The Avengers tower was busier than it had been in months. The week after the incident was a chaotic one. Fury disappeared, Hydra agents were rooted out all over the government, Natasha faced congress and walked out free, the world reeled at the secrets released in the information dump.

Tony, who had apparently made it to the tower mere hours before the incident reached its climax, berated them for recklessness, though he was clearly relieved to see them alive. Bruce returned as well, introducing himself awkwardly to Sam. Thor arrived late in the week in the burst of light and sound that was the Bifrost. Before he said anything he had tackled Loki in a hug.

"Brother, you cannot go dismantling corrupt governments without me!" He had laughed for a moment before he noticed the bandage over Loki's left eye. "Your eye!"

Loki had smirked, he had not attempted to push Thor away despite how his right arm throbbed. "Yes, it is not there. I match the Allfather for the time being."

Sam, as was universally decided, deserved a spot on the team. He accepted immediately, grinning wide. "Dude, its the Avengers. Of course I want it!"

It was clear to Loki that Steve was distant amidst all this. Once he returned from the hospital he smiled and greeted his friends but nothing more. He attended their meetings but never participated more than was necessary. Until late one night, where in he called together Loki, Natasha, and Sam; the trio that had formed the backbone of the incident. They met in Steve's room, chairs hastily pulled together in a circle.

The Captain, lip still split, a half healed gash above his eye, gazed at each of them for a long silent moment. "I'm guessing you can all figure out what I want to talk about."

Separately, they all nodded in agreement. Loki was the first to speak. "We need to find him, I agree. But we must go about it carefully. Just because you said you got through to him in the moment does not mean he remembers everything. And, we all know how dangerous he can be." He smiled grimly, gesturing towards his face, for the last few days his eye had been itching incessantly as it healed.

Natasha leaned back in her chair, sighing. "Finding him is not going to be easy. You aren't the world's greatest assassin for seventy years without knowing how to hide."

Taking in her words, Steve looked dour. "We have to try. I can't leave him out there by himself." The guilt in his voice was palpable.

Sam, picking up on that tried to reassure him. "We will find him. But…" He paused, grimacing. "But you have to be prepared, Steve, if we do find him and he's not… the same as you remember."

"I'm not the same as I was back then either. It just takes work!" Steve grew quickly defensive.

Loki cleared his throat. He fixed Steve with an unwavering stare. "You know you must tell Tony, right?"

A dark silence fell over them. Sam, confused, looked between the trio.

Voice soft, Steve had trouble meeting Loki's gaze. "We can't be certain-"

"We all saw the same thing down in Zola's pit. It's the logical conclusion."

"But what if-"

Natasha cut Steve off, her tone sympathetic. "Loki's right, Steve. You need to tell Tony what happened before we run off after Barnes. He needs to hear it from you."

Clearly conflicted, Steve glanced between them. "He'll hate him."

"Yes, he will." Loki was not willing to sugar coat things, he needed Steve to understand. "He will hate him. He'll likely want him dead. But if you give him time he can come to terms with it. If you do not give him that time this will explode in you face."

"I- you're right." Steve groaned, his shoulders drooped in defeat. He put his head in his hands. "I don't know… how can I even begin to tell him? I knew Howard, he was a great man." Steve shuddered. "His parents. How can I tell him my best friend murdered his parents?"

Sam sucked in a shocked breath.

After a moment of hesitation, Natasha reached out for Steve, putting a hand on his arm. "I don't know. But if anyone can figure it out it's you."

Their meeting disbanded leaving a sense of dread looming over the group.

About half a week later the issue came to a head.

In the middle of delicately unwrapping the bandage covering his eye, Loki received a panicked knock at the door. Seconds later Steve burst through and ran over to him, grabbing Loki by the shoulders. "I told him. He stormed off, towards his workshop I think. Can you go talk to him, please." He took a shuddering breath. "Maybe he'll listen to you. Maybe-"

Raising a hand, Loki stopped him. "Breathe, Steve. Breathe." He steadied the soldier cautiously. "How did you go about telling him?"

Steve took a deep breath and straightened, releasing Loki. "Yes… I'm sorry." He looked no less distressed, however. "I didn't plan on it. We were eating lunch and I just started talking. I didn't even think about what I was saying."

"Go talk to Natasha, or Sam, anyone. Do not stew in your doubt. I will talk to Tony. But do not expect me to advocate for Barnes no matter what, that is not what Tony wants to hear and that is not what I believe in deserved."

Though he knew it wouldn't exactly put Steve at ease, it was enough to reassure him at least slightly. Loki was left alone and took some time to prepare for the conversation he was to have. He finished unwrapping his bandage and inspected his healed eye, blinking as it adjusted to the light. He gave Tony about half an hour before he headed towards him.

Blaring music hit Loki as soon as he stepped into Tony's workshop. The Midgardian glanced up from whatever he was welding, dark goggles obscured his eyes. Loki leaned casually near the elevator, waiting for Tony to engage him first.

It took maybe five minutes of this before Tony finally broke. He shut off his welder and turned the music down before he swiveled in his chair. "Your eye is better."

"Indeed, took it long enough." Loki scowled in annoyance. With Tony's goggles still on he could barely read his face.

"If you can heal like that, why is Odin missing an eye?" Tony was clearly avoiding the subject at hand but Loki let him do so.

"He gave that up for wisdom. You do not get your body parts back if you sacrifice them. That would defeat the symbolic purpose." He walked over to sit opposite Tony, still not pushing him. He could see Tony fiddling with a tiny, half built machine, restlessly.

"You're not… gonna look for him, are you?" Tony noticeably had trouble getting his question out. Barely concealed rage simmered in his voice.

Calmly, Loki nodded. "I am. I believe that to be the right thing to do."

Tony ducked his head quickly, he shook ever so slightly. "Why? He- he- Steve doesn't get it. I thought you…"

Leaning forward, Loki stared Tony down. "Take off your goggles and look me in the eye."

His friend recoiled at his cool tone but did as he said. Tony's eyes were red and angry.

"I cannot, in good conscious, deny him a second chance. Without those where would I be?" Loki posed the question rhetorically. They both knew the answer.

"But you didn't-he murdered them, Loki." Tony's voice cracked but he didn't break eye contact. His dark eyes misted over.

"I know." They stared at eachother for a long moment, Loki allowed some softness to slip into his gaze. "I am not saying he deserves unconditional acceptance. You earn your trust, is that not how it works?"

Tony shook his head, face full of denial. "He's a murderer."

"I am a murderer. And I knew full well what I was doing when I did so. I killed my biological father, I murdered hundreds of Frost Giants, countless Midgardians, I have tried to kill practically everyone in this tower, directly or not." Loki slammed a hand down on the table to keep Tony's attention but carefully kept his voice level. "You have full right to be angry, it would be insane not to be. But you cannot deny the chance that he may be redeemed. Perhaps it does not work out, a very real possibility if I am being honest, and there is no saving him then you have every right to strike that final blow, I doubt Rogers could bring himself to. But until such a time he should be given at least a sliver of a chance."

Tony shuddered, he closed his eyes and turned away, breathing heavily. They sat in silence like this for some time; until finally Tony found his voice. "I… I can't help you look for him. I don't want to. But I won't stop you." He looked back up at Loki, obviously exhausted. "Can we just… talk? Not about this. Something else, anything."

Loki nodded and relaxed. His mind raced for a safe topic. "I heard Pepper received a nomination for some award. Is that true?"

A fraction of a smile flickered across Tony's face. He loved heaping praise on Pepper. "Yeah! Yeah she did, I think the ceremony is in a few weeks I was planning on going with her…"


AN: And so this one is over. I felt it had reached a long enough limit and a natural concluding point. But I am already working on a follow up to wrap up that whole Bucky loose end thing. I will likely write the whole thing and publish it in sections as I did with this one; it allows for higher quality over all. I'm already on chapter 4 of that and I'm not planning on making it much longer than this one so here's hoping I can get it publishing pretty soon. Thanks to all the people commenting, I haven't had that much participation since I started in 2014 or so and that's really fun. Thanks for reading, if you want to read the next one following me would be the best way to do keep a look out for when that shows up.