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"Don't try this without permission!"

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It had been six months since Ronan's defeat, and the team had named themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy. Time passes, and Rocket becomes a surrogate father for Baby Groot while becoming a father figure to the little sapling. As Baby Groot grew on his pot, Rocket felt a sense of responsibility towards him; Rachel had told him that Baby Groot wanted her to be his mom. This brought Rocket by surprise while she (Rachel) had doubts about being a mother figure for the little sapling.

Much to her surprise, Rocket accepted it. Even though he didn't want to pressure her with it, Rachel didn't mind it since both of them tended to make a regular schedule on who fed him, played with him, and even babysit him. And that's not all, you see, they start to have feelings for each other since they first met, and the feelings have grown even stronger than the two raccoons hide it with playful words, funny jokes, working on new projects, and talking about Baby Groot's progress.

Rocket and Rachel couldn't deny their growing connection despite their initial reluctance to admit their feelings. They found solace in each other's company and shared a deep understanding of the challenges they faced as guardians and surrogate parents to Baby Groot.

Late at night, Rocket and Rachel often found themselves in the back of the workshop when the rest of the team was asleep. They would fix or create new gadgets for upcoming missions or have fun. However, this time, Rachel was alone and awake. She worked tirelessly in the workshop for weeks to create a surprise for Baby Groot. Since everyone was too busy to notice what Rachel had been up to, she created a unique 'gift' for him that she could also enjoy. 

She came up with mini prank bombs filled with washable white glitter. Her focus was interrupted by the sound of footsteps heading her way. She glanced slightly to be met by Rocket's messy, furred face, "Rachel *yawns* The hell are you doing?" 

Rocket yawned while he scratched the back of his neck, walking over to her, only to be stopped by Rachel's metal paw without looking up at his tired expression.

"Don't touch it, and it's a mini bomb." She quietly tells him, making his eyes widen and smirk by crossing his arms after hearing her reason: 

Rachel was focused on her work, her metal paws delicately placing green and orange glitter inside the complex little bombshells. Rocket leaned against a nearby table, half-closing his eyes as he watched her with interest. He playfully scoffed and asked, "Really? For what?" Rachel replied confidently: "I'm almost done and was just adding the final touches to a surprise." 

She continued to work with excitement, knowing that she was creating something truly special. "A surprise, huh? What kind of surprise?" "It's for Baby Groot." Rachel finally looked up at him, her orange eyes shining with mischief, "Since he loves pranks so much, I thought these mini prank bombs would be perfect for him. And they're filled with green and orange glitter, his favorite colors." Rocket raised an eyebrow, a smirk forming on his face. 

"You know he's gonna make a mess." He tells her, "I'm all for it if it brings a smile to that little twig's face." Rachel chuckled softly, her metal paw finally finishing the last bomb: "That's the plan." She carefully placed it in a small box along with the others. "I want to see his face light up when he sees all this glitter explode around him. It'll be a moment to remember."

"Well, I can't wait to see his reaction." Rocket pushed himself up from the table, stretching his tired limbs, "You've been working on this for a while, huh?" "Yeah, it took some time to figure out the mechanics and the right amount of glitter." Rachel nodded, a hint of pride in her voice. "But it's worth it if it brings joy to our little family."

Rocket walked over to her, his tired eyes softening as he looked at her. "You know, Rachel, you can make everything better. Baby Groot's lucky to have you as his mom."

Rachel's face flushed by how sweet and cute it was to hear Baby Groot calling her mom as she is now complimented by Rocket, "T-Thanks, Rocky. I... I care about both of you a lot. We're a family & team, after all." She looks down at the gift box filled with mini bombs while doubting about her feelings for Rocket increasing even further: "Still... sometimes I worry that something might happen to the ones I'm close to, like Peter, Gamora, Drax, Baby Groot and m-most imp-portantly, y-you. You're talented, smart, sarcastic, funny, and even kind... in your own unique way."

Rocket's eyes widen in shock but hesitantly soften as his gaze fills with understanding and affection. "H-Hey, I-I-I a-ain't m-much good at these mushy feelings, but um... don't worry yourself too much." He said, reaching out to gently take her metal paw in his furred paw, making Rachel look up in surprise at his action as her heart pounded and her stomach went in backflips. 

She felt embarrassed that Rocket could hear it, "We all take risks, sweetheart. But y'know what?" 

"What?" 

"We gotta look out for each other. Sure, we're all not used to it. And yeah, there's always a chance something bad could happen, but we can't let that stop us from living our lives and being there for each other. We gotta stick together, no matter what." 

Rachel's heart swelled at Rocket's words, feeling at ease by squeezing his paw gently, not wanting to break the eye contact, and smiled up at him. He took notice of her expression of doubt and turned it into a rare, genuine smile as he reached out and gently brushed her cheek. She was stopped when Peter interrupted: "Morning, guys."

Moment ruined and both raccoons pulled away from each other as Rachel gives a quick 'goodbye' to Rocket, then a short 'morning to Peter before taking her box by shyly speed-walk her way back out of the workshop. With a clear sign that she did want to talk about her falling in love with his teammate when clearly, Peter Quill already knew the facial expression that was written on her furry face since it was about time she tried to tell him about her feelings for Rocket later.

In the meantime, with the boys, Peter blinked and asked Rocket in confusion: "Did I miss something?" 

"Not like you would care, Quill." He snaps at Peter, who raises his hands to surrender but still grins, "Okay, you win... Unless you want to talk about something related to a certain someone~?" 

"Quill, Nothing is happening here, so pay attention to your girl." Rocket stops him by pointing his blaster at him this time. He points his thumb behind his shoulder where Gamora is, making Peter flush and flip him off after failing to get any information from the male raccoon's earlier moment. Peter surrenders and leaves to eat breakfast since it is Gamora's turn to make breakfast. 

Drax comes in, yawning, and somehow, he had stealth walked to the table; Rachel comes in with Baby Groot in her arms: "I am Groot (It's too early)." He whined tiredly, making her chuckle, "I know, baby, but I wanted to surprise you with something I made for you." Rocket glances a bit to see Baby Groot instantly wake up and tries to move out of his pot but, only to be stopped as Rachel places him on the table by showing him a small box: "I am Groot! (I wanna open it!)"

Everyone was curious about what Rachel made for him; after ripping the wrapping off, Baby Groot instantly smiled, and the minute he jumped with his pot intact to his ungrown legs, Gamora caught him as she asked her: "Is that a mini bomb?" Rachel replies, "Yep, but it's for Groot to use when he's older." Drax asks, "He doesn't look older, why?"  

All of a sudden, Baby Groot presses the red button of his gift, and it explodes into full glitter at Drax, which might be a bad time to test it in the middle of breakfast: " I am Groot! (Surprise!)" Everyone burst out laughing as Drax was covered in green and orange glitter. Baby Groot giggled happily, thrilled by the prank he pulled off with his new toy, "Well, teehee! That's your... answer! Hahahaha!" Peter laughed as Drax got ready to attack the little sapling, only to be stopped by Rachel, "Easy there, dude. He's just learning, okay?"

This made Drax instantly place his knives back in his holsters and continue to eat with the rest; after that mini disaster happened, Rocket and Rachel sighed as they both began to scold Baby Groot for using it, Which Peter began to tease, "You both act like a married couple, y'know."

"FRAK/FUCK YOU, QUILL!" They both yelled in unison.

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