Frost Bite

Holding On

Amy had no idea what the time, or even the day, was by now. Her food drugged, she'd slept and woken and slept some more. Now they'd left water for her, and, not knowing where or when the next drink might come, she'd forced it down, despite her fears.

Eating amd drinking weren't easy. The cut on her lip had scabbed over, but eating burst it open again, and everything tasted of blood.

Her shoulder ached and felt inflamed, poisoned from the dirt on the table leg that cut her. It made her feel hot and slightly nauseous.

Not to mention, she was shackled like an animal to the bed by a chain long enough to reach the chair and the table, but that was it. The bed she soon discovered was fixed to the floor. When she needed to relieve herself, a bucket was provided. Utter humiliation.

Her mouth tasted like a sewer and she would have sold her soul for a shower.

Now, after an absence of a few hours, Tony returned, this time dressed in his Ironman suit. She spat in his face as he walked up to where she sat at the table.

"Now now Amy, is that any way to treat me, after all I've done for you?" He smiled coldly at her, pulling her to his chest. The glow from the arc reactor blazing away, blinding her almost. He put his lips to her ear, but instead of the usual lecherous kiss, he whispered.

"Loki will come for you. The warriors will come for you. When they do, they will be killed." She had the distinct feeling from his tone that this was, in truth, a warning and not a threat. His face betrayed nothing.

"But Tony," she said coldly, not giving an inch," you can't kill what's already dead." He frowned. She was making no sense.

"Dead?"

"You'll see." She said softly, maliciously. No matter if this had been some pathetic attempt to make up for what he did, she wasn't giving anything back. Tony was still on the side of evil as far as she knew. She, Loki and their friends, still in mortal danger.

He looked at her for a moment then simply said, "I'm sorry, Amy." She looked at him, and just for a second, he genuinely looked it. Then she felt the stab of something sharp in her neck, and the room disappeared again down a very long and very black tunnel.

Laying her back on the cot, Tony looked at her sadly. He hated himself. But he loved Pepper and Morgan. They'd been under house arrest for too long. In danger too long. Only Loki's demise would save them. He had to see it through. He turned away and clumped to the door. His mask descended and he walked into the hallway, locking the door securely.

With barely a second glance, he was up and away through the roof of the building. As soon as they realised she was still here, they would come. He needed to be ready.

Thor and Sif scouted through the woods towards the ranch. They could see Tony's SUV sitting outside the door. Next to it, a black van with smoked out windows. Pepper had company. They crouched behind a fallen log and waited. Within a few minutes, 2 goons with semi automatic weapons patrolled the decking around the house. As they turned, they could see on their uniforms the red and black skull and octopus logo they all dreaded. The two men scanned the area with binoculars. Ducking down, Thor turned to Sif.

"Hydra!" He said with more than a touch of fear. The weapons technology at the guards disposal was more than a match for anything their small band carried. Sif nodded,

"If they're here, then it must mean their working with Tony." She was horrified and disgusted and not a little worried. Tony's brains added to Hydra's arsenal, too terrifying to contemplate.

They popped back up and watched as the front door opened. Pepper emerged with Morgan, and they walked to the van. Behind them, a Hydra agent had a gun at Pepper's back where Morgan couldn't see, but Pepper could feel.

"No," whispered Thor. "Tony's not working with them. He's working FOR them. I knew there had to be more to this." He turned and rested against the tree trunk. "We need to get them to safety. It's the only way to get Tony back on our side."

"That's all very well," Sif shrugged, "but how do we take on Hydra weapons? They're the same as taking on the Tesseract, and look how THAT went in New York!" She scowled, trying to think of a plan.

The sound of the van's engine starting made them pop up again. They were on the move.

"We need to follow them. See where they take them? Come on." She stood carefully, hidden by the trees around them.

"They have the jump on us, we cant follow but we can report back what we've seen. Loki will know what to do next. " Thor shook his head "if there's anyone who is a master at strategy it's him.

Returning to the others, waiting in a small clearing not far away, they brought them up to speed.

"Let's get back, Loki needs to know Tony's being blackmailed. A man whose family is threatened is a very dangerous animal indeed." Hogun commented with a sigh. "Loki knows all too well now how that feels."

As they made their way back to the city, each was lost in thought. Not least of which was Thor. His brother was volatile at the best of times,it had taken a long time for him to reconcile and put to rest the person he was in 2012. This threatened to resurrect his vengeful side. This time, there was no Frigga to soothe things.

He prayed that Loki wouldn't do anything rash. Rash would get someone killed. He hoped it wouldn't be Amy.