Heya, Lunchies! This is an IW AU where everyone survived, but Loki did fake his death. Again. This is set about two weeks after the snap. Enjoy!
The first sign, sad to say it as Thor was, was the dead carcass of Thanos, draped elegantly across the doorstep of the Avengers compound.
Perhaps he hadn't been looking, until then. It had seemed so obvious.
Loki was dead, as sure as how grass turns brown when it withers.
Facts were facts.
But the push-dagger buried hilt-deep in Thanos' throat spelled otherwise. As did the note attached to the handle.
I'm not the one who's out of time.
It was unsigned, but obviously in Loki's writing.
At first, Thor could make neither head nor tail of it, but when he showed it to the Captain, who took one look, and cracked up, he assumed it must be some sort of inside joke between Steve and his brother.
"Yeah, he's definitely out there, somewhere." Steve had told him. "Although, if he's not around, already, I'd say he probably needs some Alone Time."
Thor knew all about Alone Time. He knew it was never a good, or healthy thing, especially if the one who wanted to be alone was sad. Just look at how miserable he was, when he had been alone! Loki hopefully wasn't sad, but that didn't mean Alone Time would be good for him, either way.
So, Thor determined to go find him.
At first, he walked through the streets, calling out his name, his deep, resonating voice drowning out the car horns, and incessant chatter. It took two days for him to realize that the Trickster probably either wasn't actually hiding out in New York, or was being too stubborn to come out.
So Thor set traps. All over the Avengers compound, he pulled together some of the finest sweet cakes he could find as bait, and set up a trap his hunting teacher would be proud of. As soon as Loki came to get the cake, a net would swoop down from the ceiling, and pick him up. Hopefully, Thor could get there before his brother could teleport away.
He caught both Tony and Clint, but no Loki.
Naturally, Loki was far too clever to fall for Thor's fiendishly clever plan. It didn't exactly surprise him, even, simply disappointed him greatly.
That day, he went for a stroll in the park, only to find, to his great delight, a small, green lizard, sunning himself on a park bench. Thor loved all reptiles, so he carefully crept up towards him with a cheerful smile, hoping to be able to watch him in his natural habitat a bit longer.
He was a friendly lizard, and immediately darted towards the Thunderer's outstretched hand, racing around excitedly on his fingers.
Perhaps…? No, no, it couldn't be.
But Loki did love green. And he could shapeshift into a small, adorable lizard, if he so wished. And, perhaps the way this lizard was friendly to him, was a hint.
It was settled, in Thor's mind.
This lizard was most probably Loki.
Ninety-percent sure.
And falling.
Lizard in hand, he raced back to the compound, and barged into Bruce and Tony's lab. "Bruce!" He bellowed. "I've found Loki!"
The scientist seemed less-than-pleased, but found the consideration to muster up a smile. "That's great! I think…"
"Here he is!" Thor beamed, and set him down on the desk. The poor lizard, frightened by all the running about and bellowing, immediately scurried away, out the window, and fled for his life down he wall in an instant.
"Oh…" Thor stared after the creature. "Perhaps it wasn't Loki after all."
"Sorry, buddy." Tony patted him sympathetically on the shoulder. "Keep looking, okay?"
Naturally, he did.
This was Loki, after all. Thor would never give up on him.
…Not even after two months of searching.
Thor's birthday rolled around, and he began losing hope. If it wasn't for the little package of cupcakes on his bedstead, that morning, he would have begun despairing that his brother truly did live, in the first place. Maybe, just a little feeling told him… Maybe Loki didn't want to be found? Maybe he was cross with his big brother, for some reason? Maybe he was looking for an apology.
Thor painted a big one, in Loki's favorite colors, on the outside of the compound, where everyone could see, especially his baby brother.
IM TERBLEE SORY BORTHER, it read. WOOD YOU PLEES FORGIV ME AND COM GIV ME A HUG?
When it garnered no response, save the furiousness of everyone in the compound, Thor shut himself in his room, in a deep melancholy.
Not even Pop Tarts, offered by the kind Lady Pepper could put a smile on his face.
He wanted his brother back, but Loki was refusing to show himself. Thor wasn't sure what his brother was doing, or what he'd done to warrant such ignoring.
Almost three months later, the vanished mysteriously re-appeared.
Most of the Avengers had their own separate theories, but Thor knew what had happened.
No one could have done it but Loki.
As everyone reunited with their lost friends, tears and hugs galore, Thor couldn't help the deep sadness from sinking into his heart.
All his companions had had their friends back.
The world had everyone back, but Loki was still gone.
He supposed it was selfish. Why couldn't he be happy for everyone else, who had their families? Why couldn't he be happy? Why did everything have to go his way? That night, most likely everyone in the Nine realms had a smile on their faces, but Thor cried himself to sleep.
He couldn't help it. The place his brother had always been was raw, and bleeding. He wanted his best friend, his little buddy back.
The memory of the Titan attacking their ship kept replaying over and over in his head, like an awful broken record. It was the worst.
You really are the worst brother, he had said. No wonder Loki was angry. That had been mean, and insensitive, and if Loki never spoke to him again, he would understand completely. On that train of thought, much of Thor's life had been comprised of saying mean, hateful things to Loki, and simply expecting him to shrug it off.
That statement had probably been the last straw. Now he would have to live his life without his brother forever, and it was all his fault.
Loki, bless his heart, had responded to that by trying to comfort him, covering up how much it had hurt, just like all the times before.
As Thor drifted off into a miserable sleep, he didn't feel the bed dip behind him, and the trembling arm wrap around his shoulder as his baby brother sought comfort from his own nightly horrors.
When he woke up, though, there was no sign his midnight visitor had even been there, save the handlebar moustache drawn in permanent marker on Thor's upper lip.
He wore that moustache proudly, until it wore off in the shower a week later. It was proof Loki was alive, and not only that, had been in his room.
He shouldn't have given up hope. Loki would come around when he felt like it. Until then, he was content to wait.
He was just telling himself this as he climbed a tree, on the outskirts of the grounds. Thor loved being up high, it cleared his head, and lifted him away from the hustle and bustle of the people down below. Loki had never understood it, being terrified of falling, and would typically remain grounded, or, perhaps, on the first branch up, if it was low enough.
It was quite a pleasant surprise to find the small golden and green snake nestled in a crook of a branch, and in his delight, the Thunderer almost forgot to hold on to the tree. "Hello, there!" He cooed in delight.
"Evening." The snake responded calmly, not sparing Thor a glance.
Blink.
Blink, blink.
"I beg your pardon?"
The snake glanced up in disinterest. "I said, 'Evening'. Why, have you gone deaf in my absence, Brother?"
That did it.
Thor was so shocked, his grip on the branch slipped, and he fell ten feet, and landed hard on his back, the wind rushing out of his lungs. Loki quickly followed suit, leaping out of the branches, and transforming back into himself, moments before he hit the ground. "You're alright?" He laughed, and extended a hand to help his brother up.
"But… but…" Thor sputtered, his eyes wide as he stared up at the Trickster, total disbelief flooding his features. "You…"
"Ah, yes, I believe my line was supposed to be, MBLERG It's Me!" Loki smirked, flicking his wrist to summon a dagger to his palm. Quickly, Thor's hand shot out, and caught Loki's wrist before it could penetrate. "Now do you believe I'm real?" Loki grinned deviously, and hauled Thor to his feet.
In answer, Thor crushed his younger brother in a tight hug. "I missed you so terribly." He murmured into his shoulder. "Where have you been?"
"Here and there." Loki answered, nodding to his left arm. That was when Thor noticed how limply it hung by his side, and the blackened flesh of the fingers. "If it's any consolation, I would have come quicker; I just didn't know how to tell you." He admitted, as Thor kicked himself for being an unobservant fool.
"You were the one who brought back the vanished." Thor stated in pride. It wasn't even a question, there was no doubt about it. "You're a hero, brother."
Loki glanced up sharply, his eyes widening in confusion. "You don't mean…"
"Of course, I do." Thor smiled, and slung an arm around Loki's slim shoulders. It was surreal, having him back. Physical, and not melting away under his fingers. He was real, he wasn't a dream, and Thor couldn't be happier. "Now, how did you manage to put an end to the Titan?"
"It was quite simple, really." Loki grinned, obviously very pleased with himself. "I transformed myself into the Tesseract, because I know Thanos loves Tesseracts, so he went to pick up the Tesseract to admire it, but then I transformed back into myself, and I was like, MBLERG It's me! And then I stabbed him." He smirked cheerfully. "Finding the stones was simple triangulation, after that."
Thor stared for a moment, in disbelief, before erupting in laughter. "It's good to have you back, Brother."
TheOnlyHuman.