Breaking Through (The Caving In Remix)

Steve carefully lifts the rock in front of him, only raising it a few inches off the pile before removing completely, he didn't want to risk another cave in. He works as fast as he can. They needed to get out of here. While he hasn't noticed anything with the oxygen in the cave, he can't rule out the other possible dangers.

And Iron Man was hurt.

He hears Iron Man shift behind him and groan. A flare of anxiety pools hotly in his stomach. "You alright over there, Shellhead?" Steve calls out, keeping his voice calm and level. He doesn't feel it.

"I'm fine. Are you okay? You have been at this for a while now, Winghead, and I saw you take that hit."

Steve grips the rock in his hands tightly, biting down hard on his lip. He wasn't the one as risk here. The serum will help him heal. "I heal fast, no need to worry about me." he says, turning to face Iron Man where he was propped up against the wall. "I'd feel better if I knew the others received our distress signal. I'm not sure how much good I'm doing here trying to dig us out. It all feels very unstable and I don't want to cause another cave in." They had tried the Avengers ID cards, they had tried the emergency radio in Iron Man's armour, but they hadn't received anything back. He fears that the cave may have blocked the signal. He can't think like that, he couldn't. Captain America doesn't think like that. No, things were going to be okay.

"I'm sure you are doing fine, Cap."

He hopes he was. Iron Man hadn't confided in him the extent of his injuries. But if the man was too hurt to help, well, it couldn't be good.

Steve returned to his work moving the rocks. He had been at it for a little less than half an hour. He was working as fast as he could, he didn't like how quiet Iron Man was right now, and he couldn't shake the bad feeling in his gut. They would be fine, he knew. No one likes being caved in. But they will be alright. They always were.

He lifts a rock and immediately feels he shouldn't have. The other rocks shift alarmingly around it. He tries to return it, hoping that he could put it back and all will be alright.

It doesn't work. All the rocks shift and he loses his footing as the rocks beneath his feet roll out from underneath him.

He lands hard on the rocky, uneven ground of the cave and the breath leaves his lungs in a jarring wheeze. A broken rib shifts painfully and his leg wound burns hotly as he feels the deep cut reopen, his blood crawling uncomfortably down his thigh.

Despite the pain, Steve rolls over and pushes himself on to his knees. He looks at the renewed wall of rock and he is filled with desperate frustration. "FUCK!" he shouts in anger. He takes a few calming breaths and rests his forehead down on the cold cave floor.

"It's okay Steve. I am sure the others are already on their way to rescue us."

Steve bites back a scream of frustration. Iron Man shouldn't be consoling him. It's his own fault he can't get them out of here, not Iron Man's. The man was hurt. All he had to do was clear a bunch of rocks. It was all he had to do.

Looking at Iron Man through the darkness Steve tries to work out what injuries the man might have. How much time they might have. But it was hard to tell with the man encased in armour. He bites the bullet and asks the question he had been debating asking for a while now, unsure if he really wants to know the answer. "Are you sure you can wait that long for medical attention?" he asks, trying desperately to sound calm.

Steve hears Iron Man sigh. It's heavy, he can almost fell the man weighting what he wants to say and how to say it. It makes him sick to his stomach.

"No." Iron Man says, and his stomach drops to the floor. Oh god. "Though it's not the injuries that are the problem."Iron Man pauses, he doesn't want to say what it coming next, he can sense it.