So first I was on vacation, then I got writer's block, then I got lazy trying to figure out what to write. That's my excuse, and I apologize for not updating sooner. It's getting hard to write a good plot and I always want to put some good thought into it without rushing.

nickypooh: Yeah, I'm confused too. I found myself pondering this story and what I'll do with it for the longest time…

Cassy27: Yeah, I know what you mean. I'd go mad too if I was hit with all that in a small amount of time.

IvyLinkin: Ha, that would be weird! I don't think Loki is the hugging type as a child or an adult, even though he has a fan army that would want nothing more than to hug him. XD

AaylaKit: WOW YOU TOTALLY DID A PARODY OF CALL ME MAYBE! Hahahaha I liked that. A lot. Sorry for making you cry. Here's a cookie. *gives cookie*

Oomara13: Glad you like it, though I am interested in your way as well.

extraordinary geek: So glad you liked it!

Talk Bubble: Wow, cool! The idea just kind of came to me. I certainly hope that I continue to impress you because it's hard to figure out interesting twists to this particular story.

Ayy Kaim: I know right…

Guest: I sure hope so!

elizabeth14: Thanks! It's certainly an interesting plot that I hope to portray well.

ThePhoenixRiserFled: Yay for Loki feels! I get them all the time.

ClimbingUpTheWalls: Thank you!

If it's all the same to you…I'll have that drink now…

Loki opened his eyes to the sound of his future self. He was submitting. Why? What had happened? What part of the future am I in now? He lifted his head and pulled into a sitting position. When he turned, he saw a group standing several feet away, threatening his counterpart. One was a female and she was holding a spear. Thor was there with his hammer, of course, with Tony in a strange-looking suit of iron. One guy held a bow with an arrow pointed at the future Loki's face. The other man was dressed in red, white, and blue and he held a large shield. What really caught Loki's attention, though, was the large green monster. Banner was not there.

The group must have heard him whimper, because they all turned to face him, temporarily distracted from Loki's counterpart.

Tony's eyes widened. "Hey! It's little Loki!"

The man with the bow suddenly turned his arrow toward the boy, who flinched.

"Calm down, Clint," the girl warned. "Fury said we might see him again. He's virtually harmless. I don't think he's any threat."

Thor gazed at Loki a moment. "Your eyes…they seem more insightful. What have you seen since we have last spoken?"

"I've seen enough," Loki responded, an edge to his voice.

Understanding dawned on Thor. "The abyss," he said quietly.

Loki's future self turned to look at him, surprised. "You saw the abyss?" he demanded in a weak voice.

Loki nodded. "I did. And you—I—we—some version of myself was King of Asgard." His expression became somewhat sad. "Some things never change, do they? The All-Father will always favor you, Thor. Judging by the future, I will always be the one that struggles and fights for his approval, yet never gets it." A tear formed in one of his eyes and he wiped it away impatiently. "He said 'No.' Why? Why did he tell me—him—whoever—no? Why does he always disapprove of everything I did—or will—do?"

The question was so innocent and his voice sounded so hurt that Thor was left speechless for several moments. At last, he said, "There is so much you have not seen, little brother. So much that you do not know."

"How dare you call him that!" Loki's future self spat.

"That's enough out of you!" the man with the bow snapped menacingly.

"What's going on here?" Loki asked, his head beginning to hurt. "I want to know everything. Who are you? What are you doing to my future self, and why?"

Thor sighed, but said nothing. After waiting for a few moments to see if Thor would respond, Tony spoke up. "I think you remember me," he said slowly. "I was with you when you were in a cage on the Helicarrier." Loki nodded, remembering. "Well, to answer your first question, we're the Avengers." He pointed to each one in turn. "That's Agent Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rogers, and Agent Clint Barton. You know Thor, obviously, and you can call me Tony." He gestured toward the gigantic green monster. "That would be Banner in his angry form. Don't mess with him."

Loki nodded. "I…will refrain."

"Seriously, no jokes. This guy smashed your future self to smithereens."

So that's why he looks so beaten, Loki thought. "Okay, I know who you are. Now what's going on? What do you plan to do with him?"

"He will face Asgardian justice," Thor said finally, "for launching an attack upon this realm and attempting to take over."

Loki faced his counterpart in surprise. "You actually tried to conquer this realm? Why?"

"You have an awful lot of questions, kid," Agent Barton remarked.

"Understandably," the Future Loki said. "You try time-travelling sometime and finding out that you will end up at the mercy of your idiotic brother and his group of pathetic mortals. You would have endless questions and 'whys' as well."

"There is only one safe place for both of you, and that is Asgard. Perhaps the All-Father will be able to transport you back." Thor's expression was hopeful.

"The All-Father isn't the perfect ruler you make him out to be, Thor," the older Loki scowled. "He has flaws just like everyone else."

Loki had to admit that that was true. His whole life, he had thought that his father—Thor's father—was the perfect leader that always cared for everyone. He had taught both of his sons about what it meant to rule a realm and how peace should always come before warfare. Though he wasn't an extremely sentimental type, he still displayed his love and affection for the two of them. He just happened to show a smidge more love and affection for Thor. Based on what young Loki saw of the future, it seemed that that smidge went up over the years.

"So you're going to take them both to Asgard with you?" Steve asked.

Thor nodded. "I'll have to. No matter what Loki says, I know that my father will be able to find a solution to this." He reached out and yanked Future Loki up by the arm. "Let's go."

"I'll take care of you until we get to the rendezvous point," Tony assured Loki, holding out an armored hand. When Loki hesitated, Tony gave him a warm, encouraging smile. "Don't worry, I won't bite." He knelt down so that he was face-to-face with the young boy. "Hey now. I know this is probably super scary for you. Trust me, I'm freaked out as well. It's not exactly a walk in the park, defeating a guy bent on world domination and then finding a little kid version of him. Look, just come with me and things will get better. I'm sure that your dad will be able to make things right. Heck, he might even find a way to change the future through you. Now that you know everything, maybe things will be different."

Yeah, things might be different, Loki thought. I know the truth now. If I see the All-Father again, I'll want to know why he never told me anything. "Okay," he said quietly, "I'll go with you." He took Tony's offered hand and let the Man of Iron lead him out.

It was not long before everyone was assembled at the designated area. The humans all wore normal Midgardian clothes, Thor had his Asgardian armor, and the future Loki's hands were bound and he wore a muzzle over his mouth. Younger Loki's heart clenched at the sight of him.

"This is goodbye, my friends," Thor said. He held a device that contained a blue cube-like thing that Loki could not identify. "We must fly to Asgard now." He glared at the older form of his brother and held out the device. Loki's counterpart took the other side, his eyes narrowed. Thor took the younger Loki's hand and looked up at the sky. "It is time."

Loki held the Orb of Time tightly in one hand and Thor's hand in the other. The Avengers watched as Thor and two Lokis ascended into the sky.

Loki realized that he had squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them, he saw that Thor and the older Loki were both looking at him. They were just outside the Throne Room, where Odin, Frigga, and Heimdall stood waiting for them.

"Thor!" Loki was shocked to see an older version of Sif rush up, place her fist over her heart, and bow. "We all feared for you! Heimdall told us everything that happened." Her gaze hardened when she took in Future Loki. "You got the traitor. No sentence is good enough for him," she said, her voice dripping with venom.

"Don't hurt him," young Loki whimpered softly.

Sif's eyes widened in surprise. "Is that…?" She turned to face Loki. "That's not Loki, is it?"

Thor nodded. "It is. We must see the All-Father immediately and see if he can send him back to his time. He used the Orb of Time to travel to many different places in time, and now he knows too much."

Sif sighed. "As if one Loki isn't enough." Future Loki glared at her.

"I want to go home now," Loki said quietly.

"You will," Thor assured him. "Let's go."

The three of them, followed by Sif, walked into the Throne Room. Odin was on his throne, flanked on either side by Queen Frigga and Heimdall. He stood upon their entrance, not looking at all surprised. "Thor Odinson," he voice boomed, "you have done well."

Thor bowed and placed a fist over his heart. The adult Loki glared defiantly at the All-Father, and young Loki stared at the floor, afraid to meet the gaze of the older version of his father.

"Father, we must—"

"I know, Thor," Odin said calmly. "I will send the boy back to his time."

Frigga was in tears as she stared at both versions of her son. "He knows so much!" she whispered.

"I know," Odin said. "We will handle this after the War Criminal is secured."

"The War Criminal?" Loki whispered, glancing at his older self. "You don't even consider him your son anymore? You're just going to disown him?"

Odin ignored him. "Until a proper punishment is decided, take him away to maximum security. Thor, keep an eye on the Loki from the past. I must discuss their fates with Heimdall and your mother."

Two guards walked out and seized either side of Future Loki, who eyed them dangerously. The younger Loki watched sadly. "Can I go with them?" he asked.

Odin looked like he wanted to reject his request, but Frigga cut him off before he could speak. "Let him go. There would be no sense in keeping them apart."

"Very well," the All-Father relented. "Go."

Loki bowed and followed the guards and Thor to his counterpart's cell. He watched sadly as the older version of himself was shoved unceremoniously in. He hit the ground and stayed on his hands and knees for several moments before getting up and brushing himself off with his chained hands. When he turned to face the boy, his eyes widened in surprise at the pain and sadness in the younger's expression.

"Why did you bring this upon yourself?" the youth asked. His future self glanced down at the muzzle, and then at him. "Oh, that's right. You can't talk to me, can you?" He sat down cross-legged and stared for several moments before speaking. "Before I came across the Orb, I was trying to find a way to cause mischief somewhere. I guess I just wanted to push the day's events from my mind, you know? Sif, Volstagg, Fandral, Hogan, and Thor were all trying to humiliate me, and I ended up getting the best of Sif." He smiled slightly. "She was so mad. She never really liked me. None of them did. So I would do everything by myself. I guess I just got lonely sometimes and caused trouble to pass the time. At that point, any kind of attention was better than getting ignored. I'm sure you know all about that."

His counterpart's eyebrows rose and his expression said I hear you. The guards in the room seemed reluctant to let the two have their one-sided conversation, but they also looked like they secretly enjoyed listening to it. Thor stayed in the doorway, unnoticed by either Loki.

"I never understood why Father seemed to love Thor more than me. Was it because I was always causing trouble? No, I guess not. I never realized that it was because I'm a Frost Giant." He studied his hand. "I saw you change color when you touched the Casket. Do I have to be in extreme cold to change to my…um…true form?"

The future Loki shrugged and nodded. That sounds about right to me, he seemed to say.

Loki stared at the silent form for a long time. Finally, unable to bear seeing him like that any longer, he opened the cage and stepped in, still holding the artifact. The guards whirled around, alerted by the gesture, but Thor waved a hand for them to stand down. Uncertain, they resumed their post.

"Here—hold this, please." Loki placed the artifact in his counterpart's hands. Green eyes met green eyes for several moments. Both of them had their hands on the Orb. "I'm going to take that off of you," he said, referring to the muzzle. "I want to hear you speak for yourself."

Before he could take his hands off the artifact, a picture appeared in it. Both looked down, unable to remove their hands from it. When they looked up, they were in the Weapon's Vault.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or Thor.

AN: Well, what did you think? Not bad for a chapter done by a lazy author with a bad case of Writer's Block. Review and I'll love you forever! :D Also, if there are any IDEAS for what you guys want to see in this fic, let me know.