Grumpy Galaxy Dad meets Sassy Tracer - flirting and punches ensue.
CHAPTER TWO
UNKNOWN SPACE LOCATION – Yondu's Mothership
"Move it, girl!"
"I'm walking, you asshole!" Eyien snapped to back at the guy who was pushing her around, moving her forcefully forward.
"You better watch that mouth of yours, the Captain don't do well with attitudes" he warned her, putting a bit more force than necessary when he shoved her again.
"Could have fooled me" she replied, trying once more to pull at the restraints that blocked her wrists in front of her.
The guy didn't reply, and Eyien retreated back in her own head.
The muffled noises of the ship were a stark contrast against the raging cursing monologue that was taking place inside her brain. She'd been insulting herself and her bad luck since the moment Yondu's face had appeared in front of her. What kind of sick twist of fate had out her, in between hundreds of choices, right in his ship?
There still was a slight chance that he would let her go without too much fuss if she could offer him and his crew something, but that was a very thin shred of hope she was holding onto…
At this point someone had probably already recognized her, or had probably run her face through the net; she presumed it wouldn't take a genius to find out that she had a giant bounty of over a hundred thousand units on her head.
Or, a voice in her head chirped in, they would prefer using you as a bargaining chip for something else, it said, making her skin crawl.
Her self-loathing was interrupted when they came face to face with the end of the corridor; the door in front of her swooshed open in a matter of seconds, and just like that, she found herself in the middle of a bridge filled with Ravagers, and they were all staring at her like she had committed the worst of crimes against her.
"Before we start with the wrong foot, would it help if I said that I meant to give the ship back once I was done with it?" she ventured casually, offering a cheeky grin to her audience as she was pushed forward to stand right in front of the Captain's chair.
Yondu was looking at her with a raised brow, his mouth twisted in an amused smirk.
"How generous of you lassie, I'm almost tempted to let ya go just for that" he laughed at her, obviously far from feeling that magnanimous.
No one stole from the Ravagers without retaliation, she knew.
"Well, can't say I didn't try" she shrugged, her body faking a confidence she was far from feeling.
"Yeah, but you see, no one - "
"Steals from the Ravagers without retaliation, I know. Been there, done that. Can we skip to the part where you punch me up a bit and then leave me somewhere to rot? I kind of have things to do" she interjected, cutting Yondu's grand speech off. She knew him, knew how he operated, and the sooner she could get off his ship, the happier she'd be.
Eyien winced inward when the expression on the mercenary's face went from playfully uninterested in her future, to fully aware of her persona; it didn't bode well for her, all things considered.
"Girl, I wouldn't test my patience with that attitude of yours" he warned her, his eyes examining her from head to toe for the first time she had entered. Judging by the frown that was creasing his blue skin, she'd bet he was trying to figure out why she looked familiar.
"Captain, I've run her through the system, she's - " another person came barreling through the door, stopping just short of her; Eyien turned to look over her shoulder at the new comer, and was almost pleased when she recognized the familiar face.
"Ah, if it isn't Kraglin! Long time no see" she exclaimed almost cheerily, nodding to the man.
Yondu's attention switched from her to his man, and he motioned him forward.
"You know her?" he asked.
Kraglin nodded once before he turned to face her once again.
"She's the Tracer" he explained, and silence fell on the bridge.
Suddenly, all that could be heard was the groan leaving Eyien's throat.
"The Tracer, uh? Now I know why you looked familiar" Yondu mused out loud once the bridge had been devoid of everyone except of Kraglin, himself, and Eyien.
Eyien stubbornly refused to open her mouth.
She had nothing to say if that was where the conversation was headed.
She had left that life behind, and even though she still used the Alias to work, it had a whole different meaning for her.
"And you know each other?" the cetaurian went on, this time addressing his subordinate, momentarily ignoring her.
"Yes, we ran into each other on more than one work. We used to keep in contact before she – uh, disappeared" Kraglin replied, stumbling somewhat awkwardly at the end.
Eyien scoffed.
"Got something to add, lassie?" Yondu asked, rounding on her.
"Yeah, first of all I've got a name, it's Eyien, if you don't mind. Second of all I didn't disappear, I deserted, thank you very much" she huffed, resting her weight on her right leg. She was getting tired of standing around like that, with her wrists still bound together. Also, since every chance she had to get out of there quickly had dissipated, they could have at least given her a chair.
"And that should be better how?" he rebuked, an undertone of annoyance entering his voice.
"Because I had the guts to leave on my own terms" she explained simply, smirking victoriously when she saw on his face that her words had hit home.
She was expecting the whistle when it came, and she was more excited than scared to see the yaka arrow appear right in front of her face.
She observed the weapon with growing interest as it hovered, wavering slightly in the air. It was the first time she saw one up close other than her own, and she was nowhere near that level of mastery; at best, her own arrow could levitate a small bit, at worst it simply shook in its holster whenever she whistled her melodies. She had hypothesized that the arrow had still to adjust to her tunes, which were so different from the ones her people used, but it had been years and still the deadliest thing she had managed to do was pierce a pillow, once.
She raised her hands slowly, reaching out a finger towards it to try and touch it, but as soon as she came close to it, another whistle sounded in the air, and the arrow disappeared from view.
"Well, rude" Eyien called out, giving Yondu the stink eye.
The man was watching her with a weird expression, his face stuck somewhere in between anger and confusion for her apparent lack of fear towards his clear threat.
"Why ain't she scared?" he asked, eyes not leaving Eyien, who was still glaring his way, but clearly talking to Kraglin.
"I uh- don't know? I mean, I would be scared" Kraglin supplied, earning a side glance from his captain and a smug smirk from Eyien. "I mean, you are intimidating, Captain" he added, fumbling on his words like a teenage boy with a crush; it was really highly entertaining, and Eyien could not hold back her laugh.
"You guys really have gone soft since helping save the Galaxy, uh?" she laughed at them, once again shifting her weight from one leg to another. She was really getting tired of standing.
"And what would you know, lassie? I'd be surprised if you even knew how to shoot a blaster" Yondu pointed out, his stance getting aggressive with his hands crossed over his broad, leather-bound chest. Eyien eyes followed the movement, and a spark of interest burned in her eyes.
"Oh I don't know, I think I can hold my own. Wanna try me?" she teased, wiggling her black eyebrows at him and eliciting a chocked sound from her former colleague and a scowl from his captain.
Not one for flirting, duly noted, she told herself wistfully.
Not that it would stop her, of course. That only meant she had something else to use to rile him up. Maybe if she got him mad enough, he'd get tired of her and drop her off somewhere just to get her out of his sight. Like every other plan she'd had, it was worth a shot.
"You realize you're on my ship, at my mercy, right? Yet you still being a smartass with me" he emphasized, trying to remind her that she wasn't in the position to be bitching around with him.
Eyien shrugged in her bomber, her body language conveying how little she cared for his threats.
If there was one thing she was sure of, in that scenario, was that she was far more valuable to him alive than dead, and since she had no qualms about eventually getting repeatedly punched, she gave little to no shit about how many times or ways she was going to be threatened.
"Ah, and here I was under the impression you had special place in your heart for smartasses. After all, didn't your favourite smartass save the galaxy some time ago? You must have been a very proud daddy!" she exclaimed mockingly, still pushing at his buttons to find his limit.
And find it she did.
The knowledge she had reached his limit came with an unexpectedly swift punch to her face.
She didn't even notice Yondu move until his fist was colliding with the right side of her face, the impact sending her stumbling backwards as a pained groan left her parted, and now bruising, lips.
"Motherfucker! That hurt!" she found herself growl, her still tied hands rushing to the offended part of her face to assess the damage. Nothing broken, but that was a given. Her Xandarian genes were a pretty solid assurance against any kind of bone fracture, and despite the apparent strength behind the punch she had just received, she doubted Yondu had made any real damage to her face.
"I know" she said, staggering to stand up straight again. "I kind of deserved that" she chuckled, knowing that her nonchalance would only drive him mad further. It was a reckless game she was playing, but she still had one or two cards she could play to win the hand, and she had all intentions to take advantage of them.
"Captain, I don't think punching her is going to work…" Kraglin oh-so-helpfully pointed out behind them, but neither of them seemed to hear him, focused as they now were on an intense match of staring at each other with the most menacing glare – well, Yondu was glaring, Eyien was merely staring at him with a raised brow and a shit eating grin on her face.
"Yeah, Cap, listen to your man. Punching me is useless" she kept on teasing, "I actually like it rough" she blurted out intentionally, taking a step forward into his personal space. "Question is, do you?" she asked, smirking in satisfaction when he was the one to take a step back.
"If I can't punch 'er, what do ya suggest we do with her?" he muttered annoyingly as he whirled towards his subordinate.
"Well, she doeas have a ten thousand units bounty on her head that was issued by the Nova Prime herself, meaning we could always turn her in if you want to get rid of her" Kraglin explained, showing him the info of said bargain on the holo pad he'd been holding onto since he appeared on the bridge.
"Or" he went on as Yondu examined the details of the bounty, his eyes shifting back up to Kraglin when he spoke again "we could keep her on board and make use of her talent. I know for sure there's nothing and no one she isn't able to track down" the man said.
At his words Eyien felt her blood freeze in her veins.
Why would he even suggest that? And why in the Seven Realms was Yondu looking like he was considering it?!
No.
Nope.
No way.
Uh uh.
Not happening.
Not now.
Not ever!
She was swearing profusely as she watched with blown eyes the two men stare at each other, a sort of understanding flowing between them.
She had to switch to plan B, now!
"Or!"she interjected loudly to make sure she was heard. When they turned to look at her, she continued. "Or, you could use me as a bargain chip to get what you really want!" she hurried to add, hoping that her hinting was enough to get his full attention.
"Watcha talking about?" Yondu asked, eyes narrowing as he regarded her with suspicion.
"I know you, know what you did. Hell, every Ravager knows what you did! Abducting Quill from Terra you broke the one rule our company has, and you have been an outcast ever since you decided to keep the boy on board. But, there's one thing Stakar is itching to get his hands on, and that thing is me. He didn't take well to my desertion, just as much as I didn't appreciate his betrayal. So see, if you manage to get me to him, you'd be doing both of us a favor; he'll be getting what he wants, and in return he'll owe you. How's that sound?" she asked finally.
After she was done talking, Yondu kept looking at her silently, suspicion clear in his blue eyes as he mulled over everything she had just told him.
She knew it wasn't an easy thing to swallow, especially not coming from a random thief they had caught stealing one of their ships, but oddly enough, she was telling them the truth. She did that, from time to time, when it would be beneficial to her, mostly. And this was a desperate kind of situation, after all.
She had no intention whatsoever to go back being a Ravager. She was done with that life, she would not deal with their apparent lack of a conscience and hygiene for one more day in her life.
Eyien was her own woman now, had been for long enough to value her freedom and all the privileges that came with it.
Sure, she was no less of a criminal in her currently line of work, but at least now she could decide what jobs to turn down and which she could accept.
She also made far more units on her own.
"Is what she said true?" he asked Kraglin, who was already typing away on his pad, probably looking for some information that could confirm her words.
"Something did go wrong between her Stakar, but I'd have to ask around to make sure" the man replied, his eyes glued to the screen.
" 'aight, lassie" Yondu began, rounding on her with the same unexpected speed as before. "I'll take it. If you are telling me the truth, we are good for now" he announced, standing in front of her with his hands on his hips, flashing the yaka arrow to make a statement.
The smirk returned on her face quickly, and she shoved her hands forward.
"Take these off, and we'll shake on it" she chirped smugly, satisfaction flooding her as her restraint came off her wrists.
She twisted them a couple times, savoring her freedom before she offered her right hand to him.
Yondu took it without hesitation, his hand gripping her steadily.
"You made yourself a deal, Yondu Udonta" she confirmed, shaking his hand with just as much strength.
Now all I have to do is get out of here before you find Stakar.
Since this is my first time venturing in Marvel universe, please let me know if you find some discrepancies in what I wrote, I'm open to all kinds of feedbacks!