When Loki and Anja finally arrived in the throne room, the rest of their friends were already there waiting, impatient looks plastered to most of their faces. Loki certainly didn't feel even remotely sorry for being slightly late to this meeting. Spending even a brief moment of alone time with Anja was well worth the glares the two of them were receiving.

    "About time you two got here," Thor greeted from his seat on one of two golden thrones atop a series of stairs. "I was beginning to wonder if I was going to have to send a search party."

    Loki shook his head, using the opportunity to scan the room and see where everyone was standing or sitting. Layla stood beside Thor to his right, her hands folded in front of her. She seemed a bit uncomfortable in her red Asgardian attire, or certainly not as comfortable as Anja was in hers, at any rate. A bench had been placed a few steps lower, where Spencer, Tony, Bruce, Rocket, and Groot sat in their usual attire, all with varying degrees of annoyance on their faces. Korg and Miek stood a step below them towards the end of the bench. Loki glanced back to the throne, noting the empty one next to Thor. He assumed that was where he and Anja were supposed to be. A few steps below the empty throne, on the same step as the bench, stood Heimdall and Brunnhilde, both in full armor. The gang's all here, he thought.

    "That would be unnecessary, brother," Loki finally answered him as he and Anja approached the staircase. "Am I right to assume the empty throne is mine?"

    "You would be," Thor responded.

    A small smile formed on Loki's face as he ascended the last few steps to the throne, Anja in tow. He took a deep breath and then took his seat before reaching up to pull Anja into his lap. Her legs were propped up on the armrest of the elaborate seat while her right arm was draped around his neck. It surely wasn't the proper way for them to sit, but Loki didn't think propriety mattered at the moment. It's not like the people they were meeting were super important.

    "Alright, everyone," Thor started again, "when the old team gets here, we should try to be on our best behavior. I know tensions are high from all the mess that happened here in my absence. For now, we should try to put that behind us. Remember, sticks and stones may break my bones-"

    "-but chains and whips excite me?" Loki finished smoothly.

    Anja, Layla, Spencer, and Tony all immediately burst into laughter, while Bruce groaned and the rest of the group just looked confused. All except for his older brother, who gave him a stern look.

    "No!" Thor yelled.

    "You've been listening to too much Midgardian music," Layla said with a laugh. "Anja has corrupted you."

    "Corrupted is such a strong word," Anja replied, unable to resist a smirk. "I think enhanced is a much better word for it."

    Loki shrugged. "I thought it was an appropriate answer."

    Tony rolled his eyes. "Plus none of us want to know what turns you on."

    "Oh you're just jealous," Anja retorted, winking at Tony as she planted a kiss on Loki's cheek.

    Thor shook his head. "What am I going to do with you two?"

    "Oh brother, you should get used to this," Loki said, a small smile creeping onto his face. "It will be a long lifetime of ruling together if you don't."

    The room was silent for a moment while Thor contemplated an answer to that. He never got the opportunity to reply, as Heimdall spoke up next.

    "As amusing as this conversation is, your company has just landed," he broke in, still standing tall a few feet away.

    Loki noticed both Anja and Layla grimace at the announcement. Neither seemed particularly happy about this meeting, and Loki couldn't say he blamed either one of them for that. He may not have been involved with the Civil War, but based on the little he knew of the incident and the possibility that his love's ex-flame would show up, he was equally annoyed. Loki saw Thor had a small smile on his face, trying his best to remain a friendly face. The rest of their group was too far away and facing the entrance, so Loki could only assume what their facial expressions were like. Judging by the way everyone reacted to the news of the meeting, however, he thought he had a fairly good idea.

    A few moments passed before Loki spoke up again. "Now let's see how these Avengers decide to behave."

    "Probably like a bunch of assholes," Tony muttered. Loki hated that he couldn't disagree with that.

    "Our company approaches the door," Heimdall announced, ending the small bit of banter.

    "You are quite handy, man," Korg complimented. "You're like our own personal security system."

    Heimdall gave Korg a nod and small smile but watched solemnly as the Einherjar guards opened the massive doors leading to the throne room.

    Loki watched as his brother's former comrades, and few others he hadn't met, made their way into the massive room, eyes wide as they took in their surroundings. The room had been made to try and emulate the former throne room on Asgard, but it was simple in comparison. The room was long and the ceilings arched, with a few tapestries hanging along the pillars lining the room. Even the tapestries were far more basic; the banners were a mix of deep red and deep green, with gold woven in to complete the aesthetic. Admittedly, Loki was still not used to the idea that he and Thor would be sharing ruling responsibilities, and as such seeing both the red and green simultaneously was strange.

    The group of six came to a stop before the stairs that led up to the thrones and Loki could only look on with a blank face as the former Avengers glanced up at them, a few of them looking less than thrilled at his presence. He glanced briefly at Anja and watched her look back at him out of the corner of her eye, and he could tell just from that look she was seething- even despite the fact Clint was nowhere to be seen.

    "Midgardian Avengers and honored guests," Heimdall rang, demanding attention to himself. "Welcome to New Asgard. You may remember many of the faces here today, but new ones join us; Anthony Stark, Man of Iron, Bruce Banner, the warrior Hulk, Brunnhilde, leader of the Valkyries, Miss Spencer Grey, Korg of Krona, and Miek of Sakaar. We also have two members of the Guardians of the Galaxy present: Rocket and Groot. I, myself, am Heimdall, The Protector and Watcher of the Worlds. I present to you all, King Thor and his consort, Layla Williams, and King Loki, and his consort, Anastasia Konstantinova."

    The new group was left gaping at the throne after Heimdall finished speaking, making Anja break out into a full on smirk. Loki couldn't say he blamed her for being smug. Surely her old teammates wouldn't have expected her to be in such a position of power.

    It was Steve who spoke up first, although he was hesitant. Heimdall had just dumped a ton of information on him and the rest of his group, and Loki wasn't sure how much of it had been relayed to him via Spencer prior to their arrival.

"Tho-er, King Thor, it's a pleasure to see you again," he started. "Obviously you know me and Nat. We have some new faces, too. Well, new to some of you anyway. This is Bucky, um, Sergeant James Barnes, actually. Sam Wilson is over here. This is King T'Challa of Wakanda. Oh, and Colonel James Rhodes is here, too." Steve gestured at each person as he introduced them.

    Loki raised an eyebrow, studying the faces of the Avengers he hadn't met yet. They made for a strange bunch, but he didn't have long to dwell on it. A few seconds later, Spencer stood and rushed over to the man with long brown hair, pulling him into a tight embrace. Even if Steve hadn't just introduced them all, Loki would've known this was the Bucky the girls had spoken about constantly just by Spencer's reaction to seeing him. The young woman stood, content in Bucky's arms for what seemed a lot longer than the few seconds it was.

    "I've missed you," Spencer said quietly as she pulled away from him. Or at least it would've been quiet if they hadn't been in a vast chamber where even whispers could carry.

    Bucky smiled a little. Loki could tell it was strained, almost as if he wasn't used to it. Loki didn't know all the details of what happened to Bucky- at least not beyond the murder of Stark's parents and the Civil War- but he was sure the man had been through hell more than once. He had been there, done that. He made a mental note to ask Anja about it more later just as Bucky spoke up.

    "I missed you more," he replied.

    Before Spencer could say anything in response, Thor stood and greeted them properly. "Welcome, King T'Challa, Colonel Rhodes, Mr. Wilson, and Sergeant Barnes to New Asgard. It is a pleasure to meet all of you today. As for you- Steve and Natasha... I wish I could say the same, but that would be a lie, and I leave those to my brother."

    "Even I cannot bring myself to make that lie," Loki silkily replied, smirking.

    The tension in the air was thick, but the situation deescalated a bit when Bruce gave Natasha a half-hearted wave. "Hey Nat."

    "Where have you been? Where did they find you?" Natasha, now sporting bleach blonde hair as opposed to her usual red, asked.

    Bruce sighed and shrugged, giving the woman a small smile. "Here and there, and they found me on Sakaar. Long story," he explained. "I can tell you more later."

    Before the assassin could respond, Stark stood next, making his way down the stairs to clasp arms with Colonel Rhodes. "How the hell did you get stuck with the B squad, Rhodey?" Tony asked.

    Rhodes grinned and pulled the genius into a hug, holding onto him tightly. "Bad luck. Damn is it good to see you, Tones," the man sighed, finally pulling back to look at the girls with a smirk on his face. "Lay-um, consort Layla. Consort Anja. Spencer. Real good to see you guys, too!"

    "As always, Rhodey, you can just call me Your Majesty," Anja sassed, grinning at the man. Loki was honestly just glad there was one person in this new group Anja didn't want to smack.

    "Speaking of that," Steve interrupted, looking to Spencer, "you neglected to tell me about Loki being here in our chats setting this up."

    The young woman shrugged, one arm still wrapped around Bucky. "Eh, it slipped my mind."

    Natasha looked at Thor with a concerned look upon her face. "This isn't some kind of trap? He hasn't put you all under some sort of mind control?"

    Loki started laughing loudly, drawing everyone's attention back towards him. His head was tipped back in mirth, unable to hide his amusement at the accusation. "My, my, my, Romanoff, such venom. I thank you for such strong confidence in my abilities, but alas, I cannot proclaim to have anyone under any spells. Well, except Anja, but that spell is more... natural due to my charms than any real spellwork. No, this is so much sweeter. These people that surround me are here because they choose to be."

    "Enough," Thor finally spoke up, voice quiet but rumbling around the room. "Loki is not a concern of the Avengers as he has been cleared by Asgardian law for his deeds in protecting the people of Asgard and his diplomacy with allied realms. He is just as much King as I, and you will show him respect or feel the wrath of our realm... and Anja. I can't stop her even if I try." He winked at the brunette playfully.

    "But what about New York?" Steve inquired, unable to hide the confusion in his voice.

    "Loki was brainwashed, his mind was being controlled through the scepter, by the very threat we have brought you here to discuss," Anja explained briefly. Her voice sounded a bit snappy, but Loki chalked that up to her being defensive of him.

    Steve opened his mouth to say something, but Bucky cleared his throat as he gave Steve a stern look. Loki raised an eyebrow, wondering why this Midgardian whom he had never met did anything in his defense. Another thing he would have to ask Anja about later. Either way, it was nice that someone wasn't completely against him.

    "Your Highnesses, my condolences for those you lost. May they rest in Valhalla," the man Steve introduced as King T'Challa spoke up, his face solemn as he tipped his head towards them.

    "You have our thanks, King T'Challa," Thor replied, nodding his head back at the man before putting his attention back on Steve. "I'm glad you brought up New York though. Remember the Chitauri?"

    "Of course we do," Natasha answered for him.

    "Those Chitauri are but a small fraction of the forces that will come this way. This planet is now the target of a major intergalactic threat," Thor continued.

    "If I may ask, what threat is this you speak of?" Sam Wilson questioned.

    Loki decided to take over for his brother. "His name is Thanos, however he goes by many names: The Dark Lord, The Mad Titan, The Most Powerful Being in the Universe-"

    "-purple scrotum looking asshole," Anja grumbled, causing several others to laugh. Loki glanced over at her, shaking his head as he hardly resisted a laugh himself.

    "Well, thanks for that visual, Lady Anja," Thor laughed, shaking his head as well, before looking serious once more. "Thanos is a dangerous foe. Even with the full might of what Asgard had possessed, his forces would have been impossible to fight against. He wishes to wipe out half of the universe. He is more powerful than you can imagine."

    "So the same Chitauri Loki led here?" Steve asked, trying to follow along.

    "Yes, but we have come to understand that Loki was mind controlled through the scepter, which contained the Mind Stone- just as he had done to Barton and Selvig," Anja repeated her statement from earlier. "Those actions were not of his own doing. He was being controlled by Thanos to retrieve the Tesseract to get the Space Stone that was inside it."

    "Space Stone? Mind Stone?" Sam asked, face pinched in confusion. "I've never heard of this before."

    "They are Infinity Stones," Heimdall explained, his orange eyes resting on him. "They are six immensely powerful objects tied to different aspects of the universe: Space, Mind, Reality, Power, Soul, and Time. Together... their power is unimaginable. Thanos searches for these to add them to his gauntlet. Two of these stones rest right here on Earth, and he is already in possession of at least three of the others."

    "Is that why he targets Earth?" Steve piped up, staring at the tall Asgardian.

    "One reason. Even if this planet had no stones, he would eventually come here. Could be tomorrow, could be in a hundred years. He will come, though. He will destroy the universe," Layla sneered, making Rogers frown.

    "You aren't even sure if he's coming soon?" he scoffed, rubbing his face.

    "Oh, trust me, Rogers, he's coming sooner rather than later. His trail of destruction is closer to our doorstep than you're going to be comfortable with," Tony growled, eyeing the man with clear disdain.

    "And how do you even know?"

    "Uh, been in space," Tony replied, laughing incredulously. "Seen it first hand? What exactly have you been doing?"

    It was Loki's turn to silence them. He knew if someone didn't intervene there would be a Civil War rematch. "Enough," he ordered. "He is sending some of his minions here as we speak. Banner, Anja, and I were there when he gave the order. They are after the stones with Doctor Stephen Strange and Vision. Strange is in New York in the Sanctum Sanctorum; where is Vision?"

    "Yeah, that's the thing," Tony answered sheepishly.

    "What do you mean?" Bruce asked.

    "Well, when we got back to Earth, I tried to check up on him," Tony explained. "Turns out two weeks ago, Vision turned off his transponder. He's offline."

    "What? Tony, you lost another super bot?" Bruce continued to question. It was a good point, as far as Loki was concerned. First Ultron, and now Vision. For someone who questioned his actions repeatedly, Tony sure had a lot to answer for himself.

    "I didn't lose him," Tony protested. "He's more than that. He's evolving."

    "Well, if you cannot find Vision, who can?" Layla inquired.

    Tony hesitated and looked at the ground as he muttered "shit" under his breath before looking up again. "Probably Rogers."

    "Me?" Steve asked.

    Tony nodded, shrugging lightly. "Well you've been keeping tabs on the Maximoff girl, right? They're likely together. If you find her, you find Vision."

    Steve and Natasha exchanged glances. They both were silent for a minute before Steve spoke again. "It might take a little bit, but we'll find them."

    "Someone should also travel to New York to warn Strange," Thor added. "We need to assure the protection of both stones here on Earth."

    It was a good point, even if Loki wanted to strangle the sorcerer for embarrassing him a few months back by putting him in some endless portal, causing him to fall for what was easily the most annoying thirty minutes of his life. If the sake of the universe wasn't at stake, Loki would've let Thanos be a nasty surprise for Strange. The man supposedly kept tabs on threats to Earth, but somehow Loki didn't think Thanos had even popped up on his radar.

    The group was silent for a moment before Tony spoke up again, breaking Loki's thoughts. "I want to go home for a minute anyway, so I can speak with him," he decided.

    "Well that settles it then," Thor determined. "Stark will alert Dr. Strange, and Rogers will work on finding Vision. We will relay any information back to the rest of the group. We must be united to defeat this madman."

    "Whatever it takes," Anja said quietly, but it was loud enough that everyone else heard her.

    The room was silent for a few moments before everyone echoed back at her, "Whatever it takes."

    No one said anything again for a few moments, so Thor continued. "You all are welcome to stay for tonight's festivities. We will be officially coronating Loki and myself as the Kings of New Asgard. Should be a fun time."

    Loki didn't realize they were going to have a formal ceremony still. He assumed he and Thor were just going to rule without all the fanfare that went with the usual transition of power. Afterall, Odin had been dead for months now. If it hadn't been for the Hela mess, Thor would've immediately began his rule back then. Yet, on the other hand, Loki was a bit excited to actually have a real ceremony. When he briefly ruled during Thor's banishment some years ago while Odin was in his Odinsleep, there had been no fancy party. Just his mother Frigga handing him Odin's spear, Gungnir, and telling him he was king now. And he surely didn't get any recognition when he masqueraded as Odin for a bit. He was glad that was over. Easily one of the hardest facades he had ever had to maintain.

    As Thor dismissed everyone, Loki couldn't help but feel a bit relieved that their first joint meeting had gone over well. No one had argued for long, and more importantly, everyone was still alive. But perhaps what was more exciting was the fact that he was finally getting the respect and recognition he so desperately craved.

    He'd be lying if he said he wasn't looking forward to the coronation.

*****

Hi everyone! Sorry this took so long. It's been a long couple weeks. Work has been busy the last several weekends so I haven't been doing much other than working and sleeping those days. If I remember right, I haven't updated since before the Easter holiday, so I had that to contend with too. We had 3 separate celebrations this year due to Covid and general timing around everyone's vaccines and other obligations, so that took up some more free time. It was also my mom's birthday earlier this week so there's that too. I apologize for not getting this done sooner. I feel horrible, because I want to update more than I do. I often have time before bed each night to write, but often I find myself too tired to get anything substantial written. The last two nights I have stayed up to make sure I could get this done. Mostly because my friend Riocarnation has been having a rough week and I promised her I would get this done ASAP.

Anyway, one last chapter of happiness before I kick off the real plot of Infinity War! Should be... fun.

Thank you all for your continued patience with me. I appreciate it. Truly. I hope to update again soon. Hopefully before this time next month this time.

~arty_writes