A/N: Takes place in the imagined time between Loki's defeat in Stark Tower and his return to Asgard at the end of Avengers 1; title taken from "Start Over" by Imagine Dragons. This is what I wish we could see in Endgame. Thank you for reading!

His cell is cold and silent.

They've left him with nothing. He still wears his armor, battered as it is. With his magic and voice bound by the metal contraption covering his mouth, he is left with only his thoughts, a far worse punishment.

Letting his head fall back to rest on the wall behind his cot, he closes his eyes. What good do they think this will do? If they truly wanted to neutralize the threat he is to their world, they should have killed him the moment they found him in Stark's tower. They will not sleep at night, knowing that he is still alive, still haunting the shadows of Asgard.

I will not sleep at night, he thinks, knowing that he is still out there, still waiting for me, still waiting to punish me for my failure –

He shakes his head to dispel the thought, but the voice of the Other still rings in his mind: you think you know pain? He will make you long for something sweet as pain!

Swallowing back a pointless growl of frustration, he leaps to his feet, intent on pacing the length of this cell, no matter how small it may be. He rakes his hands through his tangled hair.

The lights in his cell flicker.

Loki freezes in place, tilting his head just enough to glance up at the ceiling, one eyebrow raised in question. Though they do not flicker again, the red light on the security camera in the corner has ceased blinking.

So he is to have a visitor, then.

He nearly laughs when the door to his cell slides open with a quiet hiss, revealing none other than Tony Stark. The man has changed out of the ridiculous shirt he was wearing earlier, replacing it with the bland navy blue of SHIELD's standard uniform.

You look tired, Loki thinks. Tired and old, like the mortal you are. Yet again, he wishes he were free to speak what he wants. Words have always been his greatest weapon – taking them away from him now, when he has nothing else left, is the cruelest act of all.

"Alrighty, Reindeer Games," Stark says, leaning casually against the wall. "I spent hours trying to plan what I should say to you now, but I've always been best at winging it, so…" He trails off, gesturing noncommittally with one hand. "But first, let's take that thing off of your mouth."

Loki's eyes light up, a plan of escape already forming in his mind. Still, he might wait long enough to hear what the mortal has to say. There is something…off about him.

Stark approaches Loki without caution, easily finding the hidden clasps on the back of the metal band. The contraption falls away from Loki's mouth instantly. He rubs his jaw with one hand, letting his lips slowly pull into a mad grin as Stark retreats to the other side of the cell.

"Not a wise decision," he says, sitting down on the edge of his cot. "If you wanted me to truly listen to all you have to say, you would have kept that on me."

"Yeah, well," the man shrugs, "I figured you'd have questions. 'Cause you're not gonna believe a word I say anyway."

Loki laughs. "I imagine not, considering you imprisoned me earlier this day. Why the sudden change of heart? Have you come to force repentance from me with kindness?"

Stark doesn't take the bait, though Loki had been certain that he would. Instead, he rubs a hand across his eyes tiredly, sighing. "Look. Just, shut up for a minute, okay? I've been through hell – literally – these past few days, and I don't need some snarky 'god' making things worse." He meets Loki's eyes. "You have to tell the team about Thanos."

Loki flinches before he can stop himself. Panic fills him. "How do you know that name?" he hisses.

"I've met him. I fought him – we all did. And we lost. Loki," Stark says, taking a step closer, "you have to listen to me. I'm…I'm from the future. It's been six years since the Battle of New York. Thanos collected all the Infinity Stones, and he wiped out half of the universe. We couldn't stop him."

Loki shakes his head vehemently, the stiff ends of his unwashed hair whipping against his cheek with the motion. "You are not real," he mutters, closing his eyes. "You are another creation of his, come to torment me now that I have failed. Whichever child of his you are, I assure you: it is no use. I will not betray the one who – who gave me the scepter, who showed me the Tesseract's power – "

"Loki," the man wearing Stark's face repeats. "It's not him. I swear to you that I'm real."

Loki only laughs. "If you were truly Tony Stark, why would you come to me, of all people?"

"Because he's been in my head, too."

Loki's eyes fly open at that, finding Stark looking at him with such sincerity that his heart nearly stops. Is it Stark? Truly? Before he can say a word, the mortal continues speaking.

"For six years, Thanos has been the monster in the back of my head. He's the fear I can never shake. And I know what he did to you; Bruce told me. I know that he found you, after you…fell, and then he took the pain and all the rage that was in you, and he turned your heartbreak into violence." He runs a hand through his hair and pauses. "You know that he's coming for you; you didn't give him what he wanted. You just said so yourself a second ago. But if you tell the team – if you tell me, the one sitting three floors above your head right now – about him before he can find the other Infinity Stones, you can help us stop him now, before it gets to that point. You can save us all, if you just talk to me."

Loki's voice is low when he speaks. "Why should I care about saving you?"

Stark sighs. "Because you'd be saving Thor, too. And you'd be saving yourself. 'Cause honestly, Reindeer Games? Your future is miserable. I've seen it. Everything you've ever cared about – your parents, your friends, Asgard – all of that is gone."

"If you think I care about any of them any more – "

"I know you do!" Stark shouts, his composure finally slipping. "You're an idiot if you think that you've actually stopped caring about what happens to everyone you used to love. Thor is your brother, your family! You still love him. Not once have any of them stopped loving you." He takes a deep breath. "Listen, man – I know this is crazy, and I know you don't want to believe me. But there is literally nothing left in the time that I'm from. You think I'd be here if you weren't my last resort? My last hope?

"If you won't do it for me," Stark continues, "do it for yourself. Do it for Thor. He's broken, Loki. Your ridiculously happy, loveable puppy of a brother lost everything, too, and then…" He trails off, clearly uncertain. Then, resolve hardens his expression. "And then he lost you."

Loki inhales sharply. "And what exactly does that mean?"

"I'm probably interfering with the space-time-continuum by telling you this, but…I was on a ship in space, and it passed by the wreckage of an Asgardian ship. I saw you. I saw your body. Thanos came for you, but not in the way you think. He came for Thor, and all your people, first. You saved as many of them as you could by sacrificing yourself. You acted like a hero, Loki." Stark laughs incredulously. "How's that for irony?"

Silence fills the cell once more. Loki's mind reels, overwhelmed by all of Stark's words. All of his emotions from earlier – the rage, the jealousy, the fear – fade as he focuses on the truth: Thanos is coming.

Is it possible, with Thor's ridiculous team on his side, that Thanos can be stopped once and for all? Can he be free of the mad titan's influence – free to live, and breathe, and find a place in the universe once more? The thought fills him with hope, an unfamiliar feeling after all he has been through. More than that, the chance to change things as Stark says would earn him the gratitude of the Avengers – the gratitude of all of Midgard, truly. Instead of being the monster they fear, he could become something more.

I can be the hero Stark says I was – or will be, I suppose.

After several moments of turning it all over in his mind, Loki speaks. "And if I do as you say," he asks slowly, "what will become of you?"

Stark smiles, but it does not reach his eyes. "I'll be nothing but a memory – your memory. No one else will know that this version of me ever existed."

"And you are willing to pay that price?"

"I'm an Avenger, Reindeer Games. It's in the job description."

"What makes you think that the you above me right now will believe a word I say?"

"JARVIS will take care that," the mortal says, something both fond and tragic in his voice when he speaks the strange name. He continues in explanation, "He's my AI – my technological assistant. I gave him a code when I shut off the security footage in your cell; he'll give the old me no way but to believe him. Trust me."

"Trust," Loki repeats. "You trust me to do this for you, when I have destroyed so much of your home today? Enslaved the minds of your friends?"

"I told you. I have no other options." Stark glances at the ceiling, as if speaking to someone above his head. "We're in the endgame now."

The words stir something deep within Loki, though he knows he has never heard them before. They make him feel something that he has never felt before: worthy – as if he is capable of being the hero they need.

Before he can stop himself, he inclines his head. "I will help you, Stark."

The mortal's eyes light up with gratitude and relief, instantly making him look a little younger. "Thank you, Loki," he says. "Loath as I am to admit it, I'm – proud?"

Loki rolls his eyes, though a smile threatens to steal across his face. "I hope the you of old is as grateful and forgiving as you are right now."

Stark laughs, and Loki can't help but feel pleased. The mortal begins to back away to the door, waving the metal contraption in one hand. "Okay, we're not putting this thing back on. JARVIS will tell the old me that you got it off on your own somehow, because you need to talk to us."

Loki nods, smirking. "'Tis but a man-made thing, after all, not made to control one such as myself."

"We still beat you, Reindeer Games. Don't forget that." Stark points a finger at him, but he, too, is grinning. With that, he turns to go.

"Stark," Loki calls, causing him to turn back. "Thank you," he forces himself to say. "Though I will be helping you, it is you who are helping me. I owe you my life."

Stark nods, his expression serious again. "I just hope it works."

"As do I. Farewell, Tony Stark."

The mortal gives him one last smile before exiting the cell.

Loki leans his head against the wall behind him once more, noticing the red light of the cell's security camera blinking again.

Time to rewrite the story. This time, with no small amount of wonder, I will not be the villain.

In the silence of his cell, he laughs.