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❛ ᴇᴡᴛʀᴛᴡ. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ɪ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʜᴀᴠᴇ
ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡᴇᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴏ ʜᴇʟʟ & ʙᴀᴄᴋ ꒱　


❝ YOUR BRAVERY RIVALS
THE VALKYRIES OF ASGARD ❞

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Apparently, Doomsday was harder to stop than Loki had originally thought. He tried countless variations of being able to save the day but each time, the Throughput Multiplier— or something else— caused them to fail. When O.B. said that they'd taken too long, he took more risks, even going so far as to burst into Renslayer's kidnapping of Timely. Still, that wasn't enough— he always needed more time.

So, he got it: he went back centuries to give himself enough time to learn everything he needed to know about engineering to do it himself. When he returned, his knowledge seemed to work for a short time, but it was still in vain. Even when Timely successfully inserted the Throughput Multiplier, it couldn't handle the overload of so many Timelines. Sylvie's murmured words of disbelief sparked a new idea: "it's almost as if as soon as the Timelines started branching, this was doomed to happen."

He thought about when they had started to overwhelm the universe: back when the goddess had killed He Who Remains. He Time Slipped to that moment, appearing right between Sylvie and He Who Remains. He tossed his blade to the ground as hers came to rest on his shoulder. "Sylvie, stop. Stop. I've been where you are. I've felt what you feel. You don't want this."

Jimin remained in her seat as she had the first time he'd been through this— as she would for all the times he repeated this loop. No matter what he said, Sylvie's response was the same: "if you want me to stop, you'll have to kill me."

No matter when he landed during the fight, she remained consistent. Even if he changed the outcome and got the upper hand, Sylvie ducked under his arm and killed He Who Remains anyway.

"If you want to stop me. . ."

Exhausted from the infinite number of redoes, he grunted, "I have to kill you, I get it." Frustrated, he turned to the other man. "Why do you never try to stop her? Fight back? Do something."

He reached for the circular device that acted as a more powerful TemPad. Swiping it forward, Sylvie— and Jimin, but she was already sitting as still as a statue— froze mid-swing. "So, how many times have you been at this?"

Examining both women with alarm, the Asgardian demanded, "what did you do to them?"

"Oh, come on. You're not telling me you haven't learned how to pause. . . time. . . yet. I figured you'd be way past that." the man chuckled mockingly.

Loki came over to stand by his desk, though his gaze remained on Jimin's unmoving form. He tentatively reached out to brush a finger against her skin and was relieved that it still felt warm to the touch. He Who Remains continued: "don't worry, lover boy. She's okay. They both are." He nodded to Sylvie. "But she is in the eye line a little bit. So why don't we just. . ."

With a swipe of his TemPad, both women disappeared. "So, this, this isn't the first time we've had this conversation, is it?"

The god met the other man's gaze evenly. "How did you know?"

"I know about the slipping. And who do you think paved that road? Any guesses? Survey says. . ."

Loki closed his eyes in exasperation. "He Who Remains."

"Bingo!" he exclaimed. "Here you were, slipping through time. Thinking you were, you were sticking it to the system. Gonna beat the man. And then. . ." He spread his arms wide in triumph. "Whoop! Here he is." He sat forward as the Asgardian closed his eyes again, tired of the other man's arrogance. "Kiddo, did you really think I was just gonna sit back and let her kill me? And that'd be it? Zip? Nada? RIP HWR?"

He Who Remains smiled up at him tauntingly. "No, I told you. Reincarnation, baby."

Quietly, Loki repeated a quote that summed up the situation well: "'we die with the dying. We're born with the dead.'"

The other man gave him a weirded-out look. "Uh-huh. Okay. So, this is a lot for you. I get it. So why don't you just go through this a couple thousand more times? Get your bearings. And then you just, you just let me know. Okay, when you're ready to have a conversation. Okay?"

With another swipe of his TemPad, Sylvie and Jimin reappeared in their respective places. The blonde stumbled forward, not expected to be thrust back into existence. As her eyes narrowed in hate on the man at the End of Time, the god raised a finger. The entire room stilled so it was just the two of them again. "And what makes you think. . . this is the first time we've had this conversation?"

He Who Remains beamed at him, not minding the burn at all. In fact, he licked a finger, drawing a point in the air as he made a tssk sound, admitting to the fact that Loki had bested him this time. "Well done. You're my favorite. When there was two of you here, you were my favorite." He chuckled, amused by the turn of events. Loki took a seat, knowing how long these conversations could be. The other man made the two women vanish again.

"Okay. So, seems you've figured it all out. Hmm? Tell me, how is Victor. . ." Clearly this wasn't his favorite Variant of himself, as he contemptuously stuttered out the last name: "T-T-Timely."

"Of course you know about your. . ."

He held up a hand. "Wait. Don't tell me. You're, you're having some, some, some problems with the Temporal Loom."

"Scaling problem."

He Who Remains scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Scaling problem? That's what he told you? Victor told you it's a scaling problem? Wow. No. No, there's no, there's no problem."

"It destroyed the T.V.A.," the god told him, unable to believe he could brush something like that off.

"The Temporal Loom is a failsafe," the other man explained. "When the Loom is overloaded with branches, it deletes the ones that aren't supposed to be there. Everything except the Sacred Timeline. And the T.V.A., that's just, that's just collateral damage. Look, no biggie. Easy to rebuild."

Loki let out an incredulous laugh. "What a waste of time."

"And as you may or may not know, my Variants are already out there."

"We'll find them," the Asgardian retorted confidently.

"There's too many."

"I won't stop."

He Who Remains shook his head. "Doesn't matter."

"Never stopped me before."

"I know, champ." He had to concede this point and the man smiled at him sympathetically. "But the outcome to this equation remains, remains the same. You lose."

"I know. I know." Loki stood and began to pace around the room.

"Shake it off."

Loki's stretching break allowed him to catch sight of a chalkboard in the corner. He did a double-take at the sight of the numbers written on it. "I'll change the equation. I'll break your Loom."

He Who Remains lifted a finger in protest. "Um. . . but the Loom prevents a brutal war where nothing survives, Loki. Not even the Sacred Timeline." He stood as well to prove his point further. "Okay, let's try it this way, every... every moment of peace you've ever experienced was yours because I was here. Alone, at the end of time, keeping watch."

"I understand."

"But you want to break the Loom. What do you think would happen to your friends? To Jimin?" he added, watching knowingly as the woman's name caught Loki's attention. "Hmm. I made the tough choices. That's why I get the big chair. I keep us safe. Can't you see what I'm offering here. . . is mercy?"

"For me, or for you?" Loki taunted him. "No. I'll find another way."

"Okay," the other man allowed. He flicked the Tempad once more so the women returned. "And around and around and around we go. Let's see it. Make the hard choice. Break the Loom and you cause a war that kills us all. Game over. Or—" He gestured to the blonde. "Kill her, and we protect what we can."

Loki walked slowly up to her. It would be so easy to sacrifice the Variant of himself for 'the bigger picture.' She was vulnerable now, unable to fight back. But that wasn't who he was anymore. He glanced back at Jimin, her face void of expression as she sat frozen in the chair. He also knew that wasn't something she would stand for, either. She'd said that S.H.I.E.L.D. fought for the good of the world. She'd undoubtedly had to make her own hard choices, yet she still remained a good person. Because of this, he knew there was another way. Saving the universe didn't have to end in more bloodshed and pointless murder, like he might've chosen once upon a time.

Glancing back at He Who Remains, the Asgardian Time Slipped to a different time and place entirely.

✧✧✧

After his talk with Mobius, he reappeared in another room. Once again, he wasn't alone as there was a short, Asian woman who stood by the door. He was back in Chrono Bay Three when they had been slipping through time uncontrollably. He was standing by the recording device which he knew would play He Who Remains' voice if he chose to press the button. However, his focus was on something— someone else this time, as it should have been the first time.

Loki abandoned the sound system and moved towards Jimin, whose eyes were still closed. She only opened them once he was a few feet away from her. Looking a little embarrassed that he'd caught her moment of weakness, she hastily brushed some of her hair out of her face and straightened.

"I wasn't having a mental breakdown," she insisted, though it was such an obvious lie that neither needed to point it out.

The Asgardian didn't remark on her excuse but continued to gaze at her with such soft tenderness that she eventually had to look away from him. He could see her nervous swallow as her eyes occasionally flicked back to met his, though they never held his gaze for long. She let out an uncomfortable cough. "Um. . . why are you looking at me like that?"

Loki didn't answer right away. Instead, his hands came up to hover carefully on either side of her cheeks. When she didn't pull away, he held her face between his palms, his touch so gentle that, if she'd been a more emotional person, it might've made Jimin cry. The look on his face certainly would have— full of longing and regret, and she got a horrible feeling that he was saying goodbye. Finally, he responded to her question, his tone so soft she would've missed it if the room hadn't been so quiet already: "because I might never have the chance to again. Because this Timeline isn't meant for us. Because I should've said something sooner, and now I'll— we'll never know what might have been."

"Wh-what are you talking about?" the brunette asked, surprised at how her voice cracked.

His gaze caught hers and now she couldn't look away, not when the emotions swimming in his emerald eyes made her heart ache in her chest as if she'd already lost him. "Awhile from now, I'm going to have to make a choice. Our plan to stop the Timelines from collapsing will fail, and there's only one way to keep everything together— me."

"If this is your god complex talking, I swear—" she began, almost angrily as her eyes flashed with objection.

"I promise you that it's not. The Loom— which you'll soon learn about— can only handle so many Timelines. There has to be someone to monitor all of them, someone with enough power to keep them in check."

Jimin shook her head, which was still between his hands. "Loki, no. There has to be another way—"

He sighed. "I wish there was, darling, but there isn't. Trust me, I've tried more times than I care to count. There's nothing else we can do."

If this were any other situation, she would've denied how her heart skipped a beat at the endearment. As it was, she wished he had called her that sooner (even if it would have resulted in her slapping him.) She would be the first to say that she was a proud woman, but in this moment, she was not above begging. Her hand came up to grasp his wrist, as if that would prevent him from leaving.

Her tone took on a pleading edge as she offered, "let me come with you, at least. You know I was pulled from time the same as you. There's nowhere else for me to go." She paused to swallow again. When she spoke next, her voice was a mere whisper as she breathed out, "I don't know if I'm strong enough to lose someone else I care about."

If Loki's expression had been soft before, it was impossibly more fond now. "Darling, you are stronger than you give yourself credit for. It's one of the reasons why I came to admire you so much. Your bravery rivals those of the Valkyries of Asgard, and you would be counted a hero among them."

Jimin understood the weight behind such a compliment but it hardly made her feel any better— in fact, it kind of made her feel worse, knowing that she'd never get to see the place where the god she cared about was from. There was a strange prickling, burning sensation behind her eyes and for a moment, she was afraid that she was about to Time Slip. But when she blinked, she was still standing in front of Loki— except he was blurrier now, and there was a trail of wetness sliding down her cheek. His thumb came up to gently brush it away as she choked out: "I would have followed you to hell and back if you had asked."

"I know," he replied, "because you already have. Never once did you falter, even when you hated me."

She didn't want to say goodbye— not now, not ever— but it looked like she wasn't going to have a choice in this. So, she came to different decision: she reached forward and grasped his tie, pulling him down to close the distance between them. As their lips met in a desperate kiss, time seemed to stand still. The world around them faded away, leaving only the echo of their shared history and the unspoken emotions that lingered between them. It was a bittersweet moment, a collision of longing and resignation.

Loki, initially taken aback, soon melted into the intensity of the kiss. For a moment, the weight of their circumstances lifted and there was only the present— the taste of the forbidden, the warmth of the connection they shared. When they finally pulled away, Jimin's eyes were still glassy while Loki's expression held a mixture of affection and regret. The gravity of the impending separation hung heavy in the air. He caressed her cheek with his thumb once more, wiping away the remnants of her tears.

"Well, that memory will certainly keep me company for a thousand years," he murmured, as if speaking any louder would break the spell between the two of them.

The Asian woman let out a watery chuckle. "Only a thousand?"

"Perhaps we should have another just to be sure." At her weak smile, he pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, a silent acknowledgment of the shared pain. "Remember, you're stronger than you think. Whatever comes, face it with the same courage you've shown me."

✧✧✧

Loki returned to the exact time he'd been intending to: the Loom room, right as Victor Timely put his head in the aura reader. He took a minute to take in everyone who he'd become friends— or more— with over this period of time, knowing it would be the last time he'd ever see them. He had to tear himself away from the sight, knowing that if he didn't go now, it would be a lot harder to every second that passed. Still reeling from his and Jimin's emotional departure, he barely heard the others calling after him as he started down the steps. That was, of course, when Jimin also realized what was happening and began to chase after him.

Mobius' voice sounded far away even as he called out his name in warning: "Loki, hey—"

"Loki, no!" the brunette insisted, rushing down the stairs towards him.

He was already through the airlock doors though, and he used magic to seal them shut. Jimin stumbled to a halt before them, slamming her hand on the door in anguish. "Loki, please. Just open the door—"

"Loki, what are you doing?" Mobius had joined her, his words muffled by the glass.

"Loki?" Sylvie was the last person down the steps and she pressed her face against the pane.

He gazed back at the four of them, though his eyes lingered on Jimin. "I know what I want. I know what kind of god I need to be. . . for you. For all of us."

Sylvie immediately turned back the way she'd come, muttering, "I need to get out there."

Jimin's pained eyes stayed on the god as he forced the doors open with his magic. She cried out his name again as he bent double due to the force of the radiation, the sound getting lost amongst the particles of space. He straightened and, forcing himself not to look back, began to move slowly towards the Temporal Loom.

The radiation only became stronger once he made his way down the gangway. It burned through his coat the and the T.V.A. uniform, revealing his true self: a god clothed in green, with a long cape and his trademark horned helmet. Jimin remained pressed against the airlock as she watched him, even as everyone returned to the floor above. She could only look on helplessly as he spread his hands to tear the Loom apart.

✧✧✧

2012
WASHINGTON, D.C., MARYLAND

━━(⚫)━━
ˢᵃᶜʳᵉᵈ ᵗⁱᵐᵉˡⁱⁿᵉ

Jimin drove two hours every weekend to get to the countryside outside of Washington, D.C.. She needed an area where the light pollution wasn't so thick in order to see the stars better. Of course, they would never be as bright as they were when she'd been in space, but this was as good as she could get unless she left the state entirely.

Parking her car off to the side of a dirt road, she got a picnic blanket out of the back. After walking some distance to get away from the road, she laid it out on the grass in the pitch black (or, at least, as pitch black as it would get.) Then, she lay on her back with her hands resting under her head and stared up at the heavens, knowing that there was a god up there listening to her— believing more strongly in him than she had in any church-sanctioned one.

"Hi Loki," she began, her voice nearly lost to the sounds of nature around her— but she knew he could hear her anyway. "How are things going up there? Well, I suppose it's up, but maybe since you're separate from all of time and space, there's no direction."

She'd formed a habit of talking to him every week, subconsciously keeping the promise she'd made to him of them being alone together. If she had been the same Jimin who'd spoken those words, she would have wished that they had been less accurate. She told him about everything that was going on Earth, though she suspected he already knew. Still, it didn't stop her from giving her account of the events especially since he already had so many Timelines to look after; she thought he might appreciate a personal report.

"My meeting with Fury is in a few days," she continued. "He's a terribly hard man to get a hold of but at least he respects my rank. I just wish he could've found a date sooner than four months after I got back. I know he'll probably see my mission as a failure due to the fact that we destroyed time and space but I have hope that he'll make an exception."

The brunette talked to the sky until it turned light. As the sun crept over the horizon, she asked a question that had been plaguing her since she returned to her Timeline: "Loki. . . is there a universe where a Loki and Jimin end up together? Or are we doomed to only know each other on borrowed time? I know you can't respond, but just know that I'd like to think it's the former; that somewhere, some version of ourselves are probably fighting over the grocery list or something stupid like that."

She let out a little huff of amusement as she stood and folded her blanket. Looking up at the sky one more time, she commented teasingly, "I know I probably shouldn't bring this up since it'd only make your ego insufferable, but I think out of any god I could possibly meet— big or little g— you're the only one who could get me to have faith in an entity that I can't see."

✧✧✧

Far away, the god who sat at the End of Time honed in on a particular branch of the tree he'd created. It came towards him, flickering with his green magic. Thanks to a certain woman's weekly reports, he knew that today was Friday— the day she would be talking to the Director, Nick Fury. Focusing on the branch, the voices became distinct from each other until Jimin's sounded as if she were standing right next to him. When he heard her voice, his expression became pained. His grip on the branches of time tightened as his heart twisted in his chest, just as it always did whenever she spoke to him directly. 

"Hello, Director Fury. Thank you for seeing me."

"I hear you have a mission to report?" The Director was right to the point as always.

"Yes. But there's also something else that I need your help with."

"And what would that be?"

"I want to clear Loki's name."

A/n: fun fact: this is the first chapter I've ever written where I actually cried while writing it. I've written death scenes for my characters before, but I think there's something more tragic about them being separated forever while they're still alive. (Can you see why I love angst so much? Lol.)

If this makes anyone feel any better (and to answer Jimin's question), yes, there is a universe where Loki and Jimin end up together. My headcanon is that Sylvie becomes the god at the End of Time instead while Loki and Jimin return to the sacred timeline— except instead of imprisoning his son, Odin confines him to Asgard's boundaries. Loki goes to Heimdall every day (like Thor did with Jane) and asks about Jimin. Eventually, Odin changes his punishment so that he must live with mortals but without magic— particularly a certain S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, where their enemies to lovers arc resumes.

Anyway, on that happy (*sarcastically*) note, since Loki isn't getting a s3, this book is now complete! As usual, thank you to everyone who has or will read/comment(ed)/vote(d). Your support means a lot and is a major contributing factor in my motivation to finish the stories I'm working on :)

If anyone is interested in reading any more of my MCU works, I have a book called Evergreen (Bucky x OC) and Etoile (Loki x OC.) I still have a lot of work to do on them but I hope to get around to writing them later this year.