A/N: Sorry for the small wait! I blame Tumblr and War Horse (fantastic movie by the way – but a warning to Tom Hiddleston fans….it's a bit of a tear jerker – FEELS!) Anyways, I'm truly loving all this feedback you guys! You guys are the best! A warning about this chapter, it's a little sadder than the rest thus far (I'm still blaming War Horse for that one) but never fear Pepper to the rescue! I hope you enjoy! Oh yeah, and I don't own ^^, no suing please!

It was a Thursday evening upon which many of the Avengers felt that it was necessary to indulge in what the Midgardians call a "party". Loki was almost as lost as Thor on the fact that a mortal party only really involved getting rather intoxicated and losing oneself completely via dancing or mindless conversing – or at least it did when Tony Stark was involved. The God of Mischief surveyed the room in which he had been literally dragged into – by Bruce Banner of all people. Thor was winning a drinking challenge with Clint, Natasha was holding a pillow very tightly to her chest and muttering about the walls having eyes, Tony, Steve, and Bruce were singing Karaoke (quite terribly), and Ms. Potts – who had decided to keep a better eye on the Avengers and the trickster – was carefully watching everyone's every move. Loki himself was half cradled over an enormous bowl of candy (of which he had already consumed about 16 pounds) next to a large window, gazing over the interestingly lit streets.

Thor had already told everyone else the fact that Loki on a sugar rush was very similar to a very drunk Tony Stark. In his defense, the trickster was always more passionately emotional than cranky and very rarely made completely stupid decisions whilst under the influence of sugar. Loki's brow furrowed as he felt himself begin to succumb to the intoxication. Things were about to get very interesting. He glanced back at the room and noticed that everything was beginning to turn purple. The trickster's only inquiry about this occurrence was why purple? Loki tilted his head slightly, pondering how long he had until the sugar completely took over.

"Brother! Come challenge me to what these mortals call an arm wrestle!" Loki's eyes narrowed. Did he really just shout that across the room? Almost all of the Avengers stopped whatever they were doing and stared at the God of Mischief. Thor looked as if he couldn't decide whether to swoon or throw up.

"Um…okay!" The God of Thunder confusingly assented. Loki sighed; he was much more intoxicated than he had planned on being. The two gods sat down across from each other at the coffee table in the center of the room. Thor placed his right arm on the table and watched as Loki placed his trembling arm opposite the God of Thunder's.

"Nervous Brother?" Thor asked as confidence began to flow through his entire being. Loki scowled at him.

"O'course not!" Loki's scowl turned to a grimace as he realized he was slurring his words a tad. Thor merely rolled his eyes and forcefully grabbed his younger brother's hand.

"On the count of three! One, two," Thor's counting was cut off by Loki who had – after shouting "three" – suddenly jumped up; throwing his entire weight into forcing Thor's hand down against the table. Unfortunately, the table gave way from the force and collapsed which effectively made Loki topple over on to his older brother.

With many "oofs" and what seemed to be Asgardian swears, the two brothers landed in a tangled heap in front of Natasha – who decided that that moment was the best time to throw her pillow across the room at Clint and run off shouting about how no one could catch her. Unfortunately for Loki, he had ended up on the bottom of the heap and was having the air crushed out of him thanks to the fact that he was significantly smaller than Thor. Tony, Steve, and Bruce ceased their singing and began laughing at the sight of a flailing Loki trapped underneath a very apologetic Thor. Clint was trying to laugh as well but was finding it difficult in his drunken state.

"Thor! GET. OFF." Loki was not very pleased with his current situation.

"I'm sorry brother, really I am!" Thor said as he tried to get off him without injuring him. As soon as he could, Loki slipped out from beneath him and pointed at him triumphantly.

"Ha-ha, I beat you, you big oaf! Finally after all these years, let it be known that I, the God of Mischief, beat the Almighty Thor at his own game!" Loki's tone had gone from victorious to dark. Thor was taken aback; Loki hadn't had that look in his eyes since his fight with the Avengers.

"Loki. I am-," Thor's apology was cut off by Loki pushing him rather forcibly away from him.

"I don't need your petty apologies, Brother!" There were tears in his eyes as he barred his teeth, almost grinning darkly. It was then that Pepper decided to step in. She calmly walked over to the pair of brothers, grabbed Loki's left ear, and proceeded to drag him out to the balcony. The Avengers shot each other drunken looks of concern.

Outside, Pepper let go of Loki who sulkingly sat down with his legs dangling over the edge. Pepper quietly sighed and joined him at the edge of the balcony. She was about to say something comforting when Loki spoke up.

"How do you always manage to have control in every situation you find yourself in, Lady Potts?" he asked quietly. Pepper couldn't keep the small smile from forming on her face. She gently placed her hand on Loki's back. The God stiffened ever so slightly.

"It's taken many years of practice," she said in an almost encouraging tone. Loki slowly buried his face in his hands; the sugar rush finally taking full effect. Pepper was almost a little surprised when the trickster began to sob quietly. Without lifting his head he began to speak between each sob.

"I-I never wanted to hurt anybody! I just wanted them to look at m-me l-like they looked at Thor! It didn't matter what he did! They always praised him for it! B-but when I did my best to please them they always looked at me like I was a monster! It all makes sense now though, I'm not even Asgardian – I-I'm a Jotun, a Frost Giant! No one loves Frost Giants…and when I tried to rid the universe of their presence; I was cast out; banished as if my life didn't matter to anyone!" Loki paused to catch his breath and pull out a container of Nutella that he had had hidden in his cloths. Pepper shook her head slightly and pulled Loki into a sideways hug. The God froze.

"You're only ever a monster if you deem yourself to be; it does not truly matter what anyone says you are, it only matters what you say you are. Even if your real family cast you out, you have all of us who will always be there for you. And Thor will never cease to be your caring brother, as long as you never cease to be his brother. You're not alone Loki, and you are very loved here by everyone – even Clint thinks you're one of the funniest people he's ever met."

"Lady Potts?"

"Yes Loki?"

"…..Thank you."

Pepper smiled as she felt Loki relax slightly, and couldn't quite suppress the giggle when she heard the Trickster's faint snoring a few seconds later. Comforting those whom others thought couldn't be comforted, that was her super power – always had been.

A/N: Poor Loki! Anyways I hope you enjoyed, and I promise that I'll work with any prompt or request that comes my way, it'll come, I promise! ^^ Remember, feedback = my Nutella, and me + Nutella = faster updates ^^. Stay awesome out there!