Entry for Day 15 of Marvel Whump Madness, hosted by 

Captain America wasn't the kind of guy who usually got captured.

That was, until someone else was in danger.

On their latest mission against HYDRA, they'd almost cleared the premises, when he'd come into a room... an experimentation room. Inside, he'd found the remaining HYDRA agents... and a prisoner.

The kid couldn't be over twenty-one. He was in good shape, good looking, and even from the short interaction they'd had, Steve could tell he was a good man as well. He didn't know how they'd gotten him, but he knew what they'd been doing to him.

He would have done what he did for anyone. But this guy reminded him of Bucky. And that made him that much quicker to step in, that much more desperate to get him out. Because as soon as he'd laid eyes on him, all Steve had been able to think of was his best friend on a table just like that one, just like he'd been when he'd found him back in the war. His best friend with demons in his mind, seconds away from killing him before he even knew who he was. His best friend, hiding somewhere in the world, from everyone and everything.

This kid was someone's best friend... someone's surrogate brother who they couldn't imagine living without. Someone needed this kid, and Steve wasn't going to let that person lose him.

There had been way too many agents in the room for them to be able to take them out without them shooting the kid. So Steve had taken them up on their offer to switch with him.

He wasn't the kind of guy they could trick into making the deal and then keep them both, so he'd successfully gotten their former prisoner out of the room. But they also weren't the kind of agents who would allow him to punch his way out later. He'd been shot through the leg and then knocked unconscious the moment he was in their hands, and that had been the same moment the kid had gotten out.

He'd been begging the entire time for Steve not to do that, and when that hadn't worked, he'd sprinted off to find the rest of the team. But these agents had only been waiting for a chance like they'd just gotten, and they'd left with Steve before his friends could make it.

When Steve came to, he was the one strapped to the table.

It was in the middle of an open room with cabinets and counter lining the walls, but nothing within his reach even if his arms were completely free. As it was, they were strapped in an X over his chest. His hands weren't covered, only secured there, but that didn't make him feel any less like someone dragged off to an insane asylum.

The room was dark, lit only by what light from the hall outside squeezed in underneath the door, and everything was eerily silent. He could hear the faint sounds of movement in other parts of the building, but that was all, and it only made things worse.

He tested his bounds, but it seemed they knew who they were dealing with and knew how to deal with him. There was no give whatsoever, no inkling of a chance for him to break free and escape.

It took ten minutes of taking in his surroundings and trying to think of a way to free himself for it to sink in.

He felt horrible.

His head was pounding, his throat was soar, and he felt nauseous. But more than anything, he was hot... he felt like his entire body, and especially his face, was on fire from within.

But no matter how long it'd been since he'd become a super soldier who couldn't get sick, it still felt normal. He'd woken up feeling exactly like this more than he had feeling decent while he was growing up, and now, it just felt like it was normal again. He hadn't even noticed the symptoms until he'd had a chance to take in his strange surroundings.

He leaned down so that he could feel his forehead with the back of his hand. It was hot to the touch... way hotter than he'd ever felt it before. And it was as if he could feel it warming up even further under his hand.

A fever that high would have killed him pre-serum, he realized. A fever that high would kill any normal, healthy person who wasn't a super solider, for that matter.

Obviously, it wasn't a natural strain of disease. But he knew HYDRA hadn't developed it solely for his sake. He was nothing but a lab rat... a super lab rat stronger than anyone else. If it affected him, it would kill normal people.

They'd developed a deadly strain of something, and he was their last experiment before they did whatever they'd been planning to do with it.

He had to stop them, no matter how sick he was. No matter if it killed him, he had to destroy whatever pathogen they'd developed. Desperately, he struggled more vigorously against the bonds. They still didn't give whatsoever.

He was weakened and restrained by bonds made to withstand his full strength. He felt completely helpless, alone in the dark, surrounded by enemies, and burning up from the inside. And his team probably had absolutely no idea where he was.

As if on cue, shouting broke out in the silence of the building, and an explosion went off, followed by another and the sound of rapid gunfire.

Steve closed his eyes, breathing a silent prayer of thanks, and feeling a wave of shame wash over him for ever doubting his companions.

The commotion got closer and closer, until finally, a blast destroyed the better part of the door, and Tony, clad in his latest suit, rushed in. His head turned in Steve's direction, and he swore violently.

"Oh my God, what did they do to you?"

He ran across the room, effortlessly finding the controls that disabled the restraints. Steve offered him a strained, painful smile as he pushed himself upright on the table.

"Do I look that bad?"

"Yeah, you do," Tony told him shortly. "And we're getting you out of here right now."

The moment Steve's feet hit the floor as he dropped off of the operation table, the world started spinning violently. His head screamed, and his stomach clenched once, before he was lurching forward, emptying it onto the floor of the lab.

"Steve!" Tony cried out sharply. "Steve, stay with me!"

The soldier straightened with an effort, desperately fighting back his symptoms. "I'm fine," he gasped. "We need to destroy everything in this room, level as much of the building as we can."

"I need to get you out of here before we do anything else."

"No," Steve fired back. "we can't risk that. They have something here that can make me feel like I'm still the sick kid I was growing up. If they can do that to me, they can effortlessly kill any normal person. We can't risk them getting out with any of their research."

Tony looked at him for a long moment before realizing he was right.

"Fine," he agreed reluctantly. "but you stay behind me and take it easy. Let us deal with the bad guys. Understand?"

Another wave of nausea hit the younger man, and he stumbled forward, emptying more bile onto the floor. He closed his eyes briefly, struggling once again to push away the sickness, and simply nodded in response to Tony's order. "Got it."

Tony surveyed the room, then pointed in the direction of the door. "Wait just outside there. Don't move any further away than that threshold."

Steve nodded, first stumbling to where they'd left his shield lying on one of the counters, then collecting it and going to the point the billionaire had indicated. With his teammate out of the fire zone, Tony proceeded to release a string of blasts that obliterated the table and every counter and cabinet around the room.

"Alright." He was addressing the rest of the team over their commlinks as he headed out of the room as well. "I've got Cap and he's in bad shape. But they've got research here that we need to make sure doesn't live any longer. So I need everyone to set off as many detonators as you have and get out... meet me at the jet. Thor, put that stupid hammer of yours to good use and take out supporting walls and pillars. Banner, we've got him, so it's your time. Get angry and get in here to level this place."

Then, he turned back to Steve. "I'll destroy as much as I can on the way out. Now follow me."

The solider was too week to respond, too focused on just staying alert and conscious. Instead, he opted for simple obedience, stumbling as fast as he could in the direction Tony had indicated, while the inventor followed just steps behind, using every capability on his suit to take out as much of the building they were leaving behind as possible.

They made it above ground and to the jet around the same time as Natasha and Clint. Both of their eyes widened in shock and horror when they saw the condition Steve was in, but he refused to heed their orders to get inside the jet until he knew the entire team was going to make it out.

They spent another ten minutes watching the ground the base was planted below and hearing evidence of the chaos inside, before Tony knew it wouldn't take much more for the walls to cave and the ceiling to collapse in.

"Alright, Thor, get out of there," he ordered over the commlink. "Nat, do your thing."

She nodded to him before sprinting back into the unsteady base. A few minutes after Thor appeared above ground, she and Bruce did too.

After doing one final headcount, Tony turned back to the underground building, releasing a series of blasts to the land it was buried beneath. It was the last straw for the devastated base, and with a thundering crash, the ground caved in with the walls of the building.

It was like the knowledge that their mission was complete took away the strength Steve had been forcing into his body, and once again, he lurched forward, though by now he had nothing left to empty from his stomach, and was subjected to helplessly dry-heaving. Tears of sheer reaction to the amount of pain he was dealing with mixed with the sweat that soaked his face, and he desperately gasped for breath to fight the feeling that his throat was going to collapse just like the HYDRA base just had.

The symptoms turned Bruce's eyes on him for the first time, and horror washed across the doctor's face.

"Oh my God, Steve, what'd they do to you?" he gasped. "You... you..." He stopped, taking a deep breath and shoving aside the shock to let his professional side take over. "Get in the jet, lay down in the back. I'll be there as soon as I get a shirt and my kit."

Steve struggled upright, attempting to set the strength back into his shoulders. "Bruce, I..." He had to stop to push away the dizziness and the black spots attempting to cloud his vision. "I'm fine. You all... you need to stay away from... from me, because I don't know if it's... if it's contagious."

Bruce met his leader's eyes steadily. "No, they need to stay away from you, and you need to let me do what I do best, because it's my job. Got it?"

Steve fought with his gaze for a long moment before it sank in that Bruce was right this time. He sighed heavily, but nodded and turned to drag himself into the jet. "Got it."

Once again one I'd be willing to write another part for, if y'all think it needs one.