into the forever & beautiful sky

“You’re one of the Guardians, right?” Johnny remembered hearing about them helping when Thanos wiped half of the universe’s population from existence. As strange as it was to be talking to a raccoon, it wasn’t the strangest thing in the grand scheme of the multiverse. “My name’s Johnny.”

Marc had to take a second to pause when he realized that the raccoon in front of him was talking, but he continued quickly once he got past the initial shock. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen stranger things. “That’s.. kinda simplifying it, but yeah. Sorta. My boss is an ancient Egyptian deity, so he just looks like a dead bird.”

Everything has changed. The world has irreparably shifted on its axis and will never be righted to the way in which it once was. For Reed, that’s a bad thing. It’s a sign of failure and defeat. For Susan, it’s pure possibility. She’s lived her entire life on Earth, and the one time she went to space things didn’t go as planned. She can’t imagine everything that the small furry creature in front of her has seen, but she wants to know more of the galaxy. “It sounds like we had close to the same thought,” Sue smiles. “My team and I realized that we have something we can offer here. It looks like all hands on deck is more than needed.”

“It grows on you over time.” The Inhumans have been on Earth for a long time now, but Crystal still remembers how she felt when she first stepped foot on the planet. The air had been thick in her lungs, heavy and more polluted than she was used to. It had seemed fresh and exciting at the time. Crystal’s older and more jaded now, but the sight of the raccoon taking in her current home was enough to give her pause. “It’s good you came. Things are quite bad.”

“Uh, no. No. Not that I know of.”

“Pretentious? Perhaps. I’d like to see how others would translate what I’ve seen.”

“You’re a —” Don’t say raccoon. Don’t say raccoon. “A Guardian of the Galaxy,” she finally gets out. “Of course you’re not from here. Duh.”

“You ever talk to the spider-kid? He’s got a saying: with great power comes great responsibility. Or something.” It half sounds like bullshit to Carol even though it’s true. It’s too sentimental. Honestly, Carol just wants to fuck back off to space. She’s just unable to do so when she knows that there are people who need help. “Responsibility: we don’t ask for it but have it all the same. That’s something we all have to deal with.”

rocket stood outside the house for far too long.

his eyes were glued to the door, arms straight at his side, feet stuck to their spot on the sidewalk. the first part of him that showed any sign of life was his tail, with little anxious swoops that grazed the grass it hovered above. then his hands moved and wrung together. and finally he did his best to take in a deep breath.

a talking raccoon wearing pants and a long-sleeve shirt was bound to stand out eventually. the neighborhood was quiet but rocket had learned early on how people saw him— both on earth and out in the rest of the galaxy. so as nervous as he was to see his best friend again, standing out in plain sight for the entire street to see was starting to make his skin crawl.

“what’s your fricken problem, you idiot?” rocket whispered to himself with a groan, ears flattening back against his head as he did. “it’s just quill. don’t matter that you haven’t seem ‘em in a while.”

seriously, what was he afraid of? that peter wouldn’t be the same anymore? that they wouldn’t be able to laugh like they used to? no, that wasn’t it. not really.

rocket was terrified that quill hadn’t missed him. that this visit was it— the new guardians would have one last mission on earth and then they would leave forever. he was scared that his best friend wasn’t really his best friend anymore.

“stupid.” he practically growled the word and then started walking to the door out of pure spite, even though his stomach was in knots.

once he reached the door he glanced up at the doorbell, which was just out of reach, and rolled his eyes. not wanting to make a fool of himself, rocket chose to knock instead.

“open up quill!” he yelled, voice gruff and low. he thought maybe it would be funny to joke around and pretend to be pissed off. “if ya don’t answer the door in five seconds, i’m gonna blast it down!”

there was a sort of permanence to things that rocket wasn’t accustomed to.

how sad was it that he struggled with the same thing that babies did? those little idiots would get surprised when someone moved their hands to make a stupid face at them. they would react like the world had started spinning off its axis just because something that wasn’t there a second ago, was suddenly there. babies were losers.

but rocket was the same way. after escaping the high evolutionary he convinced himself that people weren’t ever going to stick around. that way, they could come and go and he wouldn’t be surprised. he wouldn’t be hurt. he wouldn’t be left to the mercy of his pain and rage. death wouldn’t be able to shock him into cries of despair as he stood over his lifeless friend’s body ever again.

it couldn’t. because he wouldn’t let it. because permanence wasn’t real.

the guardians changed all that. it wasn’t a quick shift, though. rocket wasn’t like clay, soft and malleable. he was like stone, tough and cracked but still holding strong. the guardians chipped away at him with chisels, managing to open him up little by little over the years. the process hurt. they didn’t mean to cause him any pain, he knew that. but every attempt to crack him open got closer and closer to things he had buried away— the soft center underneath the scars. it terrified him.

the guardians taught him that permanence was real. even after most of them disappeared in a cloud of dust when thanos snapped his fingers, they came back. gamora died and somehow even she was back.

they saved his life and being away from them was harder than he was willing to admit. converging on earth was a necessity but the truth was that rocket didn’t need an excuse to meet up with his friends. his family.

seeing mantis again, standing on his ship, almost made him giggle from joy. once he knew they were both on-world he reached out as soon as he could and invited her to stop by.

“alright, kid—” rocket started down the ramp of the ship, motioning for phyla to follow him as he adjusted his grip on the guns he was carrying. “let’s have some fun, eh?”

when they turned the corner, groot could be seen inspecting one of the local trees. rocket made sure to fly them somewhere remote— open, but green. a small opening of grass and scattered flowers in a sea of trees. the sounds of civilization were completely gone, replaced by the wind and various bird calls. it was groot’s first time on earth since the battle with thanos in wakanda and his plant-like friend was really taking his time to soak it all in. if rocket hadn’t already gone off on his own to have what was as close to an existential crisis as he would ever want to have on earth, perhaps he would be in the same boat right now.

he was trying not to run from the past anymore. or at least take it at a slow jog instead. but there was a lot to look at for the future, and phyla was part of it.

“those trees aren’t gonna talk back, groot. they ain’t smart like you.” rocket called out to him with a snort of laughter. groot continued to gently inspect a leaf in his fingers and chose not to reply. rocket shook his head with a scoff. “all he’s gonna do later is complain ‘bout his new friends givin’ him the silent treatment.”

finally he stopped at one end of the clearing and set the guns down between him and phyla. the left gun was one of his classics— collapsible, a bit beat up but still going strong. a favorite of his. the right gun was smaller and obviously much newer. the dark silver metal was broken up by accents of deep blue, and there was a type of clear panel on the spot where someone’s palm would sit on the handle.