Ch. 10
"Jesus Christ," Bruce whispered, as he looked at Steve.
Tony had laid his husband out on the bed in the medical unit. Steve's eyes were closed, but he was clearly breathing.
Bruce put a hand over his mouth, disgusted by the sight before him. Steve's captors had really done a number on him. He looked like he had been starved for weeks, and left to lie in a dirty bed.
Bruce noticed that Ami was equally disturbed.
"We, uh, have to clean him up to see if he has any injuries. But maybe… Maybe it would be good for Tony to help?" He then looked at the inventor. "Just because he might be more comfortable with you touching him. God knows what was done to him."
"Of course," Tony replied, "Get me some supplies."
Bruce and Ami scurried off to gather the necessary cleaning agents while Tony sat on the edge of Steve's bed. He rested a hand on Steve's shoulder.
"Baby, I don't know if you're awake right now, or if you can hear me, but I promise it's okay. Whatever they did to you… we made them pay for it. And we're gonna take care of you and help you get well again."
Steve groaned very softly as he felt Tony's touches.
"It's okay. I promise it's okay," Tony repeated.
Ami and Bruce returned with the cleaning supplies shortly. It wasn't much, just some warm water, some antibacterial soap and a few soft hand towels.
Tony poured some of the soap into the water, then picked up a towel and dipped it in.
"Baby, I'm going to clean you up a little bit. I'll start with your arms, okay?"
Steve didn't respond, so Tony quietly began his task, doing his best to be as gentle as possible. He slowly cleared the dirt and sweat and what looked like traces of vomit off of Steve's forearm, the moved on to his shoulder. It took a while, but he eventually got both arms.
"I'm going to clean your face now," Tony told him. He didn't want to surprise Steve at all.
Steve groaned again, but he didn't seem to be against Tony's proposition, so Tony picked up another towel.
"Doesn't that feel better?" Tony whispered, as he wiped some dirt from Steve's cheek. "Maybe when we get back to New York you can have a real bath and you can relax."
Again Steve didn't respond. Bruce and Ami watched from a few feet away, but didn't interrupt until Tony had finished cleaning up everything that wasn't covered by Steve's clothing.
"We have to get him out of that," Bruce said, "To get him clean and examine him."
"I might need some help with that," Tony admitted. Without his suit it would be difficult for him to maneuver a full grown man out of his clothing and into something else, even if Steve was terribly thin now.
"Of course. Amy, can you get me a gown?"
Ami nodded and went to retrieve it while Bruce moved closer to his patient.
"We can start with his shirt."
"Did you hear that?" Tony questioned Steve. "We're going to take your shirt off. We'll be gentle."
No response.
Tony sighed, and the two men began to remove Steve's shirt.
"Fuck," Bruce gasped. Steve's ribs were sticking out, pushing up against his skin. His collarbone was equally visible. Yet, Steve's stomach was still round.
Hearing Bruce's reaction, Steve moaned. Then he began to cry. He was very quiet about it, but Tony noticed it immediately.
"Oh, God, baby, it's okay," Tony cooed, wrapping his arms around him. He didn't care if he got dirty. "It's okay. Bruce is just worried about you, but it's fine, you're going to be fine. Does it hurt anywhere?"
Steve just continued to cry silently.
"Alright, lets finish up with this then we can figure out what's going on," Bruce said. Together, he and Tony were able to wash Steve's chest, sides and back. Then it came time to clean his legs.
"You should do this," Bruce told Tony. "Just… try to clean him up as much as you can. I'll have to examine him to see if he was assaulted, unless he tells us otherwise."
Tony clenched his teeth, trying again to keep calm.
"Fine."
Bruce patted Tony on the shoulder.
"Call me when you're done. I'll help you get him into the gown."
00
As soon as Bruce and Ami left, Tony focused on his task. Steve had gotten quiet again and Tony wasn't entirely sure if he was asleep, so he told Steve every move he was going to make prior to making it, just in case he was listening.
It took a while but eventually Tony finished the job. He found an extra hospital gown and laid it over Steve's legs, not wanting to leave him exposed. Then he went to find Bruce.
As clinically as possible, Bruce and Tony helped Steve into a gown. He looked much better now that he was cleaned up, but he had begun to shiver. Bruce didn't even have to Ask Ami for blankets, she had seen it too and had already gotten them.
"There we go," Bruce said, under his breath, as he tucked the blankets around Steve. Steve made a small moaning sound and uncurled himself a little.
"He seems more comfortable now." Tony placed another pillow under Steve's head.
"I'm sure it feels good for him to be warm. We can let him rest for a bit, then Ami will do an exam. I don't think he has any mortal wounds otherwise he'd been even worse off. Ami can see if the, ah, fetuses are still viable."
"They're just fetuses now?" Tony asked. Everyone had been calling them 'babies' for a pretty long time.
Bruce frowned. He was going to reply but Ami beat him to it.
"It is easier to remain clinical in the face of what might be a tragedy," she explained, wrapping an arm around Bruce.
It was then that Tony realized it.
"Holy crap. You guys are sleeping together!"
He wasn't sure where it came from, it just suddenly made sense to him. The two had been spending nearly every day together, but he had been so focused on finding Steve that he hadn't considered it much.
"Tony!" Bruce growled, though it was playful.
"You really just figured this out now?" Ami grinned.
"Yes! I mean, it makes sense, I guess I just didn't put it together. Congrats, I guess? Are you guys, um, "official", as Steve would say?"
"I guess you can call it that," Bruce answered.
"Wow."
"Our relationship is not important right now, though," Ami stated. "We can discuss it when Steve has recovered."
"Yeah. You're right," Tony agreed.
He found a chair and pulled it near Steve's bed, not intending to leave his lover's side anytime soon.
00
On the other side of the helicarrier, a fight was breaking out. Loki had cornered Natasha.
"How can you raise children when you let one die so easily?!" Loki hissed, pushing Natasha up against a wall.
Though the agent could defend herself, Thor pulled his brother away.
"Loki, fighting will not solve anything," Thor said, setting Loki down when they were safely across the room.
Loki shoved Thor's hands away.
"It would teach her to consider her actions more thoroughly! And I could destroy you with magic, you know. Reduce you to a pile of blood and melted bone right here on the floor!"
Clint rolled his eyes.
"And you're one to talk, right? Because you were so merciful to the people of Earth. Tell me, Loki, do you have any idea how many families you destroyed? How many children lost fathers and mothers, or children who lost brothers and sisters? Before you go around judging everyone else you'd better take a long look in the mirror."
Knowing that Loki was likely to go after Clint, Thor reacted quickly. He took Loki by the arm and chained them both together again. Loki tried to move away, but the chain was unbreakable. He tried to use his magic to break free, but that didn't work either.
"Let me go!" He finally yelled, "Untie us!"
"No." Thor didn't move. "I am not going to let you hurt my friends. Besides, he has a point. You did not show mercy to those who got in your way."
"That was different!" Loki protested, "If-if a child had been there, I wouldn't have killed them!"
Thor didn't say anything. He just stared at Loki. He knew that eventually, his brother would get tired of arguing.
"So that's it? None of you have anything else to say?" Loki asked, angrily.
"We had a mission to accomplish. We had to get Steve out of there. We saved Kara. If we had known about the two others previously, we would've tried to save them. Natasha was just doing her job," Clint said, as calmly as possible.
"I told you that there were others," he replied.
"We didn't have the time to check around and figure out where they were. We had to get Steve out as quickly as possible. You know that."
At that moment, Loki wanted nothing more than to decimate the people before him. It was impossible, though. The chain not only restricted Loki's movement but blocked him from using magic. It did no good to waste his energy now, and so Loki did his best to calm down as well.
00
Two hours after he had been cleaned up, Steve opened his eyes again. Tony was still sitting near him. The billionaire smiled when he saw that Steve was awake.
"Hey baby," Tony whispered, standing up. "How are you feeling?"
Steve looked at him blankly.
"Where am I?"
"You're on the helicarrier. We got you out of the building a few hours ago."
"Oh."
Steve sighed and slowly moved his hand so it was resting on his stomach.
"I know you're probably still tired, but Bruce and Ami really need to examine you. Is that okay? Or if you want, we can talk about what happened, but if there's anything wrong, they want to treat it," Tony said.
Steve shook his head.
"You got Kara?"
"Yes, we did," Tony answered, "We got her out."
"Good. What about Holly?"
Tony didn't recognize the name, but he didn't want Steve to get upset either. Loki had mentioned that there were others in the building, maybe Holly was one of them.
"Don't worry about it," Tony replied, "We'll discuss all that later. Now, can you tell me if anything hurts you?"
"Everything hurts." Steve tried to stretch, but the movement was too painful.
"I'm going to go get Bruce. I'll be right back, I promise," Tony said. "Everything is going to be fine."
00
Bruce and Ami had finished their assessments of Steve's condition prior to the helicarrier landing.
The twins were still alive, probably only because of the super serum. If they were being carried by a regular person, they would have died.
Steve was malnourished and had some bed sores, but both of those issues could be treated.
The biggest problem seemed to be Steve's despondence. He seemed very reluctant to talk to anyone, even Tony. He was also refusing to eat. Ami had set up an iv with saline and nutrients to at least get something into him, but that was as far as she could get. Unsure of what else to do, they transferred him to the medical center at the tower once they arrived, hoping that with enough rest he might start to return to his normal self.