The Collector was a strange man. He had purple hair, a fur coat and a look that screamed, 'I am higher than you' glued to his face.

"The orb, if you would," he drawled.

Charlotte let go of Peter's hand to pull the silver orb from her pocket. Hesitantly, she handed it over to the Collector.

He popped it open easily, and for a second, Charlotte wondered why they hadn't thought about doing that.

A purple gem sat in one half of the orb. The Collector set down both halves on the table in front of the group.

"This is an Infinity Stone. There are several others like it. The power it holds can destroy entire planets, with just one touch to the surface," he began.

The Collector went on to explain the powers of the stones; the damage they could do if beings of great power harnessed them for evil use.

Charlotte was amazed, yet terrified at the same time. If this stone got into Ronan's grasp, the entire galaxy would be screwed.

Knowing that there were others in the universe, with powers similar to the one in front of her, she wondered if anyone had a run in with another stone.

"Blah, blah. We're all very--" Rocket shuttered, imitating the Collector, "-- fascinated. Can we get payed?"

"How will you take your payments?" The Collector asked.

"Units, whitey," Rocket snapped.

The Collector stepped away to find the money. Seconds later, he noticed the silence. His clients were observing his assistant, who was in a trance, stepping towards the exposed stone.

"No.." he breathed, but it was too late.

The pink lady, Karina, screamed as she touched the gem. A mold started absorbing her body; the skin on her body crackled a sickening black.

The group backed up cautiously, unsure of what would happen.

"Maybe we should get out of here.." Charlotte suggested, her eyes wide at the sight in front of her.

"Good idea!"

It was just in time, too. Gamora shoved Peter along, the two took cover under a desk.

When Peter turned to make sure Charlie followed, his lips split. He tried to crawl from underneath the desk, but Gamora wouldn't let go of him.

"I can't leave her!" Peter cried.

Gamora firmly grabbed his jacket and pulled him back down,"No! Quill, she'll be fine!"

Turns out, Charlotte was just fine for the moment. Groot snatched Rocket first, then turned and grew out his hand to grab Charlotte as well. The tree cradled both his friends in his chest, taking long strides to exit the building.

Charlotte tried peer around Groot and see if Peter was behind them, but the grip that Groot had on her was keeping her from moving.

"Quill is fine! Him and Gamora ran off together," Rocket yelled.

Charlotte visibly relaxed. Peter was a big boy who could take care of himself, and she knew that. On the other hand, Peter Quill was also a reckless idiot.

Normally, he used his charm to get out of situations. But the scenario presented was one that no one could flirt their way out of.

The purple explosion expanded. Groot went tumbling forward, Rocket and Charlie flying from his grasp.

After the heart of the explosion ended, Peter and Gamora successfully captured the gem. After stuffing it in Peter's knapsack, the two rushed to find the rest of the group.

Peter's voice echoed around the town, along with the groans of awakening people.

"Charlie! Where are you?!" Peter shouted, his head snapping in every direction to look for that auburn hair of hers.

Groot shot up from the ground when he heard Peter, "I am Groot?"

"Tree, I am not in the mood for your three letter talk right now. Point to where Charlie is," he demanded, his voice dangerously low.

"We don't know," Rocket groaned. He rubbed his fur, scrubbing the debris from it.

Peter spun around to the raccoon, "What the hell do you mean you don't know? Wasn't she with you?"

"She was.." Rocket tried to explain. "Well, building go 'boom' and Charlotte went flying."

Peter's breathing was getting shorter with each intake. Peter bent over, his hands on his knees and tried to get his breathing normal again.

He made a promise to himself to forever protect her and from what he heard, he had failed.

"Where's Drax? He wasn't in the room with us," Gamora said.

"Great! Now we've got two people to find," Rocket grumbled.

Peter shot him a threatening glance.  The four carried on walking, keeping an eye out for both members of their group.

Gamora was the first to catch a glance of Charlotte. She stayed silent, slowing her pace, allowing Peter to keep walking.

If the girl was dead, Gamora wanted to save Peter from the pain of knowing.  From experience, hearing someone was missing was better than knowing they died.

Gamora kneeled beside Charlotte, prying the pieces of drywall off. Her hand slapped Charlotte's cheek repeatedly.

"Wake up, Charlotte. Wake up."

Charlotte weakly reached up and pulled the green hand from her face. Gamora let out a relieved sigh.

"Peter! I found her!" Gamora cried.

Peter was at Gamora's side in an instant. He dropped to his knees next to Charlie.

"Hi.. Hi, baby.." Peter whispered, wiping away the ash from her forehead.

Charlotte squeezed her eyes shut. Her head was spinning; the new voices were not helping.

When she realized the main voice was Peter, her eyes fluttered open. Stretching her arms out, she casually tucked them underneath her head. There was a tired smile on her lips.

"What's crackin', Peter?" she tried to joke.

Before Peter could help Charlie up, Groot grew out his arm and crushed her against his chest. Her legs dangled as the tree swung her around in joy.

"Hello Groot! It's beautiful to see you too," Charlotte said.

Groot set her back down to her feet. Charlotte sent smiles to Rocket and Gamora. Her eyes moved to Peter, who was already taking small steps toward her. As usual, they were interrupted.

"How could I think Tivan could contain whatever was in the orb?" Gamora breathed.

"What do you still have it for?!" Rocket wheezed in disbelief.

"What were we supposed to do? Leave it in there?" Peter snapped.

Rocket's hands ran down his face, "I can't believe you were carrying that in your purse!"

"It's a knapsack!" Peter defended.

"We should bring it to the Nova Corps. There's a chance they can contain it," Gamora suggested.

"Are you kidding me?!" Rocket said, "We're wanted by the Nova Corps, just give it to Ronan!"

"So he can destroy the galaxy?" Charlie retorted.

"What are you, some saint all of a sudden? What has the galaxy ever done for you? Why do you want to save it?"

"We live in it, Rocket!" Charlotte growled.

Gamora desperately turned to face Peter and Charlotte, believing that they would listen and side with her.

"We cannot allow the stone to fall into Ronan's hands. We have to go back to your ship and deliver it to Nova." Gamora ordered.

"Right, right, okay," Peter agreed. His face hardened. "Or, we could give it to someone who's not going to arrest us, who's really nice, for a whole lot of money."

"You're despicable. Honorless. Faithless!" Gamora shouted.

She snatched the orb from Peter and started to storm away, but stopped short.

When Charlie's eyes caught sight of the sky, she knew exactly why.

Thousands of Kree necroships hovered above them.

Drax's maniacal laugh rang through the street. His knives were up in the air, challenging Ronan to a fight.

By only thinking of himself, Drax was about to get everyone killed.

The night only got worse when Yondu and the Ravengers caught sight of Peter and Charlie.

"We have to get the orb away from here. Ronan will slaughter all of us to get it," Charlotte said.

Charlotte kneeled beside Rocket. Almost in sync, their eyes darted across the sky and the ground around them, both searching for an escape route.

The best thing about the duo was that they both shared a spontaneous attitude and knack for quick plans. Their eyes landed on the same machine.

Rocket looked up to the girl, a smirk lifting his whiskers. "You thinkin' what I'm thinking?"

Charlotte grinned widely at the animal, a glamorous twinkle in her green eyes. "Hell yeah."

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Q and A: What has been your favorite moment between Charlie and one other character so far??