Summary: Although the Aether is no longer inhabiting Jane, it bled into her mind, burdening her with knowledge and power she can make no sense of. She is no longer the Jane Foster everyone once knew – no longer the woman she once was. She is lost, confused, and alone with only a rejected god for company, which is why it is no surprise that they find comfort in each other.

Serendipity, n.
An unplanned, fortuitous discovery; a combination of events which are not individually beneficial, but occurring together to produce a good or wonderful outcome.

Life is short, Jane realizes.

After the events of the Dark Elves and Asgard, she understands now just how weak she truly is. Seeing Thor flying through the red hurricane of power that she once held, she knows immediately that she cannot give the Norse god what he seeks. She can never be a Queen to those she does not understand and she can never give up her studies. She is bound to her duty, just as Thor is to his people, to look to the stars and find a way to unlock their secrets.

And she never forgets the red, the pain, of the Aether. So much knowledge yet...she could not understand any of it. Although she no longer is possessed by the Aether, it's time within her, no matter how short, had lasting effects. There are voices that speak to her in languages she does not understand and it shows her images of places she has never been. She knows it will help unlock the mystery of the stars, but she strays from trying to comprehend what the leftover whispers say because they will only drive her mad. And when the whispers are in English, they only help further her resolve to never touch the power that still remains within her.

The Aether gave her so much and took too much in return.

"Miss Foster."

She whirls around and standing before her is no other than the God of Mischief, Loki. Her surroundings change into a place she loathes and tries to forget, for it brings memories that she tries to never recall. All around her and under the dark skies of Svartálfheim, with the remnants of war from thousands of years ago all around them, the green in his eyes manage to stand out, shining like a beacon through the night.

"...Loki."

They are not far from each other, but they are not close. Yet, she sees him tilt his head at her, his eyes digging into her soul, seeing farther and farther than anyone has ever seen. "...You are not the Midgardian that my foolish brother knows, are you?" There is a twisted smile on his face, his emerald eyes shining with a sadistic gleam. "You've changed, the Aether saw to that."

She last saw him die here, protecting Thor – and her – from Malekith. He's dead – gone, like dust in the wind. "You're dead." This is a dream.

The smirk on his face grows as his voice deepens, thickening with annoyance and satisfaction. "Am I though, Miss Foster? Do you truly think I would die in such simple...ways? That I, a God, could succumb to death that easily?" He takes a step forward, yet she cannot find it in herself to be afraid, to step back in fear. "Or perhaps I am a construct of your feeble imagination to find comfort after a traumatic experience?"

He now looms over her, his tall frame far too big for her small stature. But her eyes held no fear, no anger, no sadness – she simply stares into Loki's green eyes and for a second, she thinks she sees a hint of interest, but before she can say anything, the dream ends.

Yet, she can still hear his last words as her eyes open, "Such a strange creature."

Jane finds herself staring at her reflection, noticing the changes from that day. As she ignores the pulses of pain in her body and the phantom aches in her bones, she sees the dark, heavy bags under her eyes and the flashes of red in the plain brown.

Ah, there it is again – another flash of red.

Is it her mind playing tricks on itself?

But...there is no time for her to remain hidden in the deep recess of her mind because if she continues down that dark path that tries to welcome her with open arms, there will be no turning back to the present.

Ever.

"You've returned."

"And you're still dead if I recall correctly." She scoffs as her hands rest on her hips. She now stands in the Throne Room she once saw on Asgard, before her life went to hell. It is beautiful, yet the damage that she remembers still lingers – there is rubble everywhere and all along the tall pillars as the large hole in the side of the palace is still under repair.

"Yet, here you are, speaking to me." Loki sits at the golden throne, a spear in one hand and a glass of some liquid in another. He swirls the drink in his hand before he takes a sip of it, not truly paying attention to Jane. "To what do I owe the pleasure, Miss Foster?"

Before she can come up with a somewhat decent answer to Loki's question, a pain flares from within her. It is excruciating, and it is as if liquid fire is burning through her veins – she tries to hold back the scream building up in her chest but it is pointless. Her throat is raw with her screaming, the pain she feels reminiscent of the powerful Aether that she once held within her. She screams and scream, not aware of her surroundings, and she cries.

Why can't she wake up? Why won't her mind let her open her eyes back to reality?

When the burning dies down, clearing her mind, she opens her eyes to large green ones that look down at her in curiosity. They hold no concern for her well being – something she is not shocked at because, well, it is Loki who looks at her – and he offers her no hand when she slowly pushes herself to stand once more. He stands not even a foot away as he continues to unnerve her with his emerald eyes, darkening with interest.

"If you're done staring, Loki," she mutters sarcastically, a hand resting on the pillar next to her as she catches her breath, ignoring the fact that not even a second earlier, she had been screaming for her life. She would like to think that her brain, as smart as it is, would be able to create a better person as comfort, yet here she is, standing with the one person she does not care for.

"It seems that you continue to struggle with the aftereffects of the Aether." Loki shrugs. "Which is to be expected, because you are a Midgardian. You having even held an Infinity Stone is a mystery all on its own." He smiled once more and this time, there is no anger in it – it is simply an amused smile with a hidden agenda. "I wonder – what's so special about you?" he asks, his malicious grin growing with every second. "What power lies beneath that dull, human frame of yours?"

Mustering all the strength she has remaining, she growls at the Norse god, "You're a monster."

He responds with a smirk – the corner of his mouth slightly raises as his eyes narrow, looking at her with a condescending glint in his eyes. He waves his fingers in a goodbye as she fades away, her dream ending.

Months become years when she next hears from Thor, and it is then that she ends their relationship – if one could call it that. With no surprise, he is angry and confused, not truly understanding that Jane does it not just for her, but for him. She knows his people will never accept her and that his father, Odin, to this day, refuses to acknowledge her existence. As much as it saddens her, she does not miss the weight on her shoulders that came with the relationship.

And so, she continues her studies, as her resolve to create an Einstein-Rosen Bridge that will connect Earth not just to Asgard, but to other civilizations that she knows exists, becomes the main focus of her life.

But Jane fails. Over and over again, she fails, never having the exact calculations right or having the right resource to power her machines. With every failure, she falls further into her mind as the traitorous thoughts she once was able to keep away bleeding into her mind.

Just one look, they say.

Loki quickly becomes a staple in her life as the months pass by; whether either of them want to continue their meetings, though, that is the question. Most times, they ignore each other, as Loki speaks to invisible figures Jane cannot see. She will simply sit there on the steps of the Throne Room, trying hard to calculate the numbers to create an Einstein-Rosen Bridge or to ignore the loud voices in her head.

But today, she finds Loki alone.

"Why do you continue to call to me?" He marches up to her, his cloaks spread out around him, impatience clear with each step he takes. "I have places to be, a kingdom to rule – I simply do not have the time to drop everything at the whim of your mind, Miss Foster."

"But–" Jane gives him a confused look. "You're not real."

He freezes for a second before throwing his head back to laugh, unnerving her. "You still hold onto the notion that I am not real? How many times have we met, Miss Foster?"

"I…"

"Through our dozens of meetings, you still believe me to be dead?" When he takes a step forward, she takes one back, and they continue this dance until her back hits a wall and he is merely inches away from her face. "Use that decent brain of yours. At this point, do you truly believe that if I were dead, we would be meeting like this? If so, then I am sorely disappointed; I had imagined you to be much more intelligent than that."

Gulping, Jane looks up, meeting with his eyes, and from the back of her mind, a whisper that is not her own says, no. She tries to deny it, but there is a part of her that has always known, simply in denial at the fact that Loki is alive from the moment she had her first dream of him. That he didn't die on Svartálfheim and that Thor, once again, pointlessly mourned for a brother who had deceived him.

And that her dreams were not dreams at all.

As the realization hits her with full force, fury and disbelief rush through Jane's veins. The control she has over her emotions are stretched thin as it is, but with this new information, the threads snap and she does the only thing she can think of, as rash and idiotic as it is.

She slaps the God of Mischief.

The crack of skin against skin rings across the empty hall as pain laces up her hand. Her palm is bright red, yet, when Loki turns back to look at her, his face remains as immaculate as ever, not even an eyelash out of place.

The irony does not slip from her attention – she knows that this is the exact situation she found herself in when she first met Loki two years ago, in this very spot, as she hit him for what he had done to New York and to Erik, who still has not recovered fully from what Loki had done to him.

"Ah, there it is – the fire that managed to capture my dear brother's heart." He gives her one of his infuriating smirks as he continues, "I am, in fact, alive, Jane Foster."

Loki's eyes, they show just how dangerous he truly is – and Jane sees it, the madness and danger that dance within the emerald green. He does not try to hide it; she can see how her fear of him strokes his ego even more.

"You haven't told Thor, have you?" she says, taking some satisfaction at the irritation she sees flash on his face, but when his body stills and all amusement and warmth that had been radiating off of his body disappears, it is replaced with an icy coldness that she is taken aback from. "And if Thor doesn't know...that means no one does," she ends with, her voicing dying out into a whisper. Despite ending her relationship with Thor, she knows enough about the thunder god to be able to know that he will never allow Loki to sit upon the Throne, especially with his deception of posing as Odin.

"Yes, and I'd like to keep it that way." He steps away from her and ignoring the surprising disappointment she feels at his sudden disappearance, Jane follows after him. "Asgard is prospering, the Nine Realms are no longer at war. Who is it that orchestrated that?" Loki asks her, stopping at the balcony that overlooks Asgard. "I was the one," he says with twisted arrogance.

Although it has been two years since Jane last saw Asgard – as she has been avoiding the existence of Loki and this Realm as much as possible, even if it were dreams – she still is in awe by how beautiful the realm is. The attack from the Dark Elves is nowhere to be seen and she sees Asgardians everywhere, living their lives with no knowledge that they are being ruled by a rejected prince under the guise of their king. "What happened to Odin, then?" she tries asking, although she knows that she will receive no clear answer.

For a split second, there is a flash of green and standing before her is Odin and not Loki, but when she blinks, the AllFather disappears, nowhere to be seen. "A king never reveals his secrets, Miss Foster."

Shaking her head, she sighs. "...Even in death, you still keep to your ways, don't you, Loki?"

She hears another laugh before the dream melts away, awakening her to a dull, mortal reality.

Jane is able to stay away from the voices yet, failure after failure, her strength to deny the information in her own brain breaks away, until all that is left is her sheer stubbornness, which soon disappears as well.

Just one touch, she says to herself. That is all she is willing to risk.

So in the darkness of her room, with no one around, she finds herself sitting on her bed. With no hesitation, she plunges into the tumultuous thoughts that she can never truly keep organized.

The moment she touches the red, she is lost. Lost in her own mind, lost in the information the leftover power gives to her. They give her the secrets that she so desired, the path to exploration for humankind – they tell her so much.

But they never give – there is always a cost.

"What have you done, you foolish girl?"

"Excuse me?"

Loki grabs her chin, anger and disbelief bleeding into his voice as his grip on her becomes painful. "You've awakened the Aether, somehow, and it nearly destroyed its container on Knowhere!"

"Nowhere?"

"Knowhere." Growling, he presses the issue at hand. "I will ask once more – what did you do?"

I…" Jane closes her eyes and immediately, images and languages that she now understands flood her mind. "I listened. I had all this knowledge inside of me and so...I simply listened to what the leftover whispers said."

He remains where he stands for a second and with no forewarning, he places a glowing hand against her forehead. Immediately, as if cold water had flooded her system, the veins in her body feel as if ice were slushing through it. She wants to pull away, yet she finds that her body refuses to respond – she cannot move a finger if she wants too. But as soon as it begins, it ends, and when Jane feels warmth return to her limbs, she shoves Loki away at the first possible second. She glares at him as she takes tries to catch her breath, her chest heaving as if she just ran a marathon, her body aching.

"W-What did you just do to me?"

Loki stands before her, his face hidden by the hair that falls across his face, which had been carefully combed a second prior. She is used to seeing his hair pulled back, his curls somewhat tamed – yet, seeing him this disheveled…

"Your mind rejects me." Finally, he looks up, she sees that his eyes are bright with something she cannot understand – something that scares her. "There are only a handful of beings in this universe that I cannot read and Jane, you are one of them now. I've always been able to sense the traces of Aether that it left behind in your body but…" He shakes his head before continuing, "Your DNA, from the beginning, was altered from hosting the Aether – but now that you've accepted it,.your body, Miss Foster, for a lack of a better word, is no longer human."

"No longer–" Jane groans into her hands. "–human? What the fuck?" She pushes the palms of her hands against her eyes as the overwhelming urge to scream, to cry, to do something, builds up in her chest.

This is some kind of joke, she thinks.

"What the hell am I, then, if I'm not human?" she asks, mostly to herself. When she pulls her hands away and tries to blink away the tears, she looks up to sees that what answers her question are eyes that, underneath the madness and anger that embodies Loki, look at her with a sliver of pity and understanding.

But what terrifies her is the intense hunger that lies within them.

Jane knows that she should tell someone that Loki is alive and well, that he invades her dreams almost daily. He's a monster, a killer of thousands, a freaking terrorist – yet, she can't find it in her to mouth these words to anyone.

Secretly, she is scared that everyone will think she has finally lost it, that she truly has gone crazy from the chaos that is her life. So instead, she keeps her mouth sealed, never revealing nor asking about the Norse god.

She never forgets of his crimes against humanity, though. He is a monster who killed thousands in New York. But as time goes on, and when she finds herself in his company, she...remembers what she is shown. The dreams the Aether show her makes Jane realize that Loki is as much of a victim as she is, just in different ways. They both were forced into unpleasant circumstances and were coping with it in their own ways – although he copes with it in ways she will never forgive him, lifetimes over.

But what she does know is that he isn't fully to blame for the attack on Earth, like all believe him to be. She sees the intense blue in his eyes that don't belong to him whenever he used the specter – controlling him just like he controlled others. Loki is a victim of deceit, in the sense that he isn't even Asgardian like he had been brought up as.

But that doesn't mean she will ever forgive him – what he did was wrong, unforgivable, and sick. She will never be able to overlook New York, not until the day one of them ceases to exist.

After seeing the Asgardian for the past four years, almost daily, it is no surprise that Jane finds herself...enjoying the meetings with Loki. They spend their time ignoring each other, speaking to each other, or Jane asking questions of the universe that Loki always seems to have the answers for.

It probably doesn't help that Loki is not ugly.

It's superficial of her to judge someone on their looks, but when the said person is attractive as hell and has the intelligence that he seems to possess, she knows there is no point in even trying to deny it. Loki may be the polar opposite of Thor in everything – looks included – but Jane's stomach can't help but flutter with butterflies whenever they meet.

So instead, she tries to ignore the fact that Loki is closer than he ever was, or that she can feel his breath against her cheek when he speaks. She ignores the fact that her body is reacting badly to his presence and instead, she turns her head away in a mixture of embarrassment and anger – mostly, at herself for acting like this.

And to make matters worse, she is sure Loki knows of this and tries to use her own emotions against her – something she knows he is good at, being the God of Mischief.

"I will admit, Jane, that this is a surprising turn of events that I did not foresee." He gently picks up a few strands of her hair and begins to twirl it around his finger. "To think that I would find myself enjoying our little meetings..."

"And?" Is she being brave, or extremely stupid, for even asking that?

...Probably stupid.

Loki tilts his head, contemplating his next words. "Which means, my dearest Jane, that I don't get the overwhelming urge to kill you for your lack of respect in my presence."

"I'm supposed to be proud of that?" Her back lies flat against the wall, her hands shaking against her legs as she refused to look at him. He turns his head down and sees her trembling fingers, causing a chuckle to leave his mouth. If one didn't know him, his laugh may have sounded just that, one full of amusement. Yet, she has been around him long enough to hear the condescending tone hidden underneath the layers of dark laughter.

"You should be, Jane." He angles his head lower and, if one of them made the slightest move, their lips would touch against each other. A few seconds of silence pass between them as only the sounds of their breathing could be heard. "I wonder how Thor would think of this? I can surmise that he has no knowledge of our secret meetings, as he hasn't flown into the palace demanding my head on that hammer of his yet."

Stifling the annoyance that flashes within her at the mention of her former boyfriend, Jane grits her teeth and responds. "I'm surprised you don't know – we're no longer together, Loki. Besides, even if we were, I wouldn't report my every move to him; he doesn't own me."

Loki suddenly pulls back, but not before grabbing her hand."How...interesting. This is another turn of events I did not even consider."

"What –"

Without breaking eye contact, he places the back of her hand against his lips. They are surprisingly warm, and the moment he kisses her hand, electricity like she has never felt before races up her arm, shocking her into silence.

Typically, there is a sense of fear within her because Loki is...unpredictable. However, as he stares intensely into her eyes, the grin he gives her does not feed into her fear and instead, she senses a growing want for the man in front of her.

She tries to hide it, but Loki is always one step ahead of her. He stands to his full height as the intensity of his green eyes only grow. "I must take my leave, my dearest Jane. Until next time."

Then, he walks away, leaving Jane disorientated and alone, with a weird feeling akin to whiplash. Confusion and frustration towards herself – and Loki – cause her to slide down the wall until she sits on the floor, her head leaning against the cold marble behind her. Her heart continues to race as she tries to take deep breaths to calm herself down, the incident that just conspired between her and Loki replaying within her mind.

Something's changed between them, and Jane doesn't know what. All she does know is that if she goes down this path to discover just what it is that changed, there is no going back.

On a normal, sunny day, she gets a call from Darcy.

"Hey Darcy, what's up?" Jane holds the phone between her shoulder and ear, her hands preoccupied with a cup of much needed coffee and papers filled with equations.

"What's up – don't you know what's going on?"

She pauses for a few seconds before continuing. "Uh...no?"

"Jane, you need to turn on the news, now."

Jane is in the middle of figuring out an equation and typically, she would just say yes and ignore her best friend, but the way Darcy calls her with the urgency in her voice, she knows that something is wrong. "Did something happen?"

"I just – you need to see the news, okay? I'll be at the lab in about five minutes."

With that, she cuts the call, leaving Jane to stare at her phone in confusion. But she listens to Darcy and grabs the remote, turning on the news.

"–a sighting today at the now demolished retirement home, Shady Acres Care Home. The Avenger, Thor Odinson, stood alongside Loki, the Asgardian who engineered the attack on New York only five years ago–"

Jane slams the power button as her mind begins racing at a million miles per hour, her concern no longer about whether or not she'd have to go buy a new bag of coffee.

Why were they on Earth? Thor hasn't been sighted for the past two years and Loki – well, it's Loki, so of course he wouldn't be on Earth, not after what he did. So what the hell was going on?

But before she can even try to answer her own question, she runs to the machine that should have told her when an Einstein-Rosen Bridge was being used. Instead of seeing the numbers and alarms that should have worked, all she sees is a dead screen. Flipping the small radio-like equipment to its back, she opens the battery hatch and sees it...empty.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me–"

"I'm here!" Jane whirls around and Darcy comes running towards her, stopping when she sees what's in Jane's hand. "I...oh, that's why you didn't know. I figured–"

"What happened to the batteries?"

"...I used them for my charger."

"Darcy!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't think you cared anymore after your breakup with Thor–"

"That doesn't mean this is useless – I still need it for readings!"

Groaning, Jane nearly chucks the damn thing across the room, but holding her frustrations back, she begins rummaging for batteries as her friend points to the lone television in the lab. "Did...did you see them? From that snapchat video?"

"Yes, I did. Thor looks well."

"I guess. Did you see Loki?" Jane falters in her search at the mention of the god, but luckily, Darcy doesn't notice and continues rambling. "I just talked to Erik. He was doing so well but now that he knows Loki is alive – like, what the fuck, I thought he was dead!"

"We all did, Darcy–"

"Thor told us he died! You told us he died!"

"I guess he didn't–"

"Why?! What the fuck?!"

"I don't know!" she roars. With a bang, she slams the equipment onto the counter along with the batteries she finally manages to find. The sound it makes shuts Darcy up as Jane's breath comes out in harsh intervals, her heart heavy with the fact that she is lying to perhaps her only friend outside of Erik – who is more of a father figure, than anything. It's just...seeing Thor and Loki together, in New York out of all places...she barely feels like she's holding on. Her back still faces her best friend and feeling bad for her sudden outburst, she apologetically says, "I'm sorry but I don't know. Maybe something happened, maybe he was lying to us again. I just – I don't know, okay, Darcy?"

The former intern is taken aback at the defeat in Jane's voice, but she's a good friend and agrees with her, knowing that this is the second all-nighter Jane has pulled for her research. Without saying anything, Darcy takes the equipment from her boss and tells her that she'll put the batteries in it and that she doesn't have to worry. Then, she leads Jane to the couch.

"I think that we're all on edge, especially after the news we just got. So, pairing that with your sleep deprivation, I think you need some rest, Boss. You've been working on that one equation that makes absolutely no fucking sense for what, the past two days?"

With a chuckle, Jane nods her head. "Give or take."

"Exactly. You need some sleep, girl." Darcy pushes Jane into the pillows and covers her with a nearby blanket. "I'll wake you up in about three hours, okay?"

"...Alright." With a yawn, the tired astrophysicist mutters, "You win this time."

"What do you mean, this time? I always win!"

That is the last thing Jane hears before she is pulled into the darkness of unconsciousness.

"...Loki?"

There is no answer. She stands in total darkness, the usual Throne Room nowhere to be seen. This...this is a first. Did something happen to him?

"Loki?!"

Her scream echoes and echoes all around her, but there is no one.

It starts with the dreams.

Jane, for the past two weeks, dreams of death, of anguish, of loss, as Loki is nowhere to be seen. She sees life crumble before her, and she doesn't know why. A snap of fingers – such a simple action, yet her dreams end with the sound echoing through her, creating a sense of dread that never leaves her bones. Almost every night, she sees something new. There are changes in her dreams, the way life and battles and wars play out. Some days, she will see the Avengers fighting a ghost and defeating the enemy within a matter of minutes, saving the entire universe, and some days, she will see the Avengers killed within seconds – but they all lead to the same ending: dust, simply drifting in the wind. She does not know what to make of it. Needless to say, she's scared to go to sleep.

Instead, she keeps to her studies, but with these dreams, she is...distracted. She can no longer keep her mind focused on simple tasks because something is nagging at her, something to do with these dreams. She writes down what she sees and tries to find some sort of connection besides the dust, but she can't.

Darcy and Erik are beginning to worry for her and she doesn't know why.

"Jane."

Jane whirls around and sees Loki. She wants to laugh with joy at the fact that he was okay but something about him stops her from doing it. "...Loki?" She takes a small step forward, barely closing the gap between them, as her hand reaching out.

"He's coming." Loki finally looks up and the haunted look in his eyes causes all the air in her lungs to leave. "I couldn't – we couldn't stop him." His voice, it is so different from the smooth, deep tone she is used to hearing. Instead, his words come out raspy and damaged, which add to the anxiety building in her chest.

"Who, Loki? Who's coming?" Her heart hammers against her chest as a sense of deja vu overcomes her.

When Loki meets her eyes, she sees something within him break. The self- control he so painstakingly built over the past decades disappears as he takes a step forward and another, until suddenly, Jane finds herself staring at a dark green chest. "Thanos, Jane. I don't think anything will stop him in his conquest to find the remaining Infinity Stones." The hold he has on her tightens, but Jane awkwardly places her hands on his back, trying in some way to comfort the clearly grieving god, despite feeling scared by his change in character. "Asgard, Thor, my people – they're all gone."

"Wait –"

"Much has happened in the past two weeks, and–"

She pulls away and against the warning bells in her head, Jane places her hands against his face, forcing him to stop talking. She sees a large bruise on his neck and cuts adorn his face, while his eyes make him seem like a dead man walking. "Tell me what happened."

By the time he finishes, Jane can barely comprehend anything he tells her. The new information rings in her ears as she realizes that everything she's been seeing for the past two weeks was visions – the Aether, it had been warning her.

And now – she may be too late.

Taking a look at Loki, Jane decides to tell him of what she sees. Even if she cannot make much sense of her dreams, perhaps he can. "The voices in my head, speak of death. It's a kaleidoscope of colors that I can't really understand. But maybe...maybe you can." She takes his hand and presses it to the side of her face. "You told me you couldn't read me after the events with the Aether, but if I let you in, you might be able to. I want you to see the dreams that I've been getting, and I want you to do something about it." Chucking, Jane smiles at him. "You better not trick me again, Loki. You may be the Trickster, but if there's no universe, you can't even be that." Then, softly, she adds, "I hope you make the right choice."

Closing her eyes, she wills her mind to open to him, and within seconds, he sees everything she sees. The dreams, the snap of the fingers, the dust – what she sees and hears, he does.

And just like that, she wakes up, the warmth of his fingers still lingering on her cheek.

Jane knows that the Avengers – Loki included – have failed when Darcy and Erik turn to dust before her eyes the next day, leaving her alone in her lab.

And she knows she is next.

Yet, before she can collapse onto the ground, arms catch her. Slowly looking up, she sees a shock of green staring down at her. "Loki."

"I tried," he says, his voice breaks a little at the end.

She smiles. "I know." He guides them onto the ground as he holds onto her, her back laying against his chest. Jane watches as her legs slowly begin to turn grey, the signs of her dying. "It was faster with Darcy and Erik – they turned to dust in a matter of seconds." She looks up and sees Loki staring at her, his eyes displaying the conflict within them.

"Why is this happening to you?" His holds onto her tighter. "You were altered by an Infinity Stone – shouldn't that mean you would be left out from their effects?"

"Maybe...maybe in another reality, I survive." With all her willpower, she lifts her hand and Loki gently grabs it with his own. "In another reality, we might've had more time."

So many realities she's seen, and in all, she sees herself not with a blonde god, but with the man holding her right now. Sometimes, they are happy, and they live happily ever after, and sometimes, they don't.

She never did show him those dreams, though – the ones that made her happy and longing for more than she had.

The grey is up to her chest and within the minute, Jane knows she will die. "I'm not scared – I thought I would be, of dying." Gulping, she tearfully takes one last look at Loki. "Thank you for the past four years."

"They were four pitiful years, were they not?"

"I mean, in the beginning, they were." With a chuckle, she reminisces about the past year. "But I looked forward to our meetings. You were the only one who didn't think I was crazy, despite all my ramblings."

"...I'll find you again."

"I don't doubt that you will." With one last breath, she lets a lone tear escape her eyes. "Goodbye, Loki."

As Jane crumbles to dust in his arms, Loki feels the weight of her death in his chest. The loss he feels is heavy, and it hurts – he never expected for the mortal to mean this much to him.

Like always, he never realizes the good he has until it's too late.

Turning his head to the sky, he roars.

The loss is high and like Thanos had dreamt for, half of the universe was gone, just like that.

Loki spends the weeks after Jane's death alongside his brother and the remaining Avengers. Thor nearly kills him this time, for his deception once more, but like always, his dear brother forgives him.

Months pass until years later, the remaining Avengers find Thanos – only, he is dead. He is an empty husk of a body, the life in his eyes gone, The only thing that remains of his power is the gauntlet, still on his left arm, right where he last used it. Tony does everything he can think of to try to rip the golden glove out of Thanos but nothing works. They can't even cut the arm attached.

It's almost as if the weapon itself welded with the Titan.

One night, weeks later, Loki is alone. For once, there is no one watching him, no one lingering in the shadows to make sure he does not betray the group of humans. He goes to the dead Titan and feels for the stones in the gauntlet –

And there it is, the spark of life.

Within the Soul Stone, he feels trillions and trillions of lives, trapped in the foolish dream the Titan had held onto for so long. Loki places his hands on the stone and feels a distant pull out of the trillions, a pull that has a hint of Aether to it, which sparks suppressed emotions that he had hidden under layers of anger.

"Loki, what is this?" Turning around, Thor stands behind him, alone. "What have you plotted this time?"

"...Brother, I plan to save them all," he growls. Ignoring the sudden shout from Thor, Loki pushes all his power into the Soul Stone.

He remembers the sacrifice of the one who held the Mind Stone and of that Midgardian, Wanda. He remembers the way her power infected the Mind Stone, fracturing it until it was destroyed. The power she held – if only she were alive now.

He pushes more and more and more and Thor, instead of stopping him like Loki was expecting, places a hand on his shoulder. He looks to see his brother nod his head, understanding what it is he tries to do. "I sensed the lives within the stone too."

"Then why not try to destroy the stone?" he asks.

"I could not. The power I wield is not like yours or Mother's. I would not have succeeded, even if I were to try." Thor sees past the lies that Loki tries to say and holds up a hand. "I saw in a vision the Norns gave me, dear Brother. You made Jane happy, something I was not able to do."

"What–"

"You do this not to save the trillions of lives in the stone, but to save one – am I right, Loki?" The Trickster remains silent, which to Thor is enough of an answer. "Say nothing, Brother. I understand and I will try to help to the best of my abilities."

The two brother take a second to smile to one another before combining their powers, the sense of camaraderie intensifying the destructive energy that radiates around them.

And in a matter of seconds, there is a crack, and the sound it makes reverberates across the Universe.

The first thing Jane does is cry.

"J-Jane?"

Opening her eyes, she sees Darcy crawling towards her as Erik tries to stand. "Oh my god–"

She grabs her best friend and crushes her with a hug, Erik quickly following suit and enveloping the two with an embrace. They all cry, the sounds of ugly sobbing echoing through the lab. For nearly thirty minutes, they stay in that same position, never wanting to let go, but when Darcy makes the announcement of wanting to pee, they all laugh and detach from one another.

"Jane, look." Erik waves his hands around the lab after Darcy leaves. "It's all covered in dust."

She walks over to the various machines that take up most of the space in the room and sees there is a layer of it that covers all the machines. Spiderwebs hang from the ceiling and while there are no broken windows, when she tries to turn on the lights, nothing happens. The room remains dark, only the light from the sun illuminating the area around them.

A thought comes to mind when she sees her cellphone on the table. She grabs it and powers it on, waiting an agonizing minute for the screen to light up. "...Oh my god." She nearly drops her phone when she sees the date that appears on the screen.

"What's wrong?" Erik comes running over and takes the phone from her when she doesn't respond. "...2021."

"We've been dead for three years?" She's beginning to feel lightheaded but a familiar pressure in her mind stops her from dropping onto the ground.

She doesn't hear what Erik says and simply watches as he hands her the phone back before running into his office. All she hears is a loud buzz, her mind not really recognizing the reality of her current situation. A few minutes later, Darcy comes out of the bathroom and says something, but all Jane does is nod her head.

She spends the remainder of the day silent, the wheels in her mind slowly starting to work and catch up on what's happening. She tries to figure out what exactly happened to them all after they all turned to dust.

She doesn't remember what happened after disappearing. There was only a bright orange light for a few seconds before she reopened her eyes to the grey ceiling of her lab. And so, by the end of the day, Jane still has no idea as to what happened.

Luckily, Erik managed to turn the emergency generator back on, allowing the lab for the time being to have some electricity. They're not quite sure if the water is safe, as it comes out brown and doesn't clear up no matter how long they run the facet for, but they have bottles of water that seem safe enough to drink. As for food, well, Jane is too scared to open the fridge and any non-perishable foods they had were long eaten by rats.

So, having nothing to do, Jane simply changes into sweats and lies down on her bed, feeling somewhat better than earlier. They have a plan for the next day. They'll go into town and see what they can do about their current situation – there's bound to be more people who suddenly reappeared like them.

But when she tries to sleep, Jane tosses and turns for a good hour, unable to. Then suddenly, she senses a change in the room.

"I see it worked."

Her eyes fly open at the deep voice and she shoots up from her bed. There is only silence between her and the person standing. "Loki," she breathes out. She quickly crawls forward on her bed, trying to reach him, and he catches her in his arms. "You did it."

"It took a while."

She laughs. "Three years."

She pulls back and looks into his eyes. "I'm glad that you're...okay." He places a hand against her face and closes his eyes, his hand glowing. "Your body is no different from the day you turned to dust."

"That's...good." Jane furrows her brows as she begins thinking. "What happened after we disappeared? I figured that because you hadn't disappeared when I did, you were spared, which meant that there was a certain percentage of survivors."

"You guess correctly." Loki sets her down before sitting next to her, his cape covering her bare leg before he begins telling her of the last three years. Once he finishes, Jane is tired and she can tell that he is too.

And so, they fall asleep.

A decade passes and life as the Universe knows it returns to normal – at least, as normal as it gets. Civilizations rebuild itself across all planets and by the time everything has settled down, Jane looks at herself in a mirror and knows that it is time to leave.

The Aether, just like Loki had said, changed her. She no longer is human, and she knows because she has not aged. She would be in her early forties, yet there are no signs of aging. No grey hairs, no faint lines that would indicate wrinkles – there is absolutely nothing.

While Erik and Darcy don't say anything, Jane knows they are beginning to suspect something is wrong.

"I could always take you away."

When Loki materializes behind her, she smiles. "I know you could, but I had to finish things here." There is nothing left for her on Earth, besides Darcy and Erik. Her funding for an Einstein-Rosen Bridge was gone, the government moving all that money for rebuilding America. "I haven't aged, you know."

He nods his head. "I figured that immortality was a side-effect of the Aether."

"You know–" She turns around to look at him. "–I've dreamt of the stars all my life. I thought that with the Aether, it would give me the opportunity to travel, but clearly, that hasn't worked. And when the Thanos thing finally ended, the government forgot about me. My research wasn't worth the money because they're still rebuilding." Jane lifts her arms and rests her hands behind Loki's neck. "But that doesn't mean I'm giving up."

"Oh?" Loki cocks an eyebrow, a smirk growing on his face. "And what does that mean, my Jane?"

"Take me somewhere."

He lets out a chuckle, his own hands resting on her hips. "You've grown bold, haven't you?"

"You could say that." Tilting her head, the astrophysicist asks, "So, what do you say?"

"I say…" He leans down and stops a hairbreadth away from her lips. "Yes."

Jane smiles and Loki closes the gap between them.

A/N: I'm not happy with the ending but I've been working on this for the past month, so I just said "screw it" and uploaded this. I know there's probably a lot of inconsistencies and flaws in this AU, esp with the way powers and all that work. But I didn't bother fact-checking bc the way I wrote my story made it work, if that makes sense.

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