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Pain.
It's the only thing Clint has felt for three weeks. His shoulders are dislocated, supporting his full weight at his tied wrists as he swings naked from a meat hook under a shower of freezing cold water. His hearing aids had been taken out weeks ago, and a blindfold had been placed over his eyes. He has several cracked ribs which he can feel every time he breathes, he has whip marks all over him. Numerous burns are placed all over his aching body in the most inconvenient places; the back of his knees, inside of his thighs, the bottom of his feet, and all over his torso.
All in all, Clint feels like shit. He's deaf, he's blind, and he has absolutely no hope that anyone will find him. The mission had been top secret, and even though he had gotten an alert out to S.H.I.E.L.D, the guys who had taken him were not fooling around.
HYDRA had been the ones to take him after he had tried to break into one of their bases. He had had bad intel, and the base was a lot more populated than S.H.I.E.L.D had said it would be. He had tried to sneak in to gather all their information to bring back to S.H.I.E.L.D, destroying the evidence in the process, but he had somehow raised an alarm as he reached the research room where they kept their records. Clint had tried to escape to the vents when a dozen HYDRA agents came rushing at him. Clint would have been able to take them all if it weren't for the cattle prongs. Having twelve cattle prongs shoved at you can be a lot to resist, and once Clint had been hit one time, they kept on jabbing him with the prongs until he had passed out. When he had woken up, he was tied to a chair with four HYDRA agents surrounding him. They knew exactly who he was, and once they realized he wasn't going to betray S.H.I.E.L.D and would rather die than talk, they had knocked him out again and hung him on the hook he currently was swinging from. His shoulders had been dislocated before he was was strung up, and once he was situated they took his aids. A couple days later they blindfolded him.
Clint has been enveloped in darkness ever since.
It's scary to say the least. He never knows who is in the room with him, everything is dark and morbid, and it leaves him with his ever darkening thoughts as there are no surroundings to observe. Not to mention, the lack of sight and sound make the pain he feels all the more intense. He's lonely, sore and scared --though he'd never admit it-- and all he wants is his Bucky.
Things had been going really well between the two snipers. The two were basically inseparable since they had gotten together four months ago. It was nice to finally have someone who understood what the other was going through.
It was also nice to actually have hope that someone was missing him and trying to find him.
~ * ~
The next time someone comes into the room, they bring electrodes and some sort of collar. Clint's body had long ago become numb due to the cold water showering him from the roof, so Clint doesn't really feel anything particularly painful as they clip the electrodes to a specifically sensitive area between his legs. He does, however, panic a little as they clip something around his neck tightly. He tries to struggle but it jostles his shoulders too much, causing him to grunt in pain. Clint tries his best to relax, but he feels a sudden shock of pain in his nether regions causing a small shout to escape his raw throat. His body twitches in response to the electricity and his muscles lock up. It feels like his body is being assaulted by thousands of small knives all being driven further and further into his skin. Then, as soon as it starts, the pain ends.
Clint's pretty sure who was in there left, as he doesn't sense anyone is the room anymore. So he's left to swing from his hook with the collar slowly choking him.
~ * ~
Many more days pass and Clint begins losing hope. He is in so much pain he doesn't even know where it's coming from. The collar is still around Clint's neck, subtly cutting off his air supply, and he is still blindfolded and hearing aid-less. There have been many beating within the last few days, giving Clint bruises on virtually every part of his body: ribs, jaw, and other sensitive areas. A hammer had been brought to his knees and someone has stuck what felt like razor blades in his skin. He just knows that, what feels like hundreds, of small slices mar his body, and his burns have been cut into. He can feel the blood running down his body, dripping onto the ground soundlessly.
Overall, Clint is a mess. He flinches and tries to wriggle away anytime anyone comes in the room, and tries to muffle his screams when they electrocute him. Water boarding is more terrifying without the sense of hearing, and he still shivers from the cold water running down his very naked body, only somewhat soothing the burns that have been sliced into. He knows he is bleeding profusely, but can't seem to bring himself to care. All he wants is to go home; to go to Bucky.
Where is Bucky? Where are the Avengers?
Clint uses the thought of his friends who have quickly become his family to get through it.
He pretends he hears Bucky's voice, telling him he's an idiot for jumping off a building.
He pretends Steve is giving him a curt nod and sincerely telling him he did a good job on a mission.
He pretends Tony is there with scotch in hand asking if Clint can make a trick shot from the back of the Iron Man suit.
He pretends Natasha is there singing the Russian lullaby she sang after Loki took away all he ever was.
He pretends he's home.
~ * ~
When Clint comes to the next day, he knows something is off. He can't shake the feeling that something is completely wrong or out of the ordinary. But when he feels a hand on his stomach --which had been burned with an iron last session-- he kicks out with a startled yelp. He didn't even know anyone was in the room with him. He usually has very good awareness despite his situation: he must be losing his touch.
Still, Clint's kick manages to catch the assailant in the side. He has to swing his body to do so, making his body give a scream of agony that Clint just barely manages to stifle. A hand strokes his flesh almost lovingly and Clint freaks out even more; thrashing, then crying out with the pain that causes.
This is new. This is wrong. I don't want this bullshit!
"Don't fucking touch me," Clint thinks he yells (it probably sounds more like garbled nonsense due to the absence of his aids).
But then the hand goes up to Clint's face and starts tugging on the blindfold, loosening it. Clint stops all movements and waits to see who this mystery assailant is.
When the blindfold is ripped off Clint can't see a thing. After weeks of complete darkness his eyes take time --too much for his liking-- to adjust. But when they do adjust, Clint can't quite believe who is standing in front of him.
Bucky.
Clint opens his mouth, eyes watering, and is pretty sure a sob escapes. Bucky opens his mouth and begins talking hurriedly. Clint can't hear any of it and starts shaking his head, croaking out "no aids" in his raspy, abused voice.
Bucky, the saint, pulls out a box from his pocket and reveals Clint's spare pair of hearing aids --the purple ones-- and fastens them onto the archer's ears.
All at once sound assaults him. He takes a deep breath in --chokes on it a little-- and let's Bucky manhandle him. Clint wonders how Bucky can look both murderous and heartbroken at the same time.
"Oh my God, Clint. How did you even get yourself in this mess?" Bucky asks with a frown. He slowly starts to cut through the rope holding Clint to the hook, and when he lifts him off Clint swallows down a scream. Pain flashes through his shoulders as he tries to lower his arms. Bucky seems to know exactly what's wrong and helps him move them around slowly. When Bucky finally lies Clint on the ground, Bucky gives him a simple "Sorry, sweetheart," and yanks Clint's shoulders back into their sockets.
Clint screams a raw, throaty scream. Bucky hushes him, pulls his hawk onto his lap and cradles his head with his metal arm, stroking the archer's face with his flesh hand.
"I'm so glad you're okay, Clint. Fuck I don't know what I would do if I found you and you were dead," Bucky kisses Clint firmly on the lips before undoing the collar around his boyfriend's neck.
Bucky says something into the comms that Clint misses, and starts to pull razor blades out of Clint's skin. The archer groans every time one is removed, and eventually silent tears make their way down his face while his body is wracked with shivers from the ice water trickling down his body that suddenly decides to make itself known.
"Fuck. What did they do to you, gorgeous? Are you okay, Clint?" Bucky looks extremely heartbroken as he pulls another razor from Clint's skin.
"Okay," Clint confirms with a weak smile and a violent bout of shivering.
Bucky takes his time pulling out as many razor blades as he can, but there are too many and more pressing matters to attend to.
Bucky slowly reaches down Clint's body and removes the electrodes from Clint's private bits. Clint whimpers at that, and Bucky feels the biggest surge of hate he has ever felt in his life. He manages to suppress it and strokes Clint's hair.
He coos into Clint's ear, telling him everything is okay and they will go home soon to fix Clint up. Bucky takes off his jacket and wraps Clint's bottom with it. He then pulls Clint into a sitting position and holds him close. Bucky showers Clint's face, neck and torso with small, feather-light kisses while whispering small encouragements and reassurances to his shivering boyfriend.
They then wait for the team to find them. Eventually, Steve bursts into the room with Sam and Natasha following closely behind.
"Oh my God, Clint!" Steve looks at Clint and his eyes water, the sap. He takes a step forward, arms out to take Clint from Bucky, but stops reaching for the archer when he sees Bucky's protective expression. There is no way Bucky is going to let Clint go; unless there are more HYDRA agents to kill.
Natasha goes over to the Barton-Barnes sandwich, while Sam keeps watch at the door.
"How are you, Yastreb?"
"Hanging in," Clint nuzzles closer to Bucky's body.
"What do you say to Steve and Sam taking you to the Quinjet?"
At Bucky's objections Natasha holds her hand up, "There are HYDRA jailers still left, Barnes. I thought maybe you'd want a little revenge," she flashes Bucky a deadly grin that lesser men would flinch under.
Bucky returns that grin with one of his own feral ones before he schools his expression in his --what Clint dubbed-- Winter Soldier Stare.
He lifts Clint ever so gently and hands him over to Steve, who easily takes Clint into his arms.
"I swear to you, sweetheart, they will regret ever taking you. I will hurt them so fucking bad," Bucky grabs hold of Clint's hand and presses a kiss to his knuckles, "I'll see you in the jet once I take out the trash."
With that Natasha and Bucky leave Clint in Steve and Sam's care. They get Clint out of the base and to the Quinjet where Tony, Thor and Bruce are waiting.
"Where are our Soviet Siblings?"
"You know exactly where they are, Tony. Bruce; can you come take a look at Clint-- yes, you do need medical attention, Clint so don't even try to talk us out of this."
Steve puts Clint down on a seat in the Quinjet, then Bruce comes over to take a look at the damage.
When Bruce is finally done his examination, Natasha and Bucky come walking back to the Quinjet; Bucky covered in blood.
He walks right into the Quinjet and immediately asks what the damage consists of.
"Well, Clint has three cracked ribs, multiple cuts along his body; two of which will require a couple stitches. Also, he has a broken kneecap, dislocated shoulders which you popped his shoulders back in, so they'll be sore for a while but otherwise fine," Bruce looks only at Bucky while delivering the news, "His entire body is covered in bruises and he has some electrical burns and severe burns that have been irritated and actually sliced into. That is probably the most serious; I've got to clean it up back at the tower, but overall there aren't really any serious injuries. Just a lot of painful ones that will take a while to heal."
Bucky's face had been getting darker and more menacing the more Bruce told him until he ended up looking more like the Winter Soldier than the man Clint is dating. It kinda scares him, but at the same time, he finds it kinda hot that Bucky cares so much and went after them to teach them a lesson just because they hurt Clint.
Bucky walks over to Clint, and kisses him shortly before sitting next to his injured boyfriend, cradling one of Clint's hands in both of his.
Clint closes his eyes, giving into exhaustion and eventually nods off thinking about his Bucky and their fingers tangled together.
~ * ~
When Clint wakes up, it's to the sound of a heart monitor, and the feel of a cold hand touching his face.
Clint opens his eyes to find Bucky leaning over him, stroking his cheek, neck and tracing his mouth. Bucky smiles when he sees Clint's beautiful eyes open.
"Welcome back, gorgeous," he leans in closer to kiss Clint gently, "How're you feeling?"
Clint rubs his ears with his free hand, and looks at Bucky, "You forgot to take my aids off," he croaks through a dry throat. "Ears are kinda sore, babe."
"Sorry, sweetheart. I guess I completely forgot," Bucky let's go of Clint and reaches for a cup of water, "Wanna take them off?" He hands the water to Clint, who takes it gratefully and gulps down half of it.
"Not yet. I know you want to talk to me; once you're done I'll take 'em out."
Bucky frowns and goes back to stroking Clint's face. "I just want to tell you that I fucked them all up," Clint blinks at him, "No one fucks with my best guy without me doing something about it." Bucky looks so serious and so intense that Clint can't help but shiver.
"I will never let anything like this happen again. I'm so sorry, doll face. I should have done more. Forgive me, Clint."
Clint struggles to sit up --heedless to Bucky's protests-- and curls into his soldier's strong body. Bucky shifts to sit on the bed with him and holds Clint close, whispering apologies into his ear.
"You have nothing to apologize for, Buck. You got to me and taught them all not to fuck with us. You did so good, babe."
"I should be the one reassuring you, not the other way around," Bucky says petulantly.
With a snort, Clint pulls away and lies down, still holding onto Bucky's hand.
"Shhh. Stop talking and start cuddling. That sounds better to me."
Bucky smiles and leans forward to lie on top of Clint, resting his weight on his elbows so as not to crush his fragile boyfriend. "Sounds better to me too, gorgeous." With a happy sigh, Clint shifts over to make room for his soldier. Bucky takes Clint's hearing aids off and sets them on the bedside table before rolling off Clint and onto his back.
Clint closes his eyes and feels his body gently pulled onto Bucky's; resting with his head cushioned on a strong chest. Bucky begins to run his hands through Clint's hair, and Clint feels his chest rumble with inaudible words. Clint hums back and feels sleep tugging at his mind.
Little did Clint know that that rumble in Bucky's chest had come out sounding like;
"I love you."