It takes a few days for the Wakandan and Asgardian scientists to recreate the time-travel device alongside Dr. Banner, but when they do, Bucky goes with Carol to retrieve the gauntlet from Loki and he surrenders it without hesitation. It is a symbol of everything that has caused him pain and he is glad to be rid of it. They return the Infinity Stones to their rightful places in time and, when Steve Rogers returns, he declares his mission as Captain America is done and it's time for him to rest and figure out what to do with the rest of his life. He leaves the shield to Bucky with the instructions that he pass it along when the time is right.

Steve is among the first group of Avengers to leave Wakanda, and within a week, only Bucky, Thor, and Carol stay behind. But a teenage boy joins them, and Peter Parker is immediately taken by Shuri, his fascination with her technology leading to them giggling over jokes in the lab while she shows him Wakandan gadgets unlike anything he has ever seen.

Loki spends a lot of time in an alcove in the palace near his rooms, just around the corner from Thor's. The window runs from nearly the floor to ceiling, there is a low cushioned bench in front of it. He can lean against the cool glass and watch the world bustling below. It's how he feels about his own life – an observer to it from the outside, isolated from his own ability to choose what happens next.

It has been two weeks since he killed Thanos when he has a guest in his nook; Bucky leans against the wall beside him, "So...can I sit down?"

Loki tucks his knees to his chest, making space where his legs had been, "What do you want?" he asks a little more abruptly than he intended.

Bucky settles in beside him cross-legged and shrugs, "Not much. Just to check on you. You never really talk to anyone."

Loki raises his eyebrow, "That's all?" Bucky nods. Loki takes a moment to think and then says, "I know. I just...don't feel up to it."

"Look, you know I've had some shitty experiences, dealt with mind control, don't trust a lot of people, and live in a perpetual state of identity crisis on top of all that," Bucky says gently. He smiles at Loki, "I get it – things are complicated when you've been on the wrong side of history. But this is what we've got to work with, so...you know, we just have to figure out how to deal with it. And never saying anything to anyone but Sleipnir isn't going to help."

"And you tell me this why?"

He shrugs, "Because you're a lonely soldier with a traumatic experience and you just faced off with the guy who nearly killed you at least twice and I'm going to bet you thought killing him would solve your problems, but it didn't, and now you're fighting against your own head and you're not willing to ask for help." Loki just stares at him. "And that look tells me I'm right."

"What if you are?"

"Then you know you've got someone to talk to when it gets to be too much," Bucky stands, "Come find me when you're ready. I've got a room down the hall. If I'm not there, Shuri knows where I'll be. Maybe you should talk to her. She put me back together in more ways than one."

Loki shakes his head, "I hardly think a child would know how to help me."

Bucky glances back over his shoulder as he starts to walk away, "Suit yourself – she undid some of the mind control fuckery in my head. Dunno if it's the same kind of shit you deal with, but even if it's not...well, she's a brilliant scientist and inventor." He turns and walks backwards so he's still facing Loki, "According to Thor, you'd find her work pretty fascinating. Given the recent death of her brother, she could use another somebody who can appreciate her work." He turns back around and turns a corner.

Left alone, Loki stretches his legs back out and closes his eyes as he leans against the glass. This nation does fascinate him, and he wonders if letting himself be curious might help ease the emptiness and lack of purpose. But at the same time, the last time he was curious about a person or place, it was Sakaar and the Grandmaster. He'd charmed and questioned, but the cost of knowledge had been higher than he'd expected. The Grandmaster wanted things in return that Loki hadn't willingly given, but a payment was required of him and he did as he was asked. And before that, his curiosity was punished severely when he would ask Thanos or the Black Order about worlds, the Infinity Stones, or even his mission, beyond what was absolutely necessary for him to know. So for the past few years, curiosity has led to either humiliation or pain.

"They're not like that here," he whispers to himself, "Especially not the girl. She's a child. She's not going to harm me for asking questions." He slowly turns his back to the window and plants his feet on the floor, his hands gripping the edge of the bench as he leans forward to sit up, "Maybe it's worth trying." He pushes himself from the bench and heads down the hallway, part of him hoping Shuri will show him everything, another part of him hoping she's not in the lab so he can delay this another day.

When he arrives, he finds both Shuri and Peter laughing about something they have splashed over a large holographic screen. It's a picture with large white lettering over it, though he can't tell what. He turns to leave, feeling as though he'll be out of place in their mirth, or he'll only drag them down into the funk he's felt himself sinking into for the past few days.

Shuri notices him walking away and calls to him, "Come in! We're only playing around on the internet – there's nothing we're looking at that's too important for interruption."

"I don't want to intrude," Loki says, "I'll leave you to your fun."

Peter shakes his head, "Mr. Loki...no. Come on in. You don't get out enough for you to just go back in." He pauses and tilts his head, "Did that come out right?"

Loki nods, "Yes, I understood."

Peter ambles over to him, "So...you interested in the lab? Because I swear, Shuri's got more toys here than Mr. Stark ever did...well, maybe not ever ever, but it's super impressive. Wanna see?"

"Not if I'll be imposing on either of you," Loki says.

"You absolutely will not be," Shuri says, "So stop protesting. Come over and see what I've been working on."

He hesitantly steps farther into the room; Peter gestures for Loki to walk with him, smiling, "You've just got to see this – she's been working on the next gen of Black Panther armour. Well, not really Black Panther – the sacred flowers are all gone, but..."

"I'm sorry, I don't follow," Loki says.

Shuri gestures to the materials spread out over her workstation, "We imbue our rulers with the power of the Black Panther through a ritual surrounding the consumption of a certain plant. It's a form of magic, or spirituality, or perhaps both. Or it was. The drink was crucial to start the process of passing on the legacy, but the flowers that made the sacred tea were all destroyed. My brother was the very last true Black Panther. But I intend on carrying on the legacy in my own way, so I am building myself a suit. I know it's not the same and I will never have the same strength or agility, but..."

"But sometimes a tradition needs to be upheld, even if it changes by necessity," Loki replies. "This I understand. There will be things we bring with us to New Asgard that have to be honoured in ways we never would have imagined where we came from, but this is a new world and we no longer have our homeland, so we must plant new roots."

"Mr. Loki?" Peter asks. Loki nods in his direction, "So...can I ask you something?"

"Perhaps. I might not answer."

"Fair enough. Thor told us you weren't ready to go see New Asgard. But, like...it wasn't that long ago, to you, at least – you know, with the whole Blip thing. So Asgard just blew up for you, but...why don't you want to go see everybody?"

"Precisely because it was so soon ago...at least for me. Peter, my home was destroyed and I am the one who had to cause it to happen. And after, my actions brought Thanos to our vessel. Nearly no one knows it was I who brought Thanos to our doors, but... I'm not ready. Thanos tried to kill me, Peter. He descended on our ship, slaughtered my people, and then took me by the throat and tried to crush it. The explosion that followed flung Thor and I into space where we began to freeze and should have died. And to me, with as little time as it has been, going back to see the survivor's faces will be excruciating."

Peter walks over to Loki and opens his arms, "Mr. Loki, can I give you a hug?"

Loki freezes, unsure of what to say, "I...I don't know if I'm ready for that, either."

"Can we try? Because you need a hug."

Loki very cautiously nods, "So long as you don't continue if I tell you to stop."

Peter steps in and very gently wraps his arms around Loki for a very short, very light hug, "There. For the first one. Was that bad?"

Loki gives him a small smile, "No. But it wasn't as easy as it looked, either."

"That's OK. If you want, we can work on it."

"Perhaps."

Shuri gestures for them to join her, "And perhaps you can also come to see what I've been creating and some of the gadgets I've already built – I want to show off!"

Loki laughs, "Then of course, Princess, lead on and show us what you've made."

She pauses, "I'll allow it."

"Allow what?" Loki asks, confused.

"For you to call me Princess. But only because you are a prince, so it feels as though this is something we have in common, not a status."

"Yes, but I will never inherit the throne," Loki says.

"That's exactly what I told myself until very, very recently," Shuri replies.

Loki goes quiet, "Ah. Yes. I'm sorry – I spoke without thinking."

She shrugs, "What is done is done. T'Challa is dead. I am not. And so I have work to do. But that work won't stop me from also inventing and I am very impatient to show off these things, so come see them before I decide to hurl them in your direction to see how fast you can catch them...or they can catch you!"

Amused, Loki walks over to the table and looks at the pieces she has spread out, "You have a streak of mischief in you, Shuri. I like this."

Shuri smirks, "You have no idea the trouble I used to get into...T'Challa and I were best of friends," she says, her expression shifting, "I...I miss him. I miss the playfulness, and having someone who I knew would always be on my side."

Peter hurries over to her and drapes his arms around her from behind, "You need a hug, too, Shuri."

She nods, "I know. Thank you."

"And what might I do to help?" Loki asks.

"Don't let me get to serious. Keep me playful. Remind me to make mischief of one kind or another and ask me questions so I keep inventing and stay curious." She nods, resolute, as she leans back against Peter a little and he squeezes her, "If I can manage to do this, I can honour his legacy and become the queen he would want me to be."

Loki steeples his fingers and touches them to his chin, "An alliance, you say? Oh, I think I can help you in this mission – did my brother ever tell you one of my titles is 'god of mischief?'"

Shuri smiles, "Not directly, but it make sense, given some of the little stories he's shared. And thank you – I have a feeling we'll have fun together, Prince Loki." He shakes his head and opens his mouth to protest, but she clucks her tongue to cut him off, giving him a look that says if he can call her princess, it goes both ways. He quietly laughs as she continues, stepping forward out of Peter's hug and dramatically gesturing to her workstation, "But now...behold! My inventions!"

Loki steps beside the teens as she launches into her descriptions of the gadgets. It surprises him how welcome he feels beside these children, Peter peppering Shuri with questions, encouraging Loki to do the same, his enthusiasm catching. When she has walked them through everything on the table and several other things in the lab, they realize how hungry they all are and Peter calls for a raid on the kitchens. He skips backward down the hall, laughing as he encourages them to keep up and sending Shuri into peals of giggles when he can't remember which way he needs to go to get to the kitchens when he's facing the wrong direction.

Loki can't help but think Bucky was right and seeking out Shuri is going to be good for him.