Loki
Who needed therapy when you could hack and slash away at a zombie version of the being who held you hostage for a year and tortured you instead? This was a bad situation they were all in, but Loki had to admit this was cathartic as Hel, as he used his magic to blast Thanos into Laufey and wound up burning away half of his miserable scrotum-like face.
He jumped and pirouetted out of the way as Laufey's limbs flailed, just narrowly missing him. Then Thanos roared as he got back up and charged at Loki.
"Come and get me, you monster!" He spat, his fists flashing with green energy, and then...
His brother flew in out of nowhere, swung Stormbreaker, and the next thing Loki knew, Thanos's head was rolling towards his feet, what was left of his jaw still snapping at the air. Then he tried to bite Loki.
Loki swung his foot back and kicked the head like a soccer ball, sending it flying over everyone's heads and all the way across the battlefield. "Thanks for stealing my thunder."
"I learned a long while back that you need to go for the head with that one," was Thor's response.
Thor looked as wild as Loki felt. His eyes were filled with fury, his hair was in disarray. He was covered in grime and zombie guts. Even with his shielding, Loki was also covered in various bodily fluids and other disgusting substances. If not for the fact that he wanted no one besides his wife touching him, he would be making plans to spend a week at a spa when they got through this battle.
If they got through it.
Steve
The Beyonder eased himself into the seat right next to Steve. "It's not very often someone actually prays to me. Even my angels don't do that. You caught my attention."
"I'm flattered," Steve replied, getting off his knees and getting back into his seat. Michael had started forward to help him out, but Steve shook his head at her. The less attention she drew to herself, the better. The archangel reluctantly stepped back and settled in a seat a few rows down, closer to a cluster of monks. Good. If things went sideways, he wanted her to focus on protecting them first. He also noticed the glow was coming back, her skin taking on a much more luminous cast. Fortunately, she seemed to be doing something with her magic to direct the monks' attention away from her.
"Actually, I am flattered. As I have said, it does not happen," the Beyonder retorted, facing forward, eyes focused on the statue of the Buddha. "Instead, mortals turn to lesser gods who do nothing for them. They pray to them, but the gods do nothing. Their gods are weak."
Steve was offended, both for himself and on behalf of the monks and other Buddhists gathered here, but he didn't let it show. "Faith can be a funny thing, and we mortals just tend to follow our hearts to whatever path feels right for us."
"A very foolish way to live your life."
"It's the human way."
"It also seems to be the divine way. You have powerful, long-lived beings masquerading as gods dwelling on your very planet. Although I will give mortals credit in that they ceased worshipping those godlings long ago. Now, your world is dominated by faith in the God the angels serve...although they are realizing that God is weak as well and are following me."
"Not all of them," Steve challenged.
The Beyonder glanced at Michael. "No, some of them are being stubborn and are clinging to their old ways, but they will come to see their error. One way or the other. At least two archangels already have."
Steve wasn't going to talk about Derrick or the archangel who changed Tracy. He definitely wasn't going to bring up Tracy herself. It was best to get the Beyonder's mind off angels entirely. "So why did you answer me?"
"You piqued my curiosity," the Beyonder settled back in his seat. "Steve Rogers, a man out of time. The hero of a major war, leader of a motley band of superheroes, now retired yet here you are, trying to face down me, the most powerful being who ever lived."
"I'm not trying to face you down; I'm trying to have a conversation. And I would argue that you have never lived."
The Beyonder turned his head and raised an eyebrow at him. "What exactly," he asked in a voice that was a little too soft and calm, "do you mean by that?"
Stephen
He was getting tired. With the exceptions of the Eternals, gods, and green rage monsters among them they all were. He saw Tony sway on his feet and even Carol was looking pale and worn out. The Moon Knight had switched personalities, with Marc handing the reins to Steven once his energy began flagging, but even if it was another person controlling it the body was still the same. Still, Steven at least was clearer headed, but it probably wouldn't be long before their third persona took over.
Stephen was close to giving up hope that they'd make it out of this. He had been determined to see everyone survive, even Doom. Now he knelt beside the unconscious archangel, where he had been since Carol flew down with him, and wondered who among them would die first.
Gabriel groaned and stirred. Stephen sighed in relief. At least they were alright.
"Did it work?" Gabriel inquired in a scratchy voice.
"You destroyed Ego, but there are still zombies overwhelming us. Are you now running on fumes or can you produce more angelfire?"
Gabriel curled their fist, and tiny blue flames licked his knuckles. "This is the best I can do at the moment."
"It's better than nothing." Stephen stood up and held his hand out to the angel. Gabriel clasped his wrist and allowed Stephen to help him up.
He watched as the angel called in a sword from out of nowhere. Armed with a blade in one hand with the other a fist sparking with blue flame, Gabriel charged into battle against Proxima Midnight and Cull Obsidian.
It was a breathtaking sight, seeing him taking the zombies on. Stephen just wished it gave him more hope.
Steve
"You're a sentient being who obtained sentience fairly recently, and have been trying to study us ever since, right? But studying is not the same as living."
The Beyonder had a bewildered expression. "But I am here. I exist. I have a body, I speak. Is that not the very definition of alive?"
"You're alive, yeah, but you haven't experienced life," Steve answered. "It takes more than breath and body to really live."
If anything, the Beyonder looked even more confused. But he gazed at the statue of the Buddha again, seemingly lost in thought. Then he looked at Steve again. "Explain."
Steve took a few minutes to gather his thoughts. It wasn't easy for someone like him to explain something that really wasn't simple to explain. He decided to try his best. There was too much at stake for him not to give it a shot.
"Life is about much more than being an individual, about having a body and breathing. It's about so much more than observing the world. It's about living in it. It's about experiencing the emotions that come with life...not just sorrow and pain, but joy and love. It's about having connections with not just the world around you, but with people...family, friends, other loved ones."
"Doesn't that stem from desire, however? I came to the conclusion that it is desire that is the driving force behind life, and have endeavored to study the nature of it."
Steve gestured towards the Buddha with his chin. "The Buddhists say that the source of all suffering is desire. I would tend to agree. Yes, there are some who can never be content. They are always wanting something else. If they have a home, they want a palace. If they have money, they want more of it. If they have a wife, they want her to be a supermodel. If they have a daughter, they want a son. That's not all of us though."
"Is it not? You forget, Steve. I am all-seeing, so I have seen your desires."
"I'd be lying if I said that for a while there, I had missed being able to do the things I did as Captain America. But I am grateful to be alive. I am grateful for my friends and colleagues. And this mission has shown me that I am far more capable than I believed I was, even with my own personal guardian angel watching over me. Now, that desire to be as able-bodied as I was before the Power Broker abducted me no longer drives me. It's protecting myself and my universe's right to exist."
"So, you admit that you desire something. Wouldn't you then be suffering, according to the Buddhists."
"It's not a desire. It's a drive, a need, to see my loved ones alive and safe. For others to be allowed to live and pursue their own idea of happiness. That's why I prayed for you to come here and hear me out when I say that you need to stop torturing my friends and leave my home alone."
The Beyonder rose up in a heartbeat. His eyes were stormy and though Steve wasn't a sensitive, he could also feel the crackled of power in the air. He was slower in getting up, but he did it so he could look the Beyonder in the eye.
He heard no cries of alarm from the monks, which meant that Michael was most likely doing something so the other humans couldn't see or hear what was going on. Steve also noticed that some of them were leaving, which meant Michael was doing something to encourage them to find somewhere else to be.
"You dare," the Beyonder snarled.
"I dare," Steve replied, not blinking, not giving an inch. "I dare because I have more at stake than you. I have my life, my connections, my experiences. You have centuries of observing life like we're a petri dish. Observing is not the same as actually experiencing. You say you want to investigate the nature of desire, see how we work?"
The Beyonder frowned.
"I say you have no way of knowing who we truly are, what we're truly capable of, because while you have watched us, you haven't experienced it. How can you really know what it's like to be human, if you haven't spent time as a human yourself?"
The Beyonder glowered. Steve went in for the kill.
"As long as you're here, torturing my friends, threatening everyone in this universe, I will stay here and stand up to you. If you teleport away, I'll simply keep praying to you so that you can't stop hearing me," Steve stated in a soft voice. "And," he added, "I can do this all day."
The Beyonder stared at him. Steve didn't break eye contact. He found that the last words he spoke were not an empty boast. He really could do this all day, all night, all year if he had to. He would give anything to protect his friends, to save them.
It was a very long time that they stood there, glaring at one another. It seemed like a lifetime. Steve knew that Michael was growing more and more tense, but thankfully she hadn't rushed in to attempt a rescue. Even the monks seemed to sense something was happening. The few who were left cleared out of the main shrine in a hurry.
Then the Beyonder's lip twitched. Just slightly, very briefly, but it was there.
"Well played, Steve Rogers."
He raised a hand and snapped his fingers. Instantly the shrine was filled up with Steve's friends and colleagues. They were all covered in rotted blood and organs, were bedraggled and worse for wear, but they were alive. In shock, but alive.
The Beyonder saluted Steve. Then he faded away.
"Um, what just happened?" Tony spoke up first.
"Son of a bitch, Steve," Bucky shook his head. "You're a lunatic, but we already knew this. But that was ballsy even for you."
"Yes, it was," Michael added. "But he conducted himself admirably."
"So, what happens now?" Sersi asked.
The Beyonder
It was a new universe, and a new beginning. The Beyonder materialized in an alley in the New York of this Earth. Then with a sigh, he released his power to the cosmos, allowing this universe to drain him.
It was over in a heartbeat. In the blink of an eye, he was human.
He felt a slight breeze on his skin, smelled the odors in the alley...a mix of urine, vomit, garbage, and car exhaust. His stomach rumbled and felt empty. He slowly identified the feeling as hunger.
How curious.
He walked out of the alley and looked around. Then he chose a direction and wandered off.
Loki
"So that's it? After all he's done, all the lives he's taken...we're just going to let him live on another Earth as a human?!" Loki was outraged. He was outraged for himself, but also on behalf of his wife. Especially on behalf of his wife.
"It appears to be a solution that is working," Remiel answered quietly. "We are monitoring the situation carefully. Before I left for here, the Beyonder had been observed walking into a homeless shelter, eating meals with the denizens and having conversations with a few. We can detect no trace of power from him. He truly has become human."
"So, he's vulnerable," Loki pointed out.
"He is human. We cannot kill humans. That has been forbidden for centuries, banned at the same time the making of mortals into angels was."
Loki paced. He'd been pacing for an hour. He would probably get yelled at by Derrick for wearing a path in the carpet, but he didn't give a fuck. He had to release his energy and frustration somehow.
He wondered how Tracy was taking the news. Then he realized that she probably wouldn't be upset since she had no emotion. Norns, he missed her. Perhaps now that the crisis was finally over, she would return.
Part of him, though, remember what the illusion of her said to him, and wondered if she would be better off remaining Silent. That was why, despite it being over, he hadn't gone to the Silver City to see her. The other nine archangels overruled Michael's decision to ban him from going to the home of the angels, but he still hadn't been able to bring himself to go. He was afraid of what he would find.
That was probably why Remiel had come to Sanctuary, where everyone was recovering, and requested to speak to him specifically. She was also helping with healing everyone. Most of them had superficial injuries...cuts, bruises, sprains. A few of them had broken bones, which Remiel and a few angels had taken care of. Apparently, Remiel was the only archangel who could actually heal and she didn't do it using angelfire but some other ability that was uniquely hers.
The others had used the flames, which freaked out some of the heroes. A couple, like Doom, flatly refused the aid and just went back to their homes. The Eternals were also gone, dealing with Bor only knew what. Thor had gotten an update from Valkyrie about New Asgard. Of the ones who stayed, Groot had actually run from one angel who was using their fire, while Rocket threatened to shoot the head off another. The Guardians didn't leave though, since both Quill and Drax had been hurt and needed some recovery time.
Loki had managed to come out with barely a scratch, although that hadn't stopped the angels from trying to baby him. Again. It was the ultimate irony that he, who had wanted nothing but his family's love for his entire life, now wanted nothing but a break from his family's love. Or what passed for love coming from the Silent angels.
"So that's it then," Loki concluded.
"For now. As I have said, we are monitoring him closely. But this is the first reprieve the Hierarchy has had for centuries. We have the breathing room to come up with contingencies in case the Beyonder ever decides to reclaim his power. Let us hope we will never have to use them."
"May I help?"
"Of course. You are kin. We would welcome your input."
Loki stopped pacing, letting out a gusty sigh, and began to relax.
"Are you going to come see her?"
"Has she been asking for me?" Loki inquired back.
Remiel paused. "She is mostly focused on recovering, but I am certain she would appreciate seeing her husband."
Loki looked at the floor as he thought about it. Damn, he did leave a path in Derrick's carpet. She wasn't going to be happy. "I believe it would be best to let her rest longer before I invade her chambers in the Silver City."
Remiel studied him for a few minutes. Loki knew the archangel could smell his bullshit. Fortunately, she chose not to call him on it. "When you are ready, you are welcome at any time. Do not be hesitant about reaching out to us for anything."
Loki nodded as Remiel left, presumably to do more healing. Then he went back to brooding, staring out the window into the night beyond. And he wondered if Tracy really would want to see him.
Stephen
He found Gabriel in one of the upstairs guest rooms, staring at his reflection in a wall mirror. "You know what happened to Narcissus, don't you?"
Gabriel acknowledged Stephen with a nod, then went back to his brooding. It seemed to be going around.
"Look, I need to get back to the Sanctum...Wong already left but I have things I need to take care of, too. I just wanted to say...if you never need to speak, I am willing to listen," Stephen offered. When the archangel didn't say anything, Stephen began to leave to give him privacy.
"When the Beyonder showed all of us our worst fears..." Gabriel began.
Stephen paused and looked back.
"I saw my kind...perfect in Silence, completely free of all concerns, purged of all rage, all sorrow. But I also saw them without any care for anything, including any living thing. Mortals especially, but also for the universe. I saw them unconcerned for the well-being of other lives, indifferent to the suffering of mortals and others." Gabriel actually sounded haunted.
Stephen was shocked at the slight tremor in the archangel's voice.
Gabriel took a deep breath, his obsidian eyes looking more like dull orbs made of coal. "I don't want that, for my kind. I want better for my people. I want us to be better."
It was the first time Stephen had heard one of the angels express a want.
He went to the desk before the window, pulled out the chair, and sat down. "I'll hear you out. I might have some advice for how you can help make the angels better."
Gabriel nodded. Then he began to speak.
Derrick
All of the injured had been healed. The ones who still needed time to recover were assigned guest rooms in Sanctuary since this was the safest place for them, and Derrick found no hardship in that. She loved being surrounded by people, whether it was other angels, deities, or mortals, and thrived on the work in taking care of them. She pulled the stuffed chickens out of the oven, hoping she calculated right and that there would be enough for everyone. Even without the Eternals, the Wakandans, and the Kamar Taj sorcerers, there were still enough mouths that needed to eat in order to fuel their recovery. Wanda was in the kitchen as well, making up the sides to go with the chickens. The witch had been quiet and look distressed, so Derrick had offered to allow her to help with the food. Sure enough, Wanda seemed to get better as she concentrated on aiding in fulfilling the needs of the other people here.
The food was done, Derrick and Wanda set it out on the table, and allowed people to serve themselves buffet style. There was a friendly debate concerning how best to carve the chickens, but Loki finally grabbed the knives and demonstrated that he at least knew how to cut up a bird. Everyone settled into their grub after that.
It was about forty-five minutes after serving dinner, and everyone had broken off into their own conversational groupings, that Derrick sensed the ripple in Sanctuary. She followed the threads of magic to the source, and found someone she hadn't been expecting at all.
"What in the nine hells are you doing? You're supposed to be in the Silver City resting!"
Tracy turned her head and blinked, her only indication that she was surprised.
"I rule Sanctuary, woman. That means any magic done here, I can see right through. Don't worry though, no one else can see you through your sight shield. Take it someone at the City taught you?"
"Gabriel," Tracy stated by way of explanation, then went back to watching everyone. Derrick took the opportunity to observe her. No, she had no business being out of bed. Derrick was shocked that she could even stand, much less walk or use magic. She looked so fragile that Derrick was afraid a strong wind would break her in half. So pale, so skinny, and not very stable on her feet. She could see Tracy sway and went over to offer her arm in support.
Tracy accepted it. "Everyone appears to have made it through okay."
"Some of them had it pretty rough, but they're mostly fine," Derrick answered. "Is that the only reason you're here?"
Tracy didn't look at her. "How did you break Silence?"
For a moment, Derrick just stared at her. "By Father," she whispered, "Even with Silence, you care about them. And you love him."
"He's my husband. Of course I do," Tracy retorted.
"I can show you, but Tracy...you need to have someone with you. Take it from a dumbass who was all alone when she broke Silence...it's going to hurt. It's going to really hurt. And in the shape you're in... I think you should wait."
"I can't," Tracy whispered. "He needs me."
Derrick looked over at Loki listening to something Thor was saying. He was poking at his food, barely eating. "You can go to him while you're Silent, no one's stopping you."
"Go to him without my emotions, without all the things about me that he fell in love with?"
Derrick blew out a breath. "Guess love makes us all insane...hey, look at what I did for Dimples over there." Although it wasn't a hardship at all. Derrick had thought having tits and a vagina after so many centuries living as a man would be weird, but when she woke up from the procedure, it had felt like she had slipped into a pair of old, beloved, well-worn shoes.
"Perhaps you need to stop beating around the bush and ask him out already," Tracy suggested.
Derrick thought about it for a minute. "I just might." She looked at Tracy again. "Sweetheart, I really think you should wait, and you shouldn't be alone when you do it."
"I will be fine," Tracy insisted, and then she went to the door, opened it, and left.
"Thanks for the grub, Derrick," Bucky said, coming up to her. "Really appreciate it after what we've all been through."
"No problem, it's always a pleasure," Derrick answered. Then before she lost her nerve, she asked, "Hey, Bucky? Do you want to grab a coffee sometime?"
Tracy
The labyrinth was as dark and dreary as always. She navigated the twists and turns, avoiding the honey lures that may or may not end in a trap, skipped over a couple of vines that tried to reach out and grab her, and continued to the center. Just because this was in her head, didn't mean there weren't dangers here.
She finally made it, and there it was. A glowing pink heart, floating in space, spotlit by a light source invisible to her.
A large part of her recognized it as her at once, and yearned to be reunited with the lost piece of herself. A part of her just as large was afraid, and she trembled, realizing that:
"I should have listened to Derrick. This really is going to hurt."
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath. Maybe she should wait.
But then she thought of her husband, sitting on the table and barely responding to Thor, not eating, just pining away for her. She had done that.
"I'm so sorry, Loki."
Her eyes swimming with tears, she reached out and gathered her heart in her arms. She slowly absorbed it, feeling more and more as the heart faded into her.
She screamed.
Loki
He snapped into an upright position in bed, his skin covered in a cold sweat, his lungs fighting for air.
He couldn't remember much about the dream except for the pain. It had been nothing he had ever felt before, and he'd been tortured. He sat in his bed for several minutes, searching for calm and focus, trying to figure out what had been the source.
Was there something wrong with Tracy? He knew the pain hadn't been his own. Somehow, he knew. Which meant he needed to take Remiel up on her offer and go to the-
A noise from the kitchen had him jumping out of bed, out his bedroom door, and bolting to the kitchen. In the darkness, he could make out a shadow moving, although not very well if the noises they were making were any indication. He heard a limb hit the bottom of the kitchen island, heard utensils fall to the floor with a loud clatter.
"Lights," Loki said, wanting to see the face of the intruder before he killed them.
It wasn't an intruder and Loki just stared, his heart racing.
"L-Loki? I'm sorry. I don't blame you for hating me."
Tracy was looking at her feet, tears falling down a face that was way too thin and pale. She was almost skeletal, and Loki knew her legs wouldn't hold her long. So, he was already catching her before those legs gave way and she collapsed.
He knelt on the kitchen floor with her in his arms, feeling his own cheeks become wet with his tears. "Pet," he whispered, his heart lifting because he had seen her tears, and knew she was no longer Silent. "Pet...how?" Not that he cared.
"Don't tell Derrick," Tracy muttered.
Loki looked down at her, using his forefinger and thumb to grab her chin and tilt her head up.
"I told Derrick I'd be fine after breaking Silence. Please don't tell her that I fell."
Loki let out a short watery laugh. He didn't squeeze her too hard...she was way too delicate for that...but he did tighten his grip slightly and just held her on the cold kitchen floor.
Thor
He knocked on his brother's door, and waited to hear Loki's voice call "Come in" before opening the door and going in. "Loki!" he boomed. "No more staying in and feeling sorry for yourself! Today, I'm taking you-"
He stopped because he spotted what Loki was looking at, outside of the glass door that led to the patio and the garden Tracy babied in her spare time. The woman herself was out there, walking among the plants, fingering the leaves as though becoming reacquainted with them.
Thor took one look at her and immediately wanted to bring her back inside, tuck her into bed, and see about getting two or three good meals in her. "I am surprised you are not out there."
Loki scoffed. "I didn't even want her out there, but she said she needed some air. I am giving her two minutes before I bring her back inside to feed her the soup I am heating up."
"Is she still-" Thor began.
Loki shook his head. "She broke Silence. But it was rough on her. Thor, her emotions have been swinging back and forth. She's been alternating between crying and laughing, brooding and raging. I already called Derrick. She said the same happened to her when she broke Silence and we could probably expect at least a few months of Tracy being bipolar. Between that and her injuries..."
Thor watched as a small bird landed on Tracy's outstretched hand. He smiled.
Loki blew out a breath and, not taking his eyes off his wife, asked, "Will she be alright, Thor?"
Tracy was using her index finger to carefully stroke the bird's throat.
He nodded. "We will make sure she is...together."