New Discoveries of a Bad Sort

Courtney led Gamora and Peter down the wooden steps by the side door into the dark basement below. Drax and Harmony had left shortly after Alexi, Rocket, and Groot had. Harmony said she didn't live that far away so they could walk there quickly and not be noticed. Peter was confused as there were no houses that looked lived in nearby, but he never was good with noticing details. Now though, in the dank smelling basement, Quill was aware of everything.

The walls and ceiling were made of concrete that radiated cold. Brown creaking shelves made of wood were layered on the floor. There was the distant sound of water dripping from the ceiling to the floor. Peter could have sworn that he saw a mouse or a rat or something running along through the shadows. The whole basement smelled of dust and peeling wallpaper.

"Not exactly home sweet home." Peter mumbled. Gamora hit him on the shoulder to keep him quiet. If Courtney heard the comment she didn't make one back.

"I don't have a clue what we're gonna do about any of this," Courtney started. "But Alexi, Harmony, and I will figure it all out-" Peter held up his hand to cut her off.

"Don't worry about anything Courtney. The Guardians of the Galaxy will figure this out." Courtney smiled lightly then turned and walked up the steps.

"Just make yourselves as comfortable as you can." She called down. Then the door to the basement was closed partway to hide them from view but not completely lock them in. Gamora went and pulled on the chain hanging down and a single light bulb brightened the room slightly.

"I'm getting a very haunted house vibe from this place." Peter said as he brushed a cobweb off his shoulder. Gamora didn't respond, her eyes were tracing the outlines of all the boxes stacked against the walls. "G?" Peter asked. Gamora walked over to the wall and pulled an old box, falling apart at the edges. On it were the names Courtney, Harmony, and Alexi, written in black marker. "How did you?" Peter asked.

"I'm a master assassin, Quill." Gamora replied. "I've been known to find things that people want hidden." She opened up the box and a mini dust storm covered both of their faces. Peter started hacking and coughing while Gamora just brushed the dust off of her and pulled the box under the light.

Inside the box was an old photo album, what looked like a book with no title, a couple newspaper clippings, and a few strands of black hair in a plastic bag. "What is this?" Peter asked as he reached in and grabbed the photo album. Gamora pulled out the book, opened it, looked at it for a few minutes then threw it at Peter.

"I can't read Terran Quill." Gamora reminded him. She took the album and started flipping through it leaving Quill to pick up the flung book. He opened it up to see it was covered in scrawled writing. It was a diary. The name on the inside page was written in beautiful calligraphy that Quill struggled to make out. He managed to finally read it and stared at Gamora.

"This is Courtney's diary." Quill said. Gamora laid down the photo album. It was filled with pictures of the three girls. Gamora pointed at Courtney in the pictures. She had long shining black hair, like the strands in the bag. The eerie feeling Quill had gotten upon seeing the bandanna wrapped around Courtney's head returned. In the pictures Courtney was smiling and her overly pale skin was a fresh sand color. She looked a lot happier then she did now. Harmony and Alexi did as well. Harmony's eyes didn't look haunted and Alexi was actually smiling.

"When was this picture taken?" Quill asked. Gamora flipped over the picture.

"It says 8/11/2013." Gamora read.

Quill checked the international clock that Nova had given them. It was currently October 15th 2016. "That was three years ago." Quill said. The back of the picture also read 'Courtney age 9, Alexi age 10, Harmony age 8.'

Quill started flipping through Courtney's diary a little, noting her great handwriting and thanking the stars that there was no more calligraphy. Then Quill stopped skimming as he noticed an entree. It was dated June 17th 2016. "This entry wasn't put in too long ago." Quill showed it to Gamora. It had caught his interest because Courtney's normally pristine handwriting was sloppy and all chopped up, like she had been rushing or not paying attention to her words.

"What does it say?" Gamora asked a little annoyed. Quill started reading.

I can't believe this happened. It's all so surreal I can't even piece it together. One moment a happy life mostly free of worry and now...now I'm dying and my Dad isn't even here to see me. He won't know I'm dead until he gets back in two years. He won't know, and the fact that he didn't know will kill him. Who will take care of Harmony and Alexi when I'm dead? Not my parents, they don't know what those two are going through. My mom could care less about what friends I keep, she's still in shock about the news and I don't think she'll ever snap out of it. They doctors say it's too late. The cure won't help, it wasn't caught in time. I'm dying of brain can-

Peter stopped reading. The word on the page was the word that had ruined his life so long ago. Gamora stared at him questioningly, wondering why he stopped reading. He took a deep breath and finished.

I'm dying of brain cancer and there's nothing anyone can do.

Peter set the journal down. Now the pale skin and bandanna around her head made sense. Courtney was dying. Courtney was dying of cancer. Gamora's eyes widened when Peter said 'cancer' and she realized why he had momentarily paused. Gamora reached back into the box and pulled out the bag with the hair in it.

"Courtney preserved her hair." Peter said solemnly.

"What does she mean by 'who will take care of Alexi and Harmony when I'm dead'?" Gamora asked. Peter reread the words and his expression became puzzled.

"Yeah, that is odd." He agreed. Peter started flipping backwards through the diary trying to find some mention of something about Alexi or Harmony. Gamora continued looking through the box and pulled out the newspaper clippings.

"Hey Quill you should see this." Gamora called.

Peter at the exact same time said "G, you'd better hear this." Gamora showed him the news cutouts that had a picture of Harmony splashed across the front page. Peter set down the diary entry that was written by a frantic Courtney about Harmony. Peter read both out loud and instantly both him and Gamora felt sorry for Harmony and Courtney. They were so young yet they had to go to all this.

"Well at least out of all of us Drax went with Harmony." Peter commented when he was done reading. "He'll understand the most what it's like to have a dead family."