Bleeding Out (Steve x Tony AU)

He wondered why he was still alive. How he was still alive. They hurt him every day. In every way they could think of. His frail body managed to keep him alive. His heart managed to keep pumping blood and oxygen all around his body, to the parts where he needed it most.

He jolted awake at the sound of the cell door opening, letting his blue eyes adjust to the shiny bright light. His eyes focused on the person unlocking his cell, of course it was his father's favourite agent, James, opening the cell to hurt him again. He didn't care. He was used to the pain. Immune. Just waiting for the day when they hit him hard enough to get rid of him for good.

James, tall with jet black hair and piercing hazel eyes, pulled the cell door opened causing it to make a screech of annoyance, as if it didn't want to be moved. He had that terrorising look in his eyes once again as he walked towards Steve and yanked him up by the collar of his rather disgusting, ripped shirt and tossed him into the corner of the cell like garbage. "Good Morning Steven".

He grinned maniacally and walked towards him, kicking him in the stomach. Steve could feel the purple bruise already forming again on the same part of his stomach, fresh. But it didn't hurt like it used to. He didn't cry out like he used to. He just stared behind this horrible man and waited for it to be over. He kicked him in the stomach a few more times before grabbing his neck and squeezing it tightly, pressing him into the cell wall. He hadn't had time to take in a breath and he struggled against the grip, grabbing onto his hand to try to pull him away. James' grin grew wider as he finally got a reaction out of Steve.

"Are you okay Stevennnn" He mocked as he squeezed even tighter. Steve was so close to passing out but James let go and he fell to the ground. Wishing he did pass out, Steve gasped as he tried to get his breathing back to normal, letting out long shaky breaths. James put his foot against Steve's chest and put pressure on it causing him to let out breathless wheezes. "Oh I do love doing this to you... I love seeing you struggle... I just wish you'd scream like you used to". He pressed his foot harder into his chest at an attempt to get a sound out of him, smirking down at Steve's helpless skinny body, but the smugness didn't last long.

James started to get annoyed with the fact Steve wasn't reacting much. He glared at him and slapped him in the face. "I'll call your father... Maybe then you'll react properly" He stormed out, locking the cell in a blink of an eye before walking off. Steve felt a shiver crawl down his spine like a spider crawling on its web. Now he felt scared. Just a little bit though, he was used to this too.

Tony sat in his lab sipping his coffee as he worked on his suit. The last mission was a pretty bad one and his suit had suffered from some major blows. He was also, at the same time, looking through some files and using the things Bucky had said to try and locate one of the more important Hydra bases. So that they could defeat them all and get rid of them. Hydra was one of their main targets so they were trying to find the core of it. The heart. If you stab the heart it destroys the whole body.

He groaned and stretched his legs out on the desk, leaning back in the chair and trying to stretch. "Jarvis have you found anything yet?". He spoke to the AI he'd expertly created. He was his only company at the minute. "No Mr Stark... Nothing good yet" His robotic voice responded back. "Would you like some company? I could call one of the team members down" Tony shook his head "No need... You're my company J". He smiled and then got back to working on his suit while Jarvis helped him locate the Hydra base.

Thor's loud voice boomed through the lounge where the rest of the Avengers were enjoying their free time away from missions. "Who ate the last Poptart!?" There was a sad pout on his face as he rummaged through the drawers. Nat chuckled "Y'know I think it was you" Thor frowned scratching his head "I don't remember" Clint and Bruce laughed in sync. "We were watching a movie remember? You finished all the popcorn so you ate the Poptart and then you slept like a log until morning" Clint explained, laughing loudly. Thor hummed as he remembered and then frowned. "Well now what do I eat?". They all laughed out loud before turning to the door as they heard a yawn.

Bucky walked through the door, pushing his hair back from his face. Nat chuckled. "You've woken up pretty early". Bucky glanced at the clock, which read 1:30pm. "Shush Nat". He walked over to the empty couch and sat down. "Where's Tony? Still in the lab?".

Bruce nodded. "He took some coffee and then went down there... Hasn't come out since" Bucky nodded slowly "What's to eat?" Thor crossed his arms "Definitely not Poptarts" They all chuckled again.

"Oh stop sulking you ate the last one!" Clint exclaimed. While all this was happening Bruce had walked over to the microwave and warmed up the leftover pizza from last night and taking it over to Bucky who began eating without blinking. "We're living with a billionaire and eating leftovers" Nat pointed out causing them all to laugh again.