AN: I'm back at school now, so updates may not be as regular as they were before. I also think I'm getting close to the conclusion of this story.

Chapter Ten

Once it was clear Loki was secure, the spies and the soldier had returned to New York, each having their own affairs to attend to. Bruce and Thor stayed in the mansion, partly to keep and eye on him and partly because they had nowhere else to go. Bruce had lived as a nomad for a long time, and felt uncomfortable in his own home. He often spent nights here anyway, not bothering to make the journey back when both he and Stark knew that he would return again to continue their conversation the next day.

Loki soon found that his days were filled with company and watchful eyes. Thor and Bruce would often sit with him in the day and speak to him of things of little consequence, but both threaded carefully about him. Both were unsure as to whether he was more likely to harm himself or them, and what they should watch out for. Whilst Thor was much more comfortable in his role, there were times when he treated Loki coldly. Most often when Loki refused to communicate with him. Thor would get upset, angry even, that his brother was so stubborn. Bruce was never quite sure of what to say. He simply spoke about what was happening in the world, but he was careful not to mention anything that could give Loki ideas for future conquest. Occasionally, he spoke of himself to try and engage Loki in a more involved conversation, but these attempts were fleeting and almost always followed by him swiftly exiting the room.

Some nights, Tony Stark would find his way into Loki's rooms. It didn't take Loki long to realise that Tony's artificial intelligence still had its eye trained on him, as the next time he went to shut himself in the bathroom Stark was there before he could even do anything. After that Tony spent most nights with him, and neither asked the other why they didn't sleep.

Tony would often bring Loki books that he thought he might enjoy, on topics such as astrophysics and advanced engineering. Every now and then, however, he bought a work of fiction. Loki never gave any indication of the fact, but the fantasy tales Tony gave him were his favourites. Tony never gave any indication of the fact that he noticed how much faster Loki read these works, aside from putting more thought into his choices of these and bringing them a little more often. Tony didn't bother trying to engage Loki in conversation, instead he simply sat with him as he read books of his own.

Loki barely even noticed when he got back into a regular eating pattern.
It was after almost a month passed in this fashion that Captain America returned to the mansion, Black Widow and Hawkeye in tow. Loki saw them arrive from the window in his room.

"What do we know?" Were Clint's first words to Tony.

"Hey, come in. Make yourselves at home." Tony extravagantly gestured for them to enter the premises.

"Sorry, Tony, it's just that we haven't got any news from you yet, and it's been a while now." Natasha said before Clint could retort.

Tony went to sit on the couch, the other Avengers following. "That's because we haven't got anything out of him."

"I thought he could talk now?" Steve asked.

Bruce, who had been in the kitchen, made his way over to join them. "He can, but that doesn't mean he wants to. Hasn't said a word to any of us."

"Not even his brother? Where is Thor?" Natasha asked him.

"He's with Loki now. We try to have someone with him at all times, in case he tries anything. Anyway, he's more likely to talk to Tony than anyone else."

Tony just shrugged when three confused faces turned towards him, he wasn't sure why it was this way either.

Steve stood up. "The thing is, SHIELD contacted Clint whilst we were in New York. They asked if he knew why Thor has been staying here, and why we were all here before."

Tony smirked. "Not keeping tabs on us, right?"

"They've got reason to, clearly." Natasha replied.

"They don't know he's here though, do they?" Bruce asked.

Clint shook his head. "They didn't have a clue, not from what I could tell. I say we get rid of him before they can find out."

"That's not going to happen." Tony responded at the same time Bruce replied, "No way."

Natasha narrowed her eyes at the two. "What's going on?"

Tony sighed, not knowing where to begin. "Loki is sick. He's self destructive. Even though he knows he can communicate now he refuses to, even for the most simple things. He's unstable."

"Are you saying that you're helping him?" Clint asked, incredulous.

"We're keeping a valuable asset alive." Tony said.

"He's not all that valuable right now." Clint retorted.

Steve stood between the two men before they could get into an argument. "That's beside the point. Loki is alive and no matter who he is we are not going to kill him in cold blood. We've got to decide what we're going to do about SHIELD."

Natasha lay back, crossing her ankles. "Hand him over, or send him home."

"Can we send him home?" Steve asked.

Tony nodded. "Thor used the Tesseract to get here. It's locked in my lab in a case right now." He shot a sideways glance at Bruce. "There's no way SHIELD can trace it."

"Why can't they?" Natasha asked. "Bruce gave them the tracking algorithms."

"It's a vibranium case. The gamma radiation is absorbed and dissipated. Undetectable."

Steve turned to face the engineer. "Vibranium?"

Tony smirked. "I have my sources."

"What do we do then?"

There was a long moment of silence before Natasha piped up.

"First off, we get Thor."

Tony collected Thor from his room hours ago, and still Loki was alone. They hadn't given him this much privacy in weeks. If there was one thing he was sure of, it was that this wasn't good news. For all the Avengers to suddenly gather under one roof once more, something must have happened. Most likely, something to do with him.

Night fell, an nobody told him what was happening. He found he couldn't concentrate, not even on the latest work of fiction Tony had brought him. He simply sat cross legged on the bed, trying to consider all possibilities and work out a contingency plan for each. It didn't take him long to realise the only way was down. He had once been a king, but there was no way he could ever be restored to that former glory.

Tony himself was in a similar predicament. They hadn't been able to decide on a course of action, they all thought too differently about the situation and the man. Exasperated, Tony had left the discussion and retreated into his lab, telling Jarvis not to disturb him for any reason. The arguments ran through his head. Thor and Bruce thought he should be returned to Asgard, although Bruce most likely just wanted the issue to be over quickly. Natasha and Clint wanted to hand him over and have him pay for his crimes. Steve tried to bridge the gap between the two pairs without coming down from the fence. Tony... Tony just wanted a good nights sleep with Pepper by his side. But Pepper had left and moved into the newly refurbished Stark Tower a week ago, sick of having a phantom partner. Tony didn't blame her.

After a failed attempt at peaceful sleep, he just decided to do some more work on his new Mark 40.

When the hour passed in which Tony usually tiredly staggered into Loki's room uneventfully, Loki couldn't help but feel a little betrayed. Would they so easily stop caring and just hand him over to those who wished him harm? Subject him to that torture again? He was foolish to think things may have changed. Foolish to stop seeing himself as a prisoner, a mad man.

He waited for ten minutes after shutting himself away and locking the door. Tony didn't come running like he had before. He waited another ten after arming himself. Still no sign. So easily left behind. This time, he dug the sharp edge into the flesh of his arm and slowly, excruciatingly pulled it down towards his palm. He watched as the skin split behind the metal and opened, blood pouring down and covering himself and the floor. Once he'd gotten halfway down his arm he gave up and threw the blade away in rage. Where were they?