Betaed by Melpen00

Day 3

Steve - The Cell

It was only the third day, but Steve felt like he was dying. He would never reveal that. He couldn't; he was Captain America! Most people would have already been dead by now, and though Steve knew that the serum would allow him to hang on longer than most would be able to, he did have one big disadvantage: his metabolism. Steve was hungry.

He hadn't eaten in three days. Yes, people could go three weeks and survive. He had gone longer than this without eating back in the Depression, but now things were different. His body was trying to heal itself- remarkably slowly due to his lack of sustenance - and his metabolism had already burned most of what he had left in his body.

Stark was out eating right now. Steve didn't know what the man was eating, but it was more than Steve had. Anything was more than he had. They brought him a little bit of water every day, but other than that, he had had nothing. He tried not to be envious or angry, Tony needed food too. He was happy that he was getting it, but he couldn't suppress the little feeling of resentment pointed at his friend.

But, he knew what Hydra was trying to do. He had seen it done back in the war. One instance that came to mind was Joe Roberts, a good man. He had had a wife and kids back home. But he had been captured by Hydra in some sort of freak accident. He recognized some of the methods they were currently using, from Joe's file. Cap had led the group that rescued him. Battered and bruised, Joe Roberts had been taken back to the base. It was all well and good until that night when the injured man had tried to kill Captain Rogers.

Suddenly Steve was no longer in a Hydra prison. He was in a small tent, alone because Bucky had signed up for patrol that night. Steve usually took patrol, but whenever they were at a larger camp everyone insisted that he get some sleep, especially after a mission. His eyes were closed but he wasn't asleep. Someone was outside his tent. He continued to feign sleep, hoping whoever was outside would move on. However, that was not the case.

He heard the figure enter his tent. The Captain was able to keep his breathing steady despite his pounding heart. He knew this wasn't Bucky, he knew what his best friend sounded like. The person, a man by his guess, moved towards him and stooped over Rogers. A knife was slowly inching towards his heart when he snapped to action.

Deflecting the knife he twisted the man's wrist. The weapon was dropped with a thud. On instinct, he grabbed the man's neck squeezing it slightly. There was a gasp, and he felt someone clawing at his hands.

"Cap!" the man called out. The delusional man translated it to 'Captain'. Close enough right?

He squeezed tighter, he didn't really want to kill this man, whoever he was. But the man had tried to kill him! He had to fight back.

"Steve!" the voice came, still clawing at his hand. Steve? It was never Steve. Always Captain or Captain Rogers or even simply Rogers. Never Steve. Not unless they were close. "Please, I-I can't..."

The Hydra cell came back in focus and Steve released the man in his hands. Horror overtook him as he realized who it was. Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man. He had just about killed Iron Man!

Tony was clutching his throat and trying to breathe. Steve's eyes widened in panic. No, no, no, it was happening already. Maybe? Was it Hydra or just the flashback? He couldn't tell. He quickly scooted back into the corner of the room. Breathing heavy himself, but for an entirely different reason.

He couldn't do this. He could easily slip up and kill the billionaire. While he had come to realize that Tony was much more than the suit, there was no doubt that he was much smaller than the super soldier.

"Steve?" Tony was standing next to him, just out of arm's reach, the soldier noted. When Cap acknowledged him, the inventor took a step forward and knelt down next to him

.

Rogers closed his eyes, feeling any strength he had left die away. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-didn't know..." he felt a sob catch in his throat. He wouldn't cry though. Not yet. He refused.

"I know," came the raspy reply. "Are you okay? Did they come back while I was gone." The concern in Tony's voice made him feel sick. If the great Stark was being gentle and kind, he must look awful. Then again, he had just tried to strangle the other man.

Regardless, Steve still had to fight off a surge of jealousy towards Tony, unharmed and fed. But, he fought it in pure Captain America fashion, "No, they haven't come back." He rubbed his face with his hands before opening his eyes.

He opened them in time to see two guards come in. Really they were his two guards, as they only ever dealt with him. They pushed Tony out of the way and pulled Steve to a standing position. Then, despite Tony's protest, they led Steve away from the cell. He really didn't care, he was too tired to fight.

~A~

Steve - Unknown

They had hardly walked a full minute when they stopped, one of the men blindfolding the Captain. That was new. He also noticed the lack of cuffs however, each arm was held by a guard. They only made it about halfway to wherever they were going before Steve's legs gave out. He tried to get back up but was just too weak. The guards ended up dragging him the rest of the way.

When they reached the unknown place, Cap was forced into another chair. He wasn't even surprised when he felt the metal clamp around his wrists. The blindfold was left in place and it did its job effectively. He couldn't see anything. Steve felt a slight pinch in his arm then something being pumped into his body. That was concerning.

"You know, drugs don't really work on me," he said, not even knowing if anyone was there.

There was silence and he feared he had been left completely alone. Again. He hated being alone. It brought back too many memories. Staying home sick when his Ma had to work, or later when Bucky would have to do the same. Then, of course, there was the whole plane crashing into the ocean thing. Alone. Yeah, he didn't like being alone.

He began to shake his arm free of the needle but was stopped by a hand on his arm. "Stop fighting it, Captain." A light German accent noted. Of course. Rubrem was here. "It's not going to hurt you, just some nourishment so you don't collapse."

Oh, so that's what they were doing, keeping him alive. It was true, his head was becoming much clearer instead of heavier as he had expected. The pang in his stomach was also losing its intensity.

"I saw what you did to Mr Stark. It was quite entertaining. I never would have let you kill him of course not, I still need him. But, it was an interesting display." Steve tensed slightly at the words.

"Of course," Rubrem continued, "you will have to be punished. We can't have either of you die before we get the project. That's why we are feeding you now. We can't have you die before we get what we want from Stark. And yes, we know about your metabolism and healing rates."

He felt the fluid stop and another prick as the needle was pulled out. He felt what was most likely a band-aid being placed over the tiny wound. Now that he wasn't starving, his enhanced hearing seemed to kick in and he could hear the footsteps walk away.

"That's enough for the moment Captain, it should keep you alive," the voice was now coming over an intercom of some sort. "Your punishment begins now." The clasps were released and then there was silence. Complete silence.

Ripping off the blindfold, Steve felt horror creep into his veins. He looked around. He was in a giant freezer.

Terror overtook him as he looked at the walls. Ice. The walls were covered in ice. He stood up. Then the cold hit him. It seemed to come out of nowhere. The chair must have somehow kept him from realizing how cold it truly was.

Beside the chair was a small table. On that table sat a plain white shirt. He put it on, though it offered little protection. The cold began to creep in and he feared his blood would turn to ice. He had always wondered if his blood had completely frozen after the crash. But that wasn't the worst thing to creep in. No, much worse was the panic.

And suddenly he was on the plane, plunging towards the ice. His breathing accelerated and he began to shake, and the cold had nothing to do with it. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the memories.

He wasn't on the plane. He wasn't going to lose everyone. Again. He would be fine. He was with Hydra. He would find a way to escape. He was fine.

That was, until water started to cover the floor.

He couldn't think anymore. He just knew he had to get away. He couldn't let the water have him. He climbed onto the metal chair, hugging his knees. He was terrified.

"Please, let me out. Please,." he heard his own voice say. But it was distant, so weak and afraid. It couldn't have really been his voice, Captain America's voice, could it?

No, he decided. It wasn't Captain America's voice, it was Steve Rogers'.

~A~

Tony - The Cell

He tried to kill him. Captain America had literally tried to kill him. Tony subconsciously rubbed his throat. He should have known better than approach the super soldier in the midst of what looked like a pretty intense flashback. He knew Steve hadn't really meant it. It was obvious by the guilt-stricken look on his face that the strangulation was meant for someone else. But, for some reason that didn't make it hurt any less.

Tony was beginning to grow worried about him. They had skipped the Watch Room this morning, for that Stark was relieved. Maybe they thought yesterday had been enough. In his own opinion, yesterday had been enough for an eternity. The haunted look hadn't left Steve's eyes since the first day. They must have said something to him, Captain America was in no way squeamish. He didn't really seem to be healing properly either. Tony hoped nothing was wrong with the serum. He supposed it could have had to do with enhanced metabolism.

And now he had been gone for almost six hours, much longer than usual. Steve had said that they hadn't come for him all day, they had waited until Tony got back. Was it possible it was planned? Were they trying to get the American Icon to kill him? No, they needed him alive for the project. But something was definitely going on, and by the look in Cap's eye, he knew what was happening. Tony would have to ask him when he came back. If he came back. No. No, he wouldn't think that way. Steve would come back and they would have a long talk. They would get out of this. They would be fine.

The door swung open and a still form was dropped on the floor. The captain's skin had almost a blue colour. Rushing towards him, Tony stopped short. He couldn't run the risk of causing him to lash out. The super soldier could easily kill him before he even realized what he was doing. He wouldn't let that be on Steve's conscious. Not to mention, he really didn't want to be dead. And death by deranged Avenger didn't make it on his 'top five ways to go' list.

"Steve." He remembered that earlier the man had only responded positively to his given name. "Are you okay?" Stupid question. Just by looking at him Stark could see he very much wasn't okay. When no answer came Tony's fear got the better of him. Kneeling down, he lightly touched the soldier's arm and gasped. It was unnaturally cold. Moving down his arm he noticed that Cap wasn't moving. At all. Like, at all, at all.

Panicking, he grabbed his wrist and felt for a pulse. There was none. Tony's heart began to race. They had killed him. Killed him and left Tony with the corpse of his dead friend. He backed away slowly. No, this was wrong, there was no way. No, he wasn't, he couldn't be. He was Captain America. No.

Tony was in such shock, he didn't notice the room's temperature slowly begin to rise

So... cliffhangerish. Sorry. I couldn't resist. Forgive any medical inaccuracy. I'm a writer, not a doctor. (Bonus points to anyone who got that backwards reference.)

When planning this story, this was not how I planned to write this chapter. Most of it actually came to me when I was trying to sleep. I worked with it in my head and decided it was worth changing a few things to fit it in. Plus, Reagangirl (FF.net) had mentioned she would like to see some of Steve's thoughts. I hope this sufficed :)

Not even sorry for any OOCness. I think after everything they've been through, they should be allowed to have their moments.

Is Steve really dead? Would I seriously kill off Captain America? You shall have to wait and see!

And one more thing... Feelings on Natasha? Romanogers? This is the last time I will ask. If I don't get any feedback I'll just go with it. (I personally ship Romanogers, but if you hate it PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!! I will not write it if people despise it.)

Comments and Reviews feed my writing flame. Please Review!

God bless,