He should of killed them all. He should have spread his wrath across all the realms in a display of pure hatred. He should have released all the creatures of Hel on every last mortal and Aesir that even dreamed of pursuing him…

But he didn't.

His home in ruins, his one companion dead in his arms…and he did not seek vengeance. He simply stood, Iron Man's glowing arm at his back, Thor's mighty hammer at his side, the Captain's shield ready to be thrown…and then he vanished like a candle in a storm.

"Damn…not again. Tony get ready to track him again." Steve said…this was getting tiresome.

Loki reappeared on top of Stark Tower, the very place everything began. He peered over the edge and watched the empty streets. There was not a car to be found. Either way…he knew what needed to be done, and nothing was going to stop him. Not this time.

Loki placed his hand over Leon's head. "Sleep easy my friend." There was a spell he knew of. One he came across in his younger years…one that, back then at least, was too powerful even for him.

But not anymore.

"I don't understand it." He said as he raised his hands to the sky…his power gathering to his fingertips. "Was this not what they wanted? Was this not what they told me to strive for?"

Was it not peace that drove those warriors to fight? What of peace? What of order and chaos? What is the purpose of fighting at all when the life you want can never be had? Even under the most docile terms?

He began to speak, a language so ancient that even he could not decipher it. He had heard, in his younger years, the story of the ancient monster. The tale taught to anyone who would listen and take heed. Yet, what was the point of a story that would never be remembered? What was the use of a trickster god that had forsaken his role?

He couldn't change, not for lack of trying…

"…but because they don't want me to."

Was there no end to Thor's idiocy? Was there no quenching Odin's resolve for ruining everything Loki had?

He looked back to his cat, lying dead on the tower floor.

If he were the old him, he would have sworn vengeance. He would have cursed the very realm Thor sought to protect…but what was the point in that? He did not want revenge, he wanted to start anew. He did not want blood, but a chance to learn how to live.

Everything was rising now. He felt his own blood burn.

"Yet, life is something I am not allowed." He had already made up his mind. "Peace is a luxury I am not afforded."

He looked back to his cat and frowned. "A luxury we are not afforded, little friend."

And then, like the sun rising to the sky, his own power floated to the sky. He stretched his arms out and closed his eyes.

"So be it."

And then, as if by some cruel design, the Avengers appeared through some portal, their, air craft hovering overhead like a vulture. How appropriate.

"Loki" he heard Natasha shout over the intercom. "Stop what you're doing and give yourself up."

Their ship landed and they popped out like rats.

"Loki free…what the hell is that?" The Man of Iron asked.

"Brother," Thor walked towards Loki, his shoulders broad, and his chest pumped out like armor. "What madness have you wrought?" His voice was so commanding, like thunder across a blue sky.

"Loki, give yourself up." The archer pulled his arrow across his chest.

"Thor," Loki said, almost too silently to hear. "It would appear that no matter where I go, no matter what I do, I am not afforded a chance at peace."

"Loki, what are-"

"No brother, you and your comrades have made everything quite clear to me. You will go to great lengths just to protect your own peace, even if that means sacrificing your own ideals." He looked towards his cat.

"Reindeer games, I'm gonna give you to the count of three to-"

"Fret not, Man of Iron, for everything shall be over long before then. I do not wish to pursue chaos, I do not wish to bring harm to you or any of the realms, but apparently that goes against the role you and your band have written for me."

"Loki, enough of this foolishness."

Behind him, the spell was growing larger, and crawling nearer.

"Thor, my brother, I do not want this role, and I shall revoke it…the only way I know how."

And then, in a flash of light, Loki's body and everything else was engulfed in a cool, blinding light…

"Goodbye Thor."

…and then he was gone.