Loki sighed, peaking over the books on his desk to see the young woman staring out the window, completely unfocused on what she was supposed to be doing. He himself was getting tired of reading through all the tomes he'd dragged out of Asgard's vaults. Year after year and it made no difference - there wasn't a damn thing to help them.

They'd picked up on tips about Thanos every now and then, hearing about him collecting another stone or tearing down some other civilization - but they just couldn't pin the damn titan down. It was getting to the point where the entire endeavor seemed useless. To Sarah, her gaze following the flight path of a hawk gliding by the tower window, it was something as unattainable as immortality. It was just one more thing - her arm, her calico skin and hair, the dangers her family faced daily - really, what was a stone attached to her soul, dragging out some of her magic?

She'd described the songs Nemesis sung to her as gentle and almost reassuring in their consistency, and therefore felt no urgency to separate from them. In fact, she seemed to feel a kinship with the voice behind the lullabies.

Shaking his head of these thoughts, Loki closed his book quietly, the movement startling Sarah from her thoughts. He stood and waved to the window, "Go on. It's a beautiful day, and you don't have the years I do."

The response was a grin and mock-salute before she bolted from the room. He crossed his arms and moved to the window, leaning on it. In a few minutes he watched as Sarah practically exploded from the building, waving to a couple figures waiting around a bench across the street. As she reached their side, Peter emerged from their midst and took his customary position at her right.

Taking a deep breath, Loki turned, asking the empty room, "Can you keep her out of trouble?"

"Haven't I been doing that the past sixteen years?" JARVIS answered.

Loki chuckled, "I can't help but ask."

"Everyone seems to have the same issue. Just yesterday she forgot to text her father she wasn't going to be home for dinner and Steve and James had a panic attack, asking me why I hadn't watched her - they almost called the police."

Snorting, the god began to close and stack the books strewn across his office desk. "It's gotten better since Erik became the family baby, but that does not mean we stopped worrying about her. Of the two she's the most vulnerable."

Like most things in the Avenger's tower, it took only a single mention of something for the meaning behind it to manifest itself. A loud crash was heard and Loki sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, not even having to prompt JARVIS before the AI gave him a status report, explaining that the 4th floor of the tower now had a giant hole in the wall.

"I really need to be careful with what I say..."

"Loki," Victor peaked inside, "Did you-"

"Yes, I did. I'm sorry, I know we have discussed the power of the spoken word around here."

Victor gave him a disapproving, but mostly loving look. "You're the one fixing the wall."

"I know this..." He strode over, gripping the man's collar and pulling him down the few inches he had on him so he could give him a quick kiss, "Clean up my books here, will you?"

"Of course, Love." Victor kissed his forehead and held the door open as the god passed by, eyes trailing after him as he went to clean up the mess.

It was common place now for Loki to take the elevator, finding the action gave him time to prepare his patience for dealing with his nephew. More often than not he even ended up enjoying the music Tony had programmed into the contraptions; jazz had always been a weakness of his. But all good things came to an end, and the doors opened to show the wreck Erik had made of the 4th floor.

The Avengers (now officially including Silver and Scarlet) were all at some… world conference or whatnot that Victor chose to opt out of. This left the tower to him, Victor, the children, and sometimes Peter. Which meant that Erik was on his own most of the time… An eleven year old demi-god with Asgardian blood in his veins was something that shouldn't be unoccupied for more than ten minutes, lest the creature break something - as the boy had just done. Loki gently picked his way through the rubble to the young blonde perched on the edge of a large piece of wall that hung out over the hole in the wall. His hands were in his lap, the posture the epitome of a guilty child.

"Erik…" Loki intoned, moving to sit by the boy on the stone. "Why did you… How did you do this?"

"..." The boy flicked his pure blue eyes up towards his uncle, "I… Threw a fridge at a wasp. And then it didn't die, so I threw a wall at it."

Loki raised a brow at the destruction around him, "You need to fix your aim."

"Uncle Clint says that too…"

"It's because it's true." He glanced back down at Erik, reminded of his brother at that age. It actually made him smile - so this is what it was like to be the adult present when he was caught breaking the palace with Mjolnir.

"I know, I'm sorry…"

"Sorry does not revert this room back to its original condition."

"No… It doesn't."

Loki made a show of sighing and looking about the room before clapping his hands and moving to his feet. "Would you like to assist me with your freakish strength?"

"Hey!" The boy, as predictable as his father, jumped up and tried to make himself seem taller. "It's not freakish!"

"You could have fooled me, and I'm the god of tricks… Alright, pick up this segment we were resting on," As the boy, though tiny, lifted the cement piece with ease, Loki pointed him to the now open wall segment, "Move it against the edges there, like a puzzle piece."

Erik did as he was asked, and Loki invoked some of his power over the edges. Just a decade ago he wouldn't have dreamed of being able to actually fix the walls of a building, but like his mother after she gave birth to Thor, the spells were necessary. And it helped that there was no lack of material to practice with. The boy helped him slowly put the wall back together, but Loki made him stand back while he fixed the windows, worried he might injure himself on the glass.

Once finished, Loki walked his nephew to the elevator, where they proceeded to the top floor. It was completely by chance that Loki had discovered the boy enjoyed cooking - a surprise, seeing as both parents were utterly incapable of preparing anything remotely edible - but the activity served as one of the only constructive ways the two could bond.

The first few years of Erik's life, Loki had only been able to feel extreme cases of annoyance towards him, mixed with instinctual paternal feelings that he only exhibited when his brother wasn't there to tease him about it. He had once made the grave mistake of singing to the baby when he hadn't been aware Thor was nearby, and had been brutally punished when the oaf recognized the lullaby as one Frigga sang to them as babes. The brute had begun tearing up and promptly drew Loki and Erik into a bear hug, which had driven Loki nearly insane with embarrassment and anger.

But when he was five, and the boy inquired as to why Loki was in an apron and torturing the vegetables on the kitchen counter, the god had simply smiled and lifted him up so Erik could observe him as he made dinner for the Tower's residents. Enjoying his uncle's explanations of the processes of cooking and the seemingly limitless possibilities, Erik became hooked on the activity, and so it was that Loki and Erik began their nightly ritual of making dinners together.

As they began to clean the kitchen and prep for the meal, Erik paused in the act of wiping down the counter to ask, "What happens if… if Sarah doesn't get rid of the infinity stone?"

Loki wasn't exactly caught off guard by the question. Most of the Avenger's - and Sarah - assumed that the stone was simply diverting energy away, the warning Odin had given them long forgotten as time passed and nothing came of it. At least, that was what they thought. Loki's teaching sessions with Sarah now often included Erik, just in case the boy had some magical tendencies beyond his ungodly strength. While Thor was often oblivious to subtleties, his son had inherited a keen eye for abnormalities from his mother. Loki hadn't been too happy that someone else had noticed the changes Sarah exhibited in her spells, because he had almost fooled himself into believing he was overthinking things.

The more spells Sarah cast at a time, the more prominent her calico features would become, and the weaker she became - it wasn't unusual for mages to become weary, but for a creature who channeled magic to have to sit down for a bit after a couple complex spells… He'd seen the way Erik frowned at his cousin when she had to catch her breath.

Taking a deep breath himself, Loki revealed his true worries, "It's going to devour her. Slowly, but surely. The more magic she wields - the longer she lives - every bit of energy she uses allows for the stone to leach away her soul. Nemesis is swallowing her whole, and there is nothing we can do."

Erik whispered, "She's so calm though…"

"Sarah doesn't fear death, even when it's eminent. She has Winter and Natasha to thank for that. But I am afraid she will be tied to Nemesis for eternity, instead of simply dying as most will. Here, can you 'torture' the vegetables today?"
"Yes…" Erik took the cutting board from his uncle and set it down. He smiled sadly for a moment at the good-natured teasing, but only for a moment, "There's really nothing?"

"Perhaps Thanos might know of some way… but…" Loki gave a small sad smile of his own, "There is nothing that would allow him to set aside his madness to help us even if he could."

"Sarah said Nemesis hates infinity… That she doesn't want to be awake and tried to escape it." The boy began slowly cutting up an onion, his brow furrowed in thought.

"Yes. Nemesis was said to have been a great Goddess long before the beginning of known time, but could not stand it. She gifted the universe with the infinity stones, and went to sleep. Though… somehow that did not quite accomplish what she wished for."

"If that's true…" Loki paused in the middle of removing some meat from the fridge, narrowing his eyes as Erik bit his lip, mulling something over, "Then what happens if we bring all the stones together with Sarah?"

The idea had crossed Loki's mind, but he had dismissed it as too dangerous an act to commit. And yet, Erik wore a look akin to that of his mother's whenever she grasped onto one of the world's mysteries that she shouldn't have. So he answered, "It is said that it is impossible to bring all the stones together as one and live without the infinity gauntlet - which bears only six slots for six stones. The ego stone was not meant for it."

"The ego stone isn't a stone though, it's in Sarah's blood… So what if she wore the gauntlet?"

"I suppose… if she were careful, she might be able to pull the stone out from within her. The Ego stone would keep her safe, but only until it would be fully removed."

"And… what if something else happened?"

"What do you suppose might happen?" So engrossed in the far off look Erik held in his eyes, Loki didn't even notice that blue was slowly creeping up his arm from the cold of the fridge. He held his breath, hoping beyond hope this young boy had thought of something.

"Nemesis disappeared around the time the stones appeared, but no one was there to tell if she fell asleep before, after, or… exactly when the stones were made. Right?"

"Right…"

"So… She's not been found in all the eternity that's been between then and now - but she can't just disappear or she wouldn't be so sad - she'd have died already."

"I suppose so…" Loki wasn't sure if he liked where this was going.

"What if she is the Ego Stone? And the other stones are parts of her power? What if… What if we got her to wake up, and leave Sarah alone? Do you think we might manage that?"

Loki pondered this, before smiling, "You may just be right, Erik. Why don't we keep this to ourselves for a bit, and I'll do some research into the matter now that we have a new idea. We don't want to get anyone's hopes up."

"But…" Erik turned to face him, "It might work?"

"It certainly is far more probable than anything we've come up with yet."

At this the boy beamed, only to point to Loki's now frozen limb, "Your arm-"

"Oh dear, thank you for letting me know. Sorry. Alright, back to the food!"

Thor frowned as he handed the books over to Loki, "I understand the secrecy… but are you certain we can not even mention this to her parents? Not even a bit?"

"No, not yet…" Loki flipped through some pages, silence weighing heavily between them for a couple moments after.

Finally, Thor nodded, "What else can I do to help?"

"We have the Space Stone in Asgard, the Mind stone is here-"

"Here?"
"Ah… Nothing." Waving him off, Loki continued, "The Power Stone is currently protected in a city at the far reaches of space… But the Reality stone went missing after the Collector's twisted museum fell... We can only assume the worst and believe Thanos has claimed it. The Time gem is most likely in the process of jumping through time - though when it will appear I know not - that is what I'm currently trying to ascertain."

"There should be one more…"

"Yes, the soul gem… This is the most dangerous of all, Thor. It is sentient, and means to devour more and more souls for some unknown purpose - perhaps as Erik says, these stones are echoes of Nemesis's being, and it does this out of loneliness. Regardless, it is far more than simply a powerful stone - it is an enemy in and of itself. But… I know not where it is. For some reason, Thanos believed both the Time and Soul gems would appear upon Midgard - do not look at me so brother, I was not sent to conquer earth for the tesseract alone." He sighed, opening another tome to flip through, skimming the lines for something. "This is your precious world, is it not? Perhaps you can find some way of locating one or the other."

"I will see what I can do," Thor sighed, dragging his fingers through his hair, "Though you should have mentioned these things much earlier, Brother."

"Should have, but I wouldn't. Knowledge is power, and I mean to keep it all to myself and my husband if I can."

Snorting, Thor rolled his eyes, "I love you dearly, Brother, but you can be a pain more often than not."

"I try my best."

"You succeed. I shall inquire where I can, but on the 'down-low,' as Lady Darcy says."

"I would not begin to take modern language advice from that woman."

"Your son has-"
"My son chose to date an imbecile, that is beyond my power, as are the phrases he picks up from her. So long as he maintains the majority of his base intelligence and is happy, I'm inclined to allow him these slip-ups."

"But not me?"

"Certainly not you. You're my big brother, I hold you to far higher standards than my already adult son."

Loki hadn't paid his words any mind, so he wasn't prepared for the crushing hug and shouts of joy he received right after. "I LOVE YOU AS WELL, LITTLE BROTHER!"

"Thor-" Loki wheezed, trying to be heard over Thor's declarations of brotherly love, "Thor, quiet! D-down low! DOWN LOW!"

"Oh! Right!" Thor set his brother down and whispered comically, "We are on the down low."

"You know…" Bucky said, strolling in and smiling over the paperwork that covered the desk, "When it involves you two, you should say… 'Low Key.'"

"... Why would we use my brother's name?" Thor asked.

Loki, catching his breath, shook his head in confusion, "I'm lost as well."

"Low. Key. Like… 'L-O-W, K-E-Y.' It's just a phrase. But I say, let's throw 'low key' in the wind and get everyone in on this so we can just find the damn stones - and before you ask, JARVIS believed all of us working together was better than all of us apart, so he told me what was up."

"..." Thor turned to Loki, "So… I should throw my brother into the wind?"

"No," Bucky facepalmed, "Thor, we need to have another one of those chats about metaphors and taking things too seriously."

"Please refrain from throwing me anywhere…" Loki managed, rubbing his crushed ribcage gingerly, "And I apologize for not coming to you immediately - but you must know I did not want to kindle false hopes."

"I'm a little mad, but I'm also too happy that we found some sort of lead. Even if it's a dead end, I'm tired of sitting around doing nothing all day."

"Then call a meeting," Loki waved him off, "JARVIS will fill you in, the damned traitor. I'll be here if you need me. I have some research to do. Both of you, away. I set you loose to hunt."

A large hand patted Loki's head as Thor brushed past, "I've missed you, brother. I shall have one of our companions bring you food."

"Thank you, brother." Turning to Bucky, Loki nodded, "Hopefully we might find some answers… Good luck."

"You too." As he passed, Winter laid a firm hand on the God's shoulder, "However much of a shit you were in the past to my friends, you've only ever proved helpful to me. Thank you, for everything."

"It is the least I can do. You were one of those who helped me to right my life. Now go, you have work to do, as do I." Bucky nodded at this and left. When he was alone, Loki gazed outside. He wondered if in a day, a week, or a month - perhaps even a year - this hope would collapse, and they would find themselves walled in by a vast nothingness once again.

The Avengers had overcome so much - however, he was certain that if anything could humble them, it would be the face of infinity as it consumed their little girl. But until then, he had to work. He had to try. He had to fight, harder than when he had struggled through the branches of Yggdrasil as he fell, harder than when he was tortured at the hands of Thanos and made crazed, he had to fight harder than ever before… He had to fight, lest he succumb to the truth that he was nothing in the scheme of the universe, and his life and his friends' lives would go unnoticed as time and space carried on. If they couldn't save this girl, could they truly save anyone - even those already perceived to be rescued - from the ravages of eternity?

If Nemesis could see them all now, what would she say?

Would she tell them it was all futile? Crush them all before her for waking her?

Or would she sing them all back to sleep?

Somehow, the latter possibility was far more terrifying than anything else.