INTO OBLIVION | GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (O.H.)

ONE

"Nebula's put him to bed," Rocket explained, following his dear friend as she slowly pulled herself to her feet. "You gotta talk to him, Allison. It's getting out of hand."

"What am I suppose to say?" Allison spat, quickly grabbing trousers and Star-Lord's old coat. The one she had stolen from the five years between the Avengers failure and victory. "I'm nursing a grieving ice demon in the back of my skull, and I can barely do that." Her sweat drenched pyjamas stuck to her pale skin, damp hair clinging to her forehead as the stress of yet another unknown nightmare clung to her consciousness.

In the back of her mind, Frost spoke with a desperate attempt at hiding her quivering voice. "It's true, you suck."

"Shut up."

Rocket dismissed the comment. "I don't know, you're his girlfriend." Stalking after Allison, he paused Creep. "Aren't you meant to be the only one who can help him?"

"You're his best friend," Allison shot back, nudging Rocket with her foot as he rolled his eyes. "You're meant to help him too."

They fell silent for a moment, Rocket hesitantly crossing his fuzzy arms with a huffed sigh through his nose. "I miss her," he murmured.

Allison managed a slow nod. "Yeah, us too," she agreed softly before giving a wave to her dear friend as he disappeared into his bedroom.

The atmosphere in Knowhere was still, lights beginning to flick off as everyone disappeared to their assigned rooms and got comfortable for the night. Allison and Peter had been sharing a room, but often when Frost woke up in control she moved to a spare room. Hated the contact when sleeping beside him.

Allison came to an immediate stop in front of Peter's room, her hand resting gingerly over the fragile door handle. She took a deep breath, braced herself for the state her boyfriend might be in, and pushed it open.

"Peter?" she called tenderly through the dim lights. He groaned, seemingly startled by her voice. But he didn't move, merely pulled the thin blanket closer to his chin. The Ice Demon let out a sigh and pulled the door shut behind her. "What happened?"

"Nothin'," he murmured into the quilt, trying to keep up the appearance of being fast asleep. Allison sat on the edge of the bed, placing her cold hand over his shoulder and letting her thumb trace small shapes over his sleeve. She noticed his eyes open, staring at the flickering lantern hanging just outside the window.

"I don't like seeing you like this," she admitted as she had a hundred times before. "You're not... you anymore. I miss you."

"She shouldn't have died," Peter said softly, the shared confession between all of them acting as a crashing hammer in the tense air. "It just... it doesn't make sense. Why did we all come back but she didn't."

Allison sighed. "I don't know."

Nothing about it made sense. No logical explanation would be able to sufficiently ease the uncertainty around those damn Infinity Stones and the power beneath them. Because they were no things of reason, but instead a whole other world of science and magic combined. Allison liked to think she elected not to dwell on it, but it lingered in the back of her mind when she least wanted it to.

"You're here," the woman whispered, wrapping her arms around Peter's torso and resting her forehead against the back of his neck. "That counts for something."

She felt Peter's squeeze her hand softly.

"I love you." Allison smiled, and kissed his neck, feeling the tenseness in his shoulders begin to relax as he sank into the soft pillows and his girlfriend's tight embrace.