Once again, Thanos allowed his gaze to linger on the planet Earth, a place inhabited by a weak species called humans. That was the place where he had set his evil plan in motion just a year ago. Until now he had waited for the Avengers to be blinded by their 'victory', but the time was finally right. The Avengers might be strong as a team, but he would have no problems to strike them down when they were apart. So he would take them one by one! He just had to make sure they would let their guards down, then he could use his hidden weapon and destroy them from the inside...

Malibu, California, USA, Midgard

One year ago

„What do you mean, you can't do this anymore?" asked Tony Stark with a mix of confusion and anger in his voice. His assistant and girlfriend Pepper Potts rolled her eyes and her voice suddenly became loud.

"Look, I understand that you just want to help people and that's great!"

"But?"

"But while you do that, you leave me behind and all I've got to do is worry if you're gonna make it back alive!"
He should have known. Almost all of their fights circled around this.

"Pepper, I thought we've been through this! I risk my life, every time I put on that suit and try to rescue people. I almost got killed fighting Obadiah and Vanko. You didn't leave me back then. What's different now?"
The moment he finished he realized he had said the wrong question.

"Tony, you are not seriously asking that, right? I've watched you on TV and I saw what you did in New York. I've watched you flying through the portal and that portal closing!"

"Yeah, but I made it out, didn't I?"

"You fell back like a puppy! The moment that green thing -"

"Its name is Hulk."

"- laid you on the ground, I thought you were dead."

"But I'm here now!"

Pepper sighed.
"You really don't get it, do you? I constantly have to worry about your life and if you're going on like this, it won't be long until I'm standing next to your grave. I can't live with that fear!"

The anger was slowly gaining the upper hand in Tony's mind.
"I'm saving other people's lives, that's the purpose why I didn't die in Afghanistan two years ago!"

For a moment there was silence, then Pepper's expression turned cold.
"Well, it doesn't seem like there'll be a slot for me in your life. If you don't change, I'll leave."

Tony's mind went blank.
"What do you mean leave?"

"I'm breaking up with you. I deserve better."
She turned around on her heels and left his apartment.

Asgard

Present time

Thor awoke to a knock on his door.

"My prince? Your Majesty wants to see you immediately."
Sleepily he rose to his feet and dressed himself. He followed the guard who - to his surprise – neither headed for his parent's chambers nor the throne room but the dungeons. They passed all the medieval looking cells followed by the curious eyes of the prisoners. At the end of the long corridor, they took the passage to their left and came to a halt in front of a white high-tech cell specifically designed for the thin black-haired man inside: Loki. Thor stepped closer until he stood at his father's side, who watched Loki with concern. Thor noticed that Loki looked horrible: His always so pale skin was covered in sweat and although he was sitting, he was undeniably way too much supported by the wall behind him. Thor had never seen his brother looking as weak as that.

"Father, what is wrong with him?"
Odin took his time with the answer while turning his gaze from Loki to Thor.

"It seems like a sickness has befallen him."

"He is a god. He never gets sick."

As if to proof him wrong Loki's body began to tremble lightly. Odin didn't change his neutral tone.
"Apparently it is possible. I just wanted you to know."

With these words he turned around and left with the guard who had escorted Thor here.

"Aren't you going to do something about that?" asked Thor with growing anger in his voice, but Odin had already left. A weak voice caught his attention.

"You still do care for me, do you not?"

Thor was too surprised by hearing that voice to answer. In that whole year of imprisonment Loki had only answered when being interrogated – sometimes not even then. Thor took another step towards him so there was only a pane of glass dividing both men once again taking in Loki's bad shape.
"What is wrong with you, Loki?"

A little smile ghosted Loki's face, but failed to reach his green eyes.
"You should not care for me that much considering all I have done."

His words brought back too many bad memories and Thor had trouble keeping the anger out of his voice.
"I am trying not to be emotionally compromised. Do not mistake that for me still caring about you! I did once."
Thor crouched down, so he was at eye-level with his brother:
"I will not make that mistake again! There is nothing but hatred I feel for you!"
He turned around to leave but stopped when he heard Loki raising his voice.

"To be able to hate someone you have to care for him deeply. That is why I turned my back on father that easily. He never loved me, but even now he does not care enough to hate me."

Thor thought about the words and finally dared to ask the question that had bothered him for far too long now.
"You and father have never been on best terms. I understand why you betrayed him, but why me?"

Loki stood up, slowly locking eyes with Thor.
"I know it is hard for you to understand, but all my life I lived in your shadow. Everything was just about you. I could have dealt with that, we grew up as brothers after all. But even father's love all belonged to you. You had everything and I had nothing."

Some time ago Thor might have not been able to grasp Loki's point, but he had changed during his time on Midgard. Still, there was one thing he wanted Loki to know.
"I am sorry for that. But you are wrong, you did have something."
None of his usual smirks but honest confusion clouded Loki's eyes until Thor continued.
"You had my love. I loved you more than any person I have ever met – even more than I loved our...my parents."
His brother looked at him like it was a new revelation which for him it probably was and it broke Thor's heart to watch Loki's hand touch the glass between them in a rare moment of weakness. Thor broke the eye contact.
"But not anymore. Now you really are left with nothing."

He turned around and left the dungeons barely being able to suppress the tears in his eyes.