6 The Search For Gamora Part 1

Plot: Loki discovers that Quill has been searching for Gamora and hiding it from the rest of the team and convinces him and Nebula to conduct an official search.

Tone: Serious

Loki and Mantis were up late again watching Avatar. They were about halfway through season one and the episodes had just gotten better and better… aside from this one. It wasn't bad per se, just somewhat boring. Loki's mind kept wandering as he stared at the screen, all of the arguing of the characters going in one ear and out the other. Something echoed through the ship. Loki paused the episode, looking around.

"What is it?" Mantis asked, tilting her head to the side.

"I heard something," Loki explained, standing up. He glanced at her. "You can keep watching the episode, just don't start another one without me. I'll be right back." Mantis nodded, pressing play and watching the episode. Loki pushed the door open. Closing it quietly behind him, he crept through the ship, looking around. Quill was sitting in the pilot's seat.

"Quill?"

"Loki?!" Quill gasped, turning and dashing in front of him. "What are you doing up?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Silence followed. "Mantis and I were watching Avatar," Loki admitted, looking away. "What are you doing awake?"

"Oh really? What episode are you on?"

Loki glared at Quill, taking a step closer. "Don't dodge the question." Out of the corner of his eye, Loki spotted something green on the search screen. He turned, raising an eyebrow. "Is that... Gamora?" Quill looked away, letting out a sigh. "Have you been... searching for her this whole time?"

"Yes... I just... I don't know where she is. I know it's not the same Gamora. But she's all I have left. I haven't seen a trace of her since the Battle…" Quill paused, biting his lip. "Of Earth."

"Why haven't you told any of us?" Loki asked, resting his hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm sure the others want to find her as well, especially her sister."

"Well... maybe Nebula would but the others... Rocket and Groot gave up trying to find her and abandoned us. Ugh, I'm still not over that."

"It was a stressful time. Thanos had three infinity stones and we had no idea where to look."

"We still don't."

"But we have more time. Besides, Mantis, Drax, and Nebula never betrayed you. They'd be glad to help." Quill said nothing, just gazing at Loki with an incredulous look. "Quill, you can't keep doing this alone. Come on, let's at least ask Nebula, she knew her the best. Maybe she knows where she went."

Quill let out a sigh. "Okay fine, but we gotta keep this quiet. We're keeping it between you, me, and Nebula if she wants to do this."

He turned and changed the scanner to a different screen before walking away. Loki trailed after him. The two made their way down below deck, where the others were sleeping on mattresses or sleeping bags on the ground. Nebula, however, sat at the table, eyes wide open.

"Nebula?" Quill's eyes were wide. "You're still awake?"

"I never sleep," Nebula replied, her voice raspier than ever. "What do you two want?"

"We want some information," Quill replied, sitting across the table from Nebula. Loki sat beside him. "I've been looking for Gamora on the scanners but I haven't found anything. You knew Gamora the best, do you know where she went?"

Nebula looked away, her eyes narrowed. "After the…" She paused, glancing at Loki. "End of the battle… I saw Gamora walk off. I asked her where she was going. All she said was 'away.' I saw her go toward Thanos's ship and later, one of the escape pods disappeared into the atmosphere."

"So, she did leave the planet," Quill muttered, his fingers clicking on the table.

"Yes." Nebula glared at him. "Stop clicking the table, it's incredibly annoying." Quill lifted his fingers, glaring at her.

"So Gamora could be anywhere in the galaxy by now," Loki replied, trying to steer the conversation back on track.

"Why do you think I've been landing on random planets?" Quill had been acting strange lately. Landing on random planets and staying in the ship while everyone else explored… It all added up.

"Gamora wouldn't go to some random planet," Nebula replied, her eyes narrowed. "The last time I saw her, it seemed like she wanted to hide. Make a new start somewhere else."

"So she would likely go to a more out of the way planet where she could get by, or at least try to get as far away as possible."

"Exactly," Nebula replied, nodding to Loki.

"So will you help me look for her tomorrow?" Quill asked, standing up.

"Yes."

Quill glanced at Loki. "And you? Will you come with us?"

"Of course," Loki replied, nodding. "But how are you going to keep this secret from the others? Won't they notice you taking the ship to the far ends of the galaxy?"

"No." Loki raised an eyebrow. Quill turned to him, smirking. "Because we won't be using the main ship."

"The escape pod?" Nebula grunted, resting her hand on her forehead. "You can't be serious."

"I am," Quill replied, grabbing something out of his pocket. "We'll use this to track the ship so we can return safely with Gamora." He let out a yawn as he made his way back upstairs. "You two, pack your bags. We're leaving tomorrow." He disappeared before Loki or Nebula could protest.

Nebula let out a groan. "What is that moron thinking?" She glared at Loki. "Why did you encourage this?"

"Hey, I only told him he shouldn't keep looking for Gamora alone. I want to support my friend but personally, I think it's a lost cause to look for someone who clearly doesn't want to be looked for."

"He'll have to learn that hard way then," Nebula sighed, rolling her eyes.

Loki stood up. "Well, I'll be with him when he does." Without another word, he made his way back upstairs and toward the room that had pretty much become his. Mantis was still awake, sitting in front of the laptop. By the looks of it, the episode ended.

"What did I miss?" Loki asked, pushing the door closed.

"Nothing, really," Mantis replied with a shrug. "Aang lied to the two tribes to get them to stop fighting."

Loki chuckled. "That's exactly what I'd do." He sat down next to her, clicking on the next episode. "We could watch one more then…" Loki was cut off by a yawn. "We should probably go to sleep."

"Maybe you should sleep right now. You look exhausted."

"I have a lot on my mind. I can't sleep right now."

"Yes, you can." Mantis raised her hand, keeping it inches away from Loki's forehead.

"Oh…" Loki's cheeks reddened. "Right… powers…" Closing the laptop, Loki laid down on the mattress.

Mantis let out a yawn. "I'm tired too. Can I stay with you?"

Loki sat up. "W-what?"

Mantis looked away, her eyes wide and cheeks bright red. "I did not mean that in a weird way."

Loki smirked. "There's no normal way to ask someone to sleep with you."

"That's not what I!..." Mantis stopped when she noticed that Loki was giggling. She smiled. "Oh, it's a joke. Ha, ha."

"You can stay if you really want," Loki replied, laying back down on his back. "Just don't do anything too weird."

"Okay." Mantis laid down next to him, resting her hand on his forehead. "Sleep," she murmured in his ear. Loki closed his eyes, immediately letting out a yawn. "Give in to the sleep." Loki cracked a smile. After a bit longer, Loki was able to drift to sleep.

As Loki began to stir, the first thing he noticed was the weight on his chest. Loki stiffened. Forcing his eyes open, he looked down to see Mantis. She was smiling in her sleep, her head rested on Loki's chest, and her arms wrapped around him. Loki's cheeks reddened. He rested his hands on her back, forcing himself not to look at her. However, he couldn't bring himself to wake her up.

"Loki…" He looked back at Mantis as her hazel eyes fluttered open. His cheeks heated up.

"Hi…" Loki greeted, looking away even as he held her. "Good morning." Loki stiffened as there was a knock on the door. Mantis and Loki let go of each other, sitting up on the bed and gazing at the door as it opened to reveal Quill.

"Loki are you-" He paused, his eyes wide. "Were-were you two?"

"We passed out watching our show," Loki replied, his eyes narrowed, at Quill. "Nothing happened."

"Okay…" Quill's eyes darted toward the ground. "Well, Nebula and I are leaving soon for uh…" He glanced at Mantis. "A supply run." Quill winked at Loki. "So, uh, come and join us." He closed the door.

"Nothing happened?" Mantis asked, tilting her head to the side. "What did you mean by that?"

"Nothing inappropriate," Loki replied, pushing himself off the bed.

"Oh…" Mantis looked away, her face incredibly red. "W-where are you going?" she asked, clearly trying to change the subject.

"A supply run apparently," Loki replied with a shrug. Before he could reach for the door, Mantis took his hand. He glanced at her.

"Loki, where are you really going?"

Loki took a step back, his eyes wide. "How did you-"

"I can just tell."

"Can you keep a secret?" Loki sighed, looking away. "Quill didn't want to tell anyone else." Mantis nodded. "Well… we were… going to look for Gamora… the one from the alternate timeline…"

"Without the rest of us? Why?"

"Quill's trying to keep it a secret for some reason. I had to talk him into letting me and Nebula help him."

"Do you think you can find her?"

"Not really," Loki replied with a shrug. Mantis cracked a smile. "But we can certainly try." Loki pulled the door open, casting a glance back at Mantis. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Don't continue Avatar without me."

Mantis smiled again. "Okay."

Loki smiled back before turning and making his way into the middle of the ship. Quill and Nebula were gesturing to him.

"You ready?" Quill asked, adjusting his backpack. Loki and Nebula both nodded. "Then let's get going."

They made their way down one of the hallways, turning toward one of the escape pods. Quill immediately sat in the pilot's seat. Ducking his head, Loki made his way into the pod, sitting down next to Nebula in the back.

"We can take turns driving." Quill pressed a few buttons to turn the ship on. "Loki, can you fly a ship?"

"I can drive anything," Loki replied, cringing as he remembered how he dented Tony's car.

"Good." Quill slammed his foot into the pedal, speeding the ship forward. It continued like this for a few minutes before slowing down significantly and eventually stopping.

"What the?" Quill hit the pedal over and over again but nothing happened. "Ugh, the thrusters must be jacked up. I'm gonna go check it out." Quill made his way toward the back of the ship, leaving Loki and Nebula alone. The room was drowned in silence.

"So…" Loki fidgeted with his fingers, wondering what to say. "You served Thanos too, huh?"

"Ugh…" Nebula rolled her eyes. "You know, I'm not about wishy-washy personal talk."

"Oh, you don't have to share anything personal. I just want to talk. I don't really know that much about you."

"What do you want to know?" Nebula asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Well, how did you end up with the Guardians for starters?"

"Gamora betrayed Thanos by helping them steal the Orb. I tried to kill her, to make my fa…" Nebula's gaze hardened. "To make Thanos proud. But... then I changed my mind."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Why? There was obviously something that prompted it."

Nebula looked away. "That's personal."

"Alright, sorry…" Loki raised his hands. "But I understand... trouble with siblings I mean. My father always loved my brother more than me, no matter what I did…"

Nebula let out a rather mechanical sigh. "Thanos was the same way about me and Gamora... but I set that aside. Now I stay with her friends because I don't know where else to go."

"Same here."

"That's a lie."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Tony's family still lives on earth. You could have stayed with them but you chose not to." Loki bit his lip, looking away.

"I wanted to move on," he replied, shrugging. "Besides, the Guardians are my friends too."

"Even if they're all idiots?" Nebula asked, cracking a smile.

"They're the best idiots I've ever known," Loki replied, sitting back a bit.

"I heard that." Loki stiffened as Quill re-entered the room, twirling a wrench around in his hand. Loki smirked. Quill sat back in the pilot's seat, turning the screen on. "Now, which planet should we go to first?"

"A more discreet looking one," Nebula replied, standing up and gazing at the radar. "But it should have signs of life, obviously."

"Yeah, I'm not that dumb," Quill replied, shooing Nebula away. She grabbed his arm, twisting it to the side. Quill let out a cry.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked, her lip twitching up. Loki snorted with laughter. Nebula glanced back at the scanner, pointing at the top. "That planet's a good place to start."

It wasn't. The planet was almost entirely abandoned apart from the weird hairless groundhog looking things that burrowed around in the sand.

"How about this one?" Quill suggested, pointing to a small black dot on the radar. "I'm getting some readings on it."

"You know magma doesn't count as life, right?" Loki asked, nudging Quill's shoulder. "That place looks like Mustafar."

"It can't all be magma," Quill argued, clicking a few buttons on the control panel. "We have to at least check."

"Quill, neither of us are in the mood to be burnt into crisps," Loki replied, rolling his eyes. Nebula nodded. "Pick another planet."

"Okay fine," Quill replied, looking back at the scanners. He pointed at a small red planet nearby. "This one?"

"Sure," Loki replied with a shrug.

The red planet had slightly more of a population than the desert one and the inhabitants were mostly grey and scaly. Several white huts decorated the dusty surface of the planet. The inhabitants of the planet were walking across the paths, exchanging words with each other as they walked by.

"This does seem discreet." Nebula looked around. "Maybe a little too discreet."

"Wasn't that the idea?" Quill asked, stepping forward. A scaly skinned alien pushed past Quill, gazing at the ground. "Hey you!" The creature gazed at him. "Have you seen a green woman around?"

"Green woman?" The creature laughed. "Have you been doing Zydrate?" He turned and walked away, still chuckling to himself.

"Guess that settles it," Nebula replied, turning away.

"So she's not in this town, that doesn't mean she can't be on the planet." Quill insisted, looking around.

"Does this look like a place she would hide?" Nebula asked, gesturing to the town.

Quill let out a sigh. "No." The trio made their way back into the ship.

"Alright Loki, we've both had our picks. You want to try?" Nebula asked, gesturing to the front of the ship.

"Sure." Loki sat down in the pilot's seat, gazing at the scanner. Most of the planets were small with scattered populations apart from one with a dense population of plants, similar to Dagobah. "Hm… I choose… none of these. Let's get out of this system, we have no luck here."

"Are you sure?" Quill asked, tilting his head to the side.

"None of these planets seem… right. They're a bit too lifeless. Surely someone trying to hide would go somewhere with more of a population to blend in with."

"He's right," Nebula replied with a nod. "Let's try the next system over." Loki took the wheel, stepping on the accelerator and speeding through space. The scanner flickered on and off. After a few moments, the screen disappeared and was replaced by a new one, with different planets. The ship screeched to a halt. Nebula and Quill dashed behind Loki, gazing at the scanner.

"That planet looks promising." Nebula pointed to a green planet with a huge white dot in the centre.

"The scanners are picking up a lot of life on this part of the planet," Loki informed, pointing at the white dot. "And a few scattered populations all around."

"There must be a city there," Quill replied, gesturing to the white dot.

"Let's check it out." The ship jerked forward as Loki hit the pedal. As it entered the atmosphere, Loki took his foot off the pedal looking around frantically for the landing mode. Quill reached forward, pressing a red button. Loki nodded his thanks.

In front of them, was a dense city, made up mostly of tall white buildings and small ships drifting between building to building. It reminded Loki strongly of Coruscant. The ship drifted down toward the surface of the planet, before landing with a thud. A door opened in the back.

As they made their way out of the ship, Loki looked up at the sky, surprised to see that it was already dark. The stars were blurry and white in the distance as the city light polluted the sky.

"Woah, it's already dark here." Quill's eyes were wide as he gazed up at the rather dull night sky.

Loki let out a yawn. "We should get some sleep. It's been a long day."

Nebula nodded. "We'll have a better chance of finding Gamora in daylight." She turned and stalked back onto the ship. Loki and Quill followed her lead. Nebula sat in the pilot's seat, tapping a few buttons on the control pad to conduct a search.

"Are you gonna do that all night?" Quill asked, grabbing a sleeping bag out of his bag.

Nebula glared at him. "Do you want to find Gamora or not?"

Quill blinked. "Fair point," he replied, burrowing into his sleeping bag. "Goodnight everybody."

"Goodnight," Loki yawned, laying down on his back and gazing up at the ship ceiling. His mind buzzed with thoughts like usual. He thought back to the previous night when Mantis had put him to sleep in mere moments. Loki rested his hand on his forehead. It took him forever to fall asleep that night, like usual.

"Loki…" Loki forced his eyes open, letting out a yawn as he sat up. Quill and Nebula were standing at the door.

"Good morning," Loki greeted, staggering to stand beside them.

"Did you even sleep?" Quill asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Yes," Loki replied, rolling his eyes. He conjured up a brush, running it through his disheveled hair. "A little." He let out another yawn.

"You need a coffee," Quill commented, gesturing for him to follow. The trio made their way down the ramp of the ship, Nebula gazing at the tracker in her hand.

"Why coffee?" Loki asked, gazing out at the city. "That stuff is disgusting."

Quill let out a gasp. "No, it's not! What type of coffee did you have?!" Loki opened his mouth to reply. "Wait, no, don't answer that. Let's find a cafe or something, we'll find some coffee you'll like."

"On a random planet light-years away from earth?" Loki asked, raising an eyebrow. "We don't even know what sort of creatures live here."

Nebula nodded. "I seriously doubt they'll have coffee."

"You never know," Quill replied with a shrug. Loki and Nebula shared a glance, both of them rolling their eyes at Quill's comment.

"We should probably get something to eat though," Quill insisted, stopping in front of a dark black path. Loki and Nebula stopped as well. Something zoomed over the path in front of them, too fast to see clearly. They looked both ways. Before something else could speed through, the trio dashed across the path. They skidded to a halt, catching their breath.

"What was that?!" Quill gasped, gripping his heart.

Loki smirked. "A podracer."

Quill's eyes widened. "Oh no…"

Changing his voice to one more high pitched, Loki added, "Now this is pod racing." Quill and Nebula both groaned.

"AHHH!" Quill exclaimed, slamming his hands over his ears.

"Please, spare us," Nebula grunted, clenching her fists.

Loki snickered into his hand. "Well, since you said please." The three of them continued down the sidewalk right in front of the huge buildings. There were no signs over any of the doors. Several humanoid creatures walked by them, with strange skin colours and even horns, claws, wings, or tails. One, in particular, was red with horns and a long spiked tail.

"Should we try to blend in?" Quill murmured in Loki's ear.

Loki shrugged. "Everyone looks a little different. I'm sure we'll be fine." Finally, Quill stopped in front of a short building with windows on each side. They glanced inside. There were several tables, and a few people sitting and eating food.

"This looks like a restaurant," Quill commented, pushing the glass door open. "Here, we'll stop for food then look for Gamora."

"Did any of us bring money?" Loki asked, ducking under the doorway.

"I did," Nebula replied, grabbing some loose coins out of her bag. "Not sure if they'll accept this though." Quill and Loki both shrugged.

"Guess we'll see." Quill stopped at the front counter, where a blue alien with two long horns on their head stood. "Hey, we got three people, will you accept the money my companion has?" he asked, pointing at Nebula. She took a step forward, dropping the coins on the desk.

The alien glanced at the money, tilting their head to the side. "What kind of money is this?"

"Please excuse my friends," Loki replied, stepping forward and shooing Quill and Nebula away with a flick of his hand. "They're from the next system over." He squinted at the alien���s bald forehead, smirking as he conjured up the image in their mind: a stack of blue slips of paper like dollar bills. "Is this what you want?"

"Yes," the alien nodded, pointing at Loki. "Nice magic trick by the way. Can you show me how you did that?"

"A good magician never reveals their tricks," Loki answered, with a wink. The alien's cheeks darkened. "Now, I believe my friend asked for a place to sit?"

"Oh.. of course…" They gestured toward the seating area in the back. "We're pretty much empty right now so just take your pick. A waiter will be along to assist you."

"Thank you," Loki replied with a nod. The trio made their way toward an empty booth, Loki and Quill sitting on one side and Nebula on the other.

"You know, Loki, for such an awkward guy, you can be pretty smooth," Quill commented, nudging Loki's side.

Loki shrugged. "It depends on the circumstances, I suppose." He flicked his hands, summoning his mixtape in front of him.

"So you can lie about everything but your feelings, huh?" Quill was again nudging Loki's side, nearly making him drop his mixtape.

"What do you mean?" Loki asked, raising an eyebrow. Quill was gazing at him mischievously. Before he could answer, however, a waiter walked by with menus and glasses of water. To Loki's dismay, none of them had ice in them.

"Is water alright for you three?" the waiter asked, distributing the menus across the table.

"Sure," Quill replied, grabbing a cup. Loki and Nebula followed his lead. Nebula pushed her menu aside, looking at her scanner instead. Loki took a sip of water, immediately spitting it out.

"It's so warm!" he exclaimed, putting it back on the table.

Quill took a sip, raising an eyebrow at Loki. "Dude, it's normal temperature."

"It's lukewarm," Nebula replied, not taking her eyes off the scanner.

Loki smirked. "The internal temperature of a tauntaun?" Nebula and Quill both let out groans.

Loki looked back at his glass, directing his energy at the water. Ice began to form. They floated up the surface, getting bigger and bigger. Loki rested his finger on the glass. It was cool to the touch.

"Woah…" Quill gazed at Loki's glass, eyes wide. "You really have been practicing..."

"Yes…" Loki took a sip of water. "Wait, what do you mean? Did you think I was lying?" Quill shrugged. "I've been practicing every time I watch that show with Mantis."

"In bed?" Quill asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It was late that night…" Quill smirked. Loki let out a grunt, looking away. "Alright, you got me. That time we were watching it just to watch it." Quill frowned. Loki picked up his menu, scanning the list of foods he didn't recognize.

The trio had already gotten their plates of assorted foods when Nebula's scanner device began beeping.

"Guys…" Loki glanced at it. The screen was flashing the words 'in this area.' Loki's eyes widened. The door swung open, revealing four hooded figures. Quill looked up with a gasp. The four figures strutted toward the alien at the front desk.

"Table for four please," one of the figures ordered, holding up four of her green fingers. The alien nodded, gesturing to a booth in the opposite corner that Loki, Nebula, and Quill were sitting. They nodded and made their way toward it. As they sat down, three of the figures threw off their hoods, revealing a purple-skinned woman, a blue-skinned man with a bald horned head, and a blue scaled man.

"This place better be cheap," the purple-skinned woman grunted, clicking her fingers against the table. "We can't waste all our money."

The scaly man nodded. "Not when we're so close…"

"You can take your hood off, you know." The blue-skinned man gestured to the one who had kept their hood on, hiding their entire face. "In fact, it would probably be less suspicious."

The hooded figure let out a grunt. "Fair enough." Throwing back their hood, they revealed green skin and dark hair. Loki's eyes widened.

"Gamora!" Loki, Nebula, and Quill all glanced at each other, their eyes all wide. "Alright…" Loki glanced at Nebula. "You talk to her. Quill and I will-" Loki cut off when he noticed that Quill was no longer next to him. He looked up to see Quill approaching the booth where Gamora and her group were sitting. "Quill no!"

"Gamora!" Quill exclaimed, stopping in front of them. The group gazed at him, their eyes wide. "I've been looking for you everywhere!"

"Creep," Gamora muttered, scooting closer to the blue-skinned man next to her. Her friends glared at Quill, pulling out knives. The waiter nearby stopped, walking backward away from the situation, their tray of water shaking.

"You've been stalking us?" the scaly man demanded, cracking his neck. Loki stood up, summoning and concealing his knife in his hand as he approached the group. Nebula walked by his side, one hand in her bag.

"N-no, I've just been looking for her," Quill explained, gesturing to Gamora. "See, she was part of my group in an alternate timeline. We were actually a couple."

"Was the alternate timeline your masturbation fantasies?" the purple woman asked, chuckling as she twirled her knife around. The others laughed as well.

"Good one, Vega," the scaly skinned alien replied, holding up his hand for a high five.

"No!" Quill exclaimed, taking a step back. "It was real!"

"Yeah, it would be to you." The group laughed again, including Gamora. Quill let out a growl.

"Seriously, leave Gamora alone," the blue man growled, his orange eyes narrowed at Quill.

"Yeah, take a hint and screw off," Vega added, pointing her knife at Quill.

Quill reached toward Gamora. "But I…" Gamora lunged at Quill, punching him in the face before he could finish his sentence. He staggered back, gripping his bloodied nose. Gamora shoved him to the ground, pulling out a knife. Quill raised his shaking hands. Loki lunged forward.

"Hey, stop, stop!" he exclaimed, jumping between them. "Break it up!"

Gamora growled, though she took a step back and lowered her knife. Her fist still dripped with blood. Loki turned to Quill, whose eyes watered as he held a napkin up to his bleeding nose.

"Are you alright?" Loki asked, resting his hands on Quill's shoulders. He nodded. Loki turned back to Gamora's group, who were all laughing and cheering.

"Gamora…" Nebula strutted toward them.

Gamora's eyes widened. "Nebula… sister…" The two stopped in front of each other, staring silently for a moment. Then Gamora's eyes narrowed. "Did you help these two idiots find me?"

"I'm sorry," Nebula replied, dipping her head. "I know you have no connection to them. Quill just needed to know for certain that you didn't want to come back." She glared coldly at Quill from over her shoulder before looking back at her sister. "I'm sorry about the trouble he's caused you. We'll be leaving soon."

"Trouble I caused her?!" Quill exclaimed, struggling against Loki's grip. "She beat me up!"

"I punched you once," Gamora growled, stepping to stand in front of him and Loki. "You were in my personal space." She raised her fist, narrowing her eyes. "Take this as a lesson. The Gamora you knew is dead."

Quill blinked away tears. With a huff, Gamora turned and sat back down beside her friends, who all offered her fist bumps. Loki let go of Quill, glancing at him.

"Let's pay our bill and get out of here," Loki sighed, gesturing to Quill and Nebula. The two nodded and trailed after him. Loki placed a stack of money on the front desk, gazing at the blue horned alien.

"I'm sorry for the ruckus," he murmured, sliding it forward. "Keep the change." Loki turned and made his way out of the restaurant with Quill and Nebula trailing after him. They stopped outside on the side of the road.

"Let's get off this planet," Nebula grunted, turning toward the road.

"What?!" Quill exclaimed, his eyes widening. "But we can't leave without Gamora!"

"Gamora doesn't want to come with us," Loki replied.

"She will!" Quill insisted, stepping toward Loki. "I just have to remind her what I mean to her. I have to get her to fall in love with me again!"

"Quill, you can't force someone to fall in love with you."

"Why not?!" Quill pressed the napkin against his bleeding nose. "We were in love, she just doesn't remember."

"And she never will."

"There has to be some way! Maybe I can have her…" Quill walked in circles. "Listen to my music again. Or… or ask her to dance or-"

"No, you're not understanding!" Loki snapped, clenching his fists. Quill took a step back. "In her mind, those events never happened! This is not the same Gamora. You have to move on!"

"Who are you to talk?! You're still mooning over a taken dead person!" Loki's eyes widened. An awkward silence filled the air as the Quill's eyes widened with horror.

"L-Loki I didn't mean." Loki swung his arm, a wall of ice spiking out of the ground between him and Quill. He turned away, his gaze as cold as ice. Then he walked off, his hair blowing in front of his face as his head hung low.

Nebula glared at Quill. "He's right you know. Gamora has no connection to you or any of the others. We should leave well enough alone. She seems happy here anyway." She shoved Quill aside as she walked away, following Loki's trail.