Beauty and the Beast

Chapter 1

After the alien invasion in New York, Loki was sentenced to spend his days in the dungeons of Asgard. Frigga and Thor intervened and after months of imprisonment, his punishment had changed to making amends for his crimes on Midgard by helping Thor and the Avengers.

It had taken some time for the Avengers to warm up to him, but he had befriended Bucky when they had rescued him and Loki had taken on Wanda as a student and now she was more like a little sister to him than anything.

A year after he'd been living in the tower, he and Thor had gone to Asgard on some mission for the throne. Neither of them would say exactly what had happened on that trip, and there were still bets going on among the team. Some thought it was a curse from Frigga, some thought it a spell that had gone wrong, some thought it a curse from someone else. Whatever the cause, the result was that Loki was stuck in Jotun form.

The team had gotten used to it in the year since. Wanda loved her adopted older brother just as much as she had and Bucky remained Loki's friend. Thor acted as if nothing had changed. But Loki was reticent and reclusive. He hated himself and refused to leave the tower except on missions. He seemed to think that no one could truly like him like this, that no one would be able to see him past the monstrous exterior.

*

One day Stark came up to Loki's room where he had holed himself up as per usual and knocked on the door. Hard. "Hey Smurf, you in here?" Stark asked loudly. He needed to speak with Loki and had been putting off this conversation. His annoying nickname for Loki had changed from 'reindeer games' after Loki's curse.

Loki snapped his book shut. Hard. He growled and glared at the door, but didn't move to respond to Stark, annoyed at the interruption. And equally annoyed by Stark. He hated the man before the curse and he'd been unbearable after.

Stark sighed heavily and leaned his head against the door. "Fine, you don't have to answer. Just hear me out," he said through the door. He knew Loki was in there and he knew Loki wanted to talk to him about as much as he wanted to be talking to Loki. "There's a newcomer moving into the tower tomorrow," Stark started. He paused, choosing his words carefully before he continued. "She's my daughter and she's had a rough couple of months. Look, hate me all you want, to the end of your very long life if you so choose, but don't take it out on her, please. Please don't take it out on her," he told Loki through the closed bedroom door. He could take anything Loki dished, but he didn't want anything to happen to his daughter. Not because of him.

Loki sighed heavily and set his book aside. He went to the door and opened it, giving Stark at least the courtesy to speak to him face to face. "Why is your daughter moving into the tower?" he asked Stark with a hint of curiosity. It was strange to have civilians move into the tower of superheroes. Though he was vaguely aware that the girl visited and stayed in the tower during her breaks from school. Loki had never been there while she had visited.

"There was an... accident... a couple of months ago and she needs somewhere new to live now that she's out of the hospital," Stark explained. He didn't go into much detail with Loki. Loki didn't need to know the extent of his daughter's injuries. Especially when Loki was so unpredictable towards him and he didn't believe that he wouldn't take out that hatred on his daughter. He paused a long moment, but Loki was still looking at him expectedly, so he added. "She was injured in a lab accident at school. She moves in tomorrow. Please, just don't be cruel to her, I don't care what you do to me, just don't take out your hatred of me on my daughter," Stark told him, as close to begging as he would ever get. With that he stomped off, hoping his pleas would work to keep Loki from hurting his daughter.

*

The next day, as promised, Tony lead his daughter into the common room. She was 21 with long bright red hair. She was wearing jeans and a T-shirt under a zippered hoodie with the name of a prestigious university on it. She looked like a normal college kid except for being on Tony Stark's arm, and more the white cane dangling from one wrist and the dark glasses over her eyes.