Worthy

Part 45 - 16 Years Ago Today

"Guess I should start with my real name huh? My name is...was...Katherine Quill. I was born in St Charles, Missouri where I lived the first four years of my life with my mum, Meredith and my brother." You gesture over to Quill.

"Meredith Brooks, I just got that," Tony half chuckles. You ignore him and carry on.

"Mum passed away when I was four. Brain tumour." You can already see the tears building in Quill's eyes. Determined not to let him break you, you think back to Thor's words - make him see you. "The same night she passed," You feel your voice break so you shift your focus, looking directly at Fury. "My brother disappeared. The rest of the family thought he had just run away. But me, I got a first hand glimpse of what really happened."

"You saw Yondu take me?" Quill's voice nearly breaks, but you keep your focus on Fury.

"As you can imagine, back in 1988, a young kid yelling and screaming that her brother had been abducted by aliens," you let out a little laugh. "They thought at first it was grief. But after almost 6 years of telling the same story, enough was enough." You can feel Groot on your shoulder, almost nestling in your hair while you talk, making you feel strong enough to go on.

"My grandpa, he tried everything to make me see it was just a bad dream, that Peter would show up one day. But I never stopped believing that he was up there." You point towards the sky. You remember the how obsessed you had become with all things extra-terrestrial. "I was around 10, grandpa had tried getting a psychiatrist to help me cope. To try and make me see the truth. But they couldn't." You swallow hard as you fight back the tears. "So one day, grandpa tells me we're going on a trip. Just him and me, somewhere safe, somewhere fun." You think back to that day, just feeling completely numb. "We drove for hours, just talking. We talked about Mum, we talked about Peter. I was so excited. I thought, finally, he believed me." You pause, collecting a breath.

"But he didn't," Parker's voice rings out, making you look over at him; the sadness etched on his face as he listens to your story. You simply shake your head.

"As soon as I saw that hospital door, I knew it was going to be bad. I clung onto him so tightly, begging him not to leave me there. They had to drag me, kicking and screaming all the way." You spit out, now finally turning your attention to your brother. "Didn't exactly help my case. At age 11 I was diagnosed, or should I say misdiagnosed, as schizophrenic. Treatments included group therapy, various medications, most of which either heightened my 'symptoms' or left me drooling on the floor. My absolute favourites though were the electroshock therapy, or the isolation tank, food deprivation...I could go on."

Quill can't meet your eye. He hadn't exactly had the greatest childhood either - constantly threatened or beaten by Yondu, all to make him stronger, make him more. But he had never imagined that's what had happened to you. He wipes the tears from his eyes before an anger starts bubbling up.

"Not exactly standard procedures, but then again it wasn't a reputable hospital, nor the ideal setting for a child to grow up in." You voice is full of anger and bitterness. "And thankfully, in most cases," your eyes briefly meet Nat, Wanda and Pietro. "No longer the standard practice for treating children or adults for any psychological treatment."

"How long?" Tony asks, already knowing the answer, but his eyes are focused on Quill, just watching him react to your story.

"Almost 6 years." You reply, making Quill stand up and begin pacing the floor. "Same routine. Everyday they'd ask me if I still thought my brother was abducted, and everyday I said yes. So they'd punish me...their words."

"So how did you get out?" Parker asks, remembering your conversation from the Quinjet. Part of you wanted to be mad at him for his curiosity, but you couldn't.