Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Chapter 25

The Bowie, Space

"You've got to be kidding me."

Peter huffed. That marked the seventh time Nebula had repeated such a sentiment since they'd made the jump from Dolo-Mayan to deep space, and despite the fact that he was the direct cause of their current predicament, he was starting to tire of it.

"Saying that isn't going to make any of them disappear." Peter leaned against the doorway as he cast a glance around the ship's common room.

They'd set the common room as the collection point for their...newcomers. Hitchhikers. Guests. Whatever they were, they were in the common room, sitting in a line on the couch. Adam sat with some of the most rigid posture Peter had ever seen, as if he was just waiting to attack or be attacked. His companion—Fallon, as she'd introduced herself—sat next to him, but held none of his tension. In fact, she held herself with an almost unnerving comfort, like she owned the ship.

Maybe she did. Peter had no idea what Rocket had put on those Baggage bids.

Gamora was a perfect mix of the two: not too tense, but not too loose either. Of course, she was. She always knew how to handle any situation so well...

"Peter." Nebula's voice snapped him from his trace, and he turned back to find her looking at his with a furrowed brow. "You're doing it again."

"Doing what?"

"Staring at Gamora."

Peter winced, casting a quick glance back to see if their topic of conversation had heard her name. It didn't appear so. Thank goodness.

"I was not." Peter swallowed hard as he followed Nebula out of the common area and down the hall. "I was just surveying our hitchhikers. All of them. Not just Gamora."

Nebula huffed, but didn't press him further. "I don't like it. Especially her."

Peter narrowed his eyes. "Gamora?"

"No, not Gamora." Nebula bristled. "The other one. Flora?"

"Fallon."

Nebula huffed again. "Whatever she is, I don't like her. She's too confident. Someone needs to put her in her place."

"Her place is on the couch, in the common area." Peter raised his eyebrows. "Look, she's not hurting anyone, is she?"

The question was met with a swift glare over the shoulder. "No. But her little friend has."

At the mention of Adam, Peter failed to stifle another sigh. "Okay, maybe, but he's not hurting anyone now."

"He dented in my face and threw me through a window."

"He shot down his own drones—"

"And he's tried to shoot us down too!" Nebula stopped in her stride and whirled to face him, and Peter took an instinctive step back. "He almost killed Cosmo! He destroyed half of Knowhere! And you let him on our ship with some stranger we know nothing about! What about that seems like a good idea, Quill? Gamora's here because she couldn't get back to her crew, but those two"—she pointed an accusing finger back in the direction of the common area—"those two have no place on this ship."

With that, she stormed off down the corridor, her pace a clear indication she didn't want to be followed.

For a moment, Peter stood in the hall, contemplating telling her the truth of why Adam and Fallon were with them. But he couldn't imagine it'd make her any less mad. In fact, it'd probably make her worse.