"Tony," Steve said as he watched him collapse outside of the battlefield now that the fighting was over with.

"I can't move," he said, straining to take a breath.

Dr. Strange flew over, now severely burnt on his fact, chest, and arms from the aftermath of opening up the fire dimension. "I'm sorry, Tony," he said somberly, "this was the only way."

Steve asked, "What do you mean?"

"For Tony," he explained, "and Clint, they made the ultimate sacrifice today. Clint saved Natasha. Tony, when you performed the snap with us, your human body wrapped in metal couldn't take it. Without being other worldly, or having serum or magic to shield you from the infinity stones' blast..." He paused, unable to finish. "I'm sorry."

Natasha asked, "What about the time stone? Can't we use that? Where is it?"

Loki answered, "I currently have every stone in my posession, but I hid them with my magic. Until I am healed, I cannot perform any magic. It'll be a few weeks." He showcased his burnt hands, arms, and chest.

"Can't you just heal yourself right here and now?" Sam asked, wondering if someone could heal his broken legs.

"You can't heal magical fire with magic," he said.

Steve said, "But you healed Dr. Strange's hands before."

"That was different," he explained, "I used magic to summon real fire from Muspell. The fire dimension flames are magical. Only time will heal these burns." He stared down at his hands and arms in shock. Nearly all the flesh was gone.

Natasha looked around at the mountains and the valley and said, "Something should probably be done about all that."

"About what?" Sigyn asked. She waved her hand, as did the other masters of magic and the illusions of the mountains instantly vanished as if they were never there.

"Whoa," Sam said, "they were never real?"

Loki replied, "No. Thanos and his armies could have left at any time if they tried hard enough."

Heimdall walked up from behind them, pointed at Thor, and said, "You wished for me to remind you of Loki neglecting the nine realms, my king."

"Ah, yes," Thor said, "Loki!"

"What is it now?" Loki asked, the pain starting to kick in.

Thor explained, "You let Thanos kill all the dwarfs at Nidavellir!" Loki shook his head in confusion as Thor continued. "Yes, you did! Thanos created a gauntlet powerful enough to hold all six infinity stones in that realm and you did nothing to stop it, Odin."

Loki gestured to Heimdall, "You should have seen that!"

"Banished from my post for treason against you," Heimdall replied, "remember?"

"I remember," he said hastily, "so all of this is my fault?"

"YES!" Everyone shouted at once.

Bucky turned to Steve to see his gaping injuries and said urgently, "Steve, you're bleeding."

"I'll be fine," he insisted, leaning over and clearly not fine. He took his broken shield and chucked it at Loki's neck, hitting him hard. Loki recoiled and glared at him. He watched as Steve collapsed on the ground and attempted to catch his breath. This was bad, Steve knew he needed a hospital.

It wasn't long before Ironman took his last breath, right there on the scoured landscape of a battlefield. Everyone mourned for his and Hawkeye's deaths.

One Week Later

After their funerals, everyone was invited to New Asgard to party in celebration of saving everyone. It was a party like no other. The entire city was decorated in strings and lights as the sun set. All of the avengers were invited, happy to be alive and well now and that half of the universe was restored. Thor gave a shouting and thunderous welcome to start the evening off right.

"This is the reason why he is called the God of thunder," Loki said, turning to Dr. Strange, "and not lightning like one would expect." He covered his ears, his hands and arms now covered in Asgardian bandages for healing. Thor was so loud the ground shook at his chants and shouts.

"I'm just grateful I could make it," Dr. Strange replied, his hands and arms also covered in bandages, his face still showing signs of the second degree burns he suffered. His facial hair gone. "Thank you for the Asgardian pain killers. Without them there's no way I'd be standing here. I didn't realize you guys could throw such a great party."

Sigyn stepped between them, drink in her hand. "It's been forever since we partied on Midgard," she remarked, "Loki here should tell you about what we did the last time we had so much fun in this realm."

Dr. Strange asked, nervous, "What happened?"

Loki answered, "We landed in a secluded place, far to the north of here away from any mortals on a cold night in the middle of spring. Thor brought his hammer down so hard on the ice sheet we were on, it broke off a huge chuck! Then that sorcerer supreme lady showed up and demanded we leave before we cause any real trouble. I messed with her a bit before we left, but there was no harm done."

"I can hardly believe that was over 100 years ago now," Sigyn replied, "shocking."

"Over 100 years ago?" Dr. Strange asked, putting some things together in his mind, "Was that in mid-April of the year 1912 by any chance?"

Loki thought for a moment, "Yes, actually, that sounds accurate. Why?"

Dr. Strange's jaw dropped in shock, "You guys created the iceberg that sunk the Titanic?! Are you kidding me?"

"I know not what you speak of," Loki said.

Still in disbelief, he explained, "Late on the night of April 14, 1912, an ocean liner called the Titanic hit a massive iceberg in the middle of the ocean and sank, killing several hundred people who couldn't get off in time. You people are responsible for those all those deaths! Are you kidding me?"

Sigyn asked, "Why didn't they turn the ship away from it? They had the entire ocean to traverse."

"They did," he said, "but it was too late by the time they saw it."

"It was all Thor," Loki said, putting his hands up, "he's the one who made it break off in the first place, I was merely a witness."

Dr. Strange replied, "You could have fixed it if you wanted to." He paused. "Actually, the ancient one could have too, but she didn't. I wonder why."

Loki said, about to turn away, "What a terrible chat we've had, doctor, as always."

"Wait," Dr. Strange said, holding him back, "thank you, Loki, for making a copy of the tesseract so we could bring everyone back. I know for you it was personal, but you're so petty and manipulative it's always hard to tell what you'll do in the end. Thank you for being on the good side for once, and not demanding anything in return."

"Actually," Loki replied, smiling, "I do have a demand."

Sigyn said, "Loki, you assured us all you would behave yourself tonight and assist us with making New Asgard look decent to that Theodore Ross guy who's supposed to show up any time now. You remember the man who attempted to sentence you to death a year ago."

"Dearest Sigyn," he said, "I will behave as promised. As long as this Ross fellow caters to my whims, he'll be fine." He smiled at her and she gave him a side eye.

Dr. Strange sighed, disappointed, he asked, "What exactly are your demands, Loki?"

"You'll find out soon enough," he replied.

Wong joined their group and asked, "Strange, why couldn't you have just chopped Thanos' head off and gotten it all over and done with quickly?" He showed off the bandages on his hands as well. Like Loki his face was sparred from any burns.

"In every possible future I looked into where Thanos simply died," he answered, "one of his cronies would come up and do their own snap."

Loki asked, "And why couldn't we have left the stones inside the gauntlet as I originally suggested? That way when the building crumbled around us they would have stayed together and been much easier to find in the rubble."

"Every single time we did that Thanos got the gauntlet first," Dr. Strange answered.

Wong asked, "You couldn't have cut off his arms?"

"When I did that," he said in disbelief, "Thanos ate the damn stones and still managed to bend the universe to his whims while inside his stomach."

Everyone who heard what he said stared at him in horror. Loki asked, "He ate them?"

Dr. Strange nodded. "Every time."

Rhodes came up from behind him and asked, "Couldn't we have performed our own snap to get rid of Thanos' armies, and get done with him without you nearly burning everyone to death?"

"In the futures where we did that, Loki turned to dust too," Dr. Strange said, "and as annoying as he is, Thor couldn't take it and then he'd sacrifice his arm to get Loki back with his own snap. Then, out of anger, Tony would come up from behind him and kill him anyway and Thor would absolutely lose his shit and inadvertently kill us all out of anger. Those futures were the messier ones."

Loki asked, "Why would I vanish with Thanos' army? I haven't fought on his side in years."

"Whoever did the snap in those futures didn't see it that way," Dr. Strange replied, shrugging, "trust me, after being banished to the fire dimension, this is the only future I saw where Thanos never comes back."

Wong asked, "We couldn't even portal him someplace far away, or trap him in the mirror dimension?"

Dr. Strange shook his head, "He always broke out of the mirror dimension and always came back to kill us all again even when I portaled him galaxies away. I wish there was another option, but we completed the only one."

Meanwhile, across the dance floor, Steve sat with Sam, Sharon, and Bucky, although he looked different. No longer the muscle bound Captain America, he was now little Steve Rogers. He had lost so much blood after being injured, after getting several blood transfusions, it was if he never got the serum in the first place.

"Seems like it was quite a fight," Sharon said, "I'm sorry I missed it."

"That's alright," Steve replied, "I wouldn't have wanted you there to get hurt."

Sam asked, "Bucky here can't give you a blood transfusion and make you normal again, Steve?"

Bucky answered, "If you can somehow get B+ blood into an A- body, sure, but since it can't be done, no. Even T'Challa said his blood type is O+. Looks like you're stuck like this Steve."

Sharon said, "You know, I kind of like this look."

"It's okay," Steve said, "I've had a good run. It's better if the world thinks I'm dead anyway. Fighting was fun, but I did my part. Now it's time for you guys to step up." He patted their shoulders. "Sam, how would you like to be the new Captain America?"

He stared at him in shock. "Are you serious?"

He replied, "I am. The world is crazy right now, they still need Captain America and I'm out of comission."

"I'll be there to help," Bucky said, "it's the least I can do. For now Steve, who are you going to be?"

Sharon said, "We can give you a fake last name, a new identity."

Steve replied, "Once I have one no one will suspect I'm Captain America looking like this." He gestured to his old skinny body.

"Ross!" Thor shouted above the crowds and music as soon as he entered the party, "Welcome to New Asgard! So glad you could make it! Join us in the celebrations!" He proudly lifted his drink.

"Hello," he said as kindly as he could, "I came all this way to thank everyone for saving those who had vanished a year ago. I'm also here to announce that the UN is looking to reverse their decision on making superheros illegal and is going to start reinstating your titles."

Loki came up from behind him and said, "Such lovely words, Mister Ross, truly."

Thor warned, knowing his brother must be up to something, "Loki."

"I have a proposition for you and the people of this planet," Loki said, "because I've done your people such a great service, it is my suggestion you reset your calendars."

Ross asked, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Rejoice!" Loki said excitedly, loud enough for everyone to hear, "As of today, it is no longer called Saturday, but it is now 'Lokisday!'" Groans grew throughout the crowd.

Baldur said, "Petty!"

"Shut up, Baldur," Loki said, "you already have your day of the week."

Ross shook his head in disbelief and asked, "You seriously want the world to rename Saturday in your honor?"

"Yes," he said, "do I not deserve to have such an honor after the sacrifices I have made for your people?" He lifted his bandaged hands up to show him. "Lest we forget, I am the reason the avengers exist in the first place!" He smiled wide as people in the crowd glared at him.

"There isn't really any proper authority on what we call the days of the week," he insisted, "they just are the way they are. Why do you want a day named after you so bad anyway?"

"Sunday," Loki explained, "is named for the God of light. Monday is named for the Goddess of the moon. Tuesday, named after Tyr." He gestured to him across the room.

"That's me!" Tyr announced drunkenly.

"Odinsday for Wednesday!" Loki continued, getting angrier, "Don't know how you mortals butchered that pronunciation so badly over the centuries yet here we are. Then there's Thorsday!" He pointed at Thor, who smiled.

Thor said, "It is a lovely sentiment, I'll admit."

From across the room, Sam said, "You know, it doesn't seem so petty when you learn his father and brother both get days of the week named after them and he has nothing."

"Sam," Steve said hastily, "keep quiet."

Exasperated, Ross asked, "And who is Friday named after?"

"Freya," Loki answered, "Goddess of love. She's been dead for 50 years, yet you still use her as a means to track time."

Ross said, "Alright, I get it! You want us to rename Saturday and put Lokisday on all our calendars in your honor, fine. I'll see what I can do about that. Honestly, I have no idea how we'll go about making that happen, but why not?"

Loki shouted with glee, "Happy Lokisday everyone!"

"Alright brother," Thor said, putting his hand on his shoulder, "today is your day." Baldur rolled his eyes behind them.

Dr. Strange drank some alcohol and said, "Now he's going to be an even bigger pain in the ass." He turned to see Wanda sitting alone at a table. He went up to join her. "Hey, are you doing okay?"

She turned and showed her facial scars still in the middle of healing to him and replied, "I guess."

"These scars will fade over time," he said, "and our eyebrows will grow back, and we'll settle into a routine as times goes on. We'll be alright, Wanda, you'll see."

"I was living my perfect life but you dragged me out of it," she said sadly, "how could you possibly understand?"

Dr. Strange answered, "I know what it's like to lose people, and I also know what it's like to push new people away so you don't hurt like that ever again. I can tell you that it isn't worth it." He paused. "Is revenge all Loki mentioned to get you out of your spell?"

Wanda said, "Our talk was more complicated than that but that's what is boiled down to. He mentioned something about a truth spell but I've never heard of such a thing."

"Asgardian magic is different than sorcery or witchcraft," he replied, "in order to get Loki to cooperate during all this, Thor got me, Steve, Tony, and himself to eat chocolate with honesty spells baked into them. We still have 18 days of always having to answer the truth whenever we're asked a question."

"He's still under a spell?" she asked, he nodded. She looked over to see Thor shaking up the dancefloor and Loki talking to Sigyn off to the side of him. "There's one question I want to ask them. Come on, I think you want this answer too." She used her magic to puppeteer herself over to the two of them.

Thor stopped dancing and said, "Hey Wanda! Glad you could make it!"

"I have one question for you and Loki," she said, he turned to face her, "did you push him down that long warrior staircase, or did you fall on purpose?"

Thor answered, "I pushed him."

"I tripped on purpose after he pushed me," Loki confessed, quickly covering his mouth in horror at his own confession.

Wanda and Dr. Strange's jaws dropped. Thor screamed out in anger, "Loki!"

"Listen to me!" Loki insisted, "I tripped to fall down onto the ground on purpose! Falling down krigertrappen was a mortifying accident! You shouldn't have pushed me!" He turned to run away.

"I barely touched you!" Thor shouted, running after him, "Six months, Loki! I couldn't leave the palace for six months because of your lying ass! Get back here and let me hit you for that!" He brought Mjolnir to his hands.

Loki whined as he pushed people through the crowd, "This isn't fair! I can't use my magic to fight back!"

Dr. Strange smiled at the absurdity and said, "At least that mystery is solved."

The machine that used Loki's duplicate tesseract to universe hop was destroyed by the blasts of Thanos' ship. Erik Selvig had to be portaled in to put it altogether once again. By the time he was done, Loki was healed up enough to use magic again. He brought out the six stones and set them on the new table they bought.

Dr. Strange, Loki, Sam, Bucky, Thor, and Natasha were all there to make sure everything went well.

Dr. Strange said, "Alright, let's do this in order. The space stone is back inside the tesseract. The mind stone in the staff, and I have the time stone. We'll open that portal up first."

With the tesseract activated, Natasha, Sam, Dr. Strange, and Loki walked inside. Sam put the tesseract back inside the machine making a portal for the Chitari. Natasha left the staff on the roof of the building right where Loki left it before. Dr. Strange portaled himself and Loki back to the sanctum where the Ancient One was fighting their illusions.

Dr. Strange threw the eye of agamotta at her while Loki made their illusions disappear. She turned around in shock at the sight.

"Hello again madam," Loki said.

"I'm sorry," Dr. Strange added, "but we had to."

She merely shook her head and demanded, "Leave at once!" Dr. Strange portaled them away and back to their original universe they went.

Bucky and Sam returned the power stone next. Then Loki and Thor returned to Asgard and to Jane's room, with Thor first throwing his hammer away. She was still asleep on the floor. Thor picked her up as Loki opened the book and did the spell in reverse. The reality stone slowly turned back into its liquid form and spread across the entire room. Thor braced himself as the aether returned to Jane's sleeping body.

"Wake her up," Thor said.

Loki woke her up and she gasped as she saw the two of them. "What happened?" she asked.

"So much," Loki answered.

"What he said," Thor added.

As Thor set her down, Loki touched her head and said, "You've forgotten us." He turned them both invisible before her eyes.

She stood awkwardly in the room and looked around. "What was I doing?" she asked herself.

Just as Thor and Loki were making their way to the door, they heard it. Knock. Knock. Knock. "Jane," Frigga said from the other side, "I brought you a cloak instead of a blanket. I was thinking we could take a walk together and I could show you around Asgard."

Thor and Loki stood to the side as Jane opened the door. "Hi," she said to Frigga, "what did you say I asked for?"

The two of them slid passed their mother but Loki couldn't resist. He wrote 'love you' on her back with his finger. She jumped and yelped, startled. He revealed himself and Thor to her and they waved goodbye as they walked away.

"Are you okay?" Jane asked.

"I'm fine," she insisted, "just a sudden draft." She looked at the state of the room. A tray of food missing and the kettle on the floor. "What were Thor and Loki doing in here?"

She answered, "I haven't seen Thor in a while. Who's Loki?" She paused, "Wait, he's Thor's brother who tried to take over New York! If I see him, I'm going to punch him in the face for what he did!" She paused. "Uh, no offense, your majesty."

Thor and Loki quickly ran to the portal.

"Do you believe we saved her from her fate?" Thor asked.

"I believe now she stands a chance," Loki answered.

Once on the other side of the portal, they only had to soul stone left. Bucky asked, "What should we do with this?" He held it up for everyone to see.

"Is his daughter really trapped inside?" Sam asked.

Loki answered, "She is."

Dr. Strange said, "I'll take it back to the sanctum and look up ways to save her. If she can't come back to life, perhaps I can at least release her soul from the stone." He took it and stared at it carefully.

Thor asked, "What of the machine, and the fake tesseract?"

"We're done with both," Dr. Strange said, "I say it's best to destroy them both." He took the machine while Loki took the tesseract. They broke them apart at the same time.

"Well, this was fun," Loki said, "I'll admit, but not quite fun enough for my taste." He opened his hand and revealed the real tesseract.

"Is that-" Sam started.

"The real one?" Loki interrupted, "Yes, it is."

"But I put the real one back in 2012," Bucky insisted, "I swear I did."

Thor demanded, "Loki, where did you get that?"

"Father's vault," he replied, smiling.

Sam said, "That's right, there was a tesseract inside Odin's vault this whole time! I forgot."

"How did you get that?!" Thor said, "You were with me the entire time we were on Asgard, Loki! How did you sneak away to steal it?"

Loki answered, "I created an illusion and Father caught me and we had a little chat and he even let me take it before I rejoined my real body with you." He activated it in his hands.

Just as he was about to teleport himself away, Thor leapt at him and shouted, "Loki, no!" He pushed him through the portal, and they disappeared together.

Sam asked, "You think we'll see either one of them again anytime soon?"

"I hope not," Dr. Strange said, "good riddance to both of them."

Author's note here, this was a fun one to write! I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it. I posted the entiredy of this story during a time when this site's view counters are down, so I have no idea how many people are reading and enjoying this story. I just have a big fat "0" on the view counter. It also appears emails are not being sent if you follow or favorite this story! So go ahead and leave a comment/review of this story so I know what you liked about it. Thanks!