The important things first:
I don't own Guardians of the Galaxy! All rights belong to MARVEL and the respective owner/producer of the movies!

This is my very first GOTG Fanfic and I am super nervous, because I don't know much of the MARVEL universe.
The end of the second GOTG movie ripped my heart into little pieces. I am still not over it :(

It's such a shame that we never got to see how life was for Peter, after Yondu picked him up.
I know that Yondu wasn't the best father in the world, when Peter was a kid (at least when believing in what the movies told us),
but I can also imagine some nice times happening between Yondu and Peter back than and this is how this Story was born.

I couldn't help it, I had to write this down :)
And since I LOVE writing about these two, more will follow in the future (at least if you people are interested, since it costs me a lot of time and nerves to translate these stories for you. I have been working for so long on this one. Two months to be exact and it took me another two weeks to translate it, so I would appreciate it very much if you would tell me if you are interested in reading more or not, because I will not translate something people show no interest in...)

And now I wish a Happy Father's Day to all you Daddys out there :D

I am also sorry for grammer/spelling mistakes, since english isn't my first language and like I said: I translated this story from german into english.

And last but not least:
I would appreciate feedback in the form of a comment very much, since I want to know what you think about this story.
And feedback is also a huge motivation for me to keep writing this stuff, so thank you for that :)

Like Father and Son

His footsteps echoed gently through the dark corridors, as he moved slowly through the huge spaceship. No one except him was on the road that day...or was it night already?

Since he had been taken from earth, he had no sense of time and up here, in the deepest depths of the endless seeming universe, a human being would lose any sense of time anyways. He didn't know if it was just day or night. Something Peter still had to get used to, even though he had been living on this ship for nearly a year by now, traveling from planet to planet. He'd probably seen more of the universe than any human on earth could even dream of and somehow that thought made him a bit proud. But at the same time this thought scared him. He might never see earth again and that alone made his heart cramp. But then he thought of what had happened on earth. He had been forced to watch how his beloved mother died before his eyes. He would remember this pain until the end of his days, because there was no greater pain like this. When he was sleeping, he still suffered from nightmares, reliving her death again and again and often it had happened that he woke up, screaming and crying. But no one had been at his side to comfort him.

He was all alone; without Friends and without a Family...

Melancholy came over him as he thought about it and his heart cramped once again.

If he thought about that, then Yondu, the captain of the ship, was actually the only one who cared for him. And Peter was grateful for that, because when he thought about it, he never actually had a real father figure in his life. Could he consider Yondu as his replacement father? Hardly...or maybe he could think of Yondu as his father?

This was still a difficult question to which he still found no answer.

On the one hand, Yondu was the brutal space pirate who didn't shy away from killing anyone mercilessly, but there were days when he showed a very different side. A side, that only Peter had seen so far, though very rarely, but it was clearly there and the boy liked this side of Yondu very much. But it had been a long time since he had seen this side, for the Centaurian had recently become stressed out and irritable and Peter preferred to stay away from him, fearing that he might also become a victim of his anger. After all he had seen what he was capable of when he was angry...

Shaking his head to get rid of these thoughts, the boy quickened his pace and finally he had a goal in mind, for his feet carried him into the direction of Kraglin's room. Peter liked Kraglin, since he was one of the gentlest of all the other Ravagers, and often the two of them had spent some time together and Kraglin had often taught him things, so that Peter was able to help out on the ship. The boy liked it whenever the first mate taught him something, like fixing a broken part of the ship. Who knew what the future would hold for him and whether one day he didn't have his own ship? If that would be the case, then he already knew how to wade a part of his ship and that filled him with pride as well.

His own ship...

This thought alone made his stomach tingle with anticipation. Until a year ago, he didn't even believe in extraterrestrial life and today he was thinking about what it would be like to own his own little spaceship, fly around the galaxy and look out for some exciting adventures.

A great thought!

But for now, he had to resign himself to living on a big spaceship and helping out there; no matter what. That too was something he still had to get used to. His life on earth had been so different from the life he lived now. And it almost seemed to him as if the years he had lived on earth, were nothing but a fading memory, which would soon be completely extinguished. Now he lived a very different life. A life under pirates and even if it was still strange to live this way (he didn't even start to think of the strange food they gave him here), it was an exciting life, to which he became more and more accustomed. Even if it was not always easy for him. Often the crew looked at him suspiciously and he had the feeling that some of them tried to impale him with their dark looks. Therefore, he preferred to stay in his room, or to be with Yondu and Kraglin and help them.

Just as he wanted to do it now...

But today nobody seemed to have a job for him, because when he knocked on Kraglin's door and when said door opened a few moments later, Peter could see that Kraglin didn't seem to be doing very well today. He saw thick rings under his eyes and he looked like he was about to fall over and fall asleep on the cold floor.

"What's up, kid?" he asked and Peter could hear clearly from his voice how tired he was.

"I just wanted to ask if I can help you with something? I'm bored and I don't know what to do and I don't dare to get close to the others."

Yes, admitting those words was not easy for Peter, because he was afraid to look weak and in the last few months he had learned the hard way that weakness in this world was often a death sentence. But he knew that Kraglin would never use this knowledge to his advantage, since he was the only Ravager, after Yondu, he trusted on this ship.

"I have worked for a long time Peter and need some rest. Why don't you go to Yondu?"

The boy shuddered.

"Do you think that's such a good idea?"

"He will not hurt you."

"He constantly threatens to eat me..."

A soft laugh crept out of Kraglin's throat, as he heard that.

"And you think he's serious?"

"Yes!"

Another laugh and the first mate shook his head.

"He's just kidding you, kid. You don't have to be scared of him."

"I'm not scared of him!" Peter said, proudly stretching his chest forward to look more courageous, but Kraglin could see behind this facade of his and when he looked into the boy's eyes, he still could see a spark of fear in them.

He sighed and ran his hand through his face. When he looked at Peter again, he grinned slightly.

"Well, if you are not scared, then go to him. I mean, you want to become one of us, don't you?"

"Yes!"

"Good, prove it! A Ravager is not afraid of anything or anyone!"

And with that, Kraglin didn't even seem to be wrong, because Peter had never seen that even one crew member had shown fear in any situation. Not even when they faced death. Only he was the only exception on this ship. The little Terran, who was scared of everything and everyone and Peter was so tired to be called that! But he also knew that it was not easy to show courage. Certainly not on a ship full of aliens who constantly threatened to eat him if he did something wrong or if he just got too close to some of them. Still...at least he wanted to prove it to Kraglin that he was brave enough to face at least a small part of his fear and so he tried to shake off his fear and looked the first mate straight in the eyes.

"I'll show you Kraglin! I am brave!"

The Ravager grinned wider and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Fine, then go to him. And don't even think about going back to your quarters, kid. I'll ask Yondu later if you've been with him or not."

Great, just great!

Now he was in trouble!

But he would not back down.

Oh no!

He was fed up with the title of the little scaredy cat and so he just turned around and trudged off towards the command bridge, assuming Yondu was currently there, because someone had to control the ship. Well, there were many Ravagers on this ship who could have done so, but Peter knew that Yondu often liked to take control of the Eclector himself. Especially when he knew that there was big booty to pick up somewhere. A thought that made even Peter smile slightly and he quickened his pace a little more, when all the fear began to disappear.

Kraglin shook his head, chuckling softly as he saw, how the boy disappeared behind the next corner and then he turned around and disappeared into his own room.

Have fun with him, Yondu...he thought as he closed the door behind him and threw himself back into his bed and closed his eyes...

Peter tried to be as quiet as possible, as he sneaked through the dark corridors. The courage had left him quickly, as it had become darker around him. Luckily he didn't meet anyone on his way, because he was most frightened of that, since he didn't know how the others would react, if they would see him running through the ship all alone. But he tried to get rid of these thoughts quickly and instead he tried to concentrate on his "mission". He was almost there, so it was too late to go back to his quarters, because he could already see the door, leading to the command bridge. When he stood directly in front of it, he paused for a moment and listened if he could hear something on the other side, but there was nothing. No growling, no hissing, no roaring, no insults flying through the room, nothing. As if nobody was in there...

He took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to calm his nerves and regain all his courage at the same time, before pressing the button that opened the door.

When he entered, the door closed immediately behind him and Peter was amazed, when he found the command bridge abandoned. A thought that disturbed him, because even if he knew that the autopilot steered the ship, this knowledge was only a small fly in the ointment. What if the ship was heading for a black hole? Or got into the middle of an interstellar war and nobody noticed that? Or what if they were attacked from behind by enemies?

Inwardly, he knew that such thoughts were ridiculous, because the ship was well equipped and immediately alarmed, should another ship approach or should the sensors feel any anomaly and yet Peter still need to get used to all of this stuff. He was afraid that something terrible would happen, because if that was the case, there was little escape, since he was more or less stuck here on this ship. He was not even able to carry a weapon or fly a rescue pod. Just the thought of an attack, or having to flee from an exploding spaceship, made his stomach tingle unpleasantly again.

While he was trapped in his thoughts, he went on. His eyes were fixed on the large window, which offered a breathtaking view of the universe and Peter's eyes sparkled and all the horrible thoughts, he had just had, disappeared within an instant. Another sight he would probably never get used to. He was certainly the first and only human being to see so much of the universe. What the scientists on earth would not have given for such a sight...

Peter stared out the window so mesmerized that he completely forgot about his surroundings.

When he heard the whistling, it was already too late. He couldn't react as fast as the Yaka Arrow was racing toward him. He didn't even have time to scream, as the arrow shot at him with lightning speed...and came to a halt just before his throat. Peter was so startled, that he staggered backwards, until his back crashed against the wall. The arrow followed his movements and as he felt the razor-sharp tip on his skin, a loud, panic scream broke from his throat. Immediately, the arrow paused, stopped moving and out of the corner of his eyes, Peter could make out a movement that approached him quickly.

"Damn, Quill! Are you crazy?! Do you want to die?!"

Yondu's voice cut through the air like a knife, making Peter wince and when he turned his head, he saw the Centaurian standing beside him, looking at him with shock in his own eyes. He whistled again and the dangerous arrow instantly vanished from Peter's throat.

After putting the arrow away, the Ravager took Peter's face in his hands and looked deep into his eyes, where tears of pure fear had gathered. A sight that would have softened Yondu's heart, wouldn't he be so angry at the boy right now and he let him know this, by pulling his face closer to his own and giving him a look that made Peter shudder.

"What were ya thinking when sneaking up on me like that?! You could be dead now, boy!"

Peter didn't answer at first, because he could barely find his voice back and desperately tried to blink the tears from his eyes, but the shock was deep and his heart was still beating wildly in his chest, pumping pure adrenaline through his veins.

"I-I'm sorry Yondu, really. I didn't k-know you were here. I didn't think anyone was here..." he stammered and only with difficulty did he regain control over the trembling of his body. He was only now really aware how close he had escaped death. The Ravager's face became softer and his grip around Peter's face eased a bit as well.

"Didn't I teach you to never give up your concentration?"

The boy looked shameful to the ground.

"Yes, Yondu, you did..."

"And why don't ya do it?"

Anger rose inside the little boy's body and he growled, as he raised his head again and looked into the Centaurian's red eyes firmly.

"I thought I was safe here?! Why do I have to pay attention to what I'm doing, where I'm going and who I'm talking to all the damn time?!"

"Are you serious, Quill? If ya haven't noticed, but the rest of the crew would like to eat ya for dinner when I'm not around. That's why I have forbidden ya to go alone through the ship. Why are ya still out here anyways? I thought ya were already sleeping, boy?"

The anger in Peter's eyes disappeared and he looked away from Yondu.

"I couldn't sleep and then I didn't know what to do. I asked Kraglin if he had a job for me, but apparently he just wanted to sleep. He told me to go to you and...well...here I am now."

Yondu sighed and finally released the human boy's face and stood up.

"Why did he send ya to me?"

Peter shrugged.

"No idea. He just said I should come here."

He would never tell him that he had been scared to go to him, worried that Yondu would lecture him again or making fun of him.

The blue man sighed again and he ran his hand through his face.

"Well, since you're here now, ya can stay here..."

Yondu moved toward the control console, before stopping and turning his head slightly into Peter's direction.

"...and maybe I have a job for ya too," he finished his sentence and he sat down on the captain's chair. He still looked at Peter. So long, until the human boy understood the hint and approached him.

"What kind of job do you mean?"

Yondu grinned slightly.

"Well, you're not a little baby anymore, are ya? So I thought it's time that ya learn how to fly a spaceship... "

Peter stopped in the middle of his movement and looked at Yondu with his mouth open and an incredulous look in his eyes.

"W-what?"

"You've heard me, boy. Come here."

Was he really serious?

Did he really want to let Peter fly this ship?

No!

That couldn't be true!

Yondu was certainly only joking…

Nevertheless, Peter ran towards him and when he stood directly in front of the captain's chair, Yondu grabbed him under the arms and picked him up and sat him on his lap. Peter leaned his back against the Centaurian's chest and his eyes sparkled, for from here he had an even better view of the vastness of the universe. As his eyes wandered downwards, he saw all sorts of buttons, switches, levers and confusing displays. Still, he couldn't deny that the whole thing was exciting and slowly he also doubted that Yondu allowed himself a joke with him here and that he was serious with what he had just said.

"Well, let's go then," the Ravager said and he brought his hand to a large lever mounted on the right side of Peter and slowly pulled it into his direction. Almost immediately smaller lights turned on and a gentle jolt went through the space ship. Then Yondu took his hand off the lever, grabbed Peter's hands and led them to the two handles, which were attached directly in front of him and which formed the control unit of the spaceship.

As his little fingers closed around the control unit, Yondu took his hands away and leaned back in his chair with a wide grin on his face.

"Now the ship belongs to you, mah boy."

Peter's hands were shaking, but not with fear. Oh no. They were shaking with excitement and a broad grin spread across his face as well. His heart pounded hard in his chest and he felt another shot of adrenaline rushing through his body. He now had control over a huge spaceship!

"What should I do Yondu?"

He heard the blue man laugh softly behind him.

"Do you see the lever, right next to you?"

"Yes."

"Slowly push it up. We need more thrust."

Peter did as Yondu had told him to do and his heart beat faster, as he pushed the lever up slowly, listening to the spaceship's turbines go up. The noise gave him goosebumps and a happy laugh escaped his own throat, as he felt the vibrations, that came from the turbines and that went through the whole ship.

"Good, very good. And now lead the ship a bit to the left. Do you see that star over there? We want to go there. Bring us on course, kid."

Carefully, very, very carefully, Peter moved the control unit to the left and he felt how the whole ship turned slowly to the left.

"Not so timid, boy. Quiet a bit more."

Yondu put his hands over Peter's and pushed the control unit vigorously to the left, causing the Eclector to literally lay on its left side. The small figures, that the Ravager had collected and which he had lovingly lined up on the side of his captain's chair, swayed dangerously as the ship turned to the side, but they stayed where they were and soon they were on the right course and flew directly to the Star which Yondu had previously shown him.

"From now on, it's just straight ahead. We can let the autopilot fly for us. Do ya know how to activate it?"

Peter shook his head and listened attentively to Yondu as he explained everything to him and in fact he managed to activate the autopilot all by himself. He was overcome with pride and when he felt Yondu's hand on his shoulder, he knew the Centaurian was proud of him too.

"We have a true natural talent here. Kid, I'm really proud of ya. Ya will become an excellent pilot one day."

And Peter was almost bursting with pride when he heard those words.

Once again he imagined himself flying his own spaceship one day. Of course, he knew that many years had to pass and that he had to practice a lot, but in the end it would be worth it.

And with a teacher like Yondu at his side, nothing could go wrong...

"If we stop by at the next planet for a break, I'll let ya fly one of our smaller ships. They move differently than the big boy here. Let's see how good you are with that."

The grin was audible in Yondu's voice and he laughed softly, as a joyful sound came over Peter's lips.

Still, he couldn't deny that Peter's next reaction threw him off track, as the boy turned around on him, wrapped his arms around his chest and pressed himself against him. For a few moments it was deathly quiet on the commend bridge and Yondu was sitting there, not really sure how to react and he glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one was standing behind him, before his face softened again and he returned the hug and put his arms around the small body and pressed Peter gently against him.

"Thank you, Dad..." he heard the boy whisper and it was that one word that almost hit him like a bomb, right into his heart. He didn't know if Peter was serious, or if this significant word had accidentally slipped out of him, but it had indeed come over his lips and the Centaurian smiled broadly at that and a warm feeling spread inside his chest, which he had never felt before...and he liked that feeling...

"Not for that, kid. Not for that..." he whispered and he pressed the boy a little closer to his body, holding him so tight, as if he feared someone could take him away from him.

For how long they were both sitting there like this, nobody knew.

Peter eventually fell asleep in Yondu's arms and the Centaurian decided to bring the boy to bed. But instead of taking him to his room, Yondu took him to the captain's quarters, where he carefully laid him on his bed. Carefully, he pulled his shoes off his feet, put them down beside the bed and then he reached his hand out to the Walkman, which Peter always carried with him. Yondu didn't know what the boy found so great about that thing, but it seemed to have a special meaning to him, so he didn't even ask anymore. He carefully took Peter's headphones, which hung around his neck, loosened the Walkman from his belt and set it down on a small table that stood beside the bed.

As he was about to put the blanket over him, he paused. His eyes caught something in Peter's pocket and Yondu reached his hand out to it and carefully pulled the small piece of paper out of his pocket; always careful not to wake the kid. The supposed piece of paper was a photo, when Yondu unfolded it. The photo showed Peter with a woman at his side. Both of them stood arm in arm, laughing and seeming as carefree as no creature Yondu had ever seen. He knew that this woman was Peter's mother. The boy never talked about her, but Yondu knew what had happened on Earth, just before he had picked him up. Peter had to watch his beloved mother die in front of his very eyes and that had changed something in him, because it was rare to see Peter laugh. There was so much grief and pain inside this little body that it even cramped Yondu's heart, when he thought about it. The boy had gone through terrible things and even he himself had been through a lot of bad stuff in his life. Above all, his own childhood had been cruel, since his own parents had sold him into slavery as a small child and he had to serve as a battle slave of the Kree for twenty long years.

Anger rose in him, as he thought back to it, but his face showed nothing of the emotions that raged in his heart. Many, many years ago, he had learned to hide his feelings from prying eyes. Especially on a ship like his, that was inhabited with so much scum!

But he was different when it came to Peter. Even if he sometimes scolded him and even if he was strict with him, he was still friendlier, softer and more kindhearted whenever he was alone with the boy and he didn't regret it for a single second. No. He wanted to make sure that Peter was feeling good and that he could forget what he had gone through. He wanted to give him that little bit of love, that was left in his heart, wanted to be the father, whom the boy had never had. Ego was not a father. He was a monster, because Yondu knew what he was doing with his children and he wouldn't bring Peter to that psychopath, even if he knew who he was messing with. Ego didn't scare him and he would hide Peter from him for as long as he could. But no soul was allowed to know about it. Not even his second in command Kraglin. He didn't trust anybody on this ship and so he never showed his feelings when his crewmembers were around him, because he knew what could happen, would they all see him "weak" like that: Mutiny! And it should never come to that, because that wouldn't only be his death, but also Peters.

But it would never come this far. The others had far too much respect, if not fear, for him to dare take command and betray him. Still...Yondu would stay careful...

He carefully folded the photo in his hand and put it back in Peter's pocket, before putting the blanket over the boy and gently stroking his fingers through his short hair.

Yes, he would do better than his parents.

And he would be a real father to the boy, not a monster like Ego.

Even if this could eventually end with his death one day.

If this would be the case, then it would be totally worth it…

The End