A Bad Man's Second Chance

Part Two: American Woman

Chapter 3: Deep Purple - Space Truckin

The Quill's get settled into life on a spaceship. Meredith and Yondu have a long overdue conversation, meanwhile Peter bonds with the boys. What could possibly go wrong?

Never in his wildest imagination did Peter ever think that space could be... boring.

But here he is. In real actual space. On a real actual spaceship. With real actual aliens.

And he is really, actually, utterly and entirely bored out of his mind.

Turns out, stars don't look much different in space than they do on Earth. Well, there are more of them- because it is so dark. But apparently they're not out far enough for things to be very exciting. No crazy planets, or exploding stars, or black holes, or even one measly space battle!

And despite the ship going faster than he'd ever gone on earth- it didn't feel like it at all. The ship thrummed and throbbed constantly with the vibration of the engines but that was it. They could be standing still for all he knew- the stars all too far away to go whizzing by the small port window in their room.

The room itself wasn't much to look at either. Mostly metal, with some creaky rickety looking furniture bolted to the floor. Nothing super space-y about it either. The bed is a bed. With a regular looking end table and hole-y sheets and a weird smelling quilt they could have gotten out of Grandma Quill's mothball riddled closet.

About the only thing space-y in the room would be the door. And the window, what with the stars and all right on the other side. But the door looks like something out of a submarine, with a complicated looking panel next to it that glows in the low light...

A very tempting looking panel, full of tempting blinking lights and buttons begging to be pushed.

Peter's been good so far, and kept his hands to himself.

Part of the reason for that has been- nerves. Not fear. Peter's not afraid of anything, thank you very much. But this is a spaceship. Who knows what's on the other side of that door. Aliens for sure. They seem nice so far... but it could be a trick.

Peter's seen enough movies to be suspicious. And if it is, he could probably take out ummm... maybe one or two. The blue one for sure. But the Big Blue One in the doctor's office-room was really big. Like really. And so Peter's not so sure.

At least he seemed nice.

But even if they are nice, that doesn't mean it's safe. They're In Space!

Push one wrong button and Woosh! Out the airlock you go. Bye bye! Do not pass go. Do not collect one hundred dollars. Game over. The End.

And that thought kept him on his best behavior when it came to any curious exploration in button-pushing.

For a couple hours at least...

But the main reason Peter hasn't gone and left the room yet is still asleep in the bed next to him.

Bundled up in the hole-y sheets and smelly quilt, Peter's mom is sound asleep- arms still holding him loosely from when she'd pulled him down to join her in her post-abduction-nap. Or... is it still a nap if you don't know what time it is? Or how much time has passed? It was night-time when they'd left Earth... how do you know if it's daytime or not in space?

Either way, Peter has been awake for a while. And he's not one bit tired. He'd even tried going back to sleep- because of the aforementioned lack of clock-ness. But it didn't work. So now he's just been counting the holes in the wall, laying perfectly still as he waits for mom to wake up.

And that might take a while.

Mom sleeps a lot. Being sick takes a lot of energy, and getting better takes more. And Peter hates to wake her up, cause she always seems more peaceful when she's asleep. Not in pain, or headachy, or sick to her stomach. And if sleeping can help make her better, he wishes she could be like sleeping beauty and sleep for ten whole years if it meant she'd wake up healed.

So the odds of her waking up before he goes stir crazy are around zero to none.

And he's been awake for hours already.

And as if on cue, Peter's stomach starts to gurgle.

That's the last straw. Bored is one thing. Bored and hungry is another.

It's time to go explore and see if they got anything to eat on this rinky-dink space submarine.

Carefully, oh so carefully, Peter eases out from under his mom's arm.

Slipping off of the bunk, Peter quietly puts his feet on the floor before turning and just as carefully tucking his mom in with the rest of the quilt.

"Don't worry mom. I'll be right back, I'm just gonna find some food," Peter whispers as he pecks a kiss to her forehead, before turning away to face the door and it's tempting panel of buttons.

He squints into the light before giving it a determined poke.

And with a dramatic rush of air and light, the door swishes open...

"Grahhh I'm gonna Eatcha!"

A shrill childish shriek split the air, "Eeek! Run Nettel!"

Alarmed, Peter quickly jumped back, hiding in the doorway as a trio of aliens ran by.

A small cactus-looking childlike alien suddenly appeared from around the corner. It ran like a baby would, tripping over their feet to fall to their knees, only to quickly right itself and it was up and off toddler-running again- it's terrifyingly toothy mouth gaping wide in a delighted grin.

The walking plant was quickly followed by the black and white fuzzy skunk girl from the doctor's office-room. She ran, shrieking and shrill, from a grizzled gray human-y looking old man who was currently hunched forward, arms outstretched as he chased them.

"Gotcha!" The old man said as he snagged the girl, dragging her back into his arms as she shrieked and laughed as he tickled her and blew raspberries into the thin fur of her stomach.

"Ahh! Nooo! Stop Tulk! Uncle! Uncle!" Anushka, laughed and shrieked as the space pirate relented, only to flip her over his shoulder as he resumed the chase for the cactus with the little girl hanging upside down over his back.

"Come back here, ya lil' Veggie! I'm gonna Eatcha!"

Peter watched them go, hand still over his heart, and felt kinda silly he'd been scared at all.

It was some time later that Meredith awoke, chilled and alone in an empty and unfamiliar room.

"Peter?" Meredith croaked as she sat up in the cot, her voice thick with sleep as she blinked around the room blearily. Muzzy headed and chilled, tugging the blanket more securely around herself as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

Groaning at the chore of leveraging herself to her feet, Meredith stood, dragging the quilt with her- refusing to leave it behind and face the unrelenting cold of space without it- no matter how musty it was and reeked of weird alien funk.

Hitting the button for the door more as an accident of balance than any true intent, Meredith rocked back half a step as the light rushed in. Wincing as it lanced her dry eyes and tender head. Meredith blinked as she adjusted to the light and re-acquainted herself with her memories of the day before. She hadn't forgotten, being abducted isn't exactly something one can forget easily, but sleep left her groggy and slow. She hadn't had a good night sleep in ages...

So she knew where she was at least. If not why.

Or where Peter had gone off to.

Knowing her little Star-lord, being on a spaceship was a curiosity he could not resist and he was probably off exploring somewhere. Meredith wasn't too worried about that though. It wasn't like back home where the backwoods and rolling hills stretched for miles- or the suburban sprawls full of strangers that could snatch him away. They were on a spaceship in space, you'd be hard pressed to find a more contained space to be kept in.

Well... a spaceship full of strange aliens that snatched them both away.
At least they were together. She'll take what small mercies she could get.

Now to find her little wayward Star-lord before he got into any trouble.

Tugging the covers more firmly around her shoulders, Meredith set off to find her boy.

Well, wandered. Meandered really.

It was a spaceship after all, how much trouble could it be?

With nothing better to do, Peter had followed after the trio of aliens. At a respectable distance, but aliens or not, it was hard to be scared when there were other kids around who weren't. The game of chase and tickle was familiar enough, but Peter wasn't sure yet that he wanted to get caught up in their game with them... It did look like fun, though.

A sudden draft wafted around a corner, bringing something that smelled distinctly appetizing under his nose and caught his stomach's attention- reminding him why he'd ventured out in the first place and that his stomach was currently very empty. And turning, Peter immediately abandoned the sounds of play to hunt for the food.

His nose led him down a path that opened into a new chamber, and Peter found himself standing on a metal balcony overhanging a wide open area. A cafeteria, currently teeming with aliens of all shapes, sizes, and colors. And food. Peter couldn't see what they were eating, but they were definitely eating something...

"Oh hey, you're the new kid," A voice came from behind, interrupting Peter's internal debate on if he was really hungry enough to brave the alien crowd and alien food or not. Peter turned to see the kids from the bridge walking up- as well as a boy he didn't immediately recognize, "Peter right?"

The boy who spoke had hair that was currently in the process of turning the exact same shade as his. It was very cool, but also distracting so it took Peter a second to remember the question and respond. "Um yes?"

"Great. You hungry?" The tallest one asked, Kamlin or something if he remembered right, before jerking his thumb towards the stairs down, the boy smiled at him, "We're getting lunch. You can come down with us if ya want. We can give you a tour of the mess an' give you the breakdown on how the food and stuff works around here."

In short order, Peter found himself swept along with the boys- descending into the mess hall full of aliens before he could get a word in edgewise.

"I'm Kraglin by the way," Kamlin- no, Kraglin said before nodding to the other boys, "This is Willit. You can always tell it's him cause he's the only one who doesn't look like himself."

"I'm working on it," Willit said, hair now swapped for feathers and one eye gold the other green, and grinned at Peter's impressed double take.

"And the one giving you the evil-eye is Hekk," Kraglin said slinging an arm over the short boy with the birdlike features and started to give him noogies until he squawked, "Lay off the new kid, huh? He just got off a planet called Dirt. There's no way he's some sort of shiar enemy spy or anything like that."

"Alright! Alright! Get off."

"Okay so! Food," Willit said as he pulled Peter away from the two boy's roughhousing to get in line, "I had to learn this not so long ago, so it's not so hard- you just gotta go with it for the most part. If it's moving, you probably don't want to eat it unless you know what it is. And if it smells good, it's probably okay to eat- just Don't ask what it is. Trust me you don't want to know. And if you try it and don't like it, someone else will eat it. If your tongue starts feeling fuzzy tell somebody an' they'll call doc."

Willit kept up a running dialog as Peter was quickly loaded down with a tray of odd and strange looking but good smelling food. It may look weird, but Peter's stomach was well on board, growling as Willit led Peter to a table with two blue four armed kids with all manner of bits and bobs spread out in front of them.

"Hey Yamakel, Yadiva," Willit said with a nod to each, "Make a space for me an' the new kid would ya?"

"Sure thing, Willit," Yadiva said before turning and giving her brother an obnoxious shove, "You heard him punk. Scoot your ass."

Yamakel rolled his eyes at his sister as he scooped two arms around his stuff and shifted down, not bothering to look up or stop what he was doing with his other two hands.

Sandwiched between two blue aliens, Peter sat and tried not to show how nervous he was as he plucked up the courage to poke at a mound of jelly on his plate. It smelled like chicken while looking absolutely nothing like chicken. It tasted alright though, kinda like gravy and mashed potatoes. Not bad, but the texture was off and almost oppressively sweet.

"Hey," An elbow jabbed into his side and he looked up at the blue girl, "Pass the salt peter."

"Uhh, how do you know my name," Peter said, mouth full as he slid over the jar she'd pointed towards.

Yadiva gave him a look, raising an eyebrow with a growing incredulous grin, "Your name is Saltpeter? For real?"

"N-no? Just Peter," Peter said with growing confusion, "You asked for the sa- is that not salt?"

"Oh no, no Saltpeter," Yadiva said shaking the jar, "This is saltpeter." And with that she dumped the white powder into her bowl and started mixing with a will.

"You're not gonna eat that are you?" Willit asked with hesitant curiosity.

"No, of course not," Yadiva said tossing her hair out of her face as she continued to mix, "Why? Do you want some? We were gonna use it all but we can spare some if you want it."

"Gross." Willit shook his head no as he pulled an impressively disgusted face.

"Suit yourself," She shrugged before offering the jar back to Peter, "How about you, Saltpeter?"

"No, thank you," Peter said, wrinkling his nose, "What are you doing if your not eating it?"

"Well, Saltpeter," said Yamakel as he echoed his sister's grin and Peter had the sneaking suspicion that they weren't talking about the powder, which was immediately proven as Yadiva continued, "So glad you asked, Saltpeter."

"You guys are gonna keep calling me Saltpeter aren't you"

They just grinned, "We're making bombs."

"Flux's still got our guns in her locker," Yamakel continued, his eyes alight with wicked, gleeful mischief, "We're planning a heist."

"These are just smoke bombs right now. Prototypes really," Yadiva said in response to Willit's look of concern, "Don't worry. We're gonna test them out first. Gotta make sure they aren't duds or we won't be able to get past her security."

"Hey lookout," Yamakel said, reaching around Peter to smack his sister, and nodded over the crowd, "Officer Killjoy's on his way. Let's clear out before the captain's shadow catches on and tattles on us."

"Ohh good catch," Yadiva said as they all turned to see Kraglin and Hekk heading their way loaded down with trays of food, and quickly gathered up her stuff, "See ya around Saltpeter. Willit, mums the word, kay? We know where you sleep."

"Whatever," Willit said, smacking one of Yamakel's hands away from his food as he gave it a parting snatch, "Shove off. I don't wanna be involved, so go cause trouble somewhere else."

"Will do," the two chorused before vanishing into the crowd.

"-just cause the captain let you sit in the chair." Hekk grumbled as he set his tray down next to Willit and sat down with a sullen huff while Kraglin placed his tray down next to Peter.

"Yeah, cause I know how fly a proper spaceship Hekk," Kraglin said as he looked around and frowned, "Hey, where'd the twins go? I thought they were sitting over here."

"Uhh, they just left," Willit said quickly, before stuffing his mouth full and nodded towards where Hekk was sulkily poking at his food with a fork, "What's his problem?"

"Oh , he's just sore because I'm a better Pilot than he is," Kraglin said with a shrug, trying to play it off casually but coming off just the slightest big smug about it. "How are you, Peter? You try anything yet? Try the Yarrow Root. It's good- but bitter as hell when its not ripe."

"I'll show you bitter," Hekk grumbled under his breath as he stabbed his food viciously. "Shiar trainees are all tested for flight capability. Extensive simul-training for 50 kinds of ships..."

"I'm just saying," Kraglin said as Peter braved a bite- sweet like a raspberry but weirdly meaty and crunchy, "Simulations are all well an' good, Hekk, but when it comes to flying an actual ship nothing beats practical experience. I grew up on freighters, okay? I could fly before i could walk."

"And I'm saying I could fly circles around you, Obfonteri."

"And you said the Yarrow Root was bitter," Willit said with a grin.

"So wait," Peter said as he wiped the juice from his chin with his sleeve, "You're saying you both can fly a spaceship. Like for reals. In space and everything?"

The two boys nodded solidly. And maybe it was the sugar rush from the strange alien fruit, maybe it was the instant comradery that comes when like minded boys find that instant friendship that only boys can have. Maybe it was both, or neither, or something else entirely... But a spark of mischief dawned in Peters eyes and he began to grin.

"Prove it."

Meredith was starting to think she was lost.

Perhaps wandering about aimlessly wasn't the best way to go about finding someone, she considered as she tugged the blanket more firmly around her. Meredith was endlessly grateful that she'd slept with her shoes on as the floor was bitterly cold seeping through the thick rubber of her soles.
No one else seemed to mind it much. Not that she'd gone up and asked them, but the few aliens that she'd passed by at work didn't seem to be shivering quite as much as she was. Maybe they were used to it. Or maybe those almost-uniform leather coats were warmer than they looked.

She could probably ask them for directions- no language barrier here thanks to the new babel-fish technology shoved in her head. But they looked busy doing- whatever it was that they were doing on the ship. Or too the ship, considering all the wire work and computer-looking bits spread around- so she decided not to bother them and continued on her way.

How lost could she be, really?
She was beginning to suspect the answer to be Very.

Casting about for a direction at a t-way junction of hallway, she caught sight of her reflection in a glass set into the wall and drawn, Meredith reluctantly wandered that way until she was standing before herself in the glass.

Funny. She didn't look any different.

Not that she expected to, really. She looked thin. Washed out in the weak reflection of the glass. Sleep creased her cheeks and her hair a rumpled mess on top of her head. Reaching out a hand from under the covers she halfheartedly attempted to straighten it- tugging the lank locks and running her fingers along the scalp to flatten the fly-away strands before giving it up as a lost cause...

Meredith's attention was caught by an errant sparkle shooting by in the distance and her vision was drawn out- through- past her reflection- and out into the space on the other side. And dropping her hand she reached out to touch the freezing glass.

Not a mirror then, but a window.

She'd known they were in space but... wow.
It shouldn't have caught her by surprise but truly the view from here was simply... breathtaking.

Apparently there is a difference between knowing and knowing .

Huddling in her blanket, Meredith stood alone, small and cold as she filled her eyes with stars.

Her reverie was disrupted as an odd Foom! sounded down the hall.

A cacophony of shouts and shrieks and hacking coughs disrupted the relative thrumming silence of the ship's hallway. Growing in volume until the hatch door at the end of the hallway was flung open with a billow of acrid smoke that instantly set Merediths' eyes to watering as she began to cough as well.

"-Enough! I don't want to hear it!" Rasped the silhouette as the smoke slowly began to disperse to reveal the short blue captain of the spaceship, "It's the brig for both of ya."

"Aww come on Yondu," said one of the blue shapes held aloft by two much bigger aliens, the young blue boy with four arms, "We said we were sorry."

"Yeah, I mean," said the other blue child, the girl tucked under the arms of another ravager alien, "We were only trying to get Horuz. We didn't know you'd be in the room with him."

"It's a meeting room," Yondu said with an exasperated growl as he attempted to wave the smoke out of his face, "Who else would he be meeting?"

"He has a point you know," the girl said, somewhat abashed as she looked over to her brother.

"I told you the fuses were too short," her brother hissed back and they scowled fiercely at each other, entirely unrepentant.

"Knock it off. You're both in trouble," Yondu rolled his eyes in exasperation before snapping and pointing at the bearded man behind them, "Horuz, escort these two misbegotten brats to the brig. I'll deal with them later."

"Whatever you say, Captain," Horuz said, just shy of snapping and his tone just a shade sullen. His teeth bared in a grin that was not pleasant to see as he turned to look on the children with narrowed eyes, "Oblo. Halfnut. Let's take a walk."

"An' Horuz," Yondu said as the men turned away, "You an' your boys better remember what I said. I'd hate to have to give this talk a second time. So I probably won't." Yondu smiled, and it was not a nice one, "Just keep in mind."

The man grunted as he gave a short nod of acknowledgement and he turned away. The group moving to march down the hall to the sound of childish whining and ignored complaints.

"Bliztaar," Yondu said over his shoulder as a last figure emerged from the room- a tall giant white furred beast looking figure with a large bluish-white mane that curled around into a beard.

"Keep an eye on them for me." Yondu twirled his arrow in his fingers, nodding at Horuz's retreating back before putting it away, "I wanna make sure the boy's are on their best behavior."

"Yes Captain," Came the low rumbling murmur, and the giant lumbered away slowly following after them.

With the last Ravager gone from the room, Yondu turned towards the sound of coughing still lingering in the hallway- and spotted Meredith standing down away, near bent double as her lungs spasmed with each hacking cough.

"Oh hey whoa there," Yondu said as he quickly stepped up to her side, and hand on her back he took her elbow and began to carefully draw her away from the smoke still slowly bubbling out of the room, "Let's get you away from this smoke, yeah? Take it easy. Deep breaths, alright? Ya okay?"

"I-I'm fine," Meredith choked out, blinking back tears as she tried to catch her breath, "Are they- the kids," She weezed, "What's gonna happen to-"

"The twins?" Yondu guessed and she nodded faintly as wiped at her eyes.

"Those two troublemakers," Yondu rolled his eyes, shaking his head in exasperation.

"They'll be fine. I swear, I didn't think anybody could be worse than Pe-ah," He cut himself short there, darting a quick guilty glance at Meredith, but she had her eyes closed in a cough and missed his potential slip, "Well, never mind that. The brig is more for my peace of mind tha' anything else. Hopefully it'll keep 'em in one place for longer than fifteen minutes, give or take. Doubt it'll hold them for long though. Those two are wiley."

"What about that big," Meredith gestured around her head with a nervous look back the way the ravagers left. That large white furred, bearded alien had been terrifyingly large and muscular.

Yondu mimicked her gesture in confusion before it clicked, "Oh, you mean Blistaar?"

He made a considering face, "Yeah I guess I can see why you'd be nervous. Baluur can be like that- size intimidation and what not. Makes for a good head of security. Don't talk much, but she can handle herself. Kids'll be fine. Just... Think of it as time-out."

"She?" Meredith said incredulously as her head whipped up to look at him- only to set off another round of coughs.

"Hey, hey take it easy. Ah fuck, here," Yondu looked around before kicking an errant box against the wall and guiding Meredith to sit with her back against the window. Even through the blanket, the shock of cold against her back was significant- but it seemed to help and her coughs quickly began to fade.

Yondu crouched in front of her looked up, his red eyes looking her over with concern, "Alright, better now? You ain't dying on me, are ya?"

"No no, I'm fine," Meredith said waving her hand at him, breathing carefully as she eased away from the cold glass, "I'll live for now." She coughed again, "Hell of a wake up call, though, what was that? That-" She waved vaguely, "That purple smoke?"

"Homemade smoke bombs made by amateurs," Yondu said with irritation in his voice, but from this close Meredith could see him fighting to keep an amused smile off his face, "S'like I said. Troublemakers. Who the hell knows what they put in it."

"Well whatever it was, it made weird smoke," Meredith said, beginning to grin back, "It smelled almost like pepper. Spicy, ugh. I'm not surprised I was coughing and sneezing like crazy."

"Either way, glad you're still breathin'," Yondu said with the smile edging up one corner of his lips, exposing cragged teeth, "Hate to pick ya up just for ya to drop dead all a' sudden."

Meredith's smile slowly dropped.

"Why did you pick us up?" Meredith asked earnestly, and Yondu's smile dropped like it's strings had been cut and he rocked back on his heels, "You never did say."

"No. No, I didn't," Yondu agreed as he stood up, half turned away as she looked up at him curiously. Yondu reached up to rub his neck, and turned his head to look at her where she sat on the crate, backlit by stars- and it was just like before when she was on the bridge.

And the silence stretched, her question stretching out with it to fill the distance between them.

Ringing in the silence, waiting to be answered.

"Did Jason send you?"

"Who?" Yondu had said, confused at first before the realization dawned.
And for a beat there was silence as they both instinctively turned to look at Peter standing there beside his mother.

"If Jason is who I think he is," Yondu had said at last, silent too long for comfort, "Then the answer is... yes an' no."

And Yondu couldn't help but feel sick as Meredith's sudden elation crashed almost as soon as it took off. Her face falling into a frown of confusion, "What? What do you mean, yes and no?"

"I mean it's complicated."

And now she was scowling, "Then un-complicate it."

"It ain't that simple"

"Sure it is-" Meredith had stepped forward only to wobble as the ship juddered sharply.

"Oops," Kraglin said as he refocused on the controls in front of him, "I got it! I got it."

"I think you got enough. Beat it kid," Yondu said waving the boy away from his chair and tapped the panel a few times, "Why don't you do me a favor instead an' take the boy's an' Momma Quill here down an' get them situated. It's been a helluva day already, so lets getcha fed'n water'd rest up before we tackle anything else yeah? It ain't the time to be havin' this conversation an' I got a ship to run."

Meredith allowed the young boys to hustle them towards the door, but she did not break eye contact with him until she was near the door- and he gave her a nod of acknowledgement. There would be a conversation later, the look promised, but not now. And only then, did she nod. And only then did she leave, allowing the boys to drag her away- to find food and a room for them to rest.

And then she was gone and Yondu was alone on the bridge.

And releasing an exhaustive sigh, Yondu slumped down into his chair, dragging a hand down his face as he stared out into space.

How the hell was he going to explain this.

There was a tug on his pants. At his feet sat Nettle, blinking up at him, her red eyes shining as she chewed on her fingers.

"You got any bright ideas?" Yondu asked looking down at her. The little girl just smiled around her fingers before reaching up to him and he picked her up and set her on his lap, carefully resting his chin on her relatively soft prickles of her fuzzy head-fronds as she kicked her feet happily, "Yeah, didn't think so..."

That was the thing with kids. They were easy.

For the most part that is. Oh, moren' half trouble and right terrors, the lot of them, but kids tend to look up to the grown ups around them. Adaptable. Treat 'em even half decent and they'd grow up to be alright- Peter had taught him that at least. Then they get all growed up into their own lil people and get stubborn and set in their ways just like everybody else.

Take a grown ass person and tell them they're entire world view's got some major flaws and well...
Pretty sure that how half of the galactic wars got started somewhere down the line.

And then there's Meredith Quill.

He is not looking forward to this conversation...

'Oh-sure, Momma Quill, your baby-daddy asked me to pick up his boy so he could eathim for power.Him and a couple thousand other kids. What, you thought you were special?'

"Is it really that hard for you to explain?"

Meredith's voice drew him back to the present, and dropping his hand he turned to look at her seated before him. Hair tangled, sleep bruises under her eyes, looking small and near swallowed up by the blanket and the black expanse of stars at her back. She looked impossibly frail. Like a stiff wind would shatter her to pieces. Delicate-like.

And just... the words seemed unnecessarily vicious and unreasonably cruel.

"It ain't exactly easy to explain," Yondu said finally, stiff and guarded, "Let alone hear."

The words sat heavy in his gut; a bitter gall that made his tongue feel clumsy in his mouth as he looked at her and tried not to choke.

This was Peter's mom.

Bad enough to explain to anyone what Ego had done, but this was the woman that had raised his boy to have the biggest heart that he'd ever seen. Someone like that- to make that lasting of an impression after so many years. That was goodness on a level he'd never seen.
And however frail and delicate she looked now, sitting before him, Yondu could see it. Weak as she seemed, there was a spirited fire in her that he recognized. Recognized it in the determined glint in her eyes. In the familiar stubborn set on an unfamiliar jaw.

He could see where Peter had gotten it from. And if she was anything like her boy, this woman's fighting spirit would be something to behold. Fragile she may be, this woman is strong.

As strong, if not stronger than the hopeful light currently shining, fever bright, in her eyes...

And wasn't that a twist of a knife in his gut. All that loving hope for a man like Ego.

What lies had Ego filled this woman's head with to put those stars in her eyes?

Well... that could be one place to start.

"How much do you know about him," Yondu asked, expression grave, "Peter's father."

And Meredith smiled and Yondu's stomach dropped.

"He's an Angel," She said closing her eyes. And rapturous joy fairly glowed off of her as she smiled at nothing. Taking over and transforming her features into something almost unrecognizable from the woman she'd been just moments before.

"Jason," She continued, breathy and oblivious, and wrong, "He's made of love and stardust and all those impossible dreams given life." She laughed, "Who would have thought the man of my dreams would be a spaceman from the stars. But that's what he is. He is my... everything."

Meredith opened her eyes and beamed up at him. And even with how little he had known her, Yondu could see the terrible wrongness of it on her face, dazzling her eyes. They say folks can glow with love, but this wasn't that at all. No, this was something else. More like a druggie's haze. An unnatural bliss washing over her and washing her out.

And if she saw how strained his expression had become, she didn't seem to notice, growing distant and dreamy as she shrunk into the blanket. Diminished and powerless in the face of remembered bliss, "When Jason is around everything is wonderful. It's like the world has more color. It's vibrant and- and full of music. It's Perfection. He is perfect."

"Yeah?" Yondu rasped, voice rough and strained as he spoke around clenched teeth and clenched fists, "An' how long was he around exactly? This mister perfect."

"It could have been forever. It felt like forever," She said before blinking- her placid expression marred as a small frown of concentration broke through, "But um- three. It was... three days," and quickly as it was gone the smile came back, "But it felt so much longer."

"Three days? Well!," Yondu scoffed, biting sarcasm failing to smother his bitter anger, and shook his head, "Of course you'd know everything about him after three days." He took a beat to reign in his temper and took the plunge.

"I hate to break it to ya, Hun," Yondu said gravely, and he was trying but there's no kind way to say it, "But you got suckered. There ain't nothing perfect about him- bout the farthest thing from it. He's a lying piece of shit an' I would know cause he suckered me too. So don't feel too bad-"

"No," Meredtih said, laughed, shaking her head an indulgent smile on her face, "No, you don't know him like I do. Jason is wonderful. He came down from the stars to love me. And he gave me Peter. And Jason promised to come for him and now here we are! "

That rapturous smile was back and she smiled. Beamed. Lit up and glowing with the light of distant stars reflecting in her eyes. And Yondu swallowed hard at the look of knowing clarity dawned in her eyes and knew what she was going to say-

"I know why you picked us up," Tears of joy pricked her eyes, her smile aching at the edges, as she spoke. Her voice sure and confident and strong- wavering only with that terrible, unnatural joy that had overwhelmed her, "What else could it be? Why else would we be here, with you, in space of all places? It's him. He sent you. Jason sent you and-"

"First of all his name's not Jason," Yondu cut in sharply.

She blinked at him, startled and taken aback by his flat tone and grave expression- and Yondu barreled on while she was off balanced and he still had her full attention.

"Out here, he goes by the name of Ego. And let me tell you- a more fitting name there ain't," Yondu fairly snarled the words, "He's a selfish, sanctimonious, narcissistic bastard. But I'll give ya- you're half right about one thing," Yondu continued, fists clenched in remembered rage, "Ego may have sent me to Tera. But he ain't the reason I picked you up."

"But Jason-" Meredith's said, and Yondu hated that stubborn smile that had Ego's name on it.

"But nothing," Yondu snapped, "Ego sent me to pick up Peter. Just Peter, mind. Said nothin' 'bout you."

And Meredith stilled, taken aback, her smile caught- trapped on the edge of falling off her face.
And fuck, Yondu bit back his words, gritting his teeth as he struggled to reign in his temper.
He'd wanted to be gentle with her, damn it.

Yondu shook his head, a resigned tilt, "Sorry Momma Quill but it seems you didn't make the list."

"I... I don't understand," Meredith stuttered, sounding small and fragile.

Yondu stepped up and half crouched before her once more- trying to catch her eyes as she huddled defensively in her quilt, "As far as Ego's concerned, he got what he wanted from you- so now you might as well be dead as far as far as he cares. And he don't, make no mistake.

"That's what he does Meredith," He said insistently, gentling his rough voice as much as he could- knowing it wouldn't make the words any easier to hear but still trying, "He uses folks an' when he's done- well..."

"Jason would never hurt me," Meredith breathed, shaking her head in unthinking denial.

"I ain't so sure he didn't," Yondu said and still Meredith shook her head.

"No," She said, and then again stronger, insistently, "No, your wrong- you have to be- This is some kind of mistake. Jason would never-"

Yondu groaned, hanging his head. How was she not getting this? How could she still-?
Rocking back on his heels, Yondu stood up to pace in frustrated irritation.

"Look around, Meredith," Yondu snapped in frustration, gesturing his arms around the empty hallway, helpless dramatics, "This look like some kinda heavenly taxi to you? A good place for kids? Some kinda princely cruiser? This is a ravager spaceship. A spaceship for space pirates.

"Outlaws, Quill," Yondu said, and there was no way to make it any clearer than this, "A ship full of the scum of the universe and I'm their captain. I'm the worst of the lot. I've done things you wouldn't believe.

"And yet your Jason sent me to kidnap your son ."

"No...I- I don't believe that." Shaking her head in confusion, she scowled up at him, "I won't."

"You're just lucky that I'm as much of a bastard as he is," Yondu growled, "Cause for all you think he's mister perfect, I got absolutely no intention on deliverin' you an' your boy into that sonuvabitch's hands. Not you. Not Peter. Or any of the other kids for that matter.

"I ain't a good man, Quill," Yondu said, stepping up to stare her in the eyes, "But right now I'm all you got. And I'm gonna be doin' my damnedest to keep you all alive and-"

Yondu's eye was caught by an irregular flashing of light outside the window- flitting about in the space beyond, just behind Meredith's head muddled by her reflection in the glass. A familiar light that looked suspiciously like the plasma trail left behind by M-ships in flight and there was only one place they could have come from...

"An' your boy better be dead cause I'm gonna kill him," Yondu growled, "We got joyriders."

"What?" Meredith yelped at the dramatic shift, and instinctively turned to follow Yondu's pointing finger out the window, "Are those- Are those spaceships? W-what makes you think that's Peter?"

"Cause I just put the twins in time out," Yondu snarled and one of the ships did a barrel roll, "Who else would it be but your trouble making little 'star-lord'. Come on. Let's go get em."

And taking Meredith's arm, her blanket fell away forgotten and left behind, as Yondu hauled her to her feet and they took off running for the hanger bay.

"See I told you I could fly!"

Kraglin grinned over his shoulder at Peter as he squealed in delight as they did another loop-de-loop.

"Still not better than me!" Hekk's voice popped over the headset that sat large and loose on Kraglin's head, and from behind a ship zoomed past, twirling through space as it buzzed them.

"Oh, yeah? Watch this! Hold on, Peter!" Kraglin said over his shoulder and gunned the small M-ship after its brother, "Eat my dust, you feather-headed twerp!"

Grinning gleefully the boys laughed and shouted over each other on the airwaves, trading jibes and juvenile insults as they egged each other on. Flitting about in the open space, playing tag and doing tricks with reckless abandon, the two ships weaving and zig-zagging around the occasional space rocks drifting around them as they drew ever closer to the local asteroid belt.

"Oh my god, this is incredible!" Peter crowed, eyes wide and beaming, only tearing his eyes away from the window to exchange grins with Kraglin every now and then. Turning back, Peter's eyes fell upon the buttons of the control panel.

"Hey! Hey Kraglin!" Peter shouted to be heard, tugging on the other boys sleeve, "Kraglin give me a turn! I wanna fly the spaceship!"

"What? No way," Kraglin said, shrugging him off, "Terran's aren't even space-faring."

"We are too!" Peter said, indignant on behalf of his planet, "We've gone to the moon an' everything. They showed it on TV!"

"Oh, yeah sure, the moon! Pfft!" Kraglin mocked sarcastically, as he performed a complicated twist that had Hekk bellowing in competitive rage,"That's nothing. Barely even baby steps. Besides, there's no way you know how to fly."

"Sure I can!" Peter said insistent, "I've been watching, you haven't I? It can't be too hard! Just tell me what these buttons do- Oops!"

"Don't touch that," Kraglin said swatting at his hands as Peter pushed a button that causes a part of the control panel to part and reveal a joy-stick looking handle.

"Ohh, what does this do? Is it a gun?" Peter said, grabbing the handle and giving it a squeeze-

"YES! YES IT IS!" Peter shrilled gleefully.

"Hey! Watch it," Willit shouted over the airwaves as the ship jerked roughly, dodging out of the way of the red beam of light- whizzing by to hit the asteroid behind them and it shattered in a firework explosion of plasma, ice, and dust.

" Asteroids ," Peter breathed, and the grin that spread across his face was positively wicked as visions of atari games filled his head and how had he ever thought that space could be boring? "Alright! New game! The one who explodes the most asteroids wins!"

"You're on!" Hekk said, his echoing grin could be heard in his voice over the sound of Willit squawking in alarm, "Explodes?!"

With that the pair of m-ships took off, racing each other deeper into the asteroid field. A gleeful frenzy took over- the next several moments full of exploding lights as giant plumes of sparkling dust and glittering ice illuminated the dark like so many fireworks.

"Hahaha-Uh oh!" Hekk's laughter was cut short as the dust cleared to reveal an asteroid of considerable size barring down on the pair of ships.

"Oh shit! Look out!" Kraglin cried out as the two ships tried to swerve around the massive obstacle that had loomed out suddenly upon them from the dark. The dodge scuffed the edge of Hekk's ship, throwing a shower of sparks at the near miss-

Relief was short lived however, as the first asteroid dropped away behind them- another was soon to take its place. This one even larger and looming and far too close to avoid.

"Quick!" Peter cried over the airwaves, "Use the guns! We gotta blast our way through!"

"Are you crazy!" Willit shouted, terror in his voice, "We're gonna die!"

"No we're not!" Kraglin said, as he pushed a button and a second gun appeared, "Blast it!"

In concerted effort, the two ships drew near each other, four guns focusing the laser blasts in a tight space on the icy rock hurtling on a collision course towards them. Each blast vaporizing ice and carving away bits of stone and space trash- hitting faster and faster and faster as the distance closed- shouting and screaming in concentration and not a small bit of terror.

"One hundred feet!" Hekk shrilled over the airwaves

"Fifty Feet!"

"Shut up, Hekk!"

"Ten feet!"

"It's gonna hit us!"

"No it's not, Shut up Willit!"

"Five Feet!"

With a final blast the center of the dirty space snowball shattered through and the two ships passed out to the other side- glittering ice trailing behind them like a pair of comets.

"T-that was a close one," Willit laughed over the airwaves, his voice wavering just on the cusp of hysterical.

Kraglin and Peter giggled at each other, wild eyed and giddy with terrified relief.

"I-ah," Kraglin's voice cracked before he continued, feigning confidence, "Let's call it a draw- we should be going back, anyways. Before somebody misses the ships."

"Yes, thank you please," Willit said shakily, "I think I'm done with flying today."

"I was winning though."

"Shut up, Hekk," Willit snapped as the boys just laughed, "You both fly like maniacs- I'm never co-piloting with either of you ever again."

"I would!" Peter said still giggling, "This was the most fun I've had in ages."

Turning the ships around, the boys headed back to the Eclector, leaving the asteroid field behind- no worse for wear from its time as the boy's destructive playground. Without all the fancy flying, it was a much shorter trip and they were soon slipping past the still open space-doors and through the force field that kept the atmosphere in, the two ships gently touched down side by side in the docking bay.

"We should probably try not to get noticed," Kraglin said over the headset before the turned off the ships, "It's not like we had permission to take the ships out..."

"Good idea," Peter nodded and together the boys crept to the ships door, shushing each other as it swished open-

"The thing about spaceships. They ain't exactly what you would call stealthy."

Yondu stood before the open door arms crossed, a spare headset hanging from his hand. Scowling down at their caught, guilty expressions on their boyish faces.

"OH uh, captian! We were just uh-" Kraglin stuttered.

"Grounded."

"Peter!" Meredith cried as she came up behind the captain and fiercely wrapped her arms around her wayward son, as only a mother can, "What were you thinking? Flying around in a spaceship like that, are you crazy?"

"Um," Peter said, awkwardly shuffling his feet as he was held- darting his eyes at his new friends, who glanced back at him just as awkwardly as him, "Sorry mom."

"Ya'll know darn well an' good that this ain't what I meant when I said you boys could start having time off," Yondu said, raising a hand to pinch at the bridge of his nose, voice stern and exasperated, "Time off does not mean 'time off ship'. Figured that was implied, but it looks like I'm gonna have to spell out it out for ya an' lay down some ground rules- If this is the kinda thing you boys are gonna get up to unsupervised.

"Don't know who's idea this was, an' frankly, I don't care. But that was a goddamn stupid stunt and ya'll are in so much trouble-," Yondu said raising his voice over the sound of the boy's squabbling over who's fault it was now.

"An you-" Yondu said pointing at Peter, and the boy pointed to himself wide eyed at the attention as Meredith stood up behind him, "What were you thinkin'? You 'bout scared your momma half to death. Ya'll ain't even been on the ship longer n' a day. You got any idea how dangerous that stunt yall pulled was?"

"Not that dangerous," Hekk muttered sullenly, scuffing his foot on the floor, "I can fly just fine."

"No, you can't," Yondu said, chucking the headset aside, "Cause you're grounded. All ya'll are."

Yondu continued over the renewed clamor of whining, "You're lucky I ain't tossin' ya into the brig with the twins- but I don't wanna even think about the kinda trouble ya'll would get into in a confined space like that."

The boys just muttered under their breath, hanging their heads in various levels of resignation. Willit darting looks towards Meredith out of the corner of his eye as he bit his lip. Kraglin going stiff and still like the little soldier he was. Hekk, slumped in a sullen sulk as he glared- wrapping his arms around himself protectively.

"So for the time bein, ya'll are grounded for the next foreseeable future," Yondu said, as he turned and started to usher the boys out of the docking bay at a stern march, "That means your runty lil behinds are mine until I say otherwise, you got it? Chores an' scrub duty's too good for ya. You gotta earn that back- an' you're gonna be beggin' for it by the time I'm done with ya.

"First things first," Yondu snapped, "I'm gonna want twenty laps round the ship- that's the whole ship- no shortcuts. You got energy, you're gonna burn it now. An' if you don't hustle fast enough, I'll send my arrow after ya. Now move!"

The trio of boys scurried off at a fast clip, to the fading sound of bickering.

"I told you it was a bad idea."

"Shut up, Willit."

"You too, Peter."

And Yondu turned to see Meredith giving her son a stern scowl of her own, unswayed by the boy's surprised puppy dog eyes, "You heard the man. His ship. His rules. And you broke them just like the other boys, so you're grounded too. Now, hand over the cassette player and go."

And Yondu had to fight back a grin at the sight of Peter sheepishly taking off his beloved headphones and putting it into his mother's waiting open palm and then- at her raised eyebrow of motherly waning patience- fled.

"You're wrong you know," Meredith said apropos of nothing as they watched Peter go tearing off after the other boys at full speed- near clipping his shoulder on the doorway as he ran.

"Yeah? Bout what?" Yondu said, looking her over suspiciously with a scowl.

Slipping the headphones over her neck as she clipped the music player to her pants, she turned to leave and glancing over her shoulder, smiled at him. A gentle, friendly smile- a real one. It looked good on her. And Yondu was surprised to see how different it was- almost as surprising, that it was directed at him.

"You're not nearly as bad as you think you are."

And with that she left him standing alone in the hanger, feeling baffled and off balance once more. Bemused, Yondu just huffed- sucking his teeth to suppress a smile of his own. Meredith Quill was something all right- willful and stubborn, just like her boy.

And trouble, make no mistake.

How much trouble remained to be seen, but Yondu had a feeling that this was only just beginning.

"Rule number one," Yondu shouted, as he made his way into the hallway and hurried after the sound of his boy's distant running feet, "No flyin' until I say you can, got it? These are my ships you were playin' with, you hear? You wanna be reckless like this again, get your own- You ain't to even think about touchin' another of these ships until I say so."