A/N: The second part of the Brothers twin stories. Lots of feels. I felt like crying when I read my own writing. Enjoy! :)

Loki strode calmly through Hel, bored out of his mind, as he had been for years now. It was basically a barren wasteland, filled with spontaneous lava geysers, some mountains, and radiating an unbearable heat. For the first time since he was alive, Loki longed for the frozen realm of Jotunheim, with its vast, icy plains and blizzards at least once a week.

He felt a tingling in the back of his mind and called it to his attention. It was his connection to Thor that he'd made years ago, and it alerted him when Thor was having some particularly strong feelings about him. He felt sort of guilty for invading Thor's mind like this, but he was dead, and this was the only time he had enough power to cast this kind of spell. He was also curious to see what Thor thought of him.

And, though he'd never admit it, he wanted to make sure Thor was okay, because, even after everything that had happened, he loved Thor, and that couldn't be changed.

He immersed himself in the connection, slipping easily through Thor's mental barriers, which were severely lacking, and letting himself be bombarded by thoughts, feelings, and emotions.

"Almighty Thanos," Loki said, and he stood off to the side, watching himself die. Loki almost tuned out the memory, since it ignited dozens of feelings and thoughts that he really didn't wish to deal with at the moment-he hadn't for years, and it had been easy, since he'd been locking away his emotions for millennia-but he stayed, watching it through, remembering every thought he'd had at the time, every feeling.

Fifteen minutes later, Loki found himself in a small cave at the base of one of the mountains-his hiding place from the rest of Hel-and a silent tear made one clean streak through the dirt on his face. He leaned against the stone wall, abruptly cutting off the connection, feeling more tears make their way down his face. Flashes of emotion cut through him like knives-happiness, pain, guilt, despair, sadness, and dozens more that he, being an expert at reading emotions, could name given the effort, but felt too weak to. He leaned his head back and stared up at the ceiling, forcing himself to stop crying and for the emotions to leave, leave, leave.

They didn't.

Loki hated emotions. They made him weak, emotional, made him question obvious decisions that were for the better-for him, at least. The same thing happened every time he used his connection to Thor. He'd end up here, emotions slicing through the walls he built around himself, weak, sometimes crying, and overall a mess. He didn't know why he kept doing it, when he hated what it made him into. Yet, he continued, over and over-sometimes several times a day. Loki was beginning to think it was like a drug-his only source of consolation from the dullness of each day being reliving painful memories and ensuring Thor wasn't physically hurting himself in his grief.

This is what he did now, despite his mind's protests against making him even weaker than he was, when he sought out the connection and slipped through Thor's barriers yet again, immediately immersing himself in the memories Thor was having.

He stood in the cell, invisible to Thor, nor even really there in the first place, and watched as Thor stood up. His limbs moved robotically as he knelt in front of the glass and bowed his head.

"Lo, there do I see our Father," Thor's deep voice growled. Loki's mind reeled with shock. Thor was praying for him to go to Valhalla? Since when did anyone ever think of him that highly? Certainly not Odin, or even Frigga. Loki didn't believe he even deserved the thought of him going to Valhalla, let alone the prayer. He was right-Thor was insane.

A memory flashed in Loki's mind suddenly, and he recognized it as Thor's, induced by the words he spoke.

"Why have you done this?"

"To prove to Father that I am a worthy son! When he wakes, I will have saved his life, I will have destroyed that race of monsters, and I will be true heir to the throne!"

Loki silently added on to his words, remembering what he'd felt at the time. I will have destroyed that race of monsters… all but one.

Then, to Loki's disbelief, Thor continued. "Lo, there do I see our Mother,"

"What makes you think you can trust me?"

"I don't. Mother did."

Loki glanced down at the floor. He fought his emotions which threatened to break his walls down completely, yet he kept listening.

"And our Brothers, and our Sisters,"

The next memory sent a spike of pain through Loki's mental walls, and he felt a tear run down his face. Again? Didn't he say he wasn't going to do this, exactly for this reason?

"I never wanted the throne, I only ever wanted to be your equal!" That sentence was when Loki had laid his feelings out for Thor to see, and yet the witless oaf had not picked up on it.

"Lo, there do I see the line of our people, back to the beginning,

Lo, they do call to you,

They bid you take your place among them in the halls of Valhalla,

Where thine enemies have been vanquished,"

"You can't kill an entire race!"

"Why not?... And what is this new-found love for the Frost Giants? You could have killed them all with your bare hands!" Loki kept watching despite himself, seemingly frozen in place.

"Where the brave shall live forever,"

"Come on, this place is perfect for you. It's savage, chaotic, lawless… Brother, you're going to do great here!"

"Do you truly think so little of me?"

"Loki, I thought the world of you. I thought we were going to fight side by side forever…"

Loki's mouth opened involuntarily. It felt like he'd been punched in the gut-hard enough for him to feel it. He turned away for a moment, though he knew Thor couldn't see him. That memory was possibly the most painful, because Thor had used the past tense. I thought the world of you. Thor had previously considered him everything, but then Loki had fallen and he now thought of Loki as he had said-savage, chaotic, lawless. That had physically hurt Loki, cut him to his truest self.

And he was sure he hadn't recovered.

"Nor shall we mourn but rejoice," Thor said, and Loki turned back. His heart bleeding, he whispered the final words.

"...those that have died the glorious death."

As soon as that was done, Loki set his mouth into a firm line and vanished, abruptly severing the connection. He returned to the bleak cave and stood up, striding purposefully out and towards the spire in the distance, where Hela was.

…

Loki was back in his cave, and he felt the connection tingling uncontrollably, pulsing, and yet he ignored it.

Then, it stopped suddenly, and that was his cue. He summoned up a vast amount of his magic and held it there along with the small red stone in his right hand, and examined his emotions. He forcefully locked them away and then squeezed the stone, channeling his magic into it. The stone started to break away into fine dust particles, forming a cloud around him, spinning faster and faster.

Then, Loki opened his eyes and was met with dull white walls and glass. Thor's head was in his hands in front of him, but his brother glanced up. Loki saw the hollowness in his eyes get immediately replaced by emotions as he stared up at Loki, not processing it for a second. Loki offered a sad smile as he watched Thor silently.

"Loki?"

Loki nodded. Everything felt slightly surreal—he never thought he'd hear Thor's voice that quiet. He could hear every emotion Thor had felt in the past few years in that one word.

Loki could practically see Thor's mind jumping to conclusions, and not because of his connection. He raised his hands up as if he was surrendering. "I'm not alive, Thor. No resurrections this time, remember?"

Thor's shoulders slumped, and Loki felt a small stab of guilt. He glanced down, lowering his hands and letting them fidget at his waist, then gave a small smile. "You prayed for me to go to Valhalla," he said.

Thor glanced up, when Loki looked down again. "I heard you and… with a little bit of persuasion on my part, I convinced Hela to let me visit you. It's not easy in Hel. Hela didn't enjoy our little trick with Surtur, you know," he explained. Thor laughed.

"I can see why she wouldn't."

A memory flashed in Loki's mind; he gave a short smile at the irony. "Well… I have limited time here, and it seems our positions are reversed, so… I did not come here to share feelings. Instead-" he laughed sarcastically and gave a meaningful look to Thor- "I offer you the chance of a far richer sacrament."

Thor glanced up sharply. Loki could see the surprise in his eyes, before the recognition and he played along with it, giving a short laugh. "Go on."

Loki recalled the words easily. How ironic that they were repeating this scene. Loki had never thought that he would be the one bargaining with Thor to take him out of prison. It was a far-fetched idea, but here they were. "I know you seek vengeance. You help me escape Hel and I will grant it to you. Vengeance."

Thor tilted his head in puzzlement. "Why would you want to escape Hel? I mean, it's not the best place to be, but for what reason do you want to be alive again? It's..." He glanced down. "It's not the best of times to be alive."

Loki nodded, knowing full well what Thanos was capable of-probably more than any of the Avengers did. "I am well aware of the danger I'd be in if I were to resurrect myself. Thanos would probably hunt me down and either enslave me or kill me before I'd be able to do anything. But… I can't live there. It's so boring. If I try to do any kind of prank, they set me on fire or something and I hate heat. You know that," he explained, letting a small bit of his Jotun form seep through to show on his skin and smirking at Thor, who burst into laughter. Loki couldn't help but give his own quick smile as he watched Thor finally control himself.

"Loki, I've missed you! You don't even know," Thor said. Loki's smirk vanished. He remembered the past few years. Pain sliced through him, sharper than any knife he'd used, and he met Thor's gaze.

"Oh, but I do. I never left you. I used my magic so I would experience and feel and think whatever you were at the time, and…" He tried to maintain his sarcastic facade, to cover it up with his quick wit and biting remarks, but he heard the silvery quality of his voice flee like a prey animal being chased by a predator, and his voice came out broken, cracked.

"I'm sorry, Thor."

His voice was further reduced as he thought back to the pain he'd felt over all the years; he could barely do anything more than whisper through all the combined pain of both him and Thor.

"I had no idea."

He glanced up at Thor, who gave a smile. The smile had not an ounce of happiness in it, but rather the crushing weight of millennia of memories together, only to have one be ripped violently from the other, their relationship questioned and both their hearts broken. Loki glanced back down, only to move his eyes back up to Thor as he spoke quietly.

"Maybe you're not so bad after all, brother."

Loki felt the connection. He immersed himself in it, seeing flashes of every memory they'd ever had, from their childhood to now, and he felt an emotion he couldn't remember the last time he'd felt it flood through him, golden and shining. It matched his brother and, as it flooded through him, he felt it slip through his walls, filling the cracks in his heart, weaving between all of the pain and hurt and memories. It was quietly firm-not intruding, not destroying, but quietly setting itself there and telling him that it was there to stay, that there was always something there, even if everything else were to shatter around him.

Hope.

"Maybe not."

...

A/N: This next part is at the end of Avengers 4. It is short, painful, and happy all at once. I got the idea from something I saw on Pinterest. Also, it is my interpretation of Valhalla and the best for what I want to write.

Thor lay on the ground. His mind was getting fuzzier by the moment as he felt his life fade away. They had won. Thanos had been defeated, though that had come at a high price. Many had died; some were dying; some had survived. Thor felt a surreal sense of peace and content come over him. His sapphire eyes stared up into a cloudless blue Midgardian sky; tall trees, glowing vibrant green, were at the edges of his vision; a cool breeze blew gently over him, caressing him, as if the world was at peace and was telling him that it was okay; it was time to sleep.

Just as his life bled out of him, he gave a small smile, one crystal thought coming through the fuzziness of his brain. At least his last sight would be of a world at peace, and the cool blue of the sky, with the breeze blowing gently over him like a soft blanket, easing his worries and soothing his wounds. Dimly, Thor felt the pain of his wounds, before cool air washed over him and the pain fled, fading gently away like a candle flame slowly going out. He felt darkness at the edge of his mind, threatening to take over, yet not threatening, slowly weaving its way through his consciousness, gently turning off his mind, thought, body.

Thor felt at peace with everything; he had achieved true happiness in his last moments. A small smile lit his scarred, bruised, bleeding face, a light in the darkness.

He closed his eyes.

...

The darkness was fleeting, like a dream. He could barely remember it. He vaguely remembered a female voice, then... now he was here. Wasn't he dead?

Suddenly, his feeling of peace fled. He slowly opened his eyes and was met with blue skies and a blinding sun; he closed his eyes again. Thor turned his head to the side and opened his eyes again, seeing vibrant green grass and a low stone wall several yards away. He sat up, momentarily disoriented. This wasn't Midgard; he could feel the underlying current of magic in the air, just barely. His magical senses weren't as strong as Loki's.

He looked to his left and the stone wall was directly next to him. It circled around, as if this was a yard. Was this Valhalla?

He turned almost all the way around and the first thing he saw was Loki, leaning against an old house, staring into the distance, at the vibrant green grass fields beyond. He didn't even seem to notice Thor, though he knew that Loki knew he was there. His face seemed strangely peaceful, as if he had finally accepted himself and the turmoil in his mind and heart were no more.

Before he could say anything, Loki spoke up, his voice quiet yet powerful and holding a note that Thor hadn't heard in a long time, a note of happiness.

"I told you the sun would shine on us again, brother." He turned towards Thor and slowly stood up. Thor followed suit, facing Loki uncertainly. What was happening? He had come to expect vague representations of certain mindsets Loki had towards him, which then affected how he acted towards him. He could never truly judge him, because his brother was far too complex and subtle for that, and Thor had not the skill to untangle the web of emotions that was Loki, God of Mischief and Lies, but he had always had a vague idea which told him how to act.

This, however, was unfamiliar ground.

Thor took a step forward, but for the first time, Loki didn't take a step back. Instead, Thor watched as something broke inside Loki, and one tear ran down his face. That, in turn, caused Thor to feel his eyes welling up. He walked forward quickly and embraced Loki, feeling his brother's shoulders shake gently as he hugged him, and Loki's arms slowly wrapped around Thor's back, accepting the hug for the first time. Thor felt tears run down his face, and he shamelessly let them.

The sun shone down on them both.