"You've had this guy for two weeks, Barton! You're telling me you haven't gotten anything from him?"

"He's not a computer, Stark. I can't just punch in a few numbers and have him tell me everything! Speaking of that, how's your project going?"

"It's not that simple!"

"Well, neither is-!"

"Stop!" Bruce shouted. "Both of you stop." He said more quietly. "Everyone's doing their best."

The anger dissipated, leaving behind exhaustion.

"We don't even know if he's still alive," Clint whispered dejectedly.

Sygma had been true to its word. No contact had been made sense the video call two weeks ago.

The depressing silence in the Tower was broken by the sound of a phone ringing.

They all stared for a moment before Tony picked up his cellphone.

"Stark." The voice said.

"Romanoff." He had no idea what was going on.

"The operative is the Examiner's son."

A small smile formed on his lips. They were finally getting somewhere.

~A~

"Are we sure we want to try this?" Bruce said with apprehension.

Tony shrugged, hiding his own, "What choice do we have?"

"He said not to contact him." Clint supplied with a gruff voice.

"It is the only option that has presented itself." Thor crossed his arms.

Natasha's voice was tense when she supplied, "They won't release the prisoners. It's our only option."

Who exactly "they" was didn't matter. If Black Widow couldn't convince them, no one would.

The video call started up. It rang once, twice, "Well hello Mr Stark. Did you call to make a deal or to announce I can keep him permanently?"

"We have your spy." Tony spat out. "And we know who he is."

The Examiner's reaction was so subtle it was barely visible. "I suppose you want a new deal, hm?"

"If you want your son back alive," Clint growled.

At this, the man's face lit up, "Ah! Mr Barton! So good to finally meet you. We haven't had the pleasure."

"We want him back. Now."

"Well, we'll have to see about that." The man on the screen appeared to be deep in thought. "I can't just give him back to you. Even the boy isn't quite enough to relinquish the one and only Captain America."

"He's your son!" Clint shouted.

Tony gave him a brief look before turning back to the screen, "What else do you want?"

"The money. Give me the money and the boy and I'll give you back your Captain."

"When?" The one word from Natasha sent ice down the billionaire's spine.

"Tonight. Just Iron Man. No tags, no S.H.I.E.L.D, no Avengers. Just me and my dear friend Mr Stark. I'll send the coordinates."

The screen shut off and a single address appeared.

Clint was the first to protest. "You're not going."

"I'm pretty sure that psycho's instructions were pretty clear."

"You're the last person who should go. Especially alone."

"Really Barton, you're still hung up on that? We have the spy. I'm cleared."

"That doesn't mean I have to trust you."

"No one goes alone." The Black Widow's words were calm and held no room for disagreement "Sygma is not getting away with this."

There was no more argument.

~A~

The small inconspicuous warehouse made Tony feel apprehensive.

He went in, holding the handcuffed boy tightly by the arm. His Iron Man suit as the only thing hiding his terror.

When he entered, he could barely keep himself from completely losing it. Steve was on his knees, thick chains bound his wrists in front of him. His head was bowed and Tony was pretty sure a piece of paper had more colour. The super soldier was trembling and looked utterly defeated. Iron Man had never seen that before.

"Ah, took you long enough. I thought you had actually given him over to me!" The man in the dark cloak said.

The billionaire glared at the Examiner. "What? No lies, no 'thanks for collecting him I expect you to bring him back.'?"

"What's the use?" The man gloated, eyes shining with pure joy, "He can't hear you."

Tony felt like he was going to throw up. "What do you mean he can't hear?"

"Just that. An experiment went wrong. His inner ear was damaged beyond repair."

He was definitely going to throw up. "You're a monster."

"I'm aware." The Examiner laughed.

"Steve, Steve look at me."

The Captain didn't move.

"Steve." Tony pleaded.

The robed man shook his head. Grabbing Steve by the hair he yanked up so that Tony could see his face. The first thing he saw was the black muzzle latched tightly around Steve's mouth. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was his eyes. Tony found himself gasping. The eyes were misted over and empty looking. There was no recognition whatsoever.

"Oh yes, did I forget to mention he lost his sight in the same accident? Hm? No? Well, here you are."

Tony found himself unable to breathe. No, no, they were too late.

"I told you we were experimenting. I told you to hurry and agree to the deal, but no. You had to wait and plan and do whatever it is you Avengers do. You left him to me. And now, what do you have? A blind, deaf, Captain who will never walk again. Oh yes, you can add that one to your list."

Not now. Not now. He couldn't have a panic attack now.

His hand involuntarily clenched his hands causing a muffled cry to his right. He released his hold, too in shock to say much of anything. The boy disappeared to stand beside his father.

"And you know my favourite part?" The Examiner didn't even seem to acknowledge his son. "He thinks you did this to him! He actually blames you for everything! Go! Take him!" He threw the chains on the floor, wrapping an arm around his son and taking a few steps backwards. "Have fun with your Captain."

Tony found himself kneeling at his friend's side. Steve didn't respond except to occasionally flinch at his touch. "Wh-where are the keys?" Everything needed a key. Even the muzzle needed a key.

"You can have it as soon as I get what we agreed upon."

Tony growled, "Jarvis!"

"Transaction complete, sir."

"There you go. Now give me the keys."

The madman laughed, "Well, as much as I'd love to stay and help I have other business to attend to."

"No!" Enraged, Tony pressed the button on his gauntlet. The room flooded with S.H.I.E.L.D agents.

"That was a mistake." The Examiner spat, backing up against the onslaught of agents The boy's eyes took on a wild look that would have made him feel guilty on any other day.

Then Steve started choking. It was clear the soldier couldn't breathe.

"Tony?" It was Natasha leaning over their Captain with him. She gasped, "What did they do?"

"Natasha," Tony whimpered.

"Go, take him to medical, hurry!"

Iron Man obeyed without a second thought.

~A~

"It looks to be some form of mustard gas," the doctor informed Iron Man.

"But he'll be okay?" Was the only thing Tony could say.

There was silence. "I-," he sighed, "I don't know. Were we only dealing with the gas, I'd say yes. But there are... Other things."

"Like?" He knew, he'd seen, but he had to know exactly what happened.

"It appears they... Cut him open, messed with some organs. Parts of some of them have been scraped off. His serum has been so preoccupied with other things it hasn't completely healed. He's been beaten, that much is clear. His knee was shot through with a bullet, it's mostly healed but..." He paused taking another breath, "They broke his leg. Bad. Then it healed, we had to break it again to set it. I can't be sure it will heal right or fully. Even with his healing properties. And... He's missing a lot of blood. It appears they've been removing large quantities and giving him just enough time in between to keep him alive. He's been stuck with an IV multiple times. Probably with nutrients. So we can assume he hasn't eaten anything since he was taken."

Tony wanted to cry. Scratch that, he was crying. "What about, about..."

"His ears and eyes are very damaged. I don't think there's anything we can do. I'm sorry." The voice was sympathetic. "He's stable for now, but nowhere near healed. We're giving him a blood transfusion as well as nutrients through an IV. It's the best we can do right now." Neither of them spoke for a moment, "Would you like to go in and see him?"

"No," Tony said it before he could even register. "No, I-I can't. I can't."  He backed away. "I, uh, I need to-to-"

He turned and sprinted away.

~TH~

Sorry for such a long wait...Still not thrilled with how the chapter played out.

This one is a bit longer to make up for the next chapter being a bit shorter.

Hope you guys enjoyed!

What do you think will happen next?
What will heal and what won't?
Will Tony be able to cope with the outcome?

More coming soon!

God bless,