Day 5

The Cell - Tony

Watching the sleeping form of Captain America brought an uneasy feeling to Tony. Something was wrong. Very wrong. He had never seen Steve so angry. He knew that he and Steve had never really gotten along, but this was different. The glares that Cap sent him spoke of hatred. Then last night Steve had had another nightmare. Tony wasn't sure what to do.

The door swung open, waking the sleeping form on the floor. Steve sent a quick look at Stark before his eyes returned to the door. The guards slowly came in and grabbed Cap. Steve quietly went with them.

A few minutes later his own guards appeared. They grabbed him by the arms and pulled him up. He shook them off.

"I'm coming. You don't need to get so pushy." He began walking, assuming they would point him in the right direction. He was proven correct as they began to push him towards the Truth Room. Yay. That's just what he needed.

~A~

The Truth Room - Steve

Steve didn't care anymore. He honestly didn't care. There was no reason for him to fight. His head hurt and he just felt so drained. He silently obeyed the guards when they told him to remove his shirt. The ugly Hydra brand was still very clear amongst the healing skin. Since it was no longer life-threatening, the serum was trying to heal his more serious injuries. Whatever they were. Everything hurt so bad he couldn't tell what was real and what pain from last nights startling revelation.

Howard was Hydra. He couldn't get it out of his head.

Lost in his own thoughts, he didn't hear the guards order him to the wall, earning him a swift punch between his shoulder blades. He sank to his knees, having been caught off guard.

"вверх (Up)" The guard barked. Steve stood immediately. "Напротив стены (Against the wall.)" He complied without thought. The door opened, breaking Steve's trance-like state.

"Good," Rubrem appeared, smiling. "You are learning Captain, learning."

Cap shook his head and crossed his arms. "What's your game Rubrem?" he growled.

Mori frowned, "Game? What do you mean 'game', Captain? I'm here to tell you the truth. That was our agreement, yes?"

The Captain held his glare while the German shook his head disapprovingly.

Rubrem sighed, "Повернись, (Turn around)" Cap turned around without a word. "Руки вверх, (hands up)" Rubrem quickly attached chains to each of the soldier's wrists.

"Russian?" Steve mumbled, trying to clear his muddled mind.

His captor was smiling again. "Yes, Captain, Russian. I was tempted to use German since it is my first language, but we had such promising results last time we used Russian. What is your American saying, 'Why fix what isn't broken'?"

"Last time? I don't-"

"Hey watch it!" Tony's sudden voice interrupted him.

Mori was suddenly whispering in Steve's ear, "помнить, Я не тот, кто лжет вам. Я твой друг. (Remember, I'm not the one lying to you. I'm your friend.)" Then stepping away, he patted Cap on the back. "All in good time Captain. All in good time."

~A~

The Truth Room - Tony

"Hey watch it!" Tony barked as the guard roughly shoved him through the door. Still muttering under his breath, he stopped when he saw Rubrem put his hand on Steve's back.

"Get your filthy hands off him!" He took a step forward, only to be dragged backwards by his two "friends" behind him.

Mori turned around and clasped his hands together "Ah, Mr Stark. How good of you to join us."

"Not like your goons gave me much of a choice." He grunted, pulling away from the men holding him.

Rubrem shrugged with indifference. "Well, now that you are here, you are going to do exactly what I tell you to."

"Fat chance," Tony responded, crossing his arms.

Before he could even realize what was happening, a gun was cocked and placed firmly behind Cap's head. Tony drew in a sharp breath.

Laughing, the German said, "Now do you see my side, Mr Stark?"

"Forget it, Tony," The Captain said in a low voice. "Don't-"

"Молчать! (Silence!)" Mori shouted. Steve fell completely silent.

Was that Russian? Had Cap always knows Russian?

"Now, Mr Stark, you will do what I say, or you will find your Captain with a bullet in his brain."

"What do you want?" Tony growled.

Smiling, Rubrem motioned towards a small hole in the wall. "Go get it."

Rolling his eyes, he walked over to the hole. "'Go get it.' real informative there. What exactly am I getting? Don't tell me I'm going to put my hand in and come out with poisonous spiders crawling all over me." He reached into the small alcove and searched around until he felt something. Pulling it out, he glanced at it. In his hands was a bullwhip. He glanced at Steve's bare back. A small gasp escaped his lips.

"You plan on playing Indiana Jones?" Tony attempted to joke.

Mori laughed, "No, Mr Stark. You are."

"What?" Tony glanced at the madman.

Rubrem took a step to the side, still keeping the gun pointed at the Captain's head. "I think you heard me." The billionaire stood in shock. Rubrem shook his head, "Come here, Mr Stark."

Tony numbly obeyed.

"Good, now strike his back." He motioned towards Steve, towards Tony's friend.

"What? No!" Tony said, taking a step back. He finally realized what was going on, and he couldn't. There was no way he could. Panicking, he kept walking backwards until he ran into something. Or someone. "His" thug pushed him forward until he was standing directly behind Cap.

Rubrem laid his hand on Tony's shoulder. "Now, now, Mr Stark. I really don't want to have to use this." He once again placed the gun to Steve's head, "but, I will if I need to. Now, strike him."

Trembling, Tony pulled back the whip. Closing his eyes, he let it fly forward. There was a muffled cry, causing Stark to open his eyes in horror. He looked at Steve's back, staring without comprehension at the mark he had made.

Mori smiled gleefully, "Again."

"No, I, I can't."

"You forget, your refusal will cause his death. Do you really want that hanging over your head?"

The Billionaire shook his head. Steeling himself, he struck the Captain's back.

"Don't stop Mr Stark. I'll tell you when you can be done."

Tony did as he was told. He let the whip fly again. And Again. And again. Tears rolled down his cheeks as Steve finally let loose a cry of pain. Looking at Rubrem, he continued the lashing. He wasn't sure how long he had been there, how many lashes he had delivered when the body in front of him suddenly went limp.

"Stop." The order finally came.

Tony dropped whip as if it was a piece of burning metal.

"Very good, Mr Stark." Tony didn't even hear him. He was in shock. He stared, mouth open, at the bleeding back of Captain America. He had done that. He had caused his friend pain. "Take him back to his cell."

This time, he didn't fight back as they roughly pulled him away.

~A~

Unknown - Steve

"I told you, Captain- Tony is not your friend." Steve was in a haze. His eyes refused to focus as his brain tried to comprehend what he was hearing.

"If he was your friend would he have struck you? All the pain you are feeling right now. It was caused by him. Tony did it. Now, do you see? I tried to warn you." He knew that voice. Rubrem?

But, that wasn't right. Tony was his friend. Tony hadn't wanted to. Right? "No, y-you told him too. Made him."

"Come now, Captain. How could I make him? He wouldn't have done it if he hadn't had wanted to. Just think about it. I'm your friend, not, him. And because I'm your friend, I'm going to let you rest now. Okay? Let you rest." Rubrem's voice was fading out as Steve felt a pinch and then warmth travelling up his arm.

"Rest," he mumbled.

Steve thought he could see a smile on Mori - his friend's? - lips. "Yes, Captain, rest."

~A~

The Cell - Tony

Tony cried. Cried because it was all his fault. This entire stupid thing was his fault. He had watched while Steve had suffered because of him, because of his stupid project. But this time he had gone too far. He had done it. He had caused Steve's pain directly.

He should have listened to JARVIS. Who in his right mind creates a program that would detonate all of his tech simultaneously? He had made it in case his tech ever fell into the wrong hands, but he never really considered what would happen if the project fell into the wrong hands! Had he really been that stupid? Had he really been that bored?

He closed his eyes, but all he could see was the broken, bleeding body of the man he considered a friend. Steve couldn't survive much more of this, Captain America or not. But there was nothing he could do. Nothing but hope that the others would find them. Hope, and pray to the God of Steve Rogers.

Welp, that's that. Hope you liked it! Be sure to leave a comment! They make me happy :)

Also, I'm on AO3 now as Trekkiehood! Yay!

I hope to update soon. Really I do. Maybe if you leave really nice comments I'll update even faster :D

God bless,