for all time, always.

Chapter one: Just the beginning

(A/N sorry guys my writing was rly crappy in this chapter but i promise you will like the other chapters more!!)

The first thing Loki felt before he even registered what was happening was the cold touch of Sylvie's blade, pressed against his neck. When he opened his eyes, he was met by a very determined Sylvie who glared openly at him, daring him to say something. To open his mouth and challenge her. Despite knowing all this- and that it was very very risky, Loki opened his mouth.

"Sylvie, stop. You know this isn't about the throne," He tried, his tone not coming across correctly. The way he almost pleaded with her made him sound desperate, and made him look like he didn't trust her. Which, if the look on Sylvie's face was anything to go by, it was a mistake. He couldn't even understand what she was feeling, the walls she put up painstakingly fast, but the grimace on her face carried her message across to Loki well enough. Opening his mouth again before closing it, he took time to think about what to say, trying not to focus on the blade that was pressed against him in warning. Biting his lower lip, he ended up letting out a quiet "Please." The tone in his voice was real, his voice almost cracking with emotion. Because in her eyes, despite all the fury, he saw. He had felt that way many times too- misguided anger, lashing out at anyone who stood in his way. But did she really want that? Did she really want Kang to die? And of course, did she really still believe that it was about the throne?

"Please. Don't do this," Loki begged her again, hating how vulnerable he sounded but knowing that if this was what it took to get Sylvie to listen to him for even one second, it was worth it. Sure, Loki wasn't one to talk about 'showing emotions' and 'talking it out' because he was always quick to use his silver tongue, but it seemed that his approach was correct enough as she looked back at him, a few of her walls coming down. She stepped back, hesitantly, as she removed her dagger from his throat and looked away. Guiding her to the chairs that awaited them, Loki carefully thought of what to say next, not wanting to trigger her in any way. But before he could even get any words out, Sylvie drew in a deep breath before saying, 

"Why can't I trust you? Why can't we see this the same way?" Her voice halting, dying down to a quiet whisper as she stared down at the ground, adamant to not look at Loki. He glanced at her expression, gauging how she felt, before replying slowly, feeling sick as he uttered those words that broke both of them.

"Because you can't trust and I can't be trusted," He said, raising his eyebrow softly before continuing, "Look, we can't do this. We can't just...rush into another mess without thinking things through! Killing isn't the answer, look where it got us!" Upon hearing the way he spoke those last words firmly, she finally raised her head to meet his gaze. He saw her jaw harden, her eyes flashing with anger.

"And so what, trusting a stranger is better? You don't understand it, Loki. I've finally reached my goal, for years I've planned for this, and now when everything is finally going my way? Now you decide to mess things up and stop me?" She spat at him, vile coating her words. He couldn't deny the pain in his heart as he tried to protest weakly.

"But that's the thing, Sylvie, you didn't plan for this. There's no way you could have planned to meet him, especially because we didn't even know he existed! I'm not saying we should trust him, but at least we could stop him but not kill him. If we kill him...he's different from the others we've faced. How would we know what we could unleash?" Loki stated blatantly, eyes flicking towards Kang momentarily, who was calmly watching them. Sylvie opened her mouth, probably planning to interrupt, but Loki quickly continued. 

"And you said I don't understand. But I do. For years I've also yearned for something- to take over Asgard, dethrone my brother. But after watching the film of my life, after hearing that the Kid Loki succeeded, I realised that wasn't what I wanted. All I wanted was to be my brother's equal. I'm not saying that my situation is anything like yours, it really isn't, but I know rushing into things won't help."

Sylvie stared at Loki steadfastly, before sighing and muttering, "Fine." It was only a one word answer, no promises included, but it was enough to make Loki smile a bit. He was happy to hear that Sylvie listened to him, and would at least consider his alternative. "Thank you."

After which, they continued sitting in silence. As Loki watched Sylvie ponder his alternative and think things through, he felt himself fidget a bit as he watched Kang watching them and an unsettling feeling washed over him. Sylvie noticed his fidgeting and took it that Loki wanted to say something else, and rolled her eyes swiftly, breaking Loki out of his thoughts.

"If you have something to say, just say it. No one's stopping you," She half snapped at him. Loki just grinned back, happy to see some of their natural banter coming back. "Well actually, I would like to keep my head intact, thank you very much," he replied quickly, referencing her earlier stance with her blade. Sylvie rolled her eyes again, before sinking deeper into her thoughts. 

Clearly she did not want to take over Kang, something that Loki not so subtly hinted at. She had always wanted revenge, to stop the TVA from messing with her life, and others, just because she didn't do what they wanted her to do. And obviously, to become the one person who had control and lorded it over others? Yeah, not going to happen. But Loki had a different mindset. Sure, taking things into consideration, turning into that person was a bad idea, but what would be worse was if they sat back at left, letting everything go. Both of them seemed to make up their minds, and stared at each other in silent communication, before they realised they had different options. 

They continued staring at each other, like it was some silent stare down and the winner got to decide what they would do. Rolling their eyes simultaneously - a habit you seem to pick up if you spend too much time with a version of yourself - they sighed. Loki ran his fingers through his hair, ready to begin another small speech of why his idea would work better than hers, when footsteps sounded, signaling that someone was coming towards the. Kang was already nearby them, hovering in their line of sight to avoid suspicions, which made them more confused. Who else could it be? 

And since the universe seemed to hate them... of course the person was no other than Ravonna Renslayer.

Turns out, those files that Miss Minutes had given Judge Renslayer were actually files pertaining to the Citadel - and how to get there. Sylvie bit back a crude remark, seeing the very pointed gaze Loki shot at her. A warning to not take things too far, they already had enough on their shoulders. Loki couldn't hide the way he frowned slightly, worry lines etched in his forehead. Not because he was worried of what Renslayer could do, but because of what other implications her unexpected visit would cause. They had just been in a very deep discussion about what to do about Kang and the whole business and they definitely did not need to add fuel to the fire. But of course, Ravonna stepped forward confidently, a smirk on her face as she spread her arms wide and smiled cruelly, 

"Guess who?"

A/N Thank you so much for reading !