YOU MUST READ THIS BEFORE CONTINUING: ok, hey guys! I just wanted to let you know I went back and fixed a few things in all the chapters and added a few little things – nothing huge – but if you want you could go back and reread – you probs won't even notice the changes. The biggest change I made was that instead of meeting with SHIELD in 'two days' I changed it to 'a few days'.

YOU MUST ALSO READ THIS: this chapter is about the Avengers and some obvious things we need to deal with. I need to set some things up for the future of the story because last night, while trying to convince myself to fall asleep, I had a weird image in my head of unlikely people meeting but it can't happen without this chapter, so… Also note that in the future I probably will write an Avengers fic so chill this isn't any canon at all.

AND THIS: I totally just realized that I made Coulson live even though he supposedly died in Avengers the movie. Woops. Well I like him so suck it.

Disclaimer: I don't own hardly anything, really.

Loki

Silence. Silence. Silence. For leagues and leagues all that could be seen was endless forest. The trees were ancient and loomed over him, casting foreboding shadows. He could see the branches of willow trees and ferns blowing and whipping in the wind, his hair tangling in curly knots over his face. He brushed back the dark locks over and over to keep a watchful eye, for even though the wind blew and whipped and raced through the trees not a sound was made. Nothing could be heard: not the chirp of a bird, not the breaking branches and twigs beneath his feet, and certainly not the crashing, lumbering gaits of the beasts that lived here in the Isle of Silence. In the Isle of Silence, a separate dimension Loki had been sent to as punishment where his 'deceitful' words could never be heard, resided the Trolls. The trolls were uncultured – and not 'uncultured' as the Asgardians had thought the Jutons to be, but truly, purely savage. The trolls ate everything. When they came across an old troll, too old to defend itself, it was eaten. When they came across a young troll, too young to defend itself and left days after it's' birth, it was eaten. How the Trolls hadn't killed themselves off after these long millennia was certainly a mystery still.

Loki whipped around again as he spotted a cloud of small birds fly in a chaotic clutter away, away, away into the endless forest. They must have flown from something. They must have adapted and evolved and gained a new way of hearing or of 'sensing' when something was near rather than just relying on their sight.

It was still only the first week of his time here on the Isle and he had yet to find a way of avoiding the trolls other than keeping an eye on the birds. The birds and the foxes and the deer always seemed to know. There was no night here in the Isle and the birds and foxes never seemed to rest or sleep and so Loki did not sleep either. If the animals didn't sleep and there was no visible difference in the lighting it was safe to assume the trolls didn't sleep either. It was going to be a long stay here in the Isle.

Loki took off following the birds, glancing behind him in frequent intervals waiting to see the beast crash into his line of sight. He jumped over fallen trees and ducked under heavy foliage, trying not to leave a visible trail that would encourage a pursuit from the brainless monsters. Not twenty minutes into the chase with the birds and the rest of the animals he glanced behind himself once again to see not only one but two of the giant creatures on his heels. Normally he would not have run: he would have turned and fought – decapitated the beasts with a wave of the hand – but he was powerless now. Odin had put a suppressing spell on his magic and he was unable to reach it. So he ran.

Two minutes more of running from the trolls and Loki glanced back again to see them nearly on top of him. He could practically smell their rancid breath, feel their spittle on his back, and he knew this was an exercise in futility.

He planted his feet and turned to meet them. The abrupt change of momentum made the troll closest to him stumble and trip, crashing his giant pockmarked head into a tree trunk. The second, slightly shorter with thick white hair, ran past him as well but slowed enough to grab a tree and switch directions much more efficiently. Loki cast his eyes around desperately. There must be some sort of branch or rock his could use as a weapon. The white haired beast limped towards him in an awkward walk, its' face was twisted in an odd expression and Loki realized belatedly it was laughing at him as he nervously realized there was nothing for him here. The first troll finally pulled itself up and started lumbering towards him as well and Loki cast one, final, desperate look around before turning around so quickly he nearly fell himself and started sprinting again.

He hadn't gotten twenty paces before he felt a giant, calloused hand close around his ankle and –

(…)

Loki jerked forward on his chair, gasping, and rubbed his eyes. He was fine. He was alive. He was on Midgard with the insufferable inventor while his brother was aboard the flying boat with The Son of Coul and Son of Fury. That was over now. He had his magic again and he could defend himself now. He would be ok again.

His punishment had been half of a century on the Isle of Silence and he had developed a new set of skills after surviving in such a harsh environment for so long. His hearing was supersensitive and even now, in the dead of night, Loki kept a protective spell cast around his ears to dampen the sound and noise of this world. His sense of smell, tactile touch, and eyesight had also heightened due to his forced heightened awareness. Every time he walked or teleported into a room he was immediately aware of everyone in it and what they were doing. Walking outside into the public had been sensory overload and borderline painful for him but he had gotten better and now knew to keep more spells around himself for protection. It had been five weeks out after his punishment and he still froze at every sudden movement.

Loki sighed and rubbed his eyes, staring out at the illuminated night. He liked sitting on his balcony far above the city and the noise where it was eerily quiet, reminiscent of the Isle, pierced only by songs of the birds – the birds – that flew infrequently this far up and into the city. He got up and paced towards the door teleporting to the communal kitchen, where the Avengers seem to congregate, before he reached it.

Immediately he knew no one was present and tread lightly to the cupboard to grab a tea bag while he quietly commanded the machines to boil water. The sound of the machines gliding smoothly to comply and the splatter of water filling the coffee pot scratched against his ears and he slid silently into a barstool next to the counter to wait for the water. He knew the second the archer padded into the room behind him and he froze, posture stiffening and breath paralyzed in his lungs before he corrected his bodies immediate reaction to the new presence and leaned against the counter once again. He knew the archer would speak, he would wait.

"Couldn't sleep?" The archer asked, too loudly for Loki.

"I don't do much of that," Loki half-whispered back as he turned to face him. He hadn't aged but a year or so due to the warps in space and time between all the dimensions of the Isle and of Yggdrasil where Midgard and Asgard resided.

The archer shrugged and headed towards the fridge from which he pulled a beer, "Why not?" he asked seemingly offhandedly. The archer had been the easiest to convince to let Loki stay on Midgard for a short while before any of the others had agreed – let alone Fury and the Council. Loki supposed it was because the archer knew that Loki was not alone in his mind either at the time. He supposed the archer was perceptive enough to tell that Loki was a puppet as well. What Loki had not known was that the archer had also seen a glimpse of Loki's brain as well and knew that Loki would never admit to being controlled that way. The archer hadn't given anyone the information that might have absolved Loki because he knew that Loki himself would rather take the punishment than admit he had been weak. For this Loki was grateful: he had told the All Father that yes, he had been tortured and coerced into the invasion but he had not and would not admit that he had allowed the filthy beings into his mind. If he had perhaps his sentence on the Isle would have been shorter but he wouldn't take such pity – not ever.

"I don't need as much as you do," he replied, easily covering his lies. While the statement was true there was another reason he never slept: he didn't know how anymore. He would daydream, coming so tortuously close to sleep when suddenly he would flash back into the Isle and there wouldn't be any sound. The very absence of noise jerked him out of his pseudo-sleep.

"Hm," the archer replied, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

Loki grabbed a mug and fixed his tea before staring levelly back at the archer and teleporting back to his room. He didn't want to deal with that now. He didn't want to ever deal with it.

HORSEMEN WHAT WHAT!

"I swear Henley, that's all that happened," Daniel repeated. He was leaning against a counter in the kitchen with an icepack pressed against his eye and tiredly sighed. After Merritt had resignedly walked into his room without awakening the young magician Daniel had been left to carry the boy into the cabin and deposit him on the couch with Henley on his heels the whole way.

"Why did he explode like that?" Henley asked.

"I don't know, Henley, he was drunk off his ass. You can grill him tomorrow when he's hung over if you really want to, but warn me first – I don't want to be present for that," Daniel groused. He stood and started towards the stairs to get to his bed but Henley grabbed his elbow, turning him to face her.

"Will he be ok?" Henley asked. Her eyes were tender and for the first time in a long time Daniel saw love in her eyes. Not the love that grown men and women have but the love an older sister has for a younger brother: fiercely protective, but willing to chastise.

Daniel paused to memorize the look it gave her, the way her face shone as she worried about the youngest of the group, and then said, "Yeah, Reeves, he'll be alright."

Special thanks to those who favorited and followed goes to: Only if, Glytter-Chan, superfangirl13, MissGracieKathy!

Meow: Thanks again for the review, lovey! And we will just have to deal with Jack next time because I was unable to get to him this time around. Sorry for the wait, bro!

MEEVA E: Thank you so much, petal! I'm glad you liked that chapter! Hopefully you also like this one. I like Loki and I will not apologize for that and that is why he featured in this one. I hope you can appreciate the need for this chapter!

D'AAAAWWWWW! Sweet little Danley at the end! AWWWW! Anyway keep the reviews coming, kimosabes!

Adios, muchachos!