, but awkwardly filter in after exchanging glances. Andy quickly ushers them to the sitting room before April catches him by the forearm and brings him back to the kitchen.
"Andy, I don't like them in my house," she says lowly.
"Yeah, I know but this is an opportunity, to like, figure out some of my past."
And she's not happy, not at all, but under his pleading gaze Andy sees her buckling and he kisses her fondly.
"You were a LARPer in your past life," April says against his lips, accusingly.
"At least I wasn't married," he tries.
April rolls her eyes and mutters, "C'mon, let's get this over with."
She lets him tote her back into the living room. They aren't used to hosting a lot of people, so the woman, raccoon, and wrestler are all on their sofa. The tree thing has taken one of the wooden chairs (Andy notes the leaves and dirt around the floor on the chair). Only one sofa chair is left, so Andy sits down and perches April on his lap. He sees them giving him odd looks. All of their friends and coworkers have gotten used to him holding April all the time, but the pair still catch sideways glances when they're out and about. Andy's always found it hard to care.
"So what're your names?" April asks bluntly.
The green skinned woman clears her throat. "My name is Gamora, this is Drax." She points to the muscly guy.
The raccoon taps his chest. "I'm Rocket."
"I am Groot," the plant thing speaks for the first time. The raccoon dude—Rocket stares at Groot for a few moments before shaking his head.
"Well, you already know I'm Andy. This is April, she's my fiancé." And he can't say the sentence without grinning.
Rocket, Gamora and Drax all make very subtle eye contact that Andy thinks most people would miss. He doesn't though, and he sort of wonders what that means.
"So, where did I meet you all?" Andy asks to get the ball rolling.
"Oh that's a touching story," Rocket says sarcastically.
Gamora stalls. "We met— well—"
"Jail. We met in Jail." Rocket says bluntly.
"It was rather touching," Drax says, nodding in solemn agreement. Andy can't compute his utter seriousness. Nor the fact that Drax isn't lying or being sarcastic. But most concerning are the words.
Andy's eyes widen. "I was in jail? Really?"
Rocket starts snickering (and god that costume is so real looking, twitching whiskers and all).
"Well, not quite. It was prison."
Drax snorts. "We did not spend much time in there."
"Prison break." Rocket winks.
"It was a nice bonding experience," Drax says, dead serious once again, and Andy wonders vaguely how he knows Drax doesn't exaggerate.
"I was a criminal?! Oh shit, I'm sorry, April." Andy grips her tighter and searches her eyes.
"What are you apologizing to her for?" Rocket asks, bemused.
"I promised her I wasn't a criminal or married!" Andy groans. He stares at them and doesn't see an ounce of understanding.
"Why would you promise her something like that?" Drax asks. "And what why is being married bad?" And he has this strange and awkward eloquence when he speaks that Andy can't help but find charming.
"I don't know- but I mean, that's not really the point, I think. I'm not a murderer! I'm a good guy. I don't kill people!"
"Unless they deserve it," Gamora says, mostly under her breath, but he hears.
"I am Groot," the tree thing says.
The raccoon rolls his eyes. "Or they hurt friends. Yeah, yeah, we know you're a big softie, Groot."
"What the hell?" April rubs her forehead, and Andy turns back to her.
"Hey, babe, I'm so sorry I lied to you. I didn't mean to."
"You have amnesia, obviously you didn't mean to," Rocket points out.
"It isn't that big of a deal. Our records were expunged," Gamora assures at his harried look.
"Really? Thank God." Andy exhales.
Rocket looks like he wants to say something, but a short silent exchange with Gamora leaves him crossing his arms.
"Peter—"
"Andy," April presses, cutting Gamora off. The green-skinned woman clears her throat and narrows her eyes.
"His name is Peter. You can call his grandfather," Gamora challenges.
Andy licks his lips. His heart feels weird and he's pretty sure he's squeezing April a bit too tightly. She puts up with it and he loves her so much.
"He told me it was Andy," Andy tries.
"He lied. It's Peter," Rocket says shortly. "You didn't remember it after the accident, yeah? He lied and gave you a new one."
Andy's sure he looks as lost as he feels. "Why?"
"To keep you here," Gamora explains.
"Why would I leave?" Andy asks.
"Because he did not believe you should continue living your life as you were before, Quill," Drax says.
"He's telling the truth, Peter." Gamora's voice is firm like her eyes.
"It's Andy." He wishes it sounded less like a question. "I-I-I have papers and—"
"Forged," Rocket waves it away.
"But my name has always been Andy," he replies, and there's an attempt to put into words what he can't express.
"If you have amnesia, how do you know?" the raccoon asks, meaner than Andy thinks is appropriate.
"Maybe I gave you a fake name?" he tries. "And my real name is Andy."
"I am Groot."
Rocket interprets. "Groot's got a point; you already have a made up name and it's not Andy. Besides, your name was written on your backpack."
"My backpack?" Andy has no idea what that has to do with the words 'I am Groot'.
"It was on you when you were, uh, picked up." Gamora says, eyes sliding covertly to April.
"Picked up?" he asks.
"...Your grandfather didn't tell you anything, did he?" the raccoon asks slowly, a building unhappiness in his eyes echoed by the rest of them.
Andy shifts in his seat, feeling defensive. "He told me the important stuff. My name, and where I was before. I was out of the state, came in to visit. Then I ran into a tractor and lost my memory."
"Tractor-beam maybe," Rocket snorts.
April furrows a brow. "What?"
"Nothing. Continue."
Andy's embarrassed to admit that there isn't very much left to say.
"He, uh, told me about high school. And the rest of my family, and my parents."
"Parents? He told you about your parents?" Gamora asks with an intense look.
The question has more weight in it than Andy feels it should.
"Yeah, they died when I was just a kid."
Rocket hits his face with his paw. Drax shakes his head and Andy's left at a loss.
"Your father is still alive, though you've never met him," Gamora clarifies.
"What?!" Andy gapes at her.
"Seriously?!" April exclaims, mouth open.
"...Seriously," Gamora replies, eyeing April skeptically.
"Wow," he murmurs aloud.
"This is big, Andy," April says, hand on his arm.
And it is, and he lets it sit in his mind. He dwells on it for all of ten seconds before shrugging.
"Okay."
"Andy," April says, smiling and disapproving and proud.
"That was far simpler than the previous time," Drax comments.
"Did I freak out the first time?" And he sort of wonders when he started believing that he knew them all four years ago. Andy has no proof, hasn't thought to call his grandfather to confirm it. But it's the way they look at him. Like they know him, like him him. He's uncertain if it's comforting or terrifying. But on the whole, he thinks it's pretty cool.
"No, but you had that daddy-issues glaze over your eyes for months," Rocket says.
Andy shrugs. "Won't see none of that here. I don't remember my parents."
Gamora's eyes widen. "You don't remember your mother," she states quietly.
"'Course not."
"Now that's just not right." Rocket says.
"She died when I was four," Andy says.
Gamora looks at him with this emphatic look. It's kind of like April's, hidden behind a barrier of seeming detachment. "No. She died when you were nine. She raised you. You loved her."
There's a stretch of silence where all of them stare at Andy. He reaches into his mind, searches for something that looks or feels like what he thinks a mom should be. But there isn't anything there— never has been, to his knowledge.
"Sorry?" Andy tries before shaking his head. "I dunno what to tell you all."
"Perhaps we can jog your memory," Gamora begins.
"Yes, we do have some of your possessions on the ship." Drax smiles.
"Ship?! Are you all pirates?" That would be awesome.
"No... we have a space ship," Gamora explains.
"A space ship?" Andy asks.
"I am Groot," the plant says, and Andy catches the drift.
"That's awesome."
"They're obviously lying, Andy!" April snaps. "Do they look like they're from NASA?"
Andy pauses and looks them over, taking in their costumes.
"Yeah, you have a point." He sighs, disappointed.
Rocket bares his teeth. "We're not your normal space travelers, humie."
"Humie?" April deadpans.
There's an awkward pause.
"You… think we're all Terran, don't you?" Gamora says slowly.
"Terran?" Andy utters.
She explains, "From earth, from here."
"Uhh, yes? Unless you're from Mars," April says sarcastically.
Rocket scoffs. "No one with any brains would live there."
There's a pause.
"We are not human," Drax states.
"Sure," Andy agrees, getting into the spirit of their LARPing.
"No, Quill, really," the raccoon insists.
"His name is Andy," April says, expression really dark and serious.
"Whatever!" Rocket exclaims. "That doesn't change that we're telling the truth. C'mon, look at me! You know I ain't human."
And staring at him suddenly becomes… unnerving. Because when Rocket was perched on Andy's shoulder he must've weighed around sixty pounds, with the gun on his back and all. And a person can't be that small unless they were a kid, and the way that guy talks, he's not a child. He isn't a little person either. His claws shift and curl with a dexterity that no costume nor robot can fake. His ears swivel on occasion, and droop and straighten of their own accord. For all intents and purposes, he is a raccoon. But raccoons can't talk. But what else is there?
Sensing his uncertainty, Rocket makes a gesture to the plant who says,
"I am Groot."
"Just do it," Rocket replies.
The next thing Andy knows, he's been picked clean off the ground. He feels branches wrapping around his body. He's positioned horizontally on the back of the tree thing— on Groot— and the floor is frighteningly far away and moving beneath him.
"Holy shit! April! April!" He twists, and fights and cranes his neck to keep her in sight, and he hates the fear that's actually out from behind her eyes, the walls that are always there have been broken by panic.
"Andy!" she cries, and he's helpless, utterly helpless to soothe her as she and the floor of their house disappears below him, and he sees concrete.
"Stay here," Gamora says from somewhere behind him.
"Ow, don't bite!" Rocket complains, from the back. "That's not fair."
"Leave her alone! I'll come with you, just don't hurt her," Andy shouts.
"Such a drama queen," Rocket calls.
"Quill is not a queen," Drax, adds in.
"Metaphor, c'mon, we've been working on this," Rocket says, stepping beside Groot and into Andy's line of sight.
"Andy!" April's call is farther away, he can't see her.
"Don't hurt her!" he pleads.
"We're not gonna hurt her," Rocket says dismissively, gaze forward.
"I am Groot."
"You already said that," Andy says, irritable.
"His vocabulistics aren't great so he don't speak good like you and I. His vocabulistics are limited to 'I' and 'am' and 'Groot'. Exclusively in that order," Rocket explains.
"That's not going to get annoying."
Rocket's ears twitch and the raccoon glances over at him. Andy finds something indescribably sad and happy in the gaze.
"Yeah, Quill. Yeah."
Before Andy can ask about the sorrow or wonder at the joy, Rocket steps out of his line of sight and the emotions are gone.
Despite Andy's protests, and he has been pretty damn vocal, they continue walking for at least an hour. He wonders why the hell no one's stopped them yet. He's screaming bloody murder, and they looked armed and dangerous... actually, that might be why. Andy takes it back and gives up eventually.
"Uncloak the ship, Drax."
"We should wait for Gamora," Drax says.
Andy blinks. He assumed she came with them. The fact that she didn't means she's probably in only one other place.
"You left her with April?! She looks like a badass fighting chick!"
"She is a badass fighting chick." Rocket moves out of his line of sight.
"I do not believe that's helping," Drax points out mildly.
"I am Groot."
"Yeah, yeah. Everyone gang up on me." There's a strange clicking followed by a hiss of what sounds like steam. The ground beneath Andy shifts to cool metal as the plant creature moves into, what he assumes, is their ship.
The plant puts him down with a delicate touch, making sure he's fully settled on the ground before letting go. Groot smiles, and despite the tension, Andy quirks a half-grin back. He takes a moment to observe his surroundings. He's... definitely on a space ship. There are screens floating in the air, a three dimensional globe swirling idly in a center, and these strange creatures he now knows are aliens, fit right in. Andy can't help it; his mouth falls open.
Rocket lets out a snicker but Andy ignores him.
"This is your ship?" he asks, turning around in a circle to try and see everything.
"Yep. This is the Milano."
Andy's eyes widen. "Dude, that is exactly what I would name a ship if I had one. That is so freaky-cool!"
Rocket coughs.
"This is your ship," Drax informs him.
"I am Groot."
"Our ship," Rocket clarifies. "But you were the one to name it."
"That's awesome." Andy's eyes are wide. He doesn't really believe them, but it's a cool thought. "Hey, could you take me up some time? I totally want to see space!"
Rocket's grinning sharply and Drax has a smile on his face. The hiss of the door opening and the appearance of Gamora reminds Andy abruptly of the situation.
"Shit. No, I can't do that." He turns to Gamora. "Is April okay? You didn't hurt her, right?"
Gamora approaches him and puts a hand on his shoulder, a familiar gesture that doesn't feel as out of place as it should.
"April is fine. A little hysterical, but she'll be alright."
"Okay, thanks." Andy lets out a sigh before he realizes what he said and he groans. "I take that back, 'cause you're the ones who abducted me to begin with!"
Rocket snorts on the word. "Abducted?"
"Alien abduction," Andy says with a nod. "…You're not going to eat my brains, right?"
"We're not hungry right now."
Gamora sends Rocket a sharp look for his trouble and the raccoon looks vaguely apologetic.
"We didn't mean to abduct you, we just knew you wouldn't believe us otherwise. Some of us are a little more impulsive than others," Gamora says meaningfully.
"That is usually I." Drax looks almost proud of the fact.
"We just want to show you a few things," Gamora says.
Andy is on a spaceship surrounded by aliens who haven't definitively ruled out eating his brains. They can show him whatever they want.
He nods. "Alright."
Gamora turns and walks away from their little group, but she doesn't leave the room. Instead she walks towards the wall which has a cool looking retro stereo installed. She clicks the play button and Come and Get Your Love starts playing. Andy feels the numbness spreading.
"Aw, shit. I'm not supposed to—" His eyes fall shut and he slips into the dark silence of the galaxy.
Andy stirs. He feels the blankets and padding of a bed. He almost thinks he's at home, but the lack of April in his arms lets him know better. They always have sex in the morning. He sits up and looks around and is greeted to the sight of four anxious aliens. Rocket is arguing with Gamora a little away from his bed while Drax stands between the two, perhaps to mediate. Groot is the only one actually looking at Andy, and despite the fact he was kidnapped, he kind of likes the plant. Said plant smiles and utters,
"I am Groot."
The other three's heads snap around and they immediately approach his bed.
"How ya feeling, Quill?"
"Like I was in a brief coma," he answers, standing up. "And I told you, my name is Andy."
There are visible signs of disappointment. Drooping furry ears, crossed arms, and avoidance of eye contact. He sighs.
"Look, I dunno what you thought was going to happen, but I can't just return to being this Quill guy. I don't even know who that is!"
"It's you," Gamora says, softly, mutedly. "You're the same person, mostly. You just don't remember."
"Yeah, well, that's kind of a big deal."
"We were hoping listening to your old mixtape would bring back memories," Drax informs him.
"My old mixtape," he murmurs curiously, and Gamora places a totally ancient cassette into his hands. It's well-worn, and the label is fading. In nice blue ink it reads, 'Awesome Mix Vol. 1'.
"I believe it was a gift from your mother," Gamora tells him, and his eyes widen.
"A gift from my mother," he murmurs reverently. It's suddenly imbued with a sacred power. It's possible she touched this, listened to it— he stops his excitement early though, because he'll never meet this imaginary person he's building in his head, so he shakes the thoughts from his mind and quickly hands it back to Gamora, who hesitantly accepts it.
"I am Groot."
"Yeah, we're all wondering why you collapsed," Rocket says.
Andy shrugs. "Some songs make me blank out. I drift away for a couple hours. It's pretty strange."
Gamora takes a sharp breath before clearing her throat. "These songs wouldn't include Hooked on a Feeling, Cherrybomb, Fooled Around and Fell in Love—"
"How did you know?" he blurts.
"They're all songs on your mix tape," she says.
Andy pauses and tries to understand why songs on a mixtape he apparently owned but doesn't remember would cause him to drift into space for a while. He doesn't find an answer so he decides to ignore it. His head has begun to hurt and he's worried about April.
"Look, it was cool meeting you all, er, I mean again, I guess," Andy says. "But I really gotta go check on April. Thanks for showing me your ship."
Gamora storms up to him, making him pedal backwards. He's nearly tripping over himself to get away and yet somehow they end up nose to nose anyways.
"Peter Quill, you have to be an idiot to think we will let you go after searching for you for four years." She glares at him. Drax, Groot, and Rocket all make sounds to support her.
"But that's just it," he exclaims. "I'm not Peter Quill! I'm Andy Dwyer!" All of them go still at his statement.
"I'm sure space is awesome, and yes, I totally wanna visit there, but I can't. I'm not that guy, and besides, I have April. I could never leave her."
He does his best to avoid the blank and or pained looks his little speech earns him.
"Could one of y'all let me off your ship?"
Andy walks home. The ship is skillfully hidden amid a dense forest, spattered with massive pines, so it takes a while for him to find his way back. When he does reach his street, he finds police cars parked outside his house. April is standing in the doorway looking distraught, and he runs to her. She sees him coming and she sprints to meet him halfway. They collide almost painfully with a ridiculously passionate kiss.
Then she smacks him.
"Ow! What the hell?"
"Why do you make me care and worry about you?!" she demands.
"Aw, I'm sorry, babe," he says, rubbing her arm soothingly.
"You better be."
"Ma'am, can we leave now?" A police officer interrupts their reunion and is rewarded by one of April's more scathing glares that Andy just loves.
"Get off of our yard," she says shortly before all but dragging Andy back into their house. April starts heading to the living room, but stops halfway there and changes directions to their bedroom instead.
"What happened?" April demands.
Andy kicks his shoes off and lies down on the bed, trying to sort the truth out for himself. April crawls in next to him and puts her head on his chest.
"Those people took me to their alien spaceship, which was sorta pretty awesome— it's named the Milano How cool is that?!"
"Not cool," April deadpans.
"Anyways, they asked me to go with them to space, I said no, we spoke a little and then I left and came back." Super abridged version of his day.
"Why did that take you three hours?" she asks, eyes narrow.
"I got lost. And, er, had another little spacy-out thing."
"They play the Jackson Five in space?"
"Funny story." And it isn't, but Andy will try and sell it that way anyways. "Apparently my mom made me a mix tape forever ago that I had on the ship. And guess what's on it?"
"All of the songs that make you space out?" she asks mutedly.
Andy nods. "Yep."
"So you believe them, then?" she inquires. "Because it could be the government pranking us, or alien mind control."
"I do believe them..." Andy answers hesitantly. "They know things. It's really weird."
April stares at him for a long time, searching. Andy stays still and keeps eye contact for as long as she wants. Eventually she blinks.
There's a long pause before April asks.
"You sure you don't want to go up into space with them?"
"I do want to," Andy says honestly. "Maybe for like a couple of days, but I'd rather stay on Earth forever with you."
"That's so cool of you, Andy." April smirks happily.
Someone's getting laid tonight.
...It's him.
After Peter leaves the Milano things are subdued. Quill's departing words about him not being him leave all of them feeling frustrated and empty. And if there's one emotion Rocket hates, it's feeling empty, so he forces himself to focus on the former emotion.
Shoving Peter's mix-tape off the holodeck, he grits his teeth and says, "What a jerk!"
"It isn't his fault he doesn't remember." Gamora frowns and picks up the mix-tape, handling it carefully, like glass.
"I believe friend Rocket was referencing Quill's Grandfather," Drax says.
"No, I was not. I was referencing Andy. Who does he think he is?! Goddamn asshole!" Rocket hisses. Gamora frowns as she returns the tape to its case beside the stereo system.
Drax opens his mouth but all of them shoot him a look and he promptly closes it. Thankfully.
"I am Groot."
"I know we should be thankful we even found Quill, but what good is that if he doesn't even know he is Quill?!" Rocket exclaims.
"We just have to jog his memory," Gamora asserts.
"Not with the mix-tape." Rocket snorts. "How wrong is that?"
"I am Groot."
"Quill without his mother… very unsettling indeed," Drax murmurs in agreement.
Rocket shifts, more uncomfortable than he wants to put into words. After a drinking contest in which Rocket cheated his way to victory, he heard about how Quill ended up in space from a backwater planet like Terra. Examining all he knew about Quill, it was easy to see how his mother and her death shaped his every action, defined who he was until he was strong enough to define himself. Even that has echoes of her.
His mother is the explanation behind the mix-tape which says everything about Quill. The loss of that piece of history makes Rocket question if Peter is still Peter without it…
But earlier, Quill repeated lines from years ago that bring Rocket back to when they first met. That has to mean something.
"It's terrible, I know," Gamora says. "But we have to think about what we do now."
"If Quill does not wish to come with us—" Drax starts.
"We are not leaving him," Gamora hisses.
"I am Groot."
Gamora makes a slightly choked sound and Rocket bristles.
"Groot!" he hisses.
"I am glad you agree with me, friend Groot." Drax nods. "If Peter has made a place for himself here, then it is not our place to disrupt it."
Rocket bristles more. Drax is talking about April,
"His place is with us," Rocket says.
"If he intends to make a family here, then it is of no interest to any of us," Drax replies.
Rocket doesn't even bother to look at Gamora. He knows the thoughts running through her mind. They belong to him too.
"I am Groot."
"This is about Peter's happiness," Gamora asserts. "He wouldn't want to live a lie."
"As he lives without the burden of his past, this is potentially a better life for him," Drax argues.
"Yeah, til something stupid trips the idiot switch in his brain and he suddenly remembers everything. Then he's got this whole life built as a new, normal humie and nothing is alright," Rocket says.
"I am Groot."
"He can't make a decision because he doesn't remember! Pay attention!" Rocket snaps.
"If Peter, or Andy, as he prefers to be called, wants to stay we cannot force him to come. We already tried to with less pleasing consequences," Drax says. And when the guy wants to be logical and argumentative, he can be and it pisses Rocket off.
"He can't make a decision until he remembers things," Gamora rebuts.
"I am Groot."
"Maybe not, but you can't say it won't come back either. We don't know that for sure. Brains are tricky messes," Rocket says. "Especially when it's some humie's brain. Besides, Quill's mind wasn't exactly a prime example of healthy, even before he crash landed and knocked what little sense he had out of his head."
"So, we must be persistent," Gamora asserts, furthering their argument.
Drax frowns.
"This is not a place we can linger. We have had to reprogram the shield settings to remain undetected twice. Even then, we do not blend in. If Peter is happy and with those who care for him, we should let him live here and build a family."
Rocket wants to hiss and claw at Drax because they all made a family here on the Milano. They had something really special. Drax is dismissing it all because he thinks Peter can get it better somewhere else. Rocket thinks Drax is just projecting his desires to have a wife and child and a goddamn four seater mini-shuttle onto Peter. And Peter doesn't deserve that. Because Peter fit in the category with Gamora and Rocket, not knowing what it was like to have a normal family or life, or having only wisps. The three made facsimiles of what they thought it could and should be, guided by Drax's knowledge and Groot's calm acceptance of everything. Rocket was damn proud of it.
And maybe it is selfish of him to want Peter back because he's one of the handful of family and friends that Rocket has, but Peter means too much to all of them and the rest of the universe to live and die quietly on this backwater planet.
"One try is not sufficient," Gamora says. "He needs time to process the information. Let us visit him tomorrow. Just you and I. We will stand out less." She says the last part to Rocket who wishes he could rebuff her words but can't.
"Very well," Drax agrees. "We will see what he thinks of all this."
"Whatever," Rocket mutters.
No one leaves the meeting happy. Drax is stoic, Gamora determined, Groot concerned, and Rocket anxious. He can't help but think that Peter would know how to repair everything, to make Drax pause in confusion and prove Drax is flawed and normal, force Gamora to laugh against her stubborn wishes to remain aloof, soothe Groot with the promise that he can make things better, and unwind the taut knots in Rocket's body with sarcastic banter that no one else indulges him in.
It isn't the first time Rocket's had these thoughts. And it'll either be the last because he'll have Peter back, or it'll merely fade away because he'll have to urge himself to forget that Peter is on Terra, being dull and mundane and not like himself.
Rocket wants the former so badly that he thinks he might vibrate though the Milano. It hurts that Gamora is his only ally in this endeavor, but at least he isn't alone.
And he isn't alone ever, he still has his friends and pseudo-family even after all the shit they've been through. Rocket just wants to be less alone, and Peter's the only one who can do that.
It's late in the night, after him and April have awesome sex and his fiancé has fallen asleep, that Andy works up the courage to call his grandfather. He steps out into their backyard so he doesn't wake April. The look of her terrified face still hasn't left his mind, so the last thing he wants is for her to start worrying about him or something.
The phone rings and rings until he gets voicemail. Andy hangs up and calls again. This repeats three times until he finally hears the click of a receiver.
"Don't you know what time it is?!"
"Grandpa?" Andy asks, muted.
There's a long pause over the phone.
"They found you then?" Grandpa Quill asks.
"You mean Gamora and them?" So his grandpa does know about them. That probably isn't a good sign. "Yeah, they found me."
"Did— did you remember anything?"
Andy shrugs, though his grandfather can't see it. "No. I don't remember anything."
He hears an exhale of relief from the other side and he's taken by a rare spark of anger.
"Were they telling the truth?! About me? About my name?!"
There's some hesitation. "Yes, they were telling the truth."
"Why did you lie about that?!" he asks, begs, needs to know.
"I just wanted you to have a normal life! You don't get it," his grandpa says wearily. "You were taken at such a young age from me. When you showed up those four years ago, I thought it was a miracle, Peter."
The use of the name sends pinpricks over Andy's skin and his body tenses.
"My name. Why lie about my name?"
"Because Peter Quill was filed in a missing person's report. You were just gone. Over twenty years ago. I wanted you to have a fresh start," his grandpa says in a beseeching way. "I called in a favor from a military friend and made you a whole new identity so you could live a new life!"
"A life built on lies. You made it by lying to me," Andy states.
He feels like these are the lines from a soap opera he and April watched and laughed about for a whole week after. They quoted lines back and forth to each other at work and had all of their coworkers up in arms about their inevitable breakup. Leslie was trying to patch things up between the two of them and Tom was taking bets. It was funny. Until Ann realized they were lines from Lost and Loved Souls of New Jersey. Then April and Andy got to make fun of Ann for actually watching the show and it was even funnier.
Comparing that to now only drags his mood down further. Why can't he just be Andy Dwyer? He doesn't know, but it's easy to blame Grandpa because this is definitely at least mostly his fault.
"I can't believe you did this and didn't tell me," Andy says.
His grandfather makes a sound of irritation. "And you would have believed me? Think about it, Peter. You barely knew who I was. How the hell was I supposed to say that I found you near a spaceship shuttle crash? I don't even know the actual story myself, I have no idea what you were doing all this time."
"And then they showed up?"
"Yeah..." His grandpa pauses and exhales. "Look, they tracked your spaceship to my shed and demanded that I tell them where you were. They were... determined to say the least." Andy remembers their weapons and general badassery and can't quite blame his grandpa. He's still pissed though. Grandpa Quill isn't done yet. "Telling them no wasn't really an option. So I told them you lived in Pawnee, but not to bother you. I'd hoped they'd see you and how happy you are and leave you be. I know you have your own life going on, and I don't want to mess with that."
"This would be so much easier if you didn't lie about things." Andy runs a frustrated hand over his head.
"I'm sorry, Peter."
"God, just pick a name!" Andy shouts. And maybe it's dramatic, but he hangs up, feeling confused and angry at the same time, and he isn't used to feeling all these negative emotions so acutely.
Andy turns his phone off and leaves it on the counter before returning to his bed and April. He wraps himself around her and tries to forget about everything.
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Next chapter we get some Pawnee cast and more drama and humor.
Thank you for reading! All reviews are appreciated!