*Insert obligatory disclaimer about not owning the characters or the actors that play them or the movies and other necessary bullshit*
WARNING: THIS CHAPTER IS VERY GRAPHIC! IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ IT, SKIP TO CHAPTER 5!
"What was that?! And where are..." Tony's voice dropped out. Jessica stepped forward.
"This is what will happen to my father and I if you turn Loki away." They were in a palace, or what remained of one. Blood was frozen on the icy walls, red and blue mixing in a sickly mosaic. Ice chunks littered the floor. Occasional body parts of frost giants were covered in frost. Green scratches and stains were everywhere, where Loki had tried to fight back with magic and missed, his attempts forever encased in ice. Tony knelt to the ground, dry heaving at the mess of muscle strings and blood covering almost every surface. When he stood up again, his balance was tentative.
"What... What happened here?" he croaked, his voice wavering.
"See for yourself." She led the way down a hallway. More blood met their view, along with something else. Long nail marks were dragged through the ice, some bloody, green seeping from the tips.
"His magic, it's green when he uses it," she commented.
"He was dragged away," Tony mumbled to himself as he ran his hand along the grooves. She nodded.
"Follow me." She led him further down, past more signs of a deadly battle. When they got to the bottom of a staircase, she waved her hand and the ice in front of them melted, revealing the room behind it, and Tony swayed dangerously.
In it sat Loki, or what remained of him. His black hair was matted with blood from multiple head injuries. His face was cut and bleeding, frost ringing the edges of his wounds. He stared blankly, his knees pulled up to his chest, rocking back and forth, eyes fixed on the wall across from him. His armor had been cut away, his clothes replaced with those of a Jotun servant girl, barely covering his very pale and battered body. There were tears in his lips and mouth, where his mouth had been sewn shut, and had ripped open again.
"If he's so cold and so unhealthy, why doesn't he just turn into a frost giant? Wouldn't that heal him?" Tony questioned.
"It would. But he remembers everything that happened, everything he did while in that form. He hates it because of what it means. He wouldn't change to save his own life, so he fought as a god."
"Can't he see us?" She turned to him.
"You and I are mere projections right now. Figments of my imagination. We are not part of this timeline."
"What is he staring at?" She grimaced. She raised her hand again, and it revealed the rest of the walls.
"Me." The wall his eyes were fixed on was soaked with blood. It was dripping down, a puddle having formed on the floor and seeping into the ice, staining it. Nailed to the wall was the remains of a child. Its head had been shoved onto a pike and thrust into the ice. The rest had been torn into pieces and nailed to the wall. The heart and organs had been taken out and kept separately, each hammered in with their own nail. Tony's eyes rolled up in his head, and he almost passed out. Jessica reached out and caught him.
"That... That isn't..." he murmured.
"Yes, Tony. That is me." But the rest of what she was going to say was cut off by the door on the other side opening. Into the cell climbed Thanos himself.
"Enjoying your view, Loki?" Loki didn't answer. "Little prince, answer me."
"Go to Niflheim. And stay there," Loki croaked, finally tearing his gaze away to fix Thanos with the darkest look anyone had ever seen. Thanos grabbed Loki's face and pulled him by his head towards him.
"I'll see you there, little Jotun," he whispered, inches from his face. Thanos' eyes shone blue, and Loki began to scream. His eyes shot rays of the same blue light. Smoke poured out as blood streamed from his mouth, nose, eyes, and ears.
"Stop, stop, STOP! I GET IT! I'VE SEEN ENOUGH!" Tony bellowed, hands crushed against his ears, eyes screwed shut. Jessica grabbed his shoulder again, and they were back in his room. Tony fell to the floor as soon as they landed, landing on his knees. Tears were falling from his eyes.
"I hate him. I hate him so much it's like a disease, and there's so much pain I'd want to cause him for what he did to us and to the city. But not that. Never that."
She rested her hand on his upper back. "I know."
All of a sudden the door burst open and the Avengers rushed in. Clint had his bow ready and shot at her with an arrow. She shielded Tony and caught it in the air.
"Like father, like daughter," she smirked.
"It wasn't meant to hit you," Clint hissed. She felt a sharp prick in her side. She turned to see Natasha behind her, a now-empty needle in her hand. There was a scream of "JESS!" from Tony. Her knees buckled as her vision tunneled, but she never felt the harsh connect with tile. Instead strong, familiar hands gently supported her as she fell. She was scooped up in a bridal carry, and the person started walking as she slipped into unconsciousness.