The sounds of murmured voices dragged Viktor out of his drug-induced slumber. He woke slowly, as if he hadn't slept for the past week, but more importantly, he woke very, very comfortably. He did not want to move a muscle. After waking up without having harsh straw poking him at odd places, Viktor found that waking up in this sterile, blindingly white vet's clinic was probably heaven. He had finally died. Maybe Oorah had taken him out.

Heaven didn't have annoying humans talking very loudly, though.

"Can you guys shut the fuck up?" Viktor said grouchily. The room fell blessedly silent for a minute, and Viktor was already almost asleep again when Nikolas piped up.

"We are glad you are awake! You slept for much of the day."

He let out a sigh, sitting up from his makeshift blanket bed, thoughts of going back to sleep gone. He looked around, rubbing his eyes with his fists. The once empty cell was now filled with two dishes; one water and one filled with food. The food wasn't the same brick that had pulled him into a state of relaxation. It looked like chunks of dried jerky. He shuffled forward with his blanket tucked around his shoulders and drank his fill of water, nearly drowning himself. Man, he was thirsty.

Chewing on some jerky - jerky! No more goop - which tasted like chicken, Viktor peered out into the room they were in, looking at all the shelves and tables. "What happened yesterday?" Viktor yawned, absently reaching up to inspect the bandages around his neck. He was extremely happy that the shock collar was off, even if the bandages felt a little constricting. No more jolts of electricity going down his spine. Even if they were mild most of the time, they were still a bit startling when you weren't expecting them.

Aiko told the story. Apparently, after Viktor had gotten back in his new cage and fallen asleep, the alien vets had tended to all the others as well. Seeing as they hadn't hurt Viktor, they had all cooperated enough for them to get their collars off. None of them were fooled by the brick food, and eventually, the vets had given up on trying to get them to eat it. Removing the collar had been pretty nasty for the others since they hadn't been drugged to the gills. They had been on for so long, constantly rubbing and chafing at their necks that some skin had started to heal around it. Shocking their systems probably hadn't helped too much in the healing department, either.

Aiko told him how the bandages had some ointment smeared on them, probably to combat infection. It had some numbing properties as well since Viktor couldn't feel anything wrong with his neck unless he pressed pretty hard on it.

After everyone had been inspected and tended to, the vets had called it a night and left the building, probably to go home. They had yet to return, but the others assured him that they would most likely be back soon. The sun had been up in the sky for quite some time.

"What d'you think they'll do with us?" Viktor asked, a bit nervous at the thought. He wasn't completely sure they wouldn't take them back to the ring. He was sure to have nightmares about that place for years. The rational part of his mind told him that the ring was no more; the cops had come and taken out all the animals, shipped them off to who knows where, and probably arrested the ringmaster.

"We aren't going back there," Pedro said firmly, somewhere off to Viktor's left. He really wished that the walls of his cage were see-through. He missed looking at the others. "We'll probably be taken to where the other humans are."

"Yeah," Ezekiel said, a bit more faintly than Viktor was used to. He must've been farther down the room. "They see us like animals, so... Maybe we're a new and exotic pet. I call dibs on some rich old lady."

Jeers and catcalls answered his proclamation, and Viktor laughed, laying against the wall. His light smile fell off his face as he realized something. "We probably aren't going to see each other again. Not unless we get rescued."

Silence, then a breath blew out dramatically. "Yeah, well. When we get out of this mess and these suckers realize we're sentient, we'll just have to come find each other. Maybe some of us will be paired together, wherever we're going," Ezekiel said, any joy in his voice from before completely gone.

"Why do you think they even came to Earth?" Aiko asked.

They had never really talked about why they were here when in the arena, other than those first few nights. All that mattered in that place was teaching each other the ins and outs of the creatures they had fought. Weak spots, blind spots, and how to avoid certain movements they did. It all boiled down to winning the fight. Rarely had they ever lost their fights due to these communications, other than the times the ringmaster had wanted them to lose. This had made them insanely popular attractions in the arena. There were rarely days they weren't in the ring. Eventually, they started to get creative while fighting in order not to bore their customers. Viktor's body ached in phantom pain as he remembered the consequences of bored customers.

Their time in the arena had been spent fighting, winning, eating, and sleeping. There had been little time for big questions such as this, even on the weekends, when most were catching up on sleep and nursing wounds. No one wanted to think about why they were never going to go back home and back to their normal lives.

But now, well-fed, warm and significantly less wounded, they were more open to the idea of talking about it. They had quite a few ideas and theories on why the aliens showed up. Viktor thought they had been exploring and saw the debris around their planet and had gotten closer to investigate. Maybe they had thought the humans were cute and took them back, sentience be damned. Ezekiel thought that they wanted humans for their meat, but Aiko argued against that, saying that feeding predatory animals for food production was hardly productive, considering all the food they would need to live. Nikolas thought that they had tested us for sentience but probably found none. The 'meteor' ship had been in orbit around the sun for a while; maybe they thought humans were incapable of intelligent thought.

Some funnier theories had popped up. The aliens knew humans were sentient but thought it'd be funny to keep them locked up as pets in order to prank them. Others brought up that they were the ones who made the pyramids and came back years later to cash in on their end of the deal. Maybe they were making humans run on treadmills to power their entire planet and they had run out of their recent human supply.

They talked about an underground human resistance, those who escaped their masters and plotted to overthrow the alien government. Sympathetic aliens found out about their sentience and were determined to spread the truth but were seen with about much credibility as human conspiracists back on Earth.

Eventually, the veterinary aliens came shuffling into the building, a chime tinkling as a door opened and shut. Viktor thought with some amusement that even though they were probably lightyears away from planet Earth, there were a lot of similarities between his home and this planet. The amusement was quickly replaced with nervousness as three aliens came shuffling into the room they were in.

They hadn't hurt him yet, but Viktor wasn't going to take any chances. He stood up carefully, trying not to attract their attention to his cage. It didn't seem to work, however, since they were peering at papers and walking over to the general area the humans were in. Viktor stepped away from the entrance until the wall met his back.

The others had fallen silent just as he did when the aliens had entered the room. It certainly didn't go unnoticed by them. They glanced at the humans with something resembling pity written on their faces, and Viktor felt a scowl creep on his face, anger simmering beneath his chest. They didn't need some aliens' pity, certainly not now, after what they'd been through.

One of the aliens came up to his cage, shuffling papers in his hand before opening the door with another. "Koh..grash," he said, peering at the paper before looking at Viktor. "Kohgrash!"

Viktor bared his teeth, glaring.

The alien frowned at him, and he felt a flicker of nervousness, sinking back into the wall and wrapping the blanket around his shoulders a bit tighter. The alien didn't do anything to rebuke his reaction, though. Instead, he grabbed the food and water dishes, both of which were nearly empty. He lightly shut the door while refilling them.

Viktor waited for a beat before scooting forward, reaching out to shove at the light metal door. It swung open. Licking his lips nervously, Viktor glanced over to where the alien had walked off to. His back was turned. The two other aliens were occupied.

"Hey," Viktor whispered to whoever was in the cage next to him. "My door's open!"

Aiko responded, "I don't think it's best to get out. You probably won't get anywhere. Just stay put, Viktor."

Viktor gritted his teeth but knew she was right. Regardless, he just wanted a peek out of the cage. He hated being in cages. He leaned out, his uninjured arm taking the weight of his body as he knelt out of the cage door to look around. He had already seen most of the room when he had been on the examination table, but he had also been suffering from blood loss and fatigue, so he hadn't gotten a good enough look. Plus, he wanted to get another view. His blanket slid off his shoulders and pooled onto the ground.

He frowned at it before picking it back up and draping it over his shoulders again. Damn blanket.

He didn't notice the alien walking up to his cage until a large hand settled on his head while he was preoccupied with the blanket. He flinched, slamming the back of his head painfully against the cage door. He shrieked obscenities at the alien, scrambling to get back into the safe shelter that the cage offered. Back inside, Viktor pushed himself to the far wall, trying to get his trembling breathing under control. He breathed harshly through his nose, watching the doorway cautiously. The alien wasn't coming any closer; he just placed the dishes back inside the cage and shut the door with a click.

Viktor eventually calmed himself down, rubbing the back of his head. It throbbed, but it was nothing compared to old injuries he suffered in the arena. It'd be gone in twenty minutes, tops.

"Told ya," Aiko said smugly. Viktor kicked the wall moodily.

"Shut up. Wasn't expecting them to touch me." He grouched. "Thought I was gonna get..." His hands traveled up to his throat, rubbing it gently.

"Yeah," Aiko said softly. "I don't think all of them are nasty. We just got bad luck."

Viktor carefully watched the aliens' reactions to their chattering, but they were only observing in between their duties. There were no harsh yells for them to shut up, nor were there any slamming of fists against cage doors. They were just... watching.

"I'll say," Ezekiel grumbled. "Should've never gotten buff." Someone snorted.

"If you're buff, then I'm the Hulk," Pedro said, which earned some chuckles from the others.

"You're just jealous you don't have these bad boys." Viktor could imagine Ezekiel flexing his arms and kissing the muscles like in the cartoons.

The chime to the front door rang, hidden from view from the back room the humans were in. They fell silent, as one of the vets walked out to greet the newcomer. The other two grunted and clicked with each other, glancing at the humans. Viktor shuffled uneasily in his cage, bringing up the blankets to wrap around himself like a cloak. Only his head was peeking out. He wished he could look at the others to see their reactions, but he imagined it was the same as his: tight with worry.

He could hear the vet and the newcomer talking loudly and watched them as they entered the room. The head vet gestured to the cages. The newcomer came closer, inspecting each of them. Viktor peered at the new alien with curiosity and a bit of healthy nervousness.

He was a deeper maroon than the others usually were. He had a long tail, quite like Lilac's. He was tall enough that it didn't drag on the ground so much. He was about a head and a half taller than the other aliens. He wore extremely fancy clothes. They looked official, neat, and pressed. Jewelry lined his tail and clawed fingers.

He was so... loud.

He asked the vets questions, gesturing to each of the humans as he stalled outside their cages. He peered into Viktor's with curiosity on his face, chuckling slightly when the teen bared his teeth. "Kohgrash?" he asked, tilting his head towards the aliens. One of the vets responded. Probably something the alien liked since he nodded his head in acknowledgment. The alien straightened, clapping his hands suddenly as he spoke to the others. Viktor jumped violently, blinking hard.

The new alien said something to the vets and then took his leave. After his departure, the vets all heaved a sigh of relief and got back to their work.

"What do you think that was all about?" Pedro asked after it had been a few minutes. A glance at the vets told them that none were paying too much attention to them.

Viktor shrugged, even though he knew they couldn't see it. "Maybe some animal rights activist? A follow-up from the police? Could be anything."

Hums of agreement and confusion followed that statement, and Viktor settled back in his cage, comfortable in his blankets. He drifted in and out of sleep for most of the day, only waking when one of the vets strayed a bit too close to his cage or if they opened the cage itself. They tended to announce their presence noisily, which Viktor appreciated, even if it wasn't on purpose.

The day ended slowly, and eventually, the vets went back home, leaving pale, muted lights on in the building and the humans to themselves. Viktor got more comfortable, hugging the blanket tight around him. He hoped that whatever happened in the future, he'd at least have this awesome blanket.