The Process
Matt is awake throughout it all. It’s been about three weeks since he was brought here, and Matt has been given daily injections of differing hormones. He isn’t certain what they are all doing, but they are making him feel incredibly shitty.
Today they are using a needle to do something to him. Dr Marsh isn’t explaining. It takes about 20 minutes, and afterwards his stomach is cramping terribly. He’s curled up on his side, and is glad that they have loosened his restraints enough to offer him this comfort. He can smell blood in the air.
“Excuse me,” shouts Matt, groaning in pain.
Nurse One, as he has affectionately named her, appears at his side.
“What is it, Hon?” she asks as she adjusts his IV.
“I can smell blood. Is that normal?”
Nurse One squeezes his hand. “Yeah, Hon. A small amount of bleeding is normal after an egg collection. It should go away soon. Do you want some pain relief?”
Matt shakes his head. He doesn’t want to be impaired in any way.
They take Clint away later. He comes back silent.
…
It’s almost a week later when Dr Marsh comes back for him. He’s wearing his surgical scrubs, judging from the sound of the fabric in Matt’s ears. He does the procedure in the room while Clint watches. Some sort of tubing is fed into his body.
He clenches his fists beside him and waits for it to be over.
Later, he is lying on his side again. Clint has tried speaking multiple times, but Matt doesn’t want to hear anything. He pulls his pillow over his head and tries to fall asleep.
…
Natasha has been investigating Dr Marsh. Tony managed to connect the van to a group of thugs hired by the good doctor, and now they’re going around all the properties even connected to his name.
Natasha is patrolling the outside of a building owned by an employer of Dr Marsh. JARVIS found that the doctor had received a significant amount of money into his bank account from NewGeneration Ltd., and Tony had managed to find a building bought using money from the same account. Steve and Tony are checking out another building, while Natasha and Peter are tackling this one.
It’s an old private hospital. It was bought by NewGeneration two years ago, and has been used as a place for private fertility treatments every since for the rich and elite. However, three months ago, the hospital went under renovations and all patients were transferred to a different facility.
“Hey Nat, there’s definitely something going on here!” Peter says through the comms. He’s on the roof.
Natasha presses her earpiece. “What have you found?”
“I can hear people talking! My hearing isn’t as good as DD, but there are people in there discussing some really weird things!”
“I’ll call it in to Steve and Tony – they can be here within the hour,” she replies. Natasha heads back to the van and slips into the back. She grabs her phone and calls back to Stark Tower.
Bruce answers nearly immediately. “Nat?”
“Bruce, we think we’ve found the place. I’m sending you my exact location – please give me an ETA.”
Bruce is typing something on the other side. “I think we can get there in around 45 minutes. I’ll come too.”
“Do we really think this is a problem for Hulk?”
“Nat, they’ve taken our boys.”
“And you’re needed to fix them if they’re broken,” Nat responds calmly. “Ask Wanda to come – we’ll need her. And I’m messaging Steve and Tony.”
Bruce sighs. “Fine. I’ll be waiting in the MedBay.”
…
It’s been three weeks since the first insemination. Matt is sore from the amount of blood that has been taken from him for various tests. Clint has also been subjected to all sorts of medical screenings, and Matt believes it is simply to weaken the men. They don’t need to be doing all this now – they simply want to punish them.
As Matt’s resting against his pillow, he begins to hear familiar heartbeats down the corridor. Not wanting to believe it, he waits for a moment until he is completely sure and sits up straight in bed and gestures wildly for Clint.
“Daredevil? Hawkeye?” Peter’s voice is shouting.
“In here!” Matt responds immediately. He indicates to Clint to start shouting. “We’re in here!”
“Here!” shouts Clint, confused as to why he is doing this.
The door to the room bursts open and Peter and Natasha come running in. Nat runs to untie Clint, and Peter heads towards Matt. His fingers fumble with the bindings on Matt’s wrists slightly when he catches sight of Matt’s eyes, but he quickly regains composure and is getting Matt out of bed.
Considering it’s been weeks since Matt has walked anywhere, his legs feel especially strong. He leans against Peter for support, but within minutes he is able to walk by himself. There’s the smell of something in the air that he can’t detect, and he turns his head towards its source.
Two heartbeats down the corridor.
“Wanda! We need him alive,” Natasha says to one of the heartbeats.
“I am just putting him to sleep,” says a girl in a thick accent. The smell intensifies and the other heartbeat speeds up drastically. Dr Marsh. “SHEILD will handle him.”
“That bastard needs to be put in prison. Now,” says Clint through gritted teeth. He’s leaning against Natasha, who has her arm wrapped around his waist.
“SHEILD need to interview him first,” responds Natasha, and she uses one of her hands to gesture too. ASL, judging from the response from Clint in gestures alone.
Matt hears more footsteps coming down the hallway. He’s ready to fight, but Peter grips onto his arm tightly. “Don’t worry, Mr Daredevil. They’re SHEILD.”
Matt sighs in relief and allows himself to be guided by Peter out of the building. He doesn’t know where it comes from, but a blanket is brought and wrapped around his shoulders when he gets halfway down the stairs. He’s moving slowly, savouring each step of freedom, and Peter is letting him walk at his own pace out of this hellhole.
Right now, Matt is glad to be free. He doesn’t bother to think about the future.