A puff of white foam shot out of the extinguisher, spraying across the small room and covering Loki in snowy sludge. He made a tiny noise of surprise, crossing his arms in front of his face and stepping back. Pepper pulled the trigger as far back as it went, blasting Loki and waving her arms up and down to also coat the floor in slippery gunk. Maybe six seconds later, when the pressure was waning and Loki was about to charge anyway, she turned tail and ran.
Behind her, Pepper could hear the squeaks and scrapes as Loki slid on the foam-covered floor, trying to run after her. She had expected some archaic outburst expressing fury at her impudence and maligning her ancestry and promiscuity, and she couldn't help but smirk when she realized Loki was quiet so he wouldn't get a mouthful of suds. As she reached the door to the conference room, she wheeled around and threw the extinguisher like a discus at the printing room. Loki, who had just stepped through the door and was wiping foam from his face, took a hit square to the chest. Pepper vainly hoped that his eyes looked like that because foam got in them and not because he was boiling mad.
Pepper darted back down the hall, toward the room Loki so rudely smashed into. It was a wide, spacious room, containing everything from a wet bar (of course) to a couch. Then there was the wall-to-wall window that admitted a lovely cityscape of New York. It was currently shattered by the Asgardian ship sitting on the floor.
Pepper scanned the room, looking for a hiding place. There were dozens of candidates, from the small but not quite too small cabinet under the bar to the air vents, if she was feeling cinematic. She didn't have the acrobatic skills for that, and moreover, she didn't have the time. Memories of childhood games of hide-and-seek came to mind- how she'd crouched in her perfect spots, giggling as she watched the seeker pass her by and finally give up.
From all her experience, Pepper knew the simplest spots were the best. She ran to the stack of logs by the fireplace. The fireplace was artificial, but the logs really tied the scene together. She wiggled her way behind them and pushed the bottom ones out slightly, making a little hollow that she could hide in. From the outside, it seemed like the logs were flush with the wall and the bottom ones were just a little longer.
It took Loki longer than it should have to enter the room. From between cracks in the logs, Pepper could see he was mostly clean, with just a few bits of foam clinging to his clothes. She smiled at the image of him stopping his insane revenge quest to demurely wipe himself off. He stomped through the room, checking likely spots and pushing things around in his pettishness.
Now we're in it for the long haul, she thought. Other than the nerve-wracking knowledge that her enemy was in the same room with her, tearing it apart to find her, things would be almost dull from this point on. All she had to do was sit tight and wait for Tony to get there.
Tony Stark POV
I'm late. Well what else is new? Pepper will be mad for a few minutes and then roll her eyes and smile and we'll be fine.
Tony pulled on the front door to Stark Tower. When it didn't budge, his front half jerked awkwardly, since he hadn't at all expected that and had put his normal forceful weight into the movement.
Huh? Did Jarvis get another virus? Or maybe it's a psychotic AI hellbent on destroying humanity. Equally probable these days.
Since Tony was the one who had designed the door, it was no trouble opening it. He did some tech wizard stuff and a moment later, the door slid open. He looked up, craning his neck to see the entire building.
Pepper's light isn't on. Maybe she already went to bed. Perfect. That's where I wanted to go anyway, he thought as he strode in.
That's weird, he thought as he started down the hall. Usually the lights came on as soon as the motion sensors found him. Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, Tony clapped his hands.
Aha! He thought, when nothing happened. Something is definitely wrong. Then curious perturbation gave way to genuine concern. Where's Pepper?
Tony bounded up the steps two at a time, wondering exactly why it was he thought his building needed so many floors. Goodness knows most of them were just filled with pools and video games anyway. And of course he put all the important stuff on the top floor. Really it would have been smarter to put that in the basement where it wasn't vulnerable to aerial attack, but… a top floor penthouse looked cooler.
Okay. Get to the top floor. Put on Iron Man suit. Find Pepper. If there's a big threat, fight it in the Iron Man suit. If it was just something silly, make a big entrance in the Iron Man suit, which Pepper thinks is sexy. Win-win scenario.
Racing up the flights with the speed only a man anticipating saving a woman could manage, Tony arrived at the top floor, breathless and leaning against the wall. He quickly finessed the door open and stepped into the corridor.
Oh look. One open door, right where I need to be. Guess I'll try that one.
Tony ran through the door, mouth opening to call his suit before he even took in the giant ship on the floor and the disheveled state of the rest of the room. But before he could say a word, a hand snaked around the door and grabbed him by the throat.