Jennifer let Groot down when they got closer to the Milano so she could run-jog to the official stereo inside the ship, and found a song she would like to hear playing before she discards her filthy clothes.

"You got it Gamora?" Jen asks her fellow assassin, who was busy searching for the handcuffs to place Nebula in. Jen turns up the volume to the song 'Lakeshore Drive.'

"It?!" Nebula roars irately. Her dark black eyes peer at Jennifer full of revulsion. The Terran woman flung her dirty jacket to the pile of dirty clothes waiting to be cleaned, and lifted her chin offended by the cyborg.

"She didn't call you it!" Gamora calmly reassures Nebula. "She meant me finding the cuffs and getting you settled. And yes, thank you Jen. See you up front."

Jen nods to the feuding pair while walking into her minimalist area of living, pulling down the temporary, ragged curtain since she is only changing her shirt to a light-grey that still smelled clean. While doing so, she looks down at her remaining pink scar from the backfired bullet Ronan sent her way. It was small, extending from right beneath her breasts to a few inches above the navel of her flat stomach. The memory of it happening all a blur, as if she was simply punched in prison.

"And there ain't no road just like it
Anywhere I found
Running south on Lake Shore Drive heading into town—" The song drifts through her curtain.

The ship's engines were spurring while it lifted itself up into the air before shifting course and cruises safely above the Sovereign. Jennifer watched out of the window the sunlight slowly fade, but completely ignored the bronzy golden city below. Refreshed, she comes out of her flight cabin seeing Peter outside of his, shirtless and sniffing his new chosen shirt as well before slipping it overhead. He went with a grey one too but with the silly marketing words in Teneyck language, similar to a ship's chart font: "Gears Shift. Dust, cement, stone, ash. A Teneyck Galaxy Invention."

She didn't realize she had stopped and ogled at him while he did that minimal task. His abs she thought were non-existent are now highlighted when he raised his arms to put his shirt on. But shaking her head of any fluttery feelings deciding to give her friend some space, Jen goes to the hull to do her shift as co-pilot with Rocket as pilot.

"There you are, was wonderin' when you'd come around," Rocket preps the ship for breaking the atmosphere and taking off to space. The bright orange sunset making Jennifer reminisce her childhood. "Can't wait to get baldy to Xandar and collect that bounty."

"Yep, that'll be nice to sit on," Jen comments on the bounty watching the last of the sunset before the two pilots switched gears and pushed the accelerator moving them into space.

"You didn't want to wash your hair? Because I got the controls, we're just going to cruise our way there," Rocket offers, glancing briefly to Jen.

"Does it look bad? It seemed alright for now—"

"—No! It looks great like always, I meant if you just want to freshen up and relax some…" Rocket was acting very awkward, he shifted himself in his seat. "You look sad 'bout something."

She shakes her head, resting her right hand on her thigh palm faced down. "No just thinking about way back then. Sunsets do that to you."

Rocket, busy facing ahead steering the ship, but a thoughtful smile crossed his face. "That was a good view, huh. The Ayesha broad got 'ya thinking about your parents too?"

Jennifer couldn't hide the hurt from her face. She had shared her story like the rest of them after barely a month together. It was the first time sharing her pain with someone other than Peter. It felt good to open up how she missed her parents as a child, and for the first time cried as an adult trying to understand why Yondu kept her and Peter and taught them how to live a life in space.

A very tough and rough life. It didn't help they were raised by and with thieves, smugglers, criminals, bandits, mercenaries, bounty hunters and space pirates. Jen and Peter's moral compass and Earthly views are what kept them strong and alive.

"It came up, but didn't stay too long," Jen replies. "Got to repress some things that aren't yours anymore, right?"

Rocket hums inaudibly, barely hearing him. She couldn't tell if he agreed or disagreed, but the raccoon changes the sensitive subject. "Anyway, how's your scar doing?"

After pulling a lever left on the control dash to even her side of the ship, she lets her head relax against the seat, letting out a sigh.

"It's there and baby pink. No telling how long it'll remain, didn't think it was that deep of a hit still. At the time it was just embedded in my vest," she responds. "I still stand by that."

"Well it doesn't look bad now at all."

Jennifer almost let his comment go past her, but she realized what he had said and he doesn't seem to either.

"Wait, when did you see my scar? You only saw it right after the battle to help me with the gel…"

"Shit, I was walking past your cabin coming in and your curtain blew up as I walked past and noticed it," Rocket sheepishly answers. "Was going to ask you anyway…"

"Just now? You mean just moments ago after leaving the Sovereign?" Jen wants to confirm, feeling embarrassed one of her friends saw her half-naked and now here she is flying right next to him. It's only been 3 months with her wild group of new friends, but it already felt like 3 years. It didn't mean she was immediately comfortable with everything.

Rocket takes both his paws off the ship's console to gesture in elaboration. "If moments ago means boarding right behind you, and you went to your cabin to take off your dirty shirt, I was putting away my bag before coming up here and the curtain blew out. I looked up expecting you to walk out for your shift but… you get the picture!" Rocket growls to himself just as embarrassed.

"What picture?" Peter comes up behind Jen's seat, tapping it to the melody of the song about to end.

Jen saves the embarrassment of them both of them by lying. "The picture Ayesha should've taken glaring at me. Rude inconsiderate douchebag." Fool's gold slut… She nearly says aloud.

Rocket inhaled a large breath biting back pent up anger. "Did see that, wasn't gonna mention. That was out of line of her."

Peter shook his head, putting a hand on top of Jen's shoulder.

"What would she have told you? That you're the Earthiest chick being she's ever met?"

"No, something a little complimentary, but insulting me with poise at the same time," Jennifer thinks aloud her thoughts from earlier before glancing up at Peter. "Are you good?"

"Yeah, all fine. Let me take over this, I got it," Peter patted her shoulder beckoning for her to get up and let him fly so he could clear his head and he can have his time to relax. How he got so good at flying was doing it so often growing up, and it's easy for him to do. But some flights he has his hiccups still…

"Hey Jen," Rocket speaks from his seat, not facing her but knowing she's listening. "About what I said."

"It's alright Rocket. It happens. Thanks," Jen hides her blush just in time for Drax to come stand in the front. Jen took her seat in the middle chair with only a navigating console and some small firing weapons.

When all was good and quiet the ship's alarm starts going off making them all freeze.

"This is weird," Peter gets everyone's attention looking at his radar. "We got a Sovereign fleet approaching from the rear."

"Why would they do that?" Jennifer asks not freaking out just yet. Maybe they'll just pull them over or something? Her gut says otherwise.

Drax answers quickly, "Probably 'cause Rocket stole some of their batteries." And there goes my hunch, Jen's face turns sour.

"Dude!" Rocket shouts put out.

"Right… he didn't steal some of those." Drax corrects himself poorly. "I don't know why they're after us, what a mystery this is."

Then someone fired at their ship very near the hull, scraping a millimeter from the glass. And more shots were aimed at their ship. Jennifer pulls up the console and expands the hologram to look at the live navigation.

"What were you thinking?" Peter calls to Rocket, the both of them maneuvering through laser shots.

"Dude, they were really easy to steal!" Rocket states.

"That's your defense?" Gamora races up to the front, shook up and frustrated at Rocket as well.

"Come on!" Rocket defends himself. "You saw how that High Priestess talked down to us. Now I'm teaching her a lesson!"

"She did do that but stealing… now 60 vessels!" Jennifer shouts the data to the two arguing egos, feeling the ship turn upside down before reversing back to an upwards position.

"I didn't realize your motivation was altruism." Peter speaks with a low tone dripping with sarcasm. "It's really a shame the Sovereign's mistaking your intentions and they're trying to kill us."

"Exactly," Rocket waves his hand finally being understood.

"I was being sarcastic!" Peter barks.

"Oh, no! You're supposed to use a sarcastic voice!" Rocket bites back with equal cynicism. "Now I look foolish!"

"Can we put your bickering on a hold until after we survive this massive space battle?" Jennifer breaks the fight berating them to focus.

Peter announces immediately, "More incoming!"

"Good, I want to kill some guys!" Rocket rumbles before outright yelling. "AHH! AGH!"

"You're not killing anyone all those ships are remotely piloted." Gamora tells the trigger-happy raccoon. Jennifer, meanwhile, witnesses the growing fleets of the small ships and operates the flaps until feeling her right-hand twitch holding the lever. Quickly she tries getting Gamora's attention but Peter needs an answer right then.

"What's the nearest habitable planet?" He calls behind him.

"Uh… It's called Berhert," Jennifer replies tilting her head, not hearing of it before. Now she tells Gamora, "My wrist is acting up, can you take over?"

Gamora slides into Jen's place and takes the lever, looking down at the coordinates.

"Your wrist? Are 'ya hurt?" Rocket asks while he fires, taken aback.

Peter groans, "No time for a hurt wrist Jen!"

"She's hurt!" Rocket yells at the daft Captain.

"No carpals tunnel, cramped up," Jen clarifies Rocket's question, wobbling with the ship, grabbing onto the ceiling bar and strap to hold on.

Drax leans over to make a side comment to Jen, reaching for her right hand which she pulls to herself.

"You want me to squeeze it really hard? Like massaging but with the intent to make the nerves of your hand explode pain-free."

"No that won't help at all," Jen says flatly, knowing that's exactly not what she needs right now.

"How many jumps to Berhert?" Peter asks loud and clear.

"Only one," Gamora reads aloud. "But the access point is 47 clicks away. And you have to go through that quantum asteroid field."

They all look to the right where there are thousands of dark blue asteroids, floating and rolling innocently through space. Immediately they're ship begins to fire at most of them to evaporate them from their flight path with the Sovereign fleet hot on their trail.

"Quill, to make it through that you'd have to be the greatest pilot in the universe," Drax expresses his doubt.

"Lucky for us, I…"

"I am." Rocket and Peter say in unison.

"What are you doing?" Rocket did a double-take at Quill, shifting his lever back down.

"I've been flying this rig since I was 10 years old," Peter informs him matter-of-factly.

Rocket tops him with confidence. "I was cybernetically engineered to pilot a spacecraft."

"You were cybernetically engineered to be a douchebag!" Peter insults.

Jennifer barks, "That was unnecessary Quill."

"Stop it." Gamora warns the two arguing idiots flying the ship. Nothing good can come from that.

"Later on tonight, you're gonna be laying down, there's gonna be something squishy in your pillowcase," Rocket begins to casually tell a devious plan. "And you're gonna be like, "what's this?", and it's gonna be because I put a turd in there!"

Jennifer throws her head against the wall of the ship with a thud and lets out a very long sigh.

"I feel you Jen." Gamora didn't have to look behind her to see the annoyed woman. "Groot cover your ears." Sure enough, Baby Groot was resting atop Rocket's seat watching all the colorful lasers shoot past them with a beaming smile.

Peter off-handedly looks to his left at the now mean raccoon to threaten back, "You put your turd in my bed and I shave you!"

"Oh, it won't be my turd. It'll be Drax's!" Rocket snarls, expecting the booming laughter of Drax. That's all the support he needs.

"I have famously huge turds!" Drax proudly exclaims, winking at Rocket who sniggers back.

"We're about to die, and this is what we're discussing?" Gamora states the obvious not wanting to accept this kind of fate.

"Well I lost my bet, think I'm going to beg for y'all to stop with the sarcasm now," Jennifer recalls, bringing up words that felt like were said yesterday.

Drax shakes his head, looking to his prison friend in disappointment, "Knew it."

"Son of a…" Rocket pulls the throttle one way, while Peter does his another. The Milano veering up and down miraculously avoiding many shots. But they are managing to scrape against some asteroids.

"Dude! Seriously!" Peter stresses.

"Hey! Let me…" Rocket fires at one last asteroid before the ship takes a sharp turn. As both pilots still fight for control of the direction of the ship, an asteroid hit their ship sending them spinning like a top out of control. To make matters worse, a massive hole was created in below deck in the back of the ship.

It causes a heavy draft and everyone clings to what they are near for life while the pilots maneuver efficiently now to gain control of the ship. Peter catches Baby Groot, who was lifted up into the air by the draft, and flings him back to Drax catching him with a bare hand.

Jen's eyes squeeze shut tighter hearing the yells of Nebula being affected by the exposure to space, and her feet felt heavier than normal holding her ground.

Hearing this as everyone else is, Peter taps his control pad to unlock the guard gate to block the hole. Thankfully it was their emergency evacuation door that was blown out, and the flat where they use space-suit extensions mostly for "fun."

"Idiots!" Nebula yells, confirming her alive. Jennifer caught Gamora's eye, couldn't help but smirk but Gamora didn't return it.

Rocket had a full smile plastered on his face, proving his argument. "Well, that's what you get when Quill flies." Gamora throws a loose piece of metal at him in frustration.

"We still have a Sovereign craft behind us!"

"Our weapons are down." Peter announces.

Drax shakes his head before placing Groot safely on Gamora's shoulder tucked in her hair. He nods to Jen knowing what he has to do, which is use the spacesuit and tether, and with a gun shoot down the remaining craft.

"20 clicks to the jump! Hold on." Gamora begins to countdown the clicks. Jennifer watches Drax disappear down the porthole steps between the two Captains to get below deck and to the back of the ship.

"Agh!" Jennifer shrieks when they are hit above their heads shaking the entire ship and causing it to rumble almost to pieces. But those rumbles were only more shots! Sparks were flying all throughout the cabin.

"15 clicks to the jump!"

"10 clicks!"

After 3 minutes an explosion was heard and sure enough, Jen glanced over at the navigation chart and saw that no more fleets were on their tail…

"Five clicks!"

"Guys…" Jennifer trails off in alarm seeing Sovereign crafts that were left behind in the asteroids suddenly appear on either side of the ship, swerving and forming perfect lines of fire. They had no chance.

"Son of a…" Peter sees from his right side in shock. "They went around the field!"

Jennifer saw the flashes like tiny specks of lightning and held her breath, closing her eyes at the immediate laser fires at their beloved ship. Not only sparks were everywhere now causing small fires, but the glass to see out is being cracked.

Rocket covered his eyes and turned in his seat to check on a quiet Jen before swiveling back around to hold onto the controls. But to everyone's utter surprise and amazement, someone had fired at all of the Sovereign crafts all at once, destroying them all.

"What was that?!" Jennifer exclaims, opening her eyes seeing all of the craft's demise.

"One click!" Gamora shouts. Obviously, no one can focus on what just happened either. They prep for the jump point finally. However, Jennifer notices Drax is still out there on a small monitor.

Quickly acting, she tells Gamora before throwing herself down the same porthole Drax took, "I'm getting Drax."

"Wha- He's still out there?!" Gamora's eyebrows shoot up with her voice. None of the remaining guys noticed her walking between them and going under.

"What is that?" Rocket asked.

"Who cares? That's the jump point! Go!" Peter thrusts the ship with its last amount of energy and get them through.

Below deck, Jennifer raced to the jump flat right when they crossover into Berhert's atmosphere. The wind gust so strong that any of the ship's parts flying off took out the oxygen guard gate.

Right when she gets there, the tether restraint had snapped with the connection piece. She caught it with both hands, seeing Drax be tossed in the wind far behind the Milano, but soon the draft pulls her from the ship into the open air.

Jennifer yells above her lungs now gripping the side of the ship holding another person's weight flailing behind her in the ship's exhaust and excess smoke and flames. Unfortunately, that heavy weight was Drax's solid self. However, if it was the wind helping her keep grip or not, she felt no soreness or labored breath keeping herself firm.

Mid-screaming, her eyes opened tightening her grip and keeping it still, but staring at her hand, her mouth drops open and eyes blink twice. Not her right hand with the mark, but her left hand gripping the ship's metal was emitting a purple glow. Her skin was even showing signs of splitting open with a familiar purple light…

She looks behind still yelling in strain to check on Drax, who was yelling as always and looked fine from far away, but her eyes dart to her right hand with the mark. The glove covering it, but all up and down her exposed arm and fingertips was the same purple glow and cracking skin.

Thick black smoke and sparks from the ship flurried past her, brushing against her skin only scaring her more while yelling and holding on for her life as the ship took a nose dive.

The sound of trees slapping the bottom of their ship and soon the ship slicing through the trees snapping them in half screamed back in Jen's ears.

Her eyes now squinting open, trying to see but the purple glow on her hands only grew brighter as Drax's weight was hitting the trees and the tether cord connection piece was shaking her right arm violently.

Her yells intensified as she was engulfed in the black smoke taking her back to 3 months ago when she was holding the Power Stone. She stared at her right arm in horror, seeing the cracking ceased completely and began to heal itself, now her veins flowed with the purple glow.

Feeling a shift deep in her body, the strain of her hands found balance and rest.

The Milano's crash was slowing down, and the smoke blew out to clear air once the ship scraped against solid ground for the first time, but Jennifer's grip remained firm and painless. Her yells stopped as well.

Not long after, the ship stopped sliding across the ground with the back tilted up in the air. Jen let go of the siding and fell to the ground, discarding the broken tether connection piece to the side when Drax landed on the other side of the blackened tree-line.

The Terran woman was standing resolutely firm and alright much to her surprise. Looking down at her nervously shaking hands and the balls of purple energy sitting in the palms of her hands slowly dissipated with her calming breaths. Black ashes fell from the grey sky and onto her eyelashes.

"That was awesome! Yes!" Drax's booming laughter echoes in the once peaceful woods.

Jen jumps when she hears the shouts of Gamora in the front of the ship. As if the energy in her hands reacted to her cautious emotions, any trace of the purple glow and energy disappeared completely. She felt up and down her arms and even lifted her t-shirt exposing the scar above her stomach.

"Jen!" a coughing Peter caught her exactly like that and ran up to her, taking her hands and pulling her away from the destroyed blue and orange ship now unrecognizably black with fires going out on their own.

Once they stood to the far side where Drax had landed, Peter took her face in his hands with such force she thought her neck would break looking up at him. His blue eyes full of worry, under his breath he started to say, "What was that—" until Gamora interrupted walking up to the group.

Rocket had found Drax's large gun, and with Baby Groot safe on his shoulder led cuffed Nebula to the safe spot and tossed Drax his weapon to guard their prisoner bounty.

"Look at this! Where is the other half of our ship!?" Gamora pointedly asks Peter and Rocket.

"My ship." Peter corrects the angry woman. Jen blanks at him.

Gamora's jaw clenches, pointing at the two pilots before stepping back in a vent, "Either one of you could have gotten us through that field!... had you flown with what's between your ears instead of what's between your legs!"

"If what's between my legs had a hand on it…" Peter whispers to Drax, thinking Gamora wouldn't hear. Jen looked at him in disgust and annoyance while her arms crossed. "I guarantee I could have landed this ship with it."

Gamora scolds with a level head, "Peter, we almost died because of your arrogance."

"More like because he stole… the Anulax batteries!" Peter rebukes pointing a finger at Rocket standing quietly.

"They're called… Harbulary batteries." Drax calmly puts his assertion in.

"No, they're not!" Peter throws his arms in the air aggravated with Drax's thick skull.

"Do you know why I did it, Star-Munch?" Rocket's glower and tone tips Peter over the edge. "Hmm?"

"I'm not gonna answer to "Star-Munch." Peter whispers with a leer.

"I did it because I wanted to!" He growls.

"Dick," Peter whispers under his breath at the raccoon.

Rocket had heard and tried making amends, setting Groot down, "What are we even talking about this for? We just had a little man save us by blowing up fifty ships!"

"How little?" Jennifer asks quietly.

Rocket holds his thumb and forefinger close together, his tone lowering to a hum with her, "Well, I don't know, like this?"

Gamora skeptically looks at Rocket's representation and thinks aloud, "A little one-inch man saved us?"

"Well, if he got closer, I'm sure he would be much larger."

"It's how eyesight works, you stupid raccoon!" Peter actually said with casual sarcasm.

Rocket raises his voice, now deep, "Don't call me a raccoon!"

"Peter, knock it off!" Jennifer shouts at her now super annoying friend. "You're not helping."

"I'm sorry," Peter genuinely hushes. "I took it too far... I meant trash panda." Jen glares daggers at her friend's head.

Rocket looks around them all in confusion including Nebula.

"Is that better?" He evenly asks anyone. Jen not able to say anything, hoping Peter lets it go from here.

Drax softly answers shaking his head, "I don't know."

But no, Peter snickers to Drax. "It's worse. It's so much worse."

"You son of a…" Rocket raises his voice once again, letting out an unnatural shriek from the back of his throat like a wild-animal raccoon from Earth would make. "I've had it with you!"

The sound of a ship overhead drowns out the arguing guys about to fight. They break apart and look up with the others, arming themselves as they step back until they are in a tight circle with backs to each other.

"Someone followed you through the jump point," Nebula breaks the tension. "Set me free, you'll need my help."

"I'm not a fool, Nebula," Gamora spits but Nebula insists. With heads tilted back watching a white, egg-shaped ship prepare to land, Jen took out her pistol blasters that were attached to her thigh and hip. Rocket on her left and Peter at her right.

"You are a fool if you deprive yourself a hand in combat." Nebula's affront right behind Jen.

"You'll attack me the moment I let you go!" Gamora shook her head glaring at her sister.

Nebula hesitated. "No, I won't."

Peter interrupts dryly, "You'd think an evil supervillain would learn how to properly lie."

"I bet it's the one-inch man!" Drax smiles in expectation.

The egg ship stops in the air above the leveled trees and lowers itself to land atop the debris and fallen limbs. When it came to a land, in place of its door was this orange jelly substance acting as a solid veil. Easily, all of them can make out two shadow figures behind it standing still.

Jen naturally bites her lip crossing her pistols across her chest. keeping calm in order to not make her 'issue' act up again. 'I expect you to fight the best,' Yondu's motivating words randomly cross her mind.

When the dust and leaves settle from the new ship's land, the jelly door was tapped on the inside by one of them causing a ripple effect and water trickle sound, opening the door.

Out walks a human man with a full head of dark grey-hair and finely trimmed beard with white hair from old age. He adorns neutrals and darks with a one-shouldered cape. On his right is a female being clothed in dark green suit with black pants, and antennae sticking up from her forehead. Her dark black eyes stare at nothing in particular as she plays with her hands.

The man's light blue eyes and chiseled, squared-jaw face looks directly at Peter. "After all these years, I've found you." Gamora's hand moved to her back reaching for her sword. Rocket steps beside Jennifer, holding his gun firm.

"And who the hell are you?" Peter asks in misunderstanding.

"I figured my rugged good looks would make that obvious," the man responds with no ill, a twinkle forming in his gaze. "My name is Ego… and I'm your dad, Peter."

A/N: So, how about Jennifer's "issue"? aka her… possible… powers? Do y'all have any theories? Next chapter up soon!