Hey guys sorry I kept you waiting again, things just haven't been going all that great in real life. I will say though that it's gotten better, and to make up for your wait I hope this chapter pleases you.

Loki has his meeting with the WSC, and it gets a bit rough here and there. We will conclude with him and Tony having a personal conversation, and things go one step further for them. This will mention past torture and rape, so be advised to read with caution.

I don't own the Marvel characters.

Enjoy!

"Ok Loki, Phil just called he's gonna be here in ten minutes to take you, Tony, and Steve to the headquarters." Pepper walked into the kitchen seeing Loki rummaging through the fridge. "Loki?"

"I heard you Pepper, I'm just making sure there's enough formula here for Kira." Pepper could only smile. Loki was an ideal father to his daughter, truth be told she'd never seen anyone so dedicated to parenthood.

"You checked this morning and you checked an hour ago, things will be fine here. Clint and I will babysit until you get back, and Bruce will be in the lab so we'll be good to go." she put a hand against his back. "Kira's asleep in her bed, and I'll call you if anything comes up." Loki sighed.

"I know, this will just be the longest time away from her." Loki knew he could trust Pepper with his baby, but this was still new for him.

"Don't worry, you have Jarvis and me on speed dial. Nat's gonna meet you at the office, and just so you know…the council is very prickly in matters of national security. You just have to tell the truth, and the rest will go from there."

"Perhaps, and it's not the council that frightens me."

"Just pretend it's a normal meeting in Asgard, use that princely charm of yours and before the end they'll be eating out of your hands." Loki couldn't help but laugh.

"You certainly know how to cheer one up Pepper, how in all the nine realms you're unmarried is beyond me." Pepper blushed.

"Well when you're a CEO and eternal babysitter to one of the richest men on earth marriage is the last thing on your mind."

"You are not my babysitter Pep!" Tony shouted from the hallway.

"Yes she is!" Steve yelled back after walking into the kitchen. "The car's outside Loki, you ready?"

"I suppose so, let's get this over with." Loki pulled out the phone Tony had given him a few days ago and set the alarm system in Kira's room. He followed Steve to the hall and Tony was waiting on them.

"Don't you look sharp?" Tony winked at him.

"As do you, burgundy is a good color on you." Loki smiled slightly. "Let's hope this doesn't take too long."

"It shouldn't, I'd give it a few hours tops." Tony shrugged.

"You never know Tony, the council's not one to joke with." Steve looked at Loki. "You've got us though, that should show them you're not a threat."

"Technically I am, as are you two. However I do agree I should prove I mean this world no harm, there's no point in doing so."

"Yes, but the council will want proof."

"Then I will give them proof, if I wanted I could easily manipulate all leaders of this world to do my bidding. However, this is a race that has its own way of living, the cultures, the styles, the thoughts, all is different here than on Asgard. If one person could willingly aside with me, that doesn't mean the rest will."

"You sound almost like a dictator." Tony sniggered.

"Hush you." Loki gave him a light punch to the shoulder. They took the elevator down to the bottom floor and into the limousine Tony called for them; of course the council would've sent one, but Tony beat them to the punch.

"So where is this headquarters?" Steve took a glass of wine from Tony.

"It's hidden in a building, shielded away yet hidden in plain sight." The front part of the limo opened up and there was Director Fury himself. "The council's been adamant about this meeting for a while, wanna make sure no unwanted attention is received." Loki laughed.

"And you decided to pay us a visit in person Director?"

"Could also be because I'm glad to see you doing better Loki." the man didn't smile but his eyes said it all.

"Thank you, so what can I expect from this council?"

"Suspicion, interrogation, pretty much expecting you to tell all and for them to keep watch until they can deem you fit to stay with Stark."

"And if they deem me unfit?" Fury frowned.

"I don't think you want me to tell you." Tony grabbed Loki's shoulder in comfort, and he relaxed slightly. Loki nodded and stayed quiet while Fury led them deep into the building, getting into a private elevator and going up several floors before they entered a corridor that looked more like the place leading to an interrogation room. Tiled walls in dark grey, same colored floors, it was cold too, and the doors looked like vaults with coded security locks. They turned a few corners, and then Fury led them into a secure room guarded by two agents heavily armed.

"Alright, do your job." the agents searched Tony and Steve first, padded them down, had them empty their pockets, all came up clean. When they moved to Loki, he stiffened.

"Is this necessary?" Loki looked at Fury.

"Just standard procedure, that's all." Loki cooled himself down and let the men search him.

"He's clean." the older agent looked towards the other.

"Ok." a punch code was entered into a lock, and the door opened automatically. The room looked like a large conference room, but with four or five huge screens on the walls, computers on either side, with a few others in as well. Natasha was in the far corner, she greeted them with a nod.

"The council's waiting on hold; they want to talk to Fury and then Loki first. They'll talk to you two…" she pointed at Tony and Steve. "Afterwards, and don't interrupt." both men nodded; Natasha glanced to one of the techs, and moments later all four darkened faces of the council members appeared on the screens.

"Council members, good afternoon." Fury greeted them.

"Director Fury." the woman spoke first. "You are aware of the reasons we've called this meeting yes?"

"Yes."

"Is the...is Loki also aware?" Loki bit his tongue, he could see this member was extremely skeptical about his living on their world.

"He is, and he's here of his own free will. He's posed no threat so far, but you can talk to him and see for yourself."

"We'll do that, but tell us now of his behavior, how has he been since he appeared?"

"He was withdrawn at first, hurt, afraid…anyone in his own position would've been the same. He appeared battered, broken..."

"And he gave birth to a child? A girl?" Fury nodded.

"He's a distinct type of being, from the Norse myths as you all are aware. He's Jotun, or a Frost Giant, and legends plus facts from Loki himself they are mostly male, but they have female traits that allow them to conceive and birth children. He also has magic, that could also be a factor."

"The child…is she human in any way?"

"No, she's half Jotun and…well we don't know the race of her sire nor does Loki."

"So this being, Loki, he is the God of Mischief and Fire from Norse mythology?" Fury glanced at Loki.

"Why don't you ask him yourself? He's more than willing to give his own side of the story. Loki?" he nodded.

"Very well, step forward Mr. Loki." Fury moved aside, and Loki stepped forward.

"Good afternoon council." Loki keep himself steady, he could see this wasn't going to be an easy discussion. Tony and Steve had given moral support, and Natasha was on his side as was Fury, but Fury had a job to do still.

"Loki, tell us about you…what are you? Where are you from?"

"As Director Fury has told you, I'm not mortal, not from your world. I'm a Jotun, or a runt at least, and I am originally from Jotunheim but I was raised on Asgard."

"Asgard is real, we know. We had an encounter with Prince Thor, your brother, from two years ago when he crash landed in the New Mexico desert."

"Yes I am aware, and I am aware of the damage that was caused to that small village."

"That huge metal machine that fired at everything in sight, did you send it after Thor?" Loki knew this would come up, he'd already spoken to Fury about it.

"Yes, it's called the Destroyer or was. I did order it to come to your world but it was ordered only to destroy buildings and such, not people. It was only to go after the warriors who came to retrieve Thor, to bring them out and take them back to Asgard."

"Why?" Loki took a breath.

"The matters that led up to Thor being banished to your world, prevented him from having any contact with anyone on Asgard. He was supposed to be crowned king, but Jotuns broke into the weapons vault, to steal back a relic that was taken from them during their last war with Asgard. They were killed by the Destroyer, but rather than let things be Thor was furious and decided to confront the Jotuns. Such was forbidden, but he went along with his friends and myself. The confrontation led to restarting the war, and thus as punishment Thor was stripped of his powers and banished here."

"How long was he supposed to be here?"

"Until he was deemed worthy of his powers, which is why you found his hammer; of course none of you could lift it, only those who are worthy of the hammer can use its powers."

"Mjolnir."

"Correct." Loki nodded.

"Why were these soldiers here?"

"In light of everything, the Allfather Odin, had fallen into a deep sleep called Odinsleep when his powers take a huge toll on his health; it becomes too much, so he sleeps for long periods of time. He fell into it not long after I realized my origins, and with Thor banished the queen made me king, she would not leave her husband's side."

"They weren't happy with that were they?" Loki smirked.

"Let's just say we weren't all friends, and in my own small time as ruler they suspected I had taken the throne by tricks and deceit. The gatekeeper, Heimdall, he sees everything over the realms, and he too suspected me so he let them come here to retrieve Thor." he paused. "They had asked me to lift Thor's sentence but I couldn't, and I forbade them to go but of course…they didn't listen. I came and told Thor that his father was dead, and that I couldn't let him return while he was mortal. That's when everything went down."

"And eventually he got his powers back and returned."

"Yes, but in my own grief and anger I decided to finish what Thor started. I used the staff Gugnir on the bridge, to use its power to destroy Jotunheim. I almost succeeded, but Thor stopped me, and we fought. Eventually the only way to stop the destruction was to destroy the bridge, and in the process we both fell over. The Allfather awoke, and he caught Thor by his ankle, and in my own madness I begged him to understand I could've saved everyone, but he didn't. I let go of the spear, and I fell into the oblivion." he kept a calm face, but his insides were starting to tighten up.

"That's rather tragic Loki." one of the councilmen had slight sincerity in his voice.

"I grew up knowing the Jotuns were monsters, bloodthirsty beasts incapable of feeling…and when I find out I'm one of them…well you can say I snapped. I was already disliked by Asgard for my nature, that was just as you say, the tip of the iceberg."

"After you fell, where did you end up?" Loki frowned. Fury had warned him about this, but he knew there wasn't much point hiding details.

"I don't know what place it was, only that it was ruled by a dark creature named Thanos. There's no life in that place, only darkness and cold. I was captured by his minions the Chitauri, disgusting creatures who fear nothing, not pain nor death, and taken to him." his stomach was knotting up, but Loki kept himself steady. "He took…an interest in me."

"He wanted to keep you."

"As a pet?" that came from the woman.

"Hey, is that necessary?" Steve stepped in.

"You will be asked to speak later Captain Rogers." the woman snapped at him.

"Ma'am, with all due respect Loki has already given his statements about his torture, you've seen the reports do you have to get it out of him now?"

"We must, to be sure it's all true."

"I have no reason to lie council, your world has been nothing but hospitable to me."

"True, but we will hear everything. Please…continue." Loki took a breath again, loosening up the knots in his stomach, but only slightly.

"Yes, to answer your question he wanted to keep me as his pet. He tortured me, held me down and broke my bones, just to hear me scream. Once he took my hand, and bent my fingers so far back they snapped. He let his men…shove me around until I was covered with bruises from their grips and the falls."

"What else happened?" Loki's eyes glared fiercely.

"He kept me alive, barely fed me, but only because he said he'd never had such fun from anyone else. One night his right hand, calls himself 'The Other', took me before him and forced me to strip. He…made me sit on his lap…and he touched me everywhere."

"And then he raped you." Loki nodded, the tears were coming, but he wouldn't let them fall. "For two years?"

"Yes."

"And your daughter?" Loki snarled.

"She's the only child of his that lived past birth." Loki's anger was coming out; his magic was making the room shake. "The first was stillborn, but the body was destroyed in front of me! The second he stole, and he killed him! I miscarried multiple times…and when I gave birth to my daughter I had to escape."

"You said…"

"Hey!" Tony stepped in view, putting his hands on Loki's shoulders. "How about giving him a little break? He's distressed and needs a few minutes."

"I think that's a good idea councilors, can you give us a few, five minutes?" Fury asked and the councilors were quiet for a few seconds.

"Five minutes is all, we will continue this afterward." the screens faded to black and Loki turned to embrace Tony, giving a few silent sobs.

"Hey it's ok babe, it's ok I'm here." Tony held him tight, rubbing his back and stroking his hair.

"What the hell was that?" Natasha looked at Fury with anger.

"I warned Loki this might happen, I just didn't think they'd be that…callous."

"They're talking as if it was all made up, are they that worried he'll do something?" Steve was furious too.

"They'll stop with that, now they're gonna want info on the tesseract. That should finish it there, and then they'll make a decision."

"What will happen if they decide Loki can't be trusted?"

"Right now I'm uncertain, but I won't let anything bad happen and I'm damn sure Stark won't either."

"Damn straight." Tony continued to console Loki, until the God pulled back and wiped his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let them get to me." Tony held Loki again.

"It's not your fault babe, they're just ignorant assholes who think they can patronize everyone. Take a breath, remember what Bruce said, in and out, in and out. Easy…" Loki did as instructed, he was already close to the edge but he knew he must finish this now.

"This is not going how we hoped."

"I know Rogers, but either we do this now or we run into more complications." Loki stood tall.

"He's right, let's finish this. I want this done."

"Ok." Nat turned to the techs. "Get the council back on." Loki took a breath in and out, in and out until the council came back onscreen.

"Are we ready to continue?" one of them asked, and Loki stood tall.

"I am, where were we?"

Later:

The meeting went on for about two hours, first with Loki answering the council's questions on his escape, and about the Tesseract. It went better than the first, and after he finished he was asked to leave the room with Steve while they spoke with Natasha and Tony. That took about thirty minutes, and then they called Steve in when Tony came out.

"You alright Lokes?" Loki nodded.

"I'll be better once this is finished. I want to get back." he wanted to get home and see Kira. Get out of this miserable building before he lost his mind, again.

"I do too, let's just hope this doesn't take much longer." they stood outside the room, just waiting for the others to come out. The two guards kept their eyes on Loki, and it started to unnerve him slightly.

"Hey, you got a staring problem? Look at something else." Tony said and the two men just shrugged.

"The hell's taking so long?" Loki knocked his head against the wall.

"Relax Lokes, ease up." Tony touched his arm, and thank the Norns after he did that the door opened and out stepped Fury, Rogers, and Nat.

"Well?" Loki tensed up slightly.

"You're in the clear, for now. The council has agreed as long as you remain under watch with Stark, Romanoff, Rogers, and me, you can stay at Stark Tower."

"And Kira?"

"Her too, she's under Stark's protection and mine plus you. As for the tesseract, it's been put on lockdown until we can get more information on it."

"But no making weapons." Rogers added in. "They've agreed that if the tesseract can be used and mishandled, then it can bring this entire planet down but they aren't relinquishing control of it."

"No more experiments with it?" Fury shook his head.

"No one's getting near it without my say so. So for now Loki, you're good. Oh and that stuff about making you a citizen, the council said if you can behave for one more year…you'll get it." Loki sighed in relief.

"Thank you Director." Loki held out his hand, and Fury shook it.

"Call me Nick, now you guys go home. I'll brief you in the morning." they all thanked Fury and left SHIELD as quickly as they could. The ride back was quiet, but Loki laid his head against Tony's shoulder, and Tony held his hand.

"You ok Loki?" Steve asked.

"Yes, thank you." no one said anything else as they reached Stark Tower. Loki quickly but swiftly made his way to the elevators; Tony and Steve joined him, entering the main floor Loki found Kira and Pepper in the living room playing. He scooped his daughter into his arms, and kissed her head before bouncing her.

"How did it go?" Pepper stood from her spot on the floor.

"He's in the clear, I'll tell you later." Steve smiled. "Hey umm, Tony are there any steaks left?"

"Yeah a few, you gonna cook?"

"Yeah, hey Pepper you wanna help? Or you can order dessert?" Pepper smiled.

"Sure, let's go." the two left Tony and Loki in the room, so Loki sat down on the couch still holding Kira; Tony sat down next to him, and Loki gave a small smile.

"I know I'm still under watch, but it's better than being in a prison."

"I know you could probably break out, but for Kira…"

"I would wait until the right moment, if it were only me. Kira is my child, and I will die protecting her if I have to." he paused and kissed Kira again. "I should be thankful they didn't ask me to show them my Jotun form."

"Hey…" Tony grabbed his hand again. "It's done, it's over."

"Is it? Anthony…today might have gone better than expected, but what's to stop the council from taking me and using me as the Allfather did? What will stop them from using a broken tool like me?" Loki closed his eyes for a brief moment, and when he opened them he suddenly saw Tony kneeling down in front of him. "What are you doing?"

"Loki, you're not a tool, and you're not broken. Believe me I know how you feel, I've been through hell too…and I barely made it out alive. I was betrayed by a man I thought I could trust, and he tried to make me into a monster. I know I'm not perfect, no one is, but I made it out and I am never going to be that man again. The idiot I was, I learned from it."

"Are you calling me an idiot Anthony?"

"No, no."

"Then what are you calling me?" Tony gave a soft smile, and it almost made Loki's heart flutter.

"What I'm calling you, is something that should be cherished and loved. Something unique, that's rare like no other." Loki felt himself blush slightly. "You're not a tool, not a weapon, not a monster, not a relic or a trophy…you're a treasure Loki." Loki's entire face felt hot.

"A treasure…?"

"A treasure that can't be replaced, because you're too valuable and amazing to let go; you're a jewel Loki, and much like jewels, you deserve to be cherished." Tony's hand reached up and cupped Loki's cheek.

"A-Anthony…?" Loki felt like he wanted to kiss Tony, but he froze.

"I know I'm normally not a romantic sap, but…can I?"

'He's asking for permission?' Loki could sense this was all true, it was all sincere. He liked this man, seemed to care for him as he did Loki, could it be…?

"Yes." Loki adjusted Kira, and Tony slowly but gently placed his lips against the god's. It was a bit brief, but it was sweet. Tony's lips were surprisingly soft, and Loki let out a small moan when the kiss deepened slightly. Tony pulled back, and Loki felt his own lips tingle slightly.

"Was that ok?" Loki smiled, and used his own free hand to stroke the side of Tony's face, tracing the jawline.

"It was lovely."

I had to end it like this, I'm sorry; and I'm sorry again for making you guys wait so long. I hit a road block on my avengers' fics, it hasn't been easy writing these out. I'm gonna try and get my others like 'His Mother's Son' or 'Thunder Child' updated next but I can't say when they'll be done.

I still have quite a block going, but I think it's starting to shrink.

Next chapter I have a surprise, Thor is coming! Is he going to try and take Loki away? Does he know what's happened? Is he going to help? Will he be alone?

So many questions to answer, perhaps they will be answered next chapter.

R&R please!

Later!