Pepper POV
At the sound of an opening door, Loki turned. He smiled a Cheshire grin as he slipped across the room, standing beside the open door.
Be careful, Tony, Pepper thought from her perch. Her stomach fluttered, because she had never in her life known Tony to be careful.
When Tony burst through the door, Pepper felt an instant's triumphant certainty that everything would be all right. Just as quickly, her heart lurched when Loki shot out an arm like a snake and picked Tony up by his throat.
Don't panic, Pepper thought. This isn't the first time this has happened, and it didn't end well for Loki last time.
"Nothing to say? This is a first," Loki taunted Tony, shaking him lightly. Tony arched his back and pointed at Loki's hand on his throat. Indulgently, Loki obliged.
"Long time no see," Tony said with some strain. "I tried to send you a message, but I guess it didn't go through." Loki knitted his brow in confusion. "It was a bill for the floor. For the dent you made. You know, when Hulk handed you your ass."
Loki smiled. "Humans should be seen and not heard," he said. He swung his arm forcefully, smashing the lower half of Tony's face into the edge of the door. Pepper's stomach dropped at the crunching noise, and her breath caught when she saw Tony's eyes go wide with panic as he pressed a hand to his jaw. He hadn't been scared before. He was just calculating, making a plan to get a chance to call his suit. But he couldn't call his suit if he couldn't speak.
Loki folded his arms as he loomed over Tony, who was scooting back on the floor and pushing himself up with his other arm. "Unlike you, your woman is actually capable of being still. She's been quite elusive. But I suspect you can find her quicker than I can."
He cocked back a leg and kicked Tony in the ribs. Pepper flinched at the way Tony jerked and his muffled groan, then froze when she knocked against the logs, jostling one. Don't do something stupid. He's gotten out of worse than this before. He can take care of himself.
Pepper's optimism and loyal faith in Tony started to erode as events played out. As Tony was still uncurling himself, Loki kicked him again, this time in the face. There was a spray of blood from his nose, and the impact rolled him onto his side, leaving his back exposed. Pepper pressed her hands to her mouth before she even saw the impact, since Loki's boot was directly above Tony's kidney. When it landed, Pepper promised to swear forever to Tony that she had not heard his tiny squeal.
Come on, Tony. You can do this. I need you, Pepper thought. Tony had his rough edges… maybe more rough edges than smooth edges, but it was those few glimmers that first attracted her to him. He was vain, and selfish, and horribly immature, but he could be so much more. She'd seen him in his best moments, and she knew the greatest were yet to come. He was a hero for selfish reasons, but he was a hero. When all the flippancy and grandstanding were washed away and the world really needed him, she knew he'd step up. And she knew he'd do the same for her.
Loki picked Tony up by his shirt and carried him toward the window, casually demonstrating both his skill and his sheer height. Tony tried to punch him. Pepper cringed, for she didn't have Tony's easy confidence. Loki caught the hand easily, and Pepper saw his pale hand flex and his knuckles go white as he squeezed until there were three quiet cracks. Tony kept silent that time, but his face told Pepper everything.
"Puny man," Loki said. He picked Tony up over his head and threw him down full force, onto the exact spot, still marked by a thin seam, that Loki had hit courtesy of Hulk. With Loki, the floor dented. With Tony, he dented. Tears sprang to Pepper's eyes at the flat, sickening thump of Tony's back hitting the floor. Tony's chest quivered as he tried to breathe. He wheezed, and a trickle of blood dripped from his mouth.
Loki stepped on Tony's throat and leaned lightly into the movement. He turned up his head and looked around the room.
"It seems your woman has no heart," he said, loud enough for Pepper to hear, wherever she was hiding. "Women are such frigid things."
Pepper knew where this was going. Loki was about to say if she didn't come out, he'd kill Tony. She trembled, because even though she knew Tony would tell her not to, she would.
Tony's lips moved as he mumbled something she didn't hear, no doubt witty and insulting. Loki either didn't hear or didn't gratify it. He knelt by Tony, his cape spreading theatrically behind him. As Tony tried again to rise, Loki pinned one of his arms under his knee and casually held the other with a hand.
"Women think they have such power," he said. He bent closer, so Pepper had to strain to hear. "If the lady won't join us, there are other pleasures." Tony's eyes went round as Loki kissed him. For an instant he didn't even react, he was so shocked and unprepared. That was Pepper's breaking point.
I defy anyone to read all those legends where Loki just HAD to disguise himself as a woman or seduce male gods and tell me that man was entirely straight.