Chapter 6
The entire ride to the base where Steve was held captive had an undercurrent of pent-up tension, revenge, and frustration. No one spoke and the silence was deafening. Clint finally landed the jet, hiding it behind the thick covers of the forest.
Tony spoke up first in a stoic tone, “Alright guys, the blueprints of this base show that there are only three levels, and after scanning the building only the middle level is heavily guarded so Steve is most definitely kept there. We have one mission and one mission aloe, save Cap. Thor you’ll drop Nat on the upper level, While Barton and I will go through the main entrance, Hulk, you’ll be on standby, as soon as I give the signal of finding Cap, smash.”
Right as Tony completed speaking Thor picked up Natasha and flew while Tony held Clint and went to the main entrance. There was no build-up, they went in stealthily but made sure no HYDRA spawns were to be spared. Just as Tony and Clint entered the base they were bombarded with soldiers, who surprisingly knew how to hold their ground. The whole layout was simple but none of the avengers thought that this rescue mission was too easy because the Hydra soldiers were immense in number, and were giving them a good fight. But they had thrown caution to wind and were fighting with their all and soon enough Tony was pulling up in front of the last metallic door on the second floor Natasha and the rest right behind him. He pulled up his hand and aimed his repulsor at the door and took the shot. The door shot open revealing a dazed super-soldier, his blood pooling beneath his feet while he was standing only due to the bands on his arms, his body looking almost lifeless. Almost. That was the only word that kept Tony upright and when that little girl who dared touch his Steve swinged her metal chains at him, he didn’t think twice and fired at her. Without wasting anymore time, he left the team to deal with the people who dared kidnap Captain America and went to Steve breaking him from the hold of the metal bands. Steve fell in his arms limp, but soon JARVIS spoke up and calmed Tony’s heart a bit.
“Sir, Captain is still breathing but he has had major blood loss, I would advise you to take him to a hospital as soon as possible.”
Tony didn’t waste a second more and called out to everyone, “Guys, I got Steve we need to move out as soon as possible he needs a hospital.”
Right after saying this, he flew out of the base carrying Steve in his arms. With the way Steve’s head was falling from side to side he knew he had to be quick. “C’mon Steve stay with me.”
“JARVIS give me the directions to the nearest hospital where we can treat Steve.” Rather than wasting his time on the Quinjet he moved towards the hospital rushing in and screaming I need immediate help, Captain America is hurt. Not a second later he was swamped with nurses carrying Steve and putting him in a gurney and doctors asking him to stay put while they went in the surgery ward to look at Steve’s condition.
Almost an hour later, the rest of the Avengers landed, and saw Tony sitting outside the surgery room with his head in his hands.
“How is he Tony?” Natasha asked, while sitting beside Tony, her whole face showing fear. It was the first time he had seen Natasha being so scared that even her eyes were so easily readable.
“I... I don’t know, they took him inside an hour ago and still there is no news. Nat what if-”
“No, no Tony don’t think like that, he’s going to be totally fine and among us telling us to keep our language in check in no time.”
Three hours had passed before the doctor came out.
“Mr. Stark, the Captain is stable right now, he’s sleeping but he’ll be fine. We need to keep him for checkup at least for another day so he’ll have to remain here. In the meantime, you guys can see him in his room.”
The Avengers didn’t waste any time in rushing to get to their Captain’s hospital room. As Tony opened the room and everyone filled in, the sight of Steve laying there with bandages covering his torso and wires and tubes spread around his body almost made Tony puke.
It was Steve laying there as if someone had ripped opened his body and now, he was patched up, and maybe this assumption wasn’t so far from reality.