Bruce was very apologetic when he explained that he could not start healing Loki's scars immediately when Thor told him of his brothers decision. "It's not as simple as going and ordering the normal equipment." He explained patiently as Thor's face fell. "The device needed for this procedure will have to be custom made not to mention tested before I'd even think of actually using it."

Loki seemed to take the news much better than Thor as the thunder practically pouted. "How long?" the blonde asked and Bruce sighed.

"Give me a week or two, I promise this is a priority but we want this done right and with as little… discomfort as possible." Thor nodded, though Bruce seriously doubted the God realized how much the laser treatment was going to hurt. Turning his focus entirely on Loki, he said, "I know it's a bit of a wait, but there are some things we can do in the meantime. If it's ok with you I'd like to take some more specific scans of your skin and the scars themselves. It will make it easier to calibrate the machine… actually Thor, before we can do that, there is a piece of equipment I need from Tony's lab, can you get it for me while I set up in here?"

Thor perked up immediately at the mention of being helpful and joyfully took the scrap of paper that Bruce had scribbled a description of the device on. As soon as the door to the lab closed behind him, Bruce turned back to Loki with a small smile.

"Well, he'll be a while so we might as well get started." Loki's eyes narrowed at him and Bruce shrugged. "I've kinda gotten the feeling that you don't really like Thor hanging around while you're in here, so I sort of made up that thing he's looking for. I figure between his brotherly determination and the fact that what he's looking for doesn't exist, he'll be going through Tony's lab for a while."

Loki blinked at him, as if he couldn't quite fathom why Bruce would do such a thing. Nonplussed, Bruce fired up the scanner and gently asked if Loki would mind removing his shirt. It didn't take very long to take the readings. Loki was entirely cooperative to the point it was a little unnerving. He remained entirely still while the machines scanned him, no fighting or impatient twitching. It made for some great scans though, and Bruce was already doing the math in his head even as they processed. When he'd taken every scan he could think of, he handed Loki's shirt back to him.

"While I have you here, there are some other things we need to go over." Bruce stated, Lokis hands pausing as he re-buttoned his shirt. The trickster glanced at the mortal, and Bruce waved a hand at him. "There is just some things I need to talk to you about, no examination or anything."

Face blank, Loki finished dressing and when complete he remained where he was sitting as Bruce pulled a chair out to sit in front of him.

"First, I want to apologize." He started, and watched as Loki broke his expressionless mask to frown in confusion. "There are actually a few things I want to apologize for, the first being that I am incredibly sorry for the overall abysmal communication we've had with you." Loki still looked confused so Bruce cleared his throat and pushed on. "I've been acting as your doctor since you were rescued, and the most important aspect of a relationship between doctor and patient is communication. And not just about medical things... When you woke up after trying to escape, I explained to you where you were and who we were. I didn't tell you that we suspected that you were innocent. And more importantly I didn't give you a reason to trust us when you clearly didn't. You had just jumped out a window to escape us, and found yourself at the mercy of those that had handed you off to be tortured, I should have sat down and tried to explain the situation better. Instead we assumed that Thor would, that you would probably prefer to hear it from him. It never crossed our minds that he didn't say anything to that effect. He should have told you that when we rescued you from Shield, we didn't know that you had been brain washed."

That garnered a bit of a reaction with Loki and Bruce sighed, "As far as any of us were concerned, you were still the psycho alien who brought down an army on our city and killed hundreds of people. But even then, knowing only those facts when we found out what Shield was doing to you we immediately went in to rescue you. It is one thing to imprison someone for their crimes, to restrict their freedom as punishment and also for the protection of others. What was done to you was another thing entirely. And just in case you thought this is a sentiment carried only by those in this house, you should know that it was another team of heroes to actually break you out. They saw what was being done to you and didn't even hesitate to offer their help."

Bruce watched as Loki digested this information. He realized it might be an idea to have some of the Fantastic Four visit, they had certainly expressed interest in Loki's continued recovery, and Bruce had yet to meet anyone who couldn't be swayed by Sue's natural charm.

"Now, when we brought you here, you were considered a criminal. That's why the cuffs were still on you when you woke, but as soon as we realized that you weren't responsible for your crimes, that status was dropped. Again, we trusted Thor to explain this to you and I don't think he really did. And I am ashamed that I didn't realize it myself. You clearly didn't trust us, you were exhibiting behavior someone who had suffered a severe trauma, you wouldn't even trust yourself to take medication because it would have lowered your defenses to us. I saw all this and I should have realized what it meant. Instead I told myself that you probably just remembered us from the fight and it would take time for you to trust us. Meanwhile, this entire time you though we were just healing you up for round three. I should have recognized your behavior for what it was, and at the very least made sure that Thor had communicated the situation to you properly."

"Secondly I want to apologize for standing by and letting Shield take you away. Out of all of the Avengers, I should have known better. We didn't follow up, we assumed we'd caught the bad guy, and that he would be punished and that was that. We were wrong to act like that, and you suffered for it. For that I am sincerely sorry."

Loki was staring at him now like he'd grown another head. "What do you mean 'You should have known better'?" He asked, speaking willingly for the first time.

Bruce gave the god a grim smile. "I won't bore you with the details, but I've seen more of that side of the government than most of anyone on this team. The side that doesn't care about rules or basic human rights. Where the ends justify the means."

"And what end did they seek with me?" Loki asked suddenly, his voice abruptly becoming fierce. "I was tortured past the point of coherency, and yet no demands were made. No interrogation, no questions. Only the heat. The only end that could have been reached was my death, do not tell me that those who had me wanted nothing else."

Bruce took a moment to formulate his answer carefully because he knew how important this was. Loki was finally actually speaking to him, was asking him questions... Sure it was the basic 'Why did this happen to me?' Sort of question, but that was to be expected coming from someone recovering from such a severe trauma.

"They didn't put you in that cell for the purpose of killing you slowly. I've been going over the files that Tony managed to get from Shields servers, and it would be more accurate to describe you as a test subject." Bruce explained. "Thor told us that you were uh, adopted, although the rest of us never heard all of that story until yesterday. I guess Fury grilled Thor on the subject before the final battle because it went on the records when you were brought in that you are biologically something called a Jotun. What must have really caught their attention was the alternative title which was Frost Giant. From that point on you were a test subject. The heat in the cell was to keep you subdued and also to see the long lasting effects of heat on someone of your biology. They also did a lot of scans and test of your basic make up. We think they were looking for weaknesses, information on a foreign race. I don't actually think that it was ever their intention to kill you, only to see how far they could push you. They installed a UV light in your cell and your health took a dramatic drop, so much so that I believe they were looking for more powerful ways to use heat as a future weapon against any invading Frost Giants."

Loki made a dismissive sound. "An unnecessary precaution, the last time Jotun's came to invade your realm I had just been born. And since then their ability to travel between realms has been taken from them."

"Yeah, I don't think anyone here is really worried about that, it was more of the whole baking out your weaknesses that has us all up in arms."

Loki didn't look much convinced so Bruce leaned forward a bit.

"Look, I don't know if there is a way to make you believe what I'm saying but please know that we are all incredibly ashamed for our part in what happened to you. I promise we will not be making that mistake again. That includes scenario that if we believe there is a possibility that you will face any form of torture upon returning to Asgard, you won't be going. Thor told us the basics of what happened before you fell off the bridge in Asgard,… although I wouldn't mind hearing your side of the story as well... and while you did do some terrible things, no one deserves to be tortured. Ever. That is why Tony is preparing a series of contingency plans to help keep you safe here on earth, between his funding and resources and my experience, you won't have any problem finding sanctuary on this planet."

Loki's eyes narrowed in scrutiny. "You would defy your own leaders to such a degree just to protect me? After all I've done?"

"Well, what you did on earth wasn't really your actions, as far as any of us are concerned, you're as culpable as Dr Selvig. And everything else you did on other planets, not really our jurisdiction. And even so, it's not really standard practice to send a man back to his home country if they won't be given a fair trial. Thor seems to think it will all be ok but I find it hard to really trust his opinion on this matter. When family is involved, pretty much everyone's perspective gets a little skewed."

Loki snorted lightly in apparent agreement and Bruce gave him a small smile. "Right, so, in summary; torture is wrong, we're sorry we let it happen and promise to not let it happen again. Oh and also, I know I told you that you aren't a prisoner here, and while that remains true, it is honestly in your best interest that you don't try and leave this house. Obviously Fury doesn't know we have you and we've put a lot of work into making sure it stays that way. So, as much as it sucks, you really better just stay hidden here. Alright?"

Loki nodded once and Bruce went over his mental check list to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything.

"Right, well, that's pretty much all I had to say, um, do have any questions for me?"

Loki looked a little thrown by the question, but then he seemed to think it over before asking, "How long was I imprisoned?"

"Sixteen weeks." Bruce answered promptly.

Loki visibly digested that information before slowly asking, "And before that?"

"That... Is a little bit more difficult to tell. I have no idea if time runs the same here as it does… wherever you were... Of course it doesn't help that no one knows where you were before... but here on earth between the attack in New Mexico and when you leveled that Shield base, it'd been a little over a year."

Loki nodded, and remained quiet for some time before Bruce asked, "Is there anything else?" Loki shook his head minutely. "Alright, well, if there isn't anything you would like to ask, is there anything you would like? I know Pepper went ahead and got you some clothes but is there anything else? I mean, it's going to be a while yet before I can get rid of those scars and you have your magic back, and you're going to have to say inside for all that time. Is there anything you want for entertainment?"

"I'm fine thank you," Loki answered, "I have found there to be sufficient entertainment within the library."

Bruce scrunched up his nose. "Really? I thought Tony replaced most of the books in there with tech textbooks and the like."

"While those are in abundance, there are other interesting works." Loki answered lightly.

Bruce shook his head. "Wait here, I'll be right back." It didn't take him long to return either, in a house owned by Stark, it would be harder for him to walk into a room and not find a tablet that wasn't in use. When he returned he held out the device to Loki who took it with a raised eyebrow. The next few minutes were spent showing the god how to operate it, how to select apps, and more specifically, how to download e-books onto it.

"Now you can have your own personal library at your finger tips." Bruce explained as Loki browsed over the endless selection of books that were now uploaded onto the tablet.

The God seemed a little stunned for a moment before meeting Bruce's eyes. "Thank you." Was all he said.

"You're welcome."

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Merry Christmas!

Ok, sooooo this chapter is late... like by three years...

I'm so sorry, sincerely. I would have posted something sooner but life in the last three years has been... interesting. Very busy, very adult. I've been adulting. Lookit me go!

Not to give excuses, but in the last three years, I've been engaged, married, and then had to be *married*. (Marriage is hard guys, like its a LOT of work!) Unfortunately my beloved grandfather past away shortly after my wedding and this was followed by my whole family trying to help my mother put her life into some semblance of working order. I've also lost my job! Fortunately, I recently found a new and soooooo much better job! One that I really enjoy!

So thats a quick summary, again, not an excuse, but more of an explanation. I really want to thank all the people who reviewed, and didn't give up on this story, it really helped keep me motivated.

I also want to thank Coneycat Jr for her help! I will mention in a later Chapter, but she (he?) really helped with a certain bit and gave some excellent encouragement! Thank you so much!

Also you guys totally need to check out Peaceheather. She runs this amazing google chat group! Everyone there is so amazing and encouraging! It has made me want to write again! So thank you guys for everything! /bikeshed

Lastly, I want to thank Temperly. She is my best friend and she has been helping me get back into writing this. Seriously you guys need to thank her too because without her I might have just left this story.

I have the next four chapters complete, but I think I will be posting them every two weeks to space it out and have time to finish the story without any more hiatus'.

Thank you again to everyone, you are all amazing! I love you! Merry Christmas!