I finally got some free time to update, so here's the next chapter. There are some mild spoilers for Avengers Endgame. It's mostly just subtle references, but be warned! You can skip this chapter if you want, but the spoilers are so subtle that you probably won't tell that they are spoilers. Just as a warning, if you haven't seen Endgame, bring tissues. I cried, my dad cried, and practically everyone in my school who saw it cried. It's a really good movie, and I recommend that you see it if you haven't.
Chapter Four: Panic Attacks and Plans
Loki was having a panic attack. It had been almost a year since Thanos's assault on the Earth, but it was still fresh in his mind. All the terrors, pain, and agony that he experienced in the Void came rushing back, gripping Loki in a rough grasp. He was shaking, no someone was shaking him.
"Loki!" someone was shouting. Then that someone slapped him, violently sending him back to reality.
A face swum into view. The man had chocolate brown hair that barely brushed his shoulders, a beard, and intense, light blue eyes. A name connected with the face.
"Bucky?" Loki muttered, his eyes still slightly unfocused.
"Yeah, it's me. We officially met just about ten minutes ago, but whatever. You need to snap out of it," Bucky ordered gently.
"Snap. Yes, the Snap…" Loki started mumbling to himself again.
"Hey," Bucky grabbed Loki's jaw and turned his face to look at him. "It was a poor choice of words, alright. But right now, I need to you focus. Whoever this Sigyn person is and several people whom you apparently care about are missing. They need you to focus."
The mention of Sigyn shattered Loki's daze and he slowly came back.
"Sigyn?" Loki asked tentatively.
Bucky nodded and helped Loki stand up. "Yes! Now, where do you think they went?"
"I don't know," Loki admitted. He hung his head.
"Can't you just use your magic to track them?" Bucky pointed out.
Loki shook his head. "No. If I use my magic, it sends a beacon out to everyone who can sense magic. The last thing we want is a whole army of...his followers attacking us," Loki explained. "I was always told that my magic has a powerful aura, which is very easy to track."
"Why don't you use your magic to hide your magic?" Bucky asked.
"It doesn't work like that," Loki replied.
"Then how does it work?"
"You have no understanding of how magic works, do you?" Loki questioned.
Bucky shook his head.
"Then let me tell you, if you were not born with it, then it's nearly impossible to understand or weild. I will have to find them the old fashioned way," Loki said.
"We will find them," Bucky added.
Loki raised an eyebrow. "We?"
Bucky nodded. "Yeah."
"You tried to kill me not too long ago," Loki pointed out.
Bucky shrugged. "For some stupid reason, I trust you; and that is really hard for me to do. I know how you feel and I want to help. Family is important, I know that much. If you don't want me, that's fine."
Loki paused in thought. He really needed the help. He didn't want to face...him again-alone. The more people who got involved the better.
"Alright, but we're going to need some extra assistance."
/\/\/\/\
A black, 2018 Cobra Mustang with dark green racing stripes squealed to a halt in the parking lot of a small library near downtown Seattle. Two men who were nearby looked up as the driver and passenger doors opened.
"You know what, I take back everything that I have against modern cars. This one is a beauty!" Bucky announced and closed the driver's door with emphasis.
Loki, who gracefully stood up from the passenger's side, chuckled softly to himself.
The man who was perched on the edge of the stone wall surrounding the entrance of the library hopped off and joined the ex-villains. The man had white-blonde hair, a small goatee/beard, and sparkling blue eyes. He was wearing dark blue jeans, a gray hoodie, and running shoes.
"So, he's joining us?" the man called.
"I suppose so," Loki replied.
The new man extended his hand towards Bucky who tentatively took it.
"Pietro Maximoff," the man said. "And you are?"
"Bucky Barnes," Bucky replied. He tilted his head in confusion. "Aren't you dead?"
Pietro let go of Bucky's hand. "Yeah, drop-dead handsome!" Pietro joked, causing Bucky to raise an eyebrow. "Nah, really, I'm kind of in between because of Hela."
"Hela?" Bucky asked.
"His girlfriend," Loki said casually as if being half dead/half alive and dating the queen of Valhalla was an everyday experience.
"I've met her. In the Soul Stone," Bucky added. "She seemed nice. Kind of scary, but nice."
"Yeah, she's a sweetheart," Pietro said, smiling.
The fourth man got up from his spot on the bench. "Brother!" the man called, causing Loki to turn.
"Thor, thank you for coming here so quickly," Loki said as Thor made his way over to the trio.
His hair was cut short like it had been on Sakaar. He was wearing jeans, a blue shirt, and a gray jacket. His abs had come back, and his muscles were back to normal. His happy and carefree personality had also returned.
"Of course." Thor smiled gently at his brother. "I would do anything for you; and to hear that my niece and nephews, and not to mention, Sigyn, are missing, I'd drop anything to help save them."
"Thank you," Loki said. Thor smiled down at his brother. It was evident that the brothers were back being, well, brothers.
"Not to ruin the wonderful brotherly moment that you two are having right now, but Loki believes that someone dangerous might be involved with this...kidnapping," Bucky mentioned.
Thor turned to stare at the former soldier. "And who might it be?"
The intense gaze made Bucky hesitate. He noticed that both of Thor's eyes were blue, instead of the right one being brown. When had that happened?
"We're not positive, but we think that Thanos-"
As soon as Thanos' name was uttered, a loud clap of thunder shook the ground. Thor's eyes blazed with anger and Loki flinched backward.
"What does that psychopath have to do with this?! He's dead!" Thor shouted.
Bucky took a step back and held up his hands in an attempt to show Thor that he didn't mean harm. Pietro's eyes widened and he wisely backed up as well.
"There was a large symbol burned into the grass in the backyard of his house. Loki recognized it and confirmed that it was Thanos'," Bucky explained.
The anger in Thor's eyes dialed down only a bit, but it was enough.
"Maybe you should not come with us," Thor told Loki.
"Why?" Loki asked.
"Because the last time that we faced Thanos, I lost you! I don't want to go through that again!" Thor admitted desperately.
Pietro whistled low under his breath, which only made the situation worse. Both Thor and Loki turned to glare at him. Pietro quickly found something else to look at.
Loki sighed. "I'm not leaving Sigyn and the kids in danger. They're my family, and if...he took them, then he is going to pay. This a risk that I'm willing to take as long as I know that they are safe and alive," Loki argued. "And you can't stop me from trying."
Loki crossed his arms in front of his chest, ending the conversation. Thor calmed down, but he still seemed upset, and rightfully so. Thanos had caused enough chaos and suffering, and if there was a chance that he might be alive, was terrifying.
"Are there any clues to where they went?" Pietro asked, trying to change the conversation to one where they wouldn't get electrocuted to death.
"Only the symbol and that the house is a mess," Loki said. "At least they put up a fight. If they did, then there's a chance that we might beat whoever did this."
"Yeah, but how are we going to find them?" Bucky asked. "We can't use magic, and I doubt that this is on the news. We're the only ones who are looking for them."
"What about Valhalla? Pietro, why don't you go to Valhalla to see where they are?" Loki asked Pietro. "Hela usually does that to find souls that are missing."
Pietro shook his head. "I can't. Hela is in control of the gates; the only way into Valhalla is through her help. And since I technically exist in the Land of the Living, if I die here, I'm gone for good. But that's something that I'm willing to ignore for Hela's safety," Pietro stated.
"What about tracking-" Thor started.
"Tracking spells are out of the picture since it involves magic," Loki interrupted. "I don't more enemies knowing our whereabouts. And plus, if we find them, we might lead a whole army to their location. The last thing that we and the whole Earth needs is another alien invasion."
"New Asgard?" Thor suggested.
"I don't want Valkyrie in on this. Technically I'm supposed to be dead, and the kids aren't supposed to exist. I'd like to keep it that way," Loki said.
Thor threw up his hands in frustration. "Then what?! We have no way to find them and basically zero clues to where they might be!"
Bucky pursed his lips in thought. An idea suddenly popped into his head. "What if we borrow some of the Avengers' tech and use that to track energy signatures. The portals that are showing up everywhere might be connected with this," Bucky suggested.
"Portals?" Pietro asked.
"Yeah, portals. My apartment is in Bucharest, Romania; that's on the other side of the world. How else did I get here so fast?" Bucky explained.
Loki held up a hand. "Wait a minute. Maybe the portals brought us together for a reason. This isn't on the news, and it seems to have only affected us."
It was a crazy theory, even for them, but nothing could be ruled out as a possibility this early. It was quiet as the quartet thought about how they would find Sigyn and the kids.
"Using the Avengers technology is not such a bad idea," Thor spoke up after a few painfully quiet minutes of deep thought passed amongst the group.
"Do you even know how to use modern technology?" Loki asked.
"No," Thor admitted.
Loki looked at Bucky, waiting for an answer to an unspoken question.
"No," Bucky said firmly. "I haven't been at the Avengers headquarters in a long time, and I'm sure they would question me if I suddenly just show up and ask to use a bunch of technology that I have no clue how to use."
"What if you ask Steve?" Pietro suggested.
Bucky frowned slightly. An unreadable expression flashed in his eyes. "He barely knows how to use a smartphone; he's out of the question."
Loki noticed that Bucky grew a bit stiff at the mention of Steve, but he left it alone. If Bucky and Steve were going through something, then it was a personal issue that Loki didn't want to get into with someone whom he just met.
"Then I suppose that breaking into the Avengers headquarters is the most reasonable solution," Loki said.
Thor sighed. "I really don't like it."
"I don't like it either. Believe me, I'd much rather stay away from the Avengers at all costs, but this is the only good idea that we have," Loki said.
Pietro raised his hand like he was a student in class waiting to be called on by the teacher.
"How are we going to break into the Avengers headquarters? I'm sure they tightened and improved security since the Snap," Pietro pointed out.
A mischievous grin spread across Loki's face. "Don't worry. I've got a plan."
SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
I want to explain some parts of this chapter, WARNING SPOILERS!
Alright, for starters, I wanted Thor's eyes to be the same color again. Since Sigyn is a healer, she healed his eye, which is implied. Loki has short hair, which will make better sense if you read Resurrection. Pietro and Hela are dating, which, once again, will make more sense if you read 'Til Death Do We Meet. Thor is back to his muscular self since Loki is alive and made him get back in shape. All of them are still clearly shaken with the events of the Snap, but they're working on it. I also didn't really like the ending with Steve marrying Peggy. Don't get me wrong, I love Peggy and it's nice to see Steve happy and with her, but I didn't like how he pretty much abandoned Bucky. Endgame kind of happened in this story, so an argument or talk probably happened between Steve and Bucky. In this story, Bucky is still upset at Steve and they haven't talked. I plan on making a different story that follows those events after this story since I want Steve and Bucky to be happy and like brothers who don't abandon their best friend for a girl. I don't completely understand how time travel works in Endgame, but that was my depiction and understanding of what Steve did
On a more happy note, I got a couple chapters already done, so I will be posting those soon.
