Hey, Lunchies! I just wanted to point out there's a SERIOUS trigger warning in this chapter! A bit of violence, and Loki tries to shoot himself, so, if you're not comfortable with the latter, skip to the end, after the line "I am, once again, greatly in your debt." If you're not comfortable with any of that, uh... sorry. That's the whole chapter. Enjoy!

Another week passed, with Loki in the tower. Steve knew Loki deserved a second chance, and Tony and Bruce had warmed up to him pretty quickly, but Steve still wasn't sure how he felt about him. Loki was polite, almost as if he was walking on eggs around the Captain, but he and the Trickster were barely acquaintances. No longer enemies, but definitely not friends.

After a particularly stressful morning, with Tony re-programming Jarvis to call him "Grandpa", Sigyn accidentally setting Natasha's breakfast on fire with her haywire magic (Loki had been the first one to catch it, and immediately jumped up, inverting the pitcher of orange juice over her flaming eggs, leaving them a scorched, soggy mess that wasn't fit for a pig.), having his mobile telephone Tony'd given him go missing, and Clint shooting water guns at him and Loki every spare moment, claiming he needed practice, he decided to calm his frazzled nerves by going out for a ride on his motorcycle.

The wind whistling past his ears as he sped down the country roads of New York, the breeze tousling his hair, Steve felt far calmer than in the interior of the tower. Of course, he was immensely grateful to Tony for providing a home for him, and the team was like his family, but honestly, they could get a bit much, sometimes. After about an hour of zipping through the back roads, Steve decided he had had enough of a break from the mayhem of the tower, and started home. As he drove through the city, nearing Avengers Tower, his mind drifted to the resident aliens residing therein. Sigyn was due in just a few weeks, and Loki almost never let her out of their floor, anymore, so the rest of the team barely saw either of them, very much. Loki was super sweet to his wife, rarely leaving her side, and every time she even mentioned her slightest desire, he would jump up to fetch more cushions for her, or bring her the foods she was craving, or just rub her back. He absolutely adored her, practically worshipping the ground she walked on, when he wasn't carrying her to save her inconvenience. He'd get thrilled any time Sigyn even smiled at him, and at rare moments when they weren't together, he'd smile off into the distance at random moments, mentioning something about how amazingly perfect she was.

Steve wished he'd been able to be like that for Peggy. But no use crying over spilt milk.

There appeared to be a sort of commotion going on, about a block from the tower. A whole gang of people in a ring, cheering about something happening in the middle. He pulled the motorcycle over to the side of the road, and walked up to one of the men on the outside of the ring.

"Hey, what's going on, here?" He asked.

"You remember that alien that was tearin' up the city, a month ago?" The man asked excitedly. "Well they got the dude, and they're givin' him what was comin' to him!"

Steve's eyes widened and he pushed his way to the center of the ring of people, his eyes widening in fear at what he saw. Two men were looming over a miserable, terrified huddle in the middle of the sidewalk, curled into a fetal position. Every couple of seconds, they would pull their feet back, and kick the poor creature in the ribs, provoking pained grunts and whimpers. Steve realized with horror that they were beating on Loki.

"You hear 'im? Pathetic!" One of them sneered.

"Cry, little King! Call for someone to come save you!" the other jeered. "Nobody's comin'. Everyone hates you."

"P-P-P-Please!" Loki squeaked.

"Listen to him, beggin' for mercy."

A voice shouted out from the crowd. "My father begged for mercy, and he didn't deem him worthy!"

The younger man jerked Loki onto his stomach, straddling his back. "You think you're more deserving of mercy than our fathers? Our children? Our siblings? Nah, you don't deserve nothin' but death!" He grabbed Loki's hair, pulling his head back, before slamming his face into the pavement with a sickening crack. Loki screamed in pain, and Steve was broken from whatever trance had held him captive. "Hey, let him go!"

The men looked up at him in surprise. "You know who dis is?"

"You know who I am?" Steve countered.

"Chris Evans?" Someone guffawed from the crowd.

"I'm Captain America, and I have Loki under the Avenger's custody. I order you to let him go." Steve stood tall, his hands balling into fists. Recognition dawned on the man's face, and he slowly got up off of the Trickster, who's screams had subsided into hysterical sobs. "Alright, already. I let him go."

"Go home, everyone." Steve glared at the ring of faces. "Show's over."

Steve dropped to one knee beside Loki, as the crowd slowly diminished. "Hey, you okay?" He rolled him over onto his back. Loki blinked up at him in terror, before recognizing him. His face was covered in blood, one eye swollen shut, and his nose obviously broken. "Woah, you look awful."

Loki whimpered, wiping blood off his chin as he struggled to sit up. "Thank you…" He whispered through his split lips.

"What were you doing out of the tower?" Steve asked, gently helping him try to stand.

"I…" He grimaced in pain, his leg buckling under his weight. "I can't walk."

Steve gently lifted him onto the bike. "You'll tell me everything, when we get to the med bay, alright?"

Loki nodded silently, his hands trembling as he clung to Steve's shirt. They rode in silence the remaining block to the tower. Steve silently carried Loki up to the med bay, much to the Trickster's embarrassment. Jarvis told Bruce and Sigyn of the situation, and they were waiting for him, politely silent as Steve gently set Loki on the hospital bed. "You want to tell us what happened, love?" Sigyn asked, gently taking one of his hands.

"Clint…" Loki mumbled, wincing as Bruce snapped his nose back into place so it wouldn't heal crooked. "He was shooting me."

Steve rolled his eyes, as Sigyn panicked. "Shooting you? Where?"

'Water gun." Steve sighed. "He was getting some target practice on both me and him."

Bruce rolled his eyes, gently cleaning the blood off his face. "He was making me extremely angry, most likely on purpose, so I tried to calm myself by…"

"Leaving the tower?" Tony's voice cut in. "Rapunzel, I told you, it's not safe out there. There's men with pointy teeth." The genius strode over to the bed, genuine concern painted over his face. "Damn, you look awful."

Loki gave him a sharp look. He'd already asked Tony on multiple occasions not to curse around his wife, but he never listened. "How's he looking, Doc?"

"Sprained ankle, broken nose, multiple bruises on his face and ribs." Bruce diagnosed. "Other than that, I can't tell. I'm not exactly that kind of doctor."

Sigyn ran her fingers over his face, her pink magic glowing, as she healed the bruises on his face, and his nose appeared to be intact as well. "That better, Melleth?"

Loki nodded contritely, as Sigyn reached for his ankle. It was a terrifying mottled black and purple, and Sigyn gently cradled it in her hands. Within seconds, there was literally no sign that it'd ever been injured.

"Holy Sh-" Tony cut himself off after a truly terrifying glare from the Trickster's direction. "-redded cheese?" He amended. "How did you do that?"

Sigyn shrugged, suddenly looking exhausted. "It wasn't easy."

Loki wrapped his arms around her worriedly. "Oh, Sig, did you exhaust yourself? You shouldn't have, I'd have been fine."

She smiled affectionately. "But you would have been fine after a long, miserable time of not being fine. And I can't bear seeing you suffer."

Loki shook his head, and picked her up, starting towards the door. "Thank you, gentlemen." He smiled at the three of them. "I am, once again greatly in your debt."

Sigyn fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, as she was likely to do, these days. She was vaguely aware of Loki lying down behind her, and wrapping his body around her as she slept, but it wasn't very long until she slipped into oblivion.

It seemed like only a few minutes, before she was awoken to what seemed to be a gunshot. She jumped as quickly as she could to her feet, which, in her current state, was not very quickly at all, glancing around nervously. Loki appeared at the doorway to the washroom, looking one part sheepish, one part worried, and three parts miserable. In his hand was a smoking pistol.

"Sorry to wake you." He mumbled, glancing at the gun in his hand.

Sigyn had absolutely no idea what to make of the situation. "it's fine." She affirmed, looking between his face and the gun. "What did you shoot?"

"I… I would really rather not say." He quickly stated, edging toward the door.

"Oh, no, you don't." Sigyn caught his wrist, holding him back. "Tell me what happened."

"Nothing important!" He insisted, trying to pull away from her. Just then, there was a knock on their door.

"Hey, Bambi?" Loki's face fell, and he sagged, defeated. "Jarvis told me you needed help with something, immediately. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Stark." He bit out, glaring at Sigyn, who raised her eyebrows at him.

"He's not fine!" She called. "Go ahead and come in, he needs to talk to you!"

Loki looked betrayed, and tried to snatch his hand away from her again as the Engineer stepped in. "Oh my god, is that one of Nat's pistols? What are you doing in here?"

Loki blushed crimson, relinquishing the gun to his wife.

Just then, Steve appeared at the doorway. "Hey, I heard a shot, what's going on in here?"

"Stupid tower full of stupid Avengers…" Loki mumbled, edging towards the door to the washroom. "Who stupid care about what goes on in this stupid place. Stupid."

"Are you using 'stupid' as a cuss word?" Steve asked. "Sigyn, what are you doing with that gun? Who shot what?"

Loki dropped his burning face into his hands, "I shot a light fixture in the washroom, alright? Now go about your business, and forget I exist!"

"Why did you shoot a light fixture in the washroom?" All three of them asked at once. Loki groaned, and collapsed onto the bed.

"Because your mechanical servant startled me." Loki glared at them.

"Better yet, why did you have a gun in the bathroom?" Stark reiterated.

Silence. Sigyn sat on the bed next to him. "You can tell us, Darling."

"If you don't, I'll make Jarvis do it." Stark smirked.

Loki crossed his arms, biting at his lip. "If you must know, I was going to…" He trailed off, staring out the window as hot tears sprang up in his eyes.

"Oh, God, Loki." Steve breathed. "You were gonna shoot yourself?"

Loki gave a tiny nod, avoiding eye contact with everyone in the room. "Melleth…' Sigyn whispered, her voice cracking. "Why?"

A lone tear ran down Loki's cheek. "I… I didn't want…" His voice shook. "…to be a burden. To have my daughter brought up under the shadow of my acts. I d-didn't want… I don't deserve to…" He sniffed, as tears poured down his cheeks. "How can I live, when so many died at my hand?" He finished in a whisper.

Sigyn cupped his face in her hands. "Loki…" She didn't even know where to start.

The Trickster sobbed brokenly. "I'm s-s-sorry… p-please don't be angry."

"I could never be angry, Thalionen." Sigyn replied, realizing she was crying as well. "I just… I can't lose you, again."

Loki rested his forehead against hers. "I'm sorry." He repeated.

"Hey, uh… Loki?" Anthony asked, nervously shuffling his feet. Later, they would realize that was the first time he'd addressed him by name. "You know, if you ever need a friend… Bruce and I are here for you. You know that, right? Besides Elfy, here, of course."

Loki glanced up at him, trembling, but with a small smile on his face. "Thank you."

Steve nodded. "I probably haven't been the nicest to you, but… I'll try to be better. You seem like a nice guy, and… you remind me of a friend I once knew." The soldier shook his head, his face pinched in pain. "I'd hate for anything to happen to you."

Loki lips trembled as he looked between the two Avengers. "Thank you." He repeated, wiping at his eyes. "I don't know what I've done to deserve you."

"Thank Jarvis." Tony pointed out, nodding. "Seriously, J, you deserve a medal."

"Naturally, sir." The robot had a smile in his voice, if robots could.

Sigyn studied his face carefully. "Do you still want to… end yourself?"

Loki stared at his hands. "Somehow… the burden of my life seems somewhat lighter, now. I think… I think I can bear it."

Sigyn's face lit up in a grin. "I'm so glad to hear that. And…" She traced his jawline with one finger. "If there's any way I can… share the load, I'm-I'm always here for you. You know that… right?"

"Truly?" Loki looked into her eyes, his face bleeding a desperate broken hope. "I'd thought… I'd thought you'd be happier… with me out of the way."

Sigyn's eyes spilled over again. Her throat choked up, so she adamantly shook her head, wrapping her arms around his neck. "No, Loki."

She didn't realize it, then, but she had said the exact right thing. The same phrase that had been used to shatter his soul, seven and a half months ago on the Bifrost, had been used to glue, just a bit of it, back together. Like a dam breaking, the flood of emotions Loki had been holding back for those long, miserable months, burst through and he sobbed brokenly against her neck. The two Avengers quietly took their leave, as Sigyn carded her hands through his hair, whispering soothing words of comfort into his ear. "I love you, Thalionen." She whispered, as Loki clung to her, desperately, as if she were his only anchor in the raging turmoil of emotions. His sobs eventually quieted, and he placed a soft kiss on her neck, before pulling back, and looking her dead in the eye, a small smile on his face.

"You good, now?"

He nodded, wiping the tears off his face and neck.

"It's dinner time, then. You want to go down, or should I ask for dinner to be delivered?" Sigyn asked, tracing the lines on Loki's palm.

"I'll go down." He whispered. "If you… would like to join me?"

"Please!" She smiled, holding out her arms like an infant.

Loki rolled his eyes fondly, and scooped her up into his arms. "You do still have feet, you know."

"Who needs feet, when you have these?" She grinned, squeezing his bicep. "Onwards, my trusty ride!"

Dinner was a quiet affair, the spies quickly eating, then leaving, but the remaining Avengers lingered to talk to Loki.

"Who wants dessert?" Tony suddenly asked, standing up and flinging his arms wide. Sigyn, Loki, and Steve raised their hands. "Brucie, what's wrong with you?" Tony gasped, shocked. "You don't want desert?"

Bruce shrugged. "The other guy doesn't really do well with sweets."

Loki gazed at him with pity. "I'm so sorry for your loss."

Bruce chuckled, picking up his plate to put it in the dishwasher. "What is available for dessert?" Sigyn asked cheerfully.

"I made cookies, the other day." Steve offered.

"And you never told us?" Loki gasped, jumping to his feet. "Where might their location be?"

"I'll get them." Steve grinned. "I don't want to give away my hiding place."

"Fair enough." Loki sat down again, drumming his fingers impatiently against the table.

"Coo-kies, coo-kies, coo-kies!" Tony started chanting.

"Coo-kies, coo-kies, coo-kies!" Loki took up the chant. "Come on, Sigyn! Being increasingly irritating will speed the Captain's feet!"

"Coo-kies, coo-kies, coo-kies!" The three of them chanted as Steve returned from the pantry, bearing a plate full of chocolate chip cookies.

"Huzzah!" Loki immediately snatched five. "This is life's true meaning!"

"Hey, leave some for us, Melleth!" Sigyn took three.

"Ya snooze, ya lose, Spangles!" Tony winked as he grabbed the remaining seven.

"This is why I don't tell you guys where I keep my food." Steve sighed melodramatically, setting the empty plate on the table.

"A wise decision, Captain." Loki grinned. "I, for one, would definitely exploit that knowl-"

Crash!

The four of them stared at each other. "What was that?" Sigyn asked, before taking a delicate bite of her cookie.

"I believe it was a 'crash'." Loki grinned infuriatingly. "Allow me to investigate the source."

He stood up, and headed toward the pantry, where the noise had emanated from. He opened the sliding doors abruptly, revealing a large heap of cereal boxes, cans of soup, and other things one would typically find in a pantry. In the middle of the heap, looking very startled, and a bit nervous, was a very familiar, somewhat blue, small child, that one would typically never find in a pantry. "Hello, Father."

Next time, you'll get VALI! (He is my favorite character in this story)

A heart lets you eat Steve's homemade chocolate chip cookies, a review allows you to hug Vali.

TheOnlyHuman.