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One day, half of all life in the universe ended with a snap. Killing Thanos did nothing to bring them back. The stones were gone. It was over.
But then, five years later, Scott Lang turned up with a time machine.
--
These were the facts of time travel.
You couldn’t change your own timeline without fracturing the flow of time and creating alternate realities.
You could, however, surgically alter one thing, some unknown fact that wouldn’t affect anything else. Like planting a seed in the past that wouldn’t grow until the present.
Finding a seed like that was tricky, but with the help of Wong and the assembled sorcerers of Kamar-Taj, they finally came up with a plan.
--
“This is a terrible plan,” said Clint.
Nobody disagreed. Clint carved a groove into the conference table with an arrow. Steve hadn’t been as vocal, but his expression spoke volumes while Nebula faced the holo screen with an unreadable look on her face. They were all tense, but Natasha kept a careful eye on Thor, huddled as he was in the corner, staring mutely down at the beer can in his hands.
She rubbed her forehead. “When Tony and Wong came to me with this, I said the same thing. But I don’t see that we have any choice.”
“It’s like the wizards said,” Tony added restlessly as he paced the room. “We can’t just pluck the stones from other timelines. They won’t work here--they have to be our stones.”
“I don’t see what the problem is,” Rocket cut in.
“The problem,” said Scott, waving a hand at the screens, “is that this guy is a crazy megalomaniac! He killed hundreds of people that year.”
“Not to mention he was working for Thanos,” agreed Clint with a roll of his eyes. “You seriously think this is a good move, Nat?”
Good? No, it was their only move. “Thor says Thanos killed Loki and that he saved Asgard at risk of his own life. We don’t know how loyal he really was to Thanos. We don’t know anything about him, really. And I won’t make the call until we do.”
“For what it’s worth,” Bruce said, “I spent a few months with him on that ship before...well. Before. And I can’t say that he was totally sane. Or even... not a sadistic killer.”
Rhodey snorted. “Ringing endorsement.”
“But he cared a whole lot about his people and he was afraid of Thanos. I think this can actually work.”
“Even if we believed all that,” said Clint. “How are we gonna get him to play nice?”
Steve finally spoke up. “Nat’s right. What we need is more information. Thor, what can you tell us about Loki’s mindset in 2012?”
Thor barely stirred. They watched him for a few moments in uncomfortable silence. Finally, Steve cleared his throat and spoke carefully, raising his voice just a bit.
“Thor? We need you to focus here, okay? What can you tell us about Loki?”
Painfully slow, Thor lifted his head. His watery eyes found the picture of Loki on the holo screens and he recoiled.
“My brother…he was...he…” Thor looked away. His throat worked for a moment. “He died trying to kill Thanos. With a dagger. And he called me a fool.”
Thor broke off with a wet laugh. Natasha’s heart ached for him. “I never knew why he allied himself with that monster, only that Thanos discovered him after he fell from the Bifrost. All those years ago, he’d claimed that he’d met someone who’d showed him great power. Maybe if I’d tried to find out who that was...maybe...”
Thor looked back down at his can and fell quiet again.
“Can you tell us anything about his life?” ventured Natasha. Psychological warfare was her territory and she knew which weapons to use. “His fears, his ambitions. What he was like as a kid?”
“He was just my brother,” Thor mumbled. “Just...my annoying brother...”
Natasha waited for more but Thor had already checked out. She sighed. “Well, if we can’t do any better than that, I can’t-”
“He was half dead when we found him.”
All heads but Thor’s turned to Nebula in surprise. She stood stiffly, gaze fixed on Loki’s picture. It was hard to tell what emotion was flashing in her black eyes.
“You found Loki?” asked Natasha delicately. “While you were working for Thanos?”
Nebula made a jerky nod. “He’d been drifting through space when we happened upon him. My... father thought he could be a valuable addition to his collection. A son of Odin.”
Natasha glanced at Thor. He was studying his hands very intently.
Nebula continued, “He was proud. Even though he couldn’t stand on his own, he spat at Thanos’ feet and said that a prince could never bow to a lowly animal.”
Clint whistled, amused despite himself. “He’s got balls. But I pegged him as more of a ‘grovel to save my ass now, stab you in the back later’ sort of guy.”
“I think he wanted to die,” said Nebula. Natasha glanced sharply at Thor, but he didn’t seem the least bit surprised. “Sometimes we would come across people who couldn’t be intimidated by death because they didn’t fear it. So my father wouldn’t kill them. He’d just make them wish they were dead.
“The Tesseract was last seen with Odin and Thanos wanted a location. When Loki refused to cooperate, Thanos gave him...to us.” Her jaw clenched, but she did nothing to avoid their horrified stares. “We took turns. He screamed for his parents. And someone named Heimdall. For his brother. Then his prayers became curses, asking why they never came for him. It took three months to break him.”
The beer can exploded in Thor’s hands.
Nebula met his eyes. “And after he told us where the Tesseract was and his usefulness had run out, Thanos kept torturing him just for the fun of it.”
Thor leapt to his feet. Breathing hard, he stumbled to the door but stopped just short of leaving the room. His shoulders shook but Natasha could tell that he was listening desperately.
Nebula averted her eyes. “Loki was the one who asked for a deal. His freedom in exchange for the Tesseract and the culling of Earth. Thanos agreed. But just to be sure of his loyalty, he gave him the Mind Stone. It amplified negative emotions and thoughts. Loki already wanted revenge and a throne. Thanos just used the scepter to make sure Loki’s hatred for his brother and the Earth would never falter. He didn’t want him to have a change of heart.”
In the shocked silence, Natasha latched onto that last part. “So even Thanos thought he might have a change of heart. That’s good enough for me. Guys?”
She looked around the room and, gradually, nods went around the table. Clint gave a noncommittal shrug, a yes as far as Natasha was concerned.
“Thor?” asked Natasha. “We can’t go into this unprepared. You gotta tell us what you know about Loki.”
Eyes bright, Thor turned around and told them everything.
--
Tony Stark was watching him from outside his cell.
But it was not the same Tony Stark who had just so soundly defeated Loki and his Chitauri army. No doubt that man was still away with his friends and Loki’s idiot brother on their quest for “shawarma.”
This was another Tony Stark. Loki watched him back, fascinated.
“Naughty boy,” he cooed, grateful that Thor had taken off the muzzle. “You shouldn’t be here.”
Stark raised an eyebrow. “Why not? It’s my building.”
“You’re breaking the laws of time and space. You play with forces you cannot hope to comprehend. You’re no more than a child.”
Stark shrugged. “I’m not the one trying to steal big brother’s favorite planet. What would you know about time travel anyway?”
Loki sneered. “I am a sorcerer, you simpleton. You’re the one who doesn’t understand the dangers of what you’re doing. You could tear the fabric of reality at the seams, fracture a single moment into infinite timelines, looping onto one another forever. Endless chaos.”
Actually, Loki thought, that sounds like enormous fun.
Stark’s face darkened. The difference between him and the younger version was startling. Gone was the playful grin and animated expressions. This man’s cheeks were hollow and he had a permanently haunted look about him but his eyes, Loki noted, his eyes were desperately hopeful.
“I’m willing to risk it all to set things right.” He took a step closer to the cell and smirked when Loki looked at the camera in the corner. “Oh, I hacked the feed. As far as SHIELD is concerned, you’re all alone.”
Loki put on his best smile. “You know, killing me won’t undo whatever it is I’ve done in your future.”
Stark smiled back sinisterly for a moment before breaking off on a dejected sigh. “No, unfortunately I’m not here to kill you. I’m actually here for your help.”
Loki blinked. Then laughed. “My help? Oh, but this is exquisite. You’ve trampled all over space-time for my assistance. You could’ve just called.”
“Trust me, if it could be anyone else in the world...”
“Why would I help you?” asked Loki. “What’s in it for me?”
Stark hummed thoughtfully. “Oh, I could probably get you a burger or something. A salad? You vegan?”
“Let me out.”
“No.”
“Then our business is done. Safe travels, Man of Iron.” Loki turned around, making for his cot. He froze when Stark spoke again.
“Thanos.”
Just stopping himself from flinching, Loki whispered, “What did you say?”
“Thanos,” said Stark, and by the barely suppressed sorrow and rage in his voice, Loki knew that he must have met the Titan for himself. Which meant that perhaps Thor had also…
Loki whirled on his heel. “How do you know that name?”
“I think you know how. And I think you know what I’ve come here to change.”
Ice flooded Loki’s veins. He checked his hands, but they remained pale and pink. Still, he shivered. So Thanos had done it. Half of all life…
He looked up sharply. “You want to undo it. How?”
Determination filled Stark’s haggard face. “With the stones. All six of them.”
It was possible. Completely insane, but possible. “What do you need me for then?”
“We need you to cast a spell.”
“Ah. I take it I am the only sorcerer you know.”
“No,” said Stark. “Just the only one who’s ever owned three Infinity Stones.”
Loki started. “Three?”
Stark put up a hand. “Don’t ask. Here.” With a flick of his wrist, a hologram appeared. It was a sequence of ancient glyphs, arranged in an intricate half circle.
“Do you know what this is?” asked Stark.
“It’s a spell.” A complex one, at that. Few had the ability to cast such a thing. But Loki could.
“Yeah it’s a spell, but do you know what it does?”
Loki scoffed, “Of course not. It’s incomplete.”
Stark nodded approvingly. “Good. Now memorize it.” Loki already had, though he didn’t see the point in knowing half a spell. After a pause, Stark nodded again and brought out a long case. “Peachy. Now, if you could just cast that spell on this baby before SHIELD notices it’s missing…”
He opened the case, revealing Loki’s scepter. Mesmerized, Loki stepped forward. If he could just get Stark to free him, if he could just get his hands on his scepter, he would eviscerate the mortal, find Thor and then-
“I think not,” grinned Loki. “You still haven’t given me a single reason to do this for you.”
“Stopping Thanos’ insane plan isn’t reason enough?”
Loki shrugged. “Why should I care? Perhaps if I play my cards right, I shall have a seat at Thanos’ table. Conquering the Nine Realms would be child’s play.”
“You don’t actually want that.”
Loki slammed his shackled hands on the glass and snarled, “Don’t presume to know what I want!” He laughed at the startled look on Stark’s face. “When Thanos is victorious, I shall come back here and rend your little planet to pieces. And when I’ve finally taken the throne that is rightfully mine, I’ll find you and ensure your death is a slow one.”
For a moment, Stark just looked at him. The knowledge behind his piercing gaze made Loki uneasy. “Tell me,” he said, “have you ever lost someone? I mean lost someone you loved so much it felt like a part of you was torn from the world when they were?”
Loki growled, “You know nothing of what I have lost.”
“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t,” said Stark. “But I do know what you’re going to lose. It’s a 50% chance of survival, Loki. 50/50 whether you’re gonna make it through this alive.”
Loki bared his teeth. “I think I’ll take my chances.”
Stark stepped forward. “Will you? You’re okay with Asgard getting culled? What about Thor? Or your dad?” Stark paused. “Your mom?”
Loki’s heart thundered in his chest. “She hasn’t been…”
Stark held up the scepter. It glowed a cold blue and Loki felt the sorrow in his heart spill over.
He scowled. “I can’t cast only half a spell. You could trap me into anything. Let me see the rest of it first.”
But Stark shook his head. “Can’t exactly trust you, can we? You’ll know when you need to.”
Loki glared at him but he didn’t back down. The man was still as impossible to intimidate as he’d been earlier that afternoon. It made Loki want to throw him through another window.
“So how about it?” Stark grinned, challenging. “You gonna be the savior of Asgard, or you gonna bow to that monster?”
They stared each other down for a few tense moments. But then Loki closed his eyes and let his seidr flow. He spoke the ancient words in his mind, twisted his fingers, and began the weaving. As the spell took shape and the heady rush of power washed over him, he knew at once that he was bound to the scepter. Its seductive hum filled his ears until it was all he could hear. Completing the spell as much as he could, he opened his eyes to a grinning Stark.
“Good work, Merlin,” he said, shutting the case with a snap. The scepter went silent and Loki relaxed. “Now just make sure you do the same thing with the Tesseract and the Reality Stone.”
Loki’s replayed the sentence in his head several times, trying to comprehend it. “You aren’t saying--the scepter is a-”
Stark grinned and Loki wanted to kill him, Thanos, and everyone else in the building. How could he have been so blind? Two Infinity Stones in his grasp and an army, but he couldn’t even-
“Before I go,” said Stark, tapping buttons on his wrist band. “Just a bit of advice.” He fixed Loki with a solemn look that made him feel very young, though he was older than the man by over a thousand years. “When you get to Asgard, you’re gonna have a lot of time to reevaluate your priorities. Really think about what you’ve got left to lose and...make every moment count.”
Before Loki could respond, Stark disappeared.
When Loki saw Stark next, he was younger. The grief and desperation so plain in his double’s face was absent in this one and Loki dearly hoped he’d get to watch that transformation. To see this arrogant wretch become the shell of a man he’d seen today.
Oh, Loki would cast the spells. But not to help the humans. Loki would be the one to find the stones this time around. They would all fall to his power--Thanos, Thor, Odin, and anyone who dared defy him. Then Loki would come back to Earth and personally extinguish the light of hope in Stark’s eyes.
He grinned at his reflection in the glass. He could hardly wait.
--
One after another Thanos’ Chitauri fell, but they just kept coming. Loki dispatched another with his daggers and took stock of the passageway. His heart sank. None of the other men he’d taken with him had survived the onslaught. With a metallic groan, the Statesman keeled as another barrage of blasts hit their shields.
Snarling, Loki dove back into the fray alone. Chitauri blood went everywhere, but still there was no end to them. Norns he was tired, but he couldn’t stop. He had to get back to Thor.
There was a terrible booming sound close by--another shield must have gone--and suddenly Loki was pulled off his feet, towards the destroyed hull and the stars beyond. Desperately, he grabbed onto the edge of a doorway, sinking a dagger into the metal up to the hilt. As the Chitauri beasts were sucked out into the black of space, Loki used all his strength to haul himself up through the doorway. Once inside, he slammed a fist onto the console and the door slammed shut.
Loki fell to the ground, panting. He was in the cafeteria. That was lucky. From here, he could make it to the east corridor through the kitchens. Hauling himself to his feet, he tried not to give in to the fear that he was too late and Thanos had already…
It had happened so quickly. Thor had barely enough time to assemble a defense when Thanos’ forces swarmed their ship. Banner had gotten knocked out early, but even without the Hulk, they still might have won if the Black Order hadn’t shown up. Loki was still feeling shaky from seeing Ebony Maw again.
Thanos’ children had already herded their people into the belly of the ship and sent half their number away on escape pods to who knows where. The battle was lost.
Still, Thor and Heimdall were fighting somewhere and Loki had to be there, he had to-
A flash of light had him shielding his eyes and falling into a battle stance. When the light died down, he took one look at the man before him and felt an hysterical laugh bubble in his throat.
Tony Stark. After everything that happened in the past six years, he’d forgotten all about that half-formed spell waiting to be completed.
Another explosion rocked the ship and Loki asked, “You couldn’t have come earlier?”
Stark winced, taking in the damage around him. “If I had, you’d have used the spell to prevent this and that would’ve created a new timeline.”
Loki’s knife was at his throat in an instant. “You lied to me.”
“Technically I didn’t lie,” Stark hurried to say, hands held up in surrender. “I just mislead you a teensy bit.”
Loki snarled, “You used my mother’s and brother’s deaths against me! Yet you knew they were both inevitable.” Loki pressed the knife in closer.
Stark shook his head. A drop of blood rolled down Loki’s blade. “Thor’s alive! I can’t tell you how, but he survives this.”
“More lies,” hissed Loki.
Stark flicked his wrist and Loki tensed. But instead of a repulsor blast, a new hologram appeared above his hand. It was the spell, the circle complete, and what Loki read there gave him pause.
“A Call of Fidelity,” he breathed. It was a spell so old that it was said to have been used by the Celestials to control the Infinity Stones when the universe was new. Loki had thought it lost to time.
“Yeah,” said Stark. “Read the fine print.”
Loki studied the tiny swirling patterns and understood. “You mean for me to bind the stones’ allegiance to myself. And then to Thor.” He lowered his knife, hope budding in him. “Thor lives.”
“He does,” Stark said softly. “Look, I’m sorry about...all of this. But in my future, it’s even worse. The stones are gone. But if Thor becomes the true master of half of them, then he can call them back into existence—he can overrule their last command. And with all six, he can bring everyone back. We can make the universe whole again.”
“But not Asgard.”
Stark looked away. “I’m sorry.”
Loki thought about it. He’d cast the first half of the spell on the Tesseract and the Aether when he’d been posing as Odin. He felt the bond now, the three stones calling to him from across the universe. And now that he knew the full spell, he could have them for himself. He needn’t transfer that bond to Thor.
He imagined, for a moment, having the power of all six stones. Ultimate power.
But then he remembered Frigga. Odin. Ragnarok. He remembered Asgard, falling to ruin because of his choices.
“I’ll do it,” sneered Loki. “Under one condition. Half of all that remains of Asgard lies waiting to die at the bottom of this ship.”
Loki summoned the Tesseract. It hummed and glowed, greeting him like an old friend. Despite all the trouble it had caused, Loki held back a smile. He held it out to Stark, who looked at him with wide eyes.
“Take it. Open up a portal to Earth and get my people to safety.”
Stark’s expression was full of regret. “I can’t change the past, you know that. This is supposed to happen.”
Loki smirked. “How can you be sure that my people didn’t survive this? I’ll wager you never saw the bodies. Who’s to say you’re changing anything?”
Loki saw the wheels turning in Stark’s head. Slowly, the human grinned.
“That’s a flimsy as shit loophole but--fuck--let’s do it.” A metal glove encased Stark’s hand and he snatched up the Tesseract with a flourish. “I’m sick of sitting back and watching people die. Hell, if anybody can talk his way out of obeying the laws of the universe, it’s the God of Lies.”
Returning the grin, Loki closed his eyes and began the spell. The strain of it nearly brought him to his knees, his nose bleeding, his hands shaking. But with a shout, he closed the loop and the power crashed over him like a wave. The call of the stones was sweet and crystal clear. It was done.
“Be careful when you go down there,” said Loki as he made for the kitchens, intent on catching up to Thor. “The Chitauri are everywhere.”
“Wait!” cried Stark, trotting after him. “I don’t know how to use this thing. How am I going to open a portal?”
It was a good question. One Loki couldn’t answer. If he’d known how to use the Tesseract to transport more than one person at a time, he wouldn’t have needed Selvig back on Earth.
He felt a tugging on his consciousness. Something far away. A call waiting to be answered.
It was the Mind Stone. It felt almost...curious. And eager to help. Loki tugged back and was suddenly flooded with knowledge. He turned to Stark and tapped him on the forehead with two fingers. The man’s eyes widened.
“I can do that,” Stark whispered. “I’ll need a few minutes to draw up the blueprints, but I’ve got enough nanites to make it work. Wait—how did you-”
“I’ll try to buy you the time you need. Best of luck, Stark,” said Loki. “Oh and if you don’t want to get sucked into space, don’t use the door to the left.”
Stark held up the cube. “You should come with me. You need to be able to give the Space Stone to Thanos.”
“When it’s time, I will call it to me. It will come. Be done before then.”
“No pressure, huh?” But Stark was already drawing the blueprints out of the air. “Hey, if you know how to do this, why do you need me?” Stark squinted at him. “Ah. You’re not really here, are you?”
Loki had left an illusion in place the moment he’d given Stark the knowledge he needed. He was already sprinting towards the battle, heart in his throat. Asgardian and Chitauri bodies lined the corridors and he leapt over them without pause. When he arrived at the heart of the carnage, he left one more message with Stark and dispelled the double, needing all his seidr for the task ahead.
Thor and Heimdall were leading a handful of warriors against the endless onslaught. When Loki joined them, Thor paused long enough to send him a bloody grin, before moving onto his next opponent with a primal roar. They fought fiercely and, with Loki’s help, began to turn back the tide. But Loki knew that this fight was pointless, that when Thanos came it would all be over, and he could only hope that they had bought enough time for Stark to do what needed to be done.
Eventually, Thanos did come. He had the Power Stone and he was unstoppable. Heimdall fell first, then Thor. Loki was left standing above the fallen, a prisoner and honored guest both. As Thanos waxed lyrical about genocide, Loki sensed the Tesseract going dormant. Stark’s portal had closed. The people were safe.
Loki could leave it at that. He didn’t have to give the Tesseract away to this Mad Titan, dooming the universe and himself to a horrible future. He could take the cube and teleport far away. Thanos could chase him, but he’d never be caught.
He could go to Earth, to Knowhere, collect the stones that are rightfully his, and hide away for the rest of his long life. Maybe the universe would rupture, maybe time would be forever damaged, but so what? A little cosmic chaos could be fun.
But then Thor was screaming. Thor was dying.
“Alright, stop!”
When he summoned the Tesseract to his hand, it came willingly. Thor called him the worst and, off in the corner, Banner stirred. They would both survive this fight, Loki was sure. He smiled, remembering the little Iron Man and his machinations, that inextinguishable glimmer of hope.
He told Thor that the sun would shine on them again. It was a lie, but the nicest one he’d told in a long time. Loki knew with absolute certainty that there was only one way for Thor to escape this. The Mind Stone whispered the knowledge in his ear, telling him that Thanos would spare his brother only after his thirst for blood was quenched. Kill one prince, spare the other. Balance.
So Loki let him have the Tesseract, let him put the Space Stone in his gauntlet, wrenching away Loki’s control but not the stone’s allegiance. He pledged his undying fidelity, easing the Space Stone’s discomfort when Thanos used it to stop his knife.
He will use you for now, he told it as his windpipe was crushed, as Thor’s muffled screams became all he could hear. But your true master will come for you again. You must wait for him.
As the world went dark, Loki felt a pull at the back of his mind, a question. The Reality Stone called to him from across the galaxy, a servant awaiting orders. Loki welcomed its power and willed an illusion into being, one more real than any he’d ever conjured with Mother’s tricks.
He wove a tapestry not out of light or sound, but flesh and bone. At his command, his eyes popped, his neck snapped, and his body crumpled to the ground, undeniably dead. Yet not.
It was wholly different from Svartalfheim, when he’d used seidr to paint black veins across his skin, had let his body sleep for a few hours, gathering magic to heal himself like his would-be-father had always done. That had been a near-death made to look real. The perfect lie. A work of art, he’d thought at the time.
But this wasn’t just a death. It was as if Loki had redefined life itself. A severed brain stem was of no consequence. Neither was breathing. All was impermanent with the Reality Stone. He’d made them happen, so he could unmake them.
Drifting through space, dead but not dead, Loki dreamed. In his dreams, he saw Asgard. With childish joy, he sprinted through the familiar halls of the palace. He visited the marketplace, the library, he sat in his mother’s gardens. It was better than Valhalla. It was home. He made a wish.
When he opened his eyes again, it was dark. The ship was gone and all he could see were stars. When he turned his head, he discovered that his neck had righted itself.
Still, everything hurt, he couldn’t breath and he was frozen down to his bones. The pull of the Reality Stone was weak, barely there. Thanos must have it now. Loki wasn’t sure he could call upon its power again. He wondered if he would die for real this time, adrift again in the void, just like before. Except now he was not quite alone.
Loki looked down and there was Thor, clinging to him like a child, unconscious but gloriously alive. The hope rose in Loki again. Thor would survive this. No matter what happened to Loki, Thor would live on.
With the last of his strength, Loki lay a palm on his brother’s bloody forehead and whispered the incantation. His seidr flowed and the incredible power he felt thrumming in his veins left him at once, disappearing like a receding tide.
Loki knew nothing else after that.
--
The minute Tony arrived in the present, he asked FRIDAY to check on a safehouse in Antarctica. Ignoring the questions of his team, he dashed off into the mansion to look for Thor. He found him sitting morosely at the kitchen table, bottle in hand.
“Thor, grab your axe and come with me.” Tony hauled him up with difficulty. Thor had always been heavy and the extra pounds did nothing to help Tony’s back. “Up and at em, big guy. There we go.”
Stumbling to his feet, Thor blinked groggily at him. “What is this? Where are we going?”
“You’ll see when we get there,” said Tony. After he’d taken Thor out onto the parking lot, he gave him the coordinates and told him to take them there with Stormbreaker. It took two tries. Thor was definitely drunk and Tony only had time to think that they really should’ve taken the Quinjet before they were both pulled away in a kaleidoscope of color.
They landed in the snow. Tony belatedly activated his suit, sighing with relief when the heating systems came on.
Thor looked around in confusion. “Why have we come here?”
Tony ignored him and melted the snow beneath their feet with a heat gun, revealing an enormous hatch. He cleared his throat and said, “Stark.”
A panel on the hatch lit up and from it, FRIDAY said, “Voice match confirmed. Anthony Stark - access granted. Welcome back, boss.”
The hatch swung open with a creak and Tony climbed inside, Thor bringing up the rear.
“What is this place?” asked Thor.
“It’s a shelter. I set it up years ago. A bunch of them, actually, all over the world. Kind of an end times, alien invasion last resort sort of thing. My compromise after Ultron.” When they reached the bottom, Tony released his suit. It was nice and toasty in here. “It’s not the Ritz, but it’s roomy. There’s greenhouses so they can grow their own food. You could survive for decades down here.”
“But who…” Thor trailed off at the sound of approaching footsteps.
A woman in flowing robes ran up to them. “Who is— Thor?” Her hands fluttered at her throat. “Oh, my King! Is it truly you?”
“Eir?” croaked Thor. What little Tony could see of his face through the beard was pale as a sheet. “But you...you’re dead.”
“No, sire,” she said softly. She turned tearful eyes on Tony. “My Lord Stark. Is it time?”
Smiling, Tony nodded. After a moment’s fretful hesitation, clearly unwilling to commit the crime of touching royalty, Eir grabbed Thor and led him by the hand out of the room. Thor let himself be pulled, still staring at Eir in shock.
“Lord Stark left us here five years ago,” Eir was saying as she led them through the winding corridors. “And we followed his instructions. We haven’t left. Though, it wasn’t like we could have in all this snow.”
“I gave FRIDAY instructions to never let anyone know they were out here,” Tony explained. “Not even me. This place is like a really big time capsule.”
Thor stumbled along, speechless.
Eir led them to a huge doorway, saying, “It’s been so long, Your Majesty. They all want to see you.”
“They?” asked Thor.
“Asgard,” said Eir and they entered the Great Hall. Hundreds of people milled about, some eating lunch, others just lounging. Laughter and chatter filled the room and a group of children were rough housing in the back. Tony knew there were even more than this, thousands of Asgardians going about their lives in this underground safehouse, unaware that their King stood among them after five long years.
Thor drank in the sight, eyes wide and glistening. “How,” his voice cracked, “How is this possible?”
Tony squeezed his trembling shoulder. “It was Loki.” And then he told Thor everything. The conversations he’d had with his brother. Loki’s plan to save their people. Thor was weeping by the time Tony had finished.
“He had a message for you,” said Tony. “He said, ‘Tell my idiot brother not to hurry to Valhalla. It’s full enough and doesn’t need his overblown ego crowding its halls.’”
Thor laughed wetly, face crumbling in another sob. “The last thing I said to him was horrible. He couldn’t have known how much I...how much I…”
Tony wrapped his arms around the bigger man. Thor cried into his shoulder as Tony stroked his hair.
“He knew, bud. He definitely knew.”
--
The plan, miraculously, worked. Thor, sobered by the return of half his people, summoned the Space, Mind, and Reality Stones back into existence. They whispered to him their ancient knowledge. Told him that you could never destroy what had always been.
Thor closed his fist and when he opened it again, six stones glittered in his palm.
Tony built a new gauntlet. Thor snapped his fingers. And then it was done. The universe was repaired and nobody had to die to do it. All was as it should be.
Thor returned to his little house in New Asgard. He tried to lose himself in his games, tried to burrow into the couch until he grew roots, but he couldn’t get the thought of Loki out of his head. He couldn’t stop thinking about his brother’s final act of heroism, about how Loki could’ve taken the Tesseract and fled...but didn’t. Loki had given his life for Thor, and what had Thor done with that gift?
A knock on the door startled him. How foolish. It was probably only Korg, coming over for drinks. Or maybe it was Valkyrie, trying to get him to come to a Council meeting (integration of the rest of their people to New Asgard was not going well—they’d barely enough room as it was). Deciding he couldn’t avoid it any further, he slouched to the door.
“Okay, Val, I’ll go-”
But it wasn’t Valkyrie. It was the wizard from Manhattan. He looked out of place on Thor’s crumbling porch, his red cape fluttering opposite to the wind.
“Strange,” he greeted.
“Thor,” said Doctor Strange.
Thor swallowed and showed him inside. “Would you like a seat?”
Strange shot a glance at Thor’s stained couch, nostrils flaring. “No, thank you,” he said with forced politeness.
“Did you find his body?” Thor blurted.
Strange’s eyes softened. “I found your friend Heimdall and a few others, as you requested. I should have a spell ready to bring them to New Asgard for burial soon.”
Thor heard what he wasn’t saying. “But you haven’t found Loki.”
Strange’s lips twitched. “Now, I didn’t say that.”
What Strange told him next made Thor’s knees buckle. It couldn’t be. He had to know. He had to see.
Throwing off the supportive arm Strange had given him when he’d stumbled, Thor summoned Stormbreaker and flew outside, knocking the front door off its hinges. He didn’t care. He had to see it.
The Bifrost swept him away in a rush of color and noise. Within moments, he was standing in a place he thought he’d never see again. The walls of Heimdall’s observatory spun to a halt as the Bifrost closed behind him. Beneath his feet, the Rainbow Bridge was beautifully intact.
He ran outside and his heart stopped. Asgard shone brilliantly in the sun, golden and whole and perfect.
Stormbreaker took him soaring above the city spires and Thor couldn’t believe his own eyes. The streets were empty, the great city a ghost town, but it was all there. The palace, the marketplace—even Loki’s stupid statue. It seemed even bigger and more outrageous than Thor remembered it. It wasn’t until Thor landed in his mother’s garden and smelled the long-forgotten fragrance of her favorite blossoms that he knew it was real. He was home.
Thor took his time exploring the halls of the palace, which seemed strange and cavernous with no people to fill it. It occurred to him then that he’d just solved New Asgard’s housing problem.
He froze when he entered the throne room. Hildskjalf was occupied.
“You’ve caught me red-handed,” said Loki, lounging upon the throne and swinging Gungnir like a baton. He tossed the spear aside and rose to his feet with a grin. “Well? What punishment would the King of Asgard have me meet for the crime of faking my death and usurping the throne for the third time?”
Stormbreaker fell to the floor with a clang and Thor ran and ran and ran the length of that long hall until he had Loki, warm, and solid, and alive in his arms.
“Oof!” Loki’s voice was muffled, crushed as he was against Thor’s chest. “I see you’ve decided to take after our dear departed Volstagg. I-”
Thor shushed him, “Shh. Loki. Loki.”
Loki fell quiet and let Thor hold him. He didn’t even laugh when Thor began to cry, or when his tears turned to sobs. Eventually, Loki returned the embrace and Thor didn’t mention it when he started crying, too.
High above the palace, the morning sun shone bright.