Author's Note: I was tempted to do this one by one. Starting off with a specific person and describing how totally masochistic or sadistic or just plain mean they were or broken, even. But then I decided to change things up a bit. Avengers + Loki, by the way. Because out of all the six of them, Loki is by far, the craziest. It's the truth. I may love the brat god but he's in need of psychological help and counseling. No sugarcoating. This fic is the exact opposite of sugarcoating.

The Captain was right, in a way.

And not just about Tony. This wasn't even about Tony anymore.

This was about all of them.

The Avengers weren't saints. They weren't natural born do-gooders or chivalrous prince(ss) charming ready to save the day. They were a remarkable set of people with specific skill sets and capabilities, let's give them that, but they were exactly what Bruce said. They were a time bomb, ready to blow up any minute. The casualties would be great in number. The broken pieces would scatter around the area, and nobody is going to be picking them up. The Avengers licked their wounds in silence when they were hurt. It was only then when they decided to band together and fight like a real self-respecting response team, did they learn how to work together. Working together doesn't just fit into fighting bad guys and whooping their asses, but it also meant being there for each other, no matter how cliche that is. There's no better wording. Maybe there is.

They have their own demons. Those demons are from the people they couldn't save. From the fires they could've put out before it burned flesh of innocents. From villains they couldn't catch. These demons kept them awake at night, restlessly pacing in their quarters, biting their fingernails until they bled. Their demons laughed sardonically into their ear, reminding them of every single nightmare, every single wrong move. Talons lazily drew lines in their mind. Sharp teeth sunk into their flesh and terrorized their already frayed minds. You could imagine how Barton's demons tripled, what with the mind control and everything.

But that's the thing about them that makes them so special. So absurd and so dysfunctional yet so heroic in their own twisted little ways. Never mind the demons. Never mind those nightmares and those drunken nights when all you can do is trudge down to your workshop and build and build until you can't stop. When the world needed them, they stood up from the red, from the past they are stuck in, from the children they couldn't save, and told themselves that they will do better this time.

The Avengers weren't heroes. They weren't anything special, so to speak. But they became heroes. They became special because they chose to become special. It was simple, really. They had a bad present, had a bad past, it only takes one choice, one step away from the roof of the fifty-story building, one conversation to have a good future.

They were also human.

Of course, save for the Asgardian hunk Thunder God named Thor but that's besides the point. Even he had moments where you could blink and think of him as a human rather than a god who wielded a magical hammer.

And as humans would naturally act, they took that chance that meant slow redemption, and a chance at a better life.

Then there was their villain. Loki.

Nobody really understands Loki. To understand him, you'd have to pick apart every fiber of his being, every lie he's ever told. His form was everchanging. Maybe you'd get a snippet or two, of how it really feels like to be in his mind, what goes on when he kills a man or two or eighty. Then, it vanishes completely. Loki was unpredictable, wild and cannot be controlled. Maybe he can. But even Loki doesn't know who or what that is.

He was a hypocrite. Going on about a monster who makes play that he is a man.

Loki was a monster. There was no denying in what or who he is. He brought it upon himself. He was a good man with unconventional yet endearing ways to prove it. He loved his mother and father and even if he was jealous he loved his brother. Then, he decided to live up to his true from. Loki had a choice. He could have accepted it without the anger. Sure, Thor was going to get crowned King of Asgard. Sure, Thor was banished and yet Odin refused to give him the throne. But he had a choice.

Many of you will say that no matter how simple it sounds, it is not. Many of you will say he was so torn up by grief and pain and envy that he could not distinguish right from wrong.

No. It was simple. Loki was intelligent. He knows what to do and what not to do but he sought vengeance and wrath upon Thor and Midgard anyway. He was a monster, in that very moment, but we all knew that Loki wasn't a monster. He wasn't always that way. He was a good man, a good brother, a good son and a good prince. Yes, grief can do things to a person, but this wasn't grief. This was anger and envy.

He had a choice. Keep that in mind.

These men (and woman) were crazy. Insane, you might say. They had their own set of unpleasurable traits. They were liars and killers. They worked in the service of liars and killers. One tried to rule the world, the other used to make weapons for terrorists. They weren't perfect, unlike the heroes you've seen in the movies or in television.

But the Avengers were good enough. They saved mankind, didn't they?

And okay. Loki, in his own unconventional way, was good in his own way. That good man is still in there somewhere. We might even see it, because troubles from the other realms have been rumored to be happening, and Thor might just need Loki back in action. Maybe Loki will become a hero too.

So in the end, they were all heroes.

Without the chivalry. Without the cliche heart of gold. Without the natural born muscles and strength. Without the will to protect others 24/7.

"Tony, what are you reading?"

Tony looks up from the bond paper he was holding with one of the most truthful and wonderfully outright essay he was reading. The whole team got this news of a girl who wrote an essay about them and their arch-nemesis, Loki, and won in this competition. It's the most popular essay that's been being passed around in various news channels and sites and Tony, being naturally curious, had to see it for himself. The girl wrote this all based on news clippings, quotes, videos, news reports and files. Maybe even files from SHIELD. Right now, they didn't have time to worry about who she was and how she got sufficient information to write something like this.

The genius read it out loud.

"Wow," was Natasha's stunned whisper. Everyone was silent. Even Thor, the God of Loud Laughters and Jovial Exclamations was silent for once.

"Whoever she is, she knows exactly what she's saying," Clint murmurs. The team nods.

The essay was breathtakingly outright and snippy and straight to the point. No extra flourish. No high-falluting words that would have Thor or Steve confused. It was beautiful and twisted and in that moment everyone (minus Loki) saw who they truly were. What kind of path they took. A new side to their choices.

"Whatever it is that we're doing, we're doing it damn right," Tony confidently stated.

There was no self-doubt. No arguments. No objections. Just silence.

And then acceptance.

End

Author's Note: Oh my this took a different direction. Very different from what I wanted, actually. I hope it has passed everyone's standards *bows* Did I make it sound too mean and harsh against the seven cutie patooties? Did I just really call them cutie patooties what's happening to me. ANYWAY. I should be focusing on my main stories, I know, but this has been bothering me since...since I got a writer's block, so I wrote it, finally. Hope you guys enjoyed!