Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Loki boasted about many things. A dedicated and cunning strategist? Of course. A leader who was born to rule? Absolutely, but never in a million years would he allow people to find out about this moment unworthy of the one and only God of Lies.

Reduced to wearing a prison jumpsuit, forced into a trial where he was obviously innocent (at least of violating the Sacred Timeline), and forced to sit in front of a small, mustachioed man who seemed to be doing his best to get him out of court with a tale about space lizards controlling the fate of everything.

“I just want to understand,” the man repeated as if that made everything clear. “Do you enjoy hurting people?”

Mobius showed him key moments of the life he should have had: being taken to Asgard, causing his mother's death, and — shockingly —, fighting side by side with his brother, earning his trust back, only to betray him again and again.

All of this made no sense. Watching his life flash before his eyes, Infinity Stones being used as paperweights. From the first moment, none of this made sense. Was this the true face of the universe? Was the greatest power a building where the lives of billions were treated like bureaucratic procedures?

He couldn't believe it, so he did exactly what was expected of him: he ran away. He tried to escape the TVA by threatening a mere mortal and then fleeing from more agents as if he were going to change anything. Each time, it all seemed more impossible, but Loki wasn't one to give up. He would find a way out, a way to get his life back.

"I don't enjoy hurting people," Loki admitted, finally exhausted after all the madness of the last few hours. 

He put aside the Tesseract and spoke face to face with Mobius, hoping to sound convincing enough to be presented with a better option than being pruned with those shiny sticks of his. "I do it because I have to."

"Well, explain it to me," Mobius said calmly.

“It’s part of the illusion,” Loki offered. “It’s the cruel, elaborate trick conjured by the weak to inspire fear.”

“A desperate play for control.” The other man’s eyes softened for a moment. 

“You do know yourself,” he said slowly as if this were a grand revelation, a missing piece of his puzzle. “Why do you think the victims of your illusion—your mother, your brother—always seem to forgive you?”

Loki took a deep breath. “Perhaps a sense of hope. Thor hopes with every new opportunity he gives me that it's the last time I stab him.”

“A trick you've played on him since you were children.”

“We were children,” Loki said, looking at him seriously. “But yes, no one better than Loki to annoy Thor, and no one better than Thor to annoy Loki.”

Mobius looked him up and down. “I can't offer you salvation,” he bowed his head. “But maybe I can offer you something better.”

A glorious purpose, a hunt… to find his own brother.

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[Oslo Reptile Park, 2018]

The Minutemen and Hunter C-20 opened a time door in front of a three-floor house in Oslo, Norway. Everything seemed to point to an easy task — probably some poor fool had tried to steal a boa constrictor destined to eat a particularly important mouse or something absurd like that. But after working so many years with the TVA, one learned to ignore all those little details that would send a normal person into a meltdown. They didn't have time to lose their minds; they had work to do, and the faster, the better.

"Variant detected, Commander."

They opened the door with little fanfare and marched toward the basement, where the small reptile zoo was located.

"Hi," a smiling worker with blonde hair in a tight ponytail greeted them. "I need to see your tickets.”

The Minutemen walked past, not even sparing a glance at the worker. Unsure how to react, she quickly ran upstairs to find her manager and request support for the group who refused to pay. 

"They're dressed so weird," she thought while she left.

"No nexus energy yet, ma'am."

Without warning, the lights and the jungle background music went out, the speakers filled with static for a few seconds, and a cheerful voice sounded:

“Before you is a chameleon specimen. The chameleon is a tiny, colorful, and fascinating reptile that lives in the jungle.” 

The Minutemen approached the animal exhibit suspiciously, the only one well-lit after the blackout. The animal moved calmly within its captivity, indifferent to its surroundings. “In fact, it is one of the most interesting creatures in the animal kingdom.”

Without the minutemen noticing, wires scattered across the floor began to light up with blue electricity like tiny lightning bolts. The speakers continued:

“One of the most fascinating characteristics of the chameleon is its color change thanks to a chemical called melanin.” 

One of them took another step forward, stepping on a shiny wire and falling to the ground, suffering severe convulsions. Several of his companions quickly rushed to his aid, only to suffer the same fate. The rest, including the C-20 hunter, took several steps back, taken by surprise, and looked around for the attacker.

"Melanin fibers spread throughout the body like a spiderweb. Don't be afraid to get closer and see this miracle of nature closer."

Then chaos.

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The new plan: Getting close enough to the TVA workers to gather information that would lead him to the Timekeepers was in motion. Loki had just received a new jacket and instructions. A variant of his brother was on the loose and dangerous, leaping around, leaving Minuteman bodies in their way for the TVA to collect. Loki felt a chill run through him when he found out. The image of his brother — the poor, gullible idiot — killing dozens of people with the same lethality as a serial killer never ceased to unsettle him.

"We've grabbed enough temporal aura to know it's our Thor Variant," B-15 said, referring to the energy remnants found in the small reptile park. "But which kind of Thor remains unknown."

"A large, blond brute," Loki smirked. "He shoots large bolts of lightning from a hammer. It shouldn't be that hard to identify." He looked at the Minutemen around him, smiling.

B-15 didn't look impressed and let it be known, "Let me see the back of that jacket."

Loki did a little spin. "Subtle, very subtle."

Mobius stopped them before the fight could begin.

“Here’s the deal,” he said as he pulled out the tempad. “When we get out on the branch, we’re looking for a new kind of Variant we’ve never seen before. We’re looking for a Thor.”

Different holographic versions of his brother projected into the air, all quite similar to one another. Outside of changes in costume or posture, they were all the same brother Loki knew.

“A variation of this boy’s brother,” Mobius said, pointing clearly at Loki. “Thor’s variants, unlike our guest here, have always been minimal, making our record for dealing with a guy like this almost nonexistent. Yet, lightning is his specialty.”

“And who better,” Loki interrupted, pointing at himself, “than the individual with the highest record of assassination attempts on Thor to guide you down this path.”

“Only attempts?” B-15 laughed.

"He's our expert," Mobius pointed out. "He'll be coming with us."

Mobius personally escorted Loki to the station while Loki insisted on obtaining a weapon, a request fervently denied by the TVA worker.

"You couldn't betray me," Mobius clarified. "You know we can catch you, and how betraying us is going to get you any closer to the Time-Keepers?"

Loki couldn't help but be excited at the thought of meeting them in person, ignoring the ease with which Mobius had discovered his ingenious plan. It was true, at least for now, and in the absence of better options, staying with the TVA was his best one. 

(He ignored the treacherous thought that refused to lead a bunch of soldiers to kill his brother. "He's not my brother," he tried to convince himself)

Seeing the Minutemen's bodies scattered around the basement confirmed that idea. The manner of their deaths deeply disturbed Loki. His brother was a formidable (but reckless) warrior, prone to exaggeration and excessive use of force, but singeing the brains of his enemies so discreetly in an ambush? Yeah, that wasn't his style.

Loki hoped Mobius didn't notice his surprise. He couldn't know that his Loki had no knowledge of such a variant.

When they returned to the TVA, Loki began to formulate an idea. He'd been given an absurd amount of moments in his brother's life in files. Loki tried his hardest not to read the end (although apparently there was no point now). There were records of his expulsion from Asgard, his alliance with the Avengers… and beyond.

As Loki held the Ragnarok file with trembling hands, and an idea took shape.

"He hides in apocalypses."

“Which apocalypse? Any time in history? There´s like a million of ´em.”

Loki led him to prove his point, and soon enough (if you ignored the tedious research), they were on their way.

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[Haven Hills Alabama, 2050]

Upon entering the tent, Loki noticed two things:

Number one — Trying to fight a violent variant of his brother, the God of Thunder, in a hurricane might be one of the worst ideas he's ever had.

Number two — He really hates B-15.

"He stays with me," B-15 spat at Mobius.

"He's under my supervision," Mobius tried to negotiate, more than a little annoyed.

Fantastic, considering how hard it was to win the sympathy of just one TVA agent, only for another to arrive trying to ruin it.

"Mobius, it's fine. It's fine," Loki stopped him. "Trust me, I understand."

Mobius, once again, reciprocated his good wishes with suspicion; how rude. Either way, if he was going to have to work with B-15, they could at least start a casual conversation. They entered the warehouse, and the thunder kept crashing, bringing with it very unfriendly images of dead Minutemen with yellowish skin and Lichtenberg signs.

"So," Loki began.

"Silence," B-15 interrupted, stopping and kneeling in front of a cable. "That fool, did he really think he could repeat the same trick twice?"

Loki remained standing. "Sounds like something he'd do."

B-15 activated his communicator.

"All units, be ale-"

Suddenly, the communicator failed, and the energy within it erupted, electrocuting B-15 with the force of a pocket thunderstorm. Loki reacted very slowly as the agent's body fell to the floor, a scorched smell filling the air.

"Did he kill her?"

He took several steps back. His brother couldn't activate devices and drive them crazy. He threw thunderbolts, but he didn't manifest them in foreign objects. Suddenly, the necklace the TVA had given him weighed more than ever. How much energy did he carry?

The speaker above him activated after a brief static, a female voice sounded after a short mall jingle, “This ad is sponsored by Roxxcart, we are not the only ones, but we are the best.”

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Mobius entered the shelter. People were talking nonstop, and a baby could be heard crying. If only they knew they were facing the last two hours of their lives. Giving them a little kindness was the only thing they could really do.

Suddenly, a minute hand approached. They had found C-20.

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"Brother," Loki looked up, imagining Thor was watching him through some kind of Midgardian technology. He swallowed. "It's been a while."

The line remained silent.

"Aren't you glad to see me?" He smiled, trying to hide the trembling in his voice. He began to walk, watching his steps carefully. 

"I can say that I am pleased to find you," he lied. "Do you know how complicated it was to find this little hideout of yours?"

“Loki.” Thor’s voice sounded strange, raspy, and slow. “What are you doing here?” 

No playful touch, no trace of that emotional exhaustion where Thor was exhausted by his brother’s antics but still found them amusing. This wasn’t a Thor he knew, but he did have at least a bit of his brother in him… if he wanted to lure him out of hiding, he was going to have to provoke him. Loki looked toward the camera. 

“Look at all the mess you got yourself into, Thor.They had to bring me to find you,” he mocked.

“The TVA.” Thor’s voice sounded deeply annoyed. “Is there really not a single variant of you who can avoid becoming a lapdog at the first opportunity?”  A sharp intake of breath was heard. "And here I am thinking they’d found at least a capable Loki.”

“I found you,” Loki replied, annoyed. “And I don’t see you capable of speaking to me face to face. Who’s the lesser version?” He straightened.

“You don’t need to see me to talk to me.” Judging by the tone, it seemed like this Thor was smiling. “That’s the best part about these Midgardian toys, they make everything easier.”

“Listen,” Loki said slowly. “We don’t have to argue, it’s pointless, we’re both on the same side, brother — ”

“Let me stop you right there” Thor interrupted, his tone returning to icy coolness. “I am not your brother.” 

Loki felt his heart stop for a moment — for all he knew, one thought and Thor could sear his skin with the necklace, and he seemed to be starting to lose patience.

“You are a hindrance,” Thor said.

“I can assure you that you are wrong,” Loki added quickly. This insane, serial-killing variant of his brother could kill him at any second. “I want to help. I detest TVA agents as much as you do. It took me time to gain their trust. They’re crazy, but they can be amenable,” he pointed out quickly. “What I’m telling you is, you could join me.” 

He opened his arms, hoping Thor would see. “Perhaps, with the two of us working together, could pay the Time-keepers a visit.”

“Let me guess, this brilliant plan of yours ends with the two of us overthrowing the Time-keepers together.”

"How else could it end?" After uttering those words, Loki immediately regretted it. If his brother (his Thor, the proper Thor) always refused this kind of activity, why would he expect anything different from a variant?

A loud laugh sounded through the speakers, deep and boisterous, catching Loki off guard.

“I must admit,” he said as soon as he caught his breath. “I haven’t laughed like that in a long time.” 

He chuckled a few more times. “What do you want me to say, Loki? That I’d love to? That I’ll march with you toward one of your oldest plans? Oh, Loki.”

The wires in the floor ignited with that blue electricity. Loki looked around nervously. “You’re all so predictable,” Thor continued, completely calm. “You’re trusted, and you betray us. And you never care, you never stop.” 

The lights flickered faster and faster. 

“This time, I won’t fall for it.”

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"I told him where they are, the Timekeepers," C-20 breathed raggedly. "It's done."

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Loki tried to flee, to jump between the stupid cables, but he couldn't avoid touching one. He fell to the ground, feeling strong energy shocks running through his entire body. His entire body writhed in pain. A normal mortal would perish faster. Would Thor really let him suffer and writhe toward a slow death? His vision blurred, but in front of him, he could see a hooded figure preparing dozens of resetters.

"You came so far." The speakers sounded; it was Thor. He stood up and casually walked toward Loki lying on the ground. “Don't be a crybaby, most Lokis go through this.” 

Loki didn't understand the reference, and there wasn't enough room in his brain to even analyze it. He was going to die at the hands of a cheap, ugly copy of his brother, an inferior one.

Loki tried to tell this Thor everything he thought, but he couldn't even open his mouth. Thor bowed his head. He reached up and held the edge of his cloak… and left his face uncovered.

The first thing he noticed was the eyepatch, then that blond hair his brother took great pleasure in pampering, messy and dirty.

“I didn't quite understand you.” The electricity in the wires stopped. “Can you repeat that?”

So much condescension… The second thing he noticed was the helmet. Thor wasn't a fan of wearing them, but this one looked like a crown parody of Loki's, only instead of two large golden horns, there were some sort of silver wings on the sides of his face.

Loki tried to stand up.

"You'll... never-"

The lights went out, the resets ignited, and one by one, they disappeared through an orange portal.

"What are you doing?"

"You'll see." Thor smiled like a predator, his teeth bared.

The variant took out a tempad, pressed a couple of buttons, and the door opened. He walked through it, without turning to look at him.

Loki could hear Mobius shouting behind him, and right in front of him, the glowing orange door.

"He didn't care about killing me," Loki thought in terror. "He talks about me, about the Lokis, as if I knew all their tricks." 

If he crossed that door, would he be doing what the variant expects?

“ You'll see. ”

Loki has to follow this variant.

“ They trust you, and you betray them. And you never care, you never stop .”

Loki took a deep breath and struggled to his feet, looking back one last time to see Mobius approaching quickly... and entered the portal just before it closed.

Chapter Text

When they were children, Thor began hanging out with the older boys, a group of teenagers with large bows who enjoyed shooting the creatures of the surrounding forests.

Loki despised the excessive display of force. “They don't even do it to eat them,” he tried to explain to his older brother once. “They just find it amusing.” 

Seeing Thor getting distracted, he took his arm and forced him to look him in the eyes. “There's no honor in that.”

And he knew that would convince him. Thor, who loved his father's old tales of glory so much, would retreat if he felt something was dishonorable, that it would make him a bad warrior.

Then Thor looked at him with the determination that only a small boy who loves battle can muster and said,

“You're wrong, brother. The others already explained it to me. The creatures within the forest are dangerous, and it is the duty of a good warrior to eradicate the danger.”

Loki tended to look down on his brother, that was no secret, but still... they were family. And there was a time when that was all there was to it.

No power struggles, no lies beyond petty mischief… but they were and always will be the God of Mischief and the God of Lightning. Even as children, they were so different from each other that now, centuries later, Loki wondered if the unfiltered feelings of brotherhood were there to begin with, or if it was all a story he liked to imagine.

Loki searching for Thor after a nightmare, Thor trying to convince him to go hunting with the older boys, not to be alone all day… 

Now, Thor was dead, and instead of mourning for him—for his family, his mother, for everything he called home—he was following a Variant of his dead brother. But that's what Loki does, he survives —he can lose everything in the morning, and find himself ready for action by noon.

He had to.

Loki stood in front of the Variant, brandishing the two daggers he had found in a locker. He was tired, he had been through hell, and he still had to get to the Time-keepers.

“Are you back for more?” Thor held his own daggers. “You missed the chance I gave you to escape. There won’t be another.”

“Was that a chance?” Loki replied angrily. “You electrocuted me to the ground.” 

“Oh yeah,” Thor grinned. “The good old days.”

The battle broke out. Thor raised his daggers and aimed for a hard stab at the variant’s neck. Loki quickly ducked and countered, attempting to stab the variant’s rib. Thor stepped back and snatched Loki’s wrist.

“You’re in the way.”

"You'll find I'm right where I need to be."

Loki yanked his arm free.

The fight continued. Thor tried to stab him repeatedly, but Loki dodged each attempt, and he was getting slower.

"We can still work together!"

Thor kicked him hard, sending him slamming into the golden elevator in the hallway.

"I'm still not interested."

Loki looked behind Thor. The Minutemen were approaching with their sticks blazing. He stood up and collided with Thor, reaching for the Tempad strapped to his waist. Thor tried to shake it off, but Loki randomly pressed buttons, and a door opened right beneath them.

They landed with a loud crash in a cellar. Both groaned, lying on the floor. As fast as he could Loki held his back and looked around for the Tempad. Unfortunately, Thor was doing the same. After scanning the floor, they both noticed the abandoned Tempad two steps away.

Loki quickly stretched out to catch it first, but his not-brother was faster. Loki desperately held his leg, and the other responded by kicking him hard in the nose.

While Loki held his nose and groaned in pain, Thor  grabbed the Tempad and stood up.

"Goodbye, Loki."

Miss Minutes's voice sounded mocking. " You're out of juice. "

“Damn it,” Thor said, gritting his teeth and pressing every button to get it to react.

Loki took advantage of the distraction and, after making sure his nose wasn’t broken (even though it hurt like hell), set out to look for the daggers (with the collar still on, it would be impossible to perform magic) that had slipped out of his hand during the fall. He found them lying to his left. When Thor saw him crawling on the ground, he didn’t hesitate and attacked with that dagger of his. Loki instinctively tried to teleport away, and to his surprise, it worked!

“Your magic tricks are back?!” Thor yelled furiously into empty space.

“You asked for this,” Loki said with amusement, right behind Thor. 

He held a new dagger, summoned to Thor´s neck. Thor was taller than him, but Loki held the weapon. “Electrocuting me probably caused a short-out—”

Thor slammed an elbow into Loki's chest, knocking Loki's breath out. Luckily, that small window of time had allowed Loki to snatch the Tempad from the Variant. Loki took several steps back and held the Tempad to his chest.

"Give it back, mangy," Thor stepped toward Loki. "You don't even know how to reload it."

"How hard can it be if even a Thor can do it?"

Thor tried to snatch it away, but Loki quickly cast an illusion and made it disappear.

"Listen, this is how it'll be—" Loki was about to establish dominance when suddenly a boulder crashed through the ceiling and left a smoking hole in the ground. Loki and Thor approached the landing spot slowly, briefly putting their bickering aside. "Now you can throw hail?" Loki mocked.

Thor frowned, teeth clenched. Soon, more rocks began to fall and shatter the roof. Without a second thought, they both rushed to the exit, leaving the destroyed warehouse behind, only to be greeted outside by a meteor shower the likes of which Loki had never seen before.

“Fucking idiot!” Thor shouted as they ran for their lives. “You sent us to Lamentis-1!”

“You didn’t particularly give me much time to choose!” Loki shouted back, leaping away from a smoking rock.

“A moon impacts the planet’s surface, everything is destroyed.” Thor pointed to a metal wagon up ahead, and together they began to run toward it. “I’d kill you for this if you didn’t have that Tempad on you.”

“I won’t thank you for that,” Loki shouted back, maintaining his sarcastic tone.

They ran toward the wagon, meteors covering the path, having to dodge them all until they reached the locked door. Together, they finally made it through with their combined strength.

The entire interior was damp and strangely lit with red light. Loki leaned against a wall, trying to catch his breath.

One couldn't blame him; he hadn't been able to rest since Thor first spoke to him through the speakers.

Thor stood in front of the door, seemingly looking beyond it, gripping his daggers so tightly that Loki was surprised his knuckles didn't turn blue.

“You blew it all,” Even though Thor was referring to Loki, he wasn’t looking at him, just standing there at the door. “The plan you interrupted was years in the making.” 

That finally made him react, slowly turning to face the other, the red light beginning to flicker. “It’s your fault.”

Loki sighed and lowered his head, closing his eyes.

“I’m sorry, okay?” he lied. “But we can’t try to kill each other again, nor can you try to electrocute me.” 

Thor seemed ready to refute. 

“No, listen to me.” Loki raised his hand. “We’ve seen that you make the electronic devices I carry fail when you do that, like the TVA collar, or… the Tempad I’m hiding.”

Thor seemed to consider it, but he looked furious.

“I can offer… a truce.” Loki focused on this variant of Thor, but saw only the barely contained anger: eyes narrowed, breathing ragged. Still, he continued, “You need me because I have our ticket out, and you’re the only one who can recharge this thing. We have no choice.”

“I can kill you and make the illusion disappear,” Thor pointed a dagger at him. “It won’t electrocute you.”

“Unfortunately for you, the spell won’t be lifted.” Loki met Thor’s gaze and raised his hands, as if his hands were tied in the situation. “Will you take that risk?” 

Silence filled the cockpit. “Or we can both die together on this abandoned planet if you’re so keen on the idea.”

Thor grimaced, still glaring at him, before turning around. He took a couple of steps away, stomping heavily, Loki could hear small whispers. He tilted his head, trying to hear better, but all he caught was "Lokis," "Options," and “All over again.” He scratched the edge of his eye patch. Loki really hoped he was considering it.

"When we get out of here, I'm going back to the TVA." Thor looked back at him, pulling his hood back over his head—The wings sticking out from the sides of his now-covered crown resembled two horns. "And I'll finish my mission." 

He looked up at Loki, raising his head, daring him to disagree.

Loki smiled placidly, showing his teeth. It was one of his best. "Perfect.”

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The two walked through the desolate landscape, Loki just a couple of steps behind Thor, who occasionally seemed to recognize something and turned toward it.

"Where exactly are you taking us?"

"There's a village around here. They'll tell us where we can find the energy we need."

Just as he said, below them lay a valley of tiny, obviously empty houses, several with their doors wide open with objects strewn around, signs of a hasty exit.

"Unless they decided to evacuate because of the literal apocalypse," Loki said, frustrated, "who would have imagined it?"

“There’s a woman nearby who never evacuates.” Thor’s expression didn’t change at all; he seemed to only know condescension, anger, and his natural cold state. “I’ve passed by here several times; she never tries to escape. It doesn´t matter, none of them survive.”

“Have you been told how inspiring your words are?” Loki walked to the Variant’s side, pretending to look at his nails with indifference. “For a tragedy, or a few last words.” 

In reality, Loki was looking at the Variant beside him. The entire trip, even before, he had been searching for even the slightest sign of his brother, but found nothing at all. The cold demeanor in Thor was completely new, the scars on his face the same and even old things, like his hair, or parts of his armor, were just that: fragments, as if someone had found scattered parts of his brother on the ground and tried to piece them together into something perceptible as human, but which was hollow inside, a sloppy work of what should have been his older brother. A spit in the face of the _real_ Thor.

“It’s a shame you didn’t know a shortcut, Variant,” Loki complained.

“Impressive,” Thor said. “A few hours with the TVA and you’ve already learned their derogatory terms.”

“I didn’t say I’d been there for hours…” Loki defended himself.

“There was no need. You’re not that far removed from the standard Loki version; you’re new to this.”

“And what do you know about how a Loki acts?” he rebuked.

“I’ve met enough over the years.” Thor said, still staring straight ahead. 

He lowered the hem of his cloak to his shoulder and showed Loki a badly healed cut on his neck that seemed to extend toward his shoulder. “One can remember individuals with personalities as colorful as yours.”

“In such a vast universe,” Loki said as he looked at the cut. “You still seem to underestimate me.”

Thor, who had been staring straight ahead until now, turned his gaze to Loki.

“Underestimating yourself,” he repeated. “You say that with such confidence, while always repeating the same tricks.” 

He scratched the edge of his eye patch. “And it’s a multiverse , not a universe,” he corrected.

“And you’re a Variant, just like _me_ . In case the jacket wasn’t clear enough, that.” He mentioned the last part in frustration, still not having forgotten B-15 calling him a cosmic mistake.

“It doesn’t justify calling me that, or why you have to keep wearing that.” Thor looked at the clothes. “The color doesn’t even suit you.”

Loki couldn’t tell if he was mocking him or making a joke, perhaps neither; his deadpan expression hadn’t changed.

“Fine,” he relented. “Not a Variant, then just Thor.” 

He said it as a statement, but Loki hoped he’d notice it was a question; at least Loki could attempt to offer other facial expressions.

“Just Thor.”

There was a brief silence where Loki waited for his name to be asked, but it never came.

“And I’m just Loki.”

“I fear so.” 

Thor had looked straight ahead again, ready to ignore him again. Loki let them walk in silence for a while, until he dared to ask…“I don’t understand why we should ask for directions.” They were entering the village; there wasn’t a single soul there. “Aren’t we supposed to have a time limit? And last time I checked, tech-savvy Thor was a walking battery,” he mocked. 

Thor started walking faster, forcing Loki to jog to catch up.“We have twelve hours, and ‘Walking Battery Thor’ has enough power to burn a mortal to a crisp.” He looked at him with a toothy grin. “Want to guess what happens when you try to power up a device as fragile as multiversal technology?”

“Okay, smartass, enlighten me. What are you planning to do?” Loki scratched his forehead.

“So you can steal my plan? I don’t think so. Just watch and be quiet.”

They finally arrived in front of the house with the woman his not-brother had told him about.

“Wait!” Loki stopped him. “You can’t get through this using brute force,” he said, ready to offer his own option.

“Well, obviously.” Thor walked past him, tapping his shoulder and knocking on the door three times. He lowered his cloak, took off his crown, and tried to fix his hair. What was he planning to do?

“Is anyone there?” Thor softened his voice and waited outside.

Just as Loki was about to intervene, the door slowly opened. On the other side was an older woman holding a giant weapon pointed at Thor’s chest, but she quickly lowered it.

“Thor?” the woman said.

Loki felt like a bucket of cold water had been thrown over him when Thor smiled softly. It was the uncanny valley, seeing something profoundly supernatural in something that should be natural.

“Do you know where the people went, ma'am?”

“To the ark,” she whispered. “It's the evacuation vessel. But no one will make it.”

“We know,” Thor replied calmly. “That's why we came to help. The Avengers will take care of this.”

“The station's at the edge of town.” The woman looked at him seriously. Despite not understanding what was happening, she tried to stay composed and ready, and Thor placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Everything will be fine.”

With that, he turned and began walking in the indicated direction. He didn't need to turn around to know that Loki would follow, no matter how disturbing what he had just seen seemed. This Thor had taken advantage of such a frightened person so naturally, and it had barely fazed him.

“Is this what it looks like from the outside?” Loki wondered, following Thor from afar, who was already putting his crown and cloak back in place.

“You don’t even look like my brother!” He yelled at Thor from behind. “How did the old woman believe that?”

“People believe anything when they’re scared and think someone’s going to save them.” Thor looked at him, his face hidden in the shadow of his hood. “I thought you were an expert at that.”

Thor didn’t mention anything about not resembling his brother.

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“Will you take advantage of your celebrity status again?”

They were both approaching the ship that would take them to the ark. The line was long, and they would have to sneak in.

“It wouldn't be very typical of Thor to try to enter a ship and leave the others outside.” He was trying to cover his face with the cloth of his cloak. 

“But…” He looked at the people. “I could start a riot and take advantage of the distraction to get in.”

“I don't think so.” Loki summoned a guard suit with his illusions. “We're doing this one way.” 

He looked Thor up and down. “You could use a nice suit for this.”

“Don't even think about it.”

They jumped the line as people shouted protests about favoring the rich. Loki could swear he heard Thor whisper, “I told you it would be easy to start a riot.”

“Tickets, please.”

“No need.” They tried to move on, but the guard put an arm in front of them and stopped them.

“I need to see your tickets,” the guard repeated earnestly.

“This is unacceptable,” Loki feigned indignation, and lifted his chin smugly. “Don’t you know who this man is? Detained by the Rank II Guard. He was requested from above, direct orders.”

The guard looked him up and down.“He looks like a bum.”

Loki didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“Would you mind reconsidering?” Thor’s voice sounded gravely.

Loki and the guard looked at Thor’s arm, where a dagger hidden under his cloak was pointed at the man’s stomach. The guard seemed seconds away from screaming.

“This is going to happen. You’re going to advance, and you’re going to say you’re taking us straight to the center or whatever,” he pressed the dagger closer, “or you and everyone present will witness a dissection in-”

“Is there a problem?”

Another guard approached lazily, not seeming to be very enthusiastic about offering his services.

“None,” Loki smiled. “We just don’t know where the hall is, so this nice gentleman offered to escort us, right?”

The man was frozen, but a slight flick of Thor’s wrist and the man was ready to lead them.

“Sure!” he said with a little too much enthusiasm. “Come this way.”

As they moved forward, Loki squeezed Thor’s arm furiously. “What were you thinking?” he whispered, but the guard walking in front of them didn't notice. "As soon as we leave him alone, he'll betray us, and you've put us in danger out there."

"He wasn't going to let us through," Thor whispered back. "I was threatening him, I wasn't going to gut him in front of everyone."

"That's extremely reassuring," he said sarcastically. "Thank you for not wanting to kill him publicly. Seriously, if you had disguised yourself like I recommended from the start..."

"Listen," the guard said with a trembling voice, stopping halfway down the hallway, not daring to turn around to look at them. "I swear I won't say anything. No one will know anything, just please..." 

He began to moan, on the verge of tears, holding his hands up as if it were an armed robbery.

Loki and Thor looked at him from behind. Their whispered chatter had brought them so close that their foreheads were almost colliding. They stared at each other, as if trying to determine a plan through their gazes alone.

"I can render him unconscious, and you find a closet to hide him in," Thor offered.

The man turned his head over his shoulder and looked at them, terrified. Loki felt a little sorry for him, if he was honest.

"It's your best option," Loki offered the guard. "I'm still not sure he doesn't want to kill you."

It took a while, but they had finally reached the main hall where the wealthy were settled and sipping from their fine goblets. Several were dancing, chatting, or watching their children run around the hall.

Thor slumped down in his seat, covering his mouth with his cloak. Loki managed to convince him to at least clean the cloak and give it a soft blue color, with the rest of his armor well covered.

“That can't be comfortable,” Loki mocked, still wearing his guard outfit, now without that offensive helmet. “But I suppose that's the price you have to pay for being the golden hero of the universe.”

“I'm not that one.” Thor stared at a door. “...not anymore.” 

His voice sounded distant.

Loki didn't want it to close so quickly. He needed answers. What did this variant of his brother want, dethroning the Time-keepers just to leave the power vacuum? How long had he been traveling the multiverse? At least long enough to meet several Lokis who tried to kill him, right? Why the crown? What time period had he come from?

“I can hear you thinking from here, Loki.” Thor rubbed his forehead. “If you’re going to say something, which I know you will, make sure it’s something that doesn’t make my headache worse.”

“Well… about your strange fame,” Loki began, leaning to the side and running a hand through his hair, feigning indifference. “Can you believe that the inept individuals who halted my rise to power are now known throughout the galaxy?”

“Not the entire galaxy,” Thor rolled his eyes. “But enough to get free stuff sometimes.” He leaned forward and placed his arms on the table. “And ‘inept’ would imply that they failed in their mission, which if I recall correctly…” He opened his palm and pointed at Loki.

Seeing Thor was cooperative enough, Loki decided to take a risk and start questioning the man. He had a lot of questions, and if he didn't ask them now, they wouldn't get another chance to talk without trying to kill each other. To be honest, he still wasn't sure where he stood on killing Thor, but if his not-brother threatened his life again, he didn't think there was any other option.

"That seems to save a lot of time when you're trying to loot during the apocalypse, which reminds me..." He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. "How did you discover those hiding places?"

Thor looked at his posture, and to Loki's surprise, he mimicked him, crossing his arms more tightly than he did.

"None of your business," he rejected curtly.

“Oh, please,” Loki rolled his eyes. “You must tell me something. And what would I do with what you say? Gossip about it? I literally have no one left to tell.” 

His voice grew louder and louder, the last part briefly catching the attention of a couple drinking, but they were quickly ignored again.

Thor scratched the edge of his eye patch and crossed his arms again. His expression didn’t change, and that was perhaps the worst part: Loki was starting to get bored of this brick wall of a brother. So he broke eye contact and looked back at all the people having fun around him, yearning just to get up and leave.

Then Thor's raspy voice spoke.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"What?" Loki turned around, bewildered.

"You heard me." Now Thor was the one looking away, avoiding his gaze. "I know how horrible this feels... maybe I'm the only one who understands." 

He was beginning to tighten his grip. "I don't like you, not even remotely, but losing your entire existence… whether you're Loki or not." He spat out the last words, as if offended by having to empathize with Loki.

This was a painfully awkward topic. Loki wasn't in the right place or time to be grieving, and he didn't feel ready to even think about it.

"It´s fine."

Thor looked at him, not believing him at all, but he seemed as unenthusiastic about talking about it as he was, so he contented himself with not mentioning it again and settled back in his seat.

“I discovered it by accident,” Thor said. When Loki looked at him strangely, he tried to clarify: “You asked how I found out about the apocalypses… It was an accident. The first place I wanted to run to when I left the TVA was home—”

“You arrived during Ragnarok,” Loki interrupted, beginning to understand. 

Thor nodded, his face furrowed as always, but it wasn’t dripping with anger like before. 

“How long have you been hiding?”

“You ask a lot of questions,” Thor rejected sharply. “Now it’s my turn. How did you end up in the oppressive temporal police force?”

“I’m a consultant.” Loki took this as an achievement, an exchange of information he could sway in his favor. “The TVA needed an expert to capture you. All a facade.” He smiled, as he always did when he boasted of his cunning. “To get close to the Time-keepers.”

“Yes?” Thor smiled, pleased to feel like the smartest person in the room. "So how did that work out? Do you think you can introduce me to them?"

"How could I forget? You have your own brilliant plan: Distract all the minutemen to break into the TVA, kill the timekeepers, and then..." he pretended to think about it. "Right, and then just leave the throne empty."

Thor looked at him as if he didn't understand what he was saying, but that look disappeared immediately.

“Not all of us crave domination, Loki.”

“What is it then? What are you looking for?”

Loki saw Thor’s walls rise again as soon as he asked the question.

“I already know what this is, so don’t even try it. You’re not going to convince me to work with you to overthrow them.” A slight electric shock spread across his cheek. “There’s nothing I want that you can give me,” he said sternly.

“I haven’t even said anything about it,” Loki replied, frustratedly raising his arms. “This is just a conversation between two individuals who are supposed to understand each other’s situation. I’m getting tired of you always expecting the worst from me.”

Thor always expects the worst, believing he knows everything, when he spoke of manipulating the frightened woman in the hut, saying it’s a standard version, showing his scar as if it were evidence of knowing him intimately. But all of that was born from experiences with _other_ Lokis, not him.

And wasn't that a dilemma in itself? All those versions Thor had known were him, but at the same time, they weren't him. " They can't be, " Loki tried to convince himself; he couldn't have an identity crisis now.

But here were the facts:

Loki was talking to an image he couldn’t even recognize, searching for parts of his brother that seemed dead in this Thor, while the other possessed so much knowledge about Loki that it unsettled him. "How much have my other versions told you?"

"How many of me have you seen?" He lowered his head, still staring at him. "How many Lokis have you encountered to give you that impression?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Thor smiled his wolfish grin again. "All of you... can't stand someone knowing more than you."

"I have the right to know."

“You have it?” Thor couldn’t stop smiling, mocking him. “Listen, you’re not special. You’re not the only one I’ve encountered, though I hope you’re the last.” 

Thor bowed his head. “But I don’t have that problem. I’ll tell you a secret, Loki… The problem with all of you is that you always plot the same cowardly schemes, and then boast about being brilliant, the one and only Gods of lies. The truth? You’re just scared, so bewildered at being at the bottom that all you can think about is stealing the place at the top.”

Loki wanted to stop him, refute, and defend himself, but his throat had closed, and Thor kept talking: “But if you can’t control everything, you don’t know what to do. Even when you’re fighting for the same thing, Thor is stronger, because he thinks of something bigger than himself. I have my own glorious purpose .”

Silence filled the space between them. Thor smiled calmly, watching Loki purse his lips in frustration. He knew he had to answer the accusation; he knew it, respond with something that would leave the other as badly off as he had just been. But he could only think of one thing.

“And you?” Loki whispered after what seemed like an eternity of silence. “You’re not exactly Thor anymore. I don’t see any of him in you.” 

He let his frustrations out. “You say Thor is better than Loki, but also that you’re no longer that golden hero.” Loki was talking to a stranger, but he knew the perfect question to ask. “Who are you?”

It felt like time had stopped. The laughter and chatter were nothing more than white noise, each one completely focused on the other.

“I’m the Thunder.” 

His face was serious, the shadows cast over his eyes making Loki wonder what was happening behind them. There was no coldness, just a barely contained anger, but not against Loki. “I am a force with only one purpose, and when my justice falls upon the Time-keepers, all existence will shake,” he stated.

Loki considered his answer, looking at all the people enjoying themselves in the great hall.

“Nothing can get in our way, can it, Thunder?” They both looked at the people joking and drinking, paying no attention to them. “Not even having to steal the last hope of civilization.”

Loki saw his eyes darken.

“I’ve said too much,” Thor said, as if scolding himself. “I can’t keep giving in to this.” 

He stood up without warning and covered his mouth with his cloak again. “If you know what’s good for you, you won’t bring up anything I’ve said in the last few minutes again,” he spoke hurriedly.

With that, he marched out the door and disappeared without another word.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Loki remembered that time he accompanied Thor and his friends to the forest. He didn’t know why he would think of it now, sitting miserably at the bar, taking drink after drink.

Sad little Loki wanted to hold Thor's hand to enter the hidden realm.

He had never ventured so deep, but his brother's hand held him gently, as if they were the castle's corridors and not an unexplored space. The brothers and the group of teenagers Thor befriended were on a dark path, the tall treetops blocking out much of the golden sunlight, leaving Loki fearful of taking each step, as if the ground would open up and swallow him whole. So he didn't take his eyes off his feet, trying to take slow, steady steps.

"Brother," Thor spoke.

Loki looked up at him. His brother offered him a reassuring smile, long and gentle, filled with immense affection uniquely for Loki.

“Thank you for coming.” He lightly squeezed her hand. “And trusting me.”

Loki trusted his brother’s words more than all the teenagers with bows around him, so he nodded, returned his brother’s embrace… and they continued walking.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Meanwhile, a different brother was locked inside a bathroom stall, staring at himself in the mirror while trying to clean his eye. Scratching it all the way had collected dust around the edges of the patch and had become unbearable.

As had a certain annoyance he'd left waiting in the other room.

"Stupid," he said to the man on the other side of the mirror, his eyes misaligned and his crown askew. "I thought you'd learned. Why can't you learn?" 

He glared at the man. "Haven't you failed enough?"

He felt his chest tighten with an emotion he couldn't identify. He needed to calm down, otherwise, he'd soon cause a blackout, and he didn't need that.

"You're pathetic," Thor whispered, his hands covering his face. "Playing his game again." 

His nails dug into skin.

He could project in his memory the image of a Loki sitting in front of him, a Loki who somehow knew how to push the right buttons. Thor should have killed him when he had the chance, and now he had to wait longer. And stop opening his mouth.

"You're an idiot who doesn't learn, an idiot who always fails for the same reason." He thought of the man he left in the room. "Damn Lokis."