The Base
They were clearing out a Hydra base. They got intel that there was a building in the middle of nowhere in Kansas that was a Hydra base. The building itself looked like it might have started its life as a hospital. As soon as they got there they split up to cover all entrances to the building. Tony, Nat, and Clint took the back, Steve, Bucky, and Sam took the front, and Thor and Rhodey took the sides. Bruce stayed on the jet in case anyone needed medical attention. He would come to fight only if the Hulk was needed.
“On my count we all go in, try your best to capture and not kill.” Cap said through the coms, “One! Two! THREE!”
With that everyone burst into the building at whatever entrance they were at. Almost immediately an alarm started to blare accompanied by red flashing lights. There were people in lab coats running all over the place, they kind of looked like chickens running around without heads. Men with guns ran down the hallways and started to open firing on the Avengers.
Tony, Nat, and Clint
Tony fired up his repulsors and knocked out quite a few guards. While the others were distracted by seeing their fellow guards knocked out Natasha swooped in and started taking them out one at a time while Clint covered her and also started fighting a few guards. Tony also started to knock them out one by one, not wanting to use up all the suit's power by using the repulsors too much.
Steve, Bucky, and Sam
Steve threw his shield and after it hit about four guards, knocking them out, he caught it again and repeated the process while punching out others before the shield returned to him. Bucky was already taking out guard after guard with one blow, with his metal arm, to each of their heads. There was a fury in his eyes that was meant only for one thing, Hydra. Sam was also knocking guards out, but not at the impressive speed Bucky was, but then again he had no personal vendetta against Hydra like Bucky did.
Thor and Rhodey
Thor started knocking out guards with mjolnir while Rhodey used the metal fists of his suit. He would have gone in guns blazing, but the mission was to capture as many Hydra agents as possible, so they could find more information about Hydra bases, not to kill them.
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It was simple enough. After all the guards were subdued they rounded up the scientists and had all Hydra personnel taken away. Now it was just a matter of making sure the building was cleared before people came in to collect evidence.
“FRIDAY, is there anyone else in the building?”
“I am detecting one more heat signature apart from the team. They are located on level B2.”
“Looks like we’re taking a trip to the basement.” Tony said with fake enthusiasm, “Who wants to join?”
“Not me, I want to get the hell out of here.” Bucky replied, and no one blamed him.
“I’ll go.” Nat volunteered.
“Anyone else?” Tony asked, no one else replied, “Alright, two should be enough, It’s only one person.”
Tony and Nat made their way down the stairs until they got to level B2. Although the alarm stopped blaring a while ago the red emergency lights were still on. This was lucky since the regular lights were not on in the basement. Tony led the way and followed FRIDAY’s instructions as they appeared on the HUD. They walked down a few different hallways turning left or right a few times until they came to a large metal door with a passcode lock. “Either they really don't want us to get in or they really don't want something to get out.”
“Either way we’re going in, so blast the lock already.”
“Well, someone’s impatient.” Tony joked. He aimed a repulsor at the lock, charged it up and fired. Then he grabbed the metal door and pried it open. As soon as the door was open Tony and Nat took a fighting stance, yet there seemed to be no immediate threat. They started walking in, being careful to watch for any movement, but it was dark and they could not see too much, there were no emergency lights in the room. “FRIDAY, turn on night vision mode.” As soon as it turned on the room and everything in it came into focus. It was some sort of medical room. There was a sink and tables along the walls covered in medical instruments. There was a drain in the floor that Tony did not want to think about.
“What do you see?” Nat asked.
“It’s some sort of medical room, tables filled with instruments, drain in the floor-”
“Sound more like a torture room to me” Nat unhelpfully added
Tony tried to push that thought away as he continued to explain what he was seeing, “Big surgery light attached to the ceiling above and operating table, wait-” Tony cut himself off as he moved closer and realized there was someone on the table, he didn’t even notice because the form was so still, not moving.
“What?”
“Shit! There is someone strapped to the table!” Tony started to run over, “Fuck! I can’t connect to the coms, there is no signal. Go up and tell them we need to get medical preped on the jet.”
“On it! Are you going to be okay down here?” She asked, already heading towards the door.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine, just go!” Tony got to the table and couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was horrible. There was a young man, if you could even call him that, he looked more like a boy, strapped to the table with vibranium ankle and wrist cuffs wearing nothing but boxers. He was bloodied and bruised and had a fucking muzzle strapped to his face, only his eyes and forehead could be seen. His wild curls were greasy and matted to his forehead by sweat and blood. Tony had the microbots free his hand from his suit to feel for the boy’s pulse. As soon as he laid a finger on his pulse point the boy’s eyes flew open and jerked frantically around trying to get free, his eyes showed pure terror.
“Hey, hey it's ok, I’m not going to hurt you.” Tony said, putting his hands out in a surrendering motion. The boy did not calm down, it probably didn't help that he sounded robotic with the suit on. There was just enough light from the arc reactor in his chest that he realized if he lifted his faceplate the boy would probably be able to see his face. So that’s what he did; the faceplate lifted and Tony tried again. “Hey, calm down, I am not here to hurt you, I promise.” He tried to say in a soothing tone, but his anxiety was leaking through.
The boy struggled a bit less, but looked really confused, “I’m gonna get you out of here, ok?” Again the boy looked befuddled and looked around like there were others in the room. Tony did not understand what was going on. “Hey, eyes up here, you're gonna be ok.” The boy still looked confused and somewhat terrified, but he stopped struggling. Tony took that as a win. Now he just needed to get him off of that god forsaken table. “Listen, I need to put my faceplate back down so I can find a way to get you out of those cuffs, ok? It shouldn't take long.” The boy didn't really show much sign of comprehension, but he also didn’t start to freak out again once Tony put his faceplate back down, and went on with the plan. He used the night vision to find the controls to the cuffs. He found a panel on the side of the table and he ripped the covering off. He rearranged some wires and connected the last one, there was a sudden click and the cuffs came free.
Although the boy was now free he did not move, he just laid there eyes open. Tony came back around the table after taking a second to look for the remote for the muzzle, sadly he did not find one. They would have to find a way to take it off back at the tower. He flipped his faceplate back up and winced at the site of the skin that was red, raw, and bloody at parts where the cuffs used to be. “Alright, can I help you up? We need to get to the Jet where there is a doctor to check you out and make sure your-” He never finished his sentence, the boy scrambled up off of the table and tried to run, but ended up falling and instead crawled/dragged himself to the corner of the room and hid. What did he say that scared the boy so much? He thought over his words and realized he mentioned a doctor, the boy was probably terrified of anything to do with doctors, he was a complete idiot.
He slowly walked over to the huddled boy in the corner, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.” he crouched down so he wasn’t looming over the small figure. “I promise no one will hurt you, we just want to help.” Tony looked at the boy in front of him and it made his heart hurt to see how scared he was. “I just want to get you out of here, will you come within me? I won’t force you.” The boy once again looked at him like he was crazy. Tony did not know what to do. Communication was hard since the boy could not speak since he had that damn muzzle on his face. ‘What sick son of a bitch puts a muzzle on a human being!’ Tony thought.
“Ok, lets try this, can you answer questions with a nod for yes” Tony nodded, “or a head shake for no?” Tony shook his head. The boy still looked puzzled, but he started to nod his head. Tony smiled a little, ‘finally we are getting somewhere,’ “Good, that’s good. I saw you crawl over here, can you walk?” The boy shook his head. Tony looked down at the boy's legs. They were both at unnatural angles, Tony had to fight the bile that rose from his stomach. ‘How had he not noticed that?’ “Can I carry you out?” The boy did not answer in any way. Tony thought for a moment and then said, “If I promise that no one can touch you unless you give them permission, will you let me get you out of here?” The boy looked fearfully at him, but slowly nodded. Tony let out a breath he did not realize he was holding. “Ok, good, thank you.” The boy looked the most confused at that sentence than any other he had said so far. Tony decided not to dwell on it and just get the boy out of this hell hole as fast as possible.
Just then Nat came back, “Tony? It's been a while, are you ok?” She still couldn't see much except the corner of the room where Tony’s arc reactor was lighting up Tony and a huddled figure.
The boy pushed himself further into the wall trying to get away. “Hey, it's ok, she’s just my friend, she won't hurt you I promise.” The boy stopped trying to escape, but still looked petrified with fear. “Nat, I’ll be right up. Can you please tell everyone on the jet, including medical personnel to steer clear of me when I get there until I say otherwise?” He noticed the boy flinched at the word medical.
Nat didn’t understand everything that was going on as she couldn't see most of it, but agreed nonetheless since she trusted Tony. “Will do. See you up there.” She turned and left.
“Ok, when we get up there, there will be others on the jet, but no one will touch you unless you give permission, understand?” The boy nodded, “Good, I am going to lift you up ok, If you want me to stop something make an X with your arms, can you do that?” Tony showed the signal by crossing his arms on his chest with his fingers straight out. The boy copied and nodded. “Alright here we go.” Tony slid on arm under the boy’s knees and one under his back. He heard a small whimper as he lifted him, no doubt from the pain in his legs. “Sorry” Tony said softly, once again, seeing the puzzled look in the boy's eyes after he spoke. And again he ignored it in favor of getting the boy out. ‘The kid should not be this easy to pick up, he is way too light’ Tony thought worriedly. He started walking out of the room. Trying his best not to jostle the kid. That was in fact what he was, a kid, after looking more closely there was no way this boy was older than fifteen at the most.
After going back through the hallways and up the stairs they made it out of the building. The boy's eyes were bigger than he had seen them, he looked at the expanse of green fields in awe. Tony wondered how long he had been trapped in that building. He really didn’t want to think about it right now. He headed toward the jet. He started walking up the ramp and as soon as the boy saw the team he went rigid and hid his head in Tony's chestplate. “It’s ok, remember what I said, no one is going to hurt you and no one is going to touch you without your consent.”
The rest of the team heard what Tony said to the boy as they walked into the jet and it broke their hearts to see the state the boy was in and the fact that he thought they were going to hurt him. They looked on with various emotions, confusion, sadness, and anger (towards Hydra). Bucky looked on with empathy and rage, especially after seeing the muzzle attached to the boy's face. He knew how it felt not being able to speak with a muzzle locked on to his face, being helpless. He also knew what Hydra was like to their prisoners. ‘How could they do such things to a child?’ Bucky was outraged. Tony walked with the boy to the back of the jet where a gurney was set out. Tony tried to put the boy down onto it, but the boy clung to him and looked at it like he was afraid of it. Tony realized from the boy's expression that Hydra probably used them in some capacity.
“Alright, we don't have to use that. Hey Cap?”
“Yeah,” Steve replied in a gentle, sad tone.
“Can you wheel this over to the other side of the jet?”
“Yeah.” Steve started to stand trying not to make any fast or jerky movements that would scare the boy.
“Cap is just going to move this away, he won't touch you I promise.” The boy nodded into his chest. “Alright, you're doing so well.” There was that puzzled look again, it was almost like he had never heard appreciation or compliments before, Tony pushed that thought out of his mind for now. Steve slowly reached for the gurney and started to wheel it to the other side of the jet, Tony mouthed ‘Thank You’ and Steve just nodded his head in understanding.
“Ok, I need to take off the suit if we are going to sit on the floor.” He knew the boy would not be ok with sitting in the seats with the rest of the team. “I am going to put you down for just a second and then I will sit with you, alright?” Once again, the boy nodded. Tony gently lowered the boy to the ground and then immediately opened the suit so he could get out. Before he went to join the Boy he grabbed a blanket from an overhead compartment. He slid down the wall to sit next to him.
To his surprise the boy crawled into his lap. Tony froze for a second not knowing what to do, he was never really good with kids, but then he came back to his senses, opened the blanket and covered them both. The boy cuddled up to him and hid his entire face in Tony’s chest. Tony started to tentatively wrap his arms around the boy to give him more comfort, but he did so very slowly to give the boy time to object if he did not want Tony to. The boy did not object and cuddled closer, if that was even possible, so Tony tightened his grip on the boy in a comforting fashion. The team looked at Tony with soft expressions and Tony looked back with a sad one.
If all he could do for the boy right now was hold him to let him know he was safe, then that's what he would do. He stayed like that with the boy in his lap the whole flight back.