"This is almost as bad as…." He let out a heavy breath, squinting his eyes shut.

"As what, Cap?"

"Shut up," warned a guard, roughing them up for talking during the transport. After Zemo had given his little speech, he had sent them along with two of his best men to be put in their holding cells and "prepared" for interrogation, or whatever other ugly ordeal he had come up with.

"Never mind." The memory that had flashed into Steve's mind as he struggled in his shackles wasn't a pleasant one. During the early years of the war he had been taken as a POW in Germany after a sacrifice play to save the Howling Commandos. It was only ten days before he escaped, but those ten days were hell. His experiences were buried in some SSR file in SHIELD's archives. HYDRA hadn't been merciful nor had he given in. The capture was kept on low profile to keep the public from fear and discouragement. He was the symbol of the nation, a gift to the people, and certainly it wasn't appropriate that he should be captured and treated lower than any other enemy soldier in the war. File access was open to only a few who were in SHIELD's elite ranks, and Steve hadn't told anyone, not even Bucky, all the details. Except Peggy. She had filed the report when he was rescued, because he wasn't functioning well enough to file it himself. But now that she was...well, he didn't want to think about that.

"It's the cuffs." Seeing Scott's concerned glances, and trying to keep his mind off of what he knew he had to do, Steve decided to risk another jab from the butt of the guard's gun. Sure enough, he was paid with a smart thrust in his side. The soldier coughed and faked a stagger, distracting the guard for a moment before slamming his body into him and pushing him into the brick wall.

One down.

"What about the cuffs?" asked his companion, watching in panicked confusion.

A gun cocked, and Steve looked up to see the other guard aiming a rifle at Scott's head. "I ain't playin' no games, Rogers," snarled the man with a malicious grin. "I know how much you value your little friends. If you're gonna play around, you're gonna lose."

Finally, guards are starting to get a grip on things. The vet glanced at Scott whose eyes were frantically shouting, "Steve! Now is not a good time to try anything stupid!" Same look Buck usually had. But now's not the time.

"The cuffs? They're the kind that dig into your wrists and tighten every time you move. I guess some things just don't change in seventy years." HYDRA's torture methods being one of them, he added regretfully to himself.

"Step towards me with your hands down," commanded the guard. Steve obeyed as the rifle's focus slowly transitioned from his friend to him. Once it was focussed on his own head, in a quick movement Steve darted to the side and knocked the gun out of the guard's hands, kicking him in the stomach and landing a swift blow to his jaw with the metal of his bonds. The agent fell unconscious.

"What the heck was that? What are you doing?" cried Scott in a nervous voice, his eyes darting around as if an armed agent would appear out of thin air.

"I'm getting you out of here. They haven't stripped you of your suit yet, but you don't have long. So get tiny and get out!"

"There's no way I'm just going to abandon you to face them on your own! We're in this together, remember?"

"You really think they'd keep us together anyways, Scott? No. I got you into this mess, I'm getting you out. I don't know if it was your fault, or Sharon's, or some twisted plan of Zemo's that we're captured now, but it's my fault if you don't see your daughter again, and HYDRA interrogation isn't pretty."

"But Cap-"

"That's an order."

Scott shrunk out of his handcuffs and became human size once more in a matter of seconds. "At least let me help you out of those things," he said, nodding to the cuffs. He winced. "Your wrists are already bleeding badly."

"There isn't time, HYDRA's bases are crawling with cameras. There's probably a team already on its way now. And if you take these off, they'll put on worse ones. Now go."

"I-" Scott let out a rueful sigh and saluted. He shrunk down to ant size and began running down the hallway. "I'll come back for you, Cap! I swear it on my life!"

Those were the last words Steve heard before footsteps pounded towards him and he was shot to the floor.