Give Them Back To Me

She's Too Young

Meredith was awoken by a large crash coming from the kitchen. She was about to be 9, at least that's what Rocket told her. Rocket lied to her about her actual birthday, saying it was a week before the snap. It made it easier to keep up the lie that she wasn't born before her parents passed.

Meredith finally reached the kitchen. In there was a man she had never seen before and Rocket, standing up on the counter to be closer to eye level with the man. Rocket was furious, to say the least.

"The Soul Stone gave her life Rocket. She was not even born, yet when Thanos sacrificed Gamora, the Soul Stone did not claim her soul, but brought her to life! She could help us defeat him rabbit!" The unknown man yelled at Rocket.

"Thor, I already told you for the tenth time, I don't know what child you are talking about. I was never on Vormir, Nebula was the one who told me about what happened to Gamora! And Gamora was never pregnant, there's no way that is even possible!" Rocket yelled back. 

Meredith kept herself concealed, scared of the lies the stranger named Thor was saying. But, she was also hurt by what Rocket was saying as well. But, her uncle has told her to always trust him, even when she hears him lying. Rocket told her that he made a promise to her parents not to let the Avengers get ahold of her, so whenever she hears him lying, its to keep her safe.

"Oh sweet rabbit, you think you can lie. Hybrids of her kind do not go unnoticed. Gamora was the last Zen-Whoberis, and Red Skull informed us the child was on Vormir, then disappeared in what we confirmed was one of our stolen ships. Now, stop hiding the child so we can train her properly," Thor said, placing his hands on the counter while he spoke. 

Rocket shook his head and sneered. "Even if I did have whatever child you think Gamora had, what makes you think I would hand her over to you. A hybrid like that would be worth a lot of units."

Thor grabbed Rocket, holding him up eye level. "That child could be the key to restoring all that was last during the snap, and your first thought would be to sell her!" 

Rocket pulled himself out of Thor's grip, landing back on the counter. "I believe this conversation is done, get off of my ship." He said coldly. 

Thor scoffed, walking away abruptly as he exited the ship. Rocket hopped from the counter to counter, to reach the cabinet that held the alcohol. 

"Mere, you can come out now he's gone. Just watch out for the glass," Rocket said as he sat down in one of the chairs, twisting the cap off of the liquor bottle. 

A scared Meredith came out of her hiding spot, taking a seat in the chair next to Rocket. She could see the shattered glass not too far from them on the ground. She looked at her Uncle with confusion.

"Uncle Rocket, what did that man mean when he was talking about me and the Soul Stone?" She asked, messing with the sleeves of her pajama shirt.

Rocket took a long sip of the alcohol before facing Meredith with a response. "Nobody knew your mom had had you, so when she passed, they thought that was the day you were born. Don't worry about anything that man said Mere, he got all his information from a Nazi," Rocket explained, easing Meredith mind a little.

It was silent for a while Meredith trying to formulate questions in her head with all the information she just received. 

"Uncle Rocket, why did daddy name me and not mommy?" She said, staring down at her hands on the counter.

"Your dad and mom both agreed to name you after his mother. She got very sick and passed away when he was young, and then he ended up in space." Rocket tried to think of the best explanation he could without slipping up on any of his lies. Rocket placed a hand on the little girl's shoulder and smiled. 

"You want me to tell you some more crazy stories about them?" Rocket asked the young girl. Meredith responded with a smile and a head nod, excitement was written all over her face. "Alright, get in bed and I'll be right there. I'm gonna pick up the glass first so I don't forget by the morning." 

With that, the little girl was off. She walked carefully out of the kitchen then sprinted to her room. Rocket took another sip then hopped down from the chair. He went to go get the broom and dustpan, but Nebula beat him to it.

"You know you are going to have to tell her the truth someday Rocket," She said as she handed Rocket the dustpan. Nebula began sweeping, Rocket collecting the broken glass in a dustpan.

"I know that Nebula, but she's too young to understand. She's just a kid. Quill would always get drunk and talk about how if he had a kid, he would let them be a kid first before throwing them into the whole, save the galaxy bullshit," Rocket proceeded the throw the glass shards away, then took a seat again with his drink. Nebula replaced Meredith's seat next to him. "I just feel like... like my whole life I've been a screwup, and for some reason, the universe is giving me a second chance with this kid. I don't want to fuck her up."

Nebula nodded her head, taking the bottle from Rocket and taking a sip herself. "Well, you know I don't have a problem helping raises her." Nebula said, "The older she gets the harder it's going to be." Nebula took one last drink and walked away, leaving Rocket by himself.

"She's just too young right now."