A small form ran past the gathered guests at Tony Stark's wake.
It was the most interesting thing to have happened since the battle—Morgan Stark running.
She was usually glued to her mother's side or to Happy's, eyes avoiding everybody else's because she didn't know these people, and she didn't know why there were so many in the house when it was usually just her dad and her mom, sometimes Harley.
But for the first time since she found out Daddy wasn't coming back, her eyes had brightened upon seeing a figure walk in. She detached herself from her mother and ran.
"You're back!" Morgan said, burying her face between Nebula's legs and wrapping her arms around them tight.
Nebula's mouth twitched. Almost a smile.
"You waited for me," said Nebula, a hint of a question in her voice.
Morgan looked up and nodded. "I miss you!"
Nebula cocked her head to the side, studying the little girl. What was it Stark had said about human responses?
"I...miss you...too."
Morgan smiled and Nebula felt a little too self-conscious. People were staring.
Even Drax.
She felt Morgan tug at her hand. "Come on, let's go play."
Nebula wordlessly let the girl lead her into the house, up the stairs, and into her bedroom.
Nebula had been in it before, when she made the occasional visits that Stark demanded she make.
The room looked the same; it still seemed very soft and innocent to Nebula—untainted. But there were some additions to the walls.
Drawings. A child's drawings.
Nebula stopped to take a look. There was one deformed drawing that must be Stark if the red and yellow are anything to go by. There was a green blob and...
Nebula's scanner zeroed in on the figure.
A blue girl.
There was a small quirk of her lips as she turned away, storing the image in her memory drive.
Around Morgan, Nebula could almost remember what it was like to be a little girl.
Almost.
Morgan was bent over her toy chest and was rummaging through it all the while saying, "Daddy buy me a new toy when you were gone. It's fun."
Nebula knew what fun meant now thanks to Stark and his offspring. So, she settled herself on the tiny chair in the room, clasped her hands over the table and observed.
Morgan put the new toy over the table.
It was thick and strange. It was an awful color of green with numerous holes in which rodents were hiding inside.
Morgan held a tool in her hand not unlike a sledgehammer.
She turned the toy on. Suddenly the rodents were bobbing up and down their holes and Morgan was hitting them over and over, shrieking in laughter as she tried to get them all.
Nebula's chair scraped across the floor as she rose in surprise, staring at the toy.
"What is it?" she asked, a scan already uploaded in her brain.
"It's Whack-A-Mole," said Morgan simply. "You try to hit the moles and if you do, you get points."
Nebula knew what points were. She wanted points.
"Give it to me," she said to Morgan, sitting back down and accepting the Whacker.
The moles started rising up, one at a time and Nebula got the first four. Then the tone of the music changed, picking up in speed, and so did the rate at which the moles started appearing, one after another, and then two after two.
Soon, the moles were appearing faster than Nebula could hit them.
She swung the Whacker but missed. Nebula growled while Morgan giggled.
For some reason, Nebula never understood why the kid wasn't scared of her. She found Nebula's frustrations hilarious.
And then the tune ended and Nebula was left blinking at what had just happened.
Morgan was still laughing. "It's fun, right?"
Nebula simply stared at her, a competitive glean in her eye. "Again."
"Not yet. It's my turn!" said Morgan, taking the Whacker from her.
Morgan turned it on again and did a whole lot better than Nebula.
"12 points," Morgan said proudly.
"That little girl defeated you in a fight against rodents."
Nebula turned to see Drax, standing in the corner of the room as he laughed at Nebula. She hadn't even noticed he was there.
Nebula made a threatening sound at the back of her throat which made Drax just laugh even harder.
"I'd like to see you try," she challenged him, her voice dropping dangerously low.
Drax stopped laughing and walked over to them. He sat in the other chair.
Morgan handed him the Whacker.
The music began and the moles started appearing.
Drax hit one, and then another, and then another. He laughed triumphantly while Morgan clapped for him and Nebula glared.
Drax glanced smugly at Nebula. "My reflexes are too fast for these—" he missed one.
Nebula grinned and Morgan squirmed in suspense.
Drax missed another.
"This is not possible," he muttered, his body growing tense.
Nebula sat back and folded her arms in delight, glad she was not the only one who found the new toy difficult.
For Terrans, they made pretty interesting tools for entertainment.
"AAARGH!" Drax stood and paced the room, glaring accusingly at the Whack-A-Mole.
"It's okay. You can try again," said Morgan soothingly. She looked at Nebula, "Do you want to try again?"
Nebula's eyes softened. She nodded.
...
"You missed one. And another one."
"Shut up, Quill!"
"I am Groot."
"You're not helping."
Pepper and Rhodey exchanged looks as they got nearer to Morgan's room. They were entertaining politicians downstairs when they heard a strange scream coming from the second floor of the house.
The door to Morgan's bedroom was already open and inside were the Guardians of the Galaxy... and Morgan.
They were gathered around her small table. Mantis was on the edge of the bed watching with rapt attention as she ate a plate of casserole, Quill was on the ground, fist pumping in the air, as he cried, "YOU CAN'T DO IT!" to his teammate.
Drax was laughing loudly in one of the chairs and Groot was cheering in another as Rocket stood on top of the table, wielding a toy hammer and hitting the moles as hard as his tiny hands could manage.
It was a miracle the Whack-A-Mole was even still in one piece.
Rhodey nudged Pepper and pointed at a sight.
Morgan was on Nebula's lap, giggling and cheering at her new playmates.
Pepper smiled and motioned for Rhodey to come back down to the living room.
Morgan was fine.
She'll be fine.