A/N: Ugh this chapter just did not want to be written, I saw Age of Ultron and my plot bunny pretty just went 'Screw you guys I'm done with this.' While I cried like a pissy bitch and it has taken me this long to coax him back with LOTS & LOTS of chocolate.

Thanks to everyone who has thus far reviewed, fav'd and red this; you guys are amazah!

But I always appreciate more (Cox I'm a review whore lol)

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Chapter 4: + Two years.

Pain.

That was the first sensation Bruce felt as his brain came back online. Pain, sharp and brutal shot through every nerve ending and if he'd been able to he would have screamed from the sheer agony but he'd long ago screamed his throat raw. His abused eyes flickered behind his closed lids as even the minuscule amount of light filtering through the lids was making his head split in two.

He'd lost track of the time he'd been trapped here, it all seemed to blend into a single entity when there wasn't any break in the torture. Bruce assumed it had been a couple of weeks but he knew that could just be wishful thinking, it was likely a much longer period of time. He cracked open an eyelid and immediately slammed it shut; the pain nauseating in it's intensity but it was nowhere near as nauseating as the empty silence inside his head.

Because the Chitauri had managed to do something that Bruce had never been able to do; they had managed to put down the Hulk.

Permanently.

Fuck, he'd been so careless, so stupid and arrogant as he always was.

Bruce groaned and shifted slightly to try and alleviate the strain on his limbs while at the same time trying not to aggravate his wounds, wounds, boy that novelty had worn off incredibly fast. His whole body felt like one huge open sore and he was pretty sure he looked worse than he felt. Being flayed to within an inch of your life would do that though and the Chitauri had been exceedingly thorough in their 'interrogation'.

At first he'd thought that nothing could compare to the sharp crack of the whip, (a real leather bull whip; surprisingly low tech for such as supposedly advanced race Bruce had initially thought) cleaving through his skin like butter but he'd been wrong, so, so wrong. Because after they had picked him apart piece by piece rending muscle and tissue from bone they has decided to cauterize the wounds by using a laser whip and that had been agony like nothing he had ever experienced. And then of course they had strung him up like a puppet to make even his recovery complete agony.

Wash, rinse and repeat.

Day after day after day.

Stupid, stupid Banner.

But even that paled in comparison to what had happened before. He didn't remember much just the excruciating pain as they eradicated every last trace of gamma from his system. It had seemed like some kind of overpowering sensory fever dream unfortunately not for the good reasons; i.e being drugged to the gills and unfeeling, in fact it had been quite the opposite. In the time between Bruce's first 'liberation' the Chitauri had been exceedingly busy in perfecting their 'Hulk suppression' techniques and if weren't for the fact they were being used against him he would have been in awe of the sheer brilliance.

The chemical lobotomy he'd been given had flooded his system like a swarm of locusts, burning away every trace of gamma with extreme prejudice. Bruce had honestly felt like he had been being eaten alive from the inside out and trying to transform had been even worse. Whatever they had given him went from being a wildfire through his blood to a raging inferno that was likely to consume him entirely and Bruce still had nightmares of the Hulk's agonized, soul shattering screams as he was torn apart into nothingness.

It was the first time in years that he'd shed tears and he hadn't shed a single one since, he refused to give the bastards the satisfaction.

On the far side of the room there was a metallic grinding sound as the cells door slid open momentarily blinding Bruce with the sudden change in brightness. He grit his teeth together determined not to make a sound and listened patiently to the approaching footsteps. There was quite a collection of Chitauri, much more than there usually was and that sent a shudder down Bruce's spine; this did not bode well. He could here them falling into formation and then a a heavier set of footsteps joined them and Bruce felt the air shift as every Chitauri stood to attention. The footsteps moved to stand in front of him and even the physicist felt his breath catch at the sheer presence the other person had. It was immense.

"Open your eyes mortal."

The voice wasn't quite booming but it was strong and powerful and it made Bruce's head throb all the more; he steadfastly kept his eyes closed whether it was out of defiance or agony he wasn't quite sure. There was ripple of something, not quite noise, not quite silence around the room,

"Open your eyes mortal or when my subordinates next educate you I will tell them to gouge them out."

There was no hint of threat in that voice just cold, certain promise and Bruce felt a shudder run down his abused back. Slowly and carefully he cracked his eyes open fighting the intense pain and nausea and stared the Chitauri leader in the face. He was a monstrous looking purple faced brute, with intelligent but sinister eyes that burned right through Bruce's soul.

"Tell me the location of the human resistance bases."

Well it appeared that they were done fucking around and while Bruce knew, knew the being in front of him was not a person to be trifled with he refused to give him the satisfaction of answering his enquiry.

"Tell me mortal."

"No."

His voice was raspy as his abused throat forced the word out and Bruce stared defiantly at the monster stood in front of him but he still didn't see the blow coming and his whole body shook with the force of the backhand across his face. His head rattled around like a babies toy and he could already feel the blood pooling in his mouth. With as much dignity Bruce could muster he spat at the central of the three things with all the hatred he possessed. The monster roared in fury and raised his fist in front of Bruce's face; a jeweled gauntlet swimming in and out of his vision.

"Insolent welp! You dare disobey me."

Bruce's head was still ringing as bright yellow light filled his vision making him cry out in pain.

"Lord Thanos, this reiltas is not worth your time... leave him to..."

There was a disgusting squelching sound as Thanos crushed the skull of the Chitauri who was questioning him, blood running over his massive fingers.

"Does anyone else wish to defy my authority? You incompetent fools have yet to break his resolve so I must take care of this myself."

The room was unsurprisingly silent and Bruce could see the Chitauri commanders shrinking away from the physical feeling of Thanos's anger. It washed over him squeezing it's way around his chest, suffocating Bruce with it's intensity. It was a feeling he'd been accustomed with for a large portion of his life and now more than ever he wished for the big green outcome of that feeling.

Again Thanos raised his fist and the gauntlet flared into life, the bright yellow light making the physicist feel a bit nauseous.

"If you won't tell me what I need to know then I will take it myself."

The light flared brighter and Bruce bit back the scream of pain and then there was darkness as Bruce fell.

Familiar, a feeling so familiar but where from?

The darkness is swirling around him and he feels like he's suspended in syrup.

Tell Me.

Tell him what? He doesn't understand.

Images flash through his mind; a beautiful woman laying on the concrete stained with blood, a school basement, another woman this time much younger leaning in, a bright green light and so, so much pain.

Tell me your secrets.

Secrets? He didn't have secrets. The images continued; clanking bottles on a conveyer belt, the younger woman looking older and worn sympathy gleaming in her eyes, heat and dust and poverty and sickness.

Tell me.

A lab filled with light and a man with blue light in his chest.

Stark. Tony Stark.

His brain seems to switch back on at that image, they'd been trying to save the world and part of him wished that he had perished with the rest of the heroes that fateful day, had made a different choice and stood by their side instead of running like a dog with it's tail between his legs. He now knew why this sensation was so familiar, Loki's staff, the manipulation it was the same damn feeling. The rest came flooding back; capture, torture, Thanos. Fucking Thanos was trying to manipulate his mind into giving him what he wanted. Well if that's the game Thanos wanted to play then he could play too.

He drew up an image of his own, one he'd had locked deep down in the dark corners of subconscious and focused in drawing out each agonizing detail and reliving every second of pain. He was faintly aware of hearing a scream but he wasn't sure if it was him or the being invading his subconscious. Whoever it was it didn't matter as the blackness began to dissolve into light.

Bruce sucked in the much needed oxygen and slumped in his bonds as Thanos staggered backwards growling roughly his eyes a little wide in shock.

"Impudent mortal. I will make your demise slow and painful!"

At that point Bruce honestly didn't care, he was exhausted both physically and mentally and he knew if Thanos came at him again then he wouldn't be able to resist his onslaught. Of course he wasn't going to mention that to the big purple brute himself, the more time he could buy himself the better.

His musings were cut short as ear piercing alarm sounded and the entire room jumped to attention. Thanos's eyes narrowed and he stalked out the door followed by the commanders and Bruce was once again plunged into darkness. He let himself go limp in a mixture of relief and utter bone weary tiredness, he honestly didn't know how much longer he keep this up, how much longer he'd be able to remember himself. He could already feel the sharp fragments of madness seeping in.

'BAMF!'

Bruce tensed as he heard the noise and felt the air displace somewhere in front of him.

"Doctor Banner."

His name, spoken in a thick German accent caught the physicist by surprise, how had they gotten in here past the literal legion of guards?

"H-how..."

He didn't receive a verbal answer instead a pair of hands, odd shaped hands, ran themselves over his battered form and undid the clasps holding Bruce suspended in place and gently lowered the battered man to the ground. The physicist moaned in a mixture of pleasure and pain as his body stretched out into normal position for the first time in months, elated to be free of that godforsaken thing.

"Can you stand Doctor?"

Bruce honestly wasn't sure if he could or not, he wanted to just to prove that he wasn't so easily beaten but he was pretty sure his atrophied muscles would protest the movement, so he croaked out a weak 'no' in response as much as it pained him to utter the words. He felt those odd shaped hands again this time wrapping themselves around Bruce's torso and was that a tail winding it's way around his waist?

"Do not worry Doctor, I am a friend. You are safe now."

And Bruce believed him, he believed him with every fiber of his being because who would be crazy enough to try and break him out of this hellhole if they were just going to kill him. The answer was no one but there was always a catch he was just going to have to wait it out and see what the catch was.

"You are safe..." The voice repeated again "Do not be alarmed."

The physicist didn't have chance to question before him and his savior bamf'd out of existence.

The next few minutes were surreal even by Bruce's standards. One second he was in pitch darkness the next he was outside with the sun shining down on his skin.

Teleporter his brain helpfully supplied.

He was... free.

Tears began to leak down his cheeks and he broke down his iron resolve finally crumbling to dust and all the while his savior held him upright, clasped tight by strong arms and tail.

"Tha.. Thank y-you."

A low chuckle sounded from behind him.

"You should not thank me, this was not my idea Doctor."

Bruce took a moment to contemplate that.

"Y-you g't me out. Thanks. I'll th-thank y'ur boss when I meet 'im." His words were slurred and he hoped that the guy could understand him.

He could "Her. My boss is a her."

"Oh..." Bruce replied slightly obviously.

The man behind him chuckled again. "You will meet very soon Doctor, very soon."

He didn't get chance to reply because they were teleporting again and the sudden rush of sound and color stole the breath from his lungs. When they stopped this time they were in a pristine living room that despite being underground had all the creature comforts a person could want, a rarity in the current age. Bruce's attention was however drawn to the figure reclining on the sofa with a cup of tea in her hand and somehow he found himself unsurprised.

"Hello Doctor Banner "

"Hello Miss P." He replied before blacking out and falling to floor.

~End Chapter 4~