Chapter 1

"We have come to a decision on your punishment." Odin stared down at his adoptive son, no regret or hurt in his hard voice. "You have committed crimes of a most terrible nature to try and assert power over those you believed to be weaker. It is a most shameful path you have followed, Loki, and such deserves a punishment of a similar magnitude. I know you do not fear pain or death, instead it is your pride that shall suffer."

Loki continued to kneel, staring at the ground in front of him, not moving. In all honesty he was surprised that Odin had chosen a non-straightforward punishment for him. Not that he'd have been able to voice this anyway, the thick gag around his mouth not having moved since it was first placed upon him.

"I shall strip your of your powers and reduce you to the level of the Midgardians you so despise. You have been called upon by their lords to answer for your crimes in Midgard itself, and so you shall be handed over to face their punishments."

Loki looked up at this point, wondering why Odin was shunning torturous punishment only to hand him over to other that would surely do the opposite. Odin must have read it in his gaze.

"Do not think that you will suffer a straightforward punishment at their hands. As I hear, they have big plans for you." Odin smiled. "Alas you will not travel alone. Thor has agreed to go to the aid of his allies in Midgard whilst he oversees your progress."

Odin stepped down in front of Loki and held a hand out over his head. "I hereby remove your power, Loki Odinson, until you have found enough kindness in your heart to the worthy of it again." He placed his hand down onto his adoptive son's head and for Loki, everything went black.

"I don't like it. I don't see why the bastard has to live with us, after all he did." Clint perched suspiciously on the edge of the sofa, before him the Avengers sat around discussing.

"It's because of all he did that he is living with us, it's an attempt to get him to work with us." Natasha explained.

"That doesn't mean I have to like him Nat."

"Simply give my brother time," Thor announced. "He will find it in his heart to repent for what he has done, though it may take time."

"You know goldilocks I never saw your brother as the repenting type." Tony said, spread lazily across the sofa.

"You don't think him able to change?" Thor demanded.

"I know exactly where Tony is coming from Thor, he's a master of trickery, Loki could do anything and we'd never know if it was sincere or not," Clint argues, "Which is again why I think it's stupid that he's here living with us."

"It might be good to use this as an opportunity to observe him." Bruce inserted gently. "He hasn't got his powers but I'd be fascinated to see how his personality adapts to living here after so many years in Asgard."

"You know I may not be the best therapist in the world but I think the less observing and the more leaving him alone we do the more likely he is to actually adapt. People don't like being experimented on unless it's by themselves." Tony added.

"What as astute observation Mr Stark." All the heads in the room whipped round as Loki came through the door. He didn't come far into the room however, just leaning up against the wall. He was still in Asgardian armour and he looked incredibly tired. His hair looked greasy and in need of a good wash, there was dark circles under his eyes and he was unnaturally pale, save for the red lines still crossing his face from the imprint of the gag he'd been wearing for so long.

"Brother!" Thor shouted, moving to pull Loki into the centre of the room, "You are awake! How do you like your new chambers?"

Loki stepped back to avoid his grip and eyed the room warily. "I have been awake for some time, however I do not wish for company. I simply left because I received a message from your Director telling me to meet him here."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "And you came willingly?"

"I wish to find out what my punishment will be and get it over with." Loki replied.

"Wait, you don't know?" Clint spluttered.

"No, Agent Barton, he does not." Fury came striding into the room through the opposite door, staring straight at Loki.

"Well hello there Loki, how nice of you to join us." He smiled, and Loki smiled back, through his cracked voice failed to completely translate the air of cool menace he intended.

"Nice to see you too."

Fury smirked again. "Loki I'll make this short. I am assured that you have been stripped of your powers and as such, we are free to do with you as we please. Now, I'm all for the death penalty, but I think you need a bigger lesson than that, think morality tales. Loki, I'm making you live in the centre of the city you destroyed, amongst the people you tried to kill, as an equal to them, and you will be called to defend the human population along with the rest of this room. More than that, you will be required to get an ordinary, everyday job working for the good of mankind. I'll leave it up to you to decide what that may be." He stopped and waited for a reaction.

Loki's calm demeanour tensed the more Fury talked and he radiated suspicion. "Is that it? Is that all I am required to do?"

"Yes it is. You will live here in Stark Tower, I'm sure the people in this room are just as capable of teaching you to be an everyday New Yorker as they are kicking your ass."

"So what other conditions are there, and what happens if I fail to comply?" Loki asked.

"None, and nothing." Fury smiled again. "Goodbye everyone." He walked out. Loki slumped back against the wall, panicking that there must be a catch, there must be something horrific and painful for him to be put through.

"Brother," Thor stepped forwards, everyone's eyes upon him, "You have been given a chance to make peace with those whom you have wronged and to repay back your bad deeds. Until you have fully done that your power will not return."

Loki realised the extent to which his character would have to change to get his magic back, the core upon which his strength was built. Without his magic he was nothing. His eyes narrowed and his voice was full of venom. "You may be waiting a while then." He turned and walked back out towards his bedroom, leaving silence behind.

Tony smiled. "I like him!"

For the first time, Steve spoke up. "It will be difficult to get him to change long term, but I think we can do it. In the meantime, how do we get him to become a resident of New York?"

Tony smiled. "I know where to start." He pulled out his phone. "Pepper, you're a pretty good stylist, right?"

Loki closed the door behind him and went to sit on his new bed. It was big and luxurious, just like the rest of Stark's tower, however being in a room decorated in pastel coloured silks did make him somewhat uncomfortable. He closed his eyes to blank out the nauseating lilac walls and lay back on the bed, thinking.

This was not by any means the punishment he had been expecting, though now he thought about it it was a rather clever one. Loki knew what everyone wanted him to do, to become, but he honestly didn't know if he was capable of it. He had been asked to try and make rights with those he had wronged, but what about those that had wronged him? The bitter unfairness of it washed over him, and he lay there miserably for hours.

The sky was starting to darken outside when a soft knock was heard on Loki's door. He ignored it but after two repeats the door opened anyway, revealing Pepper Potts standing with a tray of food in one hand and a large collection of shopping bags in the other.

"Though you are welcome to we thought it unlikely that you'd join everyone at dinner," she announced, ignoring Loki's glare from the bed and going to place the tray of food on his desk and the bags on the floor beside it. "Also you can't spend your life in that outfit. Go take a shower and have a root through these bags, there's a large assortment of clothing, you'll find something you like."

Loki eyed her suspiciously again. "Is this an attempt to integrate me?"

"Yes," she smiled "They thought it best that someone without superpowers who didn't have a direct hand in beating you came to try and talk you into socialising." Loki's mouth twisted into a grimace at that.

She went to walk out again but paused by the door. "As part of Fury's team bonding sessions there will be a movie on in the main living room tonight. You are welcome to join us." She turned and left.

After a while curiosity and famine overcame Loki and he went to eat. The Midgardian food was strange, but delicious. He then went and rummaged through the bags, pulling out odd combinations of items. For the first time since arriving on Earth, he smiled sincerely. The woman had good taste, these clothes would do nicely…