Two Guys, a Prison, and Hydra (for soulisblack)

[smash_stuff]

Bruce kept his eyes closed. He knew he was being dragged somewhere and as much as he wanted to fight back, he couldn't. Whatever they had doped him up with was doing the hula with his brain and he was having a hard time getting it to stop. Despite being numb from the neck up, he could make out the fact that more than one person was holding onto him. There was a pair of hands on each arm, his feet were dragging out behind him as they moved him along.

Bruce hoped fleetingly as he faded in and out of consciousness that he hadn't been captured by Ross.

There was a click and swish of a glass door and Bruce was hauled inside and strapped down to a table. Someone in a white lab coat was mumbling from far away as they shined a light in Bruce's eyes in turn. There was an accent he could only just make out....sounded German.

He must have faded out again because the next moment he was aware of, Bruce was alone. He took a few breaths trying to clear his head and worked his eyes open to stare at the ceiling. This was bad. Very, very bad.

Comments

[soulisblack.livejournal.com]

Blonksy was already there when Bruce woke, or at least in the cell across the way. He'd watched the proceedings with an empty stare born of long practice; he had been here longer, a few days by his estimation but who knew without any natural light to judge by. It could just as easily have been weeks, the hours blurred together after a while.

A pleased smirk tugged at his lips at the knowledge that Banner hadn't been immune to their efforts either. It was an irritation that he hadn't been captured first, of course, an assault on his pride; Banner was a scientist, evasion for so long should have been beyond his abilities. But even so, he was here now. The ghost in the woods was so no longer.

"Nice of you to visit," he commented blandly, watching the other cell intently for further movement. He was a statue, calm, quiet. Motionless. He was left alert and alone to plot so long as he kept quiet, he'd learned that quickly, and so he adapted. And waited.

[smash-stuff.livejournal.com]

That voice was a little too familiar. Bruce lifts his head after an attempt or two and looks blearily over at Blonsky's cell, only able to make out a dark blob in it. He manages a small groan, "Blonsky..." This day just kept getting better and better.

[soulisblack.livejournal.com]

"So you are awake. I wasn't sure." Not that it makes any difference; Banner is merely another hurdle to cross. No more, no less, and he'll be damned if he's going to make it easier for him.

[smash-stuff.livejournal.com]

Bruce swallows and tests his bonds but he's not strong enough to do more than twitch at the moment. His vision is starting to clear though and he blinks over at Blonsky. "...come to gloat? Or is it..." whatever he was going to say dies away as he finally sees Emil is shackled up in a glass cage of his own. "...never mind. This isn't Ross's idea, is it?"

[soulisblack.livejournal.com]

He snorts. "Try HYDRA's. Three guesses why. If I was here to gloat I wouldn't be over here to do it."

He does get up from his seat, however, to stalk over to the glass, or at least as close as he can get. It's a better view of the hallway, at least.

[smash-stuff.livejournal.com]

"I can think of two off the top of my head..." Bruce mumbles, namely Hulk and Abomination. And that just makes him feel worse, knowing someone else is going to try and make more of him....them. He pulls on his straps and finds out he's got an IV trailing out of one arm up to a machine at his side. No doubt patched into his heart rate in case he gets too excited.

"We have to get out of here." He wasn't saying we as them together, he would rather Hydra or anyone else didn't have either of their blood to work with.

[soulisblack.livejournal.com]

"Of course we have to get out of here," he snarled. "What do you think I've been doing this whole time?" Blonsky pulled at the chains, either as demonstration or as a renewed attempt to break them, it was difficult to tell, but he dropped his arms after a few moments and let out a long breath.

"They'll take the IV out next time they're down here, long as you're quiet."

[smash-stuff.livejournal.com]

"Terrific," Bruce says, looking around as far as his bonds let him. The lights were dim down here but it was clinically clean.

There's a moment or two of silence, Bruce not really wanting to talk as he's looking for a way out of this fishbowl. He was starting to work on one of the straps around his wrist when a group of white coats came down the hallway.

[soulisblack.livejournal.com]

Blonksy watches, rapt, calm but with every inch tensed for the effort. He's careful to stand far enough inside that he won't make the men overly nervous, but it's not rage he's keen on at the moment. It's an opening, a moment where the eyes are no longer on him, but he never gets it.

The men retreat after finishing their business with Banner, and Blonsky begins pacing. This changes things; there's two to factor for now, even if he doesn't account for bringing the other man along. They'll be watching twice as closely now, with them in such tight quarters, there's less room for error.

[smash-stuff.livejournal.com]

Bruce tenses against his bonds as the scientists come into his cell. "Wait, what are you...no don't..." he can see the syringes in their hands already and knows they're here for blood. Literally. He squirms to try and pull away but one of the lab coats hits a button on the IV machine and everything sinks back into a soft darkness again.

Whenever they leave, they've got about five vials of blood and Bruce is laying there, his eyes glazed over. It's a long moment or two before he's able to blink again. He would be frustrated if he had the energy, this was maddening being trapped like this.

[soulisblack.livejournal.com]

"Still with us over there?" Despite the outward concern of the words themselves, there was a demeaning scoff behind them. Honestly, what did he think, that they'd leave him alone if he asked? That wasn't how these places worked, they took what they wanted when they wanted however they needed to. If you played the game you could come out on top, but only then.

He paced some more, back and forth across his cell as he thought.

[smash-stuff.livejournal.com]

Bruce makes a frustrated sound that could be interpreted as shut up Blonsky. Of course, it also signified he could hear him so it kind of answered his question. He shakes off the cobwebs and gives the IV machine a glare designed to melt it.

Ok, so...can't let his heart rate go up. He's strapped down. Even if he could get out of those, he's still locked in here. And every so often, a Hydra guard walks past in a timely fashion. Bruce has got nothing in the way of ideas.

[soulisblack.livejournal.com]

Blonsky snorts disparagingly in response, but it doesn't disrupt his pacing. He goes over his own list.

The patrol's gotten as predictable as clockwork. He's fairly certain they're on a CC feed too, but there are ways around that; he's not positive of where the cameras are, but he's got a good guess. Anything tried has to be done between passes and out of reach of the feeds. No small feat, but doable.

Checking the hallway and verifying that it's empty for now, he returns to his cot, digging at a loose brick for a few seconds before it finally slides free. Behind it is a thin strip of metal with a bend in it, something he's been working on for days. He closes fingers around it and pulls his hands into his lap, shifting around until he's sure they're hidden by his body and he can work in peace before getting to work. Whatever Banner does is his own business, he refuses to stick around here any longer than he has to.

[smash-stuff.livejournal.com]

Banner waits till he's fully awake before starting to work on his own straps. They're typical leather straps used for mental patients but that didn't mean they were foolproof.

After a quiet moment or two, they are looser but his wrists are rubbed raw and sore so he has to stop. Bruce looks over at Blonsky's cell. "....how long you been here?" Not that he really wants to make conversation, but Blonsky has been awfully quiet for a long time. It was making him nervous...and he really didn't want to get nervous.

[soulisblack.livejournal.com]

The locking mechanism on the cuffs is simple enough to be manageable, but complex enough to require most of his attention in order to slip; he hasn't needed to do this sort of thing in a while, so he's a little out of practice. The sudden sound interrupts Blonsky's concentration, and he barks out a curse as he loses what headway he's made.

"Long enough. Do you mind? I'm concentrating." Another glance towards the hallway, and then his attention's back in his lap as he starts over again.

[smash-stuff.livejournal.com]

That catches Banner's attention and he lifts his head with a confused look. Concentrating on what? He can't see from this distance....but he suspects what he means. An escape attempt.

Setting his head back against the flat surface, he mumbles, "Good luck." If their situations were reversed, Blonsky would probably already be out of these straps. Probably why they put him in metal cuffs.

[soulisblack.livejournal.com]

Another scoff escapes him; trust Banner to be entirely content to stay in custody, the one place where he doesn't have to worry about the Hulk. Pathetic.

"I don't need it." You make your own luck, as far as he's concerned, he's never subscribed to any of the superstitious idiocy seemingly shared by a vast majority of the world.

He returns to the lock and the rudimentary pick, although in his irritation with Banner he isn't entirely out of view of the cameras. All his attention is absorbed in the piece of metal and the pins, the tip of his tongue sticking out as he focuses on getting the movements just right, everything lined up perfectly.

[smash-stuff.livejournal.com]

As little as Blonsky thought of him, Banner was hoping to find a way out of this personal hell Hydra had created for him. He starts working on his straps again, trying to ignore the pain.

There's a quick step in the hallway and he stops for a moment. A couple of guards are coming and they weren't due for another 15 minutes at least. The two of them stride into Blonsky's cell to relieve him of his metal piece, saying something about it be "verboten" and other words in German that Banner didn't catch.

It's then that he manages to get one hand free...

[soulisblack.livejournal.com]

Blonsky resists the urge to punch them out for interrupting - it would be all too easy, they wouldn't stand a chance - but it's a struggle. While the Abomination is far more stable than the Hulk once he's changed, it's only made him more short-tempered the rest of the time, more likely to strike out with less prompting. Keeping calm and compliant when the guards are taking the one thing he knew he could get out with is something of a drain.

He gives up. There's only two, he can get rid of the pair of them and be on his way before they know what hit them. He lashes out, but this too is controlled, movements checked so as to take out the targets without giving too much reign to the lizard brain lurking underneath. He needs to be sharp for this, he can't afford blind rage.

[smash-stuff.livejournal.com]

One of the guards goes down without a sound, the second one manages to stumble back beyond the reach of Blonsky's chains and pulls a taser from his pocket, aiming it at Emil and firing.

Meanwhile...in the background....

Bruce has yanked out his IV and worked the rest of his straps off. He was now in a standing position though he felt tired enough to just curl up on the floor and forget about the rest of the world. But he catches some of the fight in Emil's cell....and now he has to choose. Sneak away while there's a distraction...or actually do something about it.

[soulisblack.livejournal.com]

Blonsky might have managed to get through the second and out into the hallway without a problem, or at least got back to what he was doing, if he hadn't been hit by enough juice to kill any semblance of balance he had. He drops to his knees and forces himself to breathe evenly even as every muscle twitches violently. A furious roar tears its way out of his throat, and his cells are trying to change in angered protest, but they can't quite manage the co-ordination fast enough, and it's infuriating, which only makes the whole thing worse since the more he tenses and the more he fights it the worse it seems to get.

Hydra's going to pay for this. He'll make sure of it the first chance he gets.

[smash-stuff.livejournal.com]

There's a sudden WHAP and the Hydra guard slumps to the floor, letting go of the taser. Bruce is standing there, a long piece of the IV pole in hand. He keeps his distance just in case Emil decides he's going to try and take Bruce out too, but he couldn't leave him here being electrocuted like that.

[soulisblack.livejournal.com]

There's a long moment where it's a distinct possibility. With the guards eliminated and no-one else handy and a general ineffective rage circulating, it certainly looks as if Blonsky might lash out simply out of reflex.

But he doesn't. He takes a deep, relieved breath, and then a second as independent, focused movement returns, and regains his feet before making his way towards the doorway with a few halting steps and a nondescript grunt that might have been a thanks. He's certainly not going to say it.

[smash-stuff.livejournal.com]

The IV pole is kept ready in his hands in case of an attack but when it doesn't come, he leans back against the wall with a sigh of his own. Oh, how he wish he could stuff the Hulk back in like that, if that had been him who got tasered, he wouldn't be himself right now.

Bruce rolls his eyes, following behind as best as he can on legs that still feel like they're made of rubber. "You're welcome..."

He would love to stop and regroup but there's footsteps coming, quite a few of them. Looks like their escape wasn't entirely unseen. Bruce moves along the corridor full of doors as fast as he can. A glance into one room shows an empty laboratory of sorts.

[soulisblack.livejournal.com]

"I could've handled it," comes the answering grumble, but there are more important things to be doing right now that arguing. He stalks down the hallway at a brisk pace, glancing back and forth as they go like a cat on the prowl and largely ignoring Banner, for the time being anyway. It's only a matter of time until the soldiers catch up, but he needs a bigger space, this hallway's too cramped.

It doesn't need to be, the lizard brain volunteers, and it's certainly tempting; days of forced repression has only served to make everything keener, worsened the need to let it out. But that's what got him here in the first place.

But God, if it isn't tempting.

[smash-stuff.livejournal.com]

"...I don't doubt that," Bruce says, keeping back just enough to be behind Blonsky as they move down the corridor. He glances up and swipes at a camera with the pole in his hands, breaking the lens. "They already know how to capture us...separately." Bruce couldn't believe what he was about to suggest but he didn't want to get captured again. And if running for his life had taught him anything, it was you do what you have to to survive. Sometimes that means swallowing a flashdrive on the run. And right now, it seems his only ally was Blonsky.

[soulisblack.livejournal.com]

Blonsky stops short and whirls around, fixing Banner with a narrow look. He wouldn't. He refused. The man was good at hiding, he'd give him that, but he was a scientist, a pacifist, not a fighter. He wouldn't do him much good.

...Although he supposed he could have his uses.

"You're proposing we work together."

[smash-stuff.livejournal.com]

There's almost a visible wince, yeah Bruce wasn't crazy about this idea either. But it was the best idea he had right now. "Look, it will be the last thing anyone here will be expecting. If we can make it work." That was the main thing, because these two just don't get along, alter egos aside.

[soulisblack.livejournal.com]

"If you don't slow us down, you mean."

Nevermind that it was Bruce who had helped him get loose to begin with; clearly beside the point.

"Fine. But we're doing this my way. You can't keep up, I'm leaving you behind. And the pacifist bit's not going to cut it."

[smash-stuff.livejournal.com]

"...I'll try not to." It was a diplomatic answer, Bruce was the one being chased after last time, they had been the ones to keep up with him.

"Fair enough." This was Hydra. Bruce had no intention of going easy on them.

[soulisblack.livejournal.com]

"Good."

This wasn't going to work. He knew this already; it wouldn't, it couldn't, there was no way. Banner got skittish the moment there was even the possibility of a skirmish, preferred to run away at the first sign, he didn't have much hope that he would be any use in that regard. But it wasn't his problem; if he couldn't manage he'd end up in a cell again, it wasn't Blonsky's problem. Unfortunate since he wouldn't be able to have his own revenge later, but necessary if it came to it.

"Come on, then." He took off down the hallway, moving swiftly and almost silently in spite of his boots, glancing in each room as they passed. He half hoped they would run across someone, an opportunity for him to take out his frustrations at this whole situation, but at the same time he didn't; slip out quickly, without notice, and you have a chance of managing it, get into it with guards and you're likely to get more and then never get out.

[smash-stuff.livejournal.com]

Bruce moved as quietly as he could, keeping pace but not too close to Blonsky. He kept looking behind them, clutching at the IV pole in his hand. It was getting too easy, they were bound to be found out before too long. He didn't even know what kind of facility this was.

Another few turns and it became more than apparent where they were. A set of double doors opened up into a giant hanger bay...except this one was for submarines. There were lots of Hydra soldiers here, Bruce quickly ducked back near the doors they had come through to avoid being seen. They were up at the beginning of a catwalk that spanned the whole large room. Below the catwalk were the soldiers and submarines, crates of various things...and of course, lots of water. "Quite a setup..." Bruce said quietly.

[soulisblack.livejournal.com]

"Military base; what'd you expect?"

Potentially problematic, but it wasn't as if he'd honestly expected them to be able to walk out unaccosted.

He assessed the catwalk; one soldier about halfway down, easily overpowered since he hadn't seen them yet. Probably a few more on the other side, and with the cross-path in the middle of the room likely another door on each side with more soldiers there as well. Not to mention those on the ground who would be attracted the moment anyone up here said "boo", or if they bothered to look on their own initiative.

But manageable. Provided he was where he needed to be when he needed to be there, provided the soldier didn't see him coming first, provided the others didn't look at the right time, provided Banner didn't get in the way...And now he was overthinking.

Don't. One step at a time. It's manageable; he'd beaten worse odds under worse conditions. Don't think. Do; he had raw power in his veins, a godlike creature waiting to be unleashed hidden under his skin. Even without a weapon, without body armor, he had this beat before he'd even started.

Without a word to Bruce, he started down the catwalk, long strides and the serum carrying him down it faster than it had any right to; he was on the soldier before he had time to cry out in surprise, immobilizing and incapacitating before he could fight back properly and pressing the heel of his boot into his windpipe to ensure future silence.

He looked back at his companion and smirked at him darkly, the expression feral and barely human. One down.

[smash-stuff.livejournal.com]

"Ok, I think we shou-..." Before Bruce could finish that sentence, Blonsky was already moving. He winced as the soldier was taken out so quickly and moved to follow along behind him, keeping an eye on the activity below. So far, nobody had seen them. He gives Blonsky a wary look back at that expression but says nothing.

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