When the Bruce Banner snaps his fingers, the world suddenly seems brighter. The emergency shutters lift from the compound windows to reveal birds and flowers that weren't there before. Then Clint's phone buzzes and the reality of what they've done sets in. They won. They stole back life.
One of the Asgardian scientists calls Wakanda to update them on the project – there will be a lot of people and creatures appearing on the plain outside their city, and some of them will be hostile.
It isn't long after that the compound explodes.
#
In Wakanda, Loki rematerializes and immediately panics, "Sleipnir?! Sleipnir?!" He looks frantically for his son before it dawns on him that the forest looks different. He looks out over the plain and notices more differences, and more confused people seem to be clustering together. Loki drops to the ground, still too stunned to make sense of what's happened.
A man with a metal arm finds him a few minutes later, "Hey...you alright?" he asks.
"No," Loki says.
"OK, yeah, bad question. You have any idea what's going on?"
Loki shakes his head, "Thanos won. We shouldn't be here. Why doesn't the world look the same as I remember it?"
A gold sparking circle appears in the air not far from them, "Know what that might be?" his guest asks.
"No," Loki says, drawing his daggers, "And I'm not very keen on surprises at this point."
"Huh. Guess we hope it's good news, then," the man with the metal arm says. He turns to Loki, "Name's Bucky Barnes. You?"
"Loki."
Bucky nods, "Well, nice to meet you Loki. Let's hope our guests' got a good explanation for what the hell is going on around here."
A man dramatically floats through the circle as Loki stands, "It's been a year since Thanos snapped us all out of existence, but he's back we have one chance to defeat him. On my mark, you're going to need to come through a portal like this to save the universe."
Bucky shrugs, "Guess that explains why the landscape's changed. Care to tell us how we all just lost a year of our lives?"
The floating man touches down, "There's not time. Infinity Stones. But they also brought you back. And there was some time travel involved to get them. But anyway...get your weapons and stay here until another portal like this one opens. Then step through."
Loki shakes his head, "Thanos will kill me the moment he sees me. He thinks he's already done so. The rest of you lot can fight this. I need to find my son."
"Technically, that wasn't this Thanos who tried to kill you," the no-longer-floating man replies.
Loki stares, confused, "Excuse me? Do I know you? And what does that mean, that it wasn't this Thanos?"
Their visitor extends his hand, "Dr. Stephen Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts. There's no time to get into all the details. But this Thanos came forward in time. The Thanos from this timeline's dead. But the new guy's not any more friendly."
"Ah," Loki says, "And just how close in time to the Battle of New York is this Thanos?"
Dr. Strange pauses, "Ah. Yeah...that's going to be pretty fresh in his memory."
Loki stands, "Well, thank you, Doctor, but you haven't convinced me to stay. In fact...a Thanos with a closer memory of New York is decidedly more dangerous to me than one who has had a little distance from it. And still has tried to kill me...and succeeded."
Dr. Strange shrugs, "Suit yourself, but we've only got one chance and you're a big part of why we can win." He doesn't wait for Loki to answer before stepping back through his portal, "Remember, wait here, and come through when you see the portal." It closes behind him.
Bucky turns to Loki, "So...do you know him?"
"Only briefly – I know he spoke to my brother at length." Loki sits back down and his knives vanish.
"Do I know your brother?"
Loki laughs, "He was rather obvious on the battlefield – made a dramatic entrance and everything...my brother is Thor."
Bucky shrugs, "Don't think I've ever met him, honestly."
"He arrived in Wakanda on a rainbow beam from the sky with a small furry creature carrying a large gun," Loki clarifies.
"Oh! Him!," Bucky replies, "Yeah, he had a really big axe and some lightning. The raccoon guy was cool – let me carry him so we could shoot a lot of those things all at once." He pauses, then asks, "So...why don't you want to go through the portal?"
Loki sighs, "Thanos and I...have a history. I briefly worked for him after some truly horrific torment then I failed his mission and didn't deliver him two of the Infinity Stones. Years later, he slaughtered a good number of our remaining people and then tried to kill both Thor and myself. Let's just say I'm not eager to face any version of Thanos who would remember me, as his brutality is likely to be exceptional if he feels there's reason to punish me."
Bucky settles in beside Loki, "Sounds like we've got another thing in common, then."
"Oh?"
"We've both been on the wrong side," Bucky answers.
"Really?" Loki asks.
"Yep. If we both make it out of this mess, I'll tell you about it. Deal?" Bucky says, offering his hand.
Loki shakes it, "You have a deal."
"It's OK if you don't fight," he adds, "Somebody out there's going to tell you have to, or say shit if you don't but...well, sometimes the fight's in your head and you have to win that war first."
"Perhaps we have another thing in common, then..."
"Yeah?"
Loki nods, "Perhaps if we make it out of this, I'll tell you something of my story."
Bucky smiles, "Sure, sounds like a plan." A glowing portal begins to shimmer into existence in front of them, "Well, looks like that's my cue. Hopefully, I'll see you around." Bucky steps through the portal. Loki peers past him at the battlefield beyond. He knows he should stand up and join them, but he feels rooted to the ground. The sheer mass of Thanos' forces leave him feeling ill. The portal slips closed.
Loki is left alone to his thoughts. He can only imagine the noise and the bloodshed happening wherever Thanos has landed.
He loses track of time, lost in his memories. All he can think about is what Thanos has forced him to endure. The torture. The mind-control. The abject terror that certain things shouldn't cause to surface, but do, such as the sound of someone following close behind, unseen.
"I was broken before Thanos found me, but not like this," Loki says to himself, "And my by gods, do I hate him for it."
Not long after he speaks, a shimmering portal appears and a man in monk's robes steps through, "Loki?"
"Yes?"
"It's time."
"I don't want to."
The newcomer shrugs, "Suit yourself. But you can end this."
Loki sighs, "How?"
"Just come through the portal. You'll see." The monk returns to the battlefield.
Loki walks closer to the portal and watches what's happening beyond it. The fighting is vicious and cacophonous. He can hardly keep track of who is where, though the lightning strike he sees not far away tells him that Thor is nearby. Then he sees Thanos fighting a glowing woman who holds his gaze and tries to pry the gauntlet from his hand.
Loki sees an opportunity forming. Thanos is occupied, his entire focus on the woman in front of him. He conjures his knives and steps through, the portal closing after him. He sneaks closer, knowing he will have precisely one chance to make his hastily-formed plan work.
Thanos calls on the powers of the Infinity Stones and finally overpowers the woman, throwing her aside. His attention follows her and Loki springs into action. He teleports to beside Thanos and slashes with both daggers. Thanos howls in pain.
His gauntletted hand falls to the ground.
Loki grabs the gauntlet and vanishes it into a pocket dimension, staggering back as he does. All Thanos' attention is now on him. Panic overtakes him and he stumbles as Thanos descends, weapon raised in rage.
Lightning slams into Thanos' side, knocking him sideways, and Loki sees Thor stride around some wreckage, "You'll pay for what you did to my brother and to Asgard!" he shouts.
Loki scrambles to his feet, "Thor! He doesn't have it!"
Thor glances where Thanos' hand should be and grins, "Easier to kill, then!"
Loki brings out his daggers once again and joins his brother, "Perhaps together?"
Thanos grabs his blade and swings it at them both. Thor blocks it with Stormbreaker above his head. Loki sees another opportunity and lunges forward. He slams his daggers into Thanos' throat.
He tears them sideways in opposite directions as blood bubbles from Thanos' lips, "I am no coward and you are no god." Thanos' body crumples to the ground, his head barely still attached. His blade catches Loki's shoulder as it falls, knocking him over. Thor catches him.
"Loki...you did it."
"I did."
"You killed Thanos."
Loki nods slowly, "I know."
"Where are the Infinity Stones?"
But Loki can't focus on his answer, his eyes still firmly fixed on the corpse at his feet and the searing pain in his shoulder, "It's over."
"Well...not yet. We have all these creatures to fight," Thor answers.
"I know, but...it's over," Loki repeats. And this time, Thor knows what he means.
The glowing woman approaches them. She looks from Thor to Loki and back to Thor.
"My brother killed Thanos," Thor says to her, "This is Loki." He turns to Loki, "And this is Carol Danvers. She is one of the mightiest heroes I've ever met. We travelled in space a little together while we were trying to figure out how to bring everyone back."
"Ah. Well, then it's lovely to meet you, madam."
"Same," she answers, "But I also know you haven't always been on the right side of history, so...where're the Infinity Stones?"
"Safe," Loki replies. "I have them hidden."
"I'm going to need you to give them to me," Carol says.
Loki tenses, "Why?"
"So I can end this."
"I'll do it," Loki says, "I think I've earned that right."
Carol nods, "Yeah, you have. But it would kill you. These things are strong – they burn when they're used and they didn't even leave Banner unscathed and Hulk's pretty close to indestructible. So...I'd rather you not earn this victory and then just die right after."
Loki sighs, "You make a compelling argument."
"Yeah, I'm pretty good at those. So...are you going to let me do this?"
"You? You're human, aren't you? How will you fare better?" Loki asks.
"Well, I started out human, and then I got blasted by an engine using some technology based on the Tesseract and had a blood transfusion from the Kree, so I'm not exactly what you'd call me now. But I can do this." She turns to fire. "Pretty sure if I can fly right through a spaceship and be fine, the gauntlet's not going to hurt me."
Loki warily looks around to make sure no one nearby could intercept the Infinity Stones; satisfied with their distance from others, he pulls the severed hand and gauntlet from his pocket dimension, "Here. Sorry about the hand still being in it."
She shrugs and touches the flesh with her glowing hand; it singes to ash and falls from the metal, "No worries." She is still glowing when she puts it on, the power of the Infinity Stones coursing over her own magic, but instead of shrieking in pain or curling in agony, she simply giggles, "That kinda tickles." She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and snaps her fingers. The creatures allied with Thanos turn to dust and the battle slams to a halt.
It is absolutely silent for a solid few seconds before someone not far from them screams, "Thanos is dead! It's OVER!" and the entire field erupts in cheers.
Carol takes off the gauntlet, "You might want to hide this again, just so nothing gets lost in the celebration." Loki dutifully tucks it back in a pocket in reality and she smiles at him, "So...you saved the universe, Loki. Good job! Just make sure I get that back when I ask for it, OK? No tricks."
He nods, overwhelmed by the sound, and then vanishes; he whispers in Thor's ear, "I can't be here right now. But I'm not going too far." Thor wants to follow, but there are soon revellers in his way, his friends from many realms running over to celebrate their victory over Thanos. He worries about Loki and, for one brief moment, questions whether or not he can trust him. But he also knows Loki is tired and with Thanos' death, there is no more reason to run.