As yes, the stereotypical "kid gets sick" story. Despite you knew this was coming, I had fun writing it. Also, the Guardians watching The Price is Right was just too good to pass up

Sometimes it was hard to keep track of what day it was when you where constantly travel in space. But it was made clear what day it was given Peter's enthusiastic singing.

"S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y! Hey!"

The Terran was busy making dinner and was blasting the tape deck aboard the Milano. The crew decided on having breakfast for dinner and Peter was making pancakes. He danced along to the Bay City Rollers tune while turning them, nodding his head along to the beat. Rocket could only grumble at how foolish his leader was acting.

"You have to do this every Saturday?" he grimaced.

"Saturday Nii-IGHT!" Peter wailed, not caring how much it annoyed the raccoon.

Rocket just shook his head and left to go let his friends know that supper was almost ready. Peter had placed the plate filled with pancakes onto the table as everyone entered the galley. But it was how Gamora was acting that caught his attention. The seven year old looked exhausted and her normally healthy green skin was pale. She slumped into her chair, head hanging low.

"You feeling OK, Gamora?"

"Uh-huh." The girl replied quietly, not looking up.

Peter placed a hand on her forehead and felt how unnaturally warm it was. Looking at her face, Gamora's eyes where drooping and she let out a small cough.

"You're burning up! Let's get you into bed." He told her. Gamora could only nod her head and was then escorted back to her bunk. After tucking her into bed, Peter went over to the overhead monitor and brought up the medical journal and entered a few keywords into the search box. When the results popped up, it was clear that the little girl had the beginning of the flu.

"Guys, we've got a sick kid on our hands. Gamora's come down with the flu." Peter informed his concerned team mates.

"And what do you want us to do about? We have no clue as to how to treat her!" Rocket said. When she was an adult, Gamora hardly ever got sick, thanks to Thanos' enhancements and treatments to her body growing up. And even if she was ill, the former assassin rebounded quickly. Now that she was a child once again, it was uncertain just how to treat her. Her race, the Zen Whoberi, had long been eradicated and there was little information as to which kinds of medications could help or harm her.

"I must agree with friend Rocket. If we were to give her the wrong medicine, it might just make the little one even more ill." Drax commented.

"I am Groot." The tree man said, looking worried.

"But we can't just let her suffer!" Peter turned back to the monitor and huffed in fustration. He searched for anything relating to the Zen Whoberi's biology, hoping to put the group's fears to rest. Despite there was a few passages the database managed to pull up, it appeared that many of the medications that the group had on board in the medicine cabinet would not harm Gamora in anyway.

"Well, at least that's good news. But here's the kicker: how's Gamora gonna be now that she's come down with the flu?" Rocket pondered. "Drax, this is where you come in; how was it when you took care of your kid when she was sick?"

"Camaria was fairly quiet when she was ill; though she would grow restless from time to time depending what she had come down with."

"Guess its trial and error with Gamora. I'll give her some medicine and make sure she's comfortable." Peter offered.

As the rest of the men settled down to eat their dinner, Peter entered Gamora's bunk with a glass of orange juice and two pills. He saw the little girl snuggled in bed with the covers pulled up to her chin. She shivered slightly, due to being cold from her oncoming fever and moaned from being uncomfortable.

"Gamora, are you awake?"

"Not really. I just want to go to bed." She mumbled.

"I know, sweetie. But I need you to take these for me." Peter showed her the pills in the palm of his hand.

"Will they make me feel better?" Gamora said with apprehension.

"I hope so."

Gamora sat up and looked at the small tablets. She popped them into her mouth and drank some of the orange juice. She winced after swallowing them. "My throat hurts." She said as she rubbed her neck to indicate the pain.

"Just give the medicine some time and you'll be right as rain. Do you feel like something to eat? I bet if you have even a little food, it'll help the medicine work faster."

"I'm not really hungry."

"But you gotta eat something, honey. How about some toast with butter?"

"Fine." Gamora said with annoyance, not really wanting to eat but knew better. Peter returned shortly after with the toast. He made sure to cut the bread into squares like his mother did when he was sick as a kid. He handed the plate to the child, who then began to nibble on the toast square.

"Taste good?" Peter asked her.

Gamora took a sip of orange juice before replying. "It's OK." She said, not impressed by the bland flavor.

"Everything tastes like crap when you're sick." The Terran suddenly got an idea. "Gamora, you wanna go watch TV in the common room?"

"I'd like that."

Making sure to grab her pillows and blanket, Peter led the seven year old to the couch in said room. When she settled down on the couch with her pillows and blanket, Gamora watched as Peter turned on the flat screen and start flipping through the channels. He smiled when he found the show he was looking for. On the screen was a very rambunctious crowd cheering as a jolly melody played in the background.

"Welcome to The Price is Right!" the announcer exclaimed to the excited crowd.

"A game show?" Gamora was puzzled. What was so special about this particular Terran program?

"When I was your age, one of the perks of being sick was you got to stay home from school and watch this show." Peter explained. "It was fun to see what kind of prizes people could win by playing various games."

"Huh." The little girl was intrigued. She liked how brightly colored the sets where and the host was a charming elderly man with a twinkle in his eye. Gamora leaned back against her propped up pillows and began to watch the show with Peter.

One by one, Peter's team mates also joined in watching the game show with the Terran and the sickly girl. A lively debate about the games the contestants had to play provided some entertainment between the adults.

"So let me get this straight: if that woman is off by certain amount of credits depending on the object, then the little paper cut-out of the climber goes up?" Rocket asked his leader.

"Precisely." Peter replied.

"I am Groot."

"I agree, buddy. There's no way that microwave costs three hundred credits!" the raccoon said as the mountain climber ascended up.

Much later in the show as the semi-finalists spun the large wheel to see who could get close to one dollar, Drax bragged on how weak the Terrans where at budging the wheel.

"I could surely beat them at moving that massive wheel!"

"Drax, the point is to see who can get to a dollar without going over." The thief reminded the brute.

"I have no use for a mere dollar. Besides, it would be fun to see if someone could break that contraption." Drax chuckled.

When the final showcase winner was announced, the host congratulated her as she ran over to her prizes in glee. The elderly man laughed and then turned to the camera to sign off.

"We had a fun time here on The Price is Right. And don't forget, help control the pet population; have your pets spayed or neutered. Good night, everybody!"

"Mr. Barker just gave me an idea on how to make Ranger Rick less grumpy." Peter said as he grinned devilishly at Rocket.

The small animal sneered at the former thief. "If you even consider it…" he growled.

"What does 'spayed' and 'neutered' mean and how is it some form of control over pets?" Gamora curiously asked her caretakers. The men nervously looked at one another; unsure if now was the right time to tell the child what those words meant.

"That is a discussion for when you are older, young Gamora." Drax calmly stated.

"Please!" she begged. "I really want to know!"

"Maybe when you are feeling better." Peter told her (he was glad to have dodged that bullet). "OK." While she was disappointed, Gamora could see that whatever the definition of the words where, Rocket didn't appreciate how they were used toward him.

The following day, Gamora was complaining about feeling queasy after having a bowl of chicken noodle soup for lunch. She slept for much of the day, only to awake when she was given some more medicine and to use the bathroom. For the next few hours, the men took turns looking in on the girl. She slept peacefully and looked angelic as she tossed and turned amongst her blankets.

When it was his turn once more, Peter peaked into Gamora's room and saw that she was still asleep. He was about to leave when she stirred. Her eyes fluttered open and saw the Terran looking in on her.

"Hi Peter." She softly said.

"Hey Gamora. How are you feeling?"

"My tummy is still bothering me." The seven year old sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Peter, can you come here?"

"Sure thing." He went over to her bedside and knelt down. "Is there anything I can get you?"

"Uggh…" moaned Gamora.

What soon followed was quickly turned into chaos onboard the Milano. Rocket was walking past where Gamora's room was when he heard the little girl cough and gag, followed by Peter yelling.

"BLAAGH!" "NOOO!"

"Pete, what's going—AAAH!" Rocket sped into the room and found Peter covered in vomit and Gamora crying.

"I'm sorry!" wailed the girl as she continued to sob.

"GAAH!" the Terran shouted as the vomit dripped down his shirt and onto his pants and the floor.

"Jesus Christ! Groot! Drax! We got an emergency!" Rocket yelled to his friends. The tree and brute rushed over to where the raccoon was and saw what had happened.

"What's going on?!" Drax asked.

"Gamora just re-enacted The Exorcist, that's what!" Peter cried, showing off his vomit-covered clothing. "Outta my way!" He dashed past the aliens in a means to be rid of his soiled clothes.

As Peter was cleaning himself up, Rocket and Groot scrambled to fill a bucket with soapy water to mop up any leftover vomit in the bunk. Drax took Gamora into the bathroom to change her own messy clothes and comfort the still upset seven year old.

"I didn't mean to throw-up on Peter." She gulped in between her tears.

"I know you didn't, little one." The man said as he fixed her clean pajama top. Drax then embraced the little girl and rubbed her back gently. Gamora buried her face into the crook of his neck, her sobs becoming fewer and fewer. Drax carried her back into her bunk as Rocket and Groot finished cleaning up the mess.

"How's Gamora?" Rocket pondered.

"She is still upset, but her crying has ceased." The brute informed as he placed the little girl back into her bed. "Any word on friend Peter?"

"Still pissin' and moanin' about how he has to throw out his favorite shirt, but otherwise peachy." The raccoon said as he rung out the washcloth he was using to clean the floor.

Once she was settled into bed, Gamora sniffled. "I hope Peter isn't made at me."

Groot noticed the sad look on the young girl's face. Cupping his giant hands together, Groot mustered a beautiful flower that bloomed before her. Gamora saw that the white, yellow and pink flower admitted a soft, delicate glow. Her face bore a small smile, to which made Groot glad to see that his young team mate was no longer feeling down.

Meanwhile, Peter had finished riding himself of his vomit covered clothes. Tossing the dirty shirt and pants into the garbage, he grumbled as he fished out a clean pair of pants and another shirt. When dressed, Peter exited his room and saw his friends glaring at him with disapproving looks.

"What'd I do now?!"

"You owe Gamora an apology!" Rocket snapped.

"Huh?" said Peter in confusion.

"I believe what Rocket means is that you acted rather rudely to the child. Gamora believes that you are upset with her over her accident." Drax explained to the Terran.

A guilty look washed onto the thief's face. He knew his reaction was a little over the top and Peter had to make amends with the seven year old.

"Alright, alright. I'll go talk to her." Peter mumbled as he walked past the aliens and to Gamora's bunk. He knocked on her door gently, to which the child invited him. Peter saw the child tucked into bed, turned away from him. A white, yellow and pink in a Styrofoam cup was on her nightstand, glowing dimly like a nightlight.

"Looks like Groot made you a get-well present." Peter commented on the flower.

"It's pretty." Gamora said, not turning to the Terran. The man sighed and sat at the foot of her bed.

"Gamora…I'm sorry for how I acted earlier. I shouldn't have yelled like I did."

"You mean…you're not mad at me?" she then turned to Peter, curious.

"No, sweetie." He said in a caring voice. "I just hope that you don't feel the same about me."

"I'm not." The little girl said. She then grabbed the desktop cassette player that was propped next to her bed. "Can you find that tape with all those really old songs on it? I want to hear that woman who sings 'You Belong to Me'." Gamora asked Peter.

He nodded and went back to his bunk and dug out the tape. Along with Gamora's desktop tape player, Peter had also found a tape of old classics from the late 1940s and 1950s at a trading port one day when the Milano had to be repaired. He purchased the tape since many of the songs reminded him of his late grandfather. Gamora discovered it while looking for a new album to listen to and enjoyed the music of Peter's grandpa's youth.

The Terran returned and inserted the tape into the player and pushed play. The easy listening song came forth from the cassette player. From the quality of the recording, one could hear the gentle crackles of a record player. It only added to the over-all romantic feeling of the song.

Peter relaxed and leaned back against the headboard of the bed. Gamora then cuddled against Peter and closed her eyes, letting the dreamy melody drift her off to sleep. The thief hummed along to the song, stroking the seven year old's hair lovingly as she fell asleep next to him.

Soon Gamora was in a deep slumber. Peter looked down at her and smiled. He had no clue how long he and the rest of the Guardians where going to have with their now juvenile team mate, but tender moments like this where not going to fade from memory anytime soon.