Other Relationships: Loki/Sigyn, Tony/Bucky, possible future Tony/Bucky/Steve

Notes: Captain Marvel won't be appearing since I don't think I'd be able to do her justice as a character, and I wouldn't know where to fit her in the plot anyway. Valkyrie, Korg, Miek and the other surviving Asgardians may appear later on, but they probably won't play any major role in the story. This takes place directly after Infinity War ends and is canon-compliant up to and including Ant-Man and the Wasp. This is my first Marvel fic, so if any of the characterisations are a little off, please let me know. :) This is also being posted on AO3.

Disclaimer: Everything recognisable belongs to Marvel.

Summary: After Thanos's attack on the Asgardian refugee ship, Loki is left floating in space, barely clinging onto the threads of life. Some time later, he isn't sure how long exactly, he's rescued by an injured Tony Stark and a revenge-fuelled Nebula.

Meanwhile, Aurora Stark was having a perfectly normal day at work when her colleagues suddenly turned to dust before her. It wasn't the weirdest thing that had ever happened to her (you see a lot of crazy shit when you're related to an Avenger) but it was definitely the most devastating.

Neither of them really want to join the fight against Thanos, but they don't have much of a choice, especially since they may hold the key on how to defeat him once and for all.

Kingdom Come

Chapter One

Silence. Nothingness. Loki was vaguely aware he was floating in the depths of space, just barely managing to cling onto the tendrils of life, but he wasn't aware of much else. His head felt fuzzy, his lungs were in agony, and he couldn't move beyond an occasional twitch of the fingers. He idly wondered if it was his Jotun blood that was stopping him from freezing to death. He'd been in agony when he'd fallen through the wormhole too, but that had been a different sort of pain; then he'd felt like he was being twisted in every way possible and torn apart and then put back together again. At least that had come to an end. Now it seemed he was doomed to float in space forever, hovering between life and death. He supposed he had his magic to thank for that, though now it felt more like a curse than a blessing.

His eyes flickered open as he sensed something nearby. Even that simple, small movement took a lot of effort and energy that he didn't have. It was a ship. A rather broken looking ship, but a ship nonetheless. Maybe he wouldn't have to float in space forever after all. As he slipped into unconsciousness again, he thought he could feel something, or maybe it was someone, gripping his arm, pulling at him. He only hoped it wasn't Thanos or his minions come to finish him off.

Silence. No one said a word. The air was thick with the losses they had endured, each one of them coming to terms with what had happened. They had lost. None of them had really thought they would lose, they couldn't afford to think that way, and they had always managed to pull through before, no matter how long the odds. New York. Sokovia. Every mission in between. They'd been fewer in number back then, and even with the Dora Milaje and M'Baku's army, they hadn't been able to defeat Thanos. They had lost more than just a battle: they had lost hope, and they had lost people they loved. Wakanda had lost her King, Shuri her brother. Rocket had lost his best friend. Wanda. Vision. Sam. Bucky. Tony. They were all gone.

Steve's head sank into his hands. He had watched his best friend die right in front of him all over again, had discovered his other best friend was gone too, and now it felt like he had no one. He was all alone, like he was when he woke up after seventy odd years on ice. He pushed the heels of his palms into his eyes, willing the tears not to fall; he had to be strong for the others. He felt a hand fall on his shoulder - Natasha, probably - and tried to subtly wipe at his eyes before looking up at the others sat around the table. Nat's expression was as impassive as ever, but Steve could see the pain hidden behind her eyes. Thor sat solemnly, no doubt thinking of all that he had lost; he had informed them earlier that Thanos had killed Loki on their way to Earth. Rhodey was twirling his phone between his fingers, waiting for a call that would never come. Bruce looked angry and disappointed in himself, but Steve doubted whether the Hulk would have made much difference in the end.

Natasha leaned forward, her hand dropping from Steve's shoulder, her elbows resting on the table, "So, what next, Steve?"

Steve let out a deep breath, thinking his words through before he spoke. Shuri and Okoye were seeing off M'Baku, who was heading with what remained of his tribe back to his lands, though he had promised to come to their aid again should they need it. Rocket was busy building a beacon, hoping the Guardians were still out there and would find him. "We take some time and we regroup. When we fight Thanos again, we'll be stronger, we'll have a plan and we won't lose."

The prospect of fighting Thanos again was a daunting one, and Steve could see on his teammates' faces that they doubted whether they'd ever win against Thanos, but Steve would be damned before he let go of the little hope he had left.

Silence. Tony hated silence. It reminded him of New York, falling through the void of space, not knowing whether he'd make it back to Earth. It reminded him of lonely nights where his only company was intrusive thoughts screaming at him in a voice that was oddly similar to his father's. It reminded him of Afghanistan, the calm before the storm, trapped in a cave with nothing but the drip, drip, drip of water as he awaited his fate. At least the whirring of the ship's engines was something for him to focus on. He and Nebula had barely spoken beyond quick introductions and instructions for fixing the ship. She was the strong and silent type, and Tony could appreciate that. It was better than all those people who jabbered on and on endlessly without ever really saying anything. She'd helped him with his injuries without saying a word, and he had offered to take a look at her robotic parts when he saw they were causing her pain. Afterwards, she had uttered a quiet, "Thank you," and Tony figured that would be the most emotion he would ever see from her.

Neither of them knew how long it would take to get to Earth. They'd latched onto a signal, some sort of beacon, that seemed to be coming from the same area of space as Earth, so they'd set their course and hoped for the best. The ship was on its last legs though. They'd fixed it up as best they could, but who knew how long it would be before it broke down beyond repair. Even if it didn't break down, there was every possibility they would run out of fuel or food or water. Tony had already come to terms with the fact that he may very well die in this old, broken ship in the middle of space, without anyone ever knowing what had happened to him.

Tony was sat in the pilot's chair in the cockpit, feet propped up on the dashboard, tinkering with the helmet of his suit. Nebula was off doing whatever it was she did when the two of them weren't trying to fix some part of the ship. Tony didn't like to ask, she was scary even when she wasn't trying to be. He stared out at the expanse of space before him; space really was beautiful, he thought, with all its glittering stars and colourful nebulae, and in any other situation, Tony would be thrilled at the chance to explore the numerous star systems and planets out there. As it was, he just wanted to get home.

Something in the middle distance caught his eye. At first glance it looked like an asteroid field, but as the ship steadily got closer, Tony realised it was a debris field. Broken ship parts and bodies littered the space before him. He had a funny feeling that Thanos had something to do with this. Just as he was about to steer the ship away, not wanting to risk the ship's already damaged shields, he spotted someone familiar. His skin was blue in colour and if Tony squinted he could just make out strange markings on his face, but there was no mistaking the black hair and green garb. Loki. He would have left him where he was had it not been for the slight twitch of his fingers and the flickering of his eyes. "Nebula!" Tony shouted, scrambling out of his seat and dashing out of the cockpit into the main area of the ship, feeling more alive than he had done since being on Titan.

Silence. The museum had been a bustling hive of activity, tourists scuttling around and chatting to each other about the exhibits; now there was nothing but silence. One minute Aurora Stark had been regaling some tourists with the history of a priceless artefact, the next minute they were turning to dust right in front of her. Museum regulars, complete strangers, co-workers, her boss. None were immune to whatever was happening. Silence surrounded those that were left, no one knew what to say or do, Aurora included. On some level she knew what had happened, knew it had something to do with Thanos. Her cousin Tony had told her about him, about what he'd seen when he'd sent that missile into space. She knew what the piles of dust meant. It meant Thanos had won.

She sat on the steps outside the museum. Her knee bounced up and down in agitation, her head was bowed, loose strands of reddish-purple hair falling into her face and her green eyes stared at the ground beneath her feet. She knew if she looked up, all she'd see would be panicked and distraught faces and a street lined with dust. People were screaming and a fire was raging down the street from where a helicopter had crashed into a building. A car had been rear-ended by another on the road directly in front of her, and she had seen a plane rapidly plummeting in the sky above her. A few drops of water fell onto the back of her neck and she glanced up at the sky as the clouds burst and released a downpour that washed away all the dust within seconds.

Aurora stood and turned, kicking the step in frustration. She hated feeling so helpless; if she had known what was going on then maybe she could've helped, helped to stop innocent people's lives being so needlessly wasted. She stood in the rain for a few moments more before heading back inside and down to the museum's archives, the one place that always managed to ground and calm her when waves of melancholy or anger washed over, sometimes seemingly for no apparent reason. She tried ringing Tony several times, but he wasn't answering his phone. Tony always took her calls, whatever time of day or night, whatever else he was doing, he always answered. Aurora started to fear the worst. She threw her phone onto the table next to her in frustration, and rubbed the heels of her palms into her eyes, trying to stop the tears that were threatening to fall. He wasn't gone, he just wasn't, he couldn't be.

Where they went from here, none of them had a clue.

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