Author's Note: Hello, everyone! Welcome to the next installment of "I Dream Things..." Thank you so much for all the feedback on last chapter. I'm glad so many people are interested in this story, because it gives me incentive to actually write it.

As far as Marvel characters that I could be writing about go, let's just say that Loki is easily beaten out by one Bucky Barnes, who's the central character of my next story, which I already started writing. So I'm fighting to keep my brain on track for this story. I'm just glad I got this chapter written!

Warning: one cuss word in this chapter, just "h***" and said by Tony. I felt the situation justified it.

Anyway, as usual; review, favorite, follow, enjoy! Thanks!

Chapter One

Christy was sitting inside her classroom, feeling more than a little apprehensive. Her dad was late to pick her up.

He was never late, at least, never this late. If he didn't show up soon, she would have to go to after-school care. She chewed her lip and stared aimlessly out the window that faced the road in front of the school, looking for his motorcycle.

She had reassured Tally's mom that her dad would be here to get her soon. But now she was wishing she'd used Mrs. Jackson's phone to call him.

Finally, a familiar-looking car wound its way into the parking lot. It was one of Tony's 'borrowable' cars.

As her dad got out of the car, checked her out and walked her back to the car, she started to ask what had taken so long. Steve beat her to the punch as soon as they were out of earshot.

"I am so sorry I'm late, baby, but we had a little…situation back at the Tower."

Christy's heart rate sped up palpably.

"Wh-what do you mean?" she asked, hesitantly.

"It's going to be all right, baby. I'm not going anywhere. Actually, no one's going anywhere. Thor's back."

"Uncle Thor's here? How is that a 'situation'?"

Steve hesitated, and then said, "He's not exactly alone."

"He brought a friend?"

"He brought Loki."

Christy's mouth moved slightly open. "What? But why? How…?"

"I'd better start at the beginning."

"No!" Tony cried. "No, no, no, you are not letting that thing in my Tower. What the hell were you thinking?"

"Let me explain, Stark! And Barton, stop staring at me in that manner."

Clint simply kept glaring in Thor's direction. Natasha didn't look too pleased, either. Bruce was taking steadying deep breaths.

And Steve was fighting to keep his emotions in check, while shooting glances at the clock. Of course this all would have to happen 20 minutes before he was due to pick up Christy.

"Start at the beginning, Thor." he said wearily. Thor nodded.

"As you know, I returned to Asgard scarcely a week ago, to hear my father's judgement on Loki. The original punishment was to have him confined to the dungeons of Asgard for a thousand years. There were…worse ones suggested, apparently."

"Such as?" Natasha asked coolly.

"Well, one of my father's council members suggested sewing his lips shut. Another suggested confining him in a cave where a serpent with poisonous venom dwells, and tying him so that the venom could drip slowly onto him, killing him over time."

Thor's words had the desired effect. Nobody looked ecstatic to have Loki present, but neither did they wish any of that upon him.

"Okay, I'm not a sadist, I'm glad none of those punishments got approved, but prison for life sounds about right." Tony said. "So why is he here?"

"Because leaving him in the dungeons of Asgard, alone and not allowed visitors, will only strengthen his desire for revenge! It is counterproductive! It solves nothing!"

The room was silent for a moment. Then, Clint heaved a huge sigh.

"Alright. Fine. I'll buy that…almost. But you still haven't explained why the man who invaded my brain is in Avengers Tower. And why hasn't he said anything yet?"

True enough, the subject of conversation stood silently beside Thor, eyes wary and watchful. He had yet to make a sound other than breath.

"His magic is bound and his ability to speak is silenced until I say so." Thor replied.

"When you say his magic is bound…" Bruce questioned.

"He is bound from casting any spell that could be deemed harmful to another."

"So what is his punishment?" Steve asked.

"He is to atone for his crimes against Midgard, on Midgard."

Now it was Clint's turn to say, "No."

"Barton…"

"So what is he supposed to do?!" Clint screamed. "Help little old ladies cross the street and get kittens out of trees? Can he raise the dead? Can he erase the damage? Can he get out of my dreams?!"

Natasha gripped her friend's shoulders. "Clint, get a hold of yourself…"

"No! Not until he," he pointed at Loki, "explains how exactly he plans on atoning!"

Thor sighed. "One other caveat of his magic being bound is that he is forbidden from lying; he will experience extreme pain if he does so. Pain noticeable to others. Loki, you may speak."

Loki blinked once, twice. His lips curled up in a slight smirk. At a glare from Thor, it disappeared.

"Start talking, Reindeer Games." Tony said. "Have we made it clear yet that your life is at stake?"

"I do not need you to make that little fact clear to me, Stark." Loki said bitterly. "My dear brother failed to mention one final thing. If this…punishment is unsuccessful, Thor must execute me himself."

There was dead silence for a brief moment. Steve finally spoke up.

"I don't suppose you've got any atonement ideas."

"My brother is capable of good…" Thor protested.

"Then let him prove it!" Steve said. "I still stand by what I said to you while you were here last time; your father has a lot to answer for in how he treated both of you. But he's got a lot to answer for as well." He turned and faced Loki. "Well?"

"I see no reason to plead my case before those who will not listen to a word I say." Loki replied.

"No, but unless you figure something out, you're dead, literally. And by your brother's hand. And call me crazy, but I don't think you're so heartless as to let that happen."

Loki looked mildly annoyed for a moment, as well he should have. For he knew that Steve had basically called his bluff.

"I am not." he said quietly. Turning to face Clint, he said, "I know not how I shall redeem myself, but as I would prefer not to make my brother suffer in agony for the next millennia, I am open to suggestions."

Clint stared in almost shock. Had Loki just…actually sounded apologetic? And sincere?"

Steve checked the clock once more. It was way past time to pick Christy up from school.

"And at that, I leave you all to figure things out…" he said, edging for the elevator door. "Tony, can I have keys? You can't have a talk worth anything on a motorcycle and I have a lot of explaining to do."

Tony tossed him a set of keys.

"You can't just leave!" Clint protested.

"Clint, I'm late, really late…"

"You've been late before, like, seventy years late…" Tony started to argue, before everyone except Thor and Loki gave him a death glare.

"Shut up, Stark. I'll be back soon."

As Steve finished the story, Christy started shaking her head in shock. "This is all my fault…"

"Christy, why would you say…"

"Because I'm the one who suggested that Uncle Thor not let Loki be imprisoned! Now Uncle Clint's gonna hate me!"

Steve's brain scrabbled for words to stop this before it began.

"Christy, at no time did you ever suggest that Thor bring Loki to earth. You just said that leaving an angry person alone in jail was a bad way to handle things; something I agree with, by the way. Clint will heal; and he's certainly mature enough not to blame you for anything."

Christy looked a little less dazed, but still upset. "So what is he supposed to do?"

Steve sighed. "I've got a few ideas. But I think the most important thing is simply showing him the damage he caused; undermining his beliefs about humans, about himself. If his heart doesn't change, nothing else will."

"He sounds like the Grinch Who Stole Christmas." Christy muttered. "His heart's too small."

"I think his heart is big enough; it's just been frozen." Steve countered. "And we're stuck figuring out how to make it thaw."

Christy sighed. "I think you guys are gonna need me for this one." she said, sounding a lot older than seven-almost-eight.

Steve smiled at her grown-up words, but he was still confused. "What do you mean, baby?"

"Well, everybody else involved in this has some kinda history with Loki. He doesn't like you guys, you guys don't like him. But he can't hate me; he's got nothing against me."

"And you don't hate him?" Steve questioned. "He did destroy half of the city, after all. And try to take over the world."

Christy nodded, remembering the craziness of last spring. "But if he hadn't destroyed half the city, there would be no Avengers." she said quietly. "And then you wouldn't have found me."

Steve, quite literally, had nothing to say to that one.

"He doesn't hate me. I don't really hate him. He needs to figure out that what he did was bad. I don't mind telling him."

What could he say to that? It was pretty much true. Steve sighed. "All right then. I now promote you to head Crazy-Fixer. Have fun, sweetheart."

He meant it a bit as a joke, but Christy just said, solemnly, "I'll do my best."

And darned if she won't, Steve thought. Darned if she won't.

"There's a kid that lives in this Tower, Steve's kid." Natasha said sharply to the one-time god of mischief. "And if you so much as breathe in her vicinity…" she cracked her knuckles for emphasis.

"I do not harm children." Loki said stiffly. "Besides, surely she will give me a wide berth." That was what most children on Asgard did, after all, as soon as their parents pointed him out as someone to avoid.

"No, she won't." Bruce said. "Knowing her, she'll wanna fix you."

"Is that not the point of my being here? To be fixed?"

"Look, if you do anything to harm her…" Tony started. Loki finally lost it.

"I have not the power to do so! My magic is bound, I cannot perform spells that harm! And I do not harm children directly, at any rate."

"He doesn't." Thor added. "Actually, children usually get along fairly well with Loki. 'Tis their parents that are the problem."

"She's more idealistic and justice obsessed than the good Captain, if you can imagine that." Tony said. "So basically, puny god, she'll yell at you and then hug you."

Bruce smirked at the reminder of the beat-down the Hulk had doled out.

Clint voiced everyone's thoughts, "Well this is all going well."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Bozhe moy."

Thor shifted restlessly. "I would like to get settled in our quarters before too long…"

Tony gestured to the elevator. "Right this way, Goldilocks. Wipe that smirk off your face, Reindeer Games." he added. Apparently hearing his brother referred to as 'Goldilocks' was the highlight of Loki's week.

The raven-haired Asgardian gave Tony a glare. Tony returned it in kind.

As the trio disappeared into the elevator, Natasha muttered. "I'm taking Christy down to the SHIELD gym this weekend, she needs another sparing lesson."

"You don't actually think he'd harm her, do you?" Bruce questioned.

"This is Loki we're talking about." Clint said. Natasha nodded.

"What he said. Besides," she shrugged. "what could it hurt?"

They were all thinking one thing. This was going to be a very long…however long.

Loki tried to tell himself that he was a fool to feel disappointment. The reaction he'd received was no more than he deserved.

You try to set yourself up as ruler of their world, destroy their city, and you expect them to welcome you with open arms? Pathetic, Laufeyson, pathetic. What's worse, you actually would be pleased with their acceptance!

But he had learned long ago that acceptance was not to be his fate. Loki the Liar, Loki the Trickster, Loki the Silver-tongue. The names went on and on. The legends went on even longer.

True, he had brought much of it upon himself. True, he deserved far worse of a punishment than he was receiving.

It still didn't make things sting any less.

Why did I ever think it was a good idea to attack Midgard in the first place?

The frightening part was, he couldn't even remember why he'd chosen to invade Midgard. There was a good deal he didn't remember after his fall from the Bifrost.

What he did remember was pain. And not all of it physical.

He played Barton's words over and over in his mind as Stark and Thor's chatter faded to background noise in the elevator.

Can he raise the dead? Can he erase the damage? Can he get out of my dreams?

It was currently beyond his magic to raise the dead and although he could suppress nightmares, he was sure that the archer would not take kindly to any more messing about in his mind, no matter how benign.

It appears I shall have to begin with fixing damage, he thought grimly.

The question was; where would he start?