(Greetings, Terrans, and a 'Hello' to my dear Readers who are familiar with my other works. This next bit is kinda aimed at the latter, so please excuse us for a second, newcomers. *grins at Readers* I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Why aren't you uploading another chapter in Welcome to the Mad House or the Chaos Saga? Hmmm?" Well, I have a perfectly good explanation for that. Heh heh. Um… I met Michael Rooker and after I saw GotG Vol. 2 I got struck by the Inspiration Bolt! That's my story and I'm sticking to it! Speaking of stories, let's move on and get to introducing this one, eh?

So without further ado….)

[Song Suggestions for this Chapter: 'Because' by The Beatles and immediately listen to 'Princes of the Universe' by Queen. And when I say immediately I mean it better be the next track. 'Wonderful World' by Sam Cooke is a good song to listen to afterwards.]

Chapter One

Because…

Wait until its dark outside, then go somewhere secluded and as far from city lights as possible. Find a place with an open view of the sky. Lie on the ground and put on some headphones. Listen to 'Because' by The Beatles as you gaze up at the stars… Did you feel that? That catch in your breath as you stared at the immense sky and realized that every single one of those stars is another world…

The galaxy never ceases to amaze me. It also never fails to pull a real humdinger of a surprise on me either. Like how I got roped into becoming a Ravager, or how I helped raise a little boy who became a part of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Oh, that last part got your attention, huh? Shall I start at the beginning? Heh. Okay, here it goes.

My DNA and bio scans have me registered as half Terran and Threxian. Both species are similar in appearance which has lead to many misidentifications, trust me. I spent the better half of my life on the planet Threx, my mother's home world, but as for Terra I've never been. Dad said it was too dangerous for anyone non-Terran to be there (although the word he used was 'hew-man', I think I'm saying that right). He tried to explain it to me a long time ago and from what I could understand it sounded to me like Terrans are scared of anything unlike their own kind. So how did my parents meet and end up being a happily married couple who traveled about space? I have no scarrin' clue. They never got around to telling me about it.

Dad died when I was a squig of a girl, barely eleven years old. By that time in my life, my family had left Threx on a journey to Xandar where my parents were sure to find great jobs but along the way our ship sustained major damage and needed repairs, so Dad docked us at the nearest space station; Knowhere. It scared the sprek out of me the first time I saw it. Somehow the station had been built inside the severed head of a Celestial being! Knowhere's notorious for being the trading post, hideout, and haven for misfits, runaways, unsavory characters and the worst of the worst, Ravagers (think space pirates).

"We'll be here only long enough to get the parts we need," Dad had said. Unfortunately, our ship was far too damaged for a short stay. That ended up being the death of my dad. We'd been on Knowhere for about a week when some thug killed him for a part he'd just bought for our engine. I didn't just lose my dad that night, I lost my mom too. It was like a part of her died on the spot. She got to where she barely spoke and was rarely lucid enough to take care of matters. At age eleven, I had to become her care-taker. I had to find work among the seedy populous. I had to learn to survive. And I did.

….

Seven Years Later

My time keeper let out a trilling sound, waking me from a surprisingly restful slumber. I'd probably gotten about six hours of sleep which for me was a very good 'night's' sleep. I say 'night' but honestly there's no day or night on Knowhere. All there is is dark skies and thousands of lights illuminating the space station. Sure the inhabitants have a way to keep time but we usually don't refer to anything as 'day', it's always 'night'. That's one of the many things I learned on this sprek-hole of a station. Once I realized Mom and I weren't getting out of there, I adapted real quick. The ship was beyond repair, so it became our home. I held a tiny flicker of hope that one day I'd save enough units to buy us passage off of Knowhere. I didn't have any destination in mind, anywhere was better than this place.

Groaning a bit as I sat up from my bunk, my head thunked on the ceiling and I cringed as a throbbing sense of pain spread along my skull. "Sprek," I hissed, rubbing the crown of my head. Lowering myself onto my stomach, I eased my upper body over the edge of my bunk to peak at the lower bunk's occupant. My mom lay sleeping, undisturbed from the noise.

Being a Threxian, Mom aged slower than Terrans. Some would confuse us for sisters and not mother and daughter. I looked a bit like her my mom. We both sported red hair, had a similar Cupid's bow mouth and both stood at 5' 8", but the rest of my features was all me. Green eyes, a slightly turned up nose and freckles all over my body. Sometimes I wish I looked a little bit like my dad so I could see something of him in the mirror, ya know?

Taking care not to make any additional noise, I crept down the short ladder from my bunk to the floor and tip-toed about the room, picking up my pack, my boots, my jacket, and my compact spear. The spear was something I'd been working on since I was fifteen. One push of a button and it would spring into a full-sized spear or with a twist here or there it would down-size to fit my needs. It did have a bit of a weight to it but since I'd been practicing with it for a few years so it felt second nature to me. At the moment, it could easily fit into my pack among the various cobs and bwabs I kept inside.

Sneaking out of the room, I quietly slid the partition into place so I could fix myself breakfast without waking Mom. I glanced over at the charger on the table and grinned to see a little blue light blinking at me. My music device was all juiced up and ready for me. I'm sure music device isn't the correct term but I forgot what that Terran wares peddler called it when he sold it to me about two years back. Despite knowing next to nothing about my Terran culture, I've found I have a deep love of its music. Since discovering it I've gone about collecting music and tinkering on the device so that it can contain more songs for me to enjoy. Sometimes when I've got nothing planned for the day and I'm hanging about the ship, I play some music on speaker for Mom to hear. I think she listens to it because she seems to go really still, as if she's trying to catch every squig note.

Today – heh 'day' – I put in my earphones (headphones?) and clipped the device to my belt. I pressed the play button and music blasted out of them, just the way I liked it. I scrounged around the ship's kitchen to find something to eat, my movements synchronizing with the beat.

"I am immortal; I have inside me blood of kings

I have no rival, No man can be my equal

Take me to the future of your world!"

Grabbing a bowl and a whisk, I may have used them as props for the next verses as I passionately mouthed the words.

"I'm a man that will go far,
Fly the moon and reach for the stars,
With my sword - ,"

So what if it was a whisk?

"– and head held high,
Got to pass the test first time – yeah!
I know that people talk about me I hear it every day,
But I can prove you wrong cos I'm right first time, yeah!"

I happened to glance at the time keeper on my wrist and winced. No time to dally. I had to get some food in me and hurry off to where I was to work for the day. I scrambled up some prelk eggs and shoveled in as much as possible, making sure to leave enough for Mom when she woke…if she woke before I returned. Mom was sleeping more and more often. It had me worried.

About a month ago, Mom's condition had gotten worse. I'd done all I could but she needed real help. I needed to get her to a medical station, not the sprekken med stalls this recycle heap of a station had to offer. She needed to leave Knowhere, but that would require units that we didn't have. Passage off of the station was pricy; I couldn't even begin to guess how much medical care would cost.

A slight shuffling sound caught my ear.

"Mom?"

She stood in the opening of the partition, blankly looking around the room. I had been in the process of tugging on my boots and I remained hunkered over my knees as if the slightest movement my scare off my mom.

"I was just about to leave for the garage," I said. Her eyes didn't focus on me when I spoke. A sinking feeling in my gut made itself at home. She was having one of those spells again. She probably wouldn't say a word all night. "I cooked some eggs. There's some left for you."

She was like a proux, or a ghost as my dad called them; she floated into the room as if I weren't there. Her hands brushed the small table as she passed by. I knew where she was heading. The cockpit. She'd taken to sitting in the chair and just staring out the window. I sighed and finished putting on my boots, scrapped the leftover eggs onto a plate and carried it with me as I followed her. She was exactly where I thought she'd be.

"Here, Mom." I gently took her hands and closed her fingers over the plate and an eating utensil with blunt edges. Her gaze never wavered from the window as she slowly brought a bit of egg to her mouth and chewed. I felt a rush of relief seeing her eat. I was constantly worried that one night I wouldn't be able to get her to eat. Sometimes she'd forget to.

I didn't want to leave her alone when she was like this but I needed to get to work. There was no win in this situation. "I'll be home right after work," I told her and kissed her on the cheek. I got a slight hum from her in response. I felt a little better at that.

I left her a note about where I'd be and what time I'd be home, on the off chance she might read it, and double-checked I had everything I needed on me before I left the ship. I took a moment to scan the area, seeing the familiar sight of the station, its buildings and occupants. I shrugged into my brown leather jacket, placed my ear phones so that they hung from my neck and cranked up the volume so I could hear my music but also my surroundings as well. No need to get run over by some contraption because I had my ear phones on, right? With a sigh and Sam Cooke singing 'Wonderful World' near my ears, I squared my shoulders and descended the gangway from my ship and into the milling crowd. I glanced at my time keeper and smirked. If luck was on my side then I'd make it to Malek's garage just in time.

Malek was a six-armed, red-skinned and black-haired creature that reminded me of the trolls Dad once read to me from a book of Terran stories called 'fairytales'. Malek had known me since I came to be on Knowhere, but he was far from being a father figure to me. He was more of a 'better show this kid what's what before she causes me any trouble' kind of guy. I think I've grown on him within the past seven years though. I'm too cute for him to dislike me. … Yeah right, ha!

His business consisted of spare parts for almost any ship you could think of. He was also one of the few who did honest work, no illegal or stolen parts, he went by the book. Not because he believed in integrity but because he viewed dishonesty as too much of a hassle. What a guy, right?

Since I began to work with Malek he taught me how the parts we sold worked on the ships and how to identify what kind of ship it would go to just by looking at it. He taught me which were worth the most units, which were in demand, how to spot a faulty part or a fake and any other tidbits of information he felt like imparting to me if the mood suited him. The thing I was most grateful to him for teaching me was the knowledge I needed to build my gadgets like my spear. That came in handy more often than I care to admit.

"Lydia, you're late," Malek growled at me the moment I entered the garage. It's not that he was being unpleasant, per say, his voice just naturally came out as a growl. At least that's how he sounded every time I've heard him talk. I think it has something to do with his species.

I held up my time keeper. "By two minutes!" I yelled over the sounds of machinery from the back of the building.

"Two minutes of work gone!" he shouted back. I rolled my eyes and removed my jacket as I walked to my locker. I felt Malek's black eyes on me but I said nothing, waiting for him to speak. "You wore that outfit yesterday," he grunted as I passed him by.

Whirling around, my jacket clutched dramatically to my chest, I feigned an expression of awe. "Malek, you noticed what I was wearing! I'm flattered, really I am!"

He snorted, unamused, and turned to his work. "You're hair looks like a reshk nest."

I frowned ever so slightly and lifted a hand to my tangled hair. Okay, so I'd slept with my hair in the braids I usually styled my hair in. So what? I can't be bothered to refresh them every night. Plus I was so exhausted when I got home I went straight to bed without even thinking of changing into my sleepwear or unbraiding my hair.

"Planning to leave the junk business to be a fashion consultant, Malek?" I asked testily. A few workers who managed to overhear my comment snickered until Malek threw a glare their way and barked at them to get back to work.

He returned his gaze to me and pointed one finger at me while the hands of his other arms continued to sort various engine parts. "You make trouble, little girl."

"Oh, Malek, I know it must be difficult to hide your true feelings from me, but you must resist! What would people think?" I quickly ducked into the hall to my work station before he could either explode or throw something at me.

"Cheeky she-devil!" I heard him shout. Ah, he went for exploding. His words were followed by a metallic bang that prompted me to step up my pace. Alright, exploding and throwing.

"You're gonna push your luck too far one day," Zeg sing-songed at me as I joined him at our shared station.

"Ah, never; he loves me too much."

Zeg smirked and shook his head, refusing to take the bait.

Zeg was a K'aitian with green skin and yellow eyes. He and I had worked together for almost two years and we flirted often with each other, but we both knew nothing would happen. It wasn't that I found him unappealing, being raised among various beings of differing cultures had taught me to be open minded about the diverse standards of beauty. Zeg and I both knew that we weren't attracted to each other to go any further than playful flirting.

"How's your mother?" he asked me.

The smile on my face was a bit strained. "She's … okay."

Zeg winced. "My apologies."

We worked in silence for nearly twenty minutes, my mind on my mom's health and how even with the additional jobs I had taken on the side since she got sick, I still wasn't earning enough to get her out of Knowhere any time soon. My thoughts must have shown on my face because Zeg nudged my arm and looked around. "How desperate are you for units?"

"If Mom doesn't get out of here soon…"

"Would you consider a job that may be …shady?"

My head twitched sharply but I refrained from showing any additional surprise in case someone was watching. "How shady?" I asked.

"Thieving."

"…Depends on the haul," I whispered.

"M-ship parts are in high-demand these days, but shipments aren't being delivered fast enough."

"And?"

"Aaand I happen to know from a friend of mine at the docks that a Ravager flagship carrying several M-ships will be arriving on Knowhere tomorrow night."

"A Ravager ship?" I hissed. Was he insane? Ravagers were dangerous! Everyone knew that! Yet, I couldn't turn it down without hearing all the details. "How much are M-ship parts going for now?"

"About 30,000 units for most engine parts, 5,000 each for fuel containers; the list goes on. Nothing is less than a thousand units."

I did the math in my head, figuring in a passage for two and doing broad guesswork for medical costs. I'd need to steal engine parts.

"Zeg…"

"Hm?"

"Don't tell Malek."

"You have my word."

…

The Next Night

I had the next night off. For the past month since Mom got sick, if I found myself with a free night, I'd go searching for a small job that would pay units immediately after completion. Not this night though. Tonight I'd be observing the Ravager ship and waiting for the opportune moment.

I made sure to put on a change of clothes and re-braided my hair into one long red braid instead of having several like I usually do. I washed my face, glared at the explosion of freckles that didn't have the decency to limit themselves to just my cheeks, and fixed something to eat for Mom. She was a little more lucid than yester night. When I set her plate down on the table before her she actually looked up at me and smiled. I smiled back and looked away before that ache in my chest could grow any bigger.

Just as I was withdrawing my hand, Mom grasped it between both of hers and kissed it. "My girl," she mumbled, giving the top of my hand an affectionate pat. If I'd had any doubts as to whether or not I could actually go through with stealing from a Ravager ship, it got kicked square in the face just by those two words.

I squeezed hers back and leaned over to kiss my mom's forehead. "I love you," I whispered before leaving my home that night.

I had my pack and spear with me as well as my music device and time keeper. I loitered around the vendor stalls near the docks as I waited for the Ravager ship to arrive. In my opinion it came too soon, I hadn't had enough time to properly psych myself up for what I was going to do. It huge! I think I probably stood there gaping at it for a few minutes before I realized my mouth was hanging open. It was a flagship with paint so faded I could barely make out the name on its side. The Eclector.

My mouth twisted into a perplexed line. What the sprek kind of name was the Eclector?

Just as I was beginning to think (and hope) it was the wrong ship, a gangplank was lowered and a group wearing Ravager red exited the ship. Well, so much for hoping.

I tracked the group with my eyes and waited until they thinned out, all going their separate ways for whatever reasons. One being in particular stuck out. He struck me as the type who'd have the answers I needed. I don't know why exactly, he just had that air about him. I couldn't pin-point what race he was. He was blue-skinned and bald but sported some sort of a red, metallic … okay, there was no other word to describe it – it looked like a shaved metal Mohawk embedded into his skull! There, I said it!

He traveled with a man whose humanoid appearance made me wonder if he was Terran. He could have been any number of species too, though. They laughed loudly, not at all concerned if their volume bothered anyone. If I managed to lose sight of them I was pretty sure I could locate them using Blue's laugh alone. It wasn't just loud, it was boisterous.

I tailed them until the two parted ways and Blue was alone at the vendor stalls. In fact, he seemed to be interested in a Terran wares stall that I frequented.

Hm…Do I need more Terran music? I smirked and headed for the stall. Yes. Yes I do.

"Back again, Red?" the vendor asked when I approached. Blue paused in his observing a little figurine of a woman wearing a grass-skirt to look up at the vendor and in turn at me. His eyebrows lifted ever so slightly, red eyes giving me a once over.

I nodded and stopped right next to him, my music device in hand for the vendor to see. "Got anything new?"

The vendor hesitated, glancing at Blue to see if he was about to lose his attention but Blue seemed a bit interested. His eyes had fixed onto my device for a few seconds longer than someone who had only a passing curiosity. He played it cool though, setting the figurine down to pick up another. "I just got a case of the latest music on Terra," he said excitedly now that he knew Blue wasn't going anywhere.

"Nice. Got any more of that Deaf Leopard group?" I asked, lifting my brows playfully.

"I think it's actually pronounced Def Leppard," the vendor said, smiling. I knew how it was actually pronounced but sometimes the best way to put someone at ease is to show you can make mistakes and be open to correction.

"My bad," I said with a laugh.

He turned go dig up the case and left me alone with Blue. I drummed my fingers on the stall's make-shift counter, inspected an item or two, and then glanced over at him. He was older than me, at least appearance wise. Who knew how his species aged compared to me? He had the beginnings of lines at the corners of his eyes and a weathered look to his features. I caught him looking at my device and our eyes met. I held my music device up. "Weird looking, isn't it?" I asked.

"Ain't the weirdest thing I've seen," he commented.

Leaning back on the counter, arms folded over my chest, I offered him a smile. "Oh yeah, like what?"

I caught a glint of metal from his sharp teeth as he grinned smugly at me. "Girly, I've traveled the galaxy back and forth for years. That little gizmo ya got there ain't even on the list of weird stuff I've seen." His voice was raspy and he had a drawling accent that I'd never heard before. I kinda liked it.

I nodded, pursing my lips a bit in thought. "Well I guess you've got me beat there." I let my eyes scan over his outfit and acted like I'd only just noticed the flame insignia on the left side of his long leather coat. "Sprek, you're a Ravager," I said, letting a hint of nervousness slip into my tone as I straightened up and took a step back. Well, if that didn't please Blue something special. That grin of his widened and I got a nice view of those sharp teeth.

"Nervous, girl?" he asked, leaning towards me.

I kept up the uneasy act as I said, "From what I've heard about Ravagers, shouldn't I be?" Maybe it wasn't all an act. I'm not saying I wasn't scared at all, oh no, far from it.

Blue leaned his right elbow on the counter, his body now facing me. I could see several crisscrossed shaped scars on the right side of his face. He tilted his head from side to side as if thinking over my question then fixed those red eyes on me again. "Ya should," he admitted. "But I reckon a pretty thing like you ain't gotta worry bout me right now. We's just two customers lookin' at some wares, ain't we?"

The grin had remained the whole time he spoke but there was a slight shift that happened, maybe how he'd changed the angle of his head, and suddenly it became a bit more flirtatious than I'd expected. My heart skipped a beat and I cleared my throat to cover up the momentary lapse of a response from me. "Uh, yeah, sure."

"Found the music!"

I nearly jumped a foot away from the stall at the sound of the vendor's voice. Blue chuckled at my jolt of surprise. I turned to look at the vendor. "Do you mind if I browse a bit?"

"Take your time, I've got another customer," he said, indicating over his shoulder. He went away.

"You like Terran music, eh?" Blue's raspy drawl asked, he sounded like he'd taken a step closer to me. A glance in his direction confirmed it.

I made it a point to be digging around the cassette tapes. "Yep. Have you ever been to Terra?"

"You could say that," he answered evasively. "Recently got a," he hesitated as if to find the right word, "crew member on board who carries around a device like yours." His eyes flicked from the device to my mine. "Got green eyes like you too. His ain't as pretty though," he muttered as an afterthought.

You flirt, I thought with amusement. Well, that's what I was aiming for anyway. Time to start steering the conversation where I really wanted it to go.

I gave his compliment a playful hum of acknowledgment, not really an answer but I wasn't telling him to back off either. Let him decide how to interpret it. "So, Ravager," I kept my gaze on the tapes while I spoke. "You've been all over the galaxy and you came to this station of all places?"

"It ain't a beauty to look at," he paused and blast it, I could feel his gaze checking me out, "but it's got its perks. Good tradin'."

"If I had a way off of here I wouldn't be sticking around long."

"Is that right?" I decided his smile was rather nice, despite the sharpness and the glint of metal. It did something pleasant to his eyes when he grinned. "You tryin' ta sweet talk me into taking you away from here, girl?"

I widened my eyes when I looked at him, giving him an exaggerated look of shock. "I would never try to do something as coy as that."

He chuckled appreciatively and took his time looking me over again. "So if you ain't wantin' a flight out of Knowhere, what'chu doin' talking so nice to me for, hm?" His smile changed again. A subtle shift that gave a warning. He suspected I wanted something. Might as well confirm his suspicions.

I sighed. "Alright, you caught me." I held up a cassette of Def Leppard. "I'm a bit short on units and thought I could charm you into buying it for me."

Blue threw back his head and laughed uproariously. "Darlin', I'll buy ya two if you'll keep up the act," he said.

I lifted my eyebrows. "Buy me two and it might not be an act."

He laughed some more at that and hailed the vendors attention. "Gimme two of those tapes and this cute little bugger," he told him, putting a figurine of some creature with wild neon orange hair on the counter.

I eyed the figurine and he caught my look. "I like to stick 'em all in a row on my control console."

"Control console? Are you someone important on the ship?"

He paid for our purchase and gave me a sly grin. "You could say that, girly."

I put a hand on my hip and smiled back. "How long are you staying for, Ravager?"

He stepped quite close to me as he handed me my tapes. "Long enough for a good time if that's what yer askin'."

The shiver that went down my spine wasn't one of revulsion. I didn't find him necessarily attractive, but he had a way about him that I was quickly coming to like. Remember what you're after, Lydia.

I took the tapes and kept eye contact with him. "I might be. So long as your absence won't get you in trouble with your captain."

That seemed to tickle him for some reason. "Oh it won't, trust me."

"Trust a Ravager?" I said with a tiny smirk. I might have been enjoying the conversation a bit too much, I'll admit it. Otherwise I probably would have guessed what was coming.

"Well we Ravagers got a code we keep to," Blue informed me with an almost serious expression.

"Uh-huh." I reached out and tapped him on the chest. "And I'm sure you've always kept to the code, right?"

His expression became a bit stony. "What's that suppose ta mean?"

Okay, touchy subject there. Reel him back in…

I shrugged and brushed a strand of hair that had escaped my braid away from my eyes. Holding up the tapes for him to see I smiled and started to take a step back. "Thanks for the music, Prince Charming."

I saw his brow wrinkle in confusion just before I turned away. "Prince Charmin'?"

I turned back to face him. "You know, from Cinderella?"

"Cinder-what?"

"You know, glass slipper, clock-strikes midnight, fairy godmother….Nothing?" At the continued blank look he gave me, I walked back over to him. "Cinderella's a Terran fairytale about a girl who's forced to be a slave to her evil stepmother and two stepsisters."

Something glinted in his eyes. "A slave, huh?"

"The King invites all the eligible women to a grand ball for his son, the prince, to pick a wife from and Cinderella's step-family forbids her to go."

"Bet she went anyway," he said with a bemused lift of an eyebrow.

"Her fairy godmother gives her a magic dress and glass slippers that will only last until midnight and sends her to the ball."

"Called it." He smirked smugly.

I giggled and continued. "The prince dances with her all night, she loses track of time and has to run back home, leaving behind a glass slipper. The prince vows he'll only marry the woman whose foot will fit the glass slipper."

Blue's brows knitted together. "That's stupid."

"He's a prince; he's got stuff to do. Anyway, his emissary travels all over the kingdom with the slipper so that every eligible woman can try it on."

"Hate to be that guy," he chuckled, scratching at the stubble along his jaw.

"When he finally makes it to Cinderella's home, her stepmother doesn't even bother to bring Cinderella to the emissary when he asks for all the eligible woman in the home to meet with him. In some versions of the story, the step-mother figured out that Cinderella was the one the Prince danced with and she locks her up."

"So what happened?"

I couldn't help but grin. My telling of the tale was nowhere near as good as how my dad had told it and yet Blue was still interested. It was kinda enduring, this tough Ravager letting me tell him a fairytale.

"Some versions go that Cinderella's animal friends helped her escape from the locked room, others say the emissary asked if there were any other women in the home and she casually mentions the servant girl and he insists on seeing her. But my favorite version is that the prince had made the journey along with the emissary's group in disguise and hears Cinderella singing. He follows her voice to where she's locked up and breaks down the door. Course he doesn't really recognize her because she's all filthy but he asks her to try on the slipper which of course fits perfectly."

"Whole kingdom of women tries to wear it and it only fits her?" He 'tsked' his disbelief.

"It's called a fairytale for a reason."

"So where does calling me Prince Charmin' come in?"

"The prince whisks Cinderella away from her cruel home and they lived happily ever after." I shrugged once again. "You mentioned me trying to sweet talk you into taking me away from here and it reminded me of the ending of that story for some reason."

Blue snorted. "Been called lots of things but I ain't never been called 'charmin' before."

I made a face. "Pity. Guess no one's bothered to talk to you like I have." I winked and turned away, walking with the determined stride of a one who thought the conversation was over.

"Girl, get yourself back over here!"

I stopped and twisted at the waist to look at him, an expression of confusion on my face. I pointed a finger to my chest. He nodded. "Yeah, you." He crooked a finger at me and I caught a hint of a sly smile turning the corners of his mouth. "Come 'ere."

Taking my time, I lazily strolled back over to him. "Is there a problem, Ravager?"

"I ain't said I was done with you yet."

"I thought you were limited on time."

"It ain't midnight yet. And seeing as how I'm the captain, darlin', I got as much time as I allow myself to have."

Captain?! I blinked. "Huh?"

"Told ya it wouldn't be a problem."

Uh, yes. Yes that was a problem. Ravagers were thieves, smugglers, criminals, bandits, mercenaries, bounty-hunters and pirates. So imagine a large group of those. Scary, right? Now imagine finding someone who can lead that group. You'd have to find someone who could scare respect into a group of men like that. Ravager captains were not to be taken lightly. And here I was flirting with one so that I could steal from him!

"What's yer name, girly?"

"Lydia," I said without thinking. I nearly smacked myself. Sure, tell the Ravager captain your name, idiot!

"Lydia," he repeated, drawing it out as if tasting it. He flashed me a metallic smile. "I like the sound of that." His leather-clad arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me to him. "What's say you and I go somes place a bit more private, yeah?"

Suddenly that flirtatious gleam in his eye looked a bit more predatory to me. "My place is too far," I managed to whisper still a bit thrown at the turn of events.

Blue looked away from me and stared off towards the docks. A second or so later he returned his gaze to me. "My ship. Promise I won't whisk you away," he added with a conspiratorial wink.

Some part of my brain remembered that the ship was a part of my plan's destination and I nodded. Get a hold of yourself, Lydia! The plan's the same. Get him to take you on board, find some way to separate yourself from him and steal those engine parts!

Yet, despite finding out he was a Ravager captain, I had unfortunately begun to like him. I didn't want to steal from him.

"My girl…"

But I'd let this station fall into a black hole before I threw away this chance at being able to help my mom.

I forced a smile on my lips and leaned into him. "You sure about that, Prince Charming?"

His arm pinned me flush against him. "I might could change my mind." He glanced around at the crowd as if we were in the middle of an illegal transaction.

"Something wrong?"

"Lookin' fer your pimp."

I felt a wave of fury wash over me and I slugged him in the face. He gave a shout of pain and let me go, a hand reaching up to his bleeding mouth as he swore up a storm. I had probably just kissed my chance of getting on that ship good-bye. Great, just perfect! I thought angrily. I'd find another way to get the money. Turning on my booted heel, I made to storm off when I felt a hand grab me by the upper arm and whirl me around. My hands came up to brace my fall but instead I crashed into a rather solid chest and my hands were pinned in between me and the owner of said chest. Blue grinned down at me, blood trickling down from his mouth. When he chuckled, I felt how it made its way from deep in his belly and up his torso.

"Darlin', that just settled it. You're comin' with me!" His arm went round my waist and the next thing I knew we were on the move.

He didn't exactly drag me along with him to the ship; it was more like he was the one who was keeping us moving while I lagged in absolute confusion. But really, what was I supposed to expect from a Ravager, right?

"You still want me even after I slugged you?" I couldn't help but ask him as we approached the entrance of his ship.

Blue glanced at me and gave me a toothy grin. "I like a woman who's got fire in her."

A crew member stood at the entrance and beat his fist twice over his chest in salute to his captain. "Who's the girl, captain?" he asked a glint of lewd curiosity in his eyes.

"None of your dang business," Blue snapped, not bothering to stop. He guided me deep into the ship; all the twists and turns really put my memorization skills to the test. I was so focused on trying to keep my bearings that I hadn't said a word since we entered the ship. "You're awful quite," he commented.

"I've never been inside a ship this big before."

"Then what did you come to this station in?"

"Nothing as big as this."

We came to a stop outside of a metal door and Blue suddenly twisted me around and pushed me against it. His hands came to rest on the door at both sides of my head as he leaned in. "Now before all the nookie-nookie starts, I want to give ya one last chance to tell me why you bein' so sweet on me." There it was again, that easy-going smile with a threat beneath it.

I actually wanted to tell him. I actually wanted to tell him. But he was a Ravager and Ravagers aren't known for their bleeding hearts. He wouldn't just hand over the engine parts and let me go about my night.

I drew in a shakey breath. "Geez, Blue, hasn't anyone ever been nice to you?" I asked as gently as I could. His head tilted towards mine just a little bit and hesitated, his eyes on my mouth. My gaze landed on those crisscrossed scars on the side of his face. I felt like the worst being in the galaxy.

"Yondu," he said.

My heart lurched. "Hm?"

"You told me your name, only fair I tell ya mine. It's Yondu."

His head ducked towards me and he kissed the pulse point on my neck. The gasp I gave was a combination of two reasons. Reason number one; it just clicked in my head why that name had caused my heart to lurch. I was coning the one and only Yondu Udonta of the Yondu Ravager Clan. Scarrin' Yondu Udonta! Reason number two; how the heck did he know to kiss me right there!

(I'm not the best when it comes to writing sci-fi, it's the technical terms and 'science' parts that get me, but I just couldn't resist this idea. I'd been rolling this idea around in my head for the past few weeks and finally decided I'd give it a go. If I get enough feedback encouraging me to continue then I'll do just that. If not, eh, I'll probably write a few more chapters to see if I can change your minds but I'll probably end up stopping. Remember, no reviews translate as bad feedback in my opinion so please if you liked this chapter be sure to let me know!

Until next time ya'll!)