Another update right away! Because I might have needed that super-short chapter for exposure, but it was boring. This is fun. This story takes place in three different storylines, set in the past, the present, and the future. I don't own the Avengers films - I haven't even seen them!
TapTap
Past
Pepper sat before the glass wall - revealed to be glass only from this side - and watched Loki. She had to admit (if only to herself, she'd certainly never hear the end of it if she told Tony) that she liked doing that. She had brought him water at first because she'd thought it worth while testing if he'd be more cooperative if not forced - a feeding tube down your throat had to hurt, after all - and by the third time she visited him, she had come to like the defeated magician.
Perhaps she was just hopeless with her maternal instincts; Tony, after all, was also all but helpless in so many ways. Loki was sweet, too, the way he'd desperately cling to little things in what had to be a very upsetting time. Like tea; Loki seemed to be able to drink endless cups of tea, and she was happy to bring him some; at least he was somewhat grateful, different from a certain hopeless playboy she knew.
Tony hated that she visited Loki, but what did he really think the frost giant (or whatever he counted as these days) would really do? His powers were largely restrained, and besides, the man was very pragmatic. He knew very well Pepper was the only one who would bring him tea, so why on earth would he hurt her. That'd only lead to no tea. There was still plenty of agents for him to try and hurt (and he did, regularly, too) so he needn't turn on the one person who was useful to him. Years of being around Tony Stark had made her virtually immune to seeing things in a sentimental fashion, clearly. But she still liked to look at the dark-haired tea-drinker lounging on his couch, unaware of him being watched. After all, what was the harm?