Author's Note: I love Loki recovery stories, but I feel many of them don't do his character (or many other characters) justice. So, I decided to make one of my own. This is a full cast story, with references to the characters' standalone movies and appearances from some minor characters throughout. Iron Man 3 has happened, Thor: The Dark World has not (for obvious reasons), and Captain America: The Winter Soldier has not. I tipped my hat to some Norse mythology whenever the story allowed it, so keep an eye out for that.

Trigger warnings will be posted at the beginning of the chapter containing the triggering content. Chapters vary in length but get progressively longer as you go.

Please enjoy the story, and if you do, recommend it to a fellow fan. I would really appreciate it. :)

Tony Stark didn't hate a lot of things. There were a lot of things that annoyed him. There were a lot of things that put him in a foul mood. There were a lot of things that ticked him off, disgusted him, and made him question the faith he may or may not have had in humanity, but there were very few things he truly, deeply, entirely hated.

Tony Stark truly, deeply, entirely hated the morning.

Specifically, he hated the hours of the morning that fell between four and nine, because those five miserable hours were not nearly enough to get ready for another day. His hangover had not yet been slept off, coffee did little to wake him up, and his temperamental fuse was way too short to be dealing with people in a civil manner. So, of course, it had to be right smack dab in the middle of those five loathsome hours that he received a call from S.H.I.E.L.D. demanding his immediate presence.

You have got to be kidding me.

But they weren't. So, with sleep lying in heavy circles beneath his eyes, he dragged himself out of bed and began the long trek up to the rooftop, already working on seventy-five different ways to kill Director Fury along with whoever had caused the early-morning disturbance.

If you're gonna take over the world or hatch some megalomaniacal scheme, you could at least have the decency to do it at a reasonable hour. Earth's Mightiest Heroes need some Z's.

Tony got to the top floor, stepped onto the balcony, and placed both feet on the platform he typically used to remove his suit. Snapping his fingers to get Jarvis' attention, he tried to throw together a somewhat coherent sentence to explain what he wanted.

"Jarvis, suit me up. Use the uh—the Rewind Protocol we've been working on." He rolled his shoulders, trying to work out the kinks and knots that came with falling asleep on a work bench. "If Pepper asks, just tell her I'm out… I don't know. Tell her I'm out working on something."

"Yes, sir," the mechanical voice replied. "And what should I tell her when she sees through that poorly constructed excuse and demands further information?"

Tony sighed, wincing slightly as the rotating applicator fastened his breastplate just a little too hard. "It's too early for this."

"Duly noted, sir."

Seconds later, the mask was snapped on, and—after a few moments spent grieving the loss of several hours of sleep—Tony Stark split the sky in two, making a beeline for the perceived location of the hellicarrier.

"How long did you say he'd be out for? Geeze, Stark better show up real soon because I am this close to putting an arrow through his skull. You hear me, Thor? This. Close."

Tony rolled his shoulders, tilting his head to one side and then the other in an attempt to stretch his muscles out. His flight had done absolutely nothing to ease him into a state of consciousness—in fact, he was almost positive he fell asleep multiple times en route—and it didn't sound like he would have a chance to leave any time soon.

"Please, have patience. I assure you, he will not wake until I command him to."

"What do you expect to gain by bringing him here? We won't give him anything less than death. America won't accept anything less than death."

"I—I would truly prefer if we could wait until everyone is here. This situation is very… delicate… and difficult to explain."

Grasping the handle, Tony let himself in, spreading his arms in a display of exaggerated grandeur as he sauntered over to the only empty seat at the table. "Let's get this party started. Speaking of which, are you supplying drinks? Because there was no BYOB on the invitation, so you're technically obligated to give me, you know… what are we doing here?" He sat down and yawned loudly, rubbing his forehead to clear away some of the fog.

"I apologize for calling you all here so early." Thor, whose presence Tony would have questioned if he had the notion to, nodded in Bruce's direction. "Especially you, Dr. Banner. I am in your debt."

Bruce simply waved it off and leaned back in his chair, easily the most relaxed person in the room, but Tony found it odd that the doctor had nothing to say. When situations got serious, Bruce almost always offered a level-headed perspective to help calm things down.

Huh.

Still, the exhausted multibillionaire wanted to get the show on the road, so he chose not to question it. Instead, he waved his hand around to get Thor's attention before dropping it back down and resting his chin on his palm. "Right, right, you're super grateful, and we're all super happy for you. But before you launch into your spiel, does someone want to tell me what's going on?"

No one said a word, but three fingers immediately extended to point at the far corner of the room. Tony had to lean slightly in order to see around Thor, but after that, it took all of two seconds for him to grasp the situation.

"I hate you."

Thor sighed, rubbing his face. "I know, but I have a good reason for bringing Loki here."

"I'm sure you do, and now that Mr. Stark is here, I know we'd all love to hear it."

Tony startled at the familiar voice and turned to find Director Fury and Agent Hill standing at the end of the meeting table. They had probably been there the whole time but, given Tony's current level of functioning, went unnoticed. In fact, he hadn't really noticed anyone in the room except Bruce and Thor, but now that he was looking, he realized the whole team was present.

Clint sat at the opposite end of the table and was, of course, furious beyond words. He sat with his arms folded over his chest and a permanent glare carved into his features, steam practically shooting from his ears. Natasha sat beside him, as impassive as ever but still openly displeased with the situation. Both were in their uniforms, which was more than could be said of Steve, who had shown up in pajama pants and a hoodie with a pair of fluffy brown slippers on his feet. Then again, Tony was only wearing jeans and a t-shirt with little more than a hundred coffee stains on it, so he was in no position to judge.

"Start talking." It was Hawkeye who prompted Thor to explain himself.

Thor shifted again, glancing over his shoulder for a moment before turning to face his teammates once more. "When I took Loki to Asgard, I expected him to face justice. I didn't like it, but I assumed he would spend the rest of his life in prison or be executed upon his arrival, and at first it seemed I was right. Loki has spent these past two years in the Asgardian dungeons, but it turned out to be a temporary arrangement. Father wanted to take time to work out a sentence he deemed appropriate, and I received the details of that sentence three days ago."

Thor paused, looking around the room to gauge whatever reactions he had been given so far. Tony didn't share his. He wasn't entirely sure that he had one yet. Whether it was the exhaustion stifling his ability to get mad, or the fact that Loki was completely harmless in his current ragdoll state, he didn't know. All he knew was that he wasn't angry—not yet.

"Loki is to be bound in an underground cavern, where a giant serpent will spray its venom on him until Ragnarok, which I am told is similar to the Midgardian Armageddon. During his sentence, anyone who wishes to take advantage of his situation can easily do so by gaining access to Asgard." Thor sighed, his shoulders slouching as if the weight of the situation hadn't even dawned on him until that moment.

Steve was somewhat pale, and Tony's lips had curled into a slight frown, but the others in the room remained expressionless.

"Father has disowned him," Thor continued, looking at the lump in the corner once more. "He hopes harsh punishment will make Loki realize the severity of his crimes, and that separating him from his family will grant him the independence he has so strongly demanded. I… disagree."

Silence travelled around the table, but it didn't last very long.

"What does this have to do with us?" Natasha bluntly verbalized the question that was on everyone's minds, but Steve was quick to tack on a tone of sympathy.

"We understand he's your brother, Thor, but you were the one who said he had to face Asgardian justice. What do you want us to do?"

Thor scanned their faces briefly, looking at Bruce for an exceptionally long time and speaking only after he had received a nod of approval from the doctor. "I have pleaded with Father to lighten Loki's sentence, but he has remained unmoved up until today. I made a suggestion—one that I think could benefit both Loki and Midgard—and he seemed to think it was worth… consideration."

Tony could feel the pressure building in the room. Thor's careful words were indication enough that what he was about to say had a high potential to tick everyone off, and when Tony factored in the speed of Clint's eye twitches, things looked even worse.

"I asked him if I could bring Loki to Midgard… and try to rehabilitate him."

Silence reigned once more, but it didn't last, even with Thor's hands outstretched in a wordless plea for everyone to give him a chance to explain.

"And he agreed?"

"Thor, you can't volunteer the whole planet for things without discussing it first."

"Even if we would agree, someone had better be ready to convince the Council. They're still angry about the Avengers Initiative getting pushed instead of Phase Two, and they aren't going to like this at all."

"Which is exactly why you can't volunteer the whole planet for things without discussing it first."

"Hey!" Steve was the one who brought peace back to the room, giving Thor a pointed look. "I assume you're going to explain yourself?"

Bruce raised a hand at that, gaining the attention of the table before clearing his throat and getting to his feet. "I'll actually give a little input on that, if you don't mind."

"Please do, Dr. Banner." Thor rubbed his face and then carded that same hand through his somewhat tangled hair, obviously dealing with the consequences of long-term stress.

Bruce gave a slight nod and cleared his throat again, standing up and adjusting his glasses before speaking. "Loki has actually been on planet earth for a couple of days. Thor came to see me first, and we spent several hours discussing Loki's mental state. Loki was unconscious the entire time, and without the use of psychological tests, it's hard to say exactly what's going on up there, but I do have a general idea. My biggest concern is his psychosocial development."

Tony perked up at that, a contemplative expression crossing his face. "Psychosocial development?" he echoed, trying to pull up dusty information from his college days. It had been at least a twenty years since he used those terms, but he could still scrape together a vague idea of what Bruce was talking about.

"I'm sure you're familiar with Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development and the different stages a person is supposed to go through," Bruce continued. "Integrity verses Confusion is the first stage that occurs after childhood. It's the stage in which someone figures out who they are and what they want out of their lives. They either obtain an identity, or they enter into a crisis and stay there until they can figure out what their identity is. Once they have an identity, they move onto the next stage, which is Intimacy versus Isolation." Bruce paused and skimmed his audience for any sign that someone did not understand. When there was none, he continued, obviously trying to make his explanation as short and sweet as possible.

"When someone skips a stage or goes backward through stages, there can be serious repercussions. For example, trying to be in a relationship before you know who you are and what you want. Or having a well-established and happy life that is suddenly thrown into reverse because of some catastrophic event that alters a previous step." Bruce gestured to Thor. "We think this might have been what happened with Loki."

There was an audible scoff from Clint, and Natasha's eyebrows arched sharply in disbelief, but Steve was thoroughly intrigued by the aspect. Tony himself couldn't deny that the theory had some interesting qualities, even if it was a bit farfetched.

"What makes you say that?" Steve asked.

Thor was quick to jump back into the conversation and explain. "My brother and I are both over one thousand years old, and we were told our entire lives that we were both sons of Odin, princes of Asgard, and fully Aesir. However, not too long before my brother's attack on Midgard, he discovered that such was not the case for him. He is—" Thor turned to look over his shoulder, as if he were afraid his brother would wake up and hear what he was about to say, despite the fact that Loki already knew. "He is the son of King Laufey, of the Frost Giants, and he is born of Jotunheim."

Tony quirked a brow. "Jotunheim?"

"One of the Nine Realms," Thor explained. "To put it mildly, they are our mortal enemies. To put it not-so-mildly, all of Asgard loathes their existence, and we are quite… what's the word? Dr. Banner?"

"Racist," the scientist supplied.

"Thank you." Thor dipped his head to show his gratitude. "The Aesir are very racist toward the Jotuns. I am greatly ashamed to admit that, as a child, I aspired to one day wipe out their entire race, and I believe Loki did, too. It was something we believed was right, and finding out that he was one of them was… devastating, to say the least."

Tony cut in then, the cogs in his brain beginning to turn sluggishly. "I thought Asgard was supposed to be advanced. Racism and torture aside, isn't it common knowledge that kids should know they're adopted as soon as possible? That's why they make soaps about people finding out they're adopted—it makes for a great, big, dramatic mess."

"You're going to take his side on this?" Clint questioned from the other end of the table, his face a mask of thinly veiled rage.

"I'm not taking anyone's side. I'm only saying that, if what Thor's telling us is true, then we have to seriously consider the psychological aspect of things. Finding out you're adopted is traumatic enough on its own, but finding out you're adopted from a race you were raised to hate and demean is something else entirely." Tony's hands started to move as he spoke, his body slowly warming up as the last tendrils of sleep released their hold on him. "We haven't even asked how Loki found out, how he reacted, who he confronted, how it went, what the surrounding details were—we haven't even scratched the surface, so don't jump the gun just yet, Double-O." Barely taking a breath, he turned and pointed to Steve. "Remember when I told you Loki was a full-tilt diva?"

Steve nodded. "Yeah. Flowers, parades, and giant towers."

"Avengers Tower is a part of my identity. People know the tower is mine, they know I experiment with clean energy in there, and I know they know it. What if Loki was trying to do the same thing? This is just a theory, but going with the scenario Bruce and Thor set up, what if Loki was trying to build an identity in his own demented, cat-brained way?"

The super soldier cupped his hand around his chin, staring down at the table with a thoughtful expression on his face. "He didn't try to hide in Germany. He wanted to be seen and heard, and he wanted people to know his name. In his speech, he said our life's joy is diminished by a mad scramble for power and identity. Sounds to me like he had identity on the brain."

Tony wished he had some blueberries to give the man. Instead, he gestured to Thor and waved his hand around. "Alright, we're following along so far. Keep going. I want the deets."

Blue eyes blinked slowly. "Deets…?"

"Details," Clint explained, leaning forward in his seat and placing all of his attention on Thor. "Which I would also like to hear."

"Ah." Thor nodded and then paused, gathering his thoughts for a moment before speaking. "I do not know the exact conditions, but… well, allow me to start from the beginning. On the day I was to be crowned King of Asgard, Loki used his magic to sneak a handful of Frost Giants—that is, Jotuns—into the weapons vault. I… truly do not think he meant any harm at the time, but in my rage I wanted to go to Jotunheim and force my enemies into submission. So I did, and with me I dragged my brother and friends. I believe it was during this fight that Loki learned of his true heritage, but I was banished to Midgard immediately after our return, so we were never able to discuss it."

"You were banished?" Steve frowned, giving a confused headshake. "What were the terms of that?"

Thor rubbed the back of his neck a bit sheepishly, allowing a nervous chuckle to pass through his lips. "I was banished because I acted against the will of my king and nearly started a war. On top of that, I endangered the lives of my brother and friends. If not for Loki, we would have surely died."

Tony was interested in hearing more about how Loki was responsible for their survival, but more than that he wanted to get the full story and figure out what they were going to do with the mischievous horn-head. It seemed Steve was also satisfied, so Thor continued his tale without any more delay.

"While I was on Midgard, Loki entered the weapons vault and picked up the weapon we took from Frost Giants many moons ago. My father tried to stop him, but he had already acquired the appearance a Jotun. He asked—"

"It changed his appearance?"

Thor looked across the table toward Natasha, nodding his head. "Yes. The Frost Giants have dark blue skin laden with risen marks and crimson eyes that are glassy and solid. That is Loki's true appearance."

Tony raised his hand. "If Loki does stay, I vote we make him go blue for Halloween." Not giving Thor the chance to say he didn't understand, Tony waved his hand around some more and leaned back in his chair. "Never mind. Just keep talking."

Thor nodded slowly, eyes shifting between the members of the table in clear confusion. "Loki… ah, Loki asked if he was cursed, and when Father said he wasn't, he began to demand answers. He got them, but he twisted the words, accusing Father of using him for political gain. I am told he was very distraught when Father fell into the Odinsleep, and they were never able to finish their conversation."

"The Odinsleep?"

Thor took a moment to look around, unsure of who had asked the question, seeing as three different voices had called it out. "It is a state the Allfather must enter into when he is weak. When you live for thousands of years, you must have some form of rest other than sleep. It is much like being unconscious or in a… a coma, I believe."

Bruce nodded, choosing that moment to push his way back into the conversation. "Sorry, Thor, but we want to keep things moving." He turned to face the rest of the table. "After Odin went into his sleep, Loki was crowned King of Asgard, and while in power he plotted to kill the King of Jotunheim and then destroy the planet entirely. Building on the previous theory of identity, we could refer to that as a stage of denial. He didn't want to be a Frost Giant, so he tried to prove the identity he was raised to believe in was really his."

"He cut his ties," Clint murmured, drumming his fingers on the table with an expression that made it seem as though he were actually considering the matter at hand. "He didn't want to be a part of them, so he turned against them to ensure no one would ever see them as the same race."

"What does that mean, though?" Everyone turned to look at Tony, who wasted no time in continuing his train of thought. "If he's got psychological issues, we might not want to sentence him to death or the cave of snakes, but what are you suggesting we do? Put him in a home for crazies? Send him to a shrink?"

Bruce exchanged a glance with Thor and cautiously answered. "Well… yes, actually."

Silence.

"Dr. Banner has already agreed to have daily sessions with Loki, and my Father sealed his magic and stripped him of his immortality before allowing me to bring him here. Loki still has the strength and agility of a physically fit human, and his silver tongue and quick wit are both natural talents of his, but it will be easy to contain him."

Thor looked around the table, but Tony knew he wasn't going to find what he was looking for. No one was convinced, and while Steve was sympathetic, it was clear he wasn't going to take the trickster's side.

Tony decided to throw him a bone.

"Bruce, you agreed to be a therapist for Reindeer Games?"

Bruce nodded, adjusting his glasses. "I know we can only give you a brief summary now, but Thor and I talked for quite some time, and I was given a detailed account of Loki's recent and not-so-recent past." He took a slow breath and then let it out, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm willing to give him a chance. He can't do much damage in the state he's in, and if there's a chance we could figure out what's going on inside that head of his, well…" He gestured to Fury and Hill, chuckling softly. "Maybe we could put some of his power on our side. I don't think anyone in the room would be opposed to that."

Looks were cast around the table, but in the end, Tony was once again responsible for keeping the conversation moving.

"Alright, so this could be good for us. We can all agree that we're in to getting stuff out of other stuff, and we can all agree Loki's not much of a threat right now. Thor here's our buddy, so he's got that going for him, but I have a couple more questions. First of all, how was Loki responsible for you and your pals making it off Jotunheim alive?"

Thor cast a brief but fond smile in the direction of his brother. "On Midgard, I believe you would say he tattled on me. He told a guard of my plans before we left the palace, and that guard reported back to Father, who arrived just in time to save us." The smile fell away, replaced by a melancholy frown. "He also tried to intervene on my behalf while Father was banishing me. I never thanked him for that…"

Tony nodded slowly, trying to picture Loki as the responsible, peacekeeping half of the immortal outfit. He couldn't. "Okay, next question. If you just got the a-okay from Daddy Dearest this morning, how has Loki been here for days?"

Thor rubbed the back of his neck, his sadness quickly turning to guilt. "I asked Father if I could bring him to Midgard to discuss some ideas with you all, and he allowed it. I didn't tell him I wasn't going to wake Loki up until a decision was made."

Has a decision been made?

Tony looked around the table then, examining the faces of his teammates and friends, trying to decide whether or not they were ready to respond to Thor's request. Clint still looked like he wanted to punch something out, but the anger was different. It was less offensive and more defensive, like he wanted to punch out a wall because he knew punching Loki was no longer an option.

Natasha was staring down at the table, her expression half-absent and half-contemplative. If Tony knew anything about the way her brain worked, he already knew what she was thinking, and it was mostly comprised of her own past.

"Agent Barton was sent to kill me. He made a different call."

Steve had a faint smile on his face, and Tony knew that look even better than those of the other two. Steve was ready to help, ready to aid a friend, ready to reach out to a lost soul in that golden-hearted, goody-two-shoesed gallantry that made Tony sick on days ending in Y.

"Thor," Tony started, and for once he let the off-handed sarcasm fade from his voice. "Why did you bring Loki down here if you were going to keep him unconscious the entire time?"

Thor looked around the table, his mouth opening and closing as he struggled with his words. "I… do not want to influence your decision…"

Tony shook his head. "You won't. Decision's already been made."

Thor blinked, surprised, and looked around the table several more times before quietly offering his reply. "If I can find no way to remove or lighten Loki's sentence, I will have no choice but to take him and flee to another realm. I don't want Father to have a chance to get between Loki and I if such a situation arises."

Tony stared the thunder god down for a long time, and then he groaned loudly, leaning back in his chair and swiveling away from the table. "Okay, where are we setting this up?"

Thor blinked. "Wait—"

Clint immediately jumped in, leaning forward and putting an elbow on the table. "We need to be able to get to his location fast in the event he tries something dangerous. You might be able to outvote me—maybe even convince me in a decade or two—but we can't put Loki anywhere he has a chance to escape."

Thor looked at Clint. "You mean—?"

"Yes, we mean," Tony snapped irritably. "Now, where are we going to put him?"

Thor and Bruce exchanged glances, silently tossing the answer back and forth, and Thor looked like he thought permission would be vetoed once they answered.

Tony followed that answer with his eyes, glancing from one to the other and back again until realization finally dawned on him. "What? No. No, no, no. You are not bringing that psychopath into my tower!"

I really hate the morning.