Surrender

Summary: Peter is injured after an attack from the Sovereign. The other Guardians help him get better. Good ole fashioned Quill h/c! Takes place after second film.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Guardians of the Galaxy…darn.

Warning: Some gore, language.

Chapter 1: Listen to the Wind Blow

Rocket is a smooth little thief. He preens the fur under his chin and examines the data pad he just snatched from one of the Sovereign's underground vaults. The storage units are vast, cold, dimly lit, and ridiculously easy to break into.

"So how does it feel to be stealing from the Sovereign again?" Peter's voice pipes through his helmet's communications link.

Rocket's grin looks like a growl in the darkness. "Like stealing candy from a gold-plated asshole baby."

There's a pause, then: "All right. I can see that."

Rocket turns the small rectangular data pad over in his paws, resisting the urge to turn it on or possibly take it apart that very moment. Nova Corps was paying the Guardians good money to commit espionage in the name of the safety of the galaxy. Apparently, Nova Corps had suspicions about the Sovereign's sudden involvement in other systems. Something about possible weapons development and supremacy over other planets blah blah blah.

Rocket had suspicions about the shiny humanoids from day one.

He puts the data pad in a small backpack and turns his snout upwards, listening for any sign of detection. Nothing-just silence punctuated by the drip drip drip of leaky pipes in the vicinity. For a people as anal as the Sovereign, they sure don't believe in basic maintenance.

"How's it lookin' on the surface?" he asks Quill.

There is a patch of static, and then Peter answers: "Entrance looks clear. Groot's waving from the other side. Nothing to report."

"Fan-tas-tic." Rocket punctuates the syllables playfully. "We got what we came for. I'm headed back to meet Groot."

"Copy," says Quill. "Hey—you mind if I pipe some music into the comm link?"

"Knock yourself out," says Rocket and begins to flitter down the long aisles of the vault towards the exit. Soon, he can hear guitars and drums in his earpiece. It's upbeat Terran music—a song he hasn't heard before.

We sit in the car outside your house

I can feel the heat comin' round

Rocket shimmies through a small ventilation shaft and drops into a new compartment.

I go to put my arm around you

And you give me a look like I'm way outta bounds

"I like this," the raccoon says softly as he takes out a set of tools and fastidiously assembles them. "Who sings it?"

Well, you let out one of your bored sighs

Well lately when I look into your eyes

"Bruce Springsteen," Peter says, and Rocket can hear the smile in his voice even though he can't see him. "Isn't it great?"

Rocket sticks his tongue out unconsciously from the side of his mouth as he sparks a mini-blowtorch, tracing its blue flames along the thick metal door in front of him. He cuts out a perfect rectangle, just big enough for him to fit through.

I'm goin' down down down down

I'm going down down down down

"Yeah," says Rocket. He flicks the torch off and presses on the piece of the door he just carved into. It falls away from him with a thunk! and he saunters through it. "Catchy."

In a matter of seconds, Rocket is at the exit. He can see Groot's wide yellow eyes peering at him through the small window on the door.

"Yeah yeah yeah. Gimme a second, you medium-sized idiot," Rocket mutters to himself and presses the six-digit code onto the keypad alongside the door by standing on a metal rail next to the exit. The song ends as the massive opening clicks open and welcomes a warm breeze that blows across the raccoon's fur.

Rocket strolls through the exit, meeting his teammate with a wink and admiring the desolate terrain of this particular section of Sovereign. It is a high desert, mostly sand and rock with clumps of ground vegetation. Rocket brings one paw up to shield his eyes against the purplish glare of the setting sun, noting Star-Lord's figure in the distance, still guarding the entrance of the underground vault. Quill gives Rocket a wave.

"I am Groot," says the Flora colossus, its voice cracking slightly.

"Couldn't say it better myself," agrees Rocket. "Let's get the hell outta here."

And then the siren begins. Piercing and high-pitched, it makes the raccoon cover his ears as they bristle. Next, the wail is accompanied by red flashing lights and a computerized voice that repeats over and over: "Security breach detected. Security breach detected. Security breach—"

"Oh no," Rocket groans, a shiver of dread curling up his spine.

"Rocket!" Peter yells in his headset. "What's going on?!"

The raccoon throws his paws up in the air, hoping the human can see the gesture although he is about 200 feet away.

"We've been detected," says Rocket, frustration flowing out of his voice. "But I don't see how…" Without asking, Groot immediately lifts the furry bandit in the air so he can be at eye-level with the security keypad and examine it.

"What does that mean?" Quill's tone is more high-pitched than usual, suggesting panic.

"Well, if I can't turn the warning off within the next minute, Sovereign security will be alerted, and we're gonna have company."

The sirens screech in Rocket's ears, crimson lights blaring. He faces the keypad and begins to try out various code combinations, concentrating.

"You can do this, Rocket," Peter voice comes through his headset.

"And if I can't?" the raccoon says with a bitter laugh, his paws flying across the security pad.

"I am Groot."

"Did you touch something?" Rocket asks the plant-like humanoid with his back turned to him.

"I am Groot!" the teenager denies.

"Yeah, yeah," huffs Rocket. He punches in another code and then emits a sharp yip as a metal panel slides over the number keys, nearly cutting off the tip of his paw.

The red lights intensify, and the siren becomes louder.

"Self-destruct sequence initiated," the computer-voice says, repeating the phrase over and over.

"Oh sh—"

"Rocket!"

The raccoon exchanges a quick glance with Groot and gazes at Star-Lord's small frame in the distance as the human begins to run towards them, to save them. But he's never going to make it in time.

"ROCKET, GET OUT OF THERE!" Quill screams through his communicator.

Silently, Groot and Rocket begin racing in the opposite direction of the vault's exit. The raccoon can feel his heartbeats count the seconds down. How many do they have left? Twenty? Ten? And then he feels himself being lifted into the air as Groot scoops him up, plodding along at a faster pace, each giant footstep causing Rocket's bones to vibrate in his frame.

We aren't going to make it.

Five.

Rocket squints to look at Star-Lord, still close to the vault's entrance. He runs as if in slow motion.

Four.

Rocket looks back at the exit, still glaring at them angrily.

Three.

The thief thinks of his other friends back on Peter's ship. Drax. Gamora. Do they know what's going on?

Two.

The raccoon wraps one paw around Groot's strong and stringy arm, feeling the coolness of its body and seeing a look of complete concentration on its face. When Groot looks down at Rocket, the raccoon sees kindness in his eyes.

One.

Rocket braces himself for the explosion, but it doesn't happen. Groot hesitates and stops. There is a delay of a few seconds, and then a massive boom shakes the earth beneath them, causing his ears to ring with the sound. Groot puts up a branch of an arm to protect his friend in case of flying debris. But the explosion didn't occur behind them.

Rocket jumps from Groot's grasp. His eyes reflect the bloom of orange erupting from the vault's entrance in the west.

"Peter…"

At that moment, Rocket can just barely make out the small figure lifted up by the explosion and blown backwards, landing on the ground several feet away and enveloped by the plume of smoke that rolls across the surface in the explosion's wake.

Rocket is screaming the Terran's name and racing towards the blast before Groot can stop him.

TBC

A/N: This is my first "Guardians" fic! It was so much fun to write these characters after falling in love with the latest movie. This story will probably have at least three chapters, maybe more. Please leave a review if you have time, and thanks for reading!

P.S. I made a little "Awesome Mix Vol 3" of my own for fun and included "I'm Goin' Down" by Springsteen and "Down the Dolce Vita" by Peter Gabriel (to be played as soon as the vault's warning system goes off) as the soundtrack for this chapter.