The Nexus Event (Loki x reader)

Meant to be

A/N: *slaps roof of fanfic* "this bad boy can fit so much angst in it"

...

After a very prolonged period of silence, Loki sits forward abruptly and starts tampering with the projector on the desk in front of him.

"What are you -" you trail off as Frigga appears on the projection. She's sprawled across the floor, very clearly dead. Your breath catches in your throat, and Loki looks at you for a second before looking back to his mother.

"I suppose – did you know her?" he asks, his voice sounding oddly constricted.

"A bit, yes. What is this?" you ask, nodding towards the projector.

"The Sacred Timeline." Loki says, his voice suddenly dripping with disdain. Your heart beats a little bit faster as Loki starts fiddling with the projector again.

"Are you sure we should -" you stop talking as you and Odin appear on the projection. Confusion flashes across Loki's face, but you understand. You've lived this part of the timeline, on Asgard.

The sound of your laugh, alien to you for some time now, fills the room as Odin disappears and Loki takes his place, having dropped the illusion. You're scared to look at Loki, the Loki sat opposite you, to try and gauge his reaction.

Your chests aches.

The scene cuts to Loki sat on the throne. You're curtseying before him, grinning behind your hair.

"Stop it." Loki smiles, holding out a hand for you to join him. You settle on his lap, your legs crossed over one arm of the throne. Loki puts an arm around you as you lean into him, and you clench your jaw so tightly that something cracks, furiously blinking away tears as you watch.

"I know I say this almost every night, but I wish Odin could see this." you tell Loki on the projection, your voice slightly distorted. Past-Loki smiles ruefully.

You watch as he opens his mouth to reply, but before he can, present-day Loki does something else with the projector to fast forward the scene. Neither of you says anything; you're not sure what you would say if he tried to speak.

The next scene is of Loki and Thor sat next to Odin as he tells them he loves them; Loki's eyes light up as Odin says, "I love you, my sons." both past-Loki and present-Loki. Or... future-Loki, for present-Loki. None of this ever happened to the Loki sat opposite you. Your head hurts thinking about it.

Next, Thor and Loki stand in a lift together, on what you presume to be Sakaar.

"Loki, I thought the world of you. I thought we were going to fight side by side forever." Thor says.

In the next scene Thor grips Loki in the tightest hug, on the refugee ship, and Loki, present Loki, lets out a happy, surprised laugh. Your heart pounds in your chest; this had all only been a few hours ago for you.

You don't know if you want to keep watching.

The next scene shows Loki stood before Thanos. You watch in horror, familiar horror, as the nightmare you'd not long ago experience plays out before your eyes, until something different happens.

Ebony Maw appears before Thanos, with you, earlier than he should have. You watch, aghast, as Thanos smiles grimly before proceeding to torture you in front of Loki.

He caves almost immediately, conjuring the Tesseract, and Thanos drops you unceremoniously to the ground.

Then Hulk appears, tackling Thanos, and Loki teleports you to safety. You've all but forgotten that you're in a room with another version of Loki; this is so absurd, watching a life that isn't yours play out before your eyes.