WHO: Peter Quill & Rocket Raccoon WHAT: Reunited in space WHEN: The day the rescuers arrived during the plot WARNINGS: Sad Rocket? Otherwise tame STATUS: Complete
Rocket didn't really care about new arrivals. He'd stopped thinking one of them might be somebody from his home years ago. Now all he figured was there'd be more people to sell his moonshine too. And his head was still aching from the blast of pain and weird memories anyway. The new arrivals would probably be annoying and loud and needy, and none of them would have the right taste in music or any sense of fun. None of them would understand Groot. None of them would understand him.
He kicked his footlocker closed and locked it. Stupid new people. Now he had to worry about who would try stealing his stuff.
"Groot, where did you put my--" He looked around and frowned, realizing Groot wasn't in their shared room. He'd probably gone to see who was here. He was nosy like that. And still had hope. "Whatever, fine, I'll find it myself."
Rocket started rooting through all of their stuff like he'd lost something way more important than a socket wrench.
As soon as Rocket and Groot disappeared and they learned another portal was responsible, Peter had signed himself up for the rescue team. Gamora had dealt with the last one, when Nebula had disappeared and become weirdly nice, so this one was his to deal with. And it was his best friend. Rocket would’ve come after him, no way Peter wasn’t doing the same damn thing.
So, he packed his bag, hopped onto the nearest ship with space to spare, and off he went through a portal and into the space version of Vallo: literally V.A.L.L.O. He almost asked what it stood for when command brought them on board but decided he could leave that a mystery. Finding his family was much more important than what was bound to be some weird-ass acronym.
Groot was there to greet him, and his little tree pal absolutely lit up when he saw his face and yanked Peter into a hug. The squeeze lessened when Peter had to wheeze for air, but Groot was no less excited and eagerly began leading him through the maze of winding hallways on this ridiculous-sized starship until they came to a section labeled BARRACKS in unmistakably bold letters.
The door Groot shoved him at very insistently with several quiet I am Groot I am Groot I am Groot’s was half open when he approached it, bag still slung over his shoulder, and pushed it all the way open. The sight before him was a familiar one, and he couldn’t help smirking as he said, “What’d you lose now, man?”
Rocket thought he was hearing things at first. It had been years since he heard that voice, but it wasn't like he'd forgotten it. His chaotic searching came to an abrupt halt. He had a packet of licorice in one hand and the remote to a detonator in the other when he spun around and stared at Peter in surprise.
"What the--Thought I lost a socket wrench but maybe it was my mind." He squinted, his heartbeat picking up annoyingly. No way was he going to get excited about seeing Peter freaking Quill only to find out it was that weird headache-slash-delusion rearing its ugly head again. He tightened his fist around the licorice and then launched the package at Peter's head. "That better be really you or I'm going to kick your ass! I don't care if you're a delusion!"
“Nah, not your delusional ass this time,” Peter grinned. He let his bag fall off his shoulder and hit the floor beside the door. There was a little pang of sadness in his chest when he took in that surprised look on Rocket’s face, but he didn’t focus on that. He was here now, and even if it was only temporary, he got to be there for his buddy. That was what mattered most. “Did you miss me?”
Rocket was so angry and so annoyingly happy all at once. He dropped the pile of junk in his hands and trudged over to Peter to encircle his dumb leg in a hug.
"I refuse to answer that question on the account of you suck. You took your freaking time!" Crap, were his eyes damp? He hated this so much. But damned if he wasn't glad to see Peter in the flesh. He pulled back to punch Peter in the shin. "Wait, they said some ships arrived. You showed up on a ship? Did you show up on our ship?"
“Nah, not our ship. Hitched a ride on one called Galactic Pig.” Peter reached down to put a hand on Rocket’s head, then shifted away so he could sit on the cot in the room and Rocket could join him. It would put them on slightly more even ground. “Guy who piloted it literally built it from dreams, dude, it’s so wild. But yeah, came here on a ship through a portal because you and Groot back in the world I’ve been living on disappeared.”
Rocket crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at Peter as he moved. His embarrassment was starting to ease but in its place was bafflement. It was good to see Peter, it was. But it was also real freaking weird. Especially when he was talking nonsense and didn't seem like it had been all that long since he'd seen Rocket.
"A ship built on dreams? The world you've been living on. What in the heck are you talkin' about, Quill?" Rocket gestured around the messy room that was very lived in. "Me and Groot have been here for four years. Are you drunk?"
“Different universes,” Peter explained. “Seriously. This place, V.A.L.L.O.? I’ve been living on a planet called Vallo for like four months. With you, man. You, Nebs, and Gamora. Our Gamora.”
There was a chance revealing that detail was going to make it all sound more suspicious – the most likely path, in Peter’s opinion, knowing Rocket the way he did. But he wasn’t lying, and he wasn’t going to. It was all a mess of multiverse shit that he understood at its basest level, but he wasn’t going to pretend to be an expert on any of it. He was just explaining what he knew to be true the best he could.
"You got our Gamora back and you came here?" True to form, Rocket was suspicious. The brief happiness at seeing his friend after such a long time was fading and in its place was disappointment. He was smart, obviously. Putting two and two together wasn't taking a long time. The memory flash hadn't stuck, but enough had lingered to lend some credibility to what Peter was saying and to get Rocket's sharp mind twisting over the possibilities of a "Vallo" multiverse.
"You said, we - they - disappeared and now you're here. Looking for them." His little shoulders sagged and he sat down next to Peter. "Well that sucks. Figures though. You finally friggin' show up and you're not even here to stay."
Peter couldn’t blame Rocket for being suspicious. He’d probably be thinking it was crazy if their positions were reversed, and he’d been stuck on this starship for the past four years without any of the rest of the family. No matter how long he’d been here, that had to be hard, and then he’d gotten his hopes crushed all within a five-minute period. Peter hated that look of disappointment, and he really fucking hated that there wasn’t anything he could do about it – because it was true, and it would be shittier to deny it.
“I’m sorry, bud,” Peter said, putting a hand on Rocket’s shoulder and giving it a quick squeeze. “But look, I’m here now. And maybe me being here will pull some other me here by, like, next week. You never know, right?”
Rocket grumbled under his breath. He was glad Peter didn't lie at least. It was what it was. No doubt Groot would be annoying as hell when Peter left.
"Yeah yeah. Save the speech for Groot. You're gonna have to look him in the face when you leave and he's gotten real good at pouting the last few years." Rocket sounded a little gleeful, like if he was going to be sad, at least Peter would have to suffer too. Friendship still wasn't his best skill, ok? He pulled out his comms device and punched a few buttons on the screen. "Suppose I gotta find you a spare bed and feed you and stuff. Hope you're ready for mess hall gruel."
It wasn't actually that bad, but Peter didn't need to know that.
Peter made a face, mostly at the thought of the gruel Rocket had mentioned, but he didn’t like the idea of having to face a Groot pout either. He wasn’t all that surprised, though; their little tree friend had been so excited to see him, and he hated the idea of letting any version of him down. Any version of either of them.
But he was here now. At least he could give them plenty of good memories to hold onto until some other version of him got there – and that asshole better hurry.
“Guess it can’t be any worse than the shit we’ve eaten most of our lives already,” she said with a shrug and a grin. “And if I know you at all, you got ways of spicing it up. Right?”
Rocket flashed a fangy grin and hopped up off the bed. "Yeah, it's called moonshine and if you're nice to me, I'll take you to the secret bar I help supply." It wasn't much to offer, but it was an olive branch of sorts. A bitter raccoon's way of saying I'm glad you're here, even if it's only going to be a little while.
He kicked Peter in the knee before he hurried towards the door. "Don't tell anyone where I got the name! Most of these nerds had never even been to space."