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One second ago he had been on the battlefield, facing off against Thanos' army with his world collapsing around him. He had been battered and bruised, the corpses of those he had the honor of calling his friends, his family, scattered around him, with only him remaining standing. His suit was no longer working, his muscles aching and tired, and yet Thanos had still stood there, seemingly unfazed. Tony had been so tired, tired of all the fighting and battles, of giving it his very best and still never succeeding. And then, as the last resort to all of this, the culmination of a life doomed, Tony lifted his gauntlet, infinity stones in hand, and snapped.
He didn’t know what to do as he felt the ancient power flow through him, he didn’t know where to direct it other than to pour his every bit of desperation into it. To wish for nothing more than a second chance, to figure out just where it had all gone wrong, when exactly his reality had turned into one of torture.
As he slowly blinked his eyes open, he was no longer greeted by the sight of a battlefield around him. Instead he saw what looked like a galaxy, yet there were no stars visible in it. He pushed himself into a sitting pose on the piece of rock he had been laying on, surprised that none of his muscles ached with the movement. He had been certain that he had at least broken a few ribs, but as he took a deep breath, no pain filled his lungs. After a short moment of reveling in it, in a body without aches for the first time in what felt like forever, he looked at his surroundings again and what he found stole his breath away.
In the near distance was a tree, or at least what looked like a tree, made up of countless glowing branches, reaching out into their surroundings with seemingly no end to them. The very top of it was shrouded in clouds.
His mouth hung open as he stared at it. It was an otherworldly sight, one he felt was not made for anyone to ever witness, yet he couldn't tear his eyes away.
The branches were glowing green, brightest at the trunk where a deep cluster of them looked as if there was a beating heart huddled behind them. Tony barely took notice of the rocks before him shifting, building a path directly towards it as he slowly took one step after the other, utterly mesmerized by the sight he was walking towards.
The trunk of the tree itself seemed to be made up of smaller branches, but they shifted as he approached them, parting to build a tunnel for him to walk through. It was odd, but Tony didn’t feel any fear. He knew for a reason he couldn’t place, that they did not mean him any harm. He walked through the tunnel they built for him as if in a trance, the vines shifting and guiding him through the web of green surrounding him. The branches grew thicker and thicker the deeper he went into the tree, still twisting and guiding his way until they revealed an open space before him.
Tony's eyes widened at the sight that greeted him. In the middle of it stood a throne, a horned figure sitting on top of it, wrapped in the same green as the one of the branches surrounding them. He walked closer towards it, oddly unafraid, as if something deep within him once again knew that there was no harm coming to him from this place.
At first he thought the figure on the throne was a statue, but just as he was close enough to make out an uncanny familiarity in the lines of its face did it open its eyes, and with a green piercing gaze landing on him, did the horns on top of his head finally click the last piece of the puzzle into place.
“Loki?!”
Tony couldn’t quite believe his eyes, but there was no denying it. Right on top of that throne sat the manic god he had met years ago, only that he did not quite look the way Tony remembered him to. He somehow looked different, more worn. The lines of his face were tired and harsh, even when every bit of his regal posture on his throne was emanating strength and confidence. It was an odd contradiction.
“That is what most call me.”
Tony's mouth was already opening again, but Loki held out a single finger, silencing him. There was such an air of authority in the gesture, that Tony couldn’t help but follow it, staring with wide eyes at the god before him.
“Before you ask, no, I am not the Loki you know, or rather knew .”
Tony frowned, inspecting the one before him. It was true that his entire demeanor seemed different than he remembered it to be, calmer and wiser, as though his features had shifted with the weight he was bearing.
But what caught his attention the most were his eyes. They were the most beautiful shade of green, and oh , so very sad. They were just on the side of bloodshot, the moisture in them glistening, yet never overflowing.
Tony didn't know if he wanted to lose himself in them or never dare to meet their gaze again.
"What is all of this supposed to mean?" He asked, his voice raspy.
"Look around yourself, Anthony."
Hearing his name fall from his lips sent an uncomfortable feeling into Tony's stomach, but he had no time to dwell on it as Loki reached out his hand, the trails of green vines coming to meet him, twirling around his hands before growing back into the branches around him, taking their place in the huge tree construct.
"Every single one of these branches is a different timeline, a different reality."
Loki's eyes were still trained on the branches, a fondness in them as if he himself had been the one to create every single one of them. Perhaps he had.
It was an utterly crazy idea, an infinite amount of parallel universes, all woven into the shape of a tree, with Loki at its very heart and yet, Tony found that he believed him. He let out a shuddering breath, realizing just what he was truly looking at for the first time.
"You're talking about a multiverse?"
A small smile washed over Loki's face. "You catch up quick. Your variants always do."
Variants . Different versions of him, existing all over those branches, living out lives more different to him than he could ever imagine. It made sense considering everything he knew about the multiverse theorem, but that didn't stop Tonys head from spinning, overwhelmed by the questions running through his brain, yet unable to properly articulate any of them. He took in a shuddering breath, his eyes falling back onto Loki, the one sitting at the very heart of all of this.
“If you're not the Loki I knew, what Loki are you then? Why are you sitting on this fancy throne in the middle of this?”
The throne wasn't actually all that fancy at all. It may have glistened gold, but it looked cold and uncomfortable, behind all its intimidation it looked… lonely.
“I’m the one that allows for time to flow, and thus allowing the multiverse to exist." Loki leaned his head forward in a small nod but then he straightened up again, his green eyes piercing into Tony.
"God of stories is what I like to call myself."
The green branches around them seemed to pulse with power for a moment, before returning to their steady glow.
“I thought it was god of mischief?”
A small smile washed over Loki's face, but there was a deep, nostalgic sadness clinging to it.
“That, I was once.”
“What inspired the change in occupations?” Tony asked, walking around the small space, still not quite able to tear his eyes away from all those branches, the way they wound and grew around each other, breaking off into different ones, each of them pulsing with life. He was both itching to touch them and afraid of what might happen if he did.
“There was a conflict that led to time collapsing in on itself, which would have resulted in the destruction of all of existence. So, I stepped in and stopped it.”
Tony scoffed, slowly shaking his head. “Time can’t just collapse, that’s scientifically impossible.”
There was a glint in Loki’s eyes as if Tony had just told him the worst joke he had ever heard.
“Science does not hold all the answers, Anthony.” Loki took in a shuddering breath and for a moment his eyes seemed so distant, lost in memories of a past long gone. “Sadly.”
Tony cleared his throat, suddenly feeling uncomfortable in the silence that had followed his words.
“So, uhm, what exactly am I doing here?”
A bit of clearness returned to Loki's eyes, even if the sadness in them didn't wash away. Tony had a feeling it never did.
“Your branch, the timeline you were on, broke off.”
"It broke off?”
“Yes.” Loki nodded. “When you tried to undo all those things you wished for, your branch wound around itself, breaking off the very moment you used the infinity stones. But don't worry, that is exactly the reason why you are here." He flicked his hand in the air, a small green gem that Tony had no trouble recognizing hovering above it. "The time stone works as a fail save for every branch, allowing me to catch such incidents before any of the branches would suffer serious harm.” With a flick of his hand the gem disappeared again, his eyes stern and serious as they looked at Tony. “I can give you a second chance and allow you to go back to your timeline, letting you try to accomplish what you had wished for."
Loki let the weight of his words hang in the air and Tony's head was reeling with all the new information and possibilities that were presenting itself to him. He was glad that whatever metaphysical plane they were in was not one for bodily aches or he could be sure that a headache would be panging in his head by now.
“But if the branch is broken, how can I go back to it?”
“It isn’t broken , it merely broke off at the end. I can put you back at any place and time of your life on it, and with your existence there, a new branch would split up and grow from it, ensuring continuous life in that universe”
Tony immediately recognized it for what it was. In a way it was exactly what he had asked for when he had used the infinity stones in front of Thanos. The ability to just go back, back to the time before Thanos, before he had screwed up his life and just figure it all out, prevent all the destruction that he had found himself in. Still, there was an odd twist of pain in his stomach at the idea.
“And you would give me the chance to do that?”
“Yes.” Loki gave him a nod and Tony briefly wondered if the horns on his head would ever slide off if he moved too much. They looked unbearably heavy.
For a moment they stood in silence, his eyes once again wandering to all those branches around them, rooted deep under the throne Loki was sitting on.
“What about you?”
“What?” Surprise washed over Loki's face, his eyes blinking even though Tony was rather certain that he had heard him clear as day.
“I mean, how did you end up here? You’re Loki, or at least a Loki, and as far as I knew the Loki in my timeline, well, he wasn’t quite…” Tony gestured with his hands wildly towards literally all of time surrounding them. “… this .”
Loki seemed to consider his words for a moment, studying him, as if debating if he should tell his tale, before he spoke again. His voice was nostalgic, but also just a tad more upbeat, Tony noticed.
“A long time ago I had a life on a branch just like yours. I had even fought a version of you before."
Tony scrunched his nose. "Let me guess, New York?"
Loki actually let out a small laugh. It was a surprisingly honest laugh and a small smile washed over Tony's face at the sound of it.
"It is a rather common event for a Loki to take part in."
Tony leaned his head to the side in curiosity. "What happened to your timeline?"
There were memories shifting behind those green eyes and emotions that were too fleeting for Tony to catch, dancing through them.
"It was destroyed. There was a time before all this, where there was only one branch, one timeline that was above all else, protected by an entire institution. And if you went against the established branch, they would destroy you and the entirety of life on it.”
“That sounds cruel.”
“It was. But it was also what allowed for order, for absolute protection of that one specific branch.”
Tony hummed. “Let me guess, you didn’t like that and abolished that system for one of some more bravado and chaos?”
Loki shook his head, the sadness returning to his eyes tenfold, so strong it took Tony's breath away.
“It wasn’t me that did, but I was the only one that could handle the weight of its repercussions. If there had been other options, if there had been other paths for me to allow a safe life for those I had started to call my friends… I would not be sitting here right now."
Tony recognized the weight of his words, the sacrifice that he had taken upon himself all too well.
"But there were no other ways."
At the shuddering breath that Loki sucked in, an ache of sympathy panged in Tony's chest.
“No. Me being here is the only way to keep them safe, to let them live their life even if I could never be part of it again."
The branches winding around them suddenly seemed more like chains than anything else, tying Loki in place like their prisoner, even when he was the one giving life to them. And once again Tony was drawn to his eyes, that moisture that appeared to always be close to overflowing, yet never did, the hurt that could find no release, twisting and curling inside with no end in sight. To think that the god before him had sacrificed so much only to keep others safe…
“Who were those people?”
Loki let out a sigh, leaning his head to the side.
“You sure ask a lot of questions. Those that come here rarely inquire about me.”
“Why wouldn’t they?” Tony asked, looking at the god before him, with all the power on his shoulders and yet such deep loneliness in his eyes. The branches growing around him like his children, loved, yet chaining him down to a throne he did not want.
“Those who come here tend to be very desperate, trying to save what they had just broken. They jump at the first opportunity I give them to go back, grabbing their second chance before it could possibly flee from their grasp. But you seem different.”
"I'm just curious." Tony answered, but by the way Loki was staring at him, he could tell that the god knew there was far more to it. “And perhaps a bit…tired. Having to do it all again, having to go over all those things that went wrong in my life…” Tony ran a hand through his hair, a mocking laugh escaping him. “Then I might as well just go right back to my birth.”
Loki's mouth opened and closed, as if uncertain if he should speak before he seemed to make his decision.
“Cases like yours happen rather often, but I do not allow all of them to go back to their branches.”
“Why?”
“Some of them harbor ill intentions against life itself."
"Holding grudges against a certain purple skinned individual?"
"If the Loki of your branch is any similar to me, you will know why." Loki raised an amused eyebrow, before his expression turned serious again.
"Others seek to destroy my tree, or worse, attempt to take the throne for themselves, not knowing what comes with it. All of these attempts are futile of course, there is no one who could ever hope to harm me or try to steal away the burden I live with. They would all simply collapse under its weight." Loki paused for a moment, shifting his weight on the throne he was sitting on. "And then there are some that just aren't prepared for what it truly means to start over again, to go back to your branch and endure what life has dealt you once again."
“Is this your way of letting me know you could kill me?” It wasn't an accusation, merely a question.
“It's me telling you that if you wished for your story to end, I could grant you that wish.” Loki's voice was softer when he spoke again. “Death is not as scary as you humans believe, it is simply the end of your chapter, it can be mercy in some cases.” A deep hurt washed over his face. “A mercy some might never get to experience.”
“Because someone needs to be here, to protect what no one else can.”
“Yes.”
Tony thought about the god before him, about the deep loneliness settled into every bit of his bones, begging for a release that would never come, resigned to his fate, with the power of the multiverse as his burden. He was wondering just what was laying beneath all that sadness, how one could be strong enough to bear the pain of existing like this, alone for the rest of time. With another ache of sympathy going through his chest, an idea popped into Tony's mind.
“Okay, first of all, get that whole death thing out of your head, I’m not gonna let my story end or whatever you like to call it.” Tony looked at Loki, shrugging his shoulders. “ What if I just…stay here for a little?”
“Here? With me?” The utter disbelief in Loki's face appeared to have even washed some of the sadness away, his mouth hanging wide open.
“Seems like a pretty good place to destress a little, wind down and then once I’ve come up with a proper plan on how to not fuck up my life again, you send me back.” But Loki was still just staring at him, looking at him as if Tony had just sprouted a second head. “Or is there like a rule against that? Three day ultimatum before I gotta go back or it all turns to shits?"
Loki actually snorted a laugh at that. “There is no one out there that could ever impose a rule on me and those rules I follow are ones I created for my own convenience.”
And then the studying look was back on his face, it made him look more alive in a way, like someone who had seen the cheat sheet all their life finally having to solve a puzzle on their own.
"No one has ever asked for them to stay here, Anthony Stark. No one until you."
"Is that a yes? I'm not quite fluent in norse riddles, I apologize."
Loki's mouth stretched into a grin and for a moment, the branches around them pulsed a deep green, like a heartbeat had rocked through them.
“I will allow you to stay here, Anthony.”
“Perfect.” Tony sat down on the ground, leaning his back against a rock as if it was a comfortable chair and not cutting into his back in every spot. He looked at Loki again, at the amused expression on his face and sent a small smirk of his own back to him.
“You seem like someone who has a lot of stories to tell.”
A glint shone in Loki's eyes, and for once, it wasn't one of sadness.
“Oh, that I do.”
“Well then, we got as much time as we want, don’t we?”