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Rocket and The Imp

[A Guardians of the Galaxy FanFiction]

Chapter Two - Confronted

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 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."

She had to pry.

"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 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 cape. 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 don't care."

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 chain-link 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. She'd been followed once before as a result of it. 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 second. Rather than look away in awkwardness, she decided to strike up a conversation.

"That's uh...nice purse you got there," she quipped, referring to Rocket's sachel.

"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...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. He 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-that's it? You 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."

"Hey, that's pretty cool."

"Eh, it was nothing. I mean, building an AI interface and a robot chef is actually pretty fucking cool. I mean, saving the Galaxy is alright 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. When I find out about it...it feels like I've always known about it-like the Halfworld book! Do you know about that?"

"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 out about 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, hyperventilating and gripping her head.

"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? Acquaintances? Comrades? Fuck off! 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.

"H-hey, just listen-"

"I just wanted to know about my past, that's why I didn't kill you. I thought you had answers. But it's not worth it."

"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 that controlled 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 don't 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 smell 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."