Category: Gen
Setting: At Ego's planet when Ego is revealing his plan.
Rating/Warnings: T, spoilers for the 2nd movie
Characters/Pairings: Peter Quill, Ego
Summary: The galaxy Ego showed him was beautiful, and then it wasn't.
Note: The italicized words are quotes from the movie as best as I could remember them. If any of them are off, that is my bad. Hope you enjoy!

Deciding Factor

I can see it.
Eternity.

He had lost control of his limbs, but for some reason that didn't seem to matter. The room had faded the second Ego touched his forehead. In its place he saw entire galaxies spinning in their orbit, stars shining brightly and then fading into the darkness only to be replaced by another light that begins to glow bright. He saw colors he had never seen before, flashing like electric rainbows as they weaved their way through the darkness of a galaxy Quill had only ever heard of.

It's beautiful.

And it was. All of the galaxy was displayed before him. Places he had only ever dreamed of seeing where right there before his eyes. And he could see them all whenever he wanted because his father's blood made him immortal. The thought had barely crossed his mind when the images were replaced. In place of the galaxy, he saw his friends old and dying. Gamora stood, still stunningly beautiful, but with wrinkles around her eyes and a weak leg that had seen one to many battles. Drax was next, his muscle mass surprisingly trimmed as if old age had served as the worst weight loss program. Rocket and Groot did not appear much different from how they were now, but Quill could see the grey overtaking Rocket's fur and even Groot seemed more bent and crooked then before. Quill's smile faded.

What is it, son?

My friends.

He listened as his father explained the burden and the responsibility of their ancestry. The images of his friends slowly began to fade and in their place returned the galaxy. But this time there was something off. It was like some invisible force had been pushing at his brain and he hadn't been aware until now. It was still there, slowly pushing like the prick of a needle into his thoughts, directing the images away from the thoughts of his friends aging and dying without him. He blinked, trying to rid himself of the constant pricking, but it remained as the images of the galaxy swirled and grew more vibrant with each word Ego said.

Perhaps his father was right. The galaxy was a large place, a beautiful place, and if he was indeed immortal, if he could control the light just like his father, then just imagine all the good he could do. He wouldn't save the galaxy just one single time; he could save the galaxy for all eternity. He could make it to where no child would be abducted like he had been. He could ensure that children could be children instead of kidnapped and trained to be killers like Gamora. He could save the families of people like Drax and ensure that no one else would have to live with being experimented on like Rocket. He could make the galaxy a better place.

Quill's thoughts turned sharply when his father mentioned his mother. He listened, his attention captured even as the galaxy continued to swirl around him. He could feel the pricking in the back of his thoughts, but it dulled until he could no longer feel it as his father explained why he never returned, why it was Peter who was left to watch his mother dying in that hospital bed.

It killed me when I had to put that tumor in her brain.

The pricking ceased as the words hit him like a bullet to the gut. His father had put that tumor in her brain? His father had killed his mother? His mother would still be alive if it wasn't for the man standing before him. Ego continued to talk as he walked away, but Quill was no longer listening. His father's words kept ringing in his ears as disbelief turned to pure rage. All his life he had wanted a dad and now that he finally has one, he turns out to be a murderer. And not just any murderer. This man killed his mother.

Son?

He drew his guns and fired.