Pepper thought it might be less clear for Loki than he tried to portray; he was there, after all, offering comfort in a fashion. She stared down at her lover, still and unresponsive, wondering how much awareness he had of the conversation happening around him, about him.

"When we'd all forgotten everything." Another time when they'd been robbed of the memories that defined them, although in retrospect Pepper had to think this was worse. At least then they had been left to fill in their own blanks, and Pepper recalled Tony telling her about how he and Loki had become friends--and what Loki asked him to do.

"You aren't the only one trying to figure things out, Loki." She looked at him at last, for the first time since she'd discovered Tony awake. Whatever compelled her to speak on, be it that fictional life or her own current needs, Pepper didn't have the will to resist, although perhaps it would have been better if she had. "It hurts, you know. Looking at you, and knowing--everything."

What had been. What had never been. What would be, after all those memories were reconciled.