The red hooded figure walked through the streets of Knowhere. Anybody that stood in its way knew better than to stay there, so they stood aside, giving space to the creature. Nobody could see anything from the creature except the red hooded cape and half of its face, revealing a pair of natural blood red lips. That gave the impression that it was a 'she'.

She walked pass a few hallway full of criminals hiding from law. Some couldn't help but to check her out.

"Hey there, gorgeous!"

"Hey, red! Come here, baby!"

Some of them whistled, but she didn't care. She just smirked. She liked the attention. But she didn't had time for it. Some important matter had to be dealt with.

"Hey, sweetheart. Can I ask you something?" An elderly man with glasses said.

The red hooded woman turned around o face him, smirk on her face.

"I was wondering where I can find the electronics shop." He kindly asked.

The woman pointed at some random direction, eager to get the old man out of her way.

"Thanks." He started to walk away. "By the way, my name's Stan Lee in case your looking for a good looking man." And the man walked into the randomly pointed direction.

The woman growled inwardly and keep walking. She took a right turn and climbed up some circular stairs. She had reached her destination. She opened the silver doors, coming in uninvited. The doors closed automatically behind her. She walked through more hallways, but this hallways had different things. There were cages with some exotic animals or unfortunate creatures. Tables full of unusual things were placed there as well for exhibition. The red hooded woman reached the end of the hallway, smiling at the site. A white haired man had his back to her, analyzing some weird, dead specimen.

"Playing with dead things again, Collector?"

The Collector gasped and turned around in surprise. He gave a relieved sigh. "Crimson Red. Glad to have one of my best clients before me." He walked towards a small silver table that held some liquor and ice. "Would you care for a drink, my darling?"

"No, thank you."

"Suit yourself." He served a glass of wine for himself. He sipped a small bunch before continuing. "I'm sorry about the unwelcoming gesture. But my last assistant mostly just… blew up. I've been looking for some other to take the job."

"So I heard." Crimson said, walking around a pot with a beautiful exotic pink flower. "I hear everything."

The Collector smirked. "I bet you have heard of the so called Guardians of the Galaxy, right darling?"

"Of course." Crimson said still admiring the flower.

The Collector smiled as he put down the glass of wine. "A lotus blossom. From Terra. But it is also seen in two more planets at the corner of the galaxy. Rare. Quite the beauty, isn't it?"

Crimson smiled. "Yes, it is." She smirked. "Quite familiar, though."

The Collector smiled. "You can have it. For a price."

Crimson shook her head. "No, no. It's quite the beauty, but it's not compared to roses." She walked away from the lotus pot, to a red rose's pot. She touched one of the petals with one red nailed finger. "I need your help."

"What can I do to serve such beautiful woman?"

Crimson smiled at him. "Oh, don't make me blush." She chuckled darkly. "I want to know more about this guardians."

The smile on the Collector's face faded. "Nothing much. Only that they are ex-criminals that now fight for the galaxy. And that Peter Quill, stopped Ronan the Accuser… with an Infinity Stone."

Crimson seemed surprised. "An Infinity Stone? How?"

"Holding it long enough to conjure its power and destroy Ronan. At least, that's what I heard." He frowned. But like everybody else, he was thirsty to know how a simple, pathetic Terran could hold on so long to an Infinity Stone and come out unharmed.

"I knew about Ronan being destroyed by Star-Lord, but not about him holding the stone…" Crimson mumbled.

"It surprised everybody. I heard is an anomaly in his system that allowed him to do such task. He's not so human after all…"

"He's half-human?"

"Yes."

Crimson turned her attention back to the roses. "Who are composing the rest of the team?"

"Groot, who is a Flora colossus, Rocket Raccoon, Drax the Destroyer and Gamora, ex-daughter of Thanos."

Crimson growled at the name of Gamora. "No one else?"

"No." He pick up the glass of wine again and took a sip.

"Are you sure?" Crimson slowly approached the Collector.

"Yes, darling. I'm su-" He suddenly gasped for air. His glass fell on the floor, shattering in dozens of pieces and the purplish liquid splashed into on side of his long tunic.

Crimson grabbed his throat with one delicate looking hand and held him in the air. The Collector grabbed her wrist with both hands, trying to get her to loosen her grip. But it didn't work. She was stronger than she looked. His feet moved back and forth, searching for solid ground. "I repeat my question: Are you sure there's no one else in that crew?" She asked dangerously, tiding her grip on his throat.

The Collector gave a few more gasps for breath until he finally found his voice. "A… a baby. Not… older than a… year…"

Crimson loosened her grip but slammed the white haired man's onto a clean table. She climbed on top of him, securing his legs so he wouldn't dare to try to escape. The lights shone at the back of her head; he couldn't see her red lips anymore. Her face was shadowed by her hood. "Whose baby is it?"

"Peter Quill…"

He looked at her shadowed face, searching for any kind of emotion. Two full minutes passed by and Crimson said nothing. She stayed the same positon since her last question. Suddenly, a pair of glowing red eyes found space in the darkness of her face. "There's something else you know…"

"I don't- GAH!" She tied her grip on his throat once again. "She has pink eyes!" He shouted.

Crimson coed her head a little. "Pink eyes, you said?" She said casually.

The Collector nodded, eager to get away from her powerful grip.

"How do you know?" She asked.

"I encountered them almost a week ago!" He gasped for more air.

"Her name?"

"Didn't… didn't get any…" He gasped again. She loosed her grip.

"Hair?"

"Her father's blonde hair with pink stripes…"

"Not older than a year you said?"

He nodded. She finally slipped away her hand. He gasped for air but couldn't move, Crimson Red was still on top of him. "You know about priceless artifacts… When you saw her, was she… priceless?"

He nodded again. "She had her father's confident aura. And I could smell her father's same anomaly in her." He watched as her eyes' glow faded away, shadowing her face once more. She got off of him and turned around. "Where can I find the guardians?" She asked, revealing again her red lips with the light.

"They are not in a specific place." He said as he sat down on the table, rubbing his neck. "They constantly travel. But I know that their ship is called the Milano."

"Say no more." She commented as she pick up a rose from its pot. She smelled its intoxicating aroma. "Thank you for your cooperation, my dear." She placed the rose aside from the lotus blossom pot and walked away. The sound of heals echoed through the hallway.

The Collector rubbed his neck once again. He just hoped this kind of visitors stopped coming by.