Author's Note: It has come to my attention (curtsey of Sora Bulkhead) that Asgardian is spelled without a "U". Like I said before I have dumb moments. So, at this point I will be spelling it correctly but I'm not sure if I will go back and fix the past chapters.

And here we have the chapter where Loki is in the afterlife plane…I'm excited. Are all of you? I hope that you don't see everything that I am doing from a mile away and that I manage to surprise you with the people who show up. Oh well, you all can tell me if you were surprised or not. Terribly sorry, no action in this chapter. Just a bunch of people talking.

Also I cannot be held responsible for tugging at your heartstrings.

Enjoy the chapter!

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Chapter Nine: Vivid Rainbow Sky

The last thing Loki remembered was lying on the strangely comfortable metal table in Shuri's lab slamming his hands down at his sides, boosting himself into the afterlife plane. Then a warm calmness passed over him and he felt like he was floating. He did not open his eyes at first, he didn't want to break the spell or anything of that nature. After a few seconds of this odd floating sensation he felt himself lying back down on something, but not a metal table. It felt like he was laying out in a grassy soft field. He almost didn't want to get up, he felt so calm and relaxed he thought he might fall asleep here.

You have to test your theory. Now, get up.

Loki opened his eyes a crack and saw that it appeared that he was outside. He opened his eyes all the way and saw the large and vast sky above him. It was beautiful and beyond comparison to anything he had ever seen before. The sky was so clear that he thought that he might be able to reach up and touch it. But it was the color that amazed him the most. The color was a mix between electric blue and midnight blue that had lilac purple lights dancing across the blue. It was like an Aura Borealis but the colors had been changed around and this was ten times more breathtaking.

He slowly sat up into a sitting position. He was in a field of jade and emerald colored grass that seemed to stretch on and over the horizon forever just like the sky did. "Stars above, it actually worked," he muttered out loud. Had he not had a singular purpose for being here he might have just sat there and chuckle to himself that one, he had actually done it and two, he was actually seeing the afterlife plane with his own two eyes. And it was incredible.

But he couldn't stay here. How long he had was unclear he just knew that couldn't spend too much time here or else he would be a live person trapped in a world of the dead. As he stood up he noticed that his clothes were fresher and not stained with his blood from the battle earlier. And his throat and neck no longer hurt him. He felt his neck with his fingers and was slightly shocked to find that it was not sensitive at all.

Amazing.

He felt stronger and less tired then he had in the past two days. He was more than ready to begin his search for those who had vanished. The only real question was, which way did he go? Every direction looked as if it would lead to nowhere except for more of the field. He was trying to figure this out when he heard a loud swooshing sound behind him. When he spun around he could have sworn that he had seen a blur of blue moving very quickly to the South.

Loki had no clue what that blur was but he had this unexplainable feeling that he should follow it or at the very least go in the same direction that it had been going in. So he walked across the field in the ankle high grass, going to the South. He wasn't sure if he was making the right decision or not but he felt so very certain of himself that he was going where he needed to be.

How very odd. Being sure of himself wasn't one of his strong suits. But this place…It felt like all of his worries and doubts and insecurities and self-hate just melted away into nothing. He truly wanted to explore this place more and even stay awhile. It was so tempting when the thought crossed his mind, but… No. Of course he wasn't going to stay. Just long enough to walk around and search for the others.

He saw what appeared to be a city come up over the horizon. Apparently, he had made the right decision by coming this way. As he got closer he took note that it was not a grand city like Wakanda or even New York. It was a poor and broken apart city and yet, it had a weird little charm to it. Loki continued walking towards the city and as he did the grass became less and less until he was no longer stepping on the soft earth but on a stone brick sidewalk. He glanced around at the towering skyscrapers and the lowly alley ways.

The city was eerily quiet.

There was no sound of traffic or cars, in fact he didn't see a single car parked along any of the abandoned streets. The only sign of live that he saw at this point was some pigeons flying through the air and then landing in the little grass by the small trees planted amongst the concrete of the sidewalk.

Where is everyone?

No sooner did he think that question, he heard a child laugh. He looked up and saw that there was a park several hundred feet in front of him. He silently walked closer but he stayed off to the sidelines. There was a little boy running through the park, a young woman running along with the boy, probably the boy's mother, and an older man who sat on a bench watching them with a sad smile. Watching the scene made Loki think of it as any other family out for a day at the park but he had to remind himself that this was the afterlife plane. Therefore these people were dead. The older man he understood but it was the thirty something year old woman and the little boy that got to him. Life was short enough as it was without it being snatched away from people.

He stood there, partially hidden by a growing oak tree, watching the boy and the young mother remembering what it had been like to be so carefree with his own mother. Then he heard the swoosh again and a man in a thick accent say, "They are a nice family."

Loki jumped backwards and saw a young man standing next to him. His hair was white, like bleached white, with a few of his roots still a more natural shade of brown. He had a little mustache and beard on his face, but it was nothing like Thor's or the dear Captain's. He wore a simple pair of black pants and white running shoes, but his shirt was slightly unusual. It was light blue with dark blue shelves and white diagonals on both sides that almost resembled lightning bolts. Loki shook his head in confusion at the sight of the man now next to him. Besides the swoosh sound he hadn't heard anything. So how did this guy manage to walk up beside him without him knowing it?

The man smiled with a mischievous smile at Loki's reaction. "Sorry about surprising you," he said not at all sounding sorry. "I saw you before in the grass and then again here watching the Zemo family, so I decided to see who you are."

Loki looked the man up and down with raised eyebrows.

He saw me in the grass? How? There was no one when I woke up and there certainly was no place for him to hide. That does not make-

"You're new," the man said not asking, but stating.

Loki shook away his confusion. "Ah, I suppose you could say that."

The man nodded. "Hmm. You seem…lost."

"That's because I am." Maybe lost was the wrong word, but he for sure did not know where he was going to go next after this odd city.

"Interesting," the man mumbled.

"How so?"

The man looked up and it was the first time Loki noticed the man's chocolate brown eyes that were shockingly similar to Wanda's. "People who come here are never lost. They just go where they need to go. You know?"

Loki nodded with some sense of understanding. "They just know where their loved ones are."

"Pretty much. Take me for explain. When I got here I knew to come here and find my parents in the old apartment that we grew up in. Do you need help finding your family and friends? I can probably spare a few seconds."

"No, I do not need any-seconds?"

The white haired young man shrugged. "Yeah. That is all the time it would take for me to run around and find them for you."

Loki was lost until it hit him like a ton of bricks. The accent and eyes similar to Wanda's, the ability to run around with super speed. The blue blur he had seen had been this man. Not just any man, Wanda's twin brother. "You're Pietro Maximoff."

"Yeah," Pietro said with a smile. He was apparently happy to be recognized. "Some people call me Quicksilver."

Wanda hadn't mentioned that. "Oh? And who are these people?"

"Well…mostly myself." Loki couldn't help but roll his eyes. "But that's not important right now. How do you know me?" Pietro crossed his arms and stepped closer to Loki. "Because we certainly didn't meet before this. I would have remembered a man in such cool looking clothes as yours."

"I know your sister."

Pietro blinked a few times, his curiosity turning into a hurt longing. "Oh…" Loki was kicking himself for being so blunt. He was blaming Nebula for this, she was obviously rubbing off on him. "You seem like the kind of person who would know my sister and be in the Avengers. You certainly dress like it."

Loki half chuckled and started to say, "No, I'm not a member-"

"How is Wanda? She doing okay?"

"Actually, that is part of the reason why I am here." Loki took in a deep breath and tried to say what he was going to say next carefully and less blunt. "Is your sister here?"

Pietro scrunched his eyebrows together. "I don't understand."

Loki's intentions of being nice and less blunt faded away. "Is your sister, Wanda Maximoff, here in the afterlife plane? Yes or no?"

Pietro laughed, "Wow. Sassy one, aren't you? No, Wanda is not here."

"You're positive?"

Pietro nodded his head rapidly. "Yes. If she were here I would know. You just know it when those you left behind are here. Why do you want to know if she is here? You think she is dead?"

Pietro had said everything in such a rush, Loki was quiet for a few seconds after he had finished speaking just so he could make sure he got everything that had been said. "Well, you see-"

Pietro interrupted him again. "Because she isn't. She isn't here. So what is happening?"

Loki sighed trying not to get impatient. "As I was trying to say-"

"I mean how do you not know if a person is dead or not? Unless, is she missing in action? Is that? Did she go on a mission and did she never come back?"

The man's worry for his twin was perfectly understandable and even expected, but stars above, his constant interrupting with fast spoken questions was getting on Loki's last nerve. "If you would shut up for two damn minutes then maybe I could tell you."

Pietro closed his mouth, stopping himself from asking more questions. But he did say quietly, "Very sassy. You are only a few more sassy comments away from being a full tilt diva."

"…I have no clue what to say to that so, I'll just say thank you."

"You're welcome."

Loki rubbed both his temples, starting to feel a mild headache despite the calm air that was still around him. "Look, I am here because your sister and several others-actually, millions of others all disappeared across the entire universe. I thought they were dead, now I'm not too sure, and I just thought that coming here would be the best way to see if those who disappeared are actually dead or not."

Pietro uncrossed his arms and suddenly looked serious. "You are not dead?"

Loki sighed, "Obviously not."

Pietro blinked his eyes and shook his head. "Wow. I've never seen a live person come here. I mean, sure, there have been some visitors. But even they just know where to go. Never have I seen a live wander… Who all are you looking for?"

Loki started listing them off. "Your sister, Bucky Barnes, King T'Challa, Sam Wilson, a group called the Guardians of the Galaxy, Dr. Steven Strange, and Spider-"Man". I do not know the real name to that last one."

Pietro started walking around in a small circle, contemplating on something. Then he stopped and said to Loki, "Let me take you to some others who might be able to help you. I can tell you that for sure Wanda is not here but, I couldn't tell you one way or another on those other people you mentioned."

Loki nodded. "Alright. Take me to these-" Pietro suddenly grabbed his arm and the entire world became a fast blur of light and color and when it stopped they both were no longer standing on the sidewalk behind the tree near the Zemo family. They were on the outskirts of the city, standing on the stone sidewalk where the green grass was starting to grow up between the cracks. Loki looked around slightly confused but mostly he was annoyed. "What? What just happened and how did we get here?"

Pietro laughed at him again. "You didn't see that coming? If you know who I am then you shouldn't be surprised and with all your sass, I would've thought you had some perceptiveness to you."

"I do. Stars above, Wanda was right about you being a handful."

"Look who's talking, old man."

Loki rounded on the speedster. "I beg your pardon?"

Pietro shrugged. "Your clothes. They're designed very similarly to Thor's. He was an Asgardian. Are you an Asgardian too?"

"Well, it's…" He did not really want to get into this with Wanda's twin brother. "Sort of."

"And Asgardians live to be hundreds of years old, yes? Therefore, you are an old man."

"…Where are these people that you talked about?"

Pietro started walking in the grass. "They should be just up ahead."

"Marvelous, then I can be done with dealing with you."

"You have no patience, you know that, man?"

"Wow, now look who has the perceptiveness to him. For your information, on a good day my patience is very limited but after what recently happened…" Loki trailed off, not wanting to start to relive it all. He already had with Nebula and that was enough. Pietro seemed to understand or at the very least he was smart enough to not push Loki about it.

As they went farther away from the city and more into the field of grass Loki saw that the grass was different colors in certain areas. In some places it was crimson red, in others a golden yellow. It was a mix of these three colors and the sky had changed drastically too. It was no longer a vivid deep blue but a hazy sky blue with bouncing and flickering lights of vastly different colors. In certain areas the lights were sea foam green with hints of pink, in others the lights were ruby red, and in others still the lights were an autumn orange. Of all the worlds that Loki had been to, he had never seen a rainbow sky. And that's not where the amazement stopped. In each direction there were other cities peaking up over the horizon. One looked like New York, another one looked like New York as well but slightly old fashioned, and the other looked like a city from another planet. "This place is fascinating."

Pietro chuckled. "Yes, it is. The cities are replicas of those from the life you left behind. It's like you went to a better, carefree version of your life."

"So, that city back there," Loki said pointing behind him. "That's where you lived in the plane of the living?"

Pietro nodded. "Yeah, Sokovia. It's a poor, crime ridden little city, but hey, its home. Now, of course this version of Sokovia is practically paradise."

That meant that the afterlife plane was much larger than Loki had previously imagined. If there were cities from all the different worlds here with billions upon billions of people…this was going to take a lot longer than expected. Then again, if Pietro knew for sure that Wanda wasn't here, then maybe these other people would be able to tell him for sure about the others. "Are we there yet?"

"Almost."

"Then when will these others come?"

"Well, for one I'm here," an older blue man said in a gruff and scratchy voice. He wore a black and red coat with a Ravagers patch sown just underneath the left collar and oddly enough he had a red fin attached to his head that looked like a Mohawk. The man picked at his jagged teeth with his finger nail and looked at Loki. "You ain't from around here, are you, boy?"

Loki didn't much appreciate being called "boy" because more than likely he was older than this man. "No, and I'm not a boy."

"Well, I reckon you ain't no girl."

Loki shook his head. "No, that's not what I…" He stopped himself from going on and chuckled humorlessly. "Stars above, everyone's a smartass today, aren't they?"

The blue man smiled, showing off his imperfect teeth. "Now you're startin' to catch on, boy." His red eyes glanced over Loki and then went over to Pietro. "Hey, Maximoff, who is this guy anyways?"

Pietro half smirked. "You know with everything that just happened, I never got around to asking."

"Why don't you ask him now? He is standin' right here."

Loki rolled his eyes. "Yes, he is standing right here. Can you both stop talking about me like I'm not here and can we please move onto more important matters?"

"Wow," the blue man said. "You got some fire in ya, boy. I like that."

Loki threw his hands in the air and said sarcastically, "Well, I aim to impress and please. Glad to help you out with that."

The blue man let out a deep laugh and didn't stop for several seconds. "Ah, that was a good one. Since you seem determined to keep yourself anonymous, I reckon I should at least introduce myself. I'm Yondu Udonta, once the leader of one of the sections of the Ravagers."

Well that explained the different colored coat. Most Ravagers' uniforms were completely red, but Yondu's had some black mixed in with the red leather. And Yondu…he knew that name didn't he? Then he remembered. "You helped the so called Guardians of the Galaxy kill the planet creature."

"Ego? Yeah, that sure was a hella of a time. That's how I ended up here in this colorful place. How'd you hear about it?"

"Nebula's a friend."

"The blue gal with the machinery parts?" Loki nodded. "Uh-huh. Well, what can I do to help ya out?"

Pietro answered, "He needs to know if certain people are here or not."

An African man with gray hair draped in specially knitted orange and red material stepped up to the little group and said in a serious tone, "Certain people? What does this mean? If he has just arrived then he should know where he belongs and who is waiting for him."

Loki stared at the man.

I know that accent too…

It was a Wakandan accent. Could it be that this was T'Challa and Shuri's father?

Yondu shrugged. "With all due respect, your former majesty, I think the boy isn't a newbie. I reckon he's, I don't know, a-"

"A live one," said another new voice. Loki turned around to the female voice behind him. He saw a pale bald woman dressed in fancy yellow robes. The robes were designed kind of like Strange's blue outfit that he wore. The woman stared at Loki with a knowledgeable and fascinated stare. "Aren't you?"

"That is correct. And you are?"

She smiled and stepped closer to the group and ended up standing next to Yondu. "The Ancient One."

"The Ancient One?" Loki asked biting back a chuckle. "That's just your name then? So, first name Ancient, last name One? Do I call you Miss One?"

The Ancient One continued to stare at Loki with a remembrance of curiosity. "The way you got here, it's a very peculiar ritual. Unlike those done by others, and like your tribes," she nodded to the African man, "there was a ritual to walk in the afterlife plane for however long as the person chose. It's dangerous, reckless, and it takes a certain amount of strength and concentration." She was silent for maybe a minute thinking over the words she had just spoken. Then she faced Loki head on. "Who are you?"

She was interesting. Actually, if he was being honest everyone here was interesting. "My name is Loki. I am here to see if some of my friends and some others are here."

Pietro turned in surprise to face Loki too. "Loki? I know who you are. Guess the Avengers decided to let other former enemies join the group."

Loki sighed again. "Alright, I am not a member of the Avengers."

"No?" Pietro said in surprise. "You said you knew my sister."

"I do. Look, I was helping the Avengers fight against the mad Titan Thanos."

The Ancient One's eyes widened. "Thanos?" she whispered. "He is after the Infinity Stones again?"

"Yes and he achieved what he always wanted. Half the entire universe is just…gone."

"No," she said, perhaps not believing it.

"Yes. Now, I thought that those who vanished were dead but then I thought maybe there was a chance that they were only entrapped in the Soul Stone. That's why I am here. I needed to be sure that they are not dead."

"Who are you looking for?" the African man asked.

Loki listed the names again. "Wanda Maximoff, Bucky Barnes, King T'Challa," the African man's eyes widened, "Sam Wilson, the Guardians of the Galaxy except for Rocket, Dr. Stephen Strange," the Ancient One sighed sadly, "and a somewhat helpful Spider-Boy."

Yondu was the first to speak. "You're saying that except for the rat, all the Guardians are gone?"

"If by "rat" you mean raccoon then yes, he's the only one left."

Yondu shook his head suddenly looking fearful. "Quill ain't here. I…I would know if my boy was here. And the others…" He trailed off.

The African man took another step forward. "You said that my son, King T'Challa was gone, but what about the rest of my family?"

"I knew you were his father."

"I am T'Chaka, former King of Wakanda." The elderly man wore a worried expression as he introduced himself properly. Loki hadn't answered his question.

"Your wife and Shuri are fine. General Okoye and M'Baku are keeping a watchful eye over them."

T'Chaka let out a deep sigh of relief and said, "T'Challa is not here. At one point he was on the brink of death and I knew he was so close. I do not feel that now. He must be somewhere else."

"And I can tell you for sure that Wilson isn't here," said a pale man with light brown hair walking up beside Pietro.

Pietro turned to the man with a smile. "Riley, it's been a while." Pietro and Riley shook hands and Loki noticed that this Riley person had a jet pack on that was similar to Sam's. Were there more of those winged jet packs?

Riley turned to Loki. "I used to be Wilson's wingman in the 58th Pararescue."

Loki raised his eyebrows. "The wingman used to have a wingman?" Sam was a good fighter and a force to be reckoned with but it was really easy to just see him as the dear Captain's wingman.

Riley shrugged. "I guess you could say that. But the point is, he isn't here." He said it with a glimmer of happiness, evidently he was glad his friend was still alive and kicking somewhere.

And then another new voice said, "And the somewhat helpful Spider-Boy isn't here either."

For star's sake, how many more people are going to come?

This next new person was a man in about his late forties, his hair was dark brown except for his temples were starting to gray ever so slightly. His eyes were baby blue and they both had some wrinkles around them that crinkled up when he smiled. He wore simple Midgardian clothes, black trousers, a dark blue shirt, and a gray sweater vest. He had an air of wisdom and kindness around him, in other words he seemed very approachable.

"And you are?" Loki asked the gentleman.

"Ben Parker. I'm Spider-Man's uncle… I'm sure that Peter and all these others that you mentioned are simply trapped in this Soul Gem thing."

"Soul Stone," Loki corrected.

Ben chuckled, "Stone, gem, it's basically the same thing."

"Not really, but okay."

Pietro shook his head. "You have to excuse him, he's ridiculously sassy."

Ben smiled, his eyes twinkling in the lights given off by the sky. "Well, if I had the ability to perform a ritual that took me to the land of the dead and everyone kept asking silly questions and taking me away from my purpose, I'd be a little sassy too." And Loki instantly liked this guy. "The power it must have taken to get here…I don't really understand all of this magic stuff but, wow, what a responsibility."

"Oh brother," Yondu muttered out loud. "Are you going to say your "with great power comes great responsibility" thing that you always used to say to your dang nephew again? 'Cause I don't know how much more I can take of that."

Ben chuckled again. "No, don't worry. I won't say it."

"Good. Now, boy," Yondu turned back to Loki. "I needed a minute to wrap my head around everything you was sayin' and I think I got it now. As I said before, Quill ain't here and neither are any of the other Guardians."

Loki blinked a few times. "Not even Gamora?"

"No."

"You are positive?"

"She ain't here, boy."

But Gamora had actually been physically killed by Thanos, she didn't just disappear like the others. Unless… "A soul for a soul." Unless her soul was the first one to be taken by the Soul Stone. It was a possibility. More like a reality given that Yondu said that she was not here.

Well, he only needed confirmation that Bucky and Dr. Strange were not here, then he could be on his way. And then as if someone had read his mind, a woman joined the group and said, "Sergeant Barnes is not here either." She was British and dressed in old fashioned clothes, a dark blue knee long dress that wasn't seductive in its design, but more practical. Her brunette hair was short and curly and she wore a red fedora hat. And before Loki even had to ask who she was she stated, "I'm Agent Peggy Carter."

There was such a strength to her voice and to the way she held herself with her head held high. He had seen fierce women before, boy had he, but she just had something about her that made her seem different and special. Loki nodded after her introduction. "The way you said your name makes it sound like you are important, but I'm terribly sorry, I don't know who you are."

Agent Carter half smiled. "You are an Asgardian, yes? I would not expect you to."

"She formed S.H.I.E.L.D.," Pietro told Loki.

"Helped found it," Agent Carter corrected.

Well, all that left was Strange and Loki had a feeling that the Ancient One would know if he was here or not, but she had become oddly quiet, thinking after he had listed off all who he was searching for. In fact it was like she was ignoring the entire group with her eyes closed in mild meditation. "Is she alright?" Loki asked no one in particular.

Ben answered, "When she was alive she could gaze into the future, now of course she can't but she still has a very interesting intuition about her."

"In other words," Pietro said, "she's magical even in death."

Riley shook his head and scoffed to himself, "I really miss the good old days when me and Wilson flying around in winged jet packs was the craziest thing happening in the world."

"The world just keeps on getting crazier and crazier," Loki said, repeating the words Bucky had said before the battle. Why did that feel like years ago?

The Ancient One suddenly opened her eyes. "Dr. Strange is not here either and I know the first thing you," she pointed at Loki, "must do when you get back to the land of the living. You must find a way to contact Wong, if he is still there."

"Wong?"

"Yes. He is usually with Dr. Strange to help him out with different complications that come up."

"Yes, I know who he is. I met him very briefly. He said he had to protect the sanctuary that Bruce and I landed in."

The Ancient One nodded. "He always was a good man when it came to protecting the sanctuaries." She paused for one second, perhaps thinking about all those who she had left behind. Then she continued on. "If all who you have mentioned and everyone else is trapped in the Soul Stone, in the Soul World then Wong would know how to get there. He was the keeper of the library in Kamar-Taj and to the books that are in Dr. Strange's sanctuary. If he is still in the plane of life, Wong would know which book would have the proper spell to get to the Soul World."

Loki nodded at this new information. "Thank you. I'm sure that will be very helpful in the future."

The Ancient One folded her hands behind her back. "May I say something else that might be helpful in the near future?" Loki nodded again. "The Mind Stone brought Vision to life in the first place, perhaps it can bring him back from death."

Loki felt a twinge of guilt. He had completely forgotten about the wise and kind android. "He is here then?" She shook her head yes. "Well, um, yes. I will keep what you said in mind." He wasn't going to say that there was no possible way to get back the stone, considering that Thanos had it. He glanced up and around at all the odd and colorful people he had met that all seemed so interesting. He would have enjoyed getting to know some of them a bit better, but he had to leave soon. If only they were alive…oh well, he would be back here eventually for good. "Well…I suppose that is all. Thank you, all of you, for allowing me to take up some of your time."

Yondu let out another hearty laugh. "Boy, we all are dead! Our time is the rest of eternity."

Peggy and the Ancient One both rolled their eyes at the blue man, but Pietro and Riley both chuckled with him. T'Chaka and Ben shared a glance and then they both focused their attention back on Loki. T'Chaka was the first to speak. "You are very welcome. I hope you are safe with your travels and that you are successful in finding T'Challa and the rest of them."

Loki sighed, "Me too."

T'Chaka gave him a nod and then turned to leave. Ben came up to Loki and extended his hand out to him. Loki was shocked and hesitantly took the man's hand. Ben shook his hand warmly and smiled. "Good luck. I'm sure that the Avengers will prevail. And you tell Peter when you see him that his uncle is proud of him." Then Ben let go of his hand and left as well.

Riley was the next one to step forward. "I'm not really good with speeches of confidence or motivation. And you don't have to tell Wilson…Sam anything when you see him. Just…make sure the dummy doesn't get himself killed."

"That may be a little difficult to do, considering the fact that he is so bloody annoying," Loki muttered.

Riley laughed, "You're not wrong." He waved goodbye to Pietro and the rest of the remaining group and then started walking away.

The Ancient One did not say a word, everything she had to say had already been said. So, instead she eyed Loki with her peculiar wise gaze and gave him a small nod. He nodded back and said, "I'll find a way to contact Wong and get the others back." She smiled with optimism and nodded in agreement, then she left the dwindling group.

Yondu picked at his teeth again. "Well, I reckon I should be gettin' on my way too. It was an interesting visit, boy. When you get here permanently, you should come on by and talk some more."

Loki deadpanned, "I will be counting down the years." Yondu laughed, showing off those teeth of his again, and walked away, his long coat blowing back with each stride. The only people left standing with Loki was Pietro and this Agent Carter person. She had said very little since her arrival but now she looked like she was on the verge of saying much more. Loki noticed this. "Something on your mind, Agent Carter?"

She half smiled and adjusted her red hat. "I just wanted to say that I am sorry about your friends. To lose so many in so short of a time is incredibly painful." She was an interesting one. The way she held herself made it very clear that she was not one to be trifled with and yet her soft and understanding tone that she had now made it obvious that she was more than just a strong female. She was a mixture of strength and femininity. Not afraid to punch someone down, but also not afraid to show her true emotions.

He nodded. "It's fine. Now that I know they are not here…and I suppose in all reality I am not friends with these people."

Agent Carter blinked in surprise. "No?"

"No," he repeated. "Some of them I have not even met yet and the others I only met them yesterday so…I'm not a friend, I'm…I'm just a concerned individual."

"A concerned individual would not risk so much to come to the land of the deceased. Whether you like it or not, I'd say that you consider most of these people to be your friends."

Well, she's not wrong.

Agent Carter glanced at something behind Loki and Pietro and both of them turned around to see another man coming up towards them. And Loki had to do a double take because the man approaching them looked exactly like Stark. Well, not exactly, he was at least ten years younger than Stark. Pietro and Agent Carter both knew who this man was. Pietro waved and called out, "Hey! I didn't think you would be coming. We don't really need your help now."

Agent Carter scoffed, "You're right that we do not need his help, but Howard is the only person I know who would offer his help even if it is not needed, if only to show off his genius."

The Stark lookalike, Howard, chuckled, "Jeez, Peg, you know me so well." He stopped about two feet away from where Loki stood next to Pietro. It was amazing, from his thick brown hair and mustache down to his voice, Loki could have sworn that this man was a young Tony Stark. But that was impossible. Howard ran a hand through his hair and half chuckled at Loki's wide confused eyes. "I guess I should explain why I'm here. I'm Howard Stark, Antony's father. Well…I guess you would know him as Tony."

"You're Stark's father?"

"Yeah. I know. The resemblance is uncanny." Loki had to nod in agreement. "Anyways, I heard that there was a guy from the living here and I thought that maybe I would take this as an opportunity to get a message to Tony."

Before Loki could think to say anything, Agent Carter sighed, "Howard, I realize you want to tell your son some things, but he," she pointed to Loki, "has to worry about so many other things without trying to remember to tell-"

"Well, see? He doesn't have to remember what to tell Tony. I wrote it all down on a note." Howard pulled out of his brown pants pocket a folded piece of lined white paper. "I don't know how the laws of nature work here. All these years and I still don't understand it. But you sir, you have magic and power in order to get here. Maybe you could somehow bring my note with you to the living and give it to Tony?"

Loki honestly did not know why he said, "Alright, I will try," or why he then took the folded up note from Howard. It wasn't like he really liked Stark and felt obligated to be the message man between the afterlife plane and the living plane. Maybe…maybe it was because a parent was trying so hard to contact his child that pulled at his heartstrings. He didn't know, but Howard beamed brightly when he said he would at least try.

Howard walked around Loki and Pietro towards Agent Carter. "How 'bout it, Peg?"

"How about what?" she asked crossing her arms.

"How about you and your mister and me and my misses go to that old café that you used to go to all the time when you were working with the S.S.R. and see if we can relive the good old days?"

Agent Carter sighed, "Okay. Invite Mr. and Mrs. Jarvis, will you? If we are going to do this, we need to do it right." Together Howard Stark and Agent Peggy Carter headed for the old fashioned New York City, preparing to meet their significant others and their friends.

Loki was left holding the folded up note with nobody except Pietro at his side. "Well," Pietro started, gaining Loki's attention. "I guess if you know that everyone you're looking for is not here, then you should probably be heading on your way."

"You're absolutely right."

"You need to go back to that field you woke up in."

That made some sort of sense. In order to get back to the living plane he would need a quiet place to concentrate. "Alright, I will go back to-" Pietro grabbed his arm again and again the world became a blur of lights and colors. When it stopped, they were both standing in the green field with the blue sky with violet lights. Loki turned on Pietro. "Would you stop doing that?"

Pietro shrugged, "It's what I do. Why do you see so surprised again? You didn't see that coming?"

Loki bit back a comeback and sighed. He glanced down at the grass when he said, "Did you want me to say anything for you to Wanda?"

Pietro was silent for a few seconds, thinking about what the best thing to say was. "Just…tell her that I'm fine. Better than fine, actually. Well, don't say that. Just tell her not to worry or to feel sad when she thinks about me." He nodded to himself. "I think that is good."

Loki nodded. "You're fine, tell her not to worry or be sad. Alright." They both stood in the field in a silence feeling the light breeze. Loki should thank him for helping him, or apologize for being so impatient, but he wasn't sure on how to go about it and he wasn't sure if he had enough time to think about it. And as to why Pietro was hesitant about leaving, well, it could have been because Loki was the only person he had met in a long time who knew his sister and he wanted to latch onto anyone who could tell him anything at all about his twin.

But time was ticking away and they both knew that.

"I should let you do whatever it is that you need to do so you can get back," Pietro said turning away to leaving.

"Um, yeah. Hey, uh," Pietro turned back around. Loki didn't know at all what to say. It seems that he had that problem a lot lately. He slightly smiled and said, "See you around, Quicksilver."

Pietro smiled at finally being recognized and called by his super hero name. "Yes, but hopefully not too soon!" Then he left, a blur of blue racing back to Sokovia.

Well, the entire thing had been fascinating and he was glad to say that he did not get into any real arguments with anyone. This had been easier than assembling the Avengers. A lot easier actually. He glanced at the folded note in his hand from Howard to his son. Curiosity seized him for a moment but he reframed from reading it. This was none of his business, besides if Stark told Bruce about it, the contents of the note would eventually get back to him.

Now came the fun part: getting back. It was simple enough, he just needed to close his eyes and concentrate on waking up and when he did he would wake up back in the living plane. Simple. Well…in theory. He was suddenly hit with a tremendous feeling of lightheadedness and standing there in the beautiful green field had become very difficult.

Oh no…

And before he knew it he had fallen to the ground. Oh, please don't tell him that he had gone through all of that and found out that he was right just to be trapped here. No. There was still time, there had to be. How long had he been here? Fifteen, twenty minutes most? He just had to concentrate. So he sat there with his eyes closed and tried to concentrate. But his concentration was broken by a woman saying, "Apparently, I did not make it very clear how dangerous this spell is."

Loki's eyes popped open and he saw, standing only a few feet away from him, his mother dressed in a yellow and blue silky dress with her long golden brown hair pulled into an arrange of curls. He should not have been shocked. He had no reason to be. He was in the bloody afterlife plane after all and yet he stared up at her in disbelief. "Mother?"

She smiled her usual smile, a mix of warmth and understanding. She stepped closer and closer until she was right in front of him and she got down on her knees so they were at eye level. She continued to look at him with her affectionate gaze and all he could do was stare on in his shocked silence, feeling far too many emotions at one time. After what felt like a lifetime had passed in silence his mother slightly chuckled, "What? No hug?"

He didn't need her to say it again. At the same time mother and son at long last got to be reunited in a way they both had been denied for so long. How Loki had missed her. His dear mother, the only one who never gave up on him and always, always saw the potential in him. "I can't believe it's really you," he whispered still holding onto her in their tight hug.

"My dear boy, I can't believe you are here." She patted his back and ran her fingers through his hair in the way she had done when he was a child. It made him never want to leave.

He should just be happy for this moment together but what he could he say, he wanted more. But the thought of being here, in this happy place with his mother made him remember his feelings that he did not deserve love. He whispered it all in a teary eyed rush. "I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. For everything, for what I did, for not being able to save you, for-"

"Loki," his mother said in her tone that she used to get everyone's attention. She never had to raise her voice, she just had to change her tone slightly and then everyone stopped talking. "You need to stop putting the weight of things that you are not responsible for on your shoulders. You blame yourself for everything and I am here to tell you that you are not to blame."

He slightly pulled away from her embrace so he could look into her eyes. "I…I know…deep down that you're right…but-"

"No. No "buts". I want you to know that you were always loved. By me, by your father, by your brother. I know it was unequal," she paused to glance down at the ground, her feelings of failing to have Loki feel more loved shining through, "but I want you to never forget that. You were loved and you are loved…You have to leave now."

"No," he said shaking his head.

With both of her hands on his shoulders she said softly, "Take care of yourself and Thor. You both need each other so I want you both to stop pushing each other away."

Wasn't that just like her? To give him one more motherly command that he would promise to keep and would more than likely end up breaking. But now was not the time to be pessimistic. Now was the time to actually get the chance to say a proper goodbye. "Mother," he started feeling the tears in the back of his eyes start to push forward. He saw her tears too, her longing to either go with him or for him to stay, but neither were possible. "I…I miss you so much. And every day I wish that I had had a chance to tell you how much I love you."

His mother smiled softly wiping the tears from his face. "I miss you too and I know how much you loved me. I love you too. The only piece of advice I can say is, if you hate living with the regret then do not hide your true feelings from anyone. Talk to Thor, to your friends. Tell them how much they mean to you before you no longer have the chance to." Why did she always have the answer for everything? Was she born this wise? "Goodbye, my boy," she whispered. And then the last thing he remembered was hugging her again, feeling her arms around him and then everything started to turn into a hazy fog and he felt himself start to wake up.

…

The past seven hours could only be described as tiredly interesting.

After Bruce had agreed to help Thor talk to Loki, they both had causally strolled to the room where they had originally left him in. But then Loki came rushing out of the room, nearly knocked them both over, and ran away saying something about testing a theory or whatever. Well, Thor, that Nebula girl, and of course himself all ran after him to see what the heck he was talking about. By the time they reached him he was already laying on the metal table in Shuri's lab, seemingly asleep, but there was this really weird faint green glow around his hands that made it clear that he was not just sleeping. "What did he just do?" Nebula had asked walking up to the three men in the room.

The three men of course were Rhodey, Steve, and Tony. Rhodey shrugged looking as confused as Bruce felt, Steve opened his mouth to speak, but Tony interrupted him. "He said he wanted to test a theory? I dunno, it was really odd. Then he muttered something about walking with the dead and his hands got all glowy. I was very confused."

"It's a ritual," Thor said standing next to his sleeping brother. "I remember. He tried every spell and ritual in our mother's books except for one that allowed you to go to the world of the dead."

There was a moment of silence before Tony had asked, "So, there's a way to go to a heaven-like place and see dead people?"

Steve had tiredly rolled his eyes and asked the real question that was on everyone's minds. "Why would he need to go there in order to test whatever his theory is?"

Once again, it was silent because nobody had the answer or even part of one. In Bruce's mind it was clear that Loki was going to be out of it for a while and none of them were doing anybody any favors by still being this dead tired. Because as he looked around at the people in the room, that's what he saw. Dead tired people. And after a couple minutes of convincing them, mostly Tony, Steve, and Thor needed convincing, everyone agreed to go off and get some sleep. Well, mostly. Rhodey had left to find an empty room to sleep in, so had Steve. Nebula and Thor refused to leave Shuri's lab where Loki was still sleeping. So Nebula sat at the silver table Bruce had sat at earlier and fell asleep leaning over it with her head against her crossed arms and Thor sat off to the sidelines on the stairs and kept nodding off. Tony apparently was running off of some sort of caffeine or adrenaline or some sort of Monster energy drink or whatever because the man refused to sleep. It was probably just determination to find Thanos and get back those who were lost that kept Tony going. Point was, he kept pacing in the lab typing at his cellphone for news updates. That was the last thing Bruce remembered before he fell asleep sitting in a chair leaning against the wall.

How long was anyone's guess though, because he was startled and awoken by a pat against his leg and a voice saying, "Hey, you gonna wake up or not?"

He slowly cracked open his eyes. Tony was sitting in a chair looking like he might be asleep and that raccoon named Rocket was standing next to Bruce's chair with his arms crossed. He had been the one to wake him up. Bruce rubbed his head and muttered, "Yeah, what is it?"

Rocket sighed, "The blonde chick dressed in far too much leather wanted me to tell you that she, the genius kid, the kid's mother, and that guy in the fury outfit all went to meet the new arrivals."

Bruce was awake now. "New arrivals?"

"Yeah."

"Who are they-what'd they look like?"

"Which question would you like me to answer?"

"Both," Bruce grumbled.

"Well, there were two guys and one girl. The girl had long dark hair and is pretty tall and slender like. The one guy had dark hair too and has this weird red and black suit. And then the other guy had light hair, light eyes, and strangely enough, a bow and arrow."

"Oh, God," Bruce murmured.

Rocket half laughed, "That's what blondie said you'd say."

Oh, this was not good. At all. He had no idea who the woman was and the man with the red and black suit was probably this Scott "Ant-Man" person, but the man with the bow and arrow was more than likely one Clint Barton A.K.A. Hawkeye. With Tony showing up, the staying up forever talking about what to do next, learning about what really happened to Loki, and now dozing on and off, he had completely forgotten that Nat and Steve had called Clint and that he was coming to Wakanda with this Scott person. And he doubted that either one of them had mentioned to Clint that Loki was here.

Bruce was in the motion of hurriedly standing up from his chair when Loki suddenly sat up with a gasp and was wide awake. Oh, what a time to wake up. "Loki?" he asked stepping up next to him. He was breathing deeply and fast. Maybe a bit too fast. "Hey, are you okay?"

Loki slightly turned his head to glance at him. He seemed a little disoriented but when he caught Bruce's eye, he said in his still scratchy voice, "Bruce?"

"Yeah. It's me."

Loki half smiled. "I'm back."

"Back?" Rocket asked walking closer to the sleeping Tony. "Where'd you go? 'Cause all I saw was you sleeping." Rocket started nudging Tony until the man woke up and pushed the raccoon away. "Hey, don't touch me," Rocket growled.

"Then don't touch me first," Tony snapped back. It was funny how similar Tony and Rocket were. Sure, one was a human from Earth, the other was a raccoon from space, but they both were spitfires and very, what was the right word, reclusive when it came to their real selves. Hell, Loki probably fell into that category too. Tony saw Loki sitting up and said, "Oh, Reindeer Games is up. Now we can see what the heck he was talking about."

Loki swung his legs over the edge of the table, hopped down off of it onto the floor, saw Thor and Nebula sleeping, sighed, and told Bruce, "You wake my brother, I'll wake up Nebula."

"Yeah, okay, but um…" Loki was already walking to the table were Nebula sat. Bruce sighed and went over to Thor to wake him up. All Bruce did was barely put his hand on Thor's shoulder and the man woke up. It startled him. "Hey! Oh, good you're uh, you're awake."

"What is it?" Thor asked.

"Well, uh-"

"Your brother's awake and apparently that's a big deal," Rocket said standing off to the side with his arms still crossed.

Thor stood up in a rush and saw Loki talking to the now awake Nebula. "Loki, are you now going to explain what is happening?"

Loki turned around to face his brother. "Yes. My theory was correct and Nebula said that you all got some much needed rest while I was in the afterlife plane."

"The what now?" Rocket asked.

Loki didn't stop to answer his question. "Which is good because we have a lot to do and we need to be at our best…Me too." Loki hesitantly waved his hand over his neck and throat and a flash of green healed it up as good as new with not even a trace of a bruise.

"Whoa!" Rocket exclaimed. "Are you tellin' me that he could've done that the whole time?"

Tony shrugged. "Reindeer Games is a wizard."

Loki rolled his eyes at being called a wizard but before he could correct Tony, he noticed something in his hand: it was a folded up note. Loki half smiled, stepped closer to Tony, and handed him the note. Tony looked confused and Loki just shook his head. "Don't make me explain." Tony took the note from him and Loki turned back to the group, fully ready to tell them everything.

But Bruce cut in with, "Guys, this is great and everything but I think you all need to know something. Rocket said that Natasha was meeting with Cl-"

And as if he knew he was about to be talked about, Clint Barton with his eagle eyes and dressed in his long ago S.H.I.E.L.D. issued uniform carrying his bow and slung over his shoulder was a container of arrows, came charging into the room. "Clint, wait!" called Natasha but it was too late. He was already in the room and he had already spotted Loki.

"Oh, hell no," Clint said in a dangerously low voice. He was already pulling out an arrow, lining it up on his bow, and pulling it back, ready at any moment to release it and hit his target. Unfortunately, Loki was his target. Thor and Nebula both looked about ready to jump Clint if necessary, Tony and Rocket both just watched on in amazement, Bruce was trying to talk Clint down or at least stall him long enough until Natasha made it back into the room, and Loki had taken several steps backwards when the archer had charged towards him and aimed an arrow at his head and held his hands up in surrender.

He was obviously shocked and maybe even a bit frightened but he still managed to come up with a smart quip. "Well, I picked a terrible time to wake up, didn't I?"

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Author's Note Again: Okay. I know. You don't have to tell me. I left the chapter on another cliffhanger and you're all mad, sue me. (Please don't really, I have no money.) And remember back when I said that the whole can Loki be trusted thing was over? Yeah, I guess I lied. But it won't last too much and it serves a purpose, so…

Frigga in the afterlife plane. Did you all see it coming? Yes? No? Maybe?

I could not have Loki be in the afterlife plane and not see Uncle Ben. He is such an iconic character for the Marvel universe and as happy as I am that the MCU Spider-Man does not have the same origin that we all already know, I miss that we never got to meet him. So…here he is. With a line about responsibility and power and everything.

I freaking love Yondu and I wish that the guy didn't die. (Darn it James Gunn!) But what can you do? I honestly would love to write something else at some point either with just the Guardians and Yondu or just Yondu by himself. I can't contain all the ideas in my head…hmm…I have plenty of ideas for stories, but don't worry, this story takes precedence.

The Zemo family and Riley are just little cameos for those who are as obsessed with CA: The Winter Solider and CA: Civil War as I am. Also I needed someone who would know if Sam was there or not so…

I'll tell you what Howard's note said to Tony. I promise. Just not right now.

Did anyone else see Ant-Man and the Wasp? I'm sure some of you did. It was pretty good, not my top five but still good. In case you have seen it then you already know that my story is different from it and does not follow what happened in the end credit scenes. And if you have not seen the movie yet, well, then you probably don't know what I am talking about. And I'm not about to spoil the end of the movie here in a fan fiction chapter.

This chapter was a lot of fun to write but also it was kind of a hassle. Oh, well. The next chapter will be a bit more fun hopefully. Thank you all for your reviews and constant attention! Love you all!

To my friend Samantha, I put Agent Carter in the story with her red hat, are you happy?