Grief and pain… they were not new to Loki. He had lived for over a millennium; he had seen people die. But more than that, he had lost his family the day he found out he was a Frost Giant. He had mourned them then. He had to mourn them again when he first encountered the TVA and was forced to face the consequences of the chaos he had caused. He had to watch Frigga die and it had felt as if a piece of him had died with her. He had watched Odin die, and no matter how much he had told himself that he desired that, seeing it had brought him nothing but sorrow and pain.

This, however, was different, and Loki had no idea why he was the one who had to do it. Perhaps Mobius was testing him. Perhaps the Norns just enjoyed his suffering.

Whatever the reason was, he found himself in the middle of Central Park, approaching his brother in the form of Mobius. It was a cloudy day, but whether that was the natural order of things or a reflection of Thor's emotional state, Loki did not know. The weather did suit his own mood, which was growing worse with every step he took towards Thor.

Thor was sitting on a bench, alone. He was hunched over, his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands. The personification of true misery.

Loki's stomach was in knots. Why was he approaching Thor at all? He had to reset the timeline. Talking to his brother would change nothing. It would have never happened. Thor would not remember. He would not exist.

A wave of nausea rolled over him at the last thought. He was essentially going to kill Thor. More than that, he would erase his very existence. And while he had tried to kill Thor not long ago, he had never expected to succeed. Deep down, he had not wanted to succeed.

Now there was no way around it. It had to be done and if it was not him who did it, someone else would just finish the task for him.

The grief, the pain, the guilt – it was quite different from what he had ever felt before. It was a weight on his chest that made it hard to breathe, as if he were suffocating; a pain in his heart so sharp, it was as if a part of it had been ripped out. And perhaps that was what it was. Thor had always been a part of Loki's life. He was there, for the good and for the bad. He knew Loki better than anyone else in the universe… well, perhaps the TVA knew him pretty well too, but they did not count. Thor had been a constant in his life, like a part of Loki. And Loki would never see him again. They would never again share secrets no one else knew, fight each other like only brothers could, they would never again laugh together as if they were best friends, all their quarrels forgotten.

He did not know what he was doing, what he was going to say, but he also could not stop himself. As much as he dreaded it, he could not do this to Thor without talking to him one last time.

He was only a couple of steps away from Thor. By now it must have become obvious that Thor was his goal, as Thor lifted his head to look at him. Those eyes, those eyes that looked like a puppy that had been kicked, made Loki stop right where he was. Thor's face in all its expressiveness showed no recognition.

Loki looked around. They were alone. Apparently, public parks were no popular place to be after an attempted alien invasion a few blocks away. He smiled crookedly, before he reached into the air and pulled the Tesseract out of the dimensional pocket he had created for it.

Thor's eyes widened before they narrowed. "Loki?" His hand hovered over his hammer, but he hesitated.

Loki's smile grew and he dropped the illusion. He held the Tesseract in front of him, offering it to Thor. "Peace, brother."

Thor, however, did not reach for the Tesseract. "What trick is this?" He looked wary, and who could blame him?

Loki threw the Tesseract at Thor, who caught it before it hit his face. "No tricks." He took a few steps forward and then slumped onto the bench next to Thor.

Thor examined the Tesseract, before his attention settled back on Loki. "I don't understand."

Of course, he did not. But Loki, for once, could not blame him.

"I've been a fool, brother," Loki said.

"Is it brother, now? Just today you told me that I was not your brother."

Thor seemed hostile, but beneath that, Loki could feel that Thor wanted to believe him. There was hope. He shrugged his shoulders. "Like I said, I've been a fool. You were right. This," he gestured at the damaged skyscrapers visible through the trees, "was madness." Loki thought of his conversation with Mobius. Somewhere deep down, he had always known that it was madness. "I don't enjoy hurting people, I really don't. I… I am sorry I hurt you. I am sorry I am such a disappointment."

"You are not a disappointment," Thor said quickly, his reservations apparently forgotten.

Loki chuckled. "Am I not? How quick you are to forget. Or perhaps, to forgive. You truly have the potential to become a great man." But he would never get the chance to realize this potential, because Loki was going to take it away from him.

"So do you. I have always thought the world of you, Loki."

Quick to forget, Loki thought. Only a year ago had Thor told him to know his place in front of their enemies. Only a year ago had Thor ridiculed his tricks. Only hours ago, from Thor's point of view, had they fought each other for life and death. But there was no point in calling Thor out on it. The past was in the past… and this Thor had no future. The Avengers had returned the stones – now it was the TVA's job to smooth things over, make sure that there was no trace of time travel left. That meant completely resetting the timeline.

"You were born to be great, destined to be the greatest version of yourself. I was born to cause pain, suffering and death. I am the villain in this story. That's how it is, that's how it was, that's how it will always be."

Thor shook his head. "No. You've made a mistake… a few mistakes. But so have I. I am sorry about what I said about the Frost Giants… I am sorry for what I did. Who you were born to – it makes no difference to me. You are my brother, no matter where you come from. And being a Frost Giant – it does not make you a villain. Only you decide who you are. I've tried to learn from my mistakes and be a better man. And so can you. I know you can. You are already on the right path if you can freely admit that what you did here was wrong."

Loki sighed. "This me? Perhaps. I believe I am in the process of creating my own destiny. But I am no longer of this world, or any world. I live outside of time and space. The Loki you know, the only Loki any version of you will ever know, he cannot change. He will bring pain and death. He will ruin Asgard. There is nothing to be done about it."

"What do you mean? Loki-"

Loki raised his hand to stop Thor. "This is not my surrender, Thor. This is not me returning to Asgard and to your side. This is goodbye."

Perhaps that was what Mobius had wanted. Not a test, but a chance to say goodbye before he left the mortal world behind.

Loki got up from the bench, but Thor jumped up as well, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Don't go, brother. I have thought you lost. I have mourned. Now you are back, as if the Norns have given us a second chance. Whatever it is you are running from, we can fight it, together."

Loki closed his eyes, enjoying the familiar gesture. It would be the last time any Thor would show him affection. It would be the last time Loki was going to interact with any type of Thor.

He shook his head, opening his eyes again. "Perhaps this will console you: I am no longer running. I am facing my demons. I am fighting them. I… I am trying to do what is right. I have joined an organization tasked with protecting the universe. They have shown me other worlds. This one here… this one is wrong. Believe me, I would like nothing more than to stay here and make sure that the dark future they have shown me never comes to pass. I wish I could spare you the pain and the loss you will have to endure. But that would be selfish. It would be running. And it would be pointless, the TVA would never allow it."

There was a streak of light in the sky, a reddish orange. It was still far away, but approaching rapidly.

"To do what is right, I have to leave this universe behind. Cut all ties to my old life. I will live outside of space and time."

On the horizon, he saw Steve Rogers approaching.

Iron Man landed in front of them, his repulsors glowing with the promise of pain and pointing straight at Loki. "I have to say I'm kind of surprised by how not surprised I am to find you here," Stark started, his voice flat and weirdly vocalized through the metal mask. " I think I'm going to have another heart attack and die from not surprise. And believe me, I know heart attacks."

"You have no one to blame for that but yourself," Loki replied dryly, not caring that he was the only one in on the joke. They would not remember. "And you are late. I was just leaving."

Stark shrugged, the movement hampered by the metal plates locking down his shoulder. "Well, there's a reason they call us the Avengers, not the Preventers," he said. "And in case you were wondering, the whole gang is here. You are not going anywhere."

Loki glanced behind him, he could not see all of the Avengers, but he did not doubt that his words were true. He was still the greatest threat Midgard had ever faced. He reached into his dimensional pocket, pulling out the orange device used to reset the time stream.

"What new toy have you got there?" Tony Stark asked, sounding alarmed even though his weirdly artificial voice.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with," he said, putting it on the ground between them. He activated it, then turned around to Thor. "Farewell, brother."

He wanted to step away, but Thor had grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him into a bone crushing hug. "Wherever you are going, brother, never doubt that you are loved."

Loki had to fight the tears that were forming in the corners of his eyes. "Nor you," he mumbled.

HeI just watched the first episode of Loki and then spent two hours writing this. What do you think? And what did you think of the first episode?took a step back. The door to the TVA had appeared behind him. Before any of the Avengers could react, he had taken another step back and was standing in the TVA again. The door was gone. And so was the branched timeline he had left behind.

The End

I just watched the first episode of Loki and then spent two hours writing this. What do you think? And what did you think of the first episode?