ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ sɪx | sᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ·s ɴᴏᴛ ʀɪɢʜᴛ...

————

PETER LOOKED AROUND AT THE LAND WITH A THOUGHT COMING TO MIND. "So I guess this could all be mine someday, huh?"

"Rocket? Rocket, are you there?" Lexi said, ignoring Peter's comment and speaking into the transmitter device they packed. She frowned, not receiving anything back.

She felt hands on her elbows and lifted her gaze, without turning her head. "Hey, Peter, what'cha doing?"

He leaned in close, his lips close to her ear. "Dance with me."

It sent a shiver down her back, one that made her question it.

Bring It On Home To Me by Sam Cooke softly played in the background, setting the mood for him.

Lexi forced a humorous laugh, turning to look at him in the eye. "I can't dance, you know this."

"You remember us dancing back on Xandar, right? You can. C'mon, this is Sam Cooke, one of the greatest Earth singers of all time...but you know this, don't you?" Peter pressed, taking the device from her hands and tossing it down onto the seat beside them.

He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, making her laugh.

Taking her small hands in his, he pulled her towards the middle of the balcony, swaying her slowly. Lexi tried to force back an abashed smile as she placed one of her hands on his shoulder.

Peter raised the hand that was clasped in his, prompting her to spin. She obliged, turning slowly whilst moving outward.

When Lexi spun back in, she let go of her resisting—smiling so wide that she flashed her teeth. Peter returned the smile; he couldn't help it.

The pair swayed slowly in sync, letting the rhythm of the song lead them.

"Drax thinks you're not a dancer," Peter commented, his smile dying down into an amused smirk. Lexi chuckled, nodding along.

"I heard."

The two fell into another comfortable silence – besides the music – and the two studied each other's features.

"When are we gonna do something about this unspoken thing between us?" Peter mumbled. Lexi's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What unspoken thing?"

"This...Cheers – Sam and Diane; guy and a girl on a TV who dig each other, but never say it because the rating would go down – sorta thing."

Lexi laughed. "Who says dig anymore? Any plus, I never even watched Cheers. So, there's no unspoken thing here."

"Well, it's a catch-22, because if you said it, then it would be spoken, and you'd be a liar. So, by not saying it...you're telling the truth, and admitting that there is."

Lexi shook her head. "You really put a lot of thought into this...huh?"

She grabbed his hands, prying them off of her. "What we should be discussing, is this place. Gamora said that something doesn't feel right." she grabbed the device off the bench, walking back inside Peter's room.

Peter's nose scrunched up. "What are you talking about?"

"Gamora was saying how Mantis was talking to Drax, and it was really suspicious. I mean, I trust Gamora on this one. Gamora said that Mantis was really scared of something..."

"Why are you try to take this away from me?" Peter squinted, walking back into the room behind Lexi.

Lexi raised her eyebrows. "I'm not trying to take anyth–"

"He's my father. He's blood." Peter interrupted, growing angrier by the second. "You wanted me to come here!"

Lexi furrowed her brows, slightly taken back that Peter was almost yelling at her. She stood from the bench she was sitting on, ready to hold her ground. "You have blood back on Earth, but you never wanted to go back there."

"Again, you wanted me to come here!" Lexi rolled her eyes. "And Earth...Earth was the place where my mother died in front of me."

"No. It was because that place was real, and here...you're letting this all get to your head! If you recall, my parents also died on Earth. In fact, my father died on the same day your mom did! And do you see me whining over it?! No! I still want to go back to Earth! It would be a fucking dream!"

Peter grew furious. "This is real! I'm only half-human, remember?!"

Lexi scoffed, walking away with Peter following. "That's what I mean, I'm worried about the other half."

She sighed to herself in frustration, shaking the transmitter in her fist. "You know what? I'm gonna give this to Gamora, and see if she can contact Rocket with this."

"Oh, I get it. It's because I'm part god, and you guys like it when I'm the weak one. Or, is it because I finally have a dad, and you don't?" Peter spat, following Lexi around the room.

Lexi turned on her heel, shooting him a deadly glare. "You take that back."

"You know what? This is not Cheers after all! This is whatever the show is where one person is willing to open themselves up to a new possibility, and the other person is a jerk, who doesn't trust anybody! It's a show that doesn't exist! That's why it would get zero ratings!" Peter shouted behind her, holding up his hand as it formed an 'O'.

Lexi stopped in the doorway, turning to look at Peter, giving up on trying to control herself. "I have opened up to you! More than anyone in my entire life, you idiot! You just have your head so far shoved up your ass to see it!"

"I finally found my family, don't you understand?!" Peter bellowed back.

Lexi inhaled in a shaky breath, as the feeling to cry rose in her chest.

She shrugged her shoulders sharply, her ruby locks falling over her shoulders. "I thought you already had."

Peter stayed quiet, allowing Lexi to storm off.

————

Lexi groaned as she was shaken awake from her sleep. She smacked the hand away that was on her shoulder. "Leave me alone."

"Lexi!" Drax's voice thundered, making her flinch before stuffing her head under her pillow. "Go away, Drax. I'm trying to sleep."

"Lexi, you need to wake up! We're all in danger."

"What?" she mumbled hoarsely, slowly pulling her head out and squinting up at him in the dark. Mantis, who stood beside him looked utterly worried. Terrified.

Lexi narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the two. "What's going on?"

————

Drax, Mantis, and Lexi stood in a circle in Peter's room, trying to figure out a way to escape the planet. Suddenly, Gamora and Nebula stormed in.

Gamora marched up to Mantis, taking her by the throat, lifting her into the air and slamming her into the wall. "Who are you people?! What is this place?!"

"Gamora!" Drax and Lexi shouted in unison, "Let her go!"

"The bodies in the cavern, who are they?!" Gamora continued to interrogate Mantis, not faltering the tight grip around her throat.

"Bodies in the cavern?" Lexi repeated to herself, casting Drax a worried look.

Mantis' antenna's lit up, as her own hands wrapped around Gamora's wrist. "You are scared."

Gamora quickly let go of Mantis, backing up with a shaky breath. Gamora looked up at Mantis, her voice almost breaking. "What did she do to me?"

"She already told us everything," Drax said, grabbing Gamora's attention.

"We gotta go if we wanna live." Lexi swallowed, looking around at everyone.

"The bodies, are his children." Mantis stood up, gingerly touching her neck.

Gamora stared at Mantis with a bewildered look. "We need to find Peter now, and get off this damn planet."

"Ego will have won him to his side, by now." Mantis corrected, her eyebrows raising with worry. "He has a way–"

"Can't we just go?" Nebula asked with little tone in her voice.

"No." Lexi snapped sternly, her expression grim. "He is our friend."

"All you guys do is yell at each other. You are not friends." Nebula shook her head disapprovingly.

Drax nodded, looking at everyone with hopeful eyes. "You're right. We're family. We leave no one behind." his eyes landed on Nebula, "Well, except maybe you."