All for freedom and for pleasure
Nothing ever lasts for ever
Those haunting lyrics from the Tears for Fears song didn't resonate with the crew and certainly not for Peter at first. They were not only doing what they do best (saving the galaxy) but also taking care of the juvenile ex-assassin to worry about such things. Gamora had begun to see the men as her extended family; Peter, Drax, Rocket and Groot loved spending time with the seven year old. The group was truly a loving family unit. But as the 1985 hit song stated, for all the pleasures that came with bonding with the now young Gamora, it wasn't meant to last.
It was what Peter called a "lazy Sunday" kind of day. When Drax asked his leader what he meant, the Terran explained that it was when you just bummed around and did nothing important.
And that's what the group was doing just that: being sluggish and taking it easy. Peter was napping on his bed, snoring peacefully. Rocket had been working on the hyperdrive, but he let his laziness take over. Besides, that core was nearing one hundred percent and the raccoon was just twirling his screwdriver around like a baton to pass the time.
Groot was sunning himself contentedly by the window. The Milano was near a sun-like star, so the tree had drawn the protective shade and happily soaking up the warm rays. Groot noticed Rocket holding a bowl of warm water and was leading the little girl to where Peter was sleeping.
"You wanna see a cool prank to play on someone?" Rocket said to the child, snickering.
"Sure!" Gamora liked how impish the small animal was being and eagerly followed him.
The raccoon and the girl tip-toed up to the sleeping hero. Rocket giggled in glee at what he was about to do. He was gingerly lowering the bowl of water when Peter whacked it clear out of the animal's paws! A surprised Rocket stood still as the bowl spilled its contents all over the floor.
"You're gonna have to do better than that, Ranger Rick. That prank is child's play." Peter opened his eyes and grinned at Rocket.
Rocket glared at the Terran and walked off in defeat. Gamora looked confused, not understanding why the prank failed.
"That little critter wanted to make me wet my pants by placing my hand in warm water while I was sleeping." Peter explained.
"That's stupid!" the girl said.
"I agree. Now, back to my nap." Peter said and rolled over on the bed.
Groot had cleaned up the puddle of water as Rocket was scolding the tree man for attempting to drink the liquid that fell on the floor.
"Groot! That's dirty!" he yelled, but his friend still lapped it up.
With the prank failing, it was quiet once more. Peter napped, Groot sunning himself. Gamora was busy getting her hair braided by Drax, who had mentioned that his daughter loved it when his late wife styled the child's hair. As the brute was combing and fixing up her hair, the seven year old was looking at some old children's magazines. Rocket was busy munching on some fried popcorn shrimp (his favorite food) as he relaxed on the opposite side of Peter's bunk. He had picked 10cc once again and the laid-back vibe of "The Things We Do for Love" filled the air, complimenting the overall, easy-going tone of the "lazy Sunday".
The peace was soon cut short when the overhead monitor flashed red.
"Hey Quill, you got a message." Rocket said to the sleeping man.
Peter snorted, then moaned in his sleep and rolled over. The raccoon sighed and started throwing the shrimp at Peter, hoping to awaken the thief from his slumber. He was throwing them pretty hard, the fried shrimp bounced off Peter's head. Finally after one landed in his eye, the Terran awoke.
"What the hell?!"
"The monitor's all lit up. You got an incoming message, Sleeping Beauty." Rocket told him.
The hero grumbled and rubbed the sleep (and shrimp) out of his eyes. Peter hit the button to accept the message, wondering who was trying to reach him. When he found out who it was, it was the last person Peter expected it to be.
"Well, well. I finally found you, Petie-boy!"
"Yondu." He said the name bitterly.
On the monitor was a blue-skin man with a red Mohawk and wearing a weseally grin on his face. Behind his chair was the rest of Yondu's band of mercenaries, all watching as well. Rocket and Groot realized who the man was and stood next to Peter. Drax followed with a cautious Gamora hiding behind the brute. She poked her little head out from behind Drax, wondering who this Yondu was and how he knew the guardians.
"What do you want?" Peter asked his former mentor coldly.
"Hey now! That's not the way you greet your former caretaker now! But since you asked, I still haven't forgotten about that little switcheroo you pulled back on Xandar."
Yondu pulled out the neon orange-haired Troll doll and showed it to Peter and his crew. During the group's battle against Ronan over the Infinity Stone, Peter had promised Yondu the object but was given the ugly doll instead. That stupid toy was the Terran's way of sending his regards and Yondu found himself entertained by the gesture at the time.
"I let you have your time in the sun as the hero, so I've decided to track you down and make good on my word about killing you, Peter."
"Please!" the former thief huffed. "I've got more important matters to deal with than dealing with you and your clan of Smurf-wannabes."
"Well, judging from what I saw earlier today, it looks like you and your merry band of do-gooders have all the time in the world." Yondu said.
Peter realized that the bandit had been monitoring them all this time. "Big Brother is watching…"
"Indeed, Peter." The mercenary smiled coolly. Yondu's attention was then drawn to the little girl hidden behind Drax. "And what's this? Step out where I can see you." He directed Gamora.
The little girl ducked out of sight and shivered in fear.
"She is none of your concern, Yondu." Drax said to the man.
"If it has something to do with Petie here, then it is my concern! Now, let me see the kid…or else."
Peter wanted to avoid fighting with Yondu as much as possible. He nodded to Gamora, who then stepped forward nervously. The bandit leader studied the seven year old in her red and pink floral dress, wondering just who this child was to Peter and his friends.
"Now this is interesting…" he mused, smiling. "I don't know where that green-skinned vixen of yours is now Peter, but I can clearly see that you are following in my footsteps. Ain't she just the sweetest thing!"
"I am not like you, Yondu! I'm not a kidnapper!" Peter harshly stated.
"It doesn't matter. Just because you've got a kid on board your ship doesn't mean I'm gonna go easy on you, boy. And just because I still have a soft spot for you, I'll give you a head's start. You've got five minutes!" Yondu then ended the transmission.
"Shit!" Peter cursed. He turned to the aliens. "Alright, let's make every minute count. Rocket, get the guns and shields ready; it's gonna get ugly real fast. Drax, you'll be my main lookout for when that creep tries anything. Groot, protect Gamora at all costs!"
As the men prepared for their upcoming fight with Yondu, the seven year old was afraid. She didn't want any of the men to get hurt, let alone be killed by the scary blue man with the Southern accent.
"Peter…I'm scared." The girl whispered.
The man bent down and pulled out his Walkman and handed it to Gamora.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure nothing happens to you. We will all make sure nothing happens to you, Gamora. Now, I want you to grab that mix tape we made together and pop it in my cassette player. Be sure to blast the volume real loud to block out the noise; that way, you won't be scared."
Gamora nodded and rushed to her bunk and grabbed the mix tape. When Peter was going through the briefcase of cassette tapes one day, he discovered that a few where blank. Using one of the blank tapes, he and Gamora created her very own mix tape. The child was excited that she had her own "Awesome Mix" just like Peter.
When the girl returned with the tape, Peter quickly buckled her in a passenger's chair next to Groot. After checking to make sure her straps where secure, Gamora grabbed the hero's hand.
"Peter." She said; her face full of worry.
"Be strong, Gamora." He told her and gave the little girl a comforting hug.
"I will." She then inserted her cassette into Peter's music player and slipped on the headphones over her head. She hit play and gave Peter thumbs up. He returned the gesture and hopped right into the pilot's chair.
"All systems go?" he asked Rocket.
"All green. Let's rock!"
The Terran nodded and turned on the communications channel on the radio. "Yondu, this is Quill. If you're ready to get your ass handed to you, give the word." Peter spoke.
A wicked laugh came out of the speaker. "That's the spirit!" Yondu cheered and commenced the attack on the Milano.
Peter thrust the spaceship forward and sped ahead. Rocket began to fire at Yondu's ship, which in turn dodged the bullets with ease and fired back. Suddenly, a loud smack was heard on the radio, followed by some men yelling.
"What's going on?!" Yondu bellowed back at his crew.
"Those assholes breached our ship's hull with…rubber bullets?"
"Rubber?!" The mercenary leader shrieked. "Just who in their right mind uses rubber bullets?!"
"This guy!" Rocket cackled in victory of directly hitting the enemy ship.
Peter chuckled at the raccoon's invention based off the 10cc song of the same name.
"Give'em hell boys!" Yondu shouted and whooped in delight.
The fight was a game of cat and mouse. The two spaceships fired at one another, missing some and landing some at one another. As the Milano danced across the open space, Groot kept his eye on the girl. Gamora gripped the cassette player as she mouthed whatever song she was listening to help ease her fear. The tree tapped her on the arm and the child looked up at him. Groot smiled sympathetically at her and took her hand into his. Gamora smiled back at Groot and tightened her grasp on his hand.
Drax kept his eyes on Yondu's ship, alerting Peter and Rocket when the band of thieves launched or fired at the Milano. The brute caught a glimpse of a rather large firearm being lowered. The weapon was on a countdown as it was charging up.
"Peter! Yondu has some sort of massive cannon aimed directly at us!"
"What?! Rocket, aim at that over-compensating piece of crap, NOW!"
The raccoon swung his gun at the enemy ship but it was too late. Yondu fired the cannon and made a direct hit! The Milano shook so hard that it nearly sent everyone flying out of their seats! However, the cassette player in Gamora's hand flew out and onto the floor.
"The Walkman!" she cried and unbuckled herself out of her chair.
Groot tried to stop the little girl but another violent shake from the ship caused him to miss her. The girl lost her footing and fell. She shrieked so loud as she began to slide down toward the rear of the spaceship that it caught Peter's attention.
"Gamora! Rocket, take over! Drax, get to the gun station and blow shit up!" Peter commanded as he got up from his chair.
The small animal saluted his leader and leapt into the pilot's chair as Drax slide into the gunman's helm. Peter quickly slid toward where the seven year old had landed. Pulling her close, the ex-thief held the child in a secure embrace.
"Gamora, are you hurt?"
"I'm OK. I just wanted to get your tape player. I know how much it means to you…" the girl said and showed Peter that the music player was safely cradled in her hand.
"My Walkman doesn't matter! You're worth more than some piece of Terran technology!" he sincerely told her.
"You really mean that?' Gamora asked.
"With all my heart." he replied, giving her a heart-filled smile.
"Peter, Yondu's getting ready to blast us again!" Rocket called out.
"Say good night, Star-Lord!" the bandit hollered.
"Rocket. How's that hyperdrive doing?" Peter inquired.
"Peter, are you insane?! That damn thing isn't even working at full capacity and you wanna hyper jump?!"
'It's the only way not to get blown up by Yondu's cannon!" he yelled back.
"Fine! But don't blame me if you get turned to dust or somethin'." The bounty hunter muttered as he began to increase speed to activate the hyper jump.
As they continued to fire at Yondu's ship and build speed, Peter hugged Gamora tighter. He wasn't sure what would happen to the little girl once the Milano entered hyper jump again. He dreaded the worst case scenario: that Gamora would cease to exist…just like in the story he told the child a long time ago. No! Peter refused to let that cloud his judgment!
The girl noticed Peter's nervous expression. She touched his cheek affectionately. He felt her hand on his face and looked down at her. Now it was Gamora's turn to comfort Peter's fears, just like he did hers.
"Peter, it's OK. We're going to be fine, just like you said." she said with confidence.
He nodded. "That's my brave girl."
The child hugged Peter once more just as Rocket announced that the ship was going to attempt a hyper jump.
"I love you, Peter." The seven year old said.
"I…love you too." He replied. Peter closed his eyes shut and embraced Gamora tightly just as the Milano hyper jumped.
Yondu watched as the Guardians of the Galaxy disappeared in a white flash from his view.
"Sonofabitch." He murmured, leaning back in his chair with a stunned look on his face. The blue-skinned man eyed the Troll doll once more in his hand.
"Boss, do you wanna go after them?" one of his cronies asked.
"Nah…I'll let this one slide this time." Yondu said and then chucked the toy over his shoulder laughing obnoxiously. "Peter, you may be a rat bastard, but I love ya!"