Fic Snip
I totally had the wrong dates for @thorquillweek so this fic (tentatively titled “The Flipside”) is going to be very late, but I’m pretty excited about it anyway.
Here is the summary (Endgame Spoilers ahead):
“In a timeline where Thanos, his daughters, and his forces disappear without a trace in 2014, petty thief Peter Quill reluctantly joins forces with the bounty hunting duo sent by Yondu in order to find a buyer for the Orb. Meanwhile, after Ultron’s defeat, Thor becomes suspicious of forces manipulating galactic events and resolves to track down the remaining Infinity Stones in a bid to stave off universal Armageddon. That sounds right and noble and all, but the crew of the Milano have only one question: How much does saving the Galaxy pay?”
In case it’s not obvious, this fic takes place in the alternate 2014 timeline created by the Avengers in Endgame when they retrieve the Power Stone and 2014!Thanos leaves his native timeline to invade the main 2023 timeline. The first 500 words or so are very close to canon, then it wildly diverges due to Gamora’s absence.
This is the opening scene (starts right after Steve has returned the Power Stone, but since he can’t very well put it back in the temple, he just sort of puts it next to an unconscious Peter Quill and hopes for the best. So, although Peter is out for a few minutes while Korath is on his way to recover the stone, he makes up for the time by not having to actually remove the Orb from the vault so it’s not like he gets nabbed right away due to Nebula and Rhodey’s hijinks):
Peter could never figure out what hit him. One minute, he’s dancing along to the swinging beats of Come and Get Your Love, using a member of the local fauna as a sweet microphone and really getting into the groove, and the next he’s twitching on the ground shortly before glitching to black. He couldn’t have been out for more than a few minutes, but he checks his various pockets to find nothing amiss, and the Orb, which should have been encapsulated in the Vault across a short moat, lying inches from his right hand. He chalks it up to the world’s most inept kidney thieves, who inexplicably left payment for their stolen wares without removing the goods. Well… that, or witches.
Probably.
He palms the Orb, tossing it in the air and catching it to check heft and spin, then nervously pats his torso all around with his free hand to ensure bodily integrity, exhaling in relief when he finds no bandages, cuts, or unexpected bruising. So, while the blackout is certainly disconcerting, he tries not to think about it too hard.
This feat becomes exponentially easier to accomplish when the cavalry arrive soon after.
“Drop it!” A dark man with blazing blue eyes and a sizeable weapon commands him.
“Uh… hey?” Peter looks upon the newcomer in surprise while two henchmen flank him, their blasters up and poised for attack.
“Drop it, now!” Their leader shouts.
“Hey, cool man. No problem.” Peter drops the Orb, which rolls towards the other man. He holds up his hands in a placating manner, showing he is unarmed. “No problem at all,” he assures him.
Their leader collects the Orb but is not so easily satisfied. He holds it up to Peter and demands, “How do you know about this?”
“I don’t even know what that is,” Peter replies truthfully before mixing in a lie. “I’m just a junker, man. I was just… just checking stuff out.”
“You don’t look like a junker. You’re wearing Ravager garb,” he points out, his tone accusatory.
Peter insists he is mistaken. The outfit was some cast-off he found. It doesn’t mean anything. He’s just Peter Quill, inconsequential nobody, and would like to go about his day, if the man would be so kind as to call off his goons.
But the leader – Korath, he would later learn – is not fooled, insisting that they bring him to some asshole named Ronan.
Peter is not about to comply, and thanks to his show of ineptitude and general harmlessness, they vastly underestimate him. He quickly vaporizes the henchman, shoots Korath to retrieve the Orb, and manages to dodge Korath’s answering blasts to make it back to the Milano and freedom.
He barely escapes Morag with the Orb, his life, and a name: Ronan.
It’s the third he comes to regret.
