Chapter Text
It’s late in the morning when a long procession walks through the field towards a mound. Thor and Loki are walking upfront. Wearing their full battle regalia, Including their characteristic helmets. Tony and Clint followed them, Tony in his Ironman suit with the faceshield down and Client very recognizable as Hawkeye. Shuri walks behind them with the priest Changa of the Mining Tribe. Both wear clothes that show their status. The young man is a bit nervous. It’s his first time he is in the open as the new high priest.
The rest of the Avengers together with other heroes and people from Wakanda are behind them. Each of the gods carry a box which contains three stones. Loki’s box carries the Mind, Space and Soul Stone. Thor’s box contains Time, Power and Reality Stone. They had picked a nice spot in the field, on a mound, to use the stones. The majority of the Avengers did not see a point in all that ceremony, besides Tony and Clint.
Tony had made an extra effort to make his Ironman suit look as new. Clint looked at his finest too. You could smell the grease he had used on his leather outfit. Loki’s gift on his back. Both men could not shake this uneasy feeling.
They have finally arrived at the mound. Thor and Loki take their place. The rest stands in a circle around them at the base of the small mound. It makes the two gods stand a bit above the rest. A soft breeze plays with their hair.
Thor places his hand in the nook of the neck of Loki. Loki does the same with Thor. As custom before a battle, Thor greets his brother. “See you in Valhallah brother.” Loki smiles tenderly and echo’s softly his brother's words. “ See you in Valhallah brother.”
They each open their box simultaneously and take the stones from it. With their right hand they grab each other's right underarm, the stones glowing in their left hand. Those hands light up like a christmas tree while they nod at each other. Clint has his arm wrapped around Tony. Both caring a worried expression. The comforting words of Thor weren’t exactly believable when Tony had asked them head on that morning. Loki had stayed silent, not a word, only a smile that Tony knew in his core that this was a fake one. The only thing both men are sure of, is that they’ll get back all the dusted ones.
The two gods looked each other in the eyes, their hands glowed even more than before. Without warning, a big wave of energy rolled over the fields. This wave is followed by an orb around the two gods, which expands twice its size before it bursts into plain energy that fades away. This is followed by a column of pure white energy rising up to the sky. You couldn’t see where it ends. Tony assumes this beam is reaching outside the planet, even across the entire universe. The column pulsates and the two gods are standing in the middle of it.
One by one the dusted ones return. Clint is beside himself when he’s finally able to hold his family in his arms again. A loud ‘Mr Stark’ is heard and before Tony can respond, he has an over the top happy Peter Parker around his neck. He’s still in the suit he had been dusted in and still without the mask. One of the last dusted ones to return is Dr. Strange. Wong lets out a soft ‘About time’ before he hugs Stephen awkwardly. Around the mound with the big beam up into the sky, voices of rejoice and happiness are heard. It feels as if the whole planet is smiling and laughing.
But the beam still stays on. Sometimes it changes colour. Clint lets his family slowly go before walking up to Tony. He’s still standing there, Pepper next to him shoulder to shoulder. His face still carries a worried expression. “Everybody had dusted in a short time back then. And now they all have dedusted in the same amount of time. Why are those two still using the stones up there?” ‘Perhaps other things need to be put right again.” Clint tries carefully. “We can ask them about it later on.” Tony mumbles softly, “If they are still alive.” Clint stays silent. He has that same uneasy feeling.
When the beam finally dies out, Thor slides against Loki to the ground. Dragging Loki along with him. Loki doesn’t look good, but Thor looks really bad. The side where he had been holding the three stones is completely black. And his tanned skin, that isn’t black, has turned unhealthy pale. His eyes, once bright blue as the winter sky on a sunny day, are now pale blue. A soft ‘oh no’ slips out of Tony. Clint gets to stand closer to Tony. Clint can’t hear their conversation, but Tony, thanks to the suit, can.
“It will all be ok now, Thor.” Loki says while he tries to keep his face happy. ”You can rest now.” Thor coughs. “You are sure, brother?” “Yes, everybody is fine now. Everything is as it should. Do not worry… brother.” Loki’s only good hand gently strokes the strain of blackened hair out of Thor's face. “See you in Walhalla, Loki.”See you in Walhalla, Thor.” And with that, Thor closes his eyes and lets out his final breath.
Loki’s mask breaks. He looks at Thor, while tears are running over his face. His voice is soft and fragile. “Thor, you fool. I am Jotun. I will never get there.” He leans towards Thor and kisses his brother's forehead. With difficulty he sits straight up and wrestles the other stones from his brother's dead blackened hand. His own hand that had wielded the stones is just a black as Thor’s hand. It’s not visible how far that blackness has crawled up his arm. His skin is ashen grey. Only his green eyes are as bright as ever.
He has now in each hand three stones. He takes one last look at Tony and Clint. The look in Loki’s eyes makes Tony cry out “Loki, NO!!” Even in this state Loki is still able to mock. His voice is weak but still carries that velvet tone, Tony always liked. “Ohh, Loki yesss.” He winks at Tony while he changes into his original shape. And although Tony has never seen a Frost Giant before, he just knows that this skin should not be ash blue. He can only study the lines on Loki’s face for a brief moment when his eyes are drawn to the two horns Loki has on his head.
He doesn’t have much time to take in the new Loki. Loki closes his eyes, both his hands light up like a Chrstmas tree and an orb of light appears around the two brothers. It stays like that for a while. When the light orb disappears, the view that Tony gets, is one he has been dreadding since the party.
Loki is hunched over Thor in one last protective move to shield his brother. The hands that held the stones are now burned so badly, they are hardly recognizable as hands. The stones themselves are gone. They have been used and now, by the last command of Loki, hidden in all the corners of the universe. There is a deep silence, even nature itself is holding its breath. As if it knows two gods have died. A soft sob here and there, people are still trying to process what has happened. Almost none of them knew this would happen. A few guessed it could but never thought that would really happen. The only ones who had the feeling that this would be the end game for the two brothers, were Tony and Clint.
Tony walks slowly up the mound towards them, when the two bodies start to glow and slowly fall apart in small light particles. The light particles drift on the soft breeze for a while, some circle around Tony, before going higher and higher till it's all gone. More sobs are heard and some start to cry.
Clint walks up the mound too and ends next to Tony. Tony is standing there, His eyes darker than usual. Clint wants to say something to Tony when suddenly Wanda gives a cry of joy. “Vision” She yells while she runs to the artificial man. Vision smiles while he holds his arms wide open. Scoops her in his arms the moment she’s near. Clint has turned to look at them, but Tony keeps staring at the spot where the two brothers had turned to light. He swallows.
Dr. Strange looks at Vision and notices the Mind Stone in his forehead. He starts to wonder about his own amulet when he feels a familiar weight around his neck. His hand reaches for his chest. He startled a bit when his hand met a familiar shape. He had hoped it would be there but didn’t really expect to feel the Eye of Agamotto in his hand again. He feels his magic curling around it as if greeting an old friend.
And while he’s exploring anew the amulet, he hears Tony asking him. “Tell me, Dr. Strange, this isn’t it. This can’t be it. There is more. Right?” There is a shimmer of hope at the end of it. Dr.Strange looks up at Tony, meeting the man's sad gaze. “He knew what would happen. Correct?’ Tonly nods. “He only knew of his own death by the hands of Thanos and the dusting. Not… this.” Tony gestures at the empty spot before him.” Only a soft “Ah, I see.” was the only response Tony gets from the Mage Supreme. Both men stare silently at the spot where the two gods had died. Around the mage magic circles with runes in them start to appear around him, on the floor, in the air. Even a small one around his wrists.
Dr. Strange lifts his gaze to where the particles had been going. He blinks a couple of times. Then he stares ahead into nothingness. Slowly a smile appears on his face. “You should have trusted Loki’s judgement on this. Did you really think he didn’t want a reward for him and his brother?” Dr.Strange turns and looks at Tony with a mischievous twinkle of joy in his eyes. All the magic circles have disappeared by now. And while he waves his hand in a large bow, a big magical window appears in the air for all to see. “This will show you what I mean. But remember this important thing. You can only watch, like a tv. Do not touch it at all.”
Dr. Strange moves his hands, forming two circles in the air while an orange circle with runes swirl around his wrists. The white of the magical window starts to slowly show a garden while they hear voices coming from that window. “Awww, come on Loki. Come spar with me. It’s boring practicing alone.” A young Thor is tugging at the arm of an even younger Loki, causing a big book in Loki’s other hand to shake. He steadies the book against his body while he tugs his arm free from his brother. With a very displeased face, he looks at his older brother. “Be careful, I almost dropped it, you big oaf.” Thor grins sheepishly. “So what? It’s just a boring old book.” Loki cocks his head, chin up front. “NO!!” He wriggles to sit comfortably and opens the big book. He starts to read it again and pays no attention to his brother. Thor sighs. “Just leave that dusty thing alone. Adventures awaits us, dear brother.” He tugs a lot harder at his brother. The book wobbles and Loki almost tears a page of it. The startled expression of Loki says enough about the value to him of that book. He slams it shut and puts it beside him on a piece of leather. Anger now spreads all over his face while he looks at his brother again.”THAT is not some crummy old book. That is THE Grimoire of Convergence of Creatures of the Nine Realms. A one of a kind grimoire.” Loki slowly gets on his feet. ‘YOU almost made me TEAR a page of THAT grimoire. YOU.. YOU.. BARBARIAN.” Thor takes a few steps back. His face carries a mix of concern and joy. Loki’s hands glow green for a second. There is a short soft blow which sends Thor tumbling till he hits a nearby tree. Loki calmly walks with measured steps towards his brother. Another soft blow hits Thor, sending him to another tree. And before Thor can scramble on his feet, another blow follows. Thor hardly gets the chance to form a counter attack. Loki is one step ahead of him and one hard blow after another follows, making Thor tumbling all over the field. “Loki, this is not funny. Stop it.” But Loki doesn’t stop. Thor tries a couple of times to stop his brother but Loki won’t listen.
And while tumbling over the field, Thor calls out to his mother for aid, knowing that Loki will listen to her. “Mother, Loki is using magic in a sparring match.” Frigga peeks over the edge of her big and heavy book. The whole book looks very heavy in every context. It’s title is written in small golden letters and covers the entire front cover of the book. With a stern voice.: “Thor.”She throws him a stern look. “This is not the training rink of the Shieldmaster. You wanted to spar with your brother, not with any of the other warriors.” And she’s back to her ‘light’ reading. “But mother, Loki uses only magic. This is not a fair combat.” She sighs while she looks up from her book while closing it with a snap. “Not all of your enemies will be fighters, Thor. Your brother is a mage. Thus he fights like a mage.” A silent ‘Deal with it.‘ follows as she opens her book again in a very theatrical manner. Indicating that she does not want to be disturbed again. In the meantime a blow of air kicks the legs from under Thor. Loki had given Thor a bit of time so he was finally able to get up. His smile shows he is pleased with the result of the small low blow. The new spell has proven to be very useful.
Frigga wants to start to read again when something is tugging at the corner of her eye. She glances away from her book. Stares at a particular spot at the side of her. Then she smiles benign and closes her book softly. She gets up, the heavy book safely under her arm. She walks a few steps and looks through the supposedly one way window. Dr. Strange feels a light panic flow over him. Tony, who’s standing next to him, whispers “Can she see us?” Dr.Strange looks puzzled at Tony. “Technically she wouldn’t be able to see through. She wouldn’t even notice this window is there.” And with those words, Frigga’s smile gets bigger. Dr. Strange starts to feel uncomfortable.
Loki is appearing next to his mother. His arms hang loosely while he watches through the ‘invisible’ window with peaked interest. Thor is still fighting with a Loki who’s firing wind blows after wind blows.
A small frown between his eyebrows appears while Loki watches. His double stops firing, giving Thor the opportunity to launch an attack. But instead of tackling his brother, he falls right through him. He wants to call out for his brother when he sees him standing with his mother, staring at something. Thor scrambles up and runs towards them. He gets half in front of his brother while he stares at what he thinks, they are staring at. Loki puts his hand on Thor’s shoulder for a second. Suddenly the eyes of the young thunderer light up, as the scene is revealed to him.
He stares through the window. They all can read his face as he tries to remember. Suddenly his face is like the sun reappearing from the clouds. “My friends!!!!” Thor jells. And with that he takes a few steps towards the window, leaving Loki’s hand. Loki has just managed to grab his brother again while Thor steps through the window. Frigga looks horrified at Thor. “My friends, it’s so good to see you again.” Thor smiles while walking with his arms wide. He’s not paying attention to his brother who has let him go. Loki is panting rapidly while he’s bent forward, resting with his hands on his knees. Clint walks up to Loki, leans in a bit and asks. “Are you ok?” Loki turns his head, smiles a bit feebly and nods shortly. Clint nods and starts rubbing Loki’s back.
Meanwhile Thor starts hugging the avengers firmly one by one. The crushing bearhugs are not as firm as from the old Thor, but still they pack a lot of strength. It takes a while before Loki has managed to get his breath. And when he has, his voice flies through the air. “THOR YOU BIG OAF. IDIOT. WHAT IN NORNS NAME WERE YOU THINKING?” Thor stops with his hugging and looks flabbergasted at Loki. He blinks innocently. Not understanding what he has done, to make his brother so upset. He smiles innocently at him. “Loki, I’m just greeting our friends. There is nothing wrong with that.” “It is NOT that. But it is THAT.” Loki points at the window. It’s surface is still trembling and rippling like water in a pond when something big is thrown in. It’s odd to see such a thing in a vertical way.
Dr. Strange is looking at Loki and back at the window, back at Loki. Then his eyes rest on Thor. Thor stares innocently at the mage supreme, when he notices this. “ What? It is a window. And you can go through a window if you want to.” He chuckles while he gestures at the ground before it. “ And see, no glass shards this time.” Thor smiles. He’s quite proud that he didn’t break the glass of the window. Dr. Strange coughs before he starts the lecture. “Thor, no window is meant as an entrance. It’s only meant to see through. The only reason there’s no glass is because it’s not a normal window. It’s a, in common tongue, spy window, meant to look and hear at a place unseen. Again NEVER meant to be stepped through, let alone step through from the other side. It is NOT a portal, Thor.” Thor wants to say something, but Dr. Strange lifts his hand up to stop him. “The only reason you’re still breathing is because of your brother's quick thinking.” Thor stares at him in disbelief. Loki facepalms.
Queen Frigga, somewhat recovered from the shock, has a very stern expression on her face. “THOR FRIGGASON!” Thor turns around. His mother only uses the full name when he or Loki had gotten into serious trouble. With a small voice: “Yes Mother?” “The Midgardian mage is right. You are very lucky Loki managed to keep you safe while going to this window. Especially since the window itself was not properly cast.” And with those last words she throws a short glance at Dr. Strange, who turns beet red. Some of the spectators snicker, including Tony. He pats him on the back. “Everybody has performance issues. No worries.” Queen Frigga’s face shows very shortly a smile while she continues with her lecture. “Loki had to improvise to keep you alive and well. You must thank the Norns he succeeded in that.” She turns her face to Loki. “You performed wonderfully, Loki. But it was not completely flawless. On the other hand, it did what you intended to do. I am so proud of you.” Loki smiles towards his mother. “Thank you, mother.” “I know you will tinker on this. Just be careful, Loki. And don’t forget to tell me the progress on it.” Loki only nods. “Because this is an ad hoc created spell,” Frigga continues while she turns slowly to Thor again, “because of your rash action, Thor. The two of you will have to stay on Midgard for a while. There will be no portal jumps, no sky walking and NO bifrost. Your bodies need to be tuned again with reality properly. And that will take time. Perhaps Loki finds a way to speed it up but till then, the two of you are stuck there.” Thor is looking guilty while he looks at Loki. “I’m sorry, brother. I just, “ Loki interrupts him while he waves the words of Thor away. “Yeah, yeah, like you promised so many times. But you never learn. Prove me wrong, big brother.” Loki looks playful at Thor. Thor chuckles. Loki pokes Thor. Thor's response is a big hug for Loki. Poor guy lets out a soft ‘eep’ as he gets treated to Thor's bear hugs.
Frigga smiles as she looks at her sons. Then she turns her head and looks at Dr. Strange. “If I am correct, you are the new Sorcerer Supreme of this realm?” Dr. Strange. “Yes, your highness. Since a year I have been the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth. My name is Dr. Strange.” Frigga nods benignly towards him. “It is good to meet you, Sorcerer Supreme Dr. Strange. I am Queen Frigga of Asgard. Ruler of the Nine Realms.” Tony whispers to Pepper. “I thought Odin did the ruling thing.” Pepper’s foot kicked Tony softly, a sign for him to keep his mouth shut. Frigga only glanced at Tony for a second, but it carried the same look as Peppers: ‘shush Tony’. Frigga continues.: “In the light of recent events, it seems you still need a lot to learn. I do not consider your Window of the Unseen a great success.” She bit down the words but Loki couldn’t resist. He whispered to Thor. “Even you could have done better.” Thor looks at him with a twinkle of pride in his eyes. He had gotten praise about magic from his little brother. Frigga only glared at the boys for a second and the boys lowered their head a tad. A mutual “We apologize, Mother.” came from their mouths. She looks back at Dr. Strange. “I fear I must agree with what my youngest so bluntly stated. And with the events to come, it would be in Midgards greatest interest that you would gain more knowledge in the fields of magic. Loki will assist you with this.” Loki smiles at the sorcerer. “But in turn you wil oversee the magic studies of Loki.” The smile disappears on Loki’s face as he looks at his mother. He can’t believe what he’s hearing. “I will make sure Loki will get the books he needs. One strong advice, Sorcerer Supreme, do not look in those books unless Loki gives you permission. One magical mishap is more than enough, do you not think so? Besides, you have to clean up the timemess the previous one has made.” Dr. Strange only nods towards the queen.
She turns to Tony and with a tone that takes no contradictions, she talks to him. “Mr. Anthony Stark, Man of Iron. You are bestowed with the care of my two sons for their time here on Midgard. You will make sure they keep a good schedule of training in the arts of combat. For Loki that includes magical combat as well.”Tony swallows. “Your highness, not that I don’t appreciate the concept but I will make a lousy dad. Really, you don’t want me watching your kids.” Frigga simply smiles at Tony. “You can not do worse than their dad. I know you will fulfil your task very well, Anthony Stark.” Tony’s eyes grow wide as he stares at her. He does not believe her words. A goddess puts her trust in him? His fast mind is still processing this while another part of his mind is forming the most appropriate response. He bows courtly towards her. “I will do my best, your majesty.” “I know you will Mr. Stark.” Clint pats Tony on his back. “Don’t worry, Tony. If you need help, I have experience with raising kids.” He points to his family. Tony looks at Clint, at Clint’s kids and back at Clint again and sighs. “ Yeah, you do. It’s going to be fun.”
She turns one more time to her boys. “Boys, you will behave and listen to them. I know they have a short lifespan, but they carry their own kind of wisdom as you both remember.” The boys nodded shortly. “And Loki, I know you do not like combat, but you can not talk your way out of things all the time. And magic is not always available or the wisest choice.” Loki, with a neutral face, gives a short nod. “I will do my best Mother.” “I know you will. And I know you will too, Thor.” Thor beams with pride. “Now have fun and we will be in contact tomorrow evening.” The boys and their mother waved at each other and the window, that wasn’t a window, simply ceased to exist.
There was an awkward silence for a while. Then the clear voice of Pepper is heard. “Soo, that means that the boys will be staying in the Malibu home. Loki will go to Dr.Strange from time to time. And they both will use the training facility either in Malibu or on one of our other locations. There will be lots of paperwork involved here. And YOU Tony will sign them A.S.A.P. I have them.” Tony only nods. He gets the feeling he has no say in his personal life for a long time. Bruce adds. “ And they can both join the Avengers. There is already a small group forming with younger people. Perhaps the New Avengers group?” Tony groans but Pepper smiles enthusiastically. “Ohh that’s great, Bruce. I will see that the formalities for the New Avengers will be arranged as soon as possible.”
The two young gods look at Tony. Both carry the ‘Now what?’ question in their eyes. Tony walks up to them in his old style swagger. Something he had lost for a long time. Suddenly life looked very bright and prosperous. He gets between them and puts his hand on each shoulder. “Let me introduce you to something the Avengers always did after a job well done. We’re going out for shwarma.” He looks at Loki. “And yes, you are invited to Loki.” And while they walk back to the city where the quinjet is, Friday is already calculating the nearest shwarma joint.
And so it happened, that the New Avengers came to be and got two godly team members: Thor and Loki. How does that go? Well, siblings will be siblings and gods will be gods..