A/N: I AM SO SORRY. I was burning out - the first version of this chapter was almost entirely complete crap - so I let myself take a break for a signle one-shot that never got finished, and then the break just... kept... going... until suddenly it's been a month aND I SWEAR I AM SO SORRY.

...With that being said, I have a Jurassic World 2 request I wanna get to (though my plans to see the movie a second time, which I need to do to get a better idea of Maisie's characterization, just fell through so... idk when I'll actually be writing that one) and a Tumblr contest due by July 8th. So. I might go away again. But hopefully not for another solid month.

"So Peter and Dum-E," Tony was saying as he and Thor stepped onto a half-empty landing platform, "unbeknownst to me, have been making a ton of homemade firecrackers-"

"What happened between you and Steve?" Thor asked.

Tony bit his lip. Of course Thor would have questions, and it had quickly become obvious that he wasn't completely listening to Tony's story, but… "It's complicated."

"My father keeping my murderous older sister a secret until moments before his death, and apparently having raised me to keep my power dependent on Mjolnir until he no longer needed me controllable should I follow in her footsteps, is complicated. An argument is not."

"It was very political, and then it got personal-"

"I am a king, and I think I have an understanding of personal problems," Thor pointed out, trailing one finger over the miniaturized helmet. "And we all must be united, now more than ever."

Tony conceded the point with a wry smile. "I thought you were done fighting?"

"I am done fighting for the dead."

Dead.

Ned's dead.

Peter's dead.

Pepper's dead.

My baby… Morgan is dead.

No. They can't be. I won't let them be.

"All right then," Tony acquiesced. He paused, thinking over his words, and bit by bit, the story came out. Friday alerting him to the tragedy in Laos, Ross calling him almost immediately to spring the Accords on him, rushed thoughts and a long conversation with Pepper on the plane, debating with the others before Rogers got the text that only knocked both of them further off-balance.

Backing out of attending Aunt Peggy's funeral to allow Rogers space, then the news of Barnes supposedly attacking the summit, scrambling to protect Wanda and Rogers and Barnes from the fallout, Barnes escaping, recruiting Peter.

Recruiting Peter.

Was that only two years ago?

It feels like he's always been there.

Until now.

The airport battle that went so, so wrong. Using every ounce of willpower he could muster not to scream at Ross – and not quite succeeding – for putting them in the Raft. Arriving to get answers, hit from multiple sides by insults. Except from Wanda, horror flooding him at the sight of her already pale and still and entirely, utterly resigned to her fate, wrapped in a straight jacket and armed shock collar.

It was around Siberia that his words began failing him. He stumbled through the explanation, forcing away the image of Bucky – no, the Winter Soldier – dragging his father from the car, unfazed by his recognition, punching him until he breathed his last. Of him strangling Mom as she sobbed for her husband, hurt and confused.

Did they think of me? Tony wondered. Or just each other?

He flashed back to the moment his own dagger had pierced his unarmored abdomen. To the heartbeats before Strange's interruption, when death had been a certainty.

No, he decided. They thought of their son.

"And then… I snapped," Tony finished quietly. "I tried to murder Barnes, and Rogers tried to stop me. It left Rogers with no shield, Barnes with no arm, and me with a broken suit."

"So it is more complicated than Steve led me to believe," Thor concluded, starting to run his fingers through the remains of his hair before faltering. "I judged him too harshly."

Tony blinked. "What did you say to him?"

Thor rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I compared him to Loki. The Loki you knew."

"I think it's fair to say we both had a little New York Loki in us in Siberia," Tony allowed, sticking his hands in his pockets. "We weren't… really ourselves."

Thor studied his hand, clenching it into a fist as lightning sparked around it. "I understand that too," he murmured.

"Are you girls ready?" Nebula asked drily from behind them.

Tony and Thor jumped, spinning around to see her, Valkyrie, Rocket, and Bruce all waiting. Thor cleared his throat. "We were, ah, waiting for you."

"Really?" Valkyrie teased. "Because we've been standing here for about five minutes."

"Um-"

"Oh, just go," Tony mumbled before Thor could try another lame excuse. Fumbling Stormbreaker a little, Thor hefted it into the air, bringing the Bifrost-

"Wait! Wait for me!"

The rainbow disappeared abruptly as Tony turned, relieved at the sight of Rhodey jogging up to join them. As always, he ran a quick diagnostic gaze over his legs, making sure they were moving normally, that his braces were working at optimal levels. He was limping slightly, but at the moment, it could probably be chalked up to battle injuries.

He reached Tony's side, clapped him on the shoulder. "You didn't think I'd miss a chance to take the Bifrost Express, did you?"

"Why are humans always so peppy?" Nebula muttered.

"We evolved specifically to annoy grumpy aliens," Tony retorted.

Nebula pursed her lips, flexing her metal arm. It sparked a little, her fingers moving sluggishly, but something told Tony it wouldn't be a good idea to offer to fix it for her. Thor, a tiny smile slipping rapidly from his face, narrowed his eyes slightly at the cyborg, but he too said nothing. He simply lifted Stormbreaker again, and this time the Bifrost took them uninterrupted.

-MCU-

Gamora stayed a few feet to Loki's left as they headed deeper into the maze of doors, because he seemed reluctant to take the lead. More than reluctant – he refused to let her out of his sight. And his dagger, for all her fighting against him earlier, kept herself positioned between Loki and Gamora.

She did her best to ignore it. "So, we need a team."

"We do."

"And you know who dissolved," Gamora pressed irritably. "So who do you think we need?"

"Sif," he said, "for Thor's sake. She should be… over there."

Gamora followed his vague gesture. "Look, you're the one connected to the Stone. Just lead."

"No."

She spun on him. "All right, what's changed?"

"Changed?" he echoed, taking a step back.

"You forgave me on the ship," she said. "Why are you suddenly jumpy again?"

"I was never not wary of you, Gamora."

Gamora closed her eyes and took a calming breath. "Loki. I know. I know he put through you hell-"

"It wasn't that," Loki snapped. "I've been to Hel. It is depressing, and cold, and dark, and full of moping souls. But I had the hope of leaving, and Thor was there to cast light into the darkness. But with him- in that place- there was nothing. And whatever you may have been doing these last few years, you are still his daughter."

"I am not that scum's daughter," Gamora hissed.

"Then how are you here?" Loki challenged.

"He threw me off a cliff!"

"Exactly – it worked. If Thor didn't need hope, I wouldn't dream of being here, with someone he loves."

"It is not love," Gamora shot back, clenching her fist. "It's some twisted thing he thinks is love, and that's why he got the Soul Stone. But I'm here, with you, because it wasn't love."

"Prove it."

Gamora worked her jaw, considering her options. Punching him to prove her artificial strength wouldn't gain his trust. Nor would hurling his dagger. Leaving her with stories she had no proof of, and…

She gathered her hair up and turned the back of her neck to him, showing off the thin white scar protruding from beneath her hair. "He cut me open. Put in a regeneration implant, and an ocular implant."

She dropped the hair, tapping her chest. "And a respiratory implant. Not to mention the cybernetic skeleton that aches more often than not, especially when it's cold. He said the pain would strengthen me, paying no attention to the fact that I didn't want to be enhanced. He punished me for crying the first time he made me kill someone, someone he had told me was my sister, someone a year younger than me when I was just a child.

"If you can tell me that's love, then by all means, go back to that illusion you call home. I'll figure this out alone."

Gamora started walking, moving in the direction he'd said Sif would be in. She had no idea what this person's door would even look like, but she had to try.

"Wait."

She paused.

"You really hate him."

Gamora nodded, glancing back at Loki. "I haven't lied to you. He is no more my father than Odin is yours."

"Actually, we made up. Sort of. It was a fairly one-sided conversation."

Gamora smiled a little. "That's good."

"I suppose," Loki murmured. He nodded past her. "Shall we find Sif?"

"After you."

He hesitated a moment more, then strode into the lead.

-MCU-

Stars.

Of course they were the first thing Tony saw as the Bifrost flickered away. Cold pricks of light glaring at him from the even colder darkness of space. And there were no visible barriers between him and that darkness. No suit. No atmosphere.

Rhodey grabbed his arm, and only then did Tony realize his knees were buckling. Thor was moving, and something bumped against the back of Tony's legs, which he took as permission to collapse onto whatever it was. Rhodey squeezed his shoulders, sticking close. Thor did too, letting electricity spark around the hand he hovered in front of Tony, and Tony glued his gaze to the small spectacle. It helped. A little.

"Eitri?" Thor called. Tony tried not to focus on the way even his deep baritone got swallowed in the emptiness.

"You failed."

Tony jumped, whipping around to see a shaggy-haired man looming over them all. He stood, instinctively reaching out to make sure Bruce was tucked behind him, but he seemed oddly unstressed by all of this. Mostly just curious. Not at all like he was terribly concerned with holding Hulk back.

Despite their defensiveness, Thor made no move to stand between them and the giant. "We did."

Eitri's gaze swept over the group, and Tony lowered his arm. "Lady Sif? Prince Loki? Groot?"

"Gone," Valkyrie answered, a waver in her voice.

Eitri nodded solemnly, resting a massive metal finger on Thor's shoulder. "I am sorry," he murmured. "Who did the rest of you lose?"

"No one," Rocket snarled. "Cause we're getting them back."

Eitri furrowed his brows. "The snap cannot be undone."

"It can," Rhodey said, "by another Gauntlet."

Eitri took a rapid step back. "No."

"Yes," Bruce said. "We need your help one more time."

"No," Eitri insisted, holding up a defensive hand. "I refuse to make another. Look what happened this time!"

"And we want to take that off your conscience," Rhodey pointed out. "As best we can, anyway. But to do that, we need our own Gauntlet."

"Who would even wield it?" Eitri asked, narrowing his eyes at Thor. "You don't support this nonsense, do you?"

Thor opened his mouth, but he faltered.

"He doesn't," Tony answered in his stead. "But I do. And I will."

"You? You collapsed at the mere sight of stars. You are not possibly strong enough," Eitri scoffed.

Thanks for dinner, Mr. Stark!

Come back.

I'm sorry.

I had a dream.

It was so real.

That same doubt flickered across Thor's face, albeit fueled by concern, but Tony forced himself to ignore it. He vaulted to his feet, stalking forward a step and lifting his chin to glare at Eitri. "Believe me," he promised in a low tone vibrating with rage, "I have the strength."

Eitri wavered, looking to Thor. "Are you truly going along with this?"

Thor finally moved into his normal protective position, always between the others and danger, letting a hint of pleading seep into his voice. "They're all I have left."

Eitri looked back to the others, from Valkyrie to Tony to Rocket and the rest. Even Nebula met his doubt with unwavering resolve.

Finally, he nodded.

The group released a collective breath of relief. "Thank you," Tony said.

"Don't thank me," Eitri muttered, gesturing for Tony to follow him. "Use your breath praying, if you believe in a god. You will need his strength."

"Again with the resounding confidence," Rhodey sighed.

Tony laughed.

-MCU-

Loki stopped outside of a golden door with a familiar suit of armor painted over it, her preferred double-blading sword slashing from the top left corner to the bottom right. "This is Sif," he told Gamora.

She stood beside him, tilting her head as she considered the painting. "She seems like someone I would like."

"Probably," Loki agreed, reaching for Carita. "But you cannot meet her just yet."

Gamora narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

Loki stood in Od- his bathroom, brushing his hair slowly. These moments in a locked room were the only times he could drop the glamour, and he treasured them, even after only two weeks. He would have to figure out a new ruse at some point, but for now, the constant hiding was infinitely preferable to eternal solitary confinement.

He set the brush down, eyeing the clutter on the counter. "Would anyone actually notice if I clea-"

A crash cut him off, the bathroom door flying off its hinges to slam into his back. He fell over the sink, sending Odin's many supplies flying as the impact drove his breath from his lungs. Then someone was grabbing him by the throat and slamming him back into the wall, the blade of a dagger joining the bruising grip.

"I knew something was off," Sif hissed, glaring at his unchanged face. "Loki."

Loki held his hands up. He tried to laugh, but it came out as a wheeze. "Sif. I was wondering when you would follow up on all of your suspicious glances."

She was unamused, pressing the dagger dangerously hard against his skin. "Where is the Allfather?" she demanded.

"Safer and happier than if he were here," Loki assured her. "Well, maybe not safer, but certainly happier."

"Cease your lies, silvertongue," she spat. "Did you kill him?"

"What do you think I am, a barbarian?"

"Yes."

Loki sighed. "Ye of little faith. We were friends!"

"Were. Now tell me, where-"

Loki clenched his fist, and magic slithered between her hand and dagger and his throat. He shoved out, adding a powerful kick to the telekinetic blow. Sif crashed into the wall and hit the floor, debris raining down on her, where she stayed, unmoving.

He went to kneel beside her, resting his hand over her forehead. He healed her scrapes and bruises and took the edge off her concussion, leaving just enough of it behind to ensure she would sleep for a while yet.

"I am sorry, Sif," he murmured. "But I cannot go back to that cell."

Letting the Odin guise shimmer back into place, he stood and called for the guards.

"I must do this alone," he told Gamora, rubbing his throat.

"If this is a ruse-"

Loki rolled his eyes. "There are no backdoors here, Gamora. If I take too long for your liking, feel free to march in there after me."

"I could keep her as insurance," Gamora said, pointing at Carita.

She flipped up indignantly, and Loki quickly grabbed her from the air. "She stays with me. And I'll be back. For Thor."

He started to turn the handle, then paused. "Although, if it takes an hour, that probably means she killed me. If that happens, good luck."

"Wait, what does that mea-"

Loki slipped inside before he had to answer.

A/N: I put at least 3 intentional bits of foreshadowing into this chapter, which is more than I normally do in an entire fic. Enjoy trying to figure out which bits I'm referring to!