Chapter 6

Peter's attempt at a smile became a little more real as the King told Peter he was being rescued. Soon he would be home, warm and safe with Uncle Ben and Aunt May. In a new house of course, the old one got all burned up. But, soon he would be in their arms and everything would be okay, even his burning neck.

Peter weakly lifted his head a little further from the king's shoulder and asked, "So, you'll help me get home? To Aunt May and Uncle Ben?"

King Namor frowned slightly before replying, "We'll certainly do our best to get you and your family reunited, but first, we need to get you looked at and taken care of, Peter."

Peter dropped his smile quickly. He didn't want anyone to look at him! He'd had enough of that with the lab coated men and women that hurt him! They looked at him like an animal or piece of meat! Peter started struggling again.

"No!" Peter yelled, his voice hoarse from dehydration. "I don't want to be looked at anymore! I just want to go home!"

Peter sobbed in pain as he struggled against the steel bands that were King Namor's arms. Yelling made his neck burn even worse, both the inside and the outside. He need to scratch!

King Namor wasn't bothered by his squirming, he simply tightened his grip on Peter's wrist so that he couldn't claw his own throat out. Namor gentled his voice to try and calm the child in his arms, worried for the child's already weak constitution. Peter needed to get into water, be fed and have some good rest to recover. Even in Namor's arms, he could feel Peter's feeble thrashing weakening in exhaustion.

"Peter, we're not going to hurt you. We're going to make you feel better, make your neck stop hurting, okay, child?"

Peter slowly ceased his fighting, but Namor wasn't sure whether it was because he was listening or if his weakened body simply didn't have the energy anymore. Peter lay limply in Namor's arms, trembling still as he sobbed against Namor's shoulder.

"Peter, we are going to find your family and get you back to them, but it's going to take a little while. We need to make sure you're well in the mean time. I'll bet you're hungry, aren't you? We're going to get you something to eat, make sure you're warm and comfortable, and tend you back to health."

Peter sniffed softly and nodded, his eyes turning dull now that all the fight was gone. Pete thought he could trust the king, but he just didn't know. Everything was so strange, from the water men to this massive giant holding him. If Peter was being rescued, why couldn't he immediately be taken to his family, to let them kiss the boo-boos away?

But Peter was tired and hurting, and it didn't look like fighting did a whole lot of good when the person he was fighting was so much stronger than he was and claimed to want to help Peter anyways.

Peter resigned himself to staring dully around him, exhaustedly watching the water men as they went through various computers and lab equipment. From what he could tell, they were recording and then destroying whatever they found. They didn't seem to want to leave any evidence that this lab existed.

The King shifted Peter to a more comfortable position, although he still kept a firm hold or Peter's hands, before he turned his attention once more to the water man standing beside them. Peter had forgotten momentarily that the water man was there and curled tighter against the side of King Namor, frightened.

King Namor asked the water man, "How is the retrieval going?"

The water man straightened and answered, "Very well, my King. All of the Hydra agents on site have been captured or taken care of. The men are taking anything of importance and destroying the rest. Unfortunately, it seems that the command chain knew we were coming and all the upper personnel were evacuated, along with what appears to be all the vital data from the research conducted. The only personnel left appear to be grunt agents ordered to make a last stand."

Namor sighed, frowning. "That complicates matters. Take the captured Hydra agents back to our ops base for questioning. Be sure to search the files of the children for a file under the name 'Peter.' from the looks of it, they were doing experimental research to synthesize Atlanteans using human children as a base."

The water man looked horrified as he asked, "Did they take the other children with them?"

King Namor's frown deepened and his eyes darkened in sorrow. "No, they did not. Peter was the only survivor. The rest did not survive the researchers' crude methods."

The water man soldier's face turned a paler shade of blue. "Great Neptune! They're only children, how could anyone do this? I've got a daughter at home and..." The soldier sadly shook his head. "What should we do with the remains? Their families will have their own ways they wish to honor them. Oh, tides, how will we tell their families?"

King Namur adjusted Peter against his side, so he could both hold on to Peter's hands and hod Peter himself, before laying a comforting hand on the soldier's shoulder. "Hydra is an evil of many depravities, a danger to both young and old. These are not the first lives cut short by their harm, and unfortunately it won't be the last. We must look on the positive side of every conflict if we are to retain our zeal in combating such evil. Today, good, innocent lives were lost before their time, but we did save one. And, even if just for one, it was not in vain."

Peter stared wide eyed up at the king as he spoke. He didn't understand much of what the man said, but somehow, he felt the meaning truer in his heart. Being kidnapped and hurt by mean, evil people had been the worst thing that had ever happened to Peter in his short life, but he had also been rescued. As soon as he was back home, with Aunt May and Uncle Ben, he was going to be okay. Everything was going to be okay.

Peter let himself sag into King Namor's arms, peacefully going limp. He was exhausted. The king had said that it would take a little while to get Peter back to his family, so it would be fine to take a little nap, right? Peter's eyes slipped closed and he drifted away into the darkness.

AN: I feel like every king is entitled to encouraging speeches about hope and happiness. Also, keep in mind that Peter is going to grow up hearing that stuff. When he finally makes it to the surface world, he is going to be quite noble and princely.:)