The Girl Who Held the Universe in her Hands | marvel [1] ✔

SIX

CHAPTER SIX
' GREAT SAVE ,
PETER . '

Ash knelt before Groot, who held one of her fingers in both of his hands. He let out a soft whimper, and she sighed, gently patting his head. "I know, Groot," she spoke softly. "I don't really want to go either." She looked over her shoulder as several arguments took place behind her.

"You're leaving me with that fox?" Nebula shouted.

"He's not a fox," Gamora answered shortly. She turned to Rocket. "Shoot her if she does anything suspicious or if you feel like it."

Ash looked back at Groot. "A couple days, promise. We'll be back before Rocket's finished fixing the ship." Patting his head and straightening, she made her way towards Rocket.

"Hope daddy isn't as big of a dick as you, orphan boy."

Ash smacked the back of his head, glare slipping onto her features before she crouched before him.

"Hey!" he complained. "Don't crouch down to my level. You know I hate-"

"-You are being a fucking arsehole, right now." Ash's voice was quiet, and she didn't raise it once as she spoke. Rocket fell silent at the sound of it. "You need to tone it down before you say something to the wrong person, and they'll kill you, and we won't be able to do anything about it. I know you're not the only one, but there's a time and a place for this type of banter. Learn to read the room." She didn't give him a chance to reply before she rose and turned away, heading towards Ego's ship as he and Mantis entered.

The extra sounds of footsteps told her that Quill, Gamora and Drax followed behind her. Even though she wasn't alone, Ash couldn't help but feel uneasy. To tell the truth, Ego reminded her a lot of Thanos, which immediately put her back up. Somehow, after all these years, her real father showed up when she spent so long under an adoptive one's iron fist? This man seemed friendly and funny at first, but Ash knew this humour was nothing like Ben's.

Ben's words and smile immediately put her at ease. He had a special ability that way, and even after escaping Thanos not even a few hours previous, that man pulled what little trust she had left and held it like a China doll in his hands. Ash had lost count of how many years had passed, but Ben had yet to let her down.

Ash stepped onto the oval ship, her thoughts settling on where she found herself. Ego grinned at her, placing a hand on her shoulder and shaking her slightly before doing the same to Quill, who followed closely behind. She gave Ego a small smile which looked a little like a grimace. She turned to inspect the interior.

Sighing, Ash lowered onto one of the benches and rubbed her face. She sat there for a moment before someone sat next to her. Quill shifted, trying to find the right distance between them before Ash placed her hand over his. He looked up at her, the corners of his lips rising, and Ash removed her hand and folded them in her lap.

"I, uh, just want to confirm something." He looked at her before his eyes darted away again.

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Go on?"

"We're technically siblings, right?"

"Half-siblings, yeah," she answered before looking at Ego, who lay on a bed-like appliance. Mantis placed her hand on his head, and her antennae glowed. "Only if this whack-job is telling the truth."

Quill followed her gaze. "You still don't trust him?"

"Sure, he might be our dad, but why wait 'till now to find us?" She sighed again, eyes falling to her lap. "Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I think it's too good to be true."

"Maybe," he agreed. "But we have each other, right?"

Ash cautiously laid her head on his shoulder. "'Course." She was quiet for a moment, going to remove her head before Peter laid his head on top of hers. "Out of all my brothers," she began quietly. "You're already, by far, my favourite, mainly because they're 100 per cent dickheads, while you're about seventy per cent."