Alrighty y'all! This was a request from one of my readers. iabsolutelylovekong thanks for this suggestion! This is the first chapter, which works as a set-up for the rest of the story! Can't wait to see what y'all think of it! Enjoy!
The mission was supposed to be easy. Quick, simple, a piece of cake, you name it. Just a simple base jump into a Hydra compound, retrieve some data, then BOOM, blow the joint up and escape without a hassle. They thought they'd planned for everything. They had Clint as their eyes, Natasha was on stealth, Tony was there for extra firepower, Steve to collect the data, Thor for Steve's backup, and Bruce on the ship as their ears. It was a perfect setup, one they'd perfected over the many years of working together. Which is why no one saw it coming.
The first person taken out was Bruce, their ears. With no way to contact each other, the team had been floundering in the tense situation. The next person to go missing was Clint. Now they were down their eyes and ears. A missile took down Tony and Thor, leaving Steve and Natasha inside the compound without any backup. Normally, they could have handled it. But one concussion later, Steve was down and Natasha had no choice but to surrender; choosing to keep Steve's brains inside his head. Concern for her team, outweighing the task of the mission.
She cursed as a bag was thrown over her head and her hands were tied. Why did missions have to go to hell anyways? Just a waste of-
***Line Break***
Tony awoke to the sound of his teammates groaning in pain. He completely understood why, however, as soon as he blinked his eyes open. A piercing headache stabbed through his head, causing him to clutch his forehead in agony. Chains bit into his wrists as he moved them, making him wince. He soon felt a cuff bite into his neck as well, causing him to freeze in horror. Memories of kidnappings and previous torture washing over him momentarily. Someone from his team, it sounded like Clint, cried out suddenly. Tony opened his eyes more carefully this time, easing them open slowly. His entire body ached and throbbed, not unlike his head. He could see the vague outlines of his teammates around him, all in similar situation. Clint was clutching his ribs, his face contorted with pain. Capture seemed to have been rough on the archer if the bruises all over his face were anything to go by. Natasha and Steve looked bruised and battered, while Thor just looked angry. Bruce was curled in the corner, fear and worry etched into his face as he stared at the wall.
"What happened?" Tony groaned, holding onto his head, "where...?"
"A Hydra base," Steve winced as he shifted, "some underground cell. I don't know what happened?"
"We got taken out," Bruce spoke up quietly, "it's my fault. I wasn't paying attention and-"
"It's nobody's fault," Natasha cut him off, "we all got taken out, Bruce. Not just you."
"How long until these fiends show their faces?" Thor growled, glaring at the door, "these cowards can't even seem to face us."
"Calm down, Thor," Tony smirked, trying to cover his panic, "they can't possible be brave, can they? They're Hydra. They're all cowards."
"Very astute observation, Stark," a slick voice snapped, interrupting the slow, pained conversation.
The Avengers all turned slowly, trying to keep from jostling their injuries. Standing at the doorway of their cell was none other than Rumlow. He leaned against the doorframe, flipping his knife maliciously. Stereotypically. Steve felt a shiver run through him as the man they'd been hunting for stared at them like they were exhibits in a zoo. His burned and scarred face watched them carefully through the bars of their cell.
"What do you want?" Tony snapped, immediately standing to his feet and shifting subtly in front of the others, "why are we here?"
Rumlow chuckled, "a bit feisty for someone so injured, Stark," he smirked, dragging the blade across the metal bars.
"I'm not injured," Tony rolled his eyes, forcing the pain to the back of his mind and pulling his masks up, "just a bit sore. Thank you for your concern though."
The Hydra operative scowled, " that's a lot of spunk for someone about to be tortured," the criminal said in amusement.
Everyone stiffened in surprise, "you won't touch us," Steve snapped, glaring at the hydra soldier and moving to stand next to Tony, "we'll escape and there's nothing you can do about it."
"And just how do you plan on doing that?" Rumlow grinned, "these bars are reinforced steel, strong enough that not even the mighty thundergod over there can break them. I'd honestly love to see you try, Captain."
Steve glared daggers at the man, his gaze filled with malice towards the man, "leave, Rumlow. We don't want you here."
"I don't think you are in any position to give orders, Rogers," the scarred man laughed, casually cleaning out from under his nails, "personally, I was all for killing you immediately. Unfortunately, some of the white coats want to run some tests on you guys. Something about wanting to test pain endurance," he laughed again, "whatever it is, it'll sure be fun to watch."
Tony watched out of the corner of his eye as Bruce curled further into the corner, his face paling. He growled at the Hydra agent, taking a protective step forward and angling himself slightly in front of Steve. Rumlow swung his glare onto Tony, but the man had been caught under the glare of Howard Stark too many times to shrivel under Rumlow's. Instead, he smirked and leaned casually up against a wall, mirroring Rumlow's casual position. The Hydra agent scowled and stalked out, throwing a 'have fun' over his shoulder darkly. Tony collapsed against the wall, shaking with the effort from standing for so long.
Predictably, Cap didn't notice. Instead he turned to the rest of the team, looking at them critically and assessing the damage. Tony watched as Steve eyed the cell walls and door, looking for any sign of weakness. His ribs flared in pain and he winced weakly, sliding to the floor as the adrenaline wore off. he grimaced as he felt a rib shift unnaturally, this was going to be a long night.
***Line Break***
Bruce sat trembling in the corner, trying in vain to hide how terrified he was. Hydra wouldn't hold back in their experiments on him; everyone so incredibly desperate to see how The Other Guy ticked. He shuddered as an icy hand grabbed his heart and true terror began to set in. Desperate for something to do, he scanned his teammates, looking for any injuries he could help with. He noticed Tony slumped against the wall, pain etched into his features Bruce bit his lip before crawling over to help his lab partner.
"Tony," he murmured quietly, knowing that he wouldn't want anyone to notice his pain, "what's hurting?"
Tony keyed up a grin, but Bruce knew him well enough to notice the pain hidden in it, "just some bruised up ribs, Brucie-Bear. I'll be fine."
"Let me be the judge of that," Bruce snapped, the doctor in him taking control, "shirt off."
Tony frowned, "Bruce, I'm fi-"
"Shirt," Bruce commanded, knowing that using any other tone and attitude with Tony would get him nowhere, "now."
Tony sighed and lifted his shirt up just enough to expose his injured ribs, "there, happy?"
"It'll do," Bruce replied, prodding his friend's ribs gently, "a couple are broken, Tony. You need to be careful cause I don't have anything to-"
"Bruce," Steve called, "can you come check on Clint? I think something's wrong."
Bruce quickly swung his gaze over to the archer, who had fallen asleep somehow. His head was lolled to the side and from the way his shirt was trapped between his torso and the wall, Bruce could see a spot where his ribs were concaved. He grimaced, glancing apologetically at Tony, who shrugged in response. They were both used to this; injuries being overlooked for the sake of others. It was just something they had to get used to; and they had.
Bruce slipped over to the unconscious archer, quickly assessing the damage. Two ribs were so broken that they were pushing in on Clint's lung, making it difficult for him to breathe, which was probably why he'd passed out. Bruce struggled to try and set the ribs a little bit, wincing when Clint grimaced in his sleep. He glanced around the cell then crossed to the door, his mind too filled with worry for his friends to be scared of Hydra... mostly.
"Hey," he yelled, getting a guard's attention, "we need some medical supplies in here. Maybe some painkillers," he growled to himself as the guard turned away silently, "hey! These guys aren't gonna last long if you don't get them medication." He sighed and dropped his head against the bars as the guard disappeared.
Only to lift it a few minutes later when the guard reappeared, holding a small case in his hands. He glanced around wildly before practically running over to the cell and thrusting the case into Bruce's shocked hands.
"I'm not supposed to help you," the man whispered, "but this is pain medication. It should help them."
Bruce stared in shock, before turning abruptly to give some to his friends. he didn't pay enough attention to the guard. He would have known not to give it to them if he'd seen the slow smile spread across the man's face as he turned away. The confidence with which he walked away from the cell, and the vigilance with which he watched them afterwards. As it was, Bruce saw none of this. No one did. They all received a healthy dose of pain medication for their injuries and they all relaxed visibly. Bruce sat back contentedly before tending to his own injuries, injecting himself with the pain medicine before relaxing against the wall.
It only took two hours for the alien drug cocktail to start to show.
Here y'all go! Hope you enjoyed! Sorry for the rushed A/N but my mom is rushing me places. Can't wait to hear what y'all think so leave me a review or PM and give me some feedback! Love y'all!
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