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The final blow is deflected and Loki is surprised. He had accepted it. He had awaited it – but it is blocked. By Mjolnir, which, of course, is wielded by none other than Thor.
Loki can't even look to where the Hulk has been thrown across the room, because he is too busy staring up at the Thor that stands in front of him. Because it is Thor, but it's not Thor. His hair shorn, cut close to his scalp and his face is cleanshaven as well. Loki has never, in all of their years together, seen Thor look like this.
When he can tear his gaze away from Thor's face, he notices that his armor is different as well. They're minute differences, but differences all the same. The chainmaille on his arms is made in a different way and there are protective runes woven along the metal. Loki continues to stare even though his vision has begun to go blurry. The room spins around him.
“Loki,” Thor says beseechingly, dropping to one knee so that they are eye level. His hands cup Loki's face. In the instant before Loki passes out he thinks that he hasn't heard Thor say his name quite like that since they were children.
…
Tony is the first to make it back up into what remains of his tower. He is surprised to see that the Hulk is on the ground, unmoving, but he's more surprised at the sight of the stranger kneeling beside Loki.
“Hey, buddy,” Tony says, his voice still full of bravado even though he'd just almost died seconds ago and his suit is shot to hell. “You mind--”
His clever quip dies on his tongue when the man – god? – turns and looks at him. Because he's pretty sure that he just left this guy on the ground down below and Thor never said anything about having a brother that looks exactly like him.
“Who the hell are you?” Tony manages to get out just as Captain America and Thor arrive behind him.
“I am Thor Odinson,” the stranger says though clenched teeth. There are tears in his eyes, which makes the whole situation a bit more awkward. But he's also clenching what looks suspiciously like Mjolnir in one hand.
“Yeah,” Tony drawls. “We've already got one of those.” He says, nodding over to where Thor is standing. He glances over at Thor to see if he's got some kind of explanation as to why there might be two of him now.
He seems just as confused.
“Some tricks, perhaps,” Tony can hear Thor half mumble, but the words carry no certainty to them.
Unfortunately, this seems to only spur the stranger-Thor to action.
“How could you let this happen?” he asks, walking toward Thor, and pointing back at Loki with Mjolnir. “He is yours to protect. And now he is in dire need of healing.”
“Woah, hey,” Tony says, because he can't not. He doesn't deal well with people walking in and telling him what to do, and especially not this stranger who none of them know. “Yeah, the villain who just destroyed half of New York? Totally deserving of medical attention.”
And yet, he isn't totally prepared for other-Thor to swing around quickly enough that, for a second, Tony expects to get a chestful of Mjolnir. Instead, he receives a glare so sharp that he's certain he's about to be struck down by lightning.
“Hey,” the Cap cuts in easily, stepping forward to rest a hand on Tony's arm. He glances over at other-Thor, and his expression is both calming and commanding. “We all need some medical attention at the moment. Why don't we head back to headquarters and figure this all out?”
There's a moment of pause but finally, other-Thor nods. None of them say anything as he steps backward and gathers Loki up gingerly.
Tony glances back at Thor, but Thor is completely focused on the visage of himself caring for the brother he lost.
…
“We were able to defeat the Chitauri, but not without great sacrifice. He was killed while casting the spell that ultimately defeated them. He saved all of Asgard.”
They were all silent as the other-Thor finished up his story. They were still inside the medical bay and Tony feels as if he's bruised all over the place and he thinks he's really too tired to deal with this on top of everything else. He had thought that saving the Earth from aliens that had come through a portal was enough, but now he has to contend with the fact that the closest thing they've ever known to a god might have traveled from an alternative universe in order to save his lover. Brother? Husband?
It's too much for one day.
And it's difficult to look at either of the Thors right now, because their Thor looks almost ashamed and embarrassed, and the other Thor looks like he might start crying at any moment. It's difficult look to process on a man who had managed to break one of the arms of his Iron Man suit with brute force and managed to wrestle with the Hulk.
Across from him, Cap is silent; Bruce is still unconscious, and Fury looks merely wary.
He wasn't exactly pleased that they brought a Thor-look-alike back with them, but they did just save New York and, by extension, the entire world, so there's not much he can say about it. He just listens with the rest of them.
Loki is partitioned off from the rest of them, behind heavy glass. He's been examined, but it's hard to say how much medical attention he was given – or how much he actually needs.
“So,” Tony drawls, finally breaking the silence, because he feels like somebody needs to. Somebody has to move this discussion past 'Wow-that-was-a-sad-story' into 'here's-our-plan.' Tony is often that person.
“So,” he says again. “You want to take our Loki to replace yours? Is that the whole kit and kaboodle I'm hearing?”
Steve looks over at him and shoots him a look, and all Tony can do is shrug. Hey, it might be a bit cold, but it would really solve everybody's problem here. They'd get rid of Loki – the guy who, oh yeah, just tried to take over the world, and this Thor would get the person he thinks he loves back. Who's losing?
But their Thor is glaring at him like he's just suggested they do something truly foul to Thor's mother, so instead, Tony shrugs again.
“All right, we'll take about it later.”
…
In the end, they let the other-Thor sit beside Loki's bed on the condition that Mjolnir remain outside the room. And he planted himself there and did not move.
The others eventually disappear. However, Thor finds that all he can do is stand outside the room and stare at this other-version of himself. He suspects that his hair was shorn in order to honor and mourn Loki. The idea makes something cold curl in his gut.
Eventually, he gives in and decides to enter the room. There are no doctors left in the room. They had told other-Thor that they had bandaged and repaired Loki all they could. He needs time and rest now.
Thor shuts the door quietly behind him, but other-Thor looks up all the same. His glance makes Thor want to retreat, but he has never been one to give into his desire to flee.
“Is there something you wish?”
“He is my brother,” Thor answers, feeling a bit defensive. He wants to say that he has more right to be here than does this other version of himself, but he doesn't dare let the words leave his mouth. He knows he is angry with Loki, and that he rarely understands, but he also knows what it is to think him gone forever. He remembers the pain of watching him spill over the edge of the Bifrost, watching space and darkness swallow him.
“You do not deserve to be here,” other-Thor tells him staunchly, casting the words over his shoulder. They have a sharp edge. “It is our duty to protect him, and you have let him wander so far from home.”
“He is my brother,” Thor repeats. “I love him. I sought to bring him home.”
“You should have never let him leave,” other-Thor answers, his voice rising and growing deeper at the same time. He pushes out of his chair and stands so that they are practically nose-to-nose. “You didn't love him well enough.”
“He was hurt by --” Thor tries to protect, holding a hand out toward the bed; because he could not control that Loki did not take news of his parentage well.
“He needs to be assured that none of that matters,” other-Thor growls. “He was a great king because of all of that. His parentage ensured peace in our kingdom, and his power made it so that we could win any battle we needed. We are only half without him. And you have thrown that away so easily for allies who could never understand such a thing. We have no business on Midgard.”
Thor stares at him; anger boils tightly inside his chest. He wishes to strike out at himself. He suspects such an action would be futile, but all the same. It was not his fault that Loki fell. He tried to do what he could. What other steps could have been taken?
“He will not be the brother you know even if you take him,” Thor manages to bite off.
“No,” other-Thor says. And he is the one that retreats, returning to Loki's bedside to take up his hand. “With you by his side, how could he be? But I would love him all the same.”
Thor stares at his back for a moment, knowing the stubborn set of his shoulders and the angry clench of his jaw. He looks up to where Loki is still asleep on the bed. And then he turns and he does leave, because he doesn't know how to change anything here.
…
The door clangs shut as Thor leaves. A few seconds later, Loki opens his eyes. He looks intently at this strange version of Thor who is looking just as intently at him. His immediate reaction is to tug his hand back and away, but then decides against it. He pushes himself up a little further on the bed.
“You knew I was awake that whole time,” Loki surmises.
Other-Thor smiles at him in a way that is utterly broken. He raises his other hand and moves it to trace the bruised line of Loki's jaw. His touch is more gentle than Loki has ever known it, but he still pulls away, because it is too much. This other-Thor may claim to know of a different world, to know his love in a way that Loki doesn't think possible, but Loki is still wary of it all.
“Of course,” Other-Thor manages to say finally.
“You're a fool,” Loki bites off, because he can't stand the way that this-Thor is looking at him. He can barely stand the way that his Thor looks at him, and this has to be a thousand times worse. The Thor of his world merely looks at him with that lost look, the one that he probably thinks is a secret, but makes it all so clear that he's still hopeful that Loki will change. But this look is something else. Something of pity, and sorrow, and a thousand emotions that Loki doesn't want to name.
“What a soft king you must make,” Loki hisses. “What a disappointment to Father.”
Other-Thor leans in abruptly, and Loki tenses, because he's utterly vulnerable. But other-Thor just brushes their lips together, the touch so light that it's barely existent.
Every barbed word that Loki is thinking of throwing at this other-Thor is driven from his mind. He still wants to claw at this other-Thor's face, because he is so presumptuous, still so full of himself. He's still arrogant and thinks he's all knowing.
“You won't drive me away, brother,” other-Thor says staunchly, and the words are so stubborn. They could only be spoken by Thor. “I know you. And you've been belittled here in a matter most undeserving.”
“So you thought you'd merely step in and try to use me to replace the brother you lost?” Loki regains his words, although they're not nearly as angry as he had hoped them to be. He understands what the difference he sees in this Thor compared to his Thor. This Thor believes him in utterly. When he said that Loki had been a great king, and that he had been loved, and that he had died to protect everything they had built – he had meant it. The prospect of such a thing makes want Loki want to tremble, because he can't imagine such a world. And if such a world is true, it does give this-Thor such power over him, because he would know him so much better than his own Thor. His own Thor might have fumbled to try and do so, but he has never succeeded. He has always written him off as his strange younger brother, and doesn't seem to understand the gravity of Loki's discovery of his parentage.
Other-Thor's eyes dip down for a moment.
“I had hoped...” he falters in his words. “I had hoped to go back in time and find my own Loki again. To change things.”
“A trying spell,” Loki says cuttingly.
“Yes,” Thor says simply, not raising to the bait. “One I clearly did not master. But circumstances have brought me here, and I cannot think that fate did not play a hand in that.”
He believes so easily. He actually thinks that he was brought here to save Loki. It makes Loki want to snarl and say that he has never needed to be saved. But he knows it would be a great lie, and somehow, he knows that this-Thor would see so easily through it.
“I will watch over you,” Other-Thor says finally. He leans in and presses a kiss against Loki's forehead. “Rest now.”
…
“He should leave as soon as possible,” Bruce says when he awakes and sees the other-Thor that is still at Loki's bedside.
“Does he pose a threat?” Fury asks from where the Avengers stand outside Loki's room.
“It's hard to say what will happen,” Bruce answers. “But he doesn't belong here. He doesn't belong in our time, and I think it would be unwise to keep two of the same person within the same time.” He glances over at Thor.
“He'll want to take Loki with him,” Thor says, and his voice sounds as if he's posing an argument.
They're all silent for a moment.
“Would that be a bad thing?” Steve finally asks, his voice tentative.
And no one else answers.
…
Loki heals much faster than the rest of them, but it feels slow to him. He feels trapped. He is trapped by the prison of a room he is in. He is trapped by the scathing glances the Avengers throw him. He is trapped underneath the heavy gaze of other-Thor.
He wonders over his fate. He wonders if the Avengers will try to punish him on Midgard. He wonders if he'll be sent back to Asgard. He wonders if, perhaps, they'll let this other-Thor take him. He doesn't know which potential outcome would be the worst.
When he finally can stand, he paces the room, and still other-Thor is patient with him. He hates him for it all the while. He hates those knowing glances. And he hates the way that other-Thor eventually breaks him out and walks with him around the compound when no one else is looking.
“You know magic,” he accuses other-Thor as they walk, as if trying to insult him.
“A little,” other-Thor admits. “You taught me some.”
“Father must have been so disappointed,” Loki drawls. “His perfect son learning such weak arts.”
Other-Thor stops him, his hand gentle on Loki's arm.
“Father was never disappointed,” he says quietly. “He was always proud of the way we ruled together.” Loki moves to pull away, but this time other-Thor does not relent. He reaches in, and cups Loki's face, keeping him close. “How they must have mistreated you for you to doubt your own worth,” other-Thor breathes out, his voice soft. “You are dearly loved, Loki. As brother, son, king, and father.”
Loki looks up at Thor and the honesty he sees in the other's gaze burns him. It stills his tongue for nearly a whole minute.
“Somehow, I suspect I might have not be as loved if my skin was blue,” Loki scoffs, an angry smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
He expects the barbed comment to find its place; it was one thing for them to have accepted that he was a Frost Giant. It was another for them to have loved him for it.
But other-Thor does not flinch away. He doesn't try to make excuses. Instead, he moves closer. Their legs brush together and he runs the broad expanse of his hand down the side of Loki's neck. His leans in until his mouth is near Loki's ear.
“On the contrary, brother,” other-Thor murmurs. “I find your blue skin quite enchanting. Such beauty is unparalleled.”
Loki pulls away, but not before he can feel a flush burning its way across his cheeks.
…
“Do you have a way of returning to your world?” Fury asks in one of the rare moments that they're able to pull other-Thor away from Loki. It's been days and every time Bruce sees that other-Thor is still at Loki's side, he seems to grow more nervous.
“I believe so,” other-Thor says, although his voice indicates that he's uncertain.
“You should make sure you do,” Fury replies. “It's unwise for you to stay here much longer.”
“And Loki?” other-Thor asks.
“You'd find few here who would argue if he were to go with you,” Fury responds, his voice steady as always. Clint had protested at the idea. He had argued that Loki had to stay to face justice – and there was no justice in sending him to a world where he would be revered as a king. And although Thor hadn't been vocal on the matter, Fury knew that Thor didn't want his brother to be taken away either.
“And if he stays?” other-Thor presses.
“He'll be tried as a war criminal,” Fury answers. “That's what he is here. He might be some great ruler where you're from, but he's not that in this universe. He's chaotic and unstable.”
Other-Thor simply looks at him.
…
It's late. The Avengers have all disappeared and there are no agents wandering the halls. Other-Thor has been gone for a long time, and Loki wonders if he has gone back to his own world. He wonders if he cares.
The tangled snarl of emotion that seems to sit in his chest has begun to loosen – because other-Thor does not blame him, and maybe that was all he was ever looking for. His love is unrelenting. And he doesn't understand how he can love him so, because he has done terrible things. He has killed plenty of people in his quest for power, but he only did what he had to. He needed to survive. He needed to prove –
The bed dips down beside him as a heavy weight settles on the other side. He's a little surprised by it, but Loki doesn't pull away when other-Thor wraps an arm around his waist and then presses his chin against his shoulder. His touch, as always, is soft.
“I've killed people,” Loki announces to the shadows. “And you're an idiot if you think that doesn't matter.”
Other-Thor is quiet for a long time. And then he shifts, so that he can maneuver Loki onto his back and look down at him.
“And do you want to move on from that?” he asks.
“All I ever wanted,” Loki says through bared teeth. “Was to be equal to you. And since I couldn't be that, I had to be something else. Something better.”
And he can see that sadness in other-Thor's expression again. He can't stand it. He rears up, locking a hand around other-Thor's throat.
“Don't pity me,” he snarls. “I won't be pitied by you.”
“It's not pity, brother,” other-Thor murmurs. He seems unperturbed by the hand at his throat. “Simple sadness that we have both lost what we needed. But we have found it again. If you can accept it.”
Loki falls back against the bed, and stares up at this golden version of his brother. The version that, perhaps, he did always need. The one with all his goodness, beloved by all, but who loved Loki first above everything else. A Loki who was never cast out from the light of Asgard. A Loki who had the chance to learn magic without fear of disapproval.
Loki is more surprised than Thor to find tears staining his cheeks. They glisten on his face and a sob wrenches his throat, the sound oddly maniacal.
Thor gathers him against his chest. He murmurs quiet words against his hair that Loki cannot make out; he cannot help but ball his fist against Thor's chest. But he doesn't strike him. He doesn't pull away. He ends up remaining there until he falls asleep and they both ignore the wet patch that stains the front of Thor's T-shirt.
…
When he wakes, other-Thor has left; there is a note in his messy scrawl promising breakfast. But his Thor, his brother, is sitting in the chair beside his bed. Loki's skin crawls with the prospect of having been so defenseless and he sits up quickly, ignoring the way that parts of his body are still tender.
Thor does not look himself. There's a seriousness to his expression that Loki doesn't believe he's seen before.
They look at each other for several moments, neither saying a word, appraising what the other has become. Thor shifts in the chair and Loki cannot help but notice that he favors one side – he's still wounded where Loki had stabbed him.
It had been odd when Thor had beseeched him in that moment. Because, oh, he has always loved mischief. But he had never seen destruction on such a wide level before. It had been overwhelming to look at the city of New York crumbling to her knees. Powerful and frightening at the same time. He hadn't known what to feel. But he had known that he couldn't go back. Going back was far more frightening than letting himself tip forward, alone, in the whirling abyss of chaos and insanity.
“Will you go with him?” Thor finally asks, breaking the tentative silence that exists between them. His voice is rough around the edges.
“Perhaps,” Loki says, his voice tinged with coldness.
Thor looks crestfallen. His emotion is so palpable that it is startling. Loki watches Thor's Adam's apple bob up.
“I do so wish that things had turned out like they did in that universe,” Thor says, his voice low. “But they did not. And all I can do is attempt to make amends, brother. We have wronged each other. But we are not without the ability to change.”
“And what would you suggest, Thor?” Loki taunts. “I cannot change my past. Would you have me suffer justice here, on Midgard, or at the All-Father's hand in Asgard?”
Thor swallows again.
“He loves you,” Thor says, and his voice is even softer. “Even if you don't want to acknowledge it, we all love you. And if you're ready to return home – our home – we can start working on building something together.”
Loki eyes Thor warily, because he still cannot bring himself to trust the brother that he has known growing up, the one he can only see as an opponent now.
Thor stands slowly when he sees that Loki isn't saying anything. He leans in and although Loki tenses, he presses a kiss to the top of his head.
“I do not wish to see you go,” Thor whispers before he leaves the room.
…
“You'll need help casting the spell,” Loki says. They're standing outside – closely watched by as many SHIELD agents as could be mustered. But Loki finds that he can ignore them for the time being. They keep their distance from other-Thor in any case.
“I will,” other-Thor admits, sounding sheepish. “I fear where I would send myself if I make attempt at it alone again!” He laughs, and the sound is familiar enough that it makes Loki feel nostalgic.
He knows that it's foolish to become attached to this Thor when there is so little separating him from the Thor that he knows. But it's happened regardless, and Loki can lie about it, but he can't change it.
And that's how they end up standing across from each other with most of the Avengers several feet away, watching, as other-Thor and Loki begin to weave their spell. It's incredibly powerful, but complicated. It strains Loki, who still feels the exhaustion from his battle.
And at the same time, it's astonishing.
He's never really worked magic with anyone before. Well, there were tutors in Asgard that were able to teach him at first, but he quickly outstripped them and was forced to learn on his own. And he can't really say that even this Thor can match him, but he understands the fundamentals and he's able to at least follow Loki and keep up with what's he doing.
The spell is powerful enough that it leaves a physical trace of magic in the air. Green shimmers with each of Loki's actions, and it's beautiful to watch his magic intertwining with Thor's red magic. He can't tear his gaze away from it – not that he would want to. Again, he's swept up in the prospect of possibility. He can't even begin to imagine a world where this would be possible – where Thor would have trained by his side in order to learn magic. There would have been no secrets, no notion of being an outcast –
He finds himself, without warning, looking at his brother. His brother. Not the Thor who is weaving the magic alongside him, working their power through space and time. And his brother is clearly in awe of this moment as well.
Loki turns away from him and looks at where other-Thor is beginning to put the finishing touches on his part of the spell. Loki stares at him, and, with a burst of magic, completes what they've been working on.
He can see other-Thor's eyes widen even as he does so – because he knows exactly what Loki has done. Loki has written the spell so that only one person will travel.
Thor will return to his home alone.
A portal rips itself into the air between them, crackling with green and red magic. The sound of it overwhelming and Loki can't hear anything for a moment. He approaches the portal cautiously, and can see other-Thor standing there.
Other-Thor reaches for him, pulling him close for just an instant. His touch is as gentle as it's always been.
“If you give him the chance, he'll be great,” other-Thor murmurs into his ear, and Loki's eyes immediately flick toward where his brother is standing, looking apprehensive. But he is unmoving. He is ready to let Loki go if he that is what he wishes, that much is clear.
Loki can't bring himself to nod. Quietly – and desperately – he wants that to be so. He's banked his entire future on the notion that his brother and he can build some kind of future together.
He's seen what his destruction brings. The ache of his body still feels it. And he might win out in the end on that path. But he would never survive it.
And, in the end, he also knows his only future is here. What he craves, most of all, is a place where he belongs. A place where he can be respected for his power. And that will not be with other-Thor. He could never belong there because his arrival there would be built upon a simple lie. And while Loki is a master of lies, in this case, what he needs is truth.
Other-Thor pulls him close and kisses him. The kiss is rough, but Loki does not mind. It's filled with passion and possessiveness, as if Thor wishes to leave his mark even after he leaves. He pulls away only when Loki is left breathless. And that is when he steps through the portal.
It closes as soon as he's stepped through. Light explodes across the yard, blinding them all for an instant. And then there is silence.
…
He returns to Asgard with Thor. He knows that his brother doesn't understand why he's chosen to stay. But he knows he's pleased with the decision.
They're cautious around each other in the time before they return, as if afraid of breaking whatever it is that has begun to bridge the gap between them.
And Loki knows he should be afraid. He'll return to Asgard where he is the unloved second prince. Adopted. Trickster. Murderer.
But as he stands across from Thor, the tesseract hanging between the two of them, he's not afraid. Because he has a promise which he chosen to believe in.
Thor's hand brushes gently over his before he takes the other end of the glass case. He looks intently at him before blue light explodes around them, taking them home.