Hey guys! Sorry that it's taking to long for me to update, I'm doing my best. I've been super busy but I am trying to get these chapters out as fast as I can. Thanks for taking the time to read this story and I present to you chapter nine. Disclaimer: I own nothing but my imagination.
Chapter Nine: Hawkeye
Two days. That's how long the six of us have sat in this room with no food or water. Couple that with the time we spent in our individual cells and it turns out that we've been captured for nearly sixty-eight hours. The average person can survive three to five days without water and I have a feeling we're running out of time.
Bruce's body was the first to start giving out. He has the least amount of experience in this type of situation and he also has the Hulk to contend with which not only causes emotional turmoil, but physical as well. Natasha and I have training to deal with these types of things, Tony's already been through it before, Steve's a super soldier, and Thor is an Asguardian so it makes sense that Bruce would be the first to start to weaken. It all started about five hours ago; Natasha had been having a short conversation with Banner and he was having trouble speaking. She was immediately concerned and, when she asked him to open his mouth, found that his tongue was swollen. He was also suffering from extreme thirst and he became sluggish. It's slowly gotten worse since then. Bruce became extremely disoriented and confused, so much so that he often forgot where we were and had to be reminded. Now he is sitting against the wall away from everyone else, he said he needed some time to try and clear his head. I'm starting to get really worried. The doctor has become so lethargic that he nearly refuses to move from his current position. Slowly, I make my way over to him and take my spot by his side. It's quiet for a few moments and I adjust the bandage made from Thor's cape that's around my chest, the Asguardian had insisted that I needed it more than him. I remain silent for just a second more before I address Dr. Banner.
"How are you feeling, Bruce?" The man turns to me and whispers through dry, cracked lips.
" 'm okay." I can hear the tiredness of his voice and I can tell it's becoming more and more difficult to form words. I decide not to push the matter and just nod my head in agreement. Suddenly the magic starts to disappear from around the door, it's green tendrils crawling backwards as if it's alive. A frown adorns my face when I see who it is entering the room. The Red Skull calmly walks through the entrance of our prison. The taunt, red skin of his mouth pulls back into a sadistic smile and I have to resist the urge to gag. The Nazi notices my discomfort and his grin only widens. The silence that had overtaken the room when he entered is quickly shattered by his thick German accent.
"Hello Avengers. I hope you all are enjoying your stay."
"What do you want Schmidt?" Captain America practically growls at the old war criminal. The Skull turns towards our leader and glares at him.
"What do I want?" His rhetorical question hangs in the air for only a moment before he's speaking once again. "I want you to suffer!" He screams in anger and, before anyone has time to react, throws some sort of device at Steve. It looks almost like a garrote with spikes sticking out of the length of the wire. The weapon wraps itself around Rogers legs and begins to tighten, the spikes digging into the flesh of his calves. Without hesitation I leap up from my spot next to Bruce and launch myself at Red Skull. Much to my advantage, the villain had been paying too much attention to Cap to counter my attack, by the time he noticed me it was already too late. As soon as I'm within range I throw a hard right hook which connects with his jaw. I was expecting the blow to sting a little, but the pain I feel in my hand when my fist hits his face is unbelievable, I can already tell that it fractured two of my fingers. The worst part is that my opponent barely even reacted to the punch. It catches my by surprise and my split second of hesitation gives him just the opportunity he needs. The man comes barreling towards me and hits my straight in the chest, knocking the wind out of me and it causes me to fall to the ground. My attacker tries to come at me again while I'm on the floor but I roll out of the way just before his next punch would've hit me in the face. I use the momentum of my roll to propel myself back to my feet and I leap into the air before wrapping my arms around the Red Skull's neck in a chokehold. Immediately he tries to pry my hands away from around his neck but quickly changes tactics and runs backwards so that I'm slammed hard into the cell bars. A yell of pain escapes me and I try desperately to keep my hold on his windpipe. One, two, three more times I'm thrown into the walls and I can't hold on any longer. My grip gives out and I fall to the ground. Before I have time to recover I'm being lifted into the air and thrown across the room where I land in a heap on the floor. A pained yell captures my attention and I turn to see Natasha and Steve trying to free his legs from their trap, the metal has torn down deep into Cap's calves and I can see the pain written across his face. I snap back to my current situation when I boot clad foot comes flying towards my head. On instinct I throw myself out of the way and go to sweep Skull's feet out from underneath him. Much to my relief it works and he goes crashing to the ground. Using the short reprieve to my advantage I once again regain my footing and ready myself for another attack. However, before I can do anything, a wave of dizziness overtakes me and I start to have trouble standing. The room is spinning so much that I don't even see the red fist flying towards me until it's connecting with my jaw. My head snaps to the side from the force and I collapse onto the floor. A quick survey of my surroundings shows that Thor, Bruce, and Tony are all restrained by the green magic that encases our prison and to the right of them I can see Nat finally has Steve wrestled free of the contraption that the Red Skull threw at him earlier. I look up and see the German making his way over to them and anger surges through me. Using all of the strength that I have left I hall myself to my feet. My body sways unsteadily for a moment and I have to fight the urge to throw up. I ignore my discomfort and throw myself at my opponent one last time. Unfortunately, due to my weakened state, he's able to counter my attack and he grabs me by the throat. The villain lifts me up off of the ground and I pry at his hands in a desperate attempt to get air. I'm on the verge of blacking out when he finally releases me and I drop like a stone. I lie there gasping for air and I hear his voice in my ear.
"You're lucky it's not my job to kill you. Otherwise your life would've ended much earlier than you would've liked." And with that he stands up and walks out the door, the exit once again being covered in green magic. The others have been released from the magic's grasp and are now walking over to me, well except for Steve who's being half drug by Thor. Natasha is the first to reach my side.
"What the hell were you thinking?! Taking on a super soldier by yourself, are you insane?!" Her reprimands don't affect me much because I know she would've done the same thing had she been put in my position. I lift my hand and place it on her shoulder.
"Quit worrying so much Tasha. I'm fine. See." I say making gesturing to myself with a mock smile on my face. She doesn't appreciate my attempt at humor and I roll my eyes before trying to sit up. The second I do, a fiery pain erupts in my chest and I once again become dizzy. I bring a hand to my head and don't even have time to try and stop myself before I start falling backwards. A pair of arms catches me and I'm lowered gently to the ground. A groan escapes me and I squeeze my eyes shut to try and ward off the discomfort. Natasha says something and I can feel the makeshift bandage being removed from my torso. A loud curse echoes through the room and I know something's wrong. My eyes reopen and I divert my gaze to my wounded chest that is apparently the center of attention at the moment. With one glance I know exactly why. The skin around the injury is bright red and swollen with yellow pus draining from the injury. Nat reaches out and touches my forehead.
"Damn." I already know what she's going to say so she turns to the others. "The wound's infected and I have no way of treating it. Which means we need to get of here soon."
"How soon?" Tony asks.
"If he stays still and doesn't over exert himself, a day and a half. If he gets into another fight, about eighteen hours." Steve is the one to comment.
"Well I guess we'd better come up with a plan and soon."
Well that's it for chapter nine! I hope you enjoyed it! I once again want to apologize for all of these long updates. Thank you for anyone who's taken the time to read this story! Reviews are welcome and appreciated.