***Knowhere, Space***
It had taken some time and some doing, but they had finally done it.
After the Battle For Earth, the Guardians of the Galaxy team had decided that it was time they had a proper place to call home. Mind you, they weren't retiring. But a proper base of operations was needed. A place they could relax and regroup in between missions.
And now, they had it. Knowhere. It was a place they visited on a regular basis and were pretty familiar with. Perfect, right?
And now, after many months and weeks of remodeling, decluttering, and sprucing up the giant Celestial head, they were finally in the final stages. All that was left was some painting and cleaning here and there. And the day had been full of it.
"Whooo! What a day," the furry Guardian, Rocket said as he walked into the cantina and stretched.
"You didn't lift as much as I did," Cosmo the Space Dog stated, almost boastfully.
"Oh, please! You can lift stuff with the blink of an eye. That's basically cheating."
"Guys, guys! Come on, it's not a competition," Sam Alexander, the youngest of their team cut in, trying to keep them calm. "But, if it was, I'd be the winner! Haha!"
At that Rocket rolled his eyes before opening a fridge and taking out a berry milk and tossing it to Sam and taking out another for himself.
"Easy there, kid. You keep getting cocky, your head's not gonna be able to fit inside that helmet." Rocket warned, but still smiling as he took a slurp from his drink.
Sam laughed at that before taking a slurp of his own.
They walked out of the cantina and walked through the town of Knowhere, people waving at them or wishing them a good evening as they passed them. A stretch of walking later found them on the roof of one of the buildings where the rest of the Guardians team was already seated, relaxing from the day's work.
"Hey, guys." Peter Quill, leader of the Guardians welcomed them.
"I am Groot!" Groot said too.
"Heyo!" Sam replied, taking a seat by Kraglin.
In the background, a light calming song -- one Space Song by Beaches -- played as they sat.
An hour or so had gone by, more conversation was exchanged, as were some laughs, and sometimes, they just sat in silence and watched the people below.
This went on a little longer before Kraglin yawned and stretched. "Well, I reckon it's time to hit the rack." He said, giving a small scratch to his belly.
Sam nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I should be heading home."
At that, Peter spoke up. "Hang on, Sam. You don't have anything major to do tomorrow, do you?"
The young Terran thought for a moment before shaking his head. "Nope. Just checking in with my mom and little sister, then I'll be back up here with you guys. Why?"
"We got something to show you, kid," Rocket replied.
"What is it?"
"It's a surprise!" Mantis replied, wiggling her fingers for effect.
Sam's confusion went away and was replaced by intrigue. "Oh yeah?"
"YES!!" A voice exclaimed behind Sam.
And that was all he heard before darkness overtook his vision...basically, a bag had been put over his head.
"Whoa! Okay, that was unexpected!" He exclaimed, momentarily shocked.
That voice from behind him he recognized almost immediately, but the conversation that followed gave it away as well.
"Drax! You weren't supposed to do it yet!" Nebula scolded.
"I thought it was a surprise?" The Destroyer replied, obviously confused.
"Yeah, but not when you do it like that!" Peter said in an exasperated manner. "Doing it like that could make the person think you're kidnapping them. Crazy people do that sh** all the time!"
"Well, that actually does kinda sounds like Drax," Rocket said with a shrug.
"He's right," Mantis agreed.
"Guys, guys! It's okay," Sam said from underneath the bag, "Just maybe give me a little warning next time, Drax. You're lucky I didn't get scared or I would've attacked."
The rest of the team heard this and smirks and smiles went throughout them....save for Nebula.
"HA! You wouldn't have won!" Drax boasted, balling his fists cockily, "I would've taken you down easily with as thin as your body is."
"Uh-huh, sure thing, Drax."
"I am Groot?" Groot asked them.
"Yes, can we please get on with this?" Nebula asked in annoyance, "Any longer and the surprise will no longer be drawn out."
"I'm ready!" Sam stated, "It's just, someone's gonna have to guide me so I don't bump into anything."
"We'll help you, comrade," Cosmo said walking up to Sam's side.
"I am Groot!" The friendly tree said as he took Sam's arm on the other side.
"Thanks, guys."
And they were off.
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Thanks to the help of a sentient walking stick(pun intended) and a seeing-eye dog(also pun intended), the group had led Sam up to what he assumed had to be the inside of a building. He just didn't know which.
"Okay, you ready, Sam?" Peter asked as they made him stop.
"I guess so," the young Nova replied nervously. He didn't know what to expect so he was both excited and nervous.
"All right, you can take off the bag now," Rocket told him.
Doing as they said, Sam reached up and pulled the bag off and opened his eyes to see that they were in a room; one of the apartment rooms of the city. But he was confused. What was he supposed to see?
"I am Groot?" Groot asked excitedly.
To which Sam shrugged. "I don't know. It's a nice room, I guess. But-"
"Good, because it's yours," Peter said with a smile.
Sam's eyes went wide at that. "Wait, for real?!"
"We thought it would be nice for you to have your own apartment here with us." Mantis explained, "That way we can all be closer."
"Actually, it was Nebs' idea," Rocket added, nodding to Nebula.
The young Earther looked to his blue "aunt" -- who gave a shy small smile, as was her nature when doing something nice -- and smiled.
"I don't know what to say."
"I think we can," Peter grinned. "You're a Guardian of the Galaxy, Sam, just like us. And this is our new home."
"Which makes it yours too." Drax cut in, smiling proudly at the young hero.
Said young hero began to tear up a little before reaching and picking up Rocket(which made the furry Guardian yelp in surprise) and running towards the others for a group hug. They all joined in -- yes, even Cosmo who jumped up on her hind legs and leaned in -- and enjoyed the embrace of their little family.
"I am Groot," Groot said calming and with love.
And Sam smiled as he loved what his tree friend had said. "Welcome home, Sam."
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A little later, everyone had gone to their own apartments to bunker down for the night.
But Nebula normally stayed awake in bed for a while. It took longer for her to fall asleep than the others so she would lay there for however long it would take before finally clocking out.
But tonight was a little different.
[Knock x3]
A light rapping at her door aroused Nebula from her silent solitude. She wondered who would be knocking on her door thus late at night. Obviously, someone who didn't know by now that she didn't like to be disturbed.
But her surprise increased when she opened the door and saw...
"Sam?"
The young Terran waved and whispered, "Hey, Nebula."
"Is everything okay?" She asked.
"Oh, no! Nothing's wrong, I just... I wanted to ask you something."
Hearing his words and the seriousness in his voice, Nebula surmised that whatever it was must've been important not to wait til the morning.
So she stepped aside and let him enter her room.
"What did you want to ask me?" She asked, closing the door behind them.
There was a moment of silence as Sam worked up what he wanted to say.
"I'm just curious about something... Earlier, when you guys showed me the room, Rocker said that it was your idea for me to have a room here on Knowhere with you guys."
Nebula became sheepish and felt her walls start to rise. Slowly, she gave a nod. "Yes. I merely suggested that all the Guardians should have a place here. Even you."
Sam nodded in understanding. "I get that, and again, thank you for that. But what's getting me is that you're the one who did it. I could understand if Rocket, or Peter, or Groot, even if Cosmo suggested it... but why you?"
Silence filled the room again as Nebula took her time before answering. It didn't take Sam long to see he had just asked a tougher question than he realized.
Nebula made her way over to a chair by a desk and sat down, taking in a deep breath as she did.
"When I was a little...during my time with Thanos...Gamora and I would have our own rooms," she began to explain. This surprised Sam so much that he took a seat too as it was rare for Nebula to be so open, let alone talk about her suffering times at the hands of the Mad Titan, "Most nights, I would remember my home world and how Thanos destroyed it and killed my family...I would often cry myself to sleep every night."
Sam felt his whole mood change from curious to empathy as he listened to Nebula's story. When she took a long pause, he reached out his hand and took his "aunt's" and held it tight. She in turn did the same. This helped her to continue.
"Across a dark hallway was Gamora's chambers on the other side. Sometimes, she would sneak across the hall and sleep in my bed with me, and she'd hold me....and we would cry together. And on those moments.....I wasn't as afraid, because I wasn't alone." Nebula took a moment to wipe the tears rolling down her cheeks before looking to Sam. "The Guardians are my family...you are my family, Sam. And though we fight sometimes, family should be close. That's why I suggested that you be here with us."
Now that he had heard it all, Sam too had begun to tear up and smile. So much so that he jumped from his seat and hugged Nebula tight. The swift motion surprised her, but she immediately hugged him back and held him close.
"I love you, Nebs," He said to her.
Nebula smiled at that and hearing her nickname. "I love you too, Sam."
"Also, don't tell Mantis, but you're my favorite aunt."
Nebula scoffed at that at chuckled a little. "And you're my favorite nephew."
Now it was Sam's turn to scoff. Pulling back a little, he looked Nebula in the eye. "I'm your only nephew."
"So I don't have to choose," she said matter-of-factly.
A laugh was shared before the two finally broke the hug.
"Well, I better let you get to sleep." Sam said as he stood up, "Good night, Nebula. And thanks again."
Nebula smiled at her nephew and nodded. "Good night, Sam."
Sam smiled at her once more before heading out, back to his apartment for the night. As he did, Sam's smile didn't leave his face for the rest of the night. Even after he called his family and Kamala, he smiled all the way into his slumber.
Happy and content that he now had a new home with his extended family.
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That's another one in the bag! I've wanted to do this one for a long time. Putting Sam in my Next Avengers MCU AU was great, but now seeing him with the Guardians, that's even more to look forward to! 😁😁
This will mainly be Sam and the Guardians' lives in between missions; basically, they're casual downtime. I hope you guys enjoyed this first addition and I can't wait to share more. 😊💯💯
See y'all soon! 👍🏼👍🏼