Rated T

I don't claim to own Loki or the Avengers

~I~N~~T~H~E~~E~N~D~G~A~M~E~~N~O~W~

Chapter 5…

Thor chuckled as he watched his brother battle the Valkyrie. She was a true force of nature, leaping and dancing and weaving, her sword flashing and striking like a snake. Watching her now, he wondered how she would have been upon her winged steed. The Valkyrie Corps had been legendary; the ultimate fighters and the pride and joy of Asgard's military. As children, Thor and Loki had pestered Heimdall for tales of his mother and aunts, who had all been Valkyrie. When they had eventually befriended Sif, the girl had been mostly grieving the fact that she could not join the women warriors of Asgard, on account of them all being gone. Sif would have made a lovely Valkyrie. The news that she was alive and well on Vanaheim had been a balm to his heart and soul. Maybe someday they would meet again.

Thor left Loki and Brunnhilde happily sparring, (Loki was actually holding his own although he was a good thousand years her junior) and wandered back into the house. He put Stormbreaker back into its corner and busied himself with lunch. Korg was still playing his game, since the TV channels weren't working.

"When are the cable guys supposed to come?" Thor asked the Kronan. He wondered if Loki would be recognizable from the Stuttgart and New York incidents several years ago. In any case, he was sure his brother would want fair warning before any Midgardians came around here.

"They said sometime later this afternoon or tomorrow," Korg answered, focused on his warrior character, who was low on health and desperately dodging his opponent.

Thor nodded and set out sandwich things. Living here on Midgard, the Asgardians ate a lot of sandwiches. Not only were the components cheap and easy to procure, they were simple and didn't require cooking unless one fancied a hot meal. Fried Ham and Cheese sandwiches were something Bruce had taught him how to make back when they were still struggling to settle in. He wondered how his friend was doing. Bruce of all his Avenger friends would be glad that Loki was alive … or at least the Hulk might be. The two of them became cordial after some time together on the Asgardian refugee ship, and they had battled both Hela's minions and the Titan's forces together. Thor sighed. Hopefully, Loki would be allowed to settle in here first before members of the Avengers came around again, trying to drag Thor out of his former depression. They didn't come around much anymore, but Thor had never known when they were coming. He could only hope they wouldn't surprise him too much when they did show up.

Thor was finished putting the sandwiches together, feeling oddly nostalgic about the first time he had served a meal to others, (Jane came to mind, but he ruthlessly pushed the painful thoughts away). He went out to call Loki and the Valkyrie inside to eat.

They had finished their duel and were now sitting on an irregular chunk of ice that Loki had probably made himself. Thor stopped, suddenly realizing that he was probably intruding on a very private moment. Their heads were bent together, Frostbringer was leaning against the ice block, and Loki was holding something cupped in his hands that they were both concentrating on. Either they were talking over something very intimately, or perhaps Loki had caught the first butterfly of the season and they were hovering over it like a pair of children. As Thor hesitated, he heard someone knocking on the front door. Thankful for the distraction, Thor ducked back inside.

"Is it the cable guys, Korg?" Thor asked loudly.

"Don't know!" Korg shouted back, obviously not intending to pause his game. When Thor was a lousy drunk, they would simply let people let themselves in. But now that he was trying to do better, Thor hurried through the living room to get the door himself. He hadn't even reached the little entrance hall before the door clicked open and a large green head with square glasses perched on his nose poked its way inside.

"Thor? You home?"

"Banner?" Thor shouted in surprise. Then he caught sight of another head, much further down, this one furry and pointy, its eyes narrowed in familiar suspicion. "And Rabbit!" Thor laughed, throwing his arms wide in welcome. "Today truly is a day of blessings! Come in, my friends! Lunch is on the table as we speak. You're just in time, as Midgardians say it."

Bruce Banner sheepishly squeezed in, looking much bigger and greener than he ever had been, yet clothed and calm and intelligent, unlike his Hulk alter-ego. When Bruce was far enough in, Thor threw his arms around his huge friend and hugged him tightly, fighting tears. He had missed Bruce terribly.

"My friend, how you have grown!" Thor laughed, wiping his tears away. "Are you Hulk or Bruce today?"

"I'm going by Professor Hulk, actually," Bruce grinned, shoving his glasses up his nose with a large, square finger.

"How is that possible?" Thor asked in wonder.

"I succeeded in blending our consciousnesses," Bruce explained, his green skin blushing darker. "Not bad, huh? Hulk's brawn, Banner's brain?"

"It is amazing, my friend," Thor laughed, hugging him again. "I am so glad that you succeeded. I cannot imagine how hard you must have worked on this."

Bruce patted him on the back. "Thanks. Hey, you're looking so much better than I expected, buddy. You look great. Doing alright?"

"I am doing more than all-right, my friend," Thor replied truthfully. "You will not believe what a miracle has taken place. How have you fared, dear Rabbit? Did you come in your ship?"

"Yep," the surly animal snarked, folding his furry arms. "Gotta say, I was expecting to deal with a pathetic drunk, from what the briefing said. What gives?"

Thor heard the back door bang and familiar laughter. Loki was laughing at something. It had been so long since he had heard that sound … Thor stiffened with apprehension, knowing that now was the moment of truth. He prayed to the Norns that Bruce would not make an issue of this, and in typical Asgardian fashion, plowed ahead.

"It is true that I was naught but a pathetic drunk until four nights ago," Thor said in a rush, hurrying to get the words out before Loki and his new weapon made their appearance. "But during a terrible ice storm, a survivor of Asgard returned to us."

Bruce and Rabbit both looked up as Loki and the Valkyrie exited the hallway behind Thor. Loki stiffened at the sight of Professor Hulk, and the green giant's mouth dropped open in shock. Rabbit was less impressed.

"So … who's the hot chick and the skinny dude?" the anthropomorphic mammal demanded, crossing his little paws. "People we know?"

"Rabbit, this is Brunnhilde the Valkyrie and Loki of Asgard." Thor paused and swallowed hard at the emotion that threatened to make a fool of him. "My brother," Thor said quietly, gesturing to Loki. "The one I told you about."

Rabbit arched a furry eyebrow. "The one you said was dead once and then turned out to not be dead, and then died again?" the creature demanded. "That brother?"

"Oh, thanks for spouting my resurrection abilities all over the cosmos, Thor," Loki snorted sarcastically, giving the thunder-god a withering glare. "Next time some villain tries to kill me, they'll behead me to make sure I'm dead."

Thor shrugged awkwardly. "Er, I think 'go for the head' is good advice no matter who one is fighting."

Bruce swallowed hard and then stuck out his hand in a gesture of friendship. "It's, uh, good to see you again, Loki," he said hesitantly.

Loki eyed the big green hand cautiously, eyes flicking up to the green, square face. Finally, he thrust out his hand and grasped the Hulk by the forearm, gazing at him firmly in the eyes. "Well met, indeed," he said with a ghost of a smile. "Do you currently go by Bruce or Hulk?"

"Professor Hulk, actually," the green giant grinned with relief. "So you're really back, huh?"

"I never died to begin with," Loki retorted with an easy smile. "But you are forgiven of such an assumption."

Bruce shook his head in awe and stuffed his big hands into his oversized pockets. "Wow," he murmured. "How'd you do it? Thor told us … he said Thanos got his fist around your throat, and …"

"We don't say that name here," Korg piped up automatically from the couch, having finally paused his game.

"Yes we do," Loki snorted, but he gave Thor a concerned look all the same. "I say it all the time."

"It's fine," Thor gritted out through clenched teeth. "I'm good." He was fine, even though that name still put his teeth on edge.

Loki nodded and turned back to Bruce. "Fascinating as I'm sure you'll find it, I am actually not certain how I survived. My only thought is that my seidr compensated somehow and healed me to the point that I regained consciousness, by my calculation, about a week after that unfortunate event when I was picked up by some unscrupulous scavengers. I lost the use of my voice until some healers on Alfheim healed it, and breathing was certainly difficult, not to mention eating. I could not eat solids for the longest time."

Thor blinked in shock. He'd never heard that part of Loki's story, and he had certainly not even stopped to think of what the damage to his brother's throat would have been after being crushed by the Titan. He felt guilty that he had never even stopped to ask if Loki was still suffering from it. Luckily, Bruce (or Professor Hulk) was a thoughtful sort and beat him to the punch.

"Your throat's alright now?" the green doctor asked with concern. "No pain, no difficulties?"

"Elf-healing is remarkably thorough," Loki replied politely. "But I thank you for your concern. I am now actually as well as I was before my neck got crushed."

"Good; I'm glad to hear it," Bruce smiled sympathetically. "So four days ago, huh? If we'd known you survived, we would have gone out to find you, I promise. Rocket has a ship that's pretty darn fast."

Loki glanced down at the creature currently glaring up at him. "I thought his name was Rabbit."

"Newsflash," the animal snarled, pointing his paw at Loki. "My name's Rocket, and only Thor gets to call me Rabbit, or sweet, or dear, or anything like that, got it? You try and get fresh with me, zombie-brother, and I'll blow your head off." Rocket patted the small firearm at his belt, and Loki nodded distractedly.

"Rocket …" Loki murmured, his eyes suddenly far away. "Ah yes. Of course. Your crew would not have happened to have been named the Guardians of the Galaxy, would they?"

The rabbit actually looked surprised, and then pleased. "You've heard of us?"

Loki stiffened slightly. "The first planet I was on spoke of little else. The exploits of the Guardians sparked the imaginations of the hopeless."

Thor swallowed hard and struggled not to cry. His brother was speaking of when he was enslaved. He wondered if Loki had entertained such fantasies in his lowest moments, of a ship full of misfit heroes riding in to create enough chaos for him to escape in.

"Who has an appetite for lunch?" Thor asked, keeping his voice and smile light to break up the uncomfortable mood.

The Valkyrie shoved past him in silence and helped herself from the bounty on the table. Bruce, Rocket, and Loki seemed to take that as a hint, and they followed her to the sandwiches. Korg shut off the game and lumbered after Thor.

~I~N~~T~H~E~~E~N~D~G~A~M~E~~N~O~W~

Loki couldn't say he was exactly comfortable with their guests, but Thor trusted the rude rabbit, and Professor Hulk seemed quite unbothered by his presence. In fact, he appeared to be genuinely happy to see that Loki was alive; there were no 'puny god' comments, no angry snarls, and no anxious glances. Thor was chatty, as always, talking about the feast they'd had to welcome Loki back, and then he switched to telling Loki about how he met the Guardians, and Rabbit in particular.

Once Loki understood who the rabbit was, it was easy for him to put all the pieces together despite Thor's haphazard story-telling skills. Eitri had spoken of the rabbit and the tree before as well, and Loki stole a glance at the huge axe in the corner and its smooth wooden handle. Rocket, or Rabbit, or whoever he was, avoided looking at it with a determination that was almost religious.

Thor started talking about Nidavellir, and then his eyes were alight with excitement. "Loki!" he suddenly exclaimed. "You must show them Frostbringer! Rabbit adores all weapons, you know. And I am certain Bruce would like to see how the gems interact with your magic! Eitri made Loki a weapon of his own, like Stormbreaker," he explained to his guests.

Loki gave Thor an icy glare. "What's in it for me?" he challenged his brother.

Rocket suddenly smirked. "Huh, you're my kind of guy," the creature chortled. "How about, you show us your fancy weapon, and I'll show you mine."

"No, thank you," Loki retorted. "I'm certain I have seen weapons more impressive in my travels."

"'Kay then, I swear to protect you from the crazy Avenger idiots next time you see 'em, and next time only," Rocket wheedled.

"What makes you think I even want to see the crazy Avenger idiots?"

"C'mon!" the rabbit whined. "You can't just dangle magic weapons in front o' my proverbial snout and expect me to just say 'that's nice' and move on, do ya? It's a magic weapon!"

Loki sighed, wiped his mouth, and stood up. He produced Frostbringer from his dimensional pocket and rested the butt of the shaft on the ground. He pushed a bit of his seidr into it, causing the two smaller gems to glow green. The central one barely glimmered with blue since he was holding back on his ice magic.

Bruce's eyes grew wide with awe at the sight of the beautiful weapon, and Rocket hopped up on the table, a greedy gleam in his eye. Loki smiled indulgently and made no move to stop the rabbit's paws from reaching out to touch the trident's gems. Loki smirked as he pushed his Jotun magic into it, causing the blue jewel to flare. Rocket yelped and fell off the table in shock, clutching his frost-bitten paw.

"Why you …!"

Thor was laughing, but he got up to help the wildly cursing rabbit to his feet. Loki was laughing too, and he lowered the temperature of the weapon before he leaned it against the wall and bent on one knee beside the swearing creature.

"Let me see your paw," Loki said by way of an olive branch. "I thought you would have sense not to touch it once you felt how cold it got."

"It's a weapon!" Rocket whined. "You can't tell me not to touch a weapon, dude!"

Loki smiled and waved his hand over the frostbite. It didn't quite heal, but he mended the damage as well as he could, and numbed the pain that would follow later.

"So how's it work?" the irrepressible rabbit demanded, shaking Thor off and peering at the trident with renewed curiosity, and some caution.

Judging from the interest in Bruce's face too, and the thinly veiled curiosity in Brunnhilde's eyes, Loki would have an appreciative audience. He gave in and explained how the gems interacted with his magic by acting as a channel, while the shaft itself was like a focus. He could not only push his power through the trident, but he could store power in it as well. He gave Thor a significant look, and he knew that his brother finally realized that the 'device' Loki had been given by the dwarves which could catch his leaking magic was Frostbringer. He then explained to his audience that a trident, being such a long weapon, required real skill to wield. Bruce commented that Loki seemed like the right guy for a weapon like this, and Loki agreed without going into his latest experiences with such styles of fighting. He had wielded Gungnir without a problem, and the staff given to him by Thanos had been similar enough. Of course, both times he had fought against Thor, so he hoped that Frostbringer would be a bit different. He didn't want to betray his brother again with such a deadly weapon.

When Loki came to his theories about their bonded weapons, Thor of course had to bring in Stormbreaker and they chattered on, exchanged theories, finished lunch, and Loki suddenly found that he was enjoying himself. Bruce asked all kinds of practical and technical questions, while Rocket's enthusiasm was more like a child's. He wanted to see a demonstration, so Loki pulled up his memory of their interactions with the weapons, and created an illusion on the table, replaying his and Thor's mock battle in miniature. Rocket was enthusiastic to the point of ecstasy, and Bruce looked lost in thought, frowning as if concentrating on a difficult problem.

When the topic of Nidavellir and magic weapons was exhausted and there was no more food, Thor finally got around to the question still burning uneasily in Loki's mind.

"Why have you come, my friends? Was it merely a friendly visit?"

Professor Hulk sighed and shook his head. "Actually, no," he murmured. "It's … really complicated. And kind of unbelievable, to be honest."

"More unbelievable than my surviving the Mad Titan for the second time and traversing the cosmos without the Bifrost to return to my brother?" Loki asked drily.

"Yeah, it's more unbelievable than that," Bruce admitted, scratching his head. "Wait, what? You said second time. When was the first?"

Thor's head whipped around in alarm, and Loki sighed. He may as well let the truth be known. It wasn't as if it gave him any advantage to keep that part secret anymore. "You don't think I just invaded Midgard on a whim before, did you?" Loki demanded wearily. "For one thing, the moment Earth was threatened, Bifrost or no, Odin would send his champion to deal with it. At that point, I hated Thor so much I didn't even want to see him in battle. I loathed everyone and everything. I wanted to die rather than do what Thanos bade me do … which was serve him. Normally, I serve no one … unless I had no real choice."

"You invaded Earth because Thanos made you?" Bruce said slowly. "So … you were under the Mind Stone too?"

Loki smiled painfully. "Somewhat. Not exactly. It is … difficult to explain. Over the period of a year, give or take, my mind was invaded constantly, and the pain being inflicted in addition to the scepter's power completely clouded my reality. I did not know any longer what was real and what was not. Nor did I care. I was given the chance to take Midgard, and convinced that I wanted it. I simply wanted anything they wanted me to want, you see? At that point, I suppose I would have done anything they asked, so long as it put distance between me and them."

Bruce, Thor, Rocket, and even Brunnhilde were silent as the horrifying truth settled in.

"You … mentioned this before, did you not?" Thor whispered.

Loki huffed and looked away. This was difficult, but his brother had not turned away from him when Loki had spoken frankly of being enslaved and used as a lab experiment, so it was doubtful Thor would turn away from him now.

"Brother?" the insufferable oaf prodded him gently

"Yes, I may have mentioned it before," Loki gritted out. "Thanos thought to make me a loyal servant, not realizing that I am too stubborn to serve anyone for long at that price." He turned back and gave Thor a tight, uncomfortable smile. "But you say he is dead now, and at your hand. Consider his wrongs against me avenged."

"Why are you telling us this?" Bruce asked gently. "It can't be easy for you to talk about."

Loki rubbed his forehead. He was getting a headache. "If I meet your Avenger idiots … I mean friends, it is important that they know I have no desire to subjugate Midgard, and never truly did. It is important that they understand … that I also have more reason than most to hate the Titan."

Bruce looked a little stunned. "I actually never thought you wanted Earth, even after … what happened before. With the Tesseract. You didn't exactly do very well, you know. Looking back, I'm thinking you could have done a better job if you were actually trying."

Loki gave him a skeptical look.

"It's true," the green giant insisted. "Thor went on and on about how unlike you it was, and he told us a little about why you went a little … crazy, before. It can't have been easy, discovering the truth about yourself the way you did."

Loki glared at Thor, feeling betrayed and humiliated and angry, but Thor beat him to the accusation.

"I apologize for sharing so much," the big blonde oaf said hastily. "But in my own defense, I thought you were dead at the time. I thought you died saving me on Svartalfheim."

"I suppose that's a reasonable excuse," Loki admitted reluctantly. He glared at Thor again. "How much do they all know?"

"They know most of it," Thor admitted, cringing a little at the expression on his brother's face. "Loki, humans don't hate Jotuns the way we were raised to. Most of the Avengers couldn't understand why it was so dreadful for you. They do not care what colour you are, or if you can make ice out of nothing—"

"Not nothing," Loki interrupted his brother sharply, more for the sake of arguing than anything. "Obviously, I need water to create ice. A Jotun needs even more water than most life-forms, as they depend on it for more than simple hydration. I believe if you stranded me in a desert, I would die very quickly. The heat and the dryness would quickly do me in."

"Antarctica is actually Earth's largest desert, but it's frozen all year round," Bruce supplied helpfully.

"No one is stranding you anywhere, desert or not," Thor protested. "Where do you get your ideas, Loki?"

"My mind is a dark and twisted place," Loki said grimly, but he was amused at Thor's new attitude toward him. Perhaps the next time Thor started acting like his old arrogant self, he should just pretend to die and shock his brother back into this nice new mood. Thor seemed to realize that he was teasing, as he grumbled good-naturedly and half-heartedly shoved Loki in the arm. Loki pinched him in retaliation, seeing as he was not strong enough to push Thor back or even punch him effectively. Thor protested and rubbed his bicep while Loki smirked.

Bruce grinned at their antics, clearly pleased that they were fighting like brothers and not like bitter enemies. "As I was trying to say before," the large green Professor tried again. "Thor told us that you were the one ruling Asgard after he thought you were dead the first time, so that means you were the one who warned us about the dangers of the staff. Then you saved your people from Ragnarok, and gave your life for your brother. Whether or not you, er, stayed dead, it's pretty obvious that whoever you were back when we fought you that time … you're not the same. And Thor did say over and over that you were different before all that too … so, yes; I believe you."

Loki stared skeptically at Bruce Banner's concerned green face. Normally, Loki would be more suspicious of such a simple declaration, but he could tell that Dr. Banner was truly sincere. He shook his head in bafflement.

"Why have you come here?" he demanded, changing the subject.

Bruce's face turned grim. "We found a way to fix this."

"This?" Thor interrupted. "What do you mean, my friend?"

"The snap. The dusting. We can fix it."

"Don't be ridiculous," Loki scoffed, splaying his hands on the table. "The only way to do that would be to somehow travel back in time." Bruce gave him an arch look and Loki felt the blood draining from his face. He blinked slowly and shook his head. "You … I can't … I don't …" The silvertongued Prince found his tongue helplessly tied. Banner could not possibly be serious!

"Time?" Thor whispered. "You … can turn back time?"

"Not really," Bruce grimaced. "What we are going to do is go back in time for the Infinity Stones. We gather them up, bring them here to our own time, use them to bring everyone back, and then go back in time again to put them all back. In each trip, we'll probably create an alternate timeline, no matter how careful we are, so if we were to go back in time to try and prevent Thanos from snapping in the first place, all we'd do is create an alternate timeline where Thanos loses. This time, our time, would still be like this."

"You are acting as if this time travel you speak of is simple," Loki spat. "Do you not think in our billions of years of existence, Asgardians would have experimented with such a power?"

Bruce suddenly looked wary. "You're right that we ought to be careful," he said firmly. "But see, we've got the mechanics of it worked out, although we've yet to test anything but theory."

"You have tested nothing, yet you are planning multiple time incursions anyway?" Loki demanded, standing and slamming his palms down on the table. "Have you all lost your tiny minds?"

"How much do you know about quantum physics?" Bruce countered, completely unflappable.

Loki seethed for another few seconds before he allowed himself to deflate. "That is a Midgardian branch of physics dealing with things too small to be seen even with powerful microscopes, am I right?"

"Right!" Bruce grinned. "Quantum mechanics operate outside of time, outside of reality as we know it, so to speak. Anything we know about quantum physics is mostly theory, but we have someone who went into the quantum realm, as we're calling it, and came out in one piece. Time works differently there, and through the Quantum Realm, you could basically come out of it at any point in time. Using the technology that got the guy in and out, Tony developed a kind of time GPS to guide people through space time using the quantum realm. We're still working on how it'll work and how many people there'll be …"

"And what help did you think Thor was going to be?" Loki interrupted, still feeling queasy about the whole thing, but gradually becoming intrigued. Tony Stark still owed him a drink anyway.

"Cap asked me to help him gather the Avengers … and anyone who can help, like Rocket here." Bruce paused and gave him a serious look. "I know the rest of the Avengers won't be too keen on working with you at first, but … now that I think about it, we may need someone with a gift for navigating chaos."

"I am certainly qualified for that," Loki admitted. "But still … the last time I met those oafs they tried to kill me. You, for instance, embedded me in Tony Stark's floor."

Bruce winced at the reminder. "I'll vouch for you, and so will Thor," the green giant insisted. "They already heard how you helped the Asgardians and got killed by Thanos, and I don't think it'll be too hard to convince them you want to fix this just as much as we do. Are you in?"

Loki cleared his throat, but found he had no idea what to say. Did he want to fix this? For the sake of the broken, grieving families he had encountered on his travels, especially those with ties to Asgard? Did it warrant working voluntarily with the Avengers, most of whom would distrust him on principle, if not outright hate him? Could he deal with that?

"Brother," Thor said softly at his side. A strong hand gripped his bony shoulder comfortingly. "You have complete freedom in this. Should you choose to remain, I could not leave Asgard in better hands."

"Remain … what?" Loki demanded, coming out of his thoughts long enough to recognize the determined glint in Thor's blue eye.

"I am going. I must."

Loki gave him a sharp look. "Because they're your friends," he muttered, trying not to sound bitter, though it came out that way.

Thor smiled sadly and shook his head, giving Loki's shoulder another squeeze. "Not only that, Brother. If they truly mean to collect all of the Infinity Stones, my expertise lies with the Stone of Reality: the Aether. They need me."

Loki nodded pensively. His mind was made up almost before Thor stopped speaking "Then I also must go," he said quietly. "For my expertise lies with the Mind Stone, Tesseract, and Aether. Besides, I was present when Thanos used the Stone of Power on the Statesman and let us not forget that half-rate Midgardian sorcerer who dropped me so rudely in his foyer. He carried the Time Stone on his person. If you think on it, I have encountered every Infinity Stone … save Soul."

Thor gaped at Loki, and Bruce was gaping too. Truly, they must not have thought of such a thing to be so dumbfounded by a simple statement of fact. Loki smirked, though it was tinged with some sadness.

"If the Avengers do not wish to make use of my expertise," he went on, addressing Thor. "I shall return here and rule New Asgard until your return, Brother. In the meantime, I think Brunnhilde would make an excellent regent, what say you?"

The almost forgotten Valkyrie at the far end of the table sighed and rolled her eyes. "I am so done getting volunteered for this ruling business," she muttered. But she was ignored.

Thor grinned, clasped his brother by his forearm, and clapped his shoulder with his free hand. "Just like old times, Brother; You and I and a band of merry warriors against the universe."

"They won't be so merry with me aboard, I can tell you that," Loki smirked, but it was more of a real smile this time. "I relish the looks on their faces when you tell them that your trickster-god of a brother is an Avenger now."

Thor burst out laughing, and Bruce grinned happily. Even Valkyrie arched an eyebrow at Loki and gave him her 'good luck' smirk.

Rocket made a satisfied noise and clapped his paws together decisively. "I think we've got room on the ship for a trickster-god, even one with issues," the creature announced carelessly. "What're we waitin' for?"

~I~N~~T~H~E~~E~N~D~G~A~M~E~~N~O~W~

Loki felt somewhat apprehensive and he and his brother strapped themselves in aboard their transport. He and Thor were dressed as Midgardians in truth this time, not simply in illusions, though it still made him think of the last time he and his brother had come to this Realm together. The ship Rocket flew was a junkpile threatening to fall apart, but when Loki commented that it was so, the rabbit exploded at him, and then glared at him for the remainder of the trip. Thor explained, (in the tongue of the Aesir so that none could understand them) that Rabbit was rather attached to his ship, which had belonged to his captain, Peter Quill the Star-Lord. Loki nodded in understanding, and supposed he felt slightly bad about insulting what, to the anthropomorphic animal, was the last reminder of his family. He would have to find a way to apologize for his carelessness. He never apologized with words, of course. But he would find some way to show his remorse at his unintended slight.

When the rickety ship touched down at last, Loki's heart-rate must have tripled and a cold sweat of nerves broke out on his skin. He looked quite harmless, he was certain, in a plain button-down shirt and V-necked sweater vest, and plain trousers that he had changed from tan to black. In fact, he had magically changed all of these clothes, from their size to their colour. The trousers were black and the shirt was dark green, while the sweater was black and green now, instead of the black and charcoal gray it had been before. He truly hoped that he had a chance to explain himself before Tony Stark blasted him or the Captain of America tackled him or the hawk-man shot him. Loki sighed and suddenly wondered if he should just stay in the ship.

"Loki?" Thor's concerned voice interrupted his thoughts. "Are you coming?"

Loki glanced up in surprise and saw that he and Thor were the last ones aboard. Rocket and Bruce had already left. Thor's current wardrobe looked better than it had the first night Loki had seen him, that was certain. He was now wearing a short-sleeved shirt with a hooded sweater over it, and jeans. The sweater was unfastened in the front, not that it would fasten over his large belly anyway. His long blond hair was almost all loose, but he had twisted some of it back to keep it out of his eyes, and his beard was neatly trimmed now, though still longer than Thor had usually preferred. Loki wondered if this was going to be his brother's new look. He could put up with it, if that was true. They would just have to work on slimming Thor's waistline a bit.

Loki shook himself from his meaningless thoughts and unbuckled his seat restraints. "Let's get this over with," he muttered, feeling sick to his stomach. "Don't kill the Hawk if he shoots my eye out. I deserve it. Hmm, if he does, we'll match. Perhaps your Rabbit friend will find me an artificial eye as well."

Thor gave him a disturbed look. "If any of them have a quarrel with you, they will be forced to go through me," his brother vowed.

Loki huffed, but decided not to argue. Thor was Thor, and he hadn't changed much. Ever since they were small, Thor had always been beating someone up, or threatening to, for picking on his little brother. Oblivious and stupid he might be in some matters, but Loki didn't doubt that his brother was sincere.

He stood up and gestured for Thor to go out first. The ship's walkway led to a wide, grassy field. Some distance away on the perfectly mowed field stood a tall gray building, square and plain, save for the huge letter A on the side. He had never seen this building before, and looked around at their surroundings with interest. A river ran past the building not far off and trees surrounded the compound. It was actually a peaceful, if empty-looking place. Bruce was nowhere to be seen, and Rocket the rabbit was talking to someone crouching down at the ship's landing struts.

"The problem's gotta be the gears on the inside," the creature was saying in exasperation. "See, why don't you come take a look at it? I'm a pilot, not a mechanic."

The person by the landing gear responded, but their voice was too low to hear.

"That's not fair!" Rocket protested, throwing his furry arms in the air. "You're not the one flying Hulks and gods of thunder around!"

Rocket's assistant got up just as Thor reached the bottom of the ship's ramp, with Loki right behind him. But as the slender being stood and turned around, Loki froze in horror as if he had been turned to stone.

He knew her.

A strangled noise escaped Loki's throat and for the moment, he had no idea where he was or what his exact fear was, looking at the bald, blue-skinned cyborg woman. All he knew was that his entire body was overwhelmed with terror: pure, animalistic, fight-or-flight terror. Phantom pain erupted along his nerves and he stood helpless, immobilized by his shock and terror. Did he fear his mind, playing tricks on him? Did he fear that she was hunting him to finish the job her father started? Barely a second later, her eyes, one flesh and one synthetic, spotted him. Her face, always stoic and blank even while he had screamed under her tools on the operating table, became even blanker.

Rocket noticed their sudden stand-off and his voice trailed off into wary silence. Thor, oblivious as always, kept walking. Loki saw no one but the daughter of Thanos, and she stood there stiffly, waiting for him to make the first move. She recognized him without a doubt, but Loki was frozen. He couldn't move or speak even if he wanted to. Images flashed through his mind, almost overcoming his waking eyes.

Dread. Humiliation. Fruitless struggle. The faces of apathetic torturers, gleeful torturers, sadistic torturers … Her face, blue and blank and part-machine, hovering over him while she discovered what the inside of a shapeshifting Jotun freak looked like. Her father, huge and gigantic and purple-skinned, insane and grandiose …

"You will now call me Father."

"What's up? You two know each other?" Rocket suddenly demanded, his abrasive tone cutting through Loki's terror. The Prince leapt backwards as mobility returned to his limbs, fell off the ramp, and rolled to his feet, Frostbringer appeared in his shaking hands, ice forming instantly over the shaft and the gems blazing like fire. Thor apparently noticed at once. Perhaps Stormbreaker started humming in response to its brother, or some instinct prompted him to look back, but Thor came running with his axe in hand.

"Loki!" he shouted.

The trickster-god flinched at the sound, closed his eyes, and struggled free of the memory, the terror, the shock … It wasn't real. It had not been very long since he had been forced to reason himself down from his last waking nightmare, and he hadn't forgotten how. But for his waking horror to be about her was a surprise. He had feared the green one far more. Unlike the blue cyborg, the green warrioress had seemed to enjoy his pain. The blue woman had acted like a servant performing a dull and unwanted task and though he had feared her, he did not fear that she would stalk him down like a huntress.

His brother's strong hands caught his shoulders and he could hear the familiar deep voice, filled with worry and concern, calling him. Loki forced his fingers to release Frostbringer, and it fell to the grass. Loki grasped at his brother's arms, shaking from head to foot and struggling to ground himself in what was real.

It's not real, Loki desperately told himself. Not real, not real, not real … I'm not there, I'm here. She's not here. She's not. They didn't find me. He didn't find me. It's not real.

"I'm here, Loki," Thor murmured, gripping his shaking body tightly and waiting patiently for the panic to recede. "I'm here. You're safe. All is well."

Loki took several deep breaths and felt himself calming. The dreadful memories still churned away in the back of his mind, but he was back in control again. He swallowed hard and carefully extricated himself from his brother's grip. Thor looked extremely worried, and Loki couldn't even give him a fake smile. He was still feeling too jittery. Swiftly, Loki picked up his trident and vanished it into his dimensional pocket before he took one deep breath and held it for a few seconds. He slowly breathed out, and then struggled to look Thor in the eye. The humiliation was making his skin burn.

"I'm … sorry," he stuttered quietly. "I didn't mean for that to … It will not happen again."

"Loki, there's nothing to apologize for," Thor said firmly, grasping his shoulders and worriedly searching his face. "Waking nightmares catch me when I least expect as well. There is nothing to repent of. Not with me. What happened?"

Loki shook his head wearily. "It doesn't matter. I thought I saw …"

He glanced up, but he couldn't see what he had thought he'd seen before. Or who he thought he saw. It was just as well. It couldn't be a good sign, starting off this visit with hallucinations and panic attacks. At least it seemed to be over.

Loki took a deep breath, calming down as he realized that he must have had a waking nightmare, as Thor called it. "My eyes must have been playing tricks on me," he said more firmly. "After all, there is no possible way that one of Thanos' agents could have followed me all the way here."

"An agent of Thanos?" Thor whispered, glancing around in alarm. "Here? Where?!"

"It was all in my head, Thor!" Loki snapped. "Drop it. I promise I will not allow it to happen again. It … must be the stress. I'm perfectly fine. But … perhaps I should just stay in the ship. I can wait. This might have been a mistake." Loki was aware that he was babbling. It was a nervous habit he thought he had grown out of centuries ago. But regaining his voice on Alfheim had been like learning to speak again. He tended to babble now, unused to censuring his thoughts in accord with his speech. It was something he certainly needed to work on.

"Nonsense," Thor said firmly. "I will not allow any of my friends to harm or threaten you, I promise. You are my brother, and if they reject you, I will leave them as well. We shall return to New Asgard together and tell stories of our waking nightmares to each other, in hopes that they become lesser for the telling."

"You are as optimistic and naïve as ever," Loki muttered, both annoyed and grateful. "Fine. Let us brave the Avengers together, and don't blame me when their first reaction is to throw me in a glass cage."

~I~N~~T~H~E~~E~N~D~G~A~M~E~~N~O~W~

I'm sorry it's been a little bit since I posted anything. My grandfather passed away last week and it's been a nightmare sorting through his things and the legal complications etc. It's all too boring to explain. But I'm back and I'm getting back to writing, though there aren't any new chapters yet. This is the chapter I was planning to get out last Friday. Hope you enjoyed it!