I have a feeling everything's going to work out fine.
[Thor genuinely believes that, for a whole five seconds.
That's how long it takes for the ship - the looming, massive four-pronged ship - to rise up in front of them, blocking out the entire viewing window. He can't even see where it ends, it's that close to them. After a moment's stunned silence, he steps closer to the window and tries to sight the edges of it.]
[ Loki vividly recalls Sanctuary. The smells, the way the shadows draped themselves over every corner. You could never tell what lurked nearby. Every sense, every paranoid feeling was heightened, leaving him scared and vulnerable.
After a few days in the prison, Loki wasn't feeling vulnerable anymore. There's no fear. Just moments without the absence of pain. And those were rare, seconds in between the cracking of his limbs. He's quite sure his bones have been broken many times over. Sometimes they let them heal, other times, they don't wait. Sometimes Thanos is there, pressing the ominuous weight of his power over Loki's mind, but he's stronger now.
He thinks.
He wonders.
Either way, Loki does nothing but hang on . . . and laugh at times to know that he still scored a tiny victory. Thor and his people were far away. Safe. Maybe they might even survive. It's better than anything Loki has ever had or done. ]
[It's a sound Loki would likely have learned to recognise: a metallic scrape, followed by beeps and the clanks of locks shifting apart. The door is being unlocked, slowly but surely.]
[To say things had been hectic from the moment Thor landed their shuttle back on Earth was an understatement. Skirting the scan range of Thanos's ship, finding out where most everyone was, and where the fighting had begun, and all that while having to help Loki through the worse parts of it. Thor thinks if he ever sleeps again, he'll be out for a week.
The Avengers have one gamble to play, and it will come at dawn. For now all Thor can do is stare out at the Wakandan jungle beyond the tent, arms folded and mood fractious.]
[ Loki has mostly kept his distance from the Avengers. He has yet to regain his normal strength. Which still far surpasses any mortal, Loki still feels weak and vulnerable, disguising it with his haughty demeanor and isolating himself for the most part. All he needs to know is the plan and nothing else.
Still he sidles up to Thor with two glasses of wine. ]
[It began before the sun crested the Wakandan horizon.
The main group of the Avengers - all but a select few - mounted a full assault on Thanos's army of beasts. They smashed into them with fury and the battle raged on long after the sun had truly risen. Not one of them would willingly give up, because this wasn't the key part of the plan. No, that was the splinter group taking Dr Strange's infinity stone and attempting to use it to get close enough to wrench the gauntlet from Thanos's hand. Dangerous work. A task that could easily fail if the slightest thing went wrong. But it was their best shot.
Thor was in the main battle group, better suited to fighting than whatever trickery the others would employ to get around Thanos's attention. And it was just as well; it wasn't only mindless beasts that stalked the field.
Thanos's children did too. It hadn't taken long for one of them to single Thor out and go after the Asgardian king with everything he had. The blows traded between Thor and Corvus Glaive increasingly tossed both of them further and further away from the bulk of the fight, and towards the abandoned outskirts of the Wakandan city. One could nearly lose sight of them entirely, if it weren't for the increasingly huge bolts of lightning Thor called down to hammer his foe.
It's the glaive he needs to snatch from the enemy's hand, but the glancing blows he's been hit with already warn him off trying recklessly. The slash through his thigh especially has slowed him down a bit, compensating by hurling lightning at Corvus whenever possible.]
[ Loki was mostly dealing with the small fry, his impeccable aim with his daggers able to make decent swathes among the enemy forces, clearing the field. He heard Thor's cry and Loki automatically turns to locate the threat, his eyes widening. ]
The battlefield is silent. It's littered with monster bodies, and a not insignificant amount of people lie among them. Strangely, in this silence, some are starting to... get back to their feet. Look around themselves in confusion. Eventually they make their way towards a green light on a nearby hill, hoping for some answers.
Loki and Thor had fallen further away, out of notice of the reviving soldiers and Avengers. But they aren't forgotten.
A green light washes over Loki's body, crumpled and bloody on the ground, and the first thing he'll feel is a sudden intake of breath. A mirror image of his last breath, only in reverse. Quicker than he can feel, the injuries he suffered backtrack as well, knitting back together and disappearing as if they were never there.]
[ Loki scrambles to his feet, immediately drawing his daggers once more and ready to cut down anyone near him . . . except there's no one there. Carefully, Loki drops his stance, scanning the field. Nothing. No signs of intelligent life around. Whatever battle had taken place, it had either moved on or it was over.
Thor.
In a mad rush, Loki does a mad search for Thor's body, tossing bodies aside, his hands absolutely caked with the filth of the battlefield before he finds his brother. Dead. Thor hadn't stirred, hadn't woken up like Loki had. In a fit of frustration, he bangs his fists against Thor's chest with a guttural cry. ]
[ The death of Thanos had heralded a new age. At least, for heroes. They were more organized, more prepared, more connected than they had been before. Squads were assigned, teams were established and everyone went their own way. All, except for Thor and Loki, left with the task of finding a new land for Asgard. Loki lingers behind Thor as he approaches heads of state, stepping in to bargain and smoothly make sure that they weren't being taken advantage of.
It was good work. Useful work. Why didn't Loki feel useful then?
The truth was, Loki didn't know what he was doing. Or whether this was what he wanted to do. So he found himself withdrawing more and more. At the very least, he doesn't abandon Thor to the mercies of court but whenever he finds the chance or sees nothing at risk, he discreetly slips away.
He's been testing the limits of his shapeshifting abilities. Before, it was the Casket that triggered it. Now, Loki stands in a glade, his arm stretched out as he wills it to turn blue. Slowly, the colour creeps up his arm and it takes all his control not to stop or flinch. ]
[They were better times they were living in, certainly. But very strange ones too.
Thor had been increasingly busy since Thanos fell. After securing a temporary landing site for the Asgardians in Wakanda, he had then set about the more daunting task of finding somewhere they could live permanently. He had thought it suitable to resign from the Avengers in the meantime - he would never really have the time for such things again. The others had still insisted he keep an honorary membership, on the always-possible chance another world-ending catastrophe threatened the Earth again. That, he mused, was a legitimate reason for him to join the fray.
In the meantime, it's meeting after meeting after meeting. It's enough to make his head spin at times, but he keeps his notes and Loki always steps in when things get too convoluted. Thor's grateful beyond words to his brother for that. With the rest of Asgard still recovering and Heimdall often busy with their management, there are few others he can turn to.
Even if he does slip off more and more when business is finished. Thor doesn't mind at first, knowing how taxing this all is and not blaming Loki for wanting to get away from it for a while. He doesn't worry that his brother is off causing havoc somewhere; not at the moment. After a few hours spent pouring over letters in his room though, Thor starts to wonder where he's gotten to.
He steps out into the gardens hoping to clear his head. It's there he sees Loki, but he stops short of calling out to his brother when he sees his hand... changing. At least for the moment. He finds himself only able to watch as understanding sinks in.]
[ you will long for something as sweet as pain. loki had assumed torture. pain. he knows thanos is familiar with those concepts, has used them before on him, though not in great detail. loki had been prepared for that at least, even as he attempted to barter for leeway, it wasn't for himself.
thor, though, the fool had leaped into arms trying to fight thanos off and loki's heart was in his eyes, giving himself away. like a fool. with that, thanos had taken the stone . . . and thor. leaving loki with a battered ship full of asgardians he could not use to chase after them. so he took them away, kept the safe and tried to salvage their spirits for a time. then, after confiding with heimdall, loki spirited away with a tiny shuttle shielded with magic and managed to penetrate thanos' hulking ship.
he had to get thor out, loki told himself as he carefully prowled the corridors, knives in both hands, he could fail again. not again. hadn't he done enough? ducking into a corridor, loki finally spies the cell where thor is held. with a silent burst of magic, he unlocks it, stepping in gingerly ]
[A handful of days have passed since Loki last saw Thor, being dragged away dirty and unconscious by the Mad Titan. A few days only. Yet that can be an eternity, even to the long-lived gods of Asgard. And Loki knows better than most how time can become irrelevant in the grip of Thanos.
Thor is in the cell, and in one piece. He's chained to the far wall by the neck, with only enough give in the length to allow sitting. His arms are pinned behind his back by a series of bindings exactly positioned to keep them from being destroyed by pure strength alone.
At first glance Thor could be mistaken for being asleep. But at Loki's voice his head snaps up abruptly, his gaze fixing hard on the other man. It makes the scorch marks on his face more apparent and no more comforting. They come perilously close to his remaining eye.]
[It wasn't much easier, coming back to the ship. Thor got through it as best he could, kept his head where possible, but it was by the skin of his teeth. With his eyesight as bad as it was he opted to stay out of everyone's path until one of the healers had a look at it. He couldn't afford to lose control and attack someone just because he couldn't tell who they were.
A couple of days pass and most of his injuries heal. He can see again, a relief he doesn't want to admit to. His mind remains fractured and sleep elusive. It comes in fits and starts only, usually ending when he wakes up abruptly with his heart racing, staring at shadows. Those are the hardest times, when reality has yet to reassert itself over his sleeping nightmares.
On this night he's startled awake yet again, choking back a yell that will serve no one and nothing.]
[ Loki had heard. He's always been a light sleeper and the slightest change would rouse him immediately. The first time, Thor's scream had caught him off guard and he hovered outside the door, unsure of what to do.
This time, he sits on the side of the bed, appearing out of nowhere. ]
[Thor can't even scream when he hears Loki's neck break.
A howl of anguish tries to rip out of his throat only to jam against the gag Thanos's crony had fixed on him. Slowly, deliberately, the Mad Titan walks over and throws Loki's body to the floor in front of him. Looking Thor full in the eyes the whole time. He knows the monster is talking to his children, that they're leaving and the power of the stones is tearing through the ship as they exit. He can't hear them though through the ringing in his ears. He can only stare transfixed at Loki's body.
The metal binding his body falls away as Maw disappears and Thor collapses to the floor, pain bursting through his hands as he claws his way over to where his brother lies.]
Loki...
[His voice cracks and he grabs hold of Loki's leathers. Burying his face against Loki's chest, he feels his heart break once more. This time there's no coming back from it. He senses more than sees the livid purple fire starting to devour the ship around them, but it doesn't matter anymore.
Except Loki gasps, coughing up blood and air, feeling the stain of it on his throat and chest. He takes in lungfuls even as it hurts, trying to curl up on himself, struggling to remain conscious of what's around him. Blearily, he blinks the tears and blood from his eyes. ]
[ it had been a long journey. but they had managed to forge stormbreaker with eitri's help and found themselves back on midgard. in the middle of a battle. wonderful. loki gets out his knives, as thor starts hunting down thanos, lighting striking down their enemies. their pursuit leads them to a forest where thanos is retrieving the last one — the mindstone. loki watches, aghast as thor slams his hammer into thanos' chest, his heart beating wildly.
[Thor certainly wants it to be, as he steps up to Thanos and pushes the axe further into the brute's chest. There's no shred of levity left in him now, just cold fury when he bears down on the Titan.]
I told you you would die for that.
[It doesn't bring him any joy to look into Thanos's eyes as he snarls. Just satisfaction. This was for Heimdall, and his people, and the countless others Thanos had slaughtered in his mad quest. The bigger man wheezes against the wound in his chest and strains to speak.]
"You should... have gone for the head..."
[Too late, Thor realises that Thanos is lifting his hand with the gauntlet, thumb and forefinger poised to snap.]
No--! [His shout is drowned out by the resonant snap and the blinding light that accompanies it, swallowing all sensation.]
[Wakanda is a marvel, even with half its people now vanished. That it can produce a space-travel ready ship in a week's time based on the plans of people who mostly have never been in space is testament to that. With Loki's help the course is plotted in. With the information Shuri was able to pull from Vision's files, the energy signature of the Mind Stone is added as a beacon. One last stroke of luck seals the deal - a scratchy, barely coherent transmission from Titan itself hits Wakanda's radar. It can't be responded to, but everyone can hear the voice of Tony Stark coming out of it. Just how he managed to get there and rig something up that could beam back to Earth is anyone's guess.
The end result is they have a clear path to follow. Once everything's ready, the disparate Avengers and others board the starship and launch into the depths of space.]
[ Loki, for the most part, has settled a little. He hasn't relaxed but he's been helpful enough that the others have relaxed and often done their best to prod him a little, trying to get him to rest or join in. Valkyrie keeps her eye on him at all times and Loki understands, even if it chafes a little.
Loki sleeps more often. He knows that it's dangerous, trying to chase the spectre of Thor's spirit. He casts spells and charms, hoping that whatever had worked before would do so again. Each night of failure only spurs him on. And so, Loki takes to sleep once more, aching in his bones. ]
It was a false, fake beauty that Loki reveled in pulling apart. The Avengers took their positions, diverting Thanos' energy as Loki swung the hammer, letting the energy of the Infinity Stones slowly drain away. It hurt and Loki could feel his magic and body being stretched by it, lightning racing across the battlefield, trying to find an outlet to all that power.
And then it snaps like a rubber band. Thanos screams as the Gauntlet burns his hand right off and shatters. The stones crumble into dust and Thanos collapses into himself, a Titan with no life. Loki barely notices, sagging to his knees. Drained. He can't feel his magic and he wonders if it's just gone. Either way, as life seeps away from Titan . . . the world begins to tilt once more. People are returning. ]
[All that power, the crux of the universe, doesn't relinquish it's place in the cosmic order quietly. The stone dust sparkles as it spreads through the sky, vibrations through the fabric of life. It seems to strike everyone dumb in turns. Their arms fall to their sides, their eyes stare blankly at nothing. Only to stir in the next moment as shadows form beside them, coalescing into people.
Loki breathes in one moment, watching Titan revert to a ruined mess. In the next exhale, he's kneeling in water, a shallow pool stretching forever to meet an eerie ochre sky.
There's nothing else here, except for Thor. Not Thor as he was the day he died, or how he appeared in Loki's dreams. Standing in front of Loki now, Thor looks every inch the way he had the fateful day of his coronation seven years ago.
Staring down at Loki with both eyes, he speaks in a strange echoing tone.]
[Thor, if asked, couldn't rightly tell someone what happened immediately after. Something in him had shut off following the snap of Thanos's fingers. He has vague impressions. People he knew and people he didn't know crumbling into dust. The Stormbreaker falling useless to the ground as the Titan escaped. Someone rallying everyone together, calling for them to regroup back in the city of... Thor forgets the name. It's not important.
What's important is the ringing in his ears, the ash in his mouth, the uselessness of his fingers.
He had followed automatically, rabbit in tow, and found himself speaking of what he knew to the other (remaining) Avengers. All the while he waited for someone to say it. To realise where the blame belonged. No one did, and that was worse. He said nothing of it himself and merely set himself to work on the plans.
A room was assigned to him but he didn't use it. Thor worked instead. He worked, he ignored the protest in his exhausted body, and he kept going. It was days later when he was sitting alone in a meeting room, a phone lying dead in his hand, that he simply couldn't stay awake any longer. His eyes fall shut and he drops his head into his arms, letting out a ragged breath.]
[ When Thor opens his eyes, all he'll see is gold. Golden halls, golden corridors, closed by golden doors. A table rests in front of him, resplendent and decked with foods; fruits, drinks, wine. By the steps, standing by a pillar was Loki, dressed in his robes. His horns gleam softly under the firelight. Night falls on Asgard. ]
[The plan doesn't truly form until the one known as Ant-Man joins the group. Someone with the ability to move through the 'Quantum Realm' - a way of traversing time, both forward and back. From there, it only takes the suggestion of collecting the Stones from the past to galvanise everyone. Half the Stones have been on Earth, so this is where they start. Two of those Stones were together very recently, in New York, during a certain moment in time.
Tony and the Ant-Man go for the Tessaract. Thor goes for the Mind Stone.
His return is marked by a bloody gash in his side, and an equally bloody sceptre successfully retrieved. It's what they needed, it's one step closer to trying to reverse this mess. Yet it doesn't feel like victory. The hole growing inside Thor is chewing his insides as he hands the sceptre over with trembling hands to a concerned Steve. Thor doesn't stay a moment longer; he turns and almost runs out of the room, ignoring any calls coming after him.
He should go to the healing rooms. He should make a report on what exactly he did back in the past. But he does neither of those things, just finds himself dropping heavily into a window seat somewhere, breathing fast and thin. He should go do something. Anything.
Instead, he drops his face into his hands and sobs like he hasn't done since childhood.]
[ Rest doesn't come easily. For a while, it seems like it will not come at all. But it comes, all too stealthily, stealing away Thor's breath. When he opens his eyes, Thor is on the Statesman. The windows are large, showing the expanse of the stars. And there is a weight on his back, the faint brush of dark hair. Loki. ]
[ the reality in which loki resided it was a weak construct. it took all his magic to house himself into the gauntlet when thanos reached out to strangle him. so he sat and waited. at times, he was able to reach out to thor, nudge him in the right direction, but he saw very little of the outside world. he barely knew what was happening.
it was like a void. an eternity where nothing happened. either thor freed him or he dies when thanos dies. either would do. he wanders around the edges, waiting, until —
it cracks.
loki pauses, staring at it wide-eyed. it cracked. and the crack was getting larger. swallowing tightly, he calls out.]
[Thor's been running on fumes for ... he doesn't know how long. After assembling all of the Stones out of the past, they had taken the fight to Thanos. Two sets of Stones are more dangerous than one, which had lead to a cataclysmic fight the likes of which none of them had ever seen. Through it all though had run one key goal - return the disappeared to life. It took all the power of the past Stones to break the hold of the current ones and reverse the effects. Even from a distance Thanos's howl of pain could be heard as one by one the vanished started to return to life.
The next part of the plan swung into effect immediately, banking on Rocket's knowledge of how to control the Stones. But, there were others to save that needed extra work. Leaving Time and Power in the hands of the Avengers to fend off Thanos, the other Stones were split up amongst those who needed to save the rest. Quill took off with Soul. Wanda began tapping into Mind.
Thor knew taking both Space and Reality could very likely kill him. He was willing to take the risk. At the least Stormbreaker could be used to keep the effects of Reality at an arm's length.
It takes dozens of teleports through space until Thor finds himself in the dark beyond a shimmering wall. He knows - it sings with the same painful song that's burning through him from the Space Stone clenched in his fist. Readying the axe, he slams it into the wall, Reality's position wedged into the handle lending power to the swing. When he hears Loki's voice faintly through the crack, he slams Stormbreaker into the wall again. Again. And again.
The wall shatters, a great hole appearing in the membrane around the pocket reality. Thor steps through it, red energy billowing around the axe in one hand and blue fire burning trails through his arm from the Stone in the other.]
--found you.
[It's nearly gasped, from sheer disbelief and nerves.]
[ Loki turns Gungnir in his hands. He watches the Bifrost in the quiet hours of the night, standing on the balcony. He doesn't visit his father anymore, afraid of what he might say, of what secrets might spill from his lips. No one seems to have answers and the palace feels as silent as a grave. There's no one he can trust. Not his mother, not his . . . friends.
Not Thor.
He was alone and when Thor came back, it'll be over. He'll lose it all. There'll be nothing to bind Loki here. He continues to stare out at the bridge until his eyes sting. There had to be a way out of this. A way to prove that Loki was Asgardian, he was good enough. He'll do something so brave that they'll never let him go, not ever —
There's a crash. Loki jumps, petrified, holding Gungnir with a white knuckled grip as he looks for the source of the noise. ]
[Time travel is not an exact art. The sensation was jarring enough on its own, whilst having to keep the exact time and place in mind in order to direct the process to where you wanted to be. Unfortunately, Thor's memory of the palace is not so precise that he remembers where all the furniture is. His arrival is heralded by him stumbling into a chair, which promptly crashes into the floor before he can catch it.
His head snaps up as Loki's voice rings out from the other side of the chamber. His heart constricts.] Shit, [He mutters quietly before he straightens up. Remember what you're here for.
The only benefit of where Thor ended up is that he's not immediately in Loki's sights. Even so, only a few seconds pass before he steps out from behind the partition, a shadowy figure in dark armour.]
I mean you no harm.
[Dimly, Thor is impressed that his voice didn't shake, when his heart feels like it's going to beat its way out of his chest.]
[One of the agents is talking to him again. Talking at him, Thor thinks, because he's not truly listening to a word the man is saying. His mind keeps circling back to Mjolnir. Even though it's nearby it may as well be on Midgard's moon, for all he can do with it. The hammer had rejected him. He had been so sure. Surely all he needed to do was get hold of his hammer and all this madness, this stupid exile, would be over.
Only it proved impossible to move. Thor had been found lacking. Unworthy. Only then did he really start to understand just how foolish he had been.]
"Who are you?" [Thor focuses back on Coulson, though he remains as mute as ever. Coulson himself is just as implacable.] "One way or another, we find out what we need to know."
[After checking a beeping device from his pocket, Coulson makes to leave the room, quipping 'Don't go anywhere' as he goes. Unlikely, Thor thinks. Where would he go?]
[ The door slides close. And Loki is there, dressed in Midgardian clothes. He's idly rubbing circles into his palms and for a few seconds, it seems like he won't raise his head to meet Thor's gaze, but he finally does. ]
With Loki departed to Earth to talk to the younger version of himself, Thor had kept to his brother's rooms as agreed. These few hours spent here were the most rest he'd gotten in what seemed like an age. Thor had avoided sleep as much as he could the last few days, sick at heart and his heart pounding like a drumbeat in his ears.
He had stood at the window and watched dawn break over Asgard, an odd sense of peace settling over him. All of this was gone in his own time and should have filled him with misery, as it often did. But he finds that it's muted since coming here, knowing that time has shifted enough that things won't happen exactly the same way. There's a strange calm that comes with knowing he has no future to return to. Still, he weeps a bit to see that sunrise again.
He ends up sitting on one of the lounges Loki has set up near the balcony (-- for reading, how many times had Thor barged in to find Loki curled up on one of them, a scandalised look on his face at Thor's inability to knock or ask first--) and pulls his armour off. Bone-deep weariness sets in before he can even think to fumble off his wristguards, his last thought just that Loki ought to return soon.
He's still there when Loki does come back, slumped over against the armrest, less haggard-looking in sleep than he was when awake.]
[ Loki was bone-tired. The clamor of fear no longer battered his head, screaming at every corner. A blessing. Loki should count them while he could. He closes the door quietly behind him after checking up on his parents. No changes there. The corridors echoed with hushed whispers but Loki paid them no heed for once.
It was the sight of Thor, curled up on his chair that stops him short. In a way, Loki had almost forgotten about him. ]
[ thanos. thanos was here, ravaging the ship with his brainwashed children. stepping over asgardian bodies like it means nothing. loki had barely managed to send off a meager handful of asgardians off in shuttles, watching them make their quiet escape.
now only thor, loki and thanos remained. the ship was silent as a grave. ]
[Sending the Hulk after Thanos had been a decent plan. Thor knew of few things that could stand up to the Hulk's fury. Unfortunately, now that list is a little longer. And Thor's list of friends is-- empty. Hauling himself up yet again, Thor lunges for Thanos despite the pain burning through his body, the blood blurring his vision.
Thanos backhands him hard enough to throw him into the nearest wall, a sharp yell of pain escaping Thor before he falls to the ground. Thanos is unperturbed, turning to regard Thor in the same way a cat would a helpless mouse it bats around for enjoyment.]
"Hard to believe you're cut from the same cloth." [Tilting his head, one humourless eye finds Loki in the corner.] "Then again, you aren't, are you?"
[The sun continues to rise after the future Thor's departure; the day goes on, much as the days before. Odin sleeps. Frigga lingers. Heimdall watches. The throne remains in Loki's hands.
Mere hours after Loki's return from Midgard, Sif and the Warriors Three sneak out through the Bifrost. Whatever they intended, they come back dejected by evening, muttering amongst themselves. Anyone who heard them pass by might hear the odd sentence or two: "I just don't understand why he wouldn't return."
It's the only anomaly. Everything else in Asgard continues as it has done for millennia. Days pass this way, unremarkable on the surface.]
[ Gungnir never leaves Loki's grasp. The Warriors Three eye him suspiciously but Loki pays them no heed, keeping his chin up and back straight. At night, he worries and plots, only to fiddle at the arm guard the other Thor left him. Every night he fears Odin's return or an onslaught of the Frost Giants, of whom he has heard no summons, no demands. Every night he dreams of his visage crumbling and all of Asgard seeing him for who he was.
Nothing comes. Loki finds that worse. He doesn't know how much longer he can bear this. This waiting. ]
[ Surprisingly, things worked out. When Odin woke up, the ensuing arguments and fights had been explosive, but . . . tempered. Thor had been there as well as their mother, which helped bolster Loki to call out some moments in his childhood that he had always questioned. And he was promptly chastised for thinking that he wouldn't be wanted and that his usefulness was at an end.
It was still a sore point and one that wasn't going to disappear, but it seemed to . . . matter less as time passed by. things seemed to settle back into a routine of sorts. Thor tries to visit Midgard more and Loki . . . was still trying to find something that only he could do, where he could help. The process was slow, but it no longer felt dire and inevitable, closing in without little to no hope. ]
[Tumultuous though things had been, it was a series of waves that could be ridden rather than one enormous one that crashed down on them all. Odin still reigned as king, Thor having decided not to claim the throne for the time being. Instead, Odin delegated certain tasks such as keeping peace in the realms to the older prince, which he took to with due responsibility. It did often take Thor away from the palace, much like it had tonight.
He never left without saying he would be back soon. Thor's banishment had made it a bit of a habit with him, sometimes barbed when it came to Odin, but in a more pointed way with Loki. It's a reminder that it's not for good.]
[The end came with a crack and a thud, then nothing. The nothing stretched for seconds or for millennia; there was no way of telling. All that those who reach Valhalla can recall is that the nothing passes too, and they find themselves in front of the golden gates so often sung about in the halls of Asgard.
It's a place where time means little. Kings of old mingle freely with Asgard's most recent fallen. No matter how many people there are, it never seems overly crowded or impossible to find space to breath. The halls hold exactly as much space as is needed.
The gates of Valhalla are open, with plenty of newcomers passing through. Even some who might be surprised to find themselves there.]
[ loki still think it is a mistake. surely. surely he wouldn't be here. couldn't be here. he spent most of his time at the start in a daze, refusing to listen to anyone. it took him ages for his mother to coax him out of his hiding spot. for a while, he simply believed this was an illusion, a trick. after some time (whatever counts as time in valhalla), loki relaxed his guard a little. only a little.
it's hard though. to walk among the asgardians, where the light still shines. where the halls remain golden. for loki, it still feels lonely without thor. thor who made asgard a little more bearable for loki. but it is better for thor to be elsewhere. fighting the battle. doing what is necessary. loki can't fault him for that. ]
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shamechamber2017-12-02 05:31 pm
[the stinger]
[Thor genuinely believes that, for a whole five seconds.
That's how long it takes for the ship - the looming, massive four-pronged ship - to rise up in front of them, blocking out the entire viewing window. He can't even see where it ends, it's that close to them. After a moment's stunned silence, he steps closer to the window and tries to sight the edges of it.]
What the hell is that...?
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We have to go. Now.
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[ the pit ]
After a few days in the prison, Loki wasn't feeling vulnerable anymore. There's no fear. Just moments without the absence of pain. And those were rare, seconds in between the cracking of his limbs. He's quite sure his bones have been broken many times over. Sometimes they let them heal, other times, they don't wait. Sometimes Thanos is there, pressing the ominuous weight of his power over Loki's mind, but he's stronger now.
He thinks.
He wonders.
Either way, Loki does nothing but hang on . . . and laugh at times to know that he still scored a tiny victory. Thor and his people were far away. Safe. Maybe they might even survive. It's better than anything Loki has ever had or done. ]
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[wakanda; the night before]
The Avengers have one gamble to play, and it will come at dawn. For now all Thor can do is stare out at the Wakandan jungle beyond the tent, arms folded and mood fractious.]
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Still he sidles up to Thor with two glasses of wine. ]
You won't see anything out there.
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[the crashing wave]
The main group of the Avengers - all but a select few - mounted a full assault on Thanos's army of beasts. They smashed into them with fury and the battle raged on long after the sun had truly risen. Not one of them would willingly give up, because this wasn't the key part of the plan. No, that was the splinter group taking Dr Strange's infinity stone and attempting to use it to get close enough to wrench the gauntlet from Thanos's hand. Dangerous work. A task that could easily fail if the slightest thing went wrong. But it was their best shot.
Thor was in the main battle group, better suited to fighting than whatever trickery the others would employ to get around Thanos's attention. And it was just as well; it wasn't only mindless beasts that stalked the field.
Thanos's children did too. It hadn't taken long for one of them to single Thor out and go after the Asgardian king with everything he had. The blows traded between Thor and Corvus Glaive increasingly tossed both of them further and further away from the bulk of the fight, and towards the abandoned outskirts of the Wakandan city. One could nearly lose sight of them entirely, if it weren't for the increasingly huge bolts of lightning Thor called down to hammer his foe.
It's the glaive he needs to snatch from the enemy's hand, but the glancing blows he's been hit with already warn him off trying recklessly. The slash through his thigh especially has slowed him down a bit, compensating by hurling lightning at Corvus whenever possible.]
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Thor!
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[back to the future]
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The battlefield is silent. It's littered with monster bodies, and a not insignificant amount of people lie among them. Strangely, in this silence, some are starting to... get back to their feet. Look around themselves in confusion. Eventually they make their way towards a green light on a nearby hill, hoping for some answers.
Loki and Thor had fallen further away, out of notice of the reviving soldiers and Avengers. But they aren't forgotten.
A green light washes over Loki's body, crumpled and bloody on the ground, and the first thing he'll feel is a sudden intake of breath. A mirror image of his last breath, only in reverse. Quicker than he can feel, the injuries he suffered backtrack as well, knitting back together and disappearing as if they were never there.]
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Thor.
In a mad rush, Loki does a mad search for Thor's body, tossing bodies aside, his hands absolutely caked with the filth of the battlefield before he finds his brother. Dead. Thor hadn't stirred, hadn't woken up like Loki had. In a fit of frustration, he bangs his fists against Thor's chest with a guttural cry. ]
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[ post IW ]
It was good work. Useful work. Why didn't Loki feel useful then?
The truth was, Loki didn't know what he was doing. Or whether this was what he wanted to do. So he found himself withdrawing more and more. At the very least, he doesn't abandon Thor to the mercies of court but whenever he finds the chance or sees nothing at risk, he discreetly slips away.
He's been testing the limits of his shapeshifting abilities. Before, it was the Casket that triggered it. Now, Loki stands in a glade, his arm stretched out as he wills it to turn blue. Slowly, the colour creeps up his arm and it takes all his control not to stop or flinch. ]
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Thor had been increasingly busy since Thanos fell. After securing a temporary landing site for the Asgardians in Wakanda, he had then set about the more daunting task of finding somewhere they could live permanently. He had thought it suitable to resign from the Avengers in the meantime - he would never really have the time for such things again. The others had still insisted he keep an honorary membership, on the always-possible chance another world-ending catastrophe threatened the Earth again. That, he mused, was a legitimate reason for him to join the fray.
In the meantime, it's meeting after meeting after meeting. It's enough to make his head spin at times, but he keeps his notes and Loki always steps in when things get too convoluted. Thor's grateful beyond words to his brother for that. With the rest of Asgard still recovering and Heimdall often busy with their management, there are few others he can turn to.
Even if he does slip off more and more when business is finished. Thor doesn't mind at first, knowing how taxing this all is and not blaming Loki for wanting to get away from it for a while. He doesn't worry that his brother is off causing havoc somewhere; not at the moment. After a few hours spent pouring over letters in his room though, Thor starts to wonder where he's gotten to.
He steps out into the gardens hoping to clear his head. It's there he sees Loki, but he stops short of calling out to his brother when he sees his hand... changing. At least for the moment. He finds himself only able to watch as understanding sinks in.]
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[ au: thor gets taken ]
thor, though, the fool had leaped into arms trying to fight thanos off and loki's heart was in his eyes, giving himself away. like a fool. with that, thanos had taken the stone . . . and thor. leaving loki with a battered ship full of asgardians he could not use to chase after them. so he took them away, kept the safe and tried to salvage their spirits for a time. then, after confiding with heimdall, loki spirited away with a tiny shuttle shielded with magic and managed to penetrate thanos' hulking ship.
he had to get thor out, loki told himself as he carefully prowled the corridors, knives in both hands, he could fail again. not again. hadn't he done enough? ducking into a corridor, loki finally spies the cell where thor is held. with a silent burst of magic, he unlocks it, stepping in gingerly ]
Thor?
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Thor is in the cell, and in one piece. He's chained to the far wall by the neck, with only enough give in the length to allow sitting. His arms are pinned behind his back by a series of bindings exactly positioned to keep them from being destroyed by pure strength alone.
At first glance Thor could be mistaken for being asleep. But at Loki's voice his head snaps up abruptly, his gaze fixing hard on the other man. It makes the scorch marks on his face more apparent and no more comforting. They come perilously close to his remaining eye.]
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[au: dark comes the night]
A couple of days pass and most of his injuries heal. He can see again, a relief he doesn't want to admit to. His mind remains fractured and sleep elusive. It comes in fits and starts only, usually ending when he wakes up abruptly with his heart racing, staring at shadows. Those are the hardest times, when reality has yet to reassert itself over his sleeping nightmares.
On this night he's startled awake yet again, choking back a yell that will serve no one and nothing.]
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This time, he sits on the side of the bed, appearing out of nowhere. ]
Brother.
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[IW: midnight]
A howl of anguish tries to rip out of his throat only to jam against the gag Thanos's crony had fixed on him. Slowly, deliberately, the Mad Titan walks over and throws Loki's body to the floor in front of him. Looking Thor full in the eyes the whole time. He knows the monster is talking to his children, that they're leaving and the power of the stones is tearing through the ship as they exit. He can't hear them though through the ringing in his ears. He can only stare transfixed at Loki's body.
The metal binding his body falls away as Maw disappears and Thor collapses to the floor, pain bursting through his hands as he claws his way over to where his brother lies.]
Loki...
[His voice cracks and he grabs hold of Loki's leathers. Burying his face against Loki's chest, he feels his heart break once more. This time there's no coming back from it. He senses more than sees the livid purple fire starting to devour the ship around them, but it doesn't matter anymore.
Nothing does.]
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Except Loki gasps, coughing up blood and air, feeling the stain of it on his throat and chest. He takes in lungfuls even as it hurts, trying to curl up on himself, struggling to remain conscious of what's around him. Blearily, he blinks the tears and blood from his eyes. ]
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[ despite of all your losing ]
it's over. surely it's over now. ]
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I told you you would die for that.
[It doesn't bring him any joy to look into Thanos's eyes as he snarls. Just satisfaction. This was for Heimdall, and his people, and the countless others Thanos had slaughtered in his mad quest. The bigger man wheezes against the wound in his chest and strains to speak.]
"You should... have gone for the head..."
[Too late, Thor realises that Thanos is lifting his hand with the gauntlet, thumb and forefinger poised to snap.]
No--! [His shout is drowned out by the resonant snap and the blinding light that accompanies it, swallowing all sensation.]
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[the warpath]
The end result is they have a clear path to follow. Once everything's ready, the disparate Avengers and others board the starship and launch into the depths of space.]
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Loki sleeps more often. He knows that it's dangerous, trying to chase the spectre of Thor's spirit. He casts spells and charms, hoping that whatever had worked before would do so again. Each night of failure only spurs him on. And so, Loki takes to sleep once more, aching in his bones. ]
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[ the beginning of the end ]
It was a false, fake beauty that Loki reveled in pulling apart. The Avengers took their positions, diverting Thanos' energy as Loki swung the hammer, letting the energy of the Infinity Stones slowly drain away. It hurt and Loki could feel his magic and body being stretched by it, lightning racing across the battlefield, trying to find an outlet to all that power.
And then it snaps like a rubber band. Thanos screams as the Gauntlet burns his hand right off and shatters. The stones crumble into dust and Thanos collapses into himself, a Titan with no life. Loki barely notices, sagging to his knees. Drained. He can't feel his magic and he wonders if it's just gone. Either way, as life seeps away from Titan . . . the world begins to tilt once more. People are returning. ]
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Loki breathes in one moment, watching Titan revert to a ruined mess. In the next exhale, he's kneeling in water, a shallow pool stretching forever to meet an eerie ochre sky.
There's nothing else here, except for Thor. Not Thor as he was the day he died, or how he appeared in Loki's dreams. Standing in front of Loki now, Thor looks every inch the way he had the fateful day of his coronation seven years ago.
Staring down at Loki with both eyes, he speaks in a strange echoing tone.]
"Was it worth it?"
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1/2
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[forget the wrong that i've done]
What's important is the ringing in his ears, the ash in his mouth, the uselessness of his fingers.
He had followed automatically, rabbit in tow, and found himself speaking of what he knew to the other (remaining) Avengers. All the while he waited for someone to say it. To realise where the blame belonged. No one did, and that was worse. He said nothing of it himself and merely set himself to work on the plans.
A room was assigned to him but he didn't use it. Thor worked instead. He worked, he ignored the protest in his exhausted body, and he kept going. It was days later when he was sitting alone in a meeting room, a phone lying dead in his hand, that he simply couldn't stay awake any longer. His eyes fall shut and he drops his head into his arms, letting out a ragged breath.]
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[we swore we knew the future]
Tony and the Ant-Man go for the Tessaract. Thor goes for the Mind Stone.
His return is marked by a bloody gash in his side, and an equally bloody sceptre successfully retrieved. It's what they needed, it's one step closer to trying to reverse this mess. Yet it doesn't feel like victory. The hole growing inside Thor is chewing his insides as he hands the sceptre over with trembling hands to a concerned Steve. Thor doesn't stay a moment longer; he turns and almost runs out of the room, ignoring any calls coming after him.
He should go to the healing rooms. He should make a report on what exactly he did back in the past. But he does neither of those things, just finds himself dropping heavily into a window seat somewhere, breathing fast and thin. He should go do something. Anything.
Instead, he drops his face into his hands and sobs like he hasn't done since childhood.]
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You make things hard for yourself.
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[ something of an end ]
it was like a void. an eternity where nothing happened. either thor freed him or he dies when thanos dies. either would do. he wanders around the edges, waiting, until —
it cracks.
loki pauses, staring at it wide-eyed. it cracked. and the crack was getting larger. swallowing tightly, he calls out.]
Thor?
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The next part of the plan swung into effect immediately, banking on Rocket's knowledge of how to control the Stones. But, there were others to save that needed extra work. Leaving Time and Power in the hands of the Avengers to fend off Thanos, the other Stones were split up amongst those who needed to save the rest. Quill took off with Soul. Wanda began tapping into Mind.
Thor knew taking both Space and Reality could very likely kill him. He was willing to take the risk. At the least Stormbreaker could be used to keep the effects of Reality at an arm's length.
It takes dozens of teleports through space until Thor finds himself in the dark beyond a shimmering wall. He knows - it sings with the same painful song that's burning through him from the Space Stone clenched in his fist. Readying the axe, he slams it into the wall, Reality's position wedged into the handle lending power to the swing. When he hears Loki's voice faintly through the crack, he slams Stormbreaker into the wall again. Again. And again.
The wall shatters, a great hole appearing in the membrane around the pocket reality. Thor steps through it, red energy billowing around the axe in one hand and blue fire burning trails through his arm from the Stone in the other.]
--found you.
[It's nearly gasped, from sheer disbelief and nerves.]
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[ I promise I won't slip up this time ]
Not Thor.
He was alone and when Thor came back, it'll be over. He'll lose it all. There'll be nothing to bind Loki here. He continues to stare out at the bridge until his eyes sting. There had to be a way out of this. A way to prove that Loki was Asgardian, he was good enough. He'll do something so brave that they'll never let him go, not ever —
There's a crash. Loki jumps, petrified, holding Gungnir with a white knuckled grip as he looks for the source of the noise. ]
Who goes there?
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His head snaps up as Loki's voice rings out from the other side of the chamber. His heart constricts.] Shit, [He mutters quietly before he straightens up. Remember what you're here for.
The only benefit of where Thor ended up is that he's not immediately in Loki's sights. Even so, only a few seconds pass before he steps out from behind the partition, a shadowy figure in dark armour.]
I mean you no harm.
[Dimly, Thor is impressed that his voice didn't shake, when his heart feels like it's going to beat its way out of his chest.]
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[once in a lifetime]
Only it proved impossible to move. Thor had been found lacking. Unworthy. Only then did he really start to understand just how foolish he had been.]
"Who are you?" [Thor focuses back on Coulson, though he remains as mute as ever. Coulson himself is just as implacable.] "One way or another, we find out what we need to know."
[After checking a beeping device from his pocket, Coulson makes to leave the room, quipping 'Don't go anywhere' as he goes. Unlikely, Thor thinks. Where would he go?]
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Brother.
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[watching all these dreams go up in smoke]
With Loki departed to Earth to talk to the younger version of himself, Thor had kept to his brother's rooms as agreed. These few hours spent here were the most rest he'd gotten in what seemed like an age. Thor had avoided sleep as much as he could the last few days, sick at heart and his heart pounding like a drumbeat in his ears.
He had stood at the window and watched dawn break over Asgard, an odd sense of peace settling over him. All of this was gone in his own time and should have filled him with misery, as it often did. But he finds that it's muted since coming here, knowing that time has shifted enough that things won't happen exactly the same way. There's a strange calm that comes with knowing he has no future to return to. Still, he weeps a bit to see that sunrise again.
He ends up sitting on one of the lounges Loki has set up near the balcony (-- for reading, how many times had Thor barged in to find Loki curled up on one of them, a scandalised look on his face at Thor's inability to knock or ask first--) and pulls his armour off. Bone-deep weariness sets in before he can even think to fumble off his wristguards, his last thought just that Loki ought to return soon.
He's still there when Loki does come back, slumped over against the armrest, less haggard-looking in sleep than he was when awake.]
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It was the sight of Thor, curled up on his chair that stops him short. In a way, Loki had almost forgotten about him. ]
Thor.
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[ who will buy this wonderful morning ]
now only thor, loki and thanos remained. the ship was silent as a grave. ]
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Thanos backhands him hard enough to throw him into the nearest wall, a sharp yell of pain escaping Thor before he falls to the ground. Thanos is unperturbed, turning to regard Thor in the same way a cat would a helpless mouse it bats around for enjoyment.]
"Hard to believe you're cut from the same cloth." [Tilting his head, one humourless eye finds Loki in the corner.] "Then again, you aren't, are you?"
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[there is thunder in our hearts]
Mere hours after Loki's return from Midgard, Sif and the Warriors Three sneak out through the Bifrost. Whatever they intended, they come back dejected by evening, muttering amongst themselves. Anyone who heard them pass by might hear the odd sentence or two: "I just don't understand why he wouldn't return."
It's the only anomaly. Everything else in Asgard continues as it has done for millennia. Days pass this way, unremarkable on the surface.]
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Nothing comes. Loki finds that worse. He doesn't know how much longer he can bear this. This waiting. ]
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[ back from the future to the past ]
It was still a sore point and one that wasn't going to disappear, but it seemed to . . . matter less as time passed by. things seemed to settle back into a routine of sorts. Thor tries to visit Midgard more and Loki . . . was still trying to find something that only he could do, where he could help. The process was slow, but it no longer felt dire and inevitable, closing in without little to no hope. ]
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He never left without saying he would be back soon. Thor's banishment had made it a bit of a habit with him, sometimes barbed when it came to Odin, but in a more pointed way with Loki. It's a reminder that it's not for good.]
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[silvered glass]
It's a place where time means little. Kings of old mingle freely with Asgard's most recent fallen. No matter how many people there are, it never seems overly crowded or impossible to find space to breath. The halls hold exactly as much space as is needed.
The gates of Valhalla are open, with plenty of newcomers passing through. Even some who might be surprised to find themselves there.]
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it's hard though. to walk among the asgardians, where the light still shines. where the halls remain golden. for loki, it still feels lonely without thor. thor who made asgard a little more bearable for loki. but it is better for thor to be elsewhere. fighting the battle. doing what is necessary. loki can't fault him for that. ]
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