#it's such a horrifically engrained part of her that she begins to fear it's not

[lokis-lady-death]

Part 6 The Ghost

Lady Death: This is the first of three chapters I am uploading tonight as the finale of Asgardian Soldier. I worked for over a week to try and give our Loki the ending he deserved, so I hope you all enjoy!

WARNING: This story is based on Avengers Endgame and will contain some spoilers from the movie. 

Part 6 The Ghost

If life had taught you one thing it, was that time was precarious and fickle.

It was something you never got back, but, most tragically, it was something you couldn't control. Like how a second could seem to last forever, yet a day could be so fleeting. Moments past. People move on. The cruelest part of time is never knowing how much you have, until it’s gone.

In your lifetime, you felt the aches of your battle scars, both physically and mentally, yet managed to steadily keep going. Time after time, you were able to pull yourself together enough to make it out on the other end, nearly unscathed.

As hard as it was, as dark as your world seemed in that instant, the death of Loki couldn’t be what stopped you. Not now that you had your unborn child to consider. After escaping Thanos and the heartbreaking sacrifice of Loki, you felt the agony of once again needing to keep going.

As soon as you and Valkyrie took charge of the evacuated Asgardians, you had Korg set coordinates to Midgard and tried to maintain some form of hope amongst your people. They needed comfort and you had no time to mourn the death of the greatest love you had ever known.

Loki would have to wait.

While Korg kept up with the navigation, you and Valkyrie dispersed the few supplies of blankets, food and water that were stored on the escape ship. Many people stood while the wounded, young and elderly sat at their feet, finally resting after what felt like an endless battle for survival.

First the Dark Elves.

And then Hela.

Now Thanos.

There was no denying how hard it was to see everyone so worn out, but you found it especially hard  every time you came across a mother cradling a child, feeling the extra sting of your new lot in life.  

Somehow you kept moving onto the next person, offering words of encouragement and a friendly smile of reassurance.

This was your reality now, you repeated over and over to yourself, you had to suck it up and move on.

You had to. They needed you.

These were the remnants of your people and you would see them through this.

For the moment, it felt that things couldn't possibly get worse, that there was nothing more that could be done to the once proud race of the Asir. All that anyone could do now was to rebuild with what was left.

You were a soldier and you had your mission.

Protect these people.

Protect your family.

There was no true way to know how long that newfound drive lasted, but it wasn't until you heard that first, ear piercing scream cut through the ship's cramped space that you knew nothing was ever certain. Things could always get worse and the devastation was far from over.

Several gasps broke out. More screams.

Your head swiveled from side to side, but you were standing so close to others who were beginning to panic that you couldn't make out anything in the chaos.

At your feet a small girl grabbed hold of the hem of your shirt.

Your eyes met and the vast blueness of her doll-like trance forever engrained itself into your soul. Just as her lips moved to say something, she disintegrated into ash in front of your very eyes.

Stunned, you couldn't even scream.

It was too unfathomable.

To your left another body vanished into dust, leading to more screams. The screaming went on for what felt like a gruesome eternity, as one by one, your people disappeared into a cloud of dust. When the event was over, you were able to see what had taken place by the sheer number of empty spaces between the remaining Asgardians.

Where once you all stood shoulder to shoulder, now only half remained.

A cold sweat crept up your back though you still managed to keep from crying out.

Admittedly, you were terrified to even make a noise, until fear brought your friend’s name to your lips. “Valkyrie!” you hollard. “Hilde, where are you!” That’s when you heard the wondrous sound of her calling your name back. The two of you met up at the front of the ship where Korg, who was uncomfortably staring out into space, mumbling in another language.

What could have caused such devastation to your already crippled people?

It wasn't for another week, when you landed on Midgard, that you understood the true cataclysmic episode that had befallen, not just the Asgardians, but all of the galaxy.

Thanos had collected the infinity stones and wiped out half the universe.

It was a surreal time, collecting your people to explain what had happened to their family and friends, aided only by Valkyrie while Thor ached over his seemingly wasted effort.

Despite their own horrific happenings, the Midgardians welcomed the broken down Asgardians to their world, even offering up an abandoned fishermen's town on the edge of an island for your people to claim as their own.

You dubbed it New Asgard and got to work.

It didn't take long for everyone to band together and make their new village thrive. You had never felt so proud of your fellow Asgardians as you were when you witnessed the togetherness they exhibited in order to regain some normal function to their lives. With a few technological advances from other collective worlds, the people were soon feeling a newfound sense of home.

For the most part, the time following the snap was quiet. You and Valkyrie worked amongst the people to help your new home thrive while Thor resided to keep himself barricaded in his hut on the farthest corner of the village, rarely coming out to do more than pick up a supply of beer.

But anyone could hardly blame him.

You and Valkyrie had both used alcohol to bury the worst of your pain in the past, so to see Thor's dive into the dark abyss of its distracting nature was less than surprising. You both knew he needed to heal in his own way, and left him and Korg to hide away from the work that had to be done.

In truth, you believed everyone's past held wounds needed to become the person they were meant to be. Even if there were times you were so low you couldn't see a way up, you had kept going and, in turn, you hoped the same revelation would come to Thor. Through all this pain, something good had to come.

Even the loss of Loki had yielded you a gift you would never have without his sacrifice: a beautiful, raven haired, green eyed prince. Frig, named for the late Queen Frigga, was your driving force. His birth warranted you a strength you never knew you had, giving you all the power you needed to work towards rebuilding what you lost.

Yes, the new existence that you had all made in Midgard was beginning to fall into place, and by the time Frig was a year old, you felt able to fully over the death of Loki.

With you and Valkyrie taking on the roles of Chieftain in New Asgard, this all simply became the way of life and, most of the time, that was enough. You busied yourself with handling the towns dealings while trying to be a good mother to Frig.

It wasn't until five years after the snap that everything change. Thor, still not sober, joined with what remained of the Avengers to try and bring back those lost in the snap with a half brained scheme involving time travel. You didn't understand the particulars, but on the day the missing Asgardians suddenly began appearing before your own eyes, you knew they were successful.

It was another few hours when a message came through that Thanos, whom you knew had been killed in your own time by Thor himself, had returned from the past. The Asgardians needed to arm themselves for one final showdown with the mad titan.

Nothing could have prepared you for what would ensue through the mass, frantic chaos that was the final battle of the infinity war. When Dr. Strange’s portals began to open before your soldiers, you donned Loki's battle horns and two broadswords. Valkyrie road through first on her pegasas while you rushed behind her, bringing with you any abled bodied Asgardian you could to fight this threat to your universe.

You weren't just Asgardians defending your midgardian allies as you had done in the past.

You were all Avengers this day, and this was your home, too.  

Your people were here.

Frig was here.

You would all make this one, final stand together against the tyrant Thanos or die trying.

No matter what, you knew it would end here.

The fighting was nearly even in the beginning, the mass numbers of Chitari clashing with the fewer, yet better skilled and more determined Avengers. The roars of those amongst the bloodshed were enough to spur you on, making you wave your blades with more and more gusto, feeling a wave of release wash off you.

Yet as the fighting went on, you noticed out towards the center of it all stood a massive figure beside a massive, double bladed sword. He was unscathed by the madness around him, simply watching the destruction unfold with a smirk on his face.

“Thanos! ” you called out, starting your way through the Chitauri. He turned at the sound of his name, locking eyes with you.

All these years, it had been Thanos's own cruel agenda that had cost you so much. Loki was gone, half your people were gone, all by his doing.

Though you knew you were no match for the Goliath, you were determined to have his blood on your blade.

You broke off into a short run, ramping up an unsuspecting fighter's back before leaping into the air towards the man who took Loki from you.

You came down hard, bringing both of your broad swords against his hastily raised arm.

"More Asgardian filth, I see!" you heard Thanos snicker as he shrugged off your brutish attack for no more than an annoyance. "Your thunder god already tried his hand, are you here to see how you'll match up?" He threw you off, but you caught yourself enough to come back with a vengeance, swinging without mercy.

"You killed him!" Your screech echoed amongst the clashing of swords and bodies, filling you with more rage when you snapped, "You took Loki from me, and I'll see you die today on this battlefield, if not by my hand, then someone else's!"

"I wasn't afforded the pleasure of killing your little mischief maker," Thanos shot back, blocking one blow after another. "But I must say, I’m glad it was me who shut that wretch up for good!”

At that your blood boiled and you let loose a battle cry, bringing down your blades in such savage synchrony that he didn't get a moment hesitation from you. You lashed out, screaming with every swing.

"You think you can stop me!" he roared, blocking your attacks, "No one can prevent this, I am your world’s future end!"

At that you swung harder, connecting again and again with this armored forearms. Despite being so much smaller, so much weaker, you managed to put up enough of a fight that Thanos started to get pushed back.

That's when you saw the small window of opportunity and jabbed.

It was small, probably no more than a papercut to the brute, but when the trickle of blood dripped down the giants face, you felt a small victory.

At the shock of your blade coming across his cheek, missing his eye by mere centimeters, Thanos shoved you back with all his force. Yet you still remained standing.

You pointed your sword, smiling at him. "Now let's make the other side match."

His silver eyes went up to yours, his face twisted in anger at your impotence. "Oh, I'm going to enjoy ripping you apart!"

Flying into a fit of his own, Thanos came charging.

Fast.

Realizing an all out assault from him would be it for you, you braced yourself, ready for the punishment of antagonizing the mad titan.

Perhaps you could leap over his head? Roll between his knees?

You got ready to move, crouching with both swords at the ready.

That's when the magnificent Carol Danvers came blasting through the crowds like a rocket and bulleted through him away, sweeping the giant nearly 1000 yards from where you stood.

Gasping in surprise, you sighed with relief at the sight of Valkyrie on her winged beast. She held out an arm for you, saying, "Let's give them hell." The blades in each hand were beginning to feel heavy, but you rolled your shoulders and cracked your neck. Latching one  sword to your hip, you gave a court nod and took her hand. You hopped on the back of the stead, and rode away with her to battle.

The mayhem felt to last for an eternity before the man of iron was able to end it all in a single moment that made the world go silent.

In the silence, Midgard and the universe was finally at peace.

*****

It had been a year since that day and life, for the most part, was as it should be.

Loki's helmet and your blood stained broadswords sat as a daily reminder on the mantle in your home of just how much had been given in order to live out this peaceful life you and Frig enjoyed with the rest of your people.

Everyone felt this newfound hope flow through them at the return of their loved ones from the snap. Homes buzzed with laughter and togetherness in the way they had back in Asgard. Even Thor, after years of hiding from the world, felt a new spirit of life awaken his need for adventure. After leaving you and Valkyrie in charge of New Asgard, he left to travel with the Guardians.

Yes, the world had finally found its long sought after peace.

It was a Monday like any other, which meant the normal routine of checking on the people of your village. The first part of your day involved the fishermen along the decks, ensuring the lines laid out over the weekend were pulled in so that the fish could make it to market by sunup. Walking through the streets of New Asgard, you made certain that the delivery trucks from the midgardian town across the island had arrived on schedule with all of the weekly orders. Coming back through the streets, passerbys bid you good morning and offered you kind words for your day. The baker, whom did this every morning, insisted you take a strawberry Danish with you because, "We need you to keep up your strength." You took it with a smile and thanked him as you headed back down towards your house.

Just before you opened it, your door flew open and out ran Frig, donning a thick black jacket with jeans. You passed him a loving smile before crouching down to take him up in your arms.

At five years old, your black haired, green eyed prince was enough to send you soaring. He laughed at your hug before asking if you had anything from town for him.

"Now Frig, what could I possibly have for you?" you told him in a mock serious tone. "You know I was out working this morning, not shopping for you."

He offered you an exaggerated sigh, shrugging, "I just was really hoping for something from the bakery…"

You laughed, pulling the still warm Danish from your satchel and handing it to him. "I suppose I'll share, just this one time."

He thanked you just before shoving half of it into his mouth, while your eyes caught sight of something gold around his neck.

"Are you wearing my necklace?" you asked, not harshly but pointedly.

He gulped his bite of food before grabbing the pendant. "I just wanted it for today, mother," he went on so innocently, "I promise not to let anything happen to it. I'll protect it."

Valkyrie had just come out from your house, securing the door behind her as she brought a small sack with her. "Now how will you rightly learn if you don't remember to take your books to class?" she played, dangling the bag in front of his face.

She saw the two of you were exchanging a serious look before she realized what it was.

"Oh let him wear it, mum. What's he going to do, throw it in the ocean?"

You cut your eyes at her before giving up. "Fine, but I want it back when you get home."

It's not because it was an expensive piece of jewelry, but it was sentimental. Thor had it made for you just before you gave birth to Frig, a simple golden pendant engraved "The sun will rise on us again", an homage to the last words Loki ever spoke.

Frig had eyeballed it for a long time but this was the first time he actually wore it. "I'll take great care of it," he swore to you with a glisten in his eye just before he kissed your cheek. He started off down the sidewalk on his way to school. You followed a few steps behind him, admiring him as Valkyrie took to your side. "Clever one, that boy. Do you know he asked me if he should cry when he asked to wear it?"

You couldn't suppress the snide laugh. "He is his father's son."

The two of you went over the matters of the day, going through the in and outs of who was to make the daily run of new lines, who was to help mend a neighbor's fence, who could help with the parcel deliveries, and other medial dealings.

It wasn't until you had reached the center of town that you felt something strange in the air.

Something was happening.

You and Brunhilde locked eyes.

"What's wrong?" Frig turned to ask when he realized you both lost pace. "Is everything alright, mother?"

Your breath steadied, your senses went on edge. Cutting your eyes around, you and Valkyrie stood at the ready for something to happen.

It was right then that a whirlwind collected in the street at your side, blowing so much that a passing truck slammed their brakes to avoid coming too close. A bright light sparked for an instant as Valkyrie grabbed Frig up. You stood in between them and whatever was about to happen in your quiet town square.

The light faded, leaving nothing more than the silhouette of a man standing in the middle of the road.

Valkyrie was speaking to you, but you couldn't hear her. People from inside the small storefronts along the main road began filing out to see what was causing the commotion, but you didn't notice any of it.

All you could do was stare at the man as the air left your lungs.

There, in the middle of the village square, adorn with his usual black and green leather garb, stood a very alive Loki.

A muzzle stifled his curses as he tossed a glowing box to the side, ready to be rid of the damned thing. His hands came up to his mouth and you could make out a large set of cuffs binding his wrists together. In one swift jerk, he removed the constraint from his lips, gasping, looking around himself like a wild animal that was suddenly free in a strange new world.

That's when Loki's eyes found yours and he froze in place.

He had appeared so suddenly that you didn't have time to process what it was you were seeing. Your mouth fell open, trying desperately to find words as you stepped closer. Reaching out to touch him in reflex, because seeing him wasn't enough.

You had to feel him.

You had to know he was real.

Loki straightened when you got closer, but never flinched while your fingers slid along the leather of his armor. Your eyes scanned over the intricate, detailed threading before finally your whole hand was laying flat on his chest. His steady heartbeat was enough to confirm it.

“Loki…” you breathed out, utterly stunned. You looked up to meet his eyes.

“Y/n?” Loki asked, his brow creased while his narrowed eyes burrowed into yours.

That's when you saw it. A soft, blue glow behind his once emerald orbs. It was something you had only seen once, back when he tried to take New York all those years ago. You didn't have time to react when he took your hand from his chest. “How can this be, you… You look so different."

Perhaps it was your long hair that was allowed to fall down your shoulders where it used to always be tied back. Perhaps it was the midgardian leather jacket and jeans you wore rather than double plated armor. Or perhaps it was all the years of pain etched into your face at everything you had endured in this life.

Loki looked past you, scanning the curious faces of the Asgardians before stepping back to leave your hand hanging empty in the air. “What's going on?”

Still staring at the blue of his eyes, you pressed slowly, “You said you just saw me? Where?” Your excitement gave way to a devastating realization of who truly stood in front of you

It was then that the god of mischief flashed his signature devilish grin, letting loose a deep throated laugh. In a low tone, where no one else could hear, he explained, “Last we spoke, my darling, you were tied to my bed, awaiting your king like a good little pet.”

Your heart dropped so hard you thought it would fall from your chest. Closing your eyes, unable to stomach what was transpiring, you called out, "Brunhilde."

Valkyrie came to your side, though she was watching Loki with a dumbfoundedness that showed she didn't quite understand what was going on.

"Detain and escort our guest to the cell beneath the tavern. Be sure he cannot escape and leave two guards at the post to be relieved every eighth hour. Once he is inside the cell, no one is to go in or out. The door is to remained locked until I give further instruction."

"Now that's hardly necessary," Loki started, throwing his cuffed hands up. "I'm practically already detained, why would I be a threat-"

"Not another word from you or I'll slap another mouth piece on you." When Valkyrie didn't immediately step towards him, you turned to face her. "Hilde!"

"Yes, ma'am, whatever you say," she finally answered, shooting you an even more confused look before stepping towards Loki.

His brow furrowed as he straightened his back and squared his shoulders, towering over the petite warrior. "I don't know who you think you are, but I would advise you proceed with caution."

"Did you just?" Valkyrie's head tilted to the side, insulted beyond anything else, as she tried to decipher if he was truly foolish enough to threaten her.

"Loki, you are severely outmatched in this fight, not to mention you're already in chains," you warned coldly, barely willing to meet his blue, hazy gaze. "You're clearly still under whatever influence Thanos has over you, and it will take time for you to regain control. You're a danger to yourself and everyone else here, so until it can be determined that you are not a threat, you will be treated as one."

Loki's eyes widened while his mouth thinned out. "How do you know about Thanos?"

You took in a deep breath, feeling a pain in your chest as you admitted, "Because, years ago, you saved us from him." Loki's eyes widened, but before he could speak you explained, "You're in the future, Loki. I don't know the particulars, but the last time you say you saw me? That happened over a decade ago."

Though the god appeared to have something more to say, he kept quiet. He digested the information you had given him just as a set of casually dressed guards came around him. Loki looked out at the Asgardians one more time, seeing some faces of fear, some of reverence, but mostly he saw an unsure reaction of how to receive him. At that, he quickly spoke, "You said this is the future? If that’s true, then where is your timline's Loki? Shouldn’t an alternate version of myself be here, where is he, I’m sure he would have something to say about-"

The pain in your chest sharpened, but rather than leave you to answer, Valkyrie cut him off by slapping the mouth guard back over his lips, ignoring his curses. "Solitary now. Questions later," and on that note she led them away.

You didn't watch them go, instead lowering your head at the soft murmurs of your people behind you. Perhaps questioning your judgment. Slowly, they began to spread back out to their normal routines, some in pairs discussing the event.

As they went back to their lives, you stood in that same spot, staring down where Loki last stood. In truth, you didn't know what to think, still blindsided by what just transpired.

That is, until a familiar face appeared at your side.

"Mother?"

"Frig?" you gasped, "Y… You should be at school, let, let's get you to class."

"Mother, did you say that man's name was Loki?"

Your blood turned to ice in your veins, immediately knowing what he would ask next. "I did, but, sweetie, he isn't…"

"Don't you have lessons to be learning?" you heard Valkyrie cut in from behind. Your head whipped around, grateful for the interruption.

"He certainly does. Off you go, catch up with Aunt Sif. We, We, We can talk later…" The words tasted sour as they left your mouth.

Frig's lips folded inward the way they always did when he was pouting, but rather than argue he let out a short huff. "Yes, mother." You bent down to kiss his cheek before pressing your forehead to his.

"You're destined for greatness, son," you encouraged. He offered a small smile and then ran off to join the other children that had began to form small groups as they headed down the lane towards the schoolhouse.

You and Valkyrie watched him leave in silence until she finally asked, "What the hell was all of that?"

“I… don't know," you answered honestly.

"Do you think this has something to do with the time traveling Thor did? Maybe that idiot messed something up?"

You face crinkled at the memory of Thor's outlandish explanation of how he and the other Avengers gathered the stones through a quantum time warp. "He was still drinking pretty hard then… "

“You need to speak to Hulk," Valkyrie reasoned with a nod in self agreement." You need to tell him about this and… "

Both of you turned to see the blue cube that had been tossed carelessly to the side.

"Yes, we need to do something about that.” Sighing deeply, you bent over and plucked it from the ground.

"Hey, careful with that thing, you don’t know what it is!”

Turning it from side to side, you squinted while trying to make out the figure in your memory. Yet nothing came to the surface.

"I'll go call Banner and show him this. Maybe he can make heads or tails out of what's happening."

Just before you started to leave, Valkyrie grabbed hold of your arm.

“Wait, you’re just going to leave Loki locked away without going to talk to him first? Don’t you think he deserves some sort of explanation?”

You brought your face close to Valkyrie’s making sure to whisper when you pointed out, “Didn’t you see the look on the people’s faces, Hilde? They’re terrified of him, and frankly so am I.” Pulling your arm free, you shook your head. “I know what you must be thinking, but this... this isn’t my Loki. This isn't who came to our rescue in Asgard, nor is it the same man that sacrificed himself for his people. This is some convoluted version of him after he fell from the rainbow bridge into the abyss, consumed by self loathing and Thano’s mind poison. Right now, he is still in the mindset that he is to be crowned king and that we should all be bowing to him.” You shook your head, finishing, “No, I’m not going going to waste a breath on him, not yet.”

“Then when?”

You hesitated, unsure what you really wanted to do with him once the mind stone’s control wore off, if it ever truly would. It was all merely a theory, after all, that being away from Thanos and the mind stone would cleanse him of the dark thoughts clouding his soul.

Unfortunately, there were also other factors. After all, not every terrible decision Loki made was Thanos's doing. When he faked his death to rule Asgard disguised as Odin, he certainly wasn’t under Thano’s control.

Who’s to say he wouldn’t try to pull something similar?

Who’s to say he doesn't still want to be king?

You had to calm down, making yourself reason, “Loki’s eyes have a blue hue to them when they’re under the mind stone’s effect. If his eyes turn back to green, I’ll see if there’s some part of him that is salvageable. Until then, keep surveillance. No one talks with him, just watches for eye color. He’s manipulative,” you warned, “we don’t need anyone falling for his silver tongue.”

“And what about Frig?”

The thump of your heart made the topic too much to dwell on. “Frig’s father died saving the Asgardians,” you answered dryly. “That hasn’t changed just because of a shift in the time space continuum. For all we know, this past form isn’t long for this world and I do not intend to muddy my son’s mind over the fanciful idea that his father has come home. For now, we watch his eyes. If-” you annunciated, “he can show the corruption has passed, Thor will decide what to do with him.”

“So you mean to tell me you’re not going to  tell Loki he has a son-”

“This isn’t up for debate,” you finalized. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.” Rather than hear another word about the matter, you left to busy yourself with a very important phone call.

*****

Valkyrie barely had time to think when she led the guards escorting Loki to the cellar beneath the tavern before she returned to check in you. Now that she had a minute to think it over, she realized this wasn't the ideal jailhouse for a god. It had been barely pieced together with uneven rod iron bars and leftover two by fours. It normally held overly rowdy drunks until they sobered up enough to be allowed to go home.

It wasn’t built to contain a god, but it was the only thing you could offer.  

As she swung open the door to the cellar, Valkyrie called out an order to the guards, "Okay, you two go. Stand outside the doors. I'll call for you when I'm done."

The overly bearded men shared a look before raising a brow. "Y/n asked us not to leave him."

The other added, "Also mentioned not to talk to him."

"So you're telling me-" she closed the distance between her and the soldiers, making them both notably unnerved, "You're going to stop me from talking to him?"

"HE does have a name!" Loki roared over the room. "And he is standing. Right. Here."

She cut her brown eyes to him, shoving herself through the men with ease.

"Yes, you do. Its Loki. And I've met you, but you haven't met me yet."

The men shared another look before quietly escaping.

Whatever Valkyrie was about to do, they didn't want to bare witness.

Loki's eyes narrowed and his clocked his chin towards her. "Judging by your tone, we must not get along in this time."

"You're certainly not my favorite person, I'll admit. But. I'm here as an ally."

"Ally?" Loki wondered.

Valkyrie went closer to the steel bars of his cell, turning her head as she tried to examine the color of his eyes.

"Mind bottling…"

Loki snickered, "I beg your pardon?"

"Oh, it's a midgardian phrase. Means your thoughts are trapped in a bottle. Anyway," Valkyrie turned her back to him, waving over her shoulder, "Alright I'll see you tomorrow. Don't be a pain in the arse and we may even feed you."

"Wait!" he demanded. "I demand answers! I'm the prince of Asgard, I deserve to know what's going on! Why are the Asgardians here? Where is my brother?" He Inhaled sharply before finishing, "And why did y/n react the way she did when she saw me?"

Valkyrie’s back remained to him, but she did give pause before opening the door. "I don't know all the details of your life, so you'll have to wait for y/n to come talk to you."

And on that she left, telling the guards to return to their post while she went to set up for the next set of officers that would relieve them.

She still didn't fully understand what was going on, but she hoped it wouldn't prove to be a complication.

*****

"You mean to tell me you idiots let Loki escape with the Space Stone!" you roared at the hologram of the Hulked out Bruce Banner.

Despite being a quaint little cottage, you had managed to instill some high tech services inside your home, the most useful being a telecommunicator that allowed you to speak to whomever you needed, whenever you needed.

As large and ferocious as Hulk was, Banner was certainly the opposite. Even as fearsome as he appeared, his hands kept moving nervously as he tried to explain, "I mean, it was simply a miscalculation, when you're dealing with things as fragile as quantum mechanics, you're so involved in the science portion that-that-that the actual planning gets, well, frankly, side stepped," he spoke quickly without taking a breath, "I mean, yeah, now in hindsight, Loki should have been an accounted variable in the equation, given his history with, well, I won't go into that, but even Stark missed that, and if he missed it, I mean, it really was just a fluke, Actually Scott Lang, I mean Antman, yeah, let me give you his number, he was there, I'm pretty sure it was his fault,  something about he couldn't break Tony's heart, here's his info-"

“But not a single one of you thought it was possibly impertinent information to me that Loki was out traveling through space and time?” you snapped at him. “All I'm saying is a little forewarning would have been nice. Dammit, I have a five year old little boy I have to explain this all to, Bruce!”

Banner went quiet, realizing the dept of his poor decision to keep the mishap a secret. “You’re right,” he told you, “You’re right. I’m sorry, y/n, you did have a right to know, someone should have called.”

You rubbed a hand over your face, trying to work through the webs to figure out what to do. “Well, what do you know about alternate realities? Since he’s appeared here, did anything spark something up?”

“If you mean the quantum molecular hypertonic analyzer, no, nothing ‘sparked up’.” In the years following the team’s travel through time, there were several alternate realities popping up. To keep up with them, Bruce, Pym, and Shuri were able to create an instrument capable of marking down significant time points and follow the changes in their time waves.

It was mostly used to make sure that your own realities didn’t fall apart at the seams from the destruction of the infinity stones, but if that were the case no one was broadcasting it.

Worried by your silence, the Hulk’s hand rubbed under his glasses. “It really is a mess, y/n. But frankly, I’m pretty sure Loki is here to stay. Our equipment for travel has been shut down so another time’s Thanos doesn’t decide to come wipe us out, you can have the space stone under lock and key, we’re the only ones who know it’s there. I would say this is a win.”

“A win?” you shot back.

“I mean, you are getting another chance with Loki, right? You, him, Frig, one big happy family.” His brow creased in confusion, “Aren’t you happy?”

“I…” you weren’t sure what you felt, but at the moment it was most certainly not happy.

“Look,” he told you, leaning closer to the telecom so his holographic eyes were lined up with yours. “Speaking as someone who was too wrapped up in his own head to be with the person he loved while she was still here, I would take this as a win. You have Loki back. You have something a lot of us don’t get.”

“And what’s that?”

“A chance for the universe to correct a terrible wrong it’s brought onto you.”

You were silent at his words, your eyes glancing towards the mantle where Loki’s helmet laid next to your swords.

“I’m so scared once I accept he’s really back, something will happen,” you admitted before looking back at the green figure. “Like this can’t be real, that somehow, someway, he’s either going to be taken away or leave.”

“Then isn’t that reason enough to enjoy it while it lasts?”

The two of you were quiet a moment longer before he added, “You can have your family together, y/n. I know after everything that’s happened, it doesn’t seem possible. But don’t waste it fearing it’ll end. Everything ends. It’s just how you get there that matters.”  

Thanking him for his time, you hung up, having heard all you could stand.

Sitting at your dining room table with your head leaning against your hand, you looked back at the helmet.

“How do you keep doing this to me?” you asked it, a lump forming in your throat. “I’ve mourned you so many times, Loki. I’m so afraid…” tears bubbled in the corner of your eyes, “I’m so afraid I won’t have the strength to get over it again.” The horns sat there, unknowingly breaking your heart. Pinching the bridge of your nose, you let out a sharp breath.

While you were glad Banner didn't seem too concerned with the misplaced, time-hoping Loki, it didn't tell you what to do with the situation. As for the space stone, you had both agreed to let it remain in New Asgard. The last thing anyone needed right now was news of an infinity stone on Midgard.

You walked up to the mantle and placed your hand on a particular wooden panel to the side. A light scanned over your fingerprints, granting you access to a secret compartment in the wooden mantle. Gingerly, you placed the cube inside and closed it.

It wasn't particular secure, but there was no reason to think anyone was looking for it. After all, it wasn't supposed to even exist in your time.

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