I Need A Hero Vol. 4 {Peter Quill}

three

Nebula had gathered all the Guardians, which included their two new recruited members, Thor and Kamomile. They all awaited on the Benatar for Gwen, Helena, and Meredith to arrive. It surprised everyone when Xavier came on to the ship. Especially since he was dressed head to toe in battle armour, and had a number of weapons with him.

"Xavier, what are you doing here?" Kamomile asked.

"I'm joining the mission to Earth. If Miss Romanoff has new information about Thanos, I want to know. He took my wife from me, and he will pay" Xavier said. He showed the Guardians his battle sword. The blade of it was purple, but his face was clearly reflected in it. On his back, rested a bow but with no arrows, as Kosmonians usually used their energy to make arrows.

"If Xavier seeks revenge against Thanos as well, he should join us" Thor voiced his approval, standing next to Xavier. "I see you wear the armor of the Kosmonian Warriors" Xavier looked at Thor in surprise at the fact that he recognized the armor. "I recognize the armor from the fact that my people and your people fought alongside each other a long time ago"

"In our younger days, Ophelia and I would fight side by side with the Kosmonian Warriors. Ophelia was the greatest warrior there was. I would give anything to see her fight with the them again"

"If I may ask, why did you stop fighting with these warriors?" Rocket inquired.

"The last time Ophelia and I fought, or the Kosmonian warriors ever fought at all, was the night Gwen was born. When Thanos and his army invaded Kosmo" Xavier became sorrowful at the memory.

"We'll get Ophelia back, Xavier. We'll find a way" Lylla, whom was sitting next to Rocket, assured the former King.

"Does anyone know where the Cap'n is?" Kraglin asked, referring to Gwen. At that moment, Helena, the co-captain for the time being, boarded the ship.

"Alright, Gwen and Meredith are coming, but I'd give those two some space. They ended up having a little spat" Helena explained.

"What do you mean a little spat?" Nebula asked. Helena took a seat in her chair, and turned to look at Nebula, who was in the seat behind her.

"They almost started fighting each other. Meredith struck Gwen with one of her light tentacles, and Gwen blasted her with a bolt of energy"

"What's gotten into those two?" Rocket asked.

"And should we have them both on the ship if the risk of them fighting each other is high?" Nebula questioned. Helena sighed, obviously not wanting to talk about the two of them anymore. She turned back around and started typing in the coordinates Natasha gave her.

"Guys, we should stop talking about them now" Lylla warned. The otter could see them approaching the ship through the window. Gwen and Meredith had kept quite a distance from each other, avoiding eye contact, and refusing to say a word to each other. "It must be killing them both on the inside"

Everyone got into their appropriate seat, leaving the Captain's chair open for Gwen, and the one behind her free for Meredith. Rocket, who normally sat beside Lylla, got out of his chair, and sat in Meredith's.

"What are you doing, rabbit?" Thor asked him.

"If those two aren't getting along right now, I don't think they should be sitting so close to each other" Rocket reasoned. Meredith came onto the ship first. She looked at her normal seat, where Rocket was, then she noticed that his seat was free. She sat in it.

"How are you holding up, sweetheart?" Lylla asked Meredith, placing her paw on her hand.

"I'm fine, Lylla. I just need space from my mom right now" Meredith explained. She looked over in Rocket's direction. "Thanks, Rocket"

Gwen finally stepped into the ship. Everyone stared at her with silence. They all knew she was on edge right now, and any wrong word could tip her off. She sat in her seat and started up the ship. She was oblivious to it, but everyone else noticed the bleeding cut on her cheek. When Meredith saw the cut, she hung her head low in guilt.

"Cap'n, did you know that you've got a--" Kraglin was interrupted by his girlfriend.

"Kraglin" Nebula warned him. "If you want us to get to Earth in one piece, I suggest you stay quiet"

Gwen ignored Nebula and Kraglin. "Alright everyone, it's going to be a long flight to Earth. If you need to use the bathroom, we all know where it is. No one bother me, unless you're Helena or Thor. I'm not in a very good mood at the moment" She put the Benatar into flight, and their trip for Earth was in motion.

"I feel like there's something I forgot to do..." Rocket muttered to himself.

~

It was the halfway point during their journey to Earth. Nearly everyone had fallen asleep. Gwen was the only one on the flight deck as everyone else had made their way to the bunks. Gwen, however, was fully awake. She didn't want to sleep. She refused to sleep ever since those nightmares started.  As if things weren't already so tense for her, the ship stopped moving. Gwen cursed to herself and looked at the fuel gauge. It was on empty.

"Rocket! Get your ass over here now!" Gwen ordered. Rocket joined her on the flight deck.

"What's going on Quill?" Rocket asked.

"Rocket, can you tell me what this says?" Gwen pointed to the fuel gauge. Rocket leaned in to look at the fuel gauge. That's when he remembered what he forgot to do.

"It says empty..."

"That's right, it says empty. Now, can you tell me why it says empty?" Rocket knew he had to be careful with what he said next. One wrong word or move and Gwen was going to lose it.

"Because I forgot to fuel up the ship before we left"

"YOU FORGOT TO FUEL UP THE SHIP BEFORE WE LEFT!" Gwen's voice boomed throughout the entire ship, causing everyone to wake up. Everyone had come back to the flight deck to see what all the screaming was about, but they also wanted to stay out of sight, in fear that Gwen would start yelling at them too. "Rocket, I asked you to do one simple thing! It was your turn to fuel up the ship, but guess what? You didn't!"

"Sorry, Quill..." Rocket's ears were down, and his head hung low. His tail hung shamefully between his legs. He was genuinely guilty, but Gwen couldn't see that as her mind was clouded with anger. Anger that wasn't even directed at or meant for Rocket.

"I can't believe you, Rocket! Actually, you know what, I can" Gwen got up out of her seat, clenching her fist. It began to glow. "You're useless, Rocket! You've always been useless!" Rocket knew she didn't mean it, but his heart fell at her words. For a moment, he thought she was going to direct the blast of energy at him, but she didn't.

She directed it at the empty reading fuel gauge.

Gwen was now aware of all the eyes staring at her. "Don't you assholes have something better to do!?" She left the flight deck, and made her way to her bunk. Everyone could hear her door slam shut.

"Rocket" Meredith spoke in a soft voice. She sat in the seat previously occupied by her mother. "You know she didn't mean it. She's not angry at you. She's angry at--"

"Thanos, I know" Rocket finished for his niece. Nebula was the next one to join them.

"What do we do now? We're stuck out here without fuel" she said. There was a bright light that suddenly filled the ship. Meredith turned her attention towards the window. Something that seemed like a bright star was moving towards them. Only it wasn't a star.

It was a woman.