#she even sent me a screenshot of the wikipedia page of the song to prove that it's rnb & it literally said synth pop & rnb lol

[anagentinwriting]

To Catch a Thief - Part 6

Summary: Being an FBI field agent was your dream job but having been stuck behind a desk for most of your career you’ve almost given up. Fortunately, a series of robberies with minimal evidence forces you to assist a team in the field to help solve the case. But when the only thing left behind is a series of song lyrics, will you be able to find the perp? Or will the number of obstacles and lack of evidence keep you from solving the case?

Pairing: Peter Quill x Reader

Word Count: 4302

Warnings: Swearing

To Catch a Thief Masterlist / Main Masterlist

After seeing Peter in the red jacket, you went straight to the office to check his name in the database. Sure enough, Peter Jason Quill had a record including petty theft, fraud, and public intoxication. He even spent a few months in jail.

You ran another search to check for any notes left behind by Star-Lord. To your surprise, a few pages showed up and you clicked on the first case. It involved a convenience store robbery about 17 years ago, but the theft left behind a written note wedged between two boxes of candy bars. You opened the image attached to the file and inside was an IOU:

Bread

½ gal milk

peanut butter

candy bar

IOU $3.85

  -Sorry Star-Lord

Going back, you clicked on a few more realizing all the notes were from small retail stores 13 to 17 years ago. The IOU’s listed the stolen items with a signed apology from Star-Lord. All the stores dropped charges when they received money from Star-Lord along with a written thank you for keeping him fed. Forensics ran tests on the envelopes and notes, but no DNA was found.

Why would Star-Lord be stealing food and leaving behind IOU's? Isn’t the whole point of stealing not to get caught? If Peter was this Star-Lord it might’ve been the same time his mom got diagnosed with cancer. Did her treatments force her to stop working, leaving Peter/Star-Lord to fend for himself?

You scanned over the last page showing his most recent crimes. The last crime documented occurred a few years ago involving Halfworld Research and Sweet Dreams Cosmetics; this was the case Luis mentioned. Star-Lord exposed and shut down these companies for their involvement in illegal animal testing and animal cruelty.

Somehow, he got a hold of documents and recordings showing the mistreatment and the insane experiments happening to these animals.  It was graphic to look at the screenshots from the footage. One image had a raccoon with his back shaved and some sort of mechanism attached to his back. How could someone do this to a living thing? These companies also deceived their donors by putting on the front about how they were against animal testing. Luis was right, this was a complicated case, but the only connection this case had to Star-Lord was the note he sent both companies:

You know what you did A-holes.

    -Sorry Not Sorry, Star-Lord (SL)

“Whatcha doing?” Gamora asked, making you jump in your chair. She rested her chin on your shoulder staring at the computer screen. “Did you figure out what SL stands for?”

“Yes, I think I did,” you replied, staring at the signed note.

Oh, Mama I can hear you a-crying', you're so scared and all alone

Hangman is comin' down from the gallows and I don't have very long.

- Sorry SL

“Isn’t this renegade by Styx?” Kraglin asked you.

“It is. Gold star, Kraglin. Gold star.” You flashed him a warm smile giving him a high-five.

“Does this mean SL has mommy issues?”

“Or his mom could be in trouble?” You chewed on your bottom lip glancing over the written note. “SL steals for a reason, so if his mom is in trouble, he might be committing these robberies to keep her safe.”

“Hmm...” Kraglin nodded, squinting his eyes as he tried to put something together. “This doesn’t explain why he’s committing these crimes? What’s his motive? Why would his mother need protection?”

“My theory is someone put a price on his head. He’s not only running from the police but someone else like the hangman in the song. SL has to do what they say or they’ll kill him or his mother. He doesn’t want that to happen so he follows orders. His mother may be the only family he has left and he doesn’t want to lose her,” you said, pressing your lips into a tight line.

“Makes sense,” Kraglin agreed, following along as you continued.

“When he sings to his mother in the song it’s in a softer tone compared to the rest of the song. It’s almost like he’s apologizing to her. It’s like he knows his end is coming, but he isn’t afraid of his impending doom anymore.”

“He wants us to feel sorry for him, but not feel sorry for him?”

“I think it’s more like feel sorry for his mother like she’s innocent in all this.”

“He’s a criminal, YN. His mother raised a criminal. I don’t see how she would be innocent.”

“I just have this gut feeling she’s innocent,” you added as the door to the conference room flies open and in walks a bright-eyed Gamora.

“The lyrics aren’t the only thing we have this time.  We got a picture of a plate fleeing the scene. This could be our guy,” Gamora announced, kicking the door shut behind her.

Gamora pulls out the photo from her file.  The license plate reads PZM-569.  This was Peter’s car. This further proves the red jacket he was wearing links him to footage from the cameras, and his nickname Star-Lord connects him to SL signed at the bottom of the written notes.

Peter’s stealing the Infinity Stones necklaces, but why? Are him and his mom in that much trouble they have to commit these robberies? Were they in debt from Meredith’s medical bills? Was it about the money or was it something more? You were suspicious of Peter but you would’ve never pegged him for a thief.

“The car is a blue Ford Mustang II King Cobra with orange stripes.  It's registered to one Peter Jason Quill. The son of J’son and Meredith Quill.”

“That’s interesting because J’son Quill was the infamous Ego,” Kraglin informed, nodding his head at the random fact he blurted out.

“Wait, what? Is that true?”  Gamora inquired, raising a brow.

“Yeah, how could you possibly know that?” You stared at him stunned. If this was true, why weren’t you able to make this connection sooner? You lived right next door to Ego’s son.

“It was in my file I wrote up the other day. Did you two not read it?”

“Kraglin, you sourced it all from Wikipedia.”

“Your point is…” He gave a half shrug, holding his hands out in front of him like he didn’t know what he did wrong.

“Sometimes that site isn’t totally reliable.”

“But it’s true. I checked the database and public records to make sure.  J’son Quill and Meredith Quill are the parents of Peter Jason Quill.  Ego and J’son Quill are the same person. It was never disclosed to the public, but every crime with Ego’s River Lily trademark traced him back to J’son Quill after he was murdered. His fingerprints closed 53 unsolved cases.”

“Seriously,” you exclaimed. Holy crap! Ego was Peter’s dad. Peter was Ego’s son. This makes perfect sense why he was so close to his mother, and why he hated talking about his dad. Ego was with The Collectors crew, did that mean Peter was a part of it now?

“Nice work, Kraglin,” Gamora praised him with a pat on the back.  “That’s even better news because YN may have linked Peter Quill to SL!”

Gamora requested Peter Quill and his employer, Drax, to be brought in for questioning. Before they arrived, you briefed Gamora and Kraglin in on how you knew Peter. Starting with him being your neighbor before he turned into a close friend.

You stood on the other side of the mirror watching Peter twiddle his thumbs. He seemed calm showing no signs of distress at all. Does he know what he’s about to be accused of? You still couldn’t believe it, but the evidence pointed to him. He was behind this, but you wanted to believe he wasn’t. Fuck, why didn’t you put it together sooner? He matched the description, his nickname was similar, had the same taste in music, and he owns the red jacket.  Why didn’t you see it? You lost your trance when Gamora walked in.

“Are you doing okay? I mean, finding out one of your friends is involved in this must be hard to process,” Gamora speculated, squeezing your shoulder.

“Sure, I’m pissed off, but there isn’t anything I can do.” You shrugged. “He made his bed and now he has to lie in it.”

“Did he seem like the type of guy that would do something like this?"

“Honestly…..no. He’s a good, caring guy, and has grown to be one of my best friends. I mean, once you get past his ego and dirty gentleman like personality.”

“Is this the nameless boyfriend? The one you won’t tell us about because if you ask me it sounds like you have feelings for Quill.”

“WHAT? NO,” you scoffed, turning to her in shock. Yes, you may have developed some romantic feelings towards him, but you weren’t going to admit it to anyone now.

“Look, it’s okay, I’m not going to judge you for it.  You didn’t know what was happening, and clearly, he knew what he was doing. Besides, you said he’s a good guy and from what you’re building about SL’s profile, he’s been through hell and back. Do you think he will talk to us?”

“He loves to talk,” you breathed, earning a soft chuckle out of Gamora.

“You’re going to question Drax, then you can watch me interrogate your friend.  It’s good for him to squirm for a little while longer,” she smirked.

You entered the interrogation room to find a big muscular man sitting there staring at the two way mirror almost like he knew someone was on the other side. He had tattoos covering both his arms and looked pretty intimidating, but you’ve dealt with worse before.

“Good morning, Drax. I’m Agent LN. May I call you Drax?” you asked, sitting down across from him.

“Yes, I don’t know what else you would call me.”

“Right,” you cleared your throat, “do you know why you’re here?”

“Shouldn’t you know, you’re the ones who brought me here?” He asked, folding his arms across his chest.

“I do. It’s just routine questioning to see if you had a clue to why.” He glared at you not saying a word, so you continued. “How do you know Peter Quill?”

“Quill. He works for me. He’s a friend, but I like to call him family….sometimes.”

“You must know him pretty well then. Can you tell me anything else about him?” You knew a lot about Peter, but you wanted to see what others thought of him. Did they see him as a good guy like you did? Or did he come off different to other people?

“Quill mixes a mean drink, which keeps the customers happy. He’s a quick problem solver, which is nice to have on the job.  He’s a smart imbecile,” Drax stated with confidence. “Quill’s protective of his friends and those he considers family. He has been speaking highly about his female neighbor and believes he has a chance with her.” Drax let out a booming laughed as he shook his head. “But he has no chance with her.”

“Is that so?” You smirked, glancing back at the window with wide eyes. You shouldn’t continue this interview alone especially if he knew who you were. This could compromise everything.

“Can they see me through the mirror?” Drax pointed to the glass behind you, and you nodded. “What if I sit really still can they still see me?”

“Yessss,” you dragged out, narrowing your eyes at him. Drax comes off all brooding and serious, but underneath he seemed childish and lighthearted.

“Dammit,” He grumbled, folding his hands together on the table in front of him.

“Can you tell me anything about his female neighbor?”

“No. I stop listening and think about something else when he speaks of her. He needs to be with a woman that is pathetic like him. This woman is not.”

“At least Quill has you to keeping an eye on him.”

“He is hard to spot in a crowd sometimes, and I don’t follow him home. But, when he is at work my eyes are on him,” he nodded, forcing a smirk to your lips. Quill had some interesting friends, but behind Drax’s hard demeanor he was a big softy.

“Has Peter gone anywhere recently for work? Like to a conference?”

“Yes. He went to a mixology conference in Miami. I stayed home to care for my wife and daughter.”

“Of course. Do you remember what the conference was called?”

“Tales from the Galaxy,” he answered, waving his hands in front of him like a rainbow. You write down the name so you can look into it later.

“Thank you. I have a few more questions before you can leave.” Gamora told you to treat Drax like a suspect, but your gut was telling you he was innocent. Nothing he said made him come off guilty. He was an everyday working class man providing for his family. Simple, but your gut wasn’t enough to prove his innocence, you needed his alibi or his confession. “Drax, where were you last night?”

“Working, but then I went home to read my daughter a bedtime story before I went back to work till closing.”

“Do you have anyone who could verify this?”

“Yes. My employees. My wife. My daughter. Why do you need to know this information?”

“We have suspicions you may have involvement in a heist that happened last night, but since you have witnesses it’s likely your name will be cleared.” He gave you a stern nod. “Have you ever heard of the Infinity Stone necklaces?”

“Yes, Quill told me about them,” he blurted out without missing a beat.

“Really?” Your mouth dropped open at his confession.

“I mean no, I don’t know what those necklaces are, what a mystery this is?”

“But you just said you knew what they were,” you questioned as your face scrunched up.

“No need to get personal,” he huffed out, folding his arms back across his chest.

“I’m sorry.” You flipped through your notepad before closing it. He wasn’t going to tell you anything else, so might as well end it here. “I have everything I need right now but thank you for your time. You’re good to go.”

“This way,” Drax pointed to the only door in the room and you nodded with a kind smile.  He pushed the chair back as it skidded loudly across the floor and left the room. And he’s the dude who runs the most successful bar in the city. Interesting.

You returned to the other interrogation room and watched Gamora take a seat across from Peter. She introduced herself before setting up the camera beside her. Peter seemed confident and at ease showing no sign of any discomfort.

“State your name for the camera please,” She instructed, pointing to the camera lens.

“Peter Jason Quill. I enjoy listening to music, hot women, and watching Footloose, the greatest movie in history,” he grinned, shooting a wink at the camera. You rolled your eyes at him from behind the glass.

“That’s not necessary but we do need you to clear up a few things for us. Starting with what you were doing last night?”

“Last night, let’s see.” He scrunched his eyebrows together trying to think it over. “I was having dinner with a friend but ended up leaving early when my mom called with an emergency.  She needed a refill on her meds, so I had to go to the pharmacy for her,” Peter stated with a slight shrug.

“Did you get a receipt?”

“You bet, one second.” He held up his finger pulling out his wallet and handing it to her. She glanced it over before slipping it into the file on the table. It must’ve been timestamped for last night because she didn’t say anything else about it.

“Answer me this, if you had to go to the pharmacy for your mother. Then, why was your car spotted fleeing a scene of a crime last night?”

“Beats me, I needed to get the meds to my mom. She needs to take them at a certain time otherwise it could mess with her other meds and make her feel worse. She has cancer.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” He nodded as she pulls out four pictures of the Infinity Stone necklaces from the file and slides them over to him. “Quill, do you know what these are?”

He sat up in his chair, leaning over to look at the photos one by one. “Hmmm.….the president's rubies?”

“No, these are four of the six rarest necklaces in the world from the Infinity Stone Collection. Each is worth more than $300 million dollars but as a set of six the price skyrockets.”

‎Peter whistled, “Wow, that’s a huffy price tag. I can't afford them if you're selling them.”

“I’m not selling them. Someone stole them,” Gamora growled through clenched teeth, pointing at the photos. “All four of these.”

“Oh, and you think I had something to do with this?” Peter asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

“I do.”

From the tension in Gamora’s back, she was getting annoyed with Peter. His answers were vague and it wasn’t getting her anywhere. Peter did this to you sometimes and it frustrated you, too.  He would only share the tip of the iceberg of information, but never what was hiding beneath the surface. You always read the situation before going any further with him. If he seemed content and calm you would continue to pester him until he broke.  If the situation felt uncomfortable you would stop and change the subject.  Right now, at this moment, he seemed almost too prepared to talk.

“Hate to break it to you, agent, but this wasn't me.” He twirled his fingers around the photos before pushing them in Gamora’s direction.

“Is that so?” She asked with pursed lips.

“Yes, what would I do with these necklaces? Wear them? They would look pretty ridiculous on me,” Peter chuckled, shaking his head.

Gamora starts to question him about his whereabouts when the other robberies happened. She started with the Las Vegas robbery, followed by the Norway heist, and ended with the break-in at Strange’s residence.

“What a weird coincidence? I was in Vegas at the time, but it was for a bachelor party. Check with my buddies, they’ll tell you I was with them the whole time.

“Ah...that week, I went to Florida for the Tales from the Galaxy mixology conference. You can ask my boss or look on their website or ask the other attendees they will prove my attendance.

“I had a lady friend over and we were participating in extracurricular activities, if you know what I mean,” he winked, flashing his signature smirk.“If you don’t believe me, ask my neighbor. She was banging on my door telling us to shut up because she could hear us through her walls.”

“I find it a little weird you remember the exact date you got laid. It’s almost like you were looking for an alibi,” Gamora scoffed, crossing her arms as she leaned back into her chair.

“I only remember because it’s the last time I brought a girl back to my place. Lately, I have been busy hanging out with my neighbor. She’s a lot of fun.” A grin graced his lips as he glanced at you through the two-way mirror before returning his eyes back on Gamora. Did he know you were behind the glass or was he just assuming you were?

“Who is this neighbor of yours? I may need to contact her to verify your alibi. Or if I could get the unlucky woman’s name who spent the evening with you.”

“I don’t remember the woman’s name per say--” Peter scratched his head with a tight smile“--but my neighbor is YN LN.  She works in the FBI, too, you might know her.”

“There’s a bunch of us. I don’t know every agent in the city,” she replied, writing down your name for show.

“Shame, she’s a pretty awesome woman,” he smirked at the tabletop, forcing a tingling feeling in the pit of your stomach.

“Seems like you might have a thing for this--” Gamora peeked at her notepad “--YN? Is she the reason you haven’t brought any woman home recently?” Gamora eyed him as he ran a hand through his hair, showing his first sign of distress.

“Too personal, Gamora. Get back to the real issues,” you said to yourself in the empty viewing room. You harbored a  small crush for him, but you’ll get over it at some point. You enjoyed his friendship too much and wouldn’t want to ruin it with your unspoken feelings given the current circumstances.

“That seems like a personal question don’t you think? Is it even relevant?” Peter questioned, sitting up in his chair and scratching the top of his head.

“I have to protect my fellow agents from a possible criminal,” she smirked, cocking her head to the side.

“Good thing I am no criminal.”

“Your record says otherwise.” She opened another file in front of her and slid it over to him.

He flipped through the file, rubbing the scruff on his chin. “Most of this was when I was in my rebellious years. I grew out of it. Got a mentor and went straight.” He shut the file and pushed it back to her.

“Hmm, okay.” Gamora remained silence for a couple minutes watching him crack under the pressure. “Your father was the infamous Ego, correct?”

“Yeah, so what? It’s not like he cared about me, I barely even liked the guy.”

“But, he did teach you a few things, am I right?”

His eyes shot to her before reverting back his hands resting on top of the table. He hunched his shoulders before nodding his head.  “Yes, a few, but like I said I don’t do that anymore.”

“Do the letters SL mean anything to you?”

“SL? No, why would they?”

“What about Star-Leader, Space-Legend, Sun-Lens, or Star-Lord?”

Peter’s eyes flickered to the window for a brief second after hearing the last name. The look on his face told you everything; he felt betrayed. You could see it in his eyes, even though it only lasted for a second. Did he figure it out? Did he know you were on the case?

“What? No! This is ridiculous,” he chuckled with his confidence slowly deteriorating. “What type of interrogation is this?”

“A pretty normal one compared to others I’ve been in.” Peter leaned in his chair crossing his arms in a defensive manner. “You see SL, whoever he is, calls himself a legendary outlaw. Every robbery he commits he leaves behind a note, and we suspect he used to go by the name Star-Lord. We came across this name when we discovered written IOU’s to convenience stores he stole from as well as a couple companies he exposed a few years ago.  On one of the notes, both names were written, so it was an easy connection to make. The only thing we don't have are photos of the assailant."

“Wow...this guy must be pret-tay good,” Peter replied, dragging out his words.

“Some would say so, I think he gets lucky, but his luck will run out.  And when it does, we will be there to catch him.  But, we can protect him if he decides to come clean, and  tell us what is going on and who else is behind this?”

“I will be sure to let him know if I ever run into the guy.”

“I want to cover all our bases, so would you be open to doing a polygraph test or are we going to need a warrant?” Gamora waited for him to answer and once Peter looked up all the worry in his eyes was gone.

“Not at all. I have nothing to hide,” he smirked, putting his hands behind his head and his feet on top of the table.

Gamora asked you to look into each of his alibis while Mantis gave Peter the polygraph test. You started with the first necklace and discovered he was in Vegas but he never left the group according to his friends. You knew he couldn’t have stolen the second necklace, because well you were there and heard everything.  When SL stole the Space Stone, he was in Florida at the conference. There was photo evidence of him every day on their website and his passport never left Florida until the day he came back to New York. Then you got to the latest theft, and like the others, Peter told the truth. He went to the pharmacy, which happened to be close to the museum, and the security camera was timestamped at the same time the necklace was stolen.  All his alibis were rock solid.

Results from the polygraph test came in and he passed. He was telling the truth. Mantis was one of the best forensic polygraphers in the country, and she would’ve known if he was lying if not mentally then by sheer body language.

You didn’t understand. Peter fit SL’s description perfectly.  He’s athletic, strong, and fit the age bracket. He can pick a lock like it’s his job, and bullshit his way out of anything in a moments notice. Peter’s music tastes were similar to SL’s, and he was even singing some of the songs left behind at the heists.  He even owns the same red jacket from the camera footage. Peter had to be the guy, even the nickname Meredith gave him connected him to SL.  His alibis were rocked solid, but what if they were staged to appear that way?

A/N: Thanks for reading :)