And now the age-long question will be answered XD.

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What did he steal?

"Yondu, wait!" Peter called after him, making the Centaurian stop and turn to the boy. "There is an unconscious man in the basement I was held in."

"Is he bleeding?" Yondu asked.

"No."

"He'll be fine."

"But… he wanted to help me escape. And he was nice to me earlier."

Yondu thought about it for a moment. He remembered the conversation he heard, before going out to save Peter. This unconscious man must have been the messenger. The same messenger that they convinced to show them Phalbar's hide-out.

"Horuz." Yondu said.

"Yes?"

"You and your men will take care of that guy. Check if everything is alright and bring him to us."

Horuz seemed to be a bit surprised but did as he was ordered. His captain, on the other hand, looked at Peter, then on Kraglin, and once again on Peter. The red eyes focused for a moment on boy's hands. On wounds caused by rope. Similar ones were probably on kid's ankles. Then Yondu looked at Peter's face – on the cut on his lip and on the bruise on the cheek.

"Quill" He started. "How are you feeling now?"

For a moment Peter was speechless. He wanted to say that he felt tired and hungry, and wanted to go home, but he couldn't spell it out. So much happened that day… Peter felt that he was going to cry again.

Yondu could see that on his face, so he turned to his mechanic.

"Kraglin, you will be carrying Quill to our ship."

"Me, Yondu?" Kraglin couldn't believe it. So he was trusted with the boy again after this whole thing?

"Do I have to repeat myself?" The Centaurian sent him a cold glare. "If I tell you that you must take care of Quill, you are taking care of Quill. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir." Said Kraglin and smiled.

Kraglin was carrying Peter on his back, while walking two steps away from Yondu. The captain was silent for a few minutes, before he finally started his lecture:

"Well, I hope that you both learned something from this adventure." He turned to them and sent both his cold gaze. "None of this would have happened if you, Kraglin, were doing what I said and if you, Quill, weren't so stupid to go with some jackass alone."

Peter tried not to look on Yondu, because he was certain that the Centaurian was disappointed in him. The boy could already hear the disappointment in Yondu's voice. On the other hand, some part of him wanted to say that all of this would have not happen also if Yondu didn't steal this thing from Phalbar in the first place. What was it anyway?

Yondu continued:

"Quill, you should get by now that it will be better for you to stay away from trouble. Yet you keep getting into it constantly. One day we might not find and rescue you. What will you do then?"

Peter felt the defiance growing inside of him.

"Well, you are teaching me how to fight, right? And I've manage to escape few times from guys who wanted to kill me."

"Yes, you did, but today you couldn't."

"But Yondu" Kraglin decided to speak. "he was trying to give us clues."

"Yes, that was pretty clever." Yondu admitted. For a moment Peter could hear a slight tune of pride in his voice, but then the blue alien returned to his scolding mode: "Still, kid, you must learn one important thing: when dealing with the psycho, you try not to anger him, unless you have the upper hand. And even then you have to be careful, because the guy can pull something nasty off. Do you understand, what I'm saying?"

"Yes." Peter mumbled.

"I can't hear you, Quill."

"Yes!" The boy said with annoyance.

"Good."

For a moment they all were walking in silence. It was kind of soothing, especially after all what Peter had been through. Actually the boy never thought he would ever feel so nice around Ravagers, especially Kraglin. But now Kraglin was giving him a piggy-back ride and he was so warm… Peter's back was aching, but giving the fact that they still didn't get into the ship, it had to be far away, probably in the same place when the kid saw it last time.

Anyway, he was feeling safe right now and he couldn't wait until he will be back on the ship. He will eat something and go to sleep to the tunes of Awesome Mix Volume 1. However, there was only one thing that didn't give his mind rest. One question that was burning to be asked.

"Yondu?" Peter said, lifting his head and looking at the captain.

"Yes, kid?" The blue alien seemed to be annoyed by the disturbance of silence, however, Peter could also hear some weird tunes there.

Nevertheless he spoke:

"What did you steal from Phalbar?"

Yondu suddenly stopped. Other Ravagers did it too, so they wouldn't crush into each other. The Centaurian turned to Peter. He was quiet for a couple of seconds, observing the kid on Kraglin's back. Yondu's mind was thinking about whenever he should explain this all, or not. Then his eyes once again looked at boy's wounds and Yondu decided that for all the things Peter had been through, he deserve to know.

Yondu turned his back on them and said:

"I will tell you. But not here. On the ship."

Then he started to move again and others moved too. Peter livened up and smiled triumphantly. He was still tired and hungry, but he knew that he won't go to sleep until he find the truth.

On the Ravagers' ship Peter's wounds has been treated with a balm on hands and ankles (it was actually the only wounds that needed a treatment). Then he fed himself with a pie, Horuz was sent to buy in the nearest shop, and only when the kid filled his stomach, Yondu ordered him to go to his quarters, so they could finally speak.

He showed Peter a chair and the kid used the invitation. Yondu himself sat on his bed and looked at Peter, who felt a bit uneasy, being alone with his captain, especially in the Centaurian's quarters that were mostly reserved for his most trusted men. But here he was. He had to admit that it was quite cozy.

However, Peter was here for an answers.

"So," He started resting his hands on knees. "what was the thing you've stolen from Phalbar?"

Yondu took a deep breath before looking at Peter with a strange sadness.

"It wasn't a thing, kid." He finally said, his voice quiet, but hearable in the silence of the room. "It was a person."

Peter's eyes widened.

"A… person?"

Yondu nodded.

"Who?" Peter had to ask.

"His wife."

"His wife?!"

Well, that was interesting. Peter would never thought that Yondu was able to steal someone's gal. To be fair, the Centaurian was rarely showing interest in romance (although, Peter once saw him flirting with some woman on Garlog's Bar), so most of the time Peter thought that he was a workaholic. Yet, it seemed that there was some sappiness in Yondu after all.

"It happened fifteen years ago." Yondu continued. "I was still doing solo missions back then. She came into Garlog's Bar one night and started to bother various mercenaries there." Yondu's voice was calm, his expression serious." She wanted to employ someone, who would help her run away."

Peter suddenly understood. And it made something drop in his stomach. Something heavy.

Yondu turned his eyes on the floor.

"But nobody wanted to help her. She didn't have enough money, although, she was saying something about her family being wealthy." He gazed again at Peter. "After few hopeless attempts, she sat at the table and started to cry. It so happened that I was sitting at the same table. You know, kid, how I hate crying. So, to make her stop, I asked her why she wanted to run from her husband. And she told me." His voice became hissing and Peter could see contempt in his eyes, when he said: "Phalbar was treating her like a slave, sometimes even like an object. He was beating her, violating her body and calling her names. You know, kid, she even had a scar. Right here." He ran his hand on his left cheek. "And she showed me her other scars. She was practically begging me to take her to her family home."

"And you took her." Peter actually stated it, not asked.

"We've made a deal." Yondu confirmed shortly and proceeded with the story: "She gave me the installment and we immediately put our plan into motion. The flight took us three days, but we had no problems in the way, although, she was still afraid that Phalbar will find us and take her back. We've managed to get safely to her home planet. When we were parting, she seemed to finally be at peace. I don't know what happened to her, but I assume that she's doing fine. After all, Phalbar didn't get her."

Peter was listening this story with a flush. He couldn't quite believe it at first, but then it kind of placed itself in his mind. Besides, Yondu was very serious, when he was talking about it. He was using this kind of tone, he reserved for stories in bars. These kind of stories that was telling about his dead comrades. And suddenly the consequences of this particular story hit Peter.

"Okay, kid, what's with the stupid grin?" Yondu asked.

Peter smiled even wider and looked at his captain.

"You did a noble thing." He said, almost whispering.

"She paid me, idiot." Was Yondu's reply.

"Oh, really?" Peter crossed his arms and asked, still smiling: "How much?"

"Three hundred units. And a sandwich." Said Yondu with unemotional face.

"Three hundred units is not even close to your escort price!" The boy exclaimed triumphantly and neared his face to his captain. "Admit it, Yondu, you did it, because you were sorry for her."

"You forget about her family. They gave me the rest of my payment." Yondu retorted. He sighed and added: "Besides, why do you care, whenever I was sorry for her or not?"

Peter didn't respond. He was just observing Yondu with a soft smile. This smile was full of pride, hope and warmth. Yondu could almost read the kid's mind: He's not as he seems to be. He has a tender side. He can do good things… It was kind of annoying. Now Quill will think that his captain is some kind of a noble outlaw or other crap like that. And he will be telling it others about it. Oh, Yondu was going to regret this whole conversation.

But then something changed in boy's expression. His face saddened, he moved his hands to the upper parts of his arms, like he wanted to give himself a hug, and suddenly Peter gazed at Yondu with eyes that threatened to get wet.

"Do you still want me as a Ravager?" He asked unexpectedly.

Yondu raised his eyebrows.

"And why should I not?"

"Because I'm not tough enough."

"Tough?" Yondu asked.

A wave of bad memories overwhelmed Peter and he started to cry again.

"Damn it…" He said with a weak voice.

He tried to wipe the tears, but – as earlier – the new ones appeared almost immediately.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

Why he had to be such a crybaby?! Why he had to act like a weakling in front of his own captain? Yondu probably already thought that Peter was weak. He have heard boy's pathetic weeping through the spider. The worst part of this whole situation was that Peter was remembering how scared and helpless he felt; how he wanted to go home already. And that's why he couldn't stop crying and why he couldn't even hide his shame. The tears were coming anyway, not caring who sees them.

Yondu observed him for a moment. He understood what was happening. After all, you don't move on from memories of your kidnapping just like that. Being held hostage by a psychopath wasn't something that you can forget about. The kid might be safe and sound, he might be well-fed and kept in warmth, but it didn't change the fact that he went through hell.

Yondu stood up, causing Peter to focus his eyes on him.

"Okay, Quill, stand up."

A bit confused, the boy did what he was told. Yondu came closer to him and right now they were standing face to face. Peter was kind of worried. Yondu's face was very serious. Suddenly the Centaurian kneeled and their gazes met.

"I will do it only once, kid." He said with serious voice and even raised his finger. "And remember that I didn't let my men eat you, so don't you dare ever tell anybody about it."

Peter was scared. What Yondu wanted to do to him? He didn't know what to expect, but it looked like it was going to be something unpleasant.

The kid certainly didn't expect to be hugged by Yondu. But it was what actually have happened. Yondu – harsh, scary Yondu – opened his embrace and pulled confused Peter into a hug. The Centaurian felt oddly warm and he smelled like a mix of sweat and musk. It was sort of a pleasant feeling.

Yondu also was taking some strange delight in that embrace, however, when he was hugging Peter, the kid seemed to be smaller than he really was.

And he kept crying.

"I'm sorry." He said through tears. "I'm a disgrace!"

"You were kidnapped by a psychopath." Yondu whispered. "You had a right to be scared."

Peter looked at Yondu with surprise, but the blue alien pulled him back to the hug and continued:

"Listen to me, Quill. You're pretty clever for your age and I will be the first to admit it, but you're still a little kid. Moreover, there will be always things bigger and stronger than you." Yondu broke the embrace and rested his hands on Peter's shoulders. He looked at the boy with a light smile. "That's why teammates are for."

Peter smiled too. Suddenly Yondu's expression changed into more serious.

"But try not to be stupid next time, okay?"

Peter couldn't help but chuckle.

For the next few weeks the Ravagers were strangely kind to Peter. They were asking how he's doing, they weren't sending him away or acting mean towards him; they were trying to cheer him up, whenever he seemed sad… Peter didn't know if they really felt that way, or maybe if it was Yondu's order, but he could use more of that in the future. Of course, after some time Ravagers decided that he recovered mentally from the trauma of the kidnapping and started to be mean to him again.

Yondu was observing with satisfaction that Peter remained his cheerful, quick talking self. It seemed that the kidnapping didn't leave any long-term effects on him. However, during these few weeks of boy's recovering, Yondu's eyes were sometimes focusing on rope marks on Peter's hands. The Centaurian was then remembering all the things the kid went through. And he was thinking that maybe, just maybe, the memories of his capture will stay with Quill forever.

Edit:

Are you, people, disappointed that it's not Yondu's arrow that he stole from Phalbar?