Chapter Text
Loki stared as the portal closed behind James, blinking back tears. It wasn’t self deprecation to say she had really made things worse with her reckless magic; drawing that much power could not go unpunished, and in her grief she had turned herself into a goddess with powers far beyond what anyone in the nine realms should have. Change her story? Oh, she did that all right. And now she would have to live a new one. Without the man she had changed it for.
Val had offered to let her stay in New Asgard as long as she wanted, taking the place of her counterpart with all of the privilege that entailed. Which here meant they would build her a cottage of her own, and people would probably refer to her as “your highness.” No one outside of the village need know she was here at all if she so chose, and certainly not who she both was but also wasn’t.
Thor invited her to join him and Love on their ship, but she declined. It would be awkward; she wasn’t his Loki and he wasn’t her Thor. Their lives had been too different. Perhaps she would still love to hear of their adventures, but they were best done without her.
She felt lost again. Just about everyone she had known in her universe, who she considered a friend was either dead or thought she was dead. And a villain. To see any of them would hurt; even if she wasn’t the same Loki they knew, nor were they the Avengers she knew. She wondered how they would even react: Thor was certainly willing to do anything for her, but from the sound of it, of the others who were still around, it wouldn’t go well. Clint had been mind controlled by this universe’s Loki; surely he would have a major grudge. Bruce might be more reasonable to a point; he had been on Asgard during Ragnarök. No one she had talked to seemed to know who Peter even was, although they had heard of Spider-Man. She might be able to find him, but she doubted New York would be welcoming based on Strange’s reaction to her. Although, since Loki in this universe had usually presented as male, she likely would not be recognized; Thor would be an obvious outlier in that regard.
It did give her an idea. Was Spider-Man still in Queens? She was not powerless here; just lacking power enough to leave this universe. Sending James had been the last burst she could muster; it would not have held for both of them. She again wondered if she should have told him that, but he would figure it out soon enough from what she told him about magic having a price. Surely teleporting herself on the same planet was still within her capabilities? As long as she was well-fed and rested, her seiðr thrummed as steadily as it had most of her life before her banishment. She could find Peter, maybe see if he was the same curious youth, if he needed a friend too since he wasn’t with the Avengers…
Although it seemed there were no more Avengers. Sam Wilson had taken Steve’s shield and become the new Captain America. He had a partner named Joaquín who might take over his mantle as Falcon, but there wasn’t a larger team. There were other heroes scattered around, but no team like she had known; apparently the past years in this timeline had not been kind.
A month passed with her mostly keeping to her cottage, either reading or painting the scenes out her window. Reflecting on all that had passed, and furiously writing out everything of her life these past years since her banishment in notebooks stained with ink from her fountain pen. Perhaps if she could write it, then she could remember that it had been real, that she had loved and been loved in return. She wanted to ignore her guilt. Steven had eaten one of Iðunn’s apples and had promised himself to her for a lifetime— would he be forced to spend the next several millennia alone as she had feared she would? Maybe he could move on, but somehow she doubted that. She was sure she never would, and felt more alone than ever. She hoped her theory was correct, that the earlier Loki she had replaced had taken her place again, but would that end well after all she’d done?
Finally, Loki was satisfied that she had written as much of her story as she reasonably could. She used her magic to make a copy of the notebooks, which she stored in her pocket dimension. She left the originals on the kitchen table, with a note for whoever might find them should she fail to return. Then, dressed in black jeans and a dark green tunic, she teleported herself to a familiar alley in Queens.
Patrolling the neighbourhood as Spider-Man felt different since Strange’s spell. Sure, he had been anonymous before, but he had people who knew Peter. While people would still call out to him as he swung around and did his best to help, he felt empty. Things were rough with no one to confide in.
He saw a green flash out of the corner of his eye, and figured he’d better check it out.
He swung around into the alley where the flash had been, to see only a woman with long, wavy dark hair and blue-green eyes, who was grinning at him with something like… Anticipation?
“Oh, I was hoping I’d run into you! I just didn’t think it would be so soon. The irony of meeting you in the exact same place, well… The universe sure has it in for me. Or I guess the Multiverse? Something like that.” She kept her smile the entire time, and Peter finally landed in front of her. She was a little taller than him, and looked oddly familiar, with the accent and same sort of otherworldly quality he remembered Thor having when they briefly met. Not that Thor would remember.
“Uhh, I’m sorry, I don’t remember meeting you before? And… Multiverse? Are you from another universe?” He couldn’t help but think of meeting his counterparts, and the price he’d paid for it. So the question was, did this woman just know Spider-Man in her universe, or—
“Right, silly me, always jumping in without making sure we are on the same page. You will likely recognize my name as my counterpart here seems to have been quite the ruthless bastard; but in my universe, Peter, you found me at my weakest, and that meant everything to me.”
Peter froze, and then removed his mask. “You know who I am?”
“I gather you are even less open with your identity in this timeline. No one I have talked to seemed to have heard of you. Well, of Peter Parker anyway. They all know of Spider-Man.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Loki.”
Peter did a double-take, comparing the woman in front of him with the pictures he’d seen from the invasion all those years ago. He could certainly see the resemblance.
“Are you… Is this… Magic? Like you shape-shifted or something?”
Loki chuckled sadly. “No, in my universe I mostly present as female, although I have been known to vary on occasion. I suppose it is for the best considering the chaos my counterpart seems to have brought to Midgard.”
Peter nodded thoughtfully. “Why are you here?”
“I caused my own sort of chaos. I… Well, I made some mistakes, and I think letting grief and heartbreak control my actions was the biggest. I summoned more power than I should have been able to and ripped a hole in my universe, presumably creating a new timeline. But magic comes with a price, and the cost for my carelessness was seeing me stuck here, away from my friends and my fiancé.”
“And in your universe… I’m one of those friends?”
Loki’s smile dimmed. “Indeed you are. My first friend after I was banished, and one of the best.”
Peter was taken aback. This Loki was banished? That would certainly change things, and explain why she didn’t think she was a villain. His mind raced with other questions, but mostly he wanted to talk more to the only person who knew Peter Parker. One other thing stood out, so before he invited her to come hang out or whatever (was that a normal thing to ask a goddess?), he had to ask.
“You said you have a fiancé. Would I know them in this universe?”
Loki hummed. “Why does no one know who you are here? You’ve worked with the Avengers, haven’t you?”
He hung his head, a bit ashamed. “Same thing as you. Magic has a price, and I screwed up. I broke the multiverse, and in order for Strange to fix it, everybody had to forget Peter Parker.”
“Even your Aunt? Michelle? Assuming they existed in this timeline, too.”
Peter felt his own tears welling up. “Aunt May… She was killed. And yeah, MJ was my girlfriend, but she and Ned had to forget too. It was all or nothing.”
“Oh, Peter.” He was shocked when Loki pulled him into a tight hug. “It looks like we are both in a terrible mess.”
He huffed a low chuckle. “Yeah, I guess we are. The multiverse-breakers club.”
“Want some company with your misery?”
“That… Would be great.” When she broke the embrace he slipped his mask back on. “I can take you back to my apartment for now, talk more in private.”
She gave him a soft smile.
“Steven Rogers.”
“What? Captain America? What about him?”
“That is who I am… was… engaged to in my universe.”
“Oh. Oh. I’m sorry. After the Battle of Earth, he—“
“I know. But it does not matter, he would not be my Steven.”
Bucky was restless. His thoughts kept drifting back to his other self, the weirdness of seeing a, dare he say, happy? Well-adjusted? James Buchanan Barnes was unsettling, yet somehow also comforting.
Because maybe that could be him. Maybe he could find a girl, be madly in love, no doubts in his mind where he belonged.
Did he and Loki make it back? If they didn’t, maybe he didn’t have anything to envy after all.
But then there were his dreams.
The Steve in that other timeline was a very lucky guy. Because while Bucky had no memory of the “evil” Loki to compare her to, the Loki he met? She was incredible. Smart, funny, sarcastic, her personality was everything he’d ever imagined the perfect woman to be. Plus she was smokin’ hot. Hell, even when he’d seen the male Loki, he was still taken in by his looks; gender was not a dealbreaker. He’d thought that was a revelation of his own sexuality, or maybe Loki was just that compelling.
She must be, because she had been haunting his dreams. And they were not innocent.
Maybe he should check on them, see if they made it.
Who should he get in touch with? He didn’t have King Val’s phone number— do you just call a King? He had in Wakanda, he supposed, but that was a bit different.
What he did have was an address in Midtown, where he knew a sorcerer who might be able to help.