*****Author's notes*****

First of all, I have been blown away with the response to this fic! Before posting this, there are more views then words in the story! I'm having so much fun writing it, so I'm glad to see other people enjoying just as much as me.

Secondly, sorry about the long wait this time! My hubby and I just got a new puppy and I've been extremely sleep deprived ever since. He's finally sleeping through the night now though so I have more time and energy to work on this. Little booger is lucky he's so cute and fluffy.

Lastly, thank you for the reviews! They make my day!

To say that Gamora was concerned to see the other woman sitting outside Peter's room looking like she was about to cry was a small understatement. She knelt down and put a hand on Mantis' shoulder, ignoring the small jump of surprise.

"Mantis? Is everything alright?" The innocent young woman let out a deep breath and turned wide dark eyes up to Gamora.

"I am afraid that there may be something...wrong with Peter."

Dark eyes snapping in anger Gamora jumped to her feet and scowled at the closed door, "What did that idiot do to you!" She was ready to go storming and and drag the part Terran out by his ear, but Mantis jumped up and shushed her.

"Please be quiet! We should not wake him." Gamora raised a brow, skeptical, but didn't immediately barge into the room.

"Want to tell me why you were sitting outside his bedroom?" Gamora waited as Mantis' expressive face went through several emotions before she nodded and leaned in to speak quietly.

"Peter asked me to help him fall asleep, since he has not been able to for some nights," she began. Gamora felt her eyebrows both raise at the explanation. "But...when I used my powers to enter his mind and calm it I found something. He felt like..." Mantis trialed off and looked down and away.

"Felt like what?" she prompted, bringing her face back towards her own with a gentle hand. The Zen-Whoberis felt dread pool in her stomach at the frightened look on Mantis' face. A thousand scenarios ran through her mind; Peter was dying, Peter was turning into Ego, Peter was losing his memories. It had to been bad.

Mantis straightened, "His mind had an energy that feels the same as Ego. Ego's mind was the same when I would help him sleep."

Gamora blinked. That was not what she'd expected to hear. "His mind? Are you sure?" Mantis nodded, confident in what she'd felt.

"I am sure." A whistling down the hall made them both turn to look, but they dismissed it soon enough as Kraglin practicing. "His mind feels no different from Ego's."

Gamora didn't say anything for a while but when she did Mantis felt her lips turn down in the barest of frowns.

"It could mean anything, maybe there's just some leftover energy from when they fought. It was only a few days ago. We don't even know if that's just normal for Peter anyways. He is only half Terran after all."

Mantis shook her head vehemently, "No! I know what I felt! His mind did not feel the same when I used my powers on him on the way to Ego. I could tell he was Ego's sone but-"

Gamora cut her off shaking her head, "It doesn't matter. No," she stopped Mantis as she went to protest, "For all we know it's nothing. Don't tell Peter, or mention this to the others. Not until we have proof that there's something there."

The Empath wanted to argue further but sighed as she felt the strong stubborn vibes coming off of Gamora. She knew that trying to prove her theory wouldn't get her anywhere right now.

"Very well," she spoke up a little to be heard over the whistling they'd all been learning to ignore, "I will hold my peace until we are certain that Peter has retained the powers he gained from Ego."

Gamora nodded and gave the smaller woman and quick pat on the shoulder, "Thank you, I just don't want to worry everyone if it's nothing. Come on, let's get-"

As she turned to head back towards their own bedrooms Gamora yelped as the yaka arrow sped past her face and tangled in her hair.

With a snarl she reached up and grabbed ahold of it, "Excuse me Mantis." With a thunderous expression she stomped around the corner towards where the whistling had cut off from and Mantis could hear Kraglin yelp in pain. She winced sympathetically, but just turned and went the other way, not feeling up to stopping Gamora from returning the arrow to Kraglin's cybernetic controller.

The next awake cycle saw most of the crew tinkering or otherwise spending time around the main deck of the ship, with the exception of Peter and a mysteriously absent Kraglin. Gamora was working on taking apart and cleaning her gun while Drax was making Mantis giggle as he explained how he'd met his new family. Rocket was, if Gamora had to guess, fiddling with a new explosive.

"Haven't we almost blown up the ship enough time this week?" she snarked at the rodent as she used a small wrench to help pry apart a stubborn piece of casing.

Rocket shot her a look and snorted, "Whatever, you've caused way more accidents in here since we got off Ego."

"What are you talking about," she huffed. "I don't play wit things that could crack our hull in here!"

He flashed her a sharp toothed grin and waved to his left where a partially covered dent in the wall could be see, "Oh? That so? I guess I just imagined that little incident then?" Gamoa flushed a dark green but just rolled her eyes. Groot looked up from an old coloring book, a small grin forming on his face.

"He wouldn't have gone through the hull!" Rocket just raised a brow and turned to a quietly coloring Groot.

"Sheesh, did I miss the memo about the PMS party or something?"

Gamora snarled and hurled the wrench in her hand at his head, and he scrambled out of the way just in time to send it thudding with a high pitched twang in the door.

Peter, who'd just come through that same door simply raised a brow at the two of them before grinning.

"Well good morning to you all too!" He sauntered in and took a seat by Groot.

Rocket tossed him a lazy salute before going back to his bomb, "Morning princess, you don't look like death today."

Peter tossed a grin towards Mantis and chuckled when she looked down with a flushed face. "Thanks, and you look less like a tree rat today too. Anyways," he waved to cut off that conversation before it could devolve into an insult war, "I'm glad everyone seems so lively today! I found us a new job!"

He just grinned at they mix of resigned, unenthusiastic, and interested looks they threw him.

By now Eocket had given up on the bomb, obviously he wasn't going to be left alone long enough to finish this right now. "Already? Can't we just spend out vacation like normal people and be completly useless and lazy?"

"We are on a vacation?" Drax questioned in the background.

"Nope!" Peter eaggerated the 'o' making it pop as he grined at Rocket, "It's going to be a super easy gig anyways….plus they offered us 2,000,000 units."

His nonchalant posture was at odds with the knowing smirk he threw them as the mount made them all perk up. Gamora groaned, since she already knew Rocket was in and she'd lost her only ally in this debate.

But as Peter and Quill started planning what they could spend the units on, she couldn't help but look his over. He really did look better this morning. The color was mostly back in his face, and the bags under his eyes were all but gone. There was still a dark cloud over his head that made the lines stand out in his face, but he looked better than he had all week. Even still, no matter how hard she stared she just couldn't see anythingreally different about him. Mantis was mistaken, she had to be.

Then she jumped as Rocket snapped his fingers right in her face, only just stopping herself from punching him.

"Bridge to Gamora! D'you copy?" he asked with a raised brow.

"What? Sorry I wasn't listening." she shook herself and tuned back into reality. Mantis was shooting her meaningful looks that she must have thought were subtle, but just made her look constipated.

"Yeah, we noticed," Peter huffed. "You know I don't just share my master plans to repeat them every two minutes." He crossed his arms to pout, but an eye roll from Gamora made his smile again.

"Well now that everyone's with us this is the job," he turned on a screen on the wall that showed a mostly rustic planet. They were connected to the rest of the galactic alliance, but as a planet of farmers they didn't have much on the way of technology.

"This is Darevskii Beta. They make a mean Garum berry pie, have no real military might, and a snake infestation." He clicked the picture over to show a coiled snake with vivid green and yellow stripes.

"These are Darevskii Vipers!" Rocket shook his head at the level of enthusiasm Peter was exuding. "All they want is for us to go in and slice and dice," he nodded to Gamora and Drax, "or otherwise shoot and explode these little buggers." Peter shrugged at the skeptical looks he got. "They said they're ruining their berry crops. C'mon! It's a quick job! In, out, and 2,000,000 units richer!"

Rocket groaned but eventually sighed, "Fine...it's better than sitting around here all day surrounded by these sticks in the mud."

"I will maintain the ship as you all go fight," Mantis offered, not very keen to be in the middle of another firefight anytime soon.

Drax was grinning now. "I will purge Darevskii of these vermin far more quickly than any of you!"

In the end they all turned to look at Gamora. Sighing deeply she nodded, "Very well, I will go along with this." But she pointed at Peter with a small frown, "But this job better be as easy as you say it will be."

Peter was almost vibrating with anticipation of a new job, "I promise, this will be the easiest job we've ever taken."