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Downtime

[A Rocket Raccoon FanFiction]

Knowhere.

The severed head of an ancient celestial being.

An overgrown mining colony suitable only for outlaws.

A land void of not only supervision and authority but also of morals.

Commonly referred to as 'the worst place in the universe.'

"Yeah, yeah, tell me somethin' I don't know! Preferably directions to T'Banda's, which is what I fucking asked you in the first place!" Rocket yelled into his PDA, stumbling through the crowded streets of Knowhere.

I'm sorry, I did not understand that, ROCKET. Please clarify inquiry." The female-sounding AI declared.

With a frustrated exhale and all the restraint he could muster, Rocket took a breath and refrained from ripping his new PDA apart. He ran a paw over his eyes and cleared his throat, moving so close to the wrist-mounted computer that there couldn't possibly be a confusion as to what he was asking of it.

"Give me directions to T'Banda's. You fucking worthless bitch watch." Rocket nearly growled out the last few words, his paws curling into fists.

Understandably, Rocket was frustrated.

The months following the defeat of Ronan's seemed to be some of the best days of Rocket's life. With his previous criminal record cleared by the Nova-Corp, along with a new life and new friends, he felt of feeling of odd, unfamiliar joy. It was definitely something he was unaccustomed to. Not that he was complaining of course. At least, not yet. Eventually, word spread throughout the Galaxy of the Guardian's heroics, and several "employment opportunities" were brought to light. Within just a few months, the Guardians have accomplished an impressive number of heroic acts. Each experience and each adventure brought the team closer together, optimizing their teamwork. Sure it's dangerous and life-threatening, however, Rocket wouldn't have it any other way - He needs adventure in his life.

And there stood the problem.

It had been months since their last mission.

Months of the doing nothing but that same routine with the same people with the same music.

Until only recently.

A contract was offered to the Guardians. A rebel force enlisted them for an assassination job on an extremely vile and ruthless dictator in the planet of Irra, inhabited by a race of species known as Th'Jota, famous for their unsettling transparent skin. Upon receiving news of this new job opportunity, Rocket's mood had improved dramatically. With the mission accepted, the Guardians started work on preparations. They had received word that the vile dictator would be giving a speech the following day, which gave them their window of opportunity to execute the target and liberate the civilization. That day was now today, and Rocket had suddenly come up with a 'plan' for execution that he refused to reveal to Star-Lord, however, he did ask that he make a 'quick' pit stop in Knowhere, so that he may obtain 'his plan.' Quill had reluctantly agreed, only after Rocket's constant insistence that it was 'crucial to the contract.'

So now there Rocket was, on Knowhere trying to find another dealer that would sell Ionic Jotacid, the element he needed, after learning that his preferred vendor was brutally murdered. Not only had he visited nearly twenty vendors, and the same three multiple times, but he was also running extremely late, as is.

Starting route to T'BANDA'S. Proceed to the left for twenty meters, then turn right." The robotic voice nagged.

Rocket didn't bother getting into another argument with his wrist PDA. T'Banda's was the last vendor that would most likely sell the particular item that Rocket so desperately needed. The frustrated mammal shoved just about everybody he passed on the way to the shop, as well as mentally cursing the abundance of people who just seemed to be walking as deliberately as slow as possible.

One such resident of Knowhere did not take so kindly to being shoved by the small animal and reciprocated with physical violence of his own - shoving Rocket forcefully into the wet ground. "Watch where you're goin' ya dumb rat!" The large blue-skinned man shouted, clearly having a shorter fuse than Rocket.

Under any other circumstance, the raccoon would not have hesitated, in fact, would have relished, in sending a few thousand volts of pain into the man's face with his trusted laser gun, but now was not the time. Instead, he quickly got up and continued forth, paying no attention to the mud covering his orange and blue jumpsuit.

Rocket had resumed his original running speed when he had felt his PDA send off a short but powerful vibration, signaling that he was receiving a call. He looked over at his wrist, tilting it towards him to read the name of the caller.

It was Star-Lord.

"Goddammit, not now!," Rocket cursed, hitting 'decline' on his PDA while turning the corner to T'Banda's. Rocket noted that the population of people he had to shove out of the way had gone down dramatically, signaling he was approaching a seemingly less populated area of Knowhere. Not thinking much of it, the furred mammal continued forward, and finally arrived in the front of the store.

Several things happened within a short amount of time. Firstly, Rocket's PDA had begun to vibrate once more - Peter was calling him again. Secondly, Rocket had now realized why there hadn't been a lot of people in this part of town - T'Banda's and the surrounding stores were closed. And Finally, when attempting to get closer to the large building to investigate, he hadn't noticed the puddle in front of him and had slipped into it, once more becoming covered in the foreign mud.

Frustrated beyond belief, Rocket had nearly punched the 'Answer' button on his watch. "Yeah, What can I do for ya, Star-Fuck?" He feigned a polite tone through gritted teeth, and it was obvious. "Rocket! We can't spare any more time, we need to leave like, right now!" Peter exclaimed over the shallow speaker. "Is that so?" Rocket groaned, haphazardly attempting to dust himself off. "Rocket, seriously, this contract is important. What are you doing there anyway? What's so crucial?" Rocket said in a monotone voice, "Oh nothing, just getting some Jotacid to lace the bullets with - it's just the only way to kill a Th'Jotaian, ya know, our assassination target? But yeah not crucial at all-"

Star-Lord had cut off Rocket's cocky remarks, angrily stating, "That's not true in the slightest. Please tell me that's not actually why you're there."

"Oh," Rocket quipped. "And how would you know?"

"Because I actually did my frickin' research on the contract! Th'Jotaians don't need Jotacid-laced bullets to die! Rocket, why are you there?"

"Fine! I'm here because I found out that using bullets infused with Jotacid to kill a Th'Jotain target results in a hilariously awesome head explosion and I really wanted to see it! Ok? Sorry for wanting to spice up or fuckin' boring lives with a little fun!"

Silence filled the air for what seemed like hours, allowing Rocket to realize the error of his ways.

"Ok, yeah. Probably not worth risking losing our only contract. Alright, I'm on my way to the-"

"Don't bother. We'll come back for you after."

"Wait, what? What is this, are you grounding me or something?"

The line cut off, Star-Lord had ended the call.

Rocket stopped for a moment, collecting his thoughts and fully coming to terms with his current situation.

"FUCK!" He yelled, kicking the dirt around him in frustration.

Getting directions to Zoidi's Fuck 'N Suck Strip Club and Bar. In half a meter, turn-

Rocket ripped off his PDA and slammed it into the ground. He then proceeded to stomp on it viciously, followed by ripping the computer watch in half, gnawing on the LCD screen, and throwing it into a nearby wall.

Rocket stumbled and leaned against the wall, slipping down and ending up in a sitting position. He stared down the alleyway that he was in. Quite a distance away, he could see people walking, minding their own business, enjoying their day. And he was envious.

To not care again would be nice.

Rocket stood up slowly, and headed into the brightly-lit neon streets of Knowhere. He did his best to ignore the looks he was getting, but he could never pretend they weren't there. Rocket looked up ahead, spotting what seemed to be a bar, judging by the large neon universal sign for alcohol. He picked up the pace, and was soon walking through the bar's doors.

It was dimly lit, it reeked of toxic liquids, foreign odors, and was overall incredibly musty. The sound of light chatter filled the air - the bar seemed to be only half full. Rocket approached an empty barstool with empty seats to the left and right of it. Just the way he liked it. Like most stools, and chairs in general, the raccoon embarrassingly had to make a short jump just to be able to situation himself into a sitting position. Once settled, Rocket called to the bartender.

"Hey! Can I get a drink over here"

"Do you have the credits to cover that?" the elderly barkeep asked.

"Of course I do!" Rocket lied.

"What'll it be then?"

"I really don't care."

The barkeep grabbed a bottle covered in alien text and poured Rocket a glass. Holding the glass in his furred paws, Rocket sniffed the liquid. It was a smell he'd never smelled before, but it wasn't bad. He took a sip.

It's okay.

Rocket stared at the dirty metal counter, as if looking for a solution to his shitty mood within the rust stains.

How could I fuck up so bad? Jeez, I just had to go and try and have a little fun with it, did I? And fucked up the first contract we had in long time. Well why'd you do it fuckface? Oh, I'll tell you why I did it, fuckface, it's because I'm getting sick and goddamn tired of this "Hero's code" bullshit.

Rocket sipped the toxic liquid.

Fucking - about a year ago, I would have been happy to just be alive. __To, at best case scenario, score a huge bounty and make some credits. To get my hands on the deadliest armaments the galaxy had to offer._ To do whatever the hell I wanted with no regard for morals. But I think..._

I think I've grown out of that.

Hell I still love blowing a hole through some sorry fucker's head, don't get me wrong, fuckface.

It's just...

I...

Rocket swallowed his emotions with another drink.

Now what fucking reasons do I have to have a goddamn existential crisis like this?

I pretty much have everything I want.

Rocket took another drink.

He stopped and stared at the solid black liquid. It stared at it until the surface was a clear as possible, looking at his reflection. Rocket put a paw up to his face, feeling the fur on his cheek.

Am I alone?

Rocket's train of thought was interrupted as a large, hulking blue beast sat in the stool beside him.

"Aye barkeep, I think your bar's infested!" The brute laughed, pointing at Rocket.

"Now that wouldn't be a slight to me, would it, fatass?"

"Hah! Tough words from a rodent."

"Ya know, if I hadn't just ingested about a quarter of my weight with this toxic shit, I'd just about claw your eyes out!"

They both shared a laugh.

"Now why do I get the feelin' I've seen you before?"

"I dunno, ever heard of the frickin' Guardians of the Galaxy? Or have you heard of any other four-foot BAMFs round here?"

"Ya know, acutally, I have..."

"That's what I thought-WHAT?"

"Holy FLARG, now what did you get yourself into that put a bounty of 30,000 credits on your head?"

"What in the fuck is a Flarg?"

Just then the large beast pulled out a knife and pressed it to Rocket's neck, a gleeful expression on his face.

"Best part? It pays even more for you dead!"

Rocket grabbed the hand holding the knife and twisted it at a horrific angle. The beast screamed, hearing the tendons in his wrist tear and pop, dropping the knife and jumping off the stool. Rocket did the same, making a run for the front door.

Just then another alien beast stepped in front of his path, blocking him and drawing a pistol.

"We got a runner here!" The man said, firing his pistol.

Rocket quickly dodged the bullet, sliding under the mans feet only to be kicked in the face by another attacker. Apparently, Knowhere is full of thugs who would be willing to kill for money. Who knew?

The raccoon quickly pushed himself off the ground after tumbling backwards. He got up just in time to avoid another shot from another attacker, push over a table, and duck behind it to scope out the bar and look for any point of escape. He spotted a back door. He pushed the table over again as a distraction, then bolted for the door.

Once through, he saw that the back door of the bar led into a wide opening, which seemed to lead into a very heavily populated street. Rocket then spotted a crevice in-between two buildings, and quickly jumped into it, maneuvering his way through, and eventually coming into an alleyway. It was dark, the only light coming from some faulty neon sign. It was quiet, steam rising coming from a pipe.

Rocket looked around.

There was no one.

After taking out his frustration on a few piles of garbage and cursing some more, Rocket threw his shoulder bag to the ground and sat up against a wall. He held his head in his paws, confused and bewildered.

"Who would want to kill me? And pay 30,000 credits for it?" Rocket asked himself.

"30,000 is an awful lot for you to not know the reason," a digitized, deep voice answered.

Rocket quickly stood up, looking both ways for the source of the voice. Before he could reply, the sight of two red, glowing eyes at the end of the alleyway frightened him into silence.

The eyes were approaching him.

Rocket felt his back for his weapon - it wasn't there.

Shit! It's in the Pocket Dimension Storage Vial, in my fuckin' shoulder bag, couldn't get it to fit with-

His thoughts were cut short as the figure now was now closer, and large slim pistol became visible in the dim purple neon light - aiming directly at Rocket's muzzle.

Rocket, being angry, exhausted, confused and a bit drunk, felt he didn't have enough fight in him to go for the attacker's gun. Instead, he assumed a threatening glare and lifted his paws up.

"I got more than 30,000 credits if you'd let me-"

"Shut up. Who are you?"

"You saw the bounty, shouldn't you know?"

"What are you? How many of you are there?"

"What? I'm the only one! The fuck are you getting at?"

"Are there more?" The figure asked, it's robotic voice changing pitch slightly, almost as if it's voice cracked. The figure stepped closer, it's full form being illuminated in the light.

The figure was his height.

The figure was female.

The figure had a tail.

Rocket slowly lowered his arms, and took a step forward.

"What-"

The figure shot.

The last thing Rocket recalled was a purple light on a feminine form, dark and dastardly red eyes peering into him, and a blinding blue flash.

And it was over.

Knowhere was commonly referred to as 'the worst place in the universe.'

Yet two heroes were there today.

Hours earlier...

Somewhere in Knowhere...

In the most dangerous of streets, an infamous soul watches over.

A wanderer with nowhere to go.

In recent years, a local legend had become the talk of the town in Knowhere, a masked individual threatening to neutralize the evilest and corrupt criminals in the lawless land. A 'glorified vigilante', they would call it. Bringing morality to one of the most immoral of places in the entire galaxy.

A masked menace to those who wish harm; a savior to the innocent. Mysterious and unknown to all.

They called it...the Imp.

Atop one of the largest buildings in the mining colony, the vigilante stood. This rooftop was where she went to reflect. It provided a nice view and was usually void of life. The Imp sat on a overturned crate near the edge of the roof, overlooking a populated street.

After making sure there was no one nearby, she took a breath and pulled back her hood. She then removed her face plate, turning it to stare at it. It was dark, completely black, save for the two red slits, resembling a pair of angry, evil eyes. She sighed and began to recollect the day.

V'Lytau the Slaver was slaughtered by my hand today.

I stopped four mugging attempts today.

Was a productive day.

I've been awake for thirty hours.

Yet...sleep alludes me.

What is wrong with me?

A cold chill flutters in her chest. Feelings of pessimism and depression return and she routinely begins to suppress it.

Don't be weak...

Being a public enemy, one must have no weaknesses. No doubts, no room for error. Whenever she detected even the slightest uncertainty within her, she reminded herself of her creed - "don't be weak."

But today was different. She didn't know why, she didn't know how, but she felt a difference. She had begun the reassuring process...but decided to let up, and ponder the questions that she never dared to think about.

I'm...not weak.

But that isn't what is wrong, now is it?

Then what is it?

What is it?

What is...my purpose?

She took a deep breath and removed one of her gloves, staring at the furred, shaking paw in front of her.

Where did I come from?

Her heart sank to her stomach as the thoughts began to overwhelm her. She'd always tried not to think about it, for engaging in the thoughts threatened to lead into a downward spiral to madness, and now, the entire universe felt as if it was collapsing around her.

Just then, she heard footsteps.

Adult Male.

Ten meters away.

Armed.

She quickly grabbed her mask and put it on, whipping around to turn toward the offender. The wanderer drew her pistol from its holster. Taking short, shallow breaths, she flicked a dial on the edge of the gun's barrel, effectively setting the gun's explosive damage to the maximum.

All previous thoughts left her mind, as the Imp aimed the pistol at the offender.

Don't be weak.

He was just as she suspected, a large blue thug-type wielding some sort of modded ax. The attacker quickly sprinted forward. She didn't care to question it, nor did she need to. She was a target, always a target, and he was now an enemy.

She pulled the trigger, and an explosive projectile expelled from the barrel. It embedded itself into the man's skull before he could swing once. After a split-second, the projectile exploded, sending remnants of the offender's head scattering all over the surrounding area. The lifeless body fell forwards, splatting into an incredibly large pool of blood, as that ever-familiar thud of a dead body hitting the ground echoed across the rooftop.

She walked over to the corpse. The Imp took a breath, and her thoughts stabilized.

Don't be weak.

It's not about being happy, it's about being safe.

She walked to the edge of the building and hopped off, grabbing a pipe to break her speed. She threw her feet on the side of the structure, arched her back and flipped off, sticking the landing. The alleyway was dark and foggy. Her mask glinted red and lit the way.

Then she heard something.

The sound of rattling cans, and some Earth swearing.

She ducked and hid behind an overturned dumpster.

She waited.

"...who would want to kill me? And pay 30,000 credits for it?" said a gruff, stressed voice.

The Imp pulled her pistol from her side belt, feeling the cold, inviting texture of the grip.

Some scared outlaw coming to terms with their first bounty? That's cute. And sad.

"30,000 is an awful lot for you to not know the reason." she quipped, before turning the corner of the dumpster and positioned her pistol.

The individual before her jumped in shock. Had it not been for her mask, the sight before she would have clearly seen her own eyes widen in shock, for the sight before her, was a raccoon.

A bipedal raccoon.

A distraught, bipedal, rugged....raccoon.

She approached him once more, pistol drawn and aimed at the animal's head.

He appeared flustered, confused, and...drunk?

Without a thought, she approached him again, stepping into the dim violet light.

The figure spoke again.

"I got more than 30,000 credits if you'd let me-"

"Shut up." She interrupted, "Who are you?"

"You saw the bounty, shouldn't you know?"

"What are you? How many of you are there?"

"What? I'm the only one! The fuck are you getting at?"

"There has to be more." she nearly growled. Her heart was racing. Everything she thought she knew was changing.

I'm not the only one.

I'm not alone.

Who is he?

He's just like me.

He's putting his arms down.

He's approaching me.

The Imp noticed her pistol was shaking slightly. She brought it back to its full height and aimed directly at Rocket.

His eyes faltered a bit. She saw a weakness in him for a second and was reminded of her own.

She flicked a dial on the edge of the gun's barrel, effectively setting the gun's explosive damage off, and quickly changing the gun's setting to 'stun'.

He started to speak again when she shot.

The recoil was the weakest she's ever felt, the energized pellet shooting out of the barrel and into the side of the raccoon's muzzle. Within moments, the mammal became discombobulated, falling onto the dirt floor, motionless.

She stepped forward and squatted to get a closer look. She took her glove off and placed it on the unconscious raccoon's neck. There was still a pulse.

He's fine.

He's also a fucking raccoon.

I can't leave him here.

He may have answers.

And he looks just like me.

She performed a touch motion on the side of her faceplate, enabling her HUD, and displaying her route home. The Imp put on her glove. She then put her paw to the side of his face and aimed it at hers.

Well, almost like me.

Rocket awoke with a massive headache.

He sat up, tightly gripping his head, as waves of sharp pain echoed throughout his brain. Gradually, he began to come to his senses. First, he noticed how his irregular breaths echoed vehemently off the walls of...wherever he was right now. Then he felt the cold hardwood floor beneath him as he shifted and sat up against the wall. There was no light in the room, but his excellent night-vision allowed him to easily look around and survey his surroundings.

There was absolutely nothing in the room.

Rocket quickly stood up, confused and a bit frightened.

Okay, what the fuck happened last night? The fuckin' store was closed and I couldn't get the Jode...Jotacid or whatever...Star-Lord told me to wait here...I went to the bar...there was a bounty, a fight...I uh, I went to the alley and...

As Rocket was pacing around the empty room, trying to remember what had happened the night before, his shoulder bag caught his eye. He quickly stumbled over to it, picking it up in his paws and rummaging through the contents.

Everything's here.

Rocket grabbed his Pocket-Dimension Storage Vial, a small device that allowed him to store a nearly infinite amount of objects in a compact space. From what Rocket could remember, he'd recently stored his Mk-II Laser Cannon in it. He pressed the "Eject" button, and a small bright force of light emitted from the tip of the vial, and sure enough, Rocket's trusted firearm materialized in front of him and dropped to the floor with a loud thud. Rocket quickly tossed the vial into his shoulder bag, threw it over his shoulder and picked up his gun. Aiming it at the space in front of him, he slowly surveyed the room once more.

Ok. the bounty, the fight, the alley...and then that....that devil-eyed robotic fuck! That's what brought me here.

Rocket was almost certain there were was no point of entry to the room he was in until he turned around, realizing he had been sitting up against it. He placed his furred paw on the doorknob, twisting it and then pushing it open, then stepping back, aiming the gun into the next room. It was slightly larger and led into a hallway. Rocket noticed that at the end of the hall, a light was emitting from one of the rooms, and the door was slightly ajar.

Rocket cautiously paced down the hallway and walked into the room. The orange glow of a dirty light bulb illuminated the walls of the small office-looking area. The walls were covered with loose papers filled with hastily scribbled symbols and pages ripped from books. There were also piles of papers and journals, and in the center of the room - a small wood desk with a computer setup of some sort.

As Rocket approached the desk, he suddenly had the feeling he was being watched. He quickly whipped around, only to be faced with the same specter from last night.

"Now why would someone want you dead, Rocket?" the robotic voice said.

It's the same height as me...what the hell is this thing?

"I've made a few enemies here and there...just comes with the job," He replied nonchalantly, effortlessly masking his concern.

"Yes, I've looked you up while you were asleep. A so-called 'Guardian of the Galaxy'" The digitized voiced laughed. "A protector of the innocent, a hero...getting chased out of a bar in the scummiest planet in the Galaxy."

"Some wise words from a bounty hunter. That's what you want, right? The price over my head? Or you just wanna single-handedly kill a Guardian of the Galaxy just for the street cred? So which is it 'cuz I'm getting real fuckin' tired of this!" Rocket yelled, frustrated and confused. He aimed his gun at the specter's face, finding himself very eager to pull the trigger.

The Imp grabbed the barrel of Rocket's rifle, violently removing it from his grasp and aiming it at his own head.

"First of all, the bounty is gone. It was posted from an unknown source, and I took the liberty of hacking the listing so it wouldn't appear again. Secondly, I had no idea who you were before last night. Lastly, I kept you here because..."

The voice in her head was screaming at her.

Don't be weak.

Shoot him.

Forget about him.

It's not about being happy, it's about being protected.

It's about being safe.

You know who you are.

"...I don't..." she exhaled, frustrated and conflicted.

"What? Because what...?" Rocket questioned.

The Imp saw her hands were shaking. She needed to do something before she had a relapse.

She handed the gun to Rocket.

He was bewildered, and he felt the rage he had pent up begin to melt away.

She stepped back and removed her helmet.

Time seemed to slow as Rocket witnessed this mysterious, masked figure press its gloved hands to the back of its mask, and pulling it forward. The first thing Rocket noticed was the hazel fur...

"_Fur? What? What is-"_his thoughts raced before they were disrupted as she continued to lower her mask, revealing two vibrant, lavender eyes. They were clearly feminine, and raccoon. It was at this point that Rocket's mind drew to a halt, completely overrun with an influx of confusion and emotions he'd never felt before.

Her face plate dropped to the floor with an inaudible clash.

"Because I wanted answers," she finished.

I'm not weak.

But I don't know who I am.

She waited for Rocket to answer, but he simply stood there as if he'd just seen a ghost.

A female raccoon. I'm not alone. She looks just like me. Well, except she clearly has a feminine form - how the fuck did I miss that? Not to mention her sparkling purple eyes...sparkling? What the f-

"Rocket?"

"Oh yeah, what's up?" He said nonchalantly, feigning a cool don't-care attitude, as he leaned back against the desk behind him.

"Do you know where you came from?" She asked.

Rocket's carefree persona came crumbling down as that single question triggered memories of torture, pain, and suffering.

"What?" He spat.

"I don't remember my past. I-I'm trying. Surely you must know something. We came from the same place."

"Oh, and you're certain of that?" He said bitterly.

"How could we not?"

"It's a big universe. Lots of people."

"Have you ever seen another raccoon?"

"No, but-"

"You're hiding it, aren't you?"

"I'm not hiding anything."

She gave him an annoyed glare, and suddenly Rocket felt utterly weak and small.

Those fierce eyes...

"I...I don't want to talk about it."

"Why not?"

Rocket nearly began to spill out the contents of his heart, when that familiar rage overcame him once more, masking his biggest insecurity.

"What the fuck does it matter to you? How bout you answer my question! Why do you care about your past so much?"

Because I have nothing else.

Don't be weak, don't show him weakness.

A glimmer caught her eye. Just below Rocket's neck, a bit of metal peeked out.

She let out a small, barely audible gasp.

The Imp stepped up to Rocket, much to his nervousness and discomfort, and removed her glove. She moved her hand up to the cybernetic implant and felt the cool metal with her index finger.

"Wh-what are...you doing?" Rocket nervously said.

She stepped back and began removing her concealing black cloak. Rocket was aghast and confused.

She threw the cloak to the ground. The Imp was wearing a plain gray tank top, which allowed her to point to the cybernetic implants underneath her own neck.

"They're the same."

Rocket's mind split into two parts - one that realized that she and he could have originated from the same place - and the other that was curvy and hot her body was.

"Y-yeah."

The two stood in silence for what seemed like an eternity.

She extended her paw to him.

"Name's sale."

Rocket slowly and gently took her paw in his.

Her paw is incredibly soft.

"Rocket. Um, nice to meet you?"

She chuckled.

"Yeah, kind of an odd introduction but...I dunno."

She stepped past him and walked over to her desk. There she grabbed a fairly large backpack and threw it over her shoulder. She then turned to him and offered a slight smile.

"There's a food place near the outskirts of town. It's pretty quiet and the owner isn't rude. So how bout it?"

"Yeah, sure. I'm pretty hungry."

Sale walked past him, handing Rocket his gun back. A simple gesture, however, it was greatly symbolic for their newly amicable relationship. She then picked her mask and cloak off the floor, effortlessly putting them back on.

"Follow me."

Rocket soon realized he hadn't known as much as he thought he did about Knowhere, as the secret passageways and alleys Sale had led him through gave him a sense of bewilderment and disorientation.

"Uh, you sure this is the way?" Rocket questioned, sidestepping a large puddle and hopping a chainlink fence, trying to keep up with Sale's pace.

"I've lived here my whole life. I think I know my way around." She quipped.

Rocket rolled his eyes.

"Just seems a little...inconvenient, don't ya think?"

"I prefer to stick to the shadows." She turned to look at him. She was smirking but he couldn't tell. "I have a lot of enemies too."

"Oh is that so?" Rocket questioned.

She didn't reply.

"Dare I ask how and why?"

"Long story."

"We got time, right? How far is the place?"

"We're close. I'll tell you all about it when we get there."

The two continued through Knowhere, under tunnels, through alleys and over buildings, all to avoid detection and remain hidden.

Rocket had nearly forgotten about his reason for being in Knowhere and realized it's been a day since he last contacted the Guardians. He then remembered he had destroyed his PDA in anger and had no way of contacting them. His thoughts were interrupted as Sale stood still, waving a paw to Rocket, signaling him to stop and wait.

"What-"

Rocket didn't get to finish. Sale had tackled him and pushed him behind an overturned dumpster, as she huddled up next to him, silencing him with a finger to his mouth.

Two large figures soon passed by the two.

Sale knew she could have easily taken care of those guys, but she didn't want to risk attracting any attention. Once they were an acceptable distance away, she turned to let Rocket know it was time to go.

However, as she turned around, she found his face was only inches from hers.

For the awkward moment that the two were this close, Rocket simply saw the glowing red eyes of her helmet at a close range. It was Sale who felt a rush of nervousness and embarrassment as she saw his dark brown eyes seemingly peer into hers in an incredibly intimate distance for a split second.

Near instantly, she stood up and backed away.

"Sorry. Just...gotta keep hidden."

Rocket chuckled.

"It's fine."

The rest of the journey was uneventful. It seemed further they went, the less need there was for being hidden, as it became more and more deserted. Being a giant celestial head, Knowhere had no real atmosphere, so it was kept habitable by several oxygen generators scattered throughout the colony, and any openings to outer space were sealed off by force fields. The restaurant Sale was leading him to was near once such force field, in a seemingly abandoned part of town.

Sale had begun to relax, as she recognized she was in the clear and slowed down her pace just a bit. She also slid off her face plate, shoving it into her own backpack. As she did so, she caught Rocket's eyes for a sec.

Rather than look away in awkwardness, she decided to strike up a conversation.

"That's uh...nice purse you got there," she quipped.

"It's a shoulder bag, lady."

"Whatever you say...lady."

"Hey, I didn't have a lotta time to pick out my favorite fuckin' bag when I left. I just grabbed whatever."

"It's fine- it looks cool!"

"Yeah, yeah. So what's the deal with this place?" Rocket asked, motioning to all the vacant buildings.

"This was one of the first camps the Tivan Group set up when they found this place. All the materials in this area are gone, so they all left. Really no reason for anyone to come here."

"So why don't you live here instead of the main colony?"

"Well uh, my 'line of work' requires me to be pretty close by to the city."

"And would 'line of work' would that be?"

"Hey look, we're here!" She said.

Sale quickly got to the door to the small shack, opening it and motioning Rocket to enter first. Rocket reluctantly entered and found himself heavily confused by the inner decor. It seemed to be a normal restaurant, but it was completely empty and covered in dust. Plants seem to overrun onto the tables and chairs, and all the lights seemed to be off or flickering. Before he could question the Imp's choice of venue, she stepped in front of him and proceeded to the defunct ordering area.

She pressed the only clean looking object on the counter - a bright blue button. There was a short beep, but nothing happened. Rocket walked over to her and gave her a confused glare. She offered a look of her own, one that said: "Wait, just trust me."

Within seconds, footsteps were heard. From the darkness of the restaurant emerged a tall robotic figure. It seemed to be put together from random tech and had the overall appearance of a metal human mannequin. As it came closer, Rocket realized it was wearing a more primitive version of Sale's face plate - but with blue, neutral eyes.

It approached the counter and said in a similar robotic voice, " GREETINGS."

Rocket was freaked out.

"Just what the fuck-"

"Hey, Andy. I will take 2 orders of The Usual. We will be sitting in the back. Thank you," Sale said, slowly and coherently.

Rocket turned to the robot, who stood still for a few seconds, seemingly processing the request. It didn't take long.

" OKAY. ESTIMATED TIME TEN MINUTES. SEAT YOURSELF ," Andy said, before quickly whipping around, and heading into another room, presumably the kitchen.

"Here follow me, I'll explain," Sale said with a smug grin.

The building itself appeared very small on the outside but actually stretched out pretty far. Rocket watched as Sale took a seat at the only clean table with the only working light above it. He sat down across from her, adjusting to the odd booth's shape.

"So...Andy?" Rocket asked, playfully.

"I built him. I got bored," she said plainly.

"That's it- you just got bored?"

She laughed and nodded.

"Well, I can kinda relate. I do have a knack for that kinda stuff too."

"Oh, do tell," She said, leaning her head into her paws.

"Well I mean, not to brag but I did build a weapon that could expel hadron particles, effectively being capable of blowing up medium to large size lunar bodies. Oh, and I built it with scrap from a shitty ship."

"Now that is impressive."

"Eh, it was nothing. I mean, building an AI interface and a robot chef is actually pretty fucking impressive. I mean, saving the Galaxy is pretty cool I guess..."

Sale giggled again, and brushed some stray fur behind her ear, looking away from him for a few seconds.

Jeez, she's so fucking cute." Rocket randomly thought.

Her smile then faded.

"Do...do you think that isn't a coincidence?"

"What?"

"That we're both skilled engineers. You think our genetic augmentations have something to do with it?"

"Could be. Makes sense," Rocket said plainly.

"Why would someone genetically engineer animals to be skilled technicians? Who would-"

"Does it really matter though?"

"To me, it does. It...it matters a lot."

"You don't remember anything?"

"There's stuff I've learned. I when I find out about it...it feels like I've always known about it-Like the Halfworld book! Do you know about it?"

"Yeah," Rocket said plainly.

"Supposed to contain the secrets of...where we came from. Written in a language no one could read. Almost no information about it online..."

"Hey-"

Just then Andy had approached and placed down both of their meals, then quickly stepping away. Rocket looked down at his plate - it seemed to be a fish of some sort - skinned and diced, uncooked.

"You'll like it, Rocket. Trust me."

"Trust you? I've just met you!" He joked, stabbing a cube with his fork and placing it in his mouth.

The fish had a pleasant texture and a tangy and crisp taste.

"This is really fucking good," Rocket thought to himself, consuming the fish at a faster rate.

"Okay yeah I trust you," He said, mouth filled with the food.

Sale giggled.

"So I have to ask - what are you doing here? On Knowhere, I mean."

"I uh...just needed a break," Rocket lied.

"A break huh? Didn't realized heroes got those."

"Hero? You've been reading those articles haven't ya? I wouldn't believe everything I hear in the news, Sale. I could be quite the dick."'

"Same here," she said, tossing a bite of fish into her mouth.

"So what's your line of work?"

"Would you call 'ruthless vigilante' a line of work?"

"Hell yeah."

She smiled.

"So that what the mask's for...nice touch."

"Heh, thanks. Also got my custom AI in there - lets me know where to be. It's how I found you."

"Yeah...so the bounty was from an unknown source? Pretty sure I could've tracked it with the right equipment..."

"It was pretty odd. Never seen anything like it before. Knowhere, being the lawless land that it is, pretty much uses the bounty system as a means of getting rid of those that are undesired. Highest bounty usually dead within the hour."

"I'll keep that in mind."

There was a brief silence.

"Thanks, by the way."

"For...?"

"For the food....and...for not killing me."

She smiled.

"No problem."

"I mean, not that you could, even if you wanted to."

"Oh yeah? You want to spar, fuckface?"

Rocket laughed, Sale soon joining in.

"Maybe."

After a pleasant meal, and some friendly small talk, the two wished Andy a goodbye and departed from the isolated restaurant. On the way back, even though he and Sale were no longer talking, Rocket found himself smiling- enjoying her presence.

Under bridges, through alleys, over rooftops, Sale and Rocket made the uneventful trip back - that was until a notification appeared in Sale's HUD.

Sale almost descended from a rooftop before she received the message. She motioned for Rocket to stop as she went to check it, as only very crucial messages appeared like that.

"Rocket, wait. Something's happening..."

"What?"

"Wait, what?! That can't be right!"

"What is it?"

"There's a three billion credit bounty out," she said grimly.

"Woah, no way! Heh, someone must really want that sucker dead. Hey, who is it? Maybe we could-"

"Rocket. It's on us," she deadpanned.

"What?"

Sale began to pace back and forth, trying to think of an explanation.

"Three billion units? On each of us?"

Sale began to panic, and her voice of reason...the voice that she had ignored all day, was back and screaming at her once more. She threw off her mask, stomping it to pieces before it hit the ground, all whilst hyperventilating

"What's wrong? I'm sure this must not come as a surprise to you, being a vigilante and all-"

"Someone hacked my fucking helmet, Rocket! Probably the same hacker fucker that put the bounty on you!" She yelled.

"What're you-"

"They tracked me! The bounty has a location! Here!"

Rocket's heart sunk, he immediately tried to think of an explanation and a solution at the same time. Sale walked over to the edge of the rooftop. Sure enough, there was a large mob approaching from the east side. She looked into the distance, and to her surrounding area. Then she spotted it.

The garage.

She didn't wait for Rocket. She jumped off the building and ran in that direction. Rocket, however, turned to look at her just in time to see her jump.

"Hey!" he yelled, all to no avail. He instantly began following her, chasing her.

She wasn't sneaking around this time, she was in an all out sprint, Rocket following far behind.

"Where are we going!?" He called out to her. Again, no answer.

Rocket felt a chill in his chest. Was she purposely ignoring him?

She then quickly jumped onto the pipe of a building, climbing it at an impressive speed. Rocket followed suit, worried more about her sudden hatred of him than the three billion credit bounty on him.

By the time he reached the top, he just managed to catch a glimpse of Sale leaping onto an adjacent roof. Rocket sprinted as fast as he could to get within earshot.

"Sale!" He yelled. No response, again.

The roof he'd followed her onto was that of a large warehouse-type building. The ceiling felt weak and almost soft under his paws. Rocket watched as Sale opened a hidden hatch and dropped into the building. He rushed over and dropped into the building as well, which turned out to be a garage for her ship.

It wasn't a large ship, but it sure looked threatening before Rocket, even though it wasn't powered on. Rocket ran over to Sale, who was pulling down the cargo door to get in.

"Sale! Wait up!" He yelled. This time, she stopped and turned around.

Although she was no longer wearing her mask, her eyes appeared to glow and intimidate nonetheless.

"I shouldn't have trusted you, raccoon or not."

"Sale! I'm sorry, I have no idea who-"

"It was a mistake sparing you," she said coldly, pulling out her pistol and aiming it at him.

"Sale! What're you doing?! I thought we were-

"Friends? I don't need friends to be a happy-I don't need to BE HAPPY," She growled, stepping closer to him, pressing the pistol against his head.

"Hey, just listen-"

"I just wanted to know about my past, that's why I didn't kill you. I thought you had answers. Now I know there are none."

Her past...

"Sale. I know where the Halfworld Book is."

Her deadpan gaze faltered for a second.

"Don't you fucking-"

"I'm serious, I found it awhile ago. I have it. It's in my hideout on the planet Othinn. I...I can take you there."

Sale continued aiming the pistol at his head. Rocket looked up her - Sale's face appeared to show no emotion whatsoever. However, mentally, she went through a wide range of emotions - hopeful, sad, angry, all the while the mob that had spotted them on the roof was now pounding on the thin walls of the garage.

Sale pressed the pistol harder against Rocket's forehead, and he watched as her index finger trembled over the trigger.

"I don't know a lot about you, and you don't know a lot about me." Rocket said, voice cracking, "But...I say this as a sincere promise...you can trust me," He said.

Just then, the mob of criminals and brutes desperate to reap the enormous bounty had broken through the wall. It was then that Sale seemed to break out of the trance that he conflicted mind seemed to be under. As the crashing of the metal echoed loudly throughout the makeshift hangar, Sale felt her nagging mental cowardly voice depart. She put her pistol away and placed a paw on Rocket's shoulder. The next words that came out of her mouth didn't originate from her brain, but her heart.

"I trust you, fuckface," she said, pulling him into her ship. Sale began pulling on the chain to close the cargo door, when Rocket grabbed hold of the chain and placed a paw on her shoulder.

"I'll get this, you go start the engine!" He said, happily, almost as if she didn't just try to kill him, and they were still friends.

Sale had a whirlwind of emotion in response to the delivery of his line. With those simple words, Rocket acknowledged that he forgave her, that he understood that she wasn't acting like herself, and that he was willing to put it behind him.

And that he was willing to help her.

Sale sprinted to the cockpit, flicking on all the switches, effectively powering the ship on. A low bassy rumble emitted from the rear of the ship, as the engines flared on and fire expunged out the back of the propulsion engine. Sale's ship began to take off. She slammed the handle controlling speed to it's maximum, as they busted through the weak roof of the warehouse. Maneuvering through the many buildings in Knowhere was relatively easy due to the small nature of the ship and within minutes, Sale had passed through the barriers and was in outer space. As an extra precaution, she engaged in a hyperspeed jump that warped her through several hundred lightyears of space, just to be sure they couldn't be followed. With that, Sale let out a long exhale, hit the "idle" button on the ship's main control panel, and stepped off the captain's chair.

Just then Rocket had walked in, looking just as tired and exhausted as she was.

They both stared at each other for a few seconds, before Sale broke the silence.

"I could use a drink right now."

"I don't know if I've ever been on a ship this small," Rocket said, looking around at Sale's vessel. After their narrow escape from the criminals of Knowhere, Rocket and Sale were in dire need of a break, so the two found their way to the ship's humble kitchen - and were now resting on the alloy chairs and drinking some alien alcohol.

Rocket had paced himself with the drinking this time around, sipping it only occasionally. For some odd reason, the raccoon thought it would be best if he didn't make a fool out of himself in front of this woman.

"I didn't need anything flashy. I didn't think I'd ever had to use this ship," she stated, taking another gulp from her glass.

"It's pretty cool, I think. Cozy interior," Rocket replied.

Sale had an expression of exhaust and worry written on her face. She swished around the green liquid, staring into it resentfully. Rocket noticed her slightly open her mouth to say something, but she briefly caught eyes with him and looked down, bringing the cup to her lips once more.

"She's hesitant, for some reason..." Rocket thought to himself, realizing he'd have to initiate the conversation once more.

"Well, what kind of armaments do ya got on this ship?" He asked, smiling.

"None." She deadpanned, "This ship was designed for stealth."

"What?! Are you kidding me?" Rocket groaned, "What if you encounter an enemy ship?! Or a-"

"I wouldn't encounter anything. This ship has a cloaking device, is virtually invisible to any kind of radar, and is one of the fastest on the market," Sale growled, seemingly frustrated with Rocket's attempts at conversation.

An awkward silence drifted past the two before Rocket spoke up again, with only the light sounds of the ship's engines filling the air.

"Hey, I wasn't tryin' to insult your ship or anything," Rocket pointed out, slightly smiling at her. She made no eye contact with him and continued drinking. "Having a stealth ship is pretty fucking cool too. How long have you-"

"Listen." She interrupted, "I know what you're trying to do. I appreciate it, but please...stop." Sale shut her eyes, placing a head on her forehead in frustration. "I...I just got a lot to think about. I just need to rest, okay?"

Sale opened her eyes and saw Rocket was a bit hurt by her words, but in a flash looked completely neutral and unaffected. "Okay! I'll just, go and set a course for Othinn," he muttered, setting his drink down and walking out of the kitchen.

Sale felt equal parts relieved and horrible.

"He was just trying to make you feel better," the emotional part of her thought.

"He is not to be trusted, " her logical side retorted, "He could be leading you to certain death. Do you really believe he was on Knowhere for- what did he say again? A break? He could've gone rogue and got exiled from the Guardians!"

Sale's emotions retaliated, "He's been nothing but nice to me."

Her head's rationale considered, "Of course he's been nice to you! You're the only female raccoon he's ever seen - he's trying to get on your good side, and before you know it, he's charmed you into fornication!"

She felt a cold chill run down her spine as she realized her logical and emotional trains of thought actually agreed.

"Can I trust him?" she thought.

Several minutes passed as Sale continued to drink. She could've consumed the whole bottle and it wouldn't have mattered - alcohol never had any effect on her. It didn't even taste good. She was drinking it because it gave her something to do. Sale continued to consider the fact that she could have brought a manipulative outlaw onto her ship.

"The bounty!" She realized.

Heart racing, she stood up from the table and stomped over to the ship's cockpit. Within a few seconds, she had made her way there - finding the raccoon in question fiddling away with the ship's controls. He quickly noticed her presence and turned to face her, smiling.

"Quite the hell of a control setup you got here!" he complimented, "You've got some fuckin' sweet perpetual reaction monitors-"

"Get up," she stated.

Willingly and nonchalantly, Rocket got up from the pilot's seat. Sale was glaring daggers at him.

"Why were you on Knowhere again?" She questioned, arms crossed. Instantly, she saw a glimmer of anxiety in Rocket's eyes, further angering her.

"I uh, needed a break," Rocket said, uncomfortably grinning.

She remained silent.

"All that hero stuff really takes it out of ya, heheh," Rocket laughed.

Sale stepped closer to him. Instinctively, Rocket took a slight step backward. She was only about a foot away from him at this point.

"The truth," she deadpanned.

Rocket sighed in defeat. He stared towards the floor, not daring to make eye contact with the fearsome woman, as he began his speech, "Okay so, we got this contract for an assassination on this Th'Jotaian dictator, and I got them to drop me off on Knowhere to get some Jotacid to lace the bullets with, because I heard that it caused their heads to explode in a really funny way. When Peter, my boss I guess, found out - he wasn't too happy. Ended up leaving me there." Rocket wore an expression of embarrassment and shame on his face.

"Such a strangely descriptive lie..." Sale thought, contemplating his alibi, "Unless....really?"

Though now only skeptical, Sale kept her intimidating gaze on him, saying nothing.

"That's the truth," Rocket added.

She still said nothing.

"She...doesn't trust me?," Rocket realized. He then turned towards the front of the ship, staring off into orange rays of a far away star. He understood that she was hesitant to trust him. Suddenly, an idea came to him.

Rocket walked over to where he had set down his shoulder bag, picking it up and pulling out his pocket-dimension storage vial. After adjusting the settings accordingly, he had finally located the object he wanted. With the push of a button, the object materialized before him.

With a soft clink, a small, circular strand of metal hit the ground. Rocket walked over to it, picking it up gingerly in his paws.

"What is that?" She questioned.

Rocket walked over to Sale and handed the bracelet to her. She took it, examining it closely. She noticed some English characters engraved onto it.

"Subject 89P13...," she read aloud.

"That's me. That's where I-" He paused, stepping a bit closer to her. "That's where we came from."

She looked at him, confused.

It was clear to him that he would need to elaborate further, and recount those memories that he'd tried so hard to forget.

"I was..." Rocket started, sighing in acceptance, "I was made in a lab. And so were you. Where the lab is, who the scientists were, why the scientists did it...I'll never know."

Sale stepped closer to Rocket, who was clearly struggling to get the words out. It was obvious he was pained by recalling this information, but why?

"I-I'll never know why they tore me apart. Why they examined, experimented, and fucked with me. Why my first memories were nothing but pain. Cold metal, blinding lights, merciless alien arms, and the pain...The agonizing, burning, excruciating, torturous...pain."

Sale felt her heart drop. She instinctively made her way over to him to offer any sign of comfort. Before she could, Rocket turned to her. His eyes were watery, and he was clearly fighting back heavy emotions. Rocket opened his mouth to say something, hesitated, then turned away, walking towards the kitchen. Sale wanted to follow him, but she found herself frozen in place. Her emotions had once again gone through a whirlwind - fear of Rocket's true intentions, anger at his lie, sorrow for his past.

"So what he came from the same place as you? And so what if that place was fucked?" She found herself thinking, "He could still easily be a threat! This doesn't make him a better person."

Sale had lived her whole life without the need to question herself. Up till now, there was only one concept she held true and stood by - "Don't be weak." But is caring for someone weak? Would Rocket hurt her? She didn't know. And a big part of her told her not to risk it. But a small part of her wanted to take the risk. The part of her that she has repressed her entire life, was suddenly manifesting itself, and she was unsure.

Holding the metal bracelet in her hands, she stared at the engraved lettering once more. Turning the armband around to see if there was anything else, she made a discovery. There were hieroglyphs.

Hieroglyphs she had seen before in her research.

Hieroglyphs she had remembered.

Heart racing, she ran into the kitchen.

There she found Rocket had consumed his entire glass of alien alcohol and was resting his head in his arms. She pulled her chair from the opposite end of the table and positioned it so it was next to him. She sat down, finding the proximity...comfortable. Rocket stirred, and turned up to her.

"What-"

"These symbols. Have you seen these?" She interrupted, pointing to the small hieroglyphs on the back of the bracelet.

Rocket saw the ones she was pointing to. "Yeah," He grunted, sniffling afterward.

"Do you know what they mean?" she asked, her violet eyes peering into his.

"Only some of 'em. Why?"

Sale's felt like an electric current had shot through her veins as Rocket had said this. Almost immediately she sat up, startling Rocket in the process. She rummaged through some nearby drawers looking for a writing utensil, and something to write on. Within a few minutes, she returned to the table with an old pen and a scrap of paper, handing them to Rocket.

Rocket gave her a confused look.

"I need you to write down the hieroglyphs that you can translate," she instructed, gazing into his eyes with conviction.

Rocket didn't dare to ask why and started doing as she asked. The bracelet had been the only reminder of his past life, and he'd been tempted multiple times to discard of the object, but one thing had always kept him from doing so - the hieroglyphs. For some indescribable reason, he found himself able to recognize and translate some of them into English.

There were eight symbols on the bracelet. Rocket examined them closely. The first one, a swirled half-circle. He immediately recognized this as the equivalent of the English letter 'R'. He did so with three of the other hieroglyphs, translating four of the eight symbols. Sale's smile grew as she watched him work, her heart swelling with excitement and hope.

Rocket had finished writing the letters "K...Y...T...E...I was only able to get like, every other letter, though. Why did you-"

Sale interrupted him by grabbing the pen and paper from his paws. She went to work writing down the hieroglyphs she could identify.

She then realized that she could translate every symbol that Rocket couldn't.

"KEYSTONE," Rocket read, looming over her shoulder. "That's...that's a quadrant isn't it?"

"Yes.., "She answered, voice trembling, "We have a location now. D-did you know about this?"

"No, I could never remember a specific place," he said, backing away slightly.

"Rocket," She began, placing a paw on his shoulder, "We could find it. We could find the lab. We could find answers..."

He shivered slightly at her touch, her paw feeling incredibly warm on his shoulder. He found that she was looking at him with an unfamiliar expression - excitement and genuine joy. Rocket felt his heart beat at a much faster rate, finding a smile spread across his own face as well.

Throughout her many years of life, Sale had done a great amount of research on everything and anything that could help her discover her past. She never did find anything substantial - save for an old map, said to have originated from Halfworld. Though somewhat doubtful, Sale found herself having a strange intuition that this map was indeed genuine, mainly because of the symbols that appeared on it. Through some bizarre phenomenon, the raccoon was able to distinctly comprehend and understand some select hieroglyphs. However, she could never make heads or tails of any full sentences, due to her not being able to translate the full Halfworld Alphabet. She spent the past few months trying and failing, all to no avail. Sale would soon realize her efforts were hopeless and abandoned the belief that she may one day know her past. As painful as it was, she had to choose to forget.

That was, until today. Where in that one moment, when Rocket had the knowledge she didn't...when they completed the task together, that Sale realized something. Rocket was the key to her past, and she was the key to his. She had no doubts about it now...and finally allowed herself to trust him.

It must have been the overwhelming happiness, the exhaustion, sleepiness, and the newfound comfort of having a trustworthy ally that pushed Sale to do something that she thought she would never do - Sale hugged Rocket.

As her arms gripped around his shoulders and she pulls herself to him, closing the already small distance between the two, Sale clearly hears Rocket softly exhale in shock.

Nothing particularly romantic was going through Sale's mind at this point - she simply enjoyed the comfort of a warm and sturdy chest, as well as being slightly enticed by Rocket's earthy, musky scent.

Perhaps more romantic than Sale thought, all the while feeling at ease for one of the first times in her life.

Rocket himself was currently very flustered, his rapid heartbeat being the only thing audible to him.

Rocket had never dared to show affection to anyone - not until only recently (and platonically), with the Guardians. However, Rocket had felt something different, something new, upon meeting Sale. It was indescribable to him, and it was scary. Everything had happened so suddenly, and so quickly, that Rocket hadn't had a moment to himself to fully comprehend and contemplate his true feelings - and now he was being hugged by her.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck..." Rocket panicked, "Her head is on my shoulder and I could feel the side of her face on my face and her fur is so much softer than anything I've ever felt and her arms are so tender yet strong and she smells so fucking sugary sweet and I'VE BEEN RUNNING ALL DAY I PROBABLY SMELL LIKE SHIT-"

Rocket aggressively and hastily pushed her away upon this discovery. He stood up from his chair, nearly stumbling and falling down in the process. Sale looked upon him with utter bewilderment.

"She looks so cute when she's confused..."

"Sorry! It's just...I uh...D-do you have a bathroom here? Like, with a shower?," Rocket stammered.

Sale opened her mouth to speak, but Rocket continued before she could begin.

"It's just because I've been runnin' around all day, and-"

"Rocket," she cut him off, standing up from her chair as well. "You smelled fine. Don't worry about it."

"Heh, No it's just that-"

"Or are you afraid of physical contact?" she giggled, clearly flustering him further.

"NO! I was just-"

"No? Well...what, are you fuckin' gay?" She teased, grinning profusely. Rocket exhaled in frustration, angrily gripping his skull. Sale finally broke out in laughter. Rocket felt humiliated beyond belief, a drop of sweat running down his temples.

"I'm not gay," he muttered.

Sale continued to chuckle, walking past him to the ship's cockpit.

"Bathroom's the last room down the hall. Pick any room to sleep in, see ya in the morning, Rocket," she said, smiling. Rocket groaned and left the kitchen as Sale headed for the front of the ship.

Sale made her way over to the pilot's chair, settling into the chair with a relived exhale.

Within a few minutes she felt a smile spread over her face.

"He looks so cute when he's flustered."

Somewhere in space, a few light years outside of Knowhere, a massive, outlandish spacecraft waited.

It was the kind of craft capable of containing an army of decent size. The type of ship that could both start and end conflicts, battles and wars. It was certainly not the type of ship one would want pursuing them.

For having so many passengers, the ship was horrifically quiet, as usual. This was a result of the captain's orders. He had an overt sense of hearing, stressing to all of his servants that silence is mandatory. The hare sat on the large, velvet captain's chair, staring at the screen in front of him with his full attention. The screen displayed a radar of sorts, that once tracked a certain raccoon and his female counterpart. They've since gone off the grid.

He felt a presence next to him. He actually heard him scamper up to him, too. It was his assistant, a nameless rabbit of many. As always, he would kneel before him, requesting permission from the captain to speak.

"What?" The captain uttered.

"W-well, Captain O'Hare, th-they've been off the radar for a while..."

"I know. We will wait, then."

"But...C-captain, that could take-"

"We've waited for days, we could wait for MORE!"

The assistant grew silent, bowing his head in shame.

Then he spoke up, in a hushed a trembling voice.

"I just don't understand why-"

O'Hare grabbed the bothersome rabbit by the throat, lifting him up off the ground to meet him at eye level. The poor rabbit was scratching and kicking, but O'Hare's grip only grew stronger. Slowly and menacingly, he lowered his tinted goggles, letting the pest stare into his bloodshot, furious crimson eyes.

"Because..." He growled, bringing a finger to the terrified rabbit's neck, pushing up his head to keep him from looking away, "It is imperative to the survival of the entire observable universe, that I keep my employer happy. To keep my employer happy, I must find and kill these two targets. Now it would be in your best interests to keep your employer happy as well, wouldn't it?"

The choking rabbit tried to nod his head.

Blackjack O'Hare released his grip on the assistant, his armored body hitting the floor with a loud, resounding clang! This echoed throughout the ship, and many workers stopped to look up at the commotion. Blackjack rolled his eyes and stood up from his chair - it was obvious that he'd need to address this.

"Nothing to see. Continue with the tracking. We have three days until we're all dead, remember that."

He sat back down in his chair and pulled the screen to his face once more. As he stared at the blank screen, his corrupted mind couldn't help but just count the seconds down until his inevitable demise - frustrated with his mistakes and failures. He was growing impatient, excited, and thirsty for the blood of his targets.

"Anything to please the master." He thought to himself, a smirk spreading across his face.

Rocket awoke grimacing, feeling a sharp pain in his neck.

Slowly and painfully sitting up, the raccoon stirred from his long and arduous slumber. He scooted to the edge of his cot, staring at the plain metal ground and trying to grasp his bearings - to distinct reality from dreams again. With a deep exhale, he stood up, grabbed his black tank top that had been carelessly tossed on the floor, and ungracefully pulled it over his head. Yawning, he stretched his legs and stepped out of the room, noting his repulsive morning breath.

"Fuck." Rocket thought to himself, dryly chuckling, "Gross breath doesn't really leave a good impression..." Reaching into one of his baggy pockets, he pulled out his trusted Pocket-Dimension Storage Vial, recalling he'd stored some breath mints in there for just such an occasion.

"And what occasion is this exactly?" He wondered, materializing a handful of minty capsules and tossing them in his mouth, "Because I'm pretty sure still wants to kill me. Bad breath should be the least of my concern right now."

With a laugh, Rocket shoved the thought aside, stepping out of his room, down the narrow hallway and into the ship's quaint kitchen. Immediately he'd recognized the scent of cooking and soon saw Sale fiddling with some alien ingredients and an electric stove. Rocket soon noticed Sale was sporting different clothes today, a dark gray jumpsuit of sorts. The thought occupied his mind for mere moments, as the raccoon soon found himself at a loss for words at admiring the view of Sale's backside, how the snug cloth material hugged her curves in all the right places...

"Fuck."

"Hmm?" Sale said, turning to see a slack-jawed Rocket.

Rocket realized he'd accidentally said that out loud.

"What? Huh? I didn't say anythin'," he stammered.

"Really? I thought I-"

"So ya makin' some breakfast?" Rocket interrupted, quickly having a seat at the small table. He was focused on actively avoiding eye contact with the woman before him. An awkward silence lingered for a while before a confused Sale turned back around, continuing to grill some sort of alien meat. He had tried his best to keep his gaze at the table, and not drool over Sale's body.

"Keep it together you fucking perverted piece of shit," Rocket cursed to himself, doing his best to control his breaths and suppress a rising stiffness, "Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck-"

"Here," Sale huffed, aggressively sliding a plate in front of Rocket. "It's some sort of meat and it doesn't taste very good. Enjoy, perv."

"Perv? What're you-"

"You're staring. I can fuckin' feel your eyes on me. It's not a good feeling."

"I wasn't staring!" He barked.

Sale ignored him and sat down across the table, chewing a bite of the crisp gray meat and glaring at Rocket with those murderous violet eyes.

Rocket sighed, and began to get frustrated.

"Well what do you expect, struttin' around in your skin-tight yoga pants? You're leaving almost nothing to the imagination!"

Another prolonged silence. Sale initially looked offended, but her glare and frown eventually turned to a lighthearted smirk. Rocket grew uncomfortable as her eyes changed from angry and piercing to... sensual and inviting? The warmness below his belt grew again. Rocket quickly scooted in closer to the table, to hide it. Sale began to chew the meat in a much more slower fashion, maintaining eye contact with Rocket. He felt his heart begin to race and a bead of sweat run down the side of his head. He looked in nearly every corner of the kitchen to distract himself, rubbing his neck with his spare paw, not even touching his food.

Soon he heard the light, soft, melodic laugh of Sale.

Looking at her, his discomfort melted away. Watching her smile and laugh gave Rocket an internal warmness he'd never felt before. Soon he began to giggle as well, not fully knowing why. After a few minutes of this lightheartedness, silence enveloped them both once more.

"_Really? A fucking Guardian of the Galaxy chokes up like a fucking lovesick teenager that easily?"_Sale speculated, further allowing herself to let loose, laugh, and be happy.

"She's fucking doing this on purpose. She likes seeing me squirm," Rocket thought.

He looked down at his plate - realizing he had ignored his meal. Grabbing the small slab of cooked meat, he pulled apart a small chunk, bringing to his mouth. As he did so, he heard a faint sound across the table.

Sale was loudly sniffing the air, suspicious.

"Are you-...did-...fucking breath mints?" Sale chuckled.

"And what do ya got against oral hygiene?" Rocked quipped.

"You clearly swallowed a handful of that shit. What, you got a first date to go to?"

"Maybe I do," Rocket gambled, trying to get under her skin just as she did him. However, he'd regretted the words almost immediately after they escaped his lips, as not only did she appear to grow slightly uncomfortable, but so did he.

And the awkward silence was unbearable.

"Not interested, by the way," Sale scoffed.

Rocket nearly choked on a bit of the cooked meat, bursting into a violent cough. He looked up to meet her eyes, noticing she appeared very neutral and careless.

"Yeah me neither," Rocket replied.

Sale smiled slightly.

"I doubt that...," she teased, her voice reaching sensually low levels. Rocket looked up at her, finding her eyes had resumed that previous look - the one that sent his heart rate through the roof and grabbed him by the crotch. He quickly stood up, his chair making a loud noise as he scooted back. He stood at an awkward angle and began to quickly walk out the kitchen. In doing so, he alarmed and confused Sale.

"I'm just gonna check on our navigation and trajectory and shit," Rocket mumbled, quickly escaping from the colossal cloud of sexual tension that had been created within the past few minutes. The panicked raccoon scampered off to the front of the ship, where the captain's chair and control bay was.

Sale had burst into light laughter as soon as he left.

Soon after, She had met up with Rocket, and the two sitting in silence as they watched the stars fly past the ship's main windshield. Within a very short hour, they had finally reached the planet of interest - Othinn. As soon as the tan, desert planet appeared within view, Rocket stood up and began to enter specific coordinates to the ship's navigational GPS. This had alerted Sale, who had been drifting off into her own mind, consumed by a wave of irrational, romantic thoughts.

"What're you doing?" Sale inquired.

"Landing coordinates," Rocket answered, finishing the input and turning to face her, "Should let you know though, it's quite a ways off from the hideout. Oh, and the planet's surface temperature rarely drops below a hundred degrees."

It wasn't exactly good news, but Rocket smiled as he told it.

"Are you serious?" Sale asked, irritated.

"Yup. It's a desert planet, what did you expect?"

"Nothing. It's fine. No problem."

"I mean, you say no problem, but have you ever been in extreme temperatures in that leather catsuit, Sale?"

"It's not leather."

"That was a joke."

"I don't get it."

The two stared at each other in silence.

"It's- never mind."

Rocket turned his attention back to the front of the ship, staring out into the field of space, mentally chastising himself for the missed joke. However, such thoughts were interrupted as Sale spoke up again.

"God, you're so easy to fuck with." He heard Sale chuckle behind him, "No effort at all." Sale began to laugh once more.

Rocket found himself in a different circumstance upon hearing her laugh - not once of genuine enjoyment but one of extreme embarrassment and anger.

"Fucking kill me...," Rocket muttered to himself.

"Lead me to the Half-World Book first," Sale managed to say in-between laughs.

Surely it was a comedic remark, and that Sale wasn't actually planning to murder Rocket once he had shown her the book, but the seed of doubt had already been planted in the raccoon's head.

"Holy shit, what if she is planning on killing me? She has been acting awfully different lately. Is she more comfortable around me? No. Not possible. She was holding a gun to my fucking head yesterday. She needs me to translate the book with her, though. She needs me. I'll use that." Rocket contemplated his options while eventually coming back to some feelings he struggled with earlier. "Now why, of all things, does the fact that she might kill me make her more fucking sexy to me? Also that and she's obviously got a sense of humor. Sure it's at my expense, but-"

Rocket was pulled from his mental debate as the ship violently jolted, and vibrated heavily, before eventually settling. He looked up to see that the ship was now surrounded by red-tinted sand dunes as far as the eye can see, and had landed on a large, foreign sheet of metal. He had been lost in his head for so long that seemingly, a matter of seconds, they had already made it to Othinn and had landed.

He turned to look at Sale, who had just stepped away from the controls, having performed a less-than-ideal landing, and began to walk into the direction of the hallway that led to the kitchen. Rocket slowly stepped up from the co-pilot's chair and began to walk over to her. By the time he had reached the doorway, she had already opened a door down the hall to room unknown to him.

He wanted to speak up and say something like 'What're you doin'?' or 'What's up?' but found his feet had stopped working. He watched Sale through the half open door down the hall, as she began to unzip her jumpsuit, surely to change into something more fitting for the extreme temperatures ahead. Rocket found time had slowed down, that seconds had turned to hours as more and more of Sale's chestnut fur was revealed. _"This is wrong. This is so wrong. Her bra is fucking red I'm going to die-"_Rocket quickly and quietly walked backwards a few steps, ending back up in the cockpit. He then proceeded to continue forward, making his footsteps loud and exaggerated. By the time he'd reached the hallway, Sale had already changed. Her dark gray jumpsuit had now been traded for a plain white tanktop, which heavily complimented the bright brown tones of her fur. Sale had begun to walk towards Rocket, throwing a large and heavy backpack over her shoulder. Rocket forgot why he'd followed her into the hallway. Before he had time to remember, she had stopped in front of him. He was blocking the way, and she crossed her arms and gave him an inquisitive look.

"Quick, just fucking say something, don't just stand there. Make conversation! A-Ask her what's in the bag!" Rocket contemplated.

Rocket cleared his throat and spoke.

"You look really nice."

He realized something was wrong when her eyes had seemed to drift away from his, pupils increasing in size as she looked away, obviously caught off guard by his compliment. As she moved her paw up to brush some stray furs past her ear and slowly bring her gaze up, Rocket felt his heart skip a beat. Before another awkward silence could ensue, Rocket stepped aside and put his arm out, motioning Sale to pass him through the hallway. Sale quickly did so. And though the backpack was large, Rocket's view of Sale's backside was unobstructed.

"Fffuck...," Rocket cursed to himself.

Sale had been having this emotional dispute nearly all day, and Rocket's latest comment had just added more fuel to the fire. "What's his endgame here? He can't be genuine with shit like that, right? Right. He's a goddamn Guardian of the Galaxy he probably sleeps with a new girl every other day. Fucker just wants to try raccoon for a change or some shit." As her mental dialogue continued, Sale's thoughts began to spiral past the point of general suspicion, to full-blown anger towards Rocket.

She pushed the button to the airlock, and the door opened, leading into a smaller room. Sale stepped inside, and Rocket followed suit. The room was incredibly small, due to the overall small and sleek design of the ship. Rocket and Sale stood about a foot apart from one another, as the depressurization took place and the other end of the room opened up.

Immediately, the heat was noticeable. Sale was quick to jump out, rather burning in the sun than being in close contact with Rocket. The metal that the landing pad was composed of was hot enough to give them third degree burns, had they not taken precaution and leaped onto the sand nearby. The sand was warm and somewhat pleasant underneath Sale's paws. She heard a thud, grunt, and turned to see Rocket struggle to get up. He brushed sand from his black tanktop and turned to smile a toothy grin at her.

Against her will, Sale found that very charming. Rocket came up to stand by her, looking in all directions as he did so. Then the realization hit her.

"So which way now?" She questioned.

"My PDA is broken, but I could type the coordinates into yours to show us the way." Rocket replied, placing his hands on his hips. Sale pulled up her wrist-mounted computer and opened up the GPS program. She brought up the "Input Location" dialogue box as Rocket approached her even closer, invading her circle of comfort. Instantly she flinched and stepped back, shooting him a cold, questioning glare.

"What?" She stated.

"Calm down, I was just gunna put it in-"

"Just tell me the coordinates."

"It'll be faster if I do it."

Sale thought about it for a second, and decided she honestly didn't care enough to argue about it any further. She held up her wrist to Rocket as he moved over and began to type in the coordinates. It had been sweltering hot where she was, but the feeling of Rocket's fingers occasionally brushing against her wrist felt pleasurably burning in comparison.

Once finished, Rocket stepped back, smiling at her again with that dumb, stupid, attractive smile. Sale quickly diverted her gaze to her watch, which now displayed directions in the form of a large blue arrow pointing north.

The two began their journey to Rocket's abandoned hideout, walking up and over multiple sand dunes and enduring the harsh heat of the Othinn desert. Rocket ran his tongue against the roof of his mouth, finding himself parched and become dehydrated. Apparently Sale had noticed this, as she pulled a water container from her bag and offered it to him. He looked at her for a few seconds before taking it from her - her face displayed boredom, and coldness. As always.

Rocket made sure to only sip, and not gulp the liquid. The last thing he'd want would to be to waste it and further piss Sale off. Once quenched, he handed it back to her.

"Thanks."

"Yeah."

The two continued in silence for a longer period of time before, surprisingly, Sale broke the silence for once.

"Why the fuck," she said in-between long, heavy breaths, "Did you hide shit here?"

Rocket took a moment to form a response.

"The place I found was abandoned, empty, and perfect for safekeeping shit. Also, it's pretty close to Knowhere, all things considered."

Sale seemed to be satisfied with that answer, as she didn't question him further. The two walked for a bit before a large, rusted, warehouse came into view. It was half buried in sand, giving the appearance of the remains of an ancient civilization. Sale gradually increased her speed, rushing to take shelter within the confines of the hideout.

"Also..." Rocket added, "Everyone hates deserts. Perfect place to hide-"

"Not species that were adapted for this climate...They don't hate deserts."

Rocket grew silent.

"Oh." He muttered, "I guess you're right."

Sale began to laugh, albeit softly. It was a laugh at his expense again, but Rocket felt pleasant this time around, once again finding enjoyment in improving her mood.

It was only a matter of minutes before the two had reached the door of the tall, rusty structure. Rocket stepped in front of Sale and gripped the large wheel on the front door. It was much like a wheel found on a large safe of some sort. As he pulled on the wheel, fighting against the rust and the weight of the metal, Sale found herself infatuated with the sight before her. Rocket's arm muscles seemed to bulge out in a very impressive manner, and his tanktop, now drenched in sweat, was nearly skin-tight. She found it incredibly provocative. Before she could even mentally scold herself for the thoughts, Rocket had opened the door with a loud, metal creek. Once more turning to Sale with that handsome, stupid, dumb smile, he motioned for her to enter first.

Sale was an incredibly smart raccoon, and yet she hadn't figured out the real reason why Rocket had always let her walk in front of him.

He shut the door behind him, and flicked on a nearby switch. Inexplicably, several flickering fluorescent lights had powered on. However, most of the hideout was lit by several holes in the ceiling, the strong rays of the sun coming down and illuminating dust particles as they floated through the air.

The hideout was a warehouse, filled with boxes and piles of what appeared to be a wide array of junk from the galaxy's worst garage sale. While the main room was big and cavernous, there was a small office room to the far right, which Rocket made a beeline to. Sale began to follow, their collective footsteps echoing out throughout the entire building. Once there, Rocket opened the door and pulled the string on a light bulb, miraculously turning it on. Sale entered to the room to find it to be a fully-furnished, small living space, much like a dorm room or a small apartment. There was a bed, a desk, a vault, a dining area that consisted of a small table and one chair, a door that seemed to lead into a bathroom, and a messy pile of technology and guns.

"Welcome home, Rocket," he mumbled to himself, just barely audible to Sale.

The room was small, musty, dusty and warm. Sale took a seat on the bed as Rocket continued to marvel and reminisce on his old belongings. She looked around the room, finding that it had offered a lot of insight to Rocket's true character. And from she was seeing, she felt it comfortable to assume that the two must have had a lot of similarities. Posters of famous space outlaws adorned the wall, held in place by several knifes and darts. A shelf that seemed to be completely devoted to displaying a wide array of guns and such. A most of all, there was pretty much garbage just all over the place. She wasn't really a clean freak either.

Sale felt the bed jostle as Rocket sat down next to her. She turned to notice that he was sitting pretty much as far away from her as he could without falling off the edge of the mattress. He was staring straight ahead, looking somewhat content. She followed his line of sight to discover a mirror on the opposite wall, a large, cracked, rectangular mirror that displayed two sweaty raccoons staring back at it, sitting an almost humorously abnormal distance from each other. The two caught eyes in their reflection, but Rocket didn't look away, beginning to lightly smile. Sale felt a warm sense of happiness upon seeing this, inexplicably.

"Scoot closer, idiot" She heard herself think. The thought seemed to come from the same place as the others of the similar nature - a part of her she'd never even knew existed.

Rocket spoke up before she could freak out again.

"Oh!" He exclaimed, standing up from the bed, "It's in my safe!"

"A safe? Isn't this whole building supposed to be like a safe?"

"My safe keeps it safer. I keep only the really important stuff in there!"

"Uh huh..."

Rocket located the safe in the corner of the room, on a small table, underneath a pile of an assortment of tools and wires. He picked up the heavy safe with one arm, and with the other, shoved everything off the table with a loud, resounding clatter that echoed throughout the building.

He cringed in response to the brash sound, and turned to look at Sale in embarrassment.

"Was that really necessary?" She deadpanned.

"It's more dramatic," He said, slamming the safe down onto the table, pulling up a chair. Rocket heard Sale laugh, and once again felt that same feeling of warmness and joy. By now, it was becoming not such a novel thing, but an amazing feeling nonetheless. He then heard the springs of the mattress contract, and light footsteps as she approached him. He looked around the room for a chair for her, but there was none. Rocket quickly stood up and offered his chair to her, motioning for her to sit down.

Sale stared at him with confusion. Rocket felt himself crumble once again, overthinking this small action and becoming unsure of himself once again. Finally, Sale simply rolled her eyes and sat down.

"Such a gentleman." She said sarcastically. Rocket felt his nervousness dissipate.

He tried to think of some witty repartee, but couldn't. Instead, he went to the keypad on the Safe, typing in his most commonly used code. The screen lit up as Rocket typed in 1-2-3-4, with a beep accompanying his press of every button. Once finished, he hit 'Enter', only to have the screen light up red for a second with a displeasing short buzz.

"Wait, what?"

"One, two, three, four. Are you kidding me, Rocket?" Sale teased.

"Oh no wait, I got it!"

Rocket typed in 4-3-2-1.

The safe lit red and buzzed.

Rocket exhaled in frustration, stopping to think for a few minutes. With each passing second, Sale grew more concerned, beginning to grow angry as well. "Wait, has this fucking idiot really forgotten the pass code?" She wondered.

"Let's just fucking break it open." Sale suggested.

"Can't," Rocket said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "It's uh, indestructible."

"What?" She growled.

"Well you see it's made of this rare alloy I got-"

"FUCK!" Sale exclaimed. She lifted the safe from the table and began viciously spamming random numbers into the keypad. Rocket looked at her in genuine concern, her beautiful light brown fur being illuminated with red every few seconds. Beeps and buzzes seemingly grew louder with every attempt. Several minutes of this went by,Rocket slowly working up the nerve to approach her. He moved his hand up to place it on her shoulder, albeit very slowly and cautiously. However, Sale flinched when Rocket made contact, and threw the safe down onto the table.

She slumped down into the chair and buried her head into her arms.

Rocket felt terrible. Sure his past had never been a huge concern of his, but that's only because he knew what he needed to know. Sale knew nothing. Rocket saw how much she cared, and that he was her only hope to get answers.

And he let her down.

Rocket crouched down beside her, nervously enjoying the close proximity.

"H-hey," he started.

Sale quickly shot up, staring at him with those murderous, alluring, beautiful purple eyes. She was pissed beyond belief and Rocket was scared beyond belief - but at the same time, he felt his heart skip a beat once more.

"I...we were so close." She muttered.

Rocket gently placed his paw on her shoulder. This time she didn't flinch.

"Her fucking fur is like, silky soft! Is she even Raccoon? Or...shit, should my fur be this soft? I should shower more-"

Sale's back began to straighten, as she sat up and looked ahead with revelation in her eyes. Slowly, she turned to Rocket. His worried gaze was one she'd seen all too often.

"He cares an awful lot about me, it seems. Fucker looks like he's ready to cry. Does he-...? Never mind, not important right now."

Sale smiled and pulled the safe to her. Confidently, she entered a new code.

"Eight, Nine, One, Three." She said aloud.

The safe's screen lit up green, and a soft click was heard. Sale pulled the safe's door open. The Half-World Book was in there. It was the only thing in there. She retrieved it and placed it on an empty part of the table.

"This book the only thing that's really that important to you?" Sale asked.

"How did- what?"

"Huh?"

"The...code."

"It's you."

"I-, what?"

"89P13."

Rocket was speechless.

"You remembered that?" he said, voice cracking nervously and a genuine smile once again spreading across his face. He was taken aback by this._"Sure, she could've just had really good memory - or perhaps it could be...she cared?"_Even the possibility of that took Rocket off guard.

Sale looked at him, pondering his behavior. "Okay so maybe he's not a deceiving bastard like I thought he was. Actually, now he's pretty much a nervous wreck - and pretty fun to fuck with." Sale considered. "Fun? Now that's a word I don't use too often. Stalking and killing murderers - that's fun. Stealth and assassinations - that's fun. Spending time with another person? Fuck, maybe I'm the one that's gone soft."

"Dude, don't be a pussy. We got a lot of work to do."

Rocket thought he knew before, but know he absolutely, without a doubt, certain of it.

He loved her.

Papers were spread across the floor, broken pencils and empty water bottles cluttered around the two as they worked. Without a secondary chair, the decision was made that they would translate the book on the concrete floor. Lying on their stomachs, Rocket and Sale both took turns writing down the deciphered symbols and characters onto new pieces of paper. They both read aloud the scriptures, and one took them down. Over the next several hours, the two did just that - alternating and translating efficiently, like a well-oiled machine.

The close proximity didn't bother Sale as much as it should have. As a matter of fact, she found herself quite comfortable being this close to him. It was a foreign, warm, exciting feeling. While her mind was mostly preoccupied focusing on the work of translating the book, she did have brief moments where some other things came to mind.

For instance, Sale realized soon after the two had begun working, that Rocket had a certain musky fragrance to him. Against every one of her predetermined notions about him, she found herself thoroughly enjoying it.

Another moment of significance occurred a bit later in the day. Rocket and Sale were working as usual, when Rocket had briefly gone silent. Turning to look at him, she noticed he was yawning, and moving into a different position. At the time, it wasn't that notable of an event, but Sale found that the sight before her - Rocket leaning his head on his arm, one hand on the book, and glancing at her with those tired, humble orange eyes - seemed to resonate with her. The mental snapshot of Rocket casually staring at her flickered in her mind every so often, as time went by. The image of Rocket, unencumbered by anything else on his mind but her, in his natural state. It was another sign that he may be genuine, and not the deceiving rat she made him out to be. And his eyes...they displayed something then.

"Fondness, comfort...admiration...Love?"

But even so, Sale wouldn't let herself trust him just yet. She'd never trusted anyone before, and was hesitant to trust someone for the first time, especially with something as fragile as her romantic side - something that she'd buried for several decades, and up until recently, forgot existed.

But it was here now.

Initially a whisper, now a yell, a voice inside her screamed to indulge herself for once - to be happy. To let Rocket in. But her voice of reason was hesitant to agree. So there she was - acting cold to him, somewhat friendly, but nothing more.

Several hours had passed by, and the various papers scattered around the floor soon transitioned into a neat, foot-high stack of pages. The Half-World book was gigantic, not only in thickness but the pages themselves were about three times the size of an average book. The two had gotten to what seemed like the middle of the book when Sale had realized just how much time had gone by. As Rocket turned the page, Sale turned her head to look out the open door of the office. The open doorway gave a view of the large, open area of the hideout. What had previously been brightly lit by the glow of the sun, was now dimly illuminated by the blue-white glow of the moonlight.

Sale slowly stood up, stretching to and fro, hearing the satisfying bone 'cracks' and adjusting her shirt.

"What is it?" Rocket asked, his voice dry and rough.

Sale paid no attention to him, and walked out of the small room, into the open area of the warehouse. She continued on her path until she was directly underneath the openings in the ceiling - what appeared to be claw marks of some ancient giant or a terrifying beast. But that wasn't on her mind right now. She was exhausted, and for once, nearly nothing was on her mind. Nothing but how beautiful she thought the sky looked tonight.

Footsteps approached her. She didn't need to turn around to know it was Rocket. Nothing needed to be said at this point in time. The two were tired, and had been staring at the white and black pages of the scriptures for the entire day. Naturally, a time of rest should come.

Rocket looked at her, the chestnut, white and black fur on her face brilliantly lit up by the mystical light of the stars. He debated putting a paw on her shoulder once more, to show his affection, to feel her silky fur once more, but decided against it. This was a perfect moment all by itself, and he didn't dare ruining it.

Minutes passed, with nothing but the soft breaths of the two echoing throughout the building.

Then Rocket remembered something.

Sale heard his feet scamper away, sounding frenzied, as he ran back into the office. She was curious, but not enough to follow him. The sounds of objects being thrown around and glass shattering emerged from the small room, as well as a few Earth swears. She smiled mentally. Rocket soon emerged from the office, clutching a large, slender bottle with one hand. Now she was very curious. Approaching him, she noticed he was looking around for something else. He then seemed to spot it in a large pile of scrapped cars.

"Here, hold this," he said, handing her the bottle and running away once more. She looked at the object in question. It was covered with alien text - none of which she could decipher. What she did understand, however, was the international symbol for alcohol displayed proudly across the front. She scoffed. "Is this dude trying to get me drunk?" She mused. Sale then rotated the bottle to its back. She let out a small gasp as she spotted something else that she could understand - a price tag, stating that this bottle in question was valued at three hundred thousand credits.

Before she could begin to contemplate the reasoning behind Rocket obtaining such an expensive drink, the loud, brash sounds of metal grinding against concrete loudly interrupted her. Looking up, she saw Rocket pulling a couch from behind a pile of metal. She approached to offer help, but once again, the brawny raccoon displayed an impressive amount of strength in pulling the couch from the pile of debris, pushing it towards Sale with one arm. With the other, giving a thumbs up. Sale grinned uncontrollably in response to his stupid, dumb, attractive smile.

Once in position, Sale took a seat beside Rocket on the couch, the stained blue cushions offering an incredible feeling of bliss after multiple hours of working on the hard floor. None of them noticed at this point, but they had been sitting much closer together now than they had previously in the day.

"Who's stupid enough to blow three hundred grand on a bottle of booze?" She asked, handing the bottle back to Rocket.

He laughed and began to unscrew the durable metal cap from the bottle. "Who said I bought it?" Rocket said, smirking.

"Yup, why should I be surprised..." Sale quipped, rolling her eyes.

"I traded for it! Some merchant on Knowhere said he'd pay be three hundred thousand for a particle dissipator, but instead this fucker gives me this shit, claims its the best tasting stuff in the whole galaxy."

"Well is it?"

"I guess we're about to find out."

"We? You trying to fuckin' get me drunk, is that it?" Sale laughed.

"Not everything is about you, Sale."

Rocket took a swig from the bottle, swished around the liquid and considered the taste heavily. Sale found humor in how seriously he appeared to look when tasting the drink.

"So how is it?" Sale said.

Rocket appeared stumped, at a loss for words, confused by the drink's taste. It was like nothing he'd ever tasted before - bitter and sweet, gentle and rough, spicy and refreshing.

"It's..." Rocket zoned out, trying to put it into words. Instead he turned to Sale and offered her the bottle.

Sale grabbed it by it's neck, and brought it to her own lips. After a couple gulps of the drink, she found herself incredibly hydrated, and a slight burning sensation as well.

She looked at Rocket with a gaze, and saw her own emotion reflected in his eyes.

"Right?" Rocket said.

"I kinda like it but I kinda hate it."

"I know, it's awesome!" Rocket exclaimed, grabbing the bottle from her and taking three full gulps of the drink.

"Hey what the fuck! I wasn't done!" Sale laughed, stealing the bottle from Rocket's grasp and drinking even more of the mysterious alcohol. Gulp after gulp, the drink seemed to taste better with every drop. Sale saw Rocket leaning in to take the bottle once again. She countered with a swift kick to his chest, sending him to the opposite end of the couch.

Rocket was taken aback by her sudden act of physical violence, but not at all deterred from grabbing the bottle. He approached her again, rapidly crawling across the couch, only to be met with a kick to the side of his face, knocking him off the couch before he could do anything.

"How did you-," he started, rubbing his muzzle.

"I'm flexible. And faster than you." She said, briefly removing the bottle from her muzzle, only to bring it to her lips again.

"Flexibility ain't everything. Don't underestimate the power of brute strength!" Rocket exclaimed, ramming into the front of the couch, effectively tipping it backwards. Sale reacted quickly, hopping off of the sofa before it fell over, landing a few feet away from Rocket

She glared at him with competition in her eyes.

"Hey look, I don't want this to escalate, and get to a point where I hurt you and make you sad and stuff-"

"Oh you don't gotta worry about that."

Rocket sighed, and quickly flipped the couch to the upright position. He exhaled and took a seat, leaning back on the futon.

"Can we spar later, Sale?"

Sale smiled and sat down beside him. Not close enough for them to touch sides, but close enough that it could be considered somewhat romantic. She gently offered him the bottle, to which he graciously took it from her hands.

"Thanks." He said, slowly sipping away at the drink.

Sale exhaled.

Then a thought came to her. And instead of debating whether or not it was the right thing to say for hours on end, she went right out and said it.

"Thank you too."

Rocket looked at her in confusion.

"For what-the drink? Oh it's really no problem-"

"No, not the drink."

"...then what?"

"For...pretty much everything."

Rocket looked at her, seemingly trying to decipher the meaning of the vague statement by studying her face closer. Sale spoke up once again.

"For taking me here. For...helping me."

Rocket chuckled.

"Well it was either that or die on Knowhere, heh."

Sale grew silent.

Rocket felt like he had just made a huge mistake, so he had spoke up again.

"I mean...I would've helped you anyway."

"Why?" Sale asked, coldly.

"What?"

"Why? Rocket, why would you?"

Rocket looked away from her, lowering his gaze to the bottle, watching the purple liquid swish around. Again, that same silence coming over the both of them, adding to the fire of tension. He looked up to her, a look of worry on his face.

Sale could tell he was contemplating how to phrase his next statement.

"It's just- I don't really...care about a lot of shit. I don't...have a lot of respect for pretty much anything. But, when I met you, you were just this strong, independent gal. Someone who stood for good - in one of the worst places in the galaxy."

Rocket cleared his throat, and slowly lifted his head to meet her gaze.

"I have a lot of respect for you, Sale."

Sale smiled for a second, and soon felt a cold chill again.

"Why should I believe you?" she asked, turning away from him, regretting her choice of words almost immediately.

She heard the rustling of the cushion beside her as he approached, and the soft glass clink as Rocket quickly set down the bottle on the floor. She prepared and gritted her teeth, anticipating his paw on her shoulder. The burning sensation of touch never came, and she opened her eyes and looked at him. He was sitting at a very close proximity to her, his hands crossed and in his lap, looking at her with worry.

"He respects me enough to not make me uncomfortable." Sale contemplated, "He looks like he cares-"

"Sale, I- I've never met anyone like you before. You- You're smart, incredibly talented, you show no fear, you stand up for what's right in the most dangerous place in the galaxy. And um, more importantly - you happen to have an exceptional sense of humor, which is a very rare thing-"

Sale was, in fact touched by his words. She felt an intense warmness grow within her heart with every word he said, to a point where she was fighting the urge to smile stupidly.

But she was still hesitant.

And then she relapsed.

"Ok, I get it. You got a fuckin' crush on me. But why should I trust you?" She deadpanned. Her stone-cold face gazing into his, betraying her inner emotions.

Sale watched as Rocket grew frustrated and stood up from the couch. He began pacing in small circles in front of her, all the while ranting,

"Why should you trust me? I got on your ship, I showed you to the book. I told the truth. At any point in time you could've killed me! And no one would ever know! We're out here, in the middle of nowhere."

"Rocket-"

"I did everything I could to help you, Sale!"

"But why?" She asked

"WHY DO YOU KEEP ASKIN ME THAT?"

Silence enveloped the two.

"This is something I've never experienced before. It's...I don't know what to- I uh..." Sale's voice trailed off. Rocket stared at her, watching her eyes tremble, feeling the heavy weight of sympathy crushing his chest. Slowly and extremely cautiously, he walked over to her and sat down beside her again.

Sale quit the train of thought, grabbing the bottle from the ground and bringing it to her lips once more. The liquor bottle was less than halfway empty, Sale taking the initiative to finish the rest of it.

Rocket watched her as she did so, a slight nervousness brewing within him.

"That stuff's pretty strong..."

Sale ignored him, and continued the drinking.

"Sale, are you sure-"

He was interrupted with the loud shattering of the glass bottle against the concrete ground. The glass shards scattered across a ten meter radius, each piece sparkling in the moonlight. Rocket followed the line of sight from the bottle's impact, to Sale's toned arms, to Sale's face - gazing into his.

"She looks so fucking amazingly hot right now," Rocket thought to himself.

Sale started laughing again.

"Forget the whole thing. I mean, what was I fuckin' worrying about? Haha..." Sale said.

"What do ya mean?" Rocket giggled.

"I mean," Sale said between laughs, "I don't think you're actually a threat."

"Is that so?"

"I could obviously kick your ass if you tried anything!"

The two shared an extended laugh.

"Alright," He began, standing up, "Let's settle th-FUCK!"

Rocket exclaimed in pain and leapt back onto the couch, having stepped on a large shard of glass. As he cradled his injured foot, Sale's laugh increased in volume.

"You fuckin' dumbass, are you okay?"

Rocket winced in pain.

"Y-yeah, totally. I could still beat you up."

Sale stood up, being careful and sidestepping the pieces of glass. She continued walking until she ended up the most well-lit area of the warehouse. The beams of moonlight were strongest in this area, illuminating the particles of dust with a white-blue tint.

Rocket stared at her as she turned to look at him, her fur glistening in the luminous cobalt lighting. Her purple eyes were vivid and striking, her white, black, and chestnut furred face displaying one of genuine enjoyment. Rocket quickly stood up, stepping carefully around the glass and making his way to her.

The two stood across from each other, each glaring at one another with glaring, playful competition. Sale had a playful smirk across her face, one that Rocket had seen twice before - the one that drove him crazy. Rocket had a predatory grin on his, appearing hungry and cannibalistic, in some way. Sale found it incredibly arousing.

"Ready?" Rocket growled.

"Do something, idiot." Sale teased.

Rocket charged at her, extending his arms and aiming directly at her torso. Sale saw the intent in his eyes, and prepared a block and a counter attack. As soon as he had come within a foot of her, she brought her foot up and swiftly kicked him in the face.

Two loud, painfully-sounding impacts echoed throughout the hideout - Rocket getting kicked in the face and Rocket falling onto his back.

For the first time ever, Sale felt just a little bit bad about causing physical harm to someone. But before she knew it, she felt her balance thrown off - Rocket had swept her legs with his foot, causing her to fall onto her side. Sale caught herself, planting two solid paws on the concrete, and quickly and swiftly pushing herself back onto her feet.

Once upright, she immediately went in for another swift and powerful kick to Rocket's chest. Unexpectedly, he had caught her leg in his paws, and pulled her to him. In an impressive display of skill and balance, Sale had leapt into the air, using her other free leg to kick Rocket in the neck.

Rocket jumped back, just in time to dodge the blow. He then threw a punch, which she caught. She then threw a few of her own, which he had also blocked. The two eventually exchanged several blows, both evenly matched, combat-wise.

Minutes passed, and the two become more tired and exhausted. They were also frustrated as a result of neither of them taking the upper hand in the fight - them being locked in a stalemate for what seemed like an incredibly long amount of time. Hit after hit, dodge rolls, blocking, shoving, and kicks. Rocket's vision had become blurred and foggy. Sale saw this and took advantage of the situation, landing a blow onto his muzzle.

Rocket's head shot backwards, grunting in pain as his tooth cut into his inner lip.

"F-fuck..." He started, shuddering out a breath.

"So when...is this...over?" Sale said.

"Wh-when...one of us...is on the fucking gr-"

Sale cut him off, charging Rocket as he blinked and forcing him onto the ground. She had knocked the wind out of him, Rocket exhaling harshly into her face - Sale subconsciously enjoying the earthly aroma. With either paw on each side of his head, Sale straddled him, starring at his face as he slowly opened his eyes. Those exhausted hazel brown eyes staring into hers, a trail of blood seeping out of his mouth and onto the side of his head.

"That's that," she said.

"I slipped. L-Let's call it a draw."

Sale laughed.

Rocket looked up at her.

She was backlit by the moon, the night sky surrounding her.

Rocket's reflected smile soon faded, as more serious and romantic thoughts floated into his mind. He redirected his gaze onto her mouth, imagining how soft and delicate her lips must feel, and how perfectly her muzzle would fuse and meld with his. Sale noticed this, and her slight grin began to falter as well.

She grew uncomfortable, and broke eye contact with Rocket. She sat up and scooted away from him, having abandoned her pinning and intimate position. He followed suit, leaning up. He saw it in her eyes that she'd had some very heavy thoughts on her mind as well - she appeared contemplative, and moderately...afraid?

"Hey. Sale?"

No response.

He leaned closer to her, placing his paw on top of hers. He thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of his rough paw pads on her silky soft fur. He watched her head slowly and adorably rise to look at his paw on hers, and then at him - vibrant purple orbs peering into nervous brown ones.

"Let's get some shut-eye." Rocket said.

Sale thought for a moment.

Reason and logic had gotten her nowhere. She made the decision based on passion alone. Flipping her paw, she gripped his forcefully, and lifted it to his eye line.

"Do you think we should talk about this?"

Rocket felt his heart sink.

"About what? I don't-"

She scoffed.

"About what? You're really gonna ask that?" Sale had burst out laughing.

Rocket felt instant regret.

"About what...Okay...," Sale began to list out, grabbing one of her fingers with an opposite paw, "There was that time on Knowhere where were hiding behind that dumpster and you were smelling my neck, I felt that!"

"Yeah, I was-"

"And last night where I gave you that cock-hungry look and made you all nervous and shit!"

"I fuckin' knew you did that on purpose! That's so not cool-"

"You were starin' at me like, nonstop while we transcribed the Half-World book..."

"Yeah, okay. I get it."

"And this morning! All that about how my jumpsuit left 'little to the imagination' ?"

"Okay! You're fucking hot! Is that it? You want me to confess? I'm sure you already knew that."

"So is that it?"

"What?"

She leaned in closer to him, setting a paw on his knee.

"Is that it?

Rocket looked away, avoiding her eyes. He would require no time at all to put into words the feelings he had for her, and could just as easily tell them to her. But even given the perfect opportunity, he fought every urge and instinct to finally let her know. There was this small thing stopping him, this one component that didn't sit well with him. Throughout the course of their time together, Sale had never shown any romantic, genuine, intimate interest at all. It made him think that his deep confession would be pointless. That these feelings of his were not mutual, and could damage or possibly ruin their friendship.

Rocket looked at her, meeting her eyes. He started to think about her, as a person. From the beginning, it was clear to him that she wasn't someone that was given an easy life. Her strength had to have originated from pain, as it usually does. Then he started to see things from her perspective. She'd lived her whole life with a 'kill or be killed' mentality, casting aside any capacity for trust she may have had.

Now Rocket was confused.

"Does she still not trust me? She trusts me to lead her to an abandoned warehouse in the middle of fucking Knowhere...she can clearly best me in a fight, why doesn't she-..." his thoughts trailed off for a few seconds.

"She's hesitant to trust me with her heart," he realized.

While Rocket had been going through this inner monologue, Sale had watched him. "If he had any feelings for you, he'd require no time to put them into words. Scumbag's probably upset you aren't up for a loveless fuck."_She contemplated, _"He's exhibited zero scumbag behaviors thus far. Maybe he's just nervous? Trying to think of just the right words? But...he...he is taking a long time."

Sale sighed.

"Never mind," She she said, voice slightly cracking. "It's-"

Rocket had once again placed his paw on hers. He'd scooted closer to her and looked her directly in the eyes. He'd cleared his throat, and begun to speak.

"That isn't it. It's not just that. Like I said before, you're one of the only people in this shitty fucking galaxy that I respect. I really think it's cool how you stand up for justice, even when it may seem impossible. I like how you're knowledgeable about engineering-It's really nice to talk to someone who actually knows what the fuck they're talking about."

The two shared a concise and nervous laugh.

"And another thing! A lotta chicks don't got a damn sense of humor! It's fuckin ridiculous. I, uh...I actually feel...not... like a freak or like vermin when I'm with you. I like listening to your voice. I like looking at you. You make me feel warm...and, I have this stupid thought running around my head...that like, you happen to be the only other female bipedal raccoon in existence, and you also happen to be most hardcore chick in existence, and I somehow managed to get lucky enough to meet you, to get to know you, and to spend time with you."

Rocket took a breath.

"I don't know if this will sound cute or cheesy or creepy, but I...I feel like..., I feel like you were made for me."

The two shared a silence.

"So, that's what I think."

Sale kept her gaze on the ground.

Rocket cleared his throat.

"W-What do you think?"

"I think you're dumb."

"What?"

"I think you're dumb, and stupid, and handsome, and cute, hot, smart, funny, and you make me feel happier than I've ever felt before. Like...in my entire life. Honestly...I feel like you were made for me too. T-that we're made for each other."

After her dialogue, Sale continued to stare at the floor. She felt Rocket's paw on top of hers now begin to burn wonderfully on her own.

"So where does that leave us?," Rocket stammered.

Sale chuckled.

"I dunno, but I don't think I can act all flirty and get you to choke up like I used to."

They both shared a laugh.

"I dunno..."

"Oh? What're you suggesting?"

"I'm not suggestin' anything. All I'm saying is... it might have a different effect."

"Like?"

Rocket shrugged.

Sale giggled, moving her paw up to brush some stray furs past her ear and slowly brought her gaze up. With a playful and somewhat hungry smile, she leaned over to him. This time around, Rocket was not fazed as she approached. Sale tested this, crawling closer and closer. Her face was inches from his.

They felt each others breath.

"Yeah this is not as much fun without you getting all worked up."

"Hard to get worked up knowing that you wouldn't kill me if I...reciprocated."

"You don't know that."

Rocket chuckled, the low, bassy rhythm sending chills down Sale's spine.

"So you're saying that you don't want me, a quote-unquote 'handsome, cute and hot' guy just all over ya?"

Sale giggled, and her eyes began to wander from his eyes, down to the cybernetic implants on his neck, then down to his muscled torso.

"_Fffuck...,"_She cursed to herself.

Rocket noticed this, and brought one of his arms up to her chin, gently nudging it upwards, to meet his eyes.

"Eyes up here, mister." Rocket purred.

Their mouths were now inches apart. The two stared into each others eyes.

"Do something, idiot." Sale growled.

Rocket leaned his head forward, gently pressing his lips onto hers. He'd felt time stop, that any useless information that had been in his head had instantly vanished - where they were, why they were there...none of that was important. All that mattered to him at this point was how incredibly soft and tender and moist her lips were. It wasn't his first kiss, but it was the only passionate one he'd ever had. One wherein he'd actually cared about the person he was kissing. It felt much different this time around. It had actually felt somewhat electrically charged, much like delectable sparks extending across their obsidian lips.

As for Sale, her first kiss couldn't have gone better. She'd had nothing to compare it to, but the heated, intimate, wet kiss was a sensation unlike any she'd ever had. Being the inexperienced one she'd, for once, decided to let go, and give control to another.

Rocket tilted his head slightly, allowing his muzzle to fully enter hers, every inch of their lips connecting. After a few moments of this, he quickly retracted from her, gently gasping for air.

"That was- I forgot to breathe...," He whispered between breaths.

Sale gazed at the raccoon before her, nervously breathing and looking up at her for validation. Every second of the kiss was incredible, and she desperately wanted it to continue. The voice of reason in her head was nonexistent at this point, all rationality was gone. There was nothing else in the world but her and him.

And she wanted him.

Alas, the few seconds Sale took to realize how happy she was at this point, Rocket mistook her prolonged silence as that of shock or anger.

"Oh..Sorry. I shouldn't-"

Sale had interrupted him with a swift and forceful shove, knocking him to his back. She then wrapped both her arms around his neck, running her fingers through the fur on the back of his head. Sale looked at him for a brief moment, admiring his cute, confused, and somewhat nervous expression before smashing her muzzle into his.

Rocket exhaled through his nose in surprise and arousal. He found her lips were much more eager this time around, passionately and vigorously pressing onto his. With their muzzles fully connected, Sale moaned quietly into Rocket's mouth. Soon after, she felt his burning paws gently plant themselves on her hips, his digits gently exploring and massaging the small of her back.

The sensation of romantic touch was unfamiliar to Sale, but she found she thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. She felt it to be enticing, comforting, and incredibly arousing.

Gently digging his claws into her tank top's cotton fabric, Rocket pressed his lips against hers even harder, and slowly brought forth his tongue, delicately tasting her lower lip. The flavor was sweet, and knowing that it was Sale's made it all the more delectable.

Sale's heartbeat increased exponentially with each action that Rocket took, and she found herself feeling like she'd never felt before. His coarse and wet tongue traced across her lip slowly, alternating between her bottom lip and her mouth's surrounding stray furs. It was exciting, exhilarating, and hot. She had slowly and sensually migrated her paws from his upper neck to his lower jaw, then finally gripped the sides of his head tightly.

Her tongue began to crave his taste as well, She'd extended it slightly, parting her lips and touching her tongue with his. She merely rested her tongue atop of his, but Rocket exhaled loudly as they had made contact. His grip on her curvaceous sides tightened, his claws threatening to tear into her shirt. Once her tongue had entered his mouth, they had begun to spiral out of control.

Any amount of restraint or composure was now a distant memory.

Rocket pulled down on Sale's hips, tightly pressing her body to his as they kissed. He'd found the friction to be incredibly arousing, and within minutes, his member had reached it's complete firmness. Sale had felt his manhood press against her, and a wave of blood had rushed to her cheeks. She'd removed her paws from his face and had positioned them on his broad, toned chest, excitedly exploring his muscled torso, or at least, what his black tanktop had covered.

Restraint was gone, and she wanted to feel him. Not the texture of his clothes, but his warm, coarse fur. She cared not for composure, and proceeded to use her sharpened claws to tear into Rocket's tanktop. Within one swift motion, four large openings in the fabric were made, and Sale dug both her paws into them. Taking no effort, she'd pulled apart in separate directions, effectively ripping the shirt in half, and presenting Rocket's bare torso to her.

With no hesitation, she'd passionately planted her paws on him. They moved about him, hungry for the sensation of touch, to caress his build, to feel him. To feel Rocket.

He broke the kiss, much to the dismay of Sale.

"You know, ya could've just asked me to take it off," He teased, whispering into her ear.

Sale, however, was not in a cute, flirty mood anymore. She removed one hand from his chest and tightly gripped his head, positioning it back in front of hers, and crashing her lips once again into his. Their kisses were wet, sloppy, and aggressive. Time after time, Sale pushed her head harder against his, dragging her tongue from the roof of his mouth to the back of his throat. Their noses were constantly exhaling onto each others cheeks, their breaths rapid, frantic, and loud.

As Rocket continued to run his paws all over Sale's lower back, the idea crossed his mind to forcibly tear her garments as she did his. But he wouldn't be sure where it would escalate from there, and the concrete floor was now starting to become uncomfortable.

He broke the kiss once more. Sale's eyes shot open, and she was pissed off.

"Stop. Fucking. Doing that," She demanded.

"Sale, I-...I'd think we'd both be more comfortable, if we both took this somewhere else?"

"Fine, carry me, whatever. Don't fucking stop kissing me, dumbass."

Sale angrily pressed her lips to his, her thirst for his saliva never ceasing, her hunger for the taste of his lips seemingly growing by the second. For a brief moment, Rocket was confused as to how he'd go about transporting her to the bed in his room. But within a few moments, an idea popped in his head, and dastardly grin emerged on his lips.

Rocket sat up slowly, tightly gripping her curves. Sale wrapped her arms around his neck once again, interlocking them. He'd taken a knee, creating leverage for him to rise up and stand. She'd wrapped her legs around his waist. For 'support', Rocket migrated his paws from above her waist to slowly and tightly gripping her tight, round ass.

She exhaled rather loudly into his face as he did this, increasing her ferocity in the kiss, desperately and passionately exploring every inch of his mouth with her tongue.

Within a few minutes, Rocket had managed to carry her to his old bedroom. Lacking any subtlety, he threw her onto the bed, excitedly climbing on top of her. Straddling her now, their wet mouths never broke connection, and Sale's moans continuing to grow in volume. This time, she'd broken the kiss.

"You didn't carry me here just to feel me up, did ya?" She teased, wiping some sweat from her face with the back of her paw.

"I mean, the concrete was pretty uncomfortable..." Rocket replied, leaning in and tenderly kissing the side of her muzzle, softly caressing her cheek.

"But I don't need to devise schemes to feel you up, do I?" He whispered, his hot breath sending shivers through her spine.

She'd tried to tease back, but felt her heart nearly beat out of her chest, finding it hard to catch a full breath. He then slowly turned her head towards his, guiding it with his paw. He gazed at her, his chestnut eyes lovingly admiring her violet orbs. His expression was one she'd seen earlier that day - a hungry and predatory grin. She'd felt his opposite paw glide across her hip, before working it's way under her shirt, gripping it with his thumb. Before she could break eye contact, he'd moved even closer, dragging his muzzle across her face, exhaling into her ear.

"...because I know you want it too," Rocket breathed.

Sale whimpered.

Rocket brought both hands to her curves, slowly working their way up, taking her shirt off with them. He'd leaned back a bit - just enough distance to see her...all of her. She'd grown distressed, they hadn't kissed for about a minute now. With a huff, she'd soon realized that he purposely running his hands across her at an excruciatingly slow pace, withholding kisses, whispering in a sultry tone, all to get her riled up, much like she did him. However, just knowing this didn't make it any easier for her to resist him.

She'd contracted her shoulders, lifting her arms and neck slightly, allowing Rocket to fully remove that one piece of clothing. Rocket had carelessly tossed it to the side. He'd leaned back into a kneel, a leg on either side of her. Rather humorously, Rocket struggled to pull the ripped tank top of his own body. Making short work of it, he'd threw it aside in a similar manner, slowly lowering himself back over Sale.

Their nearly bare bodied connected with the sensation of a pleasing wildfire. Paws ran along her sides once more, before migrating to her back. One teased her lower waist, while the other pushed her chest harder against his. Rocket leaned in for a kiss, but stopped just a few inches away. He watched her as she closed her eyes in anticipation, before slowly opening confusedly. Rocket smiled at her with a toothy grin. Sale, however was pissed off beyond belief. Gritting her teeth, she'd dug her claws into his back and neck.

"Oh you think teasin' me is so fun, yeah?" She'd growled, her voice reaching bassy tones that Rocket had never heard from her before.

Rocket nervously chuckled, wincing in pain.

Sale contracted her left leg, bringing it between her and Rocket's lower stomach. In an incredible display of flexibility, she'd teased his abdomen with her feet paws, claws gently dragging across his fur. She'd relished in seeing is smug expression wither away, into one that she'd imagined that she had just moments earlier - a heated mess.

She'd caught the both waistline of his pants and the hem of his boxers with the tip of her foot, and grinned wickedly as she began to slowly, and excruciatingly bring them down.

"S-Sale, we don't have to-," Rocket started.

She silenced him with a gentle, restrained kiss. Once broken, she lidded her eyes as she gazed at his nervous face.

"You were right," She said softly.

Rocket's hard, throbbing cock was now free of its confines, slapping against her loins, dampening her furs with his abundance of precum. Sale ran her muzzle against the side of his face, mirroring his previous actions. She licked her lips before sending him over the edge.

"I do want this..." She exhaled.

She'd brought his pants past his feet, effectively removing them completely. Slowly and sensually, she angled her head back, meeting his quivering gaze. She decided against waiting for him to regain composure, and instead moved forward to kiss him. Unbeknownst to her, Rocket had, at that point, lost all control. He'd crashed her lips into hers, both of their heads colliding with powerful force. Their muzzles were now accustomed to one another, fitting together perfectly. The sensations felt as great as they had with each continued kiss, if not yielding an increased amount of pleasure. She threw her paws around him, massaging and gripping his muscled back.

Rocket pulled her harder and closer to him, their sweaty bodies seemingly melding together. He moaned deeply as his erect member was compressed against her crotch. Without daring to break the wet kiss, Rocket arched his back and moved his hands to her own tight pants. Aggressively and desperately, he'd nearly ripped them off her legs, pulling them back as far as he could without leaving her mouth. Sale had broke the kiss, allowing him to do so. Excitedly, Rocket completed removing her pants, then panties. Finally, he began to position himself to enter her.

Holding his throbbing, hard, crimson cock in his hand, Rocket aimed the tip towards her moist, hungry, pink entrance. He placed it in the correct position, drawing out a brief gasp from Sale, then proceeded to lower himself back down, pressing his body against hers and passionately kissing her cheek.

"Are you ready?" He'd asked.

"Y-yeah," She exhaled.

Rocket detected a brief amount of nervousness from her.

"I-I'll be gentle," Rocket assured her.

Sale scoffed.

"Fuck that."

She wrapped her athletic legs around Rocket's pelvis, and forced him completely inside of her. The both of them let out a surprised gasp. Sale underestimated the overall length and girth of Rocket's dick, as it seemed to painfully stretch her inner walls apart. Rocket had never felt his shaft be embedded in something so tight before, shuddering and shivering into her neck.

The two took the time to catch their breaths, and eventually caught eyes. Rocket gazed down at Sale, her expression reading one of pain, anxiety, and pleasure.

"There's that cock-hungry look again," he teased, his breath shuddering.

"Shut up and fuck me," Sale deadpanned.

Rocket did as requested, slowly moving his member outwards, and then gently thrusting forwards. The two resumed their cannibalistic kissing, their paws traveling all across one another. Sale contracted her legs against his pelvis, thrusting him against her harder, indicating she wanted a faster pace. He obliged, sliding in and out of her slightly quicker.

The squeaking of the old mattress grew louder with each thrust. Curious paws eventually found their way over to Sale's chest. He eagerly and vigorously caressed the bright red material covering her plump, sizable breasts. She'd giggled into his mouth, momentarily breaking the kiss.

"Can't unhook a bra, can ya? Shame... it'd probably feel better," She teased.

"I can think of something."

Rocket unsheathed his claws, tearing into the middle of the bra, then pulling it apart. Rocket silenced her with a kiss and a faster thrust pace before she could protest. Both of his paws found their way to each of her breasts, both fervently kneading and clutching them tightly. Sale had moaned into his mouth once more, her voice's pitch seemingly increasing with every thrust. He found her fur was much softer on this part of her body, allowing his paws to glide across them with ease. His grip hardened on them with each thrust, extracting a small moan from Sale in response.

He'd begun to pump her faster, his cock shoving deeper into her. Sale had threw her head to the side, letting out a broken gasp. Acting on pure instinct, Rocket removed his hands from her breasts and wrapped around her back, holding her closer to him. She'd begun to arch her back, her staggered breaths and frantic moans being a symphony to his ears. Rocket opened his eyes after having them closed after sheer concentration, to view the incredible sight before him. Sale had her eyes tightly shut, her jaw hanging slightly agape as she heavily panted. Her breasts bounced with every trust, much to Rocket's delight.

He then realized he'd been incredibly selfish, not taking part in an incredibly important part of intercourse. He'd put two fingers together, gently nudging them into Sale's mouth. She'd instinctively accepted them, eagerly sucking and coating them in her saliva. After a few minutes of this, he removed them from her mouth, dragging them from her chin, down her neck, and across her curvaceous body. Sale's mind was no longer with her, she quivered and moaned in response to his touch. Rocket increased his pace once more as his fingers reached their desired target. Both fingers had teasingly traced the area around her clitoris, before going fourth and gently massaging it. Sale's panicked breaths grew louder, and her moans had reached arousingly loud volume. Rocket knew he couldn't last for much longer, but decided bite down on his tongue and hold on. Sale was in extreme and utter bliss at this point, and he'd be damned if he took that away from her.

He pumped faster, his cock banging against the wall of her cervix and leaving her pussy lips repeatedly, all within intense one-second intervals. He moved like a blur, squeezing her against him, viciously rubbing her clit, and pounding her powerfully.

The initial pain was a distant memory, and the pleasure was overwhelming. Within a few more seconds, Sale knew she would climax. Wrapping her legs tighter around him, and digging her claws into his back, Sale began to prepare herself.

"Rocket...I t-think I..." She barely managed to say, her voice beginning to give out.

"Yeah, me too."

"H-hold...hold...m-me...t-t-tighter,"

Rocket buried his muzzle into her neck, removing his paw from her clit to wrap around her back, using both arms to hold onto her tightly. He'd reached thrusting speeds that threatened to break the bed's sturdy supports.

Sale's moans grew louder, and Rocket began to rhythmically grunt into her neck. This was it, they were both past the point of no return. Sale's inner walls began to tighten around Rocket, as he thrusted deeper and faster that he'd ever had.

Then, in unison, they climaxed. Sale shrieked as she'd felt a flood of sensation unlike anything she'd felt before. Her pussy gripped Rocket's cock as he'd ejaculated load after load of hot, milky cum inside of her. Rocket cursed loudly into her neck, overrun with sensation, emotion, and energy. It was as if they'd both been approaching this cliff all night, and the sensation of jumping off was more than emotionally comprehensible. Sale's body shook and shuddered, her nails sinking deeper into the flesh of Rocket's back, drawing slight amounts of blood. Rocket's grip around her was strong, and she was nearly crushed as he came inside her.

Minutes passed where nothing occurred but breathing. Then slowly, Rocket removed his head from being buried in Sale's shoulder and brought it in front of her. They both stared at each other, each finding some satisfaction in the exhausted and blissful look on the other's face.

Rocket leaned in and kissed her.

It was brief, but it was lovingly.

He then slowly pulled out of her, and rolled over onto his side.

"Fuck..." She exhaled.

Rocket nodded in agreement.

Both being exhausted out of their minds, naturally slumber was what would come after. Rocket picked up two pillows and a blanket off the ground, both which had fallen off as a result of their frantic fucking. He'd gently and carefully slipped one under Sale's head, and placed one down for him. Sale playfully took the blanket from him, and rolled over.

"Night," She said.

Rocket felt a grin grow across his face. He'd pulled the same blanket over his own body, as well, pressing up against her backside and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"I'm the big spoon," He joked.

"I can feel your wet cock on my ass, dude."

Rocket blushed, as he realized that he was, in fact, pressing his flaccid penis up against her rear end. A few moments passed, and without thinking, Rocket brought his hands to her butt, feeling and kneading her plump ass. Then he realized something else. He became fully erect in a matter of seconds, and an idea came to mind.

"Round Two?"

She laughed, a wicked smile finding it's way on her face as well.

"Shut up and fuck me," Sale deadpanned.

And so they did.

And again.

And again.

The two found it incredibly hard to sleep within each others proximity without losing control and having frantic, passionate sex. They both agreed that they needed sleep, so Rocket retreated to the couch in the warehouse, but ending up waking up to find Sale lustfully grinding on his lap. So they fucked again.

It was nearly morning when they'd climaxed for the fifth time, both gazing lovingly into each others eyes and exchanging wet, loving, tired kisses. Sale's eyes began to flutter, and Rocket's followed suit. They snuggled together on the couch, interlocking paws and sharing gentle kisses. She yawned before burying her head into his strong chest. Rocket comfortably rested his head atop hers, enjoying her fruity, musky, sweaty aroma.

They were both moments from falling asleep, before Rocket spoke up.

"Sale?"

"I'm too tired for round six, Rocket..." Sale groaned.

"No that's not-...I just wanted to say that,"

Rocket cleared his throat.

Sale looked up at him.

Vibrant purple orbs peering into nervous hazel eyes.

"I love you," Rocket said.

His voice cracked not only due to his severe exhaustion, but because of the sincerity of his words. Sale felt a sense of tranquility wash over her. Delicately, her fingers gently traced circles on his back. She slowly arched her head up to tenderly kiss his muzzle. There were several moments wherein she'd suspected he loved her. The way he'd looked at her while they were transcribing the book, gazing at her like she was an equal, a best friend, and the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. The way he'd joked with her, laughed with her, respected her. The way he'd caressed her softly, and the way he kissed her. She'd never been more sure of anything in her life.

"I love you too."

Rocket smiled.

"Now shut up, I'm tired," She muttered.

The two awoke earlier that day borderline enemies, but would fall asleep together, as lovers.

As Rocket felt consciousness begin to leave him, he had a level of happiness that he'd never had before. His heart beat stronger, with more purpose, filled to the brim with love. As he gently stroked her fur, he couldn't help but stupidly grin in retrospect of the days events. Sure, after a few dozen drinks and on a particularly lonely night, the raccoon couldn't help but fantasize about his 'perfect woman.' Up until now, he hadn't realized how much he wanted someone. Within a few seconds, he fell asleep filled with hope.

Hope that tomorrow morning, Rocket would wake up smiling for the first time.

Suddenly, she was awake.

Sale stirred from her slumber, her vision and consciousness slowly coming back to her. The first object coming into the female raccoon's vision was a withered poster of a very busty alien - she smirked as she suddenly remembered where she was.

And who she was with.

She yawned and shifted, tossing aside the sweat-stained thin sheets to turn to Rocket. The brawny mammal was laid back, facing the ceiling as his chest slowly rose and fell. She shifted into a more comfortable position and began to examine him more closely. Just like her, his fur was matted, clumped in a few spots and just overall...filthy. Sale sighed in admiration.

Her eyes eventually traveled up from his well-defined pectorals and rested on his face. Even in sleep, the raccoon displayed that same cocky, self-assured smug grin.

That stupid, hot smile.

Sale held her breath as she saw as his eyes slowly open, blink, and stare at the ceiling for a few minutes. She was a bit confused as she witnessed his face transition from a neutral expression to an...angered, saddened one?

Before she could speak up and question him, the rugged raccoon rolled over to face her. Instantly his mood shifted, and a gleeful expression instantly covered his face.

"G-good morn-" Sale started, but she found herself unable to finish as Rocket leapt forward and embraced her, tightly wrapping his arms around her. She giggled as she felt his snout plant itself in her neck, softly inhaling and exhaling, taking in her scent. Sale pulled his head from her shoulder to face her, gently cupping his ruffled cheek.

"Good morning to you too, handsome," She whispered.

"I...I fuckin' thought that...last night was a dream," Rocket laughed, before leaning forward gently kissing the side of her snout.

Sale heartily chuckled, then grabbed Rocket by his small ears and brought his face before his.

"That's...that's a weird way of putting it."

She proceeded to slide her muzzle into his. The simple kiss soon snowballed into a frantic, desperate and passionate make-out session, with Rocket climbing on top of Sale and powerfully gripping her back and pressing her to him. Just as Sale began to feel a large, moist stiff member drag across her lower stomach, she heavily exhaled and pushed him away slightly.

Rocket blinked a few times.

"You...broke the kiss? You never break the kiss!"

"Rocket, it's just...we got a lot to do."

He sighed, reluctantly rolling off of her and sitting up beside her.

"Yeah, you're right."

Sale followed suit, sitting up beside Rocket and leaning her head on his shoulder. The two silently held each other for a while, staring lovingly at each other's intertwined charcoal paws.

"Should we get going?" he whispered.

"Hmmm..." Sale wondered.

Grinning wickedly, she gripped his head and lumbered atop him.

"Maybe in say, thirty minutes?"

"Wait, why thirty minutes?"

Sale gave him a deadpan glare, her piercing violet eyes virtually slapping him in the face.

"Oh!" Rocket realized.

Somewhere out in space, a few light years outside of Othinn, a ship idled.

A crazed rabbit's ship.

The spacecraft in question was much less quieter than usual. On a regular day, the tyrant BlackJack O'Hare would demand extreme silence, but today he was locked away in the conference room. There he awaiting a call from his superior. The ship's crew was on edge, gossiping and frantically awaiting the news their leader would bring.

O'Hare himself stared motionless at the screen, occasionally twitching. He stood frozen, waiting, heart racing and thoughts non existent. He'd been reassured time and time again of his place - that he was a foot soldier in something much bigger than he. O'Hare was devoid of any other emotions save for anger and fear. Every second of every added another ounce of stress and anxiety to rest on his shoulders. The situation he was in, that we was chosen to be in, drove him insane.

Insane enough to be controlled.

Soon the screen lit up, and a hooded figure with a protruding pink snout coming into focus. A deep, threatening voice filled the room as it began to speak.

"You will pick up the pace, O'Hare."

The rabbit's heart thumped in his ears.

"Close in. Faster."

"Yes, Master Jakes," BlackJack blankly said, "We're on standby awaiting their next move."

"You have their location, no?"

"Yes, Master Jakes. We will ambush when the time is right."

"And how will you know when the time is right, exactly?"

"Master Jakes, I've had an intuition. Thanks to you."

The hooded mole sighed heavily.

"That had better be soon. It's absolutely imperative that I retrieve that book before they have it for too long."

"Yes, Master Jakes. Understood."

"Do not fail me."

The call then cut out, dimming the room once more as the shaking rabbit stood there in the darkness. He twitched his head a few times, before spinning around quickly and quickly walking back to the captain's chair. As soon as the doors to the conference room had unlocked, commotion and havoc occurred as the rabbit's constituents scrambled to get back into their positions. Normally the noise would've made O'Hare furious, but his mind was elsewhere for the first time.

For the first time, he felt something different.

When he finally found himself on the chair, he pulled tracking screen once again to his face. He began to chuckle lightly.

The ship fell quiet.

He looked up to see the faces of his subordinates staring at him with fear and confusion.

They were unaware of his new condition.

"Could someONE pleeAASE tell me the StAAATUS of our two LOVELY TARGETS?" BlackJack O'Hare psychotically yelled.

There was a silence.

Then a nameless rabbit spoke up.

"W-we-we're detecting movement, C-Captain. Looks like another ship came and left, but there's one life form alone-"

BlackJack stood up, silencing the terrified worker.

He began to laugh loudly and manically, filling the air with an uncomfortable suspense.

His mind raced.

"THE TIME HAS COME, RABBITS."

Earlier

After an intense round of lovemaking, a rather uneventful trek back to their ship, an extremely eventful and long shower together, the two found themselves staring at the dusty planet get smaller and smaller as they departed from Othinn. Sale kept her paw steady on the ships' throttle, lowering it completely and reducing the ship's speed to zero. Once the ship was idle, Sale leaned back on the captain's chair, swiveling around to see none other than Rocket staring straight at her.

"You look really cute when you're initiating a takeoff sequence, babe." He purred, his head resting in his hands.

"That's the stupidest thing you've ever said to me," She laughed, walking up and gripping his head in her paws.

"Really? That?! What about last night when I-"

"Don't even bring that up again I swear I was so close to just fucking letting you suffocate, Haha!"

Rocket heartily laughed, closing the distance between the two and embracing Sale in an fiercely tight hug. The two warmly held each other, lovingly nuzzling each other's cheeks. Then a thought came into Rocket's mind.

A realization.

The raccoon broke the hug and threw his hands to his head.

"FUCK! THE GUARDIANS!"

"What the Guardians?"

"PDA-Give-" He mumbled, leaning forward and sliding Sale's new circular wrist computer off of her arm, and began rapidly tapping the screen and pressing buttons.

"What the hell, what're you-"

"The Guardians- my friends, I haven't spoke to them since I was stranded on Knowhere, god, they must be worried!"

"What're you doin' with my PDA?" She asked, leaning over his shoulder.

"Oh no it's fine I'm just formatting the main system, resetting your PDA IP and having it spoof mine so I could access my inbox- HOLY SHIT."

"What is it?"

"Fuck...I got a ton of unread messages and missed calls and-They're calling me again! Holy fuck, I gotta take this."

Pairing the video call service to the ship's wind shield monitor, Rocket ran forward to the Captain's chair, sitting and preparing for the video call.

"What're doin sitting in my chair?"

"Sh-sh-sh-"

The video call began, and the screen lit up with Star Lord's face.

"Rocket what the fuck?!" the human yelled.

"Heya Quill, Yeah, I've uh, been really busy the past few days-" Rocket sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Busy?! Wha- Is that another raccoon?"

"Oh, yeah, that's Sale, I found her-"

"I found you, dumbass!" Sale interjected.

"-on Knowhere..." Rocket continued.

"Wait, woah, what?" Peter asked/

"Yeah, yeah. Long story. Turns out I'm not the only rac- Alright, OK enough about me! I need you to fill me in on what I missed."

So Star Lord explained to his friend that The Guardians were not only successful in their mission, but word of their victory spread throughout the quadrant and they already had another job planned. Quill explained that the success of their last job was narrow and somewhat lucky - the Guardians needed Rocket for this next task.

"Well what's the job?"

"Defending valuable batteries from an inter-dimensional Abilisk monster guy."

"Oh shit that sounds AWESOME! Here, I'm sending ya my coordinates, come pick me up and-" He stopped.

Rocket looked back to Sale, and the back to the call.

He sighed.

"I...I can't go, Quill."

"What? What do you mean? You can't say no to this, Rocket, you're part of our team-"

"Sorry, Peter." he said, before ending the call and setting down his PDA.

A long, troublesome silence washed over the two.

"Rocket, you don't have to-" Sale started.

"No, I do."

He looked at her with a solemn look in his eyes.

"You're what's important to me now. Not them."

"Babe...that's sweet but also really stupid."

"What?-"

"They're your friends and they need you!"

"Sale, I don't wanna leave you."

"It won't be forever, Jeez. And I can take care of myself."

"It's not that, its-"

Rocket stepped in and held her.

"I don't want to go," he whispered.

Sale returned the embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck, nuzzling the side of his face.

"I-I just love you so much..." He croaked out.

"I love you too, dumbass." She chuckled.

Rocket pulled away from her to look her in the eye.

"But, Halfworld? The book, we still have a lot to translate, and-"

"Rocket. Babe. It's fine, we can wait."

She saw as the worry slowly started to disappear from his eyes.

"I know you miss them."

"I do."

"You'll be back, right?"

"I will."

"Then there's no reason to worry."

She leaned in and gently kissed him on the side of the muzzle.

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

Rocket smashed his mouth into hers, clutching her head and pressing it to his. Their tongues ravagely explored one another, each drop of saliva tasting just as enticing as it always did. After a passionate minute of kissing, Rocket separated from her, panting and meeting her eyes.

"I don't think It's fucking possible for me to love you more than I already do," He smiled. "But let's give it a go."

Sale felt her heart flutter at the words, and after another round of intense, passionate kissing, the two prepared for their separation. Rocket gathered his things, whilst Sale sent their ships current coordinates to the Guardians for pickup. A lot of preparations were made but the minutes went by like seconds, and before she knew it, she was standing before Rocket in front of the airlock making her last goodbye.

"Just a couple of days." He reassured.

"Y-yeah," She muttered.

"You'll be fine?" He asked.

"I'll be fine." She answered.

Rocket began turning to initiate the airlock sequence before Sale stopped him.

"Wait!" She interjected, before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small metal band.

It was his old bracelet, from the lab.

Rocket leaned in, and put his paw over hers, closing the hand that held it.

"Keep it. To remember me."

Sale dryly chuckled, fighting back tears.

"Well now I feel shitty-I didn't get you anything."

Rocket turned back, then gripped the small of her back with vigor.

They both stared into each others eyes, his earthy hazel eyes meeting her vivid violet ones. Then he kissed her. It wasn't the longest kiss they've shared, but it was just as passionate and loving as their first. He then broke it, stepping back and hitting the button to the door behind him.

"You gave me that," He said.

And with that, the door closed. Rocket, with his oxygen suit and helmet, drifted into space. There he was promptly beamed up by the Milano, which had arrived moments earlier.

Then Sale was alone.

She sighed.

She was on the verge of crying, when she reminded herself of something.

Don't be weak...

She smiled.

Her mantra had a much different meaning to her now.

Downtime

[A Guardians of the Galaxy FanFiction]

To Be Continued