[IC] Gaurdians of the Galaxy; An Old Friend |Jones Sparrow & EasilyAmused|

[EasilyAmused]

On Nikki’s home planet, dancing was done during celebrations. Her mother was always the ‘bell of the ball’; aside from being the Queen and getting attention for her dark completion and dashing deep brown hair, the woman could dance. Her father and her mother would take up the dance floor doing traditional dances found on earth; the Waltz, Salsa, Tango and all sorts of other couple dances that would leave the company present in awe of the situation at hand. While Nikki only learned a few from her mother’s vast knowledge, she made sure her daughter was gifted with ‘the rhythm’, as her mother so cleverly called it. So when she was invited to dance to the music, her body moved into motion with the beat of the music.

When the song changed, her body changed with the smoothness of the sweet song. Sighing she pulled herself out of her leather jacket to reveal the tribal sleeves that went up to her shoulders dedicated to both her mother’s heritage and her father’s; a mixture of Earth’s native American culture and the Metra culture. She dropped her jacket on top of her bag and blade continuing to dance as she did so, unaware of how close Quill had made himself. “I was raised hearing it called it ‘the rhythm’. I was always told that life is nothing without ‘the rhythm’.” Her chocolate eyes closed as she thought about her home and remembered the music, even though it wasn’t close to what he was playing; it still felt nice to have something familiar happening as her body rocked and swayed to the music.

[Jones Sparrow]

"Ah yes, 'the rhythm'." Peter said, looking her up and down in appreciation of her dancing. "Keeps your heart pumping..." he said, hoping her race had hearts... it would be awkward if she didn't. "marches mighty armies in to battle... But rhythm works best when there's two." With that he put one hand on her waist, the other in her hand, holding it up. "Relax, I'm not making a move." He said, seeing the look on her face of "i'm going to kill you" He gently rocked side to side with her to the song, nodding. "Good, good..."

Although his ship was a mess, and she seemed like she wanted to kill him, and this was only a job, this wasn't a bad romantic moment. "Where'd you learn to dance like that?" he asked her, keeping her a bit close as they kept dancing to the song.

[EasilyAmused]

A sudden hand on her waist made her chocolate colored eyes fly open and shot him an ‘I’m going to kill you!’ look. When he took her hand into his, she looked from their hands to his face and raised an eyebrow questioningly at him. Even after he stated that he wasn’t making a move, she couldn’t help but feel like there was a chance he was. But she had no reason not to take his word for it. So her body continued to move with the music and his body seemed to match her movements. Was it easier to just ignore the fact that he was closing the gap between their two bodies? Yes, yes it was.

Her body relaxed slightly in his hands as she allowed herself to get taken away by the music. But his question about her dancing made everything about her seemed to relax. It wasn’t her favorite topic to discuss but she always braced herself for talking to someone who actually showed some interest in her life. “My mom was the Terran, she brought dance to my home planet; that and potatoes.” She said softly with a bit of a laugh to her voice, “She always encouraged ‘the rhythm’ whenever it could be done. It was the great escape of life’s troubles. Every week we would hold a festival in the capital, food and music everywhere. Though people singing is rather new, typically it was just instruments. My mom always insisted that people help each other and celebrated life, so farmers from all over the planet would provide food for the feast and our planet would celebrate life.” Her free hand rose up and placed itself gently onto one of his broad shoulders. If it wasn’t him making a move on her than the situation is okay right? Right. “Where do you learn to dance? Or is that just a talent of being a Star-Lord?”

[Jones Sparrow]

Peter listened to her story of how she learned to dance. It wasn't anything like his experiences with it. He found it interesting though that her mother was Terran... what was the other half of her genes? He kept rocking her back and forth, as she talked, and when asked the question, he titled his head a bit. Then he remembered what he said about "Star-Lord" being a huge deal on Earth. "Well. I never really learned. It comes natural, so yeah... I guess it would be a 'Star-Lord talent.' It comes natural, and it feels good, and right..." He trailed off, raising his hand, and letting go of her waist so she could spin under his arm. Once she spun around he took her back in, their faces inches from each other, and before she could react, the hand on her waist took her other hand, and he moved back about arms length, their hands still together.

He pulled her in towards his left, their arms extended to their sides, then he moved back, and he pulled her towards him to his right. He finished with another spin, putting his hands back on her waist, and other hand. "I can definitely see the terran in you. You got the boogie fever-- Its not deadly. But with the right person, its really contagious."

[EasilyAmused]

These ‘Star-Lords’ were not something that Nikki had heard of before, in fact that were completely new. It’s surprising that her mother had never told her of such creatures. Then again Earth was a rather large planet and her mother might not have seen everything or met everyone before she left to explore the galaxy. For the first time since they met, a smile spread across her full soft pink lips to show her straight white teeth against her tan colored skin when he said that it felt right. That’s what her mother used to say about music and that when you danced it had to feel ‘right’. Maybe… maybe her mother was a Star-Lord and she just never knew!

Upon him lifting his arm, she gently spun under it with a grin to her face. The grin turned to one of surprise when he pulled her in again, leaving hardly any space between the two of them. However, before she could say or do anything, she was extended outward full arm’s length and she felt her body relax, It was just a coincidence. she told herself, shaking off the situation with a light shrug to her thoughts as she followed his continuous steps. After another spin they were back in the same position as before and her free hand that wasn’t in his went back to his shoulder. “Boogie fever…” She repeated as if she was trying to understand the reference. “But I don’t feel sick, do you feel sick?” She asked innocently, obviously her Terran did not run as deep as Quill’s.

[Jones Sparrow]

Peter smiled in amusement at her words, and shook his head. "Someone with boogie fever doesn't feel sick. They have the urge to keep that rhythm we have. And if you show that rhythm, it could even make the stars dance along." Ah, Peter's on the spot poetry was pretty good if he did say so himself. He kept her a bit close, but nothing too rash. He didn't want her to move away. He was enjoying her company. "Tell me, what do you plan on doing with your bit of the fortune when we turn this in?" Peter asked her. "Because I think after spending a few days on that planet, we deserve a little get away. A place with a nice beaches, sun, great drinks, and potatoes..." He said with a charming smile, the song was almost coming to an end, and he would soon lose the opportunity to hold her the way he was now. She was cute, innocent (in references, she could probably rip the head off a cow if she needed to), and did he need to say it? the hottest lady he has ever seen! and he's been with a lot of ladies...

[EasilyAmused]

The thought of the stars dancing with the rhythm moved through her mind and she found it relaxing and sweet to think that something like the rhythm could reach the stars in the sky. It didn’t even cross her mind that he could have been referencing himself as a ‘Star-Lord’, she was a bit caught up in the moment for her own good, even though she did lack some of the understanding of his wording such as ‘boogie fever’ but at least it wasn’t something that could be caught or make someone feel sick. She didn’t like the idea of getting sick at this moment; she was enjoying the moment too much.

He was saying ‘we’ as if he intended on taking her with him. Hm, a getaway did sound nice, drinks sounded good and more potatoes in the company of a dashing young man, a Star-Lord none-the-less. The idea didn’t seem like a bad one, at all really. “Well, with my fifty percent,” Reminding him that he agreed to a fifty fifty split, a smirk upon her full lips as she did so both playful and teasing at the same time, “I do owe a Star-Lord a drink and some potato fingers so, I suppose I’ll just have to let him pick where exactly I purchase them. I do enjoy giving people choices; that’s just the type of individual I am.” Basically saying, yeah she’d go somewhere with him; but not giving a location or how long they’d be together. Nikki certainly didn’t want to tie herself down but the idea of spending more time with Quill didn’t seem like that bad of a thought; especially if they got to dance like this.

[Jones Sparrow]

Peter cringed a bit when she stated the "fifty fifty" deal. Again, she was attractive and all... but he just met her. And splitting half of the profit of something he literally had to have sex for wasn't really the best thought ever... But those thoughts were soon out of his head as she smiled at the thought of them going somewhere together.... It would be a much deserved trip. Yondu constantly threatening to kill him, flying across the galaxy all alone, and stealing things can really take a number on ya. It wasn't anything serious either... even if she was the most interesting person he has met in a long time (She's a close second. right behind the girl he met with two tongues a few years ago).

The song ended, and Peter kept her there for a few seconds, only because she wasn't fighting it. He gave a small smirk, and a tilt of his head. "Once we get the money, this little dance session will continue." He let her go, but not without running his fingers down her arm gently. "Bunks are down the same hall the rest room is, across the hall from said bathroom." He called out, walking out of the room, and in to the cock pit to make sure their destination was set to: Nowhere.

[EasilyAmused]

The song slowly ended and Nikki was okay with this. What she wasn’t okay with was when Quill gave her a small smirk and tilted his head. In response to this gesture, she pulled her head back slightly, just in case he chose to try and dive bomb her for a kiss. There was no way that was going to fly with her, sure he was cute and all but no. Just no.

“Okay…” She said softly, her arm tingling as his fingers traveled down it, it was a gentle sensation she hadn’t felt in years and that’s when she put two and two together; this man was used to girls jumping at him. His charm and his way with the rhythm were his way to pull them in and he almost had her, almost. While he walked away, she took a moment to regain herself, had he taken it any longer he probably could have gotten what he wanted but she was very happy to have him back off. A small sigh left her, a long breathe trying to relax her body and mind as he walked away. God he was cute, and she was lucky he pulled back. With that she left his bedroom and took her bags before venturing into the bunks; it was nice to sleep in a bed that was softer than a knock off cheap bunk.

The next morning rolled around and the blue haired beauty rolled her body out of the bunk and rose to her bare feet. Her dark tattooed colored arms rose up over her head and stretched softly with a small yawn from her full lips. After stretching much like she did every morning she did something she normally didn’t do. She walked straight out of the bunk room shutting the door behind her in just a dark green tank top and a pair of black booty hugging underwear. Her hips rocked as she walked sleepily through the ship, her body finally adjusted to the ship moving and she was able to walk easier but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t wobbly in the morning. Especially when she slept so well.

Making her way into the kitchen she began slowly opening cabinets and squinting inside in an attempt to see through the darkness. With Quill’s room close to the kitchen, she didn’t want to wake him with the light on. Finally she found some energy coffee-like drink that she began to run through the machine that was attached to the ship which began to fill the ship with the aroma. Bending over at the waist she placed her elbows on the counter and stuck a leg out behind her stretching all of her toned muscles before stretching the other then standing upright and stretching her arms once again over her head. Oh yes the blue haired girl was a stretcher in the morning but it helped her reflexes kick in.

[Jones Sparrow]

Peter's mind traveled when he was sleeping. It fantasized about being a great infamous outlaw that he hoped to be, it dreamed of what it would be like on Earth now, if the Jetsons was an actual thing now with floating cars and robot maids.. he also thought about the night he was taken, and how much it sucked. He couldn't help it. he felt like a baby still being haunted by his now dead mom, but no matter how hard he tried to would occasionally think about her... He woke up the next "morning" to something moving in the kitchen. He wore a set of boxers, and a gray t-shirt. He rubbed his eyes and waddled over to his cassette player. He pressed play, the room being filled with the stylings of Escape

he made his way out of his bunk, and in to the small kitchen to see a truly amazing sight. Nikki was bent over, stretching her body, and the more he realized what was happening, his eyes went wide, and he bit his finger. He hopped up and down silently, taking in the perfect view of the woman. He then silently made his way out of the room, waited a few seconds, trying hard not to think about what he just saw, and he started to sing and start to walk towards the door again, giving her time to sit up. he slid in, still singing. Today was a start to a very good day. He will get money, he saw a very beautiful sight, and he will soon be with her at some romantic planet... "Morning." He said, then going back to singing, opening a cabinet to get some breakfast ready.

[EasilyAmused]

While Quill was watching, her hips began to rock gently with the smooth rhythm that had begun to play through the ship. She hadn’t expected him to wake up so she thought the music might be on an auto setting if someone had started to walk around the ship. The peaceful rhythm filled the ship and she found herself closing her eyes, rocking to the music with a smile. Soon the music got louder and she opened her eyes and turned to see that Peter had walked into the room and was singing along with the song. He must really like this music if he knows it by heart. Or it’s part of his Star-Lord charm. Either way, it wasn’t a bad thing.

“Morning.” She said with a small smile curling her lips as she made an attempt to reach one of the cups that was just a bit out of her reach. Normally, she would just levitate it to herself but since she couldn’t actually see the handle, she really lacked options. Turning around, she placed her hands gently along the counter top and pushed herself up, sliding her butt onto the counter top reaching a long arm up to grab a cup. Taking it into her free hand, she crossed one long smooth leg over the other as she reached for another before offering it to him, completely unaware that what she was doing; the simple climb up onto the counter and crossing her legs, could be considered flirtatious and playful. Poor girl was a bit clueless in the flirtatious aspect but… if you knew what she went through and how withdrawn she had been prior to a year ago, you’d understand. “Cup?” She asked with a small curled smile on her full lips as she offered it to him.

[Jones Sparrow]

Peter was speechless. They way she jumped on the counter, how she reached for the cup, and god that leg! He just stared at her for a few seconds with wide eyes, and his mouth a bit open. He shook his head a bit, snapping out of it. "I...Thanks." He said with a smile, taking the cup, and looking away yet again. He grabbed some assortments of food that weren't really earth food... but hey, its edible, and tasty. Every time he could he glanced over at the woman, still making food for the two of them. "So." He said, handing her a plate of breakfast. "When we get to Nowhere, we are going to a nice little friendly bar, wait a bit for our guy to make contact, and then we talk with him..." Quill said, making sure not to look at Nikki while talking, because he knew that if he did, he wouldn't be able to complete any of his sentences.

"Then its paradise planet, with all the money and happiness in the world." Quill said with a smile, taking a seat and leaning back, thinking about all the good amount of time the two will have.

[EasilyAmused]

Why was he staring at her?! Did she have sleep marks on her face? Was her bedhead really that bad? Did she have a bugger coming out of her nose?! She wasn’t used to get stared at, not to mention as she was holding a cup out to someone while sitting on their counter. Granted, this wasn’t a common circumstance but still, was that something that would cause him to stare at her. Before her brows could drop into a glare, as if understanding that his staring at alternate ideas, he took the cup from her and looked away. Good you better, you may be cute but I’m not a piece of meat.

While he was working, she slid her long toned body off of the counter only to find herself stretching more. Reaching up to the ceiling than leaning over and touching her toes, every now and then something would crack and loosen only giving her more flexibility which she proceeded to use in her stretches. When she finished, he was handing her a plate; much to her surprise. A small smile curled the corners of her full lips as she took it from him. “Thank you.” She said kindly taking the plate from him and took a seat at the table, kicking her long legs up onto the nearby chair stretching them out.

A small laugh left her through her mouth full of food before she chewed and swallowed. “The fifty fifty split’s going to be nice. I’ll owe you a beer and potato fingers though.” There was a twinkle in her eye, she enjoyed reminding him that he was going to give her half of the money but she hadn’t forgotten that she was meant to pay him back. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all, he was cute; better looking than some of the other guys she had seen around, and he seemed nice enough. Plus he’s giving her money. Can’t complain there. “So who are we dropping this thing off to anyway?”

[Jones Sparrow]

"That, my blue haired beauty, is nothing of your concern... You only want the money, and to relax because believe me, it looks like you need a good rest." He pointed at her with his fork, giving a look of "you know i'm right." He also didn't mean much by calling her the "blue haired beauty", he was just stating the obvious, and if she thought that any male out there thought she didn't look like a goddess, they were lying. "I mean, you'll probably figure it out when we actually have a meeting with him... but all's fair in business. I can't give the names of everyone I work for. Be bad for looting and selling and all that. You understand." He nodded and took a bite of his food.

The next few minutes were of him dressing up in his Star-Lord attire. His cloak, boots, shirt and vest, and his ear piece that activated his helmet. He walked out of his room, and back to the cock pit, as they finally made their last stretch in to Nowhere. He whistled a tune from his awesome mix tape, nodding his head along as he slowly eased in to the docking bays. "Lady and Gent, we have arrived..." Peter said quietly, pressing a few more buttons before walking out of the room, and towards the exit doors. "Alright. Stay close. This place is full of low lifes who won't hesitate to steal, or kidnap someone... like you." Peter said to Nikki, giving her a quick glance up and down to see what she was wearing.

[EasilyAmused]

Blue haired beauty, Nikki’s chocolate brown eyes rolled as she gave a small giggle. It was different to have someone walk to her in the way that he did but she was surely welcoming in. At his statement of not wanting to give out the information of who the buyer was, she gave him a gentle shrug of understanding. As long as they got their money, than she wasn’t all too concerned about the name of the individual.

After a few minutes of eating, she went back through the ship and changed into a pair of black pants and a green shirt. Everything strapped back into its proper place with her gun on her hip and her father’s sword on her back after sliding on her maroon leather jacket. Her body rocked to the rhythm as it echoed through the ship. Throwing her bag on her back and making sure that nothing was left. Everything had migrated into her bag as she threw it over shoulder and walked out onto the bay as he spoke. A smile moved across her face as she stood next to him as he sat in his captain’s chair and took them into port.

They were meeting the middle man at a bar which was rather typical. Nikki and Peter found themselves enjoying a few more drinks and talking. Not really anything that had to do with either one of them, but just general conversation. She found herself relaxing, talking to the cute Terran, and enjoying herself to the point of smiling on a regular basis. This, this was new to her. And a lot more enjoyable then she had ever imagined. In fact, she found herself subconsciously inching closer and closer to him in their booth. Had she understood the idea of ‘playing footie’ she probably would have done so; and this wasn’t the alcohol thinking for her. She wasn’t even close to intoxicated but she was truly enjoying herself.

A pink woman made her way to them, as if knowing exactly who she was supposed to talk to. Her words were brief and to the point that they needed to follow her. As the two walked, the blue haired woman found herself staying close to Quill, the external reasoning being that he said this planet wasn’t exactly safe, but her reasoning was because she just wanted to be close to the attractive guy.

“This is The Collector.” She announced as they entered a large room filled with tanks of creatures and items. A large man stepped around the corner, dressed in almost royal attire with white spiked hair and a streak of black down the center of his bottom lip to his chin. His eyes almost ice blue as if they had seen more than words could explain and he held himself as if he had more knowledge than anyone could ever imagine. It was, to say the least, intimidating.

The icy blue gazed zipped towards Nikki, expanding slightly. “A Metra.” He said his voice as cold as ice that it made Nikki visually shiver as he stepped to her, taking her right hand into his large ones. Bring up the hand to his lips; he gently kissed the top of it, observing her for a moment before speaking. “The last Metra, what an honor to meet you.” Nikki’s face flushed red as she watched the man’s face. No one has ever been able to pick out that she was a Metra, just as clearly as Quill picked out that she had Terran in her. The Collector slowly dropped her hand before turning his attention to Quill. “You brought me more than one valuable item.” His voice was dark and creepy, filled with a want. “How much?”

“Excuse me?”

“How much for the girl?”

“I’m not the item we’re selling you.”

The Collector kept ignoring her and continued to talk to Quill, as if speaking over her would convince the man to selling her to him. “200,000 units.”

“Sir, I’m not for…”

“500,000 units.

“Hey! I’m not for sale!”

“1,000,000 units. Just for her.” That was enough to make Nikki jump back from the two of them. There was no doubt that Peter would consider the offer; anyone who needs money would just at a chance to get 1,000,000 units. No matter where someone stood on their morels, they really couldn’t help but question the right and wrong of the situation. “I have some things from her home planet; she wouldn’t feel lost or alone.” His words were far from comforting and she didn’t want to stick around to hear out Quill would answer. Her legs took her off in the opposite direction.

The Collector waved his hand, as if her running meant nothing. “My guards will catch her. Do we have a deal?”

The guards did catch up to the blue eyed girl, only to be met with her sword and a gunshot to the head. Taking a corner, she pulled herself to a stop, staring up at one of the cases. A ship, a ship of her people, a small space ship! The Stunning silver and blue ship was large but not too large, her eyes began to water at the sight of it, besides her personal things she had not seen something from her planet in four years. Behind her a yell form behind her echoed and she turned to see another guard of The Collector charging at her. Waiting and waiting, Nikki waited until the last second before jumping out of the way, the man tackled himself straight into the glass shattering it to pieces thanks to his armor.

Using him like a springboard, the blue haired woman jumped off of him and climbed up into the emergency latter on the side and did what it took to get into her people’s spaceship. Reaching behind her she slid her hand along her blade, slicing open her palm and placing her bleeding hand against a scanner, within seconds, the hatch popped open and she climbed inside as the latter retracted into the ship. To the driver’s seat she dashed, her hand placing on another scanner to light up her whole ship. For the first time in a long time, she grinned largely seeing the lights of her people filling the cabin and the rest of the ship. She took moment to wrap her hand in a bandage area she found before people started to arrive at the cage area. Within moment of wrapping her hand she was in the pilot’s seat and started the engine.

Soon the ship was up in the air, shattering the containing glass and the ship broke through the ceiling and out into the night sky disappearing into space; leaving the creep who tried to buy her and the Terran who would sell her behind.

[Jones Sparrow]

Peter Quill has spent a lot of time in bars across the galaxy. He usually was with Yondu and his drunk red-neck followers flirting with every woman in the bar (he was one of them, but he never got to embarrassing drunk). He spent time alone drinking his fears away... But that was his secret. Now he was flirting with Nikki, telling her tales of Earth, or his adventures roaming the galaxy. The more they spent time together, the less he thought about the money... But he wasn't new at this. He knew they were being observed. Watched by the Collector's men. Seeing what he had, who was with him, if he was dangerously armed or looked like some scrawny treasure hunter... He hoped they didn't pull any funny business on the way they were drinking and talking.

But sure enough it jumped back in to this mind as they were approached by a pink woman. "Mister Quill. The Master will see you now." The woman said with a bow, and then without another word she walked out of the doorway. Quill followed after her, with Nikki right beside him. He gave a very small hint of a smirk as he noticed how close she was to him.

As they moved in to the lair of the Collector, he was impressed, and a bit creeped out. There were aliens and creatures of all shapes, sizes, and color within a tank. It reminded him of a sketchy zoo. Nothing like what he saw when he was a kid. The man was introduced, and his little collection matched him perfectly. Weird, and Sketchy. He had a simple nod and "a pleasure to meet you" but Nikki got the whole ordeal. A kiss to the hand, a few glances up and down, and then he dropped the bomb. Metra? The legendary fierce warriors that were wiped out? She the last one? Quill looked at Nikki in awe, and then turned his attention back to The Collector.

"So I have your ah, artifact thingy, it wasn't easy, but Star-Lord deliv--"

"How much?" He asked.

"Huh?"

"Excuse me?"

"How much for the girl?"

"I'm-- she's not--"

"I'm not the item we're selling you."

"What she sa--" Did he actually think he would sell someone he didn't own??

"200,000 Units."

"200,000 what now?" Peter's mouth fell open, his eyes wide.

"Sir, I'm not for..."

"500,000 Units."

"Hey I'm not for sale!"

"One million Units. Just for her."

Peter's mind was drawing a blank. He would never have considered trading a human-- well, half human being before! He didn't stay long for US history lessons back on Earth, but he knew that slavery was frowned upon no matter what part of the galaxy you're in... but as the numbers got higher, he felt bad that he was more and more tempted. She then took off, the Collector waved it off, and then the words "Do we have a deal?"

Peter stared at him with a confused look, hesitating, and then he took off for the blue haired girl. "Nikki!" He heard a scream, and gunshot. Seconds later he saw two corpses on the ground. He then heard a large piece of glass breaking, and soon he caught up to see a ship that he never saw before. Soon he was joined to see others, running at her. "Watch out!" Peter yelled, jumping out of the way of the thrusters that came to life, some guards getting burned to death. She broke through the glass, and then the ceiling, leaving everyone speechless.

Peter got up, and brushed himself off. Seconds of silence filled the room until he coughed a bit, and turned to the Collector. "So... About that artifact deal..."

---

"Boom! Dead! Boom! Dead!"

"I am Groot."

"What do you mean I have bad aim?! Can't you see their heads exploding?!"

"I am Groot."

"Oh so now you're a gun expert, here, let me see you fight these guys off!"

"Guys! Not now!"

It was years after that incident, and Peter Quill has kept himself very busy. He had his rough times, slept with more women, had his morals questioned... But that changed after he was almost kidnapped by a walking tree and talking raccoon, and a deadly and sexy assassin, breaking out of the most fortified prison in the galaxy, fighting a hellbent warrior from destroying the galaxy with a stone that Thanos wanted... and he found out that his dad is an ancient alien, his mom gave him another mixed tape, and a baby tree is adorable.

He was now Star-Lord. Leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Groot, Rocket, Gamora, and Drax. All having their own quirks and personality, but all knowing that if there was ever a threat to the galaxy, they were going to stop it.

A couple of months later and Groot grew back, and they were hunting down some idiot who thought he could attack a planet of pacifists and get away from it. He had a bounty on his head (Rocket and Groot had that for motivation) but Peter was a changed man, no longer worried about money. He found his real purpose in life. To help protect not only Earth, but every other life out here. They were technically guns for hire, but leaned more on the good guys side. Taking this freak down was rewarding, but the reward was icing on the cake.

The man took refuge on a planet filled with his little toy robots designed to kill any intruders. They took a small speeder, and Rocket and Groot were now arguing as Peter tried to drive and dodge not only bullets, but the terrain. Gamora was in the passenger seat, reading a small screen. "The tracker is still on him. he's in a base a few hundred meters from here!" She yelled.

"DIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!" Rocket Screamed.

Drax was busy ripping a robot apart that got too close. "Keep shooting! As soon as we get there everyone get down and hold on to the seat in front of you!' Peter screamed against the wind. He swerved from a giant rock, felt a laser burst past his hair, his helmet saving him from the wind and debris that could hit his eyes. "Alright, hold on!!!" Peter screamed, going towards the large metal fortress in front of them. He pushed a button and rockets fired from the front of the speeder, hitting the side of the fortress, leaving a hole. Peter tried to break, the speeder turning until they entered the wall, and crashed.

"Everyone alright?"

"That was idiotic and a shot in the dark." Gamora grunted, brushing her hair back.

"It was a foolish idea Quill... Good work." Drax said, getting up, brushing the dirt off his bare arms.

"I am Groot."

"I agree with Groot. Needed more of a kick!"

Peter pressed the button on his ear, his helmet disappearing. "Sorry, I try to keep my foolish ideas survivable." Quill said as he climbed out. "Rocket is this thing still drivable? When we catch this guy, it'll be a long walk."

"Yeah... I might need to fix a few things, but it'll get us back to the ship."

"Good. You and Groot stay here, Drax and I will split up to find this guy, Gamora find out if there are any security, and if there is, disable it after telling us his location."

"Right."

With that the Guardians went their own way, Rocket still arguing with Groot about his shooting, Gamora mumbling about how dangerous that could have been, and Drax being silent as always. Peter walked down the hallway, quietly humming a song as he cautiously searched rooms and other halls... Where was this guy?

[EasilyAmused]

Luckily for Nikki and her escape, the freak known as The Collector liked to keep things in their original design and functionality because it flew just as good as she remembered. Four years later she’s back on a Metra ship flying away from something else that wanted to end her, but what made it worse is that Quill had the choice to sell her out or not. From one thief to another; it wasn’t worth sticking around to hear his answer.

________
Years passed and Nikki learned a lot about herself. Mainly that she had a talent that not many people within her line of work did. She found out that flirting with people could really help her get what she wanted. Her Terran blood was enough to make people wonder what made her tick and few and far between people figured out that she was a Metra as well; those people weren’t alive to tell the tale because The Collector had put a bounty out for her; wanting her alive and offering 500,000 units for her capture and transport. Only a select few were informed of this bounty; people the universe typically considered the best, but they were going up again another ‘best’ and it tended to leave a place in rubble when the throw-down would begin.

The only nice though about the situation is that she was slowly eliminating people who could be a threat to her. It was either kill or become a prisoner for a mad man. When it comes down to it, talking a bounty hunter out of their hunt is nearly impossible, even less possible if you’re the target.

In their time apart, Nikki had become a lot quicker in her movements, sharper with her tongue and learned that flirting can get her a lot of things and a lot of ways that she wanted. Today was just like any other day in the life of Nikki Ivy as a bounty hunter; she had a target and she had to get him.

The freak she was tracking down this time was a drug dealing lowlife that was also dabbling into the dealing of slaves… as you can imagine, that isn’t something that Nikki fully agrees with. The good thing is that he deals with the slaves personally and when a beautiful blonde haired maiden showed up ‘looking for a job’, he invited her to the planet. Her ship was parked a ways away and she footed it across the plains of the land. A beautiful little planet; it was too bad that he had to be one it. She had become more discrete about her weapons of choice and chose to wear a nice looking black dress that stopped at her knees with a slit up to her side exposing a long leg; though she was smart, knowing full well she might have to do some running, jumping and possibly climbing, she wore a pair of short shorts under the dress, the black shorts disappeared under the dress and was rather hard to spot… and so was the foot long blade in a holster against her covered thigh. She had a good assortment of daggers within her reach behind her back and spikes built into the ends of her shoes to be activated by a press of a button by her toes. To say the least, she was prepared.

Entering the building that he had organized for her to meet him at she looked up; spotting a few cameras moving in motion. As soon as they weren’t looking at her, she threw daggers knocking them out before levitating them back to herself with a smile as she tucked them back into their place.

Walking back through the building she stopped, something didn’t feel right. That was until something crashed into the side of the building. And it wasn’t a basic crash; it was a good loud crash that shook the section of the building that she was in. Great someone else was moving in to her target! Jumping into one of the nearby rooms she stood behind the door waiting.

It didn’t take long before someone came in through the door and she slid out from behind it in a silent motion. Before the figure could turn in the dark room she jumped on their back. In the tussle the two rolled around the room, grunting and groaning the darkness as they seemed to dodge the punches that were being thrown. Soon they stopped after knocking over quite a few things and Nikki was on top. The blue haired woman had grabbed a dagger from the storage unit behind her back and held it up before her vision focused in on who was below her… “Star-Lord?” She said questioningly before she was lifted up off of Quill like a rag doll and put into a headlock.

Her legs kicked slightly and her dagger dropped to the ground with a small clank as Drax held her in the air. “Should I kill her?” He asked rather simply. Great just great, this is how she dies.

[Jones Sparrow]

Star-Lord had his twin pistols out, opening doors, arms raised, and when he was sure the room was empty, he made his way out of it. "Gamora, you find the security systems?" Peter asked. "Yeah, i'm logging in to it now....What are you doing?" she asked. During the time Peter was pretending he was in one of the action movies he saw when he was a kid. The James Bond movies were speaking to him! But as soon as Gamora saw it he stopped, and continued to walk normally, his pistols aimed. "Nothing... Just, try to find the guy." Peter said clearly upset.

"Everything is fine he--Hey, hey! Groot put that down! We're fine here, but the sooner you find the creep the better!"

"Hold on, Quill... One of the cameras went out... Another one!" Gamora's voice said. "Drax, Quill, be careful." She warned.

Quill was now tense, no longer feeling like 007... He came to another door, the room completely dark. Great... He slowly made his way in, aiming his gun in all directions, then something got him!! Someone leapt on his back, and he bent over, throwing the figure off him. It was so dark he didn't know who it was, but he did know that it was a woman, and she packed a punch! He kept trying to block invisible punches, he threw some back, but ultimately his head hit the floor, and he was no seeing straight. The lights soon turned on, and through his blurred vision, he could make out a dagger held up to his neck, and a blue haired beauty.

"Star-Lord?"

Drax, and Gamora made their entrance, with Drax picking her up, and strangling her, staring down with his cold glance. "Should I kill her?"

"No, no no no... That's a... friend of mine." Quil said, getting up, Drax dropping her, but keeping his glare. Quill stared at her, as if he'd seen a ghost. it had been years since he saw her... It was shocking to see her not trying to kill him. They left with some tension. "Hey, Nikki... What brings you here on this man hunt?" he asked, still panting from their little fight.

[EasilyAmused]

Nikki’s small feet swung as she began to reach for the larger blade attached to her right covered thigh but Quill had ordered the brute to let her go and inherently she fell to the floor with a thud. It took a moment for her to regain her ability to breath before she got to her feet in a quick motion grabbing her fallen dagger from the floor around the same time as Quill got up. Her chocolate gaze moved to him as he mentioned them being friends; the guy who could have sold her out for money calling her a friend. Did she really want to agree to that?

“Friend?” She repeated in a sarcastic manner waving her free single hand. “Friend is a joke. You owe me money and almost sold me to a creep with white hair and creatures in glass cases. That’s a wonderful definition of a friend.” When he asked brought her here, she let out a small sigh. “Same reason you’re probably here Star-Lord. Money, The guy’s worth a lot and if you don’t mind I’d rather get the reward because I’m in need of it.” More than she was willing to admit to two stranger and a man who almost sold her to the Collector. “So I need to get to him before anyone else, especially those Guardians who seem to end up with insight that the rest of us easily don’t get. Now if you’ll excuse me. I have a slave trading scumbag to catch and as you can imagine, I have a personal dislike for people who trade and sell others.” With that she shot Quill a dirty look before storming out.

Before anything else could happen and Nikki barely made it into the hallway, the ground under them began to rumble and shake, juggling the people around as the side of the building that they were in seemed to explode to expose a ship attempting to take off.

Nikki’s legs kicked into a run as she ran towards the ship starting to rising. Her hand reached out, her fingers mimicking as if she was holding on of the large pieces of rubbles. She pulled her hand up, the piece lifted into the air and as she pulled her arm back, the piece flew backwards then… she threw her arm forward and released her fingers; the piece of rubble took off in her pointed direction flying directly into the jet feed of the engine and got sucked inside the intake. The engine soon dropped into silence for moment, a small fear moved through Nikki that the ship was going to take off. Then the beautiful sound of clanking began, she had reached her target and it was taking out the engine to prevent flight… only to see that the engine began to clank and bang louder than she expected.

“Shit.” She said softly to herself, feeling the presence of three more bodies join her at the hole. She wasn’t sure just how much they saw but as you can imagine, she wasn’t happy about the upcoming situation. The ship in front of them began to spin out of control making circles in flight before it became understandable that the driver was no longer in control and the ship began to crash. Of course it could just land and Nikki could end everything by taking him into custody. But… that wasn’t the case. Upon the impact of landing, the ship made a loud couple of banging noises before dropping into silence… than BAM the ship exploded, and began to the distance the group was at the explosion covered the group in dust, engine oil and yes… some blood. There was a small silence between the four before Nikki spit some dust/oil/blood out of her mouth. “Well, that’s the first time that’s ever happened. Normally that works. Well shit.”

A rumble echoed nearby, the guy’s bots had found her ship and she could see the glow of the silver and blue from the distance before it went up in flames. “Oh, well that’s lovely, like a spring time flower in the sun.”

“It looks more like an explosion.” Drax spoke up after spitting some things about of his mouth and observing the additional explosion.

“Thank you Captain obvious.” Nikki remarked sarcastically.

“I’m not a Captain but Quill is.”

To this, Nikki didn’t know how to respond. She turned her attention to Drax and gave him a look that could only be described as a ‘really’ look that women typically tend to give men when they say or do something stupid; and as far as Nikki was concerned, he deserved the look for not understanding sarcasm.

[Jones Sparrow]

Peter had no witty comment, no defending himself, nothing. He just stared at her in disbelief. Did she really think he was going to just sell another person to another? She was obviously pissed at him, and he was pissed at her! He lost his money, he had to escape the Collector's fleet, and he lost some quality time with a very good looking girl! She made for the exit, Gamora giving him a look. "Yes, I knew her. No, I didn't sleep with her." Quill said, walking after her. Gamora opened her mouth to say something else but Quill beat her to it. "And no, i'm not the kind of guy to sell other people." Quill called out to her.

And then everything went wrong. The guy they were looking for was taking off, then it blew up, and then his little henchmen blew up Nikki's ship.... Sure that was a very brief description, but it did seem to go incredibly fast. There was silence until Drax broke it with his literal state of mind. Quill then made his way to her. "First of all, I am many things, but a slave trader is not one of them!" He said, facing her, and pointing a finger. "Second of all, you were the one that panicked, blew up the collector's house, and flew off with ME to deal with."

"We blew up his house too though--"

"That's not the point Drax." Peter said to him, still looking at Nikki though. "So don't pretend that you know me. don't keep a non existent grudge, because the Guardians of the Galaxy are the only way off this joint as of right now."

As he finished, A speeder came driving through, and then halted in front of them, where a giant tree creature and a raccoon stumbled out. "Quill! What the hell happened?! Was that our bounty that went up in--" He stopped and looked at Nikki, looking her up and down. "Well heloo sweetheart... You need a lift?"

"I am Groot."

"That wasn't that bad of a pick-up line, shut up!" Rocket hissed at Groot.

"Yeah... We're the Guardians of the Galaxy." Quill said with a nod, with Gamora glaring at Nikki, Drax looking at the explosion, and Rocket and Groot bickering between themselves.