When Loki returned to Asgard he knew he would be punished. His mind was already filled with the various and sundry tortures that could be wrought upon his body. Compared to what the Chitauri had done, he did not believe that anything Asgard could bring down upon his head could break him anymore. If they wanted remorse they would be disappointed.

Loki thought maybe Odin would have a private sentencing to hide the shame of his failed plans. Instead, the whole court stood to witness. Loki didn't care. If Odin thought Loki would bow his head, then he was sorely mistaken.

"Loki Odinson," Loki's once-father boomed. "You have waged war against two other realms. You have made an alliance with foreign, violent peoples in order to attack a realm who had given you nor any other realm any cause to attack. In exchange for this alliance you offered up Asgardian relics. The charges you face are very dire, my son."

Loki glared. Behind his gag he could say nothing. He could neither confirm the charges nor try to speak in his defense. Of all the things he could take umbrage to was Odin's insistence to keep referring to him as if he were his son. Loki reached for his magic. There wasn't, much he could do… well there was one thing he could do, but he wouldn't allow himself to be blue in front of these people for any reason.

"Heimdal has informed me of your time with the Chitauri, which has informed my decision on your sentence," Odin continued. Loki narrowed his eyes. So Odin would admit that Heimdal had seen him and yet none of them had done anything.

"It is clear that there isn't any physical pain that would sway you. You are too proud to bow to pain, which has left me little choice on how to sentence you," Odin concluded his speech. He rose from the throne and walked to Loki, placing his hand on Loki's shoulders.

"I take from you your magic," Odin said, sadness in his eyes. Loki felt like weight was place on him, heavier and heavier until something snapped. That snap was his magi, and only Odin's hand on his shoulder kept Loki's Asgaurdian image in place. Loki gasped, feeling a searing pain in his head and at his backside.

"You have too much pride, and so I had little choice on what I could take from you," Odin said

Loki's hearing seemed so much better, and he heard what seemed like loud laughter. He turned around to glare at the noise. He caught the sight of something black and furry in his vision. He turned his head but not his body this time, looking down. He felt his breathe catch in his throat when he saw what was unmistakably a black cat's tail. He reached up, touching his head gingerly. Amidst his hair were a pair of soft black cat ears.

"I thought the point was to keep Loki away from earth," Tony said.

"Odin has asked us for a favor," Fury said. "Thor will be here soon."

"I don't like this," Clint said through gritted teeth. Toy was with Clint. They were both smart enough to understand the value in being owed a favor by Odin, King of Asgard. That didn't mean that they had to like it.

"It doesn't matter," Bruce said. "What does matter is if we'll be able to keep him from destroying New York again."

"I have every assurance that his magic has been taken from him," Fury said.

"And yet he's still Asgardian," Natasha pointed out. "Even without his magic he had no trouble throwing Stark out of a window."

"I have been assured that most of his Asgardian abilities have also been suppressed."

"What qualifies as most?" Bruce asked.

"Everything but his ability to heal quickly," Fury said. The group had a moment for silence as the words sunk in. An enemy who couldn't fight back, but who could heal quickly, in their control? Steve looked the most uncomfortable of the group, but none of them missed the implication: it would be very easy to torture him for information or as retribution.

"I still don't like this," Clint said.

"Well, it doesn't matter what you like Agent Barton. He will be here in-"

There was a very loud clap of thunder and Thor dropped down on the landing, Loki under his arm like a stray animal he'd brought to show his parents. "Friends! It is very good to see you again!" Thor said. He let Loki go, and Loki stayed very purposefully outside while Thor rushed in.

"You've barely been gone long enough for us to miss you, big guy," Tony said. All eyes were on Loki, who stood very still outside, clutching his hands in front of him. "So what, god-punishment over now?"

"Oh no," Thor said. "Father decided that there was little punishment Asgard could give that would affect my brother."

"So he sent him here for us to deal with him?" Tony asked.

Thor looked confused for a minute, looking around at the group like he wasn't sure why they were acting so normally. A sudden very visible realization crossed his face. "Loki!" he called, turning and going to retrieve his brother. He took Loki by the shoulders and physically steered the ex-god into the room.

The change in Loki was obvious, but it took a good moment for the realization of what they were seeing to sink in. Loki, the man who'd led an alien invasion against their planet, stood in front of them looking flustered, unhappy and embarrassed. He hadn't been clasping his hands in front of him when he was outside. In possibly an attempt to keep it from moving freely and very visibly, Loki was tightly clutching the black cat tail that was now part of his body. The fact that it was still twitching just proved it was real.

"I change my mind," Clint said, breaking the tense silence. "I'm totally okay with this." That did it. That was all that was needed to break into their disbelief and have the Avengers rolling on the floor with laughter.

Loki scowled, but that just made it all the more hilarious. His ears had pressed themselves flat to his head, and his tail puffed out. No matter how he schooled his expression the new additions to his body would not allow him to hide how he felt. The most apt analogy any of them could find was that he'd suddenly become a very nervous kitty.

Thor cleared his throat, looking torn between laughter himself and trying to save his brother's dignity (too late for that). "Friends," Thor said, his deep voice carrying over their laughter. "We are very grateful that you have allowed my brother to stay with you to try and repay his debts."

"Yeah, yeah," Tony said, having pulled out his camera and started to take pictures of Cat-Loki. "So, how long is our feline friend going to be here?" That earned him a silent, icy glare from Loki.

"I do not yet know," Thor said. "Father said that Loki must be punished for his crimes, and that he needed time."

"This is the punishment?" Bruce asked, having recovered first. But then his laughter hadn't been as loud in the first place.

"Yes, it is," Thor said. He glanced at Loki with something like worry.

"And how long is this supposed to last?" Clint asked, looking more than a bit smug. He was still more than a little angry over what happened to him.

"Until father feels Loki has been suitably punished." Thor said.

"So, this could last our lifetimes," Natasha said. She'd settled down after Bruce.

Thor looked sad for a moment. "Yes, that is a possibility. Though I hope that the time will be shorter if Loki can work to help repay his debt to your city."

"Is he supposed to help rebuild skyscrapers? I thought that he wouldn't have his magic," Clint said.

"He doesn't," Thor said.

"Hey, he's got healing, we've got injured, we can work something out," Steve piped in. That suggestion was met with a few nods around the table.

"Under supervision," Clint said. The rest nodded at that. Yes, Clint hated Loki, but in his line of work he understood the importance of being able to use aid, even if from a past enemy. It would be petty to allow a personal grievance to get in the way of an actual need.

"Director Fury?" Steve asked. All eyes, excluding Loki who glared past their heads to an opposite wall as he continued to grip tight to his twitching black tail.

"This may be acceptable," Fury said. "The prisoner will be under our supervision at all times."

"Or mine, since you have no interest in allowing him around your state secrets," Tony said.

"Yes," Fury said. "But then two of my best agents will also be on hand to make sure the prisoner stays out of trouble. We've taken the initiative to have rooms set up already."

"Yeah, I remember," Tony said with a scowl. To discover that he'd be housing assassins and prisoners in his home hadn't been the news Tony had heard all week. Fury had asked for a favor, one that Tony owed him for keeping the government off his and Bruce's back.

"Thor, are you going to be staying?" Steve asked. Of the earthly-members of the Avengers team, Steve was the only one not currently taking resident in Stark Tower. Steve could pass as a civilian when in his normal clothes, and he didn't live that far away.

"I will be staying for a time," Thor said. "My father has assured me that Loki will not be able to use his magic, but it is better if I'm around."

"And it wouldn't have anything to do with the scientist I've got tucked away in my tower," Tony said with a smirk. Thor smiled, an uncomplicated and actually happy smile.

"Jane Foster is here?" he asked.

"Well, not at this meeting, or currently in house, but yeah," Tony said. It had been in part Direct Fury's suggestion, since it seemed the girl was going to come help rebuild New York one way or another, and it gave Tony someone who could provide Pepper with girl-talk.

"Then I will stay here as well," Thor claimed.

"Yes, please stay in my home without an invitation," Tony said.

"Thank you, Anthony," Thor said, the sarcasm lost on him completely. Tony rolled his eyes.

"Okay, since that's sorted, can we get everyone put away for the night?" he asked, standing up. "Come on, Thor, and bring Meow Mix with you."

Thor, who clearly didn't know what Meow Mix was, for once had little trouble understanding what Tony wanted from him and steered Loki into the elevator after Tony.

It took them down a few levels to a hallway with a lot of doors. Tony took them to the only room with a key pad, and punched it in. The room itself wasn't so bad, just a bit barren, bed only and connecting bathroom. "There are cameras everywhere, which have live feed to me and to S.H.I.E.L.D. Reinforced walls, new the pass code to get in or out, and a bunch of other security measures. Jarvis."

"Yes, sir," the automated voice said, making Thor jump. Loki didn't jump, but his tail bristled up again.

"Thor, this is Jarvis, my best automated friend. He'll also be monitoring Hello Kitty."

"A pleasure," Thor said, seeming unsure how to address the voice.

"Mine as well," Jarvis said.

"Okay, that's the tour for now, let's get back upstairs before they decide to redecorate," Tony said, turning to go.

"Brother, I will be here if you need anything," Thor said.

"You will be here for your own pleasures," Loki said, his ears flat to his head.

"Someone's bitter," Tony said, smirking. "Hey don't go anywhere. I'd hate to have to tie a bell around your neck." Loki glared at him. Tony chalked it up to humiliation and shock. "Yeah, if you escaped it, pursuing you would give a whole new meaning to chasing tail."

"Your puns leave much to be desired," Loki said.

"Don't worry, we've got all the time in the world for me to improve." Tony said with a wink and walked out with Thor. The door slit shut automatically and locked.

Loki looked around the room, neither moving nor releasing his tail. Even without being able to see them laugh at him, there would always be someone to laugh at his humiliation. Loki grit his teeth, silently congratulating the All-father for his creativity in this punishment.

A/N: This idea came to me while I was at AWA. I saw a woman dressed as Cat-Loki, and she'd clutch the tail whenever someone took her picture. This was supposed to be crack. Hopefully this won't be too-too long.

Notes on characters: My goal is to not make Odin or Fury of Clint into assholes just because this is a Loki story. Odin seemed perfectly flawed, but in Loki-based fics he's often portrayed as a terrible person, which really bothers me because these stories reduce wonderfully complicated characters to very basic things. Basically I'm trying to avoid things I hate in fics.

Also, Loki is a terrorist, let's be honest. Depending on whatever body count there was, it's possible that he would have been the most effective terrorist in US history. Loki's wonderfully interesting, but he's not a good guy, in fact he really should be hated by the world that he lives in.

Loki/Darcy is seriously my OTP, like my first ever. Normally I just go with the flow, but I prefer cannon. So Jane/Thor and Pepper/Tony is also a thing. Since in cannon Natasha/Clint isn't always cannon I'll let you all make up your mind on that one for this, but I'm not going to take a stance.