Picking Up The Pieces

24. Shot Down By The Buyers

"You know," I told him, "this ship would be a lot cleaner if you actually put that in a dirty clothes bin."

"Too much work," he joked, smelling the long sleeve he had just grabbed. I heard Gamora tighening her sister's bonds in the adjacent room. "That stuff about my father," he started, talking to the two of us. "Who does she think she is?"

"The woman you offered to have sex with," I said, rolling my eyes. Quill gave me a quick glare.

"I know you're sensitive about that," Gamora said softly, and Quill looked up at her in confusion.

"I'm not sensitive about it, I just don't know who he is," Peter said sensitively. "Sorry if it seemed like I was flirting with the High Priestess. I wasn't."

"I don't care if you were," Gamora said nonchalantly as she led her sister through the room and to the loading area.

"Well, I feel like you do care," Peter said back, leaning against the doorframe. "That's why I'm apologizing. So, sorry!"

"Gamora is not the one for you, Quill," Drax spoke up, scaring Quill and I.

"Damn shadow," Quill grumbled.

"There are two types of beings in the universe," Drax explained. "Those who dance, and those who do not." Quill nodded, obviously not wanting to have this conversation. "I first met my beloved at a war rally-"

"Oh, God," Quill sighed.

"-Everyone in the village flailed about, dancing. Except one woman. My Ovette." Drax gave a small smile. "I knew immediately she was the one for me." Quill and I squinted at him, and I set the towel down in what looked like a pile of dirty clothes. "The most melodic song in the world could be playing. She wouldn't even tap her foot. Wouldn't even move a muscle. One might assume she was dead."

"That does sound pretty hot," Quill told Drax, thinking that would get him to shut up.

"It would make my nether regions engorge-"

"I'm not listening to this," I spoke up, lifting my hands in a surrender as I left the room to where Gamora was locking her sister.

"I'm hungry," she told Gamora, looking down at the bowl of fruit. Even her voice had a robotic undertone."Hand me some of that yaro root."

"It's not ripe yet," I told her, calling the sister's attention. Her eyes flickered down at my arm.

"And I hate you," Gamora added on. "Isabel, this is my sister, Nebula."

"You hate me?" Nebula questioned. "You left me there while you stole that stone for yourself. And yet here you stand, a hero. I will be free of these shackles soon enough, and I will kill you. I swear." Well, someone clearly held grudges.

"No," Gamora said with a shake of her head. You're gonna live out the rest of your days in a prison on Xandar... wishing you could." Nebula shook the pole holding her bonds, but neither of us jumped. An alarm started to go off, catching our attention. "Isabel, stay here."

"Sure," I answered, not really paying attention. Gamora climbed back up to the cockpit, leaving me with her murderous sister. "So," I started, not knowing what to say. "I take it you two really hate each other."

"You weren't there when the rest of them were fighting me," she said, not really caring. "Are they holding you captive too?"

"No, not really," I chuckled, trying to calm my heart down. I could hear her thoughts about killing everyone here, and it was making my heart pound. If anything happened, I'd make sure she'd go through me first. "I was captured by a group of space pirates, and I accidentally got on this ship instead of an escape pod."

"And they imprisoned you here?" she hissed, pulling at her bonds for a little before relenting. I ran my metal fingers through my hair.

"Actually, they offered to bring me back home," I clarified. Nebula's mouth opened as if she was about to say more, but the ship jerked sideways. Our feet slid, and we almost fell. I clutched a pole for support.

"Can they even fly?" Nebula gritted, and I ignored her. Quickly, I pulled typed the access code for a video into a nearby touch screen. It opened up to Rocket's anxious face.

"What the hell was that?" I yelled at him.

"We're getting shot at because Rocket stole the batteries, and now we're being chased by the Sovereign!" Quill's voice shouted back at me, currently offscreen. Rocket glared at him.

"I didn't steal; I borrowed with the intent of never returning!" the raccoon corrected. Did that even count as correcting? "Just hang on to something! It's gonna be a bumpy flight!" The video ended, and I squeezed higher on my pole as I felt the ship do a 360. Just when I thought it was over, I felt my stomach flip as either Quill or Rocket flew the craft in different directions to shake off the attackers.

"We are going to die with those idiots at the controls!" Nebula shouted, and I silently agreed with her. Hopefully Rocket and Quill weren't fighting over the controls again. I prayed that Groot was okay. There was a loud thud that shook the cargo area, and I knew we had been hit.

"We're gonna be fine," I said to myself, closing my eyes. "Everything's gonna be fine." Which I actually started believing, until the cargo door ripped free.

And that's when I knew we were screwed.

I couldn't tell what was happening. All I knew was that I was screaming, holding on to the pole with both hands as my feet left the ground.Everything was spinning. I could feel myself freezing to death, and soon my two hands on the pole became one metal one. Loose pieces of metal were flying off and scratching my face. I heard a soft noise, and Nebula and I crashed on the floor.

"Idiots!" Nebula screamed up at them. I wanted to make sure she was still in her restraints, but I was so cold. I didn't want to move. I felt big hands pick up my body, but my body was in too much shock to shake them off. I recognized them from earlier; Drax. He quickly set me down in a corner, my back against the wall, before kicking the yaro root away from Nebula's outstretched hand.

"It's not ripe," he told her as he grabbed a space rig and a harness. Attaching the harness to his belt and the rig on his back, Drax grabbed a gun off the wall. With a few pushes of buttons, he leapt out of the ship. I couldn't see him that well through the forcefield separating us. Nebula just sat on her knees, not moving as she watched.

I had enough strength to cover my eyes as a bright light blinded us. An explosion. A few seconds later, I felt us go through a jump point. We were finally on a planet.

And then the ship started to fall out of the sky.