CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
"Frost would love to freeze him for you"
FROST WOULD NOT SHUT UP about her opinions on the man that was allegedly Peter's father. Though, despite her gut agreeing with Frost's opinions for once, Allison did nothing. She didn't speak up nor voice their shared thoughts. She couldn't rip this away, knowing how Peter secretly longed to just know who his father was. And even if it was a man that had a suspicious name and attitude, she didn't want to be the bad guy and take that away.
"I hired Yondu to pick you up when your mother passed away. But instead of returning you, Yondu kept you. I have no clue as to why," Ego stated, purely focused on his son as the other Guardians filled their stomachs with dinner. Allison sat next to Peter, her eyes focused purely on the bowl of food in her grasp as she attempted to block out Frost's screaming in her head.
Blah blah blah! Liar. This guy is a baddie! I promise Allison! Believe me. I know you think it too!
The night had fallen long before, forcing the group to be gathered around a fire for warmth, though, the coldness didn't bother the Ice Demon obviously. As she ate, she did have her eyes watching Ego closely as he spoke to Peter, debating one whether he was going to attack or not. But he didn't. And that didn't sit overly well with either side of Allison Frost. The man made her feel uneasy, there was no doubt in her mind about that, but still, she masked her thoughts from her friends.
"Well, I'll tell you why. Because I was a skinny little kid who could squeeze into places adults couldn't," Peter responded, the words seeming to be painful to say as he remembered the distant memory. "It made it easier for thievin'."
"Well, I've been trying to track you down ever since," Ego answered in an attempt to reassure the clearly suspicious Peter Quill.
"I thought Yondu was your father," Drax spoke up with a confused tone, eyeing Peter before looking Ego up and down.
What the fuck? One's blue?! Is my eyesight going or is he just dumb?
Allison sighed, rubbing her forehead exasperatedly once again, looking at Drax with a expression that had written across it exactly what Frost said.
"What? We've been together this whole time and you thought Yondu was my actual blood relative?"
"You look exactly alike."
Are we actual surrounded by the biggest idiots in the galaxy?
"One's blue!" Rocket exclaimed with narrowed eyes towards Drax, motioning to Peter who sat with squinted eyes.
"No, he's not my father," Peter clarified sternly, irritated at the assumption Drax had made.
I feel like this would be a scene in Star Wars.
Allison muttered an 'oh my god' at Frost's input, rolling her eyes at the response. She truly wondered why her counterpart was so in love with a movie franchise from Terra. She honestly didn't even know how Frost got ahold of the movies.
"Yondu was the guy who abducted me, kicked the crap out of me so I could learn to fight and kept me in terror by threatening to eat me-"
"Eat you?" Ego repeated, appalled by the thought. Peter quickly muttered a 'yeah', confirming what Ego thought he had heard. "Oh, that son of a bitch."
Just because he dislikes Yondu too does not make him a good guy.
Perhaps it is possible to roll your eyes so much that they eventually roll into the back of your head. At this rate, Allison wouldn't be shocked if she accidentally did it.
"How'd you find us now?" Gamora asked, her voice calm with hidden laces of suspicion.
"Well..." Ego shifted in his seat, straightening his posture before continuing. "Even where I reside, out past the edge of what's known, we've heard tell about the man they call Star-Lord."
We had never heard of him before the Power Stone situation. How the hell did this asshole hear about him-
"Okay, I get it, now would you kindly shut up," Allison muttered, dumping her bowl in the dirt and crossing her arms.
She was beginning to get a headache from the constant snappy remarks and suspicious claims, and was becoming more irritated by each second. Every minute when Frost was silent could be equivalent to Heaven at times. This was one of those times.
"Don't mind her," Gamora spoke up, dragging Ego's attention away from the intimidating Ice Demon who wouldn't stop muttering to herself. As Allison hesitantly rose her head, she gave Gamora a thankful smile.
Ego stared blankly at the orange haired woman before shaking his head lightly, standing with a slight bounce. "What say we head out there right now? Your associates are welcome." He eyed each of them before focusing on Rocket. "Even that triangle-faced monkey there."
Rocket looked up, eyes slightly wide before he rose his paws over his nose, feeling self conscious of its shape at Ego's remark.
Allison frowned at the gesture, not liking when Rocket looked down or upset. Watching him be seemingly self conscious about his nose, which was the normal shape for a raccoon, only succeeded in making Allison on the verge of infuriated.
Come on, let's get it over and done with! Kill him so nothing bad happens. I don't want to have another near death experience!
"I promise you, it's unlike any other place you've ever seen," Ego added as a final selling point for the offer of travelling to a distant part of the galaxy. "And there, I can explain your very special heritage. Finally get to be... the father I've always wanted to be." There was clear desperation in Ego's eyes as he practically pleaded for Peter to agree to go with him. "Excuse me. I need to take a whiz."
That's gross! Allison come onnnn, I know you agree with me, we do share a mind pretty much!
As soon as Ego was out of sight, disappearing amongst the tall standing trees, Peter glanced at Allison who was sitting next to him. As her eye met his, the signs of annoyance towards Frost or uncertainty towards the situation seemed to vanish.
"I'm not buying it," Peter said bluntly.
Allison stared unblinkingly for a moment, before letting go of a quiet sigh and tilting her head. She nodded to the opposite direction of where Ego had went. "Let's go for a walk." As Peter stood, wanting to talk to Allison alone, the Ice Demon glanced at Gamora, seeing her picking Baby Groot up and place him in her lap. "Make sure they don't do any thing stupid."
Gamora looked up for a moment giving Allison a thumbs up before looking down to Groot who was falling asleep curled up in her lap.
❄️
THE FALLEN LEAVES CRUNCHED LOUDLY under Allison's heeled boots as her and Peter walked through the bushes, entering a clearing as they discussed the situation.
"Give me a break," Peter huffed, rolling his eyes. "After all this time, you're gonna show up and all of a sudden you wanna be my dad?"
See! Even Peter sees how suspicious this is.
Allison nodded, seeing his point. "Yes, I understand," she spoke softly, her voice gentle and soothing.
"And, by the way, this could be a trap!" Peter pointed out, spinning on his heels to face the Ice Demon as she stepped into the clearing with him. "The Kree Purists, the Ravagers, they all want us dead."
"I know, that has crossed my mind, both of our minds," she said, referring to her counterpart who kept murmuring words that connected to form 'I'm right'. However, despite that, she didn't want Peter to throw away this opportunity to know his father. "Trust me, Frost hasn't stopped talking about her suspicions-"
"Shouldn't you trust your counterpart?" Peter questioned, resting his hands on his hips as he looked at the Ice Demon, seeming relaxed with only her presence but still tense.
Allison furrowed her eyebrows, tilting her head. "She somewhat likes Nebula. Like, literally, she told me."
Peter's lips pressed into a thin line as he looked down, realising now that perhaps agreeing with Frost's opinions wouldn't be the best idea. The counterpart had ideas and suggestions that were sometimes helpful in certain situations, like this one, but some opinions were more... Unusual.
"Look, I understand where you're coming from. I see the suspicious behavior and unnerving ego, literally... " Allison continued, folding her arms as Peter looked up to meet her clear eyes, seeming to shimmer under the moonlight. "But-"
"But what?"
"Remember that story you told us about..." Allison clicked her fingers, resting one hand on her hip as she thought of the name. "Zardu Hasselfrau?" Peter tilted his head at Allison, furrowing his eyebrows at the name, not recognising it. "He owned a magic boat?"
Oh, you had me lost there for a second Allison. David Hasselhoff.
"David Hasselhoff!" Allison exclaimed, her eyes seeming to light up as she happily corrected herself.
He was drunk Allison, what does this have to do with anything?
Peter's look of confusion didn't wash away. "Not a magic boat. A talking car."
This time, Allison's eyebrows furrowed, her eyes squinting. "Why did he talk again?"
"To help him fight crime, and to be supportive," he reminded her, helping recover the story from Allison's memories.
Everytime she heard it, even if Peter was drunk, she adored it. It seemed unique to her, creative and she loved hearing a drunk Peter eagerly slur his words together to tell her the story again and again and again.
"As a child, you would carry his picture in your pocket and you would tell all the other children that he was your father, but that he was out of town," Allison recalled, a fond smile spreading onto her pale face.
"Shooting Knight Rider or touring with his band in Germany," Peter finished for her, not wanting to spend much time worrying about the story he would blurt out in a drunken state, rarely remembering whether Allison would happily listen or not. "I told you that when I was drunk. Why are you bringing that up now?"
"I adore that story."
Ew. It's a horrible story!
"I hate that story," Peter declared his tone seemingly angered. Allison sighed, letting her arms dangled by her sides. Though, even with an annoyed or irritated Peter Quill, she stood her ground, never shying away from the discussion or moving from in front of him. "It's so sad! As a kid, I used to see all the other kids off playing catch with their dads. And I wanted that, more than anything in the world!"
See! Horrible.
"I understand that, truly, I do," Allison emphasised, gently grabbing onto Peter's closed hands, her cold skin warming up at the touch of his own. "Growing up with nothing but a raccoon and a tree as family and friends was difficult and I wondered constantly what it'd be like to have my parents. I don't want you to have to go through that, wishing you had more time or knew more about your parents," she said softly, noticing how her touch seemed to help calm Peter, untensing his muscles. "I don't want you to go through what I've had to. Just think about it. What if this man is your Hasselhoff?"
Peter exhaled slowly through his mouth, looking down as he absorbed Allison's words.
Noticing the hesitation, a small reasurring smile formed on her face as she used one hand to push Peter's chin up so he would be focused on her eyes again.
"Listen, if he ends up being evil... Frost will gladly put an icicle through his heart."
Yes. Yes I would. Though, I hate where this is heading.
Allison words did put a smile on Peter face, the man letting go of a chuckle as his response. If Ego ended up being evil, he'd gladly watch Frost put an icicle through him without a hint of sorrow.