The Avengers: Finding Young Loki

Questions Answered

Loki had been gone for two days.  Two days!  After locking Dokkalfar up with Amora in a specially made cell, the Avengers searched for him everywhere.  Every magical surge on earth was investigated, but it was never him.  Thor was angry, very angry, and even Jane could not comfort him.  Darcy and Ian actually went to Africa to find that village, and to speak to other people about Loki's good deeds to man.  Clint had been operated on and pulled through the surgery alright.  When he woke up and asked to see Loki, the Avengers had to tell him that Loki had disappeared with the Mind Gem. 

Thor took Jane to Asgard to get Odin and bring him back to earth for when Loki returned.  When the All-Father arrived with Sif and the Warriors Three, Tony gave them his best guest rooms in the tower.  Now that they were all there, they had to wait for Loki to return.

“This is depressing,” Clint said as he played Go Fish with Natasha, the Warriors Three, and Sif.  Odin sat at a table with Thor, Stark, Steve, Banner, and Fury.  Loki had now been absent for five days, and everyone was starting to worry.  “Go fish,” Clint told Volstagg when the big man asked him if he had any threes.  Odin sighed and looked over at Thor.  Thor was staring at nothing, until Jane put her arms around his shoulders.  She kissed his cheek and he smiled a little, patting her arm.  Erik Selvig walked in and he placed a few cups of coffee on the table.  Tony offered Odin one, but the All-Father shook his head and waved it away.

“When do you think he’ll come back?” Jane asked as she sat down next to Thor.

“Hopefully soon.  Nobody here is worth challenging to a game of Assassin’s Creed,” Clint said.

“Is that mortal game all you can think of?  Surely there were other memories of him you would prefer to dwell on?” Sif asked as she placed a card down on the table.  Clint shot her a look and she could feel the anger burning in his blue eyes.

“Excuse me miss, but I held him in my arms as he was dying.  He looked into my eyes and said he was innocent.  His blood was all over me.  Only one other person can claim that here, so, forgive me if I try to look on the bright side,” Clint said and everyone looked at Thor.  He nodded his head, remembering Svartalfheim and when he thought Loki was dead for the second time.  “It’s the worst feeling ever,” Clint finished and everyone became silent again. 

“Well I hope I never have to do that to you again,” said a voice and they all looked up.  Loki was standing before them, a smile on his handsome face.

“Loki!” the Avengers all shouted as they leapt from their chairs.  Loki was not ready for the onslaught that took him.  All six of them tackled him to the floor and hugged him, nearly suffocating him.  “Okay!  I might die again!” Loki exclaimed from underneath all their bodies.  They let him up, but they all still hugged him.  Loki was careful with Clint because of his ribs, but Barton told him not to treat him like a doll. 

“I’m human, not made of China,” Clint told him as they walked back towards the table.  Loki smiled and turned to see Jane and Erik.  He held out his hand to Selvig and the astro-physicist took it.  Jane gave Loki a hug and even kissed his cheek.  Loki turned a soft pink before looked at Odin, the Warriors Three, and Sif.  He felt something pressed into his hand and he glanced down.  Thor smiled at him as it was the bracelet Odin had had made for him.  Loki put it on his wrist.  Odin held out a hand to him.  Loki smiled and came to him, embracing him for the first time in years.  Odin buried his face in Loki’s shoulder and wept for joy.  The Avengers withdrew, leaving Loki and Odin standing there with Thor, Jane, the Warriors Three, and Sif.  When Odin had held Loki long enough, Loki shook hands with his other friends.

“It is good to see you as you once were,” Fandral said to him.  Loki smirked and then he felt Sif’s hand on his shoulder.

“Although, you were very cute as a kid again,” she pointed out.  Loki threw back his head and laughed out loud, and that was when Natasha ran up behind him and jumped on his back. 

“Oh god!” Loki exclaimed as he caught her legs and gave her a piggyback. 

“So, where were you?” Fury asked, coming up and reminding everybody that they were very curious as to where Loki had been.  When they were all sitting down around the table, Loki began his tale.

“Not long after I left you all, six years ago, I first heard Ikol’s voice in my head.  He was taunting me, trying to manipulate me.  I tried to get rid of him, but then I heard another voice in my mind.  He was calm and polite to me.  Told me that I could not go back until I had made the galaxy safer.  That was when he told me that he was Loki, the resistance fighter.”  Everyone raised their eyebrows and Loki smiled.  “He told me that the girl he loved, I will love, was killed by Thanos,” Loki said.  Odin leaned back in his chair when he heard the name of the Titan.  Loki looked at him and nodded his head.  “He was the one who reduced me to my childlike state and wiped my memory,” Loki told them.  “In the future, I am leading a rebellion against his rule.  When I was made a child again, he learned of my presence, his past life, and he reached out to me.  So now, I am sending him the Infinity Stones so that Thanos cannot get his hands on them in this dimension, and create the Infinity Gauntlet.  But also, I hope that I can find this girl and save her from Thanos,” Loki said.  He ran his fingers along the wood of the table and sighed.

“So when you vanished, you were taking the Mind Gem to him?” Steve asked and Loki nodded his head.

“Before, he always had to come back to me because I wasn’t powerful enough.  Now that I have returned to my adult form, I could go to him.  I was there so long because I was helping him fight against Thanos.  I saw a few of you there too,” Loki said.  He smiled at Bruce, Clint, and Steve.

“What about the rest of us?” Natasha asked.  Loki breathed in deep and shook his head.

“Thanos knew how to take you out.  He personally killed Natasha, Tony, and Thor.  Odin was destroyed at Thor’s death and Asgard fell.  With Steve, Bruce, and Clint, I lead the last of the resistance, along with what remains of SHIELD, and the Guardians of the Galaxy,” Loki explained.

“The Who’s of the What Now?” Tony asked, still not getting over the fact that he was dead in the future.

“The Guardians of the Galaxy.  They’re an intergalactic peace keeping team.  They help us.”

“What do we have to do to ensure that this future won’t happen?” Jane asked Loki, leaning forward.  Loki saw the determination on her face and knew that she wanted to do everything in her power to keep Thor safe.  She had stiffened when Loki mentioned that Thor died in the future, so she wanted to know the facts.

“Well, I asked my future self the same question.  He said that the first step to avoiding that future, is we have to save the woman I love from being killed by Thanos.  This will put me on a path of revenge, and I won’t come off of it until I lose Tony, Thor, and Natasha.”

“Hope he gave you a name,” Bruce said.  Loki sighed and looked a little sheepish as everyone at the table said, “Oh come on!”

“He didn’t give me her name because that would corrupt the time stream and saving her would not affect the future like we want it to.  He simply told me that when I meet her, our minds and hearts will be in sync,” Loki responded.

“Well aren’t you cryptic,” Tony said kicking Loki under the table and Loki glared at him.

“I can’t help it!” Loki told him before they all started chuckling.