#Loki: It was only a morbid curiosity you know you touched me differently!

[stanknotstark]

Toxic + Toxic = Healthy

Summary: You and Loki break up. Both of you deal with it uncharacteristically. Loki sleeps with girls that look like you and you mess around with Thor in retaliation. It’s all very healthy stuff here.

You and Loki had had an unceremonious falling out a couple weeks ago and called it quits on the relationship you had built. You had been dating for 6 months but Loki had started an argument about how you didn’t love him, that you lie to him, that you probably sleep with men behind his back. Everything was false, of course, you’d never do that to Loki and it hurt that he even thought that. So, you told him that you need some time to think and Loki having to have the last word said maybe breaking up is the best option. You agreed and while you saw the shock in Loki’s eyes at your agreement you were too pissed to care and left. 

What makes it awkward is that you both live in Stark’s tower and still have to interact with each other. What makes it even more awkward is that the rest of the Avengers walk on egg shells every time they’re in the same room as the both of you. 

You’re taking it like a champ, you feel. You only cry about it when you go to sleep at night, in the privacy of your own room. Sometimes when you spar with your teammates you might hit a bit harder than necessary. You even manage to speak with Loki civilly. On the outside it would appear that you’re completely fine with the break up, but on the inside and behind closed doors you’re literally falling apart. You’re sure the only person who realizes this is Natasha because that woman sees everything. 

You almost lose your composure the first time you see Loki bring a girl back to the tower. It’s only been three weeks and he’s already whoring around. You’re livid, he claims to love you then gets over you in three weeks? Bullshit. 

What you fail to realize at first is that the girl he brings to the tower kind of looks like you. It isn’t until you’re in the kitchen eating breakfast that you realize this. She comes in, only wearing one of Loki’s too large t-shirts and enjoys a bowl of cereal with you. 

You don’t get mad at the girl, you’re mad of course, but she’s not the problem. She doesn’t know what happened between you and Loki. She has no idea you even dated Loki. So you talk with her like you would any stranger. With a happy smile, a joyful voice, and morbid curiosity about having a new person in the tower. 

“It’s really cool to see the tower from the inside. I always look up and imagine what you guys live like.” The girl says with a smile at you. 

You smile back, “It’s pretty laid back, honestly. Nothing too exciting happens around here.” 

“That’s what it looks like,” The girl laughs a light laugh, “I doubt I’ll ever come back, Loki said it was a one time thing, but I’m happy I got the chance anyways.” 

You squint at the girl when she’s not looking at you because she’s eating her cereal and question everything. Loki doesn’t do one night stands. That’s what the god had told you the first time you both fell into bed together. He had explicitly stated. “If I bed you, I mean to have you forever, I do not play games when it comes to courting.”

You hum at the girl and truly look at her. Her hair is cut at about your length and although the color is a tiny bit off it’s still in the same general shade as yours. Her features are vastly different from yours but her body shape is almost exactly like yours too. 

At this conclusion you’ve thought of three things. One, Loki is trying to make you jealous. Two, Loki is showing there are many other girls just like you he can use. Three, Loki is still hung up on you and has really bad coping skills. 

You bring you mug up coffee to your lips as you ponder over your conclusion and raise your eyes when Natasha walks into the kitchen. She raises her brows at the girl, with a glance to you, who introduces herself as Nat reaches in the fridge and pulls a carton of eggs out. 

As Natasha waits for her pan to heat up so she may cook her eggs she questions the girl. 

“What is it you do?” 

“Oh, I’m an accountant for a small company here in-” The girl stops and looks at you, concerned when you start choking on your coffee, “-are you ok?” She asks, you nod still choking a little but get it under control. 

“I used to be an accountant, I started out with a small company based in Colorado then moved here when Stark offered me a better job.” You tell her. 

“Oh! I just started my job seeing how I just graduated, but it’s my dream to work for someone as significant as Tony Stark.” 

You smile and nod, “I’ll put in a good word for you, see if we can get you a promotion you can’t deny.” You say, glancing at Nat who is smirking devilishly at you. You truly do want the best for this girl but at the same time you’d like to see Loki squirm with his one night stand working in the same tower he resides in.  

The next time it happens is two days later. This time you’re in the common area with Bruce, teaching him how to play Minecraft at night when the elevator dings. You both look up and see Loki ravishing some poor girl on the elevator’s wall. They let out small moans and gasps. Then Loki turns and looks out the elevator to see you and Bruce staring at them, game completely forgotten. 

You’re sure Bruce is wide eyed and blushing like crazy, you can’t see his face seeing as he’s turned towards the elevator. However, you control your face and look bored with a raised brow at Loki. 

“My apologies, I thought I had pressed my floor.” Loki says.

The girl he was just basically eating up giggles and pokes her head around his body to look at you two. 

“We’re really sorry!” 

They both pull from each other but don’t truly stop touching, they’re just in a presentable position now. Loki pushes his correct floor number and you watch as they disappear in the elevator. 

When Bruce looks at you he’s not blushing or wide eyed. He actually looks a bit green in the face. 

“You ok?” You ask, confused. 

“It’s wrong of him to do that to you. He’s smart, has to have his floor memorized. The only way he’d hit this floor was because he knows you’re here.” Bruce says with a sigh, the green hue in his face receding. 

You chuckle, nodding to the controller in Bruces hand so he can continue harvesting his wheat. 

“It’s ok, he’s always been really bad when it comes to coping skills.” 

Bruce watches the TV as he harvests wheat but gives you a glance with a raised brow. 

“The women he’s bringing to the building look like me. Or at least the first one did for sure, I wasn’t really looking at this one. The last one even had the same job I used to have.”

Bruce frowns at the TV then realization dawns on his face. “Now that you mention it, this girl did have the same characteristics as you...” 

You hum with a small smile. “Loki is going to be Loki, I’m just trying my best to get over him and move on.” 

You watch as Bruce pauses the game and looks at you with an evil grin. You’re a little shocked because you’ve never seen the doctor show any emotions like this. His eyes are far away in thought, but he smirks with malicious intent. 

“What if you dated one of us? Not really, but in public you would kiss and hug, hold hands do all the couple stuff in front of Loki?” Bruce asks. 

Your face must be shocked because Bruce chuckles. 

Breaking from your shock you smirk back at the doctor. “And just who would I date?” 

Bruce thinks for a second, “Well Loki....” Then you see a sinister look come over his face. “Thor.”

You gasp and slap Bruce on the shoulder, “That’s evil, Bruce!”

Bruce chuckles and shrugs his shoulders with a now timid look on his face. 

“I live with a bunch of people that have perfected getting under each others skin, I’ve picked up on how to do it too.” 

“I’ll talk with Thor later. Tell him of your nefarious plan, it’s genius!” You say relishing in the fact that you’ll be able to break Loki’s heart more, the god deserves it you justify. 

You talk with Thor and kickoff the plan right away. The next morning, Loki actually comes in and has breakfast with his one night stand across from you at the table as you enjoy staring at the newspaper, waiting on Thor to come in. They’re being sickly cute, feeding each other, giggling, and just overall making you want to throw up. You know Loki is truly nothing like this, he’s just putting on a show for you. 

When Thor walks in he gives a big good morning, throwing you a smirk Loki misses because he’s too busy kissing ass to his girl. Thor makes coffee for you and brings it over to you. When he sets it in front of you he says, “Just how you like it!” 

Then Thor leans down and takes your lips into his. Thor really puts on a show and brings a hand up to caress at your jaw as he delves into your mouth with his tongue. When he pulls away you’re breathless and look up at him with adoration. Both the gods really know how to use their mouths...and tongues for that matter. 

You lick your lips and look at the girl Loki brought home when she makes a remark. 

“Looks like we’re not the only ones who got lucky!” She giggles. 

You smile at her, glance at Loki who is glaring daggers into you, then look back up to Thor as you raise your coffee mug to him and say, “Thanks, sweetheart.” 

Thor smiles down at you and offers to make you breakfast but you decline saying you need to help Tony with something. Before you leave the room Thor pulls you into another kiss, lets you go, and slaps your ass as you walk away. You give a small yelp and giggle. Enjoying every second you feel Loki glaring at you before you leave the kitchen. 

You spend a few hours with Tony just talking as he works on his suit. You came down here to hide and be happy at the whole situation that had just happened. Tony laughs uncontrollably when you tell him what’s going on. 

“This is either gonna turn into amazing make up sex or a really big argument.” Tony says, wiping a hand over his face, smearing it with oil. 

You laugh as you sit on his work table, swinging your legs. 

“As long as he hurts just as much as I do, I don’t care which one happens.” 

“That’s toxic.” Tony states without malice. “But so is Loki so it kind of cancels each other out, right?” He asks, throwing you a devious look tapping his wrench to his chin as he does. 

“Ya, we’ll go with that.” You say, jumping from the table, getting ready to leave the lab.

“Thanks for letting me hide for a bit.” You say.

“Anytime!” Tony says over his shoulder as you leave. 

You’re walking down the hallway to your room when Loki materializes out of nowhere and pins your to the wall. His left hand pins your waist to the wall, his right hand is balled in a fist and rests on the wall next to your face. His face is inches from yours, absolutely livid. 

“You play with fire without thinking about the consequences, sweetheart.” Loki spits out the nick name you used earlier.

“What? You didn’t expect me to fight back when you started fucking girls three weeks into our break up?” You ask through gritted teeth. “You were supposed to be in love with me Loki, if you were really in love you would have waited a bit longer.” 

Loki’s face turns to regret before he gets angry again. 

“You could have went for anyone other than my brother, you can’t act like you’re holier than me.” 

You scoff and push at Loki who doesn’t budge. “You started it when you brought home girls that look like me. Making me think I was expendable, replaceable.” You say, your voice cracking when you say replaceable. “I may act like I’m fine all the time but my heart is in pieces Loki. You decided to take my heart and step all over it like I meant nothing to you!” You begin crying.

Loki furrows his brows at your tears, like he actually cares that he’s the one who made them fall. 

You close your eyes so you don’t have to look at his face anymore. Silently crying there. You feel Loki wipe your tears with his right hand, his left hand keeps you pinned though which is smart because if you could break his grip you’d run from the situation. His right hand stops wiping at your tears when they stop falling and slides his hand down till it’s cusping your neck.

“That was not my intention.” Loki finally says in a soft voice. 

You open your eyes and frown at the god. “So it was just you trying to cope in a really bad way...” You say, deflating in his hold but leaning into his hand. You haven’t felt his touch in weeks and your body is practically craving it. You hate that you react like this. 

Loki gives a sad smile. “We are a concoction of toxic chemicals. We may not get a happy ending...” Loki whispers, his thumb caressing your jawline where his hand holds your neck, his eyes roaming over your face, “But I wouldn’t have it any other way. You’re worth every second.” Loki finishes, closing his eyes and kissing you.

You lean into the kiss, tasting Loki and losing yourself in his mouth as he dominates your weak fighting with tongue. His left hand comes up to grab your hair and pull at it causing you to gasp into his mouth. He practically swallows the gasp and moans. His right hand squeezes your neck then drifts down over your breast, making sure to flow over your nipple, and then grabs your hip in a bruising grip and pulls your body to arch into his. 

When you pull from his kiss you look into his eyes and see nothing but love and lust. Then it changes to a frown and insecurity. 

“Did you sleep with him?” Loki whispers, not sure he wants to know the answer. 

“No.”

Loki sighs and uses both hands to hug you into his body, burying his face in your neck. When he pulls away to look at you you see the love there again.

“I love you.” He says sweetly. 

You smile up at him, “I love you too.” 

[aphrodaisyacs]

Chapter Summary:

Bruce is racing towards the med bay, equal parts hope and dread pulsing through his mind. By the time he sees the familiar large figure hunched next to a bed, his chest feels ready to burst.

When Thor spots him, Bruce finds himself engulfed in a hug which he’s sure will bruise his ribs, but he can’t find it in himself to care because Thor is alive.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Category: Gen Fandom: The Avengers (Marvel Movies) Characters: Loki (Marvel), Thor (Marvel), Heimdall (Marvel), Wanda Maximoff, Bruce Banner, Thanos (Marvel), Stephen Strange, Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes, Guardians of the Galaxy Team, Steve Rogers, T'Challa (Marvel), Peter Parker Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Shitstorm with a Happy Ending, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, POV Multiple, Loss of Limbs, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Canon-Typical Violence

Chapter 2 is here! 

Here’s part 1

If you prefer reading on tumblr, the full chapter is below:

Warning: Non-Canon Limb Loss

Bruce’s heart is pounding so loudly that on any other day, he would’ve thought it to be the Other Guy trying to punch his way out of his current body. But for some reason, on the one occasion where having the Other Guy in control would actually be preferred, that stupid green asshole decides not to appear.

What a dick.

Rhodey was the one to greet him when he stepped back into the Avengers Headquarters for the first time in three years. It is mind-boggling how much technology had advanced in that span of time‒ it felt like he had just blinked and suddenly there’s now there’s live, holographic, 3D projections replacing Facetime calls. But the first thing he had noticed upon returning was the contraption caging Rhodey’s legs.

It’s been a long three years, Rhodey had answered with a wry smile when Bruce asked about it. Then the other man dropped the bombshell that Thor is here too, he arrived with some blue guy who seemed to be in pretty bad shape, before he left Bruce alone for an important call.

Bruce is racing towards the med bay, equal parts hope and dread pulsing through his mind. By the time he sees the familiar large figure hunched next to a bed, his chest feels ready to burst.

Thor spots him, Bruce finds himself engulfed in a hug which he’s sure will bruise his ribs, but he can’t find it in himself to care because Thor is alive.

Even after the hug finally ends, Thor’s hand still lingers on Bruce’s shoulder, as if Bruce will disappear once they stop touching. Bruce can hardly blame him for it. He too, believed that his close friend had died.

When Bruce gets a good look at the blue-skinned figure lying on the bed, he frowns. He studies the other man, trying to place his features with the Asgardians and other aliens who’d also been on the ship. There are patterned ridges on his forehead, cheeks and chin. He has messy black hair, an angular face, sharp cheekbones…

Bruce blinks.

“Is that… Loki?”

It is fascinating how different yet similar Loki looks compared to his normal appearance. Bruce stops at the foot of the bed, even as his morbid curiosity urges him to have a closer look.

“Why is he blue? Is he‒ do you also…?” He waves a hand around his face.

“What? No,” Thor laughs. “He’s adopted, remember?”

They fall into a companionable silence, but the joy in the mood dissipates. It leaves the two of them a grim reminder of what they’ve already lost, and what they’ll lose if they don’t take action soon.

Thor’s got the Tesseract. He tells Bruce that he plans on using it to get to some place called Nidavellir, where he seems certain he will acquire a Thanos-killing weapon. Bruce is sceptical, of course, because going there won’t stop Thanos from chasing after the Space Stone. Something more permanent would be better‒ something like destroying it. Thor seems to think it’s possible, and he merely adds “Infinity Stone-destroying” to the list of features for his future weapon. Bruce has no idea how Thor is so certain that he’ll be able to just show up on some faraway planet and get the perfect weapon forged for him on the spot, but he’s learnt not to question such things when it comes to the God of Thunder.

Loki chooses that moment to wake up, as if he has a sixth sense for detecting his brother’s questionable plans.

“Ugh, please tell me this is a nightmare,” Loki grumbles, sounding more like a disgruntled cat than someone who had a foot on death’s doorstep not even half an hour ago. He blinks blearily at Thor’s overjoyed “Loki!” and Bruce is slightly taken aback at the blood red eyes.

“Remember what happened last time we tried to destroy an Infinity Stone?” Loki glares at Thor.

“It’ll be different this time! We have experience now!” Thor insists.

Loki winces, then glares at his blue hand.

“Well I can’t even shift back, so whatever you’ve got planned probably won’t work.”

Thor waves a hand dismissively.

“Oh no, it’ll work fine, because you’re staying here to recover. And help the Avengers, of course.”

Bruce feels his eyebrows shoot up at the boldness of the declaration. He doesn’t know how much Rhodey knows about Loki’s situation (probably not at all, if Bruce had to guess). He has even less of an idea of how the other Avengers would react to Loki, though as a former enemy it is doubtful he’ll get much of a warm welcome. He’ll definitely have a rough time around the others without Thor as a buffer.

“What,” Loki says, voice completely flat.

“Yeah! Banner’s going to be staying with you.”

Bruce gapes.

“I am?”

“He is?”

“Yeah,” Thor says. “Look, all I need to do is go to Nidavellir, get the weapon made, destroy the Space Stone, then kill Thanos. It shouldn’t be too hard.”

It shouldn’t be too hard, Loki mouths disbelievingly at Bruce. Bruce can only shrug helplessly.

“There’s two more stones on Earth‒” Thor continues.

“One,” Bruce interrupts.

“One?!”

Bruce clears his throat.

“Yeah, Fish Face took the wizard, Tony and some kid back to space with him.”

“Oh. Well.” Thor seems to quickly get over it though. “Help the others protect Vision. He’s sending that army after the Mind Stone, remember?”

“Yes, yes,” Loki says, rolling his eyes. “I lost my magic, not my brain cells. Look, if you don’t come back alive, I’ll personally go and kill you myself.”

Thor grins, and salutes them with the Tesseract.

“Deal.”

Knowhere is just as much as a shithole as it was the last time Gamora was there, swarming with beings who seem completely oblivious to the imminent threat of Thanos. The only one who seems to be aware of anything happening in the wider galaxy is the Collector, but he is extremely reluctant to part with the Reality Stone.

“Now I can’t just give it to you, because that will be bad business,” he insists.

“Yeah we got this limited offer, called ‘Thanos will come after us instead and leave your ass alone’. You can take it or leave it,” Rocket says, sounding like he’s seconds away from snatching the glass cylinder, consequences be damned.

The Collector purses his lips and frowns at the swirling red mass. Then, he turns to Heimdall.

“Where is he now?”

Heimdall’s eyes suddenly flash a startlingly bright orange, causing several of the Guardians to react with audible surprise and awe. A few moments later his eyes fade back to their usual gold.

“He’ll arrive at Knowhere within a few minutes.”

The Collector tsks.

“And how many does he have already?”

“Just the Power Stone.”

The Elder blows out a breath and clasps his hands together.

“Alright. I have a plan.”

Here’s what worked:

Thanos is greeted by the sight of the Guardians coiled in defense.

He doesn’t believe what he sees.

He unleashes a wave of energy from the Power Stone.

It wipes out the Collector’s Reality Stone-induced illusion through sheer force.

The “Guardians” are revealed to be black hole grenades.

The blast from the Power Stone triggers them.

Thanos is forced to wield the Power Stone by blasting back enough concentrated energy it becomes a shield against the black holes.

He’s distracted.

Here’s what went wrong:

They aren’t fast enough.

They jump out of their hiding places, but they don’t attack him quickly enough.

Gamora’s blade barely nicks him in the neck.

He doesn’t lose control over the Power Stone.

He doesn’t get swallowed by the black holes.

Instead, he perseveres.

The backlash tears the entire museum apart. Gamora’s ears are ringing and she feels her movements crushed thoroughly under the weight of metal and concrete. She’s barely able to turn her head and she tries to ignore the way the dust still settling is suffocating the small pocket of air she’s encased in. She spits out the taste of smoke and attempts to get her bearings.

There’s a small gap to her right. Good. Even if she ends up trapped here for hours, she’ll still be able to breathe. It also doubles as a small window to the world outside. Her vision is already blurring and on top of the haze of smoke and dust, she can barely make out the looming figure of Thanos in the far distance. He is towering over someone she can’t see, and his lips are twisted into that familiar half-pitying smile fuelled by pure condescension.

She hates it.

She hates him so much.

It’s enough to renew her efforts in squirming her way out of her heavy prison, and while she’s able to move her left arm a little now, her right arm still won’t obey her.

She catches a glimpse of red in the corner of her vision.

No.

Giant purple hands gently mould the glowing red mass until it slowly solidifies into a red stone pinched between his fingers.

The air shifts the moment he slips the Reality Stone into his gauntlet.

Gamora quietly draws in a shuddering breath. She’s next. He’s going to dig through the debris for her, because he’ll want the Soul Stone next.

And she can’t even move.

But Thanos suddenly stops. He crouches down, disappearing from the view of her narrow window. When he straightens again, he cradling whatever it was that had caught his attention. For some reason he seems to find it horrifying, the long tubular thing‒ it’s an arm, with a familiar-looking switchblade still loosely caged in green fingers.

Gamora’s heart stops.

That’s her arm.

That’s her fucking arm.

She couldn’t move her right arm because she didn’t have a right arm to move.

It’s as if the sight of her missing arm had drained the adrenaline from her veins, because the entire right side of her body is suddenly swallowed by white hot pain. Her vision dissolves into static, and she can barely make out the blurry, shrinking figure of Thanos before she passes out.

When Steve walks into the Avengers Headquarters, he expects to see Bruce, but what he doesn’t expect to see is a ragged-looking blue man with a glaive, trailing two steps behind the doctor.

“And you are?” Steve asks, trying to mask his bemusement.

“I am here to help,” the blue man replies simply. Then he flashes Steve a smile which sets off several alarms in his head. He’s seen this face before, he’s sure of it. But where would he have met a blue alien?

Steve turns to Bruce, who looks back nervously.

Huh.

“So,” Bruce begins, interrupting the silence before it becomes awkward. “Some of you have already met him before, but… a lot has happened and things have changed.” He inhales before continuing. “Loki’s on our side now and Thanos‒ he’s the one who sent Loki to attack New York. And we need all the help we can get against Thanos.”

Oh.

Steve gives the blue man (Loki) a more thorough once-over. The images of the Loki from his memory begin to bleed into the reality of the one standing in front of him‒ the shape of his features, the hair, his height, the way his fingers rest on the handle of the glaive (just like the sceptre), that voice…

But what Steve also notices is that Loki looks like he’s trying to remain nonchalant at being skewered by everyone’s stares, which range from disbelieving to judgemental. His face is impassive, but his head is slightly bowed and he isn’t meeting anyone’s eyes. It’s almost as if he’s steeling himself for rejection.

“Wait, Loki? As in tried-to-invade-New-York Loki?” Sam says in disbelief.

“Oh my god.” Rhodey gapes. “That’s who Thor brought back? I thought it was some new alien buddy.”

Steve also hears Wanda and Vision beginning to murmur behind him, and he decides enough is enough.

“Alright.” His voice cuts through the room and everyone falls silent. His eyes meet Loki’s disbelieving red ones. “What do you have for us?”

When they manage to settle down to talk, Steve finally gets a better sense of what the alien woman from earlier had been raving on about. According to Bruce and Loki, Vision’s stone is one of the Infinity Stones that Thanos is after, and the Mad Titan intends to send the largest army in the universe to Earth to get it.

It is a strange sight, seeing the two of them working together like this. Hell, the last time Steve had even heard about Loki, Thor had told the Avengers that his brother “died a hero’s death”, while pleading with his red-rimmed eyes for them not to rejoice in his death. Meanwhile, Bruce’s extended absence and radio (and satellite‒ Tony had checked) silence had led them to fear the worst for him. But it turns out the reason why they aren’t currently at each other’s throats is because they (along with Thor, who’d apparently checked in at the HQ then immediately left for another planet) had gone on a hectic space adventure which involved teaming up and saving an entire realm from an apocalypse. And now they’re here because they’re trying to prevent another apocalypse, this time with the universe at stake.

Eventually everyone agrees to separate Vision from the stone so Wanda can destroy it. The only way to do so is in Wakanda, so they all board the Quinjet.

After Steve tells Sam and Natasha the coordinates, he leaves the cockpit and goes looking for Loki. In the common area, Bruce and Rhodey are deep in conversation and Wanda and Vision are silently huddled together, but there’s no sign of Loki. Just as he turns to go to the rooms, he nearly walks into someone.

“Looking for me, Captain?” Loki asks, looking almost amused.

Steve pauses. He’s decided to trust Bruce and Thor’s judgement, and from what he’s seen so far Loki seems to genuinely want to help. A small voice at the back of his head (which sounds suspiciously like Natasha’s) tells him that Loki might betray them later, but Steve quickly shelves it away. As Bruce had said, they need all the help they can get. Instead, he focuses on how Loki subconsciously runs his fingers over the patterned blue skin on the back of his hands and the way his jaw tightens, as if he’s uncomfortable with the way it feels. As if he’s trapped in a form he isn’t used to.

“Are you alright?” Steve finally settles on. Loki looks at Steve as if he’s sprouted another head.

“Truly a man of righteousness, aren’t you.” Loki’s smile feels vaguely mocking, but Steve can also detect the underlying weariness. “Inquiring after my wellbeing. Aren’t you going to threaten me? Ask if I’m up to another one of my tricks, if I’m going to stab you in the back?”

Steve politely responds with a wry smile of his own.

“Are you?”

Loki holds his gaze for a moment longer, then scoffs.

“No.” The corners of his mouth twitch upwards. “But only because that would be too predictable.”

Steve only raises his eyebrows, amused in spite of himself.

“So why did you want to talk to me?” Loki asks, cocking his head curiously.

Steve sighs.

“I’m not going to forget what you did in New York. I don’t think any of the others will either. But whatever you do from this moment on is more important than what you did back then.”

“So, what?” Loki’s laugh is short and hollow. “Have I earned the good Captain’s forgiveness already?”

“This isn’t about forgiveness.” Steve crosses his arms. “It’s about second chances.”

“And you believe someone like me deserves a second chance?”

“No.” Steve doesn’t miss the hurt that flashes through Loki’s blood red eyes. “Because it’s not up to me to decide who deserves that. It’s not up to anybody. This second chance is just something you have. You’ve already used it to save Asgard. You’ve also used it to keep the Space Stone away from Thanos. I’m sure you can think of using it for other things in the future.”

Loki looks away, and Steve can practically hear the gears grinding in his head.

“I see.” Loki’s voice is quiet, thoughtful. “Well, I suppose I’ll look forward to working with you, Captain.”

part 3