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Adrenaline raced in Steve’s veins as he slammed against the cell door. He didn’t know where he was when he woke up and he didn’t want to stay to find out.
The door was locked and there were no other means of escape. The only thing in the room was a dinky little toilet, a barely functioning sink, and a bunk bed.
Even with all his might, the door didn’t seem to budge.
“Doing that won’t get you outta here, y’know,” a voice warned him as he was gearing up for another hit. Startled, Steve whipped his body to face the source of the sound. It had come from the bed. But that would be preposterous. He would have known if there was someone else in the room… right?
“Who are you?”
“Your worst nightmare,” the voice replied. Laughter followed soon after. “You should have seen your face! Oh, I’ve always wanted to do that.”
Furrowing his brows and thinning his lips, he huffed out a breath. “Come out,” he ordered, tone as stiff as his body.
“I’m pansexual, phew what a relief to get that off my chest.”
Anger simmered in his chest. Just who was this and why the hell was she making a joke out of this situation?
“Fine, fine, Captain Grumpypants,” the voice grumbled. “Y’know when I used to watch those detention videos I always thought you might be at least a little fun.”
A small woman climbed down from the top bunk. She was wearing a flimsy dress that he didn’t do its best job at hiding her features.
“And… just how old are you?”
“Hmm, getting to the important questions, aren’t we, Captain?”
“Just answer me.”
“Fine, I’m eighteen.”
“And what are you doing here?”
“The same as you: wanting to get out of this hellhole.”
“Do… do you know where we are?”
“No idea, but whatever they are planning, I hope it’ll end soon.” Her gaze drifted towards the ceiling then landed back on him. He seemed more tall and muscular in person. And had he not been kidnapped, she would be delighted to see him. She dreamed that maybe one day the Avengers would come save her, but she never thought that this is how she’d meet one of the world’s heroes.
“How does one manage to kidnap Captain America anyways? That’s the question I’ve been wondering since they all but dragged you in here.” She absentmindedly wondered.
“I… I’m not sure…” he trailed off. “I have a question of my own.”
“Shoot.”
“I understand why they’d want to take me, but why you?”
She frowned. “I take offence to that.”
Steve sighed, brushing a hand through his hair. “You weren’t supposed to.”
“Let’s just say you aren’t the only special one here,” she coyly responded.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She groaned. “Must you always be so serious? Relax a little.”
“It’s kinda hard to do that when I’m locked in a strange room with a person I don’t even know the name of.”
“Nyx.”
“Excuse me?”
“My name, it’s Nyx. Like the goddess.”
“Right.” Silence, then, fell over them once again.
Steve couldn’t help thinking about all the possibilities of how this could pan out. What could they possibly want from them? Who even were “they”.
They both jolted when a crackling voice sounded over a speaker of some sort. “How wonderful that you’ve both been acquainted now.”
Steve clenched his fists, his brows tightly furrowed as he looked at the ceiling. Glancing at Nyx, he noticed that this must have been a common occurrence.
“We brought you two here for a very special reason. Nyx already knows her purpose, don’t you, my dark angel?”
A pang metaphorically hit him in the chest. Just when he thought he could trust her. Angry eyes look over to see the woman. Steve expected her to be smiling cruelly or something along those lines, but when his gaze met hers, she was trembling a hand placed over her mouth as she gasped. Tears were forming in her eyes and she was doing her best to make herself small as she backed away from him.
Furrowing his brows, Steve looked back up at the ceiling where the voice continued, “Our plan is to have an army. An army of enhanced supersoldiers.” Steve’s eyes widened. No. They couldn’t possibly- “I see you’ve caught on, Captain Rogers.”
Gritting his teeth, he swallowed the bile that has raised to his throat. What they were asking him to do was wrong. It was disgusting and horrible in every single way. He could never and would never…
“You don’t have much of a choice, Captain.”
“I’ll never do what you want, you disgusting—”
Pain erupted through his body like fire spreading through his veins. Gritting his teeth, he strengthened his resolve. He’d rather die of electrocution than make a mere child do whatever that sick twisted man wanted.
“Change your mind, Captain?” the voice taunted.
“Never.”
The pain only increased. He couldn’t help but yelp in pain. Tears were forming in his eyes, but he did his best to keep them at bay. He looked at Nyx who at this point was sobbing. He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but he was sure it came off as more of a grimace than anything.
The man asked him once again if he had a change of heart to which Steve replied with no.
This time, Steve was relieved to not have that burning sensation return. It was short lived, however, when he heard the cry from Nyx. Eyes wide, panting heavily, Steve yelled at them to stop hurting her. She was barely an adult—practically a child. She had her whole life ahead of her. She didn’t deserve any of this.
“Please! Stop! Hurt me instead! I’ll do anything, please just stop hurting her!” Steve cried out, banging on the door to try and find a way for them to escape. He knew it was futile, but he didn’t care. He had to get them out to safety.
“Anything?” The voice was condescending and Steve knew he chose the wrong wording. “Put a child in her.”
Nyx, who had just stopped screaming since the electrocution stopped, whimpered, backing further away from her hero. She didn’t know what he would do. Sure, he was supposed to be the good guy. But this was different. There was no red monster, there was no alien invasion, there was no murder-robot. It was just him and her alone in a room.
“I will never hurt you,” Steve promised, not stepping any closer to the frightened girl. He didn’t want to make her any more scared than she already was.
“Oh, but Captain, you already are.”
Her body jolted again, cries of agony spilling past her lips. It felt like a knife had been plunged into his heart. Her screams only further twisted it in. This was his fault. He closed his watery eyes, silently praying to any god above that would listen. He could feel the warm tears dripping down his cheeks. His heart had suffered no greater pain than this, he was sure.
“Oh, Captain, always so selfless. You just want to help her don’t you? Maybe we can teach you how to help.”
The door burst open and Steve’s first thought was to get them outta there. The man must have seen it coming, for he electrocuted Steve, effectively making him fall to his knees. “Ah, ah, ah! You don’t want to do that,” the voice chided him.
The pain was unbearable until he heard Nyx call out his name. Never had he heard someone sound so desperate —so scared. Looking up, he saw the man that had entered had grabbed her. Pain forgotten, he pushed himself off the ground.
He fought each and every one of them off her body, making sure to pummel them into the concrete floor.
He reached out a hand to Nyx, pulling her off the ground. “Let’s get out of here, yeah?”
She nodded her head as she let go of his hand. She could see the blur of Steve walking away from her before she collapsed onto the cold, hard ground.