"Would I go to hell all over?

I would. For what it's worth.

-Mythic the Musical

For a while, after he escaped capture in New York with the Tesseract, Loki had imagined that he might be able to keep it. And for a while shorter than that, he allowed himself to fancy what he might do with it. With the object's immense power, it would be easy to enslave a planet and bow it to his will. But he'd already tried that once before, and it had ended with him broken and in shackles. Besides, there was something so unpleasant about the way manipulation contorts the faces of the innocent, something so unlovely about being a ruler only loved and respected and feared because of a glowing blue box.

No, there had to be a better use for this cube of unimaginable power. Perhaps he could use it as a currency…or a bargaining chip.

He'd used his magic to hide himself away in the mountains of Earth, where he planned his next move. With the Tesseract, eventually he would find his way into space, but for now, he sat in the sapphire glow radiating through his unassuming log cabin and plotted.

It was on one of these unremarkable days when the door—unlocked, of course, because who would dare to interrupt a god while he's plotting?—to his humble human accommodations slammed open, announcing the arrival of a visitor.

Loki did not raise his eyes from the star maps floating in front of him, projected from the soul of the Tesseract currently resting on a weathered dining table. At first, he assumed that the visitor was his brother, come to drag him on another escapade or to arrest him. But the moment he heard the voice, he knew it was something else entirely.

"Loki of Asgard."

"Ah, the Star-Spangled Captain graces me with his presence." Loki glanced at the man's imposing reflection in a dull silver decoration on a nearby table, examining him without giving him the dignity of his full attention. Strange. The Captain seemed much older now that he had during their last encounter in New York. Loki casually indicated to the Tesseract, listening closely as the Captain's booted steps closed in behind him. "I suppose you'll be wanting this."

"If you'd be so kind."

"I'm afraid I can't do that. And I think you know that. So, what army have you brought this time to stop me? Another Hulk? Or have you come alone, thinking you could defeat me without the assistance of your band of pathetic Earth warriors?"

The memory of his most recent encounter with these men—what they'd called the Battle of New York on Earth's communications—burned freshly in his mind. Bitterness filled his mouth at the thought of his defeat. Captain America, without being invited and without an air of pretense, helped himself to one of the dining table's many chairs.

"I wouldn't flatter myself to think I could beat a space wizard like you, though I'll have you know I just defeated Thanos."

"You…What?"

"Bit of a long story, really. The upshot of it is this. I need that stone. So, I'm here to make a deal."

Loki had only just slipped out from Thanos' control himself. He was a God. If Thanos had been here, if The Avengers had so much as thought about Thanos, then he would have known it. No, what this man was saying was impossible. He scoffed, a pale defense against doubts that slithered into the back of his mind and sunk their fangs in deep.

"You couldn't have defeated Thanos."

"Well, I didn't do it on my own."

"I don't believe you."

He couldn't believe it. Even with the knowledge of The Cosmos on his side, with all that he knew about magic and sorcery, it was an unbelievable feat. No one could defeat Thanos, especially if he was after The Infinity Stones. And it was foolish to try.

The Captain offered a long, weighty sigh, and rose to his feet.

"I don't like using this thing, but here."

For the first time, Loki noticed the case he carried, a silver box that he opened to reveal stones. Infinity Stones. Picking up the yellow one, he pressed it to Loki's head, an action so shocking and sudden he couldn't even flinch before the stone's power overtook him.

In that moment, he saw visions. So many visions. Loki in a cell. You must be truly desperate to come to me for help. Loki giving himself up for the cause of the Nine Realms. Loki impersonating his father. Loki and Thor watching their father give up his ghost. The battle against Hela. Him, sacrificing his own life to save the people of Asgard against the titan Thanos. That time, the sacrifice stuck.

He saw more, though. More than he wanted to see and more than his mind could truly comprehend, of how The Avengers teamed up to manipulate time and save the universe from Thanos, of how recovering the stone from him after he'd escaped following the Battle of New York was part of the plan to set the universe to rights.

When, finally, the stone released him, Loki could barely breathe. He gulped in air and clutched the nearby table for support as Captain America looked on with piteous eyes.

"Your brother would want me to have that stone."

"Those visions could be false, images conjured up to make me malleable. You think I haven't tried that trick before?" Loki choked, still struggling to control his racing heart and mind. After all, he'd just seen a mirror of his life, of his future. It was a lot to process.

"Yeah, I had a feeling you'd say something like that," the captain locked the case with some kind of lock that not even Loki's magic to penetrate. For a brief moment, he considered using the magic of the Tesseract to influence this man and bend him to his will, but the impulse passed when he spoke again. "Which is why I'm prepared to make you a deal."

"A deal with Earth's mightiest hero. Consider me flattered."

He wasn't flattered. Not even a little bit. But he was intrigued. If Captain America had come here, unarmed, with Infinity Stones that Loki could have easily stolen, then he had to have a pretty incredible bargaining chip.

"You give me that stone, and I'll use this to give you what you've always wanted."

"And what is that?"

Touching a pad on his utility cuff, the man called up a holographic projection. Projections of broken, lost faces. Destroyed families. Decimated cities. Somehow, Loki knew that this was Thanos' handiwork.

He wasn't one for compassion, but he knew what it was like to feel like a puppet, a plaything of the Great Titan. The sight of children screaming out for mothers who would never again answer twisted the space where his heart used to be.

"With the galaxy torn apart, there are refugees," the Captain said, letting the images do their bloody holographic dance through the air. "People desperate for a home. For a place to belong." The intruder's eyes met his, and Loki felt the quiet confirmation of truth settle uncomfortably around his shoulders. "I think you know something about that."

Loki gave only the slightest of nods in response.

"Why I see it, what we're going to need is a system of new planets, a place to house all of those people and give them a fresh start. And one of those planets, the first of them, is going to need a leader."

"You despise me," Loki hissed, mostly to give him an excuse to stop feeling anything for the poor creatures currently projected in the air around him. He turned himself away from compassion and towards suspicion instead. "You saw what I did to your pathetic little planet and its people."

"I did. But I also know you tried to save people from Thanos. Maybe not in this timeline, but in one of them. In the timeline I'm from, you gave your life to protect the refugees of Asgard, to protect hope in the universe. And, maybe more importantly, your brother believes in you. He believes that you'll be a good and just leader."

"And if I'm not?"

"Well, now we have more than a few space friends who would be more than happy to dethrone you and put someone good and just in your place. Captain Marvel? The Guardians of The Galaxy? Ever heard of them?"

The Guardians of the Galaxy, he'd never heard of. But Captain Marvel was a name that shook him to his core. There weren't many beings in the universe he feared, but her…he did not want to cross.

Not that he planned on it. He'd make a better king, a better ruler, than Thor or his father or Hela or any of the ones who came before him ever could have hoped to become.

"So, a planet and a people to lead in exchange for that box. If you agree now, I'll take you back to my timeline. It'll be as if you never left, only this time, you won't just be a prince. You'll be a king. If not, then…" Captain America's hands shifted on the box containing the Infinity Stones, a subtle threat. "Well, we'll have to do this the hard way. What's it going to be? And make it quick. I've got a date I've got to make."

Loki wasn't one for bargaining. Unless, of course, he won. Plucking the Tesseract from the dining table, he cradled it in his hands. "I agree to your terms."

"Hand it over."

He almost did just that. But he wouldn't have been Loki, Trickster God and Lord of Lies if he didn't have one final trick up his sleeve.

In those memories of his future, one constant remained: no matter where in the galaxy he went, no matter how many victories he won or battles he fought, he'd always been alone. It occurred to him that he no longer wanted to be alone.

And...It probably wouldn't hurt to have a human bargaining chip should the Avengers ever decide to try and invade his new kingdom.

A slippery smile slithered across his lips. "But Captain, there is one last thing."

"And what is that?"

"I shall require a Queen."

First Chapter! This is my first Tasertricks fic and I'm so excited about it! I hope you all like it. Now that The Avengers are dealing with time travel, writing stories is a little tricky, but I've loved writing this one so far. Please leave me a review and let me know what you think!