What is on Peter's mind? And will this set the tone for his future?

Chapter 2

The Capture

Peter's head was aching again, so he knew they were going to wake him up. Sleep was a few brief snatches that he could steal from his captors before they noticed. He had no idea how long he had been there, with the needles going into his arms, he could vaguely remember leaping through the air and Yondu telling him to go somewhere. Then this…he had no idea where he was, the room was in shadows just like his captors, as through his tired eyes he saw another needle going into his vein and felt the coldness sweep into his arm. He found that oddly comforting…he didn't know why.

Peter had no idea how long he had been there, but with each needle produced more blood and now he was saturated with it, sticky and warm to cold. He would have cried, but he was a Ravager and he wouldn't…he may have cried already, but he didn't remember He knows it was the same questions over and over again, but he didn't know if he gave them the right answer. He was tired though, now that he knew.

Peter had tried to keep quiet, and in the recesses of his brain, as he felt another needle going into the back of his neck, knew he had failed…he was going to die, and he didn't know why. He didn't care…Why didn't he care? The thought appeared in his mind but left before it could form a lasting impression.

A cold hand swept over his sweat encrusted face, an icy touch, which caused a chill to seep down into his bones. And he shuddered inside, as he opened his green eyes to look at the Man in Black. He wasn't here at the start, he knew that, and then he appeared his blue eyes seemed to pierce into Peter's skull, amidst the pale face, as the Terran swallowed.

"You are a useless boy, you are a nothing". It was a familiar song to Peter as much as one of his songs on his Walkman, the words he had sung over and over again in his head to maintain a sense of sanity, and was beginning to fail.

Peter said nothing, was he meant to agree…he wasn't sure, he wasn't sure of anything. Was it true, was he a nothing? The words danced in his head and refused to let go, as the Man came closer. Peter could see his clothes were black and gold as the coldness ebbed off him. ""Who are your father and mother?"

Once upon a time, in the recess of his memory Peter would have told the guy to "Piss off", he was sure he had already, as he repeated the words almost in monotone, rationalising it didn't matter, because she was dead and buried in the ground after a funeral that Peter missed. "Meredith Quill, her name was Meredith Quill…I don't know who my father is".

He said, more and more times as he would feel the needle being inserted into his brain, and the question was repeated, along with the same answer, as Peter resisted slightly as his brain begun to strip itself off its layers and present themselves to his man. "Who is your father?" Over and over again, the four words the most important as Peter's mind exhausted itself from the resistance.

"Who is your father". The face was composed, but Peter could feel the anger in those eyes, as the words begun to form, and he hated himself for his mind's betrayal which was pleading for respite from the abuse.

"His name is Yondu Udonta, my father is Yondu Udonta" Peter half whispered, half gasped, hating himself for this betrayal but finding comfort that perhaps it would soon be over, as he lifted his head and tried to focus once more on the Man in Black, whose blue-green eyes, bore down on the teenager.

From out of nowhere, the ice cold touch of his hand grasped his face and clenched tightly. "Humanity…look how far you've fallen". He sneered showing a row of perfect teeth, to Peter he spoke in an old way, like something about of a one of those period dramas his mom used to watch, but perhaps it was his translator, picking up on it. The same way that Yondu sounded like he from Alabama!

"What do you want with me?" Peter mumbled through cracked lips, his voice sore from all the screaming he had done as they were torturing his too small body.

"Nothing, I want nothing from you…boy". Peter looked up at the familiar voice that was coming out of the stranger's mouth as he flickered and instead of the tall creepy thin man, he was looking into the red eyes of the Centurian. "Yondu". Peter whispered, hoping that in his drug addled brain, he was here…this was his rescue. Then the crooked teeth turned into a sneer. "You're useless boy, you're week, a disgrace to the our father". The voice was perfect, that face, the headpiece that controlled his arrow that Peter begun to wish was real so it could be driven into his head. "No…no…you're not him". Peter whispered as he felt more needles being inserted into his head. "I'm here boy, and you're nothing, a mistake…a disgrace".

Yondu, no it was the stranger, it was the stranger Peter rationalised and failed because this felt real, this was real as he felt a glob of saliva on his cheek from Yondu's…not it was the man, it was the man's mouth.

"You're not him; you're not him". Peter kept whispering to himself, over and over again, as the words telling him how pathetic he was, how weak he was…he was a disgrace continued, working their way into his mind, which he could feel beginning break, as the darkness took him, and to which he woke up to be told all over again.

Present day, on the floor of the mess

"So that's what happened to me" Peter finished the story, in a shaky voice, now thoroughly pissed from the glass Alezduran had been topping up through the entire confession and now felt exhausted and raw, as he managed to wipe the tears that had threatened to fall. Peter wouldn't cry, not anymore. He felt like he had run out of tears, and the fact that he had shed them, with the face of Yondu bearing down on him made him feel ashamed.

"Shit". Alezduran stated, also feeling half cut, and trying to digest what the boy had told him.

"When I woke up, back here…When I saw Yondu. The words were in my head…I know I freaked out".

Peter finished, noticing that his glass was now empty…how much had he drunk, how delicious was that beer?

"And I never told Yondu that, I never told him about that part". Peter stated causing the hybrid to look over at him.

"Why the hell not? He's Yondu, he would have understood".

Peter struggled to find the words, but even after all the months it wasn't easy.

"I called him my father, and I don't know why…Because he's not. But my mind thinks he is, even if I don't. I'm not making sense am I?"

Even though he was pissed Alezduran knew he was making perfect sense, his subconscious thought Yondu was his father, because he was the closest thing to one, even if that was a screwed up notion, as Peter exhausted from the booze and the conversation rested his head against the hybrid. "I think he was right thought, that I am a mistake".

All Alezduran could say, as the boy settled down was "No you're not", as the two Ravagers, one in training and one still denied wearing the red colours were silent for a few minutes as eventually the door of the store room slipped open and out stepped Yondu and Kraglin, who took in the sight of the two sitting on the floor, Alezduran was beginning to doze as Kraglin gave him a nudge with his foot.

Alezduran looked up, and squinted at his Captain and First Mate. "I really hope you go all that, because I can't drink anymore". He slurred as Kraglin helped the boy to his feet, who immediately begun to stagger, whilst Yondu went over to the boy. "He's too scared to screw up…Think's he's letting you down that's why he's working so hard". The hybrid managed to get out, looking on the verge of being sick, as Kraglin with a nod from the Captain, begun to half lift and half drag Alezduran back to his bunk. "Alezduran …if you ever breathe a word of this".

"Never, no one will believe me anyway". The wasted Ravager swore as his pink face, suddenly looked several shades of green, and he disappeared with Kraglin who could only flash Yondu a look of understanding that they had learned as they were sitting in the storeroom listening to every word.

Yondu approached the boy, who was beginning to curl up on himself, and lifted him gently in his arms. Even though Peter was still too small, in this state he was all limbs and it took a few moments, until he managed to get his arm under the boys back.

The gentle movement caused Peter's eyes to open, and as glazed as they were managed to focus on Yondu. If Peter was concerned that Yondu had heard everything, the boy was too half cut for rational thinking as he just looked up at his Captain and grinned. "The beer was good wasn't it?" Yondu knowing how much the boy needed validation looked down and smiled "You did good boy, you did really good". Which caused a flush of happiness admits the beer flashes to creep over Peter's face. "So I'm not a mistake?"

It was the question Yondu knew was troubling the boy, ever since he had been abducted, no matter how much Peter knew it wasn't the real Yondu with him, his subconscious hadn't realised that and was questioning everything the boy knew.

"You're not a mistake Peter". He said sternly as the boy peered up at him, in confusion. Peter had never been drunk like this, and by the babbling coming out of his mouth this was a new experience as they got closer to the boy's room. "I have to be…because he didn't stick around…He didn't want me". He suddenly whispered, his voice taking on an edge that Yondu didn't like, even though he already knew the answer to the question the boy was asking. "Who didn't?"

"My dad…he never came back for me". Peter looked to be on the verge of tears, as the door of Peter's room got closer, with Yondu responding. "Don't worry about him; your dad's an asshole". This comment, true as it was caused Peter's face to scrunch up in confusion. "Howe do you know that?" There was a wealth of answers he could have given the boy beginning from the moment of his extraction from Terra and ending three months earlier the day he was abducted. "Because he never came back for you". He said in truth, as Peter pleased with the answer leaned into the crook of Yondu's neck.

"Yeah, he's an asshole". Peter agreed as he begun to drift off the moment Yondu opened the boy's door with the back of his hand and stepped into the Peter's room.

Since Peter was getting older, he was acquiring several new items along with the collectables he had brought with him from Terra, the Troll doll he had kept one eye on for years smiled back at him as he perched the boy on the bed, and who immediately reeled back due to the effects of the booze.

With skill, Yondu stripped the boy, who was too drunk to care as he pulled off the boy's leather trousers since he knew from experience how his body would sweat during the night. Peter leaned back against the hull plating, whilst Yondu went to the small bathroom and returned a few seconds later with a hydration pill knowing the boy would have a hell of a hangover later, which the boy understood and took without question.

As Peter got settled in the bed, Yondu opened the air vent, in case the boy choked at least he would hear it, and placed a bin next to the boy on the off chance he got sick as the boy blearily looked at him, deep in the throes of drunkenness.

"I'm sorry I called you my dad Yondu". Peter finally said which was bordering on a slur. "I know you're not…" The sentence dragged out, as Yondu could see Peter was uncomfortable, as the Centurian thought for something to say, but all he could come out with was "Don't worry about it". A small statement , which did nothing to change the look in Peter's eyes, which caused Yondu to hope he would have no memory of this the next morning, as he dimmed the lights and turned his back on the boy.

"Yondu…if you were my dad, would you have come back for me?" The question, sounded so small and pathetic, causing Yondu to remember that even though Peter was a Ravager in training, he was still a child. As he turned back to the boy, now huddled in his bed, and was a child who had gone through so much and without him knowing how much he had been betrayed.

With the light from the deck falling across his face, Yondu took the few steps and knelt by his bed, close to the boy's head, there was no one around to witness this so he had the right to be honest. "If you were my son, Peter I would never have left you for a second". He admitted as the boy smiled in his dreams, and the Captain stood up feeling slightly embarrassed by his confession, mentally putting it down to the booze and left the room locking it securely behind him.

Going back to his quarters, Yondu sat on the edge of his bed and thought about the night of revelations, from the boy. Without realising it, he had declared in front of his own bastard father, he saw the Captain of Space Pirates as his father figure; something he knew didn't impress him.

The fact that the asshole used Yondu's own image to taunt him didn't exactly make him happy either but he knew the anger wouldn't go anywhere. Peter needed to know he was…he was, well he was something. Yondu rubbed his face with his hands, trying to find the words and failing.

But as his mind processed what he knew about the boy he had been raising, Peter was a hell of a look out, could take a beating and could build and fire a blaster almost as good if not more so than more experienced crew members. Finally the idea came to Yondu that was so simple, years before he had made the promise that as soon as the boy completed his first kill, his first flight and his first mission he could call himself a Ravager. His first kill he had accomplished when he was eight…now he had to complete the rest, as Yondu even though he needed sleep opened his Pad and begun to look for something suitable

To be continued!