Space was loud.
Not loud by sound—there was no sound in the void—but loud by explosions. Bright bursts of orange and blue ripping through the darkness. Ships darting between debris. The sharp, silent violence of a firefight playing out against the stars.
Eli hovered just outside the battlefield, watching the chaos unfold.
"…Yep," he muttered to himself. "Definitely picked the worst possible time to arrive."
Ahead of him: chaos.
A damaged pod drifted, its hull cracked open. A green-skinned woman floated nearby, unconscious or close to it. A man with jet boots rocketed toward her like his life depended on it.
Peter Quill. Star-Lord. The legendary idiot who somehow kept the galaxy from imploding.
And that was Gamora. Daughter of Thanos. Deadliest woman in the galaxy. Floating helplessly in the void.
Eli sighed.
"Alright. Fine. I'll help."
He shot forward.
Mach-speed movement in space wasn't exactly the same—no air to push against, no sonic boom to announce his arrival—but with controlled bursts of energy propulsion and careful momentum management, he closed the distance in seconds.
He reached them just as Quill grabbed Gamora and slammed a spare helmet onto her face. The woman gasped, air flooding her lungs again.
Eli floated up beside them. "Need a push?"
Quill's head snapped toward him, eyes wide. "Who the hell—"
"Friendly neighborhood problem solver." Eli grabbed both of them and pushed, propelling them back toward the drifting pod. He stabilized their momentum just enough—
A shadow swallowed them.
A massive ship loomed overhead. Dark. Jagged. Armed.
Eli froze mid-drift.
His hands came up slowly. Palms open. Non-threatening.
Because he'd seen the movie. He knew what Yondu Udonta carried. That arrow—the one that moved faster than sound, that could slice through a dozen men before you could blink. Vibranium-level durability or not, he wasn't about to test it. Not today.
"…That's not good," he thought.
A beam of light engulfed all three of them.
And pulled them in.
They hit the floor hard, Metal. Cold and Loud.
Eli pushed himself up first, brushing imaginary dust off his sleeve. Peter groaned beside him, coughing as he sucked in air. He was on top of Gamora, one hand braced against the floor.
"Gamora—are you okay?"
Gamora blinked, dazed. Her eyes focused on his face. For a moment, they just looked at each other—
Footsteps echoed.
Slow. Confident. The sound of someone who owned every room he walked into.
Yondu Udonta stepped into view.
Flanked by Ravagers with guns raised. His signature fin glinted in the low light. The arrow whistled softly at his hip, waiting.
He stopped.
His eyes swept over them—Peter, Gamora, then Eli.
A pause.
A long one.
"…Well now," Yondu said slowly, stepping closer. "What do we have here?"
Eli tilted his head. "Kidnapping?"
One of the Ravagers snorted. Yondu ignored him, circling Eli like he'd just found something interesting in a junkyard.
"Didn't know Quill was travelin' with company."
Eli raised a hand, keeping his voice even. "Look, man, I don't know those two. I was just passing by when I saw them dying in space, so I thought I'd save them. That's all."
Peter pointed immediately, voice sharp. "I don't know her, Yondu. Leave her out of this. She doesn't know anything."
Eli blinked. "…Her?"
Gamora glanced at Eli. Then looked away.
There was guilt in her face. The kind that came from secrets.
Eli stared at both of them. Peter was being hauled up against a wall by Ravagers, Yondu's arrow floating inches from his face. Gamora too was held back by rough hands.
"…Wow."
Yondu grinned, stepping closer to Eli. His eyes traveled up and down, taking in the white hair, the strange clothes, the way Eli stood like he wasn't afraid even when he probably should be.
"Pretty thing, ain't ya?" Yondu said, gesturing vaguely at Eli's hair. "White hair, soft face… and Peter willing to protect you." He chuckled. "Yeah. I see it. You must be worth a lot."
Eli ran a hand through his hair, expression carefully neutral.
"Damn it. This is exactly what I wanted to avoid. And I just had to run into this crazy father-and-son drama."
He looked at Yondu, who was now walking toward Peter.
"Listen, man. I'm a nobody. I'm not worth anything. So can you just let me go?"
A couple of Ravagers chuckled.
Yondu didn't even look at him. "You wait right there, pretty lady. After I take care of this one, I'll come to you."
Eli's jaw tightened. He kept his hands visible, his posture calm. He was wary of the arrow—incredibly wary—but he was confident that if he really wanted to, he could escape. Maybe with a couple of injuries. But he'd make it.
For now, though… he watched.
Yondu reached Peter and grabbed him by the collar.
"You betrayed us, boy," Yondu said, voice low and dangerous. "You stole from me. You ran. And now you show up here, on my turf, with my cargo?"
Peter shook his head. "It's not what you think—"
Yondu's fist connected with Peter's gut. The younger man doubled over, gasping.
"That's for the orb," Yondu said.
Another punch. "That's for the ship you crashed."
Another. "That's for embarrassin' me in front of the crew."
Peter coughed, blood on his lip. "Yondu—wait—"
Yondu raised his hand. The arrow rose, whistling softly, its tip glowing.
"Any last words?"
Peter's eyes went wide. "Wait, wait, wait—if you kill me now, you're saying goodbye to the biggest score you've ever seen."
Yondu paused. The arrow hovered.
A slow smile spread across his face. He turned back to Peter, interested now.
"The stone?" He tilted his head. "I hope you've got something better than that. 'Cause ain't nobody stealin' from Ronan."
Peter straightened as much as he could with the Ravagers holding him. His voice was steady despite the blood on his lip.
"We've got a ringer."
He looked at Gamora.
"She knows everything about Ronan. His ships. His army. His weaknesses."
Gamora met Yondu's eyes, her voice cold and confident. "His vulnerabilities."
Peter grinned. "So what do you say, huh? Me and you. Takin' marks side by side. Like the old days?"
Silence hung in the ship.
Then—
Yondu's whistle called the arrow back. It zipped through the air and settled at his hip.
He threw his head back and laughed.
The sound was loud, genuine, infectious. Peter joined in. So did the Ravagers.
Eli looked at Gamora with a confused expression.
She just shook her head slightly. Don't ask.
Yondu grabbed Peter in a crushing hug. "You've always been good at findin' marks," he said, grinning. "That's why I kept you all those years ago."
Peter pulled back, still smiling. Then his expression shifted.
"Oh… and Yondu?"
Yondu raised an eyebrow.
Peter pointed at Eli. "Leave the white-haired elf alone. She's with us."
Yondu's eyes flicked to Eli, then back to Peter. "But you both said you didn't know each other."
Peter's face didn't change. "Of course we do. As you said—I was just protecting her."
Eli opened his mouth to argue but The ship shook.
Hard.
Everyone stumbled. Lights flickered. Alarms blared.
They all rushed to the pilot's room.
In the pilot room the pilot looked at Yandu and said "Captain!" the pilot shouted, fingers flying across controls. "The shots aren't damaging us, but something's on our hull!"
A voice crackled through the ship's speakers. Loud. Annoying. Familiar.
"Attention, idiots! The lunatic on top of this ship is holding a Hydron Infuser! It's a weapon of my design!"
Everyone in the room exchanged confused glances.
"If you don't hand over our companions, he's gonna turn your ship into a hole! A big hole! I'm counting to five! Five…!"
Peter's eyes went wide. He lunged for the comm panel.
"Wait! No! Rocket, it's me! For god's sake, we figured it out! We're fine!"
A pause.
Then, casually: "Oh, hi Quill. What's going on?"
"We're fine! Okay? We're fine! Come down and I'll tell you about it!"
"Fine. But I'm keeping the infuser."
Peter dropped his head against the console.