Author's Note: I'm back! It's been two crazy days since I started work on Monday, but I managed to get this chapter written.

A note on my characterization of Loki: at least in the Avengers, Loki strikes me as the type of person who never really had anyone explain to him why certain actions are wrong, specifically where it concerns the value of others and of himself. In the Avengers, when Thor battles him and asks if Loki thinks himself above humanity, Loki answers, "Well, yes." It's like nobody ever sat him down and explained, "Loki, people deserve to be treated with respect and that includes you." I also feel that because of not understanding why certain things are wrong, he's never really been able to feel remorse because he doesn't see the point.

That's gonna be changing ;)

Also, the fairy tale Christy references about a frozen heart is NOT Frozen, but rather the original story The Snow Queen that Frozen was based on. In it, the shard of a cursed mirror pierces a character's heart and he is only able to see the ugly things in life, and thus begins acting meanly. It takes the love of his friend to thaw his heart out. (You might see where I'm going with this...)

Anyway, you know the drill: review, favorite, follow, enjoy!

Chapter Two

It seemed that 'no' was going to be a very common word in the Tower for the duration of Loki's stay. Especially if Christy was involved.

"You are not going up there!" Clint cried in exasperation.

"Well I have to meet him sometime!" Christy shot back. "Why not now?"

"Because he's an evil psychopath who messes with people's minds!"

"No, that's why you can't go up there! Or won't."

"Chrystal Elizabeth." Steve said firmly. Christy almost burst into tears.

"Sorry, Uncle Clint! Sorry…"

Clint sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "It's alright, kid. You're right."

They were planning to have a team dinner tonight. It was Steve's idea. The others were grudging participants.

Somebody needed to go and tell Thor and Loki about dinner. Tony had been about to ask Jarvis to do it, but Christy had unexpectedly (or not so unexpectedly) volunteered to do it instead.

Hence the ensuing argument.

Christy looked at Steve. "Daddy? Can I go?"

Steve nodded. Christy got on the elevator. Steve then turned his attention to Clint.

"You can't drag her into this."

Clint looked mildly angry. "Whose side are you on?"

"Right now, my daughter's. If you have to shout, do it in a closet. She may think she's strong enough to see all of our messes; but you and I both know better. She's a kid, and she needs the chance to be one."

"Alright…alright. I'll apologize."

"Besides, for the foreseeable future, we're stuck with Loki. And unless we want Thor to have to do the unthinkable, we'd all better start shaping up and dealing with it."

"I wonder if Odin would let me do it in Thor's place…" Clint muttered.

Steve facepalmed. This was going to be a long night.

The elevator pinged open on Thor's and now Loki's floor. Christy stepped out.

"Uncle Thor? It's Christy!"

Thor's blonde head appeared around a door. "Hello, little one! I trust you are well since I last saw you."

Christy gave the Asgardian a hug. "I'm okay. We're having team dinner tonight. You and Loki are invited."

Thor's smile faded a bit. "He's blocked himself in his room; I could force my way in, but I am loath to do so."

"Let me try." Christy tried to put on her 'sparring face.' "I'm not afraid."

Thor gestured toward a door. "Try, then. I wish you luck." At that, he disappeared back into his room.

Christy walked over to the door and knocked.

"Go away, Thor! I have no wish for conversation!" came an annoyed voice from within.

"I'm not Thor." Christy replied, simply. "Can I come in?"

There was silence for a moment. Then, the low, creaking sound of a body shifting on a mattress sounded and footsteps moved towards the door.

The door opened.

Loki would swear up and down later that he did not flinch. Jarvis' monitoring cameras begged to differ. Still with the Avenger's collective warnings in his head, who could blame him?

"The child…" he said, slightly dazed.

"Hello, I'm Christy." 'the child' said.

It was more telling what she did not say. She did not, for instance, say 'I hate you,' 'You attacked my city,' or, 'I'll rip you to shreds.'

This was what made Loki not slam the door in her face.

Instead, he asked, "Why are you here?"

Christy grinned. "I live here. And you're invited to dinner tonight. It's a team dinner."

"I am not an Avenger."

Christy shrugged. "Me neither, though Uncle Nick says it's only a matter of time. Dad always looks mad after he says it. He wants me to be safe. So, you're still invited."

Loki smirked. "So, the 'earth's mightiest heroes' and they send a child to do their dirty work? What, are they all cowering down on their…"

"It's called the Common Floor, but they're not cowering. I volunteered. Uncle Clint didn't want me to come."

"I see…"

"He kinda hates your guts. I don't blame him."

Loki's heart started to sink. The one person here (beyond Thor, Thor didn't count) who he'd hoped might not be baying for his blood…

"And do you? Hate me as well?" he asked. He tried to ignore the pounding of his heart, tried to pretend that the approval of this child meant nothing.

His heart told him to shut up.

Christy looked solemn. "I don't hate you. You did some bad stuff, and you need to figure that out and apologize and make up for it somehow…but that doesn't make you a bad person. It means your heart's frozen. Like the fairy tale. All you see is the bad and ugly things about life, so you act mean."

Loki made a mental note to look up Midgardian tales about frozen hearts using the strange device Stark had given him (a StarkPad? Really, the man had no qualms about showcasing his arrogance).

"You are so sure then, that I am not evil?" he questioned.

Christy shrugged. "Well, maybe you are and maybe you're not. That's up to you. But you're invited to dinner, anyway. It's in an hour."

Loki nodded, at last. "I shall be there."

Christy grinned. "Good. 'Cause Uncle Bruce is making dinner and he's the best cook ever! Even better than Dad!"

Loki's brain finally matched the name Bruce with the Avenger he'd had the… dubious pleasure of being smashed by.

"The beast cooks?"

Christy's grin slipped off in an instant. "He's not a beast! Don't talk mean about my family!"

Self-preservation instincts kicked in immediately. "I apologize."

Christy stared at him for a moment. "No, you just don't wanna make me mad. You're not really sorry for calling Uncle Bruce a bad name. That's what Dad means; you gotta learn why what you do is wrong." she sighed. "Boy are we in for it."

"Am I still invited to dinner?" Loki asked, almost timidly. He fully expected a 'no'.

"Did I say you weren't?"

"No."

"Then of course! Like I said, it's in an hour. Bye!" she flounced away onto the elevator, leaving Loki stunned, standing in the doorway.

He had done something wrong; he had, as the girl had said, insulted a member of her 'family.' Such an offense on Asgard would have ended in a duel, at the least.

And yet he was still invited to dinner?

Maybe it was possible that he had something to learn from these Midgardians after all.

Dinner was awkward. There was no other word fit to describe it, sadly.

Bruce had made chicken parmesan. Everyone ate silently; any attempt to start a conversation failed miserably. Even Christy was subdued. And if Clint withdrew any more into himself, he'd be a turtle.

Tony finally broke the silence. "Okay, this is weird—can I just say it? Anyone else getting that vibe?"

"Oh no, I eat with my mortal enemies all the time." Natasha said, with fake casualness.

Ironically, Loki appeared to relax at this. He expected hostility, he could deal with it.

Thor, however, frowned. "My brother is attempting to redeem himself; he is no longer your mortal enemy!"

"Just because he's your brother doesn't mean we have to like him!" Clint shot back.

"Guys, stop…" Steve tried.

"Whose side are you on, anyway, Cap?" Tony cried. "The guy threw me out of my own Tower!"

"I'm on the side of whatever is gonna work out better in the long run, and frankly, I agree with Thor that leaving Loki in a cell, alone, solves nothing."

"I knew you'd side with Blondie! I knew it! It's probably your fault he's here!"

"Stark would you just…"

All of a sudden, Christy shoved back her chair and ran in the direction of the bathroom. Steve was up like a shot to follow her.

The argument halted as quickly as it had begun, eerie silence filling the dining room.

In the bathroom, Christy sat with her head bent over the toilet, gagging up what little she'd eaten of her dinner. Steve held her hair and rubbed circles on her back.

"I'm sorry, baby, I'm so sorry…"

"I couldn't eat…" Christy said, her voice echoing slightly in the toilet. "It was so angry and loud and my heart was going so fast that I couldn't eat and when I tried to eat, I felt sick…and then I threw up."

"Well, I knew that part." Steve said. "How's about we finish dinner upstairs. Just you and me?"

Christy looked up, her eyes bloodshot. "But what about team dinner?"

Steve sighed. "I pushed too hard. It was a bad idea…everybody needs a couple days to get used to this. Including you. Now c'mon, let's wash your mouth out."

They did so, and then went out into the dining area, to get their food.

"Hey…she okay?" Natasha asked hesitantly.

Steve nodded. "She's just a bit tired…and the noise level made it hard for her to eat. Dinner was great, Bruce, we'll finish upstairs."

At that, they got on the elevator.

Nobody knew quite what to say to that.

"Yup, we're pathetic." Bruce finally muttered. "We made the kid throw up."

Natasha scowled, but it looked more guilty than angry. Tony rubbed the back of his neck, the way he did when he was sheepish. Thor's face was troubled. Even Loki looked upset.

Clint heaved a disgusted sigh and faced Loki.

I can't believe I'm about to say this, but…

"Look. I don't like you; you don't like me. But I'm not gonna have this keep happening. So for Christy's sake, I'm callin' a truce. I'm still…not okay. What you did to me was wrong, and you know it; somewhere in that head of yours, you know it. So it's stupid to keep this up, especially since you're supposed to be redeeming yourself, somehow. So, truce?"

Everyone looked shocked, especially Natasha. But no one looked more shocked than Loki.

"Truce." he said quietly. "And, as you know, I cannot lie."

Clint spread his hands. "Hey, I didn't ask."

Tony cleared his throat. "Uh…ditto for me on that truce thing…I'm not gonna be the one to make Christy cry now or Blondie cry later. And if you want any ideas on atonement…I've kinda been there done that."

Bruce nodded. "I've spent too long perfecting keeping my cool to lose it now. And, uh, if we're making truces, I guess I should apologize for whacking you into the ground. I think Hulk kinda went a little overkill."

"Aw, Bruce…" Tony started to protest. Bruce simply gave him a look.

This was more shocking than the offer of a truce, in Loki's opinion. One would never catch anyone on Asgard apologizing to an enemy for 'going overboard' in battle. He was starting to regret his earlier remark to Christy, and remarks he'd made after being captured briefly by SHIELD.

Is that what she meant by realizing that I've done wrong? To apologize not because not doing so would cause me trouble but because what I did…hurts another?

It was a heady thought. All of Loki's life, he'd made apologies to stay out of trouble. He'd learned early on that it was the accepted thing to do. But nothing had ever changed after he'd apologized; people still treated him with distrust.

Was that because he'd never managed to grasp why he was making the apology in the first place?

He felt like a fool.

"In that case, I apologize for any remark I made that…cast aspersions on your humanity. Clearly, I was wrong."

Now it was Bruce's turn to be in shock.

"Uh, it's fine, you weren't the first…"

"And I probably won't be the last. But I was still wrong."

Thor was staring at him with a pleased expression that resembled their mother's when he'd finally performed a difficult spell.

Perhaps this was even more magical than that.

Bruce nodded. "Apology accepted."

It was down to Natasha.

The ex-assassin rolled her eyes in mild disgust. "I don't forgive easily. And you will have to prove yourself. I still don't like you, but I will treat you with all the respect every person is due. For the kid's sake. Not even yours…not yet."

Even that was acceptable, for its honesty. Loki nodded.

"I understand. I…I am actually sorry for the words I spoke to you, on the flying ship. I was wrong. About many things."

Natasha stared at him. Then, slowly, she nodded.

"You can't lie, so I know you mean it. Give me time, I'll accept it."

Later that night, there was a knock on the door to Steve and Christy's floor. Steve answered it.

He was slightly shocked to find Thor, Tony, Natasha, and Clint outside.

"Is the kid still up?" Natasha asked. "We need to apologize."

Steve nodded. "Christy, c'mere baby!"

Christy came running out of her room. "Dad? What's…oh. Hi."

"Hi yourself." Clint said softly. "We came to apologize for spoiling your dinner."

"It's okay."

"No, it wasn't. We were acting idiotic. Arguing isn't going to solve anything."

"Sorry, kid." Tony added. Thor and Natasha said something to the same effect.

"And, uh, Rogers…sorry for getting into it with you."

"Apology accepted."

It was going to be a long road. But this seemed like a good place to start.