A.N.: check in time! I hope you're all still staying safe and healthy in these times! Also, the Hanyo no Yashahime trailer has released! Things for the sequel are looking exciting!

Events in this chapter are synced with events events in the movie Avengers Endgame

Kagome rifled through a box of electrical bits looking for spare just-in-case parts in the event their planned test run went haywire. This very afternoon, Clint Barton would be sent back in time to bring back a token of proof that their time machine worked, and Tony was pushing them overtime to make sure every last possible thread was tied in a neat and tidy bow, and they were all jittery and nervous to see if the fruits of all their labors would be in vain or not.

If this test was as successful as they all hoped, they would throw their planning into overdrive and nail down every last necessary detail to bring the stones from the past to the present.

A knock sounded on the doorframe of the room Kagome had sequestered herself in for a moment of peace and quiet while she worked. Steve Rogers stood in the doorway, face calm and unassuming, but his aura was expectant and she braced herself for whatever was on his mind. She had a feeling it was more than the pep talk he'd been giving everyone else.

"Hello Steve. How can I help you?"

At her invitation he pushed off the doorframe and stepped further into the room, sitting in a chair on the other side of the table she was using and took a moment to stare into her eyes with the expression he always had when he wanted to play therapist. Kagome just barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"You still planning on jumping with the rest of us?"

"Of course. Thor needs my help. He's not really in any state to do any time traveling on his own."

Steve nodded and looked down at his hands, fingers laced together on the table top.

"I had an interesting conversation with Inuyasha this morning."

"Oh?" Kagome replied, guard already going up.

"He's concerned about you Kagome, but he said he's not been able to get through to you, so he wanted me to try and help."

Kagome crossed her arms, feeling belligerent and defensive and ready to lash out though she knew Steve didn't deserve that.

"And what exactly did Inuyasha have to say about why he's concerned?"

"He thinks you might not be a good candidate for this mission. I might be inclined to agree, unless you can assure me that he's wrong."

She blinked and clenched her jaw so hard she feared she may crack a tooth, but she took a deep, cleansing breath, and smiled. Steve's eyes widened and she was certain she looked deranged, but the rage consuming her pushed all ability to care aside.

"Oh I can assure that he's very wrong indeed."

"But you don't even know what-"

"Thanking you for bringing this issue to my attention Captain, but I'm afraid I must cut this little conversation short."

She pushed up and away from the table, storming through the door with Steve hot on her heels.

"Wait, Kagome, where are you going?"

"Don't worry about it Steve, this doesn't concern you any longer."

She marched quickly through the compound, senses locked on Inuyasha's aura. He was in one of the main workrooms with Natasha, Tony and Clint running last minute checks before the test run, and she zeroed in and made a b-line straight in husband direction.

"Inuyasha!"

He looked up, startled and confused, at the angry sound of Kagome's voice but then his face registered recognition when he saw Steve running in behind her.

"Yeah Kagome?"

"Where the hell do you get off?! Sending Steve to do your dirty work? And what's with you telling him you don't think I'm fit to go on this mission? Who said that was your decision at all?"

"Woah," Tony interjected, hands raised and stepping out of the line of Kagome's ire. "Alright Garfield, start talking. Why should we leave behind our best asset?"

Inuyasha struggled for a moment, wavering between insisting on having this discussion again in private and getting it all out with an audience. If he aired his concerns now, he could seriously damage his relationship with his oldest friend, but then he could save her from doing something regrettable.

"Kagome's only going so she can bring Loki back."

A thick, dangerous silence filled all the spaces between them, and then the icy edges of invisible rage they were certain were coming from Kagome traced down their spines and set them all on edge.

"Inuyasha, what the hell gave you the idea that I was going to time travel just to bring Loki back?"

He blinked, unsure for a moment if he hadn't read her intentions wrong. But she'd been obsessive about resurrecting him for the last 5 years, why wouldn't she take the easy route if she could?

"You know perfectly well why I would think that."

"No. I don't. I've been paying attention in Science Class this week Inuyasha, and I'm not so stupid as to not know that taking Loki out of the timeline and into this one would be dooming a different version of me to life long loneliness, and I've never been the type to cut off my nose to spite my face." She took several steps more forward, crowded his space, forcing him back.

"I'm going on this mission and there's nothing you or anyone here can do to stop me, is that clear Inuyasha? Stay. Out. Of. It."

She turned and stormed back out of the room, looking for some place isolated and alone to spend her frustration.

She knew he meant well, she knew he was worried, but she was so beyond tired of being underestimated at every turn.

'I can't wait to force the biggest apology out of his dumb face when I prove I'm not crazy, that I can do this.

Finding an empty room near the kitchen, Kagome stopped for a box full of snacks, and then locked herself away. She needed to meditate.

————————-

Clint stood up on the newly built platform, nervous energy churning around him that made perfect sense considering his current circumstances. He was seconds away from being the first of them to travel through time on their new time machine. He would be going for just a few seconds, finding some small token to prove he'd made it, and then they'd bring him back.

It would be quick and hopefully painless.

Still, there was a thread of anxiety in his aura that differed from the rest of his nerves, and he kept glancing over at her in a way that had her tilting her head in suspicion.

'He's up to something... but what?'

Last minute checks and words of encouragement were given and then after two heavy, breathless moments he was gone between one second and the next.

They watched the spot he disappeared with mounting tension, chewing fingernails and tapping toes and counting each second as it crawled by. This run was meant to last just a minute before he was brought back, just enough time to prove they could make something happen, but the hands on the clock took their precious time counting down the last seconds.

A flash, a crash, and Clint Barton reappeared in his natural timeline, falling to the floor with a loud thud and a groan. When he stood from the crumpled heap on the floor, he left behind a young man with wild, confused eyes, a shock of silver hair that rivaled even Inuyasha's, and a trail of blood oozing from a wound on his back.

Time stopped for a beat, and then all hell broke loose as several sets of eyes swung to look right at Kagome, and then a crazed cacophony of voices erupted, desperately trying to make sense of what had just happened.

"Don't look at me! I didn't tell him to do that!!"

"But it was your idea originally!"

"Like hell it was!"

"Who even is this guy?"

"Clint what were you thinking? Is he fresh from Sokovia?!"

"I couldn't just let him die when I knew there was a chance to save him!"

"He's been dead!"

"And now he's not!"

"Stop growling at me Inuyasha this was not my fault!"

"Now what are we supposed to do? What implications could this have?"

"STOP!!"

Tony floated above the chaos in his Iron Man suit, his voice magnified by something in his helmet and stopping them all in their tracks.

"Alright Robin Hood, time to spill it. What's the meaning of this?"

Clint sat on the edge of the platform and hung his head, rubbing his eyes, guilt pulsing around him thick and suffocating.

"Listen, it's not her fault, but when they said Kagome was going to bring Loki back it... made me think. He should never have died for me back then. I know it's selfish but... I couldn't..."

The unexpected newcomer looked around in a daze, both from blood loss and confusion.

"What... What is going on?"

Kagome knelt at his side and covered his wound with her hand, summoning her stores of healing reiki to help staunch the flow of blood until they could get him to the medical unit.

She sighed as she looked between the confused young man and Clint, who met her eyes desperately, looking for forgiveness, absolution, something she couldn't give him. She shrugged helplessly and turned back to the wound she was healing.

"Well, a little selfishness now and then never hurt anyone. Hello, I'm Kagome. You've been brought to the future, I'm afraid."

"Pietro." He nodded, and then Rhodey and Steve stepped forward to help him up.

"Someone get this kid a drink. Coffee, a shot of tequila, something." Tony replied, still floating aloft incase he needed to play peacekeeper once again.

"You have vodka?"

"Yeah sure kid, whatever you want. Clint, that was very naughty."

"Yeah, I know."

"Alright well, at least we know it works. Meeting time children, the work is not done! Double time!"

——————-

Tracking the stones in the past, pinpointing their locations and when they would jump, gathering the tools and supplies they would need, they were all swept up in a whirlwind of planning and plotting over the next several days that occupied every last waking minute and sent them crashing into bed every night.

It was exhausting, draining, blessed work. If they thought having a task, a purpose had made them happier before, knowing that they hadn't been working in vain was euphoric. Even Thor was in a better mood than Kagome had seen him in years, though he was still scattered and a little fragile.

He stumbled through his presentation on the Aether, but refused to back down and let someone else take over, even her, and she was so proud of him for finding his strength again.

When he finally sat she squeezed his hand and beamed at the look of accomplishment on his face. For the first time in a long time she felt like he would be fine, and it was a weight off her heart she hadn't realized had grown so heavy until it was loosed and pushed away.

And so their plans were laid and fine tuned and their materials and tools were gathered. Most important to the part of the mission she herself would go on, Tony had built a painless, non lethal stunning weapon that would take out the extra heavy guard rotation that Odin had placed around the dungeon to keep her from Loki what seemed now like a lifetime ago. She was a little nervous, as the tool would be mostly untested until they used it, but if they had any hope of sneaking into the palace from underneath they would need them all out of the way, and Tony had proven trustworthy in his abilities thus far.

So they suited up and gathered round the platform that would assist in sending them away, all mingling in their nervousness and excitement. They stepped up onto the machine floor, checked their time coordinates one last time, waved to Inuyasha and Pietro who were staying behind, and in the next moment, the time heist had begun.

————————

Loki marched resolutely behind his brother with his head high. Bound, gagged and bedraggled, he'd been beaten soundly by his brother's new little group of friends and yanked out of whatever cloud Thanos had kept him in for who even knew how long. There was no time to get his bearings or ask questions, he'd been silenced and shackled and tugged along and no matter how much it stung his pride, he still had pride, so he kept his shoulders back and his eyes up and forward.

As they came to a stop something in the air shifted, and all the parts of him that thrived on disorder perked up and paid attention.

Tony Stark, the rude one who'd offered him a drink and then not delivered fell boneless to the floor, and in the mayhem that followed an unbelievable turn of events dropped the tesseract right at his feet. He stared at it stunned for a moment, breathless at the opportunity this promised when it seemed his life might actually be over.

He glanced around to be sure his captors were still distracted, and then quickly scooped up the tesseract and disappeared without a trace.

He blinked back into being in a familiar, comfortable place. The room he'd shared with the only person who'd occupied his troubled mind and broken through his clouded thoughts since he'd fallen from the bifrost.

Her face, tear stained and beloved, framed by hair black as night frizzed in disarray stared at him in disbelief. Her liquid blue eyes glowed nearly the same blue as the tesseract which still pulsed in his hands.

"...Loki?" She whispered brokenly, and his heart lurched as hearing her voice call his name further cleared the haze from his mind.

"Hello darling."

"You're... you're alive?"

Her voice was soft and fragile, and he grinned a dark, mischievous, victorious grin that would have sent a weaker being running.

But his wife, his Kagome had never been a weakling. She dashed from the bed and into his arms, and as he clutched her close and kissed her head and felt her tears soak through his clothes, he activated the tesseract once more, and they were gone from Asgard.

—————————-

Their stun grenade had worked marvelously, and all the guards going to and from the entrance to the dungeons fell where they were standing, breathing and unharmed. They quickly filed inside, and though Kagome had given herself a stern pep talk at every turn in the last week, seeing Loki again rooted her to the floor and took her every breath away.

He lounged casually and tossed a cup repeatedly into the air, catching it effortlessly, and he looked so real and flawless and alive that she was powerless to stop the flood of hot tears coursing down her face.

She could feel Rocket tugging at her fingers, but she was useless stone, unable to move or speak or breath for the sight of Loki in all his living glory.

She distantly heard Thor demanding they leave her alone and carry on by themselves and she made a mental note to thank him later in some way, though she could never make up for this.

Slowly she approached his cell, and he remained oblivious to her presence until she hiccuped around a sob.

His beautiful emerald eyes flashed her direction, and then widened as he scrambled up and over to meet her where the bespelled glass of his cell wall separated them.

"Loki..." she choked out, more tears nearly blinding her to his face, to his body so full of life again, but she didn't miss the love, care and concern in his gaze.

"Oh my darling, do not cry, not for me."

But cry she did, wrapping her arms around herself to fight the chilling bitterness that she couldn't wrap herself in his arms instead.

"I've missed you... so much."

Loki saw through whatever lies she'd prepared before she'd even had a chance to use them, and the shrewd knowing look in his eyes made her feel bare and exposed.

"Darling, what's going on?"

She looked down at the floor and bit her lip, desperate to let it all out, to tell him everything she'd felt and feared and dared to hope for, but there was so much at risk, so many unknowns.

"I... I can't tell you."

"Kagome, I shouldn't have to remind you that you can tell me anything. Now, what's happened?"

She met his eyes again and nearly crumpled. She pressed a little closer and memorized every new wave and curl in his longer hair that she hadn't appreciated the last time she saw him.

'Loki's female hair isn't curly like this... How curious. I wish I could run my hands through it...'

"Loki I... there's so much... for now, all I can tell you is that this is the first time I've seen you in nearly ten years."

The shock on his face was so different from his usual masks of indifference or superiority. It was a level of emotional freedom he'd only ever shown to her, and that he could so easily fall back into that left warmth in the places her heart had cracked.

"How is that possible?"

"See that's what I can't tell you. But.. but I'm fixing it. I'm fixing it. I promise you I'm going to make everything better, I will. Just trust me, please trust me."

He eyed her for a moment, weighing the truth of her words, and then smiled, loving, confident and secure.

"Darling, I have never trusted anyone as I trust you."

Kagome beamed, elated despite her disappointment she couldn't throw herself at him and kiss him senseless, the way she had in her dreams over and over.

The pager they'd all been given to signal that it was time to go if they were separated chirped from its place on her hip and she quickly dashed away her tears.

"Listen to me Loki, I'm coming back to see you again. Today. Very soon. I need you to pretend that it's the first time you've seen me since you've been in here. Can you do that?"

"Will you be wearing that ridiculous piece of clothing again?"

She erupted in a fit of bright, effervescent giggles, nearly lightheaded with the mix of happiness and despair leaving her tingly and on edge.

"No. No I won't be dressed this way."

"Alright, then it shouldn't be a problem, as long as you don't look too closely at my deceit."

"Trust me, I'll be too distracted with relief. I have to go. Don't forget, everything is going to turn out okay."

"I won't."

"I love you. So much. Forever."

"And I, you, Kagome. Through everything."

She took one last, long, lingering look at the blessed sight of her living, breathing heart, and then she forced herself to turn and run up into the home she'd been stolen from, intent on finding Thor and Rocket and getting the rest of this show on the road.

'It's time to take back what's mine. I'm more than ready.'

A.N.: this chapter is dedicated to my best friend and beta reader who begged me to bring Pietro back. He's one of her favorites, so I couldn't say no lol. He won't be playing too much of a role, but he's back! Also, Thor Ragnarok takes place 4 years after Thor Dark World. Kagome was kidnapped at the end of Dark World, and Loki died just after Ragnarok, meaning it's been a total of about 9 years since they've seen each other, give or take a few months. As always, my deepest thanks for everyone who follows, favorites and leaves reviews. They always make my day! See you in the next update!