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Thor stood from where he got thrown, wiping the blood from his nose and mouth. He was breathing heavily, watching Thanos’ movements carefully until something happened. Portals began appearing off into the distance, causing Thor to turn around and watch as those they had lost in the snap walked, rode and flew out of them.
One by one they were coming back, familiar faces Thor recognized as he fought alongside them five years ago, some of them even longer. But he was anxious to see one face in particular. And when he didn’t see it, his shoulders drooped.
A hand clasped on Thor’s shoulder, startling him from his search. His stomach sank when he looked at Steve, sympathy overtaking his features.
“Disappointed?”
“Yeah, you could say something like that.” Thor frowned, glancing back at the portals that were becoming empty. Everyone had piled out of them in droves, lining beside the rest of them, ready to fight.
He sighed, pushing back the lump forming in his throat as he tightened his grip on Stormbreaker, turning back toward Thanos as he mentally prepared himself. He was going to pay again, for what he did. From what he took from Thor, from the rest of his friends. Now was not the time to get emotional, it was time to kick some purple-
“Surely you weren’t going to start fighting without me, were you?”
“Hm?” Thor frowned, looking beside him at Steve curiously. He was glowing, gold light shimmered along his entire body and he began to fade. A moment of transparency allowed him to see the real Steve standing a few feet away. A look of confusion crossed over Thor’s face as his mind scrambled to make sense of what exactly was happening.
Suddenly, the familiar face he hadn’t seen in half a decade appeared, along with that same frustrating grin on his face that he always wore.
“Loki…” A look of shock appeared on Thor’s face.
He wore his battle armor, gold plates spread out on top of his green and black leather. His horned helmet on display atop his head. He looked like he was ready for battle. Ready to help them fight.
“I’m here.” Loki repeated the same words as he did on the last day that Thor had seen him, five long years ago. The conversation flashed across his mind, regret forming in the pit of his stomach from not doing what he said he’d do if his brother were actually there. He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
But their reunion was going to have to wait, because Thanos would not. He glanced at Steve - the real Steve - and nodded toward him.
He yelled out a few commands and it began. Everyone charged forward, fighting with all of their strength, working as a team. Loki generally stuck close to Thor, watching his back while Thor watched his. They were on the same page, occasionally teaming up against the same larger enemy, skillfully taking them out as they used to long ago. It was a long battle and extremely tough and they did not escape without wounds. There had been a few casualties, but they had done it.
They defeated Thanos.
~~~~~~~
Back in New Asgard, Thor and Loki stood inside of his small house. The place was a mess and Loki wasn’t sure where to sit. Truthfully, he didn’t think he wanted to. It was disgusting.
“Erm… I apologize for the clutter. I… went through a pretty rough time.” His cheeks tinted pink as moved a pile of pizza boxes from one of the chairs.
“Apparently so…” Loki eyed his brother’s newly rounded form with an eyebrow raised.
Thor looked around for a place to put them, deciding to toss them out of his window, muttering, “I’ll take care of those later.” He turned back toward Loki, taking a couple of steps toward him.
It made Loki nervous, as his brother used to do this before to intimidate him. He began to back up, like he’d always done, but Thor suddenly reached out to stop him.
Loki tensed, nearly flinching away as he expected to be hit-or worse, for deceiving his brother once again. But Thor’s intentions weren’t to harm him, he was hugging him.
“Oh!” Loki exclaimed in surprise, frozen from the unforeseen gesture. “Not quite the reaction I was expecting, but…” Hesitantly, he drew his arms around his brother, returning his embrace. It was sort of weird, it had been a long time since he and Thor were so friendly, but it gave him a sense of… happiness. Maybe they could start to repair their relationship. It wouldn’t be able to go back to the way it was and it was never perfect, but they’ve both changed. Perhaps they could begin to work things out and fight together, side by side like they used to.
“I-I thought you were…”
Loki pulled back, smirking. “Dead? Oh, dear brother… when are you not going to fall for that?”
A smile broke out onto Thor’s face as he laughed. “I suppose I never will. But really… you were actually dead this time. I saw it.” His smile faded as he thought about the state Loki had been in when he’d seen him last, and became uncomfortable.
“Yes, well…” Loki let out an awkward laugh, looking down as he fidgeted with his sleeve. He cleared his throat and let go of his sleeve, letting his arms fall to his sides. He slipped his mask back on as looked back at Thor, desperate to hide the brokenness inside of him, all the trauma that would likely be overlooked if he shared what he had gone through. “It’s a long story. Boring, really. Nothing really worth-”
“Loki.” But Thor saw right through it. He may have missed it in the past, as focused on himself as he was, but he saw his brother in a different light. Loki wasn’t the awful person he was stupid enough to think he was. Now Thor was starting to see it, how selfish and self absorbed he had been. He’d just gotten him back after he thought he’d lost him again. Thor would no longer take Loki for granted. They were brothers, by blood or not. He was ready to listen.
Thor gestured for Loki to sit. “Tell me everything.”