Who: Ashley Magnus and Ikaris What: The Guardians Need Some Rescuing When: The beginning of August, but also sometime in 2014 Where: Ego, Space, Home Warning: Low, some canon typical violence Status: Completed via Gdoc
One minute, Ashley was on her way to the Lighthouse to see if she could drag Henry away from his computers long enough to have lunch with her. The next, she was in some kind of garden and had a feeling she was no longer in New York. She looked up and thought the sky was different, though she couldn’t articulate exactly how it was different. Was this heaven? Had she been sent back to her own world and was now dead? While that would make sense in a way, Ashley was pretty sure it wasn’t.
She thought she heard voices in the distance and started walking in that direction. Before long, she saw a familiar figure and relaxed slightly. “Ikaris,” she called. They didn’t know each other well, but at least she knew she wasn’t dead and that she wasn’t here alone. “Where are we?”
*
This wasn't Earth.
Well, of course it wasn't Earth.
Ikaris felt a bit stupid just for thinking it.
But there was something almost familiar about it. Not in the landscape or the sky, but in the feel. He hated that he couldn't find any other words for it or put it into a concept that seemed rational.
Not content to simply stand in one spot, he'd flown around the planet until he came across a structure. It almost looked like a grand palace. Or a temple.
He'd come in for a landing after spotting movement, but before he could investigate further, he heard his name and turned to see a semi-familiar face. It took him a second to place the name, but it was a relief to see someone he knew. "I'm afraid I'm not certain, but I thought I saw people over there. I can only hope they're friendly." He looked her over. "It's Ashley, isn't it? Are you all right? Do you remember getting here?"
*
“Yes, it’s Ashley,” she said. “And yes, I’m fine. No, I do not remember getting here. I was on my way to the Lighthouse.” It seemed they were in the same situation and she felt a little better knowing that whatever this was, she wasn’t on her own. “I thought I heard voices too and was trying to find the source.”
She had an uneasy feeling that she couldn’t really explain. Growing up in the Sanctuary, Ashley was pretty used to strange and unusual so the fact that this place gave her a hinky feeling was unsettling. “Do you know where here is?” she asked.
*
Her story was similar to his, eerily so. There didn't seem much point in rehashing any of it, especially since it didn't change their current circumstances.
More movement, more voices—and the more he heard, the more he was convinced he knew them. "I feel a bit of an idiot pointing out the obvious, but isn't that Gamora and Drax over there? I'd seen them around the Facility with Peter Quill, isn't it? Until the portal took Gamora, I mean. We haven't spoken much, but they're hard to miss. But to answer your question, no, I have no idea what or where this is, other than"—he sighed and drew a hand down his face—"this aggravating feeling like I should know both those things. Think we should approach?"
*
Ashley followed the direction he was looking and gave a slow nod. “Yes, I have definitely seen that guy around,” she said. He was pretty difficult to miss, though she couldn’t remember the green woman. Maybe she’d left before Ash’s arrival? Either way, it didn’t matter, but if Gamora had left via the portal prior to this, what did that mean?
“Maybe,” she said. “They might be in the same situation we are.” Even if that situation made very little sense. “But if they’re not…” Well, they might think that Ashley and Ikaris were insane. Or a threat. And she was pretty sure they wouldn’t want to fight them.
*
"If they're not, we'll deal with that as it comes. I can take care of myself." He cut his gaze over at her and smirked faintly. "Call it intuition, but something tells me you can, too."
Sure, she seemed nervous, but who wouldn't be in this situation? He wasn't untouched by them either, truth told, but he'd also faced down Deviants and his fellow Eternals. These Guardians didn't concern him all that much. This pervasive feeling of knowing did, however. Ikaris nodded at Ashley and then strode toward the small number of people milling outside.
*
Since arriving here and detoxing off of the drugs the Cabal was using to control her, Ashley hadn’t tried to use her newfound abilities. It occurred to her that she probably ought to figure out how to use them safely for situations like this that might arise in the future. Too late to be useful now, though she supposed if things went sideways, she could try to teleport them.
“I’d feel better if I had a gun,” she said, her lips twisting up in a smirk. “But I can handle myself.” She followed him, letting him take the lead since this was presumably some version of his universe and he would be more likely to understand what was happening.
*
"You know, in five thousand years, I've never actually used a gun in my life." He shot her another smirk. "I am the gun."
Ikaris thought Kingo would be proud of him for that. Or jealous. Either way, he was never going to tell him. What happened on an alien planet stayed there.
They were now close enough to hear snatches of conversation. It seemed this motley crew was very concerned about being here, and he was starting to share the sentiment.
Almost as one, they became aware of the two strangers' presence. Ikaris preemptively put his hands up in what was a somewhat universally accepted sign of non-aggression.
Didn't seem to matter. The group bristled. "Who the hell are you?"
*
Before she could ask him to explain what he meant by that, their presence was detected. Ashley stayed half a step behind Ikaris though she was more than prepared to fight if they were attacked. The girl with the antennae stepped forward and studied both of them for a long moment.
“They are confused. Frightened. Though they will fight if pushed,” she said, glancing over her shoulder at the others.
Ash had no idea how she knew that though it was pretty accurate. “We have no idea how we got here,” she admitted. “All we want to do is figure out how to get home.”
*
Drax crossed his arms and flexed. His smile was unpleasant. "It has been too long since I have had a good fight."
From where she was leaning, Gamora rolled her eyes. "We just left a fight for our lives less than a day ago."
"That was not a good fight. I was bored."
Gamora sighed and pushed away from the wall and walked toward the two strangers. Ikaris let her approach without comment, waiting until she asked, "Who are you?"
"My name is Ikaris, and I—"
That was as far as he got before the enormous doors burst open and a figure rocketed out toward them, shouting, "No! No no no no! I will NOT go back!"
And then Ego's hand was around his throat, and Ikaris realized, with no small horror, exactly where they were and what they were dealing with. Gray spots danced around the edges of his eye sight, but he couldn't speak. He was aware of voices nearby, but they were secondary to the enraged Celestial.
"You tell Arishem he'll have to send more than one of his little pets if he expects me to bow and scrape again!"
*
Ashley barely had time to react to the new arrival to the group when she realized that he was trying to choke her companion. While she may not know Ikaris well, she wasn’t about to let someone harm him, especially when they were stuck here together. After a moment of focusing, her nails lengthened into claws and her eyes flashed nearly black. With a growl, she jumped at the man, slashing his hands with her claws to get him to loosen his grip.
When he did, she managed to pull Ikaris away and put herself in between them. The rest of the group watched the altercation and seemed unsure if they should jump in or not.
“We have no idea where we are or how we got here,” Ashley said. “All we want to do is get back where we belong.”
*
If Ashley thought a little pain would cause the mad Celestial to see reason, she had another thing coming. Ikaris was frankly surprised he hadn't atomized her instantly.
Ego definitely had the power.
And the instability.
Nice to know the feeling he'd been carrying in his gut had a reason, but that reason was actually pretty terrible. His mind raced to find a reason, the right words to say. There were none. Once a being like this had their mind set on one thing, there was no changing it. "I don't care where you go!" Ego roared. "You're not. Staying. Here!"
He tossed a hand casually at them. Energy fizzed and popped around them, and Ikaris had just enough time to snatch at Ashley's hand before the vacuum of space snatched the air from their lungs.
Not a problem for Ikaris. A very big problem from Ashley.
*
In her line of work, life threatening situations were pretty much a weekly occurrence so Ashley wasn’t immediately phased by the threats of the man in front of them. Getting the wind knocked out of her as she was flung into space was new and she clutched tight to Ikaris’s hand as she gasped for breath. Would the enhancements from the Cabal protect her from this? She had no idea.
Luckily, she didn’t have to find out because there was suddenly a ship there and she felt someone yanking her inside. She needed a minute to catch her breath and then she realized her rescuers were a raccoon, a tree, and a dude who looked like Murder Smurf. At least Ikaris was there too.
“What the fuck?” she asked weakly, not caring who answered her question.
*
"Hey, there, watch your language, little lady," the blue man spoke, his smile more of a snarl of gold and sharp teeth, "there are little ears present."
"I am Groot!" This from the miniature tree. The raccoon looked aggrieved.
Ikaris felt the same way, but he simply sighed and told the motley band about their arrival on Ego's planet and rude eviction. He couldn't make much sense of their exchange of concerned looks, but it became clear a moment later when Yondu and Rocket explained how they'd gotten on the Ravager ship while their friends had gotten spirited away by Ego. Ikaris looked at Ashley with a thoughtful frown. "We need to find a way back. Those people aren't safe there."
*
“Sorry,” she apologized absently, more focused on the explanation of the situation they found themselves in. When they finished, she nodded in agreement with Ikaris. “What can we do?” she asked. “I can teleport, if that helps?” Maybe it was as simple as popping in, grabbing the others, and popping back to the ship.
Of course, she only had tenuous control over her abilities and had no idea if she could teleport four others with her. Somehow she didn’t think that she’d have a chance to get in and out four separate times. Getting home was now their second priority.
Ashley listened as the blue guy explained their plan, which essentially boiled down to ‘land the ship and start shooting’. When she asked for a firearm, the raccoon unearthed a huge gun from somewhere and handed it over along with several refills of ammo. She had no idea if this was going to work, but it wasn’t like she and Ikaris had anything better to do than help, so she glanced over at him and shrugged.
*
This was a terrible, terrible plan, and yet there was nothing else Ikaris could come up with besides grabbing Ashley and either heading to an emergency pod and hoping for the best or trusting in her news-to-him teleporting powers. Granted, he had no idea about the range, so they might have wound up back in space where Yondu and what was left of his crew would feel far less inclined to scoop them up again. Regardless, they were right: they needed to bring the others back.
He was over looking out for only himself.
It was no way to live.
So while Yondu and Rocket formulated their guns-a-blazin' plan, he very quietly pulled Ashley aside to go over the rescue part of the "search and" part that had been woefully under considered. He would clear the area for anyone she intended to get back to the ship and provide backup where needed. Arishem may have blessed him with Cosmic Power, but against another Celestial? He didn't like his odds.
He didn't like any of the odds.
Finally, they set out.
Come hell or high water, they were getting the Guardians off that planet.
~*~
Clouds streaked the eggshell blue sky, the feathered kind that meant rain soon. It almost seemed appropriate that dew was soaking through the back of his shirt, which was now more scraps than anything else. Gritty rock dust still sat on his tongue and coated his throat, but he could live with it for now because they were no longer on that hell planet.
Realization struck him like a bolt out of the blue, and Ikaris sat up with a start and looked around for his companion. "Ashley?"
*
Ashley thought superheroes were much more organized when they fought bad guys. Apparently all those movies lied if their experience was anything to go by. Still, she threw herself into the fight and did her best to rescue the people that they vaguely knew. Her primary concern was making sure that she and Ikaris survived the battle and made it back to the facility in one piece.
When she heard her name, she opened her eyes, realizing she was on the ground on what appeared to be Earth. Her entire body ached and she had a sudden intense craving for blood. “Ikaris?” she asked, rolling to her side and giving him a puzzled look. “We’re back?”
*
"It appears that way." Further movement brought his various injuries screaming into Ikaris's awareness, but they were mostly subsumed by his relief. He was sitting up now. The familiar gravity made it easy to levitate himself up the rest of the way where he extended a hand to her. A faint smirk pulled at one corner of his mouth. "Do you need Medical, or should we raid the kitchen and just never talk about this ever again?"
*
Thanks to her vampire blood, Ashley knew it wouldn't take too long for her injuries to heal. She got to her feet with Ikaris's help and gave him a rueful chuckle. "Kitchen and the bar," she said. After that, she definitely needed a drink or six.
"And yes to the never talking about it again, " she added as they made their way to the kitchen for sustenance. After some food and booze, she would check in with Henry.