ALONE
Peter joined the rest of them in the lower levels, his hair freshly wet from the hot shower Elektra was sure he took.
His eyes continued to scan her frame, a hunger she recognized gleaming behind the green irises. She was surprised to realize it didn't entirely disgust her.
God, was she actually starting to like Peter Quill?
She took another sip from the whiskey she'd swiped from his stash. Thankfully, nobody seemed to question how Elektra already knew where everything on the Milano was.
She was still trying to figure out the name.
The 80s nostalgia was palpable, from the tape deck built into the ship to the stickers decorating several empty spots inside the ship. Even the seats were made of the same cheap colored leather that had decorated her dad's mustang back home.
Just as she suspected, Quill's whole life was wrapped up in this one ship. Not to mention the modifications he'd made over the last couple of years. A built-in espresso machine–it's not like he needed it with how hyper he was–and a holographic tracking map were just a few of the ones she noticed.
Unfortunately for Peter, Rocket seemed just as eager to make his own modifications, tearing apart the hull for wires to use for his latest project.
He'd asked for one of her explosives earlier and though she quirked a brow at the request, she was too tired to argue with him and handed over one of her detonators.
He'd stripped that as well and was now putting something together Elektra had no desire to be a part of.
After she finished off the whiskey, she grabbed a cup of coffee from the espresso machine and relished in the taste.
God it was good to have good food and drink again.
To feel like a human again.
Gamora stared at her, eyeing her clothes, "You changed." She spoke candidly.
Elektra shrugged, "Didn't want to be in those ugly yellow things forever."
"Not the jumpsuit," She cut her off, dark gaze narrowing at the red shirt and blue trousers, "Your uniform."
Her stomach sank. "Right," She took another sip, "That."
A beat passed between the two women, Rocket's tinkering the only sound between them.
Elektra leaned against the wall, "I figured it's a bit easier to get around the galaxy when you're not wearing Kree colors."
Gamora arched a brow, as if she didn't truly believe her reasoning. Knowing what the two women had shared, she probably suspected the real reason behind it. "Smart." Was all she said.
"You said you weren't Kree," Drax interjected with a growl.
"I'm not," Elektra spat out with more malice than she intended. "I was taken by them from a young age," She pushed out through gritted teeth, "They've held me captive ever since."
Her own screams echoed in her ears at the memory and she shivered, although not from the cold.
She bristled under Gamora's gaze.
"Whoa, whoah, whoa!" She was grateful for Peter's sudden reappearance, striding over to the raccoon and breaking up the staring contest, "Yo! Ranger Rick, what are you doing? You can't take apart my ship without asking me!"
Rocket ignored Quill's outburst and continued to work as if nothing had happened. Quill let out a frustrated sigh and reached for the object by the raccoon's leg, "See, what is this–"
"Don't touch that," Rocket finally spoke up, still not taking his eyes off his creation, "It's a bomb."
"A bomb?!"
Elektra's brows shot up in interest at that and she peered over her mug to get a better look. "Huh, what do you know?"
Peter's eyes looked like they were about to fall out his head, "And you leave it lying around?"
Rocket shoved the protests off his shoulders, "I was gonna put it in a box," He said, as if it made it any better.
"What the hell's a box gonna do?!"
Rocket reached into a nearby drawer and pulled one out at random. The one he grabbed was covered in what looked like colorful wrapping paper, a neat bow tied around the package. "What about this one?"
The color drained from Peter's face. "No! Whoa! Hey! Leave it alone!"
He kicked the drawer shut, nearly catching Rocket's paw.
Elektra nearly flinched from how quickly Quill's demeanor had gone from friendly and annoyed to hostile and pissed.
"Why what is it?"
"Shut up!" He growled, causing the rodent to jump back slightly. Elektra looked between the man and the animal, trying to decipher what just happened.
Her hand flew to her necklace out of habit, twirling the golden star in her hands.
It clinked against the metal of her ring and she gulped.
Rocket pulled something else out of the ship but Peter's protests fell on deaf ears, "What is that?"
Rocket's chuckle sent Elektra's stomach churning, "That's for if things get really hardcore."
She picked it up from the ground and tossed it up in the air, catching it with the same hand just as the raccoon finished his sentence with, "or if you wanna blow up moons."
Elektra grimaced as she placed the device back on the ground.
"No one's blowing up any moons," Gamora sighed.
"You just wanna suck the joy out of everything," Rocket muttered and Elektra squatted to the floor, surveying his work.
"That one's better for remote detonation," She pointed toward a group of wires he'd yet to use. His eyes lit up, "Although you're gonna want to make sure you have–"
"A contingency, yeah, yeah yeah…" The raccoon finished her thought as he grabbed the pair of wires and began attaching them to the Moon-Destroyer 5000. Despite his hard exterior, she could feel the waves of gratitude coming off the rodent at her words.
Peter stared at her in disbelief, "Stop helping him!"
Elektra shrugged as she stood up, "We may need to blow up some moons."
"NOBODY'S BLOWING UP ANY MOONS!" Gamora and Peter yelled in unison.
Elektra and Rocket shared a look and the former lifted her arms in surrender.
Peter let out another sigh and turned toward the holographic map in the middle of the room. Elektra followed his gaze, trying to mentally plot their course.
It was almost impossible in space, but she'd learned long ago that impossible was just another word for improbable.
Gamora joined them and Peter turned to her with a flirty smile. Indiscriminate it seemed, not that Elektra was surprised. "So listen, I'm gonna need your buyer's coordinates."
Gamora ignored him and picked up the orb, examining the silver artifact between her gloved fingers like it was the bomb sitting next to Rocket. "We're heading in the right direction," was all she said, "For now."
"If we're gonna work together, you might want to try trusting me a bit," Peter responded with the same flirtatious tone he'd been using since he met them.
Elektra let out a short laugh, causing the Terran to turn toward her with knit brows, "Cause you've been so trustworthy so far."
"Elektra's right," Gamora defended, and she had to blink to make sure she was hearing her correctly, "You almost sold her out back on the Kyln, and you didn't exactly trust us during the escape."
Peter plucked the orb from her hand, "I'd trust you guys a lot more if you told me what this was." He fumbled with the orb for a bit before placing it on the table to accentuate his point. Elektra and Gamora shared a look across the table. "Because I'm guessing it's some kind of weapon."
She'd come to that conclusion herself, especially if the Kree were after it.
It seemed Ronan believed the orb would turn the tide of the war, and that was the last thing Elektra needed. But four billion units would get her far enough away before the damage could take hold.
"We don't know what it is." Gamora finally admitted.
Elektra couldn't tell if she was lying or not.
Drax grabbed the orb, madness alight in his eyes, "If it's a weapon we should use it against Ronan."
"Put it down, you fool! You'll destroy us all!"
"Or just you, murderess–"
"-I let you live once princess–"
"-I am not a princess!"
"Hey!" Quill's yell seemed enough to break up the fight, stopping the Kylosian from getting too close to the assassin, "No one is killing anyone on my ship! We're stuck together until we get the money."
The orb hit Peter square in the chest and he fumbled with it before catching it in his hands. Drax glared at each of them. "I have no interest in money," He spat and stormed off.
Elektra leaned against the wall and hung her head in her hands.
Everyone was already starting to get on each other's nerves, and it made her jumpy. It was frankly a miracle they'd managed to get off the Kyln without killing each other.
"Great," Peter squeaked out, staring at the rest of the group, "More money for the four of us then."
"I am Groot!"
Peter shut his eyes at the reminder. "Five of us." The terran stared out at the group once again, something akin to hope in his eyes. Elektra knew better. "Partners."
"I would never be partners with the likes of you," Gamora snarled at the ravager, gaze softening as it landed on Elektra for a brief moment. It hardened as she met Quill's again, "I'll tell the buyer we're on our way." the assassin moved to climb up into the cockpit before turning back around, "And Quill?"
The terran hummed in acknowledgment.
"Your ship is filthy." Gamora's face wrinkled in disgust and she climbed up the ladder.
Peter waited until she was out of sight before turning to the rest of the group with a wide grin, "Oh she has no idea," He chuckled, tossing the orb up and catching it, "If I had a black light, this place would look like a Jackson Pollock painting."
"Ugh," Elektra groaned in disgust, pushing herself off the wall.
Rocket seemed to share the sentiment, "You've got issues Quill."
She walked toward the second bunk before she could learn any more unwanted details about the ship.
No one else seemed to claim it, so Elektra slid the door shut and collapsed on the bed, plugging her headphones in and trying not to think about how disgusting the ceiling she was staring at was.
The soft chords of Eric Carmen's synthesizer began playing in her ears and she finally let herself relax.
She wasn't safe, not truly, but it was the first time she'd felt something other than terror as she closed her eyes.
Elektra laid there long enough for the song to wrap up and a familiar power ballad struck her ears, snapping her eyes open.
I hear the ticking of the clock
I'm lying here the room's pitch dark
I wonder where you are tonight
No answer on the telephone
As if pulled by an invisible force, she turned the music up until it drowned out her thoughts and grabbed her all-purpose tool from her bag.
It was a silly thing she and her mom and dad would do when she was younger. She would grab whatever was available at the time and use it as a microphone while her parents would twirl themselves around the kitchen, the songs of their favorite movies and musicians echoing from the stereo.
Her mother would dress Elektra in a bright pink boa and a pair of sunglasses while her father would escort her through the halls as if she were truly a rockstar.
As the chorus hit, she felt the small bit of childhood she'd been robbed of return to her body.
Til now, I always got by on my own
I never really cared until I met you
And now it chills me to the bone
How do I get you alone?
She wasn't sure if she was screaming or singing the words into her all-purpose tool, but she didn't even care. For the first time in nineteen years, she was free.
Truly and forever free.
She danced around the room like her parents had before, imagining her father twirling her and her mother clapping her hands like she'd just given the show of her life.
By the time the next song struck up, Elektra had collapsed on the bed with a wide smile on her face, feeling ten years younger and more alive than she had in a long time.
One of her earplugs had fallen out in the chaos, but all she could do was smile.
"Nice moves." A voice came from the door and she lifted herself up on her elbows to see Peter Quill silhouetted in the doorway with a wry smile on his face. "Of course, your stage presence could use a little work…"
"You need something, Quill?" Her hard shell returned, although her body was still feeling the elation of the previous moment.
"Oh come on," Peter pouted, "Here I thought we were on a first name basis, Princess."
Elektra's skin prickled at the nickname, "In your dreams, Spaceman."
Peter used his arms to lean against the doorframe, a smirk stretching across his face, "Well, that's a funny coincidence considering you just walked out of them." He winked and Elektra collapsed back onto the bunk with a scoff.
"Yeah? How many women have you used that on?"
Silence was all the answer she needed.
A blush crept across Peter's cheeks as he sauntered further into the room, his hands lifted in surrender, "Alright, you got me there. But, you have to at least tell me what song you're listening to." Elektra side-eyed him as she pulled herself up into a sitting position. The terran apparently took her silence as an invitation to sit next to her. Heat radiated off his body and his thigh nearly touched hers. "As the expert on all music from Earth, I think I have a right to know."
"What makes you so sure I was listening to something from Earth?"
Quill's brows rose at the question, like she'd asked him something incredibly obvious, "Please, those moves? The lip-syncing into the makeshift microphone? There's only one song that could give a reaction like that and that's a good old-fashioned earth power ballad."
He said it with such certainty and with such a stupid grin on his face, Elektra couldn't help but burst into laughter.
She shook her head and bit down on her lip, "Fine, you're right, it's from Earth." She handed him the pink Sandisk and skipped back to the ballad, 'Alone by Heart' scrolled across the screen.
Peter creased his brows together as he held the tiny mp3 player in his hand, "Damn, this is a lot cooler than my Walkman," He flipped it over to see the clip and handed it back to her, something electric passing between the two as their hands touched.
"Oh no," Elektra shook her head, "Walkmans are still cool as shit. My dad got me one for my birthday, I don't think I ever went a day without it."
The two shared a laugh, shoulders shaking as the memory of her eighth birthday flashed across her mind.
Her mom and dad gathered around the table as her mom served her lemon cake with pink frosting on a pink plate with pink lemonade in a pink cup.
She was annoyingly obsessed with pink that year.
Her expression turned wistful when she remembered what happened to the gift. "I lost it when I got taken," She admitted, a somber twinge to her voice, "My friend Jonas got me this a couple years later to make up for it."
Peter's gaze softened at the admission, dropping to the Sandisk in her hand. "It was my mom's." He blurted out suddenly. Elektra turned to him, confusion knitting her brows. Peter gulped, "The walkman. She gave it to me." He looked like he was writhing in agony with each word.
"Peter–" Elektra placed her hand on his, warmth flooding her chest. His eyes shone as they met hers, "It's okay, you don't have to say anything."
He nodded, tension melting in his shoulders as he finally released his breath.
She shot him a comforting smile.
His eyes dropped to her hand, massaging her palm with his thumb. The action sent a spark through her veins. Her heart hammered against her chest, although she was sure it was leftover adrenaline from the prison escape.
Peter looked like he was going to say something before–
"Shut up, rodent!"
"Make me!"
Cold greeted her as his hand left hers, groaning in frustration at the chaos unfolding outside the bunk. Elektra stifled her laughter as he hung his head.
"I should…probably make sure no one kills each other," He said with a twinge of disappointment, although Elektra was sure she was imagining it.
She nodded with a wry smile, "Probably a good idea."
The two shared another chuckle before he stood up and moved to leave.
He paused for a brief moment, eyes dropping to the mp3 player in her hand, "Great pick, by the way. You can never go wrong with Heart." He winked and disappeared behind the door.
Elektra was surprised how empty the space felt now that he was gone.
She skipped back to the song and pressed repeat.