[ You know, Peter was pretty sure he had told Nebula to call Gamora, that Gamora actually gave a shit, and that, really, the two of them ought to try to connect, because you never know what’s going to happen. One moment, you could be hating each other’s guts, and the very next moment, you could be looking back on the past, kicking yourself for all those meaningful moments you ignored, all those signs that showed there was more to the relationship than you thought. You could be regretting all those little moments of miscommunication and wishing you had more time to make things right, to make them better.
... Not that he actually says any of that. He’s pretty sure he more or less told Nebula to start some sort of pen pal thing and nearly got shoved off a roof for his efforts, but Peter figures he must’ve planted a seed or something.
But imagine his surprise when he receives a hail from a private line, and imagine his shock when it’s Nebula on the other side, looking like a pissed-off, feral cat, and imagine the heart attack he nearly suffers when he realizes she’s calling to ask for his help.
At the very least, Peter’s pretty sure he briefly went catatonic with the impossibility of it all.
He’s not surprised in the slightest when Nebula swears him to secrecy, threatens to tear him apart limb from limb if he even thinks about telling the rest of his team, and because he likes his limbs exactly where they are, Peter forces himself to agree. He tells himself that he’s really doing this for Gamora, more than anything, even if she doesn’t know it. He’s helping Nebula on a mission that may or may not be a trap, that may or may not get the both of them killed, because he figures if Gamora knew Nebula would only accept his help (for whatever god awful reason that may be), then she would want him to help however he could.
... Then again, maybe she’d also see it as a trap and call him an idiot for falling for it. But Peter’s, like, 65% sure Nebula is earnestly asking for his assistance, so he goes with it.
He gets away from the Guardians by telling them he has to meet an old contact for a job, that he owes a guy a favor. They all stare at him accusingly, in that way that screams, We know you’re lying, but he insists and insists and insists, promises that he won’t take a cut on their next job if they just let him do this (and man, does that concession sting).
They finally let him fuck off in the Milano. He meets up with Nebula soon after that, allows her aboard the ship, and he watches her warily every single second. They review the compound’s floorplans together on the view screen in the Milano’s common area, hack into their security cameras to review the patrol routes to find any lapses in their security. And with the short time they spend in one another’s company, Peter always keeps a gun within easy reach.
All in all? It’s not his most difficult job. At 2100 hours, a shift change leaves a chain link fence on the western side unguarded. From there, it’s a matter of slipping in, picking the locks on any doors, getting the goods, and slipping out again. Except Peter still has no earthly clue what they’re taking from this place, because Nebula has been cagey as fuck about that, gets into those growly, defensive moods when he asks. He always backed off from the line of questioning – mostly because he doesn’t want to return to his team sans an arm – but as they lurk in the undergrowth just outside of the facility, that little blank spot continues to nag at him.
He checks the time on a device, announces in a whisper, ]
Not much longer.
[ And then he glowers at Nebula as he stuffs the device back into his satchel of gadgets. ]
You realize you’re gonna have to tell me what the hell we’re looking for once we’re inside, right?
[ The only reason Nebula had decided to contact Peter instead of her sister is for one reason; he's easier to control. Nebula isn't particularly fond of him or the way he can talk at length about nothing, it just means there's too much unsaid between her and Gamora. Their relationship is strained and complicated and better left for when Nebula isn't trying to kill Thanos. Besides, the mission in question is sensitive and although she doesn't trust or like Peter, he's easier to deal with than her sister.
And as far as Nebula can tell, Peter didn't say much more to Gamora than she asked. Which means he still takes her threats against his life seriously and that's important. It means he won't ask too many questions and he won't tell Gamora anymore than she asks. It's the asking nice part she doesn't particularly like but she'll do it if it means her sister stays at least partially in the dark.
Nebula doesn't tell Peter what they're after, just says it's something important. Something she needs and she does, but it's not going to help advance her cause. It's a memento of her family. Her real family, the one Thanos took from her. It's stupid and sentimental but Nebula can be that now, she doesn't have the mad titan breathing down her neck. Well, she does, but his hand isn't around her throat at least. How she'll explain it when they finally get there, she doesn't know but Nebula wants it.
The thing itself isn't all that important, just a ring she remembers her mother wearing but things always fetch a price in the galaxy. How it ended up on a planet in Xandarian territory she doesn't know, but the how doesn't matter right now, just the where. There's still a price on Nebula's head in Xandarian space and she'd rather not get caught and imprisoned when she still has to kill her adoptive father. So, she ditches her ship and they travel the rest of the way in the Milano. It's awkward. Tense. But nothing she's not used to and the time passes relatively easily.
When they reach the planet and make their way down to the heavily guarded facility, Nebula still hasn't decided what to tell Peter. She knows he won't leave it alone, because he asked more than once what they were after while on the ship. It doesn't matter. They're close. So close. Nebula flexes her hands, almost nervous at what she'll find in the building.
Nebula looks over at Peter with a dark look when he mentions, again, about what they're after. ]
You do not need to know. You will keep watch while I retrieve the item. We will leave and you will never speak of this moment again or I will rip your arms from you body.
[ When it's time, Nebula stands and makes her way to the door. It's locked but she has exactly 15 minutes, more than enough to get in and out without being seen. It takes her less than a minute to hack through the door codes and they're in. The room they're looking for is down a long corridor, left and then another long corridor and right at the end of the hall. There are two other security doors, but they're as easy as the first. The lock on the final door is trickier, it takes her almost a full 3 minutes to crack and she instructs Peter to keep the door open.
The room is a maze of lock boxes, towering shelves that line the walls and jut out, blocking the view from the door. Nebula finds the correct box easily and she unlocks this one a little unceremoniously than the doors. She punches the metal surface, denting it enough that the little door swings open on its hinges. Inside is a box, a blaster, various other jewellery and a stack of transferable units. Look at that, she can buy Peter's silence.
She should wait, she really should. Take the contents of the lock box and leave, but Nebula's open the smaller box before she knows it. There's about 10 other rings inside and she almost panics when she can't find the one she's looking for but it flips over and she recognizes the lettering and Nebula does something she hasn't done since she was a child; she smiles. Soft and vulnerable like she's never been before in her life because there it is, the last piece of her family. ]
[ Peter’s getting really sick of folks threatening to dismember him, and Nebula’s reminder to keep his mouth shut is met with an exasperated sigh and a roll of his eyes heavenward.
(And it says a lot more about his life and the company that he keeps that someone saying they’ll rip off his arms is met with irritation rather than any real fear.
Man, he needs therapy. Or better friends.)
But there’s little to do, once Nebula gets moving, and the pace she sets is near relentless, even with the security doors blocking their way. Peter keeps his gun in hand, watching their backs. He knows this song and dance routine by heart, even with a brand new partner. As much as the Ravagers liked making noise, they weren’t averse to the occasional stealth mission, either.
Once they reach the motherlode, Peter wastes a second by peeking in, taking in the sight of all those storage units. His mind briefly flashes to the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark, and he thinks to himself, “Top men.” He steps into the room behind Nebula, intent on rummaging through the nearby boxes to find something for himself, but at her barked command, he huffs out a sharp sigh, standing beside the door and keeping it cracked open. He keeps an eye on the hallway, gun held at the ready, but their luck continues to hold.
So far, so good.
The clang of metal against metal isn’t too surprising, but the frantic, metallic clinking catches his attention, and he glances over his shoulder just as Nebula seems to find her prize. That soft expression on her face, startles him, makes him freeze for half of a breath. Looks like the supervillain might have a heart after all.
Peter wants to say as much aloud, but even he isn’t prick enough to ruin the moment.
It helps, too, that the echo of voices and footsteps reaches him, and Peter peers through the crack in the door. No visual on them yet, but the hurried pace, the barked orders distorted from bouncing on the hard surface of the walls and floors, and the slightly out of sync footfalls, tells Peter they’re about to have a problem.
He gives a sharp wave of his hand, trying to catch her attention. ]
[ The ring is as she remembers it, the lettering on the inside spelling out the names of her parents. Their memory is attached to this ring, the people they once were... the person she could have been. Nebula's softness lasts only a second before it's replaced by a red hot rage. This is what she needed to keep going, to continue her quest to kill Thanos.
Nebula clutches the ring in her hand, she can feel the ring give a little and she tucks it away before she can do anymore damage. When she looks over at Peter she wonders how much he's seen but doesn't have enough time to dwell on it. Nebula grabs the remaining contents of the box and unceremoniously shoves them into Peter's arms, save the blaster.
She doesn't speak when she pulls the door open, looks down the hall and sees a team of guards about 6 strong. There are two options, blaster her way through the guards or continue through the building. There's an exit close enough they can reasonably run from it back toward the ship. As much as she wants to kill, Nebula aims her blaster down the hall and hits the keypad then looks back at Peter. ]
There is another exit. [ She doesn't wait for him to respond, instead steps in the opposite direction they'd come though and toward the third security door. Nebula opens it as easily as she did the others, holds it open for Peter and then slams it and breaks the keypad again. ] That will not hold them for long.
[ The area they've entered is a stairwell that goes up and back over and then down two flights to the basement. The place intentionally maze like to dissuade thieves. They'll have to double back over the first corridor go down underneath the second and come out on the opposite side of the facility and a little farther away from the ship than she's comfortable with. ]
Go. [ She says angrily when Peter doesn't move. It won't be much good if he gets shot from behind. ]
Peter really thought they were about to start shooting up the place, which would’ve done some serious damage to his reputation as a good guy.
He juggles the items in his arms, following after Nebula as she storms through the place with purpose. They reach the stairwell, and he pauses at the threshold, taking a deep breath to speak—
But then she practically barks at him, and Peter huffs out an annoyed breath, but he moves forward as she commands, grumbling under his breath. Then, raising his voice, ]
Don’t kill anyone.
[ A demand of his own. Peter’s been pretty accommodating so far, even if he’s the only one to think so; he’s entitled to at least one stipulation, right? ]
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... Not that he actually says any of that. He’s pretty sure he more or less told Nebula to start some sort of pen pal thing and nearly got shoved off a roof for his efforts, but Peter figures he must’ve planted a seed or something.
But imagine his surprise when he receives a hail from a private line, and imagine his shock when it’s Nebula on the other side, looking like a pissed-off, feral cat, and imagine the heart attack he nearly suffers when he realizes she’s calling to ask for his help.
At the very least, Peter’s pretty sure he briefly went catatonic with the impossibility of it all.
He’s not surprised in the slightest when Nebula swears him to secrecy, threatens to tear him apart limb from limb if he even thinks about telling the rest of his team, and because he likes his limbs exactly where they are, Peter forces himself to agree. He tells himself that he’s really doing this for Gamora, more than anything, even if she doesn’t know it. He’s helping Nebula on a mission that may or may not be a trap, that may or may not get the both of them killed, because he figures if Gamora knew Nebula would only accept his help (for whatever god awful reason that may be), then she would want him to help however he could.
... Then again, maybe she’d also see it as a trap and call him an idiot for falling for it. But Peter’s, like, 65% sure Nebula is earnestly asking for his assistance, so he goes with it.
He gets away from the Guardians by telling them he has to meet an old contact for a job, that he owes a guy a favor. They all stare at him accusingly, in that way that screams, We know you’re lying, but he insists and insists and insists, promises that he won’t take a cut on their next job if they just let him do this (and man, does that concession sting).
They finally let him fuck off in the Milano. He meets up with Nebula soon after that, allows her aboard the ship, and he watches her warily every single second. They review the compound’s floorplans together on the view screen in the Milano’s common area, hack into their security cameras to review the patrol routes to find any lapses in their security. And with the short time they spend in one another’s company, Peter always keeps a gun within easy reach.
All in all? It’s not his most difficult job. At 2100 hours, a shift change leaves a chain link fence on the western side unguarded. From there, it’s a matter of slipping in, picking the locks on any doors, getting the goods, and slipping out again. Except Peter still has no earthly clue what they’re taking from this place, because Nebula has been cagey as fuck about that, gets into those growly, defensive moods when he asks. He always backed off from the line of questioning – mostly because he doesn’t want to return to his team sans an arm – but as they lurk in the undergrowth just outside of the facility, that little blank spot continues to nag at him.
He checks the time on a device, announces in a whisper, ]
Not much longer.
[ And then he glowers at Nebula as he stuffs the device back into his satchel of gadgets. ]
You realize you’re gonna have to tell me what the hell we’re looking for once we’re inside, right?
sorry for the wait! ...and the wall of text.
And as far as Nebula can tell, Peter didn't say much more to Gamora than she asked. Which means he still takes her threats against his life seriously and that's important. It means he won't ask too many questions and he won't tell Gamora anymore than she asks. It's the asking nice part she doesn't particularly like but she'll do it if it means her sister stays at least partially in the dark.
Nebula doesn't tell Peter what they're after, just says it's something important. Something she needs and she does, but it's not going to help advance her cause. It's a memento of her family. Her real family, the one Thanos took from her. It's stupid and sentimental but Nebula can be that now, she doesn't have the mad titan breathing down her neck. Well, she does, but his hand isn't around her throat at least. How she'll explain it when they finally get there, she doesn't know but Nebula wants it.
The thing itself isn't all that important, just a ring she remembers her mother wearing but things always fetch a price in the galaxy. How it ended up on a planet in Xandarian territory she doesn't know, but the how doesn't matter right now, just the where. There's still a price on Nebula's head in Xandarian space and she'd rather not get caught and imprisoned when she still has to kill her adoptive father. So, she ditches her ship and they travel the rest of the way in the Milano. It's awkward. Tense. But nothing she's not used to and the time passes relatively easily.
When they reach the planet and make their way down to the heavily guarded facility, Nebula still hasn't decided what to tell Peter. She knows he won't leave it alone, because he asked more than once what they were after while on the ship. It doesn't matter. They're close. So close. Nebula flexes her hands, almost nervous at what she'll find in the building.
Nebula looks over at Peter with a dark look when he mentions, again, about what they're after. ]
You do not need to know. You will keep watch while I retrieve the item. We will leave and you will never speak of this moment again or I will rip your arms from you body.
[ When it's time, Nebula stands and makes her way to the door. It's locked but she has exactly 15 minutes, more than enough to get in and out without being seen. It takes her less than a minute to hack through the door codes and they're in. The room they're looking for is down a long corridor, left and then another long corridor and right at the end of the hall. There are two other security doors, but they're as easy as the first. The lock on the final door is trickier, it takes her almost a full 3 minutes to crack and she instructs Peter to keep the door open.
The room is a maze of lock boxes, towering shelves that line the walls and jut out, blocking the view from the door. Nebula finds the correct box easily and she unlocks this one a little unceremoniously than the doors. She punches the metal surface, denting it enough that the little door swings open on its hinges. Inside is a box, a blaster, various other jewellery and a stack of transferable units. Look at that, she can buy Peter's silence.
She should wait, she really should. Take the contents of the lock box and leave, but Nebula's open the smaller box before she knows it. There's about 10 other rings inside and she almost panics when she can't find the one she's looking for but it flips over and she recognizes the lettering and Nebula does something she hasn't done since she was a child; she smiles. Soft and vulnerable like she's never been before in her life because there it is, the last piece of her family. ]
not a problem!
(And it says a lot more about his life and the company that he keeps that someone saying they’ll rip off his arms is met with irritation rather than any real fear.
Man, he needs therapy. Or better friends.)
But there’s little to do, once Nebula gets moving, and the pace she sets is near relentless, even with the security doors blocking their way. Peter keeps his gun in hand, watching their backs. He knows this song and dance routine by heart, even with a brand new partner. As much as the Ravagers liked making noise, they weren’t averse to the occasional stealth mission, either.
Once they reach the motherlode, Peter wastes a second by peeking in, taking in the sight of all those storage units. His mind briefly flashes to the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark, and he thinks to himself, “Top men.” He steps into the room behind Nebula, intent on rummaging through the nearby boxes to find something for himself, but at her barked command, he huffs out a sharp sigh, standing beside the door and keeping it cracked open. He keeps an eye on the hallway, gun held at the ready, but their luck continues to hold.
So far, so good.
The clang of metal against metal isn’t too surprising, but the frantic, metallic clinking catches his attention, and he glances over his shoulder just as Nebula seems to find her prize. That soft expression on her face, startles him, makes him freeze for half of a breath. Looks like the supervillain might have a heart after all.
Peter wants to say as much aloud, but even he isn’t prick enough to ruin the moment.
It helps, too, that the echo of voices and footsteps reaches him, and Peter peers through the crack in the door. No visual on them yet, but the hurried pace, the barked orders distorted from bouncing on the hard surface of the walls and floors, and the slightly out of sync footfalls, tells Peter they’re about to have a problem.
He gives a sharp wave of his hand, trying to catch her attention. ]
We got multiple incoming.
no subject
Nebula clutches the ring in her hand, she can feel the ring give a little and she tucks it away before she can do anymore damage. When she looks over at Peter she wonders how much he's seen but doesn't have enough time to dwell on it. Nebula grabs the remaining contents of the box and unceremoniously shoves them into Peter's arms, save the blaster.
She doesn't speak when she pulls the door open, looks down the hall and sees a team of guards about 6 strong. There are two options, blaster her way through the guards or continue through the building. There's an exit close enough they can reasonably run from it back toward the ship. As much as she wants to kill, Nebula aims her blaster down the hall and hits the keypad then looks back at Peter. ]
There is another exit. [ She doesn't wait for him to respond, instead steps in the opposite direction they'd come though and toward the third security door. Nebula opens it as easily as she did the others, holds it open for Peter and then slams it and breaks the keypad again. ] That will not hold them for long.
[ The area they've entered is a stairwell that goes up and back over and then down two flights to the basement. The place intentionally maze like to dissuade thieves. They'll have to double back over the first corridor go down underneath the second and come out on the opposite side of the facility and a little farther away from the ship than she's comfortable with. ]
Go. [ She says angrily when Peter doesn't move. It won't be much good if he gets shot from behind. ]
no subject
Peter really thought they were about to start shooting up the place, which would’ve done some serious damage to his reputation as a good guy.
He juggles the items in his arms, following after Nebula as she storms through the place with purpose. They reach the stairwell, and he pauses at the threshold, taking a deep breath to speak—
But then she practically barks at him, and Peter huffs out an annoyed breath, but he moves forward as she commands, grumbling under his breath. Then, raising his voice, ]
Don’t kill anyone.
[ A demand of his own. Peter’s been pretty accommodating so far, even if he’s the only one to think so; he’s entitled to at least one stipulation, right? ]
I mean it, Nebula. Not a single person.