────── ✼✼✼ ──────

────── ✼✼✼ ──────

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟒
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍

────── ✼✼✼ ──────

Night had come to Berhert as Primrose sat on the floor of the Milano with a wrench in hand as she listened to Peter's music. Despite how she felt about her brother at that moment, the Quill woman couldn't deny how much she missed him. She couldn't remember the last time they went separate ways, it was definitely before they left the Ravagers behind. Primrose would never admit it aloud, but she felt like something was missing. She didn't feel complete without Peter by her side, and she couldn't tell if that was a good or a bad thing. It wasn't long after that when her conversation with Nebula from earlier that day replayed in her head.

All her life she had been seen as "Peter's sister" and was constantly dragged around wherever he went. Up until that moment, Primrose was okay with that. She never thought about leaving her brother and usually enjoyed his presence. Now the Quill woman wondered if there was something else she was meant for. Something that didn't involve Peter by her side. But she would never leave him behind. She couldn't do that to him, even if he just did that to her.

Primrose's thoughts were soon interrupted by a loud bang coming from the surrounding woods. Her attention immediately turned in the direction of the sound, only to find Groot staring out the window with a sad look in his eyes. It wasn't long after that when an explosion came from the same direction, causing the Quill woman to jump and Nebula to jolt awake. Just as Primrose was about to call out to Rocket, her eyes landed on a radio leaning against the wall across from her. Her eyes stayed glued to the device that was placed where she believed he was as it emitted the raccoon's humming.

Another loud bang drew Primrose's attention back to the outside world. Everything within her was telling her to stay put, but a small part of her was telling her not to listen. "Stay here. I'll go check it out."

"Are you insane?" Nebula questioned as she watched the younger woman grab her basters and head toward the door, "we don't even know what's out there."

"That's why I'm going to go look," the Quill woman responded without even attempting to hide the annoyance in her voice before her eyes landed on Groot, "stay here."

Before the Luphomoid woman could say another word, Primrose turned her back to them and walked out of the ship. Her hand tightened around her blaster as she made her way closer to the surrounding forest. It had been a while since she heard anything, but the silence was soon broken by screaming coming from somewhere in front of her. After letting out a shaky sigh, the Quill woman walked further into the woods, only to find something she never expected to see. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of eight Ravagers knocked out cold on the forest floor.

"Sh*t," Primrose muttered under her breath before sprinting in the direction of the screaming, hoping to find Rocket instead of her allies from the past.

After sprinting through numerous clearings and jumping over unconscious Ravagers, Primrose finally found Rocket. Unfortunately, he wasn't alone. Standing on either side of him were two Ravagers with their blasters raised and aimed at the raccoon.

Despite knowing she should help her friend, Primrose stayed in the shadows, not ready to reveal herself to those she double-crossed. Her eyes stayed glued to Rocket as he looked back and forth between his opponents. It wasn't until a smirk appeared on his face that Primrose knew he had it handled. Instead of backing down, the raccoon stood up straighter than he had ever before as he stared at the man mocking him. Not even a second after that passed when he leaped onto the man and repeatedly punched him in the face. A small smile appeared on the Quill woman's face as she watched the scene unfold, only for it to fade at the sound of a blaster firing up.

After setting her own blaster to stun, Primrose aimed and fired at the remaining Ravager, knocking him out cold. Rocket just stared at the man he was about to attack for a moment before his eyes traveled to the Quill woman. The smile returned to her face as she got to her feet and walked toward the raccoon, who was looking up at her with a smirk on his face.

"Nice of you to finally show up," Rocket said, earning a playful scoff from the Primrose as she placed her blaster on her belt.

"I wish you invited me," the Quill woman responded before gesturing back in the direction she just came from, "it looks like you had a great time."

Before their conversation could continue, a whistle sounded from the distance, making the smile on Primrose's face vanish and her blood run cold. It wasn't long after that when the red streak from an old friend's arrow was seen in the distance. Just as the odd pair was about to make a run for it, the arrow zipped through the air and paused an inch away from the Quill woman's face. Primrose just stared at the object in front of her with fear in her eyes, which was the only sign she was feeling anything at all. Right as the silence was becoming too much to bear, a familiar laugh cut through the air.

"Hey there, rat!" Yondu greeted as he and his followers stepped out from the surrounding woods before his eyes landed on the petrified woman, "nice to see you again, Rose."

"Wish I could say the same," Primrose responded while trying her best to hide the shakiness of her voice.

"How's it going, you blue idiot?" Rocket asked after turning his attention away from the arrow near his friend's face to look at the leader of the Ravagers.

"Not so bad," the Centurion man said in a casual tone as he walked closer to the pair of former outlaws, "we got ourselves a pretty good little gig here. This golden gal with quite a high opinion of herself has offered us a large sum to deliver you two and your pals over to her because she wants to kill y'all."

Primrose couldn't help but glare at Rocket, knowing that he was the reason the Sovereign were after them in the first place. "You just had to steal those batteries, didn't you?"

"In my defense, they're worth a lot of units," the raccoon told her, earning an eye roll from the woman.

"I tell you, it was pretty easy to find you," Yondu continued as he paced back and forth in front of his captives, "I put a tracer on your shop back there during the war over Xandar.

"Give me your word you won't hurt Groot and I'll tell you where the batteries are," Rocket announced, causing the smirk on the Ravager leader's face to grow even bigger.

"Lucky for you, my word don't mean squat," Yondu responded while his followers laughed along with him, "otherwise, I'd actually hand you over."

"Otherwise, you'd what?" a Ravager that Primrose had never seen before questioned, only for his leader to ignore him completely.

"We'll take them batteries. They're worth what? A quarter mil on the open market?"

"That Priestess offered us a million," the same man announced, no longer trying to hide the anger in his voice, "a quarter is only one-third of that!"

"A quarter isn't a third," Primrose said without thinking, earning a small chuckle from Rocket while the Ravagers closest to her sent her glares.

"A quarter is twenty-five," Gef added to their conversation at the same time Rocket and Primrose exchanged a confused look, "we can't even buy a pair of boots with twenty-five units."

"Enough!" Yondu shouted, drawing all attention back to him before he continued speaking, "the point is, we ain't stupid enough to help kill the Guardians of the Galaxy! The whole dang Nova Corps would be on us."

"That ain't right!" Kraglin shouted, making the Quill woman's heart sink, knowing that he was one of Yondu's most loyal followers, "I just gotta say it this one time, Captain. No matter how many times Quill and Primrose betray you, you protect them like none of the rest of us much matter!" The man who helped raise Primrose paused as the crowd around him erupted into cheers. "I'm the one what sticks up for you!"

"Take it easy, Kraglin," Tullk warned, ignoring the applause that was happening around him.

"D*mn straight, lad. He's gone soft," the Ravager that had been against Yondu from the beginning continued before raising his blaster and aiming it at his leader, "suppose it's time for a change in leadership."

It wasn't long after that when everyone raised their blasters and aimed them at the person standing across from them. His followers' actions caused Yondu to bring his arrow away from Primrose and back to his side. The chaos continued around the slightly panicked Rocket and Primrose as the Ravagers screamed at each other. The duo exchanged a look before turning their attention back to the situation at hand, knowing there had to be a way to end what was happening.

"Whoa! Whoa!" the raccoon called out, causing the world around them to fall silent as everyone turned their attention to him and the Quill woman.

"There has to be some kind of peaceful resolution to this," Primrose told them, only to receive blank looks from the Ravagers.

"Or even a violent one where Prim and I are standing over there," Rocket added while continuing to look around at everyone that surrounded them.

Yondu and his opponent simply stared at each other for another long moment. It wasn't long after that when Primrose saw the Centurion man bring his lower lip to his teeth to whistle for his arrow. She was about to open her mouth to stop him when a loud bang cut through the air. Shock coursed through the Quill woman's veins after seeing a shot from a blaster make a direct hit with Yondu's fin, shattering it into a million pieces. The arrow in front of Primrose's face fell to the ground, followed by the man himself. All Primrose could do was stare at Yondu as he lay motionless in front of her.

After keeping her eyes on the Centurion man for a moment longer, Primrose finally looked up to see who his attacker was, only for her heart to sink even more. The Quill woman would be the first to admit she was shocked to see Nebula standing just outside the circle of Ravagers. But after everything the Guardians did to her, Primrose wasn't surprised that she was against them. They were going to turn her over to the Nova Corps, after all.

Not even a second passed when the brunette woman saw Nebula's dark eyes land on Rocket, who let out a sigh. It wasn't long before the Luphomoid woman fired her blaster again, making an object eject from it and attach to the raccoon's chest. The force caused Rocket to tumble across the clearing before the device emitted an electric pulse, knocking him out cold. Primrose's eyes stayed glued to her fallen friend for another moment before turning her attention back to Nebula, only to find the Luphomoid woman aiming her blaster at her.

"Nebula, wait. You don't wanna do this," Primrose pleaded while holding her hands out in front of her.

"You should've listened to me when you had the chance," Nebula responded before pulling the trigger, causing another device to eject from her blaster and attach to the Quill woman's chest.

Before another thought could go through Primrose's head, an electric pulse emitted from the device. A pain like no other filled every inch of the Quill woman's body before she collapsed onto the ground. She did her best to fight it as the world around her began to spin faster and faster. The last thing she saw before she fell into a forced slumber was Kraglin staring down at her with a concerned look in his eyes.

────── ✼✼✼ ──────

────── ✼✼✼ ──────