To the anon who recently left a review on Redemption, I responded to it on my tumblr, as it's rather long and I can't do it any other way.

Additionally, to the other anon who asked about Dr. Strange, he popped up in Redemption as well. Dr. Stephen Strange is Sorcerer Supreme, which means he's kind of a Big Deal when it comes to magic. He's basically this guy that does a lot of magical stuff and is continually traveling through dimensions to take care of evil. In contrast, Viktor von Doom is the Fantastic Four's nemesis and hasn't had a role in the MCU. Dr. Strange, on the other hand, will be having his own movie with Benedorkle Crumbledatch. For my own purposes, I've cast Oded Fehr as Dr. Strange in this universe. (Yes, I'm still bitter on that casting choice; bite me.)

Additionally, there's a reason we split up the Trickster and Loki into two different persons, because they are different. As Alatar Maia explained it, Loki is the trickster, the original one who is a pagan god. All other tricksters, like the one Gabriel took the role of later, are more "shades" of the original. Namely, they still kind of serve the purpose of causing chaos, but they do it in their own unique way. In any case, Loki came before the Trickster, and then Gabriel left the pagans. There are a couple points in Norse mythology that make me think that at some point, Gabriel/Loki broke ties with that particular pantheon, so I'm imagining that the Trickster came after that.

So, to conclude, I'm really glad you guys are enjoying this so far. We both have heaps more in store for all of you. In the meantime, here's Chapter 2!

Chapter 2

There was no immediate response to their call, and by the time Loki arrived on the balcony in a rainbow-colored display of lights, Tony was the only one in the penthouse waiting.

Although it couldn't really be called 'waiting,' since he'd fallen asleep on the couch.

Loki entered quietly, a frown crossing his face when he noticed him. In the short time he had spent with Gabriel, the other had never once slept. The only human indulgences he had allowed himself were sweets and the occasional drink.

That Gabriel was sleeping like this was puzzling, especially as Loki had expected him awake and ready to explain why they had called on Heimdall to send Loki to Midgard.

Surreptitiously casting a small spell to check that Gabriel's vitals were in order, Loki went over and studied him more closely. It took a second for the spell to give Loki the results, to which he huffed out a disgruntled breath. Gabriel's vitals were all perfectly within normal, human limits.

But his heart rate did seem to be increasing, and not in a healthy way.

Waiting, Loki watched as Gabriel shifted restlessly, muttering under his breath. There were a few denials, a whimper, and then a pained groan.

It was when Gabriel whispered "Stop," that Loki decided enough was enough and woke him up by shaking his shoulder. "Gabriel."

Gabriel did not wake immediately, so Loki shook him again, repeating his name.

Jolting upright, Gabriel flinched away from Loki's hand, eyes wild. "No!"

Taking a careful step back, lest Gabriel do something he would later regret, Loki put up his hands. "It's all right, Gabriel. You are quite safe."

"Safe?" Gabriel blinked rather owlishly, sounding a bit too much like Anthony for Loki's comfort. In fact, there had not even been any explosions, which Loki would have expected given the nightmare. "I don't – oh." He looked Loki up and down as if registering who he was. "You're late."

"There were important matters to attend to," Loki said delicately, not caring to inform him that the 'important matters' were more trying to make sure the Warriors Three (now two) failed to destroy half the palace with one of their bets. That Thor had been too busy grinning at their antics had not helped matters.

"I'm sure," Gabriel said, standing and rubbing at his eyes. He was regaining his color quickly. "Hey, JARVIS, can you call Peggy up? She can show Loki what we've got so far."

"Of course," JARVIS replied immediately.

"Is this important?" Loki asked, looking round the penthouse once to make sure everything was in order. Then again, one never knew with Gabriel. He still had that accursed scepter stashed somewhere on his person, and there would come the day that Asgard might have to ask for it back.

Even Loki's diplomatic skills were not going to hold back the weight of the rest of the universe forever.

"Maybe one day you'll be called for nothing more than a drink," Gabriel said, "but that's not now, sorry."

"More's the pity," Loki said, lips twitching in amusement.

"Do you want one?" Gabriel asked, jabbing at the bar with a thumb.

Eyeing Gabriel speculatively, as he was behaving just a bit strangely, Loki answered, "Perhaps later."

Shooting the bar a look, Gabriel sighed. "Probably a good idea."

Loki folded his arms, ignoring the entrance of Gadreel, Margaret, and Jarvis. "I am not going to like this, am I?"

"Well, that depends," Margaret said, "but I'd say no. Couldn't you have come earlier?"

"I had an important matter to attend to," Loki repeated. "Now that I am here, perhaps we can get down to business?"

"Short and sweet, then," Gabriel said. "I got blasted by a machine built by Doom and was separated into four. One's called Loki."

Blinking, Loki stared. "You seem to be in one piece."

"Physically, perhaps," Gadreel said. "Mentally is another question."

"He is also physically in four places," Jarvis pointed out.

"Okay, my point is that we could use your help," Gabriel said, apparently uncaring of the fact that Loki was still rather confused as to what had happened.

"I feel a longer explanation is needed," Loki said, keeping the bewilderment he felt out of his voice. "Such as what exactly happened that you were apparently divided into four people, while still being entirely coherent and present. I have known others who were not as fortunate."

"This has happened before?" Margaret held up a hand before Loki could reply. "Never mind. I don't actually want to know. But I assume that means you don't know how to fix it."

"I am afraid not," Loki replied. "An explanation, if you please?"

Gabriel sighed, sitting back down on the sofa. "Okay, so we had gone out to Latveria to take care of Doom. Obviously, it couldn't just go smoothly. Once I got inside I tracked down Doom, who was in a room with this – some sort of machine. Anyway, once Doom noticed I was there, he triggered something and I got hit with whatever the machine did. Now there's four of me running around – although, technically, we're all just different parts of the same person."

"I…see." On second thought, this was nothing like Loki's past experiences. "Could you not just find them on your own?"

"Yeah, if I had any mojo." Gabriel shrugged. "I'm just the part of me that's Tony. I got nada in the magic department."

Loki stared in surprise, belatedly noting that Gabriel – Anthony – was lacking the usual energy that trailed about his person. "So where is Gabriel?"

"We haven't the faintest idea," Margaret told him. "All we've managed to do is get a general idea of where Loki – the other Loki – might be and the Trickster."

"The 'other' Loki?" Loki considered this. "Gabriel did say at one point that he had masqueraded as his universe's version of Loki."

"And now there is a being running free who is purely that Loki," Gadreel said. "It's probably simple now to understand why we asked you to come."

"Because I am Loki as well?" Loki raised one eyebrow skeptically, an expression he had had plenty of time to perfect in the years growing up with Thor. "There is no guarantee of what may have stayed the same between universes. I have no idea if this Loki is anything like me."

"Well, you are the most logical choice in dealing with him," Jarvis said unapologetically.

"I was not disagreeing." Loki glanced at Anthony. "What effects have there been from the separation?"

"Mostly mental," Anthony answered. "The only stuff I remember clearly is from when I was just Tony, and even that's kinda blurry when I was Gabriel, too."

"As far as we can tell," Margaret interrupted Loki before he even began, "the memories were split between the four of them."

"It was done pretty rough, though." Anthony gestured at his head. "It's like a sort of…imprint got left behind. So I've got a fairly good idea of what some of them were. No specifics, though."

"But you remember Gabriel?" Loki asked tersely.

"Yeah, totally," Anthony reassured him. "No worries; you don't have to deal with amnesia-me again."

"I should hope not." Loki had not at all enjoyed interacting with an amnesiac Anthony who had no idea what was what. "What can you tell me of what you know of this Loki?"

"Like I said, no specifics," Anthony said apologetically. "But he's not as bad as the Trickster. That's about all I can give you."

"How tricky," Loki said, gratified when Anthony snorted at his joke. "Will I have to keep an eye out for this Trickster persona of yours as well? Or is it just the other Loki?"

"Leave the Trickster to us," Gadreel said firmly. "We simply felt it was best to have another magic user among us, as Strange is elsewhere."

"He does have a tendency to travel across the realms, yes," Loki agreed. "It is how we met each other initially. But no matter." He waved his hand dismissively. "I shall begin the search for this other Loki."

"I'll give you the information Jarvis and I compiled on where he's been sighted," Margaret said, sharing a look with Jarvis. "He's disguised himself the last we've seen, but the energy signature will remain the same."

"I'm going to go see if Bruce's gotten anything else off the machine," Anthony said, heading for the elevator. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"That's a small list," Margaret muttered, and Loki heard Anthony laugh as the elevator doors shut.

Waiting as Margaret and Jarvis conversed quietly for several minutes, Loki catalogued the weapons and materials he had on his person. Since becoming advisor to the king of Asgard, he made sure to always be prepared for anything. The foresight would serve him well here, as he had no idea what to expect of this other Loki.

This would soon be rather confusing, he reflected. Having two of the same person – even if they were from different universes – generally was.

How Anthony had reacted when Loki had woken him up was still bothering him, though. There was little doubt in his mind as to what Anthony had been dreaming about, as he had personally seen Gadreel carry Gabriel's body after the fact. There was little else that would leave such a scar on the mind.

Gadreel stood off to the side, looking awkward. He did not meet Loki's eyes.

It probably should not have filled Loki with a sort of vindictive pleasure that Gadreel still feared him after what had happened in the other universe. Then again, he had been rather upset with Gadreel's reluctance to act to pull Gabriel from the Cage.

If Gadreel had not agreed, Loki would have come up with something else. No matter Dean's pitiful attempt at threatening him.

But if they had been here with Anthony while he had not, then maybe they held the answers.

"Does he have nightmares often?" Loki asked, drawing the others' attention.

"We do not sleep," Gadreel answered, the words clipped.

"I am aware," Loki said. "He was, however, definitely sleeping when I entered, most likely because he is no longer an angel."

"And he was having a nightmare?" Margaret looked worried, glancing at Gadreel. "What would he be having nightmares about? Something that happened as Tony?"

Gadreel and Jarvis both looked pained, Jarvis even going so far as to look down at the floor to avoid Loki's gaze, his hands clasped behind his back.

"There have been some…incidents," Jarvis admitted slowly, talking to his feet. "He does not like talking about it, not even to me."

"You are his son," Gadreel said softly. "But he has not spoken of it to me either, and I was there."

"You are also his brother," Loki pointed out. He looked at Jarvis, who was studiously examining his shoes. "What incidents?"

Margaret looked equally curious. Perhaps she had not been there for any of them?

"Minor ones," Jarvis answered vaguely, the words leaving his mouth reluctantly. "It is of no consequence."

"It is if he's having nightmares or causing incidents over it," Margaret said sharply. "With the kind of power he wields on a regular basis, that's something to be concerned about. Am I missing out on some kind of family secret? I think I deserve to know what's going on!"

"It is not my story to tell," Jarvis said uncomfortably.

"His emotions are sometimes volatile," Gadreel said, not meeting Jarvis's eyes. "It has resulted in power fluctuations in the tower on several occasions, but they were fixed quickly."

Margaret's brow furrowed. "I was wondering about that. Steve wouldn't tell me anything, and Tony just said it was an issue with the reactor when I asked." She folded her arms across her chest. "But that doesn't answer my question as to why."

"That is a much longer story," Gadreel said. "And it really is not something I should tell you. If you want to know, ask Gabriel when he is able to answer."

Margaret raised an eyebrow, voice frosty as she said, "I think I will."

Loki sensed that it was a good moment to change the topic. "You said you had managed to track this other Loki?" he asked, and Margaret looked at him sharply, as if she'd forgotten he was there in her ire at Gadreel.

Jarvis gestured, bringing up a holographic screen over the table. "The green dots are where his particular energy signature was registered," he told Loki. "Unfortunately, we found some cell phone video that made it clear he no longer looks like himself, which makes tracking him a bit more difficult. But as Peggy"—he looked vaguely pained as he said her name, though Loki had no idea why—"has said, their energy signature should be the same." For some reason, Margaret looked pleased.

"So our first step will be to find this Loki, and then…?" Loki looked to the three of them for an answer.

"Ideally, we manage to get them back together," Margaret said. "But as both the Trickster and Loki seem rather disinclined as to the idea…" She shrugged. "I expect we'll make it up as we go along."

"Our speciality," Jarvis sighed. "Absolutely nothing can go wrong."

"Yes, quite." Margaret smiled broadly.

"Do we have any idea as to how we might rejoin them?" Loki asked, ignoring the banter. "Otherwise it seems like that is a bit of a stretch."

"Tony and Bruce are still running scans on the machine, as is Jarvis," Gadreel said. "We still don't know how the machine even worked, and I have been unable to find anything beyond a trace level of magic."

"That is your answer, then," Loki said dryly. "I can take a look at it later. Perhaps there is something you missed."

"Perhaps." Gadreel seemed doubtful of the possibility.

Refraining from commenting on how infallible angels were not, Loki remembered several occasions when Gabriel had made absolutely horrible mistakes. It was certainly likely that Gadreel had missed something, but Loki would not be the one to point that out.

Gadreel could find out later, if Loki managed to figure out what he had missed.

"Are you absolutely certain there is nothing to know about this Loki?" Loki tried again. Perhaps Gadreel knew something that Anthony had not.

"The only one who would know is Gabriel," Jarvis informed him. "And as he is currently inaccessible – and most likely, in his current position, would not remember – we'll have to discover it for ourselves."

"Lovely," Loki said dryly. "I do so love pulling a Thor."

"Hey!" Natasha looked up as Peggy poked her head in. "We think we have something on Loki."

"Our Loki, or the other one?" Natasha stood up, seeing James copy the movement out of the corner of her eye.

"Other one," Peggy answered. "JARVIS registered a couple energy flares in the same general area, so we think he's staying there for now. It's a good chance to try and catch up with him."

"And if he knows we're coming?" James asked.

Peggy shrugged. "Hope he thinks we're interesting enough to stick around and wait, I suppose. Are you going?"

"Definitely."

It took only minutes for the pair to find their mission gear. Gadreel was waiting with Loki in the jet – which made sense, since they had virtually no idea who (or rather, what) they were going up against.

"Peggy's not coming?" Natasha asked as the ramp shut behind them, taking the pilot's seat and slipping on the headset.

"I believe it would be unwise to bring too many people," Loki said smoothly. "There is no way to know what this Loki will be like; as such, a smaller team will be easier to work with."

"And you brought the ones most likely to get out of a tough situation unscathed," James observed. "Why not Steve?"

"While the Captain is an excellent fighter, his actions would be driven more by emotion," Loki reminded him. "He is perhaps one of the closest to Anthony; not to slight any of you, but—"

"We are the most capable of distancing this Loki from our image of Gabriel," Gadreel finished for him.

"Exactly." Loki nodded.

"Doesn't bode well for what you think we're going to be facing," James muttered, taking the copilot's seat as Natasha maneuvered the jet into takeoff position. Luckily, they didn't need a huge runway, as Quinjets could literally lift off from a standing position. "How well do you think this is going to go?" he asked her in Russian.

"You know that using Russian's pointless when the other two people in the jet both understand every language?" she replied in kind, glancing over at him.

James scowled.

"You forgot, didn't you?"

"Shut up," he scoffed. "Do I tease you like that?"

"All the time."

"Fair enough." They were occupied after that with getting the Quinjet in the air, but once they were coasting James leaned back in his seat and turned on the autopilot.

"So we're going to Norway."

"Indeed," Loki said, sounding vaguely distracted. A glance over Natasha's shoulder showed that Loki was preoccupied with reading something on a tablet.

"Isn't that where the Norse myths originated?" Natasha asked, head pressing back against the headrest.

"They were so impressionable," Loki said, sounding almost nostalgic. "Unfortunately, a few thunderstorms called out of the blue nowadays simply fails to elicit the same awed response."

"You could just be a mutant," Natasha said, smirking at the face Loki made. Once one got past the fact that Loki could be a bit on the mad side, he was fun to rile up.

"As if," Loki said with great dignity.

"We all know just what the civvies think of mutants," James said. "And aliens."

"Tax-evading illegals," Natasha agreed, nodding.

"The mutants pay taxes."

Natasha tried to picture Magneto filling out tax forms and just couldn't. Judging from James's expression, he was suffering from a similar inability.

"Well, some of the aliens don't," James finally settled on saying. "I'd like to see the IRS try and come after Gadreel."

"I believe Gabriel has that covered," Gadreel said mildly.

Natasha winced slightly at the memory of Tony and Gadreel sitting at the kitchen table while Tony coached Gadreel through filling out tax forms and trying to bring his brother up on modern times. Thankfully Gadreel was a quick study, as no one had wanted to be in the kitchen for fear of overhearing ridiculously mundane facts as to filing taxes. Natasha didn't really want to know why Tony knew so much about it.

"I don't suppose we have a plan beyond going in and hoping for the best?" James asked. "I don't care what Peggy says; that's not a plan."

"Unfortunately, without more data as to this Loki's skills, we cannot formulate one," Loki said. "Fear not, James. You shall be perfectly safe."

James did not look impressed. "Was that even in question?"

"With a facet of Gabriel, one can never be certain."

"Being careful is advisable," Gadreel said, hands folded between his knees. "As is running away and letting us handle him."

James grunted, his left hand curling and uncurling on his thigh. He shared a glance with Natasha, his disagreement written all over his face.

James had always been too headstrong for his own good, something that HYDRA had never been able to wipe out of him. Now that they knew who he had been, it was no longer such a mystery. After all, Bucky Barnes had never been one to back down from a fight if it meant that friends were in danger.

Thankfully neither Gadreel nor Loki seemed to realize just what Natasha and James thought of their plan. Gadreel could read minds – and there had been several strange incidents at the beginning because of that – but he'd stopped ever since Tony had explained how uncomfortable it made humans.

"So, just wandering around until Loki decides to show up," James said faux cheerily. "Good thing I brought my rain coat."

"It won't rain," Gadreel assured him.

"Oh good," Natasha said. "I hate fighting in the rain. The electricity just goes everywhere."

James grinned. "Do you remember that time in the Czech with your hair—"

"James."

"Yeah, okay. Flying."

Natasha kindly didn't remind him that the Quinjet was on autopilot.

Norway was rather chilly and blustery, but at least it wasn't rainy. Though Natasha hadn't really expected Gadreel to be wrong about that.

They left the Quinjet somewhere quiet before going to take a look at the surrounding area. By habit, Natasha and James remained together, separating slightly from Gadreel and Loki. They remained within sight of the two supernatural beings, but far away enough that they weren't getting in each other's way.

Both of them understood the main language spoken here, although speaking it was a bit of a different issue, neither able to do so fluently.

So they walked around the small town, making note of the obviously religious symbols that had nothing to do with mainstream religion and everything to do with the old Norse gods.

"No wonder he came here," Natasha murmured. "He must be looking for something familiar, which wasn't Tony."

"It's not familiar if you don't remember who you were," James reminded her quietly. "I can't blame him."

Humming slightly under her breath, Natasha tucked her arm through James's, moving closer to his warmth.

After another few minutes of walking after Gadreel and Loki and turning into a smaller street, James said, "What do you think we can expect from him?"

"I know about as much as you do," Natasha said. "Tony's never said much about his past beyond bits and pieces. With colorful characters like the Trickster and Loki, I can't say I'm too surprised."

"At least we're not facing an angel," James said quietly.

"Gabriel's still out there," Natasha pointed out. "Doing who knows what."

"I was trying not to think about that."

"You're welcome." Natasha nudged him cheerfully in the side.

They entered the town square, which was really more of a town circle built around an old church.

The back of Natasha's neck prickled as they walked towards the church, a telltale sign of someone watching her. Catching James doing the same, she casually scanned her surroundings.

Nothing jumped out at her, but there was a sandy-haired man eyeing their group interestedly. There was nothing remarkable about him, and Natasha was about to move on from him when she caught his eye and a slow grin pulled at his lips.

There was something awfully familiar about that smile…

Pulling James along with her, Natasha approached the man, keeping an amiable smile on her face. "Hello," she said, mentally wincing at her accent.

"I speak English," the man said, his own words only lightly accented. "You're new here?"

"Just passing through," Natasha confirmed.

"We don't get many tourists here," the man said, looking between them and Loki and Gadreel on the other side of the square.

"We like seeing things off the beaten track," James said affably, an easy smile flickering across his face. "Less crowds for one thing."

"True, true," the man agreed. "I've been to Stonehenge. Terribly crowded. And expensive."

Natasha hadn't been to Stonehenge except on missions, but she nodded nonetheless.

"What brings you to our humble village?" the man asked, raising an eyebrow and spreading his arms in an expansive gesture to the square. Once more, the gesture struck Natasha as undeniably familiar, right down to the way he folded his arms across his chest, his entire stance casually relaxed…but wary. "There isn't much to see here."

"You have a lovely church," James fibbed, sounding entirely honest. "It's very old."

The man hummed, something flashing through his amber eyes. "It is, but it's called a höll. Built around the thirteenth century. And remodeled through the centuries." His attention went behind Natasha, and his expression shuttered, smile going flat.

"So you are here," Gadreel said quietly, his presence a reassuring weight behind Natasha.

Nothing changed about the man's stance, but the air shifted, some sort of energy radiating off him. "And so are you." His accent was gone, replaced with an American one that Natasha knew very well, having heard it coming from a friend's mouth. "Looks like I didn't hide nearly as well I thought."

"You were good," Natasha said. "We're better."

Amusement flickered across the other Loki's face, followed by a sharp grin. "Well, things have changed. Down to the energies of the place." He looked at their Loki. "How do you manage?"

"I am not quite certain what you mean," Loki answered, his eyes carefully cataloguing the other.

"Christianity. Catholicism. Islam." The other Loki made a disgusted noise. "No one's a decent pagan anymore. Where's a god to get his juice from? And why are you here? Did I give up my job to someone inept sometime within the last so many centuries?"

Loki's face went blank, but there was a tension coiling in his slender frame that had Natasha edging away for her own safety. "You did not."

"Strange." The other Loki rolled his neck. "There's been a distinct lack of chaos here. And Kali's nowhere to be found."

"This is not your world," Gadreel said. "Can you not sense it?"

"Oh, I know." The other Loki's smile was flat. "I'm not an idiot. I don't even have my body anymore, and this one just isn't the same. Magic only goes so far."

"What he means," Loki said, "is that there are no pagans like you in this world."

"Really." The other Loki's voice was mild, but there was an undertone of something flat and ominous. "Where'd you spring from, then?"

"Asgard," Loki replied. "It's quite a few light-years away from a human perspective; I understand why you would not have realized it was there."

The other Loki snorted. "Aliens," he said. "Right. Guess that makes more sense as to how you're still around."

"What's that supposed to mean?" James asked warily. One hand was on his gun, and Natasha saw the other Loki's eyes flick down to it for a second, the ghost of a grin passing over his face, like he thought it was funny that James had brought it.

"You really have no idea what I am, do you?" he asked, amusement clear. "And you thought you could handle me anyways? How naïve."

"What do you—"

"Shut up," the other Loki snapped, cutting Gadreel off before the angel could finish his sentence. "What are you doing here, anyway? This is none of your business."

"As you are a part of Gabriel, I would say it is," Loki reminded his counterpart. None of them expected the latter to burst into laughter – short, sharp noises that sounded more mocking than actually amused.

"I'm a part of an angel?" He laughed. "That's a good one. You can't be an angel and a god. Blasphemy or something like that. Have you ever seen an angel be one?"

"You are." Natasha said.

The grin slid off the other Loki's face. "I thought we just established that I'm not."

Natasha wondered what this Loki had against angels. "Whatever you say, you're still a part of our friend."

"So you're here to convince me to rejoin?" The other Loki laughed again, turning towards the höll. "Good luck with that. Didn't I say earlier I wasn't interested?"

"It doesn't change our desire to see you back together," Gadreel said, following him as the other Loki strode inside.

"I thought I told you to be quiet."

"I do not take orders from you."

"Well, then this is going to go just perfectly."

By now they were all inside the old building, having followed the pair inside. The ceiling arched far above them, high wooden beams carved with intricate curling patterns disappearing into shadow.

Natasha glanced briefly at them, cataloguing her surroundings, and then at James, who looked steadfastly blank, like he was trying not to react to anything.

The other Loki had draped himself over what might have been an altar at the end.

"That seems disrespectful," Loki said, stopping where the floor turned into a set of steps that led up to the altar.

"It's to me," the other Loki said. "Or you. Whichever. Could go either way, but it doesn't matter."

"And what if it is an altar to me?" Loki ascended the steps, standing in front of his counterpart and practically looming over him.

"I don't particularly care if you're insulted," the other Loki replied lazily, looking up at Loki, seemingly not bothered by the height difference as he remained sitting – or lying, rather. "Not my fault I'm in your universe. At a guess, it's Gabriel's fault."

He wasn't wrong, but the way he said Gabriel's name – with something resembling a sneer – rubbed Natasha the wrong way.

"What do you have against Gabriel?" she asked sharply, drawing the blond Loki's attention.

"Do I need a reason?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Does Gabriel have self-esteem issues?" James muttered to her. Natasha got the feeling that the other three heard it, too, judging by the shorter Loki's scowl.

"Why do you care?" he asked roughly, glaring at her. "Your friend is Gabriel, not me. Stick with him."

"If we knew where he was, maybe," Natasha said. "As it is, it kind of sucks having a friend who doesn't remember most of his life."

"Not my problem," the other Loki said casually.

"You've got at least half of the memories he's missing," James pointed out. "I'd say you're definitely involved in this problem."

"So?"

Loki was giving the other Loki a look Natasha had never seen on his face. She got the feeling that they had all underestimated who they were going up against.

"You cannot simply leave another part of yourself like this." Gadreel stepped forward, reaching out as if intending to grab the other Loki's arm.

The blond god vanished before Gadreel could reach him. A crackle and a burst of air on the back of her neck made Natasha spin around, seeing that Loki glaring past her at Gadreel. He looked genuinely contemptful, the lightning-like remains of whatever green energy he'd used to transport himself fading from around his frame.

"Let's make this clear," he said, jabbing a finger at Gadreel. "I couldn't care less what you do, but while you're here you're in my territory, so do me a favor and just act like you're not there or something."

"What do you have against angels?" James asked, looking bewildered.

The other Loki's eyes moved to him, his expression not softening in the least. "I'm a god," he said pointedly. "Gods don't like angels and angels don't like gods; I've never felt particularly inclined to break tradition."

That implied a lot of things about what Gabriel thought of himself, and none of it was good.

"Fine," Natasha said. "We're not going to get anywhere with Gadreel here."

Gadreel shot her a bewildered look, appearing both hurt and angry. "Natasha—"

"You know we're not getting anything done." She gave him a come on look. "Work with me here."

Gadreel sighed, gave the other Loki another angry look, and vanished. Loki relaxed minutely, and the taller one stepped forward.

"I assume you are willing to speak to me."

"You're an alternate-universe me." The shorter Loki crossed his arms. "Whatever you have to say, say it."

"As a guess," Loki began, "I would say you do not remember everything that you know you should remember." The other Loki stiffened, but the first one continued nonetheless. "I doubt that you escaped unaffected while Anthony remembers only his human life."

"Is there a point to this?" the shorter Loki retorted, stance tense and eyes glaring daggers.

"I am just wondering how well you will cope in the modern world," Loki said mildly. "How much do you remember, exactly? Certainly not enough to know about the current technology, with the varied inventions your human self produced."

"We're not the same person," the other Loki snapped.

"I never said you were."

"Why do you want to know how much I remember?" the other Loki demanded.

"Curiosity," Loki said, shrugging. "You have never wanted to know something for no particular reason?"

The other Loki stared at him, eyes narrowed, and then seemed to abruptly make up his mind. "Sometime around the 1400s," he admitted guardedly.

Natasha wasn't sure she'd heard him right at first.

Loki's eyebrows had shot up, but other than that his outward appearance didn't change. "I see," he said delicately, while Natasha was inwardly grateful that she could keep a straight face through pretty much anything.

The 1400s?

That…was a long time ago. Exactly how long had Tony been Loki?

"Bit of a shock, I suppose?" James asked casually, one eyebrow raised.

"No, not at all," the other Loki said acerbically. He gave them only a fraction of his attention, keeping most of his focus on Loki. "It's simply a small matter of rearranging of my whole worldview, trying not to be run over by those strange contraptions you call cars, and – one can't forget this – the lack of proper worship." He scoffed. "I don't know what people are thinking anymore. It was bad enough with the kings and shit, but this?"

That seemed to be an issue with this Loki, who had mentioned it several times since they had engaged him. Natasha couldn't help but wonder why, and this Loki's comments were cryptic enough that she couldn't quite understand.

"If the last you remember is the fifteenth century," Loki said, tone neutral, "then what is your explanation for missing the last six centuries? Time travel?" The suggestion was sarcastic in a way only Loki could make it.

"No," the other Loki huffed, biting the word out. "I'd say it's because of whatever incident caused me to enter your universe. Besides, as much as time travel would be useful, I haven't quite got the hang of entering the temporal stream."

The worst part was that Natasha couldn't tell if he was joking or serious.

"Please don't," James said. "I'm told it's generally not a good idea."

The other Loki shot James a dirty look. "Like I'd listen to you."

Loki appeared outwardly bored, but there was a measure of tension to his frame that made his wariness more apparent. "You must admit that we have a point," he insisted. "You have some awareness of the technology of today, but you say your last memories are of the fifteenth century. How else can you explain such knowledge?"

"Because you claim I was an angel?" The other Loki snorted, sneering again. "Try another story, Loki. There are plenty of explanations that would've been plausible, but you picked the least likely of all of them. Good plan you've got there for trying to convince me."

"There are three other parts of you," Natasha said. "All of whom don't remember their past the way they should. You can't just write that off because you're prejudiced against angels."

"It makes you a bit of a bigoted dick," James added, twitching away from the pinch Natasha gave him.

"Have you met the rest of my kind?" The other Loki's grin was sharp. "We're not big on acceptance. No, I'd say we're more of the 'stab first, question later' variety – especially when it comes to angels. Can't say it doesn't get tiring at times, but at least there's no end of amusement."

Loki inclined his head. "This is true," he admitted. "But—"

"And don't get me started on what happens once Thor gets into it," the other Loki said airily, not noticing or simply ignoring how the rest of them stiffened at the name. "I tell you, I've never met a kid who's got that many issues with frost giants. Ignoring the rest of the Æsir, of course. You still have that problem, I assume?" He turned around, spinning on his heel to face the three of them again.

Loki was standing stiffly. "Yes," he said frostily, the word clipped.

"Oho." The other Loki stopped, eyes fixed on Loki. "Someone's got issues. What, a personal grudge?"

"Something like that."

A smirk spread across the other Loki's face. "Now there's a story there," he said, moving forward and towards Loki with a smooth, predatory grace.

"I prefer not to speak of it," Loki said stiffly, stepping back from his counterpart. The latter kept grinning.

"Come on," he said. "I'm you. Don't you trust me?"

"Forgive me if I am unwilling to share personal details with you."

"I thought the whole point of this was to convince me that I was a part of your old friend?"

"No offense to Gabriel," Loki replied, "But I would not tell him, either."

The other Loki sighed, stepping back a minute amount. "Fine," he said. "Keep your secrets. It's not like I don't have my own." He clapped his hands together. "If that's all, I think it's time for me to be going—"

Loki's hand clamped down on his wrist, his voice as cool as ice as he said, "We are not yet done."

"Oh?" The other Loki's eyes were slitted dangerously, a deadly smile pulling at his mouth. "Too bad. Because I am."

Loki's hand clenched on nothing as the other Loki disappeared in a haze of green sparks, faint laughter trailing after him like the ghost of an echo.

The three stood there for several minutes, staring at the empty space the other Loki had occupied. Within one breath to the next, Gadreel appeared, face set disapprovingly.

"I thought you had this handled," Gadreel said quietly, anger lacing his tone.

"Would you have preferred a fight?" Natasha met his eyes evenly. "Because that's what would've happened. He wasn't going to be reasonable with you here."

"She is right," Loki said, a small frown on his face. "I am surprised at how…volatile he seems to be."

"Because Tony's always so reasonable?" Natasha said dryly. "You haven't seen him when he's angry."

Loki's eyes flickered to her. "I doubt you have either."

After another moment's reflection, Natasha had to admit this was true. She had only ever seen the aftermath of Tony's anger. Pepper had been the only one to have a front row seat to what an angry Tony was really like, and that hadn't been a pleasant experience for anyone.

But even an annoyed Tony was dangerous to be around.

"Fuck," James said, rubbing his face. "What are the chances I can hide somewhere before Steve gives us all his disapproving face?"

"The one with the eyebrows?"

"Yeah, that."

Natasha considered the question. "Not very high."

James's sigh was long-suffering. "That's what I thought."

We hope you've enjoyed this chapter! Reviews are very much appreciated.