"(Y/N)! Get up! Hey, use some of that magic crap you told us about!"

Quill's voice was muffled in your ears, thought he wasn't all that far away and should have been clear as day. You had taken a pretty significant hit from Ego, throwing you back and into the side of your small mining pod as it flew past. Peter had jumped out to catch you, but his timing was off and he missed his mark, leaving you face down on the surface of Ego's core.

"Loser," you groaned, pushing your hands beneath you to rise up slowly to sitting, "you missed. Oh, damn, that hurt." Your hands were torn and your skin peeled away, but as you inspected the damage, your tissues had already begun to heal.

"I'm sorry, I thought for sure I had ya. My bad. You okay?"

"Yeah...yeah, I think so." Deciding to test your legs, you took the offering of his hand and stood, albeit just a bit wobbly. "Man, that made the world spin. This guy is for real then?"

"Apparently," he nodded, looking around him almost desperately. "Rocket just sent Groot to the center with the explosives, so either we're down to about ten minutes, or we could die at any second. Either way...this whole thing goes boom."

"Do you think it'll work?"

"It has to. It's all we've got."

You caught your breath and stood straighter, looking at Quill as if he had completely forgotten why he sought you out for this mission in the first place. If it hadn't been for him begging you to join them, you would have been back at home, in peace, and certainly not trying to destroy a Celestial. "Quill, do you seriously think that's all we've got? Then why am I here?"

Peter's eyes shot open wide in his embarrassment and a little bit of fear, his hands coming up and waving in front of himself wildly as if to keep your retaliation at bay somehow. "No! No, no, no, you're our last resort only! I've heard about that Phoenix stuff you do, and I don't want to unleash that unless we absolutely have to. That could take us out and half the solar system along for the ride to eternity."

"I do have control of it, you ass," you scoffed, "but you know what, that's fine. Let's trust the baby tree instead and see how well this works out for everyone."

"He'll do it," Peter nodded definitively with a stern look of resolve. "He's totally got this, you'll see. Totally, one-hundred percent...got this."

"You sound convinced. But don't worry, Mr. Lord, I've got you."

"It's...it's Star Lord, actually," he muttered quietly under his breath, watching in awe as you lifted yourself effortlessly into the open air and made your way towards the rest of his team. They had found you by absolute chance not that long before; only a matter of days, actually, and when they learned that you were possibly even more powerful than Ego, they thought that maybe they had a more than descent chance at winning this after all. His confidence would be short-lived, as Ego swooped down and grabbed him, tearing your new friend away from the group in a vicious fight.

"Rabbit!"

"It's Rocket!" he yelled back with a dismissive wave. "There's only one person in the universe who gets away with calling me that, and it ain't you, princess."

"The Pirate Angel Baby," Drax smiled, in an introspective whisper as he gazed into the distance. "That is a man. A real man. A muscular specimen of a man-"

"Do you mean Thor?" you asked with a knowing smirk. "Yeah, he's alright. Good looking guy, sure, but he's such a big dork."

Rocket dropped his gun at his feet, his mouth hanging open agape and mimicking the look on Drax's face as well. "You know Thor?!?! Okay, I give. Who the hell are you, anyway?"

"I've told you this already, I'm-"

But you didn't get your chance to finish, as Groot came screaming back, waving his arms frantically to get the team away now that they had only mere minutes left. Peter was locked in a fight with Ego, so you watched, studying their movements and finding that the fight was just a jumbled mess and nothing but angry punches being thrown with no real style to them. They were both reduced to desperation, and Peter looked to be beginning to tire, so you decided to intervene.

"Get the team to the surface," you commanded, "get ready to catch Quill."

"Catch him?" Rocket asked. "What are you gonna do?"

"Just be ready, Rabbit. In case my grip doesn't hold." As you rose from the ground, your eyes still locked on Pete and Ego, all Rocket could do was shrug off your lack of sharing and slap an aero-rig onto his back in preparation to flee as fast as he could.

"Well, I suppose it was nice knowing ya," Rocket chuckled and grabbed Groot. With a quick toss onto his shoulder, the little one held on as tightly as he could as his ride took to the air, pointing out another teammate just below. "I don't know, Groot, I've got a bad feeling about this. Hey, Yondu! We're about to blow!"

"Get back to the ship!"

"Not without Quill!"

"You need to take care of the twig!" Yondu argued back, refusing to give in, frustrating even tiny Groot.

Rocket could feel his emotions building up; maybe it was just the stress of impending death at any given second, or maybe he just hadn't eaten in too long and his mood was a mess, but he didn't realize what this particular trip had done to him until he met Yondu's gaze and saw the determination in it. He couldn't let his newest and most unexpected friend do something so stupid if he could stop him.

"N-not without you," Rocket answered in a voice that cracked and tears that began to wet his lashes. He tried to blink them away, but there was no use; they were just happening.

"I ain't done nothing right my whole damn life, Rat," Yondu argued, only this time, he was almost apologetic to Rocket, knowing what he was about to ask of him when he owed him nothing. "You gotta give me this."

~~~

You had an inkling of what was happening on the surface with the trio, but you didn't have much time before Peter would wear out, even with his Celestial half working for him. Ego was a full Celestial and he would eventually win; you had gone up against one before, and it nearly drained you of every ounce of your power just to escape in one piece. In the back of your mind, a piercing, incessant tone played out, coming from the depths of Ego's core where Groot had armed the bomb.

"Shiiiiit," you mumbled, pushing yourself to your limits to get to Quill. He had the god held in place, the two men on their knees as the countdown to explosion came closer. The destruction of the core would end Ego, but it could easily take the entire team with it. Your attentions were drawn towards a sound rushing past, when Rocket and Groot hit the surface and dropped into the ship for their escape. He looked into the cavern below and back at you with a subtle shake of his head, as if he finally understood just how grave the situation had become. "Go," you mouthed silently to him with a nod. "Go now."

But Gamora wasn't far away, tending to an unconscious Mantis, her ears trained on every word that was being said. "Where's Peter?" she blurted out, her panic beginning to build. "Rocket, where is he?! Rocket. Rocket, look at me! Where is he?"

All she found in return was a head hung in shame and defeat, and she could hear her own heart beginning to break within her chest. "No. I'm not leaving without him." Gamora stood and grabbed the most powerful weapon within reach, readying it for the fight with a snap of her hand, but before she could take more than one step, her body filled with energy and convulsed, dropping her to the ship's floor in a heap.

"I'm sorry," Rocket whispered, lowering his weapon, "I can only afford to lose one friend today."

The cascade of explosions began as the ship's door closed; the bright flash of flames lit Rocket's face, so bright that he had to squint just to keep his eyes open. Whatever was happening out there, you hadn't returned, and Quill and Yondu were nowhere in sight. He was about to give Kraglin the order to take off, but as his lips parted they curled into a hesitant smile rather than forming the words he never wanted to say.

"I told you to keep the ship close, not shut the door in my face!" you yelled to him, grabbing the heavy metal barrier and easily pulling it back open. Your body was alight with flames that appeared to be under your skin, bright as the explosions that rocked the surface into pieces only seconds before. In your arms were Quill and Yondu, the two men staring at you in complete disbelief, not yet even realizing that you had just saved their lives.

"That's so effing cool," Peter gasped under his breath. "I've never seen it up close. Like, how are you not setting us on fire right now? You're not even hot."

"I'll try to not take offense," you huffed, dropping the two onto the ship's floor with a thud. "I absorbed enough of the explosion to give us time to get back up here, but I can't hold it very long. When I let this go, you need to be as far away from me as you can get."

Quill recovered from the hit and rolled over, pushing himself up to stand in a frantic hurry, "that's not an option," he panted. "We leave here as a team, and that includes you, (Y/N). I brought you into this, and I'm gonna get you out."

"Peter, I'll be okay...I think. I've never taken this much in, much less the energy of a Celestial. I've got to admit, it's a bit of a rush." You looked down at your hand as a tingling pain began in the fingers and started to creep its way up into your arm and toward your chest. The color of the flames beneath your skin grew much more vibrant and much angrier, and you knew you were out of time. "Okay, enough screwing around. This is why I don't hang with mortals, it's nothing personal. You guys were cool."

"Come on-"

"I'm not arguing anymore," you finally snapped. You pushed with all of your might against the door, forcing it open as you felt the power reaching its peak in every nerve in your body. The cold of space didn't even cool you as the fire built, and it was of no relief when you finally burst, blinding light enveloping you and feeling as if it could tear you apart.

The ship was only feet away when it happened, and the force sent it tumbling through space, tossing it around as if it were nothing. The team tried to hold themselves steady while doing their best to watch you, hoping that you would survive and that they could retrieve you when it was over.

"Anybody have working eyeballs?" Rocket called out first, squinting with no success.

"No!"

"My eyeballs work."

"Great, Drax, what do you see?"

"A very bright white light."

"Ugh," Gamora joined in, "why did you even ask him when you knew that's the answer you would get?"

"Guys, focus! Does anyone see her?" Peter snapped, desperately trying to rub the stinging pain from his eyes and to somehow make the blinding flashes stop so that he could get even a glimpse of you.

"There!" Gamora yelled out, pointing out one of the side windows. Peter slammed his hand against his mask and leapt out into space before it had a chance to form around his face; she didn't even make an attempt to reach for him to stop him in his haste, as she wanted him to succeed just as much as he did. Breathing even the slightest sigh of relief couldn't be allowed until the moment came when he had your unconscious form in his hold, leaving him tumbling into the ship and dropping you to the floor roughly and unceremoniously in your victory.

"Come on, (Y/N), wake up," he urged, gently tapping your face, "no one gets to die a hero on this rig unless it's me, okay? This is really just embarrassing yourself."

Yondu stood behind Pete, watching and waiting, as the realization of how this could have all played out crept over his features and they softened with each passing second. "As ready as I was," he whispered almost to himself, "I'm glad to take a pass on dyin' today. Let's wake up, girl, so I can thank ya proper, alright? I hate seein' my boy sad."

Peter glanced back at Yondu for only a second, allowing no more than that to draw his gaze from you, "seriously, dude. Most of my childhood I was scared half to death! I really thought you were gonna eat me, I wasn't joking!"

"I said I hate to see ya sad, not scared."

Quill decided to give you a little more effort, grabbing your shoulders with a firm shake, letting go almost immediately when you started to cough and take deep breaths as your body came back to life and back into your control.

"Do any of you...ever just...shut up?" you coughed out. "A girl can't even...try to die in peace...around here."

"I am Groot."

"Great," you exhaled heavily, finally opening your eyes, "didn't think so." You pushed yourself up on your elbows and looked around at the group, none of them backing down as you faced their concerned and confused stares.

"You speak Groot?" Rocket asked, stepping forward. "You understood what he said?"

"Yeah, well...Thor talked me into taking the class with him so he didn't have to sit alone in the back of the room all by himself. Sorry, Drax, but your big, brave, Pirate Angel Baby is actually just a big Pirate Nerd Baby. Don't let those muscles fool you, my friend, everybody compensates for something. We've all got our share of issues."