A/N) Thank you for the reviews! Here is the next chapter... Please read the notes at the end regarding the next chapter of this fic...

WARNING: Some sexual situations are in this chapter. I may now up this to an M.

PART TWO

THE BREAKING OF TONY STARK

Chapter Five

The Touch Of (Alien) Kindness

Gamora began by washing his back. It hurt but the relief he felt afterwards was worth it. She carefully cleaned each and every wound to prevent infection. She reached for the medical tray. "I'm going to use some salve. It will sting but it should entice the wounds to heal faster."

Tony nodded. He couldn't see what she was doing but at least she was giving him a commentary. The right leg Nebula had broken earlier still ached and hurt. He didn't even want to think of what the bones looked like now.

Gamora's fingers pressed softly into his back, coating his wounds with a cooling lotion. He flinched as pain sparked up his back, causing a stinging sensation to erupt up and down his back. He bit his lower lip to stop himself from shouting out in pain. He hated to show how weak he really was now.

Pausing in her ministrations, Gamora leaned down. "Easy," she soothed. "It will hurt but the benefits –"

"I know." Tony gritted his teeth at the burning sensation overtaking him.

Gamora continued to apply the salve until every cut was covered in the white paste, slowly dissolving into the skin.

She then moved to cleaning Tony's arms and fingers, even washing the grime off of his overlong fingernails before she trimmed them. The dirt on his chest, face and neck was washed off. Gamora was careful around the reactor in his chest though Tony assured her he wouldn't be electrocuted if the arc reactor got wet. Then the left leg was cleaned before she moved around him to focus on his mangled right leg.

A large bruise had formed where Nebula's fingers had pressed in and then twisted the skin, snapping the bone inside.

"I need to fix your leg."

He nodded, well aware it would be painful to treat but it hurt more now with it just being left there.

"She's snapped at least the fibula, possibly the tibia too. I am going to give you an injection in your leg, close to your ankle joint, which will encourage the bones to knit together and will ease your pain. It should be fully healed by the end of the week before Nebula returns."

"She'll only break it again," muttered Tony.

"Maybe, but I'm not leaving you like this," answered Gamora.

She began by injecting a solution close to the tip of the fibula. The solution was cold and the sensation of ice moved up his leg, suddenly relieving the pain he was in, relieving the burning sensation which had been coursing through it. The leg felt numb and Tony managed to relax a bit. Next the leg was cleaned carefully with hardly any pressure applied.

He felt cleaner too, more refreshed then he had felt in months. The showers he'd been forced to have in the Other's ship had just been a spray of water, designed to wash away the dirt and blood covering his body. Gamora was cleaning it all off of him. She hadn't just used plain water; she'd used it with a flowery smell in it, meaning he was able to smell something different for the first time in ages, other than the stink that came from him due to the lack of hygiene he now lived with.

"Tony… There are two areas left to clean now. I do not have to but I will only proceed with your permission."

He knew what she meant. It helped a lot she asked instead of assuming. Swallowing away the fear, Tony spoke boldly. "Yes." He wanted her to clean everywhere.

Careful and mindful of the pain and fear Tony harboured, Gamora gently cleaned his most intimate areas, only touching when she needed to and warning him each time.

When she was finished, Gamora placed Tony on his left side, allowing his right leg to heal sitting on top of the left.

As she placed the instruments away, Tony began to shiver, feeling cold. He was never warm these days.

"Here," said Gamora, placing a piece of material over him. "It's not much…"

"Thanks," said Tony, clutching the blanket tightly.

Gamora moved around him, tucking in the sides so that the only part of his body exposed was his head. She then propped his head up by another two blankets, acting as a pillow and allowing Tony to feel comfortable for the first time in ages.

"I'm going to leave you now, Tony," explained Gamora. "You shouldn't be disturbed."

Tony opened his eyes and looked up at Gamora, appreciation evident in his gaze. He felt it too. His lips twitched upwards towards a smile. "Thanks."

"I'll be back later," she soothed. "If I can I will try to bring you something to eat and drink. I have to be careful in taking risks."

"It's okay," whispered Tony. "It's the thought which counts."

Gamora didn't reply but Tony watched as she left the cell.

It didn't take long for sleep to take him.

Tony dreamed.

It started off as a nice dream.

Of Pepper and happier times.

He dreamed they were having a date night, eating at a fancy restaurant where they discussed their future together. They spoke of marriage and children: a simpler life. A life Tony could never have and had started to want in the last few months prior to the New York battle.

He was in bed with Pepper as they kissed and touched one another. Her fingers were on his cock, stroking his length to full hardness and his own fingers were insider her folds, stretching her open, filling her full.

They were moaning together, kissing against one another.

Then Pepper rolled him onto his back, a devil glint in her eyes.

"I want you, Tony. In me… Filling me…"

And he did as she straddled his hips, looking down on his, pressing her lips to his, biting the lower lip and sucking on it, as Pepper rode him like a stallion.

"God, I need you constantly! You leave an ache in me that needs to be fulfilled." Pepper whispered huskily. She looked down on him then. "I want you and I will have you!"

Pepper's body and face changed instantly. Tony's arms were now above his head, chained to the bed board.

It wasn't Pepper above him riding him, it was Nebula, her face stretched in a wicked smile.

Tony was screaming.

"No! No! I don't want!"

And then he woke screaming as his whole body tried to physically buck Nebula off but she wasn't there. Tony was still alone in the cell.

And in pain.

In his nightmarish panic, he had flung his healing leg out and it hurt like hell now, burning. Tears were coming from his eyes, more from fear of rape then of the pain he was in. Nebula's gleeful face was still in his memory, looming down at him.

Tony didn't want it. He never wanted to be raped. Never wanted to feel anyone other than Pepper around him. Her face swam into his vision.

"Pep… please…Pep… don't leave me." The tears were still falling. "I love you." His fingers curled around the fabric of the blanket he had mostly flung off him. He shivered in fear. "I can't… I can't…"

Tony lay there, shivering in his cell, feeling sick to the stomach, wishing more and more if he couldn't be back home, that he could be dead instead.

When Gamora returned to the cell, Tony was a mess. His body was constantly shaking and his skin was cold to touch. He didn't seem to realise she was there. His lips were opening and closing, mumbling a word Gamora couldn't decipher. Instead she placed a hand on his shoulder and gently shook him. "Tony?"

He seemed to come too at the shake yet he was still startled by Gamora's presence and tried to scramble back, forgetting about his broken leg and causing himself excruciating pain in the process.

"I'm not here to hurt you!" said Gamora, holding her hands up.

Tony ceased his struggles but he still looked horrified at seeing her. The worry and the fear in his eyes reflected against her. His face winced in pain. "Fuck…" he panted. "My leg."

Gamora scooted forward. "Here, let me help," she said quietly, gently lifting his broken leg up. She placed his right leg back on top of his left. "The swelling has decreased. The solution is working. But I will give you another injection later." Next she picked up the blanket Tony had thrown off him and covered him with it again.

"I had a nightmare," whispered Tony.

"I can imagine sleep isn't an escape for you as you'd like it to be," answered Gamora quietly. "But you do need to sleep."

Tony shook his head. "I don't want to sleep. If I do, I just want to wake up back home… with Pepper."

"Who is Pepper?" Gamora asked.

Tony closed his eyes and started to shake. He tried to curl up further underneath the blanket. He didn't speak for a while but Gamora waited. When he did answer, his voice was low. "She's the love of my life."

Gamora swallowed. "I'm sorry."

"My… fault," mumbled Tony. "Shoulda… fell… faster…"

She knew he was referring to the events after the control station had been destroyed. Gamora remembered watching the invasion from afar, from within the centre of Thanos' domain. She could still see it, the events in her mind's eye.

The day she had sealed Tony's fate.

To prevent anyone from locating Thanos if they made it through the portal (unlikely since Earth was a primitive planet), the Chitauri army was located thousands of miles across space on the very edge of Thanos' domain. The Other was situated in a separate command ship, close to the command centre linking the Chitauri warriors together. Thanos and his two daughters remained in the centre of Thanos' realm, watching the events from afar.

They had seen the events on Earth or Terra as Gamora knew it by, from afar. Had seen Loki's failure to subjugate the metal man with the blue star in his chest to the control of the mind stone; had witnessed Loki's fall from grace as six remarkable individuals had fought back against the might of the Chitauri army and then they had all watched as the portal itself had been breached by the flying metal man, carrying a weapon which should not have been strong enough to breach the shields of the command centre but had flown straight through it.

They had seen the metal man begin to fall back towards the portal but it had closed. Thanos had been angry at his defeat and the loss of one of the Infinity Stones he had once harnessed to expand his power across the galaxy.

"We should save him," said Gamora.

"Why should we?" hissed Nebula.

"He is a mortal man who has shown an invincibility to not be affected by an Infinity Stone. Is it not worth finding out why? Clearly he has superior technology on Terra, the kind of which we have not seen from that planet as of yet. He could be useful to us, wield secrets which we could use against Terra," explained Gamora.

"If he is immune to the effects of an Infinity Stone then he needs to die!" retorted Nebula.

Gamora shook her head. "No. What if the technology he has is employed elsewhere and will be Terra's defence? Why take the risk when we can take the knowledge from him? The blue star needs to be studied, cultivated and a weakness has to be found. We will not learn a single thing if we leave him to die."

"Gamora is right," boomed Thanos from his throne. "He may yet prove useful to me. His mind will be crushed and he will yield all his secrets." Thanos pressed a button on his chair, opening a communication signal to the Other on his ship. "Take him and break him. You have six months before you are required to return to me."

No one ever questioned Thanos' commands.

Gamora returned her attention to the screen projecting the events from where the portal had opened up. The metal man's body was now moving at a fast pace, caught in a tractor beam, towards the Other's ship. Guilt welled up within her that she may have just condemned someone to intense torture and breaking. Still, making the suggestion to save the man's life had furthered her standing in her father's eyes.

But it also hurt she had ensured the human's pain would not end until he had fully acquiesced to their demands.

Gamora opened her eyes, bidding the memory to stay away. Tony suffered because of her. She had never considered he might have fought for so long. Her motivation in saving him was not because of the information he likely held but because of what appeared to be an immunity he had to the Infinity Stones.

If Tony was unaffected by them as he had been by the Mind Stone because of what resided in his chest, Tony could potentially be a weapon who could bring Thanos down once and for all.

What troubled her was it was impossible to remove the Reactor from his chest without killing him, thereby making it impossible for Thanos' scientists to study it and determine a weakness. But it was a good thing too as it ensured Tony's continued survival. She knew Thanos wanted Tony broken and the Mad Titan could easily break him into submission, yet she knew from experience Thanos liked to play with his toys and have them bow to him.

Each day bought Tony closer to the breaking point. He had been a prisoner for so long, fighting to protect his mind. She hoped to have Tony out of the horror he lived in soon. It was just a matter of time and waiting for the correct moment to present itself.

She glanced down at Tony and noted he had fallen asleep. Somehow, during her flashback, his right hand had crept into her own. She didn't have the heart to pull away. He looked peaceful and content.

I want to help him.

It was a thought that continued to rock her every day.

She wasn't aiding him by watching him be tortured. She could end this right here, right now.

His neck was on display. She could snap his neck without Tony realising what had happened. It would end his torment permanently. The temptation was there. Tony was strong but even if she did rescue him from his torment would he want to fight against the monsters who had held him or would he rather run and hide?

Gamora's eyes fell to Tony's chest. Though she couldn't see it due to the blanket covering it, the blue star remained embedded with his chest. The Other had said little about it, other than it was a magnet which attracted pieces of shrapnel embedded close to the man's heart. The Other had experimented extensively upon it. It couldn't be removed for long without causing cardiac arrest.

Thanos didn't care enough to create another device to stabilise the human so they could take the blue star from his chest. The titan was certain the human would aid them once his mind had been sufficiently crushed and broken.

Gamora hoped to escape with Tony before it came to that moment. Though she was trusted by her adopted father, she knew she had to play her cards correctly if she was ever going to return Tony to his home.

It would have to be soon otherwise she feared Tony would break. Not through conventional torture but through a fear he harboured. Nebula was fierce and would carry out an attack on him. Thanos was losing patience with their failure to break the human. And Gamora knew if Nebula did rape Tony, she was sure he would break from the horror of it.

"I'm sorry, Tony," she whispered, knowing he was too deeply asleep to hear her. Reaching out, she brushed a few strands of hair from his eyes. He shifted slightly in his sleep but settled down again, gripping her hand tighter.

A contented smile seemed to cross his face and Gamora knew he was sleeping peacefully.

She was going to leave him if she could extract her hand from his but she decided not to.

Tony deserved to have a peaceful sleep and if holding her hand helped give him one then Gamora would oblige.

For the next week Gamora acted as Tony's carer. She looked after him, helping him sleep and checking on his healing injuries. She even managed to smuggle more water and food into Tony's cell, giving him the opportunity to eat something for the first time in months.

Tony promptly threw up, his stomach now unused to food and he couldn't keep it down. He narrowly missed vomiting over Gamora, who had seen it coming and moved back far enough to avoid it.

The care she had provided him had aided Tony in building up his strength. It was only a little but enough for Tony to feel stronger than he had in ages.

Unfortunately for Tony, the peaceful period was coming to an end.

Gamora didn't even know how to tell him the peaceful period was coming to an end. She felt sick to the stomach at the thought of her sister returning to torment him some more. Nebula wouldn't stop until Tony was a quivering mess at her feet.

Gamora rarely slept in the week she spent with Tony. She didn't really need it. Her genetic enhancements enabled her spend more hours awake than sleep, giving her the opportunity to be there for Tony when he needed it. He was sleeping more contently then he ever had been since his capture.

To keep up the pretence she was torturing him instead of caring for Tony, Gamora did make little cuts on his skin, though only with Tony's permission. He knew the risks she was taking to help him. He didn't want to lose her kindness.

But it still hurt to make the little cuts into his skin and make him bleed.

When Nebula returned Tony's life became hell once more. Gone were the days of comfort and kindness Gamora had afforded him. Returned were days of intense pain as Nebula made him bleed, breaking his bones and touching him in places he didn't want to be touched. Her desire for him had grown in her absence.

She spoke often of what she'd like to do to him and how the day was coming when Tony would finally satisfy her.

The fear surged forward and Tony fought harder against her but Nebula's strength was too strong for him.

Each night he cried himself to sleep in Gamora's arms. She stayed with him into the early hours of the morning before she departed to avoid detection. She was the only one who could keep him safe from the nightmares that lived in his sleep.

Bit by bit Tony Stark was breaking.

"How… long?" Tony asked weakly.

Gamora gently wiped the blood from his face. "Over a year."

Tony shuddered. "How… long?"

Gamora sighed. Tony wanted specifics and she hated telling him. "Sixteen months since you were captured." She'd been helping Tony through his torment for seven months now.

Tony stayed quiet, wincing every so often as Gamora continued to wipe the blood off of his cold and worn body. He was so weak now. He barely had the energy to scream now, always disappointing Nebula, causing her to find new and inventive ways to make him hurt, just to hear his cries.

When Gamora had finished, she helped Tony fall asleep before leaving his cell. Each time she walked away guilt always flared within her. She hadn't been given an opportunity to escape with him yet. She continued to tell him he would escape, that she would get him home, even using the words 'I promise'.

She could tell he trusted her. She was his only comfort. Gamora felt uneasy over his reliance on her but she had encouraged it by bidding him to trust her.

The problem she had was the longer he was a prisoner, the weaker he became so any rescue would be harder to pull off.

And Gamora knew the time was coming when Thanos would intervene. He was growing increasingly impatient with the lack of information his daughters were providing him with. Thanos could easily break into the human's mind and extract it himself. So far he hadn't made a move to but she knew it was coming.

Every day she looked for opportunities to escape but there was always an obstacle in the way which would ensure neither of them would be able to escape. She was beginning to doubt her ability to bring Tony home.

But still she waited, not knowing time was swiftly running out.

Tony's blood covered the floor and walls of his cell. He was skin and bones with only a tiny bit of muscle to him. The Arc Reactor in his chest seemed to be bigger than normal but it was only down due to the loss of weight. It still functioned well enough.

Nebula had not left him alone for ten hours now.

Whenever he fell unconscious, she forced him awake, giving him more strength to cope with the pain she put him through. He barely screamed, enticing her more.

"I think you've done enough to him today, Nebula," said Gamora, stepping into the cell.

Tony whimpered as Nebula squeezed his throat and then licked up his neck. He tried to ignore the sound of his tormentor's voice in his ear.

"I will have you… Stark…" She bit his ear lobe.

She clambered off of him, standing up and dusting herself down as Tony continued to lay boneless on the floor of his cell.

He closed his eyes as Gamora led her sister out of his cell, letting the darkness finally take him.

"I was having a lot of fun with him, sister," cursed Nebula. "Why did you interrupt me?"

"We've been summoned," stated Gamora. She was glad they had. It meant Tony would be able to rest. But the summons also made her feel uneasy.

"I know what promises you've made him."

Gamora didn't react. "I have made no such promises to the prisoner." She saw Nebula smirk out of the side of her eyes. They didn't speak again. It didn't sound good Nebula knew of the promises she had made.

Thanos and the Other were waiting for them when they arrived.

The Other stalked towards them. "It gratifies me you have failed to break him so far."

"I have not failed," hissed Nebula defensively. "He fears me."

"He is stronger than we have anticipated," agreed Gamora. She had a part to play here. "My sister has been brutal with him. He is weak. I believe he will break soon."

"Gamora's presence soothes him," shot back Nebula.

"Are you insinuating that my favourite daughter is betraying me?" Thanos leaned forward, anger flashing in his eyes. "That she has deliberately helped him?"

Gamora stepped forward. She had to defend herself. "The Other spent six months torturing him before bringing him to you. He failed to break him. You gave him to my sister and I to deal with. It has already been shown conventional torture isn't the way forward with him. I decided to befriend him, to gain his trust, even promise him a chance to escape because I know if he truly believes he will return to his home, that when I betray him, it will be the final straw that will make him crumble. I have spent months gaining his trust and I have it. He relies on me to rescue him. When I don't, that will be the moment Tony Stark will betray his beloved planet." She felt sick but Nebula had forced her hand.

It was the only way to protect herself.

"And what if you are wrong?" the Other paced forward. "He may have your trust but he may just believe you have to betray him to keep up the façade. How do we know you are not going to betray us?"

Gamora kept still, her gaze unwavering. "I would never betray my father."

"Then why do you stop him from breaking, sister?" Nebula asked. "You know very well what action will break him and yet you stop me. Every single time I try."

Gamora swallowed. I'm sorry Tony. "Because rape isn't the answer. I stop you because our father desires for him to break and to tell us everything he knows, but he also wants him to work for us. To serve him in his grand plan to take domain of everything in the universe."

Thanos was watching them from his throne, his eyes moving from each of them as they spoke.

"It might just be the breaking point he needs!" said Nebula. "I could succeed with this if I am only given the chance to prove it is the right path to take!"

"Raping would also ensure he would be useless to our father's goals," continued Gamora. "He fears you. It would break him further than our father wishes for him to be."

"You do not know that!" shouted Nebula.

Gamora turned to look at her sister then. "I think I know Tony Stark better than you. After all, I have his trust. You only have his fear."

Nebula growled underneath her breath. "I know I can do this."

"And if you fail and he is not useful to our father?" asked Gamora. She knew she wouldn't be able to stop this.

"Then I will submit myself for punishment like always, Sister!" Nebula turned away from Gamora and looked up at Thanos. "Let me do what I wish to him and I promise I will not let you down."

Thanos didn't respond to Nebula, instead he looked at Gamora. "I have a mission for you."

Gamora went down on one knee and bowed her head. "Anything."

"I have had contact from a Kree Accuser, Ronan. You will work for him and aid him in his goal in collecting a priceless artefact which I desire. You will leave immediately." Thanos boomed and then turned his attention to Nebula. "You will join Gamora if you succeed in breaking the human. You have my permission to do what you wish with him."

Gamora inclined her head as Nebula grinned. "Yes, father."

It was over.

Nebula had ensured she would not be in the position to help Tony again.

Her sister threw her a triumphant look.

Gamora showed no emotions but inside her heart was tearing to pieces. She had promised Tony to rescue him but she would now break the promise. He was doomed to fall into Nebula's hands.

And she couldn't save him from it.

I'm sorry, Tony.

To be continued...

Please let me know what you think!

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Okay, so I'm sure everyone can guess where this story is going. I'm not going to lie or try to hide it. I hope I've hinted enough that it shows Nebula does have a sexual interest in Tony... and yes, the next chapter, does contain him being raped by her. And its not nice and quite horrific what she does to him and what she forces him to do to her.

I am also well aware content like this isn't allowed on even under the M rating though I do know people still post this stuff under it... It's just a matter of whether you get caught or not. So i'm trying to think of ways to be able to post the next chapter on here... It may be that I have to skip it entirely and provide a synopsis at the top of the chapter after it... Or really edit it down so its not that graphic, but its also important to Tony's breaking in this story.

But I'd like to know YOUR opinion on this. What shall I do? The full graphic version will be, regardless, available to read on A03, as I am cross-posting this story there as well.

The next chapter will be posted soon (in either 2 weeks or 3 weeks... it all depends on how everyone would like me to present the next chapter).

Until then,

the-writer1988