Forgotten but not forgiven [COMPLETE]

Chapter 7

Tony managed to sleep some small amount through the rest of the night, but it was closer to dozing than anything else. He roused as soon as he heard Natasha stirring and they attempting to quell both their thirst and their rumbling stomachs with the water from the sink taps. They were back on their bunks, seated and waiting, by the time Red Skull showed up. Four guards accompanied him, one of which was new. The one who'd gotten a chunk of his ear bitten off by Natasha had a white bandage taped over the area and glared balefully at her through the bars of her cell. The two uninjured guards from the day before carried trays with food on them. It looked like yogurt and a prepackaged cup of cut fruit, nothing particularly special, but Tony's stomach grumbled at the sight. He hadn't eaten since his lunch with Steve and it'd been at least a day since then.

"Rest well?" Red Skull asked as he stopped between their cells, directing the question Tony's way.

It rankled, how obviously Natasha was just a tool to him, leverage to be used to get what he wanted from Tony. He wasn't even pretending to try and get information out of her, too. Of course, it was probably obvious to all of them that it would be a useless endeavor if he did. She'd never give anything away. Tony, on the other hand, appeared a much more malleable subject. Maybe that was something they could use to their advantage.

"I've slept better."

Red Skull spared him a close-lipped, condescending smile.

"I hope you've come to understand the risk of displeasing me, then. Things do not have to be so difficult for you."

Tony glared at him.

"I just have to give you what you want."

"It is not so hard as you make it seem," Red Skull comforted. "Let's start with something easy today, shall we? If your answer pleases me, both you and Agent Romanov will be given breakfast."

Tony eyed the food trays suspiciously. This was what Natasha had been warning him about last night. He was supposed to give them the answer they wanted this time, but it wouldn't do to give in too easily. He had to at least make it look like a struggle.

"How do I know it's not poisoned? Or drugged?" he challenged.

Red Skull chuckled.

"Is that what they did to you in that cave in the desert?" Tony reared back in surprise, which only seemed to amuse him further. "Did you not think I would know about that? I am very aware this is not the first time you've experienced captivity, Mr. Stark. I will confess some curiosity, if only because the available information about it is so scarce, but that is not what I shall ask this morning. Here, you may examine the containers yourself. They are sealed and have not been tampered with."

At Red Skull's gesture, one of the guards stepped closer to Tony's cell, allowing him to reach through the bars to pick up each container and examine it closely for perforations and other evidence of tampering. When he was finished, the other guard did the same. The containers were clear, not that it was evidence of anything, not really. There were still plenty of ways for them to have slipped drugs in. The spoons could be coated with something, for example. The containers could have been opened and resealed.

Tony risked a quick glance Natasha's way, receiving a short nod that he supposed was the signal for him to proceed. His stomach was tying itself in knots begging him to get on with it.

"Alright," he said finally, when he was as satisfied as he was likely going to get. "What do you want to know today? Something else I can't tell you?"

He didn't bother to keep the bitterness out of his voice. If anything, it would only lend to his image of not having had the information.

Red Skull's gaze bored into his own.