He sure hoped Tony had survived. He couldn't bare see that man dead. Tony's blood would be on his hands. He was the leader after all, he had to look after his men... And Tony was one of them, even though the man insisted they weren't soldiers.

Steve shivered slightly as he hung from the metal chains. His muscles ached and his head spun. Only minutes ago was he and Tony trying to get Nat and Bruce out. They had found Bruce... But in a very bad state. The man was curled up in a ball in the corner of a brightly lite room. Ripped clothes surrounded him, his trousers hung loosely around his hips. The doctor had had a green hinge to his skin and bloody cuts running all along his body. Shivering violently.

Steve and Tony was so shocked at the state of him that they had paused. That little pause caused them, well Steve, to be captured. He hoped Tony had got out. The last thing he saw was Tony being chased down the corridor by about six men. Stark clearly wasn't having a fun time. They hadn't gotten Bruce out and hadn't even found Nat. The mission had failed, badly.

Steve let a loud breath as he swung slowly in the middle of the dimly lite room. He heard an explosion above him and dust fell from the ceiling, which was starting to cave in slightly. Steve pulled at the chains, trying to get free. However he couldn't. He had lost a lot of energy throughout the day. First fighting with about twenty drones with Tony, who didn't even have his suit anymore. HYDRA had gotten hold of his suits and were using them against the avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D.

S.H.I.E.L.D, that wasn't even a thing anymore. He had no idea where Maria was. His heart ached for her and prayed that she was alive somewhere underground, safe and alive that was all he asked God for. Yet she probable was out there kicking HYDRA's ass if he hadn't insisted she find safety before everything fucked up. He knew Maria wouldn't just sit around waiting to be saved. He missed her. He wished he had told her that he loved her because that chance may not come again.

No Clint, no Pepper, no Coulson or Fury. Everyone was gone.

The last thing that Thor had said was that he had to go deal with Loki, who apparently hadn't died and was fucking things up in Asgard. He respected that the god had his own things to deal with. Adopted not so dead brother turns evil and tries, and is succeeding at taking over the thrown... Yeah, the god had a lot on his plate.

Tony had been doing video logs that aired to all of America and other parts of the world, such as England and China. Tony had hacked into the computers and TV's, everything with a screen to send these videos out to the public. All to ensure people that everything was ok and to keep under ground. Also to inform everyone of everything they, Tony and Steve, knew. They had been the only thing that informed the public. The government was in ruins and HYDRA was everywhere. It was Steve's worst nightmare and it had all come true.

He had fought with Bucky and the rest of the howling commandos to get rid of HYDRA. He had even given his life to save everyone. Twice in fact.

It seemed now that everything Steve had fought for in World War Two was useless, since HYDRA had gained what it wanted.

He pulled again at the chains and slumped in defeat. He needed to get out... But how?

Slamming the camera shut and stuffing it into his ripped jeans pocket, Tony spun around to look for an escape. Finding the door and the vent. Tony went for the vent. It was the easiest option. I mean, he didn't want to face about twenty HYDRA agents at this moment in time. Not when the only weapon he had was the glock 47 hand gun, probably not even fully loaded.

He couldn't shake the image out of his head. His best friend laying there defenseless. He should have acted faster. He shouldn't have stopped. He wouldn't be in this position right now. He climbed higher up the vent, in hopes for some escape. Maybe he could go on top.

Bad idea sir, I would suggest under ground train stations, a voice said in head which sounded awfully like Jarvis. Tony missed his buddy, J.

He pulled himself to the right at a crossing, clawing along the vent for a bit and then laid down on his back. He needed to think. Good job his wasn't claustrophobic, he thought with a huffed laugh. He stared up at the sliver vent, thoughts running through his messed up head. The one that stood out the most was, go to Pepper. Tony closed his eyes and rubbed them until funny patterns started to appear. He blinked them back open as he heard the sound of HYDRA agents shouting.

"Shit, can't let a man rest can they," Tony mumbled to himself and rolled onto his front, army crawling through the vent. He came to a grate, hoping he could climb out of it to safety. However, he came across another member of his team.

Natasha.

She curled up in the corner of the room, head duck down low, arms wrapped around her head, knees brought up close to her body. She was so still Tony thought for a second she was dead, until her shoulders slowly moved, showing she was breathing. Still, but breathing. Her body showed no sign of injure except a little bit of dried blood within the parting of her hair. So no physical damage.

Mental damage. Yes.

Tony glanced around the room, finding one wall was a mirror, ceiling to floor. A brown wooden bar, ballet bar, ran across the middle of the mirror. The mirror had a smash with blood on it, like someone had smashed Natasha's head against it. The rest of the room was lite just enough to be able to see yourself in the mirror. No bed, no toilet. Just a mirror, another three grey concrete walls and a light bull hanging from a white cable over the room.

Tony glanced behind him as one of the HYDRA agents that had followed him into the room shouted, "He's escaped through the vents! Which dumbass is responsible for not locking the vent gates, fucking idiots!"

Tony then looked back at Natasha.

"Psst!" Tony whispered loudly. Natasha didn't move from where she was curled up, not even a twitch of a finger.

"Natasha. Psst, Nat," Tony whispered. Still no reply.

"Nat, fucking look at the vent gate you dick," Tony whispered louder this time. Natasha's head slowly lifted up and she glanced up to the vent gate, eyes narrowing. She seemed to not recognize him for a couple of seconds, but then everything clicked together and her eyes went back down to the ground. Tony frowned slightly.

"What's th-" Tony began to ask but then spotted it. He hadn't seen it a minute ago but now he saw the camera just above her. The red light blinking. Tony lent away from the vent gate, as Natasha slowly stood up, she had sat perfectly so that she wasn't seen by the camera. She then glanced up at the gate before looking up at the camera. She reached up and moved the camera so slowly that the people watching her won't notice if they weren't paying full attention. After she had moved the camera enough that the vent gate wasn't in sight and that it didn't reflect from the mirror, Natasha moved over to stand below it. Tony then got to work with kicking the gate open.

The bolt's loosen, with one last hard kick the gate fell off and Natasha caught it, silently placing it on the ground. Tony held out both his hands and Natasha took them without hesitation. Tony helped Nat walk up the wall to then be able to fully climb into the air vent. The second she was fully in the vent she collapsed onto Tony. He froze for a second as Natasha wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a hug.

She had never shown so much emotion in front of him, but slowly Tony relaxed and hugged Natasha back.

"Not really into hugging," Tony mumbled as Nat closed her eyes.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice cracking slightly. She then pulled away as Tony looked at her with shock. "We need to move. Now." Natasha said as loud shouts echoed from behind them where Tony had been. Tony nodded and then turned, crawling along the air vent.

"You ok?" Tony whispered to her.

"Fine," was her blunt reply. Tony knew she wasn't. They needed to get somewhere safe before Natasha fully cracks inside.

They had mentally tortured her, having not laid a finger on her except for when they smashed her head against the glass mirror. Memories of her past, which she had been able to push back, were pulled back torturing her for what she had done.

The ballet bar was just a small amount of what had happened to her. Word abuse was one of the things they had done to her, nearly 24/7. Bringing up memories of her past. The people she had killed, the pain she had caused. She was no hero, no good deed could make up for all of what she had done.

Tony started to climb up the ladder at the end of the vent and Natasha followed, staying silent throughout their escape. They finally made it out of the HYDRA complex in New York.

"Under ground," Tony mumbled to himself looking around where they were. He tried to remember how he had got from the subway station to the HYDRA complex with Steve.

Tony found the way to the subway and sat down on the tracks after they had walked for a while. Natasha sat opposite him, pressing her back against the wall. Tony studied her as she tried to look anyway but directly at him.

"You got a phone?" Natasha asked and Tony shook his head.

"I have a camera," Tony said. "I've been broadcasting to the world. Telling them what was going on and where to go to stay safe." Tony informed her.

"Smart," Natasha said. "You got any food?" Natasha asked him after a while. Tony reached into his pocket and pulled out a melted mars bar.

"It's the only thing I have," Tony said tossing it towards her. It landed next to her and she picked up, nodding thanks to him. After she finished it, she placed the wrapper onto the floor next to her.

"Have you heard anything from the others?" Natasha asked.

"The last thing I heard was that Steve's been captured, totally not my fault. Bruce is still back there... Thor's nowhere to been seen, much like Fury, Coulson, Sam... Pepper too. Maria was told by Steve to go to safety under ground, so she might be around somewhere," Tony gestured around him. "And Rhodey is working with what's left of the military." Tony finished off.

"Clint?"

"A no show too," Tony confirmed. Natasha looked away from him, down the train track to her right.

If only she knew Clint was only five miles away from her.