Note: This chapter actually took a completely different approach. It was originally going to be very dark and morbid but I found it was far too triggering for me so I deleted the entire chapter and idea and went with something else. It wound up being fluffier than I had imagined but fluffy is not a bad thing.

This chapter deals with Loki finally getting better and he and Clint finally have a conversation. From here on out we'll see Loki developing and working on that low self-esteem of his.

Enjoy!

Chapter 9:

In her line of work Natasha was forced to know the difference between a nagging feeling and that distinctive feeling that would make the difference between life and death. She had become a master of her emotions and ruled over her instincts with a tyrannical grace. Years upon years she was able to call the right shot and had the good grace to know when something seemed out of place even if the rest of the world denied it.

For the past two days she found her grip on her emotions and instincts to waver and often times blur. She was surprised when she asked Steve, whom she perceived would be the least biased person in the house, how Loki came to be in their care and why they were so driven to protect him at all costs. They were acting almost as overprotective as Thor was.

Steve had admitted he was not present in Vegas at the time but he had sat down with Bruce and had gotten every detail from him. Steve gave her every bit of information and even had her swear she was not going to mention to anyone about Loki's second suicide attempt. As he gave her all the information she compared it to the "scarcely-put-together" psychological file SHEILD had on Loki and nothing Steve said matched what was on the file.

Natasha admitted to thinking he had formed some new strategy but it did not sound like something someone like Loki would do, even if he was desperate to reach his target. Steve then confirmed this confusion by saying that Thor, the only one qualified to actually make notes on Loki's behavior, had said Loki was not a person who would endanger himself. The Black Widow was confused, something that had not happened in a very long time.

"And that's it; you're all caught up on what's been happening here so far. I admit it's been…surreal, to say the least." Steve said as he took another sip of his sweetened coffee. While conversing with Natasha they had gone to the kitchen to fix themselves a fresh pot of coffee.

"Surreal? Try confusing. I'm sorry if I sound like I don't believe any of it but…" Natasha trailed off as she had gotten up to look for a spoon to stir her third cup of coffee. She found the utensils in a drawer but made a note of missing knives.

"Hmm, seems you people still don't trust him. No knives in the kitchen."

"We had to hide them, yes." A third voice spoke and when Natasha and Steve turned around they saw Tony walking into the kitchen. His eyes narrowing as he lustfully walked towards the fresh pot of coffee. He grabbed his favorite mug and poured the highly sought after substance as he continued his explanation. "We didn't hide them because we don't trust him. We had to hide them because he was using them inappropriately."

"I don't understand."

"When we brought him back home he sported two wounds that were not done by your goons. The bruise on his throat, which was courtesy of Odin the All-Fool and the cuts on his back, which were done by himself." Tony's voice turned bitter at the end and before saying something else he took a gulp of the coffee.

"Wait, wait, wait, you lost me there. You completely lost me. You're actually standing there, drinking coffee and telling me that someone as megalomaniacal as Loki has been indulging in self-harm?" Natasha's tone caught her by surprise, she was genuinely caught off guard and no matter how she tried to process the situation she could not make heads or tails of what Tony was telling her.

"Yeah, Nat, he's been cutting himself up. That's why there are no knives in the kitchen and all weapons are under heavier lock and key. And I'm pretty sure this great, big, blond bleeding heart over here told you of his two attempts. So when you report back to Fury tonight." Tony's eyes narrowed as he sunk his sight deep into her eyes. "I would appreciate it if you kept that bit of information to yourself. It's been hard but we have actually managed to get him to trust us and if you blab that will definitely not help anyone."

"If he gives me no reason to do so I will not." Natasha said as she returned the same gaze at Tony.

Steve was feeling the tension build up. He knew Tony did not fully trust Natasha; after all, she had once infiltrated his home under the guise of someone from "legal". Not to mention that they all knew why she remained in the mansion. They knew Fury ordered her to remain behind to keep a close watch on them.

"Guys, please, that's enough. Don't we already have enough on our plate that we have to be at each other's throats constantly? We worked brilliantly together a year ago, let's try and do so again."

Natasha sighed deeply and broke the gaze; she looked at Steve and nodded. "So what's the plan?"

"We get him better and we'll take it from there." That was Tony's reply. Short and to the point. That was his point; they had no real idea of what to do with Loki. He had nowhere to go and no one to turn to save for them and he had already made up his mind about letting him stay with them. Big decisions like that were voted on but Tony made the decision knowing full well that the only two people who would have a problem would be Clint and Natasha and just two opposing would render them outvoted.

"So…you're just going to keep him here?" Natasha asked. She was still unclear on what the Avengers' intentions for Loki were.

"Yeah," Tony said, "He can stay here. We don't mind."

"Fury will." Natasha added. "He'll mind."

"This is my house. Who I bring to my house is my business and mine alone." Tony's tone was dangerously hostile but before things could escalade Steve budged in by adding, "Look, Natasha, in a way Loki is still carrying out his sentence. He has been banished, just so happened to be here on Earth. He was stripped away of his home, his parents, and his title for God's sake. He has nothing left. Fury locking him away will just…destroy him. You'd be sentencing him for the same thing. Twice."

Natasha stood in silence as she contemplated Steve's words and finally looked up at the captain with a smile. "I thought Loki was the silver-tongued trickster." They chuckled but Natasha continued. "Look, you make a valid point but Fury will be seeking Earth bound justice. The only reason why he never pursued the matter after Loki was taken away was because he thought Loki would have to answer to some form of justice. Seeing him here running freely as he pleases is not what he had in mind."

"Can't always get what you want, now can you?" Tony closed the subject with that sentence and as much as Natasha wanted to tell them it was foolhardy she deemed it futile since the group had become overprotective of Loki.

As if reverting the conversation back to something a little less stressful Steve commented on how atrocious the weather had become. It was true, the storm outside did not look like it was going to subside and the rain on the roof, walls and windows was loud enough to demand attention to it, not to mention the thundering. They continued to enjoy the coffee and eventually turned the subject around to something less sensitive. Tony and Natasha even wound up staying up later and talking about past occurrences in the time before Loki first left Earth and before he showed up again. He even made a few light jokes about the Hulk's horrifying aim when it came to hurling trucks at villains.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Around 11:50 at night the entire mansion had fallen into a warm silence, everyone had fallen asleep except for Natasha. Natasha had been tossing and turning on her bed and somehow her eyes always diverted back to her pants' pockets where the small disk containing the security feed of the cell Loki had been left in had been recorded on. When they had brought Loki back she had been determined to see what the video contained but with the current situation she had completely forgotten about it.

Knowing full well that she was not going to be able to sleep she rose from her bed, took the disk and walked to Stark's security room. Jarvis kindly let her in but warned her that all entries into that room were recorded but she agreed. She had nothing to hide.

As she sat down in front of over twenty monitors showing various parts of the mansion and rooms she took the disk in one hand and inserted it into the computer while typing some commands with her other hand. When the middle screen blacked out and suddenly displayed the security feed she sat still and focused on the screen.

"Nat? What are you doing here?" It was Clint's voice but she already knew that. She had seen him walking down the hallway and into the kitchen. He must have seen her walk out of her room and followed her.

"Watching the video feed from the security cameras in the cell." She said as she kept her eyes glued to the monitor. Clint shrugged and pulled up another chair beside her and both continued to watch the security feed. It was something both would later regret.

Natasha tried her hardest to keep her eyes on the monitor, she tried to keep her eyes fixated on Loki's face, to read his expression but as his face contorted in pain from the torture she found it hard. Clint was more expressive. He often looked away when the drill was brought up and he would utter curses under his breath when he heard the drill dig into flesh and bone. An occasional protest escaped him when he saw Loki vomiting. He had lost count after the eighth time Loki vomited.

Natasha, as stoic and cold as she tried to appear, closed her eyes when one of them had dug his fingers into the laceration on Loki's midsection. She kept her eyes shut while Loki screamed and when all was silent she watched the screen again. She actually flinched when she saw Loki was thrown off the table and let out a pained whimper as he hit the floor.

Clint was now turning on his side and placed a hand next to his eyes trying to cover his view. He could not take any more of it but he felt it was worse just hearing Loki screaming so he occasionally shifted his eyes back to the screen only to look away again.

They both sat through the ninety minute beating and before they could sigh with relief that it was over they saw the man holding the plumber wrench lift it as if it were a golf club and to their horror saw the man swing it at the back of Loki's head.

"Oh, my God! Oh, my God, how the hell is he still alive?" Clint protested aloud looking at the monitor in horror. Natasha kept staring as the four men dropped the weapons and left the cell. Once they were gone she brought her eyes back at Loki, he was lying on the floor with this back towards the camera, and she could see blood oozing out of the back of his head and saw his cuffed hands twitching frantically. Clint fast forwarded the video and for a while it just showed Loki lying in the same position, not even moving a little.

"Wait, wait, back it up." Natasha said as she leaned in to get a closer look at the screen. Clint hit the rewind button and then pressed play. After a few minutes they saw Loki moving his head and heard him coughing and spitting, most likely throwing up again. After a few heavy heaves they heard a sound that made Clint look away and made Natasha close her eyes to try and hold back a tear but a few fled her eyes nonetheless. She was not made of stone no matter what anyone said.

The sound was Loki trying to catch his breath as he loudly sobbed and cried.

"Turn it off, Nat." Clint said as he rubbed his eyes, "I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight. I kind of feel sick."

"Would you blame them?" Natasha asked as she discreetly wiped away her tears.

Clint snorted and gave her a horrified look. He turned to her and as he pointed to the monitor he said, "Were you not watching? Christ, Nat, the only thing they didn't do was rape him! No one should go through that, no one!"

"A year ago Gage had an aunt living in New York and Axle had a cousin working for SHIELD, in the hellicarrier."

"Aw, shit…that still doesn't excuse them. We're supposed to be the good guys! Fury ordered them to get answers not beat him half to death. You know—" Clint brought both hands up, closed his eyes and inhaled and exhaled in order to keep his composure steady. He was torn between hating Loki and feeling sympathy for him. "Well, you know what? Maybe I should go and wake Thor up and let him run loose at SHIELD and see how they like it."

"Loki asked Thor not to do that."

Clint sighed deeply. He was confused, could not place where he stood with Loki, or even knew how he felt about him. He looked back at the monitor and sighed once more. Gage was right, Loki had just laid there and took the abuse, and he never even bothered to plead or beg. When Natasha had walked in he had not even asked for help.

As Clint became engulfed in his thoughts Natasha had taken the disk out and before typing in a command she saw a lone figure sitting on the sofa of the living room staring at the television. She leaned in closer and saw who it was. Before she could say anything Clint leaned in behind her and said, "I'm gonna go talk to him."

"What for?"

"I just do. I don't know if it's a good idea—hell, I don't even know what to say to him but I just need to talk to him."

"I'll go with you."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

When Loki finally opened his eyes he was facing the window and saw it was dark. He slowly turned, he still ached, not as severely but still ached all over, and saw Thor sitting next to him with his back against the wall, drooping forward and snoring. Loki then wondered how long he had been asleep. He whispered into the air at Stark's disembodied butler and when the program answered back he had been surprised. According to Jarvis he had been asleep for two days.

After carefully leaving the bed he gathered all of his strength and pulled Thor by his feet in order to get him to lie down on the bed. Without any real reason or logic behind it he lifted Thor's head and removed the pillow, replacing it with the one he had been using. As he gripped the pillow with one hand he used the other to place the soft cover over Thor.

As he slowly made his way out of the room he looked back to make sure Thor was well and resting. When he was satisfied by the reassurance of Thor's thundering snore he managed a half smile and quietly closed the door.

Once out in the hallway he quietly walked over to the living room and with the pillow firmly grasped close to his chest by both hands he sat down on the sofa with both legs crossed under him. He grabbed the remote and turned the television on stopping on a random channel which displayed a random program. As he watched he slowly drooped and placed half of his face on the pillow. He inhaled and was actually bombarded by Thor's scent, it relaxed him.

For an hour all he did was inhale the scent on the pillow and idly watched the television. As far as he understood the program detailed the daily events of humans whose job was to investigate the crimes of other humans, the victims of said crimes were called special, which puzzled Loki, but it seemed it was.

He watched one episode after another and slowly came to the realization that the unit, as the humans called their group, dealt with children and crimes of a sexual nature. Some episodes were good; others were boring and easy to figure out. Some fascinated him as they depicted the use of science, he made a mental note to look into this science and ask Stark, Pym and Banner to lend him books on it.

For a while it seemed he was calm but then a cramping pain slowly made itself noticeable in his stomach, it was not hunger, it was something else. He clutched his stomach with one hand and with the other kept the pillow in place as he inhaled the calming scent as he tried to suppress the pain. It was not working.

For a few minutes he sat frozen on the sofa now completely ignoring the television and focusing on the pain. How he wished he had his magic available to him, he could easily mend his injured body easily with it. As he clutched his stomach tears formed in his eyes as he remembered that day when he was banished and the torture, remembered everything the four men yelled at him about deserving every bad thing that was happening to him. As tears fell he slightly eased his hand and left it loose over his stomach. He felt they were right so he did not bother trying to ease the pain.

"Hey, uh…Loki? Are you all right?"

Loki shifted uncomfortably on the sofa, he had not expected anyone to walk into the living room much less expected Clint to show up and talk to him. Loki searched Clint's face for any signs of hostility but thankfully found none.

Natasha stood next to Clint; he saw a similar expression on her face so he eased a little bit of the tension but still clutched the pillow and inhaled as he watched them carefully. How he wished he had never left the room.

"You should be in bed resting." Natasha said gently. She stretched an arm out to place it on his shoulder but as he saw the arm reach towards him Loki let out a shuddering breath and braced himself as he tightly shut his eyes.

Natasha frowned and lowered her gaze as she retracted her arm. She remembered the beating and figured it would be a while before he felt comfortable with contact from anyone that was not Thor. She walked towards the trickster and knelt down on one knee in front of him to meet his eyes; she lifted her hands in a mock surrender and slowly whispered, "No one in this house is going to lay a hand on you, not that way. Everyone here is going to keep you safe. You have nothing to worry about."

Natasha slowly moved one of her hands and placed it over one of Loki's as if to solidify what she was promising. As her hand made contact she could feel he was trembling. She kept a steady gaze on him so he could see the honesty she portrayed in her eyes. She figured the talented liar was able to sniff out a lie as easily as he could weave one.

After a few minutes she slowly rose back up and with the same hand placed it gently on his shoulders and made her way back to her room. Natasha found no reason to fear for Clint's safety so she left to try, even if she would not be able to, get some sleep. As Natasha disappeared into the darkness of the hallway Clint then turned his gaze to Loki.

"Mind if I sit down?"

Loki shook his head as he stared blankly at the floor. He was still silently crying on the pillow and trying to inhale the scent from it. Clint sat close but not close enough to make them both uncomfortable. He still did not know what to say to Loki and as he shifted his eyes around the room he began his conversation with something comfortable.

"She's right; you should be in bed resting."

"I couldn't sleep."

Clint nodded. He kept looking at the Asgardian god next to him and could not help but think about how powerful he looked a year ago and compared to that he looked broken and pathetic now. He made a note of the way he hunched over on the pillow, how much he cried in the time he was there with them and saw how he gripped that pillow as if it was the only thing in the world that felt safe. Clint also noticed how Loki kept an arm around his stomach and there was another safe and comfortable bit of conversation.

"Your stomach still hurts?"

Loki slowly nodded. Clint figured he had been pumped full of drugs already so a small can of ginger ale would definitely feel better than any harsh medicine. He stood up and walked towards the kitchen to look for a can of ginger ale he had seen a day ago and hoped it was still there. Once he found it he rushed back to the living room and sat in the exact same spot. He cleaned the top of the can and opened it before handing it to Loki.

Loki looked at the can and then back at Clint who said, "It's okay. It's just ginger ale. It's good for stomach pains. You've had enough drugs pumped into you, figured something lighter wouldn't be too bad."

Loki grabbed the can and slowly drank from it at first. After he got a feel for the taste he drank some more and then proceeded to thank Clint who in turn nodded. For a few minutes there was an uncomfortable silence between them, mostly due to Clint still trying to find the right words to say to Loki.

"I really, really fucking hate you." So much for diplomacy.

"I know…" Loki answered as he closed his eyes.

"No, you don't know. You made me murder innocent people; I know the universe doesn't revolve around me but dammit, why did you have to enslave me? Why did you have to make me do those things? You made me hurt innocent people, hurt my friends, hurt my partner."

Clint was now sitting sideways to face Loki, "Loki, you—you got into my mind, you crawled around in there—I felt violated! Goddamn it, it took me a long time to forgive myself and took even longer to convince myself that nothing I did while under your control was my fault. I still feel guilty for having done what I did and people keep telling me none of it was my fault but it still felt like it was."

"When you came back all I wanted to do was kill you. I even stood outside your door holding a gun in my hands and planning how to make it look like you had finally cracked and killed yourself. I fantasized often about killing you in the worst way, the slowest, most painful way."

Loki was now lowering his head and he admitted it was in shame. He wished he could take everything back but it was done and the damage sat right next to him, pouring his heart out to him and all he could muster was to apologize because nothing within his power could take it all back.

"But you know what?" Clint continued, there was a slight shudder in his voice, "I finally figured that those homicidal fantasies were beneath me. That I would be acting like every villain that came before you and after you. I'm no villain. I'm an agent of SHIELD and a member of The Avengers and neither group stands for that kind of crap. I still wanted to kill you though. I also thought you were scheming yet again to either kill just Thor or all of us. That the injured shoulder and hand were an easy excuse to get close because no matter what you do Thor will always follow you around like a puppy."

"You know when I started to sort of ease up off you? When Tony told me you were willingly going to go back to Asgard to complete your sentence. That's when the hate started to water down. I admit that your second suicide attempt was an utter disappointment to me. I thought about how I didn't have to get my hands dirty killing you but that was wrong."

At the mention of the word suicide Loki wept more and held back a sob as he waited for Clint to finish what he had to say.

"That day when you went off to Asgard I admit I couldn't believe it but low and behold there you were crossing that rip into Asgard to do as you had promised. After an hour I really believed you were keeping your promise and I told myself that if you did come back after finishing your sentence that you and I would have this talk. Of course, it turns out that your old man is not so good with his parenting skills and it almost got you killed so our talk was actually had sooner than later."

"I am so sorry for everything I did to you. I know I can never take it back or make it all better for you but know that I am truly sorry. An honest heartfelt apology is all I can offer." Loki had been keeping that inside for some time but he continued on before he lost his nerve, "If my being here is going to become a burden for you I will take my leave in the morrow—"

"No, goddamn it, wait. You're not getting what I'm saying." Clint cut Loki off before he could continue. "What I really meant to say was that I really hated you at first but now I don't. I really, really don't hate you, not anymore. I also forgive you and I'll accept your apology on one condition."

As Clint finished he extended his hand towards Loki and after a few seconds Loki did the same and the former enemies exchanged a friendly handshake as Clint smiled. For the first time in weeks Clint genuinely smiled and did not have to fake it.

"What condition?"

"You give me the knife in your pocket and you stop cutting yourself."

Loki froze as horror washed over his face, he gasped loudly as his grip on Clint's hand loosened and his mouth dropped. He thought Tony was the only one who knew about what he did every night in order to keep the rage at bay.

"I mean it, give me the knife." Loki reached a hand behind him. He had been sitting on the knife after he had made three fresh cuts on his lower arm, which was covered by long sleeves, and hid the knife by sitting on it.

"This is not the way to handle your stress, anger and sadness." Clint said as he waved the bloody knife in front of Loki's face, "Thor is the only here who doesn't know you do this, we'll keep it that way as long as you swear here and now that you will no longer self-inflict and will no longer attempt to kill yourself. Swear it?"

"I swear it." He meant it; if it meant Thor would never find out he would swear it.

"Good. How's your stomach?"

"Much better, thank you."

"Speaking of that," Clint's tone turned serious, "Natasha showed me the security tape of the cell you were kept in, that was brutal, they were not supposed to torture you. They were only there to question you. Natasha didn't know they were torturing you, it shouldn't have happened. Since they disobeyed Natasha and I will make sure the tape gets sent in and they answer for what they did."

"No. No, please, I believe I know why they did it. It seems we are now even."

"What? You can't be serious! Loki, you could have died back there!"

"And I was wishing for it to happen so they would have done mea favor. Please, let this be the end of it."

Clint sighed deeply but agreed. He was not happy with the decision but if the victim was not willing to pursue the matter than going after Gage and his team would have been pointless so he reluctantly agreed.

"You should go to bed. It's really late and you need to rest and heal." As Clint finished he slowly rose from the sofa and turned to go to his room. The day proved to have been very tiring and he really wanted to erase the images from the security video so he figured a good night's sleep would do it.

"'Night, tiger!"

Loki turned to where Clint's voice had emerged and sighed. He was far too drained to smile or even fake a smile. He appreciated the thought and was glad he and Clint had that talk because while in the cell of SHIELD's basement he only thought of his victims but mostly thought of Clint and Coulson. There was nothing he could do about Coulson but Clint was alive and well and while at first he was afraid he slowly warmed up to the idea that fixing things, even if he failed, with Clint would at least ease that knot in his stomach.

After a few minutes of thinking things over he rose slowly and walked back to Thor's room. When he grabbed the doorknob he froze and looked down the hall to his room and then back at Thor's door. He wanted to sleep and rest and while he wanted to be near Thor he did not want to burden his brother with worry. He sighed deeply and then looked up at the ceiling.

"Jarvis?" Loki called unsure if the disembodied voice would answer or was even allowed to speak to him.

"How may I help you, sir?" Jarvis answered eloquently.

"Will you please let my brother know I will be using my own bed? I prefer to be alone for an undetermined amount of time. Please, let them know that I will be all right and not to take offense for my desire to not see anyone. I merely require some time to think and rest."

"As you wish, sir. I shall let the residents know of your wishes. Is there anything else you need, sir?"

"No, I am fine. Thank you, Jarvis."

With that Loki walked down to his room and slowly climbed onto his bed, hid under the covers and gripped Thor's pillow close to his face. He buried his face into the pillow as he wept. He wept for a long time until his body shut down out of exhaust and just simply slept.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

"We have been searching for a long time! How are we going to explain coming back to the Norn queen empty handed? Surely she will have our heads!" Skurge was many things but patient was not one of them. Amora's original plan had taken a slight turn when the Norn queen had ordered him and Amora to find all the crystals that had been lost in Midgard but she found a way to manipulate the situation to benefit both her and Skurge. Amora was confident in her plan but Skurge seemed to not share the sentiment.

"Dear Skurge, our time spent in Midgard was of a fruitful nature. While the Norn queen believed we were searching for her precious crystals we bought time." Amora's voice carried with it a sinister tone but one Skurge did not understand or even approved.

"Time for what exactly?"

"For the queen's rage to build."

Skurge stared at Amora almost comically like. She knew he barely understood what her plan was so she turned to face him head on and explained her newly hatched plan. "You see, the queen sent us to retrieve her crystals and while I can easily find them we will tell the queen it was impossible to find the crystals because that mange ridden dog placed a curse on them so no one could find them."

"And why would the trickster do that?"

"He's the very epitome of anarchy. No one knows why he does what he does. He just does it." Amora's rage was building as she spoke of Loki and while she wanted to raise her fists and curse his name loud enough for the universe to hear she calmed herself while explaining the rest of the plan. "When she hears our report she will become enraged and she will set after the trickster and end his pathetic excuse of an existence."

"We sit back and enjoy our revenge." Skurge said as he lifted a mug of ale and took a swig from it.

"Exactly. We will have to wait for some time, the queen will never believe us if we return now. We shall continue to hide and then we shall report to the queen."

"Down with the trickster!" Skurge took yet another helping of the ale, this time Amora joined in but before drinking she echoed the warrior's toast.

"Down with the trickster!"

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

It had been nine days since Loki had locked himself in his room and while the group worried they stayed away from his room as he had asked them to. Occasionally while they passed his room Tony or Steve or anyone else would press their ears to the door to see if they could hear anything. Sometimes all they could hear was silence, the majority of the time they heard uncontrollable crying which worried them but at least it was a sign that he had not done something unthinkable. Very few times they could hear him talking, they could not make out what it was he was saying but he would talk to himself.

In those nine days Thor was the most unsettled they had ever seen him, they knew he wanted to burst through the door to see if his brother was all right and sometimes he would sit outside of Loki's door for hours on end but to keep him calm Tony would asked Jarvis to give them details about Loki's state. When the virtual butler would give an answer he would remind them that Loki had asked for some privacy to which Tony shrugged it off.

During those nine days Thor was not the only person to feel uneasy and worried. Jan would often times feel the need to ask Jarvis for video feed to see how Loki was but the butler would deny her access also reminding her that Loki had asked for some privacy. Jan would settle on Jarvis telling her that he was all right.

On the morning of the tenth day Steve could not take the pressure any longer and decided to intrude. He accepted the fact that he may get something tossed at him but he was willing to risk it. As he marched towards Loki's room he ran into Jan and Natasha who curiously enough were marching in the same direction he was marching in. As the three of them looked at each other there was an unspoken understanding and with a smile and a nod Steve headed to his destination.

Once at the door he gently knocked and timidly said, "Loki? I know you asked to be left alone but we're getting really worry about you. Please, we don't mean to intrude but at least let us know you are all right."

Steve's speech went unanswered and after a few minutes he knocked again and called Loki's name only to still go unanswered. Jan was getting worried so she called up at Jarvis.

"Jarvis, is he all right? Is he still…"

"He has left the room. He is currently on the roof of the mansion." Jarvis answered and although his voice pattern did not indicate that there was anything wrong the trio looked at each other all thinking the same morbid thought.

Simultaneously the trio sprinted across the hall and made their way to the stairs and ran as fast as their legs could carry them. Once at the door Steve burst through the door and winced a bit as the sunlight hit him but as soon as he recovered he felt Natasha and Jan push him lightly aside.

They looked to the other side of the pool and saw Loki sitting on the edge of the roof leaning back slightly while supporting his weight with both arms just a few inches behind his back. The trio approached him slowly, unsure of what to expect. As they slowly approached Loki lifted his head and the breeze swept past him and a fluttering sound stopped the trio in their tracks.

Loki reached to his side and grabbed a bottle of water. Jan looked around him and saw an empty liter of soda, some wraps of junk food and an empty plate and about three bottles of water. Her curiosity was sparkling but she and the others slowly walked towards Loki. As they approached a giant liquid manta ray flew into the air and danced wildly as an eel and a whale joined the manta ray. The three liquid creatures danced in the sky above Loki and they could have sworn they heard Loki laughing.

Their attention was driven back to Loki who stood up after he picked up a second bottle of water. He took the two bottles and spilled the water all around him as the marine creatures continued to dance. After he did he held the two bottles with his hands and as he closed his eyes his hands began to glow green and several golden streams laced themselves around his hands and as the lights became brighter Loki knelt on the floor and placed both hands on the water and the roof began to glow.

Jan and the others took a step back as they saw the green energy concentrating on all the rain water that had collected on the roof over the last few days. As the light got brighter and brighter the water actually began to move on its own.

Suddenly a horde of animals, liquid animals, rose from the floor and began to run around and dance. There was a tiger, a couple of dogs, a bald eagle, and dragons flying about. The trio looked to the sky as the liquid animals ran and flew through the skies and played with each other. Jan, Steve and even Natasha laughed at the sight in front of them. Genuine happiness and cheer splashed across their faces as they took in the sights. More animals emerged from the water as they looked down at the floor and then looked at Loki.

A sheepish smile adorned his face as he took the three bottles of water and tossed them at the trio in front of him. The bottles were glowing with a green aura and the water inside seemed to slosh about slowly. The trio looked at the bottles curiously but Steve somehow got the notion to spill the bottle as Loki had done earlier.

The bottle never emptied but water flowed through it nonetheless. As the water fell a dinosaur made of water formed before his very eyes. It was not the size of a full grown dinosaur but it was still there. Steve had actually thought of a dinosaur and the enchanted water took the form of what he was thinking. Jan looked at the bottle in amazement and as she tilted the bottle a giraffe formed and ran after the dinosaur. Natasha did as well and an elephant emerged.

Loki looked at them and the look on their faces formed a bigger smile on his. He would often perform tricks to amuse other Asgardians but growing up in a warrior driven society meant his talents were not as sought after as a warrior's would be. However they result before him now actually made his heart jump with what he could only figure out to be joy. Something he thought would never wrap itself around his heart ever again. He laughed again as he flicked his index finger up and from the water in the pool a horde of balloons flew high into the sky.

Jan saw the massive balloons and grabbed on to one of the strings and let out an uncontrolled giggle as Natasha grabbed her hand and grabbed onto Jan's leg as they flew higher they tilted their bottles and dozens of water dragonflies and butterflies flew around them. Steve could not help but laugh loudly. He took his bottle and spilled water everywhere and bees flew around.

Loki shifted the pool's water and dozens of blocks floated into the air so Natasha and Jan would not fly away. The girls let go of the balloon and stepped onto the blocks while playing with the water animals that danced and pranced around them. Jan's loud laughter was strong but it was not surprising coming from her. Loki looked at Natasha as her own laughter turned into squeals, he loved that sound, it was graceful as was Jan's. All their laughter combined was a marvelous sound. It was the first time in days that the mansion was host to happy squeals, joyous laughter, uncontrollable giggles and laughing fits that were so loud Steve could have sworn the entire neighborhood could hear them. He was especially happy to see Loki laughing so loudly and loved that he had a genuine look of happiness in his eyes.

Eventually Natasha and Jan made their way back to the roof and continued to splash the air with water animals which were now crowding the air space around them. Eventually Loki lifted both arms and all the animals and objects floating around them merged into a giant water sphere and as it got bigger it actually burst and water droplets fell all around them. Steve, Jan and Natasha laughed as did Loki.

Their activities had not gone unnoticed. The rest of the inhabitants of the mansion had walked in on them as they were entertained by Loki's magic. Loki looked behind the trio and saw his brother and the others idly standing and watching, smiles all across and a look of hope and joy written across Thor's face.

Thor and Loki locked eyes and Thor slowly made his way towards his brother. Thor searched his brother's eyes and Loki flushed a little but before he could turn his sheepish gaze away Thor placed a hand on the back of Loki's neck. Loki placed a hand on Thor's arm and smiled as he looked at his older brother. In a swift motion Thor drew Loki in and hugged him. Loki was somewhat surprised but he returned the hug and squeezed as hard as he could.

The group watched but then one by one they tackled the siblings in a hug of their own and as they all squealed in laughter they fell over and continued to laugh. After a few minutes of pure unadulterated laughter they all stood and smiled at one another. Even Natasha was smiling, though she admitted the hugging was unusual from her part and she still could not figure why she joined in on the tackling hug. Could have been a spur of the moment situation.

"Brother, you were using your magic. How is this possible?" Thor questioned as soon as he remembered he had seen Loki using magic. They all turned to Tony who laughed as he waved his hands dismissively.

"Oh, I turned that thing off when you had been invited upstairs by Jan. Remember our talk from that night? I turned it off as soon as I got to my room. It's got a remote."

Actually speaking, Tony had turned off the device when Loki and Thor had that conversation in the basement after Loki had attempted to kill himself. He was not going to confess to that because he had listened in on their conversation and for some reason between Loki sobbing and spilling his heart out to Thor he had placed a thought in his mind. A thought that was to him as accurate as Loki was real. He knew of Loki's reputation as a liesmith and he knew that a liar as gifted as he was to be a good actor but the tone of his voice and how terribly he was stuttering just made the entire situation genuine.

The second thing that convinced Tony was how Loki reacted to Clint's constant badgering. Loki from a year ago would have snapped Clint's neck but he did not. The third thing that convinced Tony was Loki's self-destructive behavior and the suicide attempt while in their care.

Thor spoke of Loki often and with crucial details and everything about his behavior pointed at someone who had been hurt, had a low level of self-esteem and some serious inferiority complexes. Thor spoke of someone who needed fixing and as corny as he admitted it sounded he also thought that that man needed a hug, quite possibly a kick in the teeth as well for acting out at the wrong people, anything to let him know that everything was going to be all right and that he did not have to hide behind lies, trickery and chaos any longer.

Tony shared this sentiment with the rest of the group and eventually Clint had grown to accept that perhaps Tony was right but he seldom made a mention of it. Everyone, single one of them had once made one or multiple horrendous mistakes in their lives, some needed a second chance and Tony had seen that everywhere. Bruce's destructive nature as the Hulk was the epitome of it. A lot of people shunned him for it yet here he was as an honorary member of the Avengers, fighting evil and doing "goody goody stuff" as Tony called it. Natasha was also as good an example as any.

Yes, he did admit Loki's mistakes involved the deaths of a lot of people but his case was very complex. As Thor spoke he just sensed Loki was a person who would go to any lengths to please someone he deemed worthy of respect and when he failed to gain his father's approval, especially after learning he was adopted, it was only natural that his psychological state shattered.

"Here." Tony said as he approached Loki and removed the device from his neck. "There's no point in keeping this on you." Loki rubbed the back of his neck and smiled at Tony but then lowered his gaze as he sighed.

"I am sorry if I caused any trouble. I merely needed time along to adjust myself."

"Don't worry about it." Bruce stepped up and placed a hand on Loki's shoulder. If anyone was going to approve of needing time to themselves it was Bruce. "We all need a little time to gather ourselves."

Loki smiled again and as he stared at the group Thor placed his massive hand on his head and tousled his already messy hair and while they all laughed Jan said, "We should head down, get dressed and go out for breakfast."

The group erupted in agreement and slowly made their way back into the mansion while shouting suggestions for places to get some breakfast. Loki stood still as the group left but as he took a step forward Clint and Natasha held him back.

"Are you all right, Loki?" Clint asked as he searched his eyes.

"I am."

"How did you know the device wasn't working?" Natasha asked. It was actual curiosity that spawned the question.

Loki sighed and lowered his gaze as he answered, "I did not keep my promise for the first three days of my stationary confinement in my chambers. I am truly sorry for it, Clint. On the night of the third day I was determined to end my life and I remembered Stark's warning about the device that if I were to use my magic it would rupture my heart and so I tried it but it did not work. I took that as a sign that perhaps ending my life would be unwise."

"You're damn right it's unwise." Clint quipped but quickly smiled widely at the Asgardian as he patted him on the back, "We should head down or they'll leave without us. I want waffles!"

"I will join you in a few minutes."

Clint rushed to the door while Natasha placed a hand on the back of Loki's head, pleasantly scratching with her thumb, and smiled at him reassuringly. Loki returned the smile and once he was alone he inhaled and exhaled as he looked to the sky. The wind blew his hair back as he momentarily closed his eyes. For the first time in long centuries that bitter and deadly feeling of loneliness was not present and weighing his soul down and squeezing the life out of his heart. He felt wanted amongst the group, he felt he was welcome and did not need to fear them or needed to hide who he was. All he had to do was be himself and in that realization he finally realized what it was like to be free. To be unconditionally loved.

He smiled as he opened his eyes and while still staring at the sky he said, "Father, I am eternally sorry for all my grievances against you and Asgard. I realize I was wrong in many ways but I was right in many others. Whether you accept my apology or not I will never know…I plan to never return to Asgard."

Loki sighed as he walked back into the mansion and returned to the group so they could leave for breakfast as Jan had suggested.

Unbeknownst to Loki his message and apology did in fact reach the intended ears and while the receptor was jaded with guilt and sadness his only witness to the rare event of open expression was the watcher. It was a sad event to watch a god king weep over the permanent loss of his youngest child but it was also a relief to see some happiness within a being who had only known loneliness and bitterness for so long.