"How do you intend to punish me?" Loki questioned, gazing up at his father with hard eyes.

Odin stared down with a serious expression, "The gauntlet."

Thor gasped and stood up straight, "Father you mustn't!"

Loki closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He knew that the traditional gauntlet involved incredible physical anguish that was brutally inflicted. Loki assumed that he wouldn't receive this traditional method. He could see the punishment being given to someone like Thor who depended mostly on his physical strength, but he himself was a different story. The God of Mischief's mind was his most valuable strength.

"Silence Thor, he will receive what he deserves," Odin told his eldest son.

The great room was silent until many footsteps thundered in behind Thor and Loki.

"You've returned!"

Thor swung around to see Sif and the Warrior's Three giving him bright smiles. Loki turned his head slightly to see his friends but did not acknowledge them.

Sif narrowed her eyes, "What is he doing back?"

Thor gave her a serious expression, "Loki has returned to receive his punishment and have his banishment lifted. He is a changed man."

"I find that hard to believe," she replied shortly.

"Loki!"

The area went silent once again as Odin's voice echoed through the giant golden room and he continued, "You will return to your chambers this night and your punishment will begin tomorrow."

Loki bowed his head slightly and he replied softly, "Yes."

Thor watched with a baffled expression as Loki wordlessly swept past him out of the room. Thor turned to face his father who was staring ahead with a tired eye.

"I still don't trust him," Sif said.

Thor embraced each of his friends and then stepped back from them, "I must see my brother," he stated and left the room.

…

"Loki, are you sure that you are prepared to face such a punishment? Asgardians have perished when punished by the gauntlet."

Loki glanced up from his bed where he sat with his elbows resting on his knees and his hands folded.

"I fear that what father has in mind and what you are thinking are two separate things," Loki told his brother softly.

Loki was weary of everything and wasn't currently in the mood to talk to Thor. The god felt extremely lonely and yearned to see Darcy and make sure she was okay. He didn't like leaving her alone when she was susceptible to getting herself into all kinds of trouble. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he knew that she was in the safest place she could be. Loki was almost positive that the super soldier and the hawk would keep her safe in his absence. The business on Asgard had to be tended to and Loki gritted his teeth at the thought of what the next day held.

"I thank you for your company Thor, but I wish to sleep before tomorrow," Loki said in a quiet voice.

Thor placed a firm hand on his brother's shoulder and squeezed, "If you need anything, I will be here."

Loki gave Thor a small smile and watched his red cape disappear as he left the room. Loki rolled on his back and stared up at the golden ceiling with a frown. By enduring this punishment and getting his banishment lifted it would enable him to better protect Darcy and perhaps provide her with the opportunity to become… no, he was getting ahead of himself. Loki shook his head to erase the thought, he didn't want to think too far ahead because there were so many things that could still go wrong.

….

Darcy yawned and stretched from her position at the round table in S.H.E.I.L.D. where many of the avengers had gathered to play cards.

"Tired already? I guess it is a little past your bedtime," Tony said, glancing down at his watch sarcastically.

Steve reached toward the card pile and winced as the deck in his hand grew larger.

"You aren't very good at this are you?" Natasha asked him with raised eyebrows.

The group had been playing rummy for the past few hours to pass the time. Tony, Clint, and Natasha had been the repeated victors as games went by. Steve had been miserably losing while Darcy and Jane continued to make silly errors from lack of concentration.

"Where's Thor?" Clint asked casually as he laid down a trio of kings.

Jane's eyes shot up and she looked to Darcy who shrugged back at her.

"I don't think there's any harm in telling them, it's not like they won't figure out sooner or later where two alien brothers wandered off to," Darcy said.

"Asgard?" Natasha questioned, answering Clint's kings with her own trio of queens.

Jane nodded, "He went with Loki."

Tony slammed three aces on the table and discarded his last card so he was first out of the game. The others at the table groaned and began counting up their scores so that they could be written down.

"Let's get this straight," Tony started, pulling the messy pile of cards toward him where he began shuffling, "Are you and reindeer man a thing?"

"Isn't it pretty obvious?" Darcy grumbled as the cards were dealt.

"I told you it was a bad idea to fraternize with the bad guy," Tony said lightly and then added, "He must be fantastic in the sack for you to stick with him."

The table went silent and Steve's cheeks lit up bright red, "She wouldn't!"

Clint chuckled, "Sorry Captain, it's a perfectly normal thing to do in this day and age."

"But!" he protested.

Tony busted out laughing, "Does sex before marriage offend you Cap? Then you should be utterly disgusted with me. I don't think I could count the number of women I've-"

"Stop!" Steve exclaimed, waving Tony off, "I don't want to hear it! I'd be better off not knowing."

"He is pretty fantastic…" Darcy trailed off with a sly grin.

Everyone turned to look at her and she shrugged, "What? I'm not going to lie."

Steve looked as though he had been shot and Darcy rolled her eyes, "Come on Steve, don't act like that, Jane gets it on with Thor, and I'd bet that Natasha and Clint get hot and heavy sometimes too. Apparently everyone here does it except you."

Natasha's mouth gaped and she stared at Darcy with an offended expression while Clint leaned back casually in his chair.

"I'm still looking for the right gal," Steve said lowly, staring intensely at his cards.

"Loki said something about that this morning," Jane whispered to her friend.

"No, speak up so the group can hear," Tony called from across the table.

Jane huffed, "I'm not talking about this in front of an audience."

"I'll be blunt…" Darcy trailed off.

"You always are," Jane said with a small smile.

"Loki told me he went to ask Thor something that night, and he said he heard you guys. He didn't want to interrupt you."

Jane's face lit up and Tony roared, "Keep going!"

"When he told me that I told him that I bet we had more fun than you guys… that was it," Darcy finished.

Jane opened her mouth to defend herself and then exclaimed, "Wait a minute! I highly doubt it!"

Darcy's eyes bulged, "Are we really going to argue over it? Jane you're really stepping out of your comfort box."

Jane's eyes were focused on Darcy as though everyone else in the room had vanished, "Thor is definitely better than Loki."

Tony sat back in his chair with an eager expression that was also worn by the two assassins. Steve looked pale and watched with a stunned face as the scene unfolded in front of him.

"Thor's a muscle man, don't get me wrong but Loki… oh my god Jane if only you knew…"

"I don't want to know!" Jane exclaimed, "Thor is loving and honest! He's so caring and has his and my best interests at heart!"

Darcy nodded, "Yeah, I'd agree Thor definitely has Loki beat in the loving and honest category, but Loki shows his love in a different way which makes it special. He's got little quirks about him that are super weird and sometimes extremely creepy but he wouldn't be him without them."

"Now that's love," Tony said bluntly.

Darcy looked up at the genius who winked at her, "I think you two have something special and even though he tried to kill all of us and take over the world… he might be okay."

"He's a different guy," Darcy said and looked at Jane, "Isn't he?"

Jane nodded slowly, "Yes… he's definitely changed since coming here."

…

Loki didn't sleep the entire night; rather, he stayed awake; his mind plagued with thoughts of another realm: Midgard. He wondered what Darcy was doing and if she had thought about him at all in his absence. He felt incomplete without having her near him and his mind continued to drift to the mortal woman whether he willed it to or not. Morning came too soon and Loki paced about his bed chambers in an effort to calm himself. He exited his room and stopped suddenly as he was met by a pair of rough looking Asgardian guards. One of them gruffly nodded at him to follow and Loki silently obeyed. He trailed after them and watched the scenery of Asgard's horizon as they walked outside and then embarked up a great flight of intricate stairs.

The guards stopped abruptly and Loki's head shot up as he realized they were on top of one of Asgard's tallest golden buildings. His green eyes slowly stared down at the city below and he felt a sharp breeze blow against him, his emerald cape swaying behind him.

"Loki."

The God of Mischief pivoted to face the voice that belonged to his father.

"Your punishment begins now."

Loki gave his father a smirk, "I knew that I wouldn't be receiving the traditional gauntlet."

Odin raised his golden staff and slammed it on the ground. The impact released a thunderous sound and Loki exhaled roughly; feeling as though someone had kicked him in the chest. He fell to his knees and his eyes slowly closed; the last thing he saw was Thor's boots which were running toward him and then everything went dark.

….

Loki opened his eyes and was startled to find himself in his bed back at S.H.E.I.L.D. headquarters. The god sat up abruptly and his eyes darted around. How had he gotten back here when he had just been in Asgard? Loki clenched his jaw, this was his father's doing and he knew it. He got up cautiously and exited his room. He strode quickly down the hall to Jane's room and yanked the door open without knocking only to find it empty.

"What's the meaning of this?" he whispered, worry starting to blossom across his features.

"Loki what're you doing?"

The god jumped, and turned to see Darcy staring up at him with doe eyes.

"Did I scare you? Man, I must be good," she said airily.

Loki stared at her with a serious expression but said nothing. He knew that this wasn't right.

"Brother we've been searching for you!"

Loki's eyes snapped up to see Thor moving toward him with a grin and Jane at his side. Loki showed no surprise on his face and tried to handle everything in a calm manor.

"Hello Thor…" he trailed off.

"You seem a bit off," Thor said suspiciously.

"Perhaps our trip caused me unnecessary strain," Loki replied evenly, watching Thor expectantly.

Thor laughed, "I suppose that our adventure in the park of amusement was slightly tiring."

Loki narrowed his eyes and his mind began whirring. It was just as he suspected, Thor had no recollection of their journey to Asgard because it had never happened. A pit formed in the depths of the god's stomach and he knew that something was dreadfully wrong. Loki knew that his father was going to create a personalized form of the gauntlet for him but he had no idea where any of this was headed. Loki wasn't sure if he was supposed to pass some sort of test or if he was to endure of all of the obstacles set in front of him. The God of Mischief assumed it was the latter as his father had already imposed the test of life lessons upon him which he had passed. He followed Darcy, Thor, and Jane while bracing himself for the worst to happen.

…

"Father what will happen to him?" Thor asked urgently as he stared at his brother's crumpled form on the ground.

Odin focused on the distant horizon and he spoke, "He must show me he's worthy of being an Asgardian again."

"By what means?" Thor pressed.

"This gauntlet is no ordinary gauntlet and has been constructed specifically for Loki."

Thor gripped his fists tightly, "Tell me what he must do."

"He must do nothing, other than react in the correct way to certain events which should reflect his supposed changes."

"You're going to torture him inside of his own mind?" Thor exclaimed with fiery eyes.

"Has he not tortured so many others by using his mind? He must and will be punished if he wishes to return," Odin said.

"He wishes to return not only for himself but for the good of those around him," Thor told his father strongly, "You do not give him the credit he deserves."

"He deserves nothing," Odin replied shortly.

Thor's eyes went back to Loki's face which was contorted in a pained frown with his eyebrows knitted together. He approached him and picked his brother up effortlessly.

"What are you doing?" Odin asked.

"If you are going to torture him in this way, I will not allow him to receive it while he lies on the ground in such a crude position," Thor said and began ascending the flight of magnificent stairs.

"If you so wish… but place him in my chambers, I must keep a close eye on him," Odin told the God of Thunder.

Thor acknowledged his request and took Loki to his father's room where he placed the God of Mischief carefully on Odin's bed. He watched as Loki's face contorted into a miserable scowl and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"I wish I could help you Loki, but I fear you must overcome this on your own."