fiction | Part of the journey is the end

2. Orgocorp

The Bowie arrived at the Orgoscope, Orgocorp's headquarters. Nebula was in the cockpit. "It's bio-formed. Instead of being built, it's grown from living matter," she explained.

"Gross," said Kate.

"Eh, it's not as weird as some of the universes I've been in. At least they aren't made out of paint," said America.

"Besides, the Guardians are living in the head of a severed Celestial. It's not that weird," said Sam.

"We're going to have the same thing sticking out of the ocean soon," Layla reminded.

"Don't remind me," Ikaris said, feeling a headache forming.

Nebula looked at a screen. "The structure is surrounded by three impenetrable plasmic security shields. It's not going to be easy to break into this place, Star-Lord."

"Relax, it'll be fine. We're going to break in and get the file," said Quill. They had to because Rocket's life depended on it. They didn't have any other choice.

"Doesn't have to be easy. I was a professional thief, remember? I'll jam the signals one at a time," Quill said, talking into his comm while in the engine room. Drax and Mantis were with him.

"I was a professional thief, too," Scott said.

Quill looked at him in surprise. "Really? No wonder you like heists so much."

"She calls me Star-Lord when she's mad at me," Quill said. "She's always mad at everyone," Mantis shot back.

Nebula frowned. "I'm not always mad at everyone. It's not my fault Quill keeps doing stupid things."

Quill rolled his eyes.

"I'm surprised anyone's calling him Star-Lord," said Rhodey.

The two opened the engine to reveal a gold-pulsing machine. Quill removed the chip from the machine and put it into a device. "It's because I was drunk. She's right. If I hadn't been drinking, maybe Rocket... I'm sorry," Quill sighed, guilt written over his face.

"I'm not touching alcohol ever again," Quill said.

Thor's throat tightened. "Me too."

Rocket shook his head. "There's nothing you could've done, Quill. You're not as powerful as Adam Warlock."

Tony didn't think Quill and Thor should've been drinking their sorrows away anyway.

"It's okay. He's your best friend," Mantis said. "Second best friend," Drax corrected.

Rocket's heart warmed. While he didn't like that the Guardians were going anywhere near the High Evolutionary, he was touched that they were going through so much trouble to save him.

Quill didn't dare look at Rocket. Of course, he was his best friend, but he didn't need to know that. Both of them had emotionalistical issues.

"Is this really the time to be fighting about who Peter's best friend is? It doesn't even matter," Gamora said.

"Everyone around me dies. My mother, Yondu, Gamora," Quill said morosely.

Quill's shoulders slumped at the reminder, Gamora's eyes flickered with sadness, and everyone else's faces were etched with sympathy. There wasn't a single one of them that wasn't unfamiliar with loss—some were more familiar than others. Peter, Thor, and Wanda, in particular, have had similar thoughts.

Carol swallowed a lump in her throat. She was just realizing how similar she and Quill were—both were born on Earth and then kidnapped from the planet in the late 80s to spend the rest of their years in space. But they also believed that everyone around them died; some days, she believed that she was cursed to fail at everything. She couldn't save Mar-Vell, Maria was doomed to die from cancer, she couldn't give the Skrulls a new home, she couldn't bring back Monica and Fury before Thanos reduced the Infinity Stones to atoms, and she couldn't stop Thanos the second time and prevent Tony from dying. She was the Annihilator, and shame burned through her to know that she was called that, to know that she was given a name associated with death. She was aware of how powerful she was, but what was the point of having her powers if she could never help anyone with them? And the most ironic part was that she was practically immortal, but death followed her everywhere she went.