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They left them in the room for what felt like days. It was probably only hours. It didn't matter to Steve. What mattered was that his friend was stubbornly clinging to consciousness because the alternative was to hang by his wrists. Steve could already see the bite marks the cuffs had etched into his skin.

Tony's breathing was the only sound in their little room. Steve hadn't really taken the time to check out their new living quarters. All he knew for certain was that it was cold, dank, dark, and cold. Wait, he may have already mentioned that. Stupid drugs. Not that he could do a proper search anyway. Along with feeling like he was in the Twilight Zone - thanks for that something-you-missed suggestion, Tony, by the way - the band around his head was annoyingly debilitating.

"Steve?" Steve could hear the pain and exhaustion in the man's voice as he shifted his eyes to his. There was something else in his voice that Steve couldn't decipher, though. The fact that Tony didn't even try to cover up his emotions alone was a testament to how tired the man was. Tony faced everything with sarcasm and wit, never letting the enemy nor his friends see him as weak. Right now, though, the mask was gone.

"Yeah, Tony?" Steve could feel the effects of the drug waning. His vision was getting sharper and his words stronger. If they could wait just a little longer, he might be able to get them out by himself.

"Okay?"

"Yeah, Tony, I'm okay." Steve actually chuckled at the question. He was both surprised, yet not, when the man's first coherent words to Steve were not about his own health, but Steve's. "You? How're you doing?"

"Tired." It was more of a breath than an actual spoken word, but Steve still heard it.

"I know, Tony, but the others are looking for us. They're going to find us. We just have to hold on."

Tony nodded mutely, eyes fluttering.

"Tony! Stay with me, okay? You gotta stay awake!" His eyes cracked open once more. "That's it, Tony, stay with me. Talk to me, okay?" A nod. "You know," Steve snorted, "I still don't know how to properly pop a bag of popcorn. Not without burning it anyway."

A smile tugged on the genius' lips. "'t's okay. No one does. 'Pends on the micr'wave." Despite the exhaustion and slurring, Steve understood the words.

"Sure, I guess, but why is it always done perfectly when we have movie night at the Tower?"

"J'vis."

"Oh yeah. Keep forgetting about him." Tony gave him a bewildered look, offended someone would forget about his favorite person - well person to Tony.

The door being thrown open interrupted their conversation. The redundancy at which the man entered a room grated on Steve's nerves - or maybe it was just the man himself.

"Gentleman," Bossman cheerily greeted the two superheroes, "I see you are both awake. Excellent! I hope you had a lovely night? I know I did. Stark, how was your sleeping accommodations? I hope you won't give our nice little B&B a bad review - those are so hard on an establishment."

"What d'you want, Jerk-face?"

"I see your biting retorts are not what they used to be, but I'll let it slide for now. Just know, I expect better in the future." Bossman had carried in a clear bag filled with liquid while talking with Tony, monkeying around with something behind Steve, and as Steve felt a fresh wave of nausea and weakness he'd come to recognize as more of the drug entering his body, he belatedly realized what the Bossman had been carrying.

"I bet tha's what all your partnerss have said." What was Tony talking about now?

Bossman smiled and snapped his fingers. One of the goons that normally accompanied Bossman - Steve only saw one at a time, but had counted four different men all the same - crossed into Steve's vision and gave Bossman a small ampoule. Tony glared at the man, his head still semi-cradled by his right arm.

Bossman, for his part, looked nonchalant, unworried, like normal, as he strolled back over to Tony.

"Do you know what this is, Stark?"

"Your anti-crazy meds," Tony replied while glaring.

Bossman ignored the jab. "This is a new drug we've been working on. It's really quite fascinating, I'm sure you'll agree. I'm not really a chemist, so please don't ask me what's in it - but what it does? Now that's the fun part. It's a sleep inhibitor - a souped up NoDoze, if you will." A giggle accompanied his announcement. "This little vial packs enough punch to last 24-hours. Imagine that, just this little bit." Bossman shook the bottle of reddish liquid that couldn't be more than a tablespoon's worth. "But, for you, we're going to up the dose. See how that works. I mean, you can't put warnings on the label if you don't know what an overdose could do, now can you?"

"Leav'em 'lone!" While Steve couldn't actually do much of anything, he'd be damned if he wouldn't put up some kind of fight.

"But, Captain, I haven't even gotten to the best part yet." Turning back to Tony, Bossman pocketed the vial while gesturing to his henchman to inject Tony with a prepared syringe. Tony's eyes widened when the drug rushed into his veins. Bossman smiled his creepy smile. "I see it's already starting to work. That's great! Mark that down. Now," pulling out another vial, Bossman held it up in front of Tony's now-alert eyes, "this one is still in the beginning phases, but it's supposed to enhance sensations like pain and pleasure. Sadly, we've already done some tests on the pleasure end of the spectrum, but we're hoping you could help us with the pain tests. Hmm?"

The henchman stabbed Tony with another syringe. Steve tried to yell, but the drug was diminishing his speaking ability again.

Tony's face screwed up in pain as the drug started making its way around his body.

The deranged smile of Bossman turned deliriously happy.

"Doctor?" Bruce looked up to see Fury, Thor, Clint, and Natasha walk into the lab, varying levels of concern evident on all their faces.

"Bruce, were you able to narrow down the locations?" Clint leaned over a monitor to try to decipher the myriad of code running down the screen.

"JARVIS and I were able to cut the list down to five probable locations."

"Five? That's doable." Natasha looked calmly over at Fury, but Bruce could tell she was far from calm. None of them were.

"Yeah," Clint chimed in, "we'll send out agents to all five locations and determine which one has our friends."

"Yes and we will exact revenge for whatever slight may have befallen our brethren!"

"No."

"Excuse me?" Clint looked ready to murder Fury.

"We can't send in teams to go looking for them. If these people were able to take Cap and Stark out, I'm not putting my other - non-superhero - agents up against them. They want Avengers, they'll get Avengers."

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to keep The Other Guy at bay. "If we choose wrong, we'll have wasted time and God only knows what they are doing to Tony and Steve. We need to find them fast. It's already been two days."

"Then I suggest you choose your first target wisely." Gaping mouths and murderous glares followed Fury out the door.