When everyone came back, for a moment, it all felt normal. One minute, Rocket was fighting Thanos's space dogs in the ruins of the Avengers compound, watching Rhodey's back while Lang towered above them. Shit he'd become more or less used to. And then a bunch of portals opened up, and he found himself fighting back to back with Groot and Quill and Drax and Mantis, like that day hadn't happened. Which, of course, for them, nothing had happened. They vanished, and the next thing they knew, they were back and ready to fight. They didn't feel the weight of five years. They just felt pissed.

Hell, they didn't know that Rocket had been alone for those five years. They didn't know who died and who didn't. Why should they need a tearful reunion? Fight now, ask questions later.

And that's what Rocket did. He didn't need to waste time bringing his losers up to speed. They just fell back into their old rhythm, fighting and quipping and bouncing attacks off each other with no effort. Heck, even Gamora was there for a little bit, kind of. Just like nothing ever happened.

But something did happen. And after Stark snapped his fingers, after everyone counted their dead (miraculously, it seemed like everyone else survived), and after Quill started passing out high fives, it hit him. The adrenaline drained out of him, and Rocket reholstered his guns with shaking hands. It was done. They finally, finally won. His family was back.

He felt a familiar hand on his head, and he looked up into Groot's beaming face. "I am Groot!" the kid smiled, looking as bright and warm as old Groot had. And Rocket broke.

"Oh, Groot," he breathed, his throat closing up and his eyes growing wet without warning. One second he was okay, and the next… His head drooped and he rested his forehead on Groot's knee. He stared down at the ground, the ash and debris under his feet still warm. Not Groot's ashes, this time. Groot was here. "I… Holy shit, you're back," Rocket croaked. "You're… you're all back."

And then he was crying, barely noticing as tears leaked out of his eyes, gumming up his fur and mixing with snot. His face was scrunched up, breathing wet and ragged, chest burning because Groot was here, his kid was here, his fuckin' kid was alive and okay.

Rocket had been just barely coping, holding on by a thread the past five years. He'd throw himself into work, into helping people, repairing the Milano, building new weapons and swapping schematics and ideas with Stark and Banner. He'd forgotten how big a hole his family had left, right between his ribs, leaving an ache so strong that Rocket suddenly had no idea how he'd made it this long without them.

He felt Groot's arms wrap around him, the kid kneeling down to bring Rocket in close. Groot held him tight, one hand petting the slightly-singed fur between his ears. "I am Groot." It's okay. We won.

"Hey, Groot! Rocket!" That was Quill, running over, sounding chipper as ever. "Holy shit, that was awesome! You guys okay?" Rocket, face pressed against Groot's chest, could see those familiar jet boots stop at Groot's side, and Quill's cheerful demeanor faded. "Hey, you alright?"

Rocket sniffled, painfully aware that he was ugly-crying. "I-" He coughed, opening up his throat. "I fuckin' missed you turds," he said, his voice so thick it almost hurt to talk.

"Oh, Rocket, hey," Quill said, his voice taking on that soft quality it got when any one of them got upset, and God, that almost broke Rocket in half all over again. He forgot how much he needed a softie like Quill around. Quill's hand found its way onto Rocket's shoulder and squeezed tight. "We're back, man, we're here. I, uh, don't really know where we went. Or how long we've been gone. But-"

"All'a you," Rocket said, his voice muffled from being hugged so tight by Groot. "All'a you, gone, five fuckin' years. It was just me an' Nebula left, all'a you… gone, fuckin' gone..."

"Oh, Jesus…" Quill gasped, his feet shuffling as he looked around. Looking at all the people, everyone who'd been brought through one of the sorcerer's portals… had all been gone for five years. All the Guardians, every single one except for Rocket, gone without a trace. "Oh, bud… I didn't know. I'm so sorry, that's… that's just…" Quill trailed off, probably unsure of what to say. Sincerity was never his strong suit. "Drax, Mantis!" he called out, looking somewhere in the distance. "We need a group hug, now!"

Rocket couldn't help it. He laughed, a wet, wheezy thing, and tried to pull away from Groot, who wasn't budging. "No we fuckin' don't," he said, only to be shushed by Quill.

"Uh, yes we fuckin' do! Rocket, we were dead! Jesus shit, we were all dead for five years, and you weren't!" Quill was almost yelling, squatting down so Rocket had a clear view of the angry disbelief on his face. "Bud, I can't even imagine… Drax, Mantis, hey," Quill's voice softened as the other two ran up.

"Quill!" Drax yelled, his voice booking and lacking any sense of tact. "Rocket, Groot! We are victorious! The Mad Titan's reign has ended!" He slammed into the group hug, pinning Quill to Groot's side, completely and utterly missing the point. Classic Drax.

"Everyone is okay!" Mantis cheered, joining the group hug from the other side. As soon as her hand brushed against Rocket, her jaw dropped, aghast. "Oh no… Oh Rocket, what happened?"
Rocket choked, unable to squeeze a single word out. All he could do was burrow deeper into Groot's arms and ugly-sob.

And his losers, his family, his favorite bunch of knuckleheads in the whole galaxy, they understood. Even thick-as-a-brick Drax got the message, that this reunion wasn't all smiles and celebrations. They didn't need to ask any questions. They got it. They held on close, quiet, just happy to be alive and together again.

"I am Groot."

Rocket sniffled, and wiped uselessly at his eyes and nose. "I love you too, bud."

Notes: Saw Endgame the night it came out, wrote this at work the next day. Short and simple, but I really just needed a Guardians group hug. Leave a comment if you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for reading!