The Before [Prequel- Part 1]

The Return Of Tony Stark

~~~Loki's pov~~~

With a small sigh of relief, I glanced over at the quinjet that had just landed a few feet away.

That relief was short lived however as I looked down at Catherine and saw that she was fully unconscious undoubtedly due to the blood loss and pain.

She was going to be okay. She had to be. My mother told me she survived this regardless if I was there or not.

But what if I had just done something that could potentially change the timeline? Maybe I wasn't supposed to come back as soon as I did. Or maybe I was supposed to come back sooner.

I shook off the panic filled thoughts and gently took Catherine into my arms, carrying her to the aircraft.

When I had gotten no further than a few steps, the cargo door opened and Stark exited the quinjet.

"What the hell is going on?!" His tone quickly went from rage to concern within seconds of seeing Catherine's condition.

He ran over to us instantly and helped me bring her over to the quinjet.

"Alright, tell me what happened after we get her stable. Just set her on that stretcher." His voice was worried and filled with urgency as he pointed to a cot attached to the side of the plane.

I nodded and laid her down carefully while Stark grabbed his medical supplies.

His eyes widened when he saw the open wound in her shoulder, still bleeding profusely. "What did that?"

"A spear," I answered, continuing to use my magic to keep her stable as Stark started to stitch up the injury and hook her up to an IV to replenish any blood she had lost. "A magical spear, created by the Goddess of Death." I elaborated absentmindedly.

He stopped his work for a moment to stare at me in disbelief but quickly resumed. "Alright, I'm sure there is a very interesting story there, that you will have to explain at length as soon as we get her stable."

I'm not sure he would be able to understand it, but sure.

The next few minutes felt like hours as we both worked tirelessly to make sure both Catherine and the baby were stable.

"Are they both okay?" I asked him, not even bothering to hide my worry.

If I lost either of them... I'm not sure what I would do.

Much to my relief, he nodded. "As far as I can tell, yes. When we get to the compound, I can get a better reading, but at the moment, they're both stable." He let out a breath that he had been most likely holding in this whole time and then looked over at me. "Now, please tell me what the hell happened."

"Long version or short version?" I asked seriously.

He crossed his arms and slightly rolled his eyes. "Did I not specify 'at length'?"

"Fine." I shrugged. "About a month and a half ago, Catherine and I went to meet up with Agent Coulson and a few others at a diner. Keep in mind, I did advise Catherine against it, but she wouldn't listen. We got to the diner and were abducted and sent twenty-five years into the future. I will not go into details, just know that we quite possibly just stopped a hostile alien invasion and the earth from cracking apart, so you are welcome. After a month, we were sent back here, and Odin came to Earth, died, and as a result, released Hela, the Goddess of Death, who made a spear materialize out of thin air and threw it into Catherine's shoulder. It's been about ten minutes since then." I tried to sum it all up the best I could without adding any unnecessary confusion. "All caught up?" I raised a brow.

He just stood there, speechless for what I am sure is the first time in his life.

Hey, he said 'at length'. And that's what he got.