A/N: I'm terribly sorry for the longer wait than normal for this chapter, but this one was the hardest to do. With the style I wrote the story in, I didn't really have the ability to have Clint and Loki interact. Hopefully I came up with something believable.

Thank you so much to all my readers and reviews. I love you guys!

Warning for some dirty mouths, namely Clint and Fury's.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers.

Sixth to Forgive: Clint

"You've got to be kidding me Nat." There was no tone of anger in Clint's voice, only disbelief.

After sending Steve out of the room, Natasha had explained her plan to Clint while he had thankfully listened patiently and silently. Now that the explanation was finished, he was reacting very much the way Natasha had suspected he would.

"How often have you know me to kid around about something like this?" Natasha replied, taking a seat on a pile of workout mats.

"You can't seriously expect me to stick my neck out for Loki." Clint grumbled, walking across the room to gather his arrows from the target set up there.

"No, but I can expect you to do it for the team, and safety of a lot of innocent people." Natasha replied. "You know there'll be a bloodbath if we can't prevent SHIELD from taking action against Loki and The Avengers."

"You really think that the others will stand up for him?"

"Thor's a given, we all know that. Loki's made friends with the others, even Pepper. They'll do whatever they can to try to help him." Natasha answered.

Clint began shoving the normal arrows he used for practice into a storage container. "Idiots."

"Yeah, maybe they are."

"And what about you? You willing to fight for him?"

"I don't know, and I hope I don't have to make that decision. I've already said, I'm not just doing this for him."

"Yeah, yeah, innocent bystanders."

"Not just them either."

"Who else then?"

"For me."

Clint paused in what he was doing to look up at his partner. "What?"

Natasha sighed. "Clint, it's entirely possible I've killed just as many, if not more, people than Loki has. I'll never know for sure, there weren't always complete causality counts from the bombs I planted during my former career."

"Nat-"

"Clint, don't argue with me, you know it's true." Natasha interrupted sternly. "As I already explained to Loki, I had someone to give me a chance to put all that behind me, start over. He has Thor, but Thor's not enough. Thor couldn't get him a second chance on Asgard, and Thor can't get him a second chance here. We can."

"He doesn't deserve it."

"Neither did I Clint."

Clint met Natasha's gaze but didn't say anything.

Natasha stood, folding her arms. "I'd say you've got some thinking to do Clint. I'll be understanding of whatever choice you make." She headed out the door without a backwards glance.

Clint stayed kneeling in front of the storage bin, the arrows he had been putting away lying forgotten on the floor next to him. He gripped the lid tightly as he considered the choice that had been forced upon him.

He understood the others reasons for their treatment of Loki, what they saw of themselves in him. He could figure it out easily enough without them saying a word to him about why. Thor's thousands of years not as just Loki's brother, but as his friend. Bruce's constant fight with an inner monster. Steve's chance to become something better. The fact that Pepper hadn't been directly affected by Loki's actions, and her forgiving nature. Tony's torture. Natasha's stained past.

How could Clint relate to the fallen prince? How could be ever forgive him for the hurt he had made him cause? For making him turn against Nat and SHIELD, against his team?

…His team.

With a heavy sigh, Clint came to a final conclusion. "JARVIS?"

"Yes Agent Barton?"

"Put me through to Nat."

"Right away sir."

There was a moment of silence before Natasha's voice came over the hidden speakers in the room. "Yeah Clint?"

"Nat, I'll do it."

When she spoke again, Clint could hear the slight smile in her voice. "Thank you for your cooperation."

Clint couldn't help but chuckle. "Shut up Nat."

None of the Avengers had actually spoken to the council before, not even Clint or Natasha. Clint had always been a good SHIELD agent, and apparently the council didn't want to reveal their identities to a former spy, just in case Nat turned on them.

Fury had gotten the council to agree to speak to Tony, Thor, Natasha, and Clint, with Fury monitoring the conversation on a secure channel from the Helicarrier. Bruce and Loki were told that they were not allowed to be involved, while Steve was given no instruction as to where he was supposed to be. Steve ultimately decided he'd go with Pepper to find some new books for Loki, as he'd read almost every book in the library. Loki openly resented Bruce being told by Fury to "keep an eye on him", but didn't protest, opting to spend the day in one of the science labs under Bruce's supervision.

So there they were, four of the six Avengers, gathered in the conference room where this whole mess had begun nearly a year ago when Thor had first brought Loki to them and basically begged them to give his brother a safe haven. Three of the four did not regret that decision. One was still making up his mind.

The room was full of tense silence as they waited for the screen on the wall to come to life, Clint and Natasha sitting patiently, Thor pacing around the room, and Tony constantly squirming in his seat.

Finally the screen lit up, if you could even say that considering how dark the figures on it were, to hide their faces. However, everyone was fairly certain none of those faces would look pleased or remotely kind.

"Well then, let's get straight to the point. You have moved that we should leave the dangerous criminal Loki under your care instead of SHIELD taking him as a prisoner and giving him a just punishment." The one who spoke was clearly female, and sounded standoffish, as if she considered this a complete waste of time.

"That's exactly it." Tony replied immediately, earning him a poke in the ribs from Natasha.

"Let me and Clint handle this." She hissed.

Tony frowned but silently leaned back in his seat, putting his feet up on the table.

Natasha gave Clint the shortest sideways glance, and then he spoke. "Yes ma'am."

"I would hope you have good reason for this Agent Barton." The man that spoke had a Russian accent.

"Yes, we do."

"And they are…?"

"He's harmless sir. He was tortured into submission by the Chitauri to force him to attack earth in the first place, and then he was punished back home, rather severely. Not to mention that the crown prince of Asgard as asked us to keep his brother here, as more of his punishment." Clint explained.

"Is this true?" The same man asked, directing his attention to Thor.

"Yes, I was given instructions the king of Asgard, Odin All-Father, to bring Loki here to remained confined with myself and my friends until such time my father decides that my brother and I should return home." Thor said confidently. "If harm were to come to Loki, I fear Asgard's good relations with earth would be damaged."

"Is that a threat?" The man who had spoken this time was clearly American.

"Absolutely not! Asgard has protected earth for thousands of years! We would not cause any human harm, but we would be forced to take Loki back into our custody if any aggressive move were made against him."

"Why can't you just take him back to Asgard?"

"The device we use to travel between worlds has been destroyed. It took a great amount of magic to send us here, and we cannot go back for some time. I only ask that you grant us your hospitality and allow us to stay here. Loki is under my charge, I swear on my title as heir of Asgard that he shall cause no disturbances."

"Words mean little Prince Thor."

"And actions mean a lot." Tony spoke up, unable to keep quiet anymore, ignoring Natasha's scathing look. "He helped us with that problem the other night, completely of his own free will. No one forced him, no one even asked him. The guy who Thor brought to my tower is not the same guy who attacked midtown. He's behaved himself; he's trying to make up for what he did. You don't believe in second chances?"

"Some do not deserve second chances Mr. Stark." The woman put in.

"What about Agent Romanoff? Doctor Banner? Me?"

"You're citizens of this planet and have earned your second chances."

"So has he! He's still under punishment, remember, like Thor said? It's not like we're just letting him walk around wherever he wants and do anything he wants. He's confined to his room most of the time." Tony lied, convincingly. "We'll rough him up a bit if you'd like, but I'm telling you, taking him is not a good idea."

There was silence for a moment.

"We need to discuss this. We will contact you once we've reached a decision." The Russian said, and then the council disappeared to be replaced by Nick Fury.

"Do you think they will let my brother stay Director?" Thor asked.

Fury gave him a pointed look. "Do I look like I'm fucking psychic to you?"

To say Clint wasn't happy was an understatement. He was furious. He'd just had to defend someone he'd hated for almost two years, someone he would have killed without a second thought, and then not give a backwards glance or second thought to. As he made his way to go get Bruce and Loki, he fumed and glared at everything.

He hadn't been told to go get them; he was going of his own accord. He hadn't told anyone because he knew Thor would never allow it, but he'd finally realized that he had to interact with Loki, had to see what he was like, for the sake of the team.

He stopped in front of the glass door of the lab, knocked once, and then typed in the security code. The door opened. So Tony at least hadn't changed the codes to keep him out of some parts of the tower. He entered and he didn't fail to notice the way that Bruce and Loki tensed up when he entered. "Meeting's over."

"Uh, what was the decision?" Bruce asked.

"There hasn't been one, the council is gonna call back after they do make their decision." Clint answered. "Who knows what they're gonna do?"

"They won't let me stay." Loki muttered.

"They're not gonna take you." Clint stated.

Loki looked at the archer in utter surprise. "What?"

"Bruce, I wanna talk to him alone." Clint said.

"Look, Clint, I know you're not a bad guy, but-" Bruce started, taking a step towards Hawkeye.

"JARVIS is monitoring me right? Everything I do? If I even try to hurt him he'll alert Tony and I'll have my ass handed to me before I can even do any damage." Clint said. "Wait outside the door if you're so concerned."

Bruce gave Loki a questioning glance, silently asking what he thought.

"Let him speak to me. There's things we need to talk about, and I can't avoid it forever." Loki said emotionlessly, his eyes never leaving Clint's.

Bruce hesitated, but then slowly left the room without any more arguing, standing outside with his back to the door, to at least give them some form of privacy.

There was silence for a moment before Loki spoke. "Agent Barton, I owe you a bigger a apology than I can ever actually express."

"You do."

"If I could some how make it up to you, I would."

"You may be able to." Clint replied, folding his arms.

Loki looked confused. "What?"

"It'll take a while, but you may be able to."

"How?"

"By keeping on doing what you did the other night. Saving people. You save as many people as you've killed, and I'll call it even. And there's something else you're going to have going to have to do for me." Clint replied, still not breaking eye contact with Loki.

"What's that?"

"You'll find out. Now come on, we've all decided to wait in the conference room until the damn council calls back."

Loki obediently followed Clint out of the lab, where a puzzled looking Bruce was still standing outside the door.

"We have come to a decision." It was the American man who announced this when the screen lit up.

Bruce and Loki were hiding in a corner where the council wouldn't be able to see them, and were both holding their breath without even realizing it.

Nobody said anything to prompt the council to tell them what the decision was.

"SHIELD is going to take the criminal into custody, and we will remove Nick Fury as the director of SHIELD."

Thor couldn't help but looking over had Loki, who had begun trembling against his will.

"Actually, you're not going to." Another screen in the room lit up, and the face of Maria Hill appeared, and she did not look happy.

All four council members shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

"Agent Hill, I don't know what is causing you to interrupt an important private communication-" The woman started.

"Do you remember a certain incident nearly two years ago? One that I told you that would be brought up if you came after Director Fury?" Hill interrupted confidently.

It didn't take a sixth sense to feel the discomfort that was radiating off the members of the council, even through the darkened screen.

"Agent Hill-!"

"Here's the deal. Nick Fury remains Director of SHIELD, Loki remains at Stark Tower under the surveillance of the Avengers, and while he is confined to the tower, he is to leave with the Avengers on missions if SHIELD deems his powers to be of use. There will always be a SHIELD agent watching him if it is decided he is not to be involved in a situation. This is his penance." Hill stated firmly, her hands folded on the table in front of her.

The council obviously had no choice but to accept Hill's terms.

"You will send five SHIELD agents and have them in the tower at all times." The Russian man ordered.

"Three. We already have Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton in the tower. That altogether is five." Hill declared, not to be moved.

"This is completely out of line Agent Hill." The American man growled threateningly.

"So is trying to blow up Manhattan." Hill countered.

"End of transmission." The woman snapped before any of the other council members could say anything, and the screens went black.

All attention turned to Hill.

"Thank you Agent Hill." Natasha said.

"It was for Nick Fury." Was all Hill said in response to that, but she gave a slight nod to her fellow agent. She then cast her eyes over to Loki was still standing in the corner with Bruce, a look of relief on both their faces. "So you're Loki."

Loki studied her. "Yes."

Hill studied him herself for a moment. "You don't look that dangerous to me."

To everyone's surprise, Loki actually laughed. "Perhaps not, but I assure you that you would not like to test that assumption for yourself."

"Why is Fury helping Loki?" Bruce asked suddenly before Hill could cut the transmission.

Hill blinked, paused, and then answered. "Nick Fury believes in second chances. I think some of you would know that by now."

Bruce and Tony shifted uncomfortably, while Natasha bit her lip in response to what had just been said.

"Hill out." The screen went blank.

"Well." Clint said, breaking the silence. "Let's hope Fury doesn't send three complete friggin' morons."

One of the three was a moron. Fury sent two men, Agents Michaels and Takahada, and a woman, Agent Anders. Michaels was the moron, a new recruit Clint figured, who'd been sent to gain some training under Takahada, and considering Takahada spent most of his time lecturing or directing Michaels. Agent Anders was the only one who seemed to have been actually sent to keep an eye on Loki, considering she was the only one who was actually in a room with him when he stayed behind while the Avengers were on a mission. Clearly Fury really did believe the Loki situation wasn't serious.

A month passed, and Clint kept count of all the people Loki helped save. There had been eighty dead in the result of the portal collapsing in New Mexico, the man in Germany, and the two guards Clint had been forced to kill in Germany. Ultimately he had decided to count the causalities from New York, there were too damn many to keep track of completely. By the end of the month, with the number of people he had saved that first night he had helped them included, Loki had saved eighty-seven people total. It was even.

So Clint sought him out one day when they returned from a mission, which Loki had not gone on, and found him sitting on the floor of the top floor lounge with Agent Anders. "Anders, you can go off duty."

"Yes sir." Anders said obediently, getting up and leaving without a single argument.

Loki stood. "What can I do for you Agent Barton?"

"We're even."

"Excuse me?"

"I counted the total of people you had to save at eighty-three. You've saved eighty-seven. You've almost paid off your debt."

Loki looked stunned. "Almost?"

Without warning, Clint pulled back his fist and punched Loki on the side of the face, causing him to fall back onto the floor.

"Agent Barton, I'm going to have to inform Mr. Stark-"

"Wait, JARVIS, tell Stark it's all right. I deserved that."

"Mr. Odinsin, I do not-"

"I told you not to call me that." Loki said in an almost poisonous tone that Clint hadn't heard in a long time as he climbed to his feet, rubbing his face. "I suppose that was the other thing I had to do in order for you to consider the matter closed."

"And it's closed."

Loki actually chuckled. "A more than fair exchanged, I'd say."

"Fair by my standards." Clint replied, folding his arms. "Welcome to the team. Unofficially of course."

"The day I'm made an Avenger is the day I become completely convinced that there is truly no sanity in any of the nine realms." Loki answered.

"Probably right." Clint said with a lopsided smirk, and turning to leave the room, but at that moment Steve and Tony burst out of the elevator.

"What the hell Clint? JARVIS said that you punched Loki and that he was okay with it!" Tony exclaimed, striding right over to Clint and getting in his face while Steve went over to inquire if Loki was okay, at which the trickster rolled his eyes.

"Stark, Agent Barton and I were just clearing some thing up. It's nothing to be concerned about. In fact, I should think you can stop tracking his movements now." Loki said.

"So you've made friend?" Tony asked as Clint took a step back to try and get some form of personal space.

"I believe the term is, how do you put it, frenemy?" Loki replied.

End Chapter

A/N: None of these agents I've brought in will have a large part in the story in any way. Agent Anders will have maybe one or two more brief appearances, and be mentioned occasionally, but I'm not bringing an OC with a large part in.

I'll probably get someone asking how Loki knew the term "frenemy". I figured he's been hanging out with Tony, and it's the kind of thing Tony would say, so he heard it from him.

I wrote the ending to this chapter about four times before I finally came up with one I liked. I'm also pretty sure this may be the longest fan fiction chapter I've ever written.