The Gentler Sex

Pepper leaned her head down, resting her hand over her strained eyes. The blue light from her laptop lit her closed eyelids as she sighed into her hand. No matter how many reports she wrote, how many books she balanced, there were always more. There would be a lot less if someone didn't keep throwing wild parties and refuse to separate work and personal funds, claiming it was 'all from him anyway' and she could just 'throw an extra zero on there and let them keep the change'.

Pepper leaned back in the chair and stretched her back. It was three in the morning. She'd been at her computer for hours. And for what? She didn't even need this job. Tony had made it clear on multiple occasions, sober and otherwise, that he would be more than happy to throw a few million dollars her way as thanks for all she'd done for the company. She could be lounging in luxury right now, eating bonbons in a jacuzzi. Instead she was sitting on an ergonomically balanced but still stiff desk chair in Stark Tower.

She stood up, bracing a hand on her stiff back, and turned up the thermostat. Getting kind of chilly in this silk nightgown. Sure would be nice if someone came and warmed me up, she thought. She wasn't holding her breath. Sure, she and Tony were in an "open relationship". She was okay with that, mostly because Tony's needs, or at least his hubris, was more than any woman could take. It was funny, though, how when she was busy on a night he wanted to meet, how huffy he got and how downright catty he would be, sniping insults at her paramour and in more than one case offering them seven-figure payouts to move to Korea.

That's it. I'm done, Pepper decided. She slid her feet into her pink fuzzy slippers. She'd mentioned once that she'd never been able to find exactly the kind she wanted. Tony, in a moment of romantic sentiment, had bought an entire factory. She'd never told him that in all that inventory, there still hadn't been the exact kind she wanted. She just picked the closest ones and she did like them, especially because they reminded her of him. Surely he would have liked to be associated with pink fuzzy slippers.

Leaving the laptop and the ever-present but never urgent work behind, Pepper padded out to the minibar. She wasn't in the mood for a hard drink, but she knew Tony kept some drunk people snacks in there. She fixed herself a club soda and munched some pretzels as she leaned against the counter, wondering whether she should wait around or call it a night.

A building-shaking crash jarred Pepper so hard she dropped her glass, soda splattering her ankle. She kicked the glass aside, stomping as soon as it was safe.

Oh my freaking god Tony I swear to god…

If this was the first time, Pepper would have rushed toward the sound, cradling her man and worriedly asking if he was all right. If this was the second time, she would have sarcastically told him the door was over there. If this was the third time, she would have rolled her eyes. This was the fifth time. Five times that man had crashed into his own building, either because of "technical difficulties" or just because he was goddamned bored!

"Tony, what in the everlasting heck are you thinking? If you think you're getting some tonight…"

Tony's impacts usually left a shattered window, a suspicious lack of damage to any complicated equipment, and an unscathed Tony lounging 'sexily' awaiting her, still in his Iron Man suit. This was something else entirely. More than a window, the entire wall had been taken out by a vehicle the size of a tank, as well as some very expensive and complex computing devices. The design of the obvious spaceship was alien, but the gold coloring and regal aesthetic brought her mind straight to Asgard.

Thor can be careless, but he's not rude. If he'd smashed into the building, he would already have been out by the time I got here, ready to apologize with a winning grin and assure me he'd fix it. There was only one reason the driver wasn't out of the ship. There was only one man who would crash into Stark Tower, then wait until she arrived to dramatically open the door and step out.

Pepper turned tail and sprinted out of the room. Whatever Loki wanted, he was up to no good. And he was going to be pissed that she denied him an entrance.


Loki POV

Loki hovered outside Stark Tower, his ship cloaked to any human technology. He ran some scans on the building and smiled. There was a single human inside the tower. While his instruments couldn't ascertain identity, they could tell him it was a female, and she was in a bedroom. Unless it was one of Tony's whores, in which case he would disgustedly leave without even bothering to accost her, it was exactly who he was looking for.

In the two long days he'd spent in prison before breaking out, Loki had had time to plot his revenge. He had many things to avenge- far more, it seemed to him, than "the Avengers". At the top of his list was the maddening series of humiliating defeats handed to him by members of the gentler sex. Jane… Jane again… Natasha… Each time he'd tried to take what rightfully belonged to someone of his stature, the impudent humans had rebuffed him. This time, he would target a woman without a single defense. She had none of Jane's intelligence or Natasha's training. Pepper was a very plain, completely undistinguished Midgardian.

As a bonus, she was Tony's woman. More than anyone but Thor, Loki hated Tony. The arrogant, ceaselessly talking rodent insulted a god to his face, then made vulgar jokes about his prowess. Loki wanted nothing more than to smash that smug grin and choke the grating voice out of his throat. And he would do all of that. But first, he would see the prattling jester shocked to silence at the sight of what Loki had done to his woman.

Loki pressed down on the accelerator, crashing through the fragile window and fondly remembering how it made the same noise when he threw Tony through it. The ship jarred as it hit the floor and bounced slightly, and Loki was pleased there was no one to see the way it jostled him.

And now to wait. Good things must not be rushed. How demeaning it would be if Pepper rushed to the room while he was awkwardly deboarding the plane, one leg swung over the side and both hands steadying his tilted body? Such a moment came only once, and he would savor it.

Pepper ran into the room, dressed in a sensual pink nightdress and childish pink slippers. I'll get rid of those right away, Loki thought, then focused on her face. He had thought she would be concerned, but she looked upset. It occurred to him, then, that she probably assumed he was Tony, such bombastic entrances being the norm for him.

All the better. How her face would shift when he revealed himself. Confusion and fleeting concern would melt into recognition and then terror. Her skin would go pale, setting off the blush pink of her gown, and she would tremble. He reached for the switch that would release the hatch over his head, revealing himself.

Before he got there, Pepper turned around and ran.

What… what are you doing? Loki thought, shocked into momentary immobilization at her rudeness. I wasn't done yet!