His butt had just touched leather when the elevator doors opened, and Thor stormed into the room.

"Hold up, Death Metal," he said, lifting his hand in what he hoped was a placating gesture, "everything's going great here."

"Loki, what have you done?" was Thor's opening gambit, at which point Loki's expression lost all traces of humour.

"Whoa," Tony said, standing before Loki could do anything that would put everything back to square one, "you know all that wishing for your brother to not be insane you did, well it paid off. Just look at him, Buddy, before you say anything you are really going to regret."

Thor had Mjolnir in his hand and just stood there as if frozen before a battle.

"There's something I didn't mention about the last time Snow White here dropped in," Tony tried to explain. "When he bit me, we had a whole Vulcan mind meld thing going on. It was freaky, but..."

"The influence of Tony's mind on my own was significant," Loki finished for him, still looking annoyed, but on the sane side of pissed off, so Tony took that as a good sign.

"My crazy fixed his crazy and he came back to say thanks," Tony added, "so I asked him to stay."

That at least made Thor lower his hammer.

"You are well again?" Thor asked, looking at Loki.

"As well as can be expected," Loki replied in a very cool tone.

"Then we must return at once to Asgard so that Father may know and ..."

"Whoa there again, Blondie," Tony stepped in before an argument could start, "your dad managed to screw up, so he doesn't have any say in this now."

"Man of Iron, I do not believe you know of what you speak," Thor responded.

"Oh, but I do," he insisted, "and so do you. Loki is free and clear no matter what your Dad says, because of your own law. Harm of a permanent nature has been done and so the get-out clause is in effect; I know you know what that is. Your little brother here might have a huge blind spot when it comes to himself, but I'm betting you don't."

Thor thought about that and there was what Tony decided was doubt in the demi-god's expression.

"That must be judged by the AllF..." Thor started to tell Loki and that was the point Tony saw Loki lose his temper.

"Is this not permanent damage?"

Loki was suddenly right beside Thor and the trickster was showing long vicious fangs and those glittering eyes. Tony had only seen a blur and it was more than clear Thor had seen little more.

"Surely there is a way to reverse..."

"Do you think I have not tried?" Loki all but snarled. "This is no curse to be removed. This is magic older than time when creatures were created by the whim of the universe. This cannot be changed."

Tony just stood there watching as he saw the realisation that this was not a trick dawn in Thor's eyes. Several emotions filtered across Thor's face and finally settled on something Tony could not quite identify.

"Then I truly have my brother back," was what Thor said and Tony realised what he could see was hope.

From the looks of things Loki had absolutely no idea how to deal with that. When Thor reached out and hugged him, Loki just kind of froze. Tony would have laughed if he had been sure it wouldn't result in bloodshed. Loki may have been less crazy pants now, but that didn't mean the demi-god was stable by any means.

When Thor released Loki, the big thunderer was smiling as if he'd just had the best present ever. The old Loki would have tried to kill him, Tony was pretty certain, but this new Loki just stood there.

"I am truly a monster now, Thor," Loki said in little more than a whisper.

"I see no monster," Thor replied, "I never did. You are changed, yes, Brother, but you are still Loki and Loki is my kin."

"I never have been your kin," Loki protested.

"What is a brother is not one to stand beside you in battle?" Thor asked. "You have saved my life and the lives of our friends countless times, Loki, you are my brother."

"Your friends," Loki said, but there was none of the viciousness in his tone, more something along the lines of petulance if Tony was any judge.

"And you are restored to all your titles and position," Thor said, beaming happily, "so you are once again a Prince of Asgard. We should celebrate with wine and song."

The expression on Loki's face said more than any words and Tony did laugh then, because it was clear Loki thought his brother was a complete idiot. Tony was pretty sure Thor was simply taking the easy route to having his brother back.

"This is why I have to drag you from trouble every single time you leave Asgard," Loki said in an exasperated tone. "This could be a trick, an illusion, I could be doing anything, and you want to drink and be merry."

Thor laughed loudly at that and slapped Loki on the shoulder with a blow that would have knocked anyone else off their feet.

"You are indeed well again," Thor announced with a grin; "if not I think I would have a dagger between my ribs."

"Do not temp me," was what Loki replied.

That earned the God of Mischief another hug, at which point he squawked with indignation, but did not try very hard to escape.

Tony found himself smiling fondly and decided to distract himself by going back to the bar before he gained a reputation for being a sap. He had just grabbed one of the bottles of mead he kept in stock for Thor when the cover popped off one of the air vents and Clint slid out, bow and all, while Natasha dived out of the elevator, a gun in either hand.

"Peace, Friends," Thor boomed, "all is well."

"Not while he's here it isn't," Clint responded.

"My brother is restored to me," Thor said, all smiles and cheerfulness; "please, put your weapons away."

Tony came out from behind the bar, because Thor was still smiling, but Tony could sense the very serious message below the happy words. There was definitely a 'please don't do anything to make me hurt you' hidden in that statement.

"The bag of cats is now just one kitty," he said, "but he has claws and fangs so don't wreck the living room by provoking him, pretty please."

"What did he do to you, Stark?" Clint demanded, bow still at the ready.

"Actually, it's what I did to him," Tony said, standing there with two glasses in his hands. "He bit me, and my genius undid his wacko and he came by to say thanks, so I invited him for a drink. I figured that it would be better to be civilised, so we don't have any more rampaging Norse god incidents. They can be fun, but the clean-up is a bitch."

"He killed hundreds of people," Natasha pointed out.

"And he was a complete basket case at the time; trust me I've seen in his head and it was so much worse than you think it was."

"You saw in his head?" Natasha did not sound impressed.

"Yes, and I left it out for just that reason," he replied. "Stop looking at me like I betrayed you; I took every precaution necessary and Pepper knew about everything."

He thought it was the last bit that made Natasha relax just slightly.

"He was supposed to be being punished on Asgard," Clint added.

"And he was, My Friends," Thor said, "but that is now done. Loki is restored as a Prince of Asgard."

"Hell no," Clint said, aiming very purposefully; "he killed Coulson."

The slightly worried glance that Natasha sent Clint did not make Tony feel at all comfortable. He hadn't calculated that part in, in fact his head had been assimilating so many things lately he had all but forgotten exactly what had made this so personal. Now he thought about it there was something not right about the statement anyway.

"No he didn't," he said as his brain threw up the information.

"Tony, you need to concentrate, he must have got to you," Natasha said in a very sympathetic tone as she tensed again.

"No he didn't," he repeated, only this time to her; "I'm not delusional. Coulson isn't dead, at least he shouldn't be. Fury is a lying asshole, I would bet my life on it."

For the first time the tip of Clint's arrow wavered.

"What?" the archer asked.

"Loki, tell them what you did," Tony said and gave the demi-god a pointed look.

"I stabbed your Agent Coulson, just missing his heart," Loki said, somewhat reluctantly; "I intended to use him as a delaying tactic while my activities on your airship were concluded. When he shot me, I changed my plans, but unless I severely underestimated your medical personnel he should not have died."

Natasha lowered her gun.

"The cards," she said, looking over at Clint; "he never would have kept them in his pocket."

Clint blinked at that.

"You mean..?"

"Fury lied."

"Son of a bitch!"

"JARVIS, find the man called Agent for us," Tony said.

"On it now, Sir," JARVIS replied; "I will alert you as soon as I have more information."

"Thank you, JARVIS," he concluded, which seemed to please Natasha at least.

Clint even looked like he was about to lower his bow, but then turned back towards Loki.

"How is he not still a wanted criminal?" Clint asked and the look on his face said it was no longer righteous anger, it was now personal, for which Tony really couldn't blame him.

"We sent him to Asgard to be tried," Tony decided he was the only one who could explain without being skewered, "and they screwed up. His dad managed to lock him up with a vampire, which means he was permanently harmed before he had a trial. Their law says that's a no-no, so he's free and clear. Luckily for us Loki came to me on the first leg of his revenge trip after he escaped and my loco fixed his loco and he's still kind of pissed at his dad, but us he's not too bothered about. Since when shit happens on Asgard these days it tends to rain down here too, I thought, in my infinite wisdom, which is very infinite, by the way, that giving the magical demi-god with fangs options would be a great plan. Also, if you shoot him now his big brother is going to be really pissed."

Thor did not look overly worried, but then neither did Loki. Tony was just hoping they didn't end up with pulverised archer anytime in the near future.

Pepper chose that moment to arrive with Steve in tow.

"Hawkeye, stand down," Steve ordered in that way he had.

Being Captain America clearly had its perks, because Clint obeyed immediately.

"We monitored on the way up," Steve said, letting everyone know the score. "Loki, what are your intentions?"

"I have not yet decided," was the surprisingly honest answer.

"Do you intend anyone on Earth harm?" Natasha decided to be more specific.

"No," Loki replied.

"And we just believe him?" Clint asked, sounding incredulous.

"I do," Tony said and walked over and passed Thor a drink.

"So do I," was the very surprising backup from Natasha.

Clint almost looked betrayed, but Natasha returned the hurt look with a stare that clearly said much more to Clint than to anyone else. Tony did not speak Natasha under such circumstances, so did not try to figure it out.

"Bruce, stand down," Steve said and Pepper relaxed just a little, which told Tony everything was going really well.

"Brucey," he said out loud, "are you coming up to join us for a drink?"

"I am not sure that would be wise," was Bruce's reply over the intercom.

"Dr Banner," Loki spoke before Tony could say anymore; "I will pledge to control myself if you will."

It almost sounded friendly; wonders would never cease.

There was silence from Bruce for a few moments and Tony could imagine the look of surprise and probably worry on Bruce's face.

"I'll be there in a few minutes," was the eventual reply.

Loki looked quite pleased about that, which Tony would have thought was really odd, except that he really liked Bruce and he suspected that might have rubbed off on Loki.

"Everybody sit," he said, "I'll get drinks. No doubt SHIELD will turn up shortly and we might as well be comfortable while we wait."