Chapter Eight: Equivalent Exchange

The world froze, an unnatural silence draping over them. All around, stood the figures of the Chitauri and Avengres, faces suspended in a mixture of expressions. The only two who seemed free to move were Loki and Thanos, still locked in their deadly combat.

A heartbeat passed, and Loki smiled at Thanos, a wicked thing that caused even the Mad Titan to pause. He brought up both hands, wrapping them around the blade that pierces him, and as he gripped it the dark sword shattered. Grin never ceasing, he got to his feet, apparently unencumbered by the wound that still bled freely.

"You…" Thanos growled, for the first time seeming completely taken aback. He glanced from side to sie at the stationary world about them. "What have you done."

"Merely evening the playing field," Loki replied, wiping the blood away from his mouth, "A set point of fate has been altered, and without it all of time and space will collapse in on itself. In every way this could have played out, we were the constants, and so it is for us to decide whether the universe reverts back to its original course, or whether a new chart is coursed. And that, of course, depends on whether you live or die."

Loki held Thanos's gaze. It was almost funny, the contrast the slender Asgardian held up to the Titan, but Loki's conviction did not waver. Thanos let out an ugly laugh.

"You think you can defeat me? Even without the power of these gems, I am an immortal, and you are nothing but a worthless Jotun runt."

"You are an immortal outside of this pocket universe," Loki corrected, "Both your immortality and the infinity gems are tied to the reality we have left behind, and therefore hold no sway here. You were, however, right in at least one account." Loki's smiled in a razor sharp way. "I am a Jotun runt."

And with that, he launched himself at Thanos, allowing his Aesir form slip away. His ability to shift skins was linked to a magic that was not his—most likely Odin's—and therefore, had not vanished with the rest of his magic. As for the daggers of ice that curled into existence…well, he may have traded away half his soul, but at least he had retained his birthright.

Even without his powers, Thanos was a formidable enemy, striking with all the viciousness of the damned. He did not have a weapon now, but needed one no more than the Hulk did. And despite Thanos's bulk, he struck with lightning speeds, leaving Loki on the defensive far more than he should like.

The first blow to make contact belonged to Thanos, and it sent Loki flying through the air before landing an arm's breadth from where Mjollnir lay, unmoved since Thor had lost his grip on her. Loki's weakened body lay winded, unable to fight the natural attempts to call upon a magic that was no longer there. Thanos was approaching now, seeming unfazed at all by the fight.

Thanos brought down a heavy boot on the arm and hand nearest him, and Loki just stopped himself from screaming as bones snapped and grated against each other. There was no time to think, no time to stall, and almost out of instinct he felt his free hand reaching forward and wrapping around Mjollnir's handle.

"You call for the Thunder God's hammer?" sneered Thanos, not letting up in the slightest while seeming to enjoy Loki's pathetic attempt. Loki ignored the taunt, fingers steadying against grooves made by a familiar hand.

Please.

And with what little strength remained in him, Loki pulled.

The effect was instantaneous. An electric feeling rushed through his limbs, almost jolting him with a rebound as Mjollnir hummed to life. He laid a blow perfectly on the limb that Thanos was using to crush his left arm, and with a roar the titan stumbled back, leaving Loki crouched and holding the hammer. It was…lighter, than he would have thought, and he did not know at what point he had been deemed worthy, but for the moment it did not matter.

Thanos was done playing.

The Mad Titan entered the fray once more, eyes blazing with murder, and in them Loki saw his death. He was fast and clever, even without his magic, and with the aid of Mjollnir he would last longer, but everything Loki was, Thanos was more. Blow after punishing blow, and all Loki could do was remain on the defensive, dragging out their fight until the very end.

It took a blow to his injured stomach that finally forced him to lose his grip on Mjollnir, and he nearly collapsed where he stood. The Titan was going to have none of that though, catching him by the heck and pinning him against the nearest column. The fingers clamped down, almost hard enough to break his neck.

"How pathetic," the Titan crooned, "Even with an army behind you…even worthy of that thrice-cursed hammer, and you still lose. But in the end, you will always lose. It is your nature."

"No…" Loki wheezed, barely able to get the words out beyond his mangled throat. "No. Your eternity…ends here."

Thanos's eyes narrowed for half a second, before growing wide as he realized his mistake. They two were the constants of this path of fate, but there was a third constant that he had overlooked.

With a furious yell, Thor was upon the Mad Titan, wielding Mjollnir where Loki had so strategically left it behind. The Thunder God was no villain. He took no time for words, for gloating, for pride. All it took was one fell swing of his hammer, and then the sound of Thanos's skull cracking beneath the blow. Loki felt the pressure on his throat lessen and he slid to the ground, coughing heavily.

Thor, with the full might of the God of Thunder, unleashed all his fury upon the monster that had so threatened the worlds. By the time he was finished, the air smelled rank with that of charred flesh, and the Titan at long last lay dead, blue eyes faded to nothingness.

Thor took only long enough to make sure that the monster was indeed dead before rushing to Loki's side, and helping his younger brother back to his feet.

"You played possum well," Loki congratulated him, voice rasping through a damaged neck. "That was…well timed." Thor did not hesitate, enfolding his younger brother in his arms.

"I thought you were dead," he mumbled, "I saw you die before me."

Loki chuckled, sadly. "Your eyes did not deceive you, Thor. I am dead. Or dying."

He heard Thor breath in sharply, but he stopped him before he could speak another word. "The universe is realigning itself to the new outcome. When we are returned to the regular flow of time, I will die. There is simply no other way about it."

"But why Loki?" Thor asked, refusing to let his brother go for even a second. "You could have lived."

"No, I could not have," Loki replied gently, allowing his body to sag further into Thor's embrace. The world around them was beginning to flicker, returning to its normal hues and saturations, bringing with it all the pain that came with the mortal blow he had received. "The Fates are cruel to us, brother. There was no universe in which we could fight side-by-side. No world in which you lived. I did not like that outcome, so I decided to change it."

"But Loki…to change a set point…"

"Is impossible," Loki supplied, voice fading as the words went on. "And so, in order to make the necessary equivalent exchange, the impossible must be offered in return."

"I do not understand…"

"I was worthy Thor," Loki whispered, "I did the impossible, and I won. I changed. My magic…my life. The component parts of the exchange mean nothing when viewed to that whole."

"The Fates have changed, brother, and we are all free now. You are free to pursue the life that would have been stolen from you. So go, marry Jane or marry Sif. Have a family. Defend Asgard, defend Midgard. Make a new legend. Make it a good story…for me."

As he spoke those words, the world snapped back into focus, full light, color, sound rushing in with full chaos. Thor could not hear any of it, as Loki sagged dead weight into his arms. For a moment, he could not speak, could not think, but could only feel his brother's heartbeat slowing. Realizing that their moments were numbered, he crouched to the ground, cradling Loki gently in his arms. His brother's green eyes remained open, not so far gone yet, but slowly losing their light.

"What just happened!?" Thor wasn't sure which of his shield companions spoke, but in an instant they were beside him, trying to take in the scene before them, from the turncoat Chitauri army, to the dead titan, to the thunder god cradling his dying brother in his arms.

"Miss Romanoff," Loki rasped. Suddenly Natasha was there, by his side, looking determined but not uncertain. "You must…care for them. Lead them well."

"I swear it," Natasha said. It seemed to be the only thing Loki needed, as his eyes wandered back to Thor.

"Are you crying brother?" There was laughter in that voice, even as he struggled for breath. "Warriors do not cry."

"It is as you said then," Thor replied, voice choked with tears. "Things truly are changing." Loki chuckled at that, but a spasm wracked his body suddenly. When the torment had passed, he lay completely limp in Thor's arms, with barely the strength to keep his eyes open.

"I will write a good tale," Thor promised, "But it will be incomplete without you there to live it with me." It was clear now that Loki was fighting desperately to remain conscious, but something in his eyes whispered peace. "It is all right, brother, I will stay until you sleep. Rest now, and know…" his voice choked, just a little bit, but he returned again with tones of absoluteness. "Know that I love you. That I never stopped loving you, and that I never will."

In the fight with Thanos, Loki's body had taken on severe damage, so it did not take more than three breaths after closing his eyes for the last time that his chest stilled.

A moment of silence followed, as each of the Avengers tried to gather their thoughts. Tried to think of exactly what to say. Only Thor seemed to know. The god of thunder gave a cry that filled the air, piercing each member to their core. They had seen Thor sad before…seen him disappointed and angry. But the look of such agony was a new look, and there was nothing in the world that could change that. Loki was gone.

Natasha was the first to remember their situation in its entirety. She turned to the nearest Chitauri, which was watching the scene unfold with expectant looks.

"Mother?" It hissed, looking hopefully at Loki's still figure.

"Mother is dead," Natasha told it bluntly.

For a moment, the Chitauri did not seem to comprehend this. After several seconds, they followed with a tenative, "Why?"

Natasha didn't rightly know herself, so she answered to the best of her abilities. "Mother died protecting you. And now, as her successor, it is my job to protect you as well."

"My first order will be declaring my successor. I have designated Captain Steve Rogers to take my place, should any harm befall me." She ignored the look that Steve was giving her, making sure that the Chitauri followed and agreed. "Now, do you know how to pilot these ships?"

"Of course." She almost quirked a grin at that. It seemed that the Chitauri had also gotten a bit of sarcasm from their interaction with Loki.

"Then set at chart for earth. We're going to need a line back to SHIELD so that nobody shoots us out of the sky." With that, she began making their preparations to return to earth, leaving Thor to grieve.

The man had not moved, still clutching his younger brother's bloodied form, rocking it back and forth as though soothing a child to sleep. Steve put a hand on Thor's shoulder, but he was already rising, still holding the still body clutched in his arms. He did not try to hide the tears, nor that he spoke aloud words that would never be answered.

"It is time to go home, Little Brother," he said, still choking on the words, "To Midgard. To Asgard. And there, we will tell a new tale…but not one new to you. It's a good story, about how a God of Mischief challenged the fates and won. It's the story about how Loki Odinson saved us all."

AN: Well, that wraps up that story. Thank you to everybody who has followed despite my hiatus, all the followers, favoriters, and reviewers. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

In case something didn't make sense:

The 'impossible' was facilitated by Loki actually changing, but the individual components were more technical. Thor's death was imminent, a central point in fate, and alternate route that Loki could find would have led to his eventual death at the hand of Thanos, regardless if he had stayed on Earth or Asgard or come along. In order to change that, he had to create a situation where there was at least a fifty-fifty chance that Thor would live. Freeing the Chitauri was integral, or they would have been slaughtered no matter what. Then finally, when it became clear that Thor would still die, the only way to stop it was to exchange one life for another, which is what triggered the show-down. At that point, the odds were evened, and the outcome was then contingent upon Thanos's death. If Thanos lived, he would have killed Thor and the other Avengers, therefore making his death the only possible outcome where Thor would live. So in the end, the physical sacrifice was first Loki's magic, then his life, both of which constituted the more intangible sacrifice in that he was actually able to change.

A special thanks to Ordis, Destiel101, anastacianott, SailingFXGold, InfinitelyBoredForTheMoment, Callisssto11, ebonypol, Violaze, BaraKiryuHuntress, ninjaloki, sirensbane, Illustriousgiraffe, ZoiLATC10, and Teglan for your reviews. They are very much appreciated. :)