Is Love Forever? [1]

Loki

Dead silence. Clint held his wife and kids behind him, as did Tony who stepped in front of Pepper and Morgan. Natasha, Steve, and Rhoedy looked ready to fight. As did Scott, who was standing in front of Cassie and Hope protectively. Loki looked like he was about to say something when Cassie stepped forward. "Loki!" She exclaimed excitedly. "Cassie?" The god looked at her in realization. She ran up to him and gave him a small hug. Scott pulled her back. "How do you know my daughter?" He asked, holding Cassie's shoulder. "I met him when the aliens attacked New York!" Cassie spoke up. Before Scott could react, Thor walked up to Loki. "How is this possible? I saw you die." He spoke angrily. "Let me explain. That wasn't me. I know it sounds strange, but that was not me. I'm not from this timeline. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about." Loki said, gesturing to Tony. "What is he talking about?" Thor asked. Tony looked shocked, "The Tesseract..... You took the Tesseract in 2012." "Yes, I did. Which I am assuming was not the plan." Loki answered. "When we went to get the Tesseract in 2012, something happened and Loki took it. He teleported somewhere and we lost him. But I never thought..." Tony explained, trailing off. "After I took the Tesseract, I was taken by the "Time Variance Authority" or the TVA for short. They arrested me for taking the Tesseract, saying that that was not supposed to happen. I was shown a video of what my life was supposed to be. And I'm assuming that is the life that your Loki lived. But I did not. I only lived my life up until 2012. So yes, I do have all the memories from the attack on New York, but nothing after. Something happened at the TVA, too much for me to go into right now. But after I was forced into another timeline by another version of me, I decided to go to the only people who knew what happened to me, however vague an idea. I used that portal that you just saw to go to your time stamp, and then I ended up here." He explained. He looked sad, weary, hurt, traumatized even. He just looked like he was desperate for someone to believe him. Thor hugged him, rejoicing with the fact that he still had his brother. "Wait, so that's it? You believe him?" Clint said in disbelief. "He attacked New York, killed Coulson, well sorta... And gave all of us traumatic memories and even PTSD!" Tony said. "I am truly sorry for everything I did and caused, but I was not in my right mind. I was being controlled by the Scepter. I wasn't exactly there on my free will." Loki explained. "By a show of hands, who trusts him?" Tony asked. Cassie and Thor were the only ones to raise their hands. Loki smiled at the little girl, knowing that he at least had one friend. "Again, how do you know my daughter?" Scott asked. "During my time on Midgard, I had to hide from, well, you six." Loki said gesturing to the original Avengers. "I teleported to a backyard treehouse. I didn't expect anyone to be there, but then I saw Cassie playing with her dolls." He continued. "She asked me if I was a magician..." He smiled fondly at the memory. "She told me that her parents weren't home and her grandmother, who wouldn't come outside, was watching her. As we talked, I felt the Scepter's control wear off. I stayed there for about an hour before heading to Stark Tower." He finished. Scott looked to Cassie for confirmation. "It's true! His magic tricks were the best!" She said, remembering that day from eight years before. "How could you not trust him now? He's told you everything! And it's all been true." She defended her childhood friend. "I guess we could trust him, for now." Tony consented. The rest were a little hesitant, especially Clint, but they all eventually agreed. Rocket had no idea what was going on, but Nebula remembered Loki, and how he used to work for Thanos. "Now, can someone please explain to me what happened? How did you come back to 2012 and why?" Loki asked. "Thanos snapped half of the universe to dust and we had to go back in time to get the stones, and bring everyone back. All caught up?" Natasha said, blunt as ever. "And I only remember there being six of you, who is everyone else?" He asked. "That's Rhoedy/War Machine, Rocket, and you already know Nebula. And that's Scott and Hope/Ant-Man and the Wasp." Tony listed. "Welcome to the Avengers, brother." Thor said, patting Loki on the back.

                                                                            Author's Note

Yay, Cassie and Loki are friends! Now Tony and everyone probably won't kill him!