A/N: Hey y'all! Sorry for the long wait, but hey, college is a thing now, so that's exciting. Thanks for all the follows, favorites, and reviews and a special thanks to Aqua468 and Wings of a Bird!

And without further ado, enjoy!

"We're here!" yelled Yondu as he romped into the storage room, part of the crew following behind him. Lila sat up with a start at the sudden noise. Aliens roved all over, looking busy, and lowering the ramp to the surface of whatever planet they were on below. Her heart hammered against her chest. What was gonna happen to them now?

"Start unloading," Yondu said. "Take those crates over there. Hey, someone help me with this one!"

Yondu grabbed one side of the cage while a purple creature came to help him. Lila tried to keep her balance with Nathaniel on her lap as they carried the cage down the ramp. The jostling finally woke Cooper who blearily made his way to reality.

Well, he hoped it was reality. Even Lila wasn't entirely sure this wasn't just a bizarre dream.

A huge, sprawling marketplace was spread out before them. Stalls of all shapes and sizes and colors formed main thoroughfares and tiny alleys. Creatures of every possible type hurried to their favorite vendors, trying to get what was good before it was gone. A small group of exotic individuals stood about twelve meters away, clustered together, waiting to see what fresh merchandise was being brought in. The ship was on the edge of the bazaar, next to some others who also had their hatches open and were selling right out of the cargo hold.

The moment Yondu and the other set their cage down on the ground, a large, brown, vaguely pitbullish looking alien made his way over to them.

"What 'ave you got for me today Yondu?"

"Just the man I was hoping to see. Got some fresh Terrans here. 3k credits a piece."

"That's a steep price for these runts." He bent down to get a better look and leered at them through the bars. Nathaniel whimpered and Lila hugged him tightly while Cooper tried to glare back at him. "Bit on the young side, aren't they?" he asked, standing back up.

"Yeah, but you know they're rare. The boy'll last a good sixty years in the right conditions, the girl too even, and you know how collectors love babies."

"Hm… Take it down to 2k and you got a deal."

"Done." The two shook on it and with a swipe of a card, Yondu unlocked the cage. "Alright. Get out of there. This is Rannock. Don't try any funny business with him."

"Come along you runts."

"Wait, what just happened?" Cooper asked. Yondu cuffed him over the head.

"Shut it. 'Sides, you're smart kids. I'm sure you can figure it out. Now git."

Rannock grabbed Lila roughly by the wrist, causing her to cry out. Cooper immediately stepped in front of her.

"Don't touch her!"

"Don't talk back boy," Rannock growled, shoving Cooper in front of him, causing him to crash to the ground; his leg was still healing and couldn't support the sudden weight.

"Cooper!" Lila cried, and quickly helped him up. "Leave us alone!" Nathaniel started to fuss so she quickly tried to quiet him.

"Fat chance missy. Now get a move on. I got slaves to sell."

"Slaves?" squeaked Cooper in a rather undignified manner.

"You heard me. Now move or I won't care who I sell you to."

Lila supported Cooper as much as she could and they glanced at each other uneasily. What were they going to do?

::::

"Why are we stopping here again?" Gamora asked, distaste decorating her features as she glared at the bazaar ahead of them.

"We need supplies," Peter explained casually as he carefully landed the ship.

"And this is the best place you could come up with?"

"Well, no, but it is the most interesting."

Rocket jumped up on Peter's headrest to take a look out the windshield.

"Aw yeah. This is the place to be."

"It's full of dirty rotten scoundrels and criminals."

"Like yourself, you mean?" Rocket asked innocently. Gamora was two seconds away from strangling him, when Peter stood up and knocked Rocket off the headrest in the process.

"Well, we're here so we might as well go and look around and see if there's anything worth buying." He clapped the recently regrown Groot on the shoulder as he passed, and the tree nodded.

"I am Groot," he agreed.

"Yeah, yeah," muttered the assassin, but followed them outside into the blistering hot sun.

It took a minute for their eyes to adjust to the bright light, but once they did, Rocket was already way ahead of them, darting between vendors, (casually slipping things in his bag), and getting under foot. Groot stoically followed behind him.

The others quickly caught up to them and once they got farther in, Peter had to hold back his gag reflex. The place smelled terrible! It smelled like day old alcohol and some serious BO. Gamora couldn't help but smirk.

"You see what I mean?"

"Yeah, we are never coming back here," Peter agreed. He noticed Rocket had climbed up on Groot's shoulder as was pointing at something excitedly. "Oh, what did he find now."

"Whatever it is, it's probably not good."

"I would have to agree," Drax said.

The three of them caught up to the racoon and his friend to see what they were looking at.

"They've got a slave market here!" Rocket cried excitedly. "Peter," he chuckled. "Hear me out on this one-"

"We are not buying a slave!" Peter yelled.

"Come on. They could clean the ship for us, do our laundry, cook. Y'know, all the things we never do anyway."

"That is a bit low, even for you," Gamora said. Drax cracked a smile.

"Is that because he is short?" he whispered, (which was a normal voice for him). Rocket bristled angrily, but Peter bust out laughing.

"We'll look as we walk by, okay?"

Quite honestly, Peter tried to avoid making eye contact with any of them. The slaves were kept in large, overcrowded cages that formed a large square and appeared to be roughly separated by gender and age. Some had tears running down their face, others were glaring and snarling, and others had blank looks on their faces, completely devoid of emotion.

"Hey Quill! This one looks like you!"

"Wait, what?"

Peter joined Rocket next to one of the cages and peered in.

"There, in the back corner. He looks like a Terran."

"You're right." Near the back of the cage, knees drawn up to his chest, was a young boy with shaggy brown hair. One of his legs was wrapped in a dirty bandage. "Hey! Hey kid!" Most of the slaves in the cage looked curiously at him, but the boy didn't seem interested. "Are any of you from Earth?" he finally asked. The boy's head whipped up and he cautiously raised his hand.

"Rocket, go find who's selling here."

"With pleasure. C'mon Groot."

"I am Groot."

Quill shuffled nervously as he waited for Rocket to come back with the merchant. He had had some close calls over the years with slave dealers and couldn't say he was fond of them. He glanced back over at the boy and noticed the hope and fear shining in his eyes.

Rocket returned a moment later, with the rather large dealer in tow.

"I hear you're interested in buying," the alien said.

"We're interested in looking right now," Peter corrected, glaring at Rocket. "We want to look at that Terran back there, the boy." The dealer scoffed.

"That lousy runt? You can get a much better deal with one of them Florians. What about that b-"

"We want to look at the boy," Gamora stated forcefully. Drax humphed in agreement and crossed his arms. The dealer shrugged.

"Alright, suit yourself. 'Ey Terran! Get over here!"

The boy was up and over to the door in a flash, carefully picking his way through the others, grimacing in pain when someone smacked his leg. Rannock unlocked the cage. Peter and Rocket made quick eye contact and nodded.

"Rocket, why don't you go discuss a price with the man."

The raccoon quickly drew the dealer and his attention away from the two humans. Peter knelt down by the boy and spoke quickly and quietly.

"Hey kid. What's your name?"

"Cooper."

"Nice name. I'm Peter." The boy's eyes widened slightly. "I'm from Earth too. Listen closely, we're gonna break you outta here, kay? Are there any others here like you?" Cooper nodded frantically.

"My sister Lila and baby brother Nathaniel. I don't know if there are any others."

"Alright. Gamora, go see if you can find the girl. Groot, find the baby. And be gentle. Ok, kid, do you see that ship over there? The blue and orange one?" Cooper nodded. "Go and hide by it while we find your siblings."

"Ok, but what are you and him gonna do?" he asked, looking between him and Drax. Peter grinned.

"We're gonna cause a little trouble."

::::

Making sure no one was watching, Gamora quickly flipped over the cages to the inside of the square they were arranged in, then ran over to the females.

"Lila? Is there a Lila over here?" Gamora called, the new name foreign on her tongue. "Your brother sent me."

An older woman, with dark blue markings covering her face spoke up.

"Was she a young girl?" The assassin nodded. The woman shook her head sadly. "She was sold earlier today to a collector."

"What did they look like?" Gamora demanded.

"He had bright blond hair and a white coat-"

The ex-assassin cursed under her breath.

"Thank you and be ready. If I'm not mistaken, we're breaking you out of here." There were excited whispers throughout the crowd and Gamora hurriedly shushed them. Glancing behind her, she saw Peter and Drax had also jumped the cages and were hurriedly explaining what was about to happen to the others. Once she saw Peter pull out his blaster, she got to work blasting the locks off the cages next to her.

As soon as they were off, the slaves shoved against the doors, pooling out into the square enclosure.

"There are ships over there," Gamora said, directing those who would listen. "Get enough people and you could overwhelm the crews and get away from here."

"Thank you," said the woman with the blue markings and grasped the assassin's arm gratefully.

Gamora nodded then glanced over to where Peter and Drax were telling the other slaves the same thing.

On the other side, people were starting to notice that something was happening. Rocket glanced over to where slaves were beginning to pour over the cages.

"Well, I don't think we'll be buying today and I'll take that," he said, gesturing to the ensuing escapers, "as my cue to leave."

Moving quickly, the rodent scurried into the crowd, away from the confused, then angry, then yelling merchant, and attempted to find Groot. Finally he spotted him coming out of one of the nicer looking tents.

"I am Groot," he informed his friend.

"Gone! What do you mean he's gone?"

"I am Groot," the tree said helplessly.

"Peter won't like it." A moment later he was on the tree's shoulder. "Now let's get out of here."

::::

Cooper waited anxiously by the space ship. He had laid down by one of the wheels and was trying to follow Aunt Natasha's advice; stay small and try to blend in. He watched as group after group of slaves ran by to get to some of the operating cargo ships. Sounds of fighting could be heard in the distance. He was shaking.

He shook harder when a particularly rough looking group approached Peter's ship.

"Here we go boys. Let's get out of here."

Cooper jumped at the sudden shot of a blaster.

"That was a warning!" The boy's eyes widened at the sight of a raccoon with a smoking gun as big as he was standing on top of a sentient tree.

"Sorry boys," Peter explained. "But this is our ship and considering we're the ones that helped you escape…"

They were quick to leave after that.

"Cooper. Hey Cooper where are you?" the pilot called. Cooper got to his feet as quickly as he could and limped over to the other human.

"Where's Lila?" he asked. "And Nat. Did you find them?" He peered around the others, but couldn't see them anywhere. "Where are they?" he asked, voice cracking. The crew shared a meaningful glance. Peter took a knee and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"They aren't here anymore, but we're going to find them."

That was it. That was all Cooper's young heart could take right then. Tears streamed down his face that quickly turned into gross sobs. Acting instinctively, Peter gently wrapped the boy in his arms and picked him up.

"Let's go guys."

The motley crew boarded the ship and Peter passed Cooper off to Groot so he could get the ship in the air.

Barring the worry he felt for his fellow human, Peter watched happily as ship after stolen ship took off full of escaping slaves.

"Good job out there," Gamora said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"All in a day's work."

"Does this count as good thing or a bad thing?" she asked teasingly.

"Mm. Let's go with a little bit of both."

A/N: Wow, look, the Guardians finally made an appearance! In any case, hope you liked it and if you did (or even if you didn't), leave a review and have a great day!