I wanted to bury the blade I held in my hands. Loki's blade. Perhaps the only thing I had left of him now.

While we had grown apart due to—circumstances—it didn't mean that I hated him. In fact, I had begun to see what Thor had been trying to tell me about. How Loki was not the same from 2012, whose only goal was to rule Earth. How Loki had, finally, seemed to want to do good.

I had seen it, briefly. Until the final battle against Thanos, in 2023. Until I lost sight of Loki with no hopes of recovering him quickly under all of the Avenger Facility rubble.

He's faced worse odds. Perhaps he's still buried somewhere, alive. I didn't want to believe that the Trickster God was dead. He'd played opossum a few times, a little too well I might add. Perhaps this time was no different.

Thor and Steve had offered to return with me to the facility's destruction. More pairs of eyes couldn't hurt, I figured, so I allowed it. Besides, Thor would insist no matter how many times I refused, and Steve was...well, Steve. Regardless if he was my husband or not, he would've insisted on helping in the search.

The blue skies above did not reflect the devastation we walked upon. So much debris...it was hard to accurately remember where I was walking through currently. Had it been one of our rooms? A training room? Kitchen? Lounging area? Everything had taken quite the beating, so it was hard to say.

The three of us split, searching the grounds. Debris could be heard moving around, but I knew it was either Steve or Thor. Stuff like this couldn't possibly kill Loki. The aliens or...or Thanos could. I had been pulled in so many different directions that if Loki had indeed faced the Titan, I didn't see it.

The longer our search went, the more my doubts began to grow. I had a few working theories, none of which I liked very much. Loki was either dead, unconscious somewhere under here, or had fled in the midst of battle to save his own skin. Any of the three sounded likely.

Maybe he didn't change after all. Maybe he ran to save his own hide, leaving the rest of us to deal with all the chaos. Why wouldn't he want in on it?

The birds communicating overhead did nothing to improve my mood. I tried to not get high hopes as I turned over heavy pieces of debris, in fear that if I did find Loki, I'd find him not breathing.

Time stretched on painfully. For all we knew, we could've been here for only a short while. My hands were torn up from moving debris, my fingers ached. I was mentally exhausted.

Anything? I asked Steve and Thor. Please tell me you have something, either of you.

Nothing, came Thor's tepid response.

Nothing, came Steve's somber one.

We've barely scratched the surface. We can't leave anything unturned. We'll be here for days if that's what it takes, I insisted, shouldering some debris out of my way. If I'd had the power, moving all this with my mind would've saved my body some ache.

More time passed. Again, none of us came up with anything. Not even an indication that Loki was on facility grounds. The theory that he'd fled was starting to become the frontrunner in my head.

After a time, I took a break. Steve and Thor continued around the grounds to look for clues. If I'd had the ability to track Loki by holding his blade, the search would go much smoother. Why did I have the most random combination of abilities, fire wielding and thought communication?

Anger seized me. I twirled the blade between my fingers. My mind flashed images of Loki. The good, bad, and the downright ugly of them all. There was certain an even mix of all three.

To Hell with it. Why keep this if all I see is him? I moved the weapon into one hand, had it lowered at my side. The urge to chuck it away was fairly strong.

You bloody fool, I growled mentally. Whether it was aimed at myself or Loki, it was hard to say.

I took a half-step back, eyeing the best area to throw Loki's dagger. Maybe I could throw it somewhere it would be hard to get to. Maybe with the new construction, they'd bury it for good. It's not like the weapon was enchanted...that I knew of, anyway. I wasn't sure if I would know anyhow, I didn't practice with magic. My fire and my mind ability was hardly considered magical.

I pulled my arm back, body trembling. Once I let go, I wasn't going to retrieve it. It would remain where it fell.

My arm barely began to move forward before something stopped it. Fingers clamped around my wrist, halting the momentum entirely. I turned inwards, prepared to knock whoever it was off. I'd surely apologize afterwards for whomever I hit.

"Let me do—" The last word was caught in my throat.

Staring me in the face, inches from me, was Loki. He looked at me critically, as though he were about to scold me.

"It's not nice to throw away something that isn't yours," he said rather calmly, throwing a hint of a smile in.

In shock, I dropped the dagger into the dirt, hearing it plop near us. "You're...you're..."

"Not dead, yes. Are you truly surprised, Kiara?"

Slightly, yes. When I moved, Loki dropped my wrist. I'm not imagining him, he's really in front of me. He hadn't run. But where...? The soot and dirt all over him suggested he had been somewhere on this battlefield. "You didn't run off."

"You think so little of me."

Conflicting emotions rose in me. I wanted to smack him because of the fright he'd put me through. I wanted to hug him because we hadn't lost him.

I settled for the hug.

"Stop having brushes with death, real or not," I scolded him, giving him a light smack on the back of his head. I took a step back. "Do you not realize you still have people who care about you? They will notice your absence!" I sidestepped to see Thor and Steve in the distance. I gave a whistle, waving to the both of them once I caught their attention.

I moved away, joining Steve, as Thor went to embrace his brother. At first, Loki looked like he wanted to be anywhere else, until his face relaxed. I almost believed I saw tears brimming in his eyes.

"Will you feel better now?" Steve asked me.

I continued to watch the two. "Yes, I will be. The mystery is solved, so my mind is at ease." I cast a glance at my husband. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For volunteering in the search. It would've been rather lonely if it had been just me."

"Hey, I know how much you still care about him...even if most of the time your words suggest different."

I playfully rolled my eyes, giving him a gentle nudge with my elbow.

**I know, I know, the AU says Lokiara but Stiara is still a thing. If anything, Lokiara in this setting is a brotp. Calm yourselves, please.

So, in this AU:

-Kiara was more involved in Thor's timeline of events (so she had witnessed/partook the events of TDW and Ragnarok)

-Stiara is still happily married (however, no children)

-Somehow Loki is alive (this is not 2012 Loki from when the gang Time Heisted - my theory is that he Dusted and then came back when Bruce snapped his fingers) and the Lokiara relationship has been...rocky, to say the least (even if Kiara still cares about him on some level...note: not love)

-If you don't think Loki was hella jealous when he realized Stiara was a solid pair, then you are gravely mistaken (BUT he never tried to persuade her out of loving Steve or their marriage, he in time learned to accept it for what it was)

-While Lokiara had a lot of obstacles, in the end the ship didn't sink, rather it downgraded from otp to brotp (believe me, Stiara would've still been a thing if Kiara had been in Thor's other movies...there honestly might've been more books for her series if this had happened)

Don't ask my why this came to my brain, mayhaps because I wanted some Lokiara closure and Loki closure in general for IW and Endgame.**