Hello again. I'm sorry it a bit late but I've been busy with other stories and a skating camp. But hey, for some of you it might still be Saturday.

This chapter contains an adaptation of the famous Loki getting his lips sew shut story. It's not the same as the original one and neither is it meant to be, just so you know.

Anyway on with the chapter and thanks for all the amazing response :D

Loki wiped his chin with his sleeve, the cloth comming awat stained by blood. He tired as he had done many times before to open his mouth but the golden thread held his lips firmly shut and his action only caused him to whimper in pain. His fingers came up to feel the stitches, tentatively fingering the thread and pressing at the swollen flesh.

He lay on his large bed, feeling completely miserable. He didn't understand what he had done to deserve this, he did understand how Father could have been so cruel. Words were his only defence and without them he was left completely helpless, exposed to the mockery that would surely follow after this without any kind of shield to protect himself.

It had all started last week, when Sif suddenly came barging into his room, screaming insults at him. Her hair was gone, the famous golden hair that shone as bright as the sun, and Loki had been the one to cut it off. He had been quickly set in front of Father to explain himself and he had pleaded innocent, for he was. He hadn't touched Sif's hair, he would never do such things. 'Liar' had been screamed from left and right and suddenly he found himself on the rainbow bridge, forced to the realms of the dwarves where he should find a replacement for Sif's hair. But without neither gold nor other valuables the only replacement he could afford was black as coal and still cost him his armour and his finest spellbook.

Upon return he had presented Sif with the hair but she had once again called him a liar and the Allfather decided that Loki would have to be punished. There he had stood, in front of Odin and all the wisest men on Asgard, without defence and accused for a crime he didn't commit. From the corner of his eye he had spotted Baldr looking smug and suddenly he knew who had done it. Baldr had always been jealous of Sif's beauty and now that she had lost her hair, even though she was still one of the fairest women in Asgard, she could no longer compete with him. So Loki had told him, he had pointed at Baldr and he had told Father about the real criminal, bur Baldr had denied and Loki was once again shamed as a liar.

To stop him from telling any more lies Odin had decided to sew his lips shut. robbing Loki from his ability to speak. He had fought, he had fought so hard, but the guards had no problem holding him firmly in place as the royal seamstress acquired the golden thread and as Odin enchanted it to ensure Loki couldn't cut it. He had been forced down on a table, his limbs tied to firmly to a corner each and Thor had been told to hold his head still and his jaw closed as the seamstress worked the thread through skin and flesh.

As soon as he had been realised he had fled the courtroom without sparing a thought about how much of a coward he must have looked, all while fighting the tears that threatened to fall. Tears that he was still fighting back.

He didn't understand. What had he done to deserve this. He had told the truth over and over again, something he had been taught was the noble thing to do, the action a true warrior would have taken, and yet no one believed him.

It was not fair! Why did they believe Baldr when he lied, but not Loki when he spoke the truth. Suddenly he felt angry, oh so very angry. Angry with father for believing Baldr but not his own son, angry with Thor for once again siding with his friends instead of his brother and for participating in the punishment without even the smallest protest, angry with Sif for not having any evidence what so ever pointing at him but still accusing Loki because he was known as a trickster. A nickname he had earned through the warriors Three blaming Loki for tricking them into doing things whenever they got caught doing thing they shouldn't do, angry with himself for allowing Asgard to give them that nickname because he thought that if he took the blame they wouldn't hate him anymore.

An urge to destroy welled up within him and he threw himself out of bed and threw the object closest at hand at the mirror opposite his bed. The heavy book easily shattered the glass and Loki threw another book, out of the window this time, shattering this glass as well.

Suddenly exhausted he collapsed back down on his bed and curled up into a little ball. The tears he had been holding back spilled from his eyes and soon Loki found himself crying so hard he couldn't breathe. He felt so ashamed and it hurt so much, not just the stitches but somehow his heart as well. He felt betrayed and unloved. For surely Thor would never receive a punishment like this. No, only Loki. The stain on the otherwise spotless Odin family.

He didn't know for how low he lay there, crying and hiding underneath his covers, but at some point he must have fallen asleep because it stopped hurting and he just felt some kind of numbness.

It had been Steve's idea. At first the others had disagreed, telling him that the idea was a dangerous one and to give Loki that kind of information would only lead to it coming back and biting them in the ass. But Steve had denied, telling them that they could tell Loki whatever they wanted, as long as it was personal. For that was the Idea, to show Loki that they trusted him with something, so he could trust them. To show them that they may be superheroes, but they weren't flawless. The information did have to be something super secret, only previously unknown to Loki. He told him that he had told Loki about his time as nothing but a kid from Brooklyn. He told them that he hadn't told Loki about Peggy or Howard or what had happened after the serum, that was too personal. The others eased up to the Idea, having seen how much it had changed Loki's behaviour around Steve and eventually they agreed.

Bruce went first. Asking Loki to stay after he had changed the dressing around his arm one day. Bruce told Loki about when he first had become the Hulk and how even though he was a monster he had found a purpose.

Clint was next. He told Loki how he loathed fish, and that was it. Steve had been disappointed with him at first but Clint had argued that it was personal information and that if Loki wanted, he could use it against him so Steve let it go, somewhat reluctantly.

Natasha told Loki about one time when she got lost in the woods as a young girl and how she had always felt slightly less comfortable in the forest ever since, especially at night. Loki had told her that he didn't like the dark either, especially not corridors, before freezing up and walking away to not be seen for twenty four hours.

Tony went last, telling Loki about one time when he was young and won a inventors competition only to have his father telling him afterward all the thing he did wrong and what he needed to improve. Tony told the story as if it was something funny, something he could laugh at, but Loki could see the hurt in his eyes. Loki told Tony about when he was young and participated in a sparring tournament and how he managed to end up third place, but since Thor won his tournament Loki didn't even get a well done. He didn't tell Tony of how proud he had been and about how he had kept the little trophy, nor of how devastating it had been for his ten year old self to realize that if he didn't do better at Thor he would never once be the one his father looked at with pride in his eyes.

Upon finishing his story Loki had suddenly gone rigid, once again realizing that he had shown weakness in front of the mortals. He stood up and stammered out an excuse, fleeing and once again locking himself in his room.

He didn't understand. Why were they doing this? Why did they suddenly share this information with him as if he was someone who could be trusted? He wasn't. He was the god of lies, he was Loki silvertongue, he was the liesmith. He was known for his deceit and for his mischief, known for using people's weakness to humiliate and shame them.

What were their purpose with this? What did they want with him? He didn't want to be used again. But that had to be the only reason, people had never trusted him or shown him any kindness without wanting something in return. And he always fell for it. Why did they do this? There must be some ulterior motive. It had to be.

He stayed in his room for one day and one night, gathering strength enough to confront them about their wicked motives. Telling himself over and over again that he had the upperhand in this, he knew their weaknesses and he was still a god, powers or not. The voice in the back of his head kept on telling him he was a coward, by now Thor would have already sought out revenge and Odin would have know their motives from the very beginning. He was just a joke, hiding away in his room like a scared kid.

When he finally emerged he made sure to keep his face impassive and his posture strong, like that of a warrior. He could do this. He headed for the kitchen where he knew Steve would be, frying pancakes like he always did, but when he reached the kitchen he found that Steve was not alone, Tony was there. He felt his resolution weaver for a second before he scoffed at himself, Stark was only a mere mortal, an ant easily crush under a boot.

"Hi Loks, How's it going?" Tony asked while sipping on the midgardian beverage Loki had learned was called coffie.

"That is none of your business." Loki spat in answer.

Tony gave Steve a look, he had really begun to understand what Steve had meant with Loki actin shy. Before his nasty retort Loki's eyes had been darting all over the place and he had, probably unknowingly, been fiddling a bit with the sleeve of this sweater.

Both Steve and Tony turned their eyes at Loki, who really wished he had his armor. At least the horns, they stopped him from feeling so small and insignificant.

"Look, Loki. I actually think it's our business considering you tried to kill yourself and we are trying to make sure you don't do it again." Tony said with an amused look which made Steve want to bang his head against the counter top. These were serious issues Stark, not something to laugh about.

"Why?" Loki quickly shoot back, ignoring once again that the mortals didn't seem to understand that he hadn't tried to kill himself.

"Why we're trying to stop you from killing yourself?"

"Yes why. I am perfectly capable of looking after myself and yet you keep insisting on watching my every woken minute." Loki hissed, glaring at the two avengers in front of him. Tony had forgotten Loki could look so dangerous, he had seemed so fragile lately.

"Loki. We're not saying you're not able to take care of yourself, you're a grown man of course you can take care of yourself." Steve said in a calm voice, hoping to calm Loki down a bit. "We just want to make sure you don't hurt yourself again."

"Why?"

"So you won't die."

"And how does that profit you?"

"It doesn't-. Wait. How does it profit us? Why do you think it profits us?" Steve asked, bemused and horrified at the same time. Did Loki really think they had some kind of motive behind not wanting him to die?

"Why else would you do it? There is nothing you can win on having me alive."

"Because you deserve to live believe it or not Loki. We want you to live. I want, Tony want." Tony nodded at this." And I'm pretty sure Bruce is quite keen on having you alive."

"I don't need your pity." Loki hissed, his eyes narrowed into small slits.

"It's not pity Loki. It's genuine concern. We can all see that you're hurting Loki and we all know what it feels like to hurt. We want to help you feel better Loki. That's all we want." Steve felt like he was pleading when he spoke to Loki. Hoping that the god would believe him. After all they all could relate to Loki on some level. Steve on the bullying, Tony and his father, Bruce had the hulk, all the lives Natasha and Cling had taken. There were of course more problems with Loki but Steve felt like they had something they could build a good foundation on.

"I don't believe you." Loki said, but his words lacked their normal strength. He didn't believe Steve, there were always an alterior motive. There had to be.

"I can't make you believe me Loki. But I can promise you that what I say is the truth."

Loki stared at Steve for a second before quickly looking down at his feet. Steve was so alike Thor, tall, strong and golden. And just like Thor he spoke nothing but the truth, Loki knew this. But he couldn't believe it. There was always a motive, even his Father had a motive for him, or used to have, for whatever he had once been good for didn't matter anymore.

Loki felt as if his world was fraying at the edges and splitting open at the seams. Nothing was as it was supposed to be. There wasn't supposed to be anyone wanting to help him, there weren't supposed to be anyone caring whether or not his heart was aching and whether or not his mind were filled with nothing but darkness. But now there were, and there were more than one person trying to help him, and quite frankly Loki didn't know what to do.

Still keeping his gaze locked on the floor Loki walked over to the table and sat down. He felt so small and so weak accepting Steve's silent offer of help but somewhere in his mind he reasoned that it couldn't get much worse, could it?

Tony shot Steve a confused look as Loki walked over to the kitchen table and sat down. DId this mean Loki believed Steve, or...? Steve just gave him a pleased look and then continued with his pancakes.

Steve felt as if he had accomplished something of great importance. This didn't in any way mean that Loki would get better, but it did mean that he believed Steve when he said that there were no other reason for them to help Loki outside of making Loki feel better. Which was true, at least for him and apparently Tony.

"So...you wanna join me in the lab?" Tony asked after almost ten minutes of silence. Steve's head shot up from where he was still frying pancakes (damn his new metabolism). Surely Tony couldn't mean him, but that meant that he meant...Loki. He turned around and looked at the ex god sitting and painting patterns on the table in front of him. He really did look like a lost boy more than anything sitting as he did. Steve had often hear that he woke mother feelings in girl before his serum and he now wondered if he was feeling something alike, for all he wanted was too scoop Loki up in a hug and hold him until everything was alright..

When Loki hadn't answered after a minute Tony pushed away from the counter he had been leaning against and sat down next to Loki. The trixter seemed to wake up from some kind of trance and he quickly rearranged his features into his normal impassive look.

"What do you want?" He asked, sounding as if he was doing Tony a favour by talking to him.

"I asked if you wanted to join me in the lab. I've got this theory I've been working on about magic and stuff like that and hey, now that I've got an expert here I thought why the hell not." Tony asked with a shrug. When he looked at Loki again he saw a flicker of uncertainty in the ex god's eyes but it was gone before he could blink.

Loki tried desperately to figure out whether Tony was serious or not. Did he really want Loki there. He didn't know anything about the technology on midgard and during the few short months he had been forced to spend here he had barely learnt anything.

Tony looked away and sipped at his cup of coffee, figuring he might have to give Loki some space.

Loki nodded hesitantly once and Tony lit up in a smile.

"Awesome." He said before standing and beginning to walk towards the elevator. Loki quickly rose and followed him, throwing an unsure look at Steve before reminding himself that he was a god and it didn't matter what Steve thought.. He does what he wants.

Tony came stayed at the door and waited for Loki. When the trickster had passed Steve cleared his throath.

"What are you doing.?"

"Hey, I've always wanted to know how magic works?" Tony asked as if it explained everything. "And besides, he's got a really good ass."

"Stark you are not-"

"Chillax mother. I'm not going to molest him. I'm just making sure he doesn't rot locked away in his room. And wasn't this what you wanted. Loki making friends and so one, getting to know us so that we can get to know him. You can thank me later when I've successfully recruited Loki to the avengers without your help." He said with a wink before disappearing down the hallway.

During the following weeks Loki began to spend more and more time with Stak in the lab. He found that he was almost looking forwards towards meeting him each day. Stark was the first person he had met who could match him intellectually, which was surely impressive for a mortal. He found that he sometimes even smiled and at rare times laughed at Stark's humor.

Bruce also joined them sometimes and Loki had begun feeling comfortable around him as well. Bruce was also very clever for a mortal and the three of them often discussed different theories during coffee breaks.

His mornings with Steve had also became more comfortable. He felt as if he didn't have to watch his every move and the voices that mocked him in his head had become quieter. They could talk about almost everything but Loki still firmly said no whenever someone tried to make him open up and talk and an attempt often made him snarl something insulting and lock himself in his room where he would berate himself on his stupid and weak and pathetic he was.

Clin and Natasha was still very much off limits but sometimes when they were all in a group they wouldn't treat him like air, which made Loki's heart clench with something different than pain.

About a month after Loki's confrontation Tony and Loki was once again in the workshop, Stark having talked Loki into putting on a prototype he had designed for a new weapons system for his suit. Tony was currently screwing in what felt like the hundredth tiny little screw that made the glove, if you could call it that, on Loki's hand.

"If you're tricking me Stark I am going to kill you." Loki threatened but it was clear his heart wasn't in it.

"Yeah, well we both know how that worked out last time." Tony mumbled as he tightened the screws one last time. Loki let out a snort and when Tony looked up he could see a small smile on Loki's lips. He mentally high fived himself for being the best amateur counselor there was. Loki did actually seem happier now. There were less insults being shouted and less shuffling about in the background like that one kid in your class that never said a thing and seemed to be almost invisible.

"Done. You can try it now." He said and threw the screwdriver to the side, not caring where it landed and if he would be able to find it again, as Loki rose from his seat and placed himself a meter in front of Tony.

He shot Tony a 'are you really serious with this' look, hiding the nervousness he felt inside. What if Stark was really tricking him?

Tony raised his eyebrows in a daring manner before leaning back and watching the show. He was quite sure Loki would be completely alright and if he wasn't he would just have to shout for Bruce.

Loki planted his feet firmly on the ground before stretch his arm out before him, his hand flexes and fingers spread. He took a calming breath, swallowing the worry inside him, and fired.

The weapon went off as it were supposed to do, it was just that the blast was a little stronger than Tony had first believed. Okay, a little was maybe a bit of an understatement.

The force from the blast made Loki lose his balance and with a hard crash he fell to the floor, taking down an array of little metal pieces, screws, papers and half a banana with him.

Oops. Tony cautiously looked over at where Loki was laying on the floor, glaring at Tony as if trying to kill him with the power of his mind. Well this wasn't good. He needed to fix this, and fast.

"You okay there pal?" He asked and great Tony. Genius move. But the move seemed to have actually worked because Loki's death glare soon changed into a look of confusion.

"Pal?" He asked and frowned as if the word had offended him.

"Yeah, pal, friend, mate. Same thing. Although not the kind of mate you're thinking of. I mean the australian mate, as in friend." Tony explained weakly with a small shrug,

"Really?" Friend? had Tony just called him a friend?

"Sure thing buddy. I don't let anybody borrow my stuff." Tony reached out a hand for Loki to take but the man in question seemed to occupied with something else so Tony took back his hand.

Was Stark really his friend? were the only words rotating around in his head. Did he really have a friend? His own friend, for as far as Loki knew Stark and Thor weren't friends. He had never had a friend of his own before, or a friend at all for that matter.

"Hey, you taking a nap or something?" Tony's voice broke through his thoughts and Loki realised he was still on the floor. He quickly rose and scolded himself for getting stuck in his head. Having a friend shouldn't be such a big deal. Loki didn't need anyone so it didn't matter if he had friends or not. Except it did. It mattered a lot.

Loki could feel the silliest smile ever form on his lips and he fought hard to stop it. Oh by Odin this was embarrassing, he was acting like a child given an extra cake for dessert. He needed to control himself.

He forced down the smile but couldn't stop the bubbly feeling in his stomach and the warmth in his chest, not that he really wanted to.

So this chapter was a bit happier than the others have been, and the chapter will probably continue in this stile. Because I can't just leave Loki all broken and hurting, I love him too much.

Reviews are highly appreciated 3

Love
/Phin