Content Warnings: Abuse/neglect, reference to a forced sexual encounter of a teen turned consensual/IDK how to explain that one, isolation

"Could I please get a wig, dad?" The words came out with confidence neither Nebula or Thanos expected. Nebula stood proud despite her battered appearance, lavender eyes focused on her father as a scowl graced her lips.

Thanos scowled down at the girl from his throne. She should have been trembling from his expression since she already had one strike against her.

Having lost a fight against Gamora left Nebula with missing front teeth and a bloodied lip. She almost beat her this time around but the younger girl always found a way to come out on top. Nebula's main pride in regards to fighting her sister was having broken Gamora's finger in a way that made it impossible for her to balance her dagger on it.

The healer managed to miss it since Nebula's being pushed off the cliff was a more pressing matter. It was the only outcome of her near-death experience that she truly appreciated. Everything else translated into a month and a half of being in pain and isolating herself from everyone.

Thanos raised an eyebrow at Nebula. It was a bit of a shock that the girl said anything at all. He hadn't heard a word out of her in the weeks that followed since he admitted his plan of using cybernetics to turn her into Gamora's equal.

"You have the audacity to ask me after today's failure?" He quirked an eyebrow. Nebula scowled and pressed her tongue against her cheek.

"If it means no more Proxima calling me boy," She glowered at him. "Yes, I do have the audacity."

"No," Thanos shrugged. "You haven't earned one. Failure after failure. You should be grateful I keep you alive after each poor performance."

Nebula dug her teeth into her lower lip. She stood tall and tried to keep her emotions under control. Yelling at him would only ever make things worse. She knew that but couldn't simply accept no as an answer.

"It hasn't grown back," She admitted through gritted teeth. "And Proxima insists on calling me boy instead of using my name. Surely you can at least tell her to lay off?" Thanos didn't say anything, merely scowling at her for several seconds.

"Not until you earn it," He stood from his throne and towered over her, smirking when she stumbled away from him. "Now come. We have a meeting in the infirmary. It is time to check that your cybernetics have healed properly."

The meeting involved nearly four hours of Nebula screaming in pain. Thanos and the biotech put her under the knife to clean up the stitches that surrounded her abdomen. They didn't bother with sedating the child since Thanos claimed they were doing her a favor by cleaning the stitches up and making sure the wounds were not infected.

Nebula screamed the entire time. Her only moment of silence occurred when Thanos forced a bloodied rag into her mouth to muffle her cries. They placed a layer of synthetic material over the incision site and burned it to Nebula's skin in an attempt to mask just how poorly done the first round of stitches were.

She arrived back in the room she and Gamora shared and forced herself to take a shower, not acknowledging her sister once she exited with a towel wrapped around her torso. Nebula clenched her jaw to keep from crying. Her lip was still cracked open from where Gamora had punched her earlier that day. The worst part of the infirmary was Thanos' having asked the biotech to do a thorough sweep of her mouth to make sure it was only baby teeth that got knocked out. His finger in her mouth made it feel as though her jaw was going to dislocate.

Thanos made a point to call Nebula careless for the baby teeth having been knocked out. He went out of his way to make her feel bad for having nearly caused permanent damage to herself. She didn't want to know what would happen the day Gamora punched out her adult ones.

Nebula changed into her pajama bottoms, not trusting the work done to her torso to touch the material of a shirt. She didn't ditch the towel until she was laying in bed with her back toward Gamora, the comforter drawn up to her chin. A few sniffles escaped and she attempted to hum to herself, the sound lost to the sob that left when doing so made her throat hurt.

Her tears were always saved for her pillow. Ronan spent too much time claiming emotions were a weakness. It was frowned upon for her to display anything but the rage that escaped when it came to training with Gamora. Her sister was the only one to see the truly weak side of her.

The adults enjoyed testing her limits. They praised her when she went long periods without an emotional outburst and went out of their way to push her toward her breaking point. Everything was always worse if a training session or punishment resulted in tears or her lashing out at any of them. Her sarcasm toward Thanos from before the infirmary visit must have been why he hadn't opted for sedating her.

Gamora was the only one who understood that Nebula couldn't simply bottle her emotions up. She usually allowed her to cry and comforted her with little question, only speaking when things reached the risk of the older girl drawing attention to their room.

A few sobs escaped when Nebula felt the bed shift. Gamora joined her without a word. It was second nature for the two to share a bed during the nights after things were particularly trying for them.

Gamora was oddly quiet. She was usually quick to reprimand her for being too loud. Instead, the younger girl was staring at the charred skin on her sister's side.

She knew Nebula needed a few days in the infirmary to recover from having been pushed off the cliff. Thanos, Ronan, and Nebula hadn't gone into detail about the work that was done on her. Gamora could only be thankful she hadn't killed Nebula and never brought it up since she didn't want to be the one to start the conversation.

The silver thread that separated synthetic skin from flesh was enough to validate the month where Nebula barely spoke to her. Gamora bit her lip to shield herself from the emotions that were itching to escape. She began to hum softly, the tune shaking when she shifted the comforter to slip an arm around Nebula's middle.

Nebula flinched then leaned into Gamora. Her shoulders shook when her back pressed into her sister. She felt far more vulnerable than usual. Gamora traced her fingers along Nebula's flesh, lightly ghosting over the thin thread over her ribs. She was overly aware of the soft hum that came from inside Nebula.

"Ronan said you almost died," Gamora whispered and pressed her chin to Nebula's shoulder. The girl shuddered in response. "I- I didn't —"

"Don't say anything else," Nebula rasped and squeezed her eyes shut. "It's nothing." She grit her teeth and glanced up at Gamora. "Can you sing?"

Gamora held Nebula close and pressed a kiss to her shoulder. She gave a shaky nod then began to sing softly, continuing until after she was certain her sister was asleep. Silent tears fell from her eyes once she stopped singing. She kept quiet and pressed her forehead to Nebula's shoulder, eventually dozing off.

Several years passed and proved that there would be no difference in the way Thanos raised Nebula and Gamora. Nebula grew used to being the scapegoat, dragged off to the cutting board each time Gamora outdid her. She blamed the younger girl for her condition but wasn't cruel enough to wish the same fate upon her. That alone was what kept her from truly trying to beat Gamora.

They were introduced to a Kree named Korath one week. He appeared to be older than Nebula and had a way of carrying himself that left the sisters incredibly intrigued by him. The girls briefly saw him throughout their lives with Thanos. It was believed that Ronan had a different plan for him than what he was working on with them.

He ended up joining them for training. The biggest annoyance for Nebula came from Thanos' and Ronan's openly praising him and Gamora but never saying anything to her. She didn't allow herself to get close to him but the man still managed to find a way to get under her skin.

His only saving grace was the way he challenged Nebula when it came to fighting each other.
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Gamora and Nebula's innocence was disappearing with each passing week. They had grown older, bodies maturing to a point where their enemies were beginning to see them as an object to lust for instead of children that didn't know how much power they wielded.

There was a mission spent under Ronan's orders that proved to be eye opening. At eighteen, Nebula was able to get an upper hand on how much had changed while Gamora was left perplexed and frozen by a stranger's impulsiveness.

The two killed their way through the ranks of a colony that did not appreciate the idea of claiming Thanos as an ally. They were face to face with the commander and he had little interest in politely conversing with the teen assassins.

Nebula could tell there was something off about the man. She couldn't quite put her finger on it past knowing she did not like the way he ogled her sister. Gamora was oblivious to his looks, only taking note when she gave a spiteful reaction to a lewd comment followed by his gaping at her.

Nebula stepped forward to place herself between Gamora and the man. Her approach was interrupted by his pushing Gamora into the wall behind them, body flush against hers.

"You don't scare me," The man exhaled and pressed his hips against Gamora's, effectively pinning her in her place. The two girls stood frozen, completely thrown off by the new tactic.

"Blue girl," He didn't look to Nebula, leaning down to press his nose against Gamora's neck and inhaling deeply before he continued. "You may tell Ronan I will consider his offer but will not be discussing the matter until I get a taste of this one."

"I beg your pardon," Nebula scowled and took a step closer to him, baring her teeth when she continued. "I will not be telling Ronan a thing unless I have my sister at my side." Her eyes flashed with anger, she didn't dare lay a finger on him since he was stronger than the other men they destroyed.

"If you plan to sample either of us, you would be best off in taking an interest in me," She scowled and stepped forward to shove him away from Gamora. "She is young enough that the Nova Corps would have you behind bars before you so much as laid a finger on her again." Gamora made a sound of disgust and stepped away from him, shifting so she was hidden behind her sister. It took too long for her to have caught on about what was being discussed but that didn't matter now that she was aware of what he and Nebula were alluding to.

"A pity," Nebula addressed Gamora. "I quite liked that uniform on you. We will have to burn it once this cretin makes its decision about how we will be proceeding." She glanced down at him. "Know I shan't be touching you until my supervisor assesses the situation."

She was stalling at this point, unwilling to give her innocence up to an imbecile that was thinking with his dick instead of his head. They didn't trust leaving him alone with one of them so assuming Ronan would check in if they didn't return would have to suffice. Nebula turned her weapons on the man and warned him not to speak. She only stepped down when one of Ronan's lieutenants came in, left chuckling when Gamora gave a rushed update on how things were going.

Ronan volunteered Nebula as a way of negotiating, having agreed that using the younger of the two girls was not in anyone's best interest. Nebula was the expendable one of the two.

"I told him five minutes," Ronan assured Nebula. He raised an eyebrow when she looked disgusted. "I expect you to have that look wiped away once we go to follow through on this transaction. The only time you will be allowed the option of going in for the kill will come about if he expects more of you than what we bargained with."

She was left alone in the room after that, the door of the office opening to reveal the smug-looking commander. He didn't bother speaking to her and opted to shove his tongue down her throat instead.

Nebula didn't have time to think, left breathless from the man's assault on her lips. His hands roamed over her body. She shuddered against him when he slipped his hands beneath her shirt.

She managed to disconnect from what was going on, willingly thinking of anything besides the man that was intent on leaving her lips swollen and assaulting her chest. The only bit of interest he got out of her was when he was finally through with trying to suffocate her with his tongue.

"Good enough," The man breathed against her lips and trailed his fingers along her side. Nebula didn't dare look at him. She felt like she was going to be sick from the experience. He still had a hand beneath her breast, toying with the flesh there while he caught his breath. She barely recognized the alarm from the timer that had been set, shoving him away from her with a scowl.

She had her shirt repositioned over herself in seconds flat, tongue pressed against her cheek once Ronan re-entered the room.

"Well done, Nebula," He chuckled, looking her over for a moment before turning his attention on the man they were bargaining with. "Thanos will be pleased to hear you are the reason we were able to gain this ally with minimal bloodshed."

"Thank you, sir," She forced herself to make eye contact with him and curtsied. "May I be excused now?"

Nebula was out of the room before Ronan even fully said the word yes. She was truly thankful that the spacecraft was nearby since it meant a quick escape and an even quicker trip to the bathroom to get rid of the taste in her mouth.

She didn't say anything once settled back into the quarters she and Gamora shared. Her clothes from the day lay shredded on the floor, Nebula having opted to slip into something more comfortable the first chance she got. She felt tainted from the morning's exchange. It was better her than Gamora though.

Unfortunately for Nebula, her decision in having allowed the man to shove his tongue down her throat did not earn her any favors. Instead, Thanos took it as a sign that the young woman was ready to fully use herself as a weapon. That turned into Thanos pulling her from Ronan's teachings and insisting that she spend more time with Korath since the Kree was proving to be the deviant one of the three children he raised.

He claimed that Korath would teach her to be more appealing to the next ally that needed to be seduced. She and Korath had no choice in the situation. Thanos was sick enough to insist that he and Ronan watch Nebula give up her innocence to the Kree.

They were forced into meeting twice a week after that. Gamora did her best to comfort Nebula after each time, helping her bathe as one of the many attempts at getting rid of the memories. Korath was polite enough to consider Nebula's boundaries and respected her saying no. Thanos, however, appeared to be under the impression that the two were meeting frequently.

She had no feelings for Korath and he admitted that feeling was mutual. They merely used each encounter as an excuse to get rid of pent up frustration and anger toward their living predicaments.

Gamora had a simpler chance at romance. She stuck to her studies and eagerly took Ronan's critiques to heart. There was one day where she and Nebula were paired with one of the lieutenants for training. She could easily refer to that as the best day out of the year.

He had flirted with her and she happily flirted back. They began sneaking around to see one another and she was doing a fairly good job at keeping that under wraps. Nebula was the only one that knew about the secret, having easily earned the information when she called Gamora out on being far too happy one day.

Nebula easily kept the secret since the two having relationships was something Thanos and Ronan forbid. It had been accepted that Korath was "training" Nebula. Gamora was still considered pure and untainted. The sisters were beginning to believe Gamora was being saved for someone and didn't think too far into it past agreeing that the secret fling needed to remain under wraps.

A rather trying practice resulted in Nebula turning to head back to the room she and Gamora shared, ready to attack when her sister grabbed hold of her arm. She nearly slapped her but lowered her hand upon discovering it was just Gamora.

The two had a rapid discussion, the whispers barely loud enough for either to understand what was being said. It ended with Gamora hugging Nebula and murmuring a thank you before she departed in the opposite direction. Nebula gulped and made her way to the bedroom, resting on her bed with a book.

The door opened with a loud bang minutes after Nebula got comfortable, making her jump into a defensive position. Her batons were drawn and electricity sparked at the ends. The quick defensiveness merely earned a chuckle from the intruder. She could recognize the sound from anywhere and quickly sheathed her batons, placing them down on her bed to show she was unarmed before she placed her hands behind her back and took on a submissive stance.

"Father," She exhaled and pressed her tongue against her cheek. He never came looking for her personally so she doubted this was anything to do with her in the first place.

"Nebula," He scowled and looked around the bedroom. Gamora was nowhere to be found. "Where is your sister?"

"Studying, sir," Nebula answered. The lie flowed smoothly through her lips. She locked eyes with him for good measure. "I found a weakness while training this morning. She figured it best to get rid of it before I got the chance to exploit it in front of you."

"Fair enough," Thanos sighed then inched closer to Nebula. She stood her ground and maintained eye contact, unflinching while Thanos looked her over. "I think it is time to test what last week's defeat earned you."

Her ears went red at that and she scoffed, the memory of the defeat still fresh on her mind. She and Gamora went at each other for nearly two hours before Thanos appeared to lose interest in them. The young women were evenly matched to a point where their battles were turning into struggles for power, the two constantly at each other's throats and hoping to find a point of weakness. Gamora was always unrelenting while Nebula simply didn't have the patience to fight until Thanos decided they weren't good enough.

As much as she blamed her sister for the predicament of losing pieces of herself to machinery, she couldn't stomach the idea of Gamora being forced to go through the same thing. The fight ended with Gamora's fingers around her throat. Nebula willed herself to pass out and woke up hours later in the infirmary. There was a patch over her right eye that didn't get removed until days later. Thanos made it clear she wasn't to tamper with the appendage. He gave a sadistic smile when he admitted they pulled her eye from her skull to enhance it.

"Of course, daddy," She heaved a sarcastic sigh and took a step away from Thanos. Nerves were threatening to come into play but she did her best to seem confident. Slipping into sarcasm and backhanded compliments had become the easiest ways to hide her feelings. "I would love to know what you have in store for me."

"It will be in you and your sister's best interest to have told the truth," The Titan sneered, the warning received as Nebula stood up straighter and narrowed her eyes at him.

"I know better than to lie to you," She scowled. "You made that lesson clear early on in having claimed me as your own." Thanos merely nodded then leaned down to get at eye level with Nebula.

"Then I presume you don't mind my double-checking," He stated and dropped to a knee. Nebula stood rooted to the spot. Her gaze hardened and her nostrils flared. She didn't dare answer for the sake of not needing to be caught in a lie when Thanos was as close to her as he was. "I may have taught you how to lie, Nebula," He sighed. "But I knew better than to trust you wouldn't use it against me. Playback memory."

Nebula flinched, the vision in her right eye growing clouded over. She went to cover her eye with her hand and quickly found her arms pinned to her sides. Thanos' grip tightened when a conversation between Nebula and Gamora projected from the nineteen-year-old's eye.

"Not a word out of you," Thanos hissed out and dug his fingers into her arms hard enough to make it feel like the bones were going to shatter.

"You're not following me?" Nebula's voice was soft in the memory.

"No," Gamora's expression lit up. "Trey and I found a spot so I might need you to cover for me. He kissed me last time."

The moment of weakness that followed made Nebula wince, grateful that the projection only showed Gamora's end of things. Thanos would have witnessed her smile at how hopeful her sister seemed. Now the moment was ruined by the knot that formed in her stomach.

"Thanos won't be happy if he discovers you are missing," The projection's voice came out in a whisper. "But I'll cover for you. Just know I expect you to yield the next time we face each other."

The memory faded as Gamora went to hug her and Nebula paled. Her stomach lurched when the vision in her right eye slowly came back. Thanos' grip on her arms hadn't slackened. The Titan's expression was unreadable.

"Know not to lie to me yet you still thought you could get away with it," He squeezed Nebula harder. Having installed the healing mechanism in her and Gamora left him knowing just how much pressure was necessary for harming them. He smirked when she winced.

"I'm thinking two weeks of no food and a few days in the isolation chamber are in order for you," He mused. Nebula didn't dare answer him. "I will entrust Korath with making sure your sister doesn't smuggle you anything. If he decides using you to satisfy his needs is a part of your punishment, so be it. You won't complain and he can do as he wishes." Thanos paused to let the words sink in.

"The healer already made sure you needn't worry about procreation. Sterilization was one of the first gifts he gave you." He shoved Nebula away from him then grabbed her by the neck, lifting the unmoving teen up so her feet were off the ground.

"As for your sister… She will be pleased to hear you are the reason she is entrusted with killing Ronan's right-hand man. You will each suffer dearly if Trey's life isn't ended by the end of the week. The orders will be coming from me and you will not be of assistance to her. Perhaps that will get it through your heads that you have no say in how your lives will be spent. You belong to me and I will be making those decisions for you."

He slackened his grip around Nebula's neck when her coloring went from blue to a shade of purple, deliberately dropping her to the ground. She curled into herself and glared up at him while she caught her breath.

"Now where is your sister?" Thanos growled. He kicked her in the side when he didn't get an immediate answer. Tears sprung from her eyes when his boot came into contact with the cybernetics beneath her skin. "You will answer me or it will turn into seven days locked in darkness."

Nebula clenched her jaw and shook her head, crawling backward to avoid Thanos. It was no use though since the Titan lurched forward and grabbed her by the neck.

"So be it then," He growled and dragged Nebula out of the room, his hand firmly planted over her mouth to keep her from screaming. "Your time here ends when your sister's mission is complete. Korath will be checking in on you each day."

Nebula bit down on Thanos' hand once he stopped moving, crying out when doing so resulted in his dislocating her jaw with little effort. He flung her against the wall of the isolation chamber then chained her arms up over her head. Nebula was forced to stand on her toes when Thanos pulled the chains tight.

"Farewell my daughter," He chuckled. "And goodnight." The door slammed shut in her face then the room plummeted into darkness. Nebula was left with nothing besides her thoughts and the suffocating feeling from the space that felt barely big enough to contain her.

The isolation chamber was the worst of Thanos' punishments. No food, no drink, no contact with anyone outside of a guard occasionally checking in to make sure the prisoner was still breathing, and the promise of a longer stay if tears and begging to be let out were involved. Nebula learned the last part of the punishment the hard way, having been stuck in the chamber for nearly a week the first time the option was forced upon her.

She wouldn't cry — she was stubborn enough to make sure of that. It merely came down to keeping control of her head while stuck in darkness. She hated having no one else with her over anything else. The first couple of hours went by with no issue, the next several spent humming and quoting bits of literature out loud as a way of keeping entertained. There was no way of knowing exactly how much time passed but the most terrifying part was always when her thoughts drifted back to Thanos and the hardships he forced upon her.

There were visions of her family, memories of chasing her brothers around back home, and the scent of her mother's perfume. They were always ruined by the thought of gunfire, her voice hoarse from crying out. Things shifted to Thanos' cruel ways. Days spent without food, getting yelled at for getting too close to Gamora, the pain from the cybernetic implants getting infected. She passed out sometime between a memory of playing with her father and his face morphing into Thanos' and never going back to normal.

Blacking out had become the best option for Nebula during her isolation. Sleep was never a good coping mechanism but it was that or losing her sanity. The latter option was the most unwanted of the two. She awoke sometime later to the sound of the door clicking open. Someone slipped inside. She held her breath, searching for some sort of hint to aid in recognizing who it was.

Nebula kept her eyes shut. She was vulnerable enough as it was with her hands chained up over her head. Her calves were burning from being forced on her toes.

"So she lives," Korath purred, looking rather smug when Nebula opened her eyes. She could barely see his face despite knowing he was far too close to her for her liking.

"Tell her not to do it," Nebula exhaled. "Assuming Thanos has told her to kill." Her statement merely earned a raised eyebrow, the Kree's breath warm against her cheek.

"I've strict instructions to keep you and her unaware of how the other is doing," He chuckled. "And I intend to keep it that way since I am the only one on Master's good side."

"Then leave," Nebula hissed out. "You can tell Thanos this isn't working since I am still coherent."

"Oh darling," Korath pressed his lips to Nebula's jaw, teeth pressing into her flesh. "He won't give a damn right now. You have barely passed the 48-hour mark." He was gone after that, his disappearance leaving her incredibly concerned since she hadn't noticed his departure.

A need for food hit on the fifth day, her stomach gurgling loudly in protest at the lack of food her arms were sore from trying to free them from the shackles. She hated the role of damsel in distress. There was nothing left to do but grow irritable and anxious from the time spent alone. The hallucinations kicked in on day six. They had started almost two days in but the tiny flickers of light were dismissed as her being tired. Day six marked the hallucination of Gamora at age five.

It was impossible to dismiss the child with the large braids and familiar smile. The two conversed and Nebula began to feel normal. She found being with Gamora calming, a slight smile creasing over her lips.

The worst part of it was when Gamora began bleeding out of nowhere. The youngster dropped to the ground and began to cry. Nebula heard screaming the moment the child stopped moving.

It took light flooding the chamber and someone shaking her for Nebula to become aware that the screams belonged to her.

"Nebula," Thanos' voice boomed over her cries. The teen screamed louder, her panic made clear when her arms were released from the shackles. Nebula dropped to the ground and curled into herself. Her body shook uncontrollably.

"I demand that you stop this at once," The Titan growled and brought his boot awfully close to Nebula's face. She bit her lip to stop from crying, form shaking a little less.

"Good girl," He purred. "The task has been completed. You are expected to eat breakfast then join your sister for today's mission."

Nebula slowly got to her feet. She felt incredibly disoriented from the days spent alone. Speaking was something she was incapable of doing. Everything hurt and the room was spinning. She had to grab hold of Thanos' arm to keep from dropping back down.

"Yes, Master," She exhaled then passed out. Her crumpled form settled at Thanos' feet.

The healer had to set an IV up to pump fluids into Nebula. Ten days of isolation did little for her health. She could not stomach food and was incredibly skittish. Her health was poor enough to make Thanos postpone the girls' mission. The healer took notes on everything. The record was dated with the first day of Nebula's imprisonment. It had everything from brief encounters with Korath to hallucinated conversations with Gamora.

Thanos waited until Nebula was less skittish before introducing the next mission. It took four days for her to make some progress toward recovering. That was good enough for Thanos. He allowed Nebula to return to her living quarters to get reacquainted with Gamora and rest before announcing the mission.

Nebula earned a hug from her sister the moment she set foot in their bedroom. The young women each carried a sense of sorrow, made notable by the silence between them. Gamora used the brief time they had alone to hold Nebula close and kiss her forehead.

"I'm sorry," Gamora exhaled. She was shocked to be greeted by Nebula's hand grasping her chin.

"No," Nebula exhaled then firmly pressed her lips over Gamora's, timidly pressing her lips over hers before pulling away and leaving her forehead pressed against hers.

"We can't afford to be sorry," Nebula whispered and let her eyes meet Gamora's, looking away when Gamora replied with a peck on the lips. "We don't want him to win."

The two jumped away from each other when there was a knock on the door. They took several steps back and looked slightly relieved to see Korath.

"Master has decided your blunders mean you will be working for me now," Korath hissed out. "I have located the orb. He has decided you must work together to retrieve it. We arrive at Praxius at dawn."