Redemption for the Blue Hearts

by TheGirlWhoLikesTooMuchStuff2.0

"Oh, my God," Bruce whispered. "That's right. He's coming, isn't he? Thanos." Dr. Strange glanced at Wong and the both of them looked lost. He shook his head. "I'm sorry, who?" Loki sighed and rubbed his aching head. These idiots really didn't know anything did they? "Well, it is just marvelous to be back on Earth." SPOILERS! AU where our favorite God has a bigger role in A:IW/E.

21. Chapter Eighteen

Author's Note: On May 9th, 2018 I published the first chapter (Prologue: The 1,325 Year Old Promise) to this story. It's been over a year, guys! The years always have a way of speeding by, but the thing I can't believe is how far my story has gone and how much attention this little story has gained over this past year. It's ridiculous! I feel that I would still be writing this story even if no one reviewed it, followed it, or favorite it but the fact that all of you have is what keeps me writing this thing at the pace I have been doing (although I slowed way down during the school year and this summer, which most of you already know).

Anyways, I just wanted to do a little, look it's been a year, section before going on to the next chapter. Also, I have many thoughts about Avengers: Endgame but I will talk more about that in my Author's Note Again, so on to the story! I also should let you know, that I cannot be held accountable for pulling at your heartstrings especially after then epic and infuriating Endgame.

(P.S. Special shout out to Hfiorella18 and Aelyanne for giving me their email so I could send them my website. You two were the only ones!

Because of TheUndefeatable, I have started to post this story onto AO3 (Archive of Our Own). It's a bit slow going but I'm hopeful that it will all be posted on the site soon.

To Martha, the app is , although soon it will also be Archive of Our Own, so either one. And yes, yes, yes! I would be so honored if you drew pictures based on my story! Put them on Instagram, you have my blessing. Please give me the link when you are done. Also, might I ask, what where you planning on drawing?

Also, 22fwright, your scene is here!)

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Chapter Eighteen: "There Was No Other Way"

The snowy gray clouds continued to loam over St. Louis. Loki had half expected the weather to clear up back to the sunny, warm morning that it had been before he had used the Casket, but apparently that wasn't the case. If he hadn't been too concerned with staying alive by fighting the overwhelming amount of Chitauri and Outriders that were still pouring through the city streets and if he hadn't been too busy with more pressing thoughts, he might have been worried as to how the suddenly winter weather would change back to normal. But all things concerned, a little cold spell wasn't the end of the world.

At least, not for him.

A few people had expressed their dislike for the weather change.

"It just had to be snow," Sam muttered as he fired his two handheld guns at two Outriders. His metal wings came out of his pact and he took off in the air, just to come flying down to kick several Chitauri who were getting close to Mantis down to the ground. The sweet girl with the antenna was good at putting the creatures to sleep, but fighting was simply not her forte.

Rocket stood nearby firing his oversized gun and muttered, "I prefer the snow over the fires."

"Agreed," Quill said from where he stood at what used to be a bus stop. "And this is coming from a guy who hates the cold."

Thor swung his axe around, slicing through the creatures like they were made of butter. "I'm sure Loki knows how to reverse this, but we're all a little busy at the moment."

"Yeah, about that," Loki started to say, throwing two green shields up to prevent the Chitauri from reaching him. "I'm not quite sure how to fix this."

"I am positive you will be able to figure it out," Mantis said with a smile, before grabbing an Outrider by one of its four arms and causing it to crash to the ground in a sound sleep. Loki half smiled at the girl's positivity and then focused back on the battle. While it was important to concentrate on staying alive, the last few minutes were the first Loki had to reflect on what had happened during the last couple of hours.

To be honest, when Quill had told him that Bruce had told everyone his big secret, he felt like he had been slapped upside the face and all he could feel was a slight dread brewing inside him. If everyone knew, what would they say? Would they look at him differently? Like he was some weak, pathetic creature? And then Quill had made the mistake of asking him a question and trying to make light out of the serious moment. Loki had snapped, Quill snapped back, and Loki was then certain that his suspicions were right. That no one could understand what it had been like, that they would say they understood but they really couldn't. And they would judge him.

All of his paranoia and pessimism was quickly chased away by Quill actually acting like a smart man for once and then it was revealed about Quill's mother. What were the odds that two men could both be mind warped and break out of it only because of shattering revelations that had to do with their mothers? After learning about Quill's own connection with his mother and feeling like he and Quill could finally have some sort of common ground, some of the worry and fear of judgment disappeared.

And then who even had time to think?

The battle raged on and he practically forgot about what Quill had told him. Then it hit him. He could trust these crazy, selfless heroes. They were truly his friends. It was so obvious. He had known for a long time that their affections had been genuine, but now it felt real. It wasn't just a dream or a temporary thing. He, Loki, had real friends. And they thought of him as a friend too. He had used the Casket to disperse the fires and besides a little uneasiness at the start, he felt that he could show them his true form with no fear.

No fear? What a concept.

And if he could feel like he could show his friends his Jotun form, then why was he worrying about them knowing about Thanos? And besides Quill, no one had said anything and besides a few more concerned glances, everything seemed to be normal. No judging. No mocking. So again, he was happy to be proven wrong.

But despite all of this, there was an ever so small part of him that said maybe Quill had been lying. That there was no way that everyone could know and say anything about it. Clearly they were withholding their judgment from him. A thought like that was like cancer. It could spread and eat away at him. His thoughts and emotions had done it before.

He tried his best to ignore it. Because he knew this time that this would all work out in the end, for him and his friends. Just like Thor had said it would.

Loveable oaf was right the whole time.

Stark's voice came over the comms, pulling him from his thoughts. "Hey, does anyone have a visual on Cap or Rhodey?"

"Not from where I'm at," Agent Barton said.

"Yeah," Scott agreed, still the size of a skyscraper which was impressive to say the least. "I don't see them either."

Stark huffed, annoyed, "Well, where the hell are they?"

"Have you tried calling them over the comms?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, kid, about fifty times. I-" His voice was suddenly cut off by loud and fuzzy static.

"Mr. Stark?" Peter said, a bit of worry creeping up into his voice. "Hey, you there?" The boy's worry was justified. Stark was not a person to just stop talking.

"Tony?" Thor asked.

Nothing.

Then two seconds later Stark flew overhead, showing that he in fact was okay. His voice suddenly came back over the comms, midsentence. "-it's not like Steve to just disappear."

"Tony," Wanda started, "I think your comm is cutting in and out."

"It's not just his. I keep hearing static and all you guys are cutting in and out," Bucky said.

"Well, that ain't good," Quill said glancing around their small group. "How are we supposed to work together if we can't communicate to each other?"

The deafening silence that followed Quill's question just added to the maddening tension of the battle.

Loki and Thor shared a concerned glance. "Guys?" Thor asked.

"Anyone there?" Rocket asked, sounding no less concerned.

Stark flew nearby again. "Yup, the static is going to be a problem. Okay, we need to meet up, all of us. Regroup, find Steve and Rhodey, and figure out a new plan."

Sam nodded, "Roger that. Where?"

Stark flew out of sight and appeared to land about ten blocks away. Two seconds later from the same vicinity, a flair was shot up into the air and exploded into a yellow bright light. "Head towards the light and you shall find salvation," Stark quipped, despite the fact that he sounded almost grim.

Loki, Thor, Quill, Rocket, Sam, and Mantis all took off towards the direction of the flair. From where they were to where Stark was, it should have only taken about ten minutes to get there. It took a little longer than that because of, you guessed it, all of these damn Outriders and Chitauri.

When they at last made it to where Stark, who looked exhausted and had several small cuts on his face, stood next to a white building, they saw that Wanda and Groot were already there. Rocket, Quill, and Mantis reunited with their young tree friend and Loki nodded to Wanda. "Exciting, isn't it? All of this fighting."

She half smiled and threw her hair out of her face. "You and I have a very different definition of the word "exciting"."

"Yeah, I'd say so," Barton said.

Thor glanced around at the surrounding buildings. "Where is Barton?"

Stark pointed to the building that was about a block away, directly in front of them. Said building was interesting to say the least. Rocket said, "Ah…what is up with that building?" It was a ten story tan building with large glass windows that appeared like an old industrial building, which there was nothing odd about that, but that was not what Rocket was referring to. On top of the roof there was a Ferris wheel, a yellow school bus, a statue of a bug, and a bunch of other unusual stuff. And outside of the building was what appeared to be a large jungle gym made of giant coils and metal. So large in fact, that the coils and metal held up two old, discarded looking airplanes.

Very unusual.

"Look at the giant green bug!" Mantis exclaimed happily as she pointed to the statue on the roof. After further examination, the "giant green bug" statue that Mantis was so excited by was ironically a statue of a praying mantis.

"And is that a Ferris wheel on the roof?" Sam asked.

"Yup, it is," Barton said. "There's a lot of other weird stuff up here too. But I'm pretty sure my kids would love it."

Stark nodded, not sounding enthused as he explained, "That's the City Museum. Basically it's a big ten story playground."

Quill shook his head, almost disappointed. "They didn't have this when I was a kid. Have you ever noticed how they never have the fun stuff when you're a kid and only when you're an adult? And I'm not just talking about St. Louis, I'm talking everywhere. When I was a kid with Yondu you know what the Ravagers did for fun besides thieving? Tell old legends about some group called the Starjammers. I mean what kid wants to hear about-?"

Stark apparently had no more patience. "Can we focus, please?" he snapped.

Groot nodded his head and said a grouchy, "I am Groot."

Rocket smirked and said, "He agrees with ya."

Quill rose his hands in surrender and then he, along with everyone else, focused on the matter at hand. Wanda was the first one to turn to Stark and ask what was on everyone's minds. "I heard that Thanos was spotted. Whatever happened with that?"

Stark shook his head, chewing on his bottom lip. "I honestly have no clue. Steve, Rhodey, and T'Challa were the only ones free to deal with him and two out of the three are nonresponsive and we have no visual."

Thor, leaning against is axe, shook his head as well. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Yeah," Stark said with a slight tired nod, "you're not the only one."

"Swinging in!" came a familiar voice. Three seconds later, Peter landed perfectly on his feet a mere four feet away from the group. The boy's metal Spider-Man suit was starting to look dull in certain areas because of ash and dirt. His mask went away, showing Peter Parker and the one glaring flaw to his usually bright, carefree blue eyes; the spark of intense fear. Fighting super villains as a super hero was one thing, but fighting in a kill or be killed battle in what was basically a war…

Yet another moment that just screamed that Peter was just a child who had no business being put in this terrible situation.

The next people to arrive was Strange and Bucky via one of Strange's portals. Bucky appeared tired but he had an air of determination around him. "Hey," Bucky greeted, though half-heartedly because it was clear that the metal-armed man had other things on his mind. He walked straight up to Stark. "So, no one's heard anything from Steve?"

Stark looked him straight in the eye and said miserably, "No…Dammit, where is he?" No one had an answer and that just added to the stress and tension of the situation.

Bucky however had a slightly knowing look to his gaze. He lifted his left hand, the metal hand, and patted Stark's shoulder, or rather, the red and yellow armor around his shoulder. Stark stared at him completely lost. Bucky shook his head. "Don't worry about Steve. The guy never knows when to quit. I bet he's just so caught up fighting the bad guys that he hasn't answered us. Same for your friend."

Stark looked like he wanted to say something but then he closed his mouth and nodded. He seemed somewhat comforted by what Bucky had said, but you still could tell that he was deeply bothered by the fact that the dear Captain and Rhodey were nonresponsive.

Strange stepped closer to Stark and said in a sympathetic but firm voice, "I know that you are concerned about your two friends Tony, but with all of us in one spot, we need to be aware of our surrounding. The creatures have orders to wreak havoc on the city but more importantly, to destroy us. We cannot allow ourselves to be ambushed."

"He's right," Barton said. "It won't take them or Thanos long to figure out where we are."

"Fine," Stark said with a nod. "We'll set up a perimeter."

"Right, I'm on it." Peter shot one of his webs and swung away.

"The pirate angel and I will help out," Quill said glancing up at Thor. Said man nodded in agreement and together they left the group.

Wanda motioned to Loki, Strange, and herself. "We'll help too."

Loki was perfectly fine with helping with setting up a perimeter but the second he nodded and took a step to follow those who had already left, Strange shook his head and held out his hand to stop him. "Wanda and I will help. You can stay here." Without further explanation and without waiting for anyone to say anything on the matter, Strange turned on his heels and left. Wanda hesitated for a second but then followed the cloaked sorcerer.

Approximately two seconds after Wanda and Strange left, Hope arrived, regular sized. She, apparently having heard what Strange had said, glanced at Loki and said, "Surprised you didn't say anything about Strange acting odd again."

Actually Loki was a bit surprised about that as well. But truth be told… He sighed, "At this point, I am frankly over the Doctor and his secretive nature."

Bucky nodded in agreement and then focused on Stark again. "What's the plan then?"

Stark closed his eyes, rubbed his temples, and shook his head. "Still working on that part."

"Where's the rest of the team?" Hope asked. There was about five people missing still, one of which was Nebula. It was peculiar. He hadn't heard from her since they parted ways after he had first used the Casket.

"On their way," Scott said from a few feet away, running up to the group as well. At some point he had shrunk back down to his regular size too. "I saw them when I was really big."

Loki let out a small sigh of relief. Nebula should be on her way then.

"Brainstorming is more than welcomed," Stark said as he paced on the sidewalk alongside the white building they stood next to.

Sam nodded to Scott. "Any ideas, Tic-Tac?"

Scott paused and glanced upwards, thinking. He gave up after a few seconds and sighed, "Yeah, but they all involve growing huge and honestly I think I'm running low on Pym Particles."

"Oh!" Mantis exclaimed, causing everyone to start. "Did you tell them our freezing Thanos idea?"

Loki sighed, "No, and I don't think-"

"Freezing Thanos idea?" Bucky asked with a funny look on his face.

"Yeah," Sam said, suddenly cheery. He clapped Loki on the back and Loki just had to half glare at him.

Sam's a nice guy but I really wish he would stop doing that.

Sam continued on without noticing the trickster's piercing gaze. "When Loki went to the stadium he didn't just freeze the fires, he froze Thane. And we were thinking maybe if he froze Thanos-"

Stark interrupted him. "It's too risky."

Both Loki and Sam stared at Stark in shock and they both said at the same time, "What?"

"It's too risky," Stark repeated.

"I was unaware that something could be too risky for the great Tony Stark," Loki said in a bit of a tone.

"I know you're being sarcastic, but I don't appreciate the sass," Stark said in an equal tone.

Rocket rubbed his forehead and mumbled, "I think you're both pretty sassy. Also, Stark, I thought you were the guy who came up with the crazy and risky plans."

"And had no problem ignoring all the risks for the sake of success," Sam said with a raised eyebrow.

"Exactly!" Scott said, happy to contribute to the discussion. "I mean, you created that killer robot in an attempt to save the world and clearly you didn't think about the risks then." Stark slowly turned to Scott and glared the man down. Scott flinched and took a step backwards, away from Stark's unnerving glare. "Still a sore spot to talk about?" Stark nodded his head as if it was obvious. Scott glanced down at the ground, embarrassed. "I'll shut up."

Rocket mused, "And the world takes a collective sigh of relief."

"I am Groot," Groot said in a jokingly tone.

Rocket laughed and eyed Scott. "He is like an excitable puppy."

Scott, to absolutely no one's surprise, looked confused. Stark waved his hand and got them back on track. "Look, I have no problem with the idea of freezing Thanos into a block of ice. I just…" He trailed off and let out a deep breath. He looked up at Loki and said, "I can't possibly ask you to do this after all of your history with the guy."

Loki was almost taken aback by Stark's concern for him. Not just genuine concern, but deep genuine concern. And what Stark had said. "All of your history with the guy." It wasn't some ploy or lie. They all truly knew what happened then? Loki glanced away from Stark's gaze and slightly nodded his head. "So, what Quill said was true then."

"Quill says a lotta things," Rocket muttered, as he was reloading his giant gun. "You gotta be more specific."

"Bruce told all of you."

After he uttered those five simple words, he could feel a shift in the air around their group of nine. He glanced around at the people so close to him. Mantis and Groot looked quizzically at him and the others because they, having gone after Loki, had no idea what he was talking about. Bucky started rubbing the back of his neck as if he didn't know what else to do. Rocket tried about three times to say something but eventually gave up and just stared down at his gun. Hope and Scott shared a glance. Sam, who was the closest to Loki, looked surprise. Like he had not expected this to come up right now. And dealing with such surprises were apparently not his strongest suit. So he spurted out, "Q-quill told you that Bruce told us-us about…?" Loki just nodded. And Stark…well, his deep genuine concern gaze was dialed up to about an eleven.

Bucky, still rubbing the back of his neck, muttered, "Why'd, um, Quill tell you?"

Loki shook his head. "It's not important."

Stark suddenly started pacing again, clearly trying to articulate the best thing to say. When he apparently came up with it, he halted dead in his tracks and looked the trickster god right in the eye. "Look, Loki, none of us had any idea that you were," Stark paused once again, trying to choose his words carefully, "not in control of your actions. If we had, we would have-"

"You would have done what?" Loki asked, almost challengingly.

Stark opened his mouth but then shut it and shrugged. The man almost looked like he was at a loss for words. A scary sight indeed. "I don't know. But things would've gone differently."

There was no point in getting sucked up into the "what ifs". No one could change the past. They could not go back, they could only move forward. Loki shook his head and glanced away from Stark's gaze again. "Don't worry about it."

Stark suddenly got very passionate. "No, but you see-" Just as quickly as he started talking he stopped. He took another breath and tried again more calmly this time. "We had all agreed that if the time came we'd all apologize for not injecting when Clint started chewing you out."

It would seem that Nebula had been right in saying that the Avengers and Guardians were feeling guilty for not standing up for him. It had seemed ridiculous at the time-stars, that was only a little less than a day ago. How things had changed since then. Loki half-heartedly shrugged. "Agent Barton had every right to be angry."

"Maybe," Stark agreed, but his eyes said differently. "But not to that extent. And we had no right to just stand there when truth be told, we would not be this far without you." Stark glanced around at the quiet people around them and asked them, "What was it T'Challa said? That we all needed to tell Reindeer Games here that we thought highly of him?"

Wait, what…?

Scott's eyes lit up. "Yeah. I remember because I agreed whole heartedly with him."

Stark half smiled and turned back to Loki. "We think highly of you Loki."

Loki was just speechless for nearly two minutes. Sam nudged him on the shoulder after he still hadn't said a word. "You good, man?"

Loki nodded and slowly said, "Yeah." Just as it had been when Thor had told him that he had always thought of him as more than his equal, Loki was bombarded with this warm feeling of relief and the feeling of belonging somewhere. There was nothing worse than meandering around life feeling as if you do not belong. He never belonged on Asgard. Not really. But here on Midgard, Earth, he had found so much. Things he never thought he could find. And just like when Thor told him the truth of how he felt, Loki had this sense that he would look back on this moment and realize that it was one of many stepping stones to moving on and leaving behind all of the self-hating tendencies that had haunted him for thirteen hundred plus years.

"Are you sure? 'Cause you seem a bit pale," Scott said, to which Hope gave him a look that screamed, he's always pale genius. "Paler than usual," Scott said in a feeble save. Rocket and Groot just shook their heads.

And Loki, well he chuckled. He truly did care for these idiots. He'd do anything for them. The group seemed slightly surprised by his sudden chuckle. He rubbed his head feeling some of the tension just melt away. "I'm okay. I'm just…accepting it."

"Accepting what?" Mantis asked in her soft voice.

"Acceptance." And that said acceptance was real and true and nobody was going to ever take that away from him. It gave him this oddly joyful feeling, odd given the circumstance of being in a metropolitan city fighting beastly aliens. With his newfound contentment, he brought the conversation back to what had caused this in the first place. "I don't like the idea of freezing Thanos because it is just a terrible plan, however, if worse comes to worse, I can do it. Don't worry about me, I'm fine."

"Really?" Hope said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, obviously not," Loki half chuckled, "but, I'm getting there. Slowly."

"I hate to interrupt this lovely display of sentiment," said a familiar voice that caused everyone to freeze, "but we have a situation."

At the sound of the young Wakandan King's voice, everyone was snapped back to reality. The sentiment could wait till later. "T'Challa?" Bucky asked, glancing around the streets searching for the man.

The group of nine followed Bucky's example. "Where you at?" Sam asked.

"I see him!" Peter exclaimed. "He and Drax are coming your guy's way."

"Yeah, I see them too," Barton said and then added, "Also that green lady and Thor's new girlfriend are coming from a different direction."

"Valkyrie is not my girlfriend," Thor said, almost annoyed.

"Sure," Barton said not buying it. Loki had to wonder if the comms had gone out momentarily because everyone who had left to set up the perimeter had not said a word about him stating that he knew that they knew. And given the almost banter like tone they spoke with just proved this thought. Not that it mattered when they had other things to worry about. Such as… Barton suddenly asked, "Wait, where's Nat?"

"Hold on," Stark said, shaking his hands. "T'Challa said there was a situation. What situation?"

"I guess you can ask him yourself," Hope said pointing into the distance.

About twenty feet away, T'Challa slowly came around the corner of a gray building supporting Drax, who from the looks of it was pretty banged up. His right arm appeared to be just hanging from the socket, limp and shattered and there were multiple cuts along his chest and stomach, ranging from small harmless ones to currently bleeding scary ones. The group ran towards the two men almost immediately.

Rocket, Groot, and Mantis ran up to their fellow Guardian, still being supported by T'Challa. "Drax!" Mantis cried, fearful of seeing her friend in this state. "Are you alright?"

The obnoxiously literal man had a glassy shine to his eyes. "I am not sure…I would not say no to a nap."

"Yeah, like we got time for that," Sam muttered.

T'Challa, with the help of Mantis and Groot, set Drax down to the pavement and leaned him against the gray building. While Mantis held Drax's hand comfortingly and the raccoon and the tree hung close nearby, T'Challa stood up and faced the others. His mask receded back. He was certainly a sight to behold as well. He had a broken lip, a glob of wet blood on his left temple that dripped down his jawline, and gray ashes covered about half of his face.

"Tony…" he started before he trailed off and looked about ready to pass out. And then he basically did. It was like it was happening in slow motion, the poor man was falling forward with a pain filled expression. Practically everyone jumped to try and catch him, but it was Stark who did the blunt of the work.

"Easy," he said in an attempted soothing voice. "Easy…someone help." Loki, Sam, and Scott were closest and helped Stark get T'Challa set down next to Drax.

Scott wiped his forehead, tired. "Man, this isn't good."

"No, it isn't," Loki said agreeing with something that the man had said for once. He eyed the two nearly broken men and knew what he needed to do. Thankfully, he was sure he had enough strength. He knelt down to T'Challa and Drax's level. "Well, I'm not going to be of much help for the rest of the battle, but that's okay." He closed his eyes in concentration, lifted both of his hands out, and with a flash of green the two men's serious injuries were healed.

T'Challa almost instantly woke up, alert and felt for his head injury. He seemed surprised that it was gone. Drax sat up straighter and rotated his once dislocated and broken arm and let out a giddy laugh. He then checked his chest and found that most of his cuts were gone too. Loki half smiled, glad he could help, but he could also feel some of his energy drain away. And strangely enough, even though he had used a lot of his magic to heal their wounds, he didn't feel hardly as drained as he sometimes did when using his magic to this extent.

Curious.

He stood up, apparently too fast because he suddenly felt lightheaded and found himself almost falling over.

Never mind. Spoke too soon about not feeling drained.

He felt Bucky's strong metal and flesh hands grab him and get him upright. "Careful."

Groot said quietly, "I am Groot."

"I know," Rocket said shaking his head. "First these two," he motioned to Drax and T'Challa, "now this guy's fallin' over."

"I'm fine," Loki insisted and he brushed Bucky's hands away.

T'Challa silently nodded his thanks to Loki. Drax on the other hand… "Awesome!" Drax jumped to his feet and had a new spring to his step. "I feel like I could take on a hundred of these alien monstrosities!"

Tony half smiled as he turned to Loki. "You got strength enough to give us all an energy boost?" Loki just stared at him and didn't merit him a response. "Right, dumb question."

Despite his wounds being healed, T'Challa stayed sitting on the cement. He looked up at Stark with an almost powerless gleam to his eye. "Tony," he said softly again, "Thanos…he has Captain Rogers and Colonel Rhodes."

Everyone froze and stared down at the young king, except for Drax who suddenly appeared solemn.

Bucky, whose eyes suddenly shined with a frightened look, said, "W-what?"

T'Challa spoke louder and clearer. "He took them."

This was not good.

Understatement!

This was bloody horrible.

Stark shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, looking fearful but at the same time unsurprised. Like all of his worst fears were coming true but he had prepared himself for the moment so he wasn't completely blindsided. "How did it happen?" he asked quietly.

Drax was the first to answer. "We were fighting the Titan fiend, but he was too swift and powerful. He knocked down the silver robot man, my cat friend here, and myself. When I came to, the silver robot man and the man who is as manly as the pirate angel were gone."

"It wasn't just them," a voice called behind them. When the group turned they saw Valkyrie walking towards them with her arm wrapped around Gamora. Besides a few minor cuts and bruises, the two fierce women looked to be in pretty good shape. That is, if you ignored Valkyrie's remorseful look and the fact that Gamora appeared almost traumatized.

Hope ran to them and helped Valkyrie get Gamora to the group. "Here." When they got her to the group they set her down next to T'Challa. The second they did, Gamora curled her legs up to her chest and hugged them there. Hope asked Valkyrie, "Is she okay?"

"She's not seriously injured if that's what you mean…" Clearly that was not what Hope meant. It was unlike Gamora to retreat into herself like this, given the Guardians worried expressions. And it gave Loki a sinking feeling. What was it Valkyrie had said before coming onto the scene? It wasn't just them? Them, meaning the dear Captain and Rhodey? Valkyrie crossed her arms, not defiantly like she normally did, and said quickly, "That Super Giant bitch took that female agent, Natasha."

"What?" Barton cried out in horror.

"It gets worse," Valkyrie said.

"What could possibly be worse?" Scott asked throwing his hands in the air.

Valkyrie kicked at some of the debris scattered over the road and chewed on the inside of her mouth. "You may regret asking that. We all knew about Quill's grandfather getting kidnapped, but there were more…" She took a breath and shook her head. She clearly did not want to be the bringer of bad news and wanted to get through this as quickly as possible. "They took Natasha, Banner, Stark's girlfriend-"

Stark's mouth dropped open. "Wait-Pepper? They have-Thanos has Pepper?"

"Yeah." Stark hadn't been anticipating that. "He also has that girl genius Shuri, Thor's ex's friend, the Spider-Boy's chubby friend-"

"Ned!" Peter shouted. "No, no, no. I can't lose him too. I just can't." The boy sounded like he was on the verge of tears. If listening to that sweet boy sound so distraught wasn't just like a kick to the teeth then Loki didn't know what was. Then again, Valkyrie was not finished yet.

She sighed after being interrupted again and continued half-heartedly. "Strange's girlfriend, Barton's…wife, Rhodes, Captain America…" she trailed off.

Everyone who was around Valkyrie stared at her with wide shocked eyes and Loki could only image those who were setting up the perimeter, pausing and looking just as hopeless as the situation had turned. Some of those who they had tried so hard to protect were now in the hands of Thanos anyway.

Bucky, T'Challa, and Stark seemed to be the worst. Then again, Valkyrie's news was overwhelming to hear. Bucky didn't move, didn't say a word as he tried to process this. T'Challa just stared at the ground, worrying about his little sister. And Stark…he started pacing around, lost in his thoughts.

Loki was lost in his own thoughts too. Thanos was going to kill them, he just knew it. And though he was concerned about all of them, he felt dread the most when he heard about Bruce. Shuri, the dear girl, and Ned were only children and it made him hate Thanos even more than before for involving children. Natasha, who had saved his life, Steve, and Rhodey were part of this group and he didn't want anything to happen to them. And the others, well he might not have known some of them that well or at all in the case of Quill's grandfather, but he would never wish anyone to have to be at the mercy at Thanos's hands, having been there himself. But Bruce…?

The amusing, sometimes jittery scientist had essentially been Loki's first friend. Yes, there was Nebula, there had always been Nebula, but he had spent his time on Thanos's ship and the time after believing that they had not been friends. He probably would still believe it had she not told him that he was her first friend. With Bruce, from the moment they had reached the Avengers compound till now, there had been no question. And Loki had gotten used to having Bruce always being there. To have him be killed…it was unthinkable.

No one said a word until Barton asked Valkyrie, "How do you know this?"

Valkyrie muttered, "Because Super Giant told us when we were fighting her."

"So this could all be a ploy? You don't know if it's all real, what she said. Maybe she doesn't have…" Barton was desperately trying to convince himself that there was no possible way that the Titan monster had his dear wife or his best friend.

Valkyrie shook her head, though Barton probably couldn't see her from where he was at. "No. She was gloating. Holding it over us that we left them without significant protection." Barton then became eerily quiet. So had the rest of the group, lost in their worrisome and bleak thoughts of what would happen to their friends and loved ones.

And then Loki realized something. It clicked together in his mind. And it scared him.

He turned to Valkyrie. "Where's Nebula?" The woman who never stopped talking didn't say a word, she just stared at him with a sad and sympathetic gaze. Loki's concern and need to know only increased. "Brunnhilde, where is Nebula?" It was the first time he had ever said Valkyrie's real name without a teasing tone to it.

"She was taken too." It wasn't Valkyrie who spoke though. It was Gamora. The green woman glanced up and met Loki's stunned gaze. She looked as fearful and terrible as he felt.

No, no, no.

Not Nebula.

The dread and panic he felt for Bruce and the others just intensified at the thought of Nebula being stuck in the same situation.

This couldn't be real, but dammit, it was.

Loki found himself stepping away from the group in an almost dreamlike state. There was a part of him that screamed that he needed to pull himself together because feeling bad about this mess wasn't going to help anyone.

But for a few minutes all he could do was dwell.

Dwell on the fact that dear Nebula who had spent most of her life being torn apart by the cruel hands of Thanos was now in his clutches again. The fear and panic started to melt together and all Loki could feel was a building rage. He clenched his fists and oddly enough he could feel some of his magic threatening to swirl around him and destroy the street like how he had destroyed his cell and that room in Wakanda. Odd because he should have been drained of most of his magic. But there was no time to think about this, not when he had to come up with a way to fix this. Because there was no way in hell that he was going to let Nebula just die.

"All those people," Mantis whispered, miserably after a while. "How many is that?"

"Twelve," Quill muttered.

Hope's eyes shined with realization. "Three more and that's the fifteen souls."

Almost at once, the group of superheroes started chattering at the same time:

"There has got to be something, anything that we can do!"

"How do we-what should we-?"

"I am Groot!"

"We have to get the gems and save them, that's all we can do."

"How in God's name do we fix this?"

"Guys!" Stark shouted after he had had enough of this. His voice had an authoritative tone laced through it. "I get your feeling of dread, I do. I've been feeling it ever since New York, but we cannot let ourselves become unhinged. Steve said it best when he told us that the only way we win this, is by doing it together. So that's what we do. We stick together and we figure this out."

"How?" Peter asked, fully invested in what his mentor slash father figure was saying.

T'Challa stood to his feet, with a new determined look in his eye. "As Captain Rogers also said, we'll do whatever it takes."

"I think I see him." Barton's voice was filled with raw type of rage that was scary to say the least. And of course, no one had to ask who "him" was. "Coming up the street a little north of the City Museum. Murderous, purple bastard."

Before anyone could say another word, Loki spoke up because he knew what needed to be done. "I'll freeze him."

"What?" Hope asked.

Loki took a deep breath and kept the anger close by because it was the only thing preventing him from getting sucked up in the dread and pessimism. He glanced between his friends as he said, "You all distract him and when the opportunity comes, I'll freeze him. Then you steal back the stones."

Thor's worried voice started to say, "Brother, are you sure-"

Loki was in no mood to have a twenty minute argument about this. "I'm doing it and that's the end of that discussion!" A few people standing around him started at his sudden shouting.

Stark stayed still though and nodded in agreement. "You heard the man."

"Yeah, um," Quill started, "this is great and all but from where I'm standin' we still don't have a real plan."

This was true.

They couldn't win this one because of the strength of their bonds with each other or their determination to see Thanos burn alone. They needed a plan. A well thought out one at that. When no one said a word for about thirty seconds, Dr. Strange, who had been silent this entire time, quietly said, "I have a plan."

…

"This harebrained scheme of Strange's better work," Rocket muttered to himself, sounding annoyed.

"It will work," Stark reassured from where he was at. "Everyone just remember your positions and your roles."

"Yeah, can I just say one more time that I'm not a hundred percent sure that I like the idea of basically being bait," Quill said.

"You're not bait Peter," Gamora snapped. "You're one of the first people to take on Thanos when he gets here."

"…So, bait?"

Gamora huffed, "Shut up."

The team had split up into smaller groups and hid behind the different buildings along the street leading up to the City Museum. Strange's plan, if you could call it that, was to slowly overwhelm the Titan until he was distracted and then Loki could freeze him. A few people had asked why not have everyone just jump Thanos at once, but Strange was adamant that they do it in sections. Nobody had the time nor the energy to ask why so they went along with his plan.

Loki stayed by the white building, where they had all regrouped, waiting. That's what they all were doing.

Just waiting.

And then Loki glanced down the street to his left and could see the giant man slowly coming into view. He felt his hands start to tremble but he quickly balled them both into fists again.

Now is not the time to fall apart…focus on your rage.

He glared at Thanos and could see even from the distance of fifty feet that the Titan looked smug. He hated that smug look. He hated how calm and reserved Thanos always appeared to be. He just hated him with every fiber of his being.

Thanos also appeared to be slightly weary.

Good.

Not necessarily from the battle, he had been through, started, and finished thousands of battles, but it might have been from using the Gauntlet. Said Gauntlet was still burnt and broken and it was only now did Loki realize that the gold metal was infused to Thanos's hand. And Thanos's arm…it looked as burnt and mangled as the Gauntlet. The burn marks went up his arm to his shoulder and slightly up his neck. What was said was true; only a being of extraordinary strength could wield the power of the six Infinity Stones, but not without a cost.

"When do we start?" Sam whispered, sounding eager to enact their plan.

Stark hesitated for three seconds, allowing Thanos to get closer. And then… "Now."

Sam, Bucky, Quill, and Drax came charging from their hiding spot and ran towards Thanos head on. They all had their weapons at the ready and no sooner did Thanos see them, did Rocket, T'Challa, and Groot come charging up from behind. They barely had a chance to reach him, barely had a chance to fire a gun or throw a punch before Thanos clenched his fist with a wince and the Reality Stone shined bright. The seven heroes were suddenly glowing red like the stone. And then all of them halted in place. They all tried to move but none of them could. Rocket sighed, "Crap…"

Thanos slightly chuckled and continued walking down the street, leaving them behind.

Quill angrily muttered, "See, nothing good comes from being bait!"

"Oh, shut up!" Stark snapped. "Wasp and backup, you're up."

Hope flew in as the size of an insect. She flew close to Thanos's face, a gutsy move to be sure. She suddenly grew back to her normal size in the middle of a backflip, so she kicked Thanos under the chin. Thanos grunted and rubbed his chin while glaring at Hope in surprise.

"That's for my parents," Hope said defiantly, before shrinking back down. She flew furiously around Thanos's head, making him more and more agitated by the second. He moved to swat at her but before he could, Valkyrie sprinted up behind him, jumped through the air, and grabbed onto his back. Two seconds later, she had the Titan in a choke hold. And before Thanos could potentially throw Valkyrie off of him, the specular Spider-Man swung in from his spot on one of the nearby buildings. He landed four feet away from Thanos and started shooting his electrified webs at him.

"And that's for my Aunt!" Peter shouted, not letting up on the stream of webs.

Hope grew back to her normal size, stood next to the boy, and started firing her blasters. Thanos winced in minor pain from all of the blasts and Taser webs. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. The Time Stone twinkled to life and as he opened his fist, green rings wrapped around his wrist and a green disk appeared in front of his open hand.

Oh, stars.

Thanos rotated his hand to the left and suddenly Peter, Hope, and Valkyrie were going in reverse. As far as Loki could tell, those three were the only ones affected by the spell. Peter swung away from the Titan backwards, Hope was back to the size of a bug, and Valkyrie was no longer holding Thanos in a choke hold and was now sprinting away from him in reverse. Then Thanos clenched his fist and time began to work normally again. But for those three, they didn't know what had happened. They were back to where they had been after all, so they went to do their part of the plan. "Wait!" Stark shouted, but it was too late.

Hope flew up to Thanos small and grew to her normal size in the middle of a backflip but this time, Thanos caught her leg before she could kick him. He hurled her through the wall of gray building. Next he turned around to catch Valkyrie by the neck and threw her about twenty feet away from him. She landed on and broke some of the cement road. She didn't get up right away. Then he turned back and clenched his fist. The Power Stone lit up and the web that Peter was swinging on was suddenly vaporized in a flash of purple. "Whoa!" Peter cried in surprise as he fell closer to the ground. And when he was close enough, Thanos punched him in the stomach and sent him flying backwards. Loki flinched at the sound of Thanos's fist making contact with Peter and he had to repress the urge to run over to where the boy had landed about thirty feet away. He knew he needed to stay out of sight. Peter slowly got to his hands and knees. "Mr. Stark that really hurt."

"Kid, stay down. You might have a broken bone or something." You could tell that Stark was also repressing the urge to fly over and check on the boy.

"No, I heal very fast and the purple grape is still up and-"

"You did your part, kid, now stay down!" Peter didn't need to be told again. He flopped onto his back and stayed down. Good, that was one less thing to worry. "Point Break, light the bastard up."

Loki couldn't help but tense up at the mention of Thor's nickname. Thor could hold his own against Thanos with little to no problem, but that didn't mean that Loki wasn't going to worry about him. Thor came flying in and hurled his axe at Thanos who easily dodged it. Almost too easily.

Thanos stood to his full height and looked down at Thor in disapproval. "You only come with one trick, hmm?"

Thor clenched his fists, bits of lightning dancing from his hands. "I will kill you yet."

"You already failed once."

With those words, the dark thunder clouds began to roll in, clashing with the gray snow clouds. Thor was clearly determined to prove the Titan wrong. He hit Thanos directly in the chest with a blinding lightning blast. Thanos was thrown backwards and landed with a loud crash. He groaned as he got back to his feet. Thor was already running towards him, the lightning crackling around him as he summoned his axe back to him. Thanos scowled and with a grimace, all six stones lit up and he hit the God of Thunder with a rainbow blast. The power of the blast sent Thor crashing through one of the buildings to the right.

In that moment more than before, Loki wanted to intervene. He felt himself start to step forward, but then Stark's voice along with some static came over the comm in his ear. "Loki, do not move. You gotta stay close by for when we're ready for you. We'll check on Thor later."

Loki sighed, irritated. He hated just standing here, feeling like he was completely useless. "Fine."

"Good. Now-"

"You don't have to tell me." Gamora stepped out from behind the building she had been hiding behind, her sword un-sheaved, her glare unsettling. "Thanos," she called out to her step-father.

Thanos was a bit out of breath from being hit by Thor's massive bolt and from using the power of all six stones, but when he saw the fierce green woman he froze. Thanos the mad Titan actually froze in shock. Stars, Loki wished he had a camera. "Daughter," Thanos said, in a tone that was a mixture of a surprise, sadness, and happiness. "I am overjoyed to see you."

Gamora raised an eyebrow at him as she stalked closer to him. "Really?"

Thanos then had an emotion flash across his features that Loki never thought the monster was capable of: regret. "Little one-"

"Because the last time I saw you, you threw me off a cliff!" When Gamora was only about three feet away from him, she started encircling him causing him to turn in the opposite direction of what he had been heading towards.

"I only did what had to be done… I am sorry."

"And Nebula? You had to take her, you just had to?"

"I-" Barton on top of the City Museum shot an arrow at Thanos. It sliced through the air but Thanos spun around and caught it before it could hit him. He looked back to Gamora, again, shocked. "You tried to distract me?"

Gamora tilted her head back and glared at him with pure hatred. "No, I just made you look. Lang, now!" As she ran for cover, Scott, who had been on the tip of the arrow, suddenly grew to be about sixty-five feet tall. Thanos jumped backwards and looked up at the Giant-Man completely stunned.

Scott looked down at the Titan and mused, "Not so big now, are you?" Then to prove his point, he just barely tapped Thanos with his foot and he pushed him to the ground.

Loki had to smirk at the image of Scott Lang of all people being able to hold his own against Thanos. And the fact that Scott literally kicked him down…seriously, why didn't he have a bloody camera?

Scott picked up an abandoned car and threw it at Thanos. It made a direct hit! It wasn't long though and a purple surge destroyed the car completely. Thanos wiped the little trickle of blood from his chin and glared at Giant-Man. "Is that all?"

Scott stepped closer. "Oh, no. That's not all." He went to kick Thanos down again but this time, the Mad Titan was prepared. With a knowing and smug look, Thanos clenched his fist and the Mind Stone came to life. Scott started to scream and hold his head as he staggered backwards. Not any old scream, a bloodcurdling scream.

Loki felt a chill run through him as he watched Scott in horror. He remembered what it had been like. Nothing but blinding pain and never ending memories.

Scott, in the midst of his screaming, pressed the button on his glove and shrank back down to normal size, falling to his knees. Only then did Thanos unclench his fist releasing his hold on the poor man. Scott stayed quiet and still.

Thanos continued down the street but was quickly stopped by Gamora who came charging at him. She continuously swung her sword trying to hit him but he dodged each attempt. "Stark!" she called. Thanos tossed her away from him, looking regretful as he did so.

"On our way." Stark and Strange flew in side-by-side and when they were both in range they hit Thanos, Stark with his repulsor beam and Strange with an orange shield. Thanos moved to retaliate but before he could a red energy surrounded his left arm and pulled down. He strained to break free from the energy but he couldn't. It surrounded all of him. Wanda stood behind him moving her arms around making wild hand gestures, but it was working. She was pulling him down to his knees with her powers. Mantis was next to the Scarlet Witch and once Thanos was subdued enough, she timidly ran up to the Titan. She touched his right hand and her antenna started to glow. She grunted as she tried to keep him down. Thanos tried fighting back and was struggling hard against Wanda and Mantis's control.

It wouldn't be long till he broke free.

"Loki," Stark said as he flew up so he could hit Thanos with another repulsor beam. "You're up."

Yes.

Yes, he was.

With a deep breath, Loki left the safety of his hiding spot to walk onto the street. Once he reached Thanos and the four remaining heroes who were still in the fight, he eyed his captor, his torturer. Stark landed next to Mantis and while she used her empathetic abilities to keep Thanos from moving too much, Stark took hold of his arm and kept it steady. "Whenever you're ready, Lokes."

Lokes? Is that my new nickname now? Well, anything is better than Reindeer Games.

"Don't let me hit you," he said and with a wave of his hands, he conjured up the Casket. Like with the fires, all he really could do was hold onto the relic and direct the continuous stream of ancient winters at Thanos. The instant the ice made contact with Thanos it began to spread, freezing over him like a light layer of frost. Thanos struggled more against his restraints. Loki stepped closer and within a few seconds, the mad Titan was frozen in thick ice. All of him except for his right arm because Mantis and Stark were still holding onto it.

Bloody hell…it actually worked.

Nobody let up on what they were doing to keep Thanos down. Not Loki, not Wanda, not Mantis, and certainly not Stark. They were not taking any chances today. Upon seeing Thanos incased in ice and immobile, Peter happily called out, "Alright! It's working!" He was still lying on the ground, perched up on his elbow to see the spectacle that was Loki freezing Thanos.

"I am Groot!" Groot exclaimed from where he was still stuck to the concrete road with the other six.

"Yeah!" Rocket said, excitably. "That's a great idea."

"What's a great idea?" Bucky asked.

Rocket chuckled, "He said Loki should join the freakin' Guardians of the Galaxy, only he didn't use freakin'."

Loki glanced at the Groot and Rocket, who were up ahead in the street, still surrounded by the red light keeping them in their spot, and had to wonder if he had heard them correctly. Him a part of the Guardians? Well, they were in desperate need of leadership. But seriously, it made him smile a little to know that they wanted him on their team. They really did accept him, didn't they?

"I'd be okay with that," Quill said. "An honorary Guardian though. Can someone make it so we can move now?"

"Later," Stark muttered as he struggled to continue to hold Thanos's arm. "Loki keep up the good work. Strange-"

"Already on it." Strange flew up so that he was at the level of the Gauntlet. His big cloak was blowing in the breeze as orange sparks materialized around his fingers. He touched the frozen Gauntlet and the sparks started to melt through the ice. Strange was in a deep concentration, the type of concentration that is familiar to those who performed surgeries. It was clear that he had been a doctor at one point. After a minute had passed, he had melted through the layers of ice enough to pull one of the stones from its spot. The first stone he went after had been the Mind Stone. Once he had freed it, he tossed it down to Stark, who caught it easily. Stark's eyes had a gleam of newfound confidence as he glanced over the yellow glowing stone.

Strange started working on getting the next stone, the Time Stone, and once he got it in his clutches he made it vanish with a wave of his hand.

Two down, four to go.

But this was going far too smoothly to last…

Just as Strange was attempting to melt through the ice to obtain the Reality Stone, Thanos clenched his fist, breaking through the ice around the Gauntlet. The Power Stone lit up and most of the snow and ice around him began to crack and dissolve.

No…

Thanos swung both his arms, throwing Stark, Strange and Mantis away from him. Mantis landed on Wanda, knocking her down and breaking her control on her red energy. Stark crashed into Loki and they both landed to the ground hard. Strange was saved by his obnoxious cloak which caught him before crashing to the ground.

Thanos was on his knees breathing heavily. With his concentration elsewhere, his hold on Sam, Bucky, Rocket, T'Challa, Quill, Groot, and Drax finally broke and they were finally able to move again. Thanos must have realized his mistake because he turned to them and sent a purple surge their way that knocked them all down to the ground. The only one to quickly get back to his feet and ready his oversized gun to fight the Titan was Rocket. He ran for Thanos with no concern for his safety and it was probably this over eagerness that caused him to jump for him.

Thanos caught him by the throat. "Rodent," he hissed.

And bless Rocket Raccoon, because he didn't even hesitate in greeting Thanos by saying, "Ass hat." Thanos scowled and hurled him to the ground. Rocket barely moved after that and Thanos took advantage of this by forming a blue portal that engulfed him.

Oh, no.

"I am Groot!" the poor tree cried, sounding horrified.

"You bring him back right now!" Quill shouted.

Thanos smiled, showing his teeth. He lifted his fist into the air, the four remaining Infinity Stones were aglow, and with all his might he punched the ground. A shockwave of sorts shot out, crashing into the superheroes, throwing them through walls or slamming them to the concrete road.

Loki was then vaguely aware of the fact that he was being thrown backwards too; it all happened in a matter of seconds, it almost didn't feel real. It felt more like a bad dream.

And then he was crashing through a building.

He landed to the floor with a loud, painful smack.

The back of his head felt like it had been caved in and then everything was going black…

Loki wasn't sure how long he had been unconscious. All he knew was that his head hurt yet again and that he was vaguely aware of Thor's voice.

"Loki? Brother? Come on, wake up." Strong hands were softly shaking him by his shoulders. Loki wanted it to stop so he tried to bat the hands away. They stayed put and Thor's voice seemed to grow louder and happier. "That's it! Wake up."

Loki slightly opened his eyes and realized that he was lying flat on his back with Thor sitting next to him. "Thor?"

"Yeah, it's me." Loki suddenly remembered the battle and the threat of Thanos and quickly tried to look around and even sit up. Thor's hands on his shoulders kept him down. "Hey, calm down. It's alright. We're safe here." Loki let out a deep relieved breath. If Thor said it was safe, then it had to be. He slowly took in his surroundings. It looked like they were in some sort of oddly decorative lobby. "We're in that City Museum," Thor explained. "After Thanos knocked everyone down, there were a few people left still standing. He went to fight with them and I went looking for you when you didn't answer over the comms."

Loki sighed. Only Thor would leave the most important battle of their lives to find him. He glanced to his left when something caught his eye, it was the Casket. Good, he hadn't lost it. Then he quietly asked, "Did we get anymore stones?"

"To my knowledge, just the Mind and Time Stones."

Loki closed his eyes and went to rub his forehead, "Damn."

Thor went to grab him by the wrists to pull him up. "Hey, it's okay-ahh!" Thor suddenly dropped him and grasped his right hand in clear pain.

Loki was startled and rightfully so. He tried to get himself sat up. "Thor? What-?" He froze when he saw Thor's right hand. He saw that his palm was not the normal flesh color but a burnt blue black color. Loki glanced down to his hands and saw that they were just now finishing changing from Jotun blue to his pale complexion.

Thor quickly said, "Loki, you didn't mean to-"

No. He didn't mean to. But he had and the guilt hit him hard. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I-"

Thor used his uninjured hand to grab Loki by the shoulder. "Brother. It's alright. You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for. Without you and your amazing ice powers, the fires would still be burning down the city, Thane would still be setting them, and we would have never gotten two Infinity Stones back…And you saved me before I went and got myself killed like the oaf I am."

Loki glanced away from him and shook his head. The guilt he felt wasn't just for burning Thor's hand. "I know…I just…"

"Yes?"

He let out a shaky breath and whispered, "I tried and it wasn't good enough…we only have two stones, that's not enough t-to save them."

"Oh," Thor said, suddenly understanding. "No, no. Loki, listen to me, we're going to save them. All of them. Nebula, Bruce, Rocket, and the rest of them. We are. Okay?"

What was it about Thor that made Loki find comfort in his words so much? He didn't know the outcome of how this disaster. No one did. And yet, when Thor's voice took on that soft and understanding tone and said that everything would be alright, Loki believed him. He let out a sigh. "Okay." Thor smiled, happy that he wasn't worrying as much as before. Then Loki softly smiled. "Ice powers, huh?"

"Well, I don't know. What do you want to call your," Thor moved his hands around in a circle trying to think of the right words, "Casket wielding ability?" Without responding, Loki wrapped his arms around Thor's shoulders and pulled him into a hug. Thor didn't say a word, he just hugged him back. It was so nice having Thor always trying to reassure him and chase away the self-doubt. After a few minutes, Loki pulled away, wiping at his eyes. "What was that for?" Thor asked quietly.

"Just…thank you."

"For what?" Thor had the gall to ask it so innocently, like he didn't know how much every little act of kindness meant to Loki.

Silly oaf probably doesn't know.

Loki smiled and shook his head. "For everything." Thor patted his arm with a smile.

"Hey! You guys down here?" a voice called, startling both of them until they realized who the voice belonged to.

"Barton?" Thor asked.

Said archer came walking down a set of curvy marble stairs, with his hair a mess and dust on his face. He looked like he had seen better days. He looked like he was worrying man, walking dead on his feet. "Yeah. It's me. You two okay?"

"As well as we can be I suppose," Loki said brushing himself off as Thor helped him get to his feet. Thor was still grasping his injured hand. Loki couldn't help the small pang of guilt he felt at the sight of it. "Here," he said raising his own hand out to him, "let me heal your hand."

Thor brushed him off. "It is nothing, brother. Save your energy for something more important."

Barton had reached the ground floor and glanced between them eagerly. "Did we get the gems?"

"Stones," Loki corrected, though only half-heartedly, "and only two of them."

The archer cursed, clearly worried about his wife and his best friend. "Freaking hell…"

"It's alright," Thor said confidently. "We are closer than what we were. And we will save those who were taken." He looked between Loki and Barton. "All of them."

Loki nodded in agreement. Barton looked like he would need reassuring but-

A surge of purple energy was fired just behind the wall that Loki had crashed through and the concentrated blast sent the three men flying. Barton had been standing only a few steps away from the stairs, so the blast sent him crashing into them. He hit the back of his head against the cold stone steps, but he wasn't knocked unconscious. Thor was the closest to the blast and because his back was to the blast when he was thrown into the uneven walls, he went head first. He was knocked unconscious. Loki hit the same uneven, silver wall that Thor hit but whereas Thor was now unconscious, Loki was only dazed.

He struggled to sit up but then seeing Thor so close to him, not moving, made him push through the pain in his back from the impact. He made it to Thor and got him onto his back. He was still breathing and the oaf probably had a concussion going by the blood leaking from the back of his head. He held onto Thor and tried to focus on healing his head wound.

But then…

Loud footsteps approached them causing Loki to glance up, not that he didn't already know who was coming. Thanos's outline appears through the rubble and the gray smoke. Loki quickly turned his gaze back to Thor, not having the courage to look the mad Titan in the eye. His panic filled thoughts were soon drowned out by Thanos's thunderous voice. "I have spent more than half of my lifetime learning to control my emotions in a way so that I do not simply snap, because where is the dignity in that? I find being calm helps to keep a leveled head so that I am not distracted from my glorious purpose." His tone suddenly took a cold turn. "But you, Asgardian, and your friends are wearing my patience thin."

The way he talked down to him like he was a disappointing child just brought back all the old wounds. Loki couldn't speak, couldn't even move. Barton had no problem finding his words. "You want an apology, asshole?" Barton had an arrow free from his quiver and lined it up on his bow, readying himself to fire it at Thanos. The Titan was faster however and simply clenched his fist. The Reality Stone shined ruby red and Barton's arrow was transformed into a long stem rose. Barton glanced at the flower now in his hands confused. "Huh…"

"Humans," Thanos spat. "Always so disrespectful. You seemed to think so too, Asgardian, remember?" At this, Loki glanced up at the towering giant. He was still wet from the ice and snow crystals were stuck to his clothes and to the Gauntlet, but otherwise he seemed unfazed. Thanos changed his tone to sound calmer and more approving. "I know you think that I am the enemy, but if you search your mind, you will know that deep down that is not true. You were a good ally once. I wonder, could you be again?" Stars, was he seriously asking him to… "Help me complete my purpose and I will spare you and your brother."

For several seconds no one said a word and Loki just stared at Thanos in shock. Then the trickster god did something that not even Thanos could have predicted, he laughed. It just sort of came out of him, the little amused laugh. The absurdity of the fact that Thanos was asking him of all people to follow him. It was ridiculous! He shook his head, still chuckling. "You must be truly desperate to come to me for help." The smile suddenly left his face. He did not hold back this time. He glared the monster down and let all of his rage pour out. "Me. The person who you kept a prisoner on your ship for over a year, who you tortured and manipulated, who you brainwashed into killing hundreds of innocents! You are a heartless coward, sending your children and your pawns to do your dirty work. And do you think that I would ever work for you willingly?! After everything you have done to my friends, my people! I would rather die here and now."

There was no point in holding back. Not when this could be his last moment in the plane of life.

Thanos looked anything but pleased. He cold eyes glaring down at him. Loki kept on giving him his death stare, not backing down at all. He honestly expected to be hit, or to have Thanos power up the remaining stones on his Gauntlet. He did not expect Thanos to now smile like he was amused. "Dying? Whoever said anything about dying? Not when there are so many more," Thanos glanced down at the unconscious Thor, "painful ways to hurt you."

Oh, stars no…

The gut twisting panic came back full force and Loki knew exactly what Thanos was going to do.

Thanos swung his arm and caught Loki by the chin, throwing him backwards. He crashed to the ground hard but he had no time to think about the aches and pains. He was desperately trying to get up, to run back to where he had been, but he was not fast enough. "I look forward to seeing you at the Arch," Thanos said as parting words and then with a clench of his fist, a blue portal engulfed him and Thor.

And then they were gone.

Loki just stared at the spot where the mad Titan and his brother had been, feeling himself start to shake.

Thanos had Thor.

Thanos has Thor.

No, no, no, no, no…this couldn't be happening.

It couldn't be-it…why was this happening?

Why?

Loki felt himself start to crumble at the shattering knowledge that unless a miracle happened, Thor would be dead along with all of the others.

Please, this couldn't be real. It was so…unfair.

…

They were in deep shit.

Laura and Natasha were in the hands of that egotistical monster. Thor as well as eleven others were taken. Thanos had left the fight. The entire City Museum was surrounded by aliens. And no one was answering the freaking comms!

"Can anybody hear me?" Clint's voice sounded weak and tired to his own ears. He stood leaning up against the far wall of the lobby where there was both the large hole where Loki had crashed through and a clear view out of the double glass doors that served as the museum's entrance. He had an arrow lined up on his bow waiting for the next unwitting alien to try and come through the hole in the side of the wall. Several had tried and he dispatched them quickly. If they kept coming, the hole would soon be blocked by a stack of dead aliens. "Thanos has Thor," he repeated for about the tenth time. "If Thanos gets one more person, then it is game over for us…Thanos said something about the Arch, I'll see you there, something like that. We need to get there but we can't because about five dozen aliens have us trapped here…" Not surprisingly, he didn't get an answer, only static. "Anybody on comms? Come on, we need help here." He waited about forty seconds and then cursed. "Damn things are still not working." A Chitauri came running through the hole and Clint shot him in the eye. He peeked around so that he could see through the hole and he saw several more Chitauri flying around low in the sky. And then a few seconds later, several more joined them. They were assembling a larger group which could only mean that they were preparing for a full fledge attack on the museum. Aw, crap… They could not stay here much longer. "Hey, Loki!"

The archer ran to where he had left the trickster god. After Thanos had vanished with Thor in tow, Loki seemed to just shut down. He had looked like he was the verge of a total breakdown, staring at the spot that his brother had been just a second ago. His breathing had become very erratic and Clint tried to tell him to just breathe but Loki wasn't listening to him. He was in his own world of grief and nothing Clint could have said at that moment would have shaken him out of it. Clint had figured this out and he knew there was still an army outside. So, he left the hurting god to check out their surroundings and to try and make contact with literally anyone on the team.

Clint saw that Loki hadn't moved from where he was sitting on the floor, still staring at the ground with his red rimmed, watery green eyes. It was a heart wrenching and scary sight to see. The usually cunning, charismatic, well put together man was reduced to a shivering shell of himself. He held his curled up legs to his chest and he didn't seem to notice when Clint came up to him. "No one is coming and the aliens seem to be preparing to attack at any minute. And you know they won't be taking any prisoners, unless Thanos decides he wants one of us to be the final soul he steals." Loki didn't say a word. Clint anxiously fidgeted with his bow. "The only way outta here is for us to fight our way out. Unless…do you think you have some strength to get us out of here?" Loki still hadn't said a word and Clint could feel the impatience rise up in him.

Okay, time to try a different approach.

Clint knelt down in front of Loki so that they were at the same level. Loki blinked a few times but he didn't look up. Clint sighed, "Listen to me, I get that you're hurting. I'm hurting. But we can't get caught up in our emotions right now. We need to get out of here or we are going to die."

Loki was quiet but then he slowly shook his head, his eyes filled to the brim with tears. "Dying," he whispered bitterly. "I'm not afraid of dying, you know. For so long that's all I wanted. To die." Clint glanced away from him, feeling like he was getting information that he had no right to. "Thanos," Loki's voice cracked when he said that damned name, "promised me pain worse than death if I failed him…and this is it. This is worse than me just thinking Thor died at Thanos's hand, he is going to publically kill him along with the others…my brother."

Clint felt a terrible guilt clench his stomach as his words came rushing back to him like a freight train. "I don't mind being all alone in thinking that he deserved whatever punishment Thanos had planned for him." If he could punch himself in the face he would. He shook his head, internally telling himself that he could fix this. Just like he told Laura he would. He glanced back up and started to say, "Loki-"

"It's my fault," Loki interrupted, the sorrow, the dread, and the complete anguish coming through those three simple words. A few tears fell over the brim. "It's all my fault. T-this is all happening b-because of me. Thor doesn't deserve this, I do."

Clint shook his head. "No. No, you don't."

Loki froze and stopped his rambling. He slowly and reluctantly looked up at Clint, appearing to be confused. "But you said-"

"Yeah, well, I was wrong. Okay? I was dead wrong. I…I never should have said that you deserved whatever Thanos had planned for you. I never should have said any of what I said. I'm sorry. I didn't know the whole picture before but that's still no excuse."

Loki looked stunned but then he quickly shook his head. "It doesn't matter. It's still my fault."

Clint rubbed his forehead and exclaimed, "Hey! Hey, look at me." Loki did. Clint took in a deep breath. He would fix this. "It's your fault, it's everyone's fault, who cares? Are you up for this? Are you? I just need to know because the city's being attacked by aliens…"

It wasn't funny. Not in the slightest. It was dead serious. But saying it out loud just made him realize how absurd it sounded. This whole battle was crazy if you thought about it.

He half chuckled in spite of himself. "Look, the city's being attacked by aliens, we're fighting a purple giant who has rainbow colored gems, you're the Norse God of Mischief, and I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes any sense." Loki half glared at him, not looking amused. Clint stopped making light of the situation and got down to his point. "But I'm going back out there because it's my job. And I can't do my job and babysit. It doesn't matter what you did or what you were. If you go out there, you fight, and you fight to kill. You stay in here, you're good. I'll send someone to come and get you. But if you step out that door…you are an Avenger."

Loki's eyes shown with shock and disbelief but then it slowly morphed into a sort of understanding. He knew that Clint meant it. Good, because Clint did mean it. And he was just happy to see the look of complete hopelessness vanish from Loki's face. As the seconds passed, Clint started to feel like his little speech was awfully familiar. "I could've sworn I said basically the same speech to Wanda a few years back…I guess you know I'm getting old. I can't even come up with a new motivational speech to say." He stood up straight and patted Loki on the shoulder. "Alright? Good chat." Then he headed for the double glass doors and didn't hesitate in going through them.

And then Clint wasn't really sure how long he had been fighting these damn aliens off. It could have only been five minutes, it could have been as long as five hours. Regardless, he was tired and running low on arrows.

He fired a multiple hit arrow as he jumped for cover behind a wrecked car. The arrow ran itself through a Chitauri's eye socket and then fired off small poisonous darts, hitting a good handful of the aliens nearby. It seemed to do little good in the long run though. They were surrounding him from all sides, on foot and in the air.

A Chitauri on a hovercraft screeched and all the other hovercrafts filed into some sort of aerial formation. Clint looked up to the sky in horror, all the Chitauri on the hovercrafts were preparing to fire. On him. He couldn't survive this. No one could survive this. He ducked down, although he knew it would do him little to no good, and prepared for death.

Clint really thought that Loki would come and help him fight these ugly things off. He-

The Chitauri screeched again and he could hear their laser guns start to fire down on him. But then a curious thing happened; the sound of their guns suddenly didn't seem so loud, like they weren't right above him. And he didn't feel the lasers rip through him.

What was going on?

He looked up and realized that he wasn't behind a wrecked car, in the kill zone anymore. No, he was by the entrance of the City Museum. He saw the Chitauri fire at the spot that he had been at seconds before and he saw the car blowup. He turned to his right and saw Loki, with a dagger in hand, surveying the scene. It took Clint a bit before he understood that Loki had teleported him out of his predicament. He half chuckled as he got to his feet. "Thank God you came when you did."

"Well, I wasn't just going to sit feeling sorry for myself and let you die, now was I?" With a wave of his hand, a green glow started and materialized in Loki's hand a quiver filled with arrows. He handed the full quiver to Clint, who took it eagerly. "You take care of the ones on the ground. Let me worry about the airborne ones." Clint nodded his head as he readied himself to continue the fight.

He never should have doubted Loki.

About coming to help or about where his allegiances lied. It was pretty clear now.

Together they dispatched the Chitauri quickly. Clint fired off arrows, taking down the aliens on foot one by one and Loki threw daggers like there was no tomorrow. He would target the driver of the hovercraft usually resulting in the thing crashing to the ground or into another hovercraft. When the crash and the explosion that happened afterwards got too close for comfort, Loki simply made a green shield that protected him and Clint from the wreckage.

It was good to have a magic-user backing you up in a battle like this.

Before Clint knew it, all the Chitauri were dead or dying. He took in a tired deep breath after it was all over and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Loki brushed the hair from his face and conjured up two more daggers. Apparently, he just had an endless supply of those things. "We need to head to the Arch. If we see any of the team, than we tell them what's happened."

Clint nodded in agreement, but first he went around to retrieve his arrows from the dead creatures. When he found one that had little to no blood on it, he walked up to Loki and used the arrow to "knight" him. Loki gave him a quizzical look. Clint shrugged. "There, it's official now. You're an Avenger."

Loki glanced at the ground and smiled to himself, like some sort of proud honor was awarded to him. But at the same time he appeared to be trying to rein back in his excitement for officially becoming part of the team. So it wasn't a complete surprise when the first words to come out of his mouth were in a jokingly tone. "That's all a person gets for joining? A mock knighthood? I don't get a parade or something?"

Alright that was funny.

And Clint had to chuckle at something that was funny.

"I got a question for you," he said in the midst of chuckling. "Did you get the title, God of Mischief, because of your sarcasm or did you have it from birth, and it's like some self-fulfilling prophecy crap?"

Loki chuckled too. "I got that title after I transformed myself into a snake so I could pull a prank on Thor."

Clint pictured it his head and laughed out loud. "That's certainly seems like the start of a good prank."

Loki nodded in fond remembrance. "Oh, believe me it was." Clint nodded as well. Wow, had he judged this guy too harshly before. But that was all in the past now. And he had fixed this just like he had told Laura.

With the thought of Laura and the mention of Thor, Clint and Loki before remembered the seriousness of the situation and turned their attention back to it. "Alright," Clint said, placing his hand to the comm in his ear, "if anyone can hear us, we're all clear here."

At that moment, an injured but not dead Chitauri jumped up from the ground. Loki was closest to the creature but the alien was quick to shove him to the ground before he could react. Clint grabbed out an arrow but it was too late. The Chitauri hit him upside the head and he landed to the ground with a groan. The Chitauri stood above him but was focused on something else. That's when Clint realized that he hadn't landed to the ground. He had landed on a crashed hover ship. "Aw, crap."

The ship started to go up into the air with a vertical take-off. Well, this was lovely. He couldn't see Loki anymore but he could hear him shout out, "Barton!"

"Forget about me!" he hollered back. "Just get to the Arch! Get Laura and Nat and whoever else you can!" Then he was flying high and fast with the Chitauri standing too close for comfort. Clint reached for his arrows but the Chitauri kicked him in the gut stopping him.

They were in deep shit now. Because with himself getting captured…the fifteen was complete.

…

Loki was sprinting through the city streets of St. Louis, desperately trying to get to the Arch as fast as he could. This was madness, this was madness, this was madness… He had absolutely no bloody idea what he would do when he got to the Arch, he just knew he had to get there. All he heard over the comms for fourteen blocks was a loud, humming static. But as he approached block fifteen he could start to hear someone get frustrated. "For the love of God, someone answer me!"

Loki knew that voice. "Sam?"

"Wha-Loki? Yeah, it's Sam. Where you and Thor at?"

"Thanos has Thor and Barton." He hated saying those words together in a sentence. "The fifteen is complete and Thanos is heading to the Arch."

"Why the Arch?" Quill asked, sounding out of breath.

"I don't know why, I just know that's what he said."

"He's right," Hope said. "I see him and-oh God. I see the others." If that wasn't enough to push everyone to hurry up and run to the Arch then nothing would have.

Except maybe Stark's stern command. "Everyone hull ass."

And everyone still left did.

After several minutes of more running, and being completely out of breath, Loki finally came within fifty feet of the silver Arch. It still stood tall after all of the day's destruction. There were burn marks and a few dents but nothing that couldn't be fixed. And Thanos stood on the cement near the two bases, raising his fist into the air. And the others…he couldn't focus on them. All he could focus on was the fact that Thanos was creating a barrier. He wanted to ensure that the fifteen would not be saved, so Loki doubted it was any old barrier. It probably wouldn't let him teleport through once it was up. Maybe not even Strange could get through it.

As if thinking about him, invoked his presence, Strange flew down beside Loki and until he running with him. "If we're getting through, we need to do it now!" Strange said.

"I agree."

"Tony!" Strange yelled, much to Loki's surprise. "Get down here! We have a way to get close to Thanos but our window of opportunity is closing!"

"Loud and clear." Two seconds later Stark flew in and landed next to them. His suit was burnt and mangled in some places. So much so, Loki had to wonder if Thane got to him at one point.

"Loki…" Strange said expectedly.

Now or never.

With a wave of his hands the three men were teleported so that they were at one of the bases of the Arch. Just in time too, the barrier was finished being put up. The trio screeched to a halt and took in their surroundings.

"So," Stark said, breathing deeply, "that's what teleporting is like… It certainly was…an experience." His nano tech suit began to recede back into Stark's triangle shape arch reactor.

"You are going to need your armor," Loki said.

"I know…I just need the broken pieces to be fixed."

Loki turned to his right and saw Strange sneaking a look from behind their spot. He had a sinking dread fill him up. He wasn't ready to see the others in their predicament but, he looked out too. "Oh, stars above…" The fifteen were suspended in the air, held up by a shimmering rainbow light. All were awake except for the dear Captain. He looked to be unconscious and hurt. Red had bleed through his uniform. Loki saw Nebula, Thor, and Bruce and the sight of them hovering in the air, straining to get free from their fate was painful to watch to say the least.

He couldn't watch them anymore, if he did he would caught up in the hopelessness of this damn situation and then he wouldn't be of any help to anyone. He turned away and leaned back against the Arch. He rubbed his head. "W-what do we do?"

Stark took his place in looking out and then shook his head slowly, looking like he had lost control of the whole world. "I was just about to ask you. You're the one who always seems to have all the ideas."

"Your turn."

Stark turned away as well and stood next to Loki. Strange continued to watch, a pained expression on his face. The three men were quiet. Too quiet for Loki's liking. The quiet made the nerve wracking tension grow. Loud footsteps could be heard and he knew it was Thanos walking closer to the fifteen. He began to speak, "I am sorry that your deaths have to be publicized, but I wish for your heroes to understand the consciences of their actions."

This was it.

They weren't going to save them.

Nebula, Thor, Bruce, Rocket, Steve, Natasha, Barton, Rhodey, Shuri, Ned, Darcy, Pepper, Christine, Laura, Quill's grandfather…They were all going to die. They had failed.

But leave it to Tony Stark to buy them a few more minutes.

"Thanos! Wait!"

Loki could not believe his ears. He turned on Stark and angrily whispered, "What are you doing?"

"Stopping him," Stark whispered back.

"Stark," Thanos said in realization. Well, they had turned his attention from the fifteen to them now. Great, now they would die. "What are you doing here?"

Stark shook his head to himself and literally said the first thing that came to him. "Yeah. I just thought I'd come and try to, um, you know, negotiate with you."

"Negotiate?" Thanos questioned, sounding like he had moved closer to where they were hidden. Loki tightened his grasp on the dagger he had pulled out.

Stark rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, negotiate. You let the fifteen go, call off your army, and I don't know, maybe you and I go somewhere and you explain your glorious purpose to me. 'Cause you know, Reindeer Games didn't do it justice." Loki spun to Stark and gave him, you cannot be serious, look. Stark shrugged. He was seriously considering going with Thanos in exchange for the others. Loki wanted to bang his head against the Arch.

"You amuse me, Stark," Thanos said, chuckling lightly. "I might even be tempted to take you up on your offer if you had better bargaining chips. Because as much as I respect you, a promised conversation with you is not going to change my mind from what I have to do."

Stark's eyes lit up with that light that meant he had just thought of something risky and crazy. Well, this wasn't going to be good. "The Stones," Stark said, looking between Loki and Strange. "If I give him the Mind and Time Stones back, he won't kill them."

No, no, no. There was no way in hell that they were going to give Thanos the stones back. Loki was rapidly shaking his head. "You don't know if that will work."

"And you don't know if it won't," Stark snapped before letting out a very shaky breath. "Whatever it takes…" He was repeating T'Challa's words that he had gotten from the dear Captain. "I gotta do it. Strange?"

And thank the stars, because Strange clasped his necklace closer to himself and slowly shook his head. And while Stark looked upset, Loki just looked relieved. Strange wasn't going to give away the Time Stone and probably wouldn't let Stark give away the Mind Stone. "Tony…"

Stark glowered at the doctor and snapped, "Your girlfriend is out there too, in case you didn't notice!"

Strange's extreme look of guilt was enough to make Loki stand up for him. "Leave him alone, he just has very real doubts. And so do I."

Stark threw his arms up in the air. "Fine. I have the Mind Stone and that has got to be worth something." He was starting to leave. He was more than eager to make the sacrifice play.

Tony Stark, a true selfless hero, ready to potentially die for everyone else.

Not on Loki's watch.

He quickly grabbed his arm and yanked him backwards. "You are not going out there. Okay?"

Stark started rapidly shaking his head. "I cannot wait any longer. We need to act now or they all are going to die." His desperation was starting to shine through and Loki could relate to it.

"I know," he said trying to be comforting. They did need to do something but he was not going to let Stark walk into that monster's clutches. No way! He knew what it was like and he wasn't going to let him and-Wait. Loki knew what it was like. What it was like to be around Thanos. Probably better than anyone else with the exception of Nebula and Gamora. Maybe if he…yes. And he had strength enough to…

"Loki?" Stark asked, a mix between concerned and eager. Loki glanced at the man, feeling the gravity of his newly formed plan. It was complete and utter madness, but it might have a chance of working.

He knew what it probably meant for him.

Loki shook his head and told himself that it was all going to be okay. And even if it wasn't, well, that was okay too. He had found friends and purpose and acceptance in such a short period of time and he knew he would do whatever it took to protect it. So whatever his fate held, so be it. He glanced at Stark and murmured, "I-I…I have a plan."

…

Bruce had tried numerous times to Hulk out.

From the moment he woke up alone in a cool dark cell till right this very second of being suspended in the air with rainbow energy swirling around him, threatening to kill him. Not just him but the fourteen other individuals who were in the same hellish situation as him.

He had no luck in succeeding.

It wasn't that he wasn't angry or stressed enough. Boy, was he! But the big green asshole just wasn't wanting to show up! If he lived through this day he was going to have a serious talk with the Hulk because this wasn't funny anymore.

Bruce was sure that they were going to die when freaking Tony Stark yelled for Thanos to stop and basically offered to go with him in exchange for letting all who were taken free. Thanos turned him down and Bruce was then positive that they were going to die.

He had no clue why he was wasting time doubting Tony and his craziness.

"Yo, grape man," Tony called as he came from around the base of the Arch. Thanos turned with a curious look, like he wanted to see what happened next. "These are what you want isn't it?" Tony had something in his hands. He-oh no. Tony raised the glowing Mind Stone and Strange's gray necklace with the green Time Stone up into the air. Had he gone insane? "So, here's the deal, you call your army off, send them back through the wormhole you so nicely ripped open in the sky…and then you and I go somewhere and I'll give you the stones."

The answer was yes. Tony had gone insane.

Thanos with the hint of a smile raised his right hand outward. "I'll take the stones now."

Tony smiled a fake smile and shook his head. "Yeah, I think I'll keep my two bargaining chips until after the space army from hell is gone, thank you very much." Thanos smiled, fully this time, and nodded his agreement to the bargain. Thanos raised the hand with the Gauntlet, Bruce could have sworn that he had seen Tony flinch, clenched his fist and almost immediately the Chitauri on their hover ships started flying by the hundreds to the blue portal in the sky. The Outriders raced back to the ominous, pointy pod ships.

Tony spent most of this time sending Thanos a level glare. Eventually he glanced over at the suspended people. His worried eyes were checking over everyone to see that they were alright. Sometimes his eyes lingered a little bit on certain people, though who Bruce wasn't sure because he couldn't turn his head. Tony's gaze finally reached him and he appeared relieved that he was okay. Well, "okay" was a relative term. Tony faced Thanos again. "Let them down."

"After we leave," Thanos said.

"They're no threat to you. Come on, the de-Look at him." He pointed at Steve. "He is unconscious!" Thanos said nothing but he had the gall to smile as if he was amused. Tony certainly seemed ticked by this. "What, is this amusing for you?"

Thanos chuckled, "Fun is not something one thinks about when trying to ensure the salvation of the universe, but this does put a smile on my face."

Tony clenched his fists. "And that right there proves that you're insane."

"Do enlighten me," Thanos said calmly.

"Everything that you have done, the countless atrocities, the slaughter of populations, it's all been because the universe's resources are limited. Cut away half the population and then there will finally be enough for everyone, but newsflash genius! You had the most powerful items in the entire multiverse and you could have used them for good. If you were so concerned about future lives, you could have used the stones to create an infinite amount of food, water, land! But no, you had to tear families apart, erase friends, and force the whole universe to suffer from the pain of loss and that makes you an indescribable psychopath." Bruce had to stare at his friend in shock. His mouthing off to a literal godlike giant could have been seen as irresponsible, but there was no joking tone in Tony's voice. Only iron resolve. And such a heated hatred that Bruce had not realized Tony had for Thanos. Tony finished by saying, "Joke's on you buddy. You said a reckoning is coming for us? No. A reckoning is coming for you."

"Oh really?" Thanos said in mock surprise.

Tony gritted his teeth. "Yes. We will never stop. And even if we fail, I promise you that if we cannot save the souls you stole, then you can be damned sure we will avenge every single one of them."

Thanos did not look ticked off or like he was mad or anything. He just nodded his head. "This is why I like you Stark. You're stubborn and headstrong and you do not care what anyone thinks of you." Tony glanced away from Thanos and started to fidget with the two stones in his hands. That was a bit unlike Tony. "The army is gone." Thanos motioned for Tony to step closer, which he reluctantly did.

Bruce couldn't believe that he was about to witness one of his closest friends willingly leave with Thanos. It couldn't be real. It had to be a trick.

Tony glanced at those suspended in the air again. He could see all the worry and concern and he smiled knowingly. "Guys, don't fret. I got this all under control. Besides, I have faith that it will all work out in the end." Then Tony glared down Thanos as he clenched his fist. The Space Stone lit up and a blue portal engulfed them.

And just like that, they were gone.

But they had left something behind. Three somethings. The Space, Power, and Soul Stones had appeared in the exact spot where Tony and Thanos had been a second ago. Then they and those who were suspended in the air, dropped to the ground.

Bruce landed on the ground hard and flat on his face. He groaned and tried his best to get to his feet, or at the very least to a sitting position. Someone grabbed his arm and started helping him. He glanced over his shoulder. Natasha. He was overjoyed to see her again. It had been bad enough to know that they were to both die but then he couldn't even see her. "Hey," he said softly.

"Hey," she said back as she sat down beside him. Her hair was a mess and her eyes shined with sadness and understanding. She was upset about Tony making the sacrifice play for them too, but clearly she had accepted it as something Tony would do. Something he would stupidly do.

The barrier around them and the Arch started to dissolve and the team came rushing towards the fifteen shaken up people. Bruce glanced around him and watched the happy reunions. Clint and his wife, Laura, ran to each other and hugged each other with no intention of letting go any time soon. Nat smiled at her two old friends.

Thor rubbed the back of his head and winced. Clearly he had a painful head injury. He helped the girl next to him get to her feet, the one he knew. Darcy was her name. Darcy was apparently running on some sort of adrenaline rush from not dying and exclaimed, a bit too loudly, "Holy shit! I never want to do that again!"

Valkyrie hurriedly made her way to Thor but slowed her pace when she was a few feet away. "Your majesty," she greeted, not hiding the fact that she was happy to him.

Thor smiled with a grimace. "Hey."

The Guardians ran over to Rocket who held out a hand to stop them. "Before you all ask and gush all over me, I'm totally fine. Just a little shaken up."

Groot sat next to the raccoon and said a quiet, "I am Groot."

Rocket smiled and pulled the tree into a hug. "Don't worry, I ain't leavin' you anytime soon."

Gamora searched through the crowd until she spotted who she was looking for. "Nebula!"

Nebula's usually stone cold expression had dropped long ago and now she just looked overjoyed to see her sister. The two reached each other and pulled each other into a tight embrace. "Please tell me you punched Super Giant's stupid face in," Nebula mumbled into Gamora's shoulder.

Gamora shook her head. "Didn't have a chance too. Maybe we'll do it together."

Quill, after seeing that Rocket was okay and that his girlfriend was happily reunited with her sister, ran over to the white-haired old man who was his grandfather. The old man wore simple gray pants and a knitted sweater vest. He was still on the ground, his hands shaking from everything. "Hey!" Quill called out, getting to his knees and putting a hand on his arm to help him. "Are you…doing alright?"

The poor old man shook his head at a loss for words. "I…certainly have never experienced anything like that. I-I don't…"

Quill nodded and eyed him worriedly still. "As long as you aren't hurt. It's bad enough I'm the reason you got kidnapped, I'd never forgive myself if you were hurt."

Quill's grandfather turned to him and eyed him carefully for the first real time. He took in Quill's features and his big red leather coat and quietly asked, "Do I know you?"

Quill immediately looked away. "I…I'm sorry for running away. That was a really crappy thing to do. Your daughter just died and then your grandson ran away. Must have been a terrible day for you."

The old man's eyes shined with wonder and realization. "Peter?"

At that same moment the other Peter found his friend. "Ned!"

"Pete!"

Peter sprinted and almost ran into Ned. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Are you-?"

"I'm okay," Ned reassured. "I'm okay." Peter nodded and then hugged his friend.

It was a day for hugs.

Bucky and Sam where on either side of the unconscious Steve. "How is he?" Sam asked, taking his red goggles off.

Bucky had his flesh fingers to Steve's neck. "Still breathing." He moved his hand from his neck to his shoulder. "Come on, punk. Wake up."

Scott and Hope had no direct family or close friend among the fifteen but they watched the reunions but when they saw Rhodey struggling to get to his feet, they were quick to help out. "Hey man," Scott called out to him, "you good?"

Rhodey mumbled, "Been better, been worse too."

"Let's help him up," Hope said, taking authority. Together, the two shrinkers got Rhodey to his feet. He stumbled a bit but they kept him steady.

Shuri was nearby and cried for T'Challa. "Brother!"

T'Challa was speechless as he reached his sister and dropped to his knees, right next to Shuri. Again he didn't say a word, he just held her as she hid her face in his shoulder. "It's okay. I've got you," he finally said, soothingly.

Bruce let out a deep breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

They were alive.

They had faced death itself, all of them, and they had made it out to tell the tale another day. Sure, Thanos and his army was still out there and Tony was now in need of rescuing unless he pulled off some miraculous stunt…but they were alive. They all needed this moment to just breathe.

Then Bruce felt a chill go up his spin. Someone was missing from their group. He glanced around and he knew someone who should have been there was not. Then it hit him.

Where was Loki?

Dr. Strange suddenly emerged from where he had been hiding behind the foot of the Arch, pulling Bruce from his thoughts. It was the same spot Tony had been behind. Had Strange not tried to stop him?

Dr. Christine Palmer ran to him, ecstatic. "Stephen! Oh, thank God you're okay! They came for us after you had all left and I didn't know if you were alive or-" Strange gently brushed her hair out of her face and just stared at her with an almost unreadable expression. Almost unreadable. The usually stone faced wizard doctor let his poker face fall enough to see all of the regret that was shining in his eyes. Christine noticed. "Stephen? Are you okay?"

Strange nodded his head but looked no better. He kissed the top of her head and walked away from his confused girlfriend. He headed in the direction of the three sparkly stones. He knelt down and picked them up with some sort of glowy orange magic. His piercing eyes looked over the stones, almost like he was examining them.

"Tony…" Rhodey said, almost excepting whatever his friend's fate was.

Peter shook his head, desperately. "No."

Pepper was shaking her head too. "He…he…" She couldn't go on. Wanda was next to her and patted her on the shoulder, but she looked as if she knew something. Something terrible. Even more terrible than this situation.. Maybe that explained her quietness.

"He saved you all," Valkyrie said trying to give them all a consolation. It certainly didn't make Bruce feel any better.

"That doesn't explain how the stones are with us," Hope said. Scott nodded his head rapidly like a bobble head.

Strange stood up, three of the most power items in the galaxy floating just above his left palm, and started to walk back the way he came. He paused halfway though and opened his mouth but then stopped himself. He shook his head, clearly angry. Whether with the situation or with himself would remain to be seen. He couldn't look at any of the team for the life of him and he finally said, "I am so sorry…There was no other way."

"There was no other way for what?" Sam asked. Something about Strange's words and the matter in which he said them…it was scary. But Strange didn't answer Sam's question and he continued walking. "Hey, Strange!"

Strange called out, "You can come out now, they're all gone."

Before anyone could even think to ask Strange what the hell he was talking about, Tony Stark came from behind the Arch. With his hands in his pockets and his head lowered like he was ashamed, he looked just as regrettable as Strange.

But how was Tony even here? They all had seen him get taken by Thanos. Hadn't they?

"Mr. Stark?" Peter asked, confused and, rightfully so, relieved.

"Tony?" Pepper asked in disbelief and then she ran to him.

Even with her arms wrapped around him, Tony still looked like he had the weight of the whole world weighing him down. But he wrapped his arms around Pepper, his hands getting lost in her hair. He sighed, a mixture of relief and regret. "Hey, Pep."

"Is the metal man twins?" Drax asked in a hush voice to Mantis.

The girl shook her head. "I did not think so."

Thor stared at Tony and Strange, who were avoiding his eye contact, and he gasped. "No. No, no, no."

"Thor?" Bruce asked, tentatively stepping closer to the God of Thunder. Said God looked as lost and down as he had that morning in Wakanda, when he had stayed up all night thinking about the fact that his brother had been tortured by-Oh no.

Loki.

Where was Loki?

Unless…

Bruce rubbed his face with both hands in anguish.

Quill started backwards, a look of shock on his face. Apparently he figured it out too. "Oh, man."

While several people still looked confused, a few put the pieces together that there was only one explanation as to how Tony appeared to go with Thanos and yet here he was standing before them. Only one explanation.

Nebula lowered her head and squeezed her hands into fists. She knew and knowing was hurting her. In the softest voice she whispered, "It wasn't Stark who went with Thanos, it was Loki."

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Author's Note Again: So, I'm going to hide behind my couch while you all yell at me…

As I said in Chapter 17, the next chapter has an even worse cliffhanger. So terribly sorry about that. This took forever to write and I honestly thought that I would be able to write more and faster in the summer. Oh, well. Better late than never I suppose. In case you wanted to know who said the lines where everyone starts chattering at once, here's who said what:

"There has got to be something, anything that we can do!" –Quill

"How do we-what should we-?" –Hope

"I am Groot!" –Groot

"We have to get the gems and save them, that's all we can do." –Thor

"How in God's name do we fix this?" –Rocket

Now, on to my Avengers: Endgame thoughts! (The film has been out for several months, so spoilers, but everyone who was going to see should have already seen it) I enjoyed the experience a lot and the film itself was great, a little all over the place but nothing ridiculous. Lots of fan service that had me so happy! Especially the "Hail Hydra" Cap elevator scene and the show stopping scene of Cap wielding Thor's Hammer! And Tony wielding the Gauntlet…Oh. My. God! This story had great endings for some of these characters and it made me so hyped for Spider-Man: Far From Home (which I saw and that's great to). The last fight, hands down the best final boss fight of any of the MCU films. I loved all of the little cameos throughout the film, especially Loki's cameos. (My theater audience was great, they screamed whenever Loki was on screen!)

I do not like the fact that people died though. But fret not, for I am a fanfiction writer so in my canon they are all alive and happy. Also, am I the only one who feels like Paul Bettany should have gotten a cameo in this film? He has been with the MCU since day one and he didn't even get a cameo in one of the biggest films in Marvel history? Does not seem right. It didn't have to be a Vision cameo, it could have been a J.A.R.V.I.S. cameo.

Anyways, I should let you know that I will be incorporating some things from Endgame into this story, but obviously not everything. (I have no interest in doing anything with Scott's time heist in this story, because for one, the work required for something like that is insane, and for two, Redemption for the Blue Hearts is its own animal, although influenced by the previous MCU films and heavily on IW. I have had an ending in mind since Chapter 7, which I have changed twice already. Scott's time heist, although great and entertaining, is not going to be how Loki, the Avengers, and the Guardians save the day.) Now that I have written far too much, I will say once again thank you for all of your constant support. Thank you!

Also, I have started writing a new shorter story for Stranger Things fanfiction called, The Bonds that Connect Us. Check it out sometime!

I brought this back from my last chapter:

I HAVE A REQUEST! (It might see like a weird request but here me out.) So for a class I had last fall and a class I had this spring, I had to make a blog and a website. The blog is not that important, but the website is to get me out there in the mass communication industry, preferably as a film editor, because that's what I want to do. And I have no money to buy a domain. So…are you willing to help a girl out? If you give me your email address in a review or PM and I will send you an email with my website (and blog) URL. And if you guys want to send that email to others that would be great too. I just want to spread the word out. And if no one sends me their email…cool. That's fine too. If you do decide to give me your email you must write it out in words because gets weird about the "at" symbol and the dot com. Example:

thegirlwholikestoomuchstuffatgmaildotcom

Okay? Cool.