I woke up on a cold, hard floor. I felt the stickiness of my blood on the floor around my head. I reached up to feel the fresh blood starting to trickle down my head as I sat up. I brought it down to my side, wiping the blood onto my torn and muddy jeans.
My vision was blurred for a few seconds before becoming normal again. I realised that I was back in the skyscraper, but there was no sign on Thanos, which surprised me, because this was his hiding place.
I slowly stood up and looked around the room. The windows were smashed into tiny little pieces and the furniture was overturned. It was probably from Thor's fight with Thanos.
I looked out of where the window should have been, to see that the battle was still going on, and that Thanos was there in person, fighting Stark, Thor, Steve, Natasha, Bruce and Hawk-eye. But Loki was nowhere to be seen. I panicked and went through all the possible scenarios that could be the truth.
Thanos could have killed him,
He could be seriously injured,
He could have vanished somewhere away from this,
As I thought of the next scenario, I felt someone place their hand on my shoulder. I snapped round, ready to kill Thanos or one of his soldiers, but found that it was Loki. My Loki. The real Loki.
His eyes were the greenest I'd seen since Asgard, but he was battered, bruised and scarred. He was covered in burn marks and deep cuts all over what was visible of his body, which was his face and hands. I felt my heart break to see the pain that Thanos had caused him, but that was replaced with relief that he was alive.
We stood like that for a while, just looking at each other, taking in the bloody appearance of each other, before I took a step forward and reached out for his face, wanting and needing to heal his wounds.
He closed his eyes when I touched his face, letting my magic knit the skin back together. I focused on not causing him too much pain.
When I was done, I wrapped my arms around his neck and he placed his forehead onto mine, closing his eyes.
"I'm sorry." He whispered, placing his hands on my lower back, pulling me in closer to him.
"For what? It wasn't you that did this. It was Thanos." I placed my hand on his cheek.
"For not getting him out of my mind sooner." He answered me. I moved my forehead away from his.
"Loki, that wasn't your fault. He was torturing you, and you were strong. You fought back against him. You've won. He's gone. And if not, then I'll kill him on your behalf." I managed yo get a small smile from him.
"I thought of you. When I first saw you in the cage, I fought, because I knew what he was going to do to you. I couldn't let him do that." He was close to tears. I placed both of my hands on his face as he closed his eyes to stop the tears from falling. I went up onto tip-toes and placed my lips onto his, telling him that I'm just happy that he's safe.
I let my eyes close as he placed his hands on my waist, like he had done when we were on Asgard, and I placed my hands on his shoulders the same way I had done on Asgard.
I opened my eyes and wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my head on his collar bone. I felt him put his head into my neck, his eyelashes brushing against me as he closed his eyes.
We could have been a family by now.
I heard his voice in my head, something that we had been trying to accomplish back on Asgard, but it needed both people to allow full access to their minds, something that Loki had been reluctant to do, but now it seems that he has changed his mind.
I know. I replied, holding him tightly. Odin would have had a fit. I felt him chuckle a little.
Especially because we're not married. His voice was playful, but we both remembered that we had talked about it before I was banished.
Rules really aren't my thing. I felt him smile.
"I love you." He said suddenly. That was the first time I had heard him say that in over a year. Just me and him alone with no one listening over the microphone and no Thanos to control him.
"I love you too. I really do, Loki. I'll never let you get hurt again. I promise." I swore.
"I know. And I will kill anyone who tries to hurt you. I'd rather fall through that damned void than see harm come to you." He pulled away, looking into my eyes. I smiled at him.
There was a cry from down below, and we both spun round to see who was hurt. Loki took my hand as we walked out onto the balcony to see the fallen.
It was Thanos. He had been stabbed by his own sword. I beamed and flung myself at Loki, kissing him as he laughed. I transported us down to where Thor was, our hands still together.
They all pointed their weapons at us, except Thor, who smiled at us.
"Put down your weapons, my brother is back." Thor smiled the widest I seen it since he had first been able to pick up Mjolnir. I felt Loki twitch beside me, as though he wanted to fling himself at Thor, but restraining himself from doing so in fear of losing the fear he held over these people. Or that's what I got from him opening his mind up to me. It was like he wanted them to respect him, but his idea of respect was different to what respect actually. Fear and respect are two very different things, but the line can become blurred or thin sometimes.
They put down their weapons and Thor practically ran over to the two people that he had grew up with, the two people that meant the most to him, flinging one arm around Loki's neck, patting him on the back, and the other one round me, being careful not to hit any of the bruises I had on my back. I was about to tell Thor about the bruises that Loki had, but Loki's voice rung in my head.
Don't
I didn't question his judgment, but I worried about him. He let Thor hurt him, why? Maybe it was a way of paying his debt of him hurting Thor all those years ago when they were training. Or maybe it was something else. Something that ran deeper.
I walked over to the others, leaving Loki and Thor to talk alone as brothers for the first time in a while. They looked at me suspiciously, but did nothing. Natasha had my sword in her hand, and I knew that she had used it when the gun had run out of energy.
Natasha handed my sword to me and I took it with a smile, while the others watched me as I placed it into a holder that I had cast into reality. I looked back up at them.
"I'm sorry for being such a dick earlier." I apologised, placing my hand behind my back.
"It's fine. You were just protecting the person you love, just like we were." To my surprise, it was Stark that spoke. He smiled and nodded towards me.
"No. I was being biased and ignorant." I held my hands up, waving his speech away from me.
"Honestly, you did what we would have done. You're in a bad place, especially after losing the-" Stark cut himself off as Loki reached for my hand from behind. I looked at the ground for a moment, but them looked up as people started to peer out of windows and down at us, looking at Loki with hatred and disgust. The police were starting to come out of their hiding places and point guns at Loki and me.
I gave a quick flick of my wrist, unnoticed by everyone but Loki and Thor , who were used to my magical antics by now, and their guns and other weapons vanished from them in a blue and green glow. I smirked as they blundered around in confusion, Loki and the others laughing.
I held my free hand out in front of me, and Loki knowing what I was going to do, since he had been able to get into my head properly, held his out as well and let the green and gold energy flow from it, as I let the green and blue energy flow from mine and out onto the ruins of this part of New York, cleaning up the dead soldiers and Thanos, the rubble fixing itself back into place and glass becoming windows again, the cars spotless and parked where they were before, and lastly, making sure that Stark Tower was just as bold and tall as it was before Thanos had taken hold of it.
The police, public and The Avengers looked at us in wonder, mainly Loki, because of the things that Thanos had done while in control of him, making them think that it was Loki that had done all of this, regardless of what had happened in the last few days, Loki would always be the villain to them, the one who caused all of this, not the monster that they had killed, minutes ago, because of the personal things that had been said to them with Loki's voice and face.
"If anything happens involving Thanos, we'll come back." Thor said boldly. They looked confused.
"But he's dead. We killed him." Natasha said, pointing to where he had fallen. Me, Loki and Thor exchanged glances.
"He might be dead. Thanos is powerful, manipulative and patient. It could all be a hoax, make you think you're safe, when in fact, you're far from it. Then he'll attack. You have to keep your guard up, or he'll win." Loki warned them, which surprised them.
"How do we know you're not working with him?" Hawk-eye asked, not bitterly, but still Loki tensed, and I snapped.
"Loki never wanted this. He was forced to do things which he would never do. He may have looked like he knew what he was doing, but that was Thanos, not Loki. If Thor trusts him, you should as well." I used Thor as a neutral party, and that seemed to make them believe me.
"We will leave you now, return back to Asgard, with Halley." Thor said, looking over at me. "And we will be looking for any sign of Thanos' survival as well as protecting you fro any other threat you won't be able to handle on your own." Thor assured them.
"We could have handled it on our own." Stark said smugly.
"If Halley hadn't have shown me love, then I would still be trapped where I was, and you'd all be dead. If Thor hadn't have gotten me out of there, then you'd be dead a lot sooner." Loki stood up for us. I smiled as Thor led us away from them, looking up at the sky.
"Heimdall, open the Bifrost!" He called to the sky, holding my free hand, while Loki grasped my other tightly, no intention of leaving me behind.
The Bifrost shot down from the sky, all the colours of the rainbow engulfling us, the two people gripping my hands so tightly, and in that moment, all memories of them being never being able to forgive me for abandoning them, which is what I did to both of them today, and yet, here they are, standing by my side like nothing had happened, like being back on Asgard again.
We travelled through space, relief filling us as we landed. A huge smile flung itself onto all of us, Loki included.
Heimdall was standing in front of us, with three horses standing behind him, as though he had been expecting all three of us to return, which he probably was. I noticed that they weren't our horses, that would be suspicious, but I recognised them, but not their names.
"Thank-you, Heimdall." I said sincerely. He nodded.
"It is an honour, Princess." He smiled. He looked over at Loki, but not in a way that would make me want to hit him.
We walked over to the horses, Loki taking the black one with a white cross on its snout. Thor took the brown one with a black tail and mane, and I took the one with white fur all over.
We rode all the way back to the castle with me leading in the front. I had always been the best at riding a horse out of the three of us, Loki close behind me. Thor had always been the brute force type of person, but me and Loki had been the patient ones, always waiting for the right time to attack.
As we reached the portcullis, five guards stood looking up at us in awe and shock. They probably weren't expecting me and Loki to be here. They moved out of the way, letting us through into the grounds of the castle. I looked over at Loki, who was looking down, his eyes closed, but he knew the way like the back of his hand. He knew that I was watching him, and this was confirmed when he reached his hand out for me to hold. I took it in my right, feeling relief flow through him again.
Around us, people were whispering behind hands, but none of that mattered. I looked over to Thor, who was beaming at the crowd before turning to me and Loki. He looked down at our hands, but was still smiling. I smiled at him too, thankful that we were home at last. It felt so good to be back on Asgard and not trapped on Midgard with S.H.I.E.L.D. on my back.
Loki helped me off of my horse when we got to the stables and put them back into their own stable. As I waited outside for the boys while they put the horses away, a young girl, about 12 came up to me and threw her arms around me, laughing. I rubbed her head as her horrified mother came running up to us, a rolling pin in her hand.
"So sorry about that, Miss." She apologised quickly before pulling her child away from me. I waved her off.
"It's fine. At least one person is happy to see me back." I smiled as I felt Loki's hand take mine. There was another wave of whispering as the mother and child walked away from us, the mother talking sternly to her child.
Loki transported us from outside where everyone was making a fuss over our return, and into the eating hall, where everyone was sitting, laughing, talking, waiting for their food to be served.
The hall turned silent when my mother stood up, running over to us, and engulfed me into a hug. Dizziness washed over me as I clung to her, closing my eyes and letting my mother's reassurence pour over me. I felt tears of joy fill my eyes as she moved on to hug Loki, kissing me on both cheeks as she did.
I looked over at the people that I called friends, all watching me, Loki and Thor in astonishment. Sif, Hogun, Volstagg and Fandral, along with all the other warriors that my father had deemed fit to eat with royalty. I could tell they wanted to run over and greet us, but were holding back because of my father.
I eventually made eye contact with him, my vision becoming double, with what I hoped was a pleading look in my eye. I knew that I was radiating desperation like there was nothing else in the world, but I would fight my father till the end of days just so that he would except me and Loki and let me stay here with him.
"Please." I found myself whispering, tears forming in my eyes again, but these were not tears of happiness. The tension became thick and heavy, mainly on the shoulders of me and my father, but also on Loki and Thor for bringing me back here when they knew the consequences.
My father's expression softened a little when he saw Loki's hand in mine, which surprised me a lot. He stood up and walked over to us, his footsteps echoing in the silence of the hall. He placed a hand on mine and Loki's shoulders, looking from one of us to another.
My father opened his mouth to say something, but darkness clouded my vision once again. I guess I should have seen this coming; I haven't been through the Bifrost in more than a year, my body needs to get used to it again.
I passed out too quickly to know whether I landed in someone's arms, or on the cold, marble ground.