In which Petunia is the adopted sister, not Lily, and leads to unforeseen complications to a great many plans. Long story short the Evans adopted Petunia because they were having trouble conceiving and Lily was the miracle baby they weren't expecting.

Dumbledore looked at the small child he was all but dumping on their maternal aunt with little to no warning. However it was necessary, as the blood wards would keep the child safe until they were old enough to take their first step into a wider world. A necessary evil as it were.

As they left, he had no idea of how his carefully laid plans would soon go awry.

Dumbledore counted on blood wards to keep the child safe, and as his only living maternal relative, Petunia qualified. Or so he assumed.

Magic always finds a way, even if the only living blood relative was thousands of miles (and on another continent) from where the house was.

Which was why one Bruce Banner was very, very surprised and more than a little concerned when he woke up after "Hulking out" to find a small toddler almost two years old laying next to him. One with a letter clearly addressed to someone who was not him.

It would be some time before they figured out how and why she ended up with Bruce.

Ten years later...

Amaryllis looked at the god that had been given a rather thorough beat down by her father's "other half". She honestly didn't see why people were so afraid of the Hulk...he was an utter sweetheart.

As Amy took a good long look at Loki, she couldn't help but frown.

"Why did you change your eye color?" she asked confused.

"What are you talking about?" said Bruce.

"His eyes were a bright blue earlier. They're green now...almost the same shade as ours," said Amy.

Loki couldn't help but snort.

"Why am I not surprised that out of all the fools that defend this planet, it's the mageling child that actually notices the fact something was off about my behavior?"

Thor had a look of hope on his face.

Tony however was highly suspicious.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Loki gave him a deadpan look.

"I'm a master sorcerer, and yet I only limited myself to minor illusions and the occasional spell blast rather than pull out all the stops if I were actually serious about taking over this planet. Just because the warriors of Asgard regard my magic as 'petty tricks' does not mean that's all I can do," he shot back.

Everyone turned to look at Thor. Thor looked uncomfortable.

"Magic is considered a woman's art, and people look down on males who learn the magical arts because of it, despite the fact that Odin himself is a powerful sorcerer."

Amy sighed.

"So basically Loki was raised around a bunch of jocks who took it ill that someone tried to better themselves in a scholarly fashion, and mocked him because he was better at something other than punching things," said Amy.

"What does that have to do with the damage he just caused?" said Clint.

"Your eyes were blue before the super spy beat some sense back into you," said Amy flatly. She had noticed it earlier and that his eyes weren't glowing as much now. "Loki's eyes went from that exact same shade to green. Do I really need to spell it out for you?"

Seeing the look on Clint's face, Amy stared him down.

"Loki was being controlled by a third party, likely the ones who supplied him with the aliens that attacked the city until the flying tin can took it out," said Amy. "Which means he's just as much a victim as you were."

That didn't make what he did okay, but at least it bought him some leniency.

Later that night

"Thank you, little mageling. It's been many years since someone defended me," said Loki quietly.

Clint and Natasha were still rightfully pissed, and Tony was suspicious. However after reviewing the footage of Loki's original capture and Clint's attack on the helicarrier, the Avengers were forced to concede that maybe Loki might be a victim as well. Especially after what Thor told them of how he had fallen from the bridge.

"It's not your fault that Odin has crappy parenting skills from what Thor let slip," said Amy. "I got lucky...dad might not have wanted a child dropped on him, but he still took me in and treated me as his own."

Seeing she had Loki's interest, and feeling no small amount of empathy for the god, she explained.

"Dad woke up one morning after the big guy had gone on a rampage and found me sleeping next to him in a bassinet with a note for someone else. Every time he attempted to give me away, or leave me someplace safe, the big guy would throw a massive fit and threaten to come out," she said. "We could never figure out how I ended up with him since he was in a pretty remote clearing."

Loki looked at her, before slowly stating something he had noticed.

"There is a blood-based ward around you. It's likely your magic or the ward itself sent you to him because he's your closest living kin," he said. "It's fairly strong, since there is a proper familial bond between you."

Amy resolved to get a blood test done as soon as possible. She had never thought about the family she would have been left with, and honestly hated the idea of leaving her dad for someone else.

"Why do you keep calling me mageling anyway?" she asked.

Loki looked more bemused than anything.

"You have magic... a lot of it in fact. Were you in Asgard, you would have been snatched up years ago for an apprenticeship the second it first manifested itself. And that's not getting into the fact you have the same ability to shapeshift as myself."

Amy perked up at that, but sensed her father becoming upset she was spending so much time around the misplaced god of mischief.

Bruce was not happy, but Amy had a rather unique ability to keep even the most bloodthirsty beasts calm. So the idea that Loki had fallen under that odd charisma of hers didn't surprise him in the least.

"So you want to do a blood test to see how you two are actually related?" said Tony.

"Loki mentioned the reason my dad first found me was because we were likely blood related," said Amy. "I'm inclined to believe him because he also noticed my special trick."

"Special trick?" said Tony.

Amy smirked and, to his fascination shifted her features to look like a miniature Tony.

Thor was beyond amused.

"Truly impressive! Mother would have snatched you up as her apprentice if you were in Asgard," said Thor.

"Loki said something similar," she admitted.

"So what do you really look like?" asked Natasha, sipping her coffee.

Amy had a thoughtful look on her face.

"You know, I honestly forgot what I really look like...I've just gotten used to blending in to make it harder for people to use me against dad," she admitted.

"Well you're among friends here kiddo," said Tony.

Bruce would not admit the spit take he did when he saw his daughter's real features for the first time in years.

"Ew, dad really?" said Amy annoyed.

Bruce was too busy trying to clear his throat to explain.

"Are you well, Banner?" said Thor.

"Yeah big guy, looked like you'd seen a ghost," said Tony.

"I'm fine...just wasn't expecting...that," said Bruce.

Natasha eyed him.

"You recognize her, or someone that looks a hell of a lot like her."

"My first cousin Lily," said Bruce. "Now that I think about it, that also explains the note...it was addressed to a Petunia so I never thought about it too hard, but Lily did have an adopted older sister named Petunia."

"That would explain why the wards sent her to you. If the elder sister was adopted, then it would naturally gravitate towards the strongest source of familial blood," said a voice. It was Loki.

Either way they still did a blood test and proved that yes, Bruce was Amy's second cousin on her mother's side. Tony also sent a private investigator to look into "Petunia", but what they found immediately nixed any and all ideas of visiting. Her son was a straight up thug, her husband was a boorish oaf and Petunia herself was a complete Karen of epic proportions.

To be fair, Bruce had only met his cousins a handful of times and Petunia had always resented Lily after she turned twelve. He never knew why, but now he suspected it was because Petunia learned about the adoption and took it out on her sister.

Loki had resigned himself to being sent back to Asgard to Odin's less than tender mercy.

Thor certainly wanted to be gone and back to Asgard, and it was a given that Loki would be going with him.

Instead Thor found himself being stared down by the verdant eyed mageling who had figured out he was being controlled.

"Loki must return to Asgard," said Thor.

"Thor, allow me to spell it out in a way that even you can understand. Loki owes a blood debt to the people he killed, even if he was under someone else's control. Something that won't happen if he returns to Asgard. Therefor Loki has to remain on Earth," said Amy.

A small spark of hope appeared in Loki's chest. It wasn't like he could speak for himself, since his mouth was gagged.

Thor clearly looked uncomfortable.

"Odin will not like this. He will demand that Loki return to Asgard to face punishment."

"Odin will have to deal with it. Loki owes a debt to this realm, and I highly doubt that he'll repay that debt on Asgard who has little to no contact with Midgard," she repeated flatly.

Thor clearly wanted to argue more, but he recognized that look on Amy's face as the same one his mother got when she was fully prepared for a fight. Usually whenever she wanted to spend some time with her brother Freyr among the Vanir for longer than a few days.

Last time Frigga had that look on her face and Odin argued, he had been banned from their marriage bed for a full fortnight before she was remotely willing to hear him out.

So he wisely opted to leave, and let Odin sort it out later. He'd rather avoid the pointless headache, thanks.

Tony looked at the girl.

"You sure about this, spitfire?" he asked. Spitfire being the nickname he had given her.

"Odin will likely sweep Loki's actual punishment under the rug and throw into a dungeon. That won't solve anything and might make things worse later," said Amy. "Add in the fact this is royalty we're talking about, and they'll happily do everything they can to pretend it never happened to avoid the embarrassment. Forcing Loki to stay here and help rebuild as part of his punishment might actually give him a some dose of proper humility."

Tony looked unconvinced. Amy stared him down.

"Need I remind you of how much you changed after your capture in the Middle East, or how Thor went from an absolute braggart to someone that's remotely tolerable, according to all the reports we have?"

Bruce snorted at this.

"There's no point trying to dissuade her Tony. Amy is clearly intent on acting like a mother hen to Loki in an effort to reform him," said Bruce.

Tony looked at Bruce. Bruce had a resigned expression on his face.

"You have personal experience."

"She has a habit of taking in strays," said Bruce simply. "Also, don't be surprised if you suddenly have cats in the lab."

Actually now that he thought about it, Loki did remind him of one particular feline his daughter had briefly adopted for a time.

In Asgard...

Odin was pissed, but right now he had other worries that his errant son being stuck on Midgard. The Nine Realms were in a major uproar since the Bifrost had been broken and all sorts of brigands had taken advantage of Thor's absence.

Frigga however was somewhat relieved and amused. From the sounds of things, her son would end up with an apprentice who could keep him on his toes...and hopefully allow him to heal. She could only hope this...Amaryllis...would allow her son to move past the shock he had received upon learning he was adopted.