Lines | Guardians of the Galaxy |

Chapter Twenty

The bus made a series of anxiety-inducing noises as it slowed to a stop at another one of the stations. If it even was a bus; it had several carts, like a train would, but still reminded her of a bus.

Avenna immediately stood up when it stopped moving and waited for Rocket to move out of the way before leaving quickly. She jumped off and folded her arms around herself in a protective gesture, not only wary of her 'friends' but also for any other bounty hunters. She hadn't liked getting electrocuted, even if she'd been fine after. Her fur had been a disaster and was still prickled and messy in some areas.

"Quill, give me your tracker," she ordered, holding out a hand.

He gave it to her and she flicked it on. The map was now much more detailed; it had zoomed in on the area they were at because they were closer to their destination.

"Alright," she began. "Let's make this quick. Try not ta cause too much collateral damage because their computers and such will likely contain important information. Drax, I'm talking to you."

"Why?" he asked. "I do not destroy—"

"Your code name thing is literally 'Drax the Destroyer.'" Avenna shot him down quickly. "No breaking walls, with fists or guns, and most certainly no breaking their devices. Now, let's go."

She spoke quickly and flatly, leaving no room for laughter or conversation. She lifted her tail up and smoothed it as she turned, gesturing with one hand towards the elevators.

"How do we plan to transport them to the bank?" Quill asked.

"We'll bring them to the police, nitwit," she snapped, and then immediately felt guilty. He hadn't been the one to suggest selling her. She hadn't even heard his reaction. But she felt an instinctive wariness towards all of them, except Drax, of course."

"Why didn't the police just go and get them in the first place? This is a bit below our pay grade," Rocket complained as they got into one of the elevators and tapped the ground floor button.

"They were decently sneaky in the code," Avenna answered. "Most people probably wouldn't even be able to track down the city they were in, let alone exact location."

"Which is why it was good you were here," Gamora's voice was somewhat of a surprise to hear.

"Thanks."

They left the shelter of the bus tower and stepped out into the bad air. Even though Avenna didn't really want to wear it anymore, the fox lifted Rocket's scarf up over her nose, adjusting it a few times so that it would work with her elongated nose, rather than a flat humanoid face.

"I do not like this place," Drax muttered, repeating a statement made earlier that day.

"We'll be out of here soon," Avenna promised. Little did they know, she was tempted to mean more than just the planet. She wanted to leave this group now. Wanted to take Drax along with her, to escape, the way they'd originally planned before meeting the rest of them.

Inwardly, she told herself that she was just being dramatic and that she could just let it go. But that statement had genuinely shaken her. Besides, she couldn't take Drax away from them. He seemed like he needed these people. He was significantly more social than her and needed that pack.

Well, his social skills were down the drain, but he needed people nonetheless.

Avenna took the lead as they walked several blocks in the direction of the apartment that the marker was leading them to. When they stopped in front of the building that the map told them to stop at, she was a bit confused.