Thanos quickly pursued his younger brother through Washington DC, while the latter searched for a faster method of transportation as he neared Georgetown.

As he arrived there, Eros frantically announced to everyone around him, "HELP! THANOS, THE MAD TITAN, IS ALIVE, AND HE'S TRYING TO KILL ME!"

Many of the people fled in terror, having heard of the Mad Titan's past attack on Earth from their ancestors and their history books. The police quickly surrounded him, pointed their guns and tasers at him, and told him to raise him hands above his head, but he just jumped over them while the bullets bounced off his skin and continued the chase.

Eros hailed a taxi, and he talked the driver into taking him to the airport for free. He then talked the ticket agent into flying him somewhere far away, secretly and immediately, but Thanos easily figured out his plan, and as Eros was about to board, his plane stalled on him.

He looked down from the window to see the huge purple Titan holding the entire plane down, smirking at his brother as he shook him out of the vehicle. Thanos caught him with one hand and handcuffed him with the other. He then messaged the others while the airport workers threw assorted drink cans and snacks at him.

"I have the criminal in custody. Meet me at the Reagan National Airport once you have finished cleaning up his mess where you are. His powers have been neutralized, so his victims should all be freed, and you don't need to worry about approaching him any longer."

"Good, all this waiting is making me kind of sleepy again." Verity said as they all stood up.

"Likewise." President Loki agreed. He opened up a portal to the airport, and as the others stepped through it, Detective Loki snatched her TemPad back from his hand.

"Ah, that was fast; those are handy devices." Thanos greeted them from under a mountain of airline peanuts. "The people here are convinced that I am still their enemy, much like you were, Mr. Ouroboros."

"Your detective name, I presume?" President Loki indeed presumed. He faced the frightened airport staff and passengers. "Hello, good people of Washington DC and travelers from across the world. I'm sure you're wondering why a renowned genocidal maniac from well over a century ago is back in your airport, alive and well. The fact is, that this is not the man who committed those horrible deeds, but a righteous doppelgänger of him from another universe whom I hired to stop the real criminal: Eros, the culprit behind the infamous missing women case!"

"You're saying this guy is like Thanos's good twin?" One of the workers asked.

"Something like that. Well, more like a clone, but without the same DNA, if I understand it correctly… it's a bit hard to explain."

"It's hard for him to explain because he's lying!" Eros argued. "I'm innocent! Thanos wants to kill me because he's evil!"

"Now that is untrue." Detective Loki pointed out. "We found evidence that he's guilty. You still have the hair?"

"Yes, we do." President Loki assured him.

"And why did you hire a Thanos, of all people, for this case?" A civilian asked.

"Because my vice president and I discovered he is Eros's brother, and he is immune to his brother's ability to control the pleasure centers of the minds of everyone around him, because Thanos's mind doesn't have a pleasure center in the first place! That's how Eros made those women love him and want to follow him everywhere he went! Isn't that right, ladies?"

The women all attested to the president's statement, speaking from their own experience, while Detective Loki grimaced.

"Thanos doesn't have a pleasure center in his brain, huh? He really is a monster!"

"Nooo." Healer argued. "I am a monster, and my brain has a pleasure centerrr. Thanos is just a freak!"

"Do you even have a brain, or are you referring to mine?"

"Rrrr… at least I am not a heartless backstabber like you!"

"Excuse me?" But Healer excused herself first, refusing to speak further.

President Loki continued speaking. "Yes, after the original detectives I hired got caught themselves, it was up to my vice president, Verity Willis, and I to come to their rescue, so we brought the good Thanos and this empathic alien maiden with an impeccable fashion sense. She reversed Eros's brainwashing powers on these ladies, and she can do the same with the others."

"And why should we believe that this Thanos is any different from ours?" One of the frequent fliers questioned. "How do we know he isn't trying to trick us?"

"How do we know you're not trying to trick us?" The ticket agent added. "Eros seemed like the nicest, most wonderful man I've ever met; there's no way he's a kidnapper!"

"I'm not, these guys are all crazy!" Eros protested.

"Liar!" Verity accused and turned to the others. "You guys know he's lying because I do." Verity backed him up. "Everything President Loki has told you today is true, believe me!"

"Then we believe you too." One of the police officers stated. "I know Vice President Willis will always reveal the truth, and when the law is concerned, regardless of how we feel, truth always takes precedence!"

The others talked amongst each other and slowly agreed. "Alright, we believe you too. So, are you going to arrest him?"

"Yes, we are." Verity told them. "After we put him on trial, inviting all his victims, female and male, to testify. He'll stay in those restraints so he can't use his powers to manipulate the judge and jury."

"We already testified: he mind-controlled us into being in love with him, enslaved us, and made my fiancé and I fight each other!" Sylvie reminded them, and she grabbed the bound Eros by the neck and held her sword to his throat. "Let's skip to the punishment!"

"Count me in!" Fiamma seconded. "I'll burn him to ashes when you're finished!"

"And I will skewer him on my spear!" The Dora Milaje, Nibiki, offered.

"But save the head for me!" Healer requested, staying hidden. "You know I prefer my brains unroasted!"

"Ladies, please, we don't need to stoop to his level, do we?" President Loki spoke as the former brainwashed victims began to beat Eros senseless. "This is the United States of America, after all; we have our due processes to follow, so let's be civil about this."

"Ugh, let me guess…" Fiamma groaned.

"…Diplomacy and guile?" Sylvie finished.

President Loki pointed to his nose and smiled at them.

"It's true, diplomacy and guile are key in solving conflicts of many natures." Detective Loki concurred as she walked up to Eros. "However…" The detective then landed a fierce kick to Eros's solar plexus. "…There is an exception to every rule."

"Ughhh…" Eros groaned as he caught his breath. "And you seemed like such a nice girl."

"Actually, I have a secret to tell you." Detective Loki whispered in his ear. "I'm not a girl at all. I'm really a talking horse."

Eros gave her a flabbergasted look, not sure if this Loki was lying or not, after all that he'd seen of Lokis recently. He then shook his head and turned back to Verity.

"On second thought, I'd really like a fair, normal trial now. But can I just say something here and now to explain myself first?" Eros pleaded. "All my life, all I've ever longed to do is explore the universe, to have fun and go on adventures, and of course, to be surrounded by beautiful women. Now imagine growing up with a big, deadly serious brute, whose goal in life was to talk our planet's leaders into killing off half their population so the other half could survive, and he followed that same goal throughout the entire universe, until the Avengers finally stopped him well over a century ago! I was a hero back then, a noble adventurer, but then people found out who I was, and nobody wanted to be associated with 'Thanos's brother!' I was lonely, and... I guess I really wanted to prove that I was different than my brother... that I'm full of life and love, while he had no real regard for life at all! I want that to be made clear, at least."

"I think that much is perfectly clear." President Loki assessed. "Then again, like your brother, you had no regard for the choices of others, forcing innocent women's company with your powers. Take him away, officers."

So the police read Eros his rights and took him into custody. The trial went quickly and smoothly, and Eros was sentenced to a supermax prison, where he couldn't use his powers and had very limited contact with people. However, seeing how his once-villainous brother was working hard to redeem himself and being informed of Eros's past heroic deeds throughout the last century with the Eternals, Thanos was able to convince the judge to allow Eros parole after serving 5 years for each woman he took while under his influence and proving that he changed afterwards.

Later, Detective Loki excused herself from her team while she spoke privately to her Symbiote once more. "Healer, would you like to tell me why you're upset with me?"

"I did tell you: you backstabbed meee. Literallyyy."

"Backstabbed you? You mean when I used Lævateinn on you to stop you from getting my wife and child killed? You know full well we were both under Eros's power when we made those decisions, but even so, you're the one who betrayed me first!"

"I was trying to save them! You are the one would have gotten your family killed, if the threat had been realll!"

"I would have!? How dare you!?"

"How dare youuu, blaming me when you were too much of a coward to act!"

"Oh, is that right!? So, that 'cowardly piece of dog shit' you were referring to was me, not the president, was it!?"

"Lokiii... that was... that's not what I-"

"Was it!?" Loki scowled at Healer. "And you called me heartless?! It wasn't worth the risk! You're the one who didn't care, you're the one who didn't think, so don't you dare blame me, you brainless, tactless creature! I don't know why you're so full of malice all of a sudden..." Healer gasped while her host went on. "I mean, you're almost always complaining about something or other, but-"

"NOOOOO-"

Detective Loki's eyes widened as she suddenly felt sharp teeth bite into her insides, and she clutched her abdomen. "AAAAAGHHHH!" Healer immediately stopped as her host screamed and grimaced in agony.

"AGGGH, NO! LOKIII! Loki, I- I didn't- I didn't mean to-"

"D-did you- nnngn, did you just eat one of my internal organs!?" Loki wheezed.

"No, no, I- I just got really... really pissed off and before I knew it, I bit down! I'm healing it, I will heal you! You will feel all better soon, Lokiii!" Healer uneasily assured Loki with a wavering voice.

"So you bite my organs when you're angry now, do you!?" Loki growled, rubbing the area around her stomach. "You're only proving me right, attacking me from the inside while I'm helpless to stop you... you're the coward, not I!"

Suddenly, Loki felt the full force of her Symbiote's remorse as tears dripped from Healer's eyes. "I know, I knowww, I'm s-sorry. I-I-I did not want to hhhurt you, Lokiii, I- I am so so s-s-sorry-!"

Her insides fully healed, Loki exhaled as Healer continued sobbing, their bond filling Loki with the same sadness and regret. "And I'm sorry I stabbed you with Lævateinn. So, does this make us even, physical pain-wise?"

"Yes, yesss, just promise me you won't ever call me that name again!"

"You mean brainless?"

"Not that. You said I was full of M- of Mal-"

"Malice?"

"I hate that name!"

"Funny, you never seemed to have a problem with that word before."

"That was when Mobius used it to describe Thanos, not you to describe me! Promise me!"

"...Very well, I promise I will not use that specific word to refer to you, if you promise to never, ever bite or harm me from the inside again!"

"Yes, I promise! It was a mistake... you did not know how much I loathe that word, and I do not want to put us through such pain ever again!"

"Well, that makes two of us." Loki paused for a moment. "I take it Malice is your father's name?"

Healer's bright green eyes grew huge. "You figured that out already!?"

"Well, when you bit me, for a split second, I saw an image flash through my head of a Symbiote I didn't recognize, but he did remind me a bit of you. I saw it again when I repeated the name to you, but I know the image didn't come from my mind. And the name he gave you was Grievance, so it seems fitting that his title would have been something like Malice. He must have been terribly abusive to still haunt you so, but like I told you before, you can talk to me about him whenever you'd like. I'm sure some quality therapy would help you work out your anger management issues, so you don't lash out like a wild animal when you're upset."

"Yesss, you are the only one I trust to talk about... him. But... not right now!" Healer then returned inside of Detective Loki, and the Jotun-Asgardian princess rejoined her team. "You feel better now, yes?"

"Yes...strangely enough, I feel better than I did before you bit me. You didn't manipulate the pleasure center of my brain, perchance, did you?"

"Aaaaaaah, you're so smart! Worry not thoughhh, I only activated it to function as a painkiller though, I am nnnot manipulating you!"

"Right." Loki gave an uncertain look, but she decided to put it out of her mind as she caught up to Sylvie and kissed her belly. "I'm just glad you two are unharmed."

"Yeah, but I can't believe that creep Eros took control of me before he got you! I'm better at controlling my impulses on missions than you are... or at least on Lamentis I was. Of course, you've been growing, getting better at quite a few things since then!"

"As have you, my dear."

Fiamma groaned. "Get a room already before I start vomiting!"

"Says the Loki-obsessed floozy who only joins us on missions to look for a mate." Sylvie countered.

"That's likely why she doesn't care to hear our playful banter: she's jealous." Loki surmised. "And perhaps you still are more adept at restraining your urges for pleasure, perhaps not, but since your pregnancy has your hormone levels elevated, that factor most likely amplified Eros's influence over you."

"Ah, another brilliant deduction, Sherloki." Sylvie replied. "So, speaking of Loki lovers, let's return to President Loki and see if he's into Muspelesses."