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Rocket is sat with Drax and Gamora up in the cockpit. They’re drinking hot chocolate and watching the stars. Currently, they are planet-side. The grass is greener than Gamora’s skin which Rocket didn’t think possible. Clouds are pink and the sky is blue. It’s a strange place, this.
But it doesn’t matter. It all falls away when Drax starts talking. From what he can gather, it’s another one of his stories. Rocket turns in his seat to face the man and settles down with his cup. Drax’s stories are always great.
By the time the second story is over, Drax gets up and goes to bed. He is clearly exhausted. Rocket stays with Gamora.
Both of them were quiet, sipping at their fourth cups of hot chocolate Drax made before he left. Gamora smiled at him and Rocket turned back to the windows. They didn’t need to speak as the two admired the view together.
It took a long while for the pair to get interrupted, what with Quill, Drax and Mantis asleep. It was peaceful. Rocket relaxes into his co-pilot seat, practically curled around the warmth of his cup.
He turns around when he hears little pattering footsteps. That’s Groot. What’s Groot doin’ awake? Leaning forward, he puts his cup down on the floor. Gamora’s head turns to the direction of the stairs and they watch as Groot makes his way up.
Groot rubs at his eyes, basically half-asleep.
“Hey Groot, what’s wrong?” Rocket says, immediately getting up and putting on his ‘Groot’s strictest parent’ face. Gamora fails to hide a smile at it.
Groot rubs his arm with his opposing hand, looking at the floor. “I am Groot.” He shuffles uncomfortably under Rocket’s hard stare.
Oh. Okay. This wasn’t unusual, Groot getting nightmares. He was still a kid and they did go on daring adventures a lot of the time. And maybe Rocket’s recklessness contributed to some of it. Groot didn’t like that.
Rocket opens his mouth to respond but Groot beats him to it. He looks up at last, still looking uncomfortable even if a little less tense.
“I am Groot.” Dad, I’m scared.
For a moment, Rocket’s mouth hangs open and he turns to Gamora. She’s smiling fondly at him, gives her head a nod to encourage him. And then Groot starts shuffling again, leaving Rocket speechless. He thought he’d said the wrong thing, on the edge of taking it back when Rocket smiles at him.
“Oh, Groot. You know I’ll always keep you safe.” His arms opened to embrace the kid and Groot threw himself into them. Rocket let out an ‘oomph’ sound as he made contact.
He didn’t comment on the fact that his dad wouldn’t always be around to protect him. It would only make him sad. So he squeezed him as hard as he could, making sure to let him know how much he loved him.
Groot heard Rocket’s breath hitch and pulled away, thinking he’d hurt him.
“I am Groot?” He asked, looking Rocket up and down. His eyes squinting in concern.
Rocket gave him that smile, the smile he only gave Groot. He patted the kid’s shoulders. “I’m fine.” And then pulled him in close. “Don’t squeeze too hard again, though Groot.”
“I am Groot.” I won’t.
There was a pause in conversation. A brief moment where nothing else mattered. It was broken by Gamora getting up and taking her empty cup with her. Once she left, Groot tensed up again. He pulled away to let him have his space.
Groot’s eyes looked down to their feet again. Rocket cleared his throat which made him look up. He gave him a questioning look. Groot hesitated before speaking. Rocket let him take his time, ever so patient with him.
“I am Groot?” He finally managed to gather the courage to say. Can I call you dad?
Rocket smiled so wide it started to hurt. It felt like his heart had melted into a puddle. Groot was way taller than him now, just around four and a half foot, almost four years old. He’s three quarters of the way there.
“‘Course ya can, Groot.” He takes his hand. “C’mon, lets go to bed.” Rocket is still beaming as they make their way to his cabin. His cup is left up there, forgotten.
Rocket lets go of Groot’s hand as he climbs into bed, going to help him up on instinct. Groot gets up just as easily and they crawl under his blanket. Even though he’s taller, Groot curls up next to his dad, wanting to be as close as possible.
He helps him by putting one of Groot’s arms around himself, shuffling closer. Groot seems content when his dads arms drape over him.
“Night, Groot.”
“I am Groot.” Night, dad. I love you.
Rocket smiles again, Groot unable to see though. “Yeah, yeah, love you too Groot.” He mumbles, tightening his arms around him.
And after a moment, Groot had fallen asleep almost instantly. Rocket wasn’t far behind, the kid’s slow rise and fall of his chest lulling him to sleep.
Rocket wakes up to quiet chatter and a beaming light. He groans, throwing an arm over his eyes. It’s morning. Or they’re just very very close to a sun. He goes to rub his eyes and something is completely attached to his arm. Rockets eyes snap open, only to realise Groot is still asleep next to him. His body deflates in relief.
Not long after, Groot stirs awake. He grumbles about it and Rocket snickers, Groots grip finally loosening enough for him to free his numb limb. It flops next to him.
“I am Groot?” Breakfast?
Rocket rolls his eyes. Screw Quill for making Groot a morning person. “Yeah, in a minute, Groot. Lemme wake up.” He sits up at last, his arm still numb. He shakes it to get some feeling into it and considers biting it to speed up the process.
Groot stands up and starts jumping. “I am Groot! I am Groot!” He insists, very loudly.
It takes considerable self-control for Rocket not to growl and push Groot away. Literally. “Alright, alright! I’m up.”
Jumping down from the bed, Groot waits on him to drag himself from under the covers. “I am Groot!” Hurry up, dad!
For a moment, Rocket freezes. He’d had such a good sleep, it took him a moment to realise. He huffs, faux-annoyance toeing the line with actual annoyance. “I’m comin’ Groot. You’re so damn impatient.” Rocket crawls out of bed and slumps to the floor. He presses the button for his door and it slides open.
They venture out into the hallways of the ship together, Groot skipping ahead of him. He’s probably following the scent of someone’s cooking. Rocket knows the feeling. On their way to, probably the kitchen, they bump into Quill.
“Hey, Rock.” The captain says, way too cheery for someone who just woke up.
Rocket grumbles at him and then notices he’s wearing his Ravager jacket. He could do with a lift…
Gearing up, Rocket focuses on his target; Quills arm. He does a little wiggle before jumping up and landing on target. Quill jumps at the unexpected action as Rocket settles on the Terran’s shoulder. It’s got padding so his claws aren’t harsh when he digs them in.
“I am Groot?” The sapling in front of them asks, turning around.
Quill smirks. “Up here.” He points at Rocket, who almost scratches his finger.
Then Groot is smirking too. “I am Groot?”
Quill’s face falls. “What? No! I can’t carry both of you.” He stops walking now.
Rocket huffs when Groot gives him the puppy eyes. The expression no one can’t not give in to.
“I am Groot.” Please, Uncle Quill?
Quill’s mouth hangs open in shock, head turning to Rocket.
“ Uncle ?” He questions in an incredulous tone.
Rocket snickers. But wait. Then that means…
A finger pokes at him. Rocket nearly bites it.
“Hey man, what have you been teaching him?” Quill smiles, huffing a laugh. He realises then, Groot is sat on his other shoulder.
He shrugs. “I didn’t tell ‘im that.” He starts to pick at his claws until Quill pulls his hand away from the other gently. Groot gets comfortable, settling for a simple sit, his legs dangling over Quill’s shoulder
Quill hums and takes them towards the kitchen.
Rocket watches Quill make pancake mixture as Groot is enjoying his dead bugs they keep around for him.
“Hey, Quill?” He says from where he is stood on the counter by the fridge.
Quill hums as he pours the perfect amount of mixture onto the buttered pan. “Yeah?” He replies without looking.
For a moment it’s quiet and Quill glances at Rocket, some blueberries in front of him. He understands, Rocket not even having to say anything before Quill is grabbing a handful to put in the mixture. He can feel his friends smile as he continues to make both of them breakfast.
After Rocket and Quill have almost finished their blueberry pancakes, the rest of the team join them. Mantis, Drax, Gamora and Kraglin who’d decided to stick around.
Groot is done but hangs around, waiting for Rocket.
“I am Groot!” He says, to hurry his dad along.
Everyone in the room gasps, their mouths falling open. Rocket carries on eating as everyone’s eyes turn to him. It’s dead silent.
And then, finally, it’s too much.
Rocket’s head snaps up, his eyes catching onto Quill first. “What!” He shouts, scanning the room and glaring at everyone. His head makes its way back to Quill. Who is smirking.
“He calls you dad now?” Quill looks way too amused at this new information.
Rocket could’ve jumped out of his seat and attacked the Terran. But he doesn’t, he’s better than that. He does still jump out of his seat, though, just to watch Quill flinch. “Yeah!” Rocket throws his arms up in the air. “So what?” His arms come down and cross over his chest.
Quill’s smirk turns into a smile as he looks at Gamora, then back at Rocket. “It’s just…we didn’t know that.”
Rocket snarls, keeping himself rooted, which still takes a lot of effort. “And I needed to announce this?!” His ears flatten against his head, looking around the room once again, a nervous habit he’s developed.
“Rocket—“ Gamora starts but gets cut off because he growls and jumps onto her arm, his sharp teeth sinking into her green skin. He lets his claws dig in too, scratching twice before he’s pulled off and Gamora is screaming.
He scratches at Peters hand that reaches for him. Rocket is then stood between Gamora and Peter, both of which are bleeding. Gamora doesn’t look mad, but Quill looks furious.
It hits him, what he’s just done.
Shit.
Rocket’s ears flatten against his head, this time for a different reason than last. It’s Peter’s look. For someone usually so calm to be so mad…it terrifies him. Rocket backs away before scurrying away on all fours.
“Rocket!” Quill yells so loud it bounces off the walls.
Quill steps forward, stopped by Gamora’s hand around his wrist. “Let him go. Maybe he’ll calm down.”
The Terran huffs, really doubting it. “Whatever you say.” He says and sits down again, inspecting Gamora’s arm.
There’s silence as Groot leaves the table, following in the direction Rocket left. Kraglin puts a med-kit in front of Pete and sits down to finish his cereal.
Peter sighs, pulling out disinfectant wipes to dab away the crimson red blood covering Gamora’s arm, to clean her up and make sure her wounds don’t get infected. She lets out a quiet hiss at the sting.
“He didn’t mean it.” Gamora states in the silence.
At that, Peter looks up. “Didn’t mean it? Didn’t mean it! He—“
Gamora leans forward, putting a finger against Peter’s lips. “He was just irritated.” She explains quietly.
“Oh, and you would know?” Peter’s tone is incredulous.
She looks away from his face. “I was raised by Thanos.”
“So!” He feels like throwing his arms in the air.
“I know what irritation looks like.”
Peter huffs, pulling something else out of the med-kit. “Even in animals?” He spits harshly.
Gamora sighs with her whole body. “He’s not an animal.” She relaxes, the tension easing away as Peter starts to wrap up her wounds.
She can feel his eyes roll, not even having to look. “Whatever.” She hears him whisper.
Shit. Shit shit shit shit.
Rocket has hidden himself away in the deepest darkest corners of the ship. Fuck, he’d never meant for that, but it’s not like he hasn’t done it before. It’s worse this time, though. So much worse. He’d never scratched like that before, not to them, not to his family.
He looks around, careful to avoid all the stuff down here. There’s gotta be something useful for him to do instead of just hiding. They’ll come looking for him eventually.
After what feels like three hours, seven completed projects and a Groot visit, he finally hears the telltale sign of heavy boots walking his way. They turn down a different hall, though. It’s dark here, so it definitely will take a while.
His ears perk up when the boots start coming closer again.
“Rocket? You down here?”
Shit, it’s Quill. He thought maybe it was Drax. But no, just his fucking luck that it would be Quill. Typical.
Rocket turned away from the source of noise, not wanting to see or speak to Quill.
He hears the man sigh heavily, supposedly at the entrance. “C’mon man, we gotta talk.” He doesn’t sound mad. He chances a peak over the boxes he’s been hiding behind.
And, not to his surprise, there Quill is.
Rocket drags his hands down his face, then lets them hold onto the edge of the box he’s leaning over.
“You don’t know how anxiety inducing that sentence is.” He says, ducking under the box again.
As expected, Rocket can practically hear how fast Quill’s head turns.
“Come on, Rocket! Don’t play games!” Quill announces, hands probably on his hips.
Rocket huffs. “Fine.” He crawls out of his hiding space, ducks underneath another box right by Quill’s feet to see if he’ll notice. But he doesn’t and so he comes out, looking up at the man. “Hey Quill.” He says, catching his attention.
Quill looks down. “Hi.”
“So…”
“Lets go find Gamora.”
Rocket looks at his feet as Quill leads them out of the room. “Okay..”
He looks up, to see Quill has stopped in the doorway. “Hey.” He says, quietly.
“What.” Rocket crosses his arms, staring up at Quill.
Quill gets to his knees and he wants to push him away, but he’s done enough today. “She’s not mad.”
Rocket scoffs, finding that hard to believe. “Whatever, Quill.” He turns away, looking at something else to avoid Peter’s gaze. That doesn’t sound right.
There’s a moment of fragile silence where Rocket kicks at a pebble that somehow found its way onboard and hears it clatter against the metal grating as it skids across the floor. Peter is still staring at him. He wonders…
“Are you mad, Pete?” He mumbles, almost inaudibly. The room is quiet enough that Peter hears it anyway.
Peter sighs. “I’m mad that you would do something like that to one of us, but two of us? That’s unacceptable and you know it.” He says, sounding more disappointed than mad.
Rocket can’t help the guilt that starts to bubble in his stomach, not for the first time today. He completely turns away from Peter and paws at his eyes when he feels the fur around them start to wet with tears. Fuck, not again. Rocket sniffles, cursing himself once more when he realises how defeated that sounded. Trying to clear his throat past the lump of guilt is a pathetic attempt at stalling speaking to Gamora.
Rocket turns so he can speak to Peter properly. It all comes spilling out before he can stop it. “I know, it’s just hard sometimes. I just, I can’t- I..”
“It’s okay, take your time.”
And Rocket sobs, because he’s never had anyone be this nice while still being mad. Not even Groot. God, he can hate Peter so much sometimes but at the end of the day, he probably couldn’t live without him.
He steps closer to Peter and lets the Terran bring him closer with a hand on his back. Rocket clambers up into his lap, balling his shirt up into his hands. All it takes is Peter whispering; “Just let it out,” for Rocket to break.
He holds onto Pete’s shirt for dear life, like letting go will kill him. Rocket sobs and he screams and he cries, each one getting louder.
“I’m sorry I hurt you and Gamora, I didn’t mean it, I’m sorry, so fuckin’ sorry, I—“
“It hurts. I don’t wanna hurt anymore, Pete. Please, please.”
“I don’t wanna be like this anymore. Why did they make me like this!”
When Rocket’s much needed breakdown tires him out, and he finds his voice hoarse, he pulls away from Peter. He finds the Terran’s face wet with tears too. It makes him want to start crying again.
“I’m so sorry.” Peter says, giving Rocket a gentle squeeze.
Rocket sighs, his breath coming out in a wheeze instead. He pats Peter’s leg and he lets go. He points up at his shoulder and Peter lets out a wet chuckle. He nods and Rocket climbs up to curl around Peter’s neck.
He stands up slowly and Rocket digs his claws in carefully.
“We can talk to Gamora later. You still gotta apologise.” Peter reminds him.
Rocket hums against his neck and it’s a nice feeling. Peter is taking them to his room. Usually he’d protest but right now all he wants is to go to sleep. It’s been a long, exhausting few hours of the day and he wants it to be over already.
When Peter is settled under his duvet, Rocket gets comfortable on his chest. His own blanket is draped over him. Pete had been kind enough to grab it for him before they got here. Rocket falls asleep to the Zune playing ‘Southern Nights’ quietly.
Rocket wakes up, uncurling and stretching across Peter’s chest. Wait. Peter? Right.
When he looks, the man is already awake. “Hi, Rocket.” He smiles and reaches out, scratching behind his ears. Rocket doesn’t complain because it feels so good. Usually he does it himself, but another persons nails digging in and hitting spots he’d never dreamed of is a whole ‘nother feeling.
Quill chuckles when Rocket’s head leans into the touch. “You like this?” He smiles.
“God, fuck. Don’ stop, Pete.” Rocket mumbles, head leaning as close as possible to Peter’s fingers. “Can you do the other one?” He asks, voice still raw from crying.
When the Terran’s nails dig in behind his left ear, Rocket melts into a pile of mush. He starts humming instead of verbally expressing his feelings. He’s done enough of that recently.
The door slides open then, Rocket feeling too good to care about who it was. But then the scratching stopped which was enough to get his attention. He turns to Quill, about to open his mouth.
“I am Groot.” Drax made dinner.
Rocket grumbles, too comfy to move. And then Quill starts scratching behind his ears again.
“‘Kay, Groot.” He mumbles to the kid who turns away in the direction of the kitchen. Quill can only scratch him for so long, though and eventually moves.
Rocket is not happy about it. He doesn’t complain because he’s saving his voice, only jumps onto Peter’s shoulder. The man rolls his eyes, smiling fondly.
When they get to the kitchen, everyone is already there. Rocket spots Gamora and she’s already looking at him. He expects the tension to be heavy and taut as he sits down. To his surprise, it’s not. Conversation flows easily enough between the team.
Rocket stays quiet, not wanting to say the wrong thing. He looks to Groot, who has that fucking game console on the dinner table. Still, he keeps quiet.
Unsurprisingly, he finishes his meal first. He throws a thanks in Drax’s direction and is about to climb the stairs to the cockpit. He turns around and looks straight at Gamora.
“Meet me up top when you’re done.”
Gamora nods at him, giving a thumbs up as her mouth is full.
Rocket bounces around the seats waiting to talk to Gamora. He drinks some stale water and just barely misses spitting it back out. That would be rude.
At last, he settles in his seat to find his cup from last night gone. He doesn’t have to wait much longer, because there are light footsteps behind him. Rocket doesn’t look. He’s knows it’s Gamora.
She sits herself down in Peter’s pilot seat next to him and all the words he’d planned to say to her disappear from his brain. The only thing he comes up with is;
“Gamora, I’m so fucking sorry”.
She turns to him. “I know.”
“I didn’t meant it. Quill was really starting to piss me off and I thought, the next person to speak or even look at me is getting it. It’s not- you didn’t do anything wrong. I can’t, I don’t know how to—“
Rockets words are getting jumbled and trying to come out all at once. He growls in frustration because he can’t get out what he wants to say.
Gamora clears her throat and his head snaps up. She’s giving him a look of understanding. Like she already knows all of this.
“I know, Rocket. And it’s not your fault, either. You were angry and took it out on the next person to even move. I understand, I have done it too. I do not blame you.”
He instantly perks up. “You don’t?” He asks. You should, he thinks, but he’ll take what he can get.
“No, not really, but maybe other ways of releasing stress?” She suggests and Rocket listens intently to her, taking each option into consideration.
“I am Groot?” Bed time?
“Yeah.” Rocket gets comfortable in bed yet again. He snuggles under the blanket, Groot curling up next to him. While Groot falls asleep instantly, Rocket lies awake next to him, thinking about the past two days.
Peter and Gamora had kind of accepted his apologies. Maybe they still needed to talk. Things were better now, Groot calling him dad included. It seemed like he’d wanted to do so for a while. Rocket smiled, his hand brushing over Groot’s arm.
They’re on a rocky path, his found family. Things aren't great but they’re okay and as long as it stays like this, he thinks they’ll be alright. They’ll manage, together.