AN: Titled after the song "Love Is Worth the Fall" by O.A.R., lyrics by Marc Andrew Roberge & Richard Joe On
*If I could only save the day,
Here in your world, I could stay
But love is worth the fall
Today was the anniversary of her return from the infamous Snap, or The Blip, as it was widely known around the population of Earth, which was no longer her home as she had made her residence on Knowhere now.
When she saw the date on her calendar, she had double over on the floor of her bedroom, feeling so ill that she couldn't bring herself to leave her small apartment to attend her daily duties, as thankfully Nebula had understood and been in an empathetic mood.
She didn't go outside all day; instead, wandering around the minimal space of rooms in a daze, barely reminding herself to at least nibble on some snacks for nutrition, not having a sufficient appetite.
She was thankful nobody came around to disturb her… although she hoped one person would stop by.
Adam Warlock…
That strange and sweet alien man, every inch of him glowing gold like he was formed from the stars themselves…
She had seen him that fateful day he had crashed from out of nowhere (no pun intended) and attempted to abduct Rocket Raccoon, had beaten Drax's face bloody with his bare fists, and torn Groot apart branch by branch until nothing was left of him but his head and he was left to regenerate quickly within twenty-four hours.
Hell, Rocket had come close to dying because of Adam, but then the Sovereign golden man had earned a second chance by saving Peter Quill's life, flying out into the void of space and saving him from freezing and suffocation…
At first, she had been afraid to approach Adam after everything had calmed down with the many additions of children and animals left to care for on Knowhere… but something about him seemed so vulnerable and childlike…
When she had introduced herself, she had reached out her hand, holding out a packet of hot food and a cup to drink warm broth from. He looked up at her from where he sat on the ground with wonder in his eyes and told her his name in return…
And a friendship began to blossom…
They spent nearly every day together and her walls began to come down as she enjoyed his company.
She wanted to be alone today… but she really needed to tell someone why she was sinking into herself…
And right on cue, Adam arrived, holding Blurp in one arm, shining in nobility with his blue and red Guardians' uniform instead of the orange armor and large cape he had worn that destructive day he had caused so much chaos.
But she wasn't scared of him and she invited him inside, the worry in his golden eyes evident as she quickly wiped away tears from her cheeks.
"I hope not to be intruding. I wanted to see how you were faring. Nebula told me you were having what you call 'a mental health day'…" Adam trailed off, his voice radiating curiosity in what such a notion meant.
"Yes… um…" She took him by the hand, allowing him to set Blurp down gently onto the floor and led him to sit down with her on the sofa. "I'm not sick. I… just needed a day to myself, with some quiet. It gets to be too much sometimes."
"That's reassuring you're not ill. I was worried, not seeing you when we returned from our mission today. It's one of the things I anticipate the most whilst I'm here… seeing you. And talking with you…" Adam gently smiled at her, a nervous almost boyish grin that warmed her veins.
She still held his large hand, his long fingers tangled with her own. "I really like talking with you… and being with you, Adam. I'm sorry I worried you, but I'm… mostly okay…"
She turned her head, looking away from him as she felt her eyes water with tears.
"And yet, you're sad…" Adam tenderly held her small hand, his fingertips gently skimming over her knuckles, yearning to comfort her. "As I'm your friend, you can tell me if you're in pain…"
She sniffled, wiping her nose as Adam quickly rose from the couch and returning in an instant with a box of tissues, one of the many necessities from Earth she kept around her dwellings. She was flattered that he remembered she used them for whenever she cried.
She held the white tissue to her reddened raw nose, seeing Blurp jump up next to her on the sofa. Looking up again, she witnessed Adam still standing, coming back this time from her small kitchen and handing out to her a glass of water…
He knew humans required great amounts of hydration, especially after crying as she was doing presently… and he wanted to know how he could look after her for when she needed caring for.
She finally opened up after many minutes of crying in silence, Adam ever patient and doting, discarding her used tissues in the trash bin.
"Five years… after Thanos snapped his fingers… I came back to existence after disappearing. Everybody was panicked and confused. My bank account was cleaned out, my home had someone else living in it. My parents… they couldn't handle my being gone… they had both died of heartbreak in those five years." She looked up to see Adam listening with rapt attention to her words, one of his hands along her back to let her know that he wasn't going to leave her in such a broken state, not unless she ordered him to do so.
"That must have been awful… you had no other family on Earth… no siblings or…?" Adam felt like it was such an obvious question, knowing she wouldn't have left her home planet in the first place if she had other close relations.
"I was an only child… not really any other relatives I knew or spoke to. And my boyfriend… he'd moved onto someone else in those five years… they were gonna get married. He'd been living in my former apartment with her. So I had no home, money or family… nothing holding me to that place anymore…" She cleared her throat before taking a sip of the water glass. "Quill and Rocket took me with them on their ship after the battle with Thanos."
Adam thought about what she had endured…
Five years gone… he had still been gestating in his birthing pod cocoon… and he had never been told if any of his fellow Sovereign had also disappeared.
His mother Ayesha never spoke of The Snap while she had been training him as an unstoppable warrior, meant to save and protect his species from the wrath of their maker The High Evolutionary.
But all of that was in the past…
And Adam dared to see the future beside him… a future in friendship and compassion and affection… an affection he was feeling for this human creature confessing her troubles to him.
And he would have done anything she asked of him… anything she said if it would obliterate her agony.
"Everything I had was gone… it was like I never existed." She hiccupped as another heavy sob wracked her body and made her almost shrink into the cushions of the sofa, almost curling into herself as though something devious was coming for her.
Adam sensed her distress and spoke in near desperation, his arms aching to scoop her up and hold her close, protect her and shield her from all she feared. "What can I do? Tell me what I can do to make you see…"
"See what, Adam?" She croaked, her voice raspy and rough from her weeping. Her eyes were bloodshot and her face puffy with her scarlet cheeks.
"That you are valued and admired by everyone here… that I… I would never, ever hurt you or forsake you." He almost pleaded, wanting to understand the excruciating sensation within his chest, his arms empty with his need to embrace her.
A long beat of silence, neither of them speaking.
Adam raised one of his hands, his massive palm cupping the side of her face in a soothing manner, his thumb stroking the heated skin of her cheek with the delicacy of one caressing a flower petal.
He was all too aware of the violence his hands were capable of in combat…
But they both needed one another's touch.
She spoke only two words in a soft whisper. "Hold me."
"Of course." Adam perched firmly onto the sofa, carefully settling her into his lap as she climbed onto him.
He was surprised to see that instead of leaning against his chest, she laid across his thighs, laying down as her legs spread toward the other end of the couch, allowing his arm to cradle her shoulders and the upper vertebrae of her back, the base of her head resting in the crook of his elbow, similar to how an adult would hold an infant to fully support its fragile body.
Her luscious hair pooled around her head, entrancing Adam with her disordered splendor.
His free arm hovered above her, and Adam saw her eyelids already begin to droop closed.
She must have been exhausted. "I just want to sleep, Adam. I'm so tired."
"You can rest… I'll stay until you fall asleep." Adam didn't want to overwhelm her with his presence as he had already come over uninvited and he didn't want to overstep his boundaries as he aimed to be polite and considerate with her as someone who possessed the godlike strength and abilities enough to destroy almost anything in his path.
And yet this wonderful human woman permitted him to hold her as she lay in the most exposed position of sleeping.
"Please, stay. I don't wanna be alone anymore tonight." She huskily begged him. "I trust you not to take advantage of me. I know you're a gentleman, Wonder-Boy."
She smirked up at him as her speech began to slur with her fatigue. Adam couldn't help but smile at her humor and the charming nickname she had bestowed upon him, understanding what she was implying.
"I won't allow you to be harmed, I swear." You're most precious to me, have you any idea?
Her eyelids remained closed, her lashes fluttering as she sighed, her body beginning to slacken in Adam's hold.
He talked to her, hoping to coax her lightly into slumber.
Know that you are cherished… and treasured here by all in Knowhere.
He wanted to tell her what he was truly feeling as she slept in his arms… his fingers cautiously threading through her long hair.
That first day we properly met… you were the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Don't ever doubt that I would do anything for you.
The tip of his index finger skimmed along the small length of her nose, and he felt the cartilage under the skin.
His vigilant eyes gazed over the pores of her skin in the dim lamplight. He watched the flare of her nostrils as she breathed in and out.
Her pink tongue briefly stuck out from between her lips to moisten them, a small groan emitting from her throat as she snuggled closer into Adam's body and he froze in his touch-starved adoration of this female human who trusted him wholly with her safety and virtue.
"Don't be afraid, I'm here. Just sleep… let all your worries fade away. Dream or not, allow yourself to rest." He whispered in a deep, low murmur of comfort, enfolding her consciousness into a soft oblivion of safe silence.
His free hand went to her cheek, the back of his fingers feeling the normal warmth of her skin, pink blush against glittering gold. His contact was careful as he took incredible effort not to rouse or startle her awake.
The creak of the door opening alerted Adam to look up toward the noise, protective instincts flaring inside the alien superman as he held her close.
Rocket Raccoon stood in the room before him, his black eyes concerned as he saw the situation.
"She asked me to stay with her. She sleeps now and I'll keep guard over her, Captain." Adam remained firm in his stance as her protector for the night… and for future days as long as she needed him.
Rocket sighed warily; knowing where this dynamic was going.
"We've all seen how you look at her, kid. You really care about her, don't you?" Rocket asked bluntly, seeing how the human woman and Sovereign extra-terrestrial man were drawn to each other since Adam's joining the Guardians of the Galaxy.
"More than anything." The conviction in his voice was undeniable, Adam looking down at her relaxed face, his fingertips brushing the pulse of her temple. "She's lost so much, as have I. And she deserves all the stars in the cosmos. I'd lay them at her feet if she asked me to."
Rocket could only nod his head in reluctant understanding, petting Blurp's furry head.
I'm falling in love with her.
"If you make each other happy, that's what matters, Adam." Rocket watched Adam's slow movements as the towering golden man delicately lifted the petite woman into his strong arms. Her head cradled against his shoulder so she was comfortable and secure against his chest.
She stayed asleep, a small smile on her chapped lips.
"I've to put her in bed, Captain. I'll see you in the morning." Adam smiled calmly at his leader, nodding in silent respect as he made his way to the back of the apartment to her bedroom, carrying her into the quiet darkness.
Rocket witnessed Adam place her onto the mattress on her bed, carefully extracting her from his arms and cloaking the sheets around her peaceful form, and he leaned down to brush her forehead with his own lips…
"Don't go." She pleaded in the night.
"Never." Adam promised her, declaring his devotion without hesitation or irony with only one word.
Little did either of them know the limits to which Adam Warlock would be willing to go for the woman he cherished most deeply in his heart.
He would go so far as the Underworld, into the burning and freezing depths of the River Styx; Adam would pay the price of his soul to salvage hers. For not even death could keep them from saving each other.
As Thanos was willing to sacrifice his own daughter for an Infinity Stone, Adam would not allow such a fate to befall his beloved.
Even if she had died for him… he would not let that stand. He would see her live a blissful and healthy life into old age.
After all, he was not only a Guardian of the Galaxy, but the truest hero of her soul.
*Show me the way let me see
Into your soul, let me breathe
I would wait through the ages
And watch you sleep straight through the night…
Sleep, darling, sleep…
Dream, darling, dream…