Hello there guys! I am officially dead after Marvel dropped that bomb on us.
So I thought I'd kept on with our current theme, ya know, a little dark, a little gloomy ;)
So yeah, apologies in advance for this one.
Alex
TRIGGER WARNINGS: TORTURE (MANY FORMS), ATTEMPTED SEXUAL ASSAULT, MURDER.
After that first meeting with The Avengers, and formally employing them, Alexandra's life went on. Steve had gotten the Winter Soldier Handbook and Tony had been all week reading the thing and marveling at the Russians' way of doing things. Clint had taken a 'vacation leave' and Wilson had returned to Washington. Natasha had gone off the radar after helping Steve with the book and Steve became a more or less permanent fixture in the tower since leaving him alone at the compound seemed a little bit cruel.
Tony and Bruce had returned to Malibu as apparently Betty Ross had contacted Bruce and they had set an appointment for a date, she was in the area. So that left Alexandra with Thor and Steve in New York. She didn't mind Steve much since most times he was content to run through Central Park and go back to his apartment. She did get him art supplies and several contemporary art books as a gift.
She and Thor kept their routines and soon enough the year was ending again. Sam Wilson invited Steve to Washington for Christmas and Alexandra and Thor flew to Malibu, as did the Carter-Souza cousins. Sharon had been enjoying her new job at the CIA although Alexandra reminded her that the option to work at SI was still open. Michael had been extremely happy that the family got together for Christmas again while Hal and Dani had arrived a little late but carrying ugly sweaters for everyone. They took several group pictures that Pepper promised would be framed and delivered to their houses.
They also received the year 2015 in Malibu, Rhodey, Mamma Rhodes, Bruce and Betty joining them for the party. Tony had prepared a firework spectacle that had been upped by Thor's thunderstorm. Alexandra and Thor returned to New York mid-January, Steve was already back from his holidays at the Wilson's. Alexandra's work continued, the paperwork seemed to be eternal in her line of work but thanks to Hill it was not that bad.
"I'm telling you, next week we have the memorial thing, Jackson from Michigan is in charge of the organization" Alexandra said into the phone as she walked through fifth avenue, she had gone for a walk that morning as Thor had been training with Steve in the tower and she was bored.
"Jackson? Really, I didn't know he was into parties" said Maria from the other line; Alexandra laughed.
"Oh yes, he seems really excited and Laurel from San Diego, she's in charge of the food, apparently she's cousins with a sushi chef who's the bomb" Alexandra said, she walked through people not truly minding her surroundings, the day was beautiful, the sun was out and it was cold enough to enjoy a walk out without breaking into a sweat.
If she had been paying attention she would have noticed the sharp dressed man that had been following her since she had stopped to buy herself a venti and a doughnut. She kept talking animatedly to Maria until the man got close enough to her to press a cloth to her face and knock her unconscious, her phone falling to the floor and Maria's panicked voice asking for her. A non-descript black vehicle picked up the man on the next corner and the New York passersby's were none the wiser to what had gone on in that busy street that lovely morning.
When Alexandra regained consciousness she realized that she had been tied to a chair but was otherwise unharmed. Everything was dark around her and there was a clichéd light bulb hanging over her being the only source of light in that room. She was terrified, of that much she was sure, she tried to remember what had happened but she couldn't remember anything being amiss, she had been talking to Maria on the phone about the Memorial party and then nothing. She heard a door being opened and her heart picked up a pace.
"Miss Stark, what an honor to have you here" said a man in a suit coming into view, she didn't recognize him from the movies or the show so she decided not to answer, he got close to her grabbing a fistful of her hair and smiling into her face, he was not that old, probably around Wilson's age, light skin and dark hair, "Truly an honor, do you find it an honor to be here?" he asked, she shook her head slowly and he laughed "So she understands me, I was beginning to think that my drug had affected your senses much"
She kept staring at the man, eyes full of fear as he stared down to her.
"Are you not curious of why you're here?" he asked, mouth close to her ears, she closed her eyes and did her best to not whimper, his hand was still firmly holding her hair, "Don't you want to know? You just need to ask sweetheart" he said and then pulled back away from her, he had a manic grin on his face as he let go of her hair.
She kept silent but that didn't deter him one bit, he just laughed and stood straighter, crossing his arms.
"Not a fan of small talk, are you?" he asked, she blinked at him, keeping tears at bay by sheer power of will, the man chuckled and got his face close to hers again "Don't worry sweetheart, I'll make you scream" he said before leaving, she let out a ragged breath when she heard the door close again and counted to two hundred to calm herself.
The man returned after what seemed hours, Alexandra had no way to count the time as her hands were behind her back and so she couldn't use her watch. He turned on the lights of the room he was keeping her, he had ditched the blazer and the sleeves of his dress shirt were up to his elbows, he ignored her and walked to a weird looking tub, starting the water, Alexandra observed him silently from the chair.
"Honestly dear, I thought you'd be more chatty than this" he said turning to see her, he smiled when he took notice of the tearstains on her cheeks, "Are you scared of me sweetheart?" he asked in a sweet voice as he walked closer to Alexandra, "Sweetheart, I'm asking you a question, I like my questions to be answered" he said bending down so he could look her in the eye.
Pain struck Alexandra as he slapped her hard across the face, she could taste blood on her mouth and tears were now streaming down her face. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and forced her to look up.
"You will answer me" he ordered.
"Go to hell" she managed to say, albeit pathetically, the man grinned at her.
"Oh, little girl's got a tiny bit of fire, what a lovely voice you have there, let's see how those screams come out" he said before pushing Alexandra's sleeve up and injecting her a needle filled with a red liquid.
Tony was going crazy, it had been fourteen hours since FRIDAY had alerted him of Alexandra's kidnapping, it needed to be a kidnapping, she wouldn't have left her phone in the middle of New York, and Maria Hill had been taking to her. Tony had arrived in New York roughly forty minutes after FRIDAY realized that Alexandra was missing, CCTV cameras were of little of use as the street had been crowded. Maria Hill had deployed several agents in New York after the phone call was abruptly cut off. Tony was going to put a tracker on Alexandra when he found her, because he had to find her, he had to.
Thor had upon learning of it had gone out in a rage trying to find Alexandra but to no avail, when Tony arrived to the tower, Steve and Thor were suited up and Thor looked ready to murder the first person who crossed his path. Steve's face looked hardened and promised retribution. According to Pepper, Bruce had hulked out upon learning of the current situation and had been flown into New York four hours after the disappearance. And Natasha and Clint appeared in the Tower two hours, fifteen minutes after Alexandra's disappearance.
"But we don't know if they will keep her alive, so far no one has made a request, so it's not about money" said Clint as they stood around the table at the tower.
"She's alive" said Thor, they all looked at him skeptically, "Her life force is binding Hela in a prison in the realm of Nilfheim, if Alexandra were to be dead we would notice" he explained, Tony glared at him.
"And when were you going to tell me that my daughter was being used as a magical lock?" asked Tony, Thor looked down. "Fantastic, at least it serves a purpose but you and I will be having this conversation later" Tony promised; Thor nodded.
"Back to the matter at hand, who knows enough about Alexandra to take her in plain daylight? She's not exactly flaunting who she is and doesn't really is a media person." Said Natasha arms crossed, the other avengers glanced at each other.
Alexandra screamed herself hoarse, as another needle was jammed into her skin, whatever the liquid was, it made her feel as if her insides were on fire. Her damp hair stuck to her face and blood trickled down her arms from when the guy had been less than gentle with the needles. The guy kept on smiling and chuckling during it all.
"You know, I have nothing against you, really, now your father, Anthony Stark this, Anthony Stark that, you should be more like Tony, Zeke, look at Tony, that bright young man" he mocked, Alexandra looked at him, tired and confused, he grinned "And what did it got my old man? He's dead, just like Stark will be, and you, you will be begging for it soon, he said and placed a towel over Alexandra's head, she tried to shake it away but he held her head in place using her hair and started pouring water over it.
Alexandra felt like drowning as she struggled, she couldn't breathe, she could barely move, tears, water, blood, it was all the same to her at the moment, the man, Zeke, kept pouring water until she was choking on it, he stopped and removed the towel, a smirk on his face.
"Oh look at you," he said grabbing her face with one hand roughly "Already so broken, I'd thought you Starks were made of iron, don't worry princess, this is just the beginning, say hello to daddy". He said before hitting her on the back of her head effectively knocking her out.
Twenty-seven hours after Alexandra's disappearance and the Avengers and Marias' team were no closer to finding Alexandra. Although JARVIS had received a gruesome video file in which they could see Alexandra being tortured with the needles, her screams resounding in the conference room, and then her waterboarding session. Tony had paled considerably, and was shaking in anger, FRIDAY and JARVIS were actively trying to pin the signal, while the Avengers could only watch.
Thor's anger was reflected in the sky, a massive thunderstorm was currently hitting New York, lightning striking as Alexandra's screams resounded in the background. Bruce was looking slightly green while Natasha and Clint were keeping their faces blank. Steve looked ready to be sick as he heard the man laugh whenever Alexandra screamed.
Their screen flickered on as another transmission started. Alexandra now hung from the ceiling, arms upwards, thick metal cuffs on her wrists, she looked beaten and tired, a large bruise already visible on her face and her hair looking disheveled and damp, the man, who was now wearing a mask grabbed her face again and forced her to look at the camera.
"Come on, say hello to daddy, come on sweetheart" the man cooed, to her, she had tears in her eyes but her gaze was empty, the man slapped her across her face "I said speak!" he said slapping her again, her head dropped and he pulled her by the hair and looked at the camera. "Your daughter is such a disobedient bitch Stark, you should have taught her better" the man said before hauling her down and dunking her head on the tub full water, the Avengers watched in horror as Alexandra started struggling and the man laughed until she went limp and he pulled her head out, she took a few hard breaths before he pushed her head in again.
"Sir, we have a location" said JARVIS voice interrupting the feed, the Avengers shared a look before dashing out.
Alexandra was sure she was going to die, her whole body throbbed in pain and the cuffs were cutting into her wrists as she couldn't hold her weight completely, she was freezing and she was sure that she was out of tears to cry, yet Zeke kept hitting her back with a whip, his newest form of torture, she had been stripped down to her thin t-shirt and her jeans, which were now soaked with her blood.
"Come on dear, I was counting so great, sixty-five was it? Or was it forty-nine? I guess we'll have to start again" he said as he hit her, "COUNT"
"FUCK OFF" she managed to scream amidst the pain, the tears and her hoarse voice, he whipped her again and she sobbed, he dropped the whip and grabbed her face.
"This is not working for us, is it? Mmmm… what if we try to spice things up? Put that mouth of yours to other uses? You're pretty enough that I'd willingly forget that you are a Stark for a while" he said, she used what was left of her strength to glare at him, "Oh, you don't like that thought, do you? What do you say sweetheart" he said brining his mouth close to her ear "Mmmm… I'm sure your daddy wouldn't mind having your tape released, I mean he have a few of those himself let's-"
He was interrupted by the sound of something crashing and he swore, he looked at her and smiled "Looks like you'll have to wait a while dearie, FUCKING GUARDS!" he said before he left, Alexandra released a breath she didn't knew she was holding, the thought of Zeke touching her was enough to have her cower even more in fear, tears began forming in her eyes again and she prayed to any god that was listening that he was kept long enough for him to forget the idea.
The Avengers stormed into the fancy looking townhouse, finding several armed men inside, Bruce immediately hulked out destroying parts of the house in his wake, while Natasha and Clint busied themselves with the other men. Tony, Thor and Steve started looking around the place. Steve was the one who noticed Zeke and was quick to stop him, noticing the blood on the guy's shirt.
"Where is she?" Steve asked, his voice coming out as a growl as he pinned Zeke against a wall.
"Who?" Zeke asked with a smirk, Steve tightened his hold on the guy as Tony and Thor joined him.
"I won't ask again" warned Steve, Zeke laughed and the three men recognized the sound.
"You" hissed Tony moving quickly to replace Steve's position, "You have ten seconds to tell me why I should not blast your head to tiny pieces at this very moment"
"Stark, you showed, big fan of your work," Zeke said, Tony lifted the faceplate of the suit.
"Speak" Stark ordered, Zeke laughed.
"Why would I? I'm dead either way, this way me and your bitch die, such a sweet little thing, isn't she, all soft skin and those curves, deli-" Zeke's face was acquainted with Thor's fist before he could finish the sentence.
"Do not test me mortal, you shall tell me where is Alexandra or you'll wish for something as sweet as death" Thor said energy crackling around him; Zeke smiled at him, face bloody.
"The Hulk found her, there was a fake door in the basement" said Natasha through the comms, "She's battered but breathing" the three men looked at each other before nodding.
"You don't mess with my kid and get to live," said Tony before blasting Zeke to smithereens, his remains staining the wall behind him.
Alexandra kept on hearing the commotion, but blood loss was beginning to take its toll on her, her eyelids felt heavy but she fought to keep herself awake, the noises seemed to be growing closer until the door was blown to pieces and a familiar green figure stepped in, Alexandra smiled tiredly as she let darkness finally take her, she was safe.
The Hulk smashed into the room that Zeke had been keeping Alexandra in and quickly located the girl, hanging from the ceiling, she smiled at him before losing consciousness. Hulk was quick to move and break the chains holding her and cradling the small human in his arms, she was covered in both dried and fresh blood and Hulk was doing his best at holding her. Natasha was the second person to find the room and she was quick to inform the others, she walked to the Hulk, who gently handed Alexandra to the redhead.
"Thanks big guy" she said as she adjusted her grip on the unconscious young woman.
"The whole place is clear, Tony killed the guy" said Clint as he walked into the room, bow in hand.
"Good" said Natasha darkly, Clint looked at Alexandra "She's going to be fine, she's a Stark"
The Avengers met up in the destroyed living room, Tony grabbing Alexandra from Natasha's arms and flying out of the house immediately as doctors were already waiting for him at the Tower, Thor followed closely behind. The remaining Avengers, Bruce now included, walked to the vehicle that was outside waiting for them.