The sound of an elevator vibrated in Pietro's ears, gradually growing louder as he focused on it more.

Pain shot through his body, sharp in his chest and back. Someone was holding him in their arms, one arm on his back, the other tucked under his legs. It was a dream, He told himself, keeping his eyes shut. Clint's dead, I'm still in that place. He shuffled, trying to struggle free of the person's hold.

"Don't move." A soft, male voice ordered. "Stay still, you're going to be okay."

Pietro flickered open his eyes. His eyesight was blurred and cloudy and he blinked a few times to clear it. He still couldn't see very well. A dark shadow of a person walked over to him and he flinched away, letting out a quiet whine.

"It's okay." A new, gentle voice murmured, sensing his fear. "It's me."

"W…" He paused to take in the air. "Wanda?"

His sister reached out a hand, gently stroking Pietro's cheek. "That's right. Stay conscious, you'll be fine."

"Where… Where am I?" He whispered, stuttering and pausing occasionally to catch his breath. "I thought..."

Wanda hushed him and put a finger to his lips, silencing him. "Don't speak brother." She laid her hand on the side of his face. "Save your strength."

"I'm tired." He whimpered.

Swallowing back her tears, Wanda softly caressed his cheek. "I know, but it's okay. You're safe now." She promised.

The elevator shuddered to a halt and Pietro closed his eyes as the doors opened. He felt darkness creeping up on him. His body relaxed completely, welcoming the calm of sleep.

Steve carefully laid Pietro on the hospital bed; the head of it was against the centre of the back wall. He took a step back as Wanda rushed up to her brother.

She sat on the edge of his bed, brushing his pale hair from his equally pale face. He weakly murmured something in his sleep and rolled to his side, his back to Wanda. She frowned, catching sight of the blood that had soaked through his shirt, which was torn and ripped beyond repair. Hesitantly reaching out a hand, she lifted the back of his shirt slightly, eyes widening and carefully taking it off of him as she saw his wounds. Behind her, Steve caught his breath.

Long, red slashes criss-crossed Pietro's back, some still bleeding, dripping dark, scarlet blood down his remaining skin.

"What have they done to him?" Steve whispered.

"You saw the video." Wanda murmured, her voice cracking slightly. "They tortured him."

She, gently, rolled Pietro back so he was facing up and ran her hand over his ribs on each side. His body tensed, wincing as her hand brushed a burn. It looked as though someone had pressed a burning, hot metal bar repeatedly to the left side of his torso. Maybe they had, Wanda thought to herself.

"I think he's broken a few ribs." She told Steve quietly. "And there might be even more damage that we can't see."

Pietro's eyes fluttered open and he let out a quiet whine of pain. Feeling warm tears prickling her eyes, Wanda stroked her hand to his cheek, hushing him softly. He flicked his cloudy gaze to her, parting his mouth to speak. She leant close to him, taking hold of his head and hugging it gently.

Pietro's breath stirred her ear. "Cold." He whispered the word. "So cold."

Wanda pressed against him comfortingly. "I know." She murmured quietly, tears slipping slowly down her face. "I know."

The door opened quietly and Wanda sat up, brushing away the tears and looking over her shoulder. Clint shut the door silently and quickly walked over to Pietro, limping slightly. This is technically his fault; a voice in Wanda's mind told her. He lied. His lies hurt my brother. She scattered the thought with a twitch of her head.

"We should get the doctors." Steve murmured, turning towards the door.

"No, wait. Don't." Wanda pleaded, making him freeze. "He's confused and scared… I can help him."

A moment of hesitation followed, before Steve gave a small nod. Wanda let out a quiet breath of relief, and muttered her thanks as Steve walked out of the room.

She turned back to her brother. His unfocused gaze was wandering about the ceiling, looking tired and, as Wanda had predicted, confused. His body was suddenly shaken by a painful coughing fit and he shut his eyes tightly. Wanda laid her hand on the side of his face, stroking his cheek gently. As his coughing eased, she moved her hand to his forehead. He was burning.

"He's a bit feverish." Wanda murmured to Clint, who was sitting on Pietro's other side.

That was an understatement. Wanda knew.

"Clint…" Natasha murmured as the archer pressed his fingers to Pietro's neck, checking his pulse. "You know everyone thinks you're dead, right?"

"I know." Clint replied, quietly.

"Well… Shouldn't we, you know, clear that up?"

Clint shook his head. "No, let them think that."

"But-"

"Please Nat." Clint turned to face her as he said this. "No one can know. I need to keep this a secret and you can't ask why. I'm only here for Pietro, because he would have died if he had stayed in that place much longer."

"Did you see what they did to him?" Wanda asked, almost whispering.

Clint nodded sadly, looking back at Pietro. "I saw." Then his eyes hardened. "I saw for the five seconds in which I was loading a gun, before I shot the guy who was doing it in the head."

Natasha blinked in astonishment. She couldn't remember Clint ever sounding that violent. Then she remembered the video they had been sent and understood the archer's anger, a jolt of red-hot hatred surging through her. The torture that Pietro had endured would have probably killed a weaker man. And they had only seen about twenty minutes of it. Turning her gaze back to Pietro, she saw that his eyes were shut, his body completely motionless. One hand- the left- was laid over his bare chest, the other limp at his side. Wanda took hold of her brother's right hand, raising it to her lips and kissing his white knuckles softly. Pietro blinked open his eyes, resting his cloudy gaze on his sister.

"Wanda?" He whispered the name. "Wh-Where am I?"

"Hush now Brother." Wanda murmured gently. "You're in the tower… Go back to sleep." She ordered quietly. "I'll keep you safe. I promise."

Pietro swallowed, tears forming in his eyes, blurring his vision.

Taking in a silent breath, he breathed out the next words as a sigh; only just loud enough to hear. "I love you."

His eyes fluttered shut, only just hearing Wanda's reply before he fell asleep again.

"I love you too."