#but Loki is just standing there knowing about Thanos’ plan for the past what like decade

[worstloki]

Something so funny about Loki just Knowing about Thanos and the Infinity Stones while the rest of the universe at that point doesn’t. You could throw 2012 Loki into 2023 Endgame Avengers team and he’d just be standing there like ‘you don’t need to explain what happened, I know more about it than you’

[oswildin]

Never Stop {Loki Laufeyson x Reader}

Summary: You tried to save your Loki, leading to you being captured by the TVA. But you escaped, evading them for years with one goal in mind. To burn it to the ground. What you didn’t expect was seeing Loki again. But your past was his would’ve been future. Now you stood before He Who Remains with only one thing on your mind. Revenge. But Loki knows it will never stop the pain.

A/N: Inspired by the Disney series plot, Y/N is in place of Sylvie. Also inspired from my TikTok Loki POV Series - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGJpd3VKu/

Warnings: None, just sad lol

Looking at He Who Remains made your blood boil. The way he so nonchalantly declared it was his doing you couldn’t go back and save your Loki… The TVA stepping in, capturing you, pulling you away… You lost your Loki to the cruel hands of Thanos, you were forced to watch as the Mad Titan snapped his neck, discarding him like a rag doll, like he was… nothing. But to you…

He was everything.

When the remaining members of the universes mightiest heroes found a way to go back in time to collect the stones, your mind instantly thought of Loki. Going back for the Tesseract was the least of your worries, your entire mind was consumed by the thought of finding a way to bring Loki back with you. It would’ve been Loki before he knew you. But it would’ve been Loki. And he would’ve been alive. 2012 Loki, in 2023. But as you arrived in Stark Tower, standing in the shadows, eyeing the familiar face of Loki, the man you hadn’t seen in five years… A glowing orange portal opened behind you, revealing a group wearing black, armed and helmeted… Dragging you away, muttering about ‘crimes against the sacred timeline’ and ‘variant’.

And so you fought. Tooth and nail. You escaped, and swore you would burn down the TVA to the ground for what they had done. The rage you’d kept buried deep came to the surface, clouding your mind and morals as you allowed it to consume you. Hiding in apocalypses, laying traps, stealing reset charges… All for your plan to go completely off course when you saw him.

Loki.

Working for the TVA. Well, at least associating himself with them. They’d brought him in, clearly having worked out you had a connection to him. His timeline. His future. And so once again, you fought tooth and nail. On Lamentis-1, in the TVA, in the Void…

And here you were. At the end. Loki back at your side, although he had no recollection of your past with him… his would’ve been future with you. He had seen the files. Mobius had showed him who you were to him. He’d seen how you had fought against the natural order of time to try and save him. And that’s when he knew he had to be with you till the end. The end of all this.

“You see… it isn’t about right or wrong-“ He Who Remains looked between the pair, sat at his desk, grand purple robe wrapped over his shoulders. “It’s about maintaining order.” He nodded slightly, brows raised, gaze flickering over them. “It was always going to end this way. You two, me, here at the end of time.” He shrugged, leaning back in his chair.

You clenched your jaw, your hardened gaze focused on He Who Remains, fingers twitching around the hilt of the dagger in your lap. The dagger your Loki had given you in your timeline. His dagger. Loki glanced your direction, eyeing you closely, trying to gauge your next move. He could see the rage in your eyes, the desperation of wanting this all to be over. To get your revenge.

After a moment, you lunged from your seat, raising your dagger as you went to slice at He Who Remains, who didn’t look even the slightest bit surprised. However, a hand grabbed your wrist, pulling you back as you instantly whipped round, dagger pressed against Loki’s chest as you stalked towards him. Loki kept his hands up in a placating gesture, not wanting you to think he was moving to attack.

“What are you doing?” You asked him, furrowing your brows as you finally lowered your dagger.

“Let’s just-“ Loki tried, keeping his voice low and soothing. “-take a minute.” His eyes searched yours, whilst you frowned.

“Take a minute?” You huffed out, shaking your head. “I have had years to think about this.” You said lowly, gripping your dagger at your side. “He deliberately intervened me saving you.”

“What if he’s right?” Loki asked, his own brows furrowing. His eyes held uncertainty, conflicting feelings. “What if by killing him we unleash something far worse?” You pursed your lips, considering his words before taking a step back, away from Loki.

“You’re taking his side?” You breathed out, disbelief in your tone as Loki instantly shook his head.

“What?” He frowned. “No-“ But you cut him off.

“So what?” You narrowed your eyes. “Don’t tell me you’ve suddenly gotten some morals-“ You bit at him.

“Say you kill him, what then?” Loki tilted his head slightly, holding his hands up in front of him towards you. “Do you think it will make you feel better?” He asked, raising a brow. “That it will dull the hurt? The rage?” He let out a small bitter laugh, shaking his head. “The rage that sits deep inside-“ He moved to jab himself in the chest, pointing at his heart. “-here. You think the more you do to try and ease it, the more destruction and killing will help ease it?” He let out a breath, his own eyes turning slightly glassy. “It doesn’t.” He paused. “And it probably never will.”

You swallowed the lump in your throat, feeling the rising inside of the hurt he had referred to, blinking as you pulled your gaze away from him. Something in your mind told you he was right, but reason had left you long ago. It hurt Loki to see you looking so… Conflicted. Torn. So full of anger that it had seemingly taken over you. All because of him. Future or not, it was his death that had led you on this path.

“Move.” The word left your lips before you could stop it, turning your narrowed eyes back to Loki. Loki let out a breath, his shoulders slumping slightly as he straightened up.

“I can’t let you do this.” Loki told you softly.

“You promised you were with me.” You said, voice cracking slightly, a whirlwind of emotions rushing through you. Before Loki could even blink, you had raised your dagger, as his instincts kicked in, summoning his own as it clashed with yours.

You fought, face creased and determined as you knew you would kill He Who Remains… Whether Loki liked it or not. You have a quick jab to Loki’s chest with your free hand, causing him to stumble back as you turned on your heel, stalking towards He Who Remains. But Loki was quick to recover, rushing towards you, sliding to a stop in front of you as your blades locked, both pushing against each other.

“Please- Y/N- Just think-“ Loki pleaded, his brows furrowed, eyes holding yours as you grit your teeth.

“I did this for you!” You exclaimed, frustration and exhaustion in your voice. “He has taken everything!” You cried, leaning forwards slightly as you look at Loki. “So you may as well do it-“ You lowered your voice, your own eyes now slick with a sheen of unshed tears. “Kill me.” Your voice cracked, as Loki’s expression softened, looking almost heartbroken by your words.

“No.” Loki whispered, his own voice hoarse. You let out a roar of anger, finally shoving him away from you with all your might. As he flew back, you didn’t waste any time, running towards He Who Remains, dagger held high as you prepared to finally end him.

A green shimmer appeared before you, immediately stopping your blade as it pressed against Loki’s neck, his hands up as he threw his dagger down. You instantly stilled, tensing as he looked at you.

“Stop-“ Loki begged, tone almost ordering. “Y/N, just…” He paused, letting out a deep breath. “Stop…” He added gently, cautiously moving his hands to grasp your arms tentatively. A moment of silence passed between you, Loki pressed against the desk between you and He Who Remains. “Please.”

You blinked up at him, your grip on your dagger relaxing slightly as you slowly pulled it away from his neck, closing your eyes to hold back the tears.

“I wouldn’t want you to do this.” Loki told you lowly, urgency in his eyes. “Future me, past me or this me-“ He breathed out, his eyes growing glassier with each word. You finally reopened your eyes, looking up at him. “I’ve seen what you’ve tried to do. And I’ve seen what you would do to do it.” His voice wavered slightly, but kept its calming tone, trying to reason with you and make you see this wasn’t the way. “I can’t let you become like me.” He shook his head slightly, hands gently squeezing your arms. “Because it will never end here.” His bottom lip quivered slightly. “You’ve seen it already. With my past.” Finally, a tear fell from one of his blue eyes, as you felt your own cheeks begin to get damp. “You have to stop fighting for me.”

At his words, you let out a shaky breath, a small sob escaping your lips as you squeezed your eyes shut, trying to control your emotions. Loki felt his chest tighten at the sight, seeing you so vulnerable, angry, hurt… Steadying your breath, you reopened your eyes meeting his own, seeing the vulnerability in his own gaze.

“I’ll never stop fighting for you.” You whispered, seeing his breath catch slightly at your words. Loki wasn’t used to such… conviction, promise from someone else. Especially, not towards him. For him.

A second passed, before you closed the gap between you, moving your free hand to rest on his shoulder as you pressed your lips to his own. Instantly Loki melted into it, closing his eyes as he felt a swell of emotion in his chest. You felt another tear fall as you put everything into the kiss, all the longing, the years without him, the love you felt for Loki. All of him. This him and the one you knew. Loki moved one of his hands to your waist, holding you close as you both spun slightly, you now stood where he had been.

Finally pulling away, Loki’s gaze held yours, emotion swirling in his eyes as he regarded you. You. The one who had done everything in your power to save him. You gently moved your hand to rest on his chest as he slowly leaned towards you, going to kiss you again. You felt your heart break as you knew what you had to do.

“I’m sorry.” You whispered, brows furrowed, causing his own to do the same in confusion. “Laufeyson.” You paused. “Y/N Laufeyson.” Your voice wavered slightly, the name you hadn’t spoken since the TVA had caught you. Loki’s eyes widened slightly, before you gave him a push backwards, causing him to fall back through the time door you had sneakily opened behind him, using He Who Remains’ TemPad device. Quickly, the portal closed behind Loki, separating him from you. You looked at the space where he was stood sadly, wondering if you had made the right choice.

But you had to finish the mission. Your mission. You had worked too hard, endured too much to simply walk away from He Who Remains…

Loki sat on the steps in the TVA, your last words to him echoing in his mind.

Y/N Laufeyson.

[assbutt-writes]

A Heart Of Iron Chapter 19

Chapter below cut

TONY

Weeks went by with still no sign of Thanos, so the Avengers started preparing for what they knew was going to be the fight of their lives. Thor and Loki went back to Asgard to try and get help from them, Clint and Natasha started training a new team of SHIELD agents, and Steve, Tony, and Bruce started to work on removing Bucky's programming, Tony only helping because this wasn't just some random deadly Russian super soldier. He was Bucky Barnes, the guy he had grown up hearing stories about. Hell, he even had a Bucky action figure in his old room.

Bruce had started insisting that they work 8 hours a day with lunch breaks after noticing the fact that Steve and Tony could get so focused that they would forget to eat, take breaks, or even sleep for days on end. Tony had taken this opportunity to show Steve around the tower, Steve taking notes whenever there was a pop culture reference he didn’t get. Steve had also become a sort of confidant for Tony about his feelings since he had some experience having a crush on his boy best friend, albeit a way more publicized one.

Tony, Bruce, and Steve were looking over Bucky's brain scans and trying to figure out how to un-brainwash him when they heard a knock at the door. Tony was trying to ignore it, focusing on his work, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Steve motioning at the door with his head with a small smile on his face. Tony begrudgingly set down the scans and looked up, freezing when he saw who was standing there, shifting from foot to foot.

"Loki!" Tony said happily, carefully setting down the photos and running over to the door to open it, "What are you doing back? You're not supposed to be back for another 3 weeks!"

"It turns out that everyone had already heard of Thanos, and people were fighting to be on our team. We ended up recruiting Balder, Fandral, Heimdall, and Sif. Thor said he was going to talk with another about possibly joining the team, but he refused to tell me who, so-" Loki explained, but Tony cut him off by pulling him into a tight hug. Loki froze at first, but almost immediately, he relaxed into the embrace.

"I missed you," Tony said into Loki's shoulder, tightening his arms around the other man.

"I missed you, too," Loki said softly.

They stayed for that past the point where it would normally become awkward, only separating when Steve hesitantly pointed out that they needed to get back to the brain scans. Tony showed Loki what they were, and he immediately started helping them, pointing out places that he could use magic to help remove the brainwashing, and, by the time 5:00 came, they had a plan to hopefully have Bucky un-brainwashed by the end of the week. Loki and Bruce left the lab talking about the logistics of using magic to remove brainwashing, and Tony started to follow them. When he saw Tony turn to leave, Steve motioned for him to stay, and, noticing the worried look in the other man's eyes, Tony stayed. Once the others left, Steve sagged in his chair.

"I need help. I hadn't thought about the fact that Bucky's going to wake up soon and find out that the entire country knows I have a crush on him. I always tried to keep it under wraps, and I'm not prepared to have to deal with it this soon," Steve said, a look of sheer terror on his face, "I don't want to lose him, Tony."

"You won't. We'll figure something out," Tony said, mind racing to find a solution.

"Like what? Tony, I've been thinking about this for weeks. It's not like we can keep him away from the outside world! Not to mention introducing him to all of the new tech. He's been asleep for decades!" Steve said, agitated. A look of horror suddenly crossed over his face, "God, Tony, his memory! What are we going to do about that? The things he's seen, the things he's done– Tony, he can't remember that. It'd break him."

"Hey– Hey, Steve, look at me," Tony said, trying to get Steve to meet his eyes. When Steve did, Tony could see tears starting to fall down his face. "We can work something out. At the very least, we can see if Loki could remove the memories along with the brainwashing. It's going to be okay. He's going to be okay."

"Thanks, Tones. It really means a lot," Steve sighed. Tony reached over and pulled him into a comforting hug, Steve still crying.

LOKI

Loki and Bruce noticed that Tony and Steve weren't following, so Bruce told Loki about their agreement to only work 9 to 5 and how Steve and Tony tended to break it whenever the got the chance. Loki let out a short laugh at how stubborn Tony was and volunteered to go back and drag them out of the lab. Bruce smiled and told him to go ahead and try, so Loki started walking back to the lab, mind wandering back to his time on Asgard.

Thor had gone up to Odin to request a team of trained warriors to help in the upcoming battle with Thanos, and Odin had reluctantly agreed, saying that they could pick 5 to help, but that they would have to be given a week of time to pack and say their goodbyes. Immediately Loki thought of Sif, and Thor chimed in with Balder, Fandral, and Heimdall. They spent a good bit of their time there looking for a fifth warrior, unable to find someone that would properly fit the team. Eventually Thor had told Loki that he had an old friend that would be perfect, but he had refused to tell Loki who it was. He told Loki that he could go back to Midgard and let him handle it, and, missing Tony, Loki accepted.

Loki stopped short when he got to the workshop. Steve and Tony weren't working, they were hugging. So this is what was going on between them. Loki immediately started to think about the fact that Steve knew about the dreams, that Steve was the one who Tony went to for help telling everyone about the dreams, and that Steve was the one who Tony stayed behind with working in the lab. Loki turned around and ran out of there as quickly as he could and didn't stop running until he was far away from the tower, away from the man who had just unknowingly broken his heart into a thousand pieces. Once he finally stopped, he looked around at his surroundings, noticing that he was in a park. He found a bench, sat down, and started to cry.

[beansie009]

You're confusing head canon with canon.

How so? I’m assuming this is in response to this post.

Loki, throughout all of his MCU appearances, is motivated by a desire for love, praise, adulation, etc. Loki did not want the throne in the first Thor film. He admitted so himself and his actions during that movie largely support this. He even says this again during his show, leading me to further believe this is true and he wasn’t lying. Which, granted, he is known to do....

Loki wanted Odin’s approval in the first Thor film. That is what drove him throughout most of the movie. He snuck the frost giants into Asgard to postpone Thor’s coronation, not to seize the throne. Loki wanted to prove to Odin that Thor wasn’t ready yet (and he was right, sorry not sorry.) He didn’t want the throne himself. This plan succeeded, but Loki couldn’t leave well enough alone and he goaded Thor to go to Jotunheim. And we all know how well that went….

Odin rescued them, but not before Loki discovered he was Jotun. His parents never told him about his heritage because they “wanted to protect him from the truth." If they truly thought there was nothing wrong with him being Jotun, why would they have felt a need to protect him? Asgard is a prejudiced civilization. They colonized the other eight realms and, judging by their rhetoric against them, largely think themselves above them. They nonchalantly call the Jotuns monsters, compare Midgardians to goats, and refer to the Dark Elves as creatures. Thor and Loki grew up with stories of Asgard’s greatness and, for the most part, believed them for most of their lives. When young Thor proclaimed he would “hunt the monsters down and slay them all,” Odin only told him not to seek out war. He said nothing about the negative language used to describe the Jotnar, even with young Loki present. It was completely normalized.

When Loki confronted Odin about his heritage, he referred to himself as “the monster parents tell their children about at night.” That language didn't come from a vacuum and he is directing it not only at the Jotuns but at himself. When he fought Thor at the end of the film, he told him he would “destroy that race of monsters.” Loki holds a lot of self-loathing towards himself for a multitude of reasons, but I'll settle on his heritage for this post. He thinks little of the Jotnar and so thinks little of that part of himself. He blamed his heritage for his feelings of inadequacy when compared to Thor.

I would make an argument that Loki feared Thor after he learned of his heritage, too. Thor vowed to destroy all of the Jotun as a child, he wanted to “finish them together��� with Odin, and he told Odin in the Bifrost that “the Jotuns must learn to fear me just as they once feared you.” I think Loki lied to Thor about Odin’s “death” to keep him from interfering with his plans for Jotunheim, but also because he was afraid of him. I can’t find the reference, but I am almost positive that Hiddleston himself confirmed this at some point of time. (Btw, I don’t think for one second Thor would have hurt him, but Loki is an emotionally stunted idiot.)

All of this leads me to be highly skeptical that Loki from Thor 1 would proclaim himself as the “rightful king of Jotunheim” and freely use the Casket of Ancient Winters in front of the Asgardian army. He was still deeply ashamed of this fact at this time and would not have wanted it known. (He supposedly overcame this by Thor 3, but I don’t think the narrative earned it. The movie told us he came to accept it enough to put it in a play, but it didn’t show us how he got to that point. Regardless, he was certainly not emotionally at that point during Thor 1.)

Also, at the very least, the Casket should have revealed his Jotun form, which it didn’t.

After he discovered his heritage, Loki’s motivation was to prove himself a worthy son of Odin by any (terrible) means necessary. In the end he failed to destroy Jotunheim and Thor destroyed the Bifrost. Even while hanging from the edge of the bridge, Loki sought Odin’s validation, which was denied. Loki was as low as he could be and he let go. He landed on Sanctuary I and Thanos found him. I’m aware there are a bunch of theories about what happened next, but I really don’t want to get into them here because that is all they are really. Theories. Nothing solidly confirmed in canon.

Regardless, something happened between Thor 1 and Avengers 1 that twisted Loki into the would-be conqueror of Midgard. That desire was born out of his anger towards Thor and Odin after Thor 1. Loki said he wanted to be king in Avengers 1, but really he wanted to exact revenge against something Thor held dear. He wanted to hurt Thor. He wanted the adulation a throne would give him. He did not think he could have Odin’s love so he would at least have Odin’s respect as a king. He wanted Odin to see that he was just as worthy of a throne as Thor and him - which is batshit crazy but so was Loki in Avengers 1. Even Coulson knew Loki didn’t know what he wanted. “You lack conviction.” A throne would never have made him happy and I think, as messed up as he was, even Thor 1 Loki realized this.

I completely believe that Thor 1 Loki would come to Earth and even seek to destroy it to avenge his brother’s death. And he was definitely unstable enough at the time to do so– see Jotunheim. Despite everything he says to the contrary, Loki loves Thor. I do not believe that when everything was settled at the end of that episode that Loki would seek to rule Earth though. He had no motivation to do so yet. That only came after he fell from the Bifrost and met Thanos. I would have believed it more if he had betrayed Fury in the end of the episode and still tried to destroy Earth, but not to rule it. Thor 1 Loki giving his Avengers 1 “you were made to be ruled” speech at the end of that episode comes across like the writers just copied and pasted their favorite moments from the movies into the show without an understanding of the motivation behind them or why those moments worked in the first place. It’s sloppy writing and in the end, disappointing, because I for one would love to see a story tackle an unstable Thor 1 Loki hell-bent on avenging his brother’s untimely demise whilst dealing with all of his other issues. I’m here for the premise, not the execution.

I would have also rather have seen HYDRA taking out the Avengers than Hank Pym. It doesn’t make sense in canon that HYDRA allowed the Avengers to form under their control. It would be in their vested interest to eliminate this threat before it would take them out. However I don't know enough about Hank Pym's character, so I'll leave this here.

I also think it was naïve of Sif to tell him that Odin wouldn’t want him to destroy Earth. When Frigga died, Odin wanted to destroy all of the Dark Elves even if that meant the destruction of Asgard. I’m on the fence about whether Loki would have halted an attack at her council. They famously dislike each other and Loki and Odin are cut from similar cloths. Would he stand down if he was that angry? Or would he heed her words since, at this time, he so desperately sought Odin’s approval? It’s food for thought....

[bumblesimagines]

Green Thumb

Part 20

Request: Yes or No

~

"Time travel sounds fun until you see how cringy you used to be." You said, watching Nebula fix some things on the suit Scott had on.

"I've never been cringy." Scott said. You stayed silent in response, glancing at Rhodes. Scott blinked, scoffing softly as you giggled.

"You're great, Scott." You gave a tired smile. Bruce went to put in the red capsules.

"Hey- Hey, be careful!"

"I'm being very careful." Bruce replied.

"No, you're being very Hulky." Scott put in the capsules himself. Even if Bruce was careful, he could still crush whatever was in there without even thinking about it. It was weird seeing Bruce in Hulks body but you supposed it helped end the beef they had. Scott and Bruce went back and forth until he turned small and big in a second.

"Alright, one test run." Scott gave a sheepish smile, glancing at everyone in the room. "I'm not ready for this."

"I'm game." You turned your head, looking at Clint. You crossed your arms, a soft sigh leaving you.

"I'll do it." Clint shrugged. Scott licked his lips, looking at Bruce. Bruce gave him a small nod so Scott walked out of the room to change out of the suit. Clint followed.

"So.. He got a new tattoo." Rhodes glanced at you. You licked your lips, shrugging lightly. Rhodes sighed, leaving the room momentarily before returning with some twizzlers. He offered one to you, giving a small smile. You took it, taking a small bite from it as Clint walked into the room with the suit on. Nebula made sure everything was good with the suit.

"Clint, you're gonna feel a little discombobulated from the shift. Don't worry about it." Bruce told him.

"Wait, wait.. Let me ask you something. If we can do this, you know go back in time, why don't we just find baby Thanos and just.." Rhodes made a wrapping and squeezing motion.

"I mean, it's a solid idea. Baby Thanos was probably real ugly anyways." You said, chewing on the candy. Bruce stared at you and Rhodes in disbelief.

"First of all, that's horrible-"

"It's Thanos."

"And secondly, time doesn't work that way. Changing the past doesn't change the future."

"We go back and get the stones before Thanos gets them.. Thanos doesn't get the stones!" Scott said, shrugging. Rhodes nodded, motioning to him.

"Problem solved!"

"Bingo." Clint nodded as Nebula glanced at them, giving a small shake of her head.

"That's not how it works." She muttered.

"Anyways, who told you that?"

"Star Trek, Terminator, Time Cop, Time After Time, Wrinkle in Time, Hot Tub Time Machine-"

"So, any movie with time in the name." You said with a chuckle.

"Well, it doesn't work like that. If you travel to the past, that past becomes your future and your former present becomes your past." Bruce explained. You hummed, continuing to munch on the twizzler.

"If time travel works.. That means there's different versions of ourselves in different.. Dimensions, right? Like living things we've lived and making decisions we'll eventually make?"

"Yes, actually." Bruce nodded, glad that at least someone was getting it.

"For example, my past self might be in Sokovia fighting Ultron right now while my future self might be relaxing on a beach." Bruce said with a shrug. You hummed, nodding.

"I wonder what my future self is doing.."

"Probably getting therapy instead of napping and drinking." Rhodes muttered, glancing at you. You scoffed softly.

"You drink?" Clint questioned, brows furrowing as a frown tugged at his lips. You shifted your gaze back to the man you used to call dad and shrugged.

"Occasionally." Once the suit was good to go and Bruce had told Clint everything he needed to do, you followed the guys and Nebula to the platform Rocket had built. It was surprising how much a raccoon could built. You glanced at Thor, giving him a small nod. Bruce walked up to the controls, the others standing behind him as they watched Clint stand in the center.

"Alright, Clint.. We're going in three.. Two.." You could tell Clint was nervous, you were too. Despite everything, he had still been someone who took you in and loved you. You slowly chewed on the twizzler, gaze flickering around the platform. To Clint it could feel like hours but it would merely be seconds for you and the others. Clint suddenly appeared, falling on the ground. The helmet retracted as he panted. Natasha quickly rushed up onto the platform with you following incase he had injuries. Natasha helped him up, getting him grounded as Clint looked around.

"I saw her... I saw Lila again.." Clint panted. You stared at him, swallowing as your grip on the twizzler tightened. Clint tossed a baseball glove at Tony, nodding.

"It worked." Clint said. A sense of relief filled you along with everyone. There was a chance at getting everyone back. The team turned, heading to an office in order to talk more and come up with a game plan. You finished your twizzler, taking a seat and watching Tony pull up pictures of the stones.

"We gotta find out the when and the where." Steve said, looking over all of the stones.

"Almost everyone in this room has had at least one encounter with an infinity stone." Steve turned his attention onto everyone. You supposed Vision counted as an encounter.

"Or substitute encounter by being damn near killed by one of the stones." Tony added, shrugging as he sipped on his coffee.

"I haven't." Scott piped in. "I have no clue what the hell you're talking about."

"Regardless, we only have enough pinparticles for one trip each and these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history." Bruce said, slowly walking around the office.

"Our history." Tony reminded him. "So, not alot of convenient spots to drop in."

"Which means we'll have to pick our targets." Clint muttered. Tony nodded, shooting him the side eye. You cocked a brow when you made eye contact with Tony. Tony simply patted your shoulder.

"Let's start with the ether. Thor, what do you know?" Steve asked, everyones' attention shifting onto the god of lighting. Thor sat in a corner, coke bottle in hand and sunglasses on.

"Is he asleep?" Natasha asked after Thor didn't answer. You stared at him. The last five years had definitely been rough for him.

"Pretty sure he's dead." Rhodes mumbled. You sighed, reaching forward and grabbing a cup of water. You made it turn ice cold before tossing it at the god. Thor jolted awake, looking down at his wet shirt.

"Thor, the reality stone. What do you know about it?" Steve asked again, watching him stand and approach the picture of the reality stone. You listened to Thors' rambling, turning to look at Tony. Scott was the only one interested in what he had to say. Tony approached him, urging him to sit.

"Alright.. Who's next?"

~~~~~~~~~~

You stared at the pictures. Three stones in New York, one in Asgard, and the other two in Morag. You looked at Steve as he approached the hologram.

"Alright, we have a plan. Six stones, three teams. One shot." Steve said. You swallowed, glancing at Rocket and Thor. You had been assigned on their team. Just in case. You stood up with the others, going off to change. You stared at the two pictures in your locker. One of the Barton family and the other of the Stark family. You headed towards the platform after changing, standing beside Thor and Rocket.

"Stay safe." Natasha said softly, giving your arm a squeeze. Steve gave a pep talk before you put your helmet on. You absolutely hated the feeling as you went through what looked like a blue tunnel. When you blinked, you were in Asgard. Thor held a finger up to his lips, passing by a room. You followed, glancing back and seeing his brother. You had never officially met Loki but he was an odd dude. You reached a hall, standing besides Thor. You listened to the women talk in the hall. You shared a look with Rocket.

"There's Jane." Thor whimpered, shaking his head. Rocket sighed.

"Alright.." Rocket hopped off the stone block, looking at you and Thor.

"You're gonna charm her, (Y/N) will be our lookout, and I'll poke her with this thing, get the stone, and we'll be gone." Rocket said, watching Thor. You gave a nod but Thor sniffled.

"I'll be right back. The wine cellar is just down here. My father used to have this huge barrel of ale." You stared at Thor, letting out a sigh as you scratched your forehead. You heard a door opening and quickly ducked besides Rocket.

"Yes, and could you also let me know when Gaia plans on visiting again?" You blinked, feeling your body freeze. You slowly stood, glancing at Thor as he slowly walked down the hall, gaze on the woman.

"Who's the fancy woman?" Rocket asked, hopping onto the stone. You swallowed, turning your head and looking at the woman.

"That's my mother..." Thor answered. Your eyes slightly widened, turning to face Thor. You opened your mouth to ask him a question.

"She dies today." Thor whispered. You shut your mouth, frowning. You licked your lips, gaze flickering around.

"How.. How does she know Gaia?" You asked softly. Thor glanced at you with furrowed brows.

"She was a friend of my mothers'." Thor answered. He looked back at where his mother had been, shaking his head.

"I can't do this." He breathed out, beginning to pant softly. You and Rocket faced him. Rocket told Thor to get closer as Thor rambled. You blinked as Rocket slapped him, almost laughing at the sight of a raccoon slapping a god.

"You think you're the only one who lost people? What do you think we're doing here? I lost the only family I ever had. Same with nature boy over here. I get you miss your mom, but she's gone. Really gone and there are plenty of people who are kind of gone. You can help them. So is it too much to ask that you brush the crumbs out of your beard, talk to the girl, and when she's not looking, suck the infinity stone and help us get our families back?" Rocket stared at him. Thor nodded, a small whimper leaving him as his eyes watered.

"Thor, calm down." You said softly, placing a gentle hand on his arm. "You're the god of lighting, Thor. You can do this."

"Yeah, yeah, I can." Thor nodded. You gave him a small smile, following Raccoon towards the door. You turned, hearing footsteps rushing away. You sighed.

"He's gone." You muttered. Rocket groaned softly.

"You go after him. I'll go get the stone." Rocket said, turning around and walking towards the room.

"I don't know this place." You huffed, looking at the talking raccoon. Rocket let out an exasperated sigh.

"Be my lookout." He mumbled. You walked towards the room Jane was in, watching Rocket enter. You stood infront of the doors, gaze flickering around. You had no idea what you were gonna do if somebody asked you what you were doing. You swallowed, glancing in the direction Thors' mother had gone in.

"He'll be fine." You assured yourself, speedwalking in the direction. You spotted Thor, quietly walking towards him.

"Thor-"

"Shh." He brought up a finger to his lips. Thor grabbed you, keeping you hidden behind the pillar as his mother passed by. She dismissed her girls. You and Thor peeked around the corner.

"What are you doing?" You flinched, letting out a yelp as a woman yelped as well. You turned and faced her, watching her look at Thor. Thor suddenly grabbed you, covering you with his jacket.

"You're better off leaving the sneaking to your brother." The woman said, head tilting.

"What are you wearing? Who is this?" She asked, stepping forward. You swatted Thor's arm away, clearing your throat.

"Uhm, I'm- I'm (Y/N)." You said. Rocket was gonna kill you.

"Frigga." She gave a polite smile. "What are you wearing?" Friggas' brows furrowed, looking Thor over. Frigga slowly approached her son, placing a hand on his cheek. Thor rambled slightly. Frigga smiled softly.

"You're not the Thor I know, are you?" She asked softly.

"Yes I am."

"The future hasn't been kind to you, has it?" She gently brushed some hair out of his face. You watched her, gaze softening. You could see why Thor loved his mother so much. They shared a tight hug, something Thor had desperately needed.

"Let's talk." Frigga smiled. You tuned out as Thor spoke to his mother. You walked around her room, looking over the glass. You licked your lips, looking over at them.

"How do you know Gaia?" You asked softly. Frigga turned to look you curiously.

"Like, uhm, Thor told me but I.. I wanna know more." You said, facing her. Frigga tilted her head, slowly approaching you.

"Gaia? What would you want with her?"

"She's my mother and she.. She kind of abandonded me." You shrugged lightly, letting out a small awkward laugh. Frigga hummed, gaze softening.

"Gaia's in.. It's hard to explain. She's in The Garden. She lives there and it's how she watches over her creations." Frigga explained.

"How do I get there?"

"Fairy rings. Only certain people have access to her portals." Frigga said. You nodded, keeping it in mind. Thor stood, approaching you and his mom.

"Mother, I must tell you something-"

"No, Thor." Frigga turned to face her son, pressing a finger to his lips.

"Mother-"

"Guys!" Rocket shouted, running towards you. "You were supposed to watch the door!"

"I know." You gave an apologetic smile. Rocket shook his head, showing the stone.

"I got it." He breathed out. "Oh, hey, you must be mom."

"I wish we had more time." Thor said softly. Frigga smiled gently, grabbing his hands.

"This was a gift. Now you go and be the man you were meant to be." Frigga said softly. Thor gave her a sad smile.

"I love you, mom."

"I love you." Frigga hugged Thor tightly. She pulled back and smiled. Rocket began to count but Thor stopped him. He extended his hand towards the balcony area. You and Rocket shared a look.

"W-What are we looking at?" He asked.

"It takes a second." Frigga chuckled softly. Thors hammer returned to him, making him beam. You smiled softly as the suit returned.

"Nice meeting you." You said.

"Same here." Frigga smiled, giving a small wave. The helmet came on and you went back through the nauseating blue tunnel. You grunted, shutting your eyes tightly.

"Yeah, fuck that." You muttered, rubbing your forehead. You looked around, noticing Clint fall to his knees with teary eyes.

"Where's Nat?"

~~~~~

Tags: @geek-and-proud @wolfelocksley @babyvisionisamenace @jjk-is-my-shit

[kiki-shortsnout]

21. Listening to someone's heartbeat? From the intimacy prompts, With Loki/Tony, please? 💜

I could've written a whole story with this prompt! As it is I struggled to keep this near 2,000 words! Thank you for the prompt!

~~~~

Where is this place? What is this place? Loki asked himself for about the millionth time, glancing around the room and trying not to fidget on the hard-backed chair he was sat on. He stretched his neck from side to side, trying to relieve the irritating itch he felt from the collar chafing his neck.

He’d suffered through worse. He could endure this.

‘If looks could kill,’ Mobius mocked.

‘What do you want from me?’

‘Well, let’s start with a little cooperation.’

This man knew nothing about him, and Loki had already formulated a plan about how he was going to escape from here, possibly killing him in the process. However, that plan began to unravel the more they spoke, this TVA agent able to strip back every façade, every mask that Loki had constructed around himself.

Only one other person had been able to do that, strip Loki bare and see his vulnerable, true self beneath.

And that man was currently shining on the wall that was playing the movie of Loki’s life.

Loki didn’t react at seeing Anthony again, didn’t give away what they were to each other, feeling himself seethe as an image of them kissing after a battle was revealed.

His greatest secret.

‘A secret Avenger lover! How did you guys manage to hide that? I don’t know which is worse, a hero falling in love with the bad guy who murdered his people…’

Loki clenched his teeth, refusing to speak. It was no one’s business about how he and Anthony had gotten together, what drew them together in the first place. He knew what Mobius was trying to do, but it wasn’t going to work. He was going to escape, find the Tesseract, and convince Anthony for once and for all that they needed to leave their worlds behind.

‘Or the man who fell in love with the enemy, giving up his mission for glorious purpose because of a pair of pretty doe eyes.’

Pushing himself up and away from his chair, Loki paced the room, mind trying to think of a way out of this, to protect Anthony, find a way back to him while eliminating whatever threat this was to them both. If the TVA knew about the relationship, something Anthony had taken great pains to hide, then Loki needed to eliminate this threat.

‘What exactly is it that you want?’

‘I want you to be honest about why you do what you do,’ Mobius answered, still calm despite Loki’s growing agitation.

‘Liar!’ Loki called him out.

Even as Mobius gave a passionate speech back, something about wanting to understand him, Loki paid him no attention, gazing at the hideous orange panels on the wall, feeling the squeeze of the collar on his neck.

‘What makes Loki tick?’

The man reached out and tapped the orange ball on his desk, revealing more moments of Loki’s life, the invasion of New York, his shame, his weakness that he’d nearly harmed the one he…cared about in some misguided quest for glory, his true intentions warped by the Scepter.

He needed to get back to Anthony, to explain it hadn’t been him, that he had been beholden to some trick.

That he wasn’t the monster Anthony had needed to stop, led away by Thor in chains and a muzzle until an opportunity presented itself. Loki was forced to witness his shame again from an outsider’s perspective, the haze of blue in his eyes as he’d forced the Midgardians to bow before him.

Had Anthony known that wasn’t him, that he had been controlled? Why hadn’t Thor seen it?

‘I was... I am on the verge of acquiring everything I am owed, and when I do, it'll be because I did it. Not because it was supposed to happen, or because you or the Time Variance Authority, or whatever it is you call yourselves, allowed me to.’

That wasn’t quite the truth, what Loki truly wanted mingling with the aftereffects of the Mind Stone’s influence, his impatience to get back to Anthony and set things right overriding his rational mind.

Please don’t allow this to change your feelings for me. Please, beloved, please realize it was not me who acted.

‘Honestly, you're pathetic.’ Who was Loki speaking to, the TVA agent before him, or himself?

‘You're an irrelevance. A detour. A footnote to my ascent."

‘If you hadn't picked up the Tesseract, you would've been taken to a cell on Asgard.’

What sorcery is this?

‘What is this? This is nonsense, more tricks. This never even happened.’

‘Not to you, not yet. Look, the TVA doesn't just know your whole past, we know your whole life, how it's all meant to be. Think of it as comforting.’

All his thoughts, his arrogance, his plotting fled as he watched his mother die. For the first time in his life, he was speechless, his desperation making him babble.

‘Where is she?’

‘You lead them right to her,’ the man said, a hint of sympathy in his voice.

‘I don’t believe you. You’re lying. It’s not true.’

He couldn’t be responsible. This was a trick, it had to be a trick.

‘It is true. That's the proper flow of time and it happens again and again and again because it's supposed to, because it has to. The TVA makes sure of it.’

‘Where is she?’ Loki demanded.

What if they have Anthony locked up in his place too? What tricks are they playing on him?

‘Now why don't you tell me, do you enjoy hurting people?’ The man asked again, his voice increasing in volume, making Loki feel as though his chest was being squeezed with overwhelming pressure.

‘I don’t believe you,’ Loki paced in agitation.

‘Do you enjoy killing?’

‘I'll kill you,’ the words were hollow, and they both knew it.

‘Like you did your mother? Like how you attempted to kill Thanos and left your lover alone to sacrifice himself?’

His rage that had been steadily building the whole conversation suddenly dissipated, leaving him lightheaded at the swing between the two emotions, a cold fear now scrabbling up his throat, chasing away the burn of his anger.

‘What happened to Anthony?’

‘Who?’

‘Anthony! Tony Stark! What happens to him?’

‘Does it matter? I mean I know he was your secret lover, but he was an Avenger, an obstacle in your-’

‘Tell me!’ Loki screamed, feeling the furious tears burning his eyes, the onslaught of his emotions frightening him.

He’d shown his hand, exposed his feelings for the two he cherished. Loki had known this would happen, that emotions would make him fragile, defenseless. Now he had no way of saving either and had given the TVA what they needed to blackmail him.

‘You care for him that much?’ All the bluster and posturing from Mobius was gone, a genuine curiosity in his face as he watched Loki.

‘I love him,’ Loki admitted, words he’d never uttered to anyone, not even Anthony. ‘Please, I know you have no reason to trust me, that I’m everything you say I am, but please, let me see what happens to him.’

Sighing, Mobius reached into his pocket and pulled out a separate tape, revealing he held it all along. ‘Here…he was a great man, your Tony Stark. I’ve watched how you interact with everyone around you, your enemies, and the ones you pretended not to care for… it was hard not to be moved by Tony Stark.’

Loki wasn’t listening, trying to fumble with the machine, almost snapping his teeth at Mobius when he reached over to take the recording from him and set it up in the machine. He watched the film, waiting for the moment where Anthony’s life had twinned with his own, when Thor had first been banished and Loki had faced the man of iron for the first time.

Their secret meetings Loki initiated because he’d been intrigued by this morally gray Midgardian, their first kiss, their first tumble into bed. Loki treasured those moments, and now they felt tainted with Mobius’s scrutiny, his gaze leaving grubby fingerprints over their memories.

There were other moments, a future Loki still had to discover. The moment Loki finally confessed his feelings, the heartbreak of betrayal Anthony felt from Captain America (Loki threw the chair across the room at that). He watched as the Hulk creature passed on news of Loki’s death, the way Anthony’s sorrow hardened and was reborn as fury, the catalyst for why he launched himself into space after Thanos’s minions.

And then the end, the blaze of glory, standing alone and proud against the Titan, his beautiful mind destroyed under the effects of the Infinity Stones. Loki couldn’t breathe, his chest trying to move in short sharp pants, his teeth gritted against the pain.

No. Not like this.

He couldn’t see past the agony, couldn’t keep his heart beating with the vile poison of the truth. He could feel a hand on his back, a voice trying to call to him.

‘Please, let me go to him,’

‘Loki, I can’t-’

‘Please. You’ve brought me here for a reason. Whatever it is you want from me, I’ll do it without question. I won’t escape. I won’t betray you, whatever it is you want, but please…’ Loki trailed off, unable to speak past the emotions webbing in his throat.

‘In all my studies of you, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you beg, not sincerely anyway.’

‘You know my…my love for him to be true, that I would not jest about this. Please, Mobius, you have my word, my vow, just please… let me see him.’

‘Ten minutes, that’s all you get. No messing around with the timeline, no giving cryptic warnings. You do anything to divert the timeline Stark is in and I’ll send in a team to prune him and the branch you’ve created, understand?’

Loki didn’t know what pruning meant, but he made an educated guess it had to do with those glow sticks the TVA agents wore and the way they disintegrated the people they stabbed them with.

Nodding, he offered up his hands in a silent plea, sniffing back the tears. Mobius reached out to clasp his hands for a moment, before pointing towards a glowing doorway in the room.

‘Ten minutes and then I’m pulling you out.’

Anthony was asleep in his bed when Loki stepped through, and he rushed over to his bedside, crashing down to his knees as a wounded sound spilt from his lips.

‘You foolish, idiotic mortal, what were you thinking!’ he hissed, the words barely forming sound, not wanting to wake Anthony up or inadvertently cause his destruction. ‘I knew your self-righteousness would be the end of you, that you’d sacrifice yourself in some heroic deed.’ Loki brushed Anthony’s bangs back, leaning forward to press their foreheads together, trying to keep his tears at bay.

He glanced around the room, recognizing it as Anthony’s house in Malibu, no sight of the Avenger Tower. This had to be before New York, before his carnage of Anthony’s homeworld.

‘Lo?’ Anthony suddenly whispered, voice thick with sleep, hands sliding from the bed covers to reach for him. ‘You said…busy…’ he yawned, not entirely awake.

‘I know, dear one, but I made time.’ Loki slid into the bed beside him, taking care to rearrange himself so he could curl around Anthony, protecting him while trying to keep him asleep. He rested his ear directly over the arc reactor, his hand on Anthony’s chest. He could hear the thrum of energy beneath his ear, felt reassured by its continuous sound, knowing it was keeping his mortal alive.

He could feel Anthony’s heartbeat under his palm, never as strong as he liked it, but reassuring enough that Tony was here and alive.

‘I’m sorry. By the Norns, Anthony I am sorry.’

Anthony shifted in his sleep, hugging Loki close and kissing the top of his head.

‘Bad dream, honey?’ he whispered, still sleepy, but trying to comfort him.

‘Something like that. Go back to sleep, darling,’ Loki soothed, hiding the pain in his voice.

He knew what he’d promised Mobius, and his promise to help him stood, but Loki knew he’d twist the intentions of his help to suit his own purposes. He’d find a way to meet these Time-Keepers and bend them to his will. He wasn’t going to lose Anthony to Thanos, would save him from his fate and be together like they deserved.

For now, Loki focused on the sound of his heartbeat, the reassurance he was alive, committing the sound to memory for the next eight minutes.

[tryingmybestpls]

As The World Caves In

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Stark!Fem!Reader

Summary: Steve deals with the loss of his wife after the Snap.

Rating: R?

Word Count: 3.3k

Warnings: Grief, depression, feelings of loneliness, death, graphic depiction of a death

A/N: hi yes I wanted to get this out before TFATWS got out. I have never liked the ending Steve got in Endgame, so I wanted to write a new one for him!

Steve would like to say that he lost his wife like everyone else did that day.

He would love to say that she turned into ash like the rest of his teammates. He would love to say that they had some tear-filled goodbye before she turned into nothing. He would love to have that hope that might be able to come back.

But he can't.

Because she actually died that day in Wakanda. Right before his eyes.

It had happened after Thanos had tossed Steve aside. Y/N had charged at the Titan, angry at the purple being for hurting her husband. He caught her in mid-air, his golden gauntlet shimmering in the sunlight as it wrapped tightly around her throat. Steve had scrambled to stand up, his eyes on her.

Y/N coughed and sputtered, her face turning colors as she kicked, her fingers trying to pry the large gold covered fingers off of her throat. And while it felt like hours for Steve, it had only been seconds. Seconds. Seconds he had held her in their air, seconds she had suffered as the Titan cut off her oxygen. Thanos had smirked before tightening his grip, a sickening crack filling the air. Steve couldn't breathe as her body was tossed towards him. It seemed to move in slow motion, bouncing when it hit the ground.

When her body finally came to a stop in front of him, her head lolling to the side as the cloud of dust settled. Steve still had hope somehow. He prayed to the Lord above as he looked at her, hoping that she was somehow still alive. Blood vessels had burst in her eyes and blood trickled out of her mouth. There was a darkening bruise on her throat, her neck was bent at an unnatural angle. Steve had been unable to move, unable to breathe. Within an instant, she was gone. His wife, the love of his life, ripped away from him in mere seconds.

And then his friends and teammates turned into ash all around him.

The worst moment of his life was when he watched his wife die right in front of him. The second worst is having to tell her brother that she was dead.

After Tony had come down the ramp of the ship, Steve had ran over to help him down that last view steps and over to Pepper. Stark told Steve that Peter was gone and in that moment of silence that followed, Tony's eyes scanned the small group of survivors for his adopted sister. Tears sprung up in the man's eyes as he looked back at Steve. The Captain's throat constricts with emotion, tears brimming in his eyes as he just nods, unable to get the words out. Pepper ran up in that moment, wrapping her arms around Tony just as tears rolled down his face.

Y/N is the only one they actually bury. Her funeral is a quiet affair, with only the remaining members of their team and Pepper in attendance. The couple had never talked about what might happen or what they would want if either of them died. Tony tells him that she would want to be buried next to their parents, so she is. He makes sure his baby sister has the best coffin money can buy, the best headstone-everything. Her funeral is the last time Steve and Tony talk to each other.

Steve gets an apartment she would have loved. It's right around the corner from the restaurant where they had their first date and a few streets away from the cemetery. There was those big windows that Y/N had always expressed fondness over. The apartment also had built in shelves that lined one wall of the living room area, which had been another selling point for him. One day Steve hoped that he would be able to fill them with her many books and tchotchkes, but now they stood empty, the shelves gathering dust. Her collection of novelty mugs weren't in the cabinets, no they were still wrapped up in newspapers within one of the many boxes. He had planned on unpacking all of the things that had once filled their shared room at the compound, but the boxes stay in the second bedroom, all piled up in the middle of the room. He couldn't find it in himself to go through all of her old things, didn't want to be bombarded with emotions and memories.

That first year is the hardest. Learning to live without her tears him to shreds. Steve hardly sleeps, hardly eats. He spends a lot of his time alone, dwelling over what he could've done differently. Natasha tries to reach out to him, but Steve distances himself. He tells himself that he needs to do this alone, needs to try to get through it by himself. Y/N always feels like she's just out of his grasp and he prays and begs to have her back with him. His prayers go unanswered.

Natasha appears outside his door on the one year anniversary of Thanos's snap and Y/N's death, holding a bottle of vodka in one hand and Asgardian mead in the other. They sit together in the kitchen and drink as vigils and memorials take place around the world. For the first time, Steve talks about how much he misses his wife. The two heroes talk all night about each person they missed, both of them wondering aloud how were they supposed to live without them.

By the end of the second year, Steve is getting used to living without her. He hates it. He hates how much that ache in his chest has lessened. He hates that he can see a picture of her without a lump forming in his throat. Steve is able to talk about her more and starts a grief support group. Sure he sometimes wakes up and hopes she's there, but that's getting less and less frequent. Steve's afraid that his memories of her are going to slip away from him, terrified of forgetting her.

So he starts to draw her. He's desperate to hold onto every memory of her, so he fills up page after page, sketchbook after sketchbook of nothing but Y/N. The drawings aren't perfect, but he is able to cement those memories in his mind. Steve wants to make sure that he can remember her face without having to study a picture. So when he remembers something about her, he puts it onto a piece of paper. Y/N on their wedding day. Y/N when they were on the run and she fell asleep in the Quinn Jet. Y/N brushing her teeth early in the morning, her silhouette lit up by the almost golden bathroom light. Y/N the first day they met.

Natasha sees them once when she stops by to see him. One of the sketchbooks is left open on the table and she sneaks a peek when Steve goes to the other room to get a sweater. There on the page in incredible detail is a sketch of her best friend with tears in her eyes, her mouth open in shock. She doesn't know that this is the face she made when she learned that Bucky had killed her parents and Steve knew. Natasha looks away, her cheeks burning. She feels like she saw something too personal, too raw, and she shuts the journal before Steve returns.

When the third, fourth, and then fifth year rolls around- well Y/N has been gone longer than they were together as a couple. Steve has gotten used to her being gone. He's able to walk past the room holding all of the boxes without stalling. It gets easier to talk about her, easier to share stories about her to his group. He still misses her, it's just easier for him to live now. His wedding band never leaves his ring finger, needing to have a part of her with him always. Steve still loves her and he doesn't think he can ever love someone as much as he loves his wife.

And then Scott Lang reappears.

Steve wants to reverse what Thanos did, wants to bring back his friends even if that means he cannot bring back his wife. That ache in is chest returns as they put together their heist plan. Steve feels like there's a ghost following him around while he's back at the compound. His shoulders feel heavy again and he tries to put on a brave face as the people around him get hopeful. He tries to be happy, knowing that he will be getting his friends back and fixing what had happened, but he can't help but be upset.

-

Steve gets to see her when they go back.

It's after he knocks out the younger version of himself. Steve is standing over himself, breathing hard, and holding Loki's scepter tightly in his hands.

"That is America's Ass." He comments, looking behind him before back down to the unconscious man. He needs to meet back up with the others so that they can-

"It definitely is." A familiar voice calls out from in front of him. Steve stills, his breath catching in his throat before he slowly lifts his head. There she is, standing before him with a smirk on her face. Y/N is dressed in her navy blue suit, her hair messy from the battle she just went through. Her face is dirty, her lip split and there is a long cut across her cheekbone. His mouth goes dry and he's suddenly tongue tied, like he was when they first met.

Steve remembers how nervous and awkward he was when they were first introduced to each other. Y/N gave him a million dollar smile and just like that, he knew he was a goner. Steve had stumbled over saying his name, which had then made her laugh-God, that laugh. That laugh had made him warm all over, made butterflies swarm around in his stomach. And in the past five years, those butterflies had been dormant and now, now they're wide awake.

"You're not my Steve." Y/N announces as she walks towards him, studying him. Steve's heart is beating fast and he wants to reach out and hold her close, wanting to tell her how much he loves her. My Steve. God, he misses her. He misses everything about her.

"How can you tell?" He asks, a tiny smile appearing on his face. Y/N chuckles, taking seeing two Steve's surprisingly well. But then again, she had just got done fighting aliens and a literal god so he supposes that things have been weirder.

"My Steve won't even look me in the eye. He blushes when I look at him. When I look at you...you just look so sad. That's how I know you're not Loki." She answers, stopping in front of him. Steve studies her face, taking in every little detail because he knows that this is the last time he'll see her.

"I-I'm that easy to read, huh?" Steve retorts and she laughs again, nodding. God, he misses that sound. He misses her so fucking much that it makes his chest ache. Y/N's smile falters as she looks at him, watching as his smile drops.

"I'm not going to pretend what is exactly going on here, okay? Obviously you are going through something and it's pretty clear you are on a some type of mission." She tells him, motioning to the scepter in his hands. Steve looks down to his hand before looking at her. He knows that she should be calling for back up because by the way people keep speaking through her comm Y/N must know that things are going south.

"I'll bring it back, I promise." Steve replies and the smile returns to her face. Y/N glances down to the unconscious man on the floor before looking at him.

"I know you will. I never saw you, new Steve. And don't worry, I'll make sure you don't choke on your tongue." She teases, gesturing to the passed out version of himself. Steve's smile returns to his face as she continues, "But I do expect some sort of explanation when you come back."

"Of course. I'll be back before you even know I was gone." Steve says, wanting to say so many other things that he knows that he just can't tell her. He opens his mouth again when her comm once again crackles to life. Y/N's eyes widen and she gestures for him to leave. Steve's mouth snaps shut and he nods, quickly walking away.

Tony would later tell Steve when they're in 1970 that he started crying when he saw his little sister.

-

When his teammates return on the battlefield, she isn't among them. He knows she won't be coming through a portal, but some part of him still holds out hope for some reason. Yet, there is no sadness inside of him on that battlefield. No, rage has pushed all of that sadness aside, filling him up completely.

When he fought against Thanos and his army, he did so with every ounce of strength in his body. Steve wanted to avenge the death of Y/N, wanted to kill Thanos for what he did to her. Steve has never felt so angry in his entire life. He wanted to be the one who ended the Titan's life. He ignored the large gash in his arm and tore through aliens.

And in the end, it's Tony who takes out Thanos. He is the one who avenges his baby sister's death, but the price he pays his high. And Steve has to watch another Stark die.

He feels so guilty that he is alive and both of the Stark siblings are gone, both of them buried side by side, right next to their parents.

There is just so much death in his life, so much damn loss. And he's tired. Steve is exhausted. He hoped that bringing back his friends and the half of the universe that had disappeared because of the Snap would make him feel better, but it hadn't. No, instead that hurt has returned with full force. His chest feels like its about to cave in on itself, like his ribs piercing his lungs and heart-God, everything seems unbearable. All he wants is for the earth to open up and swallow him whole.

And then, he is reminded that he has to return the stones.

And while every single part of the journey is noteworthy, he saves returning the scepter for last.

Y/N is sitting beside the unconscious version of himself when he returns. She turns his head to look at him, a smile on her face. For a moment, he considers staying here with her, reliving every single moment of their life and their relationship as it happens.

But he knows that he can't.

It wouldn't be right for him to stay here with her, knowing everything that he knows. Steve has had his time with her, time that he will treasure for the rest of is life. He knows that if he returns back to his timeline, there will be a lot of hurting that he will have to go through. Steve knows that it would be so much easier to stay here with Y/N, but he won't let himself do it.

So Steve explains to Y/N why he needed the scepter, leaving out her death and the death of her brother. After he finishes, she stays quiet for a moment, processing all of this new information. He just waits and sits there.

"Don't tell me what happens, please. I want the cards to fall where they may. I-I want to be surprised." Y/N tells him suddenly, glancing at the unconscious man before looking at Steve. The Captain understands exactly what she means. She must know somehow that she ends up with him, something on his face his showing his hand. Y/N had always told him that he had a shitty poker face. A smile stretches across his face, nodding. His wedding ring-hidden under his gloves-feels so much heavier, like its weighing his arm down.

A pit of dread opens up in Steve's stomach as his time draws to an end. He thanks and apologizes to Y/N as he hands over the scepter. She just smiles, telling him not to worry about it as she puts it back into its case. He must look as upset as he feels because before he leaves, Y/N wraps her arms around him. It surprises Steve, but he quickly wraps his arms back around her. Steve holds her tightly, letting his eyes shut. He knows that this will be the last time he'll ever hold her and he just savors it, wishing that it could last forever. Wishing that he could stay here forever.

But everything has to come to an end.

When he says goodbye, he knows that Y/N doesn't understand that this is him saying goodbye to her for the last time. Steve finally gets to tell her goodbye and even though he isn't able to tell Y/N how much he loves her, it's okay. It's okay because he will be able to tell her how much he loves her one day, even if that day isn't today. They'll be reunited again. He just needs to wait.

She tells him goodbye and he takes one final look at her before he returns back to his timeline, back into a world where she's gone.

That night, he returns to his empty apartment, the silence almost deafening. That hole in his chest has reopened and he is in so much pain that everything just feels numb.

He goes through the motions of getting ready for bed, washing the day's events off of him hoping that this would also wash away the numbness, trying to pretend like nothing of importance had happened hours earlier. When he crawls into the same bed he has been sleeping in for the past five years-a bed she has never touched-he realizes how empty it is without her. He can't feel her here like he can at the Compund-No, here she doesn't follow behind him. No, this is a place she has never been so she can't be here. The apartment is suddenly too big for him-everything is too big for him. It's too big and too empty and too fucking quiet-

It's like the string that was holding him together the past five years has finally snapped and he just starts crying. The Captain's body shakes with sobs as he lays in that empty room. Steve had thought he had processed her death and grieved already, but he hadn't. Until this very moment, it had never fully set in that Y/N was dead. It was never fully real that she was gone. He knew that she was, but some part of him was still holding out hope that somehow she was going to come back. If Bucky could come back, surely she could have as well. But Y/N isn't Bucky and so she never came back.

It took until today for him to fully realize that she was gone. Y/N was gone and there was nothing he can do about it. There was no stones to gather, no traveling through dimensions for him to do. Steve had to live the rest of his life without the love of his life, in a time where he'll never belong in. That small flicker of hope that had been silently living inside of him had been snuffed out, leaving an empty dark space inside of him, leaving him cold and empty.

The only hope that remained is that they would be reunited one day in death, but until then Steve would be forced to carry around his pain where ever he went.

[iamanartichoke]

[please blacklist spoiler tags: #loki tv series spoilers, #loki series spoilers, #loki spoilers]

I need to talk about the Avengers. 

I just want to express how much I hate that the Avengers aren’t on the hook for all their time travel nonsense bc they were “supposed to” do it and Loki is on the hook bc he wasn’t. 

I mean, I am glad that they addressed it right away - that Loki was inadvertantly caught up in the Avengers' time meddling, and that apparently they were doing what they were supposed to and that's why none of them were on trial, but - there are two things going on here that I have issue with. One is, of course, the scapegoating of Loki once a-fucking-gain, but the other is that there's a legitimate problem inherent in framing the Avengers' deeds as The Right Thing So There Are No Consequences, especially because it directly leads to Loki (and only Loki) being scapegoated since, apparently, someone's got to answer for all of this. 

Why Were The Avengers Supposed to Undo the Snap?? 

Of all the possible options they could have gone with (such as reversing time back to just before the Snap happened), going back through time to gather the stones and use them to undo things five years later is, like, one of the worst?? Best case scenario, it implies that the TVA is ridiculously incompetent in managing the sacred timeline and worst case scenario, it implies that the TVA is ridiculously adept in managing the sacred timeline, if their goal is to have it be the worst possible timeline anyone could end up in. 

The Avengers may have done an arguably good thing in undoing the Snap - I don't disagree that those people should've lived - but they also royally fucked over a lot of things in the process and left Earth (and presumably many many other worlds) in total post-Snap chaos while fucking off to die be with their families and/or start new lives. 

This goes back to the plan itself. One of my many issues with Endgame is that not only is the plan convoluted and, frankly, stupid, but also I have a real problem with the concept of the Avengers just saving the world as they see fit, regardless of whether or not that's actually the best thing to do. (If the Russos hadn't done such a shit job with explaining what the Accords were actually supposed to do, then maybe this could have been addressed somehow - like, okay, together we may have the brains and resources to carry off this plan but does that mean we're the ultimate authority on whether or not we should? Maybe we should check with, like, the UN or something about this? [and it’s entirely possible the UN was mentioned and I have forgotten it bc I’ll be honest, I watched Endgame once and have bitched about it ever since.] I digress.) 

The narrative in Endgame and into the MCU beyond plays like the Avengers only care about saving the world when they stand to personally gain from it (they want their friends and family back, they want to feel like they didn't fail, they have unilaterally decided that what they want is the Best Thing for everyone) and once the Good Deed is done and the smoke clears from the battlefield, there's no concern with saving the mess of the world they created. 

TFatWS addressed so many of the problems with the post-reverse-Snap, which implies that the MCU (both in-universe and out) is aware that things are fucked up now. People's lives were literally ruined by what the Avengers did. Refugees are displaced. Humans are coming back to a world where they've been dead for five years and their loved ones have moved on and their homes have been sold and their bank accounts have been closed and they have no jobs. And that’s just on Earth. Yet no one (again, both in-universe and out) feels the need to hold the Avengers accountable for any of this. 

Plus, what about the people who died as a result of the Snap but not from the Snap directly? What about the planes that fell from the sky when the pilots turned to dust? The cars that crashed and collided when the drivers poofed? Etc. Like, fuck all of those people I guess? 

And who, exactly, is "supposed to" clean up the Avengers' mess now that the actual Avengers are either dead, old and living on the moon, or retired? Is it on Sam's shoulders alone (or, rather, Sam and Bucky's)? Is Peter Parker (yknow, the 15 year old Nick Fury went and recruited bc there was no one else) supposed to be fixing things? 

The TVA takes responsibility for none of this. They sit back in their nightmare DMV-esque office and claim that all is as it should be but my question remains: please explain to me how the outcome of the post-Snap universe is ultimately satisfactory to anyone besides the Avengers? 

There's also the fact that Loki figures out right away that the Avengers were engaging in some time travel shenanigans ("the cologne of two Tony Starks is hard to miss” lmfao Loki you snarky shit). Loki recognizes that there's been an opportunity created of which he can take advantage, but he isn't responsible for creating it. The Avengers messed up and created that opportunity so, even if they were supposed to be doing what they were doing, there are still no consequences for the fact that they made a mistake that allowed Loki to then branch off and create a new timeline. 

Let's also say that we accept that the Avengers were supposed to undo the Snap exactly as they did. Okay, sure. BUT: 

- Was Steve, then, also supposed to decide to fuck back off to the 1940s and marry Peggy (which created two Steves, right? The one who was married to Peggy all along and the one who was in the ice?? The TVA is just okay with two Steves?)? 

- What is the actual point of Stephen Strange having the time stone and using the time stone both to gain the advantage over Darmammushumuuyourmom (I’m sorry, I can’t remember his real name) and to look at all the possible timelines to figure out how to defeat Thanos? 

- How is it possible that there are 14 million potential timelines in which the Avengers failed if the TVA’s entire thing is that there can only be one true ring timeline to rule them all? The fact that Stephen can look ahead and determine so many outcomes based on the choices they're making would mean that people do have free will and that their actions aren't automatically dictated by what's “supposed to” happen. They had to make the right choices in order to get to the one timeline in which Thanos failed. 

- What’s the point of Stephen having to protect the time stone, anyway, if there are presumably a few others in Casey’s drawer?

- On that note, if there are a lot of infinity stones hanging around in the TVA’s desk drawers, what makes the original six the specific, correct ones that Thanos had to collect in order to pull off the Snap and why is it then those specific six the ones that the Avengers had permission to go back through time to get in order to undo the Snap as the Timekeepers intended?

- And actually, in fact, if there’s only one sacred timeline and anyone who fucks it up without permission gets “reset” (aka made nonexistent, along with their timeline branch) then, again, why does Stephen have to protect the time stone? Either anyone who steals it was supposed to, or their timeline gets eliminated and the theft ceases to matter. 

- Less significant but also still kinda significant is how Agents of SHIELD figures into all of this. The TVA knows that Loki killed Coulson but they don't know (or don't care?) that Coulson was brought back to life and proceeded, with his team, to go on and get heavily involved in time travel and going back and forth and bringing people from the past into the present? So the TVA is okay with Daniel Sousa leaving his timeline but not with Loki leaving his? 

... I have literally confused myself with all of this, so if anyone followed my train of thought here, congratulations and maybe you can explain it to me lmao. 

But here's my ultimate point: the sacred timeline that the TVA is tasked with maintaining is not sensical or linear. It's full of gaps and holes and people taking matters into their own hands to determine both their own fates and the fates of others. As a result, a lot of people suffer kinda needlessly based on the events in said timeline, and apparently it's perfectly fine for all of this nonsense to occur so that everyone else has some element of control - 

- but Loki is literally the only one who is told uh, actually, no, you are supposed to live a shitty life and die a pointless death and there's not a goddamn thing you can do about it bc it's supposed to happen. 

What in the actual fuck kind of logic is that??? 

Thus, either the TVA (and the Timekeepers) are grossly incompetent, or else they're extremely competent and also really fucking shitty beings who just enjoy the needless suffering of others. 

And somehow this is all Loki's fault!!

And then Mobius has the fucking audacity to say, to Loki's face, “you only exist to prop up everyone else and you, Loki Odinsonson Laufeyson mischief god and king of space lol, do not have any inherent worth or value as your own person. You were born to be a scapegoat and you will die a scapegoat and there's no getting around that, if we have anything to say about it.”

To quote Loki, in a very twisted way - yes, it's funny. It's absurd. 

Does, uh, does this make sense? At some point I crossed over from meta-writing into straight up ranting and so, well, here we are. 

[silentwonderlocks]

Enchant Me *Loki x Reader* Chapter 1

I wrote this for fun, so please enjoy. I do plan on making this a short little story. The beginning takes place before Loki evades New York, then progress with Ragnarok, Infinity War and Endgame but Loki lives  Warning: Mentions of torture, Thanos being a d*ck.

Pairing: Loki x Reader

Words: 2767 

It was a peaceful day like no other if it weren’t for the constant screams with loud booming explosions following behind. The bright green grass of the land now scorned with fire and destruction. The clear sky was filled with dark clouds, big metal weapons of mayhem that floated in the air right above the city. You watched as people scattered looking for a means of safety but met with pain.  

The loud ringing in your ears made it hard for you to hear your own screams as you searched for your parents. You ran around fighting through anyone that tried to stop you or pull you to safety, but you did not care. You were just a child, scared for her parents rather than for her own life. You ran past dead bodies, craters in the ground searching for anyone that might have looked like your parents but you found no one.

‘Mother! Father! Where are you!” You called out in the midst of the smoke, seeing the invading army rounding up what was left of your people. Without thinking, you ran into the maw of the beast. In the rows of the people together, you called out again and again until one of the soldiers dawned in gold and black armor harshly grabbed your arm. The soldier cursed at you to keep quiet and threw you to the ground making you cry out in pain. 

He sneered with pleasure at your pain, lifting up his spear ready to plunge into your body, that is until he saw your eyes change color from Y/c’s to lavender color with cat-like slits. You bellowed out a high pitch scream at the soldier knocking him far back, not wasting another moment. You got up and began to run until a giant man with light purple skin stared down at you. His golden armor told you he had to be the leader of the army. 

“Oh little one, what’s the matter?” He asks, looking down at your small frame. You were covered in dirt, bruises and blood that wasn’t yours. 

“my...parents..I need to find them..” You spoke with heavy breaths preparing yourself to fight once more. The man chuckled softly but amused. “Such determination...come with me little one.” With those words, he held out his huge hand waiting for your little one in his. 

You stared at him hearing the screams of your people suddenly stop. 

“We’ll use that potential of yours for a great purpose” He spoke proudly as if he had a grand plan already in the works.

With no parents, no home, and no planet, you did the only thing you could do and that was accept the deal with the devil himself.

That was nearly 18 years ago when your home Aciilnt was invaded by the mad-titan, Thanos. He wiped out nearly the whole population and took you as his adopted daughter. Your home planet was like any other planet in the galaxy, beautiful, full of life and culture with dark history. There were two main people that lived on Aciilnt, the Sirens and the Aciilntians. 

The Sirens proudly lived in the lakes and oceans nearby where they learned water magic, shape shifting abilities and their trance like singing. On the other hand, Aciinltians were the complete opposite. Proud and honorable people, who trained their young to either be great warriors or hard working farmers.

 The war between the Siren people and the Aciilntians was the most common knowledge on your planet. The two species used to live in peace until the Siren people were deemed dangerous by the Aciint’s government after an unstable Siren attacked local people during a celebration. They feared the mind controlling power of the siren’s singing The Siren people were given two options, have their vocal cords removed leaving them mute or be banished from the planet. 

Many chose to have their vocal cords removed to try and have a normal life while the rest of the Sirens chose to be banished rather than give up their dignity.  Soon enough, the government began to purge for sirens who still had their powers, fresh born were killed and those who were caught were sentenced to life as a slave for the wealthy. 

Your mother happened to be one of the Sirens that chose to stay on Aciinlt and fell in love with your father, a simple but honest man. Together they had you, the perfect siren and Aciintian hybrid. Your parents were terrified because they knew if the government found out, then you would be killed. So your mother birthed you in secret and once you were old enough to learn how to do simple things at a young age. She taught you to change your eyes so you would blend in with everyone. You almost got away with it until that soldier had forced you to expose yourself and now here you were on Thanos’s ship as one of his many adopted children.

 Since you were brought upon the ship, you were taught to fight and learn how to use your powers to serve your stepfather along with your adopted siblings.You had mastered your singing to put foes in a trance then make them do your bidding, You were now able to change your small appearance to help blend in for certain mission, and your water magic was terrifying yet powerful. 

Out of all the siblings, Gamora and Nebula were the two that you got along with. Gamora had already been on the ship for a few years when you first met her, she was cold and distant with you at first. She wasn’t used to having someone near her age, and to top it off someone with powers as yours. She didn’t want to be near you. The only time she would be near you was in your room that you shared, when you ate together, and when you fought with her when your father wanted to test your skills. 

You both were equally skilled so it was mostly a tie between you two.  After a year of being together on the ship, Gamora had gotten into a fight with Thanos and came to the room in a fit breaking things, ranting about how much she hated her life and she hated Thanos. Instead of turning her away like she had done to you, you had decided to show her some sympathy. You told her about your hatred, you told her about the day you lost your life to the mad- titan and you also told her that she made you feel like you weren’t alone even if she didn’t like her. You were happy to have someone to suffer with. Gamora soon after that warmed up to you, then Nebula came along. 

Nebula was a different story, she hated all of her siblings and wasn’t trying to make bonds with anyone. She was devoted to her father so much, and was willing to do anything to make him proud. So when it came to you and Gamora, she despised you both and wanted to prove she was the superior daughter. Her hatred grew deeper when she would be challenged against the two of you and always lose, resulting in Thanos adding upgrades to help her improve. By the time the three of you were in your teen years, Nebula had almost lost most of her right side becoming half cyborg. 

You honestly hated hearing her screams of torture when Thanos worked on her so you would ask your father for permission if you could be with her to try and give her comfort and support. He denied every time saying that it was Nebula’s punishment for being weak so she needed to accept her pain. So one day Nebula finally won a battle against you because you had let her win and you took your punishment instead which was a scolding from your father.

 It took a lot more time for Nebula to warm up to you and when she did, you were happy to have two sisters. One you could talk to and one you could spar with. The three of you were unstoppable, the assassin daughters of the mad titan warlord Thanos. 

Now here you were standing in your room, staring out into the void of space relieving your memories of your old life. You hated Thanos, you hated your life, you hated what you had become and you wanted to run but that would take time to plan and units. So you decided to wait for the perfect moment to betray your father and escape away.  

You glanced at your reflection, your lavender eyes piercing back at you, your hair was neatly in a crown braid, the black strapless corset with black tight pants and a purple jacket that fitted around your body felt weird. Your father told you that today was a special day for you to wear something nice. He was supposed to have a meeting with someone to help him find something he called The Infinity Stones. You wondered about this stranger and couldn’t help but scoff to yourself, the poor guy didn’t know what mess he or she would be getting into. 

“Sister, are you ready?” Gamora asks, standing in the doorway with her long ombre hair done up neatly like yours. Her outfit is similar to yours but with a red corset and a black jacket instead. 

You sigh, turning yourself away from the window to stare back at Gamora. 

“Of course sister, come we mustn’t keep father waiting” You responded with ice in your tone as you said the word father. Gamora knew and shared your hatred as well so she just nodded and began to walk down the hallway to the meeting room. You followed her out watching her walk in front of you. As you passed by several training and torture rooms, you knew that you would not miss this place. Your sisters, you would dearly miss but then again they were not your real siblings. Putting your thoughts away, you caught up to Gamora  walking by her side. 

“Nebula is there with father?” You ask first, keeping your eyes ahead. “Ready and waiting, you know she’s gonna scold us later for not being good daughters” Gamora responded, stopping in front of a large door with alien language encrypted on to it.  You nodded to your sister that you were ready and the door opened letting a bright blue light emerge. Inside the room was a large  grey chair in the center of the floor that was twice the size of you and your siblings. Your father proudly sat upon it dressed in his infamous golden amour with your sister, Nebula by his left side waiting. A golden specter in his hand with a bright blue stone in between the two pongs. She sneered at the two of you for making your father wait but before making sure to keep herself in check. 

“Ah..my daughters, finally you grace us with your presence” Thanos began as he held out his hands for you and your sister. Gamora stepped first, letting Thanos lead her to his right side then you stepped up letting your father lead you next to Nebula. Now facing the direction that your father was, you now took full notice of the man in front of you.  

The man was tall, he had to be about 6 ft and over, his black, green and gold leather clothing told you that he was royalty. He was a handsome man with sharp cheekbones, ebony shoulder length hair that was slicked back. His eyes were a deep emerald green that seemed to pierce through your soul.

 His demeanor was something you’ve never seen or felt before. It felt terrifying but sad? It confused you to your core of why this man was intriguing you so. You felt his eyes on you as well, taking in your form. He studied you as you did him, since you knew this would not be the last time you saw him. “Now. Speak of your ambition.” Thanos began making the man’s eyes switch to him. 

“I am Loki of Asgard, or better known as the God of Mischief. I am burdened with a glorious purpose to achieve my rightful place as king! I have come in need of an army” His voice..was alluring and confident. The accent in his voice was deep and a bit husky. The way he spoke, told you that he was determined to get what he desired. 

Thanos smiled and began to hum as he straightened himself in his chair. 

“Glorious purpose? We all have a purpose...a destiny to fulfill. It all arrives the same, the question is what will you do for me? You offer me nothing for my services.”

“I offer you Earth and all of it’s worms that they call their people. I offer you their blood, their screams.” The man called Loki responded with a slight tone of desperation. 

Your father stayed silent for a moment. “Perhaps we can come to an alliance.On Earth, there is this powerful object called the Tesseract. Inside of it, is one of the essentials to my great plan. I will give you an army, Earth will be yours to rule. I only ask for the Tesseract in return, understand?” 

Loki stood up straight, eyes still fixed on your father. “ I will not disappoint you”

Once you heard Loki say that, you felt your heart drop since you knew what your father did with his alliances. Thanos smirked with malicious intent. 

“We’ll see”  

You could do nothing but watch as your father took the specter and plunged it into Loki’s chest. You bite the inside of your cheek as you hear his screams ring out, your father wanted to show Loki that he was not one to be disappointed or betrayed. You couldn’t bear to think of what he was making Loki see or feel but you swore that you saw his eyes water. What made it worse was that his eyes were no longer on your father but on you. They held such pain and terror that you almost thought he was begging for help. You gave him a sympathetic look before looking away. You couldn’t have your father seeing you be weak, Loki’s screams continued until your father had enough and made him pass out from the mind torture.  

“Y/n, take our guest to his room. I want to make sure he’s fully prepared for his mission.” Your father stood handing you the tall scepter. “ Give him this for his mission. Don’t be afraid to make him grovel to our will.” 

Gripping the specter tightly in your hand. You stared up at your father with a harsh glare. “Of course Father.” With your words, Loki was picked up by Gamora and carried him to his chamber for now. You followed her admiring his features. 

His face was bruised and scraped, his eyes were puffy with some red around them. 

‘He’s been in more pain than today..” You thought to yourself as the door opened welcoming you. 

Gamora flops him on the bed and proceeds to give you a look beginning to walk out but then she stops. “Y/n you can’t save everyone from father” She says, turning her head to look at you slightly.

“I'm not trying to save anyone, I just can’t stand the pain ” You stated factually as you watched Loki fidget and turn in his sleep. Gamora nodded once before leaving you alone with the god of mischief.  Deciding to give the poor man some relief, you crouched beside him and began to softly sing a lullaby to help ease his pain. 

You lightly grasped his arm to sing soft melodies in his ear. All you had to do was sing a few notes and anyone would be under your spell. Once you saw his face soften up and relax slightly, you pulled away to stand back up.  

“Sleep...and may you never have another bad dream..”  A soft smile rose to your face seeing Loki relax completely and just look peaceful before he would endure your father’s wraith. Leaving the scepter by his side, you exited the room and proceeded to the next mission.  

[viltrumitesuperboy]

The King of a People (Thor x Reader)

Back from hiatus. Gender neutral, can be romantic or platonic. I read longer fics than I write so I feel like I could definitely try to write more with a really good idea. So far I get things that I can write short, but I’d like to try my hand at longer works.

Requested by: anon Would you be willing to write a Thor x reader where the reader is also from Asgard and they’re in the refugee ship after the events of ragnarok and both of them just bond with each other? (Before thanos ruined the party)

Word Count: 1470

As you watched your homeland explode into dust, you could feel everyone in the ship deflate. Even through the crowd, you could see the king hang his head in silence. The ship began to move away to prevent getting caught in the blast, and Asgard became a dark spot amongst the stars. Eventually, the crowd dispersed when everyone lost sight of what was once their home.

Thor, the king returned to his place, stood from the throne and turned to his rocky friend, who spoke to him in a cheery tone. Thor pat his shoulder and turned to step away from the window. You had been helping a young child who had gotten hurt on the way to the ship. It wasn't a bad scrape, but you helped dress the wound anyway. When you reached to help them stand up, a hand on your wrist stopped you.

"Let me," Thor said.

He held his hand out to the small child, who smiled and grabbed his hand. Thor pulled them up with a gentleness that contradicted the build of his body, and put his hand on their shoulder.

"If you need to find your family, speak to Heimdall. You'll be alright," Thor promised.

The child rushed off to Heimdall, who was helping a few other people.

"Are you missing someone as well?" the god asked, now standing in your line of view.

"No, it's just me," you said. "It's been just me for a while now."

"May I ask why?"

"I was a warrior. Not anymore. I had a vision one night that a great terror would come to Asgard if I remained a soldier. And when I did, she came. I left almost instantly, but it seems it was my fault anyway."

Thor looked thoughtful, and gestured to the hallway that led further into the ship. You followed him in silence.

"Just before I came back, my father told my brother and I of Ragnarok, the end of Asgard. If anyone caused it, it was me. I had to destroy our homeland to stop Hela. Do not blame yourself for anything that has happened because you and every Asgardian are the reason that you have all survived," Thor sincerely told you.

There was a pause, mostly because you didn't know what to say.

"Also, thank you for your service," he rushed out.

"What's that supposed to mean?" you laughed.

"I've heard people on Midgard say it to their warriors. Asgard is so different and we have our traditions, but maybe we should start thanking our warriors. They've all just died to protect a planet that no longer exists. If you are one of the only few left, perhaps thanks are in place."

"Well, thank you for coming back to us. We needed you. Nothing against your brother. It was very peaceful when he ruled, actually."

Thor chuckled, his face now more visible because of his short hair.

"Sounds just like him. I'm going to search for him, if you wouldn't mind," he said.

You bowed and he gave a smile that didn't reach his eyes, continuing to walk down the hallway. He no longer had the regal stance of a prince, but a humbled one of shame and regret. Gone was the arrogant prince you served years ago. In his place was a man beaten down by so many things, but his hope remained.

———

"Thor. If you value your other eye, you will keep that away from me."

"I promise it's nothing bad! I just want to try something."

"I know what you're doing! And when you electrocute me, I am going to stab you!"

You walked into the large piloting room in the ship to see at least a dozen people spread out around the area, watching Thor and Loki bickering. Thor held a goblet of water, and Loki, who looked like he had taken a bath with his clothes on, was backed up in a corner and fending him off with a chair. Brunnhilde was sitting in the large seat, facing them as she played with some device.

"Hey, what's going on?" you asked, stepping up next to Thor.

"Ah, (Y/N)! Recently, I realised that my powers don't come from Mjolnir," he began.

"Don't listen to him!" Loki snapped. "He's trying to pour the water in a path to me so that he can use his powers on the water and electrocute me."

"Thor, do you have anything to say?" you asked, turning to him.

"In my defense, he's the best person to try it on! If we're both hurt, we heal quickly. And he gets to stab me in return, so it's fair," Thor said.

He didn't sound convinced of his own plan, and his eyebrows furrowed.

"So you're telling me you couldn't try it on an inanimate object?"

He paused, thinking to himself.

"I.. suppose not. Come, (Y/N)! We have things to do!"

He placed the goblet on the floor and marched off to one of the hallways. You looked to the prince, then to Brunnhilde, who had given him a towel to dry off with.

"I'm sorry, but I don't want Thor getting into any trouble," you said.

"Then hurry up and follow him. I'm not the one you should be worrying about," Loki replied, glancing at the Valkyrie. "Worry about her. She's an angry girl."

"Just go. Also, convince him to let us stop somewhere for supplies. And alcohol," Brunnhilde said.

You apologised again and ran off, catching a glimpse of a smirk on their faces. When you caught up to Thor, he was waiting for you outside a room.

"Your Majesty, how did you know my name?" you asked.

"Please, call me Thor. I asked Loki. He seemed to know a lot about you."

"Why were you asking about me?"

Thor froze, then began to stammer for a bit. He shut his mouth and walked into the room, as if you'd forget about it. It was funny to see the confident god flustered, and you laughed to yourself as you stepped in to follow.

———

The ship was quiet, as most people had gone to sleep. Because space was always dark, Thor had made set times for sleep to imitate the original night and day of Asgard, which people easily followed. He was their king, after all. Brunnhilde stood beside him as they both looked outside into the enmity space, with stars littered all around. You stepped up the platform to stand beside Thor.

"It's strange knowing that I only got to see Asgard one last time and aid in its destruction," Brunnhilde said.

"We served our people, and that's what matters most," you said. "Thor refuses to let me forget that it's not my fault that I survived and everyone else didn't."

"It's not your fault," Thor said.

"Then why are you blaming yourself?" Brunnhilde asked quietly.

The three of you were silent, until she let out an awkward cough.

"Alright. I'm drinking until I fall asleep. Bye."

She walked away. It was probably the most heart-to-heart you'd get from her.

"She's right. What happened with your sister wasn't your fault, and it wasn't yours either. Ragnarok was supposed to happen, whether we like it or not. And we still have the people, don't we? That's where Asgard truly is."

You turned to look at him. His face was hardened, but his remaining eye told you all you needed. He was so tired of losing people all the time. He lost his brother multiple times without knowing if he'd ever come back. If he lost his people, he'd lose his hope too. You took a step closer to him, leaving only a small space between the two of you.

"Thor, look."

He turned to you, then behind when you gestured to the ship and the few people still hanging around the area.

"Those are your people, and they're safe. They're looking forward to a new life. Even Heimdall understands that he must let go of his original position guarding the Bifrost and to guard his people instead. You need to let go of your past and be the leader that they need."

He turned back to you, and faced forward to the stars.

"There are so many worlds, and it had to be ours that was destroyed," he said, his voice rough. "I don't know what to do next."

"Well, look at all of this."

You gestured to the empty space full of stars and planets.

"You've chosen where we go next, and we have all of this universe to explore," you said. "You've given your people hope. Blaming yourself will not move us forward."

His hand reached for yours and grasped tightly. You held it back just as strong. After a few moments of silence, he exhaled shakily.

"Thank you."

[alirhi]

Loki ranting

Okay. I had this thought in my head of like just compiling links of all the Loki shit I've posted/reblogged so far so that when I get into a conversation about the show and how it fucking disgusted me, I can just be like "here. here's this masterlist post, go read all this shit. This is my entire argument, and not only mine, but a lot of stuff posted by people far more intelligent and level-headed and eloquent than I am, whom I happen to agree with." Because the alternative is constantly getting fired up all over again, and that is exhausting.

BUT! I'm stupid and don't know how tumblr works. Apparently I can't just be like "give me all the Loki-tagged shit I've got" I can only search all the Loki-tagged shit on all of tumblr. And I'm not scrolling back through all of my posts. I talk too fucking much for that shit 😂

So, I'll try to remember all of my grievances with how the MCU has treated Loki, and all of the excellent posts made by other, equally upset fans, and put it all together here under this nice, neat little cut for everyone else's sanity and scrolling convenience...

For people who actually read my shit fairly regularly - bless you, you crazy, patient people. I love you! - this is going to be a lot of repetition of shit you've already read. Probably at least twice. I'm passionate and I have a terrible memory lol. Sorry.

Anyway, first, for those who don't know me and haven't been following my explosions of rage for the past couple of months, some quick background: I do not read comic books, so Loki's Marvel comic canon means nothing to me. I know almost nothing about it. The reason I'm so in love with the character in the MCU is because I am an eclectic witch and the deity I've actively loved and worshiped the longest in my life (literally for as long as I can remember) is Loki. So when he was mentioned in The Mask, I squeed. When they named Matt Damon's character after him in Dogma, I cheered.

When Thor came out in 2011, I just about died from happiness. I was hungry for any representation of this underappreciated god, no matter what it was. I didn't even bitch about how underpowered he was, because at least he was there. But I'm getting slightly ahead of myself.

I can hear anyone reading this going "Why Loki? Isn't he, like, evil? Like basically the Norse version of The Devil?" Because I heard all this shit irl all the fucking time. And no. So let me give you a quick rundown of who Loki actually is.

Loki is a Trickster God. He's often referred to as the God of Mischief. He is not and never was evil, simply chaotic and hedonistic. Loki Laufeyjarson was the son of Laufey (that's mama; they changed her to a man for some reason in the movie) and Fárbauti. Right from the start, from his name, we get a sign of how Loki goes against traditional norms of the time, because in Norse culture, families were patrilineal, and surnames were "son/daughter of father" (which would have made him Loki Fárbautitason), not the mother. But Loki's surname is matrilineal. Feminist icon woo! lol

Though he's a Jotunn, Loki is counted among the Gods (Aesir) in Norse tradition. Depending on his mood, he is alternately helpful or disruptive to the other Gods. I'm not gonna sit and teach a whole text class on him lol but I'll use my favorite example of Misunderstood Loki - the conception of Sleipnir!

So, get this shit. This is also part of why I DO NOT follow Odin and never fucking will (a very small part, but still part of the reason). So, the other Norse Gods are petty motherfuckers, and they wanted some shit built but didn't want to pay the dude doing the building. So they were like "okay, if you can get it done in X amount of time, we'll pay you, but if you can't manage it NO MATTER WHAT, this whole thing is free." And they made sure he had NO help, nothing but him, his materials, and his Very Good Horsey. And this guy and his horse were fucking BAMFs. So it was looking like he was definitely gonna get it done in time, and Odin was like "nah, fuck that shit. I'm cheap." and so he sent Loki to distract the work horse. Loki transformed into a mare and lured the horse away, got fucked, got pregnant, gave birth to the 8-legged (for some reason) horse Sleipnir. Odin rides Loki's son into battle. Um. Kay.

So Loki helped Odin be a petty mf, and Odin got himself a new pet out of the deal.

Oh, also, because he's smart af and a shapeshifter and a master magician and genderfluid, Loki "fails" to fit the super fucking toxic and narrow Norse/Aesir view of "a real man". He prefers intelligence and manipulation to solve problems rather than violence, he's not afraid to behave like a clown if it gets shit done, and that grosses the Aesir out, so they constantly ridicule him for being "less than a man".

Loki is the God of the outcast and the misunderstood. The marginalized people from all walks of life. He is the God of the LGBT community. In modern terms, he's pansexual, polyamorous (married to Sigyn and they are deeply in love, but boy gets around and I've never seen any indication that Sigyn gives a shit) and genderfluid.

Okay. Focus, Ali. This is part of why I usually post multiple rants instead of one big long one XD The longer I ramble, the more I get sidetracked and forget the original point.

So. Loki's awesome, and being a Trickster, is powerful as all fucking hell. There's not much he can't do.

And now we come to Thor (the movie, not the deity). Loki's there! 24-year-old Ali is spazzing! All is right with the world!

Oh lord, they've actually done him justice?! Amazing! He's complex and nuanced and emotional, just like the real Loki! I loved this movie. Loved. It. The climactic thing with trying to blow up Jotunheim never really made much sense to me until someone made an excellent point the other day about Loki being raised in a racist society that was racist against his own race, he just didn't know it yet, poor child. Baby Thor was never corrected when he pledged to commit mass genocide, so Baby Loki probably absorbed the lesson then that Jotunns=evil and killing them all will win his father's love. Anyway, 2011 Loki was a beautiful, heartbreaking portrayal of the God I've loved all my life and spent 24 years longing to see depicted on the big screen.

Then The Avengers happened. And I saw another Loki very close to Norse mythology - mainly, how he's treated. In the beginning of the movie, he's sick, exhausted, and in pain. He can hardly stand, he stumbles and needs help when he walks. He was very obviously tortured, and the sickly blue light of the scepter's control is in his eyes. That gets less and less pronounced as the movie goes on, showing Loki working his way free of it, but in the beginning, he's a mess. Because he was tortured and used by Thanos. Marvel directly confirmed this, and that he was under the scepter's/Mind Stone's control. Loki's actions are not his own in The Avengers. He's under both threat and Thanos' direct control. The movie actually shows The Other directly threatening him to keep him on task, because this is not Loki's plan. It is not what he wants. He's being used and villainized... Just like in real life. It hurt to see this done to him, but the accuracy was too beautiful to ignore.

Thor: The Dark World comes out. I've heard people complain that this movie is the weak link in the Thor trilogy. I disagree. I think that's Ragnarok, for a bunch of reasons, but we'll get there. (And for the record, I loved Ragnarok, too. It was a funny movie. Infinity War and the Disney+ series are the only portrayals of Loki in the MCU that I truly fucking hated.) Anyway, good, fun movie. Had its faults, as all movies do, but it still followed Loki's real-life arc in a way. How? By having Loki dragged back to Asgard in chains and imprisoned underground. Again, not super happy that this happened to my love, and having to see it on screen was painful, but at least in the MCU he's not chained to a rock with venom dripping on his face for eternity, so there's that. (poor Sigyn. how tired do her arms get, holding up that bowl? best wife ever, amirite?)

In TDW, we're shown Loki's love for Frigga, who favored him and taught him magic as a child. We see his bravado; his attempts to mask his true feelings, especially grief. We see him slowly coming back to himself after the events of The Avengers, and slowly mending his relationship with his brother. He accepts that Odin will likely never love him, but Thor just might, because they were close when they were young. "I didn't do it for him." No, no my sweet, you did it for your brother, and a little out of guilt for what happened to your mother.

At the end, Loki fakes his death and escapes, taking the throne, and I have mixed feelings about this. Not the writer's choices here; I love that completely! A natural progression in Loki's story. But my joy is tainted by how closely they're following the Eddas now. Because Loki's escape from his prison heralds the beginning of Ragnarok. And Loki will die in Ragnarok. I don't want to see that play out in front of my face. I won't be able to handle the grief (spoiler alert! IW broke me. I almost walked out of the theater. Loki's death was legitimately fucking traumatic for me. I don't even care how pathetic that is. That grief was real, it was intense, and I still shake and cry when I think about it.)

Marvel announces that Thor 3 will be called Ragnarok. The internet treats this as a shocking revelation. I roll my eyes and mumble "duh" to myself and move on XD

Then they say Ragnarok will be a buddy comedy. I throw up a little in my mouth and no longer want to live on this planet. If they're going to make something called Ragnarok, could they at least treat it with even a fraction of the respect they've shown these characters thusfar? Jfc. I mean, I'll see it anyway, because I'm a whore for Tom Hiddleston lol. But come on, people!

I hated that they made Hel the long-lost older sister and Fenrir her fucking pet/attack dog. Those are my favorites of Loki's children! Hel is such an incredible badass that the early Christians named their dimension of eternal torture after her! They were terrified of her, to the point of naming the place that terrified them most after her. That's awesome! And Fenrir's just the best. I love wolves. Those two details, and Odin's retcon of "we're not Gods! ...lol, except your sister. she's totally a Goddess. and def gonna kill literally everything, so... good luck! byyyeeeee" pissed me off royally.

The rest was great. I genuinely liked this movie. Still do. And they finally used The Immigrant Song! That was pretty cool. If they'd thrown in Bring the Hammer Down and Thunderstruck, I might've called this movie perfect. XD

I wasn't totally in love with their portrayal of Loki in Ragnarok. Yes, the falling for 30 minutes line was funny, as was "I have to get off this planet" and "YES! That's how it feels!" And "Get Help" was funny as hell. But also, like... There is no way Loki would have been the dumb one in that first encounter with Hela. Also, he can teleport and project copies of himself and shit, so... He would not have been that desperate to go straight back to Asgard and bring her right along with them. Loki's not stupid. But whatever. Movie's gotta movie.

What I did love was seeing the slow mending of his relationship with Thor continuing, and the badass fighting on the bridge. I also loved that, like Real Loki, Movie Loki helped when help was needed, was quick and clever, and while he was carrying out the main plan, he was also planning ahead and grabbing the Tesseract. Yes, that drew Thanos right to them, but that's a whole other thing. Loki never would have left that thing on Asgard to be destroyed or lost.

And now Infinity War. Hooooly fucking shit. You know what? No. I'm not going into this. He was killed, years of character growth were erased forever, my heart fucking shattered. The end.

Endgame. IW hurt me so bad I didn't see Endgame until this year. I actually watched Civil War first (for context: I had actively avoided all Cap movies until this year because I fucking hate Steve Rogers. I find him insufferable. Did not realize what I was denying myself until I watched CW and finally saw the charms of Bucky. When he appeared in IW, I was so lost. XD I was like "...who dis? Murder Jesus?" also I just... didn't care. I was numb by then from crying through most of the movie over Loki)

So, anyway. Endgame. Loki picks up the Tesseract in alternate 2012, escapes, fans go "yay! he didn't actually die!" I go "yes he fucking did. Five years of his life, gone. Five years of growth and change, erased. Loki is dead. This will not be the same."

I was more right than I could have predicted. Now we come to the point of this rant. Sorry it took so long, but you were warned lol.

The Loki series makes me so angry I actually get sick to my stomach. It was fucking TRASH. When I praised Marvel for following Norse mythology so faithfully earlier? Yeah. I DID NOT MEAN TREAT HIM THE WAY THE OTHER GODS DID. I did not mean paint him as a pitiful clown, a joke, a caricature of who he truly was, with his pain and suffering played for LAUGHS.

This is supposed to be 2012 Loki, newly freed from Thanos' control. The Loki we saw in the beginning of TDW - snarky, exhausted, nihilistic. The Loki who rolled his eyes and said "get on with it" expecting to be killed.

The bumbling clown flipping on a dime from posturing to calling himself weak is not 2012 Loki. That is not ANY Loki. That is Tom Hiddleston in a black wig doing what he's told by a shitty writer who had no fucking idea what he was doing and was salty about his (bad) original script (for something totally fucking unrelated) getting killed.

In Episode 1, Loki is mocked, imprisoned, stripped against his will, tormented, belittled, and given a flippant summary of all the trauma Actual MCU Loki suffered that this one skipped out on, with no context, no acknowledgement of the trauma he's already lived quite fucking recently, and with the narrative twisted to not only erase all the abuse he's suffered, but to make it all his fault. And this is supposed to make him want to help these people?

And worse, IT FUCKING WORKS. WHAT?! I CAN'T- FUCKING WHAT?! Remember when I said LOKI IS NOT FUCKING STUPID?! So why is he STUPID?

Episode 2, he's a child. Mentally, this Loki is a fucking child. Now we've erased all the growth and development of his entire adult life. He's dopey, impatient, impulsive, desperate for a pat on the back and actually shows it. Yes, abused and neglected children crave the positive attention we never received, and we often grow up to be a bit emotionally stunted. But not all of us, and not Loki. Not as we've seen him EVER in the rest of the MCU. Playful and a bit callous at times? Absolutely! But not a big dumb fucking puppy.

Episode 3, a ray of hope, despite Sylvie! (I hate Sylvie) Loki casually admits he's pan/bi; labels never come up, but he admits to being with both men and women! He sings! Not really relevant to whether I approve of his portrayal or not lol but Tom has a beautiful voice, Norwegian ("Asgardian" lol) is a gorgeous, entrancing language, and I could watch that one bit on loop for eternity and never get bored. And then, finally, we see a glimpse - a glimpse - of Loki's power! He stops a falling building and pushes it right back up! Are we finally getting to see what he can really do? Will the next episode bring us Loki in all his glory?

Nope. 4 and 5 we see him mocked and pushed around and utterly irrelevant. Again. We see tiny reflections of what he could maybe theoretically do in other random Loki variants, but the "main" (lawl. main. it was the Sylvie and Mobius show. Loki was never the main anything.) Loki? Nothing. He wears his heart on his sleeve for no reason, bonds with the man who imprisoned, taunted, and gaslit him, is killed, and continues to be a moron and a joke. Always the clown. Always the dumb one. The one with the bad ideas. The inferior Loki.

Don't even get me started on that finale. I can't. This already took so much out of me. Fuck Marvel. Fuck this fucking show. I just... I'm done.

[anonymousfiction211]

You always have a choice: 4

A/N: Another chapter will be up next thursday. Thanks for reading :)

Knocking on the door Loki was pacing around in the kitchen, obviously nervous about meeting the group that was going to help the two of you. You knew a little about it the past situation, but not much, only that they stopped him from taking over Midgard and that they still had his sceptre, containing the mind stone. That was the stone the two of you would ‘return’ to Thanos. In exchange for their help you two would willingly hand the Tesseract back to Thor. The plan was that the Avengers would stop you and you both got killed trying to defeat them. The problem was that you needed them to get on board. And Loki didn’t know how Thor would react, since the two of you should be in the dungeon of Asgard.

‘How are we going to convince them we’re telling the truth?’ you asked him. Loki stopped pacing and looked at you. ‘Honesty’ he answered. You scoffed ‘Like they would ever believe you’. Loki pondered over your remark.

Thor might, that is frankly the only chance we have’ he said. ‘

How do you know Thor is even on Midgard?’ you asked him.

‘I don’t, but if he hears where I am it won’t take long before he comes to collect me. And than I will have to do everything in my power to make him believe me’ he answered.

‘You think you have that power?’

‘I do. Besides I often speak the truth, yet people always seem to be surprised’ you noticed he was started to get annoyed with your questions, meaning he isn’t as confident as he pretends to be.

‘Can you blame them? You are going to fake your death for the third time’ you countered.

Loki shot you an angry glare ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me thrice and I’m an oaf who really should know better by now’ he mused.

‘And what is your plan for talking to the Avengers? I don’t think knocking on the door is an option..’ you decided it was better to change the subject, before the two of you would be screaming at each other, again.

‘Why not?’ he said with a glint of mischief in his eyes. ‘We would be thrown in their cell either way’

‘Won’t Thanos know we’re there?’ you asked him.

‘He will, but he would not risk coming to Midgard just to kill us. There is another stone here, so he has to wait for the right opportunity. But if we contact him that we already have one of the stones, he will most certainly come.’ Loki said.

He sighed and gathered some of his belongings. Since the only belonging you had was the Tesseract, you stood there and watched. After he was done he extended his hand. You took the hand and he used that moment to his advantage, he spun you around so your back was against his chest and held you firm against him around your waist. You yelped and could feel the smirk on his face. You closed your eyes when you saw the green shimmer starting to form. The wind surged through your hair and when you opened you eyes you stood in front of a large grey building. Two large doors slide outwards, so the two of you could enter the building. Loki guided you into a large room with a large round desk in the middle, behind it sat a woman who was looking absolutely terrified. Loki led you to a series of chairs and made you sit down. He sat down next to you. ‘What are you doing?’ you asked him. ‘Won’t be long now’ he mused. You looked around waiting for something to happen. It only took a few seconds before you heard windows shatter and saw a red metal man flying through and stopping right before you, with the flat of his hand pointed towards you. The woman behind the desk screamed and left her station as quickly as she could. You flinched at the sudden commotion, but Loki put a hand on your thigh and squeezed it. A man in a blue suit ran towards you from the hall, after him was a woman with red hair.

Loki waved at the ceiling and you saw a blond man standing on a bridge with an arrow pointed towards you. The man in the blue suit and the red-haired woman stood on either side of the metal man. The whole situation was tense and you started to wonder if Loki’s plan would work. ‘You have 5 seconds to get your ass on the mario rainbow circuit back to Asgard’ the robotic voice of the metal man said. ‘Hello Stark’ Loki replied like he wasn’t under any threat. The hand of the man started to beep higher and suddenly a laser shot right next to Loki and shattered the glass behind you. You ducked down, startled, but Loki hadn’t moved an inch. ‘4’ the metal man counted. Loki raised his hands up ‘I mean no harm. For once our interests are aligned and I have a proposition’ he said. The metal man took a step forward ‘3’ he said. You noticed the red-haired woman glancing you up and down ‘Who are you?’ she asked. Before you could answer the man in the blue suit chimed in ‘What do you mean with our interests are aligned?’ he asked. ‘There is a threat your world is still unaware of, and me being a gracious God have decided to help you with it’ Loki mused. You gave him a scolding look, his attitude right now was not helping at all. ‘2’ the metal man said. ‘What threat?’ the blue suited man asked. ‘Something that I can’t explain in two seconds’ Loki quipped back.

‘1’ the metal man said. Before he could shoot another blast the man in the blue suit stopped him. He whispered something to the metal man, but you couldn’t hear what he was saying. They were in a heated discussion when the eyes of the blue suited man fell on to you. He signalled to the red-haired woman to do something. She got closer to you and you had to fight your instinct, not to hit her. Loki didn’t seem fazed by her actions. She looked straight into your eyes and you looked questioningly back at her. She turned around to the blue suited man and shook her head. The man cocked an eyebrow at you, before returning to his discussion. The man who had pointed an arrow at the two of you had moved and was now walking into the room, with two pairs of handcuffs, that looked a lot like the handcuffs they used in Asgard. You shift a bit closer to Loki ‘Loki?’ you asked him. The whole situation was a bit frightening and you had no idea what was going on. ‘Just keep your head high and tell them the truth’ he whispered back to you. The man in the blue suit took one pair of handcuffs and the blond man with the arrow advanced towards you. Loki stretched out his wrists and nudged for you to do the same. ‘You will be in holding until Thor shows up. Try anything and we will kill you on the spot’ the blue man said to the both of you. Loki didn’t seemed fazed by that.

The blond man cuffed your hands together and looked into your eyes intently. ‘No, it’s not like that. I already checked’ the red-haired woman told him. He too cocked his eyebrow and motioned you to stand. Loki stood up as you did and the both of you were led to an elevator. Loki and you stood next to each other in the middle and all the people were circled around you. The elevator was going down, it took quite a long time. When the doors opened you were led out first and followed the red-haired woman and the metal man to the left. Loki, however, was led by the men in the blue suit and the blond man to right. He halted in his tracks, which sends everyone on edge. He turned around slowly to glance at the metal man. ‘If you so much hurt a hair on her body, I will make sure you all die a painful death, and that’s a promise’ he spat. 

You felt the tension in the room increase, which you thought wasn’t possible at this point. ‘Relax, Reindeer Games. She will be fine as long as she doesn’t try anything’ the metal man said in his robotic voice and led you around the corner, out of view from Loki. ‘What’s your name? the red-haired woman asked. ‘My name is (Y/N), from Asgard’ you answered. ‘Do you also have a god complex?’ the metal man asked. ‘No, I’m just Asgardian’ you answered. ‘How do you know Loki?’ the woman wanted to know. ‘I’ve known of him almost my whole life, but since a few years back I started to encounter him’. The woman and man stayed silent. ‘What are your names?’ you asked them. You reached your cell and they opened the door to lead you in. The cell had a glass wand, so you could see people walking by. The rest of the walls were white. Your cell was small and only had a bed with a thin blanket and a toilet. When you were in they uncuffed you and slowly backed away, watching if you would try anything. When they were outside of your cell, they closed the doors and walked away.  

Tags: @delightfulheartdream​ 

Let me know if you want to be added!

[goddessofmischief]

Blue Monday, Part 2 - Loki x T.V.A! Reader

Episode Two - “Advanced Time Travel Theory”

Read part three here!

Your life was so different now.

It had been almost forty years since you had enrolled in the T.V.A..

Of course, it didn’t matter now. You were young when you’d enrolled, and due to their life-sustaining magic, you hadn’t managed to age a day since. You cursed this, sometimes. You envied people who looked their ages.

To be fair, you envied most people - people who looked their ages, people with lives. People with families.

You could barely remembers yours, now. You decided it might be a good thing.

Now your life was new and exciting, just the way you had always wanted it to be. You could remember your last day as a human, you never could’ve imagined any of this then.

Of course... that last day... had been a darker day than most.

And now, you had a partner. He was ill-tempered, sure. Quite honestly, he terrified you. You knew all about Loki, the things he had done, the things he would do, or was capable of doing. But somehow, none of those things mattered.

You had a partner. And partner meant friend. You didn’t care what he’d do. You just wanted him to stick around.

Somewhere, deep inside, the human part just wanted someone to talk to.

“So, you’re the one I’ll be working with.” You almost jumped, until you realized Loki was leaning leisurely behind you.

“Y-yes,” you stuttered. You weren’t like this, normally - really! You hadn't managed to become the most quickly-promoted T.V.A. agent in almost a billion years without experience in keeping your cool.

Even around Gods of Mischief.

Especially around Gods of Mischief.

“Are those... knives?”

“Yes.”

You looked him over for yourself. He’d gotten a chance of freshen up since the first time you had met, and instead of prisoners’ clothes, he now wore a dress shirt, tie, and T.V.A. bomber jacket. You gestured at him, vaguely.

“It’s... a bit much.” “Isn’t it? It’s not quite... what I usually wear.”

“...Oh. Yeah, I know. You looked like a dominatrix. ..Are you a dominatrix?”

He looked almost ashamed.

“Close, but no, not officially. I’m the God of Mischief, darling.” “Oh, I knew that. I just thought, y’know... maybe, you had a side thing.”

He chuckled.

“Do you remember me?”

Your eyebrows shot up. “Remember you?”

“We met. When you were... like me.”

You swallowed.

“...I don’t understand.” Loki picked up a small object off your desk, turning it in his hand.

“Don’t you? Don’t you remember? Much of my own past is blurry, too - a thousand years can really drag on, things do blur together. But... I remember you. Clearly. We were friends, I-I took care of you.”

“You misremember, then. I’m a mortal. From Earth. From California, more specifically.” “Yes, well,” said Loki, disagreeably, “What year were you last on Earth?” “...The 1970s. I think. Then I was brought here.” “You may think so, but you have no past on Earth. I’m sure of that.”

He leaned in, closely, to you.

“And I, love, am going to prove it.”

This ‘friend’ thing was going to be a little harder than it looked.

...

You couldn’t believe that Mobius insisted on you mentoring him. Well, in a way, you could. You were meant to be partners, after all.

But the fact that Loki seemed to think you were his reincarnated best friend wasn’t making the process any easier.

“So,” he said, leaning over to you, the T.V.A.’s flickering projector screening a trainee video, “You don’t remember any of it?”

“No. I can’t remember something that never happened, Loki.”

He sighed.

“If I’m a God,” you said, patiently, “Then how did I end up here?”

“That, darling, is something I’m striving to find out.” You groaned, leaning over him and switching the projector to a new video, letters flashing on the screen:

This Was Your Life!

"What’s this one?”

You shrug, settling in.

“Mobius makes us watch it in orientation. He wants to remind us who we are. The reel scans your mind, accesses your memories. All the important things. You watch it, once, and then you sort of... let go of them, over time. That’s what it’s like to be in the T.V.A.”

Loki’s reel began, and you started to see flashes of memory - his mother, his father. His brother. Memories of childhood - of horses, and etiquette lessons, and magic.

Then the pain started. The rivalries. The suffering.

And there’s a big blurry spot there, too, memories in his teen years that even the Projector could not find. Like he’s been tampered with, in some way.

Then, adulthood. Trying and failing to secure a throne he thought he’d deserved. Meeting Thanos.

Losing (miserably, you might add) to the Avengers.

And now, you. For some reason, the memory of his meeting you stands out the brightest.

And then, as suddenly as it began, it ended.

“Well,” said Loki, briskly. “That was dismal.” “I thought it was sweet, personally.” “Hm. Let’s see yours now.” He reaches for the projector, as if to turn it to you, but you smack his hand. “Um, no,” you said, finally. “No, it’s not... protocol. We only get to see the Reel once. Then... we’re meant to forget.” “And I’m never meant to know?” “No.”

He sighs, leaning back in his chair, thoughts spinning through his mind. His loss on Earth hurt more now than it ever had. Seeing it again only reopened the wound.

But now...

Now, he had access to all of time. It was at his command - all he had to do was trick you, in some way - and that wouldn’t be hard to do. You were clever, but stupid. You wanted to trust him. Almost no-one ever did.

That... that, he decided, would be your undoing.

But what could he do? If he went up against them again, he’d only lose, again. No, he needed to turn the tide, break the status quo. He needed an ally, a partner, a friend-

A partner.

Someone very much like you.

Yes, this was a good plan, he thought. He’d make you remember, no matter how long it took, no matter how many missions you had to go on. He would remind you who you were, that you were a god, an immortal.

And when he had, and unlocked your powers... he’d take you back with him. Make things the way they should be.

Loki glanced over at you, and, innocent to his schemes, you looked back.

It’d be all too easy.

Taglist: gorgeourrific-nerd @suwupremeleader​ @sserpente @tripleyeeet 

[ellestra]

Just cause is not enough

The Madripoor at night was basically Ghost in the Shell/Blade Runner/every cyberpunk story from the last several decades back on screen. The colours, the clothes, even the rain. But I did get a kick of that lighted up face mask.

It’s pretty clear Sharon didn’t tell them the whole truth. Her finding them seemed to convenient. Her whole new life completely unlike the character we saw before.

And sure she didn’t get much character development. And it’s been years since her story was dropped. She wasn’t on the run with Steve and Sam and Natasha and Wanda. It looks like she was out of contact all that time. She could’ve changed. Maybe, she came she came to Madripoor long before she was Snapped and it changed her. And sure, when she came back and it turned out Steve was gone before she found her bearing so he couldn’t push for her rehabilitation as everyone who fought Thanos got it soured her even more. The one who believed so much in Captain America turned cynic about all what he represented. She almost like Zemo in her disdain.

But it doesn’t seem like she tried to contact anyone else really. I’m sure someone with her money and skills could’ve contacted her family. Add to that her complete turn and it all just felt wrong. I just couldn’t buy this is all Sharon is now - stolen art dealer who doesn’t care. And that last moment made me even more convinced me think she is working undercover there trying to find out who Power Broker is. Probably using Bucky and Sam and Zemo’s created carnage to flush him out.

As Karli says he has to react now that Flag Smashers have the only serum left.

It didn’t take long for the new Captain America to start representing all the wrong sides of American “help”. Walking justification of all the doubts everyone has voiced about  - especially one so nationalistically themed as this one. But he isn’t stupid. He knows Bucky and Sam freed Zemo. Well, Bucky did but Sam went with it.

And then Walker decides to go off book to get them. Like a “fuck you” to them for saying he can’t. But it hits so differently when he does it, doesn’t it? It hits differently when someone in power doesn’t follow the rules. When all the abuses of that power they do to get results can be just swiped under the rug.

I knew they would need to break Zemo out when his name was mentioned but I didn’t expect that Bucky came in knowing it too. And that he already put the plan in motion even before he set up the visit. But for all the jokes about Sam not knowing enough about how the Madripoor or the big time criminal underworld functions or even that Zemo was rich and a baron he wasn’t wrong about Wakandans not being happy about Zemo being free. Of course, Bucky was prepared for that too.

And I bet that it’s one of the reason’s Zemo didn’t ditch them - either after escape or later. Sure, they do have the same goal of finding out the super serum and stopping it but Bucky is also only one who can keep Dora Milaje at bay. Still, the other reason is probably planning to kill Bucky too. It’s his whole thing. How they didn’t see he would kill that scientist when they know this is the reason he came along is beyond me. I only wondered how he would do it.

At first I even suspected he was behind the one who shot Selby. And the show makes sure we don’t get to comfortable with him helping. There is certain tendency for people to overlook the bad parts for cool villains that are being useful. The whole Loki-like arc that glosses over the victims and the dead (so for Loki it added mind control too for justification but we all know most viewers didn’t even think of that when they forgave him). For Zemo shows keeps throwing his privilege in our faces, it has him constantly torture James with his past as Winter Soldier and it reminds us of all he did - like killing king T’Chaka.

And yet even the bad guys’ grievances can be real. They can be a real issues that one has right to be angry about. The Avengers are responsible for destruction of Sokovia. And not just the whole Ultron thing. The changing borders from that GRC adds apparently include Sokovia being partitioned and disappearing from map. As person whose country went through that I can feel his anger - that feeling of injustice, of being wronged, of feeling like you lost everything  - and it’s made even worse that the people seem to neither care or notice.

It’s why he is being listed as one of the few villains MCU got right. His motives were clear and understandable. It was his methods that made him a villain. And we are seeing this repeated in Karli.

That shiny add of bright future of post-Blip utopia by GRC followed by the dark reality of the raid was so heavy handed as it was effective. It’s hard not to feel for the Flag Smasher cause when you see the raids GRC sponsors when someone opposes them. With their own branded police. With their unused stores of food and medicine when people died from lack of resources in refugee camps.

It’s not only the returned who have no place any more. Many of those who lived were kicked out of their houses when the people who used to own them came back. Hulk bringing back half of the world’s people made them loose everything. And no one seemed to cared. And there wasn’t much they could do about it. Until they got some super powers of their own.

But like with Zemo the moment Karli went from well intentioned extremist and folk hero to the villain of this story was the methods. When you lose so much and “them” seem to neither notice or care the need to make them suffer as much as you do to understand can lead to dark places. For Karli it was moving from stealing to murder. The hope for her not going bad blew up with that building and people in it.

And this is why Sam needs to be Captain America. Yes, we see all the ways such symbols can go wrong in Walker and all the mistakes that Avengers (especially Tony made) and all that Sharon mentions. But symbols do matter even if what they represent is flawed. They matter because they can represent a better version of that thing. They can remind us to try to achieve that better version.

And people who represent those symbols matter. Especially when you can feel they can understand that hopeless feeling of being wronged and ignored. They can show you someone gets it and will stand up for you. Someone who can show you the way to the goal and never tire of fighting for it all the while being able to avoid the temptation, we all get, of just going for revenge of it. Steve was great at personifying that but he was the WWII era personification. I like how the show is trying to show Sam he can be that for the modern MCU. And maybe for us too. At least a little.

[moonlit-imagines]

Headcanons for being Tony Stark’s Daughter (The Aftermath)

Tony Stark x daughter!reader

warnings:

a/n: y/n is about 17 or 18; i cried while writing this. sorry this is really long!!! pls forgive me 🥺

prompt: takes place from a3 to smffh

The Early Years (1) The Teenage Years (2) The Intense Years (3) Continued (5)

let’s start on a happy note! ahahah

so for a while, earth was calm

you, pepper, and tony got to be a family for a while

wedding planning!

of course you got to try the ben&jerry’s ice cream named after your dad: Stark Raving Hazelnuts

“it’s not fair that you got ice cream named after you and i didn’t”

“well, when you grow up to be as awesome as me, maybe you’ll get your own ice cream flavor”

developing nanotech suits together for a Bonding Experience(tm)

speechless after the first test

“dad, this is...”

“the coolest thing to ever exist?”

“yes!!”

yall ready for some shit?

the day that ebony maw invaded was pretty—what’s the word? interesting? no. well, yes, but...HORRIBLE.

it all started when you got the call from your dad

“y/n, incoming call from ‘big fat meanie’”

“god, i really have to change that. okay, JOSHIE, answer it. hey, dad? what’s up?”

“hey, kid! you know that weird ass building on bleecker street? how fast can you get here?”

“JOSH can you track FRIDAY really quick? lets see how far dad is...uh, okay, be there in five, see ya”

taking your suit for a spin and realizing how GREAT it was to be able to basically fold up your suit and put it in your back pocket

knocking on the door and it opened on its own, it was kinda cool

“is this a museum? cool.”

bruce turning around to see you after about three years and giving you an awkward smile and a wave while you stood frozen around the wizard-guys

“y/n, god, you’ve grown up!”

charging into him for a long overdue hug

“you don’t know how much i missed you. it’s been chaotic without you”

“i can...i can only imagine”

a debriefing on the situation you were about to face, and bonus! having to play the catch-up game with bruce

“just call him, dad. we need as much help as we can. steve will understand”

rushing outside to face off with some ugly-ass aliens

“oh nooo, it’s roger smith from american dad”

bruce: 👀, stephen: 👀, wong: 👀, tony: 👏👏🥰 that’s my girl

simultaneous nanosuit unveiling

“you ready for this one, pops?”

“of course! ive waited years to kick some more alien ass”

montage of you and tony getting your asses beat together (as a family <3)

peter showing up

“give me one good reason why i shouldn’t send you back to that school bus”

“because i’m good company?”

“whatever, just listen to whatever dad has to say, i forfeit my responsibilities over you”

pew pew, repulsors, pew, tiny rockets! fun! action! destroying new york again and again. good times...

until JOSHUA gave you notice that your dad was flying high

“call him. now.”

“hey! how’s it going down there?”

“dad, you know how i feel about you and space”

“i know, i know. i just...i gotta take care of this. keep pepper safe for your old man, okay?”

“i lo—l—ve y—”

“y/n? y/n?! i love you! shit!”

“we lost connection with her, sir”

trying to call peter

“call failed, y/n. should i try again?”

“i’m gonna kill them...”

walking through the rubble to find bruce, the only sensible man you know

taking him to the avengers compound asap to get to rhodey and figure out what comes next

meanwhile, tony was dealing with space and another teenager

and worrying a lot about leaving you on earth

“i mean, mr. stark, y/n’s one of the most capable people i know. she’s probably trying to fix this whole mess as we speak”

“i didn’t get to tell her i love her”

“oh...”

having a lovely meeting with thaddeus ross with rhodey, having a lovely time watching them passive-aggresively argue until your former teammates arrived

having to patiently (and professionally) wait for ross to hang up before running into them for a hug

“holy shit, you guys have no idea how bad i’ve wanted to see you. it sucks not being all together anymore”

“i know, y/n. we’ve all missed you.” -cap

“a lot” -nat added

bruce’s little entrance that was sure to bring some awkwardness

you, secretly freaking out about your dad

sam was the one that found you crying after you “stepped out” for a few minutes too long

“oh, y/n,” he was contemplating grabbing someone else to step in, but decided to sit next to you in the hallway, “i’m sorry, kiddo. i can’t promise you anything, but your dad is a fighter. a big pain in the ass. i think your odds are good”

laughing through your tears

“yeah, you’re right. thanks, sammy”

he gave you a little hug while you calmed down

getting to business, the ass-kicking kind

as the wise natasha romanoff once said to your father, you were being “uncharacteristically non-hyper verbal”

your mind did this funny thing...wandered into places it really should not go

the talk about sacrificing vision led to wakanda, where you had a swell time patrolling

“guys! we’ve got incoming. a lot of incoming”

well-deserved uncle/niece team up. who wouldve thought?

you would have nightmares about these aliens for years to come

“you get to die, and you get to die! everybody gets to die!”

“y/n, what did we talk about?” -rhodey

“using humor as a defense mechanism makes the team uncomfortable...”

covering the girls 😌 because we gotta have those all-girl teamups, uh-huh?

some more blasting

thor made his comeback and you just could not miss it

“hi, thor!”

you landed next to him and your helmet receded

“well, hello, miss y/n! good to see you again! my, you got taller...oh! meet my friends: rabbit and tree”

having a “what the actual fuck” moment upon seeing thanos for the first time

and flying at him from behind with a massive nanotech blade ready to kill this purple bastard

but he grabbed your arm and flung you into the dirt, that was gonna leave a mark

“i just had to make a suit when i was ten...no one stopped me, huh? i couldn’t be elon’s kid, he was a nice guy”

watching thanos snap his fingers and looking around to see dust floating through the air and thanos retreat

“rhodey? uncle rhodey?!”

“i’m right here, kid, don’t worry”

he grabbed your hand while you were dusting

“tell my dad i love him, promise?”

fading away and leaving rhodey with your last words

he was mad before anything else

all he could think about was a promise your dad made him take years back

“rhodey, you keep my daughter safe no matter what, promise?”

the avengers recooperating at the compound, waiting to figure out whether any of the space-crew survived

they had to let pepper know that you didn’t make it, she was a mess upon hearing that news

tony finally making his way back to earth

and stumbling out of that ship

“where’s y/n? where is she?!”

“tony, tony, calm down”

“dont tell me to calm down! where is my daughter?!”

“she made me promise to tell you thay she loves you”

tony knew the answer by now, he lost his mind over your death

it didn’t feel right not having you by his side, for the past 18 years you’ve been with him

after a long period of recovery, tony and pepper moved on, got married, built a home, had a new daughter...

tony made sure there was a spare room for you

he put all the things you left behind in it

there were so many photos of you in the house

and he’d show your sister, morgan, all of them. he wanted morgan to know her sister

“that’s y/n when she built her first robot. it snuck up on me a few times. it went ‘boo!’”

morgan loved the stories about you, but she didn’t understand why she couldn’t see you

“when do i get to meet her?”

“uh...maybe someday, sweetie”

after being unbothered for almost 5 years, the remaining avengers came back with a plan that was so tempting, he just wanted his little girl back

cracking under pressure and telling pepper that he couldn’t ignore this mission because it was his chance to get you back

“get her back, tony”

“you think so?”

“i miss her, too.”

and so it began, he made it his mission to get you back

peeking at the wallet picture of you on his shoulders when you were so little

tony travelling to 2012; loki’s invasion

and there you were, the sassy genius 12 year old that he missed so much

“we’ve got this, tony, we’ll bring her home” -scott

and then things went badly and also 2012 tony went into cardiac arrest and 2012 y/n dove onto the floor to tend to him

“dad? give us some room, would you?!”

2023 tony smiling at how much he missed you worrying about him and how reckless he was

but also...the mission kinda went bad so that sucked

push it a bit farther back and now tony was with grandpa stark! asking how to be a dad and all that!

he could barely stand still waiting for you to come back to him, god he missed you more than he thought

and after a bit of hard work, it was time to snap

just like that, you were back in wakanda, puzzled by the gap in time before one of dr. strange’s portals opened in front of you

and then you were in the ruins of the avengers compound

“JOSHUA, can you locate my dad?”

“i think you’ll be able to see him”

“wow, i cant believe i programmed your cocky artificial ass”

“i think you can”

seeing your dad flying high and patching into the comms

“miss me, old man?”

and then he hit the gas to get to you and when this man hugged you, you almost couldn’t let go

“i’m so sorry, y/n. god, i’m sorry. these last five years...i was so lost without you”

“it’s okay, dad, i’m here now”

getting shot at during your reunion

“son of a bitch...we’re having a family moment here, asshole!”

yes, im gonna say it again. of course i am! and.........father/daugher team-up

the last one

“peter, is that you? you asshole! i cant believe you went to space without me!”

“missed you too!”

rhodey!! cant forget about uncle rhodey!!

“you gave my dad the message, right?”

“it was your dying wish, of course i did!”

“great. don’t forget i love you, too, rhodey!”

“couldn’t let me forget it”

lest we forget that pepper joined the fight?

plot twist: (step)mother/daughter team-up

mother/father/daugher team up!!!! ultimate stark machine!!!!!!!

and then you left him alone for 5 minutes and he’s got the infinity stones and you know it’s the last time you’re going to see him and you cant decide what your next move is and you’re just frozen and you cant catch your breath and he snaps and your heart plummets

you have to rush to his side, the last time you can sit beside his tired body and let him know that its going to be okay

“hey dad, it’s okay, we’re gonna be fine. thank you for everything”

peter grabbing your hand as you both sobbed next to your dad, feeling robbed of your time with him

pepper brought you home where she told you all about the five years you missed

both of you just cried harder than you’ve ever cried before

“so i have a sister?”

morgan was so happy to meet you, she couldn’t contain herself, practically latched onto you

and she didn’t fully understand what happened to tony

you saw your new room for the first time and didn’t leave it for a while, occasionally pepper or morgan would pop in

morgan actually crawled into bed with you a few times

the funeral was one of the worst days of your life

the remnants of your young life pulled back together for one day

then you hid back in your room before you heard a knock

“who is it?”

“it’s happy”

“come in”

“hey, kiddo. me and morgan are gonna get some cheeseburgers, you wanna come?”

she really was a stark

after a long hibernation, you started to get back into the groove of your old life

but the press was brutal and harsh, you were bombarded with questions regarding your dad

it took everything not to explode on camera

you stayed in contact with the rest of the avengers, mourning your dead, keeping the support system, staying a family

it was all you could get...for now

[sserpente]

Ablaze

A/N: I just couldn’t help myself. 🔥

Words: 3010 Warnings: excessive excitement over two seconds of new Loki footage

“Where is he?”

“In the interrogation room, chained up.”

“Good.” Taking a deep breath, you finished your coffee and stood, gathering your documents in the process. This could now be the most important moment in your career—there was no time for failure.

Two days ago, when the TVA received reports of an unknown entity wreaking havoc within the multiverse lineages of the universe, their complaints had fallen on deaf ears. There had not been an incident for years—not until the sudden turmoil of an unrecorded timeline disaffiliating from 2012.

You were still unsure of the origins but it was clear that someone had meddled with the alternate timelines the Avengers had had to create to destroy Thanos. But the stones had all been returned to their receptive points in time, Steve Rogers had made sure of that.

They must have made a mistake somehow—and that mistake was, as of right now, waiting for you in the interrogation room.

It was still unclear how many timelines and universes Loki had travelled to and thrown into turmoil—what knowledge he had acquired and which was not his to possess. He was a dangerous force that needed to be taken care of.

-

Loki arrogantly lifted his chin when the metal door swished open and allowed you to enter. He was sat at the table in the middle of the dimly lit and otherwise empty room, wrists bound together with a pair of handcuffs equalling the technological progress of realms like, in this main timeline destroyed, Asgard—in your world, time was a relative thing, after all. Whatever tricks he could concoct, even he would be powerless against the shiny metal wrapped around his wrists.

His hair was shorter than you remembered it, his usual, intimidating Asgardian attire like you had seen it in various footage of the alien invasion of New York City, replaced with the prison clothes he had been given, leaving his arms bare.

“And what now?” He mused when he spotted you. “Are you here to question me, my dear? To bewitch me? No amount of sweet-talking will get me to comply with your pathetic schemes—whatever they might be.”

You eyed him mutely as you walked towards him, giving him time for his first words directed at your person to sink in. When you sat down, putting your documents on the empty table calmly, you cleared your throat seemingly unaffected.

“No schemes. What we would like to know is how you could escape our main timeline and create an alternate universe messing with the matrix of time and space, Loki.” You began straight away, relinquishing formalities and unnecessary introductions. The God of Mischief looked down, the hint of a mischievous smirk playing on the corners of his thin lips. He hummed before he spoke.

“It appears to be in human nature to thrive for knowledge and elucidation.” His expression hardened, smooth voice growing sharp. His blue eyes locked with yours.  “Even if it is neither your affairs nor place to intervene.”

You had studied psychology in Edinburgh, back in the day. As far as Loki was concerned, you were an impenetrable, strong and fearless woman. Any weakness you revealed to him could be your downfall—and his triumph.

“Whatever the Avengers might or might not have done in order to restore the universe to its right order, they must have missed something, or someone.” You said matter-of-factly, forcing yourself to remain unfazed by the dangerous Trickster in front of you. “Given that at the time of their interference with both the mind and time stone back in 2012, it has come to our attention that another Infinity stone had been removed, opening up an alternate timeline the Avengers were—for some reason—unable to patch up and close.”

Loki raised his eyebrows innocently, responding nothing, however, his scrutinising blue eyes still held you captive in a highly concerning way… almost as if you were the one being questioned.

“The space stone. The Tesseract?” You probed, a hint of impatience in your voice. You had to keep your composure. Loki hummed once more.

“It must be truly devastating to know the Tesseract within your reach, unable to grasp it.” He remarked scornfully.

“We have no interest in the Tesseract.”

“No?”

“No. What we want is to undo the damage you have done—beginning with returning the Tesseract to its receptive timeline. As far as we are concerned, you should not even exist.”

The space stone was indeed a real problem. As long as your colleagues aimed to locate its whereabouts, Loki would keep the upper hand. You had a feeling they would be wasting both their energy and resources. He had it. You knew he had it. You just needed to prevent him from using it again.

“And yet here I am.” He mocked with a breathy voice, yet again lifting his chin; this time leaning back in his chair.

“And yet here you are,” you repeated. “You endanger the multiverse. Your existence threatens the very fragile fabric of our reality. We cannot let you wander about, regardless of your intentions… which is why we have to keep you prisoner until further notice.”

Loki’s face fell instantly, the sudden anger sparkling in his stunning blue eyes sending the startling sting of an adrenaline rush through your body. Stop. You were not Harleen Quinzel and he was not the Joker. Keep calm.

“I am done being imprisoned. I will not let a group of meagre mortals lock me away because they fear what I am capable of.”

“By the looks of it, you already have.” You retorted.

“You do not wish to incur my wrath.”

“I am willing to take that risk.”

He growled darkly, a menacing smile spreading on his lips as he paused. “I’m gonna burn this place to the ground.”

You scoffed. “If I took every prisoner’s threats at their word, I would not be sitting here right now.”

With a start, Loki shot forward, his fists colliding with the table surface and sending an ear-piercing bang through the empty room, making you flinch and back off.

“You should do well not to underestimate me, you mewling quim.” He spat through gritted teeth. “I am a God. You are all fools if you think you can keep me in custody. Consider this my final warning. Release me or you will face the consequences.”

“I can’t do that, I’m afraid.” You replied, fighting hard to hide the growing shaking in your voice. “I’m not a friend, Loki. But I am no police either. You have not been arrested for any of your crimes here on Earth but solely for attempting to… and succeeding in altering the past and the future. We can’t let that happen again.”

His growl was downright animalistic this time, paired with a menacing harrumph—he refrained from having the last word when you stood, collecting your documents to leave the interrogation room for good. As soon as the door fell shut behind you, you breathed out, tension and fear melting away from you with a start. One of your colleagues was already waiting for you outside.

“How did it go?”

“Terrible, as expected.” You stated, straightening your skirt with trembling fingers. The officer hummed in response.

“I say we give him to the authorities. SHIELD has yet to—“

“SHIELD?” You interrupted. “And what will you tell him, officer? As far as we are concerned, Loki was, as of 2012, taken back to Asgard to face the consequences of his actions. He is not their responsibility anymore. This Loki—wherever he came from—is our issue to deal with.”

-

A full week had gone by since your first encounter with the God of Mischief and you were still no closer to bringing the Tesseract in your possession. Loki was quiet—conspicuously so. Reports from the officers standing guard day in and out spoke of nothing but immobility on his part, for most of the time, he would simply sit on his bed and stare into nothingness, other times he would walk around in his cell like a tiger ready to pounce on his prey… always as if he was planning something.

You had no doubt that he was—which meant that you would have to return to the interrogation room before it was too late, have him brought there one more time and manipulate him into telling you everything you wished to know.

You had studied him, read countless reports on him in a desperate attempt to riddle him out. Loki was a master of magic. SHIELD agents had watched him catch an arrow mid-air, they had witnessed bullets bouncing off of him like rubber balls. Mind control as well as telekinesis and even transformation counted to his powers, he cast frighteningly real illusions, possessed the ability of teleportation and invisibility—not even to mention his supernatural strength, speed, and healing capabilities.

SHIELD might have been, with the Avengers’ help, a match for him but if he ever found a way to free himself from these shackles, you would certainly be no match for him. What was it he had said? It must be truly devastating to know the Tesseract within your reach, unable to grasp it.

A spell must have been concealing the Tesseract from you. Just how would you convince him to cave in? How much time did you have left? Who, after all, could guarantee the guards weren’t just seeing illusions every day?

Perhaps you should try a new strategy and meet him with honesty—even ask for his help, if necessary. If you told Loki what was at stake if you did not protect the very fabric of this complex net of universes tying into one another and life as both he and you knew it could be torn apart, would he relent?

Loki could become a valuable asset in your organisation, use his abilities, for once, for heroism instead of mischief. But would he truly be up for this proposal after your initial conversation?

You had too many questions you did not know the answer to. This ought to change. Tomorrow. For now, you would shut the world out and relax in your own for walls—it was the only way to stay sane working for TVA.

Already wearing your pyjamas, consisting of nothing more than a pair of way too revealing knickers and a black tank top tonight, you made yourself comfortable on the carpeted floor of the bedroom in your flat, grabbing the huge pillow as well as a mug of hot chocolate already waiting for you.

You reached for the remote control to switch on your TV, lazily zapping through the various channels in search for a good film to watch before going to bed when suddenly, a news channel caught your attention.

A brunette reporter, standing in front of a green screen showing footage of a collection of grey concrete buildings on fire, hurried to rattle off the words written on the monitor behind the camera. These… these were the TVA headquarters.

“The fire department assumes the fire was caused by a leaking gas pipe or oil tank, they preclude the possibility of a wilful action towards occupants of the building complex. Until now, the firefighters recovered twenty-two dead bodies, with a final number of deaths not yet confirmed. More than thirty-four people are still missing.”

“No… oh my God, please, no…” Squeezing your eyes shut, you took a few deep and controlled breaths to fend off a panic attack. This wasn’t real. Your headquarters were not on fire. You were dreaming, having a nightmare messing with your mind.

While the greater public had no idea this building was the base of TVA, that this place had become your second home… all of the research, all of the unique technical equipment, all of the documents harbouring records of the complex composition of the multiverse, all of the prisoners you kept from tearing apart your understanding of time… gone, turned to ash.

“Beautiful, is it not? Everything is ablaze.” You screeched, flinching away from the dark figure appearing right next to your cowering form at the foot of your bed and knocking over your mug in the process.

The pale light of the TV threw eerie shadows on his flawless face, supporting his mischievous and downright threatening gaze. You stumbled back on your hands and knees when Loki took a step forward, briefly eyeing the dark stain spreading on the carpet.

“Hmm, what was that, cocoa? I rather enjoy this Midgardian beverage.”

“You… how did you…” You stuttered, unable to form a functioning sentence. Fear replaced the blood pumping through your veins, your heart pounding at light speed. He was here. How had he even found you?

“Free myself?” He finished nonchalantly. “I warned you not to underestimate me, pet. And what would happen if you caged me like a curiosity.” He added with a dangerous growl.

“W-what… what do you want from me?”

Would he kill you? Take revenge on you for making him a prisoner? To think that only minutes ago, you had considered offering him your alliance… You could not deny the effect he had on your body, your mind, your entire being. It had all started in the interrogation room, when he had seemed to look directly into your soul with those stunning blue eyes of his… his attractiveness and sex appeal only made this worse. You did not want to fear him and yet, you were terrified. Could you possibly explain to him you had meant to return to him tomorrow, proposing him an alternative to a dull cell?

“First and foremost, I will need a place to stay.” Your eyes widened when he produced the handcuffs he had been shackled with seemingly out of thin air and fingered them thoughtfully. Your heart skipped a beat when his scrutinising gaze met yours, a mischievous smirk growing on his lips. “And you, my pet, have, during our little talk, proven to be quite the reliable source of information. I shall use that to my advantage.”

Unable to combat his unnatural speed, you gasped when he stroke and grabbed your wrists firmly, cuffing them together fast and effortlessly. The cold metal on your naked skin made you shiver.

“This is to ensure you don’t rush into mischiefs.” He explained mockingly. “It would be unwise to consider me a role model in your current position.”

“Loki…” You started, willing your voice to sound strong and determined. “You don’t have to do this. Please…”

The God of Mischief chuckled darkly. “Do I not? Now, I have important matters to attend to, my dear, and I can’t have you foiling my plans.” You gasped once more when he cupped your chin, albeit surprisingly tenderly, and forcing you to look him in the eye again. “It appears you are my prisoner now. If I were you, I would not hope for your pathetic little friends to come to your rescue. They are, as of right now, occupied with not burning alive.”

He released you then, moving away from you slowly and reaching for one of the pillows on your bed to shake it out to his liking. Only now did you notice how tired and worn-out he looked, like escaping and wreaking havoc in TVA’s headquarters had demanded all of his strength.

He must have known you were not in the building. How long, you wondered, had he been watching you? While you studied him… had he been studying you, too? What would become of you now? Harley Quinn? Panic rose in your body, making your stomach churn. If Loki truly planned to implant himself in your flat, using it as a hideout, you were all but lost.

Your life as a TVA agent was but a secret one. You had no friends outside of this organisation and barely still kept in touch with your family, if anything to protect them from potential threats. No one would ever find you. Your life was in Loki’s hands.

“Please… please, just don’t hurt me.” You pleaded, your voice barely a whisper. Loki paused, his blue eyes locking with yours once more. He almost seemed… taken aback by your silent confession.

“I have no intention of hurting you.” He said. Oddly, they felt like the most honest words he had spoken to you yet.

He threw the covers back, quite obviously feeling at home already.

You had forgotten you were still cowering on the floor, your arms immobilised by the magic handcuffs. Eyeing the bed longingly, Loki smirked when he noticed your inner struggle, if anything to point out how much he enjoyed having you shudder for fear and reverence before him.

“You are more than welcome to share the bed with me, pet. I will not relinquish the presence of warm female body next to mine as I rest and recover.”

Mutely, you shook your head. But what other choice did you have? To sleep on the hard floor with nothing but a pillow? Trembling, you rose to your feet as gracefully as you could muster with your hands cuffed together, slowly approaching the other side of the bed.

It took you a moment to nestle down, feeling Loki’s eyes on you with every move you made. You did not dare look at him again, fearing your heart would not be able to take it.

With a wave of his hand, Loki switched off the TV, drowning the bedroom in utter darkness, then, you felt the mattress sinking in directly next to you. Breathing heavily, you turned your back to him, curling up like a fetus.

“Good night, (Y/N).” Your heart jumped when he spoke your name with his smooth voice—you could practically hear his scornful smirk behind you. “Sweet dreams.”

There was something about his presence… something alluring. You bit your lower lip, forcing your eyes shut. I have no intention of hurting you. You believed him. Perhaps this was what scared you the most.

-

A/N: I am strongly tempted to write a Part II. I will need some time though.

EDIT: Well, here’s Part II then. xD

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