"Feels kinda like old times, huh?

Steve turned at Bucky's mumbled question, almost lost under the sounds of so many boots echoing though the hall as King T'Challa took them to Heimdall.

He chuckled. "We have very different memories of old times."

"How so?" Bucky shrugged, a sideways grin dancing across his mouth. "Take out the aliens and wizards and Black Panther magic, and voila. Old times."

They fell into easy step at the back of the group, Steve thrilling in the relief of not having to lead for a few minutes. He again clocked Tony's absence and wondered if the two would get any time at all to salvage their friendship. Probably not with Buck around. Steve sighed, still amazed and heartbroken that his old and new lives conflicted so much.

"I think old times were simpler," he said. "Easier to point out the bad guys."

Bucky's jaw clenched, and Steve regretted his words immediately. "Hey, Buck. I didn't-"

"No, you're right." Bucky clapped a metal hand on Steve's shoulder. "Never thought I'd be in the gray area. Although…"

Steve followed Bucky's eyes to the small woman almost invisible in the front of the group, her shining brown hair bobbing level with the broad shoulders of the armored men a foot or more taller than her. Natasha and Wanda had held back near Steve and Bucky, but Jane stayed beside Loki, his hand never straying far from her back, her elbow, brushing her fingertips.

"They're like magnets," Bucky whispered, his voice intrigued and contemplating. He didn't realize he'd spoken out loud until Steve answered.

"They're definitely something. I'm just not sure it's good."

Bucky shook his head. "Good or bad. Doesn't matter. Watch him. He's always touching her, not even conscious of it. And she allows it. No, no. She invites it."

"Bucky, she's possessed, and you barely know her," Steve said, noticing Natasha's quick glance back to him. After all these years on the run, he knew every one of her looks, and this was a warning. "Sorry," he mouthed and gave a quick shush to Bucky.

"Hey," Bucky said and pulled Steve to a stop. Natasha continued forward with the group, an eyebrow raised at Steve as she walked. He gave her a small smile, and her answering grin reminded him she knew all of his looks too. He cleared his throat and turned to Bucky.

"Jane Foster? Really? Of all the women, Buck, she doesn't seem like the safest choice to re-enter the dating game."

Bucky slugged Steve in the bicep. "Oh, ha ha. Thanks for the support. But that's not where I'm going with this. I just," he looked back to where the group had been before they disappeared around a corner. "She's something else. Wholesome. Innocent, but tarnished." Steve raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I'm no poet, but you know what I mean. And Loki, well, he's like me."

Steve held up a hand, eyes narrowed. "He's nothing like you. You were being controlled. Loki knew exactly what he was doing. Big difference."

"But did he? Completely? The way she looks at him says maybe not."

"Well, you weren't there. And neither was she."

"Hey. I'm not sayin' the guy's an angel, but if she can see past his history, I guess it just gives me some hope, you know? Maybe someday, people won't look at me like Tony Stark looks at me."

"Bucky," Steve started.

"Bad example, I know. But you've seen the looks I get around here. The Wakandans, Sam, even Natasha sometimes. I mean, I spend most of my time in a containment room unless someone chaperones me."

His bitterness was as unmistakable as his guilt. Steve couldn't come up with a rebuttal.

Bucky continued. "Maybe I'm dreamin', but if a woman like her could look at me someday like she looks at Loki…well," he threw his hands up and hoped Steve understood what he couldn't put into words.

Steve pushed him forward to catch up to the group. "Listen, Buck. You're a good man. The best, in my book. And you carry this big weight about your past, but I know you'll bear it and beat it. One day, you'll forgive yourself, and some Jane Foster out there will make eyes at you too. It just takes time." He squeezed his friend's shoulder. "Good thing you have all those super soldier years to find her, right?"

Bucky shuffled back toward the group, head low but a smile peaking through the curtain of his long hair. "When did you start giving me advice about women? Used to be the other way around, punk."

Steve's laugh echoed. "You better take that advice with a grain of salt. I don't exactly have a ton of experience in that department."

"Uh huh," Bucky said, rolling his eyes. "You would if you grew a spine." He gave Steve a neat elbow to the ribs and got one in return, earning them another warning look from Natasha as they caught up to the group. Both of them straightened, Bucky smirking as a hint of red colored Steve's cheeks.

King T'Challa stopped in front of a nondescript door. He looked to Loki. "Your companion is inside this medical facility. As such, I must ask for respect and quiet. Only those absolutely necessary for the task ahead shall enter."

"My cue to leave," Bucky said to Steve and turned to stride back down the hall.

Natasha followed. "I'll keep tabs on him. You stay with Loki."

"You're sure?"

She nodded and gifted him another small smile. He pulled himself up straighter with effort, ready again to be the leader he was created to be.

"Vision, Strange, Loki. We'll go in with King T'Challa."

Loki paled and grasped Jane's wrist. Steve could see the argument forming in his eyes. It was Wanda, surprisingly, who stepped forward first.

"Doctor Foster, may I have a word? My time wielding the Mind Stone has left me with many questions. I wonder if we cannot learn from each other before the battle with Thanos."

Jane tilted her head at Wanda's request, black eyes flashing with curiosity. "You would help my host? A stranger?

Wanda nodded. "She is one of us now. As are you."

A war raged within Jane for only a moment before she turned her attention back to Loki. "I will go with this woman. I am not needed to awaken your guardian."

He allowed his fingers to tangle with hers. "You are always needed."

She smiled and pressed a single finger to his lips. "I am not, Prince."

He sighed. "Very well." His eyes fell closed at her touch. "I will find you when Heimdall is restored. You are crucial to that conversation."

"Yes. Find me."

He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Always."

She stepped away from him then turned to Wanda, the two falling into easy conversation as they left the five men alone. Vision watched his love with a pride he hardly understood.

Stephen Strange sighed heavily. "Can we please get to work? This romance novel garbage actually makes me miss Stark's commentary."

All eyes moved to Strange, and bit by bit, the dire seriousness around them cracked for a second. Steve Rogers hid a smile behind a fake cough. Loki and Vision shared a grin, both slightly pink in the cheek. And King T-Challa clapped a hand on his thigh with a single, deep bark of laughter.

"Yes, Doctor. You are right. Let us get to work."

He pushed open the heavy door, and Loki strode toward Heimdall. The huge man was suspended in a cylindrical tank filled with thick liquid, a mask over his nose and mouth and tubes piercing the dark skin of his arms and legs. His chest was bandaged heavily, and a simple leather shift covered his modesty.

"That is one very large man," Strange said with a low whistle. "Let's get him out of there and lay him…umm…" He glanced around the room. "How about on that table over there? Just somewhere flat and long enough for his whole body." He glanced at Loki. "Do they have powerlifting competitions on Asgard? First Thor, and now this guy. Guess you never participated, huh?"

Loki answered with a withering stare. "It appears we do not need Stark when you are around."

"Gentlemen?" T'Challa said as three Dora Milaje helped Steve Rogers move Heimdall. Vision watched with a calm smile, the jewel in his forehead glowing.

"Right," Strange said, and he unlocked the Time Stone once again. "Please monitor this man's vitals the entire time. He may experience issues with the reversal. Nausea, vomiting, passing out. Standard reactions. Plus, he'll feel like a sword is piercing his heart a second time."

T'Challa nodded, hiding a cringe.

Loki hesitantly approached the guardian and wrapped a shaking hand around his wrist. It would not be much, but Loki hoped some measure of comfort would be conveyed. Especially because Heimdall's explanations were desperately needed, both for Loki and for the Avengers, and regardless of his reactions to the reversal, he would get no rest.

Strange caught his eye, nodded, then looked to the others for confirmation.

"Here we go."

Stephen thrust his arms forward and curled them around the air surrounding the Time Stone. Bright bands of green light twisted around his wrists as he extended one gloved hand, palm down, toward Heimdall's heart. A heated wind swirled through the room, and beads of sweat broke out along the doctor's upper lip. He rotated his palm toward the sky, and the green bands began to shrink.

Loki's eyes widened as Heimdall's jaw clenched, his fingers stretched straight out before balling into fists, and the corded muscles of his stomach contracted. A great grunt ripped through the air as his hands clawed at the bandages across his chest, shredding them to reveal his gruesome wound. But blood was pulsing into it as Strange's shaking arms continued their counterclockwise motion, more and more of the green bands disappearing.

"This is taking longer than it should!" Strange spit through grinding teeth.

Loki tightened his grip, refusing to let go of the only person who could explain why he was on Earth. Possibly why he was alive at all. Heimdall's chest wound was closing before his eyes, the bruises disappearing as the seconds passed. He was holding back noises of agony behind thin lips, eyelids pulsing and flashing hints of white as they fought to open.

"Loki, what's happening?!" Strange pushed. "Wake him up!"

"I do not know how!" Loki warned, knuckles turning white. "Heimdall, can you hear me? Can you hear me?!"

A scream surged forward, and Heimdall's gold eyes flew open, beams of white light radiating from his eyes, his mouth, his hands and feet. After a flash of blindness, Loki shook the wrist he still held, and those golden eyes flew to him, blood vessels bursting and healing as Strange completed the reversal. Words were pouring from Heimdall's mouth, running together, almost nonsensical, too quick to comprehend.

Strange sank to one knee, a trickle of blood running from his nose, but still, he held the end of the green bands around his weakening wrists. "I need an update here!"

"He is alive!"

"Great." Strange let his arms fall, and Vision caught him as he wobbled to the side. "Might want to hold him down. And watch out for possible vomit. It happens."

King T'Challa and Captain America each grabbed one of Heimdall's pulsing arms. Steve Rogers stood side by side with Loki in shared purpose as Heimdall's great body spasmed, his screams continuing as the skin across his chest sewed itself back together, leaving smooth chocolate skin broken only by the faded lines of aged scars.

"Why is he screaming?" Steve yelled to the group.

Strange waved a hand in the air. "Trauma. Didn't you scream when you were basically reborn?"

"Not like this. Not with…lights?"

Vision helped Strange to his feet. "I may be able to calm his mind. Can you stand without aid, Doctor?"

Stephen waved him off, and Vision floated to the head of the table, laying one palm to Heimdall's forehead. His struggles ceased immediately. His eyes closed. The light dissolved into hundreds of fine, golden diamonds that hung suspended in the air around the group like twinkling stars.

"Heimdall?" Loki asked, daring to let hope bleed into his tone. The diamonds of light danced in his eyes, and he was reminded of his father's final moments, his last words on that beautiful hillside. I love you, my sons. Loki swallowed twice. "Heimdall, can you speak?"

Heimdall's healed chest rose and fell three times, great gulps of air filling his lungs. His eyes opened, golden orbs assessing Vision first, then King T'Challa, then Steve Rogers, and finally landing on Loki. They held Loki's eyes, passing judgment but giving nothing away, and Loki's unwavering grip tightened until his fingers ached. He waited for his sentence to be passed.

"My Prince."

Relief pushed a nervous cackle from his open mouth. He wanted to collapse in the dirt or fly to the Heavens, or both. He could crow or scream or cry. For the emotions that sang from those simple words. For the sound of devotion to the royal family by their honored guardian. For the ridiculous formality and faith in Heimdall's voice. Faith in Loki. Faith in the fallen God of all things disastrous and wrong.

"You are truly alive," he whispered.

Heimdall did not blink. "As are you."

Tears prickled Loki's eyes. "At a price."

"We shall see."

The golden specks around the men divided, multiplying hundreds of times, zooming right, left, up, down, until they collided over and over to create an endless room of solid, blinding white. All sound disappeared, and the six men stood silent in the white void as Heimdall rose to his full height. With a wave of his great hand, his fine, golden Asgardian armor wrapped like ribbons around his ankles, calves, thighs, waist. It curved and danced along his wrists, his forearms, biceps, chest, neck. The Guardian of the Bifrost, the all-seeing Heimdall, once more.

He strode from the group toward nothing the other men could see. The white was uninterrupted in every direction, but Heimdall moved with quick, determined strides.

Loki stepped forward once, then twice, and then he was following cautiously. The others were not far behind. Even Stephen Strange, supported by Vision, kept up with the group as they chased the golden guardian toward nothing.

Until the nothing became something.

Two figures appeared, both in shadow, and Loki and the Avengers stopped. But Heimdall picked up his pace, approaching the two shadows without hesitation. When he reached them, he fell to one armored knee with a fist over his healed heart. The shadows across the two figures dissolved to reveal…

Loki choked on his next breath, and then he was running as though Thanos himself was in pursuit. The two figures, a man and a woman of such youth and vigor and radiance, watched his approach with small smiles.

Loki's run turned to a jog, to a walk, then he stopped and fell to his knees at the feet of the woman, her shining hair twisted into an intricate design, a crown nestled in her curls. Breathtaking. Familiar. Home.

And her companion... Loki touched his forehead to the ground, kneeling and bowing before the gleaming armor shining in the white light, the man's face unlined and his eyes, both of them, piercing.

"Why do you kneel, Loki?" Odin asked, a laugh teasing in his stern voice. The same soft voice he regularly used with his sons, especially in times of high mischief. "I hardy recognize you."

"That is because you have never seen such a sight. Darling, stand," his mother said, touching his cheek. "You are a prince."

A prince. Of Asgard. Loki looked at his hands, wanting to hide the pale blue of his skin. His adopted parents should not have to look upon the monster living within him.

Frigga pulled his chin up to look in her eyes. "Such simple worries, Loki. It is only your heart that matters. And it is neither Aesir nor Joten nor anything else except you. You are a prince of Asgard, and more importantly, you are our son. Nothing can change that."

Loki threw himself into his mother's arms, knowing in his darkest depths that he had killed her all those years ago. With a single, careless act, he signed her death sentence. The one person in his life who never once gave up on him, no matter the falsehoods Thanos created in his mind, and he had sent that monster straight to her. And to Jane.

"Oh, Loki," Frigga laughed. "Let go of the past. The future waits for you."

He pulled back and met Frigga's eyes. "The future?"

"Yes, my son," Odin said as he gripped Loki's shoulder. "I have seen what you do."

I have seen what you do.

Loki's head snapped to Heimdall. The guardian nodded, raising from his bent knee. "Both of you."

Frigga looked over Loki's shoulder. "It is inevitable."

Loki followed her gaze, looking beyond Stephen Strange and Vision and King T'Challa and Captain America, where Jane Foster stood. Deep lines of confusion crossed her forehead as she absorbed the sight of the white void, the men, the king and queen. Until her eyes landed on Loki, and her face returned to unmarked porcelain. Trust, faith, and something Loki dared not name shined from her in that moment.

"It is…inevitable," he whispered.

Heimdall stepped forward. "My King, we must hurry."

"Ah, yes." Odin released Loki, dashing a line of wetness from his cheek. "When I died, I gifted my Sight to Heimdall. He has been charged for millennia to watch the present and protect the people of Asgard. Now he sees the possible futures throughout the universe as well. It is a crushing responsibility and one neither of my sons was ready to bear."

Loki listened carefully, his eyes still on Jane as she approached. She watched Odin with a piercing expression, gazed on Frigga with admiration, and assessed Heimdall as one would search for the flaws in a diamond. She reached her arm toward Loki without looking, and he captured her hand in his, marveling at the burst of electricity from her simple touch.

Heimdall nodded to Jane, then looked at Loki. "The future is never concrete. Each choice, each action and reaction can change the possibilities. But over and over, in each possible future, I saw the Mad Titan and the Infinity Stones. And always, Prince, you and Jane Foster and the Avengers," he looked to the four men standing to the side of the group, "were entangled in the war to stop Thanos from destroying half of all life in the universe."

Frigga looked behind her, then to her right and left. "Where are the others? They must hear this as well."

Heimdall nodded and clasped his hands together, a small jolt of energy whining through the white space. Flashes like sunlight reflecting on a pond drew the eyes of the assembled group. Tony Stark appeared. Then Bruce Banner. Natasha Romanoff. James Barnes. Wanda Maximoff. And a strange group of beings unknown to all except Loki.

Strange tapped Steve Rogers with his elbow. "Is that a raccoon with a machine gun strapped to his back?"

Rocket glanced over, mouth hanging open in confusion, as Drax, Mantis, and Groot lowered in preparation for battle until they saw Loki. Two others stood with them, but Loki did not recognize them. And two he expected were very much missing.

"Friends," Odin said, voice booming with ageless authority. "There is much to say. Heimdall."

"I have brought you all across space to hear this message. You are joined together," he glanced at Loki as the edge of his mouth tilted upward, "with glorious purpose. To defeat Thanos and save billions of lives across the galaxy. I am Heimdall, and I have seen what you do, the choices you make, the futures you build, the victories and failures, the endings and beginnings. Today, you are one team, and you must decide the universe's fate."

"Geez, no pressure," Rocket grumbled.

The Avengers and Guardians moved closer to Heimdall as he spoke, each assessing the beings around them with looks of interest, mistrust, confusion, and wonder.

Odin stepped forward, and Heimdall bowed his head. "The Infinity Stones have, for as long as life has existed, been hunted by those seeking limitless power. Wise men have thought to bury them, hide them away, and seal them in vaults in order to separate them and protect the world. But time and again, they are found and brought together for disastrous means. It is time, my friends, to destroy them."

Two sounds ripped through the air. A gasp of horror, and a whispered 'no.' Eyes darted between two women, one with black eyes and the other growing as pale as the room around her. Both pulsed with a red aura that flashed in the white void like an inferno.

"Jane," Loki said as Vision breathed "Wanda."

Odin held up his hand. He gestured Wanda forward to stand with Vision, but he addressed Jane.

"You are the Aether within Jane Foster, are you not?"

Jane nodded. "I am. You wish to destroy me and, with me, my host."

"And Vision," Wanda spoke, her voice a warning. "You would kill him to rid the universe of the Mind Stone?"

Odin shook his head. "These are not my choices to make. I can only tell you the tales of villains throughout the ages who have collected all of the stones." He turned to address the entire group. "The combined power of the stones allows the holder to destroy civilizations, worlds, friends, enemies, family, strangers. To imprison all living things. To grant their darkest wishes. That power should not be yielded by one. Heimdall?"

"My King?"

"Can you see the Mad Titan now?"

"I cannot."

Odin hummed and pressed his eyes closed. "He hunts a stone." His gleaming eyes found Steve Rogers. "And he is cloaked by another guardian. One you once knew and fought. Another in a long line of evil men with plans to rule with the fist and not with the heart."

Loki swallowed, remembering his own plans to rule Midgard with power over compassion. But Odin's words pulled him from his memories. He looked toward the Guardians. "Did you collect the Reality Stone from Knowhere? And where is Gamora?"

Only silence answered him. From the back of the group of Guardians, a woman…a machine…came forward. She stood tall before Loki. "You are the God of Lies?"

"I am Loki of Asgard," he answered, cautiously, stomach already churning at the downcast eyes behind her.

"Thanos collected the Reality Stone. He searches now for the Soul Stone."

Loki staggered back a step, looking at Jane. Thanos controlled the Aether. Jane held his eye, pain crossing her face. "If he comes for me, he will destroy my host to control the full power of the Reality Stone. I am only a piece, helpless to the pull of the wielder of such power without my host's protection."

He squeezed her fingers. No words needed spoken. But as with everything about his connection to Jane Foster, other things took precedence. He turned back to the blue woman, coiled like a cobra. "Who are you? Where is Gamora? Where is Thor?"

The woman straightened but did not answer.

Loki searched the group and found Mantis and her sad, hopeful eyes. He pushed past the silent woman, his heartbeat loud in his ears. "Why does this woman speak for you? Where is Gamora? Where is my brother? What is not being said?!"

"He is safe," Mantis whispered.

"And Gamora? And the peacock, Quill was it?"

Mantis dropped her eyes. "Peter Quill is resting now."

"Because of Thanos," Rocket mumbled. With a hunched posture, his eyes met Loki's. "Thanos took Gamora." He sighed. "And Quill's out of commission over it. We found her sister, though," he said, pointing to the silent woman.

"Loki," Odin said from behind him. "I must continue."

Loki stared at Rocket, digesting what his words meant. Four stones. And the remaining two were less than ten feet from him.

Odin continued to the group. "You must destroy the stones in your possession before Thanos arrives on Midgard."

"Sorry. Odin, was it?" Tony Stark's voice cut through the white void. "Not that I'm agreeing with you, because you're talking about killing two of my closest friends, and I'm certainly no expert, but it doesn't seem like destroying Infinity Stones is a thing. And if it's even possible, we don't have that kind of fire power just lying around Earth or Midgard or whatever you want to call here."

Odin nodded. "It is not impossible, though you are correct. It takes an enormous amount of focus and power. Only another Infinity Stone can destroy its sibling."

Stephen Strange stepped forward. "No one is destroying the Time Stone. I took a sacred oath to protect it, and that's what I'll be doing."

"And no one is killing Vision," Wanda said, her accent emerging without conscious thought.

"Or my host," Jane said.

Odin folded his hands behind his back. "You will destroy the stones, or Thanos will take them. It is your choice. One made more difficult by your collective mistrust." He raised his arms in front of him, pleading. "Thanos will destroy all of you if he collects the six stones. How many individual lives are worth the lives of trillions across the universe?" He sighed. "I do not wish these choices upon any of you, but they lay at your feet regardless. Destroy the stones before they can be used to destroy you, your world, and all you love."

Odin turned back to Loki, and Frigga joined them. "I have said all I know. We must depart."

Loki tensed and reached for his mother. "What of Thor?"

Odin's eyebrows drew together. "There are many possible futures for your brother," he said. "The outcome of this conflict, and the decisions made therein, will determine everything."

"Loki," Frigga said, cupping his cheek, "Allow yourself to have faith. In this team. In your guardian. In your heart. Sentiment is not the villain you have always made it. You do not walk an easy path in any possible future, but you do not have to walk alone." Her eyes met Jane's black ones, then swept across the men and women present in the void. "You can have a family once more."

"Will you return?" Loki asked, his grief choking him for he knew the answer.

She shook her head, a watery smile appearing and disappearing in a blink. "My sweet Loki. I am amazed by this man you have become. We love you so very much."

Odin nodded, clapping a hand on Loki's shoulder. "Fight, my son. Win. And live a life worthy of the throne. You were born and raised as powerful royalty. What you do with that power will determine your legacy and the fate of those you care about most. Make us proud."

Loki embraced his father, not ashamed of his tears as he reached for Frigga and pulled her to his side. "I will, Father. I will." He savored the feel of Frigga's warm cheek against his own, of his father's gleaming armor under his hand, of the sweet smell that wafted from the two of them. Blooming flowers in his mother's garden. He squeezed a bit tighter and held on as the white void faded, as the sound of machinery and voices returned to him, as his arms held only air. He opened his eyes to see five men standing tall and watching him for his next move. No Jane. None of the others were with them here. He assessed each of his companions with the critical eye of newfound purpose.

Stephen Strange. Vision. Steve Rogers. King T'Challa.

Heimdall.

He turned to Steve Rogers and raised his chin. "I am Loki," he said with authority, "of Asgard. You and I face a common threat." He breathed once, twice. "I wish to fight by your side." He stuck out his hand and threw away his fears, his doubts, his inferiority, his past. "As an Avenger."

After a moment that felt like several lifetimes, Steve Rogers clasped his forearm and nodded once.

"It's time to assemble the team."