When Loki was taken by the TVA, he is forced to watch a montage of what could've been his future. In that montage, he finds out that he will fall in love with a young Midgardian woman, who he would've met a year after the Battle of New York.
And thi...
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After putting the Avengers in a... safe place, Loki watches Anya as she controls the ship they are flying.
Anya briefly peers at him through the corner of her eyes. "What?"
"Nothing. I'm admiring your courage."
"My courage?" Anya smiles incredulously.
"Yes. You are willing to do all of this on your own to protect your family."
"I don't want any of them to go to jail, yeah. And if they fight one another, someone's bound to get hurt." Anya mutters. "It's a good thing we didn't choose a side."
"We chose our side."
She smiles to herself. "Yeah. I guess we did."
When they reach Siberia, it was freezing and the snow blazed around them. Loki had to conjure a thick coat for her, which makes Anya laugh as they walk. They enter the building easily and Loki offers his hand to assist her in climbing inside.
When they get to the chambers, they see the Winter Soldiers with bullets in their brains. Loki looks at Anya in confusion.
"I was expecting other people," they both jump in alert at the sound of another voice. Anya's palms are ignited with flames as the two of them stand back to back. "Clearly, I underestimated you, Miss Romanoff."
"Show yourself, you fuckíng asshole. You're going to die for what you did to me." Anya hisses out.
"I could always do it again."
Loki steps forward, a dark shadow growing in the room. "Do you truly believe I would let you?"
"Ah, yes. I've read quite a lot about you, God of Mischief. I didn't think you would involve yourself in this."
"You're Sokovian. Is that what this is about?" Anya asks.
"No. I'm here because I made a promise."
"Let me guess, you lost someone?" Loki smiles humorlessly. "Well, welcome to the bloody party."
"Loki," Anya quietly scolds.
Zemo says nothing and starts to play a footage on a computer. Anya watches it with confusion in her eyes. When she realizes what is happening, she steps back and looks at Zemo in horror.
Loki frowns at the footage. "What is this?"
"It's... Bucky as the Winter Soldier. He killed Tony's parents." Anya gapes at the screen, looking at Zemo. "Please tell me Steve didn't know about this."
"He did know. And he hid it from Stark, to protect your brother." Zemo sighs, turning off the screen. "At least things did not get violent this time. Now, I only have to wait for you both to tell Mr. Stark what you saw today. My mission is complete."
Anya's eyes flare with anger. "You killed innocent people in Vienna, activated my Winter Soldier protocol, made me burn an entire building with civilians still in it... just to lure us out here and tear apart my family?"
"It was never a family, Miss Romanoff. All of you... are broken people. Living under one roof." Zemo tells them, and they hear a distinct cock of a gun. "My mission is complete."
Loki snaps his fingers and Zemo falls on the floor with a thud. He sighs, feeling the magic drain some of his energy before he looks at Anya. "Vengeance has consumed him, Anya. This is a means to rip apart the Avengers."
Anya has tears in her eyes. "I don't know how to tell Tony about this."
"We'll do it together."
***
Loki and Anya came back to the safe place, which is actually just an old ranch in Germany with a bunch of horses. Anya isn't sure how Loki knew about that place. The Avengers are all still dazed after just waking up. Vision is clearly awake and has been guarding the Avengers throughout their absence.
Anya hugs her sister and tells her it's over, and that everyone is fine. But as soon as she sees Tony, her heart drops.
She approaches him and Loki is by her side. "Tony, there's... there's something you need to know." She says, just before Loki glances at Steve and Bucky.
Tony frowns in concern, and Loki presses his fingers against Tony's forehead to show him what they saw.
***
The Avengers return to the compound, all but a few. With a heavy heart, Steve made his goodbyes to all of them as he prepares to leave with Bucky. Tony wasn't around to see him off, since it was too painful. He even made an argument that Steve should not have the shield.
"I'm going to miss you, Anya." Steve truthfully tells her.
Anya is a bit uncomfortable, since she did love Steve, but he lied to Tony about his parents. She still tries to smile at him. "Me, too."
She watches him go on their ride and sees Bucky nod at her as he follows Steve. It was odd to think that their Winter Soldier selves were close enough to see each other as siblings, but now that they are back to themselves, he was a complete stranger to her.
T'challa takes Zemo to Agent Ross as prisoner, and everything felt normal again. Although, the Avengers will no longer function as a team again. It was as if Zemo still won, despite Loki and Anya's efforts to keep them together.
Some of them still live in the Avengers Compound, but things are not the same. Sam moved back to his house, Rhodey too. Clint went back to his family. The Avengers were over. There was no going back from what happened.
Time went on, and Loki still tries his best to guide Wanda with her abilities. Anya has taken a pause with lessons, since Loki has been helping her get rid of the Winter Soldier program in her mind.
"Do you think we should tell them about us?" Anya asks Loki at a particular evening.
Right now, a sheet is the only thing that covers their bodies as they lay together in Loki's bed. He holds her hand close to his bare chest and has an arm wrapped around her.
"Are you prepared for that?"
"I don't know. Maybe."
"Maybe is half a no. Half a yes."
Anya sighs. "I don't know. I don't want to keep hiding like this."
"Well, considering our disrobed state, hiding seems to be our best option."
Anya laughs, and the sound makes Loki smile. "You're an idiot, Prince Loki."
"Just the words that can get me going again," Loki smirks and climbs on top of her body as her laugh echoes through the room.
Before Loki could start touching her, a blinding blue light ignites from his desk. Anya squints at it and Loki stands to walk towards it. The light simmers down and Loki grabs the crystal with wide eyes.
"What is it?" Anya holds the sheet to her chest as she sits up.
"It's... it's from Thor," he stares at the crystal, seeing the Asgardian scriptures on it. As he reads them, the corner of his lips twitch upwards. He looks at Anya with an astonished smile. "He's coming back today."
