Steve’s head was killing him. What happened? The ringing in his ears woke him up, but that’s all he could tell. Steve slowly registered pressure around his wrists and ankles. As his vision cleared up, he ended up seeing that he was, in fact, strapped down to a table.
Just like Bucky was, Steve thought uncomfortably before shoving the thought away. He needed to focus.
Okay. So…Steve could barely breathe, because of the rag tied around his mouth. So that wasn’t fun. And…he was strapped to a table (gurney?) with extremely thick restraints. Fuck.
Just as Steve went to think of something to break, maybe if he dislocated his thumb and slid his hand through, he heard something nearby. Steve slowly turned and he swears he could feel his heart fall out of his chest.
Bucky.
Steve immediately tried to get free before feeling his body surge with electricity. He bit down on the gag before the pain stopped. He panted as best he could, which wasn’t much given how he couldn’t breathe with this rag stuffed in his mouth. Steve looked back at Bucky and noticed wires on his own body.
What the fuck? Steve tried his best to see his body but saw wires going to various places. No wonder he got electrocuted. Steve noticed wires connected to the restraints. He tried breaking them, and they…it must have sent a signal or something telling the machine behind him to electrocute him.
Steve looked back at Bucky with an anxious expression. Bucky was…breathing. And his heart was beating too according to the screen, which attached wires to Bucky’s body. At least he was breathing.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. This so wasn’t happening. Steve and Bucky had been on an easy mission. Check out the abandoned Hydra base, that’s all. It was supposed to be a simple mission. Now they were both captured. Steve hoped to whatever was out there that the Howling Commandos found them soon.
Steve flinched (as much as he would hate to admit it) when the door opened with a loud creak. He tried his best to see the person but could only catch glimpses of a lab coat. Steve made a mumbling sound, causing the doctor to twitch and jog over.
“Sorry about that, Captain,” the doctor said as he took the rag off and set it aside on the table. “I didn’t want you waking up and yelling, especially if I was in here. So be quiet and this stays off.”
“What did you do to Bucky?” Steve immediately asked.
“Sargent Barnes is asleep. Sedatives do work on him, unlike you. With you we had to electrocute you until you passed out. But anyway, Sargent Barnes should wake up any minute now. Would you like me to wake him up now or wait for him to wake up naturally?” The doctor asked.
“Wait,” Steve said after internally debating. He didn’t know if the doctor would hurt Bucky to wake up him, so he’d rather have Bucky wake up naturally instead of being electrocuted awake.
“My name is Doctor Michaels, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I saw your films, you know,” the doctor said with a smile. “But anyway, I’m getting distracted. You are probably wondering why you’re here.”
Steve slowly nodded as he glanced over to Bucky again. Bucky was still asleep and it was stressing Steve out. But Steve would rather have Bucky asleep than be tortured.
“Doctor Zola experimented on Sargent Barnes. And we’re here to finish those experiments,” the doctor said, causing Steve’s body to freeze.
What? No. No. Bucky was not going to be some god damn science experiment. Not happening. Not again. Steve pulled at the restraints and felt that electricity again. He let out a pained scream before the electricity stopped. Steve panted and caught his breath as his vision blurred.
“I forgot to mention the restraints are connected to the machine behind you. If you try to break the restraints, you will get electrocuted. I would have wired it so that if you tried to escape, Sargent Barnes would be electrocuted, but I didn’t want the test results to get skewed.”
“Go to hell,” Steve slurred before vaguely realizing that Bucky was waking up. “Bucky?”
“Wha…” Bucky mumbled as he woke up before violently twitching at the sight of being restrained.
“No! No! No! Bucky! Don’t fight against the restraints!” Steve yelled in a panicked voice, causing Bucky to whip his head to the side. “You’ll get electrocuted if you try to break the restraints. Don’t.”
“Steve?” Bucky asked as the heart monitor started getting more intense with the beeping.
Bucky turned his head to the machine as best he could. The doctor walked over and turned off the beeping.
“There. That’s much better. Hello, Sargent Barnes. My name is Doctor Michaels. You’re here because of the experiments Doctor Zola performed on you. Do you remember those?”
Obviously Bucky fucking remembered those. Steve shot a glare to the doctor but his back was turned to Steve. Steve tried to get free again but got electrocuted for what felt like longer than the first time. He couldn’t muffle the full force of his screams and could barely hear Bucky yelling before he blacked out from the pain.
——
“Just relax your arm,” a voice called out.
Steve blinked his eyes open and instinctively turned his head to the left towards Bucky. Bucky’s eyes lit up when he realized Steve was awake, but the rest of him looked pale and sweaty.
“What are you doing to him?” Steve asked as his vision blurred again.
“Captain, just in time,” the doctor said with an excited smile as he put the needle aside on the table. “Sargent Barnes just got injected with a drug, so it’ll take a few moments for that to kick in.”
“What? No,” Steve said before he stopped himself from pulling against the restraints. He was learning to not do that, even if it was for Bucky’s benefit alone. “Please don’t. Hurt me. Please.”
“Don’t,” Bucky said in a panicked voice before it looked like his vision blurred.
“I can’t inject you with this drug, Captain. You’ll just burn through it unfortunately,” the doctor said with a sad expression. “Besides, I already gave Barnes the drug. Any second now he’ll feel the effects.”
Steve anxiously looked at Bucky, who was now panting and staring at the ceiling, his eyes blank.
“Bucky? Bucky, please. What did you do?!” Steve yelled.
“Usually it can take a few hours to burn through this, so you can relax, Captain. Sargent Barnes is fine,” the doctor said before turning to Bucky. “Sargent? Can you hear me?”
“Yes,” Bucky said in a creepy monotone voice that made Steve’s blood boil. What did they do to him?
“Excellent. Can you tell me…what’s your name?” The doctor asked.
“Sargent…James Buchanan Barnes,” Bucky said, still staring at the ceiling.
Steve made a whining noise as he watched this happen with no way of stopping it.
“Do you know his name?” The doctor asked before tilting Bucky’s head to the side.
“That’s…that’s…Steve…” Bucky mumbled. “I think.”
Steve froze. I think. Whatever Bucky was injected with needed to get the hell out of his body right now! Steve was going to break every bone in the doctor’s body, repeatedly.
“Is your name Steve?” The doctor asked as he turned to Steve. “I’m sorry for asking, but your identity is classified.”
Steve managed to nod. He wasn’t sure what his mouth would do or how it would respond to the question. What the hell did they give him?
“Sargent, can you tell me what…two plus two is?” The doctor asked.
“Four,” Bucky said numbly as he stared at the damn ceiling like he couldn’t see and it was driving Steve crazy seeing him like this.
“Excellent,” the doctor said before unlocking one of the restraints. “Sargent, I want you to take this scalpel and cut your arm.”
Steve tensed up and started yelling. The doctor quickly grabbed the rag and shoved it in Steve’s mouth to keep him quiet. Steve anxiously watched as the doctor handed Bucky the scalpel.
And then watched as Bucky cut his arm. Steve immediately made a muffled noise, which had to be the equivalent of a cry. Bucky willingly hurt himself because this damn doctor said to. That wasn’t fair and-
“Excellent. Sargent, I want you to hold onto the scalpel for me. But don’t do anything else. Okay? Just stay still.” The doctor said, Bucky staying still.
The doctor undid all the restraints on Bucky’s limbs, causing Steve to freeze. Come on, Bucky. Snap out of this. Please be joking and faking it, please.
“Now sit up,” the doctor ordered, Bucky complying like a fucking puppet. “and follow me.”
Steve watched as Bucky sat up and followed the doctor over to him. He gained a confused look at the doctor but glared once he realized he was showing his confusion.
“Sargent, I want you to use that scalpel and made a cut on the Captain here,” the doctor said as he pointed to his arm.
Steve immediately went rigid with panic and struggled against the restraints, causing his body to get electrocuted again. He bit down on the rag as he felt the electricity surge through everything and it hurts. But not nearly enough as watching Bucky willingly cut himself because of some Nazi doctor giving him orders.
“Sargent, cut the Captain’s arm,” the doctor said with a stern stone.
Bucky slowly lifted up his arm before using the scalpel to cut Steve’s arm. It barely even hurt. What hurt more was seeing Bucky like this and being unable to stop or help. Steve glared at the doctor, who was smiling.
“Excellent. Cut him here,” the doctor ordered as he pointed to Steve’s upper arm, and Bucky complied.
——
Steve was bloody and disoriented. His whole body was sore and cuts covered almost his entire person. The doctor made Bucky hurt him. He didn’t blame Bucky. Not one bit. But he blamed that damn doctor.
“Captain, how are you feeling?” The doctor asked as he walked over and took the rag out of his mouth.
“Go to hell,” Steve said with a glare. “Hurt me. Okay! Hurt me, please.”
“But I am. Well, Sargent Barnes is,” the doctor said before looking at Bucky, who was sitting complacently on the table and staring at the wall.
Steve almost threw up when he noticed the scalpel in Bucky’s hand still. His hand was completely covered in blood. His blood. Cuts were everywhere on Steve’s body; arms, legs, chest. Not the heart or face, and not enough to hit any arteries or important places, the doctor made sure of that.
The doctor turned towards the door when he saw the light on the wall blinking quietly.
“If you’ll excuse me, Captain,” the doctor said before leaving.
He left Bucky, not tied up. Steve looked at Bucky with a scared look.
“Buck? Bucky? Please,” Steve pleaded, his eyes watering. “It’s me, it’s Stevie. Remember me? I got sick a lot. We shared an apartment at one point, and you had to take care of me a lot. Thank you. And…and you used to protect me from bullies all the time, because I never know when to stop. I…I need you to protect me from some bullies now, Bucky. Please.”
Steve’s voice broke and he choked out a sob. He turned towards Bucky when he heard a small noise. Bucky dropped the scalpel on the floor and then made a quiet whining noise. He blinked his eyes and looked at Steve.
“Wha…what happ…” Bucky mumbled with a slurred tone.
“Bucky? Oh my god. Are you okay?” Steve asked anxiously as his tears came down his face.
“My head…” Bucky said before looking at his hands. “Oh my god. Blood. Why is there-”
“The doctor cut your arm. And he overestimated how bad it would be. He got blood on your hands,” Steve lied before Bucky’s eyes trailed to the patched up cut on his arm.
“Oh…” Bucky said before he stumbled over. “Oh my god, Stevie. What did they do to you?”
“Hurt me,” Steve said as he tried not to cry because Bucky was actually back and safe and not that thing he was before. “They…they hurt me, Bucky.”
“Hold on,” Bucky said before going to touch the restraints but got interrupted by Steve yelling quickly.
“Don’t!” Steve yelled, causing Bucky to twitch. “Sorry, just…have to turn off the machine I think, or I’ll get electrocuted.”
“Fucking Hydra,” Bucky mumbled to himself as he made his way over to the machine.
Yeah, fucking Hydra, Steve thought before the machine turned off, causing the restraints to pop open. Steve immediately sat up as quickly as he could and fell onto the ground from the momentum.
“Stevie? You okay?” Bucky asked as he rushed over and crouched on the ground.
“Ask me tomorrow,” Steve said as he leaned against the legs of the gurney.
“Yes, sir,” Bucky said sarcastically, making Steve twitch at the ‘sir’ part. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
Bucky helped Steve off the floor and they both got startled when the Howling Terrors burst through the door.
“Cap!” Morita yelled.
“Sarge! You unkillable son of a bitch!” Dugan said loudly, making Steve smile slightly. “You two alright?”
“Head hurts,” Bucky said. “But Cap needs medical, now.”
“Jeez, obviously,” Morita said as he looked at his suit, which was practically torn and bloody all over.
“What the hell did Hydra do to you, Cap?” Dugan asked as they started walking towards the door.
“Wanted to see how fast I healed,” Steve lied before staring at the floor.
“Damn,” Morita said. “Can’t they just wait for the movie or something?”
“Where’s the rest of the Terrors?” Bucky asked.
“Setting the charges. We’re blowing this whole place sky high,” Morita said.
Good.
——
Of course Steve still had to give his mission report after that whole fiasco of a mission. Using his pull from being Captain America, he managed to talk to Bucky first before giving his report. Bucky didn’t remember a thing, thankfully. Which meant, Steve was the only one who remembers what happened in that place.
Or not happened.
“The doctor kept Sargent Barnes and I locked in the same room. He used him as leverage, hence why Sargent Barnes has a cut on his arm. The doctor wanted to make sure I was compliant and cut his arm to show me he was serious. He wanted to see how fast I healed. Barnes was kept unconscious the entire time with drugs, but his heart rate was monitored so they didn’t accidentally lose their leverage. I couldn’t break free from the restraints without being electrocuted, which sucks by the way. I don’t recommend it. Later when the doctor left the room, Sargent Barnes was coherent enough to break free and then free me, which was when my team came into the room,” Steve had said.
And they believed him. And no one would ever find out that Bucky was forced to torture Steve. Hopefully.