Well, here's the next chapter, everyone! This is quite possibly my longest one yet, but I had so much I had to put in this chapter. Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my OC Robin.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Steve asked me, finally breaking the awkward silence.

"Loki wants to switch sides," I repeated, looking at the expressions of the others. They were so shocked and speechless that I could have believed that they had all seen a ghost.

"S-surely you jest," Thor said in disbelief, "I mean, does it not seem rather sudden? Perhaps you simply misheard him."

Just then, to everyone's surprise, Loki appeared out of nowhere right beside me, "No, she heard me correctly."

Everyone stared at him, still taken aback by his appearance and what he had said until they snapped out of their temporary stupor. Bruce looked at him for a moment before staring down at his own plate, Clint clenched his fists, and Steve stared at Loki with a puzzled expression while Natasha only glared at him. Stark only sat back in his chair and looked at Loki with a raised eyebrow of irritation. Thor sat there in a conflicted mood, he was obviously happy about seeing his brother, but he didn't know exactly how to react, and Ayame just sat there like the happy derp she was. I looked up at Loki and whispered softly, "What are you doing?" I was just as surprised as everyone else by his random visit.

"I felt that you might want help explaining all of this," he whispered back before addressing the others in a louder and more confident voice, "Like Robin has said, I wish to join you."

Natasha grunted in contempt and looked away in annoyance, obviously not believing him, but stayed silent. It seemed like the last thing she wanted to do in this world was to associate with him. Steve narrowed his eyes and was the first to speak, "But, why? Why the sudden decision?"

Loki didn't say anything, but looked at me as a response.

Steve looked at him and followed his line of sight, staring at me for a few moments before looking back at Loki, "Because of my sister?" he asked in surprise.

Loki nodded, "Yes."

Ayame looked like she was trying to hold back something, but failed miserably and let out a big, girly sounding "aww" before saying in a sing-song voice, "I think we should let him! He's doing it out of love. It's so adorable and romantic!" She always was a hopeless romantic.

Loki said nothing, but I could hear his thought in my mind as clear as day, Foolish mortal, not everything is so innocent.

Meh, it's just her mindset, I replied, She's rather naïve, but, oh well.

But she is right, he replied softly, I am doing this out of love. . .

I blushed slightly and looked to the others, they were silent. Their silence in a place where they would otherwise talk constantly made me nervous. Would they let Loki join? I didn't know at this point. Steve sighed, his blue eyes full of uncertainty, "I don't know."

"I say we shouldn't," Natasha finally spoke up, looking over at Steve, "It's a bad idea, you can't trust him no matter what he says." This was bad. It was a good point; they had reason to doubt him. He was a known liar.

"Tash is right, Cap," Clint said in agreement, "Who's to say he won't turn on us?" I sighed, this was definitely not going as planned. Bacon should've buttered them up and made them more cooperative, however, it wasn't working.

"But," Ayame said, "he can't be that bad, can he? He's had plenty of chances to hurt Robin and he hasn't taken them."

"That may only mean he's using Sparky here for his schemes," Stark said, "And then when he no longer has a use for her. . ."

Loki clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles had turned a ghostly white, "How dare you suggest that I would do such a thing to her," he said, his voice deathly quiet and icy sounding. A voice that sounded so cold even the temperature of the room dropped dramatically, "I would never stoop so low," he hissed.

Everyone looked at him with wide eyes, even me. I wasn't expecting him to react like that, and the tone of his voice had scared me slightly. The others seemed to be just as scared of that tone as I was, and they were shivering slightly, except for Ayame, the only one to not shiver in the terrible coldness of the room. Ice, after all, was her element. "Only weighing all of the reasons and options, Reindeer Games," Stark said through chattering teeth.

I shivered more violently than the rest. I could never handle the cold very well, even when I was living in Russia. My fire burning within me clashed horribly with the ice and left me with more severe reactions to cold weather. It was so bad, that if the temperatures were almost to zero outside, I would refuse to go out, for I would get hypothermia. I had been able to somewhat handle the cold better in Russia, but after being away from my old home for so long, I was weak and powerless against the biting fingers of the cold and ice. I looked up at Loki and gently touched his arm with a shaking hand, my other arm wrapped tightly around my body, "L-Loki," I said quietly, trying to suppress the quiver in my voice due to the cold.

He stopped glaring at the others and looked to me, widening his eyes as he noticed my shivering. The room temperature suddenly returned to normal and he drew me into a tight hug, his arms wrapped tightly around my tiny body as he tried to help warm me up. "Robin," he said softly, his voice sounding sorrowful, "I apologize, I didn't mean-"

I cut him off, "I-it's okay," I said softly, my shivering gradually slowing to a stop.

Natasha grumbled to herself, "And it's exactly that kind of explosive behavior that will end horribly. He nearly killed Robin just now!"

I looked up at Loki, I had felt his muscles tense around me and he now had his eyes closed in a somber expression. "She's right, isn't she?" Loki asked softly, his teeth clenched.

I shook my head, "No, no, Loki, I could have just grabbed a blanket or something . . . it's okay." He sighed and remained silent. I looked over to Natasha, "And, you can't use explosive behavior as a point, I was just as bad, if not worse, when I first got here."

She raised an eyebrow, "Oh really?"

"Yeah! Do you know how many times I've almost killed everyone here? Too many to count, I'd say. Plus, whenever the temperature of the room dramatically rose, that was my fault for getting too pissed over something stupid, so there!"

"Even so, Robin, he's a villain, it's not like he'll be able to completely give up his ways so easily. He'll only cause problems," she paused and then added, "And what happened to you wanting to kill him? I remember that last time any of us had seen him, you wanted him dead and hated him."

"So? I didn't say it'd be easy!" I answered, "I know that personally, okay? I was supposed to be a villain too, all right? I was created by evil and they wanted me as a weapon, a tool for their own personal gain. I still have that destructive, villainous behavior, but I can suppress it much better now. Why do you think I have such a short temper? I can't quite control myself completely yet."

Natasha was silenced at this reply.

I looked at her and drew in a deep breath; I didn't want to say that out loud. None of them knew where I truly came from and they didn't even know that I was supposed to be evil. They all thought I had always lived on the streets, abandoned by my real parents. But the truth? The truth was that I had run away from a large, villainous organization that had created me and trained me a bit in my youth. I was tired of doing their dirty work. I was tired of killing the innocent for their own personal gain. I was tired of their punishment when I didn't follow their orders. So I left, and was later found by whom I now call my brother. I shut my eyes tightly, bringing up that subject, if only slightly, caused flashbacks of my past, and the screams of those I had murdered. Loki noticed my distress and asked with concern, "Robin? Are you all right?"

I quickly wiped away a small tear that had leaked from my eye and looked up at him, trying to keep my voice level, "Yeah, I'm fine." I looked to Natasha, "And, to answer your other question as to why I no longer hate Loki, like Bruce had said years ago, he really does grow on you." Loki chuckled softly at this statement and held me close.

Natasha sighed and looked over to Steve. I couldn't read her expression. Damn spies and their excellent concealment of emotion. Steve looked at her for a moment before looking to the ones who hadn't spoken up yet, "Bruce, what's your opinion on the matter?"

Bruce shrugged, unsure of himself, "I'm not sure. At first, I would've said no, but what I've seen and heard today has made me second guess myself." He looked to Stark questioningly, "Stark?" Stark only shrugged.

Steve sighed, "I'm unsure too," he replied, "Thor?"

Thor looked to him and glanced at Loki and me for a few moments, "I do not know," he finally said.

I looked up at them, my pleading gaze sweeping around the room, "All I ask is for you to give him one chance."

"And if he fucks up?" Natasha asked with a raised eyebrow.

"If he fucks up . . . uh, well, we tried and would know not to attempt it again, and, uh, you can gloat and say 'I told you so' all you want without fear of being scorched and whatnot."

Natasha obviously didn't see this as enough to suffice for such a decision, "And I can get rid of him?"

"In what way?" I asked suspiciously.

"In any way I please," she stated simply.

I took in a sharp breath. That statement could mean she'd give him a slow, torturous death, a fast one, or just make him regret even being alive. None of those options sounded good. I didn't want to just agree to something like this without Loki's say in it, so I looked to him for confirmation. He stared at me for a moment before giving me a small nod. I looked back to Natasha and said hesitantly, "All right. Deal."

She nodded and looked to Loki, saying rather harshly, "One chance. That's it."

"And if you screw this up," Clint said, agreeing with Natasha, "I'll put an arrow through your eye." They both walked away.

Stark nodded after they left, "Seems legit." He looked to Loki, "You got their message, Reindeer Games?"

Loki nodded.

"Then I agree with the terms," Stark finished. Bruce and Thor nodded in agreement, but Thor seemed more hesitant to agree with the terms. Perhaps he also felt that they were a bit harsh.

"Then it's been decided?" Steve asked.

They all nodded.

"All right," Steve said hesitantly, and looked to Loki, "Only one chance. You screw this up and you won't get any others."

"I understand," Loki replied.

"And one more thing," Steve added, "You'll be under constant surveillance and you won't be able to leave Stark Tower without supervision, got it?"

Loki nodded.

I raised a hand, "Do I count as supervision?"

Steve shook his head, "No."

My posture slouched in disappointment. If I didn't count as supervision, then I wouldn't get any time completely alone with Loki. "Aww. There goes my dinner plans," I said sadly. Then, suddenly, a question formed in my head and I asked Steve, "Where will he sleep?"

"Well, we have no extra rooms, so he'll sleep on the couch for now."

"Very well," Loki said, I couldn't really quite pick out the emotion in his voice this time. I looked to him and smiled. Perhaps the road had seemed bumpy to begin with, but things seemed to be finally smoothing out now. He smiled back at me and before I knew it, he scooped me up in his arms and gave me a big kiss on the lips. Of course, Steve had witnessed this and cleared his throat rather loudly. Loki sighed and hesitantly set me down again. I blushed and looked at Steve sheepishly. Loki looked at Steve, "I would not harm Robin," he said, and then added almost inaudibly, "Not intentionally."

Steve raised an eyebrow, "You better not, or I'll give Clint full permission to use you as target practice."

"And the Other Guy might help Clint," Bruce added quietly.

Loki winced slightly, probably remembering when the Hulk had thrown him around like a rag doll. "I understand, and you'd have every right to."

I looked at him, my eyes expressing worry. How long would it take before the Avengers would accept him? Would they ever accept him? Would he eventually get tired of being shunned and leave again, or worse? These questions only distressed me further.