For the first time since proposing the plan to Sire, Rocket was feeling pretty confident he could pull it off. Truth be told, his criminal record only scratched the surface of what he'd done in his time as intergalactic scum. Backwater banks, Kree temples, Baddoon exchange centers, he'd robbed them all and gotten away with it. Why should an undermanned Nova Corps base be any different? His batchmates knew the plan and their part in it. The immolaters were prepped and ready to go.
He had set the pieces in motion, and now all that was left was to take a few players off the board.
"I'M BACK!" Rocket yelled, putting on his usual scowl as he stomped up the Milano's ramp, a sack of untouched fast-food slung over his back. You could never be too prepared, so the raccoon had taken a few more precautionary measures to cover his tracks, like stopping at a junker to see if there was any terran stuff for Quill, and spraying himself with expensive perfume to hide his batchmate's scents from Cosmo's sensitive nose.
There came a delighted "I am Groot!" followed by the familiar sound of small feet pattering across metal.
"Hey buddy, how was your day?" asked Rocket, as the sapling rounded the corner…
And launched himself at the raccoon's face with enough force to knock him off-balance. Rocket let out a cry of alarm as he teetered on the spot. He might have been able to avoid the fall had the combined weight of fries, burgers and pizarolls not exceeded his own. As it was, the raccoon bounced back down the ramp and hit the pavement in an explosion of ketchup and kitchen grease.
"I missed you too," Rocket grumbled, peeling a sticky, deep-fried sandwich off of his face as Groot 'Grooted' innocently. "Do anything cool?"
"I am Groot!"
"My high score?" He flicked the delighted sapling on the forehead. "Alright no more going easy on you. Triple headshots and rocket launchers from here on out."
"I am Groot!"
"Over Drax's dead body."
They both laughed at that, as Rocket salvaged what he could from the sack and made his way towards the Milano's kitchen.
"I am Groot?"
"Oh nothing much," Rocket shrugged. The lie came easily despite the weird feeling of guilt bubbling deep inside him. Groot deserved better than lies and excuses, but they were the surest way of keeping the sapling out of Sire's hands. "Got mobbed by reporters, that sucked. But Cosmo smashed their cameras so it all worked out in the end."
Rocket pulled open the fridge, pulled up a stool for easier access to higher levels of fridge, and humming lightly to himself began sorting the various boxes of fast-food into the few nooks and crannies still remaining.
"Soooo," came the voice of Quill, appearing at the doorway with an easy grin on his face and an outstretched grabby hand. "Parenting class, huh?"
"I am Groot?"
"He's just being silly, Groot," said Rocket, mouthing 'Not a word!' at Quill as he pointed at the tree and reluctantly returned the stolen walkman.
"He already knows about it," the terran shrugged, tucking his music player into his belt.
"I am Groot."
Well, Rocket allowed, he hadn't expected Quill to keep it a secret. The raccoon let out a long-suffering sigh. "Can we please try and keep this between us? I've still got something of a rep and I'd like to keep it that way." Nevermind that the little Groot currently sticking to the side of his face had already done irreparable damage to said rep.
"Your secret is safe with me," said Quill seriously. "But for the record, Gamora already figured it out."
The raccoon let his fur bristle and his tail puff out, pretending to be annoyed by this 'newfound' information as he turned back to the fridge. "Of course she did."
"Speaking of Gamora, or well, on a semi-related Gamora-adjacent topic," the Legendary Star-Lord cleared his throat importantly. "There was this article about her sister still being out there- you know, the blue one?"
"Yeah?" replied Rocket, raising an eyebrow and acting like he had no idea where Quill was going with this. When he had, in fact, already figured out where this was going and could have done so even if he hadn't been eavesdropping throughout the day.
"I was just thinking. There's a bounty on her. It's a pretty sizeable one too. And we just took on four of the Children of Thanos, one more shouldn't be too hard, right?"
"So you want us to track down Nebula?" The raccoon pretended to consider for a moment, before finally shrugging. "Sure, why not?"
Quill pumped his fist in celebration. Bounty Hunter Mode Unlo-
"But don't pretend you ain't doing this for Gamora," Rocket interrupted, turning to give the dumbstruck terran a pointed look. "I ain't daft, Quill. The only time you care about the size of a bounty is when you wanna get me to do something."
"That's not-" Rocket made a skeptical noise- "Entirely true."
"Nice save," the raccoon snickered, considering the gap between two boxes of pizza and cramming a burger inside. "But sure, I probably still owe her one after yesterday's fiasco."
Only now did Quill seem to notice where the smell of cooking oil and synthetic spices was coming from. "Tired of Drax's cooking?"
"This? Nah. Class had a field trip. Lesson for them was how to swipe a Deluxe Cruiser. Lesson for me was 'learn to say no'." Rocket shrugged. "But you said we were celebrating, so why not?" He grinned roguishly and whipped out a bottle of Xandar 072- luxury space wine the likes of which only, perhaps, Gamora had ever gotten a taste of.
Quill shook his head in disbelief and, accepting the bottle, considered it with a raised eyebrow. "You taught a bunch of kids how to steal a space limo?"
"Might come in handy when they grow up into Corpsmen," Rocket snickered, delighted by how easy it was to pull one over the ever-moronic Star-Pants. He pressed a finger to his muzzle in what Quill had taught Drax to be the universal gesture for silence. "Just don't tell Gammy."
"Yeah, yeah, of course," shooting the raccoon a wink, Quill uncorked the vintage, gave it an obligatory sniff despite the fact that he and bald-bodies in general seemed to have no sense of smell and, shrugging, took a sip.
Rocket almost couldn't believe it was that easy, but, apparently, it was. Which meant what he was about to do was overkill, but if there was one thing he was good at, it was overkill.
"I also bumped into this junker I know. Broke him out of a kree prison once. Now he owes me thirty units which he didn't have, but he did have some terran scut I thought you might be interested in." He hopped onto the nearest countertop and whipped out a set of clunky cassette's terrans used to store their media.
Quill did a spit-take, showering the raccoon in expensive vintage, which needless to say was not the reaction he'd been expecting but was probably one he should have seen coming.
"You got Star Wars!?"
"I got Star Wars," repeated Rocket, who between the mustard stains and alcohol-spit- not to mention the uneasy dirty feeling that came with manipulating his friends, was regretting the fact that he hadn't fixed the Milano's shower yet.
"We are so celebrating. Dude, you're the best!" Quill raised his hand for a high-five and despite the fact that Rocket really didn't feel like 'the best' he was all too eager to meet the terran's gesture with his claws. "Hey Gamora! Rocket got Star Wars!"
"What?" came the distant voice of a confused assassin, no doubt wondering whether or not a 'Star Wars' was a good thing.
"STAR WARS!" Quill called back, which did nothing to clarify anything. He had the grace to come back down to earth for a minute and hand Rocket a towel. "Sorry about the- er- I was just surprised is all."
"Don't worry about it," the raccoon waved the apology away and wiped his fur dry and mostly clean. "Just remember to swallow next time."
Quill was back to being too excited to listen and stared at the boxes as if they were the most precious thing in the universe. "I'm gonna set up the TV, you're watching right?"
"Sure am," Rocket grinned, and he watched as Quill raised the bottle of 072 to his lips and swallowed.
The morning after…
"I am Groot!"
"Five more minutes," the raccoon grumbled, eyes screwed tightly shut as the sapling tugged insistently at his tail.
"I am Groot."
"Nine-thirty? What does that have anything to do with-" Remembering abruptly that he was robbing the Nova Corps in half an hour, Rocket woke with a start and banged the back of his head against hard metal. Black spots filled his vision as he hissed in pain.
"I am Groot!"
"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Rocket insisted, blinking back into reality and finding himself surrounded by metal. "Huh?" Shaking the last dregs of morning groginess out of him, Rocket registered that he was staring at the inside of a washing machine.
Racking his brains for the distant memory of the previous night, Rocket recalled the sound of laughter. Quill had said something about Yondu and whatever karma was. Rocket had tried to bargain with Drax, which had only made things funnier. Come to think of it, hadn't Gamora said something about stuffing him into the washer? No, that had been Quill. And Rocket had been eavesdropping and for all they knew had never heard that conversation.
Shuffling backwards, the raccoon clambered out, being mindful not to step on the smaller Groot still attached to his tail.
"I am Groot."
"Yeah, yeah, good morning, whatever." The raccoon rolled his eyes and helped the plant up to his shoulder. He turned on the spot and was delighted to find the guilty party passed out on the floor.
"I am Groot."
"Yeah, Quill really is lazy," Rocket shook his head in disapproval. "Well I ain't facing the Nova Corps alone. Hey, Star-Pants, wake up! Bedtime's over!" With some difficulty Rocket raised one of the terran's arms and dropped it on the floor. Unsurprisingly, this had no effect on him.
"I am Groot?"
"No clue," Rocket lied, not meeting Groot's eyes as he pretended to frown and raised a claw to scratch the back of his head.
"I am Groot?"
"Worth a try," the raccoon shrugged, hopping onto the terran's chest and tickling Quill's nose with the tip of his tail. No reaction.
"Quuuuiiiiill," he whispered, tugging at the Legendary Star-Lord's ears. No reaction.
"QUILL!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, smacking the humie's face hard enough to leave a mark. No reaction.
"Well his vitals are alright," Rocket shrugged again, helping himself to the undefended walkman. "Probably just drank a bit too much last night. Let's check on the others, see if they can drag Sleep-Lord here to bed."
"I am Groot."
"He'll be fine," Rocket assured the little tree, patting the top of his head as he stepped over the snoozing terran on his way out the bathroom. He did his best to ignore the little voice in the back of his head that told him he was an awful friend.
One down.
"Are you sure this is based on a true story?" asked Gamora, voice dripping with skepticism as millions of voices cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.
"I know the Galaxy's pretty big, but I think I'd have heard if a planet got blown to bits," Rocket agreed.
"A long time ago in a Galaxy far, far away," Quill insisted. "I swear this is like, earth mythology."
Whatever it was, Rocket couldn't deny that it was entertaining. And a planet destroying super-weapon wasn't all that far-fetched considering he'd frickin' held one. And was stealing one tomorrow. A heist that would go a lot easier if he could just get Gamora to ease up a little and let her guard down for one minute…
The familiar cacophony of Drax's footsteps and the faint stink of dog pulled him from his thoughts. Reaching out for a pawful of popcorn, Rocket focused his mind on the images flashing on the screen.
"Where have you two been?" he asked, keeping his voice casual.
"Seeking you out," Drax replied, setting down the particle generator with a loud thud. "Quill specifically told me to place this in your possession."
The Legendary Star-Lord whipped around in surprise. "Seriously!?" He shook his head in disbelief as Drax nodded. "Dude, I didn't mean it literally."
Drax gave him a look. "Then why didn't you say so?"
Quill blinked stupidly, although really he should have known better. "Do I have to specify every single time I ask you to do something?"
"Yes," said the kylosian seriously.
"So what, you were dragging that thing around Xandar yelling 'Rocket' 'Rocket' at the top of your lungs?" the raccoon snickered, picking up a guffawing Groot and placing him on his lap to free up space for Drax.
"No," replied the Destroyer, somehow understanding the nonverbal cue and setting down besides the raccoon. "I asked Cosmo to track your scent."
"Trail went cold at Deluxe Cruiser renting station," the spacedog butted in, hopping onto Quill's lap and failing to hold back a yawn.
"Huh, that's weird." Rocket scratched at his chest awkwardly. On the other end of the couch Gamora sighed in resignation- having already figured out where the bottle of 072 had come from. "But I guess the important thing is we're all here now."
"That is true," said Drax, helping himself to a handful of popcorn (considering the size of his hands this was practically half the package). "What are we doing?"
"Celebrating the fact that we're filthy rich and not in jail yet," Quill beamed. "And watching a widely beloved piece of earth media based on actual historical events."
"That sounds exhilarating." The way Drax said it sounded sarcastic but by now the rest of the Guardians knew he was being completely serious.
Deciding that there was no better time to shoot his shot, the Legendary Star-Lord cleared his throat importantly. "We also did some thinking about our next job-"
"You want us to capture Gamora's villainous blue sister," the kylosian interrupted, as Rocket passed him a can of the strong, duakron beverage he was fond of.
"She's not my-" Gamora muttered, cutting herself off with a sigh. "How do you know about that?"
"The family resemblance is-"
"Not that," the assassin gave him a look. "How did you know that that was what Quill was going to say?"
"Collar malfunction," Cosmo explained, turning to Rocket. "For some reason I am receiving messages and sometimes hearing audio from connected devices. So we overhear Nebula scheme."
"We also know about your parenting classes," said Drax. "Don't worry, we won't tell anyone."
It was with some difficulty that Rocket stopped himself from facepalming. "Thanks," he grumbled, holding out a paw for the collar.
"Although if you did ever want advice on how to rear offspring, I would be happy to share my wisdom."
"I'll keep that in mind," the raccoon said amicably, as Cosmo unclipped her collar and passed it over to him.
Rocket frowned as he considered the tech. Based on what they had heard, the glitch was likely related to his eavesdropping failsafe- the collar's voicebox had once been a related comm unit after all. A minor oversight on his part but thankfully a harmless one. "Should be an easy fix, especially now that I have the parts." Rocket shrugged. "There's a few things I wanted to add anyways."
A short while later, Cosmo clipped her upgraded and significantly-fancier looking collar back on. "Spasibo."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Rocket rolled his eyes, waving the gratitude away with a dismissive wave of his paw. He pretended to hesitate for a moment, before tossing her a dog treat with a resigned sigh. "But thanks. Yanno, for the privacy." It was a bit short of twenty-four hours, but this was the longest amount of time he'd spent with Cosmo without having his mind read, and that fact alone deserved a reward.
"Anytime," chirped the spacedog, and Rocket did his best to ignore the way her tail was wagging.
"I am Groot?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," Rocket replied, hands on his hips and shaking his head in disgust.
Drax lay on the couch, snoring as Cosmo dribbled saliva on his chest and chased imaginary squirrels in the world of dreams.
"Guess Quill isn't the only one who overdid it last night," the raccoon grumbled, prying open the kylosian's eyes. Even as he stared up at Rocket, Drax slumbered on, oblivious. Dangling a particularly pungent sock (one of Quill's, of course) in front of Cosmo's nose had a similar effect. Which was to say, none at all. "Well, this sucks."
Two. Three.
When the time came to replace the first Star Wars with the second, the Guardians got to voicing their opinions.
Cosmo and Groot had enjoyed it ("I love the moving pictures!") ("I am Groot!") Rocket was disappointed by the Death Star's untimely demise ("You have a galaxy-busting superweapon and you only blow up one planet!?"). Drax had been disappointed by the lack of warring stars ("I feel deceived."). Gamora was more convinced than ever that the events on-screen were entirely fictional. ("Some of those ships looked like puppets.")
"Is a planet-destroying superweapon really that far-fetched?" asked Quill, struggling to find the right angle for the television remote. "We're the morons that held one!"
"You're the moron that held one," Rocket pointed out.
"I'm just saying! In what world is an Infinity Stone more realistic than a Death Star?"
"I do not follow," interjected Cosmo. "What is Infinity Stone?"
"We are not supposed to speak of it," Drax shrugged. "But I feel the name is self-explanatory."
"Cosmic ingot of power," Rocket explained. "And in the hands of the right maniac, a galaxy destroying super-weapon."
"It's how we beat Ronan," Quill added. "And kind of why we all got involved in the first place." He squinted at the dog, as if recognising her from somewhere. "Weren't you there when we tried selling it to Tivan?"
"I was," Cosmo confirmed, as Gamora and Rocket echoed 'She was' in unison.
"Well, the Infinity Stone's what blew the place up," Quill summarised. "Cool-looking rock for what it's worth, but I for one am glad we've seen the last of it."
"Eh, wouldn't bet on that," Rocket grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest as he settled deeper into the couch. "Still not sure handing it over to Nova was such a good idea. The Corps are always low on manpower and most of their best folk didn't survive Ronan."
"Which is why we're not supposed to talk about it," Quill shrugged. "Noone even knows it's here."
"Thanos does," the raccoon muttered, without thinking.
A sudden cold fell over the ship, and for a long minute the sound of television static filled the air.
"Right." Rocket's ears flicked downwards. "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it," said Gamora, instantly killing the tension.
"I just mean," Rocket went on, ignoring the feeling of relief spreading across his chest and seizing the opportunity now presented to him. "Doesn't feel all that secure to me. It's in a vault and I'm sure it's got all the automated security measures they can get their hands on. But if you take out the power supply-"
"You've clearly thought this over." Gamora cut in, voice dripping with disapproval.
"Can you blame me?" the raccoon shrugged. "Look, I was pretty sure they were just gonna toss us in jail again and it wouldn't have been too hard to grab the stone and make a run for it while they were busy picking up the pieces." The assassin frowned, and Rocket hastily backtracked. "I wasn't gonna do it! Not without Gro-" he cut himself off and shrunk in place, ears wilting.
Manipulative or not, it was still the truth. Even before Sire had come along, the raccoon had plotted up a dozen or so half-hearted stabs at nabbing the stone. A fair number of his plots would have been a lot less half-hearted if he'd still had his partner. Nevermind that Groot would have talked him out of going through with them anyways…
"Not on my own."
"I understand," said Drax, which really meant he hadn't. "You require our aide to remove the stone from Nova's possession
"That's not what I meant," the raccoon sighed. It was a nice thought though, and a grin quickly spread across his muzzle. "But now that you mention it-"
"Rocket," Gamora admonished, in that half-hearted way she did when she wasn't sure if he was joking or not.
"C'mon!" he picked up Groot and got to his feet so that it was easier to face her. "We wouldn't keep it. Just test their security a bit." He failed to bite back a snicker. "Imagine the look on Nova Prime's face when we return the orb to her alongside a detailed report on all the way the Nova Corps suck."
Drax burst into a violent fit of laughter and Quill snorted, but Gamora only rolled her eyes. "And the look on your face when you're caught?"
Rocket shrugged. "I'd just tell them the truth."
"That you were just trying to be a concerned, law-abiding citizen and thought the best way to do that was to test their security measures behind their back?" Quill was grinning from the sheer audacity of it all.
"Exactly!"
"I would love to see you try that defence," Gamora shook her head in disbelief, as the rest of the Guardians laughed.
For her sake, Rocket cut short the charade. "Relax. I'm kiddin'." He sighed, slumping back into his chair. "I just know that if some idiot does steal it we are definitely getting dragged into that heap of crap and the last thing I want to do is hold all of your frickin' hands again." Not that any of them would want to hold his freakish little claws if things went south.
Gamora rolled her eyes, but took note of his misery and changed her tone to a placating one. "The few people who know of the orb likely do not know it's exact whereabouts and my father would never court an open war with the Empire unless he was certain he could win."
"Which is a lot less likely now that Nova has four of his kids," Quill pointed out.
"The orb is well-hidden and well-protected," Gamora summarised. "You don't need to worry about it."
"I wasn't worrying," Rocket lied, rolling his eyes. "It was just a thought, geez." Setting Groot down, the raccoon hopped off the couch. "I've got a fridge full of take out if you guys want anything?" He met Gamora's eye, knowing she was not one to reject a peace offering when she saw one. Knowing she was the one that always did her best to be considerate of the feelings of others. Knowing she felt the smallest twinges of guilt for apparently upsetting him.
The assassin sighed. "I'll have some fried sombatter if you have any."
And that's four.
"I am Groot!"
"For the last time, no!" Rocket snapped, straining against the sapling's efforts to drag him towards Gamora's section of the Milano. "She nearly cut my head off last time and I wasn't even trying to wake her! I'd rather shoot Drax in the face."
"I am Groot?"
"Because my gun got busted on Corix and I don't wanna use Quill's." The old Groot had always been the 'muscle' of the two, and Rocket was learning the hard way that the new Groot would soon fill the same niche. Another few cycles and Groot would be the one carrying him around. "Besides, I don't think that'd wake him either." Rocket sighed and held up a paw for time out.
Groot relented as the raccoon turned and placed a placating paw on his shoulder. "Look, I get you're worried. But they're just sleeping. Or hibernating. Maybe all bald-bodies do that."
"I am Groot?"
"Like sleeping, but deeper." Rocket explained. "But the point is they're gonna be up sooner or later and when they are we'll find out why they went AWOL on us. Not much we can do before that." He sighed. "And Dey's still expecting someone to file that report, so it's up to us."
"I am Groot?"
"We'll come straight back," Rocket promised, picking up the sapling and failing to hold back a mean little grin. "And if these flarknards are still snoring we'll bust out the permanent markers."
"I am Groot?" Groot giggled mischievously.
"The shaving kit!? Take it easy Groot, we're supposed to be the good guys."
"I am Groot?"
"Of course we'll still do it!"
Rocket checked the time before setting his infoglass back into his satchel. Nine fourty-one, plenty of time to get into position and-
"Rocket?" Gamora's voice made him freeze on the spot. The raccoon looked up from his tablet, unable to comprehend what he was looking at. Groot's delighted 'good morning', confirmed the assassin was real and judging from the way she was rubbing exhaustion out of her eyes and the dishevelled state of her hair, she had just gotten out of bed.
"Oh hey, you're up," the raccoon grinned, trying desperately to keep calm and act like he was happy to see her and wasn't stunned speechless by the fact she could shrug off enough temazepam to take out a titan. "And here I thought it was just me and Groot."
"What are you talking about?" the assassin asked, stifling a yawn.
"Drax and Quill are out for the count," Rocket explained. "Cosmo ain't waking up either."
"This is strange," said Gamora, frowning at the peacefully-snoozing Star-Lord.
"Mmmhrrrm," Rocket agreed, not trusting himself with words and idly checking the time again. Nine fourty-five. They were in Quill's room now, because Gamora wasn't the type to just leave their captain lying on the bathroom floor and had the muscle to do something about it.
"But his vitals seem to be pretty standard," she pointed out.
"I am Groot?"
"He'll be fine," Rocket insisted, and then because he didn't want her to think he knew more than she did, the raccoon turned to Gamora and let his voice quaver with some of the very real dread he was feeling. "R-right?"
"He'll be fine," the zeihoberei confirmed. She rounded on Rocket and squinted at him, causing his insides to drop in free fall; Before he had decided whether he was gonna fight, run or stand his ground and try and explain himself and why he had-
"Remind me what we were supposed to do today?"
"D-Dey, ahem," the raccoon cleared his throat and eased his fur back down. "Nova Corps wants a mission report. For Corix."
"That's right," Gamora nodded, still trying to shake some residual grogginess off of her. "Just give me a minute to get ready."
"No worries." Watching the assassin disappear back into her room, Rocket briefly considered frying the locking mechanism. Not even she could smash her way through a reinforced blast door and it would take her out of play for the duration of the heist.
Nine fourty-seven.
The clock was ticking.
It would take him a minute to hotwire the processor- and if she caught him red-handed it was game over. Even success came with no small amount of suspicion, and between the loaded fridge, locked door, untraceable parenting class, and incoming explosions there were enough loose ends for Gamora to string together that Rocket was in the middle of things.
But the alternative was letting her roam freely, not exactly a favourable prospect.
Before he'd made up his mind, Gamora walked back out again, as alert as ever, and the window of opportunity was lost.
"Alright let's go," she said, strapping on her collapsible sword. "We're going to be late."
"I am Groot?"
"He wants you to carry him," the raccoon grumbled, holding the sapling out and slinging his satchel over his shoulders as he followed the assassin out. "And for the record I was ready before you were."
Footnote: Just another sweet/fluff heavy chapter of Rocket spending time with his friends :3 For the record I don't think Quill genuinely believes Star Wars is real- his 'historical facts' comments are for the most part tongue-in cheek.
Of course, things are never *too* easy for Rocket, and with most of the Guardians unable to get out of bed it's up to him, Groot and Gamora to deal with that Nova Corps business!
I think you guys are smart enough to piece together what actually happened- and I think it's fairly apparent by the end of the chapter but just for the sake of clarity and because it's always fun to talk about set-up versus pay-off.
Rocket drugged them. Two or so chapters ago (back when Rocket is explaining his plan to the High Evolutionary) Lylla lists the things he asked for- kree immolaters, etc etc- one of which is concentrated temazepam which is an *actual* sleeping drug although one who's effects I am exxagerating for the sake of plot (I doubt it's actually that potent).
Rocket slipped a few pills into the bottle of 072 in the last chapter which he then gives to Quill in this chapter. Later on he passes Drax a drink he knows the kylosian is fond of, and he gives Cosmo a Chew Toi- but I honestly think most of you figured out what was up after his semi-sinister 'Sure am' and the brief 'waking Quill up' sequence.
Not sure if this is a Checkhov's Gun exactly- but I do love setting up little things like this to come back at a later date (which is most of the reason why I spent so many chapters on fluff- there's a lot of little things like this scattered throughout).
Cutting back and forth between the morning of the heist and the evening before was a fun little idea I had moooostly for the sake of keeping things moving and so I didn't have to spend an entire chapter coming up with the Guardian's opinion on Star Wars movies x3
I had some doubts about including the bit about stealing an Infinity Stone because it feels a little too on-the-nose, but for one thing Rocket's plan involves noone even knowing the stone's gone so it looks less suspicious from that perspective (where it looks majorly sus from our pov because we know) and I also thought this was a nice representation of the cracks showing in his resolve. He's been tempted to spill the beans before, and so far this is the closest he's come and I imagine the pressure will keep mounting from here on out. It's also him manipulating Gamora by making her feel bad for him so that she can let her guard down a bit and accept some of his temazepam-laced fast food.
Of course here we get the very first real crack in Rocket's master plan. I don't think I'll explain it too much in-fic, but the main reason she's not out for the count are her extensive cybernetics- including but not limited to a blood filtration system that prevents her from getting drunk/poisoned/drugged, which means she's still metaphorically on the board despite his best efforts.
This is likely the last update of the year (as I have slowed down to account for my somewhat busier irl schedule), so I wish you all an early Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Thanks for reading, this fic, all of you dear readers and Vol 3 which spawned them both, were definetly the highlight of my year and I look forwards to seeing you all again in the next one.
Hope you all enjoyed, I know I did.