Lines | Guardians of the Galaxy |

Chapter Twenty-Three

The world was an ugly, cold place.

The fox had learned that at a young age.

Right from the moment she finally received the senses of sight and hearing and was faced with the terrible cold of the cage she and her siblings were in, she knew that it wasn't a fun place.

Her memories of this time were blurry, fuzzy. They lacked the emotional depth and understanding that would come later, after the Surgeries.

All she really understood from this time was that everything not close to Mother was unsafe, cold, and dangerous. Her mother provided food and warmth, something that she never felt. The cold, from the instant she was born, had crept inside of her bones and forever infected her soul.

The dull ache of the frigid cold floor and everlasting burning, freezing air that her thin fur couldn't chase off.

Even when she was pressed against Mother or between her siblings, she felt the cold.

Life didn't get better from there. One day, the Hand reached in through an opening at the far end of the metal box. The fox's siblings squealed as it prodded at them, and Mother let out a deadly, low snarl. The Hand struck her and she went sprawling deep into the cage with a sharp whine. She did not fight back; all of the anger just seemed to fall out of her as she went limp, breathing shallowly, watching as her babies were poked and prodded before her.

The fox didn't understand what had happened, but she felt anger of her own rise up. Her tiny, fragile form stumbled forward and she let out a tiny growl, baring her hilariously small fangs at the Hand. Her siblings went to check on Mother, fear in their big eyes as they looked up at the hand.

She would protect them... but she failed.

In one quick movement, the Hand wrapped around her and she was pulled from the only source of comforting warmth that she had in the world. She was jostled around as the world spun in intense movements, dizzying the small creature.

After that, the fox seemed to understand that she would never see her family again.

A short time later, the Surgeries started, and that was when her memories were the absolute clearest. Everything before the first Surgery was jumbled and it was impossible to tell what was fiction and what was fact from her memory.

Later, she'd learn that was when she received her mind. Her brain, which had been developed carefully to suit her, grown in the labs with her fuzzy memories stored in it.

She had headaches for days after.

...

Avenna flinched herself out of sleep, blinking blearily into the darkness. She could feel Rocket still wrapped around her and relaxed, leaning her head back and taking a soft breath.

She blinked a little more of the sleep out of her eyes. She'd just dreamed about Before. It had been so, so long since she'd done that.

The nightmares had gone away several years ago, and the fact that she'd just had another dream involving the things that happened to her as a child irked and frightened her.

Avenna twisted around in Rocket's grip so she was facing him, then buried her face in his neck.

...

As the days passed, they didn't talk about the events that occured. Avenna still worked just as hard but now allowed herself to take breaks where she went to speak with the rest of the crew, who, after her apology and short explanation of 'Rocket and I fixed things,' were more than willing to adjust their routines to include her again after her self-isolation.