"Stop. No, please, stop." Laughter. Voices. And then the water again, filling his lungs, covering his face, drowning him, before disappearing.

"Please..." He croaks, shuddering as a dirty, calloused hand touches his face. "Please, don't..." But they do, driving him beneath the water over, and over, the dirty, slimy liquid splashing over him as they do it. He feels a pair of hands closing around his neck, thick, dirt-covered hands that drive him into the water and choke him as he goes, he feels the press of another body against his back, feels a hard groin rubbing against him from behind. He begs and begs them to stop, but they won't, and when they finally do, it's only for a moment, until-

Tony's eyes fly open as he is snapped back into the real world, gasping for air, and shaking his head to clear it from the pool of water that is not there. His hands have formed fists in the sheets, and his entire body shakes, rigid as a board, as his eyes dart about frantically, searching for the group of men who no longer exist.

"Tony." Bruce's soft voice flows seamlessly into his mind, and he closes his eyes. No. No, Bruce can't be here, can't be in the cave, he won't let that happen. Bruce has to be safe, has to be okay, can't be in such a terrible, disgusting place. But the voice comes again, and this time, it's accompanied by Bruce's hands sliding around him, pulling him close to his chest. "Tony."

He lets himself fall into Bruce's arms, curling up against the physicist's chest. He feels the warmth of Bruce's naked body against his own, and remembers where he is.

"I'm at home." He states quietly, eyes blinking shut. Bruce nods and kisses the top of Tony's head.

"Yes, Tony. You're home." He whispers, carding his fingers through Tony's hair. Tony nods minutely, and sniffs.
"I wasn't, before."

Bruce kisses Tony's forehead, and nods. "Tell me."

Tony breathes deep, and nods again. It's time. Bruce has politely asked him every time, and now...now it's time to tell him.

"I was in Afghanistan again." He mumbles, and looks down, biting his lip. Bruce just begins to rub Tony's back gently with one hand, bringing the other one up to rest on Tony's face. Tony takes a deep breath, and then continues.

"They, um...they had this piece of plastic, with water in it." He says, his voice barely above a whisper. Bruce just continues his slow ministrations across Tony's back, not saying a word. "They'd shove my face in it, till I couldn't breathe, till the water filled up my mouth and my nose and my lungs..." He shakes his head, and closes his eyes again. "Yelling at me in their native languages, I think there were about seven different ones being spoken at the same time."

Tony feels hot tears begin to trickle down his cheeks, and he shudders again. Bruce feels it, and rolls him onto his back, cupping his face in both hands. He kisses away Tony's tears, and the his lips, once, twice, until he's calm again, calm enough to keep going. Tony looks away, but doesn't try to move his face, and Bruce is silently grateful for that.

"I-I didn't..." Tony shakes his head again, and sniffs quietly. "I didn't know where I was, or...or what they wanted, I just knew I didn't want the water, or the dark, or the cold anymore...It was so cold..." Bruce leans down and kisses him again, and while it takes Tony a moment to respond, he eventually does, kissing back. They stay that way for a while, just pressing their lips together, until Bruce pulls back, and nods for Tony to continue.

"I...I remember the cave..." Tony gulps, and nods. "I remember the dirt on their hands while they touched me, and...and hit me, and...the dark." He takes a deep breath again, and looks Bruce in the eye for the first time. "I remember forgetting what home felt like. All I could think of when I dreamed of Pepper, and Happy, and home was those hands on me, all over me, touching me, and fucking me, and..." His voice cracks at the end as more tears come. Bruce just leans down, and kisses them away, wiping again at Tony's cheeks. He's done this a thousand times before, he'd Tony while he cries, but this is the first time he's heard this story.

"W-when I wake up, a-and it's dark, I don't remember..." Tony's body shakes visibly as he speaks. "I-it's like I never left. Like I'm still there. And the-the water's still there, and the hands are still there..." He opens his mouth to talk, but no words come out, only choked sobs. Bruce kisses Tony's lips, his cheeks, his head, anything he can reach, wrapping his arms tightly around his shaking frame, and finally speaks.

"Shh." He coos, rolling onto his side, and curling his body around Tony's. "Shh, it's okay, you're here, you're home." Bruce feels the rage building up in his stomach, hot, and white, and angry, so angry, because these men hurt Tony, his Tony, and they had touched his Tony, and raped his Tony, but he holds it down. He takes deep breaths, and closes his eyes, because that was then, and this is now, and Tony needs him, maybe more than ever. He presses kisses across Tony's face, and rubs his back, and tells him over and over that he's okay, that it's okay, that he's safe, because he is.

Because Bruce will never let anyone hurt Tony again. Because nobody will ever come that close to hurting Tony again.

Because it's not just Tony, it's his Tony, his hero, his billionaire, his genius, crying against his chest, and he would never, ever, let something cause this again, not while he was still alive and breathing.

Because Tony is his.

And he is Tony's.

~Ent.