"Oh really now?" he said, eyebrows rising as he turned in his seat to watch Pepper rummage through the refrigeration unit. "Would you rather I told you that you looked like a heinous old troll? Because if that's what would please you, I can."

She seemed disinclined to break her silence to speak to him, only grabbing a carton of ham salad and peeling the lid back to plaster some of the stuff on a piece of bread as she shut the refrigerator and moved to the counter, pointedly turning her back to him.

"Stark's right about your name, I think," Loki shared with her, unfazed by her silence. "You don't look like a Virginia."

She rolled her eyes as she moved from standing at the counter to flop herself down in the chair opposite him at the table.

He tilted his head to the side, studying her petite features before he decided, "Perhaps… Ginny?"

Her eyes flew to his, registering something besides anger. She was intrigued.

Loki smiled and took that as a good sign, saying, "Very well, Ginny it is."

She smiled at him then; just barely, but a smile nonetheless.

"That's better," Loki praised with his own smile widening. "You know, when you're angry, you're easier to deal with when you just burst into flames."

She kicked him under the table, to which he only began laughing. He was surprised how relieved he was when, after a moment, she laughed as well.

"You, sir, are insane," she informed him, speaking at last.

"Probably," Loki agreed. "And you haven't even heard my latest idea."

"Did this come to you before or after 'Ginny'?" she asked warily.

"Goodness, before. Even I'm not that impetuous."

"Ginny" shrugged, saying, "I'm used to Tony, so it seems like a valid question."

"Ahh."

"Anyway," she prompted. "Latest idea."

"Do you think we did any good this afternoon in the park?"

Ginny shrugged, wariness growing in her eyes as she said, "By the time the cops got there, they had all those bad guys to lock up, so maybe. Why?"

"Do you think we worked well together?" Loki asked, nibbling at his sandwich as he watched her.

"In that context, I guess so… Why?"

"Because I think we ought to do it more often. Like a hobby – after-work activity." She was looking more and more against what he was saying the longer he spoke, so he shut up after offering the last-ditch effort of adding, "Trust building exercise?"

"I do not trust you, nor will I ever do so," Ginny said firmly. "End of story. And the answer is 'no.' Acting as a vigilante is against the law."

"Well, consider us an offshoot of the Avengers, then, if you must. We practically are that anyway."

"I don't appreciate the connection," Ginny answered dryly. "The answer is no. Do you understand?"

Loki nodded. Of course he understood… but surely even she suspected that he wouldn't actually obey.


Pepper – no, she was going to go by "Ginny" now – had meant what she'd said about not trusting Loki… but that didn't mean that she hadn't enjoyed him kissing her. She hated herself for admitting it while she laid in bed staring at the ceiling after midnight, but the kisses had been kind of nice. Yes, Loki quite frequently reminded her of Tony, but somehow he was so… proper even so. Except for those couple of times when he had done something wildly improper and kissed her. Which she hadn't minded. And she hated that she didn't mind. And here she was at square one again.

Gosh, why did men have to be so wonderful and so stupid!


Stupid was too kind, Ginny decided fiercely, once again glaring at the break room television the next morning. He – Frost, the ice 'mutant' – was trying to save people from a burning building! Honestly, did he have any common sense whatsoever?

"Jim, I'm so sorry, but something's come up again," she apologized over her shoulder once again as she darted out the door.

Less than ten minutes later, she landed in the Bronx in front of the burning building, fully "Flared" up.

"Frost!" she screamed up into the building.

Just like that, he bounded obligingly from a third story window, handing a wheezing kindergartener off to a rescue worker before he turned to her and said, "It took you long enough; I believe that was the last of the people inside. I have a feeling this is really more your sort of thing than mine anyway."

Ginny looked momentarily up at the groaning, burning building and flinched. No, not really. Not by choice.

But then there was a sudden scream as a panicked woman threw herself at Frost, begging, "Please! Please help me! My daughter! She's sick and was home from school and isn't outside! Please, my baby's in there!"

Frost's red eyes blew wide and he looked across the woman's head to Flare for guidance.

"Ma'am," Flare asked, trying to keep her voice steady. "Which window is your apartment?"

The woman pointed and Flare didn't let herself think.

"Stay here on the ground and see if you can't do anything to help the firemen dampen the blaze," she ordered Frost before jumping onto the building, going from windowsill to windowsill until she got to the one the woman had indicated.

Once she was inside, only then did she notice that the smoke miraculously didn't bother her. Must be due to the improved organs that had come with Extremis.

She scanned the house, stepping straight through the walls of fire that would have stopped rescue attempts from anyone else right in their tracks until she stumbled upon the girl, curled up peacefully on the couch as if she was asleep. Most likely, she had been sleeping and simply inhaled enough fumes and smoke to pass out without coming to. Feeling guilty for even thinking it, Flare realized how much this could potentially make her job easier as she scooped the girl – probably around eleven years old – into her arms and went back the way she had come, jumping back out the window and saving the girl's life, to suddenly become one of the two most talked-about superheroes in New York City.

Another thought that she was none too proud of but couldn't really help but relish: Take that, Tony.