Both/And

Chapter 6: A Man Out Of Time

When they drop into Wakanda, Thor and Groot land in a different location than Loki and Sleipnir. Loki takes a few moments to get his bearings, desperately looking for where Thanos might be and hoping to avoid him at all costs. Not seeing him nearby, he also looks for Thor. Finding him is far more easily done. While Loki stands at the edge of the woods, Thor is in the thick of battle, his energy restored by the sheer power of his new weapon. And it is an impressive axe indeed. Loki watches the battlefield and feels something he hasn't felt at war in so very long – terror. It rises from his stomach and he feels his chest shuddering, heart pounding, as bile rises in his throat. He runs to a bush and vomits.

"This shouldn't be happening," he whispers to himself. "I am Loki, of Asgard, rightful king of Jotunheim, and I should not be afraid of bloodshed." He heaves again. "What in the name of all that's holy is wrong with me?" Sleipnir sits beside him and Loki curls up against him, "Everything. Everything's what's wrong with me. And I've now seen who he's willing to slaughter, yet...I can't." Sleipnir nuzzles against him, "I don't know what to do. Perhaps just surviving this time is enough."

He rests a few more moments before standing, Sleipnir following suit. With his hand resting on Sleipnir's neck, Loki walks away from the fight. He will intervene if he has to, but so long as he cannot get his fear in check, he knows he might just make things worse.

Loki keeps Sleipnir hidden, doing everything he can to draw attention elsewhere and off either of them. There are a few creatures he must kill, but he does so as quickly and quietly as he can. He knows when Thanos arrives – he can feel the power of the Infinity Stones when he steps into the world. It makes Loki's blood run cold. He cautiously makes his way closer, hoping he can figure out a way to stop Thanos if the fate of half the universe comes down to him. And then...silence. The fighting stops and the world feels wrong. He can't describe how. He looks to where his arm rests on Sleipnir's back and watches in horror as his hand dissolves into ash.

Eyes wide, he whispers, "They failed." And then he is nothing but dust.

Not far away, Thor stares at Stormbreaker as it falls to the ground. Thanos is gone. When it dawns on him that half of all existence is turning to ash in front of his eyes, the grief of defeat is replaced with panic.

"Loki...." He runs through the trees, barrelling past survivors, calling for his brother. He hears Sleipnir neighing and changes direction, following the cries of the distressed creature. When he finds him, there is ash in his mane and flakes of it tumbling down his back. Thor drapes against Sleipnir and cries.

*

The world moves forward after the Snap. Thor sets aside his grief to greet Valkyrie when she leads the survivors to land in Midgard, a place for New Asgard already secured and ready for them. Another half of their already-diminished community has vanished in the Snap and several pods land on auto-pilot, entirely empty. Thor's grief is all-consuming and he falls into mourning deeper than he thought he could feel. Despite this, he tries his best to lead his people. It doesn't last, though, and he falls into the habit of sleeping away most of his days while Valkyrie holds New Asgard together.

But there is work to do, that much is for certain, and three weeks later, when it is time to confront Thanos, to find out if there is a way to bring everyone back, Thor doesn't hesitate to answer the call. He swings true, landing a death blow to the head.

Despite all his wishes to simply hide in New Asgard and retreat into grief, Thor knows that as long as there is a hope they might somehow reverse the damage and bring everyone back, he has to follow any possible lead. If Loki might be alive, Thor must find him. It is in his nature – when Loki disappears, when Loki is dead, when Loki is lost, Thor doesn't stop searching. He enlists Asgard's finest scientists to the cause, bringing them to the Avengers compound, the few of them who survived the onslaught determined to put their skills to good use to right this wrong and bring back their own missing kin. New Asgard is painfully empty, even moreso than it was when they landed.

Thor ventures to the stars with a new friend – a woman named Carol Danvers who is also trying to set the universe to right, following any lead in any world while also trying to do whatever she can to help bring relief to suffering planets.

A year after the Snap, there is a breakthrough. While combing yet another archive Banner unearthed, they come across the notes of one Hank Pym and a sliver of an idea forms – time travel through the Quantum Realm. Even the Aesir haven't dared to attempt such a thing, for to meddle with time is a dangerous and forbidden business. But it is a glimmer of hope they haven't had and so they pursue this avenue, digging through the records to find known surviving associates. There are none. But there is a property record for a Scott Lang and their inquiries lead to a band of former thieves who tell them of a van that was retrofitted to do otherworldly things. It's in storage, and they know where.

It takes only money to convince the man at the security station to show them where the van is parked amongst the possessions of those lost in the Snap. Thor returns to Midgard on the day it sputters into the driveway of the Avengers compound. He watches his fellow Aesir explore the controls and finally turn it on. To everyone's surprise, a man stumbles from the tunnel. His eyes widen when they tell him the date and carefully explain what has happened to the world after he confirms when he went in.

"Time travel," he blurts out, even before he tells them his name, "That's how we bring everyone back. Through the Quantum Realm."

Thor's companions stare at him, looking from him to the scientists; it is Steve Rogers who speaks first, "Scott Lang?"

"Yes, Captain. We've met before. Briefly. I was the big guy in Germany."

"You say we might be able to bring them all back?"

"Yeah. If we take the Infinity Stones from where they are in time and put them back after. We don't have much to work with. Just a few Pym particles. But it could work. I think. I don't know for sure, but it's the only shot we've got."

The lead scientist slowly nods, "It's the only thing we've come up with, too."

Scott looks the scientists over, "You're...not from around here, are you?"

"We're from Asgard. The few left."

"From where?"

"My home world," Thor answers. "It was destroyed. We resettled here. But it wasn't long after we did that Thanos wiped out even more of our people than he already had."

"Wait, what?"

Thor sighs, "He attacked our vessel. Murdered my people. Only about half of those who had left Asgard escaped. And then when he snapped his fingers...."

"Shit, I'm so sorry," Scott says, "That sucks. So...I guess that means we really have to do this."

"He stole my brother from me. I thought Thanos had killed him on our ship. And then Loki saved us both. We had so little time to reconcile before Thanos turned him to dust. I've spent the entire last year trying to find a way to bring him back. To bring them all back. I've been searching worlds, desperate to make a difference and restore what was lost...."

"We need to bring this to Stark," Natasha says, "We need his thoughts on this, too. Just to make sure that we have minds from both worlds seeing this the same way."

Steve shakes his head, "No. He's got a family. A kid. Leave them out of this. If Asgard's scientists think this'll work, if Bruce thinks this'll work, and if Scott thinks this'll work, we go with it."

And with that, they make plans to steal the Infinity Stones out of time to save the world.