Wanda enters the penthouse for lunch and all eyes are on her, "What are you all staring at?"

Tony shrugs, "Cap and I were listening in to your little talk with our suicidal foe this morning. Seems like he's opening up to you. What did you do, get inside his head?"

"No. And that you would listen in is repulsive. Loki does not wish to speak to everyone."

"Too bad, he's in my house, and I consider it part of prisoner security."

"I consider building up trust part of security as well, but you seem intent on undermining my efforts."

Tony holds up his hands, "Whoa, don't get angry. I'm not telling you to stop."

"How is he to trust any of us if he cannot trust that a conversation is private?"

"Maybe I don't want him to trust us."

She rolls her eyes, "That is uttelry idiotic."

Steve steps in, "Let's calm down here. You're both right. We do have to be very careful, and we should be making sure that he's not up to something. But maybe we can turn off the audio when one of our own is with him. He doesn't have the staff, he's just a normal guy now. Any of us can stop him, probably single handedly- he looks pretty thin, unhealthy even."

"That doesn't mean we should be trusty, SuperSteve."

"That's where she's right- if we ever want him to actually function like a normal human being, he's going to have to learn from somebody. I'd rather it be from somebody like Wanda than, say, from HYDRA. And you know they'll try to recruit him to reproduce Asgard's weapons once they find out he's here. Security starts with trust."

"Fine, fine...Wanda can have her little talks with him without us listening in."

"Thank you."

"So why don't you share what he told you with Vision, Nat, Sam, and Rhodey?"

"No, Tony. Just...no."

"Ok. I will. Loki's a crossdresser. Or something. Tried to kill himself because he couldn't be a woman. Apparently that's no big deal in Asgard."

Natasha shakes her head, "You're a piece of work."

"Me?"

"I'm not really cool with you sharing a private conversation like it's gossip," James adds.

"Oh, come on, Rhodey."

"No, Tony, you crossed a line. I know we're in your house and all, but...that's pretty low."

"Sam? Want to weigh in on my behavour?"

"Not really, but he did just try to kill himself. I may not like this, but give him a break."

"He nearly suceeded in killing me...well, all of us, more than once. Say, do any of you remember that time he tried to take over the planet? Hm?"

In the pause, Vision speaks, "I still do not understand why this would make him want to die."

Wanda pours a cup of coffee and sits beside him, "Loki told me that he...she? -would simply shape shift his magic. Now he cannot. It is one more thing he feels has been taken from him."

"And he feels as though he has nothing left."

"Correct. His long life dimished, his magic gone, his ability to even shift his form to what he is most comfortable with also gone...he feels his body aging and dying. He wanted to hurry it along."

"I can feel aging as well, but that only makes me want to live."

"But you do not look in the mirror and some days see something you do not feel you are. He does. And, apparently, he felt as though there was very little of himself left when he woke and tried to slit his wrists."

"What can we do about this?"

Natasha sighs, "Well there's only one of us who looks in the mirror and sees a stranger and he's somewhere near Fiji."

"Are you saying you want to call in Banner to talk to Loki? Oh, that'll go over great. What'll you say to him, Nat? Oh, Bruce, Loki's back, and he's got some issues with his identity. You've got those, too, so can you have a chat?"

"Shut it, Tony."

Steve tries to diffuse the tension, "But he's got a point. What do you intend to do?"

"I don't know yet. But let's face it, none of us know what that's like- to feel like our body's not really the one we're supposed to be in. Bruce's the closest we've got."

"Or, you know, you could just find a transgender support group or something," Tony adds.

"Pretty sure the being from Asgard part might weird people out just a little too much."

"It weirds me out a little still, even with Thor."

Steve looks to Wanda, "So what do you think? You've talked to him more than any of us."

"I do not know Dr Banner well, but if Natasha belives he could help, then we ought to try it."

"What's your fascination with him, anyway? You got a crush?"

She rolls her eyes, "No, Tony. But you will remember that I was once your enemy as well. Pietro and I. And you have given me another chance. I wish to extend the same grace."

"You're a better man than me," Tony says.

"That is because I am a woman." Wanda does not stay to hear the rest of their conversation. She heads to her own quarters to think. Once she has made herself tea, she settles into her pile of lush pillows and tucks her knees to her chest. She cannot shake the feeling that she and Loki have intertwined destinies. She does not know how. And she does not want to reach into his mind yet. But there is something there that she cannot put her finger on. Perhaps it is simply that they both have a history of mistakes to atone for. Or maybe not.

She sips her tea slowly, savouring the warmth. The air outside the tower is cold, the sun deceptively bright. The world is turning to winter, the season that most reminds her of her brother. Pietro loved the snow. With his speed, he could dance between the falling flakes, and when he slowed down to drag her out into the chill, they would laugh together as the snow kissed their skin. She wonders when the first snowflakes will fall in New York this year. And then she wonders if there is snow in Asgard and if Loki has ever played in it.