Work Text:
(2014-Alternate Timeline, A small moon colony of Xandar)
Not for the first time in the last few years, Loki stared into the Tesseract, agonizing over what it had revealed to him. It wasn’t the first time he was seeing it all, and he knew that it wouldn’t be the last.
He wanted to let go. He had let go, in certain ways.
He had played around with space, hopping off and on different realms, spending months doing something or the other to augment his magic wielding skills, expanding on his knowledge of space and time…
The last few years had been quite helpful in many ways. He didn’t have to address his pain as long as he was busy; he just let it simmer down slowly. Using his training as a mage to calm his mind had been an asset as well.
But the most helpful aspect of this lonely existence was that he was away from Asgard and his so called family. With the absence of all the people who had hurt him, it was much easier to relinquish the hold on his anguish.
However, the Tesseract kept showing him visions. It was the truth , as the human scientist--Erik Selvig--had once told him. It was his truth.
This truth was another layer of pain on his self , and he dearly wanted to banish it. Alas, the Tesseract was a stubborn mistress, and it insisted on presenting these visions to him.
“Why do you keep showing this to me?” he asked, looking at the Tesseract with forlorn eyes as it sat on his bedside table, imitating a lamp. “Is it my inevitable future? Have I not escaped it? I certainly haven’t lived through that, all of that which you’re showing me. You just keep torturing me with these visions.”
The Tesseract’s glow dimmed and dulled after he said that. Loki looked away from it, wondering if the space stone was hurt by his words. It was, after all, a sentient entity.
How ridiculous…
“What do you want me to do? I’m already dead in that reality, at least, as per your own visions.” He turned and glared at the cosmic cube. “I’m trying to keep myself alive here somehow! Do you want me to lay waste to myself?”
The Tesseract glowed in response, and Loki felt it calling out to him. It was a pull he couldn’t shake off.
“What?” he asked defeatedly.
And then… he saw new visions emerging… of futures merging with past, creating a flux in the grand workings of the universe.
“When?” he asked, brushing his fingers over the cube’s smooth surface. “Tell me. Tell me what needs to be done, please .”
When Loki arrived on Thanos’ ship, he had to keep himself in disguise. He pretended to be one of the lesser soldiers in his collective army. The lesser attention he called on himself, the better.
It was not easy, being here again. This the was the last place he ever wanted to revisit, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He’d just have to make sure that he wasn’t caught. Thankfully, his seidr was the strongest it had ever been, and his shapeshifting was impeccable.
He knew that the time to move was nigh, as per what the Tesseract had told him. He just hoped that he hadn’t miscalculated his arrival. He didn’t want to stay in the skin of this horrible creature for long.
Roaming through the ship, Loki successfully avoided Thanos and his minions, but the waiting made him restless.
He knew what Nebula was about to do, and he just wished that it would be done sooner.
Suddenly, the whole ship shook violently, nearly throwing everyone around inside it.
This was it… this was the moment.
The ship entered a bridge through time, taking everyone inside it into the converging futures.
Loki was heading straight to a battle with these savages. Not a model situation for traversing time, but he’d take it.
There was a chance that he had a better future waiting for him, a future where things would be different, where he wouldn’t be required to be on the run all the time.
(2023, Destroyed Avengers Compound)
Loki tried his best to keep himself hidden as the battle began.
Thanos was fighting three of the team that had once apparently defeated him. One of them was Thor. If Loki hadn’t already known about his brother’s condition, he’d have had a serious shock of nerves upon seeing Thor as he was now.
Regardless of how Thor had changed, he could still summon lightning, and he could still fight like a true warrior of Asgard.
Well, that was heartening.
Loki was keen to slip away from the battleground, for he knew that soon, Thanos’ army would descend from the ship and then spread all over. It would be very difficult to either hide or to run away during that time.
The Tesseract grew hot in the magical pocket against his chest, making him hiss in discomfort as he jumped over a piece of debris.
“What do you want me to do here?” he grunted, slipping behind a rock and watching the battle unfold. Steve Rogers and Tony Stark were trying hard to assist Thor in taking Thanos down. “I’m here to start over anew. We both know that they’d win this battle, there’s no need for me to intervene, if that’s what you want.”
He couldn’t take the risk of discovery. There was every chance that they would all consider him a part of Thanos’ army and try to kill him.
He had to turn his back and run. His future was contingent upon it. He had to…
There was a loud pounding on the ground, as though something heavy was being thrown around and battered. Despite his best efforts, Loki turned around to look at who Thanos was attempting kill.
In his heart, he knew who it was.
Thor…
Thor was being pulverized into the ground by the very creature who had put Loki through unspeakable anguish. It was a horrendous sight, and Loki stood frozen in his spot, unable to move a muscle.
His conscience was being pulled apart in all kinds of directions.
Self preservation versus righteous rage… all bubbled inside him, giving him warring motivations.
“Thor would be fine!” He clenched his teeth, his fingers curling into fists as he watched his brother being thrown around like a rag doll.
There was every chance that Thor wouldn’t be fine, for Loki had indeed somewhat disturbed the order of things in his own way. One minor change in anything was enough to cause a big change in another…
Loki shook his head in vacillation and pain… his eyes growing wet as the imagery of his other, dead self assaulted his brain. He had been here before, in the same situation… and he had nearly lost his life, then.
Why had his destiny put him in such a situation again?
WHY?!
Thor tried to call his axe to him, but Thanos grabbed it first, mid air. Thor stared at the titan with blood-rimmed eyes, the shock of having his weapon seized clear on his face.
Thanos was about to bring the axe down on him.
Thor grabbed it as he swung it at him, having to use both his arms to fend him off. As a result, the Mjolnir lay dormant on the ground, a few feet away. Thor’s arms shook with the effort to keep the axe from slicing his chest as Thanos put more pressure on it.
He was fighting a losing battle.
Suddenly, the titan’s grip on the stormbreaker loosened, his face contorting in pain. He gave a loud snarl and turned around, limping slighting. There was a sword embedded in his calf.
As the titan turned, Thor saw Loki standing behind him, another sword in his hand, glowing with his magic.
“Betrayer!” Thanos snarled, lunging at Loki.
Loki smirked as the titan grabbed at thin air, his illusion melting away. Just as it disintegrated, Loki appeared behind him, right next to Thor, and shoved the other sword into his other calf.
Thanos screamed, the loud voice grating on his nerves. He pulled the swords out and threw them away, glaring murderously.
Just then, he was hit with Rogers’ shield and Stark’s beam of energy. Thor jumped up and tried to grab Loki’s arm. But Loki slipped away, looking at him warily.
“Is that your dead fucking brother?” Stark asked, sounding baffled, as the beam shoved Thanos into the ground.
Loki glared at him as he used his magic to pull apart Thanos’ armour. It was a tough task, but he was not going to give up easily.
“I thought you had eyes, Stark,” he called, his whole body shaking with trepidation. He was surrounded by enemies and not -friends. One wrong move, and his chance at having a life was going to be ruined.
His efforts at Thanos’ armour proved fruitful, but only half of it came apart before Thanos picked himself up and lunged at him again.
“I should’ve killed you when you were under my thumb!” he cried, just as Loki jumped back and created several illusions to confuse him.
“I agree with you.” Loki used the distraction to slide behind him, then looked at Thor, who still stood frozen in his spot, the stormbreaker crackling with lightning in his hand.
He wasn’t sure if Thor would swing it at him or at Thanos.
“Because now I’m here to kill you,” Loki declared, ducking as Rogers’ shield came flying at Thanos. “And I’m much stronger.”
He summoned a dagger and slashed Thanos’ non-armoured side as he got on his knees and rolled away. Crouching down, he looked up and was horrified to see that Thanos had broken Rogers’ shield.
Just as he did that, a roar of multitudes came from Thanos’ ship, announcing the descent of his army.
Oh well, this was turning bad, and very hastily.
Loki rose to his full height and tried to summon another sword from his stash. His plan was to imbue it with the Tesseract’s inherent celestial magic, augmenting it’s strike power.
He also could’ve just used the Tesseract itself, but that was a dangerous game. One look at it, and everyone would be on his trail like a bloodhound.
“Thor, move!” he yelled, seeing that Thanos had decided to target Thor now, who wasn’t actively fighting still.
Thor just heaved and stumbled, the stormbreaker clutched in his hand as more of an instinct than a move to defend.
Desperate to save his brother once again, Loki willed the sword to come to his hand, the Tesseract’s power already melding with his magic to create a stronger force.
However, the sword didn’t come to his hand. Something else did.
Thor looked at Loki in shock as the Mjolnir flew at him. Loki tried to back away from the hammer, but it came straight to his hand.
Lightning surged around him, and he stared at it in sheer disbelief. However, there was no time to react to it all. Thanos was bearing down on Thor, and Loki had to act.
He threw Mjolnir straight at the titan’s head. The blow made him stumble over and fall onto his side, giving Thor the room to slip away. Thanos’ own sword, big and unwieldy as it was, couldn’t really do any damage to him. It got embedded in the loose soil.
The hammer flew back to Loki. He accepted it with poise, his eyes finding Thor’s baffled ones again.
In that moment on the battlefield, the brothers finally connected. Thor’s face lit up with a smile, and Loki answered it with his own mirth.
Yet, the hammer felt wrong in his hands. It wasn’t his weapon. It never had been.
His greatest weapon had always been himself .
Hence, he threw the hammer back at Thor, and then he jumped straight at Thanos, the sword finally materializing in his hand.
The blow, however, was deflected by one of his minions--Proxima Midnight. She immediately came at Loki with her poison spear.
Just as Loki engaged her in a fight, more chaos spilled over the battlefield. Thankfully, the Avengers’ own collective army arrived as well.
Now, it was a full-fledged battle, grander than the ones he had fought for Asgard in the past. It was very nearly overwhelming.
“Someone’s got the gauntlet!” Stark yelled then, just as Loki dispatched Proxima and her spear.
Thor and Rogers were engaged with Thanos again, and now, another warrior had joined them. She was levitating in the air, with glowing red eyes and hands.
Another magic wielder. The one with the Mind Stone’s gift.
Loki found her intriguing, but he was too busy fending off attacks to truly observe her. He was just glad that she went on to pick apart the remaining bits of armour from the titan’s body.
“Who has the gauntlet?” someone screamed behind him, and he dearly wished to know the answer to that question.
If the gauntlet dropped into wrong hands, all his efforts would be for naught. He knew that they wanted to send the stones back to their original times, and hence, the gauntlet needed dismantling.
Well, as long as he still had his Tesseract, he was fine with them being sent back. He would walk away after the battle, and he would have a chance at leading a more peaceful life once it was all over.
However, his plans sank the moment the gauntlet landed near Thanos…
“No…” he whispered, knowing that stopping him would be near impossible if he put it on.
His panicked gaze met Thor’s, who was equally perturbed, but determined nonetheless.
He raised his hand at Loki and made a few familiar gestures… gestures they had used in the past when they had fought side-by-side.
Loki knew what those gestures meant, and he immediately nodded, responding to his brother in the same language.
Thor wanted him to distract Thanos so that he’d be able to cut off his arms. Now that his armour was gone, it would be easy.
No arms, no gauntlet. No finger snap.
However, what Loki was about to do wasn’t merely a distraction. He was taking a chance… using what he had with him in secret.
It was now or never…
As he closed in, he saw several others trying to remove the gauntlet from Thanos’ periphery. One of them even glowed like a fireball.
Alas, they were unsuccessful.
His heart thudded in his chest as the titan lifted the gauntlet and put it on his hand.
No!
Loki glanced at Thor one last time before leaping at Thanos, making sure he was following. He was.
As Thanos raised his gauntlet wielding hand in the air, Loki jumped on to his back and wove the Tesseract’s power with his seidr, the way the Tesseract had shown him. It was a thick rope of glowing blue energy, humming with the power of the cosmos.
Loki wrapped it around the monster’s thick neck, and then he pulled it taut.
“Thor! Now!” he called, squeezing the Titan’s neck tighter and tighter as he struggled.
With a roar, Thor came down on Thanos’ arm, his axe chopping it off in a single, clean blow. The gauntlet fell away from his cut off arm, then, and lay on the ground inertly.
Thanos would’ve screamed, had he any breath left in his chest after being throttled by Loki. He just made guttural choking noises.
“You will... never… be… a God! ” Loki growled in his ear, just as the thick rope of Tesseract powered magic snapped the Titan’s neck. The crack was loud and clear, and the collapse of the big purple body was enough to scatter all of his forces.
Loki kept crouching over his body, still keeping the magical rope tight around the dead titan’s neck. He knew that his eyes were glowing blue because of the energy that flowed through him, and he perhaps looked rather monstrous.
He felt monstrous.
But sometimes… to slay a monster, one has to become a monster of equal standing.
That’s who Loki was… a monster and a God… and he was finally at peace with it.
Loki stood on the same cliff where Odin had died not long ago. Of course, Loki himself wasn’t here when it had happened; his other self had been. He had the imagery of that time, thanks to the Tesseract.
It felt strange…
He was himself, but he was also not himself. It felt as though a part of him had died, and yet, he still lived on.
He wondered now, if his dead self had seen this future in the Tesseract when he had handed it over to Thanos.
Mayhap, this was the reason he had given it up that easily and not used it for himself.
Mayhap, he knew that he would save himself from the past of a different timeline...
Whatever it was… he was here, and he was alive. Things weren’t perfect here, but at least, he wasn’t on the run anymore. He wasn’t perceived as a criminal anymore.
He would take it. This was a gift from his other self, and he would forever cherish it.
“Brother…”
Loki turned around upon hearing Thor’s deep voice.
“It’s a bright, sunny day. So pleasant… isn’t it?” Thor looked into his eyes as though he was trying to decipher a puzzle. “Your words did come true.”
Loki gave him a short nod, then looked away. “The sun is indeed shining upon us.”
The words felt foreign on his lips, but he knew that Thor needed to hear them. After all, to him, he was that same brother who had died saving him.
Thor held him by the shoulders then, and smiled warmly. “I don’t know how you did it, but I’m glad that you’re back. I’m glad that you’re here.”
Loki chuckled. “Trust me, I’m glad too.”
“So… I came here to tell you that the crew has decided to leave tomorrow itself.”
Loki frowned at Thor. “Rocket and his friends?”
Thor nodded. “And you know that I intend to travel with them.”
“Yes… to search and rescue all the remaining Asgardians in the cosmos.” It was indeed a noble cause.
“Aye.” Thor patted his shoulders and then stepped away. “Of course, I’m their king. But not for long.”
That revelation came as a surprise to Loki. Thor had never mentioned abdication before. “What do you mean?”
Thor shrugged. “I’m stepping down. I can’t protect my people and rule them too. Someone has to help me in this.”
Loki pursed his lips in displeasure. “I’m sure Brunhilda will--”
Thor gave him a deep, intent look. “I’m not talking about her, brother. Of course, she’s a Valkyrie, she will protect them. But she cannot be their leader.”
Loki was at a loss. This was all unexpected and strange. “I see… what do you plan to do, then?”
“What do you plan to do next? Do you want to leave?” Thor asked, raising his eyebrows as if expecting an immediate answer.
That left Loki little room to maneuver his words. “No… I finally have a chance at a stable life. I think I will take it.”
“Good, then I’d like you to be the king of New Asgard.”
Loki gaped at him. “Thor… what?”
“You heard me. I want you to be the king. You are familiar with the job, and you understand rule like I never could. I mean, look at me, brother. I let myself go…”
Loki shook his head and tried to deny Thor’s words. “Suffering manifests itself in different ways, brother. I understand it far more intimately than you expect me to. You’re still you-- the god of thunder .”
Thor ignored his words. “I hope that one day, you can tell me about your sufferings, brother.”
Loki didn’t like the direction this conversation was heading into. “Perhaps, one day I will.”
“But you’re going to be king. And you’re going to be great at it.”
“I’m glad that you believe so,” Loki said with an air of ennui. “You took your sweet time.”
“So, you accept?” Thor asked, looking at him curiously.
“Do I have a choice?”
“Not really. But yeah… don’t spread too much mischief while you’re at it.”
Loki had a mild chuckle at that remark. “I’ll be on my best behaviour.”
“Especially towards Steve. You have mocked the poor soul enough.”
“I’ll try. But I make no promises there.”
Thor laughed heartily, punching Loki in the arm. “Oh, I’ve missed you, Loki.”
Loki retaliated by kicking Thor’s calves, making him fall on his rear. “I missed you too, you ungainly oaf.”
Loki felt a surge of joy as they both fell into the old habits of a time when they weren’t so distant as brothers. It soothed a part of him, and he knew that eventually, he would heal.
He would heal and become better… he would live his life to its fullest potential.
He owed it to himself… both his present and past self... dead and alive self.