-☆-

After Carol took off, the Guardians gathered around the table inside the Benatar to create a plan.

"First, we have to figure out where you're droid and Groot ended up." Peter began, holding up a finger as a one.

"Well,"

Everyone looked over at the source of an unexpected voice as Poe entered the conversation.
Finding him leaning against the wall, but stepping forwards to include himself in the plan.

"You're sister and I already figured that one out." Poe said as he pointed over at her as took a spot at the table, directly across from her. Everyone followed his gesture at Ava, waiting for her to reveal the discovery they learned from the Skrulls.

"Right," She swallowed, licking her lips before tearing her eyes away. "Ravaaka and her team sold them. And I think I know who." Ava stated simply, trying her hardest to restrain from peeping a look at him. Scanning the faces of her friends in anticipation she let out a sigh.

"Tivan."

"That filthy whitey man!?" Rocket shouted bitterly as he stood next to Poe, but was on the table to be seen. "He's always had his eyes on Groot and I swear I'll make sure he never will ever again."

He snarled through his teeth. Ready to attack the Collector as if he was going to make an entrance in the next minute or two.

"I would like to contribute to that." Poe said with a raised hand. Sharing a mutual understanding with Rocket. Both shared a glance.

"As long as I can keep the eye." Rocket said as he crossed his arms.

Poe scoffed with his mouth dropped in disgust. "Why would you keep his eye?"

Rocket shrugged. "Reasons."

The General scrunched his nose with judgment. "You got issues."

"Well, if it is Tivan we are up against, we need to be extremely intentional with this plan." Gamora stated as her eyes bounced from person to person.

Peter nodded. "Maybe we could exchange him for something more interesting than his droid and our Groot."

"And what exactly is going to be more interesting than a rare droid from another galaxy?" Nebula snorted at the the idea, next to Rocket with her arms crossed.

"We could steal that one guys fancy metal arm with the crazy long hair." Rocket suggested. "It's interesting enough right?"

"We are not stealing Bucky's arm." Ava shook her head at the raccoons obsession. Rocket only groaned in defeat.

Poe frowned in confusion, trying to imagine Rocket's description and wondered why stealing an arm would be useful. He looked at Ava for support but shook her head with a scrunch of her nose. "I'll explain later." She mouthed.

"Well, I don't see anyone else coming up with ideas, why don't we just break in." Rocket said, pounding his hand on his other paw.

"He doesn't know me, right?" Poe stated with a shrug and hands displayed outwards. "I could sneak in and break them out."

"How sneaky can you possibly be Dameron?" Ava retorted as she looked at him in disbelief.

"Enough, Blondie." Poe replied with an obvious answer with a taunting squint in his eyes. "And this Ewok here can come with me, since he seems to know how." He said, turning his attention to Rocket who stood there with pride, forgetting another label.

"To say I know how, is an understatement. I've escaped 23 prisons." Rocket grinned, showing a liking for his new partner in crime.

"Why don't we have Mantis use her powers?" Drax added into the conversation.

Everyone turned their heads towards the bug lady, not realizing how she could be a huge advantage.

"What can she do?" Poe asked, still clueless to how power works. He only was familiar with the Force, but even that was complicated to comprehend.

"She's an empath." Ava said as she stole another glance at Poe. Her eyes remained locked on his for a moment, as she admired them once again. Brown and beautiful capturing her soul.

A soft touch on her hand made Ava jump as she found Mantis barely putting her fingers in her skin. Ava quickly flinched away from the contact. "Mantis, what are you doing?"

"I was showing the General how my abilities work." Mantis replied in her sweet tiny voice, not sure why Ava would be so worried about it.

Panic surged inside of her as Ava refused to let Mantis expose her emotions and quickly moved her hand away from the empath. "Then how about you try it on him? He's the one who doesn't know what you do."

"I know what an empath is blondie!" He shook his head in defense.

Gamora let out a long sigh. "And here I thought you two were getting along. But yes, she's an empath. Meaning she can touch someone and make them feel a certain way."

"Yes!" Peter pointed his finger, cutting off Gamora's explanation. "Don't know why we didn't think of that sooner. Mantis could put Tivan in a trance, to let us get our friends back. Besides, like Poe said, Tivan has never met him or even Ava." Peter said, looking back and forth from his sister to the General.

Ava's eyes met Poe's, sharing a silent understanding of the plan. Both nodding and listening to Starlord's idea.

"You're saying we," Poe gestured his fingers at him and Ava. "Could go in, have this chick put him in a trance of some sort. Then we could pay back my droid and the tree."

"This is a great idea Peter, but having all three is going to raise suspicion." Nebula pointed out.

Ava tilted her head in response. "She has a point Pete."

"Mantis will just have to stay with us on the Benatar." Gamora stated. "But I'm sure Ava and Poe can manage, right?

The two stared at each other across the table for a brief moment. Sharing a silent conversation, checking to make sure the other was committed to the task.

"I'm in." Poe being the first to reply while crossing his arms and putting his weight in his left hip as he turned his head towards Gamora. "I'll do whatever it takes to get my droid back."

Ava nodded, facing Gamora as well. "Me too."

"Now you just need something to upsell Groot and BB-8." Gamora moved onto complete the plan.

"Wait." Ava said as she walked away from the table for a moment. Going to her stash of belongings. She grabbed the backpack she brought along from Earth.

Poe tilted his head in amusement as she dug through the bag.

She set a mysterious box as she opened it. Inside about 10 viles of red liquid as well as 5 blue-glowing disc's, keeping Poe's eyes locked in fascination.

"Pym Particles." Ava said as she knew Poe was about to ask for an explanation. "Red Shrinks, Blue Enlarges. I can talk them up and how they work. Do you think this would convince him?"

Peter scoffed. "Definitely, I think he has some old ancient Stark artifacts that he claims to be his inventions. He'll take these Pym Particles in a heartbeat."

Ava put the box back inside her bag and zipped it up.

"If anything fails, you two can just break Groot and your little ball-"

"He's a droid." Poe corrected with annoyed sigh.

Rocket stared at Poe for a second, realizing his offensive nickname for the precious droid, wasn't something to mess around with. Something he related to on a daily basis.

"Anyways," Rocked said while clearing his throat avoiding an sentimental connection. "You two break them out, and I can toss a bomb in there and BOOM! We are out of there."

Poe shrugged in amusement, liking the initiative of explosives being involved. "Don't see why that's not a solution. Too bad I can't just hop into an X-wing and blow it up. It would be much faster."

Ava rolled her eyes when Poe sent her a prideful wink. His cocky flyboy ego was the equivalent of all the male pilots, and sometimes Carol, who would let being a showoff go to their heads. They would demonstrate an unnecessary trick that left her unimpressed.

"We are not setting off bombs!" Peter denied the suggestion with a serious demand, knowing a lack thereof wouldn't stick with Rocket. "We are going to be civil for once! And don't you think about stealing anything from him Rocket!"

"Civil is an interesting word to associate with the Guardians of the Galaxy Pete." Ava huffed, knowing 'being civil' was an impossible description for their group.

Peter didn't deny her comment as he nodded once with the word touché written on his face.

"What are we waiting for let's go!" Nebula snapped, leaving the discussion in an impatient matter. Following her lead, everyone started to head up to get their positions on the top deck.

Before Ava went upstairs, she opened the bag again. Pulling out an handwritten letter that was tucked inside a journal. The cursive in black ink began to faded, time taking the color away. Fortunately, Ava had read this letter over and over. A reminder that she wasn't alone. She had her mother with her every step of the way. Bringing her courage and confidence whenever she need it.

After she reading it, she threw it over her shoulder as she approached the stairs.

Then she noticed, she still wasn't alone.

Poe remained at his spot at the table, except he was slightly hunched, his palms flat on the surface for the support of his weight.

Slowly setting her bag on the floor, Ava took quiet steps towards him. Catching something he was fidgeting.

As she came closer, the object revealed to be a ring between his fingers, attached to a chain around his neck. She realized she didn't noticed it until this moment.

"You okay?" She asked.

Poe looked up to the sound of her voice and cleared his throat, letting go of the ring. "Uh, yeah. Just really wanting this all works out, you know We've come this far, I don't want anything to go more wrong than it had. Mostly I just hope BB-8 is okay."

Ava stepped to be next to him and put her hand on his shoulder, slightly pushing him to face her. She stared at Poe who stood up fully to be facing her entirely. "Don't worry Poe," She began with a soft sympathetic sound in her voice. "You're a General, I bet you're no match for Tivan."

A little chuckle, following with the left corner of his mouth to stretch into a smile, matching her gaze. "Oh well," He shrugged. "This General is lucky to have a Guardian of the Galaxy as his partner. Because I think we've made a pretty good team so far."

"Yeah. I guess we have."

Bashfully, Ava looked down at her hands, shutting her mind up to quit over analyzing his stupidly smooth words. Yet her heart couldn't help but swoon inside of her, but laughed on the outside instead.

"But you need better aim, Poe. I saw you miss a couple of shots during that fight with the Skrulls."

Poe scoffed challenging her with a smirk playing on his lips, stepping forwards. "Like you could do it better Blondie?"

"Oh, I know I could do better, Dameron." She copied his low voice and action as she also took a small step in front of her.

A unofficial staring contest began as they both stared into the others eyes. Waiting for their opponent to break first. But instead, the silly tension made their lips curl up into smiles with snickers trying to escape their mouths.

"I'd like to see you try." He whispered as Ava felt a tug of an invisible rope that desperately wanted to be closer to him.

Beautiful melody created by Ava's sweet innocent giggle that was accompanied by Poe's deeper baritone chuckle created a gorgeous harmony. Then it faded, and Ava found herself getting lost in his eyes again, restarting the contest with a sense of intimacy. Feeling his breath fanning her face, taking out the words from her mouth.

Then an insurgent thought popped into her mind.

What if he didn't have someone waiting for him to come back? What if he didn't have a special girl? A girl to pick up and spin around when he returned. A girl to hold and show affection to.

So there was nothing wrong, if Ava wanted to be that girl.

Just take a chance.

Collecting every ounce of courage in her body, as he was only a few feet in distance. Her heart beating against her chest, setting off jitters throughout her veins. Yet all the same, a sense of protection and trust. A lump of words bundled together ready to burst everything she was feeling right now. Never wanting to leave Poe's presence, and not daring to let any doubt defeat her this time.

"Poe, I-"

"You two coming up or what?" Drax asked as he was halfway up the stairs.

Poe looked over at Drax with a nod. "Yep, we're coming." He said, stepping away to meet the bottom of the ladder. Leaving a empty hole in her chest, as if she were shot and the pain began to ache.

Before he could ascend, Poe turned over his shoulder. "Sorry blondie, what were you going to say?"

"Just going to tell you that..."

It was too late. Her confidence to be that girl was gone. She shook her head with a fake smile and another sigh while walking over to the stereo.

"I think you need to listen to more Terran music! You need to know more of the classics."

Turning over her shoulders, she saw Poe's eyebrows raised in amusement "Cool. Can't wait to hear what song you choose this time." He winked before he began to make his way up the ladder

Ava let out a nervous laugh until he disappeared and letting out a deep breath as she flipped through the tapes she had brought from Earth.

She missed her chance.

She couldn't and shouldn't, be that girl.

She pulled out a random mixtape and inserted it into the slot. Pressing the play button, turning up the volume dial and letting the voices of Wild Cherry bounce through the walls of the Bentar. The hard rock mixed with pop as Play That Funky Music began to blast out of the speakers.

-|-

"So you were a Commander before you became a General." Peter said, recapping Poe's brief explanation of his life as a pilot for the Resistance. "And you were sent on a mission to find a map to a magic old wizard?"

"He wasn't a wizard. He was a Jedi, a person who was capable of using the Force." Poe corrected, not realizing how hard it would be to share his adventures as a pilot. The terms from his Galaxy confused Ava and all the rest of the Guardians.

Drax looked over at Poe from his seat. "What's the Force again?"

Poe did his best not to get annoyed as this was the 5th time explaining the power. "It's a special energy that allows life to be balanced and connection in the galaxy. Some people, like Luke Skywalker and my other friend Rey can use it. Giving them the ability to move objects with their hands or play mind tricks."

"Does this Jedi have color magic coming out of his hands when he uses his powers?" Nebula asked, comparing the Force to a friend from the Avengers.

Poe shook his head. "No. He just put his hand out like this." He said, demonstrating the movement he had seen Rey do many times.

"Well, I used to have powers." Peter mentioned out of the blue. Changing the subject to be about him. Gamora and Rocket glanced at each other before rolling their eyes.

"Our father who was a Celestial, meaning he was a planet. I got some of that DNA and got powers of a God and helped save Xandar from Ronan-"

"We saved Xandar." Gamora said.

"Right," Peter acknowledged her correction. "Anyways, I had to give it all up because our Father turned out to be evil."

Poe followed along, even though he thought it was a lie. How could Peter and Ava's Dad have kids if he was planet? He sided-eyed at Ava.

"Did your sister ever get those powers?"
He asked, turning to look over at Ava who gaze over at him

"No." She said.

Poe watched as she looked away and rested her chin on her hand. Her elbow on the arm rest.

"Ava didn't inherit the Celestial gene from our father." Peter said, providing an answer while his sister remained quiet. "Neither did Mantis."

Following his thumb, gesturing at the women with antennas and giant black eyes, Poe examined her in confusion. "Not to judge, but how are you two related to Ms. bug eyes? Can't see the resemblance."

"That's because Ego wanted to expand his power through posterity," Mantis replied as she stared back a Poe from across the aisle. Earning a horrific expression on his face.

"What does that mean?" He looked back at Ava, seeing if she would respond but her face was still turned away.

Luckily Peter looked over his shoulder to answer. "It means he was a psychopath and had a bunch of offspring with different women so he could be powerful. Most of them he killed because they didn't carry the gene. He kept Mantis for her empath abilities. I was the only child who carried Celestial power."

The dark reveal, was devastating and bone chilling as Poe absorbed the idea. "Wow. Must have sucked to have him as a father."

"Yeah,"

Poe snapped his head as Ava finally decided to respond.

"It really sucked. Espeically when he never was there for us and choose his stupid legacy over us." She said with a hint of anger in her voice, still facing the other way. Not acknowledging his presence, avoiding the topic of the conversation. "He's the reason our mother is gone."

Poe knitted the tips of his brows, not sure how to respond until he saw her hand resting on her lap. Carefully, he placed his palm on top. Earning a mix of rage and calm for a reaction from Ava.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled with remorse, remembering when he received the news about his mother. How much it hurt to have that part of him gone.

He began to retract but was surprised when fingers wrapped his hand, refusing him to let go. Poe looked at their hands before catching the small smirk resting on her face. The anger still present, but the tenderness in her eyes became more dominant.

"Nah, don't worry about it, Poe." Peter said from the front. "He sucked, I'm just glad he never found Ava and that she was safe with the Avengers."

"So, what is the plan with this Collector again?" Poe asked, directing the subject to something else.

Gamora, sitting below Mantis, looked over her shoulder. "You and Ava are going to start by negotiating him with units. If that doesn't work, we'll come in for back up."

Poe and Ava shared a glance, squeezing her hand with reassurance. "Got it." He said.

Gamora's eyes observed their interaction with a grin forming in her face. "And, maybe pretend to be a couple so it's more official or something."

Both Poe and Ava looked at each other before they let put loud laughter, causing Peter to as well.

"Why? What's that going to do?" Peter said.

Gamora shot a glare at Peter. "Because Tivian is a creep! You've seen how he treated his servants the last few times we were there! I don't want him to do anything to Ava!"

Poe felt an urge fueling inside of him and checking to see Ava's reaction. She let out a groan and let go of his hand while leaning forwards with a raised voice.

"Gamora I'll be fine! I have a blaster and my sword. We don't need to act like we are dating!" She ranted before she fell back into her seat and put her knees up with a clenched jaw. Ava scolded at Poe with her eyes, prompting him to keep his mouth shut before there was another banter.

"Do you really think this will work? Will this guy cooperate?" Poe asked.

Rocket cackled. "If you're lucky. Don't worry, I have a back up plan incase you aren't."

"It better not involve explosives." Peter said.

"Don't worry, it doesn't." Rocket added, shooting a wink with his right eye, for only Ava and Poe to catch.

"We're here." Mantis announced as she watched the navigation on the screen in front of her.

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More of Poe interacting with the guaridans! It's so much fun to write. And now that they are all back together, there will be more.
I bet you if Poe and Rocket existed in a scene together for 2 mins, they would become instant evil twins.

Also what are Pym Particles doing in space?

And the gif for this chapter is probably my favorite because it captures exactly how I pictured the planning session to go. Especially with Ava and Poe stealing glances too just makes me excited for what I have planned!

Anways thanks for reading yall. Please comment and vote!

-marie xx