A/N: I'm trying to have each chapter told from the perspective of the person it's about, but with Steve, I actually found I couldn't come up with much. Steve was the one least affected by everything Loki did, so I had a really hard time with it.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers.

The Second to Forgive: Steve

When Loki disappeared, it seemed as though everyone wanted to forget he was now living in Stark Tower, even Tony, who had allowed the whole thing.

Bruce was the only one who seemed to care. He gave suggestions to Thor on what food to take to Loki, based on it's nutritional value, and he asked Thor to tell him about Loki, what he was like, some of their adventures from their childhood, and the such.

Steve was one of those who never said anything about Loki, but he found himself listening in on the stories Thor told Bruce, the things he said about his brother, and he couldn't help but begin to feel sympathy for Loki.

Five days passed, and it seemed as though Loki intended to spend the entirety of his stay at the tower in his room. However, Steve was surprised when he saw Bruce and Loki walking down a hallway together on the sixth day, Bruce completely relaxed, and Loki's posture defensive, but not giving away any hint of fright.

"Humans have such strange, however interesting, legends. How do you come up with such ideas?" Loki said.

"Just remember that those stories you were reading were Greek myths, from thousands of years ago." Bruce replied lightly.

"Nonetheless, you are still just as… naïve a race as you were in those stories." Loki said, eyes shifting to the side, as he seemed to be carefully looking for the right word, and trying not to sound too insulting.

Bruce laughed. "Oh, I won't disagree. The human race has a long way to go."

The look Loki gave Bruce was filled with genuine surprise. Clearly he had not expected the scientist to agree with him.

"Hi Steve." Bruce greeted as he and Loki were passing, and he stopped, Loki stopping beside him, but taking a half step back from Steve.

"Uh, hi." Steve gave Loki the least pitying and confused look he could manage. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes." Came the simple answer.

Steve was desperately looking for things to say, something to try and put Loki at ease, when he noticed the two books Loki was clutching at his side. "Where did those come from?"

"The library." Bruce answered.

"We have a library?"

Bruce laughed. "Pepper's idea. I think Loki's the first person who's used it besides me." Bruce looked at Loki. "You sure you don't want to wait for Thor in the library?"

"I spent half a year locked up in a small room under Asgard, I'd rather take advantage of as much freedom as I can get." Loki replied.

"Well, I'm afraid you're probably not going to be allowed access to any areas you would find interesting, like the labs." Bruce said, scratching his head, with an apologetic tone in his voice.

"…That's understandable." Loki responded, looking at his feet.

"Brother!"

All three men turned to see Thor striding down the hallway.

"I'll be joining my brother now. Thank you for your… assistance, Doctor Banner." Loki said hurriedly, and almost dashed towards Thor, making him turn in the opposite direction from Steve and Bruce and they walked away.

Both Steve and Bruce were confused as to Loki's sudden desire to be with Thor, until Clint passed them, his eyes lingering harshly on Loki's back. He said nothing as he passed Bruce and Steve, and continued on his way, disappearing into one of the rooms off the hall.

Steve glanced at Bruce. "Is he really okay?"

"He's having some trouble, understandably. Thor said he's been having nightmares, and he's scared of all of us. He doesn't want to be here, but he doesn't have anywhere else to go."

"He didn't seem so afraid of you." Steve observed.

Bruce put his hands in his pockets. "We, ah, came to an understanding. I understand him, a lot more than I'd like to, and I think the same goes for him."

Steve sighed and nodded, knowing exactly why the two would have some kind of understanding of each other. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"Yeah, eventually. He's already made tremendous progress from Thor just being here. The guy I talked to in the library was different than the guy who showed up out of nowhere about two weeks ago." Bruce gave Steve a serious look. "How do you feel about him being here?"

Steve paused a moment. "He needs to be here. You said it yourself, he's got nowhere else to go." He paused again. "And he deserves to be treated like a person."

"Clint and I have been called in for a mission. We'll be gone for a while, not sure how long. Keep an eye on Loki, don't let him do anything, and alert S.H.I.E.L.D. if something happens."

They were all in the top floor lounge, except for Thor, who was with Loki, as he almost always was. Tony looked from where he and Bruce were going through data on some of his transparent data screens, and Steve paced around.

"In fact, I suggest you put him back in that room of his and don't let him out." Clint grumbled, standing near the elevator.

"Why? He hasn't been doing anything except visiting the library." Bruce replied, looking at the archer over the top of his glasses.

Clint rolled his eyes. "It's only a matter of time."

"I'm not locking him up. That'll only piss of Thor." Tony stated impassively.

"Do what you want, provided you don't endanger anyone." Natasha cut in. "I would only recommend he not leave Stark tower."

"Christ." Clint snarled. "I can't believe this. Fury's calling us in when we should be here watching him."

"We can handle it." Steve replied, looking over at the spot on the floor where there had once been a Loki shaped hole. Now, thankfully, it had finally been fixed.

"He shouldn't even be here." Clint pressed.

"Clint, you said Director Fury's reasons where understandable. We do owe Thor, and we can't afford to have him take Loki and disappear if we do try to take Loki in custody." Natasha gave Clint a piercing stare. "This way we have some control over the situation."

"I lied. I couldn't tell Fury what I really thought. You don't argue with him." Clint answered, leaning against the wall and folding his arms.

"Right, well, see you guys." Bruce said, waving slightly, clearly none to happy with Clint, but not seeming threatening.

"Nothing is going to happen. Trust me." Steve promised, flashing the two agents a smile.

Natasha actually allowed one corner of her mouth to perk upwards. "I'll take a promise from Captain America. Take care of yourselves."

Clint said nothing.

The two stepped into the elevator and disappeared from view.

"As much as I like those two, I'm always glad to have S.H.I.E.L.D. off my ass." Tony remarked, going back to whatever he research he had open.

"As much as it's understandable, Clint's hatred isn't going to help things at all. Loki's terrified of him. More than any of us, I think." Bruce stated. "More than he was of me even."

Tony looked away from the screen, with a raised eyebrow. "Was?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, we've got kind of a truce going. I've been with him in library when Thor isn't there. He's still cautious and defensive around me, but I don't think he's scared of me anymore."

"That's good." Steve said quickly, not sure if he wanted to know what Tony was going to say as the billionaire opened his mouth. "It'll be good for him to have a friend here."

"I'm hardly his friend, that'll take a while. More like an ally."

"But it will be good for him to have someone other than just Thor to help him." Steve said, sinking into an armchair towards the back of the room.

"That's for sure."

"Okay, so we know Loki's not a threat, but they don't. How're we going to change that?" Tony asked.

Steve's face twisted in confusion. "You want to help him? I thought you were just letting him stay here because of our debt to Thor."

Tony stared at Steve, looking like he was fighting with himself about something. "I was tortured too, you know. In Afghanistan. I'm sure it wasn't anything near like what he's been through. I'm not forgiving him, not saying it's an excuse, just that I know the feeling of being willing to do anything to get the pain to stop." Tony frowned. "Thor's got Loki under control. Loki's too frightened to try anything."

"And he's still weak. His injuries haven't completely healed yet." Bruce added.

"The point is he's not going to do anything. It's too big of a risk for him. We need to at least convince Natasha of that." Tony finished.

"I actually don't think that'll be too hard. She seemed sincere when she said she trusts Steve's word." Bruce replied, taking off his glasses and setting them down since there was now a long lull in the work.

"It's Clint that's the problem." Steve voiced the so far unspoken truth.

"I think we should be ready for the possibility that he might try to kill Loki." Bruce stated with a regretful sigh.

Tony smirked. "Got that covered. I've got JARVIS monitoring Clint's movements. If Clint gets within ten feet of Loki, JARVIS will alert me in a nanosecond. Besides, Thor is with him all the time anyway. And I guess when Thor isn't with him, Bruce is. Nothing to worry about."

Steve wasn't convinced, and from the glance Bruce gave him, neither was he.

"Steve!"

Steve stopped in the hallway leading to his room, and turned to see Bruce jogging toward him, trying to catch him before he turned in for the night. "Doctor Banner?"

"Bruce, Steve. I told you to call me Bruce." Bruce reminded him, coming to a stop in front of him.

"Sorry, having a hard time getting used to that." Steve replied. "What is it?"

"I think you should talk to Loki."

Steve's widened slightly. "I tried, remember? In the hallway the other day. He didn't want to talk to me then, why would that change?"

"He might've stayed if Thor and Clint hadn't shown up."

"…He doesn't trust me, how can I possibly get through to him?" Steve asked, considering Bruce's suggestion.

"He trusts me, so I think if I'm there it'll be okay." Bruce answered, fiddling with his watch, probably a result of nerves because he thought Steve would say no. "Loki needs more friends, or at least allies. He needs to know that he's worthy of forgiveness and compassion."

"How do we know he is?" Steve asked thoughtfully.

Bruce sighed, shaking his head slightly. "I've talked to him quite a bit the last few days. He regrets everything that's happened. Really regrets what's happened. He doesn't want us to know because he's afraid we'll take advantage of it."

"Has he told you as much?"

"He did tell me he has regrets. That was his way of apologizing. I can tell it's all bothering him, and Thor told me Loki's afraid of appearing weak in front of us." Bruce said.

Steve studied Bruce for a minute, thinking over his words. Steve had learned that Bruce was good at reading people, and, most importantly, he and Loki were so terribly similar in many ways. Bruce would probably know exactly what Loki was thinking and feeling at the moment. "All right."

Steve entered the library the next day, finding Bruce and Loki both quietly reading in armchairs, across the room from each other, Bruce obviously respecting Loki's space.

Thor wasn't there, he had apparently gotten a call from a Jane Foster, who Steve figured Thor must be romantically involved with, from the way he had reacted to Tony's passive remark about the call. He was surprised that Loki trusted Bruce to be alone in a room with him. It seemed to Steve like Loki had come to trust Bruce more than Bruce apparently thought.

Steve went to look for the history books, genuinely interested in learning what had transpired in the world during his seventy year sleep, found one on recent American history, took it, and went to an chair nearby Bruce to sit and began to read.

After a minute of struggling to think of something to say, Steve looked up. "So Loki-"

"I've been set up, I see." Loki interrupted.

"I'm sorry?"

"Doctor Banner asked you to try to talk to me, didn't he?" Loki said, looking up and closing his book.

Steve and Bruce looked at each other.

"Oh, come on, it wasn't that hard to figure out." Loki drawled.

"Well, I'd like to try to talk to you." Steve said.

"About what? What is there for you to say to me?"

"You seem happy enough to talk to Bruce." Steve replied, setting his own book aside.

"Doctor Banner is… different. I would rather not make any of the rest of you uncomfortable by interacting with you when you don't wish to interact with me." Loki's tone was dismissive and irritated.

"Maybe I actually do want to interact with you."

"I don't want your pity, Captain." Loki snapped.

"Is that why you don't want me to talk to you? Why you left so quickly in the hall the other day? Because you think I pity you?" Steve questioned.

Loki snorted, and rolled his eyes. "I left because I didn't want to be anywhere near Barton."

"Loki, pity isn't always a negative thing. All it means is that I feel bad about what you've been through. It doesn't mean I look down on you, or think you're inferior." Something clicked in Steve's head, something so obvious, he should have seen it before. "That's it, isn't it? You think we all look down on you."

Bruce raised both eyebrows and looked between Steve and Loki.

Loki narrowed his eyes, and shifted slightly in his seat. "Why shouldn't you? Everyone else always has."

"What about Thor?" Bruce asked.

Loki huffed. "Everyone knows Thor is the exception to almost everything regarding how people usually treat me. He's a great over-affectionate oaf." There was the tiniest hint of affection in Loki's voice at that last statement, so tiny that Steve might've missed it if he hadn't been putting all his effort into trying to read Loki's words and actions.

"From what Thor's told us about you, and the way he treats you, you deserve sympathy. None of us look down on you Loki. None of us could have gone through what you went through and done things differently." When Loki said nothing, Steve tried something else. "Do you know about what I was like before I became a hero?"

"Barton told me a bit."

"I bet he didn't tell you that people looked down on me, teased me, tore me down. All I wanted to do was help; prove that I could do my part to, well, save the world. I was given the ability to do that by people who believed in me. It sounds like you never had that."

"…I had my mother, and Thor."

"It wasn't enough, was it?"

"No."

"Well, it seems like Bruce believes in you. Maybe, if you let me get to know you, I can too." Steve offered hopefully.

Loki paused, before he gave a curt nod. "You can try if you wish."

Steve smiled. "Would you tell me about Asgard?"

Loki chewed his lip a moment before replying. "It's… beautiful."

And that was the beginning of Steve's belief in Loki.

End Chapter

A/N: HA. I managed it!

I hope the thing that I came up with as to what Steve could relate to Loki about was believable. I pretty much came up with it out of nowhere.