AN: Titles is named after the musical score "Across the Stars" by John Williams from the Star Wars prequel trilogy.
In the farthest corner of space, across multiple galaxies on the small planet made of an ancient Celestial's head called Knowhere, a young woman from Earth lay on an operation platform in the medical bay, with the mechanically enhanced mammal Rocket Raccoon, the Captain of the newly formed Guardians of the Galaxy, at her side with his paws delicately holding her lukewarm hand in his grasp.
She lay dying from a laser wound blasted from the weapon of their enemy the High Evolutionary… Though she had not been the prime target, her beloved paramour, Adam Warlock had been forced to leave her side to deal with the matter.
Her abdomen leaked with blood, her body slowly shutting down with internal damage to her organs, and despite the effort of the oxygen mask over her face to keep her breathing and the advanced technology of the Med-Pak over her wound, there was nothing further that could cure her.
While Rocket Raccoon, sarcastic and crass as he was in attitude, sat with his best effort in bedside manner at the human's side, letting her know that however intense and agonizing her pain became, she wouldn't suffer alone.
Her glazed eyes met Rocket's ebony orbs and the raccoon choked back a sympathetic sob, dreading when Adam would return to see the state of his human sweetheart. Her voice cracked with a dried husky quality as she began to lose the strength to speak.
"Rocket… tell… tell Adam…for me…" She started to say before a gurgling cough erupted from her throat, a drop of blood leaking from the corner of her mouth.
The raccoon held a Styrofoam cup with a straw to her lips, urging her to drink some water in her final moments, quickly shushing her. "Hey, whatever you gotta say, hon, save that mushy-gushy stuff for him, okay? Right now, save your breath."
Adam's adopted pet Blurp leapt onto the platform, whining with sadness as he sensed her distress and curled by her hip, laying his furry head on her thigh.
Rocket sighed as he continued stroking her hand with his paws, careful with his sharp claws on her fragile human skin. "I gotta say, that took guts to do what you did. Saving Adam from that laser blast… Don't think I've seen a human run that fast."
She managed to smile despite her pain becoming worse by the moment…
"I… I had to save him… I love him." Her voice was nearly inaudible to Rocket's sharp hearing, her head sagging against the pillow supporting her on the table.
Rocket grabbed a cloth and dabbed away the sweat on her forehead, then the blood dribbling down her chin.
He wasn't sure what else to say to her, but remained by her side as her hand became cold and her eyelids closed, a whining wince emitting from her lips.
Her eyes were sealed shut and her nerve endings began to fail… She couldn't feel anything around her and the sound slowly began to fade from her ears.
Even the pain began to flow away from her entire being, like she was floating into a numb oblivion.
The only sensation she could process around her was a wailing siren song of something ominous coming for her on the bridge between life and death…
Her soul was being taken to the Underworld where she would be isolated and tortured for eternity in a river of literal death. She would float sedately in a drowning whirlpool unable to wake or move of her own free will.
Her body was left behind on the medical platform for Rocket, Adam and the rest of their friends to lament and mourn over her.
And she hadn't been able to tell Adam that she truly loved him.
The darkness consumed her vision and the anesthetized medicine kept her autonomy subdued as she was spirited away through the cosmos.
She didn't feel the river pull her down into its depths as she lay amongst other numerous souls, wailing in their misery even though she was merely calm and unconscious in her "sleeping death" compared to their active struggles to escape the whirlpool.
It was unknown how long she floated before she was dragged further and further into the Underworld's murky depths.
She could have been swirling in the numbing current for hours or days or weeks…
Nobody had ever dared to brave the cosmic dominion of death to recover a loved one.
Even for truest, sacrificial love, the effort wasn't worth the risk.
Until, she felt a sensation again, a tingle through her wrist and warm, long fingers clasped around her hand.
She was pulled against the current, limp and boneless as her translucent wisp of a soul was held tight against something firm and strong as an arm enfolded around her at the waist…
Then she was no longer drowning in the River, numerous tormented wails echoing all around her as two arms cradled her close despite her soul not being materialized of actual solid matter.
Whoever was holding her took a moment to kneel on the edge of the cliff above the River, taking a breath as they regained their strength. The fingers that had clasped around her hand took an instance to stroke through the blue halo ribbons of her hair, affectionate and shimmering eyes looking down at her slumbering visage as her savior devotedly carried her through the dank, demonic tunnels of the Underworld.
Warm golden shining light from the being who had rescued her and blue moonlight rays from her innocent essence guided them with their combined glow to the exit of the hellish realm, allowing the hero to fly away with her in their arms and back toward their home.
Whoever was holding her spirit didn't dare release her from their hands until they accomplished their task.
Within mere moments of their arrival back to Knowhere, she felt a whole different warmth flow into her soul with her previously ice-cold body being resurrected with the fusing together of the two at last…
Her heart began to beat again with her blood pumping into her veins, consistent and thumping with resuscitating force. Her chapped lips slightly opened, allowing her to inhale oxygen once again into her lungs.
A straw was brought to her mouth and she swallowed some cooling water down her parched throat as she felt the once fatal condition of her abdominal wound begin to subside with the Med-Pak sewing her skin back together and quelling the bleeding.
Various warm spots of colors hovered through her eyelids as she struggled to remain half-conscious and faded voices talked around her.
Warm fingers stroked her tangled hair away from her face with incredible care.
"Her wound is healed, Captain. And she's alive…" A familiar male voice, deep yet youthful with their relief and questioning tone, spoke above her as she remembered the name of its owner… "Why is she not awakening?"
Adam Warlock, formerly of the planet Sovereign and now a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy…
"You gotta give her some time, kid. Human bodies are fragile with wounds like what she had. We need to be patient and let her rest for awhile. But she's through the worst of it now." Rocket seriously assured his comrade and surrogate son, knowing how the Warlock felt for the mortal woman lying before them motionless.
The Warlock's fingers delicately caressed her hot-blooded cheek, feeling her rejuvenated warmth. "May I take her home, to her apartment? She should awaken feeling safe and at ease in her own bed."
"If that's what you wanna do, kid. Just keep watch in case something happens, alright?" Rocket instructed him, beckoning for Blurp to drop down from the surgery table. "I know you'll take care of her."
And Rocket meant it with every word as he spoke to Adam, watching with pride and sympathy as the large golden man scooped her up into his arms, his hands supporting her knees and lower back to cradle her close to his chest, resting her hands safely on her lap and her head cushioned between his neck and shoulder to ensure her security and comfort in his hold.
He couldn't recall having to bear someone in his arms with such delicate treatment over the last several months since joining the Guardians. Adam often had to control his strength, remembering how easily he could break an enemy's arm in half like a twig and how one blast from his closed fist could obliterate someone into nothing but ash and bone.
But in holding the human woman he loved, cradling her close with all the love he possessed, he used the greatest restraint and Herculean intention of gentleness as he carried her out of the med bay, nodding in silent gratitude to Captain Rocket.
If his mother could see him now, displaying romantic fondness for an imperfect human from Terra, she would most undoubtedly be disapproving, even if the human had saved him from harm with no worry for her own wellbeing…
And yet the sadness of Adam's missing his mother Ayesha and his past failure to rescue her ebbed away as he focused on carrying the unconscious woman through the crowded grounds of Knowhere, aware of the empathetic stares from other passersby…
Nebula, Drax, Groot, Kraglin and even Cosmo allowed him to pass without interfering as he walked with a steadfast, no-nonsense pace to his beloved's dwellings.
He didn't want to fly as her home wasn't too far in distance and he wanted to make the journey calming for the woman he held and not disturb her healing rest.
Blurp was the only one to follow close behind his Sovereign companion as the small alien creature managed to open the front door and allow Adam access inside as he was anxious to have her settled in bed and take vigil at her side until she woke up.
He had visited her apartment numerous times before in their getting to know one another as friends, and then their awkward interspecies courtship, noting how she kept her home as immaculate and organized as possible as one could in a place of chaos like Knowhere.
It was one of the admirable qualities he noticed about her…
Even her bed covers were rid of any wrinkles or stains on the blankets or pillows.
Adam carefully tucked her into one arm, his strength allowing him to keep a secure grip on her as he pulled the sheets and covers back from underneath the pillows, making sure the softest cushions were close to support her body.
The alien man handled her more careful than ever as he laid her upon the mattress, situating her head and neck on the pillow so she would be as relaxed as possible, sliding an extra cushion under her knees and a smaller one under her shoulders so her back wouldn't ache after lying on a hard surgery table for so long.
An outsider would think by how he cherishingly tucked her into bed that she was the most important being in the universe to Adam Warlock, more precious to him than his past Sovereign teachings or the stars beyond.
He made sure the pillow underneath her head was patted up with feather-down and situated strands of hair away from her face as various locks fell around her head, like a halo against the white blandness of the pillowcase.
Adam saw Blurp had leapt onto the bed beside her as he laid the sheets and bed covers over her body up to her shoulders, making sure they would stay around her to keep her warmth intact. His furred pet loyally laid his head on her covered knees, whining at Adam as the tall Sovereign golden man pulled up a nearby chair so he could stay by her side and wait for her to awaken.
"Don't worry, Blurp. She'll open her eyes when she's strong enough." He looked down at her serene features as she slept, relieved that she was safe in her bed, in a place of familiarity that was her home. He placed his hand above her head on the pillow, his fingers stroking her locks of flowing hair. "Just sleep, my love. I'm here to watch over you and guard you while you heal."
Her head turned slightly on the pillow at the sound of his voice, her eyelashes fluttering as she inhaled an especially deep breath of air, her lips widening in a yawn.
Adam leaned down and kissed her forehead, hoping to assure her that she was home with those who loved her.
He gently took hold of one of her hands from underneath blankets and gently held her fingers in his, noting how his massive hands easily dwarfed hers. Adam brought her small hand to his lips placed an adoring kiss to her knuckles, noting how her fingernails were freshly clipped.
Even though he had been taught from birth to believe the Sovereign were the most beautiful and perfect creatures in the universe, Adam would rebuke such an assumption.
Any creature who possessed such splendor even with her flaws and idiosyncrasies laid before him on a bed, slowly stirring awake much to his immense relief and happiness…
She was marvelous in his eyes not merely in shallow appearance, but with her bravery and compassion to everyone she came across.
If anyone dared to express doubt that Adam Warlock, the zenith of his civilization could fall in love with a normal human woman from an inferior planet such as Earth…
Adam cradled her hand within both if his, silently praying to whoever was listening that she would awaken fully to see him next to her and be reassured that she was no longer held captive by the pain of dying.
The blushing rouge of her cheeks bloomed like roses as he smiled down at her and witnessed the magnificent visual of her eyes opening at last, a sight more superior in beauty than any two stars in all the surrounding galaxies.
"Adam… my Wonder-Boy." She blinked back tears as he kissed the palm of her hand. "You brought me back from death?"
"Yes, my starlight." Adam himself choked back his sobs of elation at seeing her resurrected and revived. "My universe without you would be dark and empty. Across the millennia of stars and through the endless caverns of Hades, I would never abandon you."
Smiling brightly with Blurp cuddling at her other side, she pulled Adam close and kissed him, allowing him to hover over her as they reunited in love.
She knew no matter what happened to her, she would always have Adam Warlock, her intergalactic protector and embodiment of her salvation.