AN: Tumblr prompt: Danny and Loki fighting each other. They both realize how of alike they are, how broken they feel. Danny helps Loki to redeem.

Drabble 36-Redemption

Danny hit the ground hard and bounced a couple of times before finally rolling to a stop. He looked over at Loki, who was slowly walking towards him as he stood back up, ignoring the pain in his robs. He used his ice powers to hold Loki to the ground while he hit him with ectoblasts. Loki had lost his staff somewhere in that time, and Danny was too fast for him to counterattack, so he stood there taking the brunt of the onslaught.

Oh, but wait. He could still talk.

"I know how you feel, halfling," Loki said. Danny stopped, inches away from Loki's jaw, and gave him a quizzical look.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"You want to do good, but nobody trusts you to do so because you're not one of them," he replied with a solemn tone. "I wanted to hep my kingdom, and they shunned me. All my life I was looked at as a freak, and I had no idea why. Not until recently that is. I'm a Frost Giant disguised as an Asgardian, but you, halfling, have it much worse. And I pity you."

"I…I don't need your pity," Danny said. He forced himself to make eye contact with Loki, toxic green against venomous, understanding emerald.

"Then you won't have it," the god replied. "Just know that I understand your pain, and a pain like that, well, it is incomprehensible to people who have never had the trouble of experiencing it."

Danny lowered his fist and backed away. The ice around Loki melted away, and he came over and placed a hand on Danny's shoulder comfortingly.

"It's like," Danny said, "You don't belong anywhere. I'm not a human or a ghost. Or maybe I'm both? And yeah, I have family and friends in both but it doesn't feel right in either world, you know?"

"I do know," Loki nodded. "Odin killed my tribe, including my father, when I was an infant, and he took me in and rasied me with Thor. He and my mother, Fregga, were the only ones to treat me with respect. Odin, he looked down on me. I used y anger at him and blamed Thor for it. For having to live in his shadow growing up, not realizing that I too had my own shadow."

Danny couldn't keep fighting Loki. He didn't have the energy to do so any longer, if he was being honest. But now, he understood.

When he had met the Avengers he was met with negativity towards Loki for all of the bad things he had done. And while his childhood neglect didn't excuse him from his actions, he understood where he was coming from. If Danny hadn't had such a good support system, he probably would have turned out the same way. All he needed were friends that actually loved and respected him, like Danny had.

"Hey, Loki?" He asked.

"Yes, halfling?" Loki turned his gaze from the horizon to him, giving him a warm smile that looked foreign on his face.

"Do you want to…Go to the Tower?"

"I couldn't, not with your friends. The Avengers. Not with Thor there."

"Oh, come on, Danny insisted. "You could try not killing people and you could try getting along with them over a couple episodes of Super Nanny."

Some part of that intrigued Loki, because it only took him a few more moments to agree to come with Danny.

He gripped the god's forearms and lifted him over the city and to the Tower, which was thankfully only a few short minutes away. And he knew everybody as home due to Danny being the only one bored enough to be on patrol.

They landed in Iron Man's spot and walked inside the giant glass archway. There was a bar to the left, but they ignored it and took the elevator instead, to get to the living area where he knew the other Avengers were at.

They cracked a couple of jokes and laughed on the way down, both of them trying to ease any tension the both of them had. After all, if you're the reason the Avengers banded together you were a pretty bad dude.

As soon as he walked out of the elevator, all weapons were on him and Loki. Cap with his shield, Cline with his arrow, Natasha with her guns, and so on and so forth.

"Danny, what are you doing?" Tony asked. All he had was the glove he had been tinkering with, but he heard the hum of it powering up, and decided not to test the waters.

"I brought Loki back to the Tower because-"

"-There can't be a possibly good reason for this!" Clint interrupted. He was giving Loki the most intense glare Danny had ever seen.

"The halfling said I could come by," Loki said, raising his hands in a form of surrender. "Please, I will not do any of you harm."

"What is all the commotion about?" It was Thor from the other room. Danny heard the hum of the hammer and Thor's chewing before he walked into the room, eyes immediately going to Danny and Loki.

"Brother?" He asked. "What business do you have here?" He demanded. He didn't sound as angry as Clint, but he didn't really seem happy about it either.

"I have come to…Apologize," Loki said. "My actions were extreme and ignorant, and I assure you I will never do such thing again."

"Oh, so you think that just because you waltz in here with our friend we're gonna trust you? No, man, it doesn't work that way," Sam stated.

"I'm not asking for your trust, for I know that has to be earned. All I am asking for is forgiveness."

Clint charged, arrow ready, but Danny stood in between the archer and the god and stopped Clint from hurting Loki, much to his surprise.

"Why are you defending him?!" Clint shouted angrily.

"Because I'm just like him!" Danny countered. The whole room became still as everyone starred at Danny, waiting for him to explain. He took a deep breath in to calm himself.

"I looked at Loki, and I saw myself. I saw the scared little kid who didn't know where he belonged. And you know what? I would have turned out exactly like him if I hadn't had Sam or Tucker or you guys. So I say lets give him a chance, yeah?"

"I agree with Daniel," Thor said, stepping forward. He looked down at Loki, searching his eyes for a moment before smiling and pulling his younger brother into a tight hug. He knew his brother well enough by now to see through his deception, but there was none here. Loki really, truly wanted to redeem himself.

"Just give him a chance," Danny pleaded. "You gave me another chance after my whole evil future self incident. And that only happened because my support system died. Well, that's what's happening to Loki right now, so how about we try and be his support system."

"Fine." Tony was the first one to speak. "But if he tries anything, I'm beating the shit out of him myself."

"I'm with Tony," Steve said. "Anything at all and you're done."

Once he had Tony and Steve's blessing, it didn't take long for the others to bitterly agree as well. The only one who wasn't on board was Clint. Instead of agreeing he left the room.

"Well, I hope that you all will, in time, be able to trust me. Now, Daniel, I believe you said something about Super Nanny? What is that?" Loki looked confused. Danny chuckled and led him to the living room.

"The only good reality show in America."