Guardians of the Galaxy: A Survivor's Strength | A Nebula love story

8- Two Confused souls

The walk from the training area to Ronan's Headquarters was a long journey to Apophis. He followed closely behind Krobb, who led the way. Their footsteps echoed throughout the hall. Nebula walked in silence with her usual hollow expression. Krobb glanced back at Apophis with a smile now and then as he spotted Apophis's eyes trail off and towards Nebula, watching her walk in front of him.

"So what actually happened is that he needs us?" Apophis asked, moving his gaze toward Krobb.

Krobb just mentally chuckled to himself, knowing that Apophis was just trying to distract himself and try to play off the fact he hadn't been stealing glances at Nebula earlier. The boy might not know it yet, but he could see he was lovestruck with the Cybernetic woman.

"You know soon we're almost to his Headquarters, but let's just say an urgent situation has come up," Krobb replied as he continued to lead the way.

~~~~

The three of them entered a large, dark room where they saw Ronan walking around the room, frustrated.

"I brought Neblua and Apophis as you requested," Krobb said, gaining Ronan's attention.

"Yeah, told there was a situation," Apophis said."Do I need to kill somebody for you?" He asked, reaching for his mace.

"No, the matter doesn't involve an assassin. At least not yet," Ronan said.

Apophis nodded as he moved his hand away from his side where his mace was. While Nebula continued to stand in silence, waiting for Ronan to explain the situation entirely.

"It seems that the communication with Gamora had gone down," Ronan told them."I want both of you to figure out what is going on and fix the communication and try to get it fixed before tomorrow night!" He commanded.

"Yes, Ronan, we will get right to fixing them immediately," Nebula replied with a bow of her head.

"I just put my tools away, but we get to it right away, Ronan," Apophis nodded.

"Good Krobb, do what you can to figure out what happened to Gamora," Ronan said, turning his attention to his brother.

"I send a small group to Xander to check things out," Krobb said, getting ready to leave the room.

"Apophis, come, we got work to do," Nebula said.

"Yeah, I'll get my tools and then meet you in the communication room," Apophis replied.

Nebula didn't give much of a response as she left the room. Apophis followed her out but went in a different direction to grab his tools before joining her in the communications room.

~~~~

Apophis walked into the large room full of electronic equipment used for communication purposes with the Necrocraft. He walked in to see Nebula working at the controls.

"How are the controls functioning?" He asked as he made his over to her.

"They seem to work pretty fine for the most part," She replied, sparing him a brief glance as he kneeled down and opened the panel to check for any problems from the inside of the communication system.

"That's good. I see if anything out of sorts from inside of the main panel that helps it function," He said, examining the system wiring and any parts that could need fixing.

"Yeah, do that. I run a couple of more tests with the controls," Nebula said, working away at the controls once again.

Apophis narrowed his eyes as he continued to study the system; there didn't seem to be any problem with any of the wiring or parts are broken down, but he continued to examine it thoroughly. He eventually, he spotted a few issues that could use some fixing.

"I spotted a loose wire, and a few parts need replacing," Apophis said, glancing over at Nebula."However, that can't be the main issue even with a loose site and a few parts needing replacing; it should still send communication and receive them."

"The controls work fine as well, which means that either the Necrocaft system itself is down or you missed something," Nebula stated.

"I doubt it. The Necrafts all had repairs done only a month ago," He replied as he took out the old parts and replaced them with new ones."I also never missed anything when doing repairs. My fixing skills are excellent after my assassin skill. There is a third option that Gamroa got herself into some kind of situation."

"No, Nebula said, shaking her head." There is no way anything happened. She made it more than clear that she was better than me on a mission," She said, focusing back on the controls.

Apophis glanced over at her in a moment of silence as he noticed her hardened and stiff stance. He definitely knew now that this was more than about the mission. Something else happened when she took off after Gamora.

"Hey, that's not true. There are pretty missions out there she couldn't get done without your skills," He said, shutting the panel close once he was done with the needed quick repairs.

"I don't know what your deal is lately," Nebula said, glancing at Apophis, getting up from the ground."And I don't care, but stop doing whatever you are trying to do to me. It is getting annoying with your words of fake comfort!" She snapped with a glare on her face.

Apophis quickly raised his hands in defense as he met Nebula's glare."Im not trying to do anything to you, Nebula. I genuinely care about you, and seeing you upset pains me. You shouldn't be upset anyway. If anything, you are the most impressive female warrior I have seen."

Nebula and Apophis were both silent for a moment as he put all the tools he used away and gathered the old parts to get rid of them. Nebula found herself staring at Apophis as she processes his words.

"I just don't get it," Nebula commented, glancing down at the floor in thought and then back at Apophis."Seriously I don't understand your deal."

Sophia hummed slightly with a nod."Yeah, I still don't know myself. I always care for you sort as a friend, but now after Krobb's words earlier before are afternoon spar. I don't know," He said, getting up and ready to leave.

Nebula stared at him silently as he left, not knowing what to say or feel about the word friend.

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Hey readers!

There are so many words to describe how much I love Apophis. He became one of my favorite Original characters to write about. I'm looking forward to taking his story all the way to Endgame and possibly GOTG Vol.3

I hope you are enjoying the slow-forming relationship between Apophis and Nebula. They aren't entirely friends yet. It is currently a one-sided friendship, but they will become friends on both sides. Then finally, the two will become lovers.

Thank you to everyone who has been reading and supporting this story!

Word Count: 1156