According to Plan (A Loki x Reader Fanfic)

Glorious Purpose

You saw Thor send down a massive bolt of lightning with his bare, hammer-free hands into the harbor as Heimdall sent you to the next location.

You closed a gate with Banner in Mumbai, Steve in Moscow, and Natasha in Cape Town. It was all coming to a close now. Too easily? You wondered. Not that it had been a cake walk - it had taken all of you, but surely someone with this coordinated of a plan would send in bigger guns. What was their plan with opening all of these different portals? To overwhelm you? Surely they knew that the Avengers were international. Surely they knew that Earth was protected. But maybe they had to find out. Maybe now they knew.

Government agencies were showing up to event locations. S.W.O.R.D. and the UN and all manner of law enforcement. It was their job now, to sort our jurisdiction and to fight over the mess that was left behind.

Just like that the Avengers job was done and the Sokovia Accords agreement was that you move on once other agencies could take over.

You rendezvoused with the Avengers and Loki at the compound. It was time for a debrief and assessment. It was all very formal, perfunctory, by the book so that no one could complain that the heroes had done the wrong thing later.

"Easy-peasy," Stark said, he had tackled New York and Los Angeles with Strange, "Just like we're meant to do. No muss no fuss. It's all according to plan."

You weren't so sure, but you couldn't put your finger on it, and you certainly weren't going to spout your baseless worries in the face of Tony Stark's calculated confidence.

"Did anyone encounter the main two?" You asked, "Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight? Didn't Thor's contact tell us they were the ones at the top of the Black Order?"

"Yeah, but they were behind the scenes, directing this hodgepodge of galactic criminals. I know the type - cowards. Smart cowards, but they'd never be on the front lines of a fight like this," Tony's logic was sound, but he'd never seen them face to face like you had. Something about them made you uneasy. They were desperate, passionate, hungry for power. You didn't quite think that they'd be content with staying out of sight after showing their faces so willingly in Belgrade. But you dropped it, unable to support your concerns with much more than a bad feeling.

Thor hung behind to catch up and celebrate the percieved victory with his "work friends" but you decided to return to Tønsberg with Loki, hoping that being home would soothe your uneasiness.

You and your betrothed held hands on the walk back from the Plains to your house. His grip was comforting, but your disquiet lingered.

"I just don't think this is over Loki," you confessed, "I can't put my finger on it, but something in my gut feels raw, on edge. incomplete."

"Do you think it's lack of closure? Maybe some part of you wanted to confront the leaders of the Black Order for what they did to you? Maybe you're dissatisfied at not getting the chance?"

"Maybe... Maybe that's all it is." It was a notion, a comforting one. One that explained your unease while promising you safety. You tried to hold onto that feeling as you walked home.

You felt the sky burst open more than you heard it. A shattering crack that split you in half.

You pried yourself from Loki's arms, legs entangled, his hands on the sticky small of your back. Through the window you could see uncountable scorching blue rips in the branching streets of Tønsberg.

"What's wrong?" The question coming through Loki's sleepy fog.

"...They're here."

Daggers out, you ran through the streets of New Asgard, Loki by your side. There was a portal open on almost every corner. You spun and slashed and slid at every otherworldly malefactor you came across. The Asgardians who could fight held their own while others huddled with tourists behind latched and shuttered doors. Gripping the edges of each rift you passed you tried to seal each one, your fingers burning and chafed with magic. The cosmic tears seemed endless.