Author's Note: Finally back! I rattled this off all tonight, so I'm not sure if it's my best, but this is the beginning of Loki finally starting to "get it."

As I was figuring out his character development, I realized that the only way to redeem Loki is to change his way of thinking. And at this point in the story, he's got some very big lies that have a stranglehold on his mind. These lies have to be combated if he's ever going to find redemption.

Also, for any "medical sounding" dialogue...I'm not a doctor and haven't taken science classes for a bit. Sorry if I don't sound quite correct on anything.

I hope you enjoy. As always, review, favorite, follow.

Chapter Five

Ever since the fiasco with Sif, it was decided that Christy was banned from going on any further outings alone with Loki for the time being. Thor protested, insisting that the whole mess was not his brother's fault, but surprisingly, Loki barely pitched a fuss.

"I may have been many things in my life," He told Thor later, "but a fool is not one of them. And part of not being a fool is knowing when to fight and when to let well enough alone."

Just when things had finally calmed down enough that Loki was starting to get antsy, everything shifted once more.

It started on a rainy Tuesday morning. He was in his room, reading a copy of The Fellowship of the Ring. (Steve had taken him back to the library, to get the books he'd left behind the day Sif showed up.)

Suddenly, there came a knock on the door. Thinking it was Thor, he shouted, "Come in!" more than a little annoyed at having his reading interrupted.

But the individual who came in was most definitely not Thor.

"Uh…hi." Bruce Banner stood, framed in the doorway. "Can we…talk, for a second?"

Loki blinked in surprise. "Ah…yes."

"Well, Steve said something about you looking for atonement ideas and maybe wanting to use your magic for more…medicinal purposes?"

Loki nodded, slowly, as that conversation came roaring to the front of his mind. "It seemed a good idea and the only practical one I had thus far. Well, that Christy had."

Bruce smiled. "Ah, the kid. Shoulda figured this came from her corner."

"She asked if I could devise a remedy for…cancer, I believe. I did a bit of research." He gestured to his StarkPad. "Apparently there is no cure and only a very risky treatment is the most prominent way of quelling it."

Bruce nodded. "Chemotherapy. But listen, if between your magic and my chemistry, we could come up with something…that would count for atonement, in my book."

Loki frowned. "No one must know it was I."

"No, no; you'd use a pseudonym. So…do you want to come up to the lab and test a few things out? See how far your magic actually goes."

Loki marked his page and stood up. "That sounds satisfactory."

"Uh, okay! C'mon then."

As they rode the elevator up to the lab, Bruce said, "I'm gonna warn you ahead of time, Tony's not going to be thrilled with you being in his lab. It's like…a room filled with his 'children' and future 'children'. I'm not even joking, at all." he added, as Loki smirked. "So please…don't do anything idiotic."

"I give my word; nothing idiotic." Loki replied automatically, though the smirk was still on his face.

Bruce gave him a look.

"I cannot lie; remember?" he protested. "When I give my word now, it actually…means something." he trailed off slowly, processing that statement.

"Y'know, you might just wanna leave that spell in place, whenever you go back to Asgard…you are going back to Asgard eventually, yes?"

Loki shrugged. "Eventually, I suppose. When the All-Father declares my punishment a success."

"Right…so, yeah, you might just wanna leave the spell in place, if you really are serious about redemption. It might make people trust you, until you can build up a different reputation."

A different reputation? The scientist's casual words struck at the heart of Loki's secret dreams. Could he ever truly be more than 'Loki, the liar; the outcast'?

Was such a thing possible?

"Reputations are not easily changed on Asgard. We have long memories." he said bitterly.

Bruce shrugged. "So does the US government. Maybe not quite so long, but still, there's a lot of people that would love to have me locked up somewhere, running tests on me." He shuddered. "Thankfully, SHIELD has a long arm of influence, and Tony's is even longer."

As the elevator clicked open on the lab, it was strangely unoccupied.

"Jarvis? Is Tony in here?" Bruce called out.

"Mr. Stark is currently at a business luncheon with Miss Potts. He will not be back for several hours."

Bruce sighed in relief. Truthfully, he hadn't been looking forward to the ensuing argument with Tony over having Loki in the lab.

As far as Loki went, Bruce was pretty much of the same mind as Steve. Since there was no wishing the trickster away, they might as well deal with it and try to set him on a good path, since the alternative would do them no favors in the long run.

But Tony (not to mention Clint and Natasha), despite the declared truce, was still very much wary around Loki. It was justifiable, even logical, but in Bruce's mind, it wouldn't cause Loki to change his behavior—or way of thinking.

You caught more flies with honey than with vinegar, as the old proverb went.

All that to say, he was almost glad that Tony was out for the rest of the day. It stayed any arguments; something he was all too happy to avoid.

"Okay, so Tony's not here…let's see how your magic does at combating some viruses and bacteria."

Loki nodded and followed the scientist over to a lab table with various labeled tubes and petri dishes.

"So, this is a particularly rough strain of the common cold…let's do that for a test run. How does it…work for you, anyway?"

"I merely…stop it." Loki shrugged and contemplated the dish containing the virus molecules.

He could feel his magic swirling, raw and ready, so he reached out and let his hands hover above the dish, concentrating. Under his breath, he whispered a basic counter-spell to combat lower forms of illness. Said spell was why he hadn't been sick with anything as pedantic as a cold in ages.

"Jarvis, monitor this, please." Bruce said quietly.

One moment later, Loki said, "I…believe I'm finished."

"Huh. Okay. Jarvis, are you reading anything?"

"According to my medical scans, the viral infection that would be caused by this strain is effectively neutralized, Dr. Banner."

Bruce's eyes went wide. He grabbed the petri dish and stuck it quickly under the microscope. "I…I don't believe it! They're just…cells! You literally rearranged the molecular structure of the virus back from its mutated state…"

Loki just stared at him, trying to take in his entire scientific gush. "And this is…good?"

"Yes! It's fantastic! What did you do?"

Smirking, Loki wriggled his fingers and replied, simply, "Magic."

Two hours later, they had moved from neutralizing cold viruses to working with strains of worse diseases such as malaria and yellow fever.

"I don't have any cancer or AIDS affected cells to work with." Bruce explained. "I'll have to talk with Tony about getting some of those; he's got contacts like crazy. But honestly, I've seen more people die of preventable diseases than ones like cancer. The problem isn't always the cure; sometimes it's lack of ability to get the cure."

Loki frowned. "And why would that be?"

Bruce looked at him with a hard to pin down expression. It was a strange mix of pity, disgust, and disbelief.

"You were a prince, on Asgard, yeah?"

"Yes…"

"I bet, for all the grief you had growing up, you never had to worry about where your next meal was coming from. Or whether you would have a place to sleep that night. Or if a flood would come and wash away all your hard work and possessions."

"I am not naive! I know that others live in much worse conditions than myself!"

"I'm sure you do; up here." Bruce pointed to his brain. "Look, I was in India, before SHIELD recruited me for all this crazy business. Country of 1.2 billion people, squeezed into a triangle of about 10,000 miles. Some of the biggest cities I've ever seen…but there was so much poverty, it was overwhelming. I had so many patients, every day…"

"Then why did you even bother?" Loki asked suddenly. "I mean, it obviously caused you a great deal of stress. Why care at all?"

The strange, mixed look was back on Bruce's face. "Because people matter, Loki. Life has value. It doesn't matter how poor or desperate or sick or…non-muscular you are—you matter. Didn't…didn't anybody ever tell you that?"

Loki looked startled, almost dazed. He was clearly processing something very new.

"No, I guess not, huh?" Bruce muttered. "You don't try to take over a world by force if you think life has value."

Loki's mind was a million miles away, remembering a conversation he'd had with Thor, in the midst of their fight.

"I mean to rule them!"

"You think yourself above them?"

"Well…yes."

"Then you miss the truth of ruling; brother. A throne would suit you ill."

Had Thor been right? Much of the mess he was in was because he had thought Thor ill-suited for the throne of Asgard, and been convinced he could do a better job.

Would he actually have been just as poor a ruler, if not worse, than Thor had been? Was he just as arrogant and prideful as he had once accused Thor of being?

"Loki? You still here?"

He snapped out of it, at the scientist's worried tone. "My mother…I think she tried to teach me such." he whispered. "But I did not see it practiced, so I saw no point in her lessons."

Bruce scowled. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but from Thor's stories, Asgard seems to be a sort of…survival of the fittest kinda place. As in, if you're not a warrior, you don't make the cut in society."

Loki smirked bitterly. "There is a reason that Valhalla, what you mortals would call heaven, I believe, is a place of constant feasting and battle." He rolled his eyes. "I can fight, but I ever prefer to use words and magic to weapons. Therefore, I was…often on the fringe of things."

He didn't know why he was telling Banner these things, but the man merely nodded.

"Bullying…it comes in all sizes. I got picked on in school for being a nerd—liking science and math. But being a victim doesn't mean you have to lash back. In fact, you shouldn't. Even bullies have value."

Loki just shook his head, still mulling over the scientist's earlier words.

It doesn't matter how poor or desperate or sick or…non-muscular you are—you matter.

Certainly, nobody had ever looked him in the eye and said such a thing before. Or, possibly, they had, but he just hadn't been paying close attention.

Was that why apologies were necessary? And being kind?

Was that why it had stung so badly when he'd been rejected by Thor's friends (see, there it was, Thor's friends. He'd not had any of his own.)

"I…have value?" he said slowly.

Bruce felt as though he'd been sucker-punched in the gut.

Does he seriously not know…where's Thor in all this? How do you go your entire life and not realize…?

"And…so do others. It matters not their strength." Loki turned to Bruce. "Do I…understand you correctly?"

"Perfectly correctly." Bruce said, firmly. "Look, let's not sugar-coat things. You've committed enough crimes to deserve being locked up for eternity. But you're still a person. You still matter. And so do other people. That's why we don't do things like try to take over the world, or…cut off someone's hair."

Loki looked serious at the mention of his crimes. "Dr. Banner, when you…shift forms, you create great damage. Do you regret it?"

"Every time. Every time, I shift back and it's the same scene—people screaming, police surrounding me, buildings broken to the ground, gaping holes in the street…" he trailed off. "I'm a doctor. I'm supposed to fix people, not break them. So that's what I do. I can't change the past. But what I do today, I can control. So I fix things, fix people. Do research."

"I…I cannot change what I did."

"No, you can't. But you can change how you act now."

Loki looked pensive. "About…value, what if others don't respect you?"

"You treat them with respect anyway. That show's that you're the better person. Plus, like I said, even bullies have value. You did plenty of things wrong because you didn't understand value. Look…did nobody seriously explain this to you? Or did you just not listen?"

"Both, I believe. But it was never put so…bluntly."

Bruce snorted. "Sometimes, bluntness is needed."

There was still one thing more that needed to be cleared up. "But…I am a Frost Giant."

"Still a person. Is…is that what kicked this whole thing off? Finding out you were adopted?"

"Odin told me he kept the secret so that I would not feel different. But I always knew there was something…off about me."

Bruce sighed. "Look, I don't know anything about Frost Giants, but as I see it, you're standing here, holding an intelligent conversation and are capable of emotion. You're no monster, Loki. I don't care what anyone else said, not even you to yourself. You are not a monster."

It was almost too good to be true. The weight that Loki had born since that fateful day…did he truly not have to carry it?

There was one final test. The ultimate barometer to see if all of the scientist's fancy words were what he truly believed. Voice shaking, Loki replied.

"This is my true form."

He smashed his eyes shut, felt his Asgardian form melt away, and waited for the pandemonium.

It never came.

There was no gasp of horror, no shriek of terror, no scream of fear. There was merely a quiet voice, saying:

"Interesting. Very…blue. You know, you might show this to Christy sometime, blue's her favorite color."

Slowly, slowly, Loki opened his eyes. The look on Banner's face was perfectly serious.

"My eyes are red." he said, rather inanely.

Bruce shrugged. "I turn green when I'm mad."

Translation: I couldn't care less.

"You…truly don't think I'm a monster?"

"Behavior makes a monster, not appearance, and definitely not race."

"I…still have value?"

"You could paint yourself flaming orange and grow horns; and you would still be a person, who has value. Nothing changes that."

Loki just stood still, shaking his head.

"Hey, you need a break or something? We've been at this for a while…you could probably use some food. And, we've established that your magic makes for great remedies. I can have Jarvis analyze what he can of your magic and we can figure out how to make it into something tangible. Possibly."

Loki nodded, after a moment. He was still rather dazed.

Bruce started steering him towards the elevator. "I'm getting you food. And rounding up anyone else still hanging around. Let's find your brother first."

His body may have been craving food, but Loki felt as though another ache, one that had long been empty, was finally starting to fill.

He had much to think about.

And thus marks the beginning of Loki's epiphanies. There should be another chapter up this weekend. Love you all!