The car stopped outside a very nondescript brick built warehouse on the waterfront. If it hadn't been for the very large men in black suits and ear pieces that stood at the and the red carpet outside the door, Amy might have suspected she'd been brought somewhere to be held hostage, like some badly scripted gangster movie.
Tony got out and helped Amy to her feet. Wrapping an arm around her waist he guided her to the door. Moving along the red carpet past the doormen, one of them spoke into his wrist and Amy almost smiled. It was like something out of a movie alright. She just hoped it wasn't a disaster movie.
Moving through the club, the music was loud and hypnotic. The club was full of beautiful people dancing in various states of undress, down to those who obviously preferred the freedom of their expensive underwear. Amy tried not to stare, wondering just how rich you had to be before normal codes of conduct didn't apply? She was about to find out.
"This way Mr Stark" a heavily armed man, the holster of his gun distorting the cut of his expensive suit, gestured to a table at the back of the room. Cordoned off by black and gold ropes, the booth was sumptuous leather, the table polished marble and the champagne currently on ice, around five thousand dollars a bottle. Nothing to the billionaire Stark but indicated just how much money this place obviously made. Amy looked around, trying to see if she recognised anyone. No-one. Apart from one. A tall, bald man in a white suit and black shirt. Wilson Fisk.
Keeping up the appearance of being tipsy, she leaned into Tony as they sat sipping the champagne. "Who's THAT!" she whispered a little too eagerly for his liking.
"Fisk" was all he said, his demeanour changing to one of cold regard.
"ooooh so THAT'S him is it? Do you think Vanessa is here too? Heard she's beautiful!" she ran her finger up Tony's lapel and across his cheek, licking her lips. "Not as beautiful as some though, eh Tony?" she smiled through her lashes and Tony turned his attention back to her.
"You seem to be settling in well, like this place do you? Would you like to see more?" he smiled and kissed her full on the mouth. Her eyes opened wide, she hadn't planned to let him do that. It was a step too far, too personal. She pulled back, pretending once again to be shocked.
"Tony!" she made a half hearted attempt to push him off.
"What? Don't pretend you haven't wanted that all night Amy. I know you do. Loki may be your boss, he probably is even your lover but he's not me. I want you Amy and I know you want me too." he growled at her, and she became aware she was getting in over her head. Extracting information was one thing, actually sleeping with him? That was quite another.
What she didn't know was that Tony didn't want to sleep with her any more than she with him. What she also didn't know was that they were being watched by Fisk. Every move, every kiss, every gesture. The more Tony seduced her, entrapped her, the safer he - and by implication his wife and daughter - would be. The real reason behind Tony's seeming change of character? No, not some misplaced lust for her, no matter how attractive he might think she was, the real reason was blackmail.
Pepper and Morgan were at that very moment being held captive in their house. After the house in Malibu had been destroyed and the tower compromised by Loki several years back, Pepper had insisted on a new place for them and their family. A ranch in the hills. Secluded and safe. Or so they thought. Now, it was a prison. Guarded by Hydra agents.
The deal had been made under what lawyers would call extreme duress. Tony called it terrorism. Destroy Loki, destroy the Asgardians, otherwise Pepper and Morgan died. The Avengers would be dealt with later, but for now the only other force capable of taking them out had to be dealt with. And the best way to do that? Destroy them from within. Starting with Loki - and Amy.
Oblivious to any of this, Amy pressed on with her assignment.
"I'm sorry" she breathed, "I just wanted to meet the man who captured the attention of the great Tony Stark. He must be quite someone if he's got all this..." she gestured around "or is he just the monkey? Have I met the organ grinder already?" she bit the tip of her index finger coyly and smiled, shuffling closer to him. His eyes looked into hers and there was a glimmer of something she couldn't quite fathom before he came back into the room and looked straight down her cleavage!
"Oh my dear, you have no idea!" he said quietly "you have absolutely no idea." he looked up again "Let's go somewhere more private and we can discuss the terms of your surrender?" he kissed her hard then smiled. She wasn't quite sure they both defined surrender in the same way, but she nodded and swallowed the rest of her champagne.
"Let's go" she breathed, standing and offering him her hand. With a glance to Fisk, Tony stood, kissing her neck as he did so. His conscience pricked him, she had no idea what was coming and he felt bad. Not bad enough to warn her, or indeed stop. No, Pepper and Morgan came first.
He only prayed in the deepest recesses of his mind that Loki would find a way to stop things before they went too far. Loki would devise some way of getting Pepper out, he had to. Now Happy was out the picture permanently - it still shocked him to recall the image of him lying in the garage, a single shot to the head - there was no-one else he could trust. Not even the Avengers. If he could be compromised, so could the others. Each in their own way had a secret. to be exploited, to be used against them.
"Tony? Are you ok?" her sultry voice cut into his thoughts and he smiled, coming back into the room.
"Of course" he shrugged "just wondering where to start" he took her hand and they walked to a set of doors at the back. A large, suited bodyguard opened the door for them and they stepped into another world. This one was far less sumptuous. The corridor was long and dark, lit perfunctorily by bulkhead style lights ever few meters. Door, steel doors, led off and there was no sound apart from the tapping of her heels as they walked.
She turned to Tony who now gripped her wrist painfully tightly, "Tony? What's going on? Please Tony? What did I do? I thought you wanted to..." she was silenced by a stare.
"SHUT UP" he growled "SHUT UP AND MOVE". Terrified, she kept up the pretence.
"Tony? What did I do? Please, I'm sorry - please let me go?" she started to cry, only half acting. In this soundproof world, no-one would hear her scream. She swallowed the rising panic. Stay calm, stay alert. Take note of her surroundings.
"Stop crying. No. You're staying here. You're far too valuable to be let go. We need you. We need you for HIM" Tony stared at her. Disgust at his own actions and fear what would happen if they failed making him into the cold monster he never was.
Opening a door, he threw her roughly into what seemed to be some sort of cell.
The walls and floor were bare concrete, the light overhead merely a neon strip and the furniture? If you could even call it that? A metal table in the centre of the room, a basic cot bed and a single chair. She crashed to the floor, hitting her shoulder off the table as she fell. It hurt like a bitch, her dress torn and her shoulder bleeding. She scrambled to her feet, furious.
"TONY STARK YOU LET ME OUT OF HERE THIS FUCKING SECOND" she screamed at him. He slapped her hard across the face and she shrank back, clutching her cheek, tasting blood. Tears sprang to her eyes and she wiped them savagely. The door slammed shut, there were murmurs from the corridor and a small hatch opened. It wasn't Tony who looked through. It was Fisk.
"He'll come for me. He won't let you away with this" she spat at him and he smiled,
"Oh my dear Amy, we're counting on it. He's more than your boss, you're more than his lover. You'll be the death of him. " The hatch clanged shut and his laughter could be heard echoing down the hall as he walked away.
As she sank onto the bed, rubbing her shoulder and the sting of her cut lip beginning to bite, she truly hoped she wasn't.
YOU ARE READING
Frost Bite
FanfictionAmy had heard good things about Laufeyson &Co. The working conditions were excellent. employees well.rewarded and no-one ever seemed to leave. So when the chance comes to join them as the PA to Mr Laufeyson himself, Amy jumped at the chance. Little...
