Work Text:
The starry sky whispered to me
"You're the God of Mischief
But you could be more"
It didn't know I would point to it
And wish things I could not afford.
But I made my words fall short
I mean no harm but I mean no love
And to waste more ink on dreams I sought
Is just a way
To keep me the same
As I was before.
The night sky sang a sad tune as I looked above
It said
"You're the God of Mischief
And you want to remain the same
As you always were".
“What did you do?” Thor looked at Thanos in terror, the snap of his fingers still echoing throughout the forest. Silence, and the sunset shinning on Thanos’ eyes. His work was done, and Thor felt the brute’s hand relaxing against his chest. A portal opened behind him, sparkling blue, just like the Tesseract his brother offered in his outstretched hand. Blue just like the sky before the storm, before the Thunder.
“I said” Thor trembled with the energy building up inside him. The Gauntlet shook as he put his hands on it, through the tip of his fingers began to vibrate the molecules, and solid metal went liquid, running down like a river of gold through Thanos’ armor. Electric rays spiked all around them. Blue as Loki’s eyes are.
“That you were going to die for that”.
Were.
And one by one the Stones dropped on the grass, and Thanos roared and widened his eyes in terror. The portal closed behind him, his figure bowed before Thor who now towered over him, subjugating the monster that killed his brother. Shouts grew louder behind him, heavy with pain and denial, he knew those feeling too well as to not avert his gaze from the only thing that mattered. He grabbed the green Stone in midair.
The Time Stone.
And Thanos scorned at him, defiance in his eyes. The monster thought he would not be able to wield it. That he wasn’t worthy or strong enough.
Thor had thought that of his brother as well. Thoughts that did not leave even after each night they spent together under the stars, that did not falter even when he ran his fingers through Loki’s hair, and did not die after every kiss. Loki was weak, to Thor that was just as certain as Asgard was immortal.
But one day, Thor watched Asgard crumble before him, the same day Loki took a step forward to Thanos pretending to offer his services.
“I am the God of Mischief”
And Thor believed that he would do that, that he would aid Thanos, because that was Loki. And Loki was weak.
Until he saw the dagger on Loki’s hand. Until he saw he attack with a quick deadly movement that was left uncompleted, echoing an everlasting ‘would be’ before life left his eyes, Thanos’ hand wrapped around his neck. And Thor couldn’t do anything. And then he was the one who was weak.
So Thor prayed to the Stone like he would pray to whoever Gods would listen. Past and Future opened before him, trillions of possibilities flashing before his eyes, uncontrollable, horrifying and wonderful.
“I just want one thing” he muttered, gazing from one flashing image to the other, pressing his hammer down Thanos’ throat “Only one thing, to go back, I don’t want any of that” his voice cracked, he tried to control his visions with his free hand, but they kept going through his flesh like ghosts.
“You can’t have it. You lost” Thanos’ strangled groans seemed to be uttered from a galaxy far away, and Thor could barely hear its echoes. He wanted to think of Loki’s laugh or of his silly punchlines to guide him to that place in the past where he lost him, but all that came to his mind was the other man’s convulsing body while drawing its final breaths.
“Yes” Thor pressed the Stone in his hand with all the strength he could muster “Yes, I had much to lose, and so I did” he then saw himself reactivating the rings of the dying Star, taking the Pod with the teenager tree and the strange rabbit. The right temporal line.
‘Just a bit further’ he pushed, he felt the Stone shake violently within his hand. He saw himself floating semi-conscious on space moments before being rescued.
‘Please, a bit further’ his mind was on the verge of breaking. He didn’t know if the reason for that was the Stone reacting to him going too far back on Time or if it was due to the pain of watching Loki being taken from him again. Thor closed his eyes not to see, and when he opened them again he was alone with his brother before a huge glass panel to the Universe on the ship full of survivors leaving their home planet.
Thor threw himself on Loki and pressed his lips against the other man’s, responding to Loki’s surprised gasp by embracing even more his body, once again full of life.
“Thor” Loki gave a step back, a huge shadow growing over both of them “We have company”
And Thor watched as Thanos’ enormous ship appeared on the other side of the glass. He looked at Loki one more time before tucking away on his armor, along with the shiny green Stone, the dagger he stole from the other man’s robes.
For he knew, this time, Loki wouldn’t be weak.