Random Bonus Chapter

Pepper had known Tony since they were four; a product of Pepper's mother being Howard Stark's secretary (going on sixteen years this January). So Pepper felt like a bit of an authority on all things Tony Stark. The only other person who know Tony as well as she did was Rhodey, and Tony and Rhodey tended to lose contact with each other for weeks at a time despite being in half of the same classes. It was just a thing that they did.

Tony Stark acted like an asshole. Granted, only half of it was an act; Tony was arrogant, a smartass, too clever to get along with people his own age. Hell, more than half of the adults who had a conversation with seventeen-year-old Tony Stark walked away feeling like idiots. But see, most of it was a front, a mask that Tony had built up.

When you were rich and smart and related to the owner of Stark Industries, you learned very quickly how to put people off. Most people- teenagers, teachers, strangers from the street- only wanted Tony's time for his ideas, his money, or his dad. After the four hundredth, "Wow, that's great; so listen, can you introduce me to your dad?" Tony had given up on acting like a sane human being and had gone on the offensive.

So he swore. He acted like an idiot. He made fourteen witty remarks that left your head spinning just seconds after meeting him. Beneath that- the cutting words and cocky smile and bright, crazy eyes- was a deeply loyal guy who would always be there for his friends.

Anyway, the point was that Pepper knew Tony pretty damn well. Tony didn't get along with many people. And the people he did get along with- Pepper, Rhodey, Clint and Natasha and Steve and Bruce, sometimes- well, even they had a hard time dealing with Tony in large doses. Pepper wasn't about to lie and say that she could always follow Tony's thoughts, handle him, and put up with him. Sometimes even she had to walk away for a bit; take a breather.

Which was why, when Tony sat beside her one lunch and declared, 'Pep, I'm in love!' Pepper rolled her eyes and brushed the comment aside.

After all, this was Tony Stark.

When Tony sought her out at lunch for the next two weeks- consistently, sitting down with a bag of McDonalds or a bucket of KFC or even a pizza box- and kept saying, 'Pepper, I've met my future husband,' or, 'Pepper, his eyes are really green,' and even, 'Pepper, of my God, he's just so adorable!' and flopping over the table like he could no longer deal with his existence, that was when Pepper started paying attention.

'What?' she asked.

Tony jerked up and grinned, like suddenly life had meaning again. Pepper sighed. 'Loki, Pepper!' Tony said. 'We're gonna get married one day.'

Tony kinda sounded like one of those obsessed fans who insisted that they were gonna marry their favourite musician or actress.

'Loki...' Pepper said slowly. Tony nodded enthusiastically. 'Wait.'

Tony waited.

'Loki?' Pepper asked, eyes narrowed on her friend. 'Loki as in Loki Laufeyson? The guy who set William Kelly on fire?'

'Yes,' Tony beamed. Like he hadn't just announced that he wanted to marry a pyromaniac.

'No,' Pepper said. She shook her head and repeated the word a few times, because- 'Of all the insane ideas you've had, Tony, this one really takes the cake.'

Tony pouted at her. 'Now I want cake and Loki.'

'You want... I don't... seriously?' Pepper asked. When Tony just nodded Pepper groaned and reached up to rub her eyes, careful not to smudge her make up. 'Tony,' she sighed.

'What?' Tony asked.

'Are you... okay, first of all,' Pepper said, 'since when do you like guys?'

Tony just hummed a bit, played with his fries, and then shrugged. 'I dunno. Since I saw Loki, I suppose.'

Well okay, then. Pepper couldn't say that she was completely surprised. That was Tony; suddenly attracted to a guy and he just went with it. No sexual identity crises for Tony Stark.

'Why?' Tony said suddenly, scowling at her. 'Have a problem with me liking guys, Pep?'

Pepper rolled her eyes and reached over to flick Tony on the nose. 'Bad, Tony, bad!'

'Ow, what the hell?!'

Pepper smirked as Tony rubbed his nose and glared at her. 'Of course I don't have a problem with it!' she said. 'I love you, you know that. And I've never been homophobic in my life.' She paused. 'Well, not to my knowledge.'

'Good,' Tony grunted. 'So what's the problem?'

'Well... Loki,' she said, and really, that should be all the explanation necessary.

Loki Laufeyson, from what Pepper could tell, was not a nice person. He was incredibly smart, which most of the teachers despised, but he was weird, dark, and he laughed at other people's suffering. Plus, you know-

'He set William Kelly on fire,' she reminded her best friend.

'Yeah,' Tony grinned, 'it was awesome.'

Pepper stared at him, mouth gaping slightly. Oh, God. Of course Tony would find that amazing. He was insane.

'Loki's totally cool, Pep, you should see him!'

'I have seen him,' she murmured. Loki was gorgeous, there was no doubt about that. And he was charming when he wanted to be; Pepper had seen him flirt with one of the librarians to get extra time on the computer.

But he liked setting people on fire and fighting with his classmates and correcting the teachers. He was actually worse than Tony; Tony 2.0; Tony to the power of three.

'I'm gonna ask him out,' Tony declared, breaking Pepper from his thoughts.

'Okay...' she said, drawing the word out slowly, 'have you ever actually... spoken to Loki?'

Tony blinked at her. 'No?'

'Is that a question or an answer?' Pepper asked.

'No,' Tony said firmly.

'No to the first part or-'

'Pepper!' He glared at her and Pepper laughed quietly. 'Stop laughing at me- this is my future, Pep!' Tony said. 'My soon-to-be spouse!'

'So you're going to skip dating and just marry him?' Pepper asked. 'I think you have to be eighteen to get married, Tony.'

Tony waved a dismissive hand. 'I'll look into it tonight. Besides, I don't mind waiting.'

With that said Tony turned, abandoned his lunch, and just started... staring across the cafeteria. Pepper frowned and followed his train of sight, then laughed; Loki was sitting at a table by himself, a book to his left, using his fork to slowly push his beans around his plate.

Oh dear God. Tony was smitten. Actually, legitimately, smitten. This wasn't a joke or Tony being... Tony. Tony liked Loki Laufeyson.

Pepper had to laugh again. Laughter kept her sane.

{oOo}

Apparently Tony's "Super Genius Plan to Get Loki to Date Me" was to... go up and tell Loki that they'd make beautiful children together if it was biologically possible.

Pepper almost face-palmed just because of the sheer... Tony-ness of the whole thing. She couldn't hear exactly what Tony and Loki were discussing, but Tony was smiling and Loki looked amused, so it seemed to be going... well? She'd stick with "well".

'What's going on?' Rhodey asked from beside her.

Pepper smiled weakly. 'Tony has a massive crush on Loki Laufeyson,' she informed him. She laughed at the way Rhodey's eyes bugged out. 'Well, Tony's apparently decided that he and Loki are going to get married at some point in the future and be evil geniuses together... or something, he was talking too quickly.' And too much. Every other conversation with Tony involved Loki these days.

'Wait... what?' Rhodey demanded. 'Since when does Tony like guys?'

'Since Loki,' Pepper shrugged.

Loki was smirking now, which Pepper didn't think was good, but Tony was still grinning and staring and generally behaving like Loki was the most amazingly beautiful person he'd ever set eyes on. And who knows, maybe that was actually how Tony felt. Pepper had never understood how his mind worked.

By now the entire cafeteria had realised what Tony was doing and how Loki was reacting, so when Loki spoke Pepper heard every word;

'Very well,' Loki said. 'I shall go on one date with you. If you fail to meet the requirements I've set out, and if you bore me, I will be in your vicinity when you spontaneously burst into flames through no direct result of my own actions.'

Tony beamed. 'Deal!'

Oh, no.

Pepper grabbed Rhodey's arm and hissed, 'Intervention, intervention!'

'After how the last one went?' he demanded, refering to the time they'd tried to stop Tony staying up all night "doing science". Tony's robot, DUM-E, had chased them around the house with a fire extinguisher. It still did when Tony got into one of his moods.

'We have to do something!' Pepper said. She knew that Tony was love drunk, but she'd never expected Loki to actually agree to a date.

'I'm staying out of it,' Rhodey said, shaking his head. 'Let Tony make his mistakes. And hey, maybe it'll work out.'

Pepper glared at him.

'Sometimes Tony's plans do,' Rhodey shrugged.

{oOo}

'Pepper, Pepper, we're officially dating!' Tony shouted, making Pepper wince and pull her cellphone away from her ear.

'That's nice, Tony,' she said when Tony finally went quiet.

'Nice? It's not nice! It's amazing! Spectacular! Fucking-'

'Yes, Tony,' she interrupted, laughing when Tony huffed.

'Stop laughing at me,' he whined, 'you've been laughing at me ever since I told you I love Loki.'

'I'm sorry,' she said, mostly sincere- she was happy for Tony, but he was adorable when he was smitten. Despite her reservations about Loki, he at least made Tony happy.

'Good,' Tony grunted. 'So are you gonna have lunch with me and my boyfriend tomorrow?'

'Yes, Tony,' she promised, and only hung up after the third, "Pepper, his dick is glorious! I'm gonna build a shrine!" She was Tony's best friend; she wasn't a saint.

{oOo}

Tony and Loki had absolutely zero problems with discussing their sex life in front of... well, anyone; Pepper included. Which was why, at lunch about a week after Tony and Loki "became official", she stood, grabbed her lunch, and left before Loki could voice whatever sexual act it was he wanted. She sat with Rhodey and Bruce Banner, both boys smiling at her as she bit back into her sandwich.

She couldn't help but glance over at Tony and Loki a few minutes later, just to make sure that Tony wasn't preforming the promised sexual act right there in the cafeteria.

Well, she mused when she caught sight of the two making out, practically humping on the table, at least Loki hasn't set anyone on fire.

Author's Note: GreenLoki once said to me something along the lines of, 'Girl, you KNOW Johnny's gonna write more; stop fighting it.' And look at that! Johnny's written more. So there you go :D

So, what happened was, I stayed up AGAIN and I'm currently running on five hours sleep over a 32 hour period. My brain, sleep-deprived as it is, decided to revisit this 'verse. YAY!

Or, whatever.

Cheers,

{Dreamer}