War

Chapter 6

Everything was silent and dark. It was the only reason Raptor knew she was still alive when she opened her eyes again- well that and the aching pain in her sides. She was alive though and that meant they had won against Hela and seemingly left the ruins Asgard seemed to have been burning into... Where was Pietro though? Had he made it out? Raptor sat up and stared into her dark surroundings before making out shapes of other sleeping individuals; she must've been left in a makeshift infirmary.

"But where? Another planet? How long have I been out?"

Raptor shifted her eyesight and sense of smell to better differentiate those around her as she searched for Pietro. When she was satisfied none of the sleeping or unconscious people where him it sent both relief and fear through her; if he wasn't in this room then where was he? She caught his faint scent leading to the door but nothing told her if he'd been dead or alive when taken from the room. So, naturally, it meant she was going to track him down and see before the worry could get any worse.

The door slid open without much trouble and lead into a dimly lit passageway to another area. Occasionally she could hear hushed voices coming from several different closed rooms or branches in the hallway but Raptor ignored them and continued forward. Finally, the path grew wider and opened up into a large space with a giant window in the front to allow the light of stars into the room; they were in space on a large ship then. Raptor hesitated to go out from the shadowy hall and into the more lit up room. No one seemed to be in there unless they were seated in the chair by the window. Besides, who was in charge of the ship? Surely Thor- or less hopefully, Loki- would trust them if they had rescued the Asgardians. So where were they? They hadn't been in the infirmary with some of the other citizens of Asgard.

A door opened to the side of the area and she ducked back before slowly edging out to see Agard's princes walking out side by side. Their voices echoed around the space but not quite loud enough to make out what they were talking about. She was about to leave thinking the trail she'd followed to find Pietro was too old when she finally saw Thor break off from his 'brother' and walk over to something hunched in the shadows. There was a pause as Loki stared from where he stood in the center of the room before Thor finally rejoined him, this time with Pietro limping behind him. Raptor wasn't sure the extent of his injuries but it still sent a flash of anger through her that she'd failed to protect him.

"I should leave when we get to our destination... I can't save anyone. Not even myself without help. I drag everyone down when I get injured." She began moving away back towards the makeshift infirmary. From the back of her mind Raptor gave a growling laugh. "Well of course you can't. We aren't anything special. No armor. No powers besides the primal instincts and natural weapons I provide. HYDRA made a mistake in creating us and most were killed. Mere prototypes. I am powerful, yet, with a human side I have become weakened. Your pack deserves better."

She staggered and mentally winced at the lecture. Was that side of her right? Project Extinction had been a failure... Even the newer models she'd fought with the Avengers had been better despite their lack of control- the abominations at least had powers despite all the gene splicing to create them- and wouldn't have been destroyed by her alone. Her gaze fell to the metal spike hanging from the necklace she wore. "What if we had chosen Ultron? Would we have been powerful then? Strong enough to endure hits more than some normal human or animal could? Or would we be something completely different; A new monster hidden under metal plating that was as easy to control and destroy as one would deleting a file from a computer?"

Raptor started moving again, hearing the three behind her getting closer once more. "Guess we'll never find out."

"Raptor, is that you?" Pietro's voice came from the corner; she hadn't moved fast enough.

She turned to look back at him and allowed the speedster to catch up. "I got lost..."

"You are feeling better though, yeah?" Concern clouded his gaze.

"Of course." She gave a small smile before glaring over at Loki. "So, why is he still around?"

Thor clapped his brother's shoulder. "He helped save Asgard."

"Surprised you didn't betray us." Raptor commented. "At least he's alive... so when the time is right I can show him how 'grateful' I am for being dragged into this family mess."

Loki gave a smirk as if he'd read her thoughts but didn't reply to her verbal response. The urge to slap it off his face grew and she forced herself to keep her human form; it wouldn't do anyone any good if she attacked him for no reason. Thor was trusting him for now, though considering he only seemed to have a single eye at the moment she wasn't sure how wise that would be. One eye with a trickster like Loki around was almost the same as handing him a knife to stab in your back.

"...You can come with me to my room." Pietro finally spoke up after the silence began to stretch on. "I'll tell you what happened and you can get some rest."

"...Fine." Raptor let him guide her through the halls and into a small room. She glanced around at the blue glow that lit it up before settling down in the makeshift bedding on the floor.

The concern was still hidden in Pietro's eyes as he joined her but he obviously was working to hide it. "You were out for several days. The healers that survived mended your wounds and the others but some still did not make it. Thor worries that Asgard will die out before we reach Earth."

"You mean the Asgardians are all dying?"

"Asgard as a culture and a people, yes. Many are healing well and are healthy but compared to what it was..." Pietro shrugged. "Even with people surviving their way of life will never be the same as it was in their home."

"Wonder how people on Earth will take it when they get 'invaded' by them... No one will like the fact Loki is with us either."

"He brought this ship. Everyone would have died if it weren't for him. I agree, he did this to save himself and appear as a 'good guy' but for now there is not much we can do about him if he turns on us."

"Kill him now." Raptor suggested, only half joking. "... So did Banner make it?"

"Fenrir managed to injure him but Hulk is hard to kill. He has his own room here."

Hulk had actually been injured by that giant wolf? Nothing injured the Hulk... At least it made her feel slightly better at the fact she'd lived nearly being bitten in half by the beast. "...That's good."

"You should rest. You still haven't healed." Pietro's concern became evident again in his tone.

She scoffed. "I'm fine. Besides, you got hurt too. I don't see you sleeping."

He gave her a grin. "Good point."

"Wanda will never forgive me if I show up with you half conscious you know." Raptor nudged him lightly. "So if I have to rest then so do you."

A haunted look flicked across his face, which was quickly covered again, before he rolled onto his side facing away. "Deal."

Raptor stared at him for a few minutes. What hadn't he told her? Had something happened before he'd found her in that jungle? She glanced at the small window in the wall where the stars surrounded them; guess she'd find out when they got back...

She sighed and carefully laid down completely on her back; her ribs still ached with each breath. Hopefully rest would help her now. There wasn't much she could do trapped on a ship now anyway. "I hope we get home soon... I need to know what happened..."