TO THE LIGHT ── s. rogers [editing]

8 - The Right Partner

A WEEK AND A HALF PASSED, AND AS STEVE, BUCKY, AND THE REST OF THE SOLDIERS TRUDGED THROUGH THE WOODS, ALL RAEVANNA COULD THINK ABOUT WAS GURAK. How had he gotten to the human land? Why did he attack her and only her? And why did he show up at the HYDRA base to attack her, of all places? He would have done more damage if he showed up at the SSR, and if Raevanna knew anything about Orcs, it was that they loved to cause damage.

And then there was his level of magic. Orcs were mostly melee fighters, but they did have a few sorcerers every now and then. But even so, they definitely weren't as strong as Gurak was. Raevanna was the strongest of the faeries, and he had easily bested her. How? She considered that it was the staff that he had wielded, but where had he gotten it? And how had he gotten it in the first place?

"So what was it that you had to handle after Schmidt ran off?" Steve asked Raevanna, bringing her out of her thoughts.

Raevanna sighed. She didn't want to lie to him, but if Gurak found out about Steve... She'd never be able to live with herself. So she looked up at Steve. "It was an Orc."

Steve frowned. "An Orc?"

"Yeah." Raevanna nodded. "Big, ugly, green monsters with tusks. Most are fighters, some wield magic. The first fae banished them to a corner of the island called the Wastelands a long time ago, but every now and then one or two escape, and try to cause havoc. No one knows how they get out, but they do. And one of my jobs as Champion is to keep them in check and send them back to the Wastelands if they escape." Raevanna shook her head. "One of their sorcerers followed me here. And he's here for revenge."

"Revenge?" Steve repeated. "For what?"

Raevanna paused, then sighed and shook her head again; this, she refused to tell him. "I don't know. He didn't tell me."

Steve shook his head, but said nothing else.

Eventually, after days of walking, they arrived back at the camp. Steve, Bucky and Raevanna were in the lead, watching as a crowd of soldiers stood at the entrance of the camp to greet them. Most of the freed soldiers were holding the weapons they had taken from fallen HYDRA soldiers, while others rode in several tanks that they had hijacked from the factory.

Once they were in the camp, Steve and Raevanna walked over to the middle of the camp, where Colonel Phillips and Peggy were standing. Peggy seemed happy to see them, but as usual, the colonel's face was expressionless.

Steve saluted to Colonel Phillips, then said, "Some of these men need medical attention."

The medic was called over at once, rushing over to take care of the injured men. Then, Steve turned back to Colonel Phillips. "I'd like to surrender myself for disciplinary action."

Raevanna faced him, shocked by his words; he had to be joking! "Steve," she said softly.

However, Colonel Phillips stared at Steve for a heartbeat of silence before he sighed and told him, "That won't be necessary."

Steve couldn't help but give a small smile. "Yes, sir."

Colonel Phillips left without another word. They watched him go, and once he was gone Raevanna turned to Peggy and gave her a warm hug.

Peggy stepped back and looked between Raevanna and Steve. "You're late," she said to them.

Steve grinned, holding up the broken transponder. "Couldn't call our ride."

Raevanna smiled, looking up at Steve, who grinned back at her. She had to admit, she liked being around him. Besides Dr. Erskine, Peggy and Howard, Steve was one of the few humans she actually felt comfortable with. To Raevanna, she felt like she could be herself around him, and could tell him anything without fear of him judging her for it.