It came to him in flashes - the night of his mother's death. He wouldn't take her hand. Goddammit! Why wouldn't he take her hand? He wouldn't. He couldn't. He ran outside after her heart monitor flatlined. He ran until he fell to his knees. Then, that big, blue bastard abducted him. That bastard threatened to eat him. Threat, after threat, after threat. He finally decided it was his chance to escape. He hijacked an M-Ship, that he deemed to be the Milano (after Alyssa Milano, of course!), painted it orange and blue, and took off like a bat out of hell. He landed the ship on what should've been his grandpa's farm...but it was gone. He was so excited to go home, but it was all gone. He didn't know what to do, so he did the only thing he really knew how to do...

That's right! Petty theft - and gone wrong, too. Not even an hour later, he was caught and thrown into a temporary cell at the local police station. He sat in that damn cell, bowing his head like a scolded puppy, knowing how disappointed his mother would be in him. Little did he know, what happened next, would change his life forever.

"Peter Jason Quill." A dark-skinned man's deep voice echoed throughout the abandoned police station, making his way towards the cell. He stopped in front of it with his hands behind his back and an expressionless face that scared the boy shitless. He looked up at the man, noticing a black eyepatch over his left eye. "How old are you, son?" He asked without emotion.

"Four...four...four..." Peter stuttered.

The dark man put his hands on his hips, looking down on him in disbelief. "You're four? You sure act like yo' four, stealing stuff that ain't yours."

"...Teen." Peter whispered, turning his attention back towards the ground.

"You better stop the damn pouting!" As if on command, a police officer walked in with a set of keys and unlocked the cell. He left as soon as it was opened, leaving the young teen alone with the intimidating man.

The man turned his attention back to Peter. "You know kids don't get locked up like this for petty theft, right?" The young teen's stare remained at the floor. "They said they chased you down to an alleyway. Found an - how did they put it? 'Alien weapon'? Like the ones from Star Wars they said." Peter still didn't look up, despite understanding the reference being made. "I wanna know where you got it. Cause' down here, on Earth, we don't have weapons like that. Explain yourself, now."

"Not until you tell me who you are and what you want from me." The young teen demanded, glancing up at the man, who had just scoffed at his remark.

"Nick Fury. Director of S.H.I.E.L.D."

Two Years Later...

Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga

Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga

Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga

Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga

Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga

"Dammit..." The sixteen year-old moans as the alarm on his phone went off. He feels the top of his nightstand, searching for it. The boy smacks it when he finds it, managing to hit the snooze button. He grabs the pillow from beneath him and pulls it over his head, falling back asleep.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII'M

The loud intro from the chorus scares him awake, causing him to fall off of his bed. "Okay-" He whispers to himself. "I'm up."

It was the first day back from summer break (or what was considered summer break, given the fact that he was stuck at the academy all summer), which meant there would be an assembly, introducing all of the new students. S.H.I.E.L.D Academy was well-known for taking in special, troubled and even homeless kids, giving them a second chance at a better life. The school teaches discipline as well as regular education. Some students stick around after they graduate and join S.H.I.E.L.D. They even have agent training programs for electives where students can go on missions. For most students, it felt like a dream come true. For Peter, however, it was just another boring school day.

The students were to meet in the amphitheater near the courtyard. Like most amphitheaters, it was arched like a dome with a stone stage closing the circle. It was built into the summit of a hill, surrounded by grass and trees. The stage is covered in 'welcome back' banners, and streamers and balloons of the school's colors, black and silver. By the time Peter gets there, most of the stone bleachers are already occupied. He scopes out an empty section of the amphitheater and takes a seat.

Although he was friendly, lead quarterback on the football team, and captain of the academy's finest acapella choir, he didn't really have any quote-on-quote 'friends'. Most of the time, he would sit by himself like he usually did as a young child. And sure, he would go on dates and have fun with girls, but he never really felt a bond with any of them. To be completely honest, he was lonely most of the time. All alone.

"Welcome back, students of S.H.I.E.L.D Academy," Nick Fury's loud, booming voice broke Peter from his thoughts, turning his attention to the speaker. "To another year of learning and memories. Just like every year, we welcome new students of all races and of all species to our school. We welcome gifted students. Troubled students. We give them all a second chance. And just like previous years, we will formally introduce our newest students to the entire student body." Applause. Everyone claps, with the exception of Peter. However, he did flinch when the student, who goes by the name of Tony Stark, started whooping at the top of his lungs from behind him.

"Come on, Quill! It's the first day back, loosen up a bit!" With that Tony starts hollering again, causing Peter to turn back around.

The applause grows once the new students enter the stage. Four of the five stuck out like a sore thumb. It was obvious they weren't from Earth. The one who stuck out the most to Peter is an athletically built, yet skinny girl with gorgeous, emerald green skin. She has ringlets of ebony hair that gradually turned to a dark red at the tips. The rays of the sun causes the girl's dark doe eyes to shimmer. She is absolutely gorgeous to Peter and he feels his heart gradually beating faster.

Fury gestures for the first student to step forward. It's another girl, yet not the one Peter's focusing his attention on. This one has straight, platinum blonde hair and blue eyes as deep as the sea. A black headband rests upon her head, separating her bangs from the rest of her hair. "This is Gwen." The girl gives the students a crooked smile and waves as they all applaud her.

As Gwen steps back, Fury gestures for the next student to step forward. He's taller and more muscular than Peter, appearing to be alien from the light grey color of his skin. "Drax." More applause. The next one looks to be a raccoon, except taller and possibly more advanced. "Rocket." And the next, a walking tree? "Groot." Even more applause. "And last, but not least-"

She finally steps forward and Peter can see her better. He notices that her hair is half up in a topknot. She's clad in a grey, long-sleeved shirt that was meant to be a crop top, but fit to barely cover her belly button. The sleeves are slightly too long and slide past her black short-shorts once she places her hands to her sides. Peter continues to scan her, noticing every detail of her figure, including the fact that her white high-tops didn't have a speck of dirt on them.

"Gamora." Peter whispers subconsciously, after Fury introduces her.

As soon as the assembly ends, Peter makes his way towards the stage, where he finds her grabbing her white and navy, polka-dotted messenger bag and heading towards the direction of the school.

"Hey!" Peter calls after her. She turns to him, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "I'm Peter." He holds out his hand to give her a handshake, but draws his hand back awkwardly when she stares at it, blankly. "You're Gamora, right?" She glares at him. "Right, dumb question."

The young teen, who appears to be almost a foot shorter than him, rolls her eyes and begins to walk away.

"Wait, wait!" He catches up to her, before he trips over a rock and face-plants into the grass. Peter looks up, noticing the girl's green lips starting to twitch up. Using his hands, he pops himself off the ground and brushes his hands off on his pants. "So, what classes are you in?" The small smirk falls as she starts to walk away once again.

"I don't know, yet. I haven't met with my counselor." She explains, flatly.

"Oh, well I can show you where the guidance office is-" Peter walks straight into a pole. He rubs his forehead as if it would make the pain go away. "Ow."

"How can you show me where guidance is if you can't even walk five feet without hurting yourself?"

"Good point, but I can still-"

"I can manage myself." With a pivot on her foot, she starts to walk in the opposite direction, leaving Peter with his jaw open to the ground.

"The requirement is that you have to join some sort of club or after school activity. All students had to go through this at one point." Maria Hill, the guidance counselor, explains to Gamora as they plan her schedule for the year.

"I don't understand why it's required." Gamora sits back in her chair, flustered.

"It's required because we don't want any students feeling out of place." The young teen takes a deep breath and stares at her lap. "I'll make a deal with you. You don't have to decide this very moment, but I expect an answer by the end of next week or else, I'll have to assign you to a random group."

"Okay." Her voice is barely above a whisper.

Hill gives her a soft smile as she prints out a piece of paper and hands it to Gamora, along with a yellow envelope. "Here is your schedule. Your dorm room number, key, student handbook, and ID are all in this envelope. Any questions before I send you off with your guide?" Gamora shakes her head lightly. "Good! Then, I will see you sometime by next week!" The emerald-skinned girl mouths a 'thank you' as she exits the office.

As she closes the door behind her, Gamora is face-to-face with none other than Peter Jason Quill. She sighs and rolls her eyes. "You again?"

"Happy to see you, too." He mutters under his breath. "God, why are you so crabby?"

"I'm not crabby." She folds her arms in front of her chest and glares at him.

"Listen, I don't know what your deal is, but I've been more than nice to you. Why are you treating me like shit?"

"I don't know, why are you being so nice to me?" She counters, starting to turn a darker shade of green.

"What do you mean, 'why am I being so nice to you'? Have you ever thought that maybe I saw you alone and thought, 'hey, maybe she doesn't have any friends'?"

Gamora curls into herself a little more, feeling ashamed. "No, I didn't. I'm sorry." She sits herself on top of a brick fence.

Peter notices how small she looks and feels a sense of guilt. He takes a seat next to her and clears his throat. "Well, it's all good cause' I'm gonna be honest with ya', I don't have any friends either." They both sit there for a moment in silence.

"For someone who seems to be very friendly, I'm surprised you don't."

"Well, I mean, I guess I have friends. I just haven't found my 'squad' yet, ya know? I mean you have the Avengers, and then the Spiders...then, there's me. I don't fit in with any of em'."

"I know how it feels to not belong anywhere. That's one of the reasons why-" Peter looks at her in curiosity, waiting for her to finish. When she doesn't, he goes to speak up, only to get interrupted by her. "You're my guide," She says flatly, sliding off the fence. "Aren't you supposed to guide me?"