Family is for all time, always [1]

The Park

~~~Catherine's pov~~~

It was a warm summer morning in mid-July when it happened.

We were walking in the park—me, my husband, and our five-year-old daughter Linda.

"Hey, Mom! Look at this!" My daughter squealed, jumping up and down on one foot.

"Wow! You're getting better at that. It's been almost five minutes. Have you been practicing?" My husband asked, smiling.

"Yeah! Cassie and Lila have been helping me!" She said, now walking beside us, grabbing our hands.

I'm glad she was recovering after what happened in Westview.

"I suppose we'll have to schedule some more playdates with them then," I suggested.

"Really? You mean it?" She asked, looking up at me with wide eyes.

"Sure. As long as your dad says it's okay." I said, now putting the blame on him if the playdate somehow wasn't possible.

"I don't see a problem with that, darling." He smirked at me, knowing what I was trying to do.

We sat by an old oak tree while Linda danced around the park in front of us.

As we sat down, I felt his arms around me. I looked up into his eyes. His emerald green eyes that I fell in love with.

We were never even supposed to happen. He was a villain, and I was an Avenger. But he made his way into my heart nonetheless. Who would have thought that the goody-goody Avenger would end up married to the God of Mischief? Certainly not me. But I'm thankful for it every day.

"She's growing up so fast." I sighed.

"I know. It seems like just yesterday she kept us up all night with her crying." He teased me.

We had an ongoing joke these past few years. When Linda was a baby, I used to say how much I couldn't wait for her to be older so she wouldn't cry so much. And now, I think the sleepless nights are the nights I miss the most.

I looked to where Linda was playing, only to see her walking into the street. Loki and I got up quickly at the sight.

"Linda, can you please come back over here? The street's really busy right now." I said, trying to keep my voice level to not to scare her. But in reality, I was terrified.

"I just need to grab my necklace. I dropped it." Her voice was strangely monotone and vague as she bent over to grab the accessory by its golden chain.

"It's fine. Just leave it and walk back over here." Loki said, walking over to the street slowly.

"I can't just leave it here-" She was cut off as a large truck came barreling down the road, heading straight for her.

We both ran into the street, yelling for the truck to stop.

It didn't.

Thankfully, Loki was able to use his magic to get Linda out of the way in time.

"Please, don't ever scare me like that again." I held onto her tightly, adrenaline pumping.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I don't know why I grabbed it!" Her voice was full of fear and confusion as she looked between me and the road.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time something like this had happened. This was just the first time we almost didn't save her.

Being the daughter of an Asgardian god and an Avenger made her a target to a lot of people. Not to mention her involvement with Coulson's team.

"What's that?" She suddenly asked anxiously, pointing to something behind us.

I furrowed my eyebrows and turned my head. I saw an orange-glowing doorway and multiple people in uniform coming out of it.

You have got to be kidding me.

"Who are you?" I heard Loki ask as we got off the grass and faced them.

"Appears to be a standard sequence violation. The branch is growing at a stable rate and slope." One of the people, a woman, said, ignoring our question.

She looked up at me and Linda. "Variants identified."

"What?"

"On behalf of the Time Variance Authority, I hereby arrest you both for crimes against the Sacred Timeline." One of the other people, now I'm assuming, guards, raised their baton at us. "Hands up. You're coming with us."

Loki and I looked at each other, perplexed.

"Like Hel we are. So, why don't you tell us what this is about?" He said, now stepping in front of Linda and me. I held her tight against my chest with her arms looped around my neck.

One of the other guards rolled his eyes. "If you would please get out of the way. This doesn't involve you."

He didn't move, and frankly, I didn't want him to.

"Last chance." He warned.

"Last chance or else what?" I asked, holding Linda closer.

~~~Loki's pov~~~

"None of your concern." The guard said, and then thrust his baton at me, except now, it was glowing, which was a slight problem.

I tried to avoid getting touched by the strange baton, but eventually, I messed up, and he stabbed me with it.

That's when I noticed I had started to disappear.

Well, that's lovely.

I needed to think fast, so I quickly sent Linda a telepathic message.

"2012."

The last thing I saw; was Catherine's terrified face and Linda's traumatized one.

~~~Catherine's pov~~~

I watched in horror as Loki disappeared.

"Dad!" Linda cried into my shoulder.

He... He was gone...

With that, the guards led us into the portal.