"And… done!" Rocket proclaimed, plugging in one last thing. Drax started, swiping drool from his chin, likely still awake only out of stress. Groot, on the other hand, had fallen asleep, and awoke with a yawn at the sound of Rocket's voice.
"To the bridge!" he announced, darting up towards the sensors. Groot and Drax lumbered up behind him, and by the time they were crowding around his seat, the sensors were already rebooted and scanning. Finally, they pinged.
"Says he's about two miles out into the wilderness." Rocket glanced out the window. "Or what passes for wilderness here, anyways."
"I am Groot!"
"You got that right. Time to move out!"
Rocket and Drax grabbed their weapons, and Rocket grabbed the handheld tracker he'd also modified. Then they stepped outside, feet landing in the dusty soil, and they struck out with Rocket in the lead. The smog thinned as they moved away from the city, but the planet was poisoned enough that they hardly saw wildlife, be it the tiniest of flowers or the scrappiest of critters. No, the world was eerily quiet, and Groot seemed like a bright speck of color amongst the dull grey rock formations they wove past.
"I can't wait to get off this damn planet," Rocket whispered. He wasn't superstitious, but somehow it just felt wrong to speak any louder.
"I am Groot," he agreed, rubbing his arms.
"We will be gone soon," Drax stated, fists clenched around his daggers. "We will make quick work of those who dare hurt our friends."
Rocket nodded along to bolster Groot's nerves, but he had doubts. Kutral had brains, and while Loki was right, she was no Quicksilver, she was still incredibly fast. And between Erebu's strength and Beb's sorcery, it would be like fighting Loki's two greatest abilities from two different sides. And sure, that was something they had trained for, but it had always been Loki against the rest of them. Never just Drax, Rocket, and Groot.
We'll win. We have to.
Realizing his pace was slacking, Rocket gave himself a sharp mental shake and picked it back up. Clouds of dust puffed up from their footsteps, leaving a trail. At least we'll be able to find our way back, Rocket thought upon noticing this.
Above them, the sky began to darken.
-MCU-
Gamora leaned back against the wall, still rubbing at her hands even though she had already cleaned all the blood off. She and Loki had tried for an hour, using a mixture of brute strength and the hair pins Gamora kept hidden in her sleeves, to remove the cuffs, to no avail. After they finally gave up, Loki had fallen asleep, too exhausted to be kept up by the pain of his wounds, Gamora's coat now draped over him. She envied him that, the peace of sleep. At least, she hoped it was peaceful.
"Hey."
Gamora jumped, readying an instinctive punch. "Woah, woah," Peter said, lightly catching her fists and nudging them back down. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's all right," she said, relaxing again.
Peter watched her for a moment, then gestured at Loki. "How is he?"
She followed his gaze, looking at the bandages and pale skin peeking out from beneath her coat. "He lost a lot of blood and he's understandably stressed, but if he's left alone to rest for a while, he should be fine."
"Good," Peter murmured, tension easing from his shoulders.
"But that's not what worries me," she went on, resisting the urge to fix Loki's hair. "Well," she amended, "it does, but for a different reason."
Peter stiffened again, looking Loki over as if he'd missed something. "What?"
"Beb was so useful to Thanos because she's skilled in the art of healing magic as well as her heat," Gamora explained. "She could heal her victims as fast as she could hurt them, letting the sessions go on longer, leaving the victims alive longer. But…"
She reached out, peeling back a bit of the coat to reveal the mess of bandages beneath. Loki shifted, mumbling something under his breath, and she froze, staying quiet until he stilled again. She dropped the coat, carefully smoothing it back into place, covering as much of him as she could.
But Peter got the message. "She didn't heal him this time."
"Which means-"
"-we won't be here much longer," Peter finished, glancing at their two sleeping teammates. "We gotta make a move, Gam. Fast."
"We don't even know what they're going to do with us," Gamora said, grabbing Peter's arm before he could get up. "If they're just moving us, the three of them, then that's our best shot."
"And if they're not?" Peter countered. "If someone else is coming with extra guards, then we'll be screwed."
"And if we strike now?" Gamora pointed behind her. "Loki is in no condition to fight, either mentally or physically. He'll need help just walking out of here, leaving only two of us to fight, and two of us can't take on all three of them and protect the other two. No matter what's going to come down that corridor, we have to wait for it."
"Makes sense," he said. "All right, compromise: We wait, but if we get a good opportunity when they came to fetch us…"
"We attack." Gamora nodded. "If an acceptable opportunity presents itself."
"Yeah. If." Peter buried his face in his hands with a ragged sigh. "God, I hate when you're right. And I hate waiting."
Gamora rubbed his shoulder. "I know, Peter. Too bad I'm always right."
That earned a laugh, his mirth warming her a bit. She kissed his cheek, nuzzling against his soft curls. He turned his head to return the kiss, his lips brushing against the corner of her mouth. He held her close, interlacing their fingers. "I love you, Gammy," he whispered.
She closed her eyes, letting herself bask in his warmth. "I love you too, Peter."
Peter pulled back a little to look at her, lifting one hand to stroke her hair. "Well, that sounded deep and layered."
Gamora gestured around. "Like you said, I hate waiting."
"It's more than that, Gam."
"It-"
"Hey, we said no lying," Peter rebuked gently. "That includes hiding whatever it is you've been feeling since Loki's panic attack back on the Milano."
Gamora lifted her head, pulling her hair free of his fiddling fingers. "You noticed that."
"Of course I did," Peter said loftily. "One, it's my job as leader to notice when there's dissent in the ranks. Two, it wasn't hard to see the two of you getting so lost in whatever you were discussing on Ascorix that you forgot you were surrounded by a bunch of stabby criminals."
Gamora ducked her head. "That was foolish. I should've waited to ask him what I did."
"Which was?" Peter prompted, tucking her hair behind her ear so he could see her.
"If he is scared of you."
Gamora looked up sharply. Mantis had awoken, and was now sitting up, looking at them with her wide black eyes that were somehow so naïve and so wise all at once. Gamora took a breath, ready to deny her claim, but between Mantis's look and Peter's concerned hand on her arm, she just asked, "Is he?"
Mantis looked at Loki, chewing her lip as she chose her words. "He was not thinking directly of you when I calmed him down, so I cannot say for certain. But… I believe there was something."
"I knew it," Gamora rasped.
"Ok, hold on-" Peter started.
"Quiet time's over!" Kutral announced cheerfully. Loki bolted awake, gasping in pain as he jostled his wounds. Peter darted over to him to help, holding the two coats in place as he supported him. Loki eyed him warily but didn't protest.
Erebu and Beb joined Kutral as she opened the door. She stepped inside, kneeling in front of Loki, who tried very hard not to look panicked at being singled out again. All she did, though, was unlock the chains holding his cuffs together as Beb tossed his shirt and coat inside. In turn, Kutral dumped them on his lap.
"Get dressed," she ordered as Erebu and Beb stepped inside, holding more pairs of handcuffs. Erebu knelt in front of Mantis, and Beb came to Gamora.
"We're leaving," Beb said, waiting expectantly for Gamora's wrists.
"Peter?" she asked.
"Now's as good a time as any," he agreed.
In unison, they lunged for their captors.
-MCU-
Rocket held up his fist in that human stop signal Peter had taught them. Drax and Groot still would've walked right past him had Groot not run into Rocket while Drax ran into Groot. He staggered forward with a grunt, twisting to glare at his companions. Groot muttered under his breath while Drax just shrugged like "How am I supposed to see you? You're as tall as my knee."
"The signal's coming from about ten yards away," Rocket whispered, wincing as his voice bounced amongst the rocks.
Drax stretched up, trying to peer over the rocks. "I see nothing that would indicate a base of some sort."
Rocket tucked the scanner in his pack and crept forward. He peeked around the next bend, sharp eyes scanning for anything odd. Seeing nothing, he padded forward, cautiously followed by Drax and Groot. Rocket spotted a shape in the ground and crouched to examine it.
"Looks like a lady's footprint, and it's headed towards Peter," he said. "Although how she expects to commit crime in high heels, I don't even know."
"Gamora often defeats us in training whilst wearing her boots," Drax pointed out.
"Yeah, but these are actual spindly heels."
"In that case, it does not make sense."
Shaking his head, Rocket advanced, checking around two more bends. Finally, a small clearing opened around them, evidently well-trodden based on the mess of footprints. Boulders surrounded it, and dead ahead gaped the entrance to a cave, just big enough for a person to walk through. Rocket couldn't see anything more than a few inches into it, the lighting situation not helped at all by the fading dusk light.
"No base, Drax?" he teased.
"I could not see that," Drax protested.
"Groot, get ready to spore," Rocket murmured, moving towards the cave. He examined what he could, checking for tripwires or motion sensors, before carefully stepping over the threshold. When nothing happened, he gestured for Drax and Groot to follow. They went a little deeper in, leaving the daylight behind, before Groot lifted his arm to the ceiling.
Never gets old, Rocket thought privately, watching the little spores flood the air, banishing the darkness with their soft light. He would never dare tell anyone, but the lights gave him hope, like everything would be all right. Even if they did remind him of the day Groot died.
"Thanks," was all he said aloud, moving on, closer to the others. He brought his blaster out, finger hovering near the trigger. Gradually, the tunnel widened, their tension thickening the air as they finally stepped into a room.
And that was it. Just an empty room. A dead end. Without a soul in sight.
"But- but the signal led us right here!" Rocket protested, whirling around. Drax started circling the room, pressing his hands over the stone, searching for a hidden doorway. It took him only moments to clear the entire circumference, but he repeated the process five more times before resorting to stomping on the floor in search of a trapdoor before finally stopping, his shoulders slumping.
"There is nothing here," he announced unnecessarily.
"I am Groot?" Groot said, bending down to pick something up, a tiny metallic something that glinted silver in the spore light. He held it out to Rocket.
Rocket took it. And immediately recognized it for what it was.
"Damn it!" he shouted, clenching his fist. "Someone duplicated the signal in Peter's implant and planted this one to lure us here. We just wasted an entire day on a wild goose chase!"
A/N: You didn't think I'd let it be that easy, did ya?
