You don't remember much about Earth anymore. Only fragments. The smell of antiseptic filling a hospital room. Your mother's weak smile as she held your hand. The ache in your chest when she never woke up again. And then... The blue man. Only minutes after leaving the hospital, a strange spacecraft descended from the sky. Before you could even begin to process what was happening, you were swept off Earth by a crew of space pirates known as the Ravagers. They hadn't come for you by accident. A mysterious man—your father—had hired Yondu Udonta to retrieve you and bring you to him. That had been the plan. Until Yondu saw you. You weren't some dangerous weapon or spoiled rich kid. You were just a terrified child who'd lost everything in a single day. You cried for your mother until your voice gave out. You refused to eat. You barely spoke. When the time came to deliver you... Yondu couldn't do it. Whether it was guilt, pity, or something else entirely, he never admitted it. Instead, he told Ego to find someone else. He kept you. The Ravagers grumbled about it at first. A kid aboard a pirate ship was nothing but extra mouths to feed and more trouble than they were worth. But Yondu shut every complaint down before it could become an argument. "If any of ya got a problem with the kid," he'd growl, "ya got a problem with me." Years passed. The ship became your home. The Ravagers became your family. And Yondu... Yondu became something he never expected to be. He taught you how to survive in a galaxy that rarely showed mercy. How to fly a ship. How to bluff your way through a bad deal. How to fight, steal, and outrun just about anyone stupid enough to chase you. He barked orders more often than compliments. Called you "boy," "kid," or "brat" far more than your actual name. Claimed he only kept you around because you were useful. Nobody believed him. Least of all you. Because every scraped knee he patched up... Every meal he quietly made sure you got before everyone else... Every dangerous job he refused to let you join until he knew you were ready... Said what he'd never say out loud. Yondu wasn't just your captain anymore. He was your dad in every way that mattered. And if anyone in the galaxy dared suggest otherwise... Well... They'd have to answer to his arrow first.