Title is from "News from Nowhere" - by Graeme James

As per usual, this is for entertainment only.

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Chapter 16: News from Knowhere

As Ego had predicted, Peter wasn't all that useful after the great burst of power. A couple of statues later, diminished in size, and more disfigured than even Peter could excuse away as artistic flare, and he had been dismissed.

"Just go eat lunch early or something," Ego had told him with a wearied look of distaste and a wave of his hands. "We will continue this once you are recovered enough."

Despite his bone-deep exhaustion, Peter couldn't help but feel enlivened by what he had accomplished. Even as he wandered back down the winding path to the main court, Peter was fiddling with a ball of Light between his palms. It was uncannily heavy in his hands, and slow to respond to his commands. Or maybe he was slow to give them.

"Are you going to tell me what that was about?"

Peter gave a yelp and the Light in his hands responded with a brief flare, but he managed to keep it under control as Nebula sidled up next to him on the trail. Her hands were clasped loosely behind her back as she stared at him from the corner of her eye.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, releasing the energy in his hands which was quick to flicker away.

"I came to see what happened. The mountain is hard to miss."

"Mountain?" Peter paused to look back at the towering stone still visible above the trees even from here and felt a small swell of pride. "I don't know about a mountain, but yeah, I made that. It's pretty impressive, right?"

Nebula rolled her eyes, but for once didn't rebuke his boasting as she continued on down the trail. "Well, what do you know," she hummed with just the faintest flicker of a smile teasing her lips, and a new note in her voice which he didn't think he'd ever heard before, in this universe or the last, "you might be useful in the long run after all."

By the time they made it to the main court Peter was positively beaming under the glow of the backhanded but strangely sincere praise.

"You're back early," Drax commented as Peter and Nebula returned to the group. He had been busy polishing his already pristine blades at the top of the steps, but lowered them at the pair's approach.

"I am Groot?" Groot asked, scrunching his face at what Peter was sure looked like a rather dopey smile, but try as he might, he just couldn't seem to wipe it away.

As much as Peter wanted desperately to poke some fun at the assassin and make some crude joke about them sharing a bonding moment, it wasn't worth ruining Nebula's good mood so instead he gave the most lackadaisical shrug he could muster and said, "Oh nothing, I'm just excited about my powers coming along. How does an early lunch sound?"

-x-

From there the day ran with an air of predictability. Ego returned to set him back to work shortly after Peter had finished a light brunch and short nap in the sun, and they returned to their usual work. The towering stones had been cleared away and there was no mention of Peter's sudden burst of power from earlier.

They broke again briefly to answer a hail from the Nova Corps, though this time Ego pulled up a screen from the center of the court rather than have them return to the main cathedral, and insisted that it was Peter's turn to open the hail.

Interacting with the planet was a strange sensation, one separate from the creation he had been doing thus far, but he managed, -with enough proper instruction, dragged out of Ego about as easily as pulling teeth- to open the hailing frequency and see Dey's smile wink to life on the screen.

The Nova Corpsmen had nothing much to report; Marlowe had found a few leads which had lead to nothing, and the crew of the Starburst was still hopelessly divided on how to deal with the Guardians, but he offered a few bright compliments when Peter displayed some of his newfound abilities.

When the last session of training had wound to an end for the day, Peter returned to the court to find that Mantis and Gamora were once more working on blocks and dodges. It looked like Mantis was gaining some confidence in her movements, and Peter found himself settling down to watch them train in silence rather than immediately calling on Eternity. He had less than a week left before his deal with Gamora ran out, and he had no clue if she'd bother to stick around if he failed in his promise. Probably not.

This strange little bubble of peace in their group would be shattered soon. One way or another. It couldn't hurt that much to want to spend a few minutes watching Gamora in the courtyard below. In the setting sun, with the stones shimmering gold, and a faint sheen of sweat on her brow, she almost looked like she was dancing as she traded soft parries and blows with her partner.

All too soon, it was time for dinner.

"Are you going to be calling on Eternity again tonight?" Mantis asked, from her seat across the table. Her eyes were trained with clearly forced nonchalance on her food.

Nebula hadn't been at the court when Peter returned, and she wasn't at dinner now. Her usual seat across from him was empty, and Peter was using it now to prop his feet up while he picked at his meal.

"I probably should," Peter thought out loud. "It really takes a lot out of me though, and I'd like to stay up and try to see Rocket again tonight. Maybe I'll just try to talk to Eternity later. After I've seen Rocket." Or after he'd given up waiting. Whatever came first. He was hopeful the raccoon would make an appearance, though.

"Oh," Mantis sighed, seeming to deflate slightly.

"Why don't you stay up with me?" Peter asked. He doubted Mantis had an actual bedtime that she had to adhere to.

"Really?!" The empath immediately perked up. "I would love to!"

From her spot at the end of the table, Gamora cleared her throat loudly.

"You should be resting," she said. "You are in training right now."

Again Mantis shrunk back down into her seat. "Of course, Gamora. You are correct."

"Oh come on," Peter tried, giving Gamora his most beguiling smile. "I'm sure staying up a little late won't hurt anything. She's an adult. She'll be fine." Gamora was probably not going to forget his undermining her anytime soon, but Mantis looked so crushed at the flat refusal that he couldn't help but try. "Besides, if you're worried, maybe you could join us?" All the powers of the universe combined couldn't have stopped his eyebrow from raising into a suggestive arc as he made the offer. It was really more of an automatic habit than an intentional quirk at this point in his life.

Gamora's response was as predictable as it was disappointing.

"No."

"You sure? I can make fire now, and we can probably find something to roast over it in the storeroom. It'll be like a sleepover!"

Gamora's nose wrinkled as her face formed into a dangerous sort of frown. "What could possibly make you think I want to sleep with you."

"No, that's not what I-!" Peter's voice broke into a squeak and he paused to cough into his hand and recollect himself. "That's not what a sleepover is. It's an Earth thing. It's just... friends... hanging out... at night..." He trailed off miserably, a blush burning against his cheeks. The rest of the table was staring at him blankly and he finished, "...I mean... there's not even much sleeping going on."

Gamora scoffed and rolled her eyes, collecting her plates and leaving the table.

"Not like that! I didn't mean anything! I wasn't trying to..." Peter gave up and threw his face into his hands. "Yeah, I'll just see you in the morning."

Across the table Drax was chuckling into his own plate of food and not even trying to be subtle about it.

-x-

"So what is your friend, Rocket like?" Mantis asked as she tucked her legs neatly underneath herself on the steps. She'd brought a pair of soft cushions out with her to provide them some relief from the stone. Peter had his bundled under his head while he watched the stars above.

"Grumpy?" Peter hazarded. "But not usually this grumpy, and deep down he's kinda a softy once you get to know him."

"He looks quite soft on the outside, too," Mantis sighed. When Peter glanced over, she was staring up at the stars, too. "I think I would very much like to pet him."

Peter let out a soft chuckle. "I wouldn't recommend it. Even in my universe he almost bit your hand off for trying that. Trust me, it's not a fun experience." He waved his left hand, the pale flesh still healing over the tooth-marks from Rocket's drug-withdrawl-fueled assault flashed bright under the starlight.

"He bit you!?" Mantis seemed alarmed.

"Ah, yeah, but he didn't really mean it, I think. He was pretty out of his mind at the time." Peter rubbed at his healing hand as he spoke. The brace had been removed as soon as he was done training, and the thin, bumpy scars from Rocket's teeth felt strange under his fingers. "I guess Thanos uses some sort of drug to control his people sometimes. And coming off of it gets pretty nasty."

"This Thanos, he is a terrible person, yes? He has destroyed may planets, and taken many lives?"

"Yeah, he's pretty terrible."

"And you are going to stop him?"

"That's the plan."

"Good." Mantis nodded her head, a sharp gesture that made the moonlight on her hair ripple. "I will be glad to help you. I would like to make it so that he cannot make others suffer anymore. So he cannot destroy peoples' homes or families. Like mine, and Drax's... and even Gamora's."

Peter turned his head, unable to suppress a look of surprise.

"Drax told me," Mantis confessed in a whisper. "He has told me many stories of his own world and his time on Sakaar, and even many of the amazing things he has done since meeting you and Nebula."

"Oh." That made a lot of sense, actually. The group had a lot of time to kill while he was busy with Ego, after all. "You do know that you don't have to come, right?"

"What?"

"I wanted to free you from Ego, but no matter what he sais, I don't own you or anything. You don't have to go with us if you don't want to. I just want to make sure you know that." Maybe he was being a bit over dramatic about the topic, and he hoped she didn't think he was trying to dissuade her from joining them again, but Ego's attitude about her was really getting on his nerves, and Rocket's whole situation may have already set him on edge.

Mantis just turned her bright smile from the stars down to Peter. "I am sure. I would like to help. Perhaps I will even earn some scars like you have."

Another laugh escaped before he could stop it. "Not if I can help it. It's a pretty rough life out there as a Guardian of the Entire Universe, though, so who knows."

This thought seemed to please her, and she turned her face back to the stars. Her eyes were shimmering bright with excitement as though already imagining what kind of adventures were waiting out there this time.

"Could you tell me some stories about your universe? What were we like?"

Peter did, quite happy to lose himself in memories of his old team. Memories growing more startlingly distant with each passing cycle. Mantis listened with earnest, silent except for the occasional gasp or exclamation.

At some point he drifted off to sleep, and awoke to a sharp pain in his side.

"Ow!" he gasped, rolling away and clutching at his side as something struck him again. "What the-?"

Nebula loomed above him in the darkness, the edges of her enhancements glinting in the starlight as his eyes re-adjusted to the night. She drew her leg back for another blow and Peter rolled away again to avoid her. "Stop kicking me! What the hell!?"

"How an idiot like you survived so long on your own is beyond me."

"Well now you're just hurting me on the inside, too," Peter told her, moving one hand from his ribs to clutch at his heart instead. She rolled her eyes, the gesture nearly invisible in the night, but stepped back so he could sit up and stretch the kink from his spine. Maybe they should have brought more cushions out. "Where's Mantis?" he asked, glancing around.

"Leaving. And you are too. As ridiculous as it is, our lives all depend on you right now, and, somehow, you seem to keep forgetting this. Go back to your room and get some real rest."

"I was waiting up to talk to Rocket. Then I'll go to bed."

"You're too late."

"What?"

"He came and went," she told him. "You slept right through it."

"No!" Peter leaped to his feet, suddenly alarmed, and whipped his head around as though he might catch Rocket still.

"Bed," Nebula snapped, stepping in towards him before he could decide which direction to go. "NOW."

"I need to talk with Rocket," Peter snapped right back, losing his patience with her badgering.

"I'm sure it can wait-"

"It's important!"

Peter swept his hands out in irritation, and sparks of Light danced across his finger-tips. The power sparked and crackled like lightning and surprised even him.

Nebula stiffened, her hands curled into fists and her weight rocked subtly as though she were preparing for a blow. The sight of her reaction, and the ghostly memory of the smell of burnt flesh in the Milano's engine room, was enough to sober him, and he quickly dropped his hands back down to his side.

"I'm sorry." Peter rubbed at his hands nervously. The Light had come so easily, unconsciously, even. He needed to be more careful with it. He'd hurt her once in his anger, and the thought of doing that again was enough to shame him into a temporary defeat. "I didn't mean to do that- didn't even know I could. It's just- Please Nebula, it's really important to me."

"Get some sleep," she repeated, uncurling her fists, but a tenseness remained that made it clear this moment would neither be forgiven nor forgotten easily, and she kept his hands in the corner of her eye. "Some proper rest," and then she added in a almost imperceptibly softer voice; "and tomorrow, if you are not too worn out, I'll take you across the canyon."

"Really?!" The offer was more than he expected, and he found himself half-expecting her to snatch it right back. "You promise."

"Sure," she growled through her teeth. "I promise. If you keep your end of the deal. And I can only show you the path across. I can't promise he'll be there."

"I get it." Peter stooped to snatch the cushion from the ground and brush the dust off before tucking it under his arm. "Thank you, though. I appreciate it. I'll go... get some rest now."

It was probably only about midnight, so he had a good number of hours left, and the thought of collapsing onto his mattress wasn't all that bad, now that he had a plan to see Rocket tomorrow. By the time he reached the edge of the court, however, it became apparent he was going alone and he paused to look back at Nebula who hadn't moved.

"Aren't you coming?" he asked.

"In a bit."

"You can walk with me," Peter laughed. "I promise, I won't tell anyone. Your reputation as a lone badass is safe with me."

Nebula gave her eyes another terse roll and she turned to walk towards the still dimly-lit dining room instead. "Goodnight Peter."

"Suit yourself," he shrugged, walking backwards down the path to their rooms for several steps so he could call back, "but I'll have you know I am an excellent late night stroll companion, and a perfect gentlemen."

As he turned away from the court her voice drifted back to him through the darkness.

"You have already proven to be neither of those things."

-x-

The next day breezed by in a haze of creation. Ego finally let Peter move on to fire, officially, and by lunch he was learning to both shoot it from his hand in a small but effective stream and to condense it and send electricity prickling up and down his arms. Briefly Peter wished there was someone around who he could taze with this newfound gift, but settled for practicing on some nearby rocks and trees. The time for that would probably come sooner than he'd like, anyways.

In his call from the Nova Corps, Dey let slip that they may have found a more promising lead which Cosmo was chasing down on Knowhere. The Denerian was careful to impress that it was still a wild shot at best, but all Peter heard was hope, and he practically danced his way through the remainder of the day's training. He even had energy to help out with Mantis's lessons, a simple, slow-paced spar that didn't take much of anything from him, and left him with plenty to spare by the time Nebula made an appearance.

"Ready to go?" Peter asked, tossing his staff aside and abandoning the sparring circle to jog up the steps towards the blue assassin.

"We'll get some food first," Nebula said, walking straight past him.

"Food?' Peter asked as he trotted to catch up to her. He'd already eaten earlier, in anticipation of the trip.

"You're pretty useless to him without it."

"Oh. Right."

A pair of bowls were filled with food that traveled well and tied together with some bandages from a small medical kit Mantis had showed them, then slung over his back like a bag. Archaic, but effective, and this way he could carry it without the loss of either one of his hands during the long trip. The sun was still in the sky, not quite touching the horizon, when they reached the edge of the canyon and Peter was sizing up the jump down in his head. Nebula was already half-way down the cliff face, making short work of the jagged wall with jumps that he was sure no normal person could make without breaking a leg. He waited until she was nearly at the bottom and then took a small running start, leaping from the edge with a small whoop.

Despite their early start, and the path Nebula took him down which was, as promised, surprisingly fast, the sun was sunk below the horizon and the rapidly darkening sky was glittering with the first stars by the time they made it to the far wall.

"Do you want me to wait for you?" Peter asked, as he craned his neck up to judge the angle he would need to get to the top.

"Do what you want," Nebula told him, finding a handhold among the stone and beginning to make her way back up the cliff. The wall here looked like it had suffered a few rock-slides along the past centuries, creating a sort of slanted path and providing a relatively easy climb up. Peter was pretty sure even he could manage it safely. She wouldn't be long, and really didn't need him hovering over her shoulder.

After a brief moment's consideration, Peter decided not to wait. The longer they took, the longer Rocket had to hear them coming and decide to leave, if he hadn't already.

As his boots touched down on the grass at the top, he gave out a low whistle at the sight of what had become of Ego's shuttle.

Nebula wasn't kidding when she had called it rubble. The whole thing had been ripped apart, and it lay in pieces scattered across the landing pad and adjoining field. Several larger hunks loomed out of the grass here and there, where it appeared Rocket had tried to construct something new from the savaged pod, but they all lay abandoned.

"Hey Rocket?" Peter called out into the growing darkness, picking his way through the debri and working towards the tree line. "I just wanted to talk to you again. I brought food!"

He held up the bowls of food, still tied neatly together, so they could be seen if Rocket was watching him from the trees. "I mean, it's no Eiyrian Frosted Sunash, but it's still pretty okay."

There was a rustling from somewhere nearby as Peter reached the edge of the field and he froze.

"What the flark is Sunash?" Again, the extra gravelliness of Rocket's voice caught Peter somewhat off-guard. It was something that was going to take some getting used to.

"What?! No! It's your favorite!" Peter exclaimed. "It's like a weird little pastry thing with these awesome sprinkles that pop in your mouth when you eat them. You made us fly half-way across the galaxies just to get a box of them. You ate like, all of them. Which was a dick move, because we agreed to share them but- not the point."

A flash of red caught Peter's eyes and Rocket suddenly melted from the undergrowth off to the side, just one shadow separating from the others in the twilight. "Never heard of it."

"That can't be right!" Peter didn't dare take a step closer, so he just continued to shout from where he was. "As soon as we get the Milano back, we're all going out for some. I'm sure I can find my way back-"

"I don't care." The raccoon cut him off harshly. "I'm not interested in running snack errands with you, Stalker-lord-"

"It's Star-lord."

"-or any of your Sentinels of Shit-"

"Guardians of the Galaxy."

"Whatever. You're not going to bribe my favor with that dehydrated crap, so just go back the way you came and leave me alone."

"This isn't a bribe," Peter sniffed, turning his nose up like he was offended. "It's a thanks."

The glowing red eyes narrowed into thin slits.

"For the advise you gave me about Gamora's parents," he explained. "They've already found a lead, and Cosmo is chasing it down as we speak. Couldn't have done it without you."

Rocket snorted. "You got that right at least." The arrogance was so much better than the side-winding hate that Peter had been met with so far, that it tugged his lips into an even wider, and much more genuine smile.

"So, thanks. We don't have much here, but I brought dinner, hand-delivered, and the promise of Sunash at the first opportunity."

Rocket gave no answer, but as Peter's eye adjusted to the dark, he could make out the ringed tail twitching thoughtfully behind him. A familiar habit of his own Rocket's which gave Peter the feeling he was making progress finally.

"Look, it's fine, if you don't want to come get it then how about I just toss it to you?" Peter asked, testing the weight in his hand and calculating the overhand throw he'd need.

"Don't you-!"

But Peter was already lobbing it into the space between them. "Here it comes!"

The mess of bowls traveled true and Rocket caught it stiffly between his fingers, the hair visible beneath the suite seemed to poof out. His face drew into a grimace and he froze for a beat, as though he expected the thing to blow up in his hands. When it did nothing more than what would be expected of a hastily strapped together pair of bowls containing travel food, he unwound slightly and fixed Peter with a glare that was dirtier than ever.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" he snarled, taking a threatening step forward and pulling the make-shift ball back like he intended to chuck it right back at Peter's head, then just as suddenly as he had moved, he froze.

The soft crunch of grass in the resulting silence brought Peter's attention to his side where Nebula had finally joined him and was returning the Raccoon's gaze with a hard look of her own.

The two liberated war criminals held each other's gaze for a long beat, but Rocket was the first to relent, his fur laying back down as he took a step backwards, lowering the bowls of food from their threatening position.

"Just, leave me alone, will you?" His tail twitched one more time and then he vanished back into the forest, his footsteps fading almost as soon as he was out of sight.

"Well, I'd say that went even better than expected!" Peter exclaimed happily.

-x-

It was well past midnight when Peter returned to his room, tired and sweaty and smelling of forest, but triumphant.

Nebula had returned with him and continued straight to her room, vanishing into the shadows of the dark hallway before his farewell finished echoing around them.

Alone again, it was tempting to just stretch out on the bed and fall asleep, but he had one more thing to do tonight. After kicking off his boots and changing into a pair of loose pajamas, from the dresser in his room, he sat cross legged on the bed and reached for the Light.

"It's been too long, Peter."

Peter opened his eyes and Rocket was standing on the foot of his bed, stars leaking from his eyes, and frosting the tips of his fur. The four walls of the bedroom remained, but outside of the window the ever-present galaxies swirled.

"We have so very little time to waste."

"It wasn't wasted," Peter defended. "I've been busy. I'm trying to learn something that took a real Celestial thousands of years to master in a few days, in case you hadn't noticed. And-"

"Nevermind that," Eternity cut him off with an irritated shake of Rocket's head. "You are already exhausted. We don't have time to dally tonight."

Briefly Peter wondered what Eternity could do if Peter decided to simply sever the link and fall asleep then and there, avoiding whatever one-sided conversation was coming his way. The thought of more nightmares sprang to mind so he resigned himself to dealing with the strange entity before him. "Alright, what've you got tonight?"

"I have been thinking on your concerns over the forms I take, and believe I have arrived at a compromise that will suit us both from here on. Someone familiar enough to pull the details from your mind with ease, but one that won't be construed with another living vessel."

The first thought to cross his mind made Peter's heart freeze in his chest. If Eternity was going to turn into his mother again- But the shifting form before him settled into a much more familiar visage. Standing on his bed where Rocket had been a moment before, towering over him now so that Peter had to crane his neck uncomfortably to meet the swirling stars of his eyes, was his own reflection staring back.

"Well," Eternity asked, hopping down from the bed with his arms spread out as though asking for an opinion on a new set of clothes, "what do you think?"

Too many things. For a long moment, Peter stared wordlessly into his own possessed eyes and suppressed a dark shudder crawling up his spine.

"It's... fine," he eventually managed to get out. He'd get used to it. It was better than the alternatives, even if it gave him the creeps in ways he couldn't quite put into words. The way a dark forest or decrepit church might send one's instincts screaming to flee from some impossible primal fear.

"That's settled then," Eternity moved on, apparently oblivious to Peter's discomfort. "How did you enjoy my gift the other day? Useful, is it not?"

"Useful, yes." The image of the tower of rocks piercing the sky above the court came to mind once more. "But I couldn't really do anything afterwords."

"I'll be more careful next time," Eternity promised flippantly. "And you will grow stronger with practice as well. And capable of so much more than a measly outcropping of stone.

"My sister has made no moves in the mean time. Thanos's army continues to gather, but I have yet to discover their intent or target. You must be ready when they do, but for now all you can do is gather strength as well. I will continue watching as best I can through the veil as you continue to learn. The stronger your bond with the Light becomes, the greater my reach into this realm."

The dark feeling returned at the thought of whatever bond was forming between himself and Eternity as well.

Eternity glanced up, as though looking at something far beyond the four little walls they were enclosed in, and then slowly brought his attention back down to Peter. "I will leave you be for now. Rest. And grow stronger."

-x-

The pounding on his door the next morning came so early and so loud that at first he believed he hadn't escaped the nightmares after all, until Mantis's voice rang through the wall. "Peter? I apologize for waking you, but the Nova Corps have called and say it is urgent."

Peter rolled over and lifted his head from his pillow to stare blearily at the door. "Whaaat?" he groaned, clawing his way somewhat unwillingly back towards conscious thought.

"They say they have found some news about Gamora's parents and wish to speak to you abou-eek!"

Peter was out of bed, shoving his shoes on and yanking the door open so fast Mantis startled back with a squeak.

"THEY FOUND SOMETHING!?" he cried, hopping on one foot as he tugged his second boot all the way on before bolting for the doorway, grabbing her wrist and tugging her after him as he ran. "Why didn't you say so, let's go!"

He made it to the main cathedral in record time, huffing and gasping like a madman, with Mantis panting at his heels. "I'm here!" he cried.

Ego was standing in the center of the room, his hands clasped behind his back and a screen hanging overhead which displayed Marlowe in a cleaned and pressed uniform. Her fingers were laced together on the desk in front of herself as she waited patiently for Peter to catch his breath.

"I'm here," Peter repeated, moving to stand before the screen. "What happened? You found them?"

"Not exactly."

Peter's heart skipped a beat. "What? But Mantis said-"

We have found very promising news. Something that could solve more than one concern. Cosmo's golden snout suddenly popped into view as he must have stood on his hind legs to place his front feet on the desk next to Marlowe. A broad smile covered his face.

"Cosmo!" This was a pleasant surprise. "You look great!"

Cosmo feels great! And not just because wounds have been healed.

"What did you find?"

Cosmo has spent much of this time chasing every trail that gave sniff of hope. Most lead to nothing but dead ends, but rumor of a rumor lead Cosmo to The Jubilee, a junker vessel which frequents Knowhere.

On this vessel is an Agullo with one leg and many, many scars. It seems when Thanos took their homeworld he was enslaved. Before he escaped, or rather, was left for dead by Thanos's army when his ship was destroyed as collateral damage in a battle, he was part of a crew transporting supplies for Thanos's army. Most specifically, it seems, he would oversee stock before it was loaded, and manage incoming inventory.

Marlowe tapped one finger against the desk and Cosmo sped along.

Forgiveness, he panted, I say this because it was during these transactions that he would deal with the populace of the planets, other slaves, ones forced into menial jobs and heavy labors, providing things necessary to maintain such a vast warring empire, and it is his belief that he may have once seen these parents of your assassin friend's shortly before he... stumbled upon his freedom.

"Where!?" Peter hardly dared believe it.

Marlowe pulled a tablet from off-screen, sliding it across the desk until it sat in front of the camera. At her touch, a holo map of an unfamiliar star system burst to life above it.

"It seems he wasn't in a position to have access to most pertinent information, and has a very limited knowledge of the universe, so he could not give us exact coordinates or even a name. From what we can gather with the information he gave us, however, narrowed down by what you gleaned from Experiment 89P13, we believe it would be somewhere in this quadrant. According to our own records, the most likely candidate in this area would be the Planet Villam."

"Villam?" Peter repeated, squinting at the screen and wishing he could zoom in. "Why does that sound so familiar?"

A deep voice rumbled from behind him; "Likely because that is my home planet."

Peter spun around to find the rest of the Guardians, sans Rocket, filtering into the room. Even Nebula was there. The flash of familiar blue lagging at the back of the group was a little surprising to see so early in the morning. Drax was looking between Peter and the screen with a mixture of surprise and suspicion.

"Oh! Hey guys-"

"What interest do you have in it?" the Destroyer rumbled, squaring his shoulders and crossing his arms over his chest so he could stare down at the others.

"They think that Villam might be where Gamora's parents are being held." While he spoke, Peter tried to catch Gamora's eye, but she was staring straight past him at the screen.

Good, Cosmo chimed in, green assassin friend is here. Cosmo is hoping perhaps this new knowledge may how-you-say jog her memory.

"Villam," she whispered, but Peter couldn't tell if it was familiar to her as well, or she was just feeling it out.

Drax curled a lip up into a sneer, as if the sound of that word from her lips was unpleasant, but all that came from his mouth was a curt; "Manure and dirt. These are the only things you and the rodent could recall. That would make sense. My planet is one rich in land and resources, and my people skilled in tending to it. I do not know what became of it, or those few survivors left, after I was sent to the Colosseum."

"Yes," Gamora breathed out, her fingers trembling slightly. "I think, maybe, that could be it."

"Do you remember anything new?" Marlowe pressed, zooming the map in to get a closer view of the planet. "Anything to confirm their whereabouts or prepare us for what else might be there?"

Gamora shook her head miserably.

"We?" Peter asked. He was grateful that Marlowe and Cosmo had put so much work into finding this news, but he hadn't expected them to be doing much beyond research. It wasn't bad news by any means, but it was surprising.

"We believe there might be more on that planet than its own imprisoned citizens and a couple of Zen Whoberi." While she spoke, Marlowe tugged the tablet closer to herself. "With Cosmo's help, we tried tracing our way back through transport routs that may have brought people to that planet. If it's a recent acquisition, they would have to be transported from whatever their last location was. Instead, we found this."

The map winked away and a moment later was replaced with a projection that looked like it had come from a sorely outdated security system. A dozen or so people huddled together in the corner of a small room. Peter couldn't tell if they were on a ship or a planet somewhere, but it was obvious they weren't there by choice. Heavily armed guards, -Kree, Peter thought, though the image was of such poor quality he could be mistaken- stood in a ring around them, weapons at the ready.

"Who is that?" Peter asked, wishing again that he could see the image better.

"Xandarians." Marlowe's voice was tight as she stared at the video as though looking at a ghost. "Members of an outpost. We thought they had all been killed when Xandar fell. All the outposts and loyal planets were burned alongside our capitol planet, but if they somehow survived- if they've been imprisoned on a planet this whole time, we can't just leave them there." There was a sheen of threatening tears shining in her eyes and Peter could hear them in her voice as she whispered, "There could be others there, too. More survivors."

"We'll get them back." Peter promised without thought.

Marlowe turned her eyes from the holo image and back to Peter. The pain vanished as quickly as it had come and she was right back to business. The way the ship lights reflected just a little stronger than normal in her eyes the only evidence of her slip. "How is your training coming along? Can you wield the stone yet?"

"No." Ego's voice was absolute. "There is still too much risk."

"There will always be risk," Marlowe countered. "You wanted an opportunity to prove your worth and earn the crew's goodwill. If ever there was an opportunity to do just that, this is it."

"I mean, I could try-"

"NO." Ego cut him off. "Not yet. You need more time."

"Will you do it then!?" Peter snapped, rounding on the celestial.

Ego reared his head back, looking outright offended by the suggestion.

"I've been working myself to exhaustion here. If I haven't made any real progress towards using the Stone, then what has all this been for?"

"He has a reasonable point, Peter." Nebula spoke up. She was staring at him rather unsympathetically as she took his father's side. "If you can't use the stone effectively, then it's best you don't try yet."

Drax surprised Peter by lending his support to Ego and Nebula as well. "I will have to agree that you should not handle the stone yet. I do not wish to see you do harm to my planet or people."

"Okay," Peter sighed in defeat. "No Infinity Stone. We'll just have to do this the old fashioned way."

On the screen, Marlowe looked disappointed, and somewhat dubious. Even Cosmo had closed his mouth, his panting smile lost in favor of a look of deep thought.

"Don't worry." Peter squared his shoulders and put on his best smile over the frustration he was feeling. "We'll get everyone out of there. The Xandarians, Gamora's parents, Drax's people, and anyone else they're holding. We'll save them all. I promise."

End

Chapter 17 Preview: "...Will I need a weapon?" Nebula asked as she matched stride with the Celestial.

"I will provide one," Ego told her, and suddenly Peter was a little nervous about what he was getting into here..."

.

I need to get my butt in gear about regular updates. I'm also very rusty, so I'm sorry if the writing is a bit rough in a couple places, but I gotta get it moving along somehow! I've been distracted by IRL stuff, drawing, and just recently started learning to animate stuff. I miiiight even have a Astro-related animation project soon~

Hope you enjoy the new chapter! We should be rolling along to the next arc soon and finally get some good Rocket screen time and development.

Thanks and love!

-OMaM