Chapter 86: Setting Things Right

After reuniting with his brother, Thor had consulted with T'Challa about Loki and their situation.

"I see that I have been deceived," T'Challa said. "You are aware that your brother killed at least a dozen of my people and escaped justice."

"If I may argue, T'Challa," Thor countered, "With my sister's sacrifice and his torture by M'Baku, he has already paid."

T'Challa furrowed his brow. "I do not believe one life is the same as another, but I will not let vengeance consume me. Your brother shall have his life."

Thor bowed. "Thank you, my friend."

"Was there something else you wanted to ask of me?" T'Challa inquired.

Thor nodded. "With your permission, my friend, I would like to invite Dr. Banner back to Wakanda."

"And what would be the purpose of this?" T'Challa asked.

"Let's just say there are some matters that need correcting," Thor said.

Loki paced back and forth as he waited for Thor to return. As he did, Valkyrie and Shuri stood by his side.

"Lackey, you should sit down before you fall down," Valkyrie said.

"It's Loki, and I'll sit down when my brother gives me news," Loki said. "What is taking him so long? He'd never be this long if he had his ax."

"You gods don't know anything about patience, do you?" Shuri asked.

"I'm one-thousand-fifty five years old, so no," Loki said.

"Over one-thousand years and you haven't learned patience?" Shuri asked incredulously.

"It's not my forte," Loki said. "And it rubs off on my children, I fear."

Valkyrie laughed. "Well, you deserved that."

Just then, Thor finally returned and Loki jumped to meet him.

"Took you long enough!" he grumbled.

"Well lovely to see you, too," Thor greeted.

"So, did T'Challa agree? Are we going to save my children?" Loki asked.

"Yes, and there is someone coming to help," Thor replied.

The next morning, Loki and his company gathered in the Wakandan fields as their jets greeted them. Stepping awkwardly out of the jets came Banner and Scott Lang. Thor ran up and warmly greeted them.

"Banner, Lang," he said, embracing them.

"Thor, good to see you," Banner said.

"Thor, hi, been to long," Scott said.

Both men paled at the sight of Loki alive and well.

"Thor, I thought your brother was dead," Banner said.

"Yeah, what's Wagner's Psychopath doing here?" Scott asked.

"It's a long story, but we're here to fix the past," Thor said.

Scott rolled his eyes. "Meaning we're here to help him."

"Not exactly," Thor said. "Look, he lost two of his children. They died from cruel experiments because they had powers like us. I know you don't care about him, but those children were innocent from their first breath. We have to help them."

Scott nearly choked back a sob. "I hate when you do that! Fine, we'll help you get your brother's kids back."

Scott turned and gave Loki an intimidating look. "But I am on to you."

"Your presence is chilling," Loki said flatly.

"You could at least act scared," Scott shrugged.

"Does the ant have a quarrel with the boot?" Loki asked.

"Dude, shut up and say 'thank you,'" Scott said.

"I thought I just did," Loki smirked.

Later that night, Loki was again pacing in his room. Banner and Lang had both agreed to help him. However he had heard nothing from them all night. Furious, he stormed into the lab to find Banner and Lang pouring over blueprints with Thor.

"Would one of you learned doctors or whatever you are tell me what is going on?" he demanded. "You agreed to help me save my children."

"And that is what we're doing," Banner said.

"Really?" Loki asked, crumbling the blueprints. "because it looks to me like your just staring at papers doesn't help anyone."

"Look, Asgard's Next Top Model," Scott said. "If you wanna start somewhere, it might as well be the beginning."

"What are you saying?" Loki asked.

"We mean we have nothing," Banner said. "Without Tony, we don't have the knowledge to work it out."

Loki shook his head. "That's not possible. You don't need him. You both can do it. You have to!"

Banner shook his head. "Loki, I'm sorry, but Tony knew quantum physics and time better than any of us. Without his knowledge, we're lost."

"I trusted you!" Loki said. "My children need you! You're failures, all of you! My childrens' blood is on your hands!"

Loki managed to find seclusion in his chambers where Brigid spoke to him in her disguise.

"You are troubled, my love?" she asked.

"Are you not? We may never have our family back," Loki said.

Brigid held his hand. "I have hope that there may yet be a way. We were meant to be with our children."

"We have no way through time," Loki said.

"We will find a way," Brigid said.

Loki smiled. "Your never fail to see the sun, do you?"

"Never," Brigid said.

Just then, Banner and Scott raced in to their room, panting.

"Bruce, Scott, you both look as if you've been running a marathon," Loki said.

"We came to...tell you the good news," Scott said.

"What good news?" Loki said.

"We got something," Scott said.

Loki's eyebrow arched. "Go on."

"Tony didn't leave us empty-handed," Bruce said. "He knew how time worked. Time works in a mobius strip, one loop. We found his notes and we worked off that."

"Brilliant, so how do we build our time machine?" Loki asked.

Banner smiled. "We already have."

The next morning, Loki, Valkyrie, and Thor gathered at Banner and Scott's new time machine. The machine, as it could be called, was not so much a machine, but a simple pad, surrounded by three vibranium rings.

"Impressive," Loki said flatly.

"Hey, it's not much, but we did you a favor," Scott said. "These Wakandans know what they're doing and vibranium is much better to work with."

"I wasn't slighting your efforts, Scott," Loki said. "I was being sincere."

Scott turned to Thor. "Is he always like this?"

"Always," Thor said.

Banner shook his head. "Alright, this is how it's going to go. The Time and Space Stones were both in New York in 2012. We need to put them back. Thor and Lang will go get the Time and Space Stones and put them back. Loki, you and Valkyrie will go back to 2019 to retrieve the kids."

"Simple, to the point," Loki said. "I like it."

"I'm glad you're pleased, Lackey," Valkyrie groaned.

"Well, one of us should be," Loki said.

Valkyrie turned to Thor. "You two are really related?"

"Adopted," Thor and Loki said.

"Are we done?" Banner asked before handing everyone a device. "Your time-clock. Keep track of where you are. When you leave, hit it and be on your way. Don't dawdle."

"Noted, Banner," Loki said. "Shall we be on our way?"

Thor turned to Loki. "For Brigid."

Loki nodded. "For Brigid."

Loki and Valkyrie clicked their devices and in a blinding whirl of light, they were whisked back to 2012 in Asgard.

"My love, what are we doing here?" Brigid asked.

"Retrieving what was stolen from us," Loki said.

Loki and Brigid disguised themselves as Asgardian guards as they slipped into the vault where Odin kept his treasures. Loki smiled as he gazed at the Tesseract, intact once more as he took it from its pedestal and concealed it within his pockets.

"I love your twisted mind," Brigid said.

"Who goes there?"

Brigid and Loki turned to find a warrior in green armor with green pain down her face brandishing her spear at them.

"Fenrir? Is that you?" Loki asked.

"And who are you?" Fenrir asked, drawing her spear close to Loki's throat.

Loki and Brigid dropped their disguises and Fenrir's eyes bulged as she knelt.

"My king and queen, I have been waiting years for you!" she gasped.

"We know," Brigid said.

Fenrir furrowed her brows. "How?"

"In another time, we met before and you were like a second mother to our children and you fell defending them," Loki said.

"Well, it does not make much sense to me, but I would be honored to serve you," Fenrir said.

"We are on a mission to save two of my children, my friend," Loki said. "They were taken from us in their infancy by Midgardians because of their powers."

"Whatever you ask, I will serve, my friend," Fenrir said.

"We must go back to 2018, New York," Brigid said. "That's where we'll find Thor and Astrid."

"If that is the task, I will help you and if I must, give my life," Fenrir said.

Brigid smiled. "I missed you, dear Fenrir."

In a blinding swirl of light, Brigid, Loki, and Fenrir were whisked back to 2018 New York.

"Our children were just one year old," Loki said.

"Let's go bring them back," Valkyrie said.

"I am proud to serve you and your children," Fenrir said. "Where would your children be now?"

"The Avengers HQ," Loki said. "We stayed there after the destruction of Asgard."

"You destroyed Asgard?" Fenrir gasped.

"Actually, my brother did, but it was all to stop my evil sister," Loki said. "Shall we?"

"Wait," Brigid said. "Perhaps Fenrir should be less conspicuous? Her armor might be."

Fenrir nodded and with the wave of her hand, she was dressed in black. "Better?"

"Much," Brigid said. "Now, onward."

Loki, Fenrir, and Valkyrie ran to the Avengers Compound. Brigid changed her disguise to that of Tony before they entered the compound. As they snuck around the compound, Brigid could not help but catch sight of Tony pouring out ideas with Banner.

"My queen, what do you stare at?" Fenrir asked.

"My father," Brigid said ruefully. "Well, adopted father. He looked after me all my life but he took me in after my parents died. He gave up his life to stop Thanos, to save my children and me."

Fenrir put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Your father gave up his life so you could have yours. He would not want you to linger in sadness over him."

Brigid nodded as the three proceeded to Loki and Brigid's chambers. There they found Thor and Astrid playing peacefully. Loki and Brigid nearly wept seeing their children alive again. The sight of their children nearly brought them to their knees. Knowing the next step, Loki and Brigid made their approach.

"Little prince, princess!" Loki called out.

Thor and Astrid turned and ran at the sound of their father.

"Papa!" they cried.

"Hey little ones, wanna play with Daddy and Uncle Tony?" Tony asked, bending down to the childrens' level.

"We're gonna go find Mama," Loki said, extending his hand. "Help Papa find Mama, yes?"

"Mama, Mama!" the children whispered.

The children timidly backed away at the sight of Fenrir, but Loki steadied them.

"Children, don't be afraid. This is your Auntie Fenrir. She's been watching over you since before you were blessed to us. She's here to be with you again."

Fenrir smiled. "Auntie Fenrir will teach you to be fighters, just like your mama and papa."

The children giggled as they took their father's hands. Loki and Valkyrie clicked their time stamps and in a rush of light, they returned to 2019 and they were once again standing on a platform in Wakanda.

"Did it work?" Loki asked.

"Yep," Thor replied. "We retrieved the Time and Space Stones and put them back. What about you? Where's my niece and nephew?"

Loki smiled as two dark haired children, appeared from behind him, clutching his leg.

"Hey little ones, I missed you!" Thor greeted.

"Go on, say hello to your Uncle," Loki said.

The children embraced their uncle who held them tightly. As he held his niece and nephew, Thor was shocked to see another familiar face.

"My God. Fenrir!" he gasped. "It is you!"

Thor embraced the Asgardian guard warmly. "We have missed you dearly."

"I am grateful for your warm reception," Fenrir said.

"I know of someone who'd be grateful to see you," Thor said.

Fenrir nodded. "Well, I'd be grateful to meet him."

"Well, it's more of a them," Thor said, "but I know he will, too."

Just then, their was a sizzling and then an explosion as the platform sizzled and cracked.

"Banner, Lang, what's going on?" Loki asked.

"I don't know," Lang replied. "The machine is malfunctioning."

"How did it break? You said you made it better!" Loki cried.

"I said I followed Tony's notes," Banner replied. "I didn't say I made it better!"

In a surge of power and popping of lights, the machine continued to singe before it dimmed and went dark.

"Well, that's it. She's gone," Banner said.

"At least Tony left us enough to work with," Lang said.

After the loss of their machine, Loki, with Valkyrie at his side, took his lost children to his chambers.

"Papa missed you, little ones," Loki whispered. "I'll never let you go again."

"Papa, where Mama?" asked Thor.

Loki smiled and turned to Valkyrie. "She's been hiding all along."

Brigid's disguise melted away, much to the delight of her children.

"Mama, Mama!" they cried.

Brigid smiled and held a finger to her lips. "Mama is here, my little prince and princess, but it's our little secret."

Loki and Brigid embraced their children. "Mama and Papa love you so much. We'll never let go of you again."

A/N: Aww they have their children back! FINAL CHAPTER IS COMING SOON. I don't want to end this, but it's the end! Fear not! I've already planned a sequel! This is for my readers, reviewers, followers, favorites, etc. This story is for you and would be nothing without you!