Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, Disney, or any companies affiliated with the before mentioned companies. All characters -except Crystal- are owned by Marvel and it's affiliate companies. This is a work of pure entertainment and no copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: Loki finds happiness on Midgard in the form of the Avengers and a quirky mortal that Darcy Lewis may or may not have set him up to meet. Loki learns how to accept himself and that joy can be found anywhere.
Warning: Warnings will go on a per chapter basis. Chapter one contains mentions of torture and how the torture disfigured Loki. I will not be graphic -or so I hope- because I have a very visual mind. This chapter is rather angst filled and is an introduction of how the other characters feel. Later chapters will be more centered on Loki. Hopefully I've not put anyone to sleep with my legalities and warnings but if you're still with me please enjoy.
#########Chapter 1: Think Before You Judge #########
He remembers how it happened. How he was brought low by Odin, but the mortals saved him. He regrets allowing his emotions to poison him but that is the past. The sounds of laughter interrupt his thoughts.
********* 3 Years Ago *********
Loki stands silently in the Avengers Tower wearing a long black cloak that covers his body and face. Thor stands close to Loki and looks at the Avengers with guilty and pleading eyes. Thor looks at his friends and clears his throat. "My most trusted friends, I ask that you please Allow my brother and I refuge from," Thor hesitates only a brief moment before his jaw tightenes "from Odin's wrath."
Clint looks at the pair of alien men and snorts. "Why can't Loki ask us nicely himself, you know being a Silvertounge and everything." He grins but his words are laced with bitterness. He is too caught up in his own hatred of Loki to catch the flinch of the cloaked figure. He rolls his eyes when Loki doesn't answer. "What's the matter Loki, Odin got your tongue?" Clint doesn't care that Thor is yelling at him because Loki's silence is pissing him off.
Bruce is the first to actually notice the silence of Loki and how Loki is flinching. "Barton enough, something is wrong." Bruce goes to walk over to Loki but Thor stops him. He sees how Thor's eyes seem to convey a silent plea for privacy. Bruce looks over at Loki and he finally notices the other problem. Loki's hands are far too thin. "Everyone but Thor and Loki can leave. Now."
Clint is ready to tell Bruce where to shove the idea of leaving when Natasha whispers him. "Loki's hands are too thin." She looks at Clint and makes an almost imperceptible motion with her eyes. Clint looks at Loki's hands -despite not caring about the alien or how unnaturally quiet the alien was- and realized that Loki's hands weren't just too thin; his hands were skin and bone.
Tony and Steve watch silently but the moment they laid eyes on the cloaked demi-god they felt sick. Tony notices how Loki stands. Steve notices how Loki reacts. Silently both men agree that Loki is broken. Loki doesn't talk or react beyond flinching when Clint starts yelling and practically begging Loki to become the threat that Clint wants the Trickster to be for the Avengers. They both realize at that point Loki was shuddering. When Bruce tells them to leave Steve and Tony leave without unnecessary comments because something isn't right and their instincts scream that they're about to know why sooner rather than later.
Tony isn't stupid -he just does a lot of stupid things- so when he, Steve, Clint, and Natasha leave the common room and settle into the rec room he automatically has Jarvis show them a live feed of what's happening in the common room. Steve doesn't protest the intrusion because Loki is still considered a threat. Clint hopes he gets to see Banner Hulk-out and smash Loki. Natasha is guarded because none of this makes sense. None of them are prepared when they watch Loki reluctantly pull back the hood.
Loki's eyes are covered in a bloodied makeshift bandage while his lips are literally sewn shut with sharp looking silver wire. His face looks like Death. His cheeks are sunken and hallow. Blood pours from where the wire cuts into his lips and dries on the old blood. Burns speckle his face and immediately the group knows Loki was tortured.
Clint can't move. The image of Loki freezes his blood and body in time. He hates Loki but this is too much. No one deserves this. Loki looks like a walking skeleton. A living nightmare. Clint turns on his heel and starts to leave the rec room. He wanted Loki to be punished for his crimes and to suffer retribution, but this wasn't punishment. What happened to Loki is just sick and twisted hatred. Clint is almost out of the rec room when he hears Bruce ask "who did this?" Clint froze when he heard Thor's only word. "Odin."
No one commented about Clint leaving or the wretching sounds that came when he locked himself in the bathroom. They all are feeling sick. They wanted justice. They wanted retribution. What lay before them wasn't any of that. Loki was tortured to cause maximum pain. A torture ordered by the man who he once called father. Perhaps it wasn't Loki's fault that he was crazy.