The Corrupt and the Pure; Chapter 11: The Sleep
[INFO]Title: The Corrupt and the Pure
Author: Del Rion (delrion.mail (at) gmail.com)
Fandom: The Avengers & Captain America (MCU)
Timeline: post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Genre: Drama, action, hurt/comfort
Rating: MA / FRAO
Characters: Steve Rogers (Captain America), Tony Stark (Iron Man). Also: Bruce Banner (Hulk), James “Bucky” Barnes (Winter Soldier), Clint Barton (Hawkeye), J.A.R.V.I.S., James “Rhodey” Rhodes (War Machine), Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow), Thor, Sam Wilson (Falcon)
Pairing: Steve/Tony
Summary: When the Steve Rogers from an alternate universe appears in the middle of the Avengers Tower, two worlds are about to collide: one where Captain America became the tool of HYDRA and fell into a relationship with the hero Iron Man - and one where Tony and Steve are tentatively getting along. The latter are forced to reconsider their relationship when the Commander kidnaps Tony to replace his dead lover.
Complete.
Written for: A story commissioned by Susanne (ChickenHax @ AO3 / starkred @ Tumblr).
Warnings: Rape/non-con, major character death (alternate universe), graphic canonical violence, M/M sexual content, language.
~ ~ ~
Chapter 11: The Sleep
Tony Stark had slept in many a place in his life, from luxury suites to a dumpster in an alley. In his defense, the dumpster had been a perfect way to escape the pouring rain that had been coming down that night, but maybe if he hadn’t been that drunk, he would have just called a cab to take him home - or to the nearest luxury suite available.
He had also shared a bed - his own or someone else’s - with dozens of people, and a large handful of those experiences were not something he wished ever to repeat. Not because they had been painful or nonconsensual, but because Tony had gotten around in his past and most of those encounters were easily categorized under ‘gave it a shot, moving on’. He had walked through life one single-use encounter at a time, some of them more memorable than the rest, but most of them falling short of expectations and losing their charm before the night was even over.
In hindsight, though, even the most uncomfortable one of those nights was nothing in comparison to when Tony had to lie beside the Commander on the floor of the shipping container, one of the super-soldier’s arms wrapped around him. It was just as effective as if he had been tied down, because the other was a light sleeper and stirred at Tony’s every little move.
It was infuriating, lying on the floor, untied and his freedom just a few feet away, yet he knew he would never make it to the door.
Tony chose to view it more as a challenge, to keep his spirits up, refusing to give up.
Unable to rest in his current predicament, he spent the hours subtly straining his muscles, shifting his arms bit by bit into a pose that should have sufficed to trigger the remote call for his armor. One of them had to be functioning, but seeing as he had no idea where he was, there was no telling how long it would take before one of them got to him.
If the suits even received his signal: he didn’t put it past the Commander to find some way to cut the signal, especially if he knew of the tiny implants beneath Tony’s skin. He had known about Extremis, after all. It didn’t stop him from trying, even though his spirits were lowered somewhat as hours went by and nothing happened save for his muscles complaining from the unnatural tension.
“Get some sleep,” the Commander murmured from behind him, either knowing what he was doing or simply noting that he was awake.
“The accommodations are falling a little short of my expectations,” Tony replied dryly. “Couldn’t even find a mattress?”
“Didn’t have the time,” the Commander replied.
Tony decided that if he didn’t have time for that, then there had been no time to select a location that would block the signal, and the armor had to be on its way. It was just going to take a while.
“You did okay in the cave, didn’t you?” the Commander mused after a while. “This is warm compared to that.”
Tony stiffened for a different reason. “You know about that?”
“I figured you had to have a reason for building the suits, and why else would you have Extremis?” He paused. “You are so much like him. More than I resemble the Steve Rogers from your world.”
“You have no idea who I am,” Tony replied - and would keep repeating it until the Commander accepted it as truth.
“I’ll figure it out,” was all the other man said. “Sleep,” he ordered then.
Tony let out a rebellious breath of air and adjusted his arms again, muscles protesting. Escaping was more important than minor discomfort, though,
The Commander’s arm moved, rising from Tony’s waist and halting when it reached his outstretched arms, landing on top of them and forcing them down onto the floor. “I’ll find us something more accommodating than this,” he promised, oddly enough.
“I could have had that at my home,” Tony retorted, trying to relax in order not to raise suspicion. “Why did you take me, anyway?” he asked, seeing as he might as well fish for information.
“I couldn’t afford to lose you, and our initial encounter wasn’t exactly promising.”
“You could have left out the part about being HYDRA,” Tony suggested. If not for that, they may have not questioned his motives half as much.
The Commander chuckled, and Tony could feel a breath of warm air against the back of his neck. “I know you don’t like being lied to,” the man said. “Didn’t seem like the thing to do.”
Tony wasn’t sure whether or not to be thankful for his captor’s consideration. “What now?” he asked. “What’s your big plan? Hide me in this box forever?”
Silence met his words.
“That won’t fly with me,” Tony informed the Commander. “In case that wasn’t clear from before.”
“I know,” the other replied. His hand shifted on top of Tony’s, and he stiffened again when the Commander’s fingers fanned out, attempting to intertwine his digits with Tony’s. When Tony didn’t accommodate him, the other sighed, but kept his fingers as they were - just in case Tony would relent. “I’m not trying to make you miserable, or hurt you. If you would just… cooperate…”
“To being kidnapped?” Tony snapped and twisted around and out from under the other’s arm.
For a moment he feared the Commander would grab him and force him down, but he was allowed to sit up and glare down at Steve Roger’s evil twin. In the almost nonexistent light, he could barely see an outline of his figure, but he could sense his presence just fine, so close he could almost feel him.
“Just let me go and you’ll find me in a more amicable mood,” Tony demanded.
In the dark, he could hear the Commander move - and then felt his touch on his neck. The fingers that had previously tried to hold his hand wrapped around his throat, much like earlier, but the pressure was almost nonexistent. Tony knew a warning when he was given one, though, and sat still as he felt the other sit up as well and lean closer to him. He wondered if perhaps super-soldiers could see in the dark.
“You’re the only thing I have left, in either world,” the Commander snapped. His voice was so much like Captain America’s, although not really. Tony was starting to be able to tell them apart by tiny little nuances. This Steve Rogers had seen and experienced horrors Tony’s version of the man was yet to encounter - or had been blessedly spared, having not been found by HYDRA at an earlier date. “If I let you go now, I know what the odds are,” he went on, fingers squeezing a tad tighter for a moment, as if he wanted to secure Tony to his person, somehow. “I can’t lose you, so I won’t. While I don’t want you to be miserable… it makes no difference whether you’re amicable or not.”
“It does,” Tony insisted, trying to keep his voice from wavering. “Maybe you’re telling yourself it doesn’t, but if you’re anything like the Steve Rogers I know… You’ll want to do the right thing.”
The fingers tightened again, fractionally, and Tony suddenly felt the other’s breath ghost against his face. “The right thing…” the Commander growled - then pressed his cheek against Tony’s, rubbing them together. Tony could feel the deep scarring, alien and disconcerting. “That is something HYDRA took from me a long time ago.”
“Don’t you want it back?” Tony asked.
“Why?” the Commander asked, voice rough. He pressed in close, lips brushing the shell of Tony’s ear. “It’s liberating, not to be bound by so many moral obligations. If I wanted to do the right thing, I would have put a bullet in my brain a long time ago. I would have left HYDRA for you, and burned it all to the ground. I would have never assumed I could have you, when I realized I was in a different world entirely. If I were a better man, I would be alone and miserable, wasting away in some cell while you decided what to do with me. I could never have this…” he almost crooned, fingers tightening again, and his tongue licked his lips, briefly touching Tony’s ear as well. It was impossible to tell whether it was on purpose or not.
In the next second the man shifted, facing Tony again, their noses brushing one another in the dark. Tony thought he could see a glint of eyes in front of him, but it may have been just his imagination.
“I stole the Tesseract to get you back. I was delivered to you, and I’m not about to let that gift go to waste,” he declared, voice dark. “It’s up to you whether you choose to adjust to the change or keep fighting me.”
Tony swallowed and said nothing. The suit might be on the way, and if not, the others would come for him. In the meanwhile, he would devise his own escape, because he wasn’t going to play the victim for any longer than he had to.
He had gotten away from the Ten Rings, and he would get away from the Commander, too, when given the opportunity - an opportunity which he might have to craft with his own hands, but it wasn’t as if he hadn’t done that before.
to be continued…
Story info
Author: Del Rion (delrion.mail (at) gmail.com)
Fandom: The Avengers & Captain America (MCU)
Timeline: post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Genre: Drama, action, hurt/comfort
Rating: MA / FRAO
Characters: Steve Rogers (Captain America), Tony Stark (Iron Man). Also: Bruce Banner (Hulk), James “Bucky” Barnes (Winter Soldier), Clint Barton (Hawkeye), J.A.R.V.I.S., James “Rhodey” Rhodes (War Machine), Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow), Thor, Sam Wilson (Falcon)
Pairing: Steve/Tony
Summary: When the Steve Rogers from an alternate universe appears in the middle of the Avengers Tower, two worlds are about to collide: one where Captain America became the tool of HYDRA and fell into a relationship with the hero Iron Man - and one where Tony and Steve are tentatively getting along. The latter are forced to reconsider their relationship when the Commander kidnaps Tony to replace his dead lover.
Complete.
Written for: A story commissioned by Susanne (ChickenHax @ AO3 / starkred @ Tumblr).
Warnings: Rape/non-con, major character death (alternate universe), graphic canonical violence, M/M sexual content, language.
~ ~ ~
Chapter 11: The Sleep
Tony Stark had slept in many a place in his life, from luxury suites to a dumpster in an alley. In his defense, the dumpster had been a perfect way to escape the pouring rain that had been coming down that night, but maybe if he hadn’t been that drunk, he would have just called a cab to take him home - or to the nearest luxury suite available.
He had also shared a bed - his own or someone else’s - with dozens of people, and a large handful of those experiences were not something he wished ever to repeat. Not because they had been painful or nonconsensual, but because Tony had gotten around in his past and most of those encounters were easily categorized under ‘gave it a shot, moving on’. He had walked through life one single-use encounter at a time, some of them more memorable than the rest, but most of them falling short of expectations and losing their charm before the night was even over.
In hindsight, though, even the most uncomfortable one of those nights was nothing in comparison to when Tony had to lie beside the Commander on the floor of the shipping container, one of the super-soldier’s arms wrapped around him. It was just as effective as if he had been tied down, because the other was a light sleeper and stirred at Tony’s every little move.
It was infuriating, lying on the floor, untied and his freedom just a few feet away, yet he knew he would never make it to the door.
Tony chose to view it more as a challenge, to keep his spirits up, refusing to give up.
Unable to rest in his current predicament, he spent the hours subtly straining his muscles, shifting his arms bit by bit into a pose that should have sufficed to trigger the remote call for his armor. One of them had to be functioning, but seeing as he had no idea where he was, there was no telling how long it would take before one of them got to him.
If the suits even received his signal: he didn’t put it past the Commander to find some way to cut the signal, especially if he knew of the tiny implants beneath Tony’s skin. He had known about Extremis, after all. It didn’t stop him from trying, even though his spirits were lowered somewhat as hours went by and nothing happened save for his muscles complaining from the unnatural tension.
“Get some sleep,” the Commander murmured from behind him, either knowing what he was doing or simply noting that he was awake.
“The accommodations are falling a little short of my expectations,” Tony replied dryly. “Couldn’t even find a mattress?”
“Didn’t have the time,” the Commander replied.
Tony decided that if he didn’t have time for that, then there had been no time to select a location that would block the signal, and the armor had to be on its way. It was just going to take a while.
“You did okay in the cave, didn’t you?” the Commander mused after a while. “This is warm compared to that.”
Tony stiffened for a different reason. “You know about that?”
“I figured you had to have a reason for building the suits, and why else would you have Extremis?” He paused. “You are so much like him. More than I resemble the Steve Rogers from your world.”
“You have no idea who I am,” Tony replied - and would keep repeating it until the Commander accepted it as truth.
“I’ll figure it out,” was all the other man said. “Sleep,” he ordered then.
Tony let out a rebellious breath of air and adjusted his arms again, muscles protesting. Escaping was more important than minor discomfort, though,
The Commander’s arm moved, rising from Tony’s waist and halting when it reached his outstretched arms, landing on top of them and forcing them down onto the floor. “I’ll find us something more accommodating than this,” he promised, oddly enough.
“I could have had that at my home,” Tony retorted, trying to relax in order not to raise suspicion. “Why did you take me, anyway?” he asked, seeing as he might as well fish for information.
“I couldn’t afford to lose you, and our initial encounter wasn’t exactly promising.”
“You could have left out the part about being HYDRA,” Tony suggested. If not for that, they may have not questioned his motives half as much.
The Commander chuckled, and Tony could feel a breath of warm air against the back of his neck. “I know you don’t like being lied to,” the man said. “Didn’t seem like the thing to do.”
Tony wasn’t sure whether or not to be thankful for his captor’s consideration. “What now?” he asked. “What’s your big plan? Hide me in this box forever?”
Silence met his words.
“That won’t fly with me,” Tony informed the Commander. “In case that wasn’t clear from before.”
“I know,” the other replied. His hand shifted on top of Tony’s, and he stiffened again when the Commander’s fingers fanned out, attempting to intertwine his digits with Tony’s. When Tony didn’t accommodate him, the other sighed, but kept his fingers as they were - just in case Tony would relent. “I’m not trying to make you miserable, or hurt you. If you would just… cooperate…”
“To being kidnapped?” Tony snapped and twisted around and out from under the other’s arm.
For a moment he feared the Commander would grab him and force him down, but he was allowed to sit up and glare down at Steve Roger’s evil twin. In the almost nonexistent light, he could barely see an outline of his figure, but he could sense his presence just fine, so close he could almost feel him.
“Just let me go and you’ll find me in a more amicable mood,” Tony demanded.
In the dark, he could hear the Commander move - and then felt his touch on his neck. The fingers that had previously tried to hold his hand wrapped around his throat, much like earlier, but the pressure was almost nonexistent. Tony knew a warning when he was given one, though, and sat still as he felt the other sit up as well and lean closer to him. He wondered if perhaps super-soldiers could see in the dark.
“You’re the only thing I have left, in either world,” the Commander snapped. His voice was so much like Captain America’s, although not really. Tony was starting to be able to tell them apart by tiny little nuances. This Steve Rogers had seen and experienced horrors Tony’s version of the man was yet to encounter - or had been blessedly spared, having not been found by HYDRA at an earlier date. “If I let you go now, I know what the odds are,” he went on, fingers squeezing a tad tighter for a moment, as if he wanted to secure Tony to his person, somehow. “I can’t lose you, so I won’t. While I don’t want you to be miserable… it makes no difference whether you’re amicable or not.”
“It does,” Tony insisted, trying to keep his voice from wavering. “Maybe you’re telling yourself it doesn’t, but if you’re anything like the Steve Rogers I know… You’ll want to do the right thing.”
The fingers tightened again, fractionally, and Tony suddenly felt the other’s breath ghost against his face. “The right thing…” the Commander growled - then pressed his cheek against Tony’s, rubbing them together. Tony could feel the deep scarring, alien and disconcerting. “That is something HYDRA took from me a long time ago.”
“Don’t you want it back?” Tony asked.
“Why?” the Commander asked, voice rough. He pressed in close, lips brushing the shell of Tony’s ear. “It’s liberating, not to be bound by so many moral obligations. If I wanted to do the right thing, I would have put a bullet in my brain a long time ago. I would have left HYDRA for you, and burned it all to the ground. I would have never assumed I could have you, when I realized I was in a different world entirely. If I were a better man, I would be alone and miserable, wasting away in some cell while you decided what to do with me. I could never have this…” he almost crooned, fingers tightening again, and his tongue licked his lips, briefly touching Tony’s ear as well. It was impossible to tell whether it was on purpose or not.
In the next second the man shifted, facing Tony again, their noses brushing one another in the dark. Tony thought he could see a glint of eyes in front of him, but it may have been just his imagination.
“I stole the Tesseract to get you back. I was delivered to you, and I’m not about to let that gift go to waste,” he declared, voice dark. “It’s up to you whether you choose to adjust to the change or keep fighting me.”
Tony swallowed and said nothing. The suit might be on the way, and if not, the others would come for him. In the meanwhile, he would devise his own escape, because he wasn’t going to play the victim for any longer than he had to.
He had gotten away from the Ten Rings, and he would get away from the Commander, too, when given the opportunity - an opportunity which he might have to craft with his own hands, but it wasn’t as if he hadn’t done that before.
to be continued…
Story info