Light was prickling over Thor's eyelids, he groaned as he turned, the light still hitting his face and finally Thor opened his eyes, looking at a gray room through blurry eyes.
What? … He knew the void was strange, but this didn't seem like...
Then Thor's eyes opened wide and he sat up as he realized, he was in the Avengers facility! He had shifted!
Panic hit Thor! Loki! Loki was all alone in the void! Not again, please by the Norns, no! Don't let him be alone.
Thor started to bang his own head, shift back! SHIFT BACK!
But nothing happened.
Slowly, Thor tried to calm himself, it was okay… Time didn't move in the other timeline, at least it was not supposed to.
Thor's fear was irrational. Yet he couldn't shake it… The thought of Loki falling, falling all alone. Thor had promised they would be okay and then...
Thor squinted his eyes, he tried to calm his breathing.
Relax, try to relax… Please relax.
"I must say… I am rather impressed, Brother."
Thor's eyes opened wide and he looked up, towards the window and there, sitting casually in the window frame, looking out of the open window, one leg up with the other one casually dangling and his head turned away, out towards the scenery outside.
His tall thin frame though, was unmistakable, his green and golden garbs, his long black hair and long slender white hand which his head was casually resting on.
"Lo… Loki," Thor gasped. "LOKI!" he exclaimed, standing up, then he halted, confused, he looked around, this… This was the Avengers facility.
Thor looked down at himself and saw gut… then he looked up. "You… You shifted with me?" he asked. "How? Did the void...?"
Loki didn't turn to look at him but smirked lightly. "How would I do that?" he asked. "That's impossible, Thor."
Thor blinked. "I… I do not understand," he admitted. "How... How are you...? How are you here exactly?" he asked.
"Well, I am not here exactly," Loki replied, still looking at the outside rather than Thor, he looked so casual. "You really did quite a number, Thor," he commented. "To think, here I am, I am both here yet not here. I am dead and yet I am not dead. If the universe wasn't breaking already, I would dare say this ought to break it for good."
Thor just looked confused. "What?" he asked.
Loki smirked, amused, as he shook his head, then finally turned his head, finally looking at Thor. "Remember Sakaar?" he asked.
"Sakaar?" Thor blinked. "Wait, how do you know? I didn't mention that place by name… Did I?" he asked.
"In the other timeline?" Loki asked. "No."
"But..." Thor asked, then his eyes widened, he gasped for air, his heart was all the way up his throat, could it be?! Was it even possible?! "Are… Are you..." he stammered. "The… I mean."
"Finally figuring out the obvious?" Loki asked, amused. "Well, you were always a bit slow. But you also always got to the right conclusion by the end of it." His eyes met Thor's. "It's been a while, Brother."
Thor's eyes were wet, he couldn't believe it. It was… Loki! But not an alternative version, his Loki! The Loki whom had fallen from the Bifrost, the Loki he had fought Malakith with! The Loki whom had returned to save the remaining Asgardians! The Loki whom had faced Thanos in a feeble attempt to protect all of them.
"Loki..." Thor's voice broke.
Loki lightly shook his head then Thor came, running for him with outstretched hands, intending to hug him tight but the moment his fingers reached Loki they slipped right through him, as if he was just an illusion. Shocked, Thor looked at his hands that had only touched empty air, then up at Loki.
"Sorry Thor, I told you. I am both here and not here, I am dead and not dead," Loki informed.
"I… I don't understand." Thor swallowed.
Loki sighed. "That other timeline you are traveling, it is still connected to this one. That other Loki you are traveling with, he is still me. We are connected," Loki informed. "Simply put, you have put him on a path where he doesn't die. Or rather, his death is yet to be a certainty… But at the same time, the original timeline still holds, the timeline where I do die for certain! So I am both dead and not dead at the same time. It's a bit confusing to be honest, I have got memories from two different timelines."
"So you remember," Thor breathed.
"You trying to feed me that awful hotdog. Aye, I do." Loki sighed as he leaned back. "Thor… The universe is breaking, there are no laws… No rules anymore. Time, reality, space, all of it… is breaking apart."
"But… with the Stones it can be fixed," Thor said.
"That was the plan," Loki admitted. "If all else failed, send you on this mission and just hope… Hope you would find a way."
Thor blinked. "What?" he asked, then suddenly he remembered what the Ancient One had told him. It wasn't the universe whom had chosen Thor, it was a person. "YOU!" he exclaimed. "You sent me to the other timeline!"
Loki smiled sadly. "When Thanos's ship approached, I knew my days were numbered. Thanos would not let me go… No matter what scenario was going to play out, it was going to end in my death. That one fact was for certain. I gave you some of my Seidr, ripped it out of myself and placed it within you. So you would be dragged towards me, even if it was another version of me in another universe. I boosted the spell with the Tesseract so space wouldn't be a hindrance. It was a rather desperate plan, but all I could come up with in such a short amount of time… I hoped it would give you the edge, to defeat Thanos and rescue whatever Asgardians you could! That was my intent."
Thor gasped. "Loki..."
"My memories of the other timeline goes as far as the two of us entering the void, I do not know what happens next because it has yet to happen," Loki informed. Then he turned to Thor. "Thor, you must save what remains of Asgard. It's all there is left…. You must."
"What about you?" Thor asked. "The Ancient One, she talked about… Putting the pieces back together, right?!" he asked. "If we pull the two universes back together and they become one, you'll be alive again. Right?!" he asked and he halted.
"I'm not sure what will happen," Loki admitted. "Maybe that other world will just stop existing, it was never supposed to exist in the first place. It was just a means to get the Stones after all… You could of course... remove yourself from this timeline. Free the other timeline from this one, allow it to become fully its own... I already offered you the choice back there, just stay forever, it is a real solution. But then this timeline will be doomed and you won't accept that. Melt them together? Make them one again?" he asked. "I suppose it could be done but I do not know what consequences it will have."
"Do you think there's a chance… You would be really alive again?" Thor asked.
Loki shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "Maybe, if I'm still alive in the other timeline."
"Then I have to try!" Thor stated.
"Thor… You honestly want to risk the entire universe just for one person?" Loki asked.
"I..." Thor halted, then he quieted.
"I'm flattered." Loki smirked. "Though honestly, you need to think less with that," he pointed at Thor's chest. "And more with that one of these days." He pointed at Thor's head.
Thor was breathing heavily as he looked at Loki.
"So, on your way to Thanos?" Loki continued casually. "If I could give you just one piece of advice."
"Aye?" Thor asked.
Loki smirked. "Don't get caught."
"That one is a bit of a given," Thor replied, a bit tired. Suddenly, he heard a rush in his ear, like he was falling. Already?! "No, not yet!" he exclaimed. "Loki, I need to ask you!" he tried to reach for him.
Loki though didn't move to reach back.
"LOKI!" Thor exclaimed.
Loki shook his head. "Thor, try to get it into your skull. I'm already dead. You can't just keep holding onto me. One of these days you have to let go."
"But," Thor tried and then, it was darkness, he was tightly holding a hand, Loki's hand. Loki, wide-eyed, was looking at him.
The relaxed calm look from before was basically foreign, he was terrified. Then Thor pulled Loki into a tight embrace, holding him tight, and with his free hand he swung his hammer and then, let the hammer lift them both in the desired direction as Thor held tightly onto Loki, he would not let go… Not now… Not now.
