Raptor tore out a HYDRA grunt's throat as she raced towards the small base. She felt weight land on her back and came to a sudden stop, easily throwing the knife-wielding agent off so she could tear into them. An explosion ahead of her informed her that War Machine had managed to blow out the door and she quickly made her way towards the smoking remains. Captain America looked down the dark entryway listening to the fresh wave of HYDRA agents coming to meet them before glancing at her.
"Think you can take them out?" He asked.
Raptor nodded, they wouldn't even see her coming.
"Finish it then." Cap ordered. "We'll clean up here and join you."
She sprinted quietly into the darkness, using her sense of smell to locate her prey, before taking down the first man with sharp claws through the chest. The man's screams echoed and the other agents readied their guns as they tried to spot her. Raptor knocked another one into the wall with her tail, his neck snapped painfully, before moving towards the last three. By now their fear stench was blocking their exact location but their loud breathing gave them away. She bit on of the on the wrist, pinning their gun arm to the wall as they fired it, and the others screamed and dropped to the ground as they were shot. She finished off the man she'd pinned before going over to one of the remaining men who was dying on the floor.
"P-please..." The man begged. "Don't kill me, I have a family."
Like that matters. Raptor thought, looking down at the man with distain.
Raptor arched her neck back before shooting forward and crushing the agent's throat in her jaws. She heard him trying to repeat 'hail HYDRA' but died before finishing, not that it was comprehensible anyway. She shifted forms to give the others the all clear when a gunshot went off behind her. Air gusted around her and she felt Quicksilver with his arms around her as he came to a stop, a new bullet graze on his arm.
"Glad you saw that coming." She told him gratefully.
He smirked back. "That HYDRA agent didn't even know what hit him."
The sound of the others catching up forced her to pull away from him and they walked over to Captain America.
"No one else is coming." Raptor spoke up. "These were the only guards."
"Scarlet Witch, search for anyone else's minds farther down, Falcon, Vision, go stand guard and make sure nothing sneaks up on us, War Machine, start downloading all you can." Cap ordered rapidly. "Raptor, Quicksilver, you're coming with me."
"Where to?" Raptor could already guess.
"To see what creatures HYDRA has hiding here."
Raptor could remember those monsters from other HYDRA bases vividly. Captain America claimed they resembled the Chitauri and Leviathans that had attacked New York when Loki came to earth. Not that it mattered much, as most were dead and cut open liked they'd been dissected to see the effects of experimentation. Falcon however had gotten a nasty bite from one, which they had later found out been mutated to be poisonous and highly toxic when he had collapsed on the ground convulsing. He had spent several agonizing days in a medical bed while everyone tried to find an antidote. When they got to the lower levels, still without seeing any HYDRA agents dead or alive, they found it scattered with pieces of alien technology and ripped apart bodies with blood sprayed across the floor. Nothing moved.
"Looks like they're all dead." Quicksilver spoke up as he looked at the mess before them.
"Stay on your guard... and don't touch anything." Captain America demanded as he slowly made his way deeper into the room.
Raptor shifted into human form so she could navigate the room better and took in all the blood on the floor. Most of it was old, some so old it was only faint dark puddle on the ground, as she went deeper however the blood seemed to grow shinier and redder... fresh. She swallowed and looked around, the other two were looking at the bodies and weapons; they took no notice of the blood on the floor. A faint scratching sound made the hair on her arms stand up and she stared deeply into a dark corner where the noise came from. Hesitantly walking closer, she reached for a knife in her back pocket and stopped as a low rumble vibrated through the ground.
"Guys..." She saw dark glittering eye blink open and pointed teeth as the creature opened its jaws. "This one's alive."
Captain America threw his shield at the monster but that only seemed to make it angry. Raptor shifted forms and backed away as it lunged, now in the dim light she could make out its serpentine body and armored sides, a Leviathan mutation, small compared to the originals, but just as dangerous. It slithered towards her with malice in its dead gaze and she jumped to the side to avoid its large jaws. Quicksilver ran by her and tried slamming it into the wall but only staggered back while the beast went unharmed. The Leviathan's attention turned towards the speedster and Raptor leapt at its head and gouged out its eye before it shook her off and bit deeply into her shoulder. She screeched in pain and tried to fight it into releasing her. Cap came to her rescue this time and his shield hit the creature's soft spot, it roared in anger and pain before turning back towards the Avenger. Raptor felt one of its teeth stuck in her arm, preventing it from moving, and backed towards the exit.
"Head for the entrance!" Captain America shouted as he was knocked into Quicksilver.
Raptor took off running with the others gaining on her; behind them the Leviathan slithered after them. Wanda spotted them first as they came up and they moved out of her way as her hands glowed red. A second later the Leviathan gave a dying groan before going still.
"Is everyone alive?" Cap asked with a quick check. "Good, let's go. Nothing else is here. Rhodey, when we're a good distance away, blow the place."
"On it." He replied, eyeing the dead creature wearily.
They walked out to the jet they'd flown in on and Raptor watched as Vision and Wanda followed while Rhodey stayed back to wait for them to leave.
Pietro glanced at the wound on Raptor's shoulder and walked to her other side. "I have to pull it out."
Raptor nodded and braced herself as he grabbed the long tooth and swiftly pulled it out of the deep wound. Blood welled up immediately from the jagged circular hole and she shift forms to make it easier for stitches to be inserted. She winced at first, the wound was extremely sore, but tried to remain still while Pietro finished. She sat down in a seat beside him and felt the jet take off gently off the ground. Behind them the base went up in flames and Rhodey flew by in his War Machine suit giving them a thumbs up. They would go back to Avengers Headquarters and take a small break to plan before going on their next mission, that's how it had always been since Steve started getting obsessed over finding his old friend. Raptor just hoped he did soon before they ran out of bases to blow up... if he wasn't in one of them, then Steve's old friend could be anywhere.
YOU ARE READING
Winter
Fanfiction[Sequel to Raptor] Six months after Ultron was defeated things at S.H.I.E.L.D. had begun to calm down. Steve was working with the new Avengers members, even well enough to start a mission to fight HYDRA as they searched for the Winter Soldier, Rapto...
