Summary: The Avengers wonder why Loki became the crazed supervillain he is today. Thor tells them his past, and they think all the villain needs is a huge hug…So it leads to Tony making a bet with the rest to see who would get to hug Loki first without getting killed. Let the madness commence...

Genre: Humor/Friendship. Possibly a little bit of a crackfic.

~0o0o0o~

Up until this point, Steve had to give Loki the benefit of the doubt. Sure, the crazy guy killed over thousands of people, tried to take over humanity, almost destroyed one of America's greatest cities, and brought a deadly alien race to Earth—but what caused his actions? One thing for sure, Steve did not think whatever the reason Loki has for his actions will justify anything, but he couldn't help but wonder...He was no therapist, but he was sure that most criminals or villains he knew (or knew from watching cop/detective shows) usually have a sad past. Or something like that.

"Hey, Thor?" Steve asks the God of Thunder. Right now, the Avengers are all seated inside Tony's living room, eating shawarma. They ordered it after hearing Loki had escaped his prison from Asgard. And they just needed a damn break. (All of them were still on a shawarma kick ever since Loki's attempt to take over the world about a week ago. It never gets old.)

"'Wath ith youth asth Man ofth Shieldth?" Thor asks through a mouthful of shawarma, as chunks of meat fly out of his mouth. Tony glares at him indignantly, throwing him a napkin.

"Woah there Shakespeare, learn some table manners. Your spit is flying all over the place, I don't want it to get on my carpet!" Tony scolds. Thor frowns at him, and messily wipes the napkin all over his face. It didn't really take off the food from his beard.

"Well," Steve begins, staring at his half eaten shawarma. "Do you think you can explain to us why Loki is evil?"

Thor pauses. He slams his sandwich down on the table. "He is not evil!" He exclaims indignantly. "He is just…just…" Thor scrunches up his face, trying to find the words.

"What?" Clint snorts, unsympathetic. "Is he just misunderstood?" He says, clearly sarcastic.

Thor snaps his fingers, slapping his leg. "Yes, yes friend Clint! He is misunderstood!" He agrees enthusiastically.

Clint can only sigh, shaking his head. "Aaaanndd, you still don't have a good grasp on sarcasm."

"Indeed!" Thor agrees cheerfully, slamming the table. It nearly breaks under his strength.

Tony does a facepalm, burying his face in his hand. "Please. Please stop slamming your hand on stuff."

"Thor, you have to define misunderstood. How is your brother 'misunderstood?'" Bruce emphasises to Thor.

"Yeah man. Now that I think of it, just why is Loki the crazy psycho guy we all know and hate today?" Tony chimes in. "What, did he have daddy issues or something?" He snickers jokingly.

Thor gives out a gasp, chewed up pieces of food dropping out of his mouth. "Tony! Are you a sorcerer? Because you are right! I believe Loki has daddy issues!"

"Go figure." Natasha snorts, rolling her eyes apathetically. "What, did his dad abuse him or something?"

"No, no nothing like that!" Thor bellows. The lights above shake, looking on the verge of falling. Tony looked as if he were about to have a heart attack. Thor strokes his beard thoughtfully. "Though, Father did always favored me over him, gave me the heir to the throne, every Asgard citizen loved me, and I have a super special awesome magical hammer. Oh yeah, and Loki also founded out that he was adopted or something. But I cannot imagine why it would lead up to Loki committing all of these atrocities!" He says dramatically.

The Avengers all look at Thor dubiously with a, Are you serious? look.

"No wonder!" Bruce suddenly says. "Over the many years of childhood, adolescene, and young adulthood, pressure and stress builded up in your brother under all of the attention and favoritism that your father, including many others shower you with! When he found that he was adopted, he probably thought it was the very reason why he was always being looked over, always desperate for your father's attention! Thus, it released all of the trauma and self-inferiority that built up over the years, leading him into a psychotic break! In short, your brother has an extreme case of inferiority superiority complex!"

Everyone stares at the scientist, silent. "Ooh, Doctor Banner is a therapist!" Tony claps his hands.

Thor frowns, scratching his head. "Are you saying that he needs what I believe what you mortals call a, 'hug?'" He questions dubiously, probably not getting a word what Bruce said.

Banner nods his head. "Exactly—wait, what?!"

Tony nods, stroking his beard as well. "Yeah, yeah, I think Brucey here is onto something! There are just some type of villains that make you wanna give them a hug!"

"Do you think that can seriously work?" Steve asks aloud, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"If it will help my brother like Doctor Banner suggested—"

"I DID NOT SUGGEST THAT WE SHOULD HUG HIM." Banner interrupts, faint green veins standing out in his forehead. Tony pats his back. "Shh, let me presence calm yooouu…" The billionaire whispers to him in a rather creepy tone. Fortunately, the green veins vanish, and Banner swats away Tony with a lopsided smile.

"—Then I shall commence with the hugging!" Thor proclaims, with a face of determination. He slams a glass of orange juice down on the floor.

Tony makes a weird choking/wheezing sound as if something were dying. "No...no…" he gasps, his knees on the floor. He stares, horrified at the bright orange stain on his expensive white rug. "M-my...Persian rug...directly imported from Persia...that costed me 3,000 dollars...100 dollars additionally for shipping...wasted…" He whispers, pounding his head on the floor. Bruce pats his back, trying to hold back his laughter.

However, everyone else ignores the oh-so tragic lost of Tony's precious Persian rug, and continue talking.

Clint gives an incredulous look at his three teammates. "What, are you saying you want to hug Doctor Doom if given the chance?" Clint snarks, not liking where this is going.

"Woah, woah there, heed your snarkiness Mr. Smartass!" The CEO says with his usual melodramatic flair. "Let's not jump to conclusions, eh?"

"You didn't say no…" Clint mutters with a faint smirk.

Natasha raises an eyebrow at Tony and the rest. "Besides, there is one major flaw in your hugging therapy plan." She says in a serious voice.

"What would that be?" Steve, Tony, and Thor all ask in unison.

"That Loki will teleport you into another dimension with his magic if you so much touch a hair on his head." She states with a confident smirk.

"No!" Thor cries out. "That is impossible!"

"It is oh-so very possible." The redhead rolls her eyes.

"No! I'm saying it's impossible for Loki to teleport the three of us to another dimension with his magic! Only taking the Bifrost can do that." Thor states matter-a-factly. "As a matter of a fact, he would use his magic to turn us into a bunch of trolls!"

"That sounds pleasant. Not." Steve comments. \

"Well actually," Bruce pipes in, with his usual analytical sciency tone. "Hugging has been shown to boost helpful hormones and reduce the level of harmful hormonal effects, at least in controlled environments. It upgrades the mood and emotional health of one's mental state."

Everyone stares blankly at Banner once again.

"So we're gonna give dear old Reinder Games hugging therapy! Well, we have to listen to the orders of the doc!" Tony says, slamming a fist into a hand. His eyes suddenly lighten up. Bruce makes a fake frightened expression.

"Uh-oh, looks like the playboy billionaire philanthropist just came up with an idea!"

"Hell right!" Tony stands up, clapping his hands. "Listen up people! Let's make a bet!" He grins wickedly all the Avengers. "Whoever gets to hug Loki first and manage to make it back alive telling the tale, I'll give the winner five thousand dollars and a free vacation to Alaska!"

"But what if you win the bet Tony?" Bruce asks, a little cautious of joining the bet.

Tony shrugs carelessly. "Then you all treat me to the bar. And not tell Pepper." He whispers the last part, with a mischievous wink. The rest groan and frown at Tony.

"And why Alaska?" Natasha questions bluntly, though a little interested by this little bet. It would be nice to go on a vacation without worrying about assassinating or spying on anyone for a change…

Tony shrugs. "Fine, a free vacation to wherever you want with a fake passport and identity!"

"Is that legal?" Clint points out.

"Is giving those smuggled really expensive one of a kind bullets to Natasha for her birthday legal?" Tony shoots back with a taunting voice.

Clint glares at him glancing around to everyone. "Don't tell Fury."

"I won't if you're in the bet."

Hawkeye sighs, giving in. "You got me. Fine. But I'm going to win."

"Is that so?"

"You're sure as hell!"

"Well, don't forget you're going to be competing against me." Natasha says to Clint with a tricky smile. He smiles back at her, with a competitive edge to it.

"I'm not gonna go easy on you Black Widow."

"Me neither Katniss." She smirks.

Thor stands up. "So it is a bet! We will see who shall give my brother Loki the HUGS." He declares, a little too enthusiastic.

Steve sighs, watching from a distance. He probably should've kept his mouth shut from asking Thor about Loki's motives. Now the six Avengers are in a bet to see who will hug the crazy super-villain first. And might possibly die and/or get turned into trolls in the process. Oh great.