Sylvie had been expecting utter chaos when they emerged from the tempad doorway.
It wasn't like she was a stranger to the phenomenon after all, having grown up in apocalypses ever since she was stolen from Asgard. She was well used to screams and roars and nature rebelling against man's attempts to control it. She had experienced heat and ice and rain and snow and earthquakes and hurricanes and tornadoes on a greater scale than any other being alive and she had emerged unscathed each time, alone and triumphant.
And yet, stepping through that yellow doorway onto a field of rubble with grey and purple skies, with blaster fire and shouts being the first sounds that she heard, with smoke, ash and blood being her first scents….well it was one of the more memorable experiences that she had ever lived through.
"Are you sure this is the place?" she asked her traveling companion and then had to swiftly duck before a laser blast nearly took her head clean off.
"This is it," Loki confirmed grimly before stuffing the tempad into the pocket of his TVA uniform that had seen better days. "The Sacred Timeline."
There was certainly nothing sacred about the carnage that was taking place all around them. Sylvie had been to every part of history but she had never seen an alien before and right now the ground was littered with foreign and cosmic body parts that were burning, severed and giving off a horrid stench.
Loki didn't seem to notice any of the grotesque casualties however, looking around with green eyes that were sharp and narrowed. "He's here."
She wasn't quite sure which he was the one that Loki was referring to as both were of various degrees of importance. She glanced up at him, for the first time, unable to read the look in her brother's eyes but knowing that his actions following would of grim and purposeful intent.
She gave him a smile that was all teeth. She'd been itching for a fight since they took down the TVA. There were a lot of wrongs to make right after all. "Shall we?"
He nodded at her. "You take care of the army…Thanos is mine."
She nodded and they both twitched their fingers at the same time. The air immediately began to fill with static and fairly vibrate like it was alive. The ground felt unsteady under Sylvie's feet but she grinned when she felt the power of six Infinity Stones settle about her. A few had been inset into the band across her forehead and the others glittered in rings on her fingers.
Loki's idea of stealing all they could find from the main reception desk of the TVA before leaving had been genius. She had never known they were hiding there having not stayed long enough in the place to check; but after learning of their being stored in a filing cabinet of all things…it made sense.
She nodded once at her brother before he strode off into the fray and she turned to the army of aliens that were beginning to converge in a uniformed front behind her.
The blonde could see flashes of brightly colored costumes whirling and diving around her along with the blasts of lasers and orange bursts of magic.
She grimaced at some of the four legged aliens that were grappling with so called heroes. Norns they were ugly.
Sylvie twitched her fingers, feeling the Infinity Stones at her command begin to hum as they responded to her call. This really was too easy.
She made a swiping motion with her hands, not needing to at all for her purpose to be accomplished but enjoying the theatricality of it all the same. She certainly wasn't a Loki anymore, but she did retain some of their personality.
There was a few seconds where something in the very air seemed to shift, like the shadow of an enormous wave falling upon an unsuspecting swimmer and all upon the field froze mid motion, having felt intrinsically in their bones.
And then the wave crested and hit and Sylvie folded her arms across her chest and watched with satisfaction as the entire alien army slowly began to crumble to dust around them.
The utterly destroyed battlefield was silent save for the wind blowing eerily across it as all the remaining warriors and heroes attempted to get a handle on what had just happened. Reality however, wasn't long in coming because shouts of surprise quickly turned to cries of victory when it appeared that the day had been won.
Sylvie smirked to herself and immediately began to stroll through the wreckage, sidestepping exposed wires and masses of concrete as she looked around for her brother.
Loki had very specific when he told her of his plan. Every single member of Thanos' army was to snapped into dust upon their arrival but Thanos was to be left alone.
She had been leery of letting him face his former torturer, but he had insisted that it was something that he needed to do. He knew he would have the Gauntlet on him, but how he knew that Sylvie didn't know and he didn't deign to explain. But she trusted him, possibly more than she had anyone ever, so if he had a plan, well that was all she needed to know.
As she strolled through the wreckage, Sylvie glimpsed the survivors helping those around them to their feet, looking around in bewilderment and then embracing each other in joy and relief.
Anything else that she might have seen was cut off when a great roar of pain echoed across the battlefield and Sylvie immediately quickened her stride. She knew that sound hadn't been Loki and so her grin was rather sharklike.
He had found him.
Her suspicions were further confirmed when she rounded an enormous pile of metal and concrete and came face to face with a scene that made her smile.
Loki was facing Thanos, both daggers drawn and dripping blood, in a low crouch with a snarl of a smile on his face. The purple titan was reeling backward, the stump of his wrist grasped tightly in his other hand and the one that had once held an enormous golden gauntlet was lying useless in front of Loki's feet.
Without looking at it, he kicked it behind him, having sensed her presence. "Hold onto that. He won't be needing it anymore. And don't let anyone else get close."
Sylvie raised an eyebrow at the tone of his voice but did as he asked, picking up the gauntlet with some distaste, taking care not to get any of the blood on her.
And then, because she knew that they were drawing a crowd, she quickly enacted a purple shield around both Loki and Thanos, using a combination of the power stone and her own magic. She knew Loki wouldn't want to be disturbed.
He had waited a long time for this.
She watched as he leapt at Thanos and the stones that he was carrying on him materialized onto his person.
The power stone flashed first and the Titan was completely helpless against its thrall. He landed flat on his back in the dirt and Loki used the mind stone to keep him in place before running the power stone down the length of Thanos' already scarred face.
Once more the Titan roared in pain, but Loki didn't even seem to hear it.
A crowd was beginning to gather around the purple shield that Sylvie had erected and there were cries of surprise and alarm when they saw Loki that had Sylvie glancing at them warily.
The three closest to her, a man in a red white and blue suit, carrying a broken shield, another in a red and gold suit of armor and the third in a similar get up with large blasters on his back.
"I thought Thor said he was dead," the man with the shield said in something akin to disbelief.
"I'm beginning to think that this guy has all the lives of a cat," one of the armored men said. He had dark hair with streaks of grey in it at his temples and he was watching Loki warily. "But if he's taking care of our problem for us, well then I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth."
"Even if its the maniac that tried to take over New York a few years ago?" the last of their companions said.
"Lesser of two evils at this point," the man with the shield said. "Let's deal with one thing at a time."
Sylvie couldn't help herself at that point. She snorted. If only they knew.
The small noise drew the attention of all three men like a gunshot and they turned towards her almost mechanically, eyes widening when they saw the gauntlet in her hands.
Instantly Sylvie found herself surrounded.
"You weren't among those brought back were you?" the man with the shield said warily.
She raised an eyebrow at him. "No. But I did just get here."
He blinked and she smirked at his lack of understanding. "Don't worry Captain. I'm sure all will be revealed in a moment."
Sylvie saw a second later that their suspicion had doubled at her nonchalant use of his name, (like Loki hadn't told her who would be there already) and she rolled her eyes before shoving the gauntlet into the Captain's arms, bloody stump and all. "There. Now do you feel better?"
The blonde grimaced at the grotesque prize but otherwise kept a hold of it. "I suppose Loki took it off him then?"
The blonde variant grinned. "He did."
She refused to say more and turned back to the scene in front of them where her brother had the Titan pinned, seemingly unaware of the captive audience that had gathered just outside of the small shield she had erected with her own power stone.
At the moment, the Titan was writhing in pain on the ground all without Loki touching him, though she could see that he was using a combination of the power and mind stone.
"I know you remember this technique," Loki was saying in a low voice and the tone caused the hairs on the backs of her arms to stand on end. "You used something similar on me in the Void. Of course you used your pet sorcerer to hold me down while he shoved needles in my skin and then held the mind stone to my head until I screamed, but I'm making do with what I have."
Though he sounded perfectly casual, cheerful even, there was a steel in his voice that hadn't been there since they had torn down the TVA.
Next to her, the captain paled. "What the – "
Loki stroked the power stone down the side of Thanos' face almost lovingly, a faint smile on his lips and Sylvie took a deep breath. The Titan roared in pain again and everyone in the vicinity flinched.
"You did that over and over and over again until I wasn't sure of my own reality to break open my mind and use my seidr. Your pet was fascinated by it because it was something that he had to learn not something he was born with and he wanted it for himself."
The last word he hissed out and somehow it was still heard over Thanos' bellows of pain. Sylvie looked down at the Titan who was now writhing in the dirt and some part of her knew that Loki should be ending this soon. Some part of her wondered if she should feel sorry for the purple creature but after hearing about what he had done to Loki and every other planet he had gone to and slaughtered, she couldn't help but feel like justice was being served.
"You laughed when I screamed and I begged, saying you were remaking me and when the process was through, I would be your perfect weapon just like the rest of your children."
The expression on Loki's face was downright terrifying at this point and Sylvie was very aware when a few of those gathered took a step back.
"Am I perfect now?" the god of mischief whispered, though it was still loud enough to be heard. "Am I a finely crafted weapon at last?"
The Titan wasn't speaking at this point and the goddess of mischief knew it was because no one, no matter who they were, could stand in the face of an Infinity Stone being pressed to their head.
"I think I am," Loki said softly. "Because you will know that the weapon that brought about your ultimate demise….was me. You wanted me to be perfect, and now I am."
He suddenly removed the stone from the Titan's cheek and he went limp against the ground, barely coherent. With a flourish, Loki removed the sword that had been given him from his counterpart in the Void at the End of Time.
"You deserve much worse than this, but I'm tired of wasting my energy on you. You certainly aren't worth any of me anymore."
And then before the Titan could find the strength to rise, Loki's sword fell and neatly separated the would-be god's head from his shoulders.
There was a moment of long silence from all those gathered around, but Sylvie kept the shield up, not trusting anyone else but herself to approach her brother.
Suddenly she smirked and began to clap, the sound echoing across the windy battlefield and suddenly all eyes were on her, including Loki's. She ignored them all in favor of focusing on her counterpart. "Good show. All done then?"
He rolled his eyes at her and she smirked. "Norns I forgot how annoying you were."
She raised an eyebrow. "How is that possible? We're the same person."
"Yes, I didn't realize how annoying I was."
"Can someone please explain to me what on earth is going on here?!"
That last question came courtesy of the captain who was looking back and forth between Sylvie and Loki with a bewildered expression on his face. "Aren't you supposed to be dead?"
Loki fixed the man with a look of exasperation. "Captain, did you really think that your time heist would not have consequences? If you want to know just how I'm here, you can ask Stark. I'm sure he'd be happy to fill you in on all the details."
The man called Stark had put his head in his hands and was groaning to Sylvie's amusement. "Great, so we've released a supervillain from over ten years ago who was thought dead who has killed another supervillain that we killed five years ago and now we have to deal with the other supervillain."
"Tony – "
"L-Loki?"
At the sound of a deep but broken voice, both Sylvie and Loki whirled around only to find another tall figure standing a few feet away outside of the shield Sylvie had erected. He was broad and built, covered in armor from head to toe and gripping an enormous battle axe so tightly that Sylvie thought the handle might break. His long blonde hair and beard were braided in a style that she had almost forgotten about, having not seen Asgard in so long and his deep blue eyes were so wide that the blonde almost thought they might fall out of his head.
He was staring at Loki with unabashed shock and vulnerability, with eyes that were slowly going shiny.
The truth of who this man was hit Sylvie like a lightning bolt and now she knew for certain that they hadn't come here just to kill Thanos.
He was much older than she remembered, taller and broader and kinglier, but this was without a doubt, Thor.
And the way Loki was staring at him said he knew it too.
Quickly she lowered the shield so that the taller blonde could approach which he likely would have done anyway with how fixated he was on the trickster.
"Is this some sort of trick?" the god breathed, and Loki closed his eyes as if in pain. "No….No brother, it's not."
Thor sucked in a breath that shook and sounded wet and Sylvie suddenly felt a lump gathering in her throat.
"How?" their older brother said but it sounded like a much quieter version of a wail. He reached out a hand, fingers hesitantly brushing against the other god's neck before settling against his nape. Loki stilled beneath the touch and took a deep breath, swallowing hard.
"It's a long story," he said, voice a bit hoarse and raised his eyes to meet the thunderer's.
Thor let out a pained sob and before either of them could blink, he had lunged at Loki, crushing him in his arms and taking him to the ground with the force of his embrace.
Loki stiffened in surprise, letting out something akin to a muffled yelp as his brother's arms closed tight about his waist and back. A second later however, his face had softened minutely and he turned his head just so in order to press it into Thor's hair.
Even from this distance, Thor was shuddering with sobs and he had buried his face in Loki's neck, seemingly uncaring about the picture he was presenting to everyone around them.
Sylvie nodded sharply to herself, determined to see that the two had some privacy and turned to the three men closest to her. "Right then. You have your prize, I'm certain you know what to do with it?"
The captain blinked from her to the gauntlet in his hands and his eyes narrowed slightly. "Yeah, we do."
"Then why don't you go on and do it?" Sylvie said in the same cheerful tone that Loki had used with Thanos earlier. "You clearly have nothing more to do here."
"Hold on," the man in the red and gold armor said. "You expect us to just turn around and leave him – "
Sylvie waved her hands and her own infinity gems blazed to life on her person. She smugly held them up so that all three men could see. "What I expect, is for you to turn around and leave my two brothers and I alone. Or I'll make you."
The battlefield went very quiet, save for Thor's muffled sobs as the heroes took in her own gems and the power they were giving off.
Sylvie smirked. "You seem like a smart person Captain. I don't want to use these gems on you and your friends, but I will if you don't leave us alone. And I can promise that if you do so, you'll never see us again after this."
The other blonde's face smoothed out and he glanced at the other two armored men and jerked his head. "Well that's good enough for me. Let's get out of here."
"Steve, she has six other Infinity Stones, how do we just –"
"Tony, I'm not interested in mutually assured destruction," the Captain all but snapped. "We got what we needed with minimal casualties. She has another set of stones which she clearly knows how to use given how fast Thanos' army disappeared and the guy we've been chasing for the last five years is now dead. Thor certainly doesn't look as if he's in any danger. What more do you want?"
It didn't take everyone long after that to back off, but Sylvie waved mockingly at any stragglers who hung back. Slowly the heroes began to move off, casting uncertain looks behind them at the trio of gods and it was quite a while before they all disappeared over the top of the hill.
It wasn't until they had all vanished that Sylvie sent the stones back to her pocket dimension and released a long breath. Slowly, she lowered the shield she had erected around her two brothers again and made her way over to them.
Thor was still collapsed against Loki, face buried in his neck and great shoulders shaking with sobs. As she approached them, Sylvie saw with some emotion that Loki didn't look much better. His face was pressed into Thor's hair, hands gripping the back of their brother's cape and she could hear the unsteady nature of his breathing.
As soon as she got close, he raised his head to meet her eyes and she saw that they were red rimmed and glassy, as if he was putting considerable effort into not shedding tears. "They're gone then?"
She nodded, her eyes glued to Thor, the brother that she hadn't seen in over a thousand years and barely remembered. "I still don't know why we couldn't have just grabbed him and taken off. It would have made things less complicated."
Loki was about to respond when Thor suddenly unplanted his face from his brother's neck and looked up at her. His eyes were flooded with tears and there were dark circles beneath them but the blue orbs focused on her like a laser beam.
"Sister?" he whispered hoarsely and the painful hope in his voice caused a hard lump to fill Sylvie's throat. She wished she remembered her Thor, wished she had something to compare that brother to with this one, but other than a few vague memories, there was nothing.
But if he had been anything like this Thor, she would have burned the TVA to the ground sooner in order to get back to him.
"I think so," she said very quietly. "In this dimension at least."
She might have said more but was stopped when quick as a whip, Thor freed one of his arms from Loki, wrapped his fingers around her wrist and with a hard tug, pulled her off balance until she had toppled completely into his lap.
Sylvie let out a startled yelp but before she could free herself, Thor's arm had wrapped about her waist, pulling her flush to his chest and his tears had resumed.
Shock filled her at the unexpected familiarity. This version of Thor didn't know her, would have no memory of her and certainly had no obligation to treat her like family or even believe her claims at all.
And yet she was currently gathered to his chest like the most precious gem in the world.
Her vision suddenly blurred, and she blinked hard to clear it, mentally insisting that this was not something that she was going to cry over, that the great gaping hole in her heart wasn't slowly filling in the force of his embrace or the shelter of his arms; that she didn't need this, miss this or want this.
But her arms moved almost without her consent, fingers tenting together on either side of Thor's shoulder so that she might lean against him more comfortably. And before she could talk herself out of it, Sylvie leaned forward and pressed her face into the side of Thor's neck, breathing in the scent of ozone, rain-soaked earth and deep forests.
He shuddered slightly when she had done so and his grip on her waist tightened as if he intended to never let her go, even though he didn't know her, even though they had never met before today.
In an uncharacteristic show of vulnerability, Sylvie tucked herself further into him, resting the side of her head against his broad shoulder and enjoying the feeling of for once, not having anywhere to run to or anyone to hide from.
Thor's sobs seemed to taper off after some time, until he was only shivering against them, the tears having worn him out some as the battle before no doubt had as well.
Finally, Loki spoke. "I think it's time we leave this place behind. Do you agree?"
"Aye," Sylvie whispered, still tucked into Thor and uncertain if she wanted to move. "I think that would be wise. I don't trust the humans not to return and give us trouble."
"Thor's Avenger friends always were annoying," Loki muttered in agreement and Sylvie caught the blue flash of the Tesseract being activated before the world turned sideways and the rubble of the battlefield completely disappeared.
When she opened her eyes again, the three of them were sitting in an open grassy field. The sounds of the ocean could be heard in the distance and the wind smelled of green earth and fresh blossoms. The sun was bright overhead and there was not a cloud to be seen in the sky.
"What is this place?" Sylvie asked, just barely raising her head from Thor's shoulder to look around. "Where are we?"
"Home," Thor said in a broken voice. His arms still gripped his siblings tightly, face still partially buried in Loki's neck. "We're in New Asgard."
How he knew this or what New Asgard even was, Sylvie didn't know. Loki had mentioned something about how Asgard had been destroyed in his timeline, but she had had no idea that the place of her brief life's beginnings had been re-established somewhere on earth.
At least, she was pretty sure it was earth.
"This is it?" Loki sounded equal parts appalled and disgusted. "This…This is a fishing village Thor. You are Asgard's king…and you live here?"
"It was not as if I had much of a choice brother," Thor said pulling back slightly. He didn't sound angry per se but there was an edge to his voice that Sylvie had a feeling meant that he could be very dangerous. "Half our people were slaughtered by Thanos and the other were culled when he snapped half the universe into oblivion. This is all that remains of Asgard from the realm's destruction."
Ah, here came the moment of truth…the final reason for why they had been searching for Thor.
"It doesn't have to be," Sylvie said softly and Thor blinked and turned to her, his one blue eye and one brown one taking her in steadily.
"Why have we never met before?" he whispered, "did my father hide another child that I wasn't aware of?" She inhaled sharply and shook her head. "I'm not from this….time. I was…I suppose you could call it…a Loki once; another alternate version of your brother, though I haven't been called that in a very long time. I have a different name now."
"And what is it?" Thor asked, painfully gently, so much so that her eyes nearly welled up with tears. "Sylvie. I chose the name Sylvie."
"Sylvie," Thor murmured and offered her a small, watery, but genuine smile. "It is nice to meet my little sister at last. Loki will tell you that I always wanted one."
Sylvie' tore her gaze from Thor's to find that Loki was none too subtly rolling his eyes. "I recall you mentioning that once six hundred years ago and it was only after I died your hair pink. I seem to recall you telling me that a sister surely wouldn't do this to you."
"Oh no, he's right," Sylvie said, smirking at her other brother. "I probably would have done far worse."
Thor's watery chuckle interrupted anything Loki might have said and he tugged the both of them impossibly closer to him. "How are the both of you here? What is this miracle?"
Loki turned back to his brother and his expression turned soft and thoughtful. "Well, we did have to put in some work to get back to you Thor. Although perhaps I should be thanking Stark after all, it was his idiocy that allowed me to escape."
Thor blinked as the words registered. "You escaped from New York," he whispered.
Loki's expression turned reproachful, and he ran a hand through his hair. "Ah, yes, I did. I am not…exactly the Loki you remember. He was killed by Thanos and even though I know much of what happened to him, saw it even, I am not he."
Thor stared incredulously at him for a long time, before his face seemed to crumple and he pulled Loki back to him without a word. "It doesn't matter, I don't care. You are my brother, the one I remember and that is all that matters."
Sylvie saw the moment the last of Loki's tension left him. Though he had never said it aloud to her, she knew that there was a part of him that worried that if he attempted to reunite with Thor, his brother would forever compare him to the Loki that he had lost, measuring him up against the actions of a person that he could never hope to replicate.
She didn't know why, just looking at this Thor, it was obvious that he had never had an impure or vicious thought about anyone.
He was so disgustingly good, she thought it might make her sick.
But she also knew, crazily, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she had no desire to leave him. Even being with Thor for only five minutes caused her to understand just why Loki loved his brother so much, despite never admitting it aloud.
"I'm glad to hear that," Loki's voice was muffled from where his face was half pressed into Thor's hair, the elder having hidden his face in his neck again. "Because you won't be getting rid of me and Sylvie for a long while yet. And I wouldn't get too comfortable here either."
Thor stirred and managed to look up at his brother with a look that was equal parts suspicion and exhaustion. "What do you mean brother?"
Loki looked at Sylvie and smirked, an expression that she had wholeheartedly returned. Despite her nerves about meeting Thor, this had been her favorite part of the plan that Loki had proposed.
In unison, the pair of them waved their hands, causing both sets of Infinity Stones to emerge and the air around them began to vibrate with power.
Thor looked back and forth between them, wide eyed. "What….How…?"
Loki's grin was sharklike. "Come now big brother, you didn't think that Sylvie and I were on vacation before we tried to find you? And these were just lying around after all, ripe for the taking. It would be quite a waste to leave them where anyone else could find them."
"Loki," Thor said, his eyes narrowed slightly, though he kept one arm clasped around the both of them tight. "Just what have you done."
Sylvie smiled viciously. "Oh it's not what we've done brother but what we're about to do."
Thor turned to look at her and she wanted to smile at the light she saw pulsing there, pushing out the grief and loss. "And what exactly do you plan to do?"
"Well it's quite simple brother," Loki said twirling a conjured dagger back and forth between his fingers and grinning maniacally. He leaned closer to their brother so his words could not be at mistaken, the gleam in his eyes mirroring the one in hers.
"We're going to restore Asgard."
W
Don't exactly know where this came from but I'm not mad at it. I will forever be salty that Thor and Loki never got a proper reunion and I will continue to write reunion fics in protest until Marvel gives me what I want.
Anyways, I wrote Sylvie and Loki as siblings in this fic because I prefer a platonic relationship between them than a romantic one. Also because I think that Thor needs more family after everything he's lost.
Let me know what you think and how excited you are for the second season of Loki!