Something Worth Saving

Chapter 7

Skye struggled against the ropes that bound her hands together. "Where are you taking us?"

Raina looked over her shoulder from the passenger's seat in the van and smiled. "You three are about to become more powerful than you could ever imagine."

"Yeah, that's great, but you still haven't answered my question," Skye shot back sarcastically.

"You'll see soon enough." Raina replied before turning around and facing the road again.

"Why do bad people always have to be so cryptic?" The woman beside Skye wondered aloud.

Skye laughed, "if you ever find out, let me know."

Lincoln looked up suddenly, from the other side of Skye. "We're slowing down."

Skye sat up straighter as the van pulled to a halt and a man opened the back door for them to climb out. She jumped out of the back of the truck and marched alongside Lincoln and the other woman who had been in the cell next to them.

Raina led the group down a flight of cement steps carved into the side of a cavern and Skye chuckled. "I feel like I'm in an Indiana Jones movie."

"You and me both," Lincoln replied as he steadily made his way farther down.

Raina stopped suddenly. "We turn here. Pull out your flashlights."

The guards and Raina all pulled out flashlights as they turned to the right and were led down a pitch black hallway. "What is this place?" The woman, Maya, wondered.

"An ancient city," Raina answered. "Ages ago, the Kree came down from the sky and built an entire civilization. This city is all that remains. We're going to the temple. Only people with our specific genes can enter."

"And inside this temple is where 'we become more powerful than we can ever imagine'?" Maya asked again, rolling her eyes.

"Exactly. Stop here." Raina pointed to the guards. "Give me the obelisk." They held out the briefcase and Raina extracted it, watching in fascination as it glowed in her hands. "Wait here. You three," she pointed at Lincoln, Skye, and Maya, "with me."

She walked into the room on their left and moved towards an altar-like piece of furniture in the middle of the room. She reverently placed the obelisk on the surface of it as the other three people surrounded her. The obelisk started to glow and before they knew it, the entire room was shaking.

Skye watched in bewilderment as her hands started to turn black. She panicked as it traveled up her arms and encased her entire body. For a full minute, all she knew was this blackness. It was all she could see, all she could hear, all she could smell, all she could feel. Then it started to crack. Soon enough, her entire shell cracked and was flung off of her. She watched as the people around her flung their shells off as well.

She sucked in a deep breath and looked around the room. They all looked the same, except for Raina. Her once fair complexion and soft black hair were no longer there. Instead her entire body was covered in thorns.

Raina let out an ear-piercing shriek as she looked down at herself in horror. "No! I'm supposed to be an angel!"

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Ward, Natasha, and Bucky silently made their way along one of the outer walls of Hydra's headquarters. Bucky held up his hand to signal for the others to stop and he grabbed the handle of the door in front of him with his metal arm. He gave a hard pull and the handle snapped off, taking the lock with it. He smirked as he kicked open the door and Natasha and Ward followed.