Chapter Text
Chapter One
June 2018
The Statesman, Space
“…So, that’s everything I missed while I was away from Earth?”
(Y/N) nodded, anxiously fiddling with the hem of her golden-yellow cape while she watched Thor absorb all of the information she’d spent the past half an hour relaying to him. “Pretty much. Look, Thor, I know it’s a lot to take in all at once so if you need a minute to process-”
She was abruptly cut off when the large Asgardian wrapped his arms around her and held her in a near-suffocating embrace; once she got over her initial shock, she looped her arms around his trim waist and rested her cheek against his muscular chest with a resigned smile. Telling Thor about the Sokovia Accords and the disbandment of the Avengers was something that she’d been dreading ever since running into him on the streets of Greenwich Village, unsure of how he’d react to the news. She’d prepared herself for anger and possibly even tears, especially after everything he’d gone through on Sakaar and having seen Asgard destroyed barely a day ago, but she certainly hadn’t prepared herself to be on the receiving end of a bear-hug.
“I can’t imagine how difficult things have been for you these past few years, Writer (Y/L/N). Once we establish a settlement for what remains of Asgard, I’ll speak to this Secretary Ross about pardoning Captain Rogers and his accomplices; after all you did to help save my people, you have my undying word that little Carina will finally meet her father.”
“That’s very sweet of you, Thor, but…” She managed to pull away enough so that she could see his kindhearted face. “I’m not so sure it’ll be that easy. One hundred and seventeen countries came together to sign the Accords and even if you managed to have the document amended or abolished…well, it’s been almost two years and Steve and Tony still aren’t on speaking terms.”
Thor’s blue eye was filled with sadness as he nodded and loosened his hold on her, but he did his best to give her a reassuring smile. “Hope can be just as powerful of a weapon as any sword or blaster and as long as we hold onto it, anything is possible.”
(Y/N) matched his smile with one of her own and gave his arm a playful nudge with her shoulder. “You’re a pretty great king.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t go that far.” They both turned to watch Loki enter the chamber with a bright-eyed Carina nestled in his arms, a gleam of mischief in his blue-green gaze as he cheekily continued. “He’s been king for less than twenty-four hours, mortal, let’s at least give the oaf a week before we draw any conclusions about his mighty reign.”
“And you, Loki, thrive far too much on purposefully antagonizing the people around you.”
Thor waved her off with a widening grin. “It’s all right, Writer (Y/L/N), these days he’s all talk and no action; the old Loki would’ve followed that all up by stabbing me, but pretend marriage and pretend fatherhood seems to have softened him up.”
Loki rolled his eyes and Thor stuck his tongue out at him, causing (Y/N) to shake her head in exasperation as she watched their interaction. “Seriously? I swear, my daughter’s more mature than the both of you combined and she’s only a month old.”
“Mortal, your spawn is not-” At that moment, Carina’s tiny fingers wrapped around a lock of Loki’s raven hair and tugged, eliciting a surprised yelp from him and a snort of amusement from Thor. “Yes, what was that you were saying about her so-called elevated maturity?”
Ignoring Thor’s laughter and Loki’s accusatory glare, (Y/N) lifted the infant into her arms and held her up at eye level. “Carina Lorraine Rogers-(Y/L/N), that was a very rude thing to do to your Uncle Loki…but I’ll let it slide this one time since he called you my spawn.” She kissed the tip of her daughter’s nose and carefully placed her in her floating pram, taking a moment to adjust her blanket before moving to stand beside the brothers at the large window; she stared out into the star-filled space before them, and she couldn’t hide her awestruck smile at the beautiful sight. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this sight. How long do you think it’ll take to reach Earth?”
“I spoke with the Valkyrie earlier and she assured me that we’ll be there within the week; we’re twenty-two jumps away from Asgard, which means we only have around forty more to go.” Loki replied, fidgeting a little as he folded his hands in front of him. “Do you really think it’s a good idea to go back to Earth?”
“Yes, of course, the people of Earth love me. I’m very popular.”
“And it’s where the father of my child is so yes, I also think it’s a very good idea.”
Loki bit back an exasperated sigh. “Let me rephrase that for you both: Do you really think it’s a good idea to bring me back to Earth?”
His brother considered his question before shrugging his shoulders. “Probably not, to be honest.” (Y/N) reached down and took Loki’s hand, squeezing it in comfort as he looked down at the floor. “But I wouldn’t worry, brother. I feel like everything’s going to work out fine.”
Loki looked up at them and when he met their eyes, a hopeful smile tugged at the corners of his mouth; they all turned back towards the enormous window but as they watched, a massive ship came into view and blocked out the light of the nearby stars. For the briefest moment, (Y/N) wondered if it was some sort of rescue vessel responding to the distress call the Asgardian refugees had put out shortly after their escape, but her optimism evaporated the moment she saw Loki’s pale face and heard his horrified whisper. “Thanos.”
“Wait, who’s-?” (Y/N)’s heart plummeted in her chest when she recalled the troubling conversation about a genocidal world-conquering maniac obsessed with Infinity Stones she’d stumbled into during one of the Grandmaster’s parties. “Oh God…”
“What’s wrong?” Thor asked, a frown on his face and a glimmer of fear in his eye as he took in their reactions. “Loki, who is that?”
“There’s no time for explanations, Thor, we need to sound the alarm and summon every Einherjar we have left right now, before it’s too late! We must evacuate-” Loki’s frantic words were interrupted by the entire ship shuddering as the larger vessel fired its first blast and a shrill alarm began to sound throughout the ship. “Please, brother, you must trust me! Take (Y/N) and lead the people onto the escape shuttles, I’ll gather our warriors onto the bridge and begin mounting our defense with Heimdall.”
Before either of them could reply, Loki dashed out of the chamber and after exchanging matching looks of panic, Thor and (Y/N) gathered up Carina’s pram and hurried to follow his command.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When the Revengers succeeded in both stopping Hela and saving the Asgardian people from Ragnarok, (Y/N) thought that returning to Earth would be a piece of cake by comparison; she naïvely believed that after a brief and uneventful trip through space, she’d be reuniting with Steve and finally introducing the super-soldier to their newborn daughter. I should’ve known that our lives weren’t meant to be that easy, (Y/N) thought as she sprinted through the smoky halls of the Statesman with her blaster held at the ready and Carina’s closed pram in tow.
“(Y/N)!” Thor skidded around the corner ahead and hurried towards her. “The upper levels are clear of civilians and Valkyrie’s just launched the first group of escape shuttles. You and Carina must board a shuttle before the enemy breaches the ship-”
“There’s civilians trapped near the bridge!” She interrupted, ignoring her burning lungs and aching legs as she shouted to be heard over the ship’s blaring alarms. “They’re still firing on our ship and some of the hallways are blocked by fallen debris, you’ve got and get them out before Thanos boards us!”
“I will, but I need to know exactly what we’re facing-” The Asgardian tugged her to the side as several Sakaarian gladiators stormed by, his large hands remaining around her biceps while he looked into her eyes. “Who is Thanos and why does he frighten you and Loki so much?”
“He’s a genocidal maniac who travels across the galaxy to different planets and kills half their population; I overheard some people on Sakaar talking about how he destroyed a planet called Xandar last week and stole their Infinity Stone, and they think he’s out there trying to collect all six of them.” (Y/N) swallowed the lump of fear in her throat as the image of Loki’s pale face filled her mind. “I don’t know why Loki reacted the way he did but trust me, Thor, Thanos is very, very bad news.”
Thor gulped and was quick to hide his apprehension behind a mask of cool and collected calm. “All right, it sounds as though this Thanos only possesses one of the six Infinity Stones. That’s good, he’ll only be moderately challenging to defeat instead of outright impossible.” The ship shuddered and they were nearly thrown into the nearby wall, but Thor helped to steady her and Carina’s pram. “Take Carina and board an escape shuttle; we’ll fend them off long enough for you to reach the nearest jump point, then follow behind in the Commodore.”
Before she had a chance to reply, the Asgardian patted the top of Carina’s pram and took off down the smoke-filled hallway; she ignored the foreboding feeling beginning to blossom in the pit of her stomach and tightened her grip on her blaster before continuing her journey to the escape shuttles, her free hand remaining firm on her daughter’s pram as the emergency alarms rang in her ears and the ship quaked around them.
It was when (Y/N) was only a handful of turns away from the escape shuttles that an explosion blew a hole in the wall at the opposite end of the hallway and a dozen armed Chitauri soldiers poured in, growling amongst themselves as they held their blasters at the ready. Panicking, (Y/N) immediately darted into the nearest doorway and held Carina’s pram close, peeking around the metal frame to watch the approaching forces. She’d seen the choppy news footage and cell phone videos from the Battle of New York and knew that Loki commanded an entire army of Chitauri during his attempted invasion; while they were clearly a force to be reckoned with, she had the advantage of already knowing their attack styles and most importantly, their weaknesses.
“Deep breath in, deep breath out,” (Y/N) recited the words Steve often used during their training sessions and after several calming breaths, she raised her blaster and took careful aim around the metal frame; a sudden cry sounded from her daughter’s closed pram and (Y/N)’s heart dropped as the Chitauri turned to look in their direction. She pulled the trigger and managed to shoot down four of the aliens before darting back behind the frame to avoid their return fire, shrinking further into the doorway as she pressed the button on her uru bracelet to open the pram. “Shh, it’s okay, lemon drop, everything’s going to be okay…” The infant’s wails cut through her heart but all she could do to comfort her was smooth her short (Y/H/C) hair back with quaking fingers and let her tiny fist clutch at her sleeve. “Mommy’s going to get us off this ship, Cari, just hold on.”
Taking another deep breath, (Y/N) peered around the frame and fired off several more shots down the smoke-filled hallway; a bolt of blue energy managed to graze the unarmored part of her bicep and she stifled her cry of pain as she ducked out of the line of fire, clutching the bloody wound with her free hand and straining to listen while the remaining Chitauri advanced towards them. She clenched her jaw tight as she slung her blaster’s strap over her shoulder and drew the daggers she’d been gifted by Loki, gripping the hilts and waiting until the moment she could practically sense their presence before jumping out and attacking; she knocked the blaster out of the first soldier’s clawed hand and slashed at its jugular, swinging its shrieking body around and using it as a shield as a second soldier fired its blaster at her. She kicked the dying creature into the second soldier and whirled around, crouching as she brought her arm back and buried her dagger into the third soldier’s abdomen.
A strong hit to her legs sent her sprawling onto the ground and the hard impact loosened her grip on her daggers, sending them sliding across the floor and away from her. She flipped onto her back to see the two remaining creatures aiming their blasters at her but before she had a chance to react, two familiar blades sprouted from their chests and their lifeless bodies collapsed unceremoniously onto the ground. “What are you still doing here?!” Staggering to her feet, (Y/N) turned and was met with the sight of a panicked Loki skidding to a stop before her. “Are you all right? Where’s Carina?”
“It’s okay, she’s right here,” (Y/N) hurried over to the doorway and guided the pram away from its hiding spot, gently shushed her fussing daughter as she retrieved her daggers and glanced down at her shoulder wound. “And it’s just a graze, I’ll be okay-”
“(Y/N), we don’t have much time so I need you to listen carefully and do exactly as I say.” Loki’s rushed words paired with the frantic gleam in his blue-green eyes made what (Y/N) had been about to say die in her throat and she gave him a single nod. “The Black Order – the self-proclaimed Children of Thanos – are about to board this ship. Once they’ve ensured that our fighters are defeated, Thanos will make his appearance and demand that we surrender the Tesseract to him; it’s the cosmic cube that contains within it the Space Stone, one of the six Infinity Stones.”
“But none of us have the…” Guilt washed over Loki’s features and (Y/N)’s jaw nearly dropped as realization dawned on her. “You took it. You took it from Asgard’s vault while you were resurrecting Surtur-”
“Yes, but only because I sought to keep it safe! An Infinity Stone wouldn’t have been destroyed in a simple planetary apocalypse, so better I take it than allow it to drift unclaimed in space!” Loki insisted, running a frustrated hand through his rumpled black hair with an almost manic gleam in his eyes; it was obvious to (Y/N) that he truly believed that he’d done the right thing and held himself responsible for the nightmare unfolding around them. “I-I should’ve known that Thanos would come for it, there’s no running or hiding from the Mad Titan, but none of that matters now. You and your daughter need to leave this ship now, before it’s too late.”
Looking down the debris-littered hallway, (Y/N)’s heart began to sink and she shook her head. “The explosion blocked the hallway leading to the escape shuttles; we’ll have to find some other way to reach them.”
“I have a better idea.” The ship rocked as it sustained another hit and she bit her lip to keep from uttering a terrified sound; standing before her, the Asgardian raised his hand and hovered it over her sweaty brow. “Do you trust me?” Despite the fear and panic steadily rising within her, she didn’t hesitate to give him a nod, gasping in surprise when Loki pressed the palm of his hand against her forehead and a rush of images flooded into her mind.
Thor and Loki brutally fighting one another on a rainbow bridge, a distraught Loki dangling off its broken edge and letting go of the spear his brother held tight, Loki enveloped in a foreboding darkness, the unbearable pain of endless torture and the cackling of a pale humanoid, a towering purple-hued alien teaching Loki about the Infinity Stones and what he intended on doing with them once he acquired all six, the pale humanoid handing Loki a glowing blue spear and shoving him through a swirling portal, a beam of electric-blue energy forcing a wormhole open over the familiar sky above Midtown Manhattan and an endless hoard of Chitauri emerging, Loki leading the alien army against the newly-assembled Avengers, the Hulk slamming him against the ground and jarring him back to the reality of what he’d done…
(Y/N) gasped as the flashes of images clouded over with swirls of emerald-green magic and she was wrenched back to reality, staggering back several steps before regaining her footing as she struggled to catch her breath; Loki had placed his own memories into her mind, horrible memories that only served to fuel her mounting dread, but it didn’t take her more than a few moments to make out the reasoning behind his action. “He’s been actively hunting down all the stones for years…ever since he lost one on Earth…” Her chest heaved as she tried and failed to calm herself down. “Oh God, he…he’s coming after Vision next.”
“And the sorcerer as well, the Master of the Mystic Arts who guards the Time Stone at the New York Sanctum Sanctorum.” An electric-blue cube appeared in Loki’s grasp and his jaw tightened in determination. “There are very few beings that have the strength to wield an Infinity Stone, but I possess enough to briefly open a portal to Midgard for you and Carina. Now that you know what Thanos is after, you must go and warn the sorcerer of his impending arrival, and then you must work to assemble the Avengers; if anyone in the universe has a chance of foiling Thanos’ plan, it’s your Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Do you understand?”
“‘You think you know pain? He will make you long for something as sweet as pain,’” (Y/N) quietly recited, watching Loki’s eyes flicker with recognition and doing her best to keep her voice steady as she continued. “That’s what that creature told you right before you invaded Earth for Thanos, isn’t it? Loki, if Thanos finds you here, he…he won’t bother giving you a second chance.”
“That may be, mortal, but I will not subject my brother or our people to the fickle mercy of the Mad Titan.” His expression softened while her eyes stung with unshed tears and as she searched for something to say to her unlikely companion, he caressed Carina’s round cheek with a long finger and looked back up at her with a twinge of red in his blue-green eyes. “Your captain is a lucky man, to have the unconditional love of two of the kindest souls in the galaxy.” His hand moved to cup the side of (Y/N)’s face, and the brief smile that he gave her while his thumb traced along her cheekbone could only be described as appreciative. “Don’t ever let him forget that, my friend.”
(Y/N) reached up and covered his hand with hers, trying her hardest to convey her overwhelming thanks and fondness for her unlikely friend and savior. “Loki-”
Another violent explosion interrupted what she intended on saying to Loki and sent the Statesman off-kilter, forcing them both to grab onto the nearest doorway for balance; the chattering of more Chitauri drew their attention to the jagged hole in the wall and they watched as another horde of alien soldiers flooded into the hallway. Before (Y/N) could comprehend what he was doing, Loki used the Tesseract to open a swirling black portal and sent her and her daughter’s pram through it with a flick of his wrist; the last thing she saw before the darkness enveloped her was Loki hiding the Tesseract away and charging towards the Chitauri with his blades drawn, determination and acceptance plainly written across his features.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stumbling out of the portal, (Y/N) caught herself before she could smack into the grime-covered brick wall before her and hastily gathered Carina’s pram into her arms to stop its momentum; her daughter’s tears had finally stopped and after she anxiously looked the infant over for any injuries, she leaned back against the brick wall and released a shaky sigh. Her relief was short-lived as the reality of their dire situation began to settle in, and she started to feel the tell-tale symptoms of a panic attack begin to take hold; her hands started to tremble and while her forehead beaded with sweat, she began to have difficulty breathing when her chest painfully tightened. Thor, Loki, Hulk, Heimdall, the Sakaarian gladiators, the Asgardian refugees, all of them are trapped on that ship with nowhere to go, she thought as the pounding of her elevated heartbeat filled her ears, they’re trapped and there’s no one up there to help them.
A feather-light touch on (Y/N)’s hand startled her into looking down, her vision clearing enough to see that Carina’s tiny fingers had wrapped themselves around her right thumb. Their eyes met and when the corner of Carina’s mouth curved into a familiar smile, (Y/N) was reminded of the time her daughter’s super-soldier father was there to help guide her out of a panic attack…
"I-I don’t know what came over me, I was fine until…well, you know. All at once, everything suddenly became very…real for me.”
Steve nodded solemnly. “No one will think any less of you if you decide to go home. You’ll be safer, and-”
“No, no way.” (Y/N) firmly shook her head, her mouth set in a determined line. “I’m staying. Just because I found out I’m a possible Insight target and had a panic attack doesn’t mean that I’m suddenly okay with sitting back while Hydra plans to kill millions; if anything, I’m even more invested in this fight than I was before.” She felt the corners of her mouth lift into a smirk. “If you’re trying to get rid of me, Rogers, then you’re going to have to try a little harder than that.”
The admiration that had been present in Steve’s eyes and smile that fateful day on the D.C. rooftop was perfectly reflected in his daughter’s as she stared up at (Y/N) from her pram, and the comparison helped her regain her breath and begin to calm her erratic heartbeat. “You’re okay. You’re okay, (Y/N), everything’s going to be okay…” Once her hands stopped shaking, she carefully gathered a cooing Carina into her arms and nuzzled her nose against the infant’s soft hair. “Mommy’s okay, lemon drop, I’m sorry if I scared you. Are you all right?” Her daughter’s head leaned against her silver pauldron and her small face scrunched up when she yawned, making (Y/N) chuckle lightly. “The second that things get back to normal, I’m spoiling you rotten. Clothes, books, toys, a miniature pony, the works. You deserve a whole lot more than that, Cari, but it’s a start.”
Carina babbled in response and after pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead, (Y/N) looked up to assess their surroundings; they were in the middle of a dimly-lit alleyway, with an overflowing dumpster to their right and a bustling street on their left. Loki sent us back to Greenwich Village, she realized when a yellow New York City taxi drove past, he sent us back here to find Stephen Strange and warn him about Thanos. Giving herself an encouraging nod, (Y/N) placed Carina back in her pram and pressed the button on her uru bracelet to close its lid, pushing herself off the dirty alleyway’s brick wall and marching out onto the street.
“Hey, does she look kinda familiar to you?”
“Must be one of those LARPers who hangs out in Central Park…”
“Nice Halloween costume, lady.”
“Is that floaty thing she’s got some kind of new Stark tech or somethin’?”
(Y/N) ignored the murmurs and stares of the pedestrians she passed on the sidewalk, her attention focused on navigating her way through the streets of Greenwich Village; dressed in the tattered and bloodstained armor of an Asgardian warrior – complete with alien weapons and two visible wounds on her bicep – she knew that she was drawing unwanted attention to herself and to her daughter hidden away in the floating pram, but all that mattered to her was reaching 117A Bleecker Street as quickly as possible. She felt a surge of triumph when the first street sign she came across read ‘W Houston,’ recalling her and Thor’s memorable drive to the Master of the Mystic Arts’ residence just over a month prior. Well, the day prior, she corrected herself when her eyes flicked over to a nearby newsstand and she caught sight of the date printed at the top of the closest New York Post; time worked differently on Sakaar and just as Thor suspected, only a single day had passed on Midgard while (Y/N) and Loki spent weeks trapped in the Grandmaster’s palace. Because of their spontaneous trip to see Doctor Strange, she knew that they were only a couple of blocks away from their destination and she broke out into a jog. Skidding to a stop at the corner of Bleecker, she huffed out a triumphant laugh when she spotted her beloved yellow Volkswagen Bug still parked in front of 117A; she checked to make sure that the street was clear before running across to the picturesque building and up the short steps, throwing open the front door to see Stephen Strange and another sorcerer descending the grand staircase.
Stephen’s brows rose in recognition. “Miss (Y/L/N), what are you-?”
A blinding beam of rainbow-hued light suddenly crashed through the building’s ceiling and slammed into the staircase, the force of the impact pushing all three of them back several steps and forcing them to raise their arms to protect their faces. Recognizing the Bifrost as its light faded away into nothing, (Y/N)’s heart leapt into her throat and she hurried up the steps to stand between both sorcerers; their hands glowed with circles of golden magic and their arms were raised in preparation for an attack, but (Y/N) didn’t bother drawing a weapon once she looked into the debris-filled crater to see a naked and distressed Bruce Banner lying amongst the wreckage of roofing and staircase.
“Thanos is coming,” (Y/N) solemnly spoke to the confused sorcerers beside her, resting a hand against her daughter’s pram as she turned her attention back to Bruce down below. “He’s coming.”
“…Who?”