Okay so this is a brand new fic for a friend on deviantart, usual disclaimers apply, i own nothing :P enjoy!

Loki followed the rest of the weary avengers in, dragging his staff behind him. He knew it was unbefitting of someone oh his status to engage in such undignified behaviour, but to be honest, he didn't have the energy to care right now. He had been living with the Avengers for a little over three months, and besides the initial awkwardness of Thor announcing Loki WOULD be joining them, and their inital suspicion, after many battles and many many more showings of remorse, they were finally warming up to him.

They had just won a battle against Victor von Doom. His doombots were ridiculously simple to thwart usually, but it seemed they had recently acquired some new software. Oh yes, and there were around ten thousand of them, and seven avengers. All that added up to a bit of a difficult afternoon.

Loki had had to use his most complex spells, shield his teammates AND maintain his own illusions so that he could thwart many enemies at once. The battle had lasted for hours, and Loki, with his magic severely depleted, was exhausted.

As they all traipsed off to their bedrooms, grumbling about sleep and food and menial problems, Loki lay on the couch, allowing his eyes to drift closed, not in slumber, but in pure relaxation. He used the little magic he had left, for a few hours at least, to change his armor into more comfortable clothes, mainly black and green.

Loki was just drifting into a gentle meditation when he heard a glass smash. He was instantly wide awake, staff in hand, incantation on his lips before he realized two things.

a] he had no magic left to spar with

b] the glass had been smashed by one Tony Stark.

Stark stood a few metres from Loki, eyes wide, hands trembling slightly, one raised to point straight at Loki's face.

"Oh..my god." He whispered, one hand reaching up to rub across his eyes, as though trying to discern if what he saw was real. "Why are you blue?"

Loki choked a little, words failing to form on his lips. He took a fleeting glance at one of his hands. They had indeed reverted to their Jotun blue hue, and he could feel his staff freezing beneath his icy grip. He swallowed. The Avengers had not yet seen his Jotun form, for he had not wanted them to. He didn't want them to see him as a monster...again. But now one of them had, and Loki was mortified and ashamed to have let his magic deplete to such a level that he couldn;t hide the only thing he truly felt he needed to hide anymore.

And to make it worse, Steve Rogers had to choose THAT moment to enter that kitchen, freezing in the doorway as his eyes scanned the scene.

Tears burned in Loki's eyes. He was weak and tired and ashamed. He turned on his heel, fleeing the room, pushing past Steve in the doorway. He did not know where in the mansion he would go, but it needed to be somewhere he could find solitude. He found himself naturally drawn to the extensive, if pitifully underused, library, curling up in a corner, surrounded by books. Books would never judge him as humans did.

The other avengers searched for Loki for a long time before they found him. They had talked with Thor, and he had told them of Loki's Jotun heritage and his Jotun form. He had also told them Loki was very insecure about his blue skin, for they had been raised on tales of Jotun monstrosity, and Loki could never feel like anything but a monster wearing that image. They decided amongst them that it would be best to simply reassure Loki that he needn't hide who he was here, but he could feel comfortable however he wished to look. This consensus had sent Thor beaming from the room to start the search for his missing sibling, the rest following, wary of disturbing Loki, wherever he may be, when he was this upset.

It was actually Tony and Steve that found Loki, curled up in the darkest corner of the library. It had been the last place they looked because, frankly, Tony had forgotten the library existed.

Loki was curled up in a tiny ball, book in his lap, eyes closed in deep sleep. He had reverted to his Aesir form, although to Steve, it seemed he was more tired now than ever before. He whispered this to Tony, who suggested the strain on Loki's magic to maintain that form after such an extensive battle might be to blame.

Made no sense to Steve, but magic wasn't really his area.

Steve bent towards the sleeping God, sparing a moment to think on how peaceful he looked, this being the same man that had tried to destroy a city less than a year ago.

But now here he was, one of their ragtag band of misfits.

He shook Loki gently by the shoulder to wake him, but he didn't even stir. This in itself was quite odd, as Loki usually slept lightly enough that Tony had to soundproof his room so the poor guy could get some sleep at night. Steve patted gently at his cheek next, and gasped.

"Steve? What is it?"

Steve placed a hand on Loki's forehead.

"He's burning up Tony, like literally he feels boiling even to me, and Thor told us his temperature runs a little cooler than ours"

Loki stirred softly, coughing feebly. His eyes drifted open for a split second before closing with a snap, face scrunching up at the light. He pushed himself up a little from the bookcase he was leant on, calmbering to his feet, devoid of his usual grace.

"Loki?"

Loki's eyes snapped open, and he swayed dangerously. Steve rushed to support him as he slumped, only semi-conscious. The super-soldier lifted the god into his arms, and started making his way out of the massive library.

"Come on Tony, looks like someone could use his bed."

"You think he's ill? Or do you reckon it's to do with the magic and exhaustion?"

"I'm not sure, but i think Thor could tell us. First, I think it's best we let him get a little rest and go from there. To be honest, we all need a little rest before we do much right now"

Steve looked down at Loki, concerned, as the newest member of his team groaned, his forehead creasing in pain, coughing feebly. Yup, Thor would definitely want to know about this.

R and R please :D