ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ | ғᴀᴍɪʟʏ ʀᴇᴜɴɪᴏɴ...ʏᴀʏ ?

————

BERHERT
M20 22A4834126+306CA12

"LOOK AT THIS!" Gamora shrieked, her arms gesturing to the destroyed ship, with one wing completely torn off. "Where's the other half of our ship?!"

"My ship." Peter muttered, looking at his feet and kicking a stone away. Lexi walked up behind Peter, flicking his ear.

Peter flinched away, yelping. He rubbed it with a pout, glaring at Lexi. She only glared back.

"Either one of you could've gotten us through that field, have you flown with what's between your ears, then from what's between your legs!" Gamora scolded Peter and Rocket, pointing a stern finger at them before turning away.

"If what's between my legs hand a hand in it," Peter shook his head, raising an open hand. "I guarantee I could've landed this ship."

Lexi's hand met with the back of his head sharply, earning another yelp from him. "Peter! We almost died because of your arrogance!"

"No, because he stole the Anulax batteries!" Peter argued back, pointing at Rocket.

"They're called Harbulary batteries." Drax said calmly.

"No, they're not!" Peter exclaimed.

"You know why I did it, Star-Munch? Hmm?" Rocket asked.

"I'm not gonna answer to Star-Munch." Peter said, not meeting eyes with Rocket.

"Maybe because I wanted to!"

Peter looked down on him, turning away. "Dick."

"What are we even talking about this for?! We just had a little man save us by blowing up fifty ships!"

"How little?" Drax asked him.

"Eh, I don't know...like this?" Rocket held his fingers index and thumb an inch apart.

"A little, one inch man saved us?" Gamora asked, hands resting on her hips.

"Well, if he got closer, I'm sure he would be much larger." Rocket replied with a lazy shrug.

"That's how eyesight works, you stupid raccoon." Peter spat, looking down at the galactic mammal.

Rocket turned to him, growling. "Don't call me a raccoon!"

Peter nodded. "I'm sorry. I took it too far. I meant trash panda."

Rocket looked around at the rest of his teammates for a sign to see if the name was better or worse. His eyes met with Lexi's, a look of a lost child upon his face. "Is that better?"

Drax shrugged. "I don't know."

Lexi shook her head at Rocket, closing her eyes in disappointment. "It's worse."

Peter looked over to Lexi as well, snickering loudly. "It's so much worse!"

"YOU SON OF A—!" Rocket raged, hissing as he jumped at Peter.

Peter jerked away, hiding behind Lexi. "No! Back up!"

"I've had it with you!" Rocket continued to yell, moving from side to side to get around Lexi, to Peter but Peter copied him; moving the opposite way of Rocket.

Lexi stood in place, sighing loudly. She remained untouched by them, allowing them to fight.

Nebula looked up, watching as a white oval-shaped ship slowly lowered down to the ground in front of them. "Someone followed you through the jump-point."

Everyone unloaded their weapons and aimed them towards the sky, backing up into a circle until their shoulders were touching.

"Set me free, you'll need my help." Nebula said cooly, wiggling her wrists around in her restraints.

"I'm not a fool, Nebula," Gamora replied.

"You are a fool if you deprive yourself of a hand in combat." Nebula argued.

"You'll attack me the moment I let you go."

"No, I won't."

"You would think an evil super-villain would learn to properly lie." Peter quipped, giving a glance to Nebula, who returned it with a bone-chilling glare.

"What if it's the one-inch man?" Lexi smirked, casually supporting her gun between her hands. Drax smiled at her, excited.

As the ship lowered more to the ground, the group slowly separated, standing in a line instead of a circle.

The large orange circle on the side of the ship seemed to peel back, revealing a grey-haired man, and a black-hair woman, dressed in green who had two antennas on her forehead.

The man was the first to speak up. "After all these years, I've found you."

Everyone noticed he was staring directly at Peter, so Peter spoke up. "And who the hell are you?"

"I figured my rugged good looks would make that obvious." the man replied with a cool shrug, thumbs hooked on the belt loops on his pants.

"My name is Ego...I'm your dad, Peter."

————

Nightfall fell upon the planet. Everyone now was sitting around a fire, listening to Ego's story.

"...I hired Yondu to pick you up when your mother passed away. But, instead of returning you, Yondu kept you...and you. My apologies." Ego looked over to Lexi, who was seated beside Peter.

Lexi shook her head, raising her hands. "No, no. No worries. Wouldn't trade this life for any other." she smiled, momentarily resting her head on Peter's broad shoulder.

Ego looked back at Peter, continuing his parlance. "I had no clue as to why."

Peter looked over to Lexi. "Well, I'll tell you why. Cause we were skinny little kids, who could squeeze into places adults couldn't. It made it easier for thievin'."

Lexi noticed how quickly and awkwardly Peter talked.

"Well, I've been trying to track you down ever since." Ego said, shoving a spoonful of food into his mouth.

"I thought Youdu was your father." Drax said, looking between Peter and Lexi.

Both snapped their heads in his direction, a bewildered expression on their faces. "What?"

"We've been together this whole time...and you thought Yondu was our actual blood relative?" Lexi asked, leaning forward.

Drax slurped at a jelly-like food from his spoon, lowering it for a second. "You three look exactly alike!"

"One's blue!" Rocket exclaimed beside him, shooting Drax a peeved look.

"No, he's not our father!" Peter almost shouted back, the same look as Rocket on his face.

"Yondu was the man who abducted us, remember?" Lexi tried to explain calmly, but her words came out more forced. "He kicked the crap outa us, saying that how you learn to fight, and kept us in terror by threatening to eat us...that piece of shit."

Ego gazed up at Lexi. "Eat you?!"

Lexi met eyes with him, nodding. "Yeah."

Ego slammed his spoon back into his bowl. "Ah, that son of a bitch!"

"How did you locate us now?" Gamora asked from her seat, which was on the other side of the crackling fire.

"Well, even where I reside, out past the edge what's known...we've heard tell of the man they call Star-Lord." Ego chuckled, motioning to Peter. "What's to say, we head out there right now? Your associates are welcome. Even that triangle-faced monkey, there."

Everyone looked at Rocket, who shyly reached up and shamefully rubbed his snout.

"I promise you...it's not like any other place you've seen. And there," Ego looked down at Peter as he stood up. "I can explain your very special heritage. Finally, get to be the father I've always wanted to be." Ego paused, "Excuse me, I gotta take a whiz."

As soon as Ego moved away, he turned to Lexi. "I'm not buying it."

Lexi placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, comfortingly rubbing her thumb back and forth. "Let's go for a walk."

The two got up, moving away to walk into the dark forest that surrounded them.

Once they were far away enough, Peter rolled his eyes annoyingly. "Give me a break! After all this time, you're gonna show up, and all of a sudden, you wanna be my dad?"

"I hear you." Lexi hummed, letting Peter vent.

"And by the way, this could be a trap. Okay? The Kree purists, the Ravagers...they all want us dead!"

"I know, but..."

"But what?"

"Remember that story you told me, about David Hasselhoff? The guy with the magic boat?" Lexi asked, stopping and folding her arms. Peter stopped as well, standing close to her. So close, that she could feel his body heat radiating on to her.

Peter looked at her through the darkness, a sullen look upon his features. "Not a magic boat. A talking car."

"Whatever." she quickly said, waving it off. "As a child, you carried his picture in your pocket and you would tell everyone at school that he was your father, but he was out of town, remember? You always told this story at school before we got abducted..."

"Shooting Knight Rider, or touring with his band in Germany. I told you this when I was drunk, why are you bringing this up now?" Peter placed his hands on his hips, shifting his weight to one foot.

"I love that story." Lexi said gently, placing a hand on his bicep.

"I hate that story." Peter dismissed, not seeming to notice her hand. "It's so sad! As a kid, I used to see all the other kids playing catch with their dad. And I wanted that, more than anything in the world."

"I wanted that too, Peter." she said, removing her hand to tuck it back under her other arm. "Remember, my mother passed away when I was born. I didn't get a mom figure in my life. Like you, I didn't get a dad in my life either. I know how you feel. This is my point, Peter. What if this man could be your Hasselhoff?"

Lexi pointed to her right, towards the direction of their small campsite. "I never got the chance to have a father, Peter. Nonetheless actual parents. You do."

Peter stayed quiet, thinking over what she stated. After a moment, Lexi grabbed his hands to draw back his attention. "Listen, if he ends up being evil, we'll just kill him. Simple as that. Okay? I'll let you do the honours yourself. If you don't want to, I'll do it. You know how I get a kick out of it."

Peter seemed to calm physically, comforted by the tone and quietness of her voice. He looked down to see their hands intertwined, before up at Lexi. She smiled at him, which he returned.