A/N: I think my brain is trying to prep for IW by just writing as many fics as possible. It's just so easy to speculate cause I've been a dedicated Marvel fan since late 2013 (Thor 2 is what convinced me that superheroes aren't the worst thing to ever exist, cause I had that mindset once, believe it or not. I wouldn't have been caught dead watching these movies.) and I know all these characters so well...

Apparently this is the 11th Thor fic I've posted, and every single one was written after Ragnarok. Dang. I don't think that's happened in any of my many fandoms.

Honestly, this could probably be considered an Avengers fic cause so many non-Thor characters show up, but since the focus is still Loki and Thor, I'm still posting this in the Thor section. (There is a Thor/GOTG crossover I might post in the crossover section though, I haven't decided yet. The background would take some explaining in the A/N, I think, but I'm proud of it... It might be the single most angstiest thing I have ever written.)

Loki hesitated as he approached Earth. He had been unable to create a convincing replica of the Tesseract on such short notice, but he did have practice faking his own death, so it was simple enough to convince Ebony Maw that he successfully killed Loki. After he was certain the villain had left, Loki took charge, taking what was left of his people to a safe place and hiding them away with a few people he knew to be reliable in charge. Then he left in the Commodore to do what Thor would've wanted: Protect the galaxy. And since Thor had told him about Vision, he figured Earth was a decent place to start.

But now that he was approaching the planet, his brain was just screaming "Bad idea bad idea BAD IDEA." What reason did the humans have to trust him? Absolutely none. He was probably just throwing himself into another prison. Besides, he didn't even know where to find them.

Except, maybe he did. Scans of the surface were showing a Ravager signal, the dot indicating its location blinking right alongside a dot of what could be a quinjet. That was an odd combination. For a moment, he was confused – and then he remembered hearing about some team calling themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy. They flew in a Ravager ship – if they were on Earth…

You can back out of this. They have backup, they know what's coming. You can turn around right now.

No. Keep going. For Thor.

Loki turned to the coordinates, flying carefully but quickly. No defenses tried to shoot him down – thankfully for him, Earth clearly hadn't learned that lesson yet. Not so thankful for the upcoming battle.

He parked beside the Ravager ship, relieved to see a massive "A" adorning the side of the compound. He noticed some costumed people walking out of the building – he recognized only one. Leading the group was Captain America; to his left was a young woman in scarlet leather; on his right, a long-haired man with a glinting metal arm.

Here goes nothing, he thought as he disembarked, raising his hands in surrender. "I'm here to-"

Instantly, Rogers flung his shield. It hit Loki square in the stomach, sending him flying. He tumbled across the pavement, scraping his hands as he dragged himself to a halt. "Did you not see the hands of surrender?" he gasped.

Scarlet light shot towards him, forcing him into his back and pinning his hands to the ground beside him. Rogers, shield back in his hand, planted a foot on his chest. "Why the hell are you back?" he demanded.

"To help," Loki said. "Can you tell her to ease up a bit? I need circulation in my hands."

"Don't, Wanda," Rogers ordered, not taking his gaze from Loki. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

Loki bit back a frustrated growl. "You don't. But would I really come here alone in a ship without weaponry if I wanted to conquer your world?"

"Bucky, check the ship."

The metal-armed man threw his hands up. "How the hell do I know if he's telling the truth? I've never been in a spaceship!"

Rogers sighed. "Fine, trade places with me then. But don't let him up – this is Loki."

Comprehension dawned in the eyes of his companions – clearly they had been as in the dark about Loki's identity as he was about theirs. Bucky came up on Loki's other side, putting his foot down a heartbeat after Rogers lifted his, and added the threat of a machine gun pointed at his face.

"Look, if all this was really necessary you'd have known it by now," Loki pointed out. "I'm not struggling here, I'd just like adequate breathing and blood flow."

Bucky and Wanda glanced at each other. "He's not struggling," she confirmed.

"But if this is Loki, can we risk it?"

Loki rolled his eyes. "If I wanted to hurt anyone, you would've known that, too."

The duo shrugged a little. Bucky backed off, removing his foot, but left the gun trained on him. Wanda loosened her magic's grip a little. Loki breathed a silent sigh of relief, but refrained from rubbing his tingling hands together, lest they think he was cooking up some magical plot. He looked at the woman.

"You're powerful," he observed.

"Thank you. Shut up."

Loki nodded, pursing his lips and looking at the compound. Thor hadn't mentioned the Avengers moving, and the only newbie he had mentioned was- "Where is Vision?"

Protective rage crossed her expression, the magic retightening sharply. "None of your concern," she hissed.

Oh. The robot has a girlfriend. Lovely.

Rogers returned. "He's right – the ship's unarmed. So either you're being very stupid, or you're telling the truth."

"Try the truth," Loki said. "I-"

"Wait," Rogers interrupted curiously, tilting his head. "Didn't Thor say you were dead?"

"I got better," Loki muttered. "But I need to ask you – where is Vision?"

In a heartbeat, Rogers hauled him up by the throat and slammed him against the quinjet. Loki gasped for air as his fist crushed into his windpipe. He pried at the supersoldier's fingers, but he didn't try to hurt him. He couldn't – this was Thor's friend, his dead brother's close friend, and he needed his trust. "You're just after the Mind Stone again, aren't you?" Rogers demanded, his grip unyielding. "Well, you're too damn late."

"Steve-"

"Get off of him!"

A moment later, Rogers was gone. Loki crumpled to the ground, coughing and rubbing at his throat. Then someone was hugging him, holding him so tight he could hardly breathe again. "Thank the gods, you're alive!"

Suddenly, breathing didn't matter. Loki pulled back, eyes widening as he realized who was hugging him. "Thor!" he tried to exclaim, but it only turned into a coughing fit.

Thor propped him upright, rubbing his back. "Breathe, brother. I've got you."

"Thor, what the hell are you doing?" Rogers demanded. Glancing up, Loki saw that he, Bucky, and Wanda had been driven back, their path to the brothers obstructed by Val. She backed up to Loki's side, resting a hand in his hair – the other aimed a sword at the humans.

"He's on our side," Thor growled. "Did you bother asking him that?"

"Well-"

"He didn't even come here in an armed ship! And I don't see even a speck of dirt on any of you three. If Loki had come here to fight, you would be injured."

Told you, Loki said with a glare.

"But-"

"You humans really can be petty," Thor snapped in disappointment. "While you and the others were down here fighting amongst yourselves, my brother and I were saving the universe."

"With my help," Val added.

"With her help, and Hulk's," Thor went on. "Loki has seen the error of his ways, and returned to my side. Unlike you and Tony."

"He tried to conquer Earth, Thor!"

"And I'm sorry," Loki cut in, raspy but honest. "I killed too many, and I'm truly sorry about Coulson. I shouldn't have done any of what I did. But, if you're interested, I was tortured for a year into working for Thanos, which is who I've come here to help you fight."

That made everyone pause, including the other people who had apparently come outside after Thor and Val. Exactly how many people have they recruited? It's only been a few years! "You… you were tortured for a year?" Thor breathed, shocked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wasn't in the mindset to come home, and my other options were conquer or get tortured some more," Loki said, looking at his brother.

"That's awful," Romanoff, now blonde, murmured from where she stood between Barton and a man in… a cat outfit? "But give us one reason why all of us should trust you."

Loki looked her right in the eye. "I have red in my ledger, and I'd like to wipe it out."

Memory flashed through her gaze, and she dipped her head in understanding. "Works for me. We're desperate, anyway."

"Not that desperate," Barton said, eyeing Loki warily.

"Sorry," Loki repeated.

"We are that desperate," a green woman said. "Trust me, we need all the help we can get against my father. And if we're turning away the help of former criminals, well, you can say bye to all of us Guardians."

"More than them," Bucky chimed in. Wanda was shifting uncomfortably, too, and Barton and Romanoff exchanged a glance.

"He's right," another new person broke in, an ant-like helmet tucked beneath one arm. "You, me, Natasha, Wanda, Sam, Steve – we're all technically criminals, Clint. I was one, and so were some of you. Some people saw Stark that way, too. We all got our second chances – why not Loki?"

People were nodding; the tension was fading away. Thor helped Loki back to his feet. Slowly, Val sheathed her sword.

"Looks like you're in," Stark decided, smiling wryly at Loki. "Congrats. Care for that drink before we all head off to our dooms?"

Loki laughed at the callback. Val brightened. "Booze?"

"This way," Stark invited, leading the way back inside.

"Can I have some?" a boy with a spider on his suit asked hopefully.

"No," came the resounding reply from several adults.

Val started to follow them, pausing when she noticed that the brothers weren't following. "Coming?" she asked.

"In a minute," Thor replied, still holding Loki against him.

She smiled in understanding. "All right. I'm glad you're alive, Loki."

"You too." Loki smiled back, watching her stride away. Then Thor was turning him around, holding him at arms' length, scanning him for injuries.

"When you weren't there-" he started, his voice wobbling.

Loki pulled him back into the hug he had started. "When he threw you into space, I thought-"

Thor cut him off. "We're both alive." He pushed Loki back a little, beaming proudly. "And you're an Avenger."

"I- I wouldn't go that far."

Thor clapped him on the shoulder. "You're fighting with us today, and that's what matters. Today, you are an Avenger."

Loki couldn't help but smile at the pride in his brother's tone. "Yeah. I suppose I am."

With that sentence, he accepted everything that could go wrong today. He could lose Val. He could lose his brother. He could lose his own life. He could lose everything.

But in that moment, with his brother grinning like that, it didn't matter. He just knew that he had made the right decision, and he wasn't going to trade this warmth for anything.

A/N: Midnight, if you're reading this one, I totally love that you've nicknamed me, it's not awkward. I live for your reviews. (And I'd love to work for Marvel, lol. My only problem with a Loki solo is that they'd probably have to kill Thor to do it. And I just. Can't handle that thought right now.)