Guardians of the Galaxy: Reassurance (Team Friendship Fic)
Title: Reassurance
Author: megan-moonlight
Date of Posting: August 28th, 2014
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Guardians of the Galaxy (film)
Characters/Pairings: Rocket, Groot, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Peter Quill
Disclaimer: Characters © Marvel. I make no money from this.
Summary: Four times Groot comforted one of the Guardians and one time they comforted him.
Spoilers: Spoilers from the ending of the film.
Warnings: Past torture, nightmares, past tragedy... in general, mentions of everybody's backstories.
Beta: impala-chick and kat_lair
Author's Notes: Written for *THIS* prompt at guardian-kink.
Well, this is my first MCU fic ever. It's based on the film only since I'm not familiar with the comic books. I really wanted to write this fic, because the prompt was just perfect and Groot and Rocket stole my heart. In the end, the fic is much longer than I expected, which makes me happy. Enjoy, guys! I hope you'll like it!
Mentioned at: At AO3 *HERE*
Reassurance*
1. Drax
Spending more time out of his pot and sleeping the way he used to seemed to make Groot happy. So Rocket allowed him to spend more time wobbling around the Milano, but still kept an eye on him. You can never be too careful, right? And really, watching Groot clumsily walk around, tripping from time to time but getting up right away made Rocket want to wrap his arms around Groot. And Groot most likely knew that, judging from the higher frequency of hugs his friend was giving him lately.
He was also strong enough to sprout flowers again and felt like sharing it with Rocket every chance he could, which resulted in an impressive collection of flowers stored right near his gun and dozens of petals scattered around his bunk.
One night, right before he went to sleep, Groot slowly left his pot and walked on his shaky legs to Rocket.
“Grooo…” he said slowly with a smile and sat down next to Rocket’s pillow, while Rocket tried to recalibrate his gun.
“Yeah, no need to tell me. You sure you don’t need to sleep in your pot?”
“Grooo…”
“You think you’re so cute, huh?”
“Grooo…”
“Fine, fine. What is it, buddy?”
Happiness seemed to be a permanent expression on Groot’s face when he was showing Rocket all the flowers he had sprouted, and this time seemed no different. His friend turned a bit to show Rocket his shoulder. When Rocket looked at it he noticed two more flowers, but this time they were a bit bigger, but still the same color.
Groot plucked one flower gently and gave it to Rocket. Groot’s whole face brightened; his eyes shined. It was hard to resist smiling back when his friend was like this, all… sweet and innocent and giving him flowers, even if he already had more than enough of them.
“Thanks,” Rocket took it and put it on top of the new core of his gun. Groot seemed to be satisfied with this move and slowly made himself comfortable by the wall. Right before Rocket gathered all his stuff, he heard someone stepping closer to him and turned to see Drax standing there, looking strangely at the flower lying on top of the desk.
“What’s up? I thought ya were tired or somethin’,” Rocket said to Drax, getting up from the floor, taking everything with him. Drax looked like he was thinking about stepping closer to Groot, but in the end decided against it.
“I required something to drink and heard you talking. I did not mean to interrupt,” Drax said and without another word turned around and left.
Rocket only blinked.
“O-kay, cool. No problem, man,” he murmured, turning to get his belongings. “Come on, Groot, we’re goin’… Groot? Damn it, what the fuck is goin’ on with everybody disappearing before I finish talking?”
It took Rocket some time to gather all his gear along with his laser pistol and the new flower. He headed to find Drax, because Groot had mostly gone with him. It was amazing how quick Groot was when he wanted to be somewhere.
When he reached Drax’s space, he didn’t knock or anything. He found Drax sitting on the floor, Groot standing next to him, looking up at Drax’s face, as if trying to read his mind. While Groot knew he was there, Drax didn’t acknowledge Rocket in any way, which was more worrying than he had expected and not very Drax-like.
“Grooo…” Groot said and waited patiently for any answer from the warrior.
“My daughter liked flowers,” Drax said after a few seconds of silence. He didn’t tell Rocket to leave, not that Rocket would have listened, but still, he felt like it was something big. “We had not had many of them in our house, but she enjoyed observing them.”
Rocket had no idea what to say to that. Well, he sucked at cheering people up, so what? It’s not like he needed those skills before, so he stayed silent. Besides, there was Groot, who evidently knew what to say.
“Grooo…”
Drax looked at Groot, confusion clear on his face, but Rocket did not translate. It wasn’t in his job description and… he kind of already felt like he was intruding. He wanted to shake his head at himself. Not so long ago he wouldn’t have cared about stuff like that.
“I am afraid I do not understand.”
“Grooo…”
Groot put one hand on Drax’s and with the other he plucked the second flower from his shoulder, handing it gently to Drax. “Grooo…”
Drax did not react for a while, only looking first at the small flower and then at Groot, but when he finally moved, Rocket noticed how glossy his eyes became. Rocket had no idea how to react, so he did nothing, but Groot smiled. It was one of those reassuring smiles that never failed to make Rocket feel better, so it was kind of reasonable to see it directed at Drax. Rocket wasn’t jealous. Much.
Then Groot staggered slightly and almost fell, but caught himself in time and joined Rocket. Right before they left the big guy alone, they heard softly spoken words:
“It is a… beautiful flower. My daughter would have liked it,” he added quietly.
“Grooo…”
2. Gamora
They all went back to the Milano after leaving the bar. Apparently many still recognized Gamora, remembered her past with Ronan and didn’t appreciate seeing her there, and now none of them would be able to come to this particular bar ever again. The bar was supposed to be a quiet, relaxing time. Well, as quiet as they were capable of. Which wasn’t very quiet.
Rocket, along with Groot and Peter, were sitting by the table near the door - to allow for a quick way of quick escape - while Drax and Gamora went to get their drinks.
Groot, for whom they bought a bigger pot, wiggled around to the rhythm of the music, while Quill smiled at him and tried to sing along, even if he probably didn’t understand the words. Rocket just rolled his eyes when Groot joined Quill, humming quietly. Outnumbered. Just great. Quill started laughing as a couple of thin vines wrapped around his forefinger.
“Seriously, Quill?” Rocket had to roll his eyes. “Can’t you just stop? I can live with… what you call dancing, but stop making sounds. You don’t even know what you’re singing. Those aren’t even words.”
“Oh, come one, Rocket. Relax! This is catchy. See, Groot likes it too!” Quill grinned and swayed with Groot, who smiled brightly at Rocket.
“Groot.”
“Oh, no. You shouldn’t encourage that. This moron can’t even sing!”
“Hey, that’s not cool. You should know that…”
But Quill didn’t get to finish. They heard a loud crash coming somewhere from the centre of the bar. Two more crashes, somebody yelled “It’s her!” and suddenly everyone started shouting all at once. Rocket quickly got up. After a second of considering the situation, he put Groot’s pot under the table to keep him out of the way and ran after Quill. Drax and Gamora were fighting against five other people, every one of them yielding a knife that could compare with Drax’s own.
All of it happened quickly. Rocket noticed Drax throwing something at Gamora and both of them were fighting side by side. One of the men caught Gamora’s arm to hold her against the floor. He told her something Rocket didn’t hear, and after that he stopped paying attention. Rocket focused on keeping an eye on Groot and other bar patrons. He knew Gamora and Drax could handle everything just fine. Just as he could have predicted, unfortunately, Quill wasn’t much help. He and Quill were mostly keeping others from interfering, because Drax and Gamora worked together quite well when they weren’t at each other’s throats.
After they got back -after Quill somehow talked everybody down - he and Drax went to get something to eat, leaving Rocket, Groot and Gamora on the Milano. Gamora was injured -at some point her arm got caught between two tables and later was scraped by a knife in the scuffle, or so Quill told them, but for the whole way back she insisted she was fine and demanded to be left alone. Nobody said anything to that. She wanted to be left alone and Rocket had absolutely no problem with that.
What worried him, however, was the fact that Groot disappeared as well. His pot was empty and Rocket was sure that the Flora colossus was not strong enough to be out of his pot for too long just yet. He left his gun and went to search for his friend.
When he found Groot a couple of minutes later, however, it was not what he expected.
Groot was standing next to Gamora, one vine-like hand resting on one of her right knee as she sat against the wall, her injured hand already wrapped. Rocket leaned against the wall, listening.
“Groot,” Groot said, tilting his head to the right.
“You don’t understand . I told you, I don’t need any help,” she answered, not looking at him, but Groot didn’t seem to be discouraged by her tone, only even more determined. That was so very… Groot. If he thinks somebody needs help, he will try to help. He stepped closer and sat down, settling against her side in silence.
They didn’t talk anymore after that, but Rocket noticed that Gamora appeared to be more relaxed now, even if her fists were still clenched tightly. She glanced at Groot, who now had his eyes closed and her expression softened when a small smile appeared on his face.
“Groot.”
Gamora nodded in silence.
Rocket left. He didn’t need to watch or listen any more. He would leave them and in an hour he would take the pot back to Groot. Groot still needed the pot to regenerate and Rocket would make sure that his friend got his rest.
3. Peter
They weren’t taking every job presented to them anymore, but they still managed to save enough to afford a bigger ship. It wasn’t brand new and it definitely needed a lot of work (“Come on, Rocket, it’s going to be awesome! You and me, we’ll make this beauty work!”)
And they did, which, Rocket won’t lie, was indeed awesome. Their new ship (sadly, they couldn’t come up with a fitting name for it, or at least not one they all could agree on) was pretty badass. Quill felt bad about not using the Milano, but they managed to install it as a part of the new ship. At least all of them had their own bunks instead of having to squeeze into the tiny space on the Milano. It felt great for Rocket have his own space where he could keep all his weapons, spare parts, and tools.
Groot stayed in Rocket’s room at first, but the huge heat lamp they bought for him was too big to fit there properly and they all decided to put it in a common space. They also put a desk by Groot’s lamp, so Rocket could keep working while spending time with Groot.
Groot and Rocket were sitting around, enjoying the light from the lamp, when they heard two loud crashes coming from Quill’s bunk. It was right beside the common area, but Rocket was still pretty impressed with the fact that they could hear anything.
“I am Groot,” Groot said when they didn’t hear anything else for a while.
“I have no idea, buddy. Don’t ask me.”
“I am Groot.”
“Really? Yeah, well, too bad. I told you my feeling on this already, and I’m pretty sure I still don’t care.”
“I am Groot.”
“You’re annoying, you know that?” Rocket groaned. “Okay, so maybe he seemed down after the last job, but…”
“I am Groot.”
“So go and ask. What am I? His babysitter?”
“I am Groot.”
Rocket only rolled his eyes, but if Groot wanted to check on Quill, who was Rocket to stop him? He got back to fixing his gun. After fifteen minutes or so he heard familiar voices behind him.
“I’m fine, Groot.”
“I am Groot,” Rocket turned around to see Groot holding Quill’s hand, leading him to Rocket’s desk.
“Really, I’m okay, Groot. Everything’s cool.”
“I am Groot,” Groot said the final time, but this time he pointed to Quill’s belt where his walkman usually was. Now it wasn’t there. Okay, strange. Quill never left that thing anywhere, always had it with him when possible.
Then Rocket looked at Groot, and when saw a pleading expression on his face, he groaned. Right. Of course. Damn it.
“Where’s your walkman?”
“In my room,” Quill answered right away, but Rocket saw the sudden change in his facial expression and in his tone, and realized what must have happened.
On their last job they were running after people who had tried to swindle them and when they did, one of them had kicked Quill in the stomach. Quill had landed on his side on the ground, swearing loudly, but he had recovered quickly. Besides that incident everything had gone fine, but on the way back Quill really seemed down. Rocket hadn’t thought anything of it before.
“I am Groot,” Groot said and tightened his hold on Quill’s hand. Now he was as tall as the human, so it was easier.
“Sorry, guys, this was fun but I kinda left something in my bunk and should get back,” he shrugged off Groot’s hand, but Rocket saw the expression on his face.
“Damn it, Quill, wait!”
When he didn’t stop, Rocket ran after him, catching up with him by the door to his bunk.
“Give it to me,” he said, catching his coat. When Quill didn’t move, Rocket rolled his eyes. “Come on. I’m not gonna throw it off the ship. I’ll… try to fix it.”
“You don’t know how it works. You said it’s…”
“Ugh, yeah, I don’t, but I guess it can’t be any more broken,” Rocket chimed in, trying to joke, but apparently Quill was not in the mood, as he only gritted his teeth. “I was joking, you idiot. It’s me. I can fix anything. Come on, maybe I’ll have some parts that will fit or whatever. “
Soon they were standing by the table full of spare parts. Rocket was proud of his collection. He started working on the walkman, while Quill and Groot kept looking over his shoulder.
“Dude, stop staring, it’s creepy. Go eat something or whatever,” he said to Quill.
“I’m not hungry,” he mumbled and Rocket fought the urge to roll his eyes. But then Groot, who up to this point was watching them quietly, started humming and moving his arms a bit, as if trying to get Quill’s attention.
“I am Groot.”
“Huh?”
“I am Groot,” he said as he laid a hand on Quill’s, trying to move him. Quill did not move at first, but Rocket nudged him. Hard. How else could he actually get Quill to do something?
“He’s right, you know,” he said quietly, looking back to the device he tried to fix. “Go dance with him, I’ll fix this thing. Don’t worry, Star-Princess.”
“I am Groot.”
He didn’t wait for see Quill’s reaction and instead turned his attention to the walkman, but judging from the humming, now joined by Quill’s voice, Groot was doing an awesome job of distracting him and cheering him up. Rocket really could do without their singing, though, but whatever.
4. Rocket
Groot was growing up quickly, he was already close to his old size and was already much happier because he could do most of the things he couldn’t do when he was small. He also left the ship much more often, walking around and catching sunlight.
Rocket was still trying to get used to the fact that Groot was tall again; he really had no idea it would be so hard. He still sometimes caught himself snuggling against Groot’s old pot when he woke up. If Groot noticed, he didn’t comment on it. Sue him, after so many nights sleeping beside it, it was hard to break the habit, okay?
One time when he fell asleep without Groot near, it didn’t end well. The nightmare was back. It was similar to the one Rocket had when he thought Groot was gone forever.
He was kneeling on the ground, in one hand holding dry twigs and he couldn’t stop looking at them. Everything around was dark except the ground and he couldn’t move, couldn’t gather what was left of his only friend. Something was holding him in place, keeping him away from everything. He tried to break away, but his fur was caught up in something sticky, he had no idea what. He tried to scream, but no sound came out.
Everything was dark.
A sudden sharp pain in his back, like a thousand of needles, pierced him.
He was alone. And in pain. Groot was gone. He was alone again.
He couldn’t even scream.
“I am Groot.”
Groot’s voice surrounded him, but he couldn’t see him. He tried moving and suddenly, warmth enveloped him completely…
He sat up, breathing heavily, trying to see where he was. The room was dark, but his eyes quickly adjusted, and he was still warm. Then he realized the warmth he felt was coming from Groot, who had his arms wrapped around Rocket, creating a small cocoon of branches and leaves to shelter him.
“Shit,” Rocket leaned back against Groot, catching his breath.
“I am Groot.”
“I’m… I’m fine. What are you doing here? I thought you were already asleep or…”
“I am Groot,” Groot interrupted quietly and when Rocket looked up he saw his friend’s eyes were full of worry. Rocket really didn’t like seeing that look.
“It’s nothin’. I’m tellin’ ya. I can handle it. Not like it was at first, right? I’m used to dealing with this stuff.”
“I’m Groot.”
Rocket sighed. What could he say to that? He moved closer to snuggle against Groot’s chest.
“That’s ‘cause I haven’t had any, at least not since…” he couldn’t even finish the damn sentence. He wouldn’t think about that. He wouldn’t. He tried to relax. There was no need to make Groot even more worried after all.
He was fine. Groot was safe and warm against Rocket’s back and Rocket could finally relax. Groot was there with him and he wouldn’t be leaving.
“I am Groot.”
Rocket touched Groot’s arm gently. “Thanks. Me too.”
He curled against Groot and closed his eyes enjoying his friend’s closeness. He felt Groot move, but he didn’t open his eyes. He was safe.
+1 Groot
It was supposed to be an easy job: get the cargo, give it to their client, get fifty thousand units for the job. It was a fair deal from their point of view, but apparently it wasn’t that easy. Life never was.
He quickly made sure none of the enemies around him could get up and headed to where Drax and Gamora stood and where Quill was doing his “victory dance.” Or something.
“Idiot,” Rocket said when he was close enough for the human to hear him clearly.
“Oh, come on, Rocket, we’re fine! The Guardians kick asses once again!”
“If you say so, Star-Princess,” Rocket grumbled. “It was supposed to be quick, no complications and no guys shooting at us.”
“But it was fun.”
“Yeah, because it weren’t your ears they tried to cut off, you asshole. I tied those idiots up, but I shot…”
“All of them? I know what you mean,” Gamora added, cleaning blood from her gun.
“Okay, so it wasn’t perfect, but…”
“Wait, where’s Groot?”
“We thought he’s with you.”
“When I saw him last he was headed to you,” added Drax, but Rocket wasn’t listening anymore. He sniffed the air and smelled something strange… burning.
“Fuck! Groot!” No, it wasn’t possible.
He ran to the source of the scent, the rest of the team staying close behind him. Then he saw an old building with a half-collapsed ceiling, a huge pile of stones and ruins blocking its entry, and smoke going through the gaps.
“Shit, he’s in there. Groot!”
Rocket couldn’t think, couldn’t talk; he started digging right away, not paying any attention to the fact that he’d most likely burn his fur. It didn’t matter. What was important right then was Groot. Groot was here somewhere.
“Shit, we’ll have to move all of it. Drax, get this side!” Quill yelled and along with Gamora, they started moving more stones. “Damn it, it takes too much time. Stand back, guys, I’ll shoot it.”
“Won’t the building collapse?” Gamora asked, looking at the stones and the walls of the building.
“I hope not!” Quill shot a couple of times. The walls were strong enough, even if they were slightly damaged, but Rocket didn’t care. It worked. He quickly ran into the building, looking around.
When he noticed the familiar frame of his friend sitting on the ground he exhaled, reassured. He ran to him, already feeling better. Seriously, he almost had a heart attack.
“Fuck, you scared me, you asshole. I smelled smoke and thought… Groot?”
Strange. There was no reaction. Groot didn’t say anything, didn’t even look away from what he was looking at and only when Rocket stepped closer he noticed what it was.
“Oh, fuck, Groot…”
On the ground laid a body wrapped around a smaller figure. They were dirty and half covered by rubble. Rocket stepped closer to Groot, put one hand on his forearm and looked into his eyes. The eyes were glossy, and Rocket realized why Groot split from them.
“Guys! Hey, Groot, are you okay?” Quill and the rest entered the building, but Rocket didn’t pay any attention. He heard them stand behind him and Groot and Quill gasped, as he noticed the bodies. He didn’t say anything.
Rocket couldn’t let go of Groot’s arm. “Come on, Groot, we should go… you dig them out, it’s enough.”
“I am Groot.”
“You did what you could, buddy…”
“I am Groot.”
Rocket blinked. Shit. “No! It’s not your fault, you hear me? You couldn’t have known anyone was in here, we weren’t even here when the ceiling collapsed.”
“I am Groot.”
“He is right, Groot,” Gamora stepped closer to him. “We were doing something else, you couldn’t have known,” she said. “We should go report finding them so their family can find out what had happened. Peter and I will get somebody, you stay here. Don’t move them.”
Rocket nodded at her, watching them go. When Groot stood up from the ground Drax seemed to be as shocked as him.
“I am Groot.”
“Wait, what?”
Rocket looked at the pile of stones and then something moved. They have heard a quiet coughing. Moving the stones away, Drax quickly knelt down to pick up the child who was now crying quietly. Shit, she was alive after all. Rocket couldn’t believe his eyes. Drax held her in his arms, still kneeling on the ground, and Rocket looked at the girl, trying to see if she needed any immediate help. Damn it, Gamora and Quill should hurry the fuck up.
“Shit, it’s okay, kid. Hey, don’t cry. Damn it, I don’t know anything about kids!” Rocket scratched his head, as the child kept crying.
Groot, on the other hand, seemed to be overwhelmed, looking at the crying child. For some time he didn’t react, but then he moved closer to stand in front of her. He smiled and grew one small flower and handed it to her. She calmed down enough to look at the flower, then shyly reached for it with her small, dirt-covered hand.
Only then did Gamora and Quill come in with three officers.
Groot watched them working: one of them took the girl away from the building, while the rest were checking the building and the body covered by the rubble. Gamora stepped next to Groot as Quill patted him on the back and smiled gently.
“You saved her,” she said quietly.
“Damn right he did,” Rocket nodded proudly and climbed up to sit on Groot’s shoulder.
***
“Hey, Groot, how are you?”
Rocket turned to see Quill, Gamora and Drax entering the room and the huge smile on Quill’s face told Rocket that something bad was going to happen, as in Quill had an idea. Drax and Gamora were only sort-of smiling patiently. They all moved to stand beside Groot. Quill patted him on the arm.
“I am Groot,” Groot answered. He was sitting next to his lamp, still regenerating and regaining his strength after their last job.
Groot still blamed himself for not helping more and not coming sooner and Rocket and the rest of the team kept reassuring him and telling him that he did everything he could and saved the little girl. To get Groot’s mind off of it, Quill decided to do some “team building activities”, which mostly consisted of strange human games when it was Quill’s turn to pick something. Rocket was pretty sure he was not the only one who wanted to be anywhere else, but Groot seemed to be really into it, so Rocket stayed and played the stupid game. With time also Drax started asking more and more questions about the rules of each game.
In the end Rocket couldn’t complain much, because Groot seemed to be much more cheerful and it was awesome. Especially when they were playing cards.
“Peter, this game of yours doesn’t make any sense…” Gamora said after a while, putting the cards on the table.
“I do not understand the rules of this game.” Drax exclaimed.
“Come on, guys, seriously? Groot understands. Right, Groot?
“I am Groot.”
“See? He gets it.”
“Maybe you should explain the rules again?”
“Hey, why can’t we just play somethin’ everybody knows?”
Peter smiled. “Because it’s my turn to choose.”
“This is stupid,” Rocket repeated, but looked at his cards again.
“Yeah, sorry, but Groot likes it.”
They all were bickering so much that Quill had to scream if he wanted to get their attention, but it wasn’t entirely unpleasant, and Groot was smiling brightly.
“Hey, buddy, having fun?” Quill asked after a while, when Rocket and Drax were arguing about starting the next round.
“We are Groot.”
Author: megan-moonlight
Date of Posting: August 28th, 2014
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Guardians of the Galaxy (film)
Characters/Pairings: Rocket, Groot, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Peter Quill
Disclaimer: Characters © Marvel. I make no money from this.
Summary: Four times Groot comforted one of the Guardians and one time they comforted him.
Spoilers: Spoilers from the ending of the film.
Warnings: Past torture, nightmares, past tragedy... in general, mentions of everybody's backstories.
Beta: impala-chick and kat_lair
Author's Notes: Written for *THIS* prompt at guardian-kink.
Well, this is my first MCU fic ever. It's based on the film only since I'm not familiar with the comic books. I really wanted to write this fic, because the prompt was just perfect and Groot and Rocket stole my heart. In the end, the fic is much longer than I expected, which makes me happy. Enjoy, guys! I hope you'll like it!
Mentioned at: At AO3 *HERE*
Reassurance*
1. Drax
Spending more time out of his pot and sleeping the way he used to seemed to make Groot happy. So Rocket allowed him to spend more time wobbling around the Milano, but still kept an eye on him. You can never be too careful, right? And really, watching Groot clumsily walk around, tripping from time to time but getting up right away made Rocket want to wrap his arms around Groot. And Groot most likely knew that, judging from the higher frequency of hugs his friend was giving him lately.
He was also strong enough to sprout flowers again and felt like sharing it with Rocket every chance he could, which resulted in an impressive collection of flowers stored right near his gun and dozens of petals scattered around his bunk.
One night, right before he went to sleep, Groot slowly left his pot and walked on his shaky legs to Rocket.
“Grooo…” he said slowly with a smile and sat down next to Rocket’s pillow, while Rocket tried to recalibrate his gun.
“Yeah, no need to tell me. You sure you don’t need to sleep in your pot?”
“Grooo…”
“You think you’re so cute, huh?”
“Grooo…”
“Fine, fine. What is it, buddy?”
Happiness seemed to be a permanent expression on Groot’s face when he was showing Rocket all the flowers he had sprouted, and this time seemed no different. His friend turned a bit to show Rocket his shoulder. When Rocket looked at it he noticed two more flowers, but this time they were a bit bigger, but still the same color.
Groot plucked one flower gently and gave it to Rocket. Groot’s whole face brightened; his eyes shined. It was hard to resist smiling back when his friend was like this, all… sweet and innocent and giving him flowers, even if he already had more than enough of them.
“Thanks,” Rocket took it and put it on top of the new core of his gun. Groot seemed to be satisfied with this move and slowly made himself comfortable by the wall. Right before Rocket gathered all his stuff, he heard someone stepping closer to him and turned to see Drax standing there, looking strangely at the flower lying on top of the desk.
“What’s up? I thought ya were tired or somethin’,” Rocket said to Drax, getting up from the floor, taking everything with him. Drax looked like he was thinking about stepping closer to Groot, but in the end decided against it.
“I required something to drink and heard you talking. I did not mean to interrupt,” Drax said and without another word turned around and left.
Rocket only blinked.
“O-kay, cool. No problem, man,” he murmured, turning to get his belongings. “Come on, Groot, we’re goin’… Groot? Damn it, what the fuck is goin’ on with everybody disappearing before I finish talking?”
It took Rocket some time to gather all his gear along with his laser pistol and the new flower. He headed to find Drax, because Groot had mostly gone with him. It was amazing how quick Groot was when he wanted to be somewhere.
When he reached Drax’s space, he didn’t knock or anything. He found Drax sitting on the floor, Groot standing next to him, looking up at Drax’s face, as if trying to read his mind. While Groot knew he was there, Drax didn’t acknowledge Rocket in any way, which was more worrying than he had expected and not very Drax-like.
“Grooo…” Groot said and waited patiently for any answer from the warrior.
“My daughter liked flowers,” Drax said after a few seconds of silence. He didn’t tell Rocket to leave, not that Rocket would have listened, but still, he felt like it was something big. “We had not had many of them in our house, but she enjoyed observing them.”
Rocket had no idea what to say to that. Well, he sucked at cheering people up, so what? It’s not like he needed those skills before, so he stayed silent. Besides, there was Groot, who evidently knew what to say.
“Grooo…”
Drax looked at Groot, confusion clear on his face, but Rocket did not translate. It wasn’t in his job description and… he kind of already felt like he was intruding. He wanted to shake his head at himself. Not so long ago he wouldn’t have cared about stuff like that.
“I am afraid I do not understand.”
“Grooo…”
Groot put one hand on Drax’s and with the other he plucked the second flower from his shoulder, handing it gently to Drax. “Grooo…”
Drax did not react for a while, only looking first at the small flower and then at Groot, but when he finally moved, Rocket noticed how glossy his eyes became. Rocket had no idea how to react, so he did nothing, but Groot smiled. It was one of those reassuring smiles that never failed to make Rocket feel better, so it was kind of reasonable to see it directed at Drax. Rocket wasn’t jealous. Much.
Then Groot staggered slightly and almost fell, but caught himself in time and joined Rocket. Right before they left the big guy alone, they heard softly spoken words:
“It is a… beautiful flower. My daughter would have liked it,” he added quietly.
“Grooo…”
2. Gamora
They all went back to the Milano after leaving the bar. Apparently many still recognized Gamora, remembered her past with Ronan and didn’t appreciate seeing her there, and now none of them would be able to come to this particular bar ever again. The bar was supposed to be a quiet, relaxing time. Well, as quiet as they were capable of. Which wasn’t very quiet.
Rocket, along with Groot and Peter, were sitting by the table near the door - to allow for a quick way of quick escape - while Drax and Gamora went to get their drinks.
Groot, for whom they bought a bigger pot, wiggled around to the rhythm of the music, while Quill smiled at him and tried to sing along, even if he probably didn’t understand the words. Rocket just rolled his eyes when Groot joined Quill, humming quietly. Outnumbered. Just great. Quill started laughing as a couple of thin vines wrapped around his forefinger.
“Seriously, Quill?” Rocket had to roll his eyes. “Can’t you just stop? I can live with… what you call dancing, but stop making sounds. You don’t even know what you’re singing. Those aren’t even words.”
“Oh, come one, Rocket. Relax! This is catchy. See, Groot likes it too!” Quill grinned and swayed with Groot, who smiled brightly at Rocket.
“Groot.”
“Oh, no. You shouldn’t encourage that. This moron can’t even sing!”
“Hey, that’s not cool. You should know that…”
But Quill didn’t get to finish. They heard a loud crash coming somewhere from the centre of the bar. Two more crashes, somebody yelled “It’s her!” and suddenly everyone started shouting all at once. Rocket quickly got up. After a second of considering the situation, he put Groot’s pot under the table to keep him out of the way and ran after Quill. Drax and Gamora were fighting against five other people, every one of them yielding a knife that could compare with Drax’s own.
All of it happened quickly. Rocket noticed Drax throwing something at Gamora and both of them were fighting side by side. One of the men caught Gamora’s arm to hold her against the floor. He told her something Rocket didn’t hear, and after that he stopped paying attention. Rocket focused on keeping an eye on Groot and other bar patrons. He knew Gamora and Drax could handle everything just fine. Just as he could have predicted, unfortunately, Quill wasn’t much help. He and Quill were mostly keeping others from interfering, because Drax and Gamora worked together quite well when they weren’t at each other’s throats.
After they got back -after Quill somehow talked everybody down - he and Drax went to get something to eat, leaving Rocket, Groot and Gamora on the Milano. Gamora was injured -at some point her arm got caught between two tables and later was scraped by a knife in the scuffle, or so Quill told them, but for the whole way back she insisted she was fine and demanded to be left alone. Nobody said anything to that. She wanted to be left alone and Rocket had absolutely no problem with that.
What worried him, however, was the fact that Groot disappeared as well. His pot was empty and Rocket was sure that the Flora colossus was not strong enough to be out of his pot for too long just yet. He left his gun and went to search for his friend.
When he found Groot a couple of minutes later, however, it was not what he expected.
Groot was standing next to Gamora, one vine-like hand resting on one of her right knee as she sat against the wall, her injured hand already wrapped. Rocket leaned against the wall, listening.
“Groot,” Groot said, tilting his head to the right.
“You don’t understand . I told you, I don’t need any help,” she answered, not looking at him, but Groot didn’t seem to be discouraged by her tone, only even more determined. That was so very… Groot. If he thinks somebody needs help, he will try to help. He stepped closer and sat down, settling against her side in silence.
They didn’t talk anymore after that, but Rocket noticed that Gamora appeared to be more relaxed now, even if her fists were still clenched tightly. She glanced at Groot, who now had his eyes closed and her expression softened when a small smile appeared on his face.
“Groot.”
Gamora nodded in silence.
Rocket left. He didn’t need to watch or listen any more. He would leave them and in an hour he would take the pot back to Groot. Groot still needed the pot to regenerate and Rocket would make sure that his friend got his rest.
3. Peter
They weren’t taking every job presented to them anymore, but they still managed to save enough to afford a bigger ship. It wasn’t brand new and it definitely needed a lot of work (“Come on, Rocket, it’s going to be awesome! You and me, we’ll make this beauty work!”)
And they did, which, Rocket won’t lie, was indeed awesome. Their new ship (sadly, they couldn’t come up with a fitting name for it, or at least not one they all could agree on) was pretty badass. Quill felt bad about not using the Milano, but they managed to install it as a part of the new ship. At least all of them had their own bunks instead of having to squeeze into the tiny space on the Milano. It felt great for Rocket have his own space where he could keep all his weapons, spare parts, and tools.
Groot stayed in Rocket’s room at first, but the huge heat lamp they bought for him was too big to fit there properly and they all decided to put it in a common space. They also put a desk by Groot’s lamp, so Rocket could keep working while spending time with Groot.
Groot and Rocket were sitting around, enjoying the light from the lamp, when they heard two loud crashes coming from Quill’s bunk. It was right beside the common area, but Rocket was still pretty impressed with the fact that they could hear anything.
“I am Groot,” Groot said when they didn’t hear anything else for a while.
“I have no idea, buddy. Don’t ask me.”
“I am Groot.”
“Really? Yeah, well, too bad. I told you my feeling on this already, and I’m pretty sure I still don’t care.”
“I am Groot.”
“You’re annoying, you know that?” Rocket groaned. “Okay, so maybe he seemed down after the last job, but…”
“I am Groot.”
“So go and ask. What am I? His babysitter?”
“I am Groot.”
Rocket only rolled his eyes, but if Groot wanted to check on Quill, who was Rocket to stop him? He got back to fixing his gun. After fifteen minutes or so he heard familiar voices behind him.
“I’m fine, Groot.”
“I am Groot,” Rocket turned around to see Groot holding Quill’s hand, leading him to Rocket’s desk.
“Really, I’m okay, Groot. Everything’s cool.”
“I am Groot,” Groot said the final time, but this time he pointed to Quill’s belt where his walkman usually was. Now it wasn’t there. Okay, strange. Quill never left that thing anywhere, always had it with him when possible.
Then Rocket looked at Groot, and when saw a pleading expression on his face, he groaned. Right. Of course. Damn it.
“Where’s your walkman?”
“In my room,” Quill answered right away, but Rocket saw the sudden change in his facial expression and in his tone, and realized what must have happened.
On their last job they were running after people who had tried to swindle them and when they did, one of them had kicked Quill in the stomach. Quill had landed on his side on the ground, swearing loudly, but he had recovered quickly. Besides that incident everything had gone fine, but on the way back Quill really seemed down. Rocket hadn’t thought anything of it before.
“I am Groot,” Groot said and tightened his hold on Quill’s hand. Now he was as tall as the human, so it was easier.
“Sorry, guys, this was fun but I kinda left something in my bunk and should get back,” he shrugged off Groot’s hand, but Rocket saw the expression on his face.
“Damn it, Quill, wait!”
When he didn’t stop, Rocket ran after him, catching up with him by the door to his bunk.
“Give it to me,” he said, catching his coat. When Quill didn’t move, Rocket rolled his eyes. “Come on. I’m not gonna throw it off the ship. I’ll… try to fix it.”
“You don’t know how it works. You said it’s…”
“Ugh, yeah, I don’t, but I guess it can’t be any more broken,” Rocket chimed in, trying to joke, but apparently Quill was not in the mood, as he only gritted his teeth. “I was joking, you idiot. It’s me. I can fix anything. Come on, maybe I’ll have some parts that will fit or whatever. “
Soon they were standing by the table full of spare parts. Rocket was proud of his collection. He started working on the walkman, while Quill and Groot kept looking over his shoulder.
“Dude, stop staring, it’s creepy. Go eat something or whatever,” he said to Quill.
“I’m not hungry,” he mumbled and Rocket fought the urge to roll his eyes. But then Groot, who up to this point was watching them quietly, started humming and moving his arms a bit, as if trying to get Quill’s attention.
“I am Groot.”
“Huh?”
“I am Groot,” he said as he laid a hand on Quill’s, trying to move him. Quill did not move at first, but Rocket nudged him. Hard. How else could he actually get Quill to do something?
“He’s right, you know,” he said quietly, looking back to the device he tried to fix. “Go dance with him, I’ll fix this thing. Don’t worry, Star-Princess.”
“I am Groot.”
He didn’t wait for see Quill’s reaction and instead turned his attention to the walkman, but judging from the humming, now joined by Quill’s voice, Groot was doing an awesome job of distracting him and cheering him up. Rocket really could do without their singing, though, but whatever.
4. Rocket
Groot was growing up quickly, he was already close to his old size and was already much happier because he could do most of the things he couldn’t do when he was small. He also left the ship much more often, walking around and catching sunlight.
Rocket was still trying to get used to the fact that Groot was tall again; he really had no idea it would be so hard. He still sometimes caught himself snuggling against Groot’s old pot when he woke up. If Groot noticed, he didn’t comment on it. Sue him, after so many nights sleeping beside it, it was hard to break the habit, okay?
One time when he fell asleep without Groot near, it didn’t end well. The nightmare was back. It was similar to the one Rocket had when he thought Groot was gone forever.
He was kneeling on the ground, in one hand holding dry twigs and he couldn’t stop looking at them. Everything around was dark except the ground and he couldn’t move, couldn’t gather what was left of his only friend. Something was holding him in place, keeping him away from everything. He tried to break away, but his fur was caught up in something sticky, he had no idea what. He tried to scream, but no sound came out.
Everything was dark.
A sudden sharp pain in his back, like a thousand of needles, pierced him.
He was alone. And in pain. Groot was gone. He was alone again.
He couldn’t even scream.
“I am Groot.”
Groot’s voice surrounded him, but he couldn’t see him. He tried moving and suddenly, warmth enveloped him completely…
He sat up, breathing heavily, trying to see where he was. The room was dark, but his eyes quickly adjusted, and he was still warm. Then he realized the warmth he felt was coming from Groot, who had his arms wrapped around Rocket, creating a small cocoon of branches and leaves to shelter him.
“Shit,” Rocket leaned back against Groot, catching his breath.
“I am Groot.”
“I’m… I’m fine. What are you doing here? I thought you were already asleep or…”
“I am Groot,” Groot interrupted quietly and when Rocket looked up he saw his friend’s eyes were full of worry. Rocket really didn’t like seeing that look.
“It’s nothin’. I’m tellin’ ya. I can handle it. Not like it was at first, right? I’m used to dealing with this stuff.”
“I’m Groot.”
Rocket sighed. What could he say to that? He moved closer to snuggle against Groot’s chest.
“That’s ‘cause I haven’t had any, at least not since…” he couldn’t even finish the damn sentence. He wouldn’t think about that. He wouldn’t. He tried to relax. There was no need to make Groot even more worried after all.
He was fine. Groot was safe and warm against Rocket’s back and Rocket could finally relax. Groot was there with him and he wouldn’t be leaving.
“I am Groot.”
Rocket touched Groot’s arm gently. “Thanks. Me too.”
He curled against Groot and closed his eyes enjoying his friend’s closeness. He felt Groot move, but he didn’t open his eyes. He was safe.
+1 Groot
It was supposed to be an easy job: get the cargo, give it to their client, get fifty thousand units for the job. It was a fair deal from their point of view, but apparently it wasn’t that easy. Life never was.
He quickly made sure none of the enemies around him could get up and headed to where Drax and Gamora stood and where Quill was doing his “victory dance.” Or something.
“Idiot,” Rocket said when he was close enough for the human to hear him clearly.
“Oh, come on, Rocket, we’re fine! The Guardians kick asses once again!”
“If you say so, Star-Princess,” Rocket grumbled. “It was supposed to be quick, no complications and no guys shooting at us.”
“But it was fun.”
“Yeah, because it weren’t your ears they tried to cut off, you asshole. I tied those idiots up, but I shot…”
“All of them? I know what you mean,” Gamora added, cleaning blood from her gun.
“Okay, so it wasn’t perfect, but…”
“Wait, where’s Groot?”
“We thought he’s with you.”
“When I saw him last he was headed to you,” added Drax, but Rocket wasn’t listening anymore. He sniffed the air and smelled something strange… burning.
“Fuck! Groot!” No, it wasn’t possible.
He ran to the source of the scent, the rest of the team staying close behind him. Then he saw an old building with a half-collapsed ceiling, a huge pile of stones and ruins blocking its entry, and smoke going through the gaps.
“Shit, he’s in there. Groot!”
Rocket couldn’t think, couldn’t talk; he started digging right away, not paying any attention to the fact that he’d most likely burn his fur. It didn’t matter. What was important right then was Groot. Groot was here somewhere.
“Shit, we’ll have to move all of it. Drax, get this side!” Quill yelled and along with Gamora, they started moving more stones. “Damn it, it takes too much time. Stand back, guys, I’ll shoot it.”
“Won’t the building collapse?” Gamora asked, looking at the stones and the walls of the building.
“I hope not!” Quill shot a couple of times. The walls were strong enough, even if they were slightly damaged, but Rocket didn’t care. It worked. He quickly ran into the building, looking around.
When he noticed the familiar frame of his friend sitting on the ground he exhaled, reassured. He ran to him, already feeling better. Seriously, he almost had a heart attack.
“Fuck, you scared me, you asshole. I smelled smoke and thought… Groot?”
Strange. There was no reaction. Groot didn’t say anything, didn’t even look away from what he was looking at and only when Rocket stepped closer he noticed what it was.
“Oh, fuck, Groot…”
On the ground laid a body wrapped around a smaller figure. They were dirty and half covered by rubble. Rocket stepped closer to Groot, put one hand on his forearm and looked into his eyes. The eyes were glossy, and Rocket realized why Groot split from them.
“Guys! Hey, Groot, are you okay?” Quill and the rest entered the building, but Rocket didn’t pay any attention. He heard them stand behind him and Groot and Quill gasped, as he noticed the bodies. He didn’t say anything.
Rocket couldn’t let go of Groot’s arm. “Come on, Groot, we should go… you dig them out, it’s enough.”
“I am Groot.”
“You did what you could, buddy…”
“I am Groot.”
Rocket blinked. Shit. “No! It’s not your fault, you hear me? You couldn’t have known anyone was in here, we weren’t even here when the ceiling collapsed.”
“I am Groot.”
“He is right, Groot,” Gamora stepped closer to him. “We were doing something else, you couldn’t have known,” she said. “We should go report finding them so their family can find out what had happened. Peter and I will get somebody, you stay here. Don’t move them.”
Rocket nodded at her, watching them go. When Groot stood up from the ground Drax seemed to be as shocked as him.
“I am Groot.”
“Wait, what?”
Rocket looked at the pile of stones and then something moved. They have heard a quiet coughing. Moving the stones away, Drax quickly knelt down to pick up the child who was now crying quietly. Shit, she was alive after all. Rocket couldn’t believe his eyes. Drax held her in his arms, still kneeling on the ground, and Rocket looked at the girl, trying to see if she needed any immediate help. Damn it, Gamora and Quill should hurry the fuck up.
“Shit, it’s okay, kid. Hey, don’t cry. Damn it, I don’t know anything about kids!” Rocket scratched his head, as the child kept crying.
Groot, on the other hand, seemed to be overwhelmed, looking at the crying child. For some time he didn’t react, but then he moved closer to stand in front of her. He smiled and grew one small flower and handed it to her. She calmed down enough to look at the flower, then shyly reached for it with her small, dirt-covered hand.
Only then did Gamora and Quill come in with three officers.
Groot watched them working: one of them took the girl away from the building, while the rest were checking the building and the body covered by the rubble. Gamora stepped next to Groot as Quill patted him on the back and smiled gently.
“You saved her,” she said quietly.
“Damn right he did,” Rocket nodded proudly and climbed up to sit on Groot’s shoulder.
***
“Hey, Groot, how are you?”
Rocket turned to see Quill, Gamora and Drax entering the room and the huge smile on Quill’s face told Rocket that something bad was going to happen, as in Quill had an idea. Drax and Gamora were only sort-of smiling patiently. They all moved to stand beside Groot. Quill patted him on the arm.
“I am Groot,” Groot answered. He was sitting next to his lamp, still regenerating and regaining his strength after their last job.
Groot still blamed himself for not helping more and not coming sooner and Rocket and the rest of the team kept reassuring him and telling him that he did everything he could and saved the little girl. To get Groot’s mind off of it, Quill decided to do some “team building activities”, which mostly consisted of strange human games when it was Quill’s turn to pick something. Rocket was pretty sure he was not the only one who wanted to be anywhere else, but Groot seemed to be really into it, so Rocket stayed and played the stupid game. With time also Drax started asking more and more questions about the rules of each game.
In the end Rocket couldn’t complain much, because Groot seemed to be much more cheerful and it was awesome. Especially when they were playing cards.
“Peter, this game of yours doesn’t make any sense…” Gamora said after a while, putting the cards on the table.
“I do not understand the rules of this game.” Drax exclaimed.
“Come on, guys, seriously? Groot understands. Right, Groot?
“I am Groot.”
“See? He gets it.”
“Maybe you should explain the rules again?”
“Hey, why can’t we just play somethin’ everybody knows?”
Peter smiled. “Because it’s my turn to choose.”
“This is stupid,” Rocket repeated, but looked at his cards again.
“Yeah, sorry, but Groot likes it.”
They all were bickering so much that Quill had to scream if he wanted to get their attention, but it wasn’t entirely unpleasant, and Groot was smiling brightly.
“Hey, buddy, having fun?” Quill asked after a while, when Rocket and Drax were arguing about starting the next round.
“We are Groot.”