Disclaimer: Infinity War and Endgame belongs to Marvel and Disney. If they belonged to me, this is how things would've gone for Loki.

AN: Seriously, I loved these films, and what they did with Loki was my only gripe. So I've fixed it. Have the story of Avengers 3 & 4 with extra Loki. Title and lyrics from "Monster", a song that comes from Frozen on Broadway. Because it fits Loki so damn well.

It's finally come, come to knock down my door,

I can't hide this time like I hid before

– "Monster", Frozen on Broadway

"Your optimism is misplaced, Asgardian."

From most people's perspective, it would appear so. But Loki always made it a point to be as far from being "most people" as he could get.

His knowledge of Thanos had allowed him to form a plan on the spot, the moment the Sanctuary had appeared alongside the Statesman. Thanos always killed half a world and left the other alive, so Loki had made certain that the half he would spare were the ones who couldn't fight back; mostly children, along with their families. The Valkyrie, Korg and his scissor friend had gotten them to safety in escape pods.

The half that were left were the ones who could fight. It allowed them a chance – even if it had been a slim chance.

So many dead. But the innocents were safe, and Loki still had an ace up his sleeve.

"Well, for one thing: I'm not Asgardian. And for another: We have a Hulk."

And when he repeated the words Stark had threatened him with many years ago, the beast in question tackled Thanos aside. The Titan was, for once, taken completely off-guard, for Banner had been knocked out early on in the battle before he'd even had the chance to transform.

Loki dropped the Tesseract and dived, grabbing Thor and rolling him to safety.

"I'm sorry, Brother," Loki whispered in his ear. "I'm sorry…"

"You should've…left it…" Thor managed to say.

"It would have survived the blast." Because it was an Infinity Stone, and they could only destroy each other. "And it would have been floating in space for anyone to take. I didn't realize he would make a play for them…" But maybe he should have done. Hela hadn't been the only threat being held back by Odin. Their father was probably the only being in the universe strong enough to stand against Thanos.

Not the only one, he hoped, as he watched the Hulk pound into the Mad Titan with furious rage.

It was his last hope.

It dissolved when Thanos left the Hulk withering in pain on the floor.

"That was my last trick." The time had come. Thanos was going to kill him.

Thor must have seen the fear on his face. Already he could see better with one eye. "He was the one who gave you the army. The one who sent you to Earth."

It would have been so easy to tell Thor everything, right after the failed invasion; explain what Thanos had done, that he'd been forced. That the Mind Stone had controlled him as much as it had controlled Barton. But back then, his pride hadn't let him.

He knew it was time for that pride to drop.

"It was not willingly."

Something in Thor's gaze shifted. There was surprise, and then there was resolve. He struggled to his feet, and Loki helped him stand. Somewhere close by, an injured Heimdall gripped his sword and began to chant.

"He means to kill you for your failure."

Loki didn't reply, for it wasn't a question. It was a statement of fact.

"I won't leave you," was all he said.

Heimdall used all the strength he had left to summon dark energy, the same that had sent Thor to Earth all those years ago. The Bifrost flickered to life and surrounded the Hulk.

Thor smiled at his brother. "I hope that you are right, that the sun will shine on us again." He gripped Loki's arms. "I came to save you, back then, and I failed. This time I won't."

Loki realized what his brother was doing a second too late, and before he could stop it – before he could even cry out in protest – Thor picked him up and threw him into the Bifrost.

They fell through a building.

Loki was briefly amused when he realized that the building they had wrecked upon landing was the home of that second-rate sorcerer, but it didn't last long. He stared up at the sky through the hole in the ceiling, eyes wide with the realization of what Thor had done.

He wanted to scream. Thor had saved him, but not without a cost – that cost being his own life. He wanted to hate his brother for his sentimental stupidity, but couldn't. The grief that rushed up on him was almost crippling.

But there was no time for that. A pair of sorcerers stood above him, ready for a fight. Pushing back his grief, Loki held up his hands to show the two men that he meant them no harm, before rolling off the Hulk when he realized that he was no longer the Hulk, but Banner.

"Thanos is coming," Bruce muttered, over and over, and the sorcerers exchanged confused glances.

Convincing them not to drop him into an endless vortex was easier than he thought it would be, since Bruce vouched for him. The tentative friendship they'd struck up on the Statesman had paid off, and Loki was glad that the mortal scientist was the forgiving type.

Stark, he knew, wasn't the forgiving type, and would be harder to convince.

Loki planned to hang back out of sight when the second-rate made a portal (he made a note to steal one of those rings in the near future when Thanos wasn't an immediate threat) to Stark and his woman, and continued to when Bruce reunited with him. But Stark saw him, and immediately there was a glove on his hand ready to fire.

Bruce got in the way. "Hey, hey, hey! It's OK! He's on our side this time."

The man of iron's gaze flickered between them, until his trust in Banner won out over his distrust of the Norse God. He lowered his arm. "You better have a good explanation for this, Bruce."

The woman by his side suddenly strode forwards, and before Loki realized that she was heading straight for him, she reached him and delivered a clean slap across his face. "That's for throwing my fiancé off a building!"

Tough and full of fire. And exactly the kind of woman who could keep Tony Stark in check. Loki grinned and turned to Stark. "I like her."

"Tell me his name again."

Bruce repeated the same story Loki had told the second-rate and his companion. Loki waited silently, though he stood apart from the sorcerers. He flinched when Bruce mentioned the invasion of New York, and Stark turned his gaze on him.

"He sent you?"

Loki nodded. "Yes. And he was not kind in his…persuasions."

"Meaning?"

"What was it you said again, in that tower of yours?" he said. "There was no version where I came out on top. I knew that. If I had really wanted to conquer your world, I would have stayed in the shadows. You would never have known I was even there until I won and the world was mine."

There was no surprise in Stark's eyes. It was as if he'd merely confirmed something the mortal had suspected for years. "You were playing to lose. Would've been nice to, you know, tell us that. Instead of getting people killed."

"The Mind Stone wouldn't let me. Its control was only broken when the beast tossed me around like a rag doll."

Banner's eyebrows rose. "Huh. Guess the Hulk's good for something."

The discussion continued, and Loki was content to listen until Thor was mentioned. He flinched again, because what Bruce said was true.

Thor was gone. There was no way Thanos would have left him alive, after what he did. The Mad Titan didn't take defiance lightly.

Loki kept his grief in check. There would be time for that when Thanos was dead.

The status of the heroes on Earth was…interesting. The Avengers were no more, scattered and divided over something called the Sokovia Accords. Stark had created two robots, one of which had tried to destroy the world while the other had gone missing. Loki wished he'd been watching Earth more closely during his stint as Odin, because it all sounded highly entertaining.

Stark and the second-rate bickered (he preferred Stark out of the two, and he couldn't believe that there was actually someone he found to be even more irritating than Stark), before finally the man agreed to call upon the Captain and the rest of the Avengers on the run.

That was when the screaming started.

Thanos's children had arrived.

They headed outside, and Loki held himself together at the sight of Ebony Maw. Of course, he'd been there on the Statesman too, but that was when Loki had the Tesseract and its power had prevented Maw from gaining a foothold in his mind.

Now there was no Stone to protect him. He doubted the second-rate would give him the Time Stone.

"Hear me and rejoice! You have had the privilege of being saved by the Great Titan. You may think this is suffering. No, it is salvation."

Maw's words repeated over and over as he addressed the fleeing humans beneath him, the same words he'd repeated on the ship, and Loki threw up his mental walls to protect his mind. He felt Maw attempting to gain access, like thousands of knives stabbing against his brain, but he refused to relent.

Bruce noticed his discomfort. "You OK?" Loki could only nod.

Things turned south quickly when Bruce found that he couldn't change into the Hulk. Loki attempted to distract Maw away from the second-rate (he was annoying beyond belief, but he had the Time Stone and that took priority), but with his mind off limits, Maw didn't feel like playing and simply tossed him aside.

He instead found himself fighting Cull Obsidian alongside Stark, and then they were joined by someone called Spider-Man.

Who took one look at Loki and immediately barrelled into him.

"Mr. Stark! It's that guy who invaded New York six years ago! Or was it eight years ago?"

"Get off me you-" Loki was cut off when something shot out of the boy's hands (because he was definitely a boy, there was no 'man' about him), something sticky and white, and the boy used the same substance to stick Loki's hands to the ground.

"Sorry, you're a bad guy! That means you stay there! I have webs and I'm not afraid to use them!"

"Kid, no! Peter, he's on our side!" Stark was still struggling with Cull and trying to divert his attention between the two.

"What?" The boy looked back at his…father? Loki didn't know if Stark had a son, but the dynamic in front of him looked like one between a father and a son, not that he would have much experience given Odin's spectacular parenting…

"Loki pulled a Darth Vader! He's with us!"

"Oh shit!" He turned back to Loki. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Loki! Please don't mind control me with your magic staff!"

After a brief struggle, Loki managed to call a dagger into his hand and used it to cut through the web. When his hands were free, he ripped off the web that covered his mouth. "It was a sceptre, and I don't have it anymore."

"Oh, good." He jumped back to Stark and kicked Cull in the head. The brute lashed out and sent Stark flying.

He landed next to Loki, who didn't waste any time in saying, "That's a child."

"He's stronger than he looks. He knocked you over, didn't he?"

"He's still a child."

"You saying he can't handle it?"

"I'm saying he shouldn't have to."

"Huh. Loki has standards. Who'd have thought."

The unconscious second-rate sorcerer passed over them, and the boy gave chase. Loki and Stark dealt with Cull with help from the other more competent sorcerer, before Stark took off after the boy and the second-rate.

Loki eventually made his way back to Bruce, who was using Stark's phone to contact the other Avengers.

"Hey Steve, I'm back. Yeah, we got trouble. And before Nat goes all murder spy," Bruce met Loki's gaze, "there's someone with me you should know about."

It took only a single sentence out of Secretary Ross's mouth for Loki to decide that he didn't like him. At all.

He didn't make his distaste known, however, until the other Avengers arrived and Ross ordered Stark's friend – Rhodes? – to arrest them. Loki was sat in a corner while Bruce tended to the large cut on his forehead, curtesy of the spider boy, so the man hadn't spotted him.

He was miles away, but that didn't matter. With a flick of his wrist, Loki first made the man's moustache disappear, and then followed that up by giving him rabbit ears. He waited until Ross noticed the changes, and right before he exploded with shock and anger, Loki cut off the connection and made sure they couldn't be contacted again.

All eyes were on him immediately.

He only shrugged. "You're welcome." He turned to Bruce. "He's really your woman's father?"

"My ex-girlfriend's father," said Bruce. His gaze flickered towards the Widow.

Right. Bruce had mentioned back on the Statesman that something had developed between them. He thought it was strange, but didn't voice that opinion.

When the call had cut off, the Avengers had stared at him warily. His words exchanged with Bruce got them to relax, but only slightly.

"Looks like we're not the only ones who got ambushed," said the Captain, his gaze fixed upon the cut being tended to.

Bruce, the traitor, decided to enlighten them. "Oh no. That was Spider-Man's handiwork."

The tension in the room dissolved, and the Avengers were trying hard not to laugh.

"You got beat up by a kid?" said the man that Loki didn't recognize. He had goggles on his head and some large machine on his back.

Loki sighed and looked heavenward. "I made that man look like a fool in revenge for his slights against you, and this is how you thank me, Bruce?"

"I'm just getting even. You tried to freak me out back on Sakaar."

"You two are certainly chummy," the Widow spoke up.

The scientist shrugged. "We spent two weeks on a cramped refugee ship in the middle of space. He really grows on you." He started to put his medical supplies away. "All clean. It should heal up nicely."

"Thank you." Loki called upon his magic and created a small illusion over the cut. He'd rather not have to look at the embarrassing reminder.

Bruce rolled his eyes. "Oh sure, waste magic on covering a tiny little cut instead of saving your energy to fight an alien conqueror."

Rhodes jerked his thumb in their direction. "Is anyone else getting weirded out by this?"

"It's not the first time someone's switched sides," said the Captain. "Speaking of… Wanda?"

A young woman stepped out from behind the Widow, her eyes glowing red.

Loki immediately got to his feet. The energy signature that surrounded her was hauntingly familiar. "You've been touched by the Mind Stone." It explained why he could sense it – until he realized it was in the room with them too, embedded into the forehead of…a humanoid creature he assumed was the second robot Stark had created.

The Captain looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, but we need to be certain this isn't a trick."

He realized what that meant too late, and before he could protest, strands of red magic left the woman's hands and surrounded his head. Within moments she was inside his mind, prodding and poking, looking for the truth of his intentions. She wasn't gentle in her intrusion, but that was due to lack of skill rather than intent to hurt him, unlike Maw who had made his intrusions hurt.

The sensation brought back flashbacks of his time under Thanos's thumb, and the horrible reminder sent him falling to his knees in pain and terror. His pride was gone and he wanted to beg for her to stop, but he couldn't even form the words.

"Stop, stop!" Bruce was by Loki's side in an instant, preventing him from falling flat onto the floor completely.

And then Wanda recoiled with a cry of anguish, taking her magic with her.

Loki took in deep breaths and allowed Bruce's help in keeping him upright. He saw Wanda bury her face into the chest of the android, and knew by her actions that she'd seen what Thanos had done. Part of him wanted to yell at her for intruding, but another part of him understood that the Avengers had no reason to trust him. That same part of him also noted that she didn't deserve to witness what he'd been through, and yelling wouldn't help either of them.

"He's with us," she said. "He has more reason than any of us to hate Thanos. He grieves for his brother, and…" Her gaze fell upon him, and the sympathy was almost overwhelming. "The things he did to you… How are you still sane, after all that?"

"I wasn't sane the first time I came here," said Loki, as Bruce helped him to his feet.

The Captain and the Widow were staring right at him, and they both looked horrified. "Everything you did… Thanos made you do it?" said the former.

"Why didn't you tell us?" the latter asked, almost demanded.

Loki sighed. "The Mind Stone prevented me from speaking out. All I could do was fight it on the inside. An after… Pride is a deadly sin for a reason. I refused to admit that I was acting on anyone's authority other than my own."

"Maybe if you had admitted it," said the Captain, "then we wouldn't be in this mess now."

So many mistakes, so little time to make up for them. Loki could only nod. They didn't seem in that big of a hurry to place the blame entirely on him, so that was a relief.

The Avengers discussed their next move. He was relieved to hear that Barton wouldn't be joining them (because that was a confrontation he didn't want to have at all), along with a hero by the name of Ant-Man, who just sounded like a joke.

They needed sanctuary, and the Captain knew just the place.

"Welcome to the reason your invasion never would have lasted," the Widow teased, and Loki had to admit that he was impressed.

He'd known of Wakanda, of course. But it had been a while since he'd last checked in on the country's progress, and it had advanced to levels that actually came close to Asgard's. Perhaps, he thought, once the battle against Thanos was over, the technology could help rebuild what his people had lost.

When they landed, Bruce was the only one who bowed – and after being told not to, he glared at Rhodes. Loki looked skywards. A prank was pulled, and it wasn't by him. He was losing his touch.

The Captain was reunited with his friend. The Wakandan King allowed them sanctuary, and then the Captain whispered something in his ear. Loki knew immediately that they were talking about him, and pretended to admire the palace while the King's gaze fell on him.

The King then turned to one of his guards and said in Wakandan, "Keep an eye on our Asgardian guest. If he makes trouble, give him a good poke."

As always, he couldn't resist. Loki spoke loudly, in perfect Wakandan, "If you poke holes in the leather, we're going to have a problem."

Everyone turned to him in shock, including a good number of the Wakandans in the surrounding area.

"You speak Wakandan?" the Captain asked.

Loki grinned. "I speak everything."

"There are thousands of spoken languages in the world. I doubt you know them all," said the Widow – but she spoke to him in Russian.

He responded in Mandarin. "I was raised to be a diplomat to my brother." And then he switched to Norwegian. "I've had over a thousand years to learn them all."

"Can you speak the dead languages?" she asked in Classical Latin.

"Can you speak any alien languages?" he asked in response, in Kree.

Her eyes narrowed. "That was clearly an alien language, so that's cheating."

"Are you two done?" the Captain spoke up, sounding a little bit annoyed but mostly amused.

The King's sister found a way to remove the Mind Stone from the android – or the Vision, as everyone kept calling him, and Loki had to wonder where that name came from – and set to work while everyone else talked tactics.

Loki was surprised when the Captain asked for his opinion, since he was under the impression that he was only their reluctant (on their part) ally, despite what had been revealed back at the compound. Though it made sense, he soon realized; he was the only one who knew what Thanos was capable of, his armies, his children… He knew what to expect, and the best way to fight back.

He detailed as much as he knew, and they made plans. When the meeting was over and they split up to rest themselves, Loki found himself in an empty hallway and allowed his mind to wonder.

The Captain's words refused to leave him. They really wouldn't be in their current situation had he just told them the truth from the beginning. Then perhaps he wouldn't have been locked away in Asgard's dungeons, he wouldn't have been there during the Dark Elves' attack, wouldn't have directed that monster to Asgard's defences, and the monster wouldn't have…

His eyes screwed shut, and a tear escaped.

Then perhaps he wouldn't have usurped Asgard's throne, leaving Odin vulnerable. Then he wouldn't have died, Hela wouldn't have been released, no Ragnarok…

And Thanos wouldn't have made a play for the Stones, if the threat of his father's intervention truly had been holding the Mad Titan back. Perhaps, if Loki had told him, Odin may have waged war on Thanos himself, if he'd thought the threat was dire enough.

If he wanted to go further back, there was also the fact that it was him who had discovered the Tesseract on Earth and had told Thanos, making Earth a target…

His thoughts drew to a halt. He wasn't alone.

"Still adept at sneaking up on me, I see."

He didn't turn, just waited for the Widow to approach and stand next to him.

"I know that look," she said. "I wore it a lot, right after I joined SHIELD. For the longest time I kept asking myself what if I'd done things differently; tried harder to escape the Red Room, tried to change before I killed too many… Eventually I realized that if I kept dwelling on the past in some kind of fruitless hope that it'll fix itself, I wouldn't be able to change my future. The first step to wiping away the red on your ledger is accepting that it's there, and traces of it will always be there – and that's OK, because we all make mistakes. They don't make us monsters."

"All I seem to make are mistakes," said Loki. "My father died because of the banishment I had inflicted on him, releasing a sister I never knew I had – who was so bloodthirsty it makes my conquest of Earth look tame by comparison – and I opened the way to Asgard for her. I stole the Tesseract when Asgard burned, thus leading Thanos right to my people who had already lost everything, leaving half of them dead and the other half lost in the vast emptiness of space. And yet, my brother still saved me, because he's a sentimental idiot, and it's likely he's floating lightyears away, dead. Because of me. That's already a hefty list of mistakes, and I haven't even gone back further than the past month."

"I'm…not gonna lie, that's an accomplishment." The Widow shrugged. "But the whole sister thing sounds like your dad's fault for not telling you."

That he could agree with, at least. "Odin's solution to everything was to cover it up."

"And the Tesseract… If Thanos really wanted to punish you for your failure, then he would've come after you even if you didn't have it."

And that, annoyingly, made sense. Thanos had made an effort to keep him and Thor alive; like he wanted to make an example of him. If he'd only been after the Stone, he wouldn't have bothered.

"I really need to stop underestimating you."

"That's not what you said last time."

"I am sorry," he said with all sincerity. "For the threat and for what I called you."

"It was gross and insulting, but I have to give your points for your creativity in name-calling."

Somehow, he found himself in the same room as the Vision, whose eyes were closed as he lay unmoving. The woman, Wanda, was sat beside him, and her eyes were closed, too. Both resting after a long day.

The King's sister was working, and paid Loki no mind.

He stood by the window and gazed up into the sky. It would be foolish to hope that Thor was still alive, but then his brother was stubborn. Far too stubborn to let something like death slow him down. His brain and heart warred with one another, his logical side telling him that Thor couldn't possible have survived the Mad Titan's wrath, while his heart refused to believe that his beloved brother was gone so soon after they'd reconciled.

The wall to his left lit up, and Loki turned to see a video playing of the King examining his new suit. He turned to the camera and said, "You're recording?"

"For research purposes," said the girl on camera. The King's sister.

The King kicked the suit in the section that was glowing purple, and the suit let out a shock wave that sent the man flying across the room. There was snickering behind him, and Loki turned to see that it was the King's sister who had played the video.

"So," she began, "I hear you're the God of Mischief. Your brother must've loved that."

He understood why she had shown him the video. "I once turned him into a frog, among other things. I also turned into a snake so I could get close enough to stab him."

"I'll admit, I never went that far." She kept working on Vision, and the smile on her face fell slightly. "There was a succession crisis of a sort, right after my brother became King. Turns out we had a cousin we never knew about; our father never told us about him. He was on a warpath, and very angry."

That sounded disturbingly familiar. "Go on."

"They had a fight, and he threw my brother off a waterfall," she continued. "We thought he was dead. But then we found him alive. Before we did, I'd been too afraid to hope. Sometimes it can be foolish to, but it's never wrong."

He knew what she was saying; he shouldn't give up hope that Thor was still alive.

And maybe she was right. Loki turned away, closed his eyes and prayed to the Norns.

Whether the Norns had answered his prayers or it was down to sheer luck, Loki's hope wasn't foolish.

It hadn't taken long for Thanos's forces to track them down, and they'd journeyed from the city out onto the open fields so the civilians wouldn't be caught in the crossfire. Loki had stood beside the Widow on the journey, and both had laughed when Bruce – wearing one of Stark's larger armours – tripped and fell flat on his face.

When they were standing ready, Loki decided against materialising his helmet on his head, knowing that those around him were still wary of his presence. It wouldn't be a good idea to remind them of the fact that not too long ago, he'd been on the opposing side.

The time came. They charged.

The battle raged. Loki quickly caught on that Thanos's mooks weren't the most intelligent beings, so created several copies of himself to distract them, especially around allies who were struggling. His daggers were sliced through limbs and buried in guts, and some he let loose through the air. At one point he was tackled by a beast and bumped his head on the ground, causing him to drop the illusion over his cut. There was dirt on his face, but in the middle of battle, there wasn't time to care.

Wanda came down and flattened enemies with ease. Loki made a note to perhaps teach her how to hone that raw power better.

And then he arrived.

Thor.

He had a new weapon, two new allies beside him, and he looked enraged.

"Bring me Thanos!"

Loki wanted to run and hug him fiercely (and maybe stab him so he didn't do something so ridiculously stupid ever again), but the battle was still going, so Loki just settled for only running to his side.

"You're late!"

"If Thanos isn't here yet, then I'd say I'm early!" was all his brother said.

The Captain joined them, the pair bantered about their hair and beards (Loki just rolled his eyes), and the Captain look bewildered by Thor's newest allies.

And he wasn't the only one. When Thor's smaller ally let out a war cry, the Falcon – who had landed nearby – did a double take and stared dumbly at the creature.

"That's a racoon! That's a talking racoon!"

The racoon took offence. "Hey, watch it, bird boy!"

"Racoon?" Thor frowned. "I thought he was a rabbit."

Loki looked heavenward, and threw a dagger to his left without looking. It hit an enemy in the throat. "I don't know why you seem so surprised," he said to the Falcon. "These creatures are native to Midgard, are they not?"

The Falcon looked at him like he was the idiot. "Yeah, but they don't talk!"

"Oh. Well, that's boring."

The banter was light. The Vision was attacked, but they managed to hold off Thanos's children while the android took refuge in a small line of trees. Wanda was by his side, and the battle began to turn in their favour.

Then Thanos arrived.

With five stones.

Loki wondered briefly if Stark and the second-rate were still alive, but couldn't dwell on it. They needed to stop him from getting the Mind Stone.

One by one, the Avengers threw themselves at the Mad Titan. He merely tossed them away like they were nothing. His gaze was fixed on the android and Wanda, the latter using all of her power to destroy the Stone.

Out of other options, Loki reached for the second object he'd stolen from the treasure room: The Casket of Ancient Winters. He hadn't used it on the Statesman, knowing its power was far too weak against the might of Thanos, but the goal wasn't to kill him. It was to slow him down.

He took a deep breath, and then placed himself before Thanos. The Casket opened, building a wall of ice in front of the Mad Titan. Loki felt his form changing, blue skin creeping from his hands to his head, but he'd long made peace with his Jötunn heritage. He wasn't afraid of his allies seeing him for what he really was.

Thanos used the Power Stone to shatter the wall of ice, before he reached out and grabbed Loki by the throat. Loki dropped the Casket and grasped desperately at the Gauntlet with both hands. The Titan began to squeeze.

"You will…never…be a…God!" Loki managed to gasp out.

He thought it was over.

But then Thanos looked passed him and must have seen Wanda's progress with the destruction of the Mind Stone. Realizing he didn't have time to finish the job, the Titan tossed Loki aside.

He ended up crashing into a tree, and though he didn't black out, he could only lie dazed for a number of minutes. Out of the corner of his eye he saw an explosion…which was then reversed. It was soon followed by a flash of familiar lightning.

"Loki! Come on, don't die on us now!"

The Widow appeared beside him and helped him to his feet. He looked down at his hands and saw that they had returned to their regular colour.

Snap!

The sound was louder than a gunshot and echoed through Loki's very soul.

Dread seeped into his entire being. He didn't want to contemplate it, refused to turn and confirm what had happened, but then he saw the Wakandan King turn to dust, followed by the Captain's friend.

"Thor…" If his brother turned to dust after only just being reunited with him…

"Bruce!" The Widow spun in a circle, desperately searching for the man she loved, her eyes widening in horror at the people they were losing.

Loki couldn't see his brother anywhere. He started to run. "Thor!"

He saw Wanda kneeling over the broken body of the Vision, before she too turned to dust.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…

And then the relief hit him like a tidal wave when he saw his brother standing still in the middle of it all, new weapon still in hand, head hung low.

Those who had fallen were already gone. The Sons of Odin had been spared.

Not caring who was watching, Loki sprinted across the distance that separated them and grabbed his brother in the tightest hug he'd ever given. At first Thor didn't register his presence, but when he did, he dropped his weapon and returned the hug just as fiercely. Tears of shock streamed down both their faces.

"I should've gone for the head… I should've gone for the head…" Thor repeated the words in Loki's ear, his voice full of guilt.

They didn't dare pull apart, both too afraid that one of them would turn to dust, but they looked around to see who was left.

The Captain. The Widow. Rhodes. The Wakandan King's guard. Bruce. The racoon. There were a number of warriors were still on the battle field.

Everyone else was gone.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, but not by Thor's doing.

The only other sound was the two words out of the Captain's mouth.

"Oh God."

All this pain, all this fear began because of me,

is the thing they see the thing I have to be: a monster

– "Monster", Frozen on Broadway