War

Chapter 16

"You know, this is much easier than what Steve asked me to do." Banner commented as he took a blood sample from Raptor's arm.

She shifted uncomfortably as the needle poked into her skin and sent a look in Pietro's direction. "This is completely unnecessary."

"You are unwell." Pietro insisted once again. "Every time you shift I can see you are in pain. It only happens when you are injured- badly."

"I'm not hurt, you saw the x-rays. Nothing's broken."

Banner moved away and began putting drops of blood on microscope slides, doing so with surprising delicacy considering his new, smaller and smarter Hulk look. "That might be true but it might not be related to an actual wound."

He continued preparing the blood for testing before continuing. "This could be in relation to your DNA. It went unstable in the past and potentially might not have been fixed like we believed... This could also just be natural. We don't have any information on how long hybrids like you were created to live for. It's confirmed her first form was her Utahraptor form, it could be entirely possible their lifespan wasn't as long as a human's."

Raptor tensed at his words. She didn't feel like she was dying- and she unfortunately knew exactly what that felt like from several experiences. An arm wrapping around her suggested Pietro didn't like Banner's ideas either.

"Then again... none of the other subjects in Project Extinction survived this long." She got up and restlessly moved around the room. "They died from other causes though, so perhaps they would've had full lives."

"How long would she have left?" Pietro's question was quiet, as if he was afraid Bruce would hear and actually give him an answer.

"If it was just the pain in shifting forms, I'd say months to years potentially. But if she's been ill then that could mean her internal organs are shutting down- giving her quite possibly only days left, a week if she's lucky."

A growl rose in her throat. "So what? You'd have to put me down like some pet?"

"No!" With a blur of motion Pietro was standing in front of her, his arms holding Raptor protectively against him.

Banner shot them a sympathetic look. "Of course not. We would make you comfortable for as long as you had left."

"Oh that's so comforting to know." Raptor didn't say the sarcastic comment out loud, as much as she wanted to.

"We won't know for certain until the tests are done." Banner moved over to the lab door. "I'm sure Steve and the others won't mind you hanging around here until then but I have to go help them with their time travel idea."

"...Good luck with that." She turned her back to the man and began walking restlessly around the room.

She could feel Pietro's gaze following her. At first she didn't mind, but the irritation began building again and Raptor turned to the door. "I'll be back later."

"You should not wander around alone."

"...Alright, alright..." She gave a long sigh and looked at him over her shoulder. "I really don't think Banner's little theory is correct."

"That makes two of us."

She walked out of the Avenger's Compound, searching the area for a quiet place to relax. Finally finding one, Raptor settled down with Pietro right beside her. Even without the heightened senses of her other form, she could sense his fear. Currently he was hiding it well now that they were outside of the building, but the faint smile he gave her didn't match the concern in his eyes.

The warm summer air soon made her feel tired. Raptor could feel her eyes drooping. She leaned closer to Pietro's side as the feeling grew harder to fight off. Drowsily, she tried to start a conversation to distract him from his thoughts.

"Remember when we first met? Officially, not outside the HYDRA base."

He shifted to look over at her. "I remember feeling like you were about to kill me, yes."

"Well, in my defense I only knew violence and distrust at the time." Thinking back on the memory was almost amusing now. "Who would've thought we'd come so far from then."

He was silent for a few minutes. "It has been a long time since then, yeah."

"Aside from nearly dying and being deemed a traitor, I wouldn't change anything." She pulled away so she could see his face. "You really helped show me humans aren't all bad... and that I could be more than a weapon HYDRA created me to be."

"If Stark wasn't so stubborn you would not have had to hide from us-me. That is what I would change."

A fancy car pulled up and a growl grew in her throat as a familiar man stepped out of it. "Speak of the devil..."

The brief time they'd met after being deemed a traitor had been more from the fact worse things were happening. "I want to tear out his throat."

She got up, her bones shifting and popping as her form changed, pain twisting at her insides momentarily. Raptor knew killing Stark would only enforce his claim... but if he were to make the first strike, she'd be ready.