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"Siv, this is your Uncle Thor. Can you say hi?"
The little girl said nothing as she stared curiously yet timidly at the large god. She was clearly intimidated by the tall stranger standing in front of her new friend, Wanda.
"Hi, Lady Siv. It's nice to meet you." With a warm smile, Thor kneeled down on one knee, getting more on her level. "I'm your dad's brother."
Siv frowned, but remembered her mommy's words in the back of her head. We must be polite and use our manners, even to strangers. She sucked in a little breath and mumbled. "It's nice to meet you, sir."
"Oh, now you're making me feel old," he joked and scrunched his nose playfully at her.
She said nothing, not sure what to say, so she plopped back down on the floor to resume her coloring. Wanda patted Thor's big bicep and gave them some privacy.
"Whatcha up to?" The god questioned and sat on the floor across from her. He didn't want to sit right next to her and invade her personal space- he didn't want her to feel like he was smothering her.
"Coloring." She replied, shortly.
"Can I color too?" He asked in a soft tone of voice.
She paused her coloring, her little brain thinking. Wanda only gave her one coloring book, and she wasn't allowed to take out more than one because daddy always said to finish the picture she started before going onto the next picture. So he'd have to rip out his own page out of her book. But, good girls share, according to her daddy.
Hesitantly, she handed her book to him.
He thanked her and skimmed through the pages. It was full of different kinds of animals, not really cartoon-y, but quite realistic for a child so young. "Could you help me pick one?"
After a couple seconds, she nodded, blushing as she moved closer to help him. "Do you like puppies?" She asked in a shy voice.
"I love puppies." He emphasized, letting her take the book from his hands. He was patient as she flipped through the pages, going back and forth a couple times before she found the right page.
"It's a lab." She explained, struggling to rip the page out. She tore it in a few place where it shouldn't have been, but it didn't bother him in the slightest.
He thanked her for the page and asked, "what color should I make him? Blue?"
She blinked, squinting her eyes at him. "Labs are brown, yellow, or black...."
.... So she's a realist. Ah, just like her father.
"Ah, right." He chuckled, shaking his head. He decided on yellow and began to color the dog in. "You seem to know a lot about animals. Do you like them?"
She nodded as she returned to her place on the carpet. She laid flat on her stomach and pushed herself up on her elbows. "Yeah."
"What do you think is the coolest thing you know about an animal?"
Her dark bushy eyebrows furrowed together as she thought hard, before she decided. "Girl hyenas have penises.... but mommy doesn't like when I say that word." He didn't know what a hyena was, nor if that was true, but he certainly wasn't expecting that.
He quickly changed the topic with, "what about your father? Is he a good dad?"
She nodded enthusiastically, even stopping her coloring to explain how much she loves him. "Oh, yes. He's the best daddy." She expressed with a big smile similar to her father's, stretching across her face.
He paused his coloring. "What can you tell me about him?"
"He's so cute!" She started with and got back to her coloring, her little feet swinging in the air. "He gives the bestest hugs, he loves me and mommy very much, he's so funny, he has pretty smile and eyes-"
"Can you tell me what color his eyes are?" He didn't mean to cut her off, but she didn't seem phased.
"Green." She answered, confidently.
He cleared his throat and tried his best not to express his shock. "Uh huh.... and you say he's the bestest.... is he ever the bad... est?"
Her lips pulled down into a frown as she pondered on the question. "No." She decided.
"He never gets mean?"
She shook her head and said, "no. He never gets mad."
"Not even at your mum?"
"No," she giggled. "They love each other!"
"I see." He sighed and stood to his feet. "It was very nice seeing you, Siv. I hope to see you later."
She looked up from her drawing and gazed at him with eyes to match her dad's blue eyes perfectly. She really looked exactly like him. "Bye bye Uncle Thor. Don't forget your drawing." She reminded him.
"Oh, yes." He grunted as he bent down to collect his picture. He smiled at Wanda when she returned to watch Siv again. "Thanks again for keeping an eye on her."
"It's not a problem." She brushed off, watching the sweet little girl zone back in on her work. "You know if Loki will let me.... I can take a peek in his head."
Why didn't he think of that?
•••
"It's been an hour." Clint muttered, getting severely impatient.
"She's going through years of memories, Barton. We need to be patient." Thor sighed as he watched Wanda, with her hands on Loki's head.
No sooner than the words left his mouth, Wanda gasped and immediately retracted her hands from his head. "It was Thanos."
"What? That's impossible, he's-"
"It was years ago, before he was killed. It seems Thanos tried to cover his tracks too, it was very difficult to find this memory. He was with Thanos and then suddenly things went black for years... It appears to be mind control.... maybe that's what changed his eye color. Loki doesn't even have a memory of New York."
"New York?" Loki piped up. "What happened to New York?"
Everyone went silent in shock.
This changed everything. Loki wasn't the bad guy- he was merely a puppet. He was a victim used to be the bad guy.
•••
After much discussion and planning what was best for everyone as individuals, for Summer and Loki as a couple and as parents, as a family, and as a team, they came to a conclusion.
They decided it was best to have Loki sent away for counseling and evaluating for a few reasons.
1. For everyone's safety.
2. So he could prove to everyone that the god of lies is telling the truth.
3. He'll get professional help to really help turn his life around if that's what he really wants.
4. To keep Summer away from him and the potion can possibly wear off quicker.
Summer would be getting plenty of help too. Everyone felt for her and no one else could really help her besides the Avengers. An ordinary counselor couldn't help, they don't exactly teach them how to heal someone of a love potion.
A lone tear trailed down her cheek as Thor told her the plan. "How long is he leaving?"
"As of right now, six months."
She released a shaky breath and nodded her head. "Do I.... do I at least get to say goodbye?"
He sighed and scratched his jaw in thought. "I can ask him, but I can't force him."
"I understand." She sniffled and rubbed her temples as a headache was coming on.
She didn't bother looking up at the sound of Thor's heavy feet retreating out of the room. She continued to sit there with her head in her hands until someone came to retrieve her. It was around ten minutes later when she heard footsteps approach again, but she recognized the footsteps this time.
Her heart leapt up in her throat at the sight of Loki's disheveled appearance. He was completely different from the man she was forced to love. The man she loves was confident, bold, would never cower away or be vulnerable, and laugh in the face of danger.
But the man that stood in front of her now was a shell of that man. His posture was now all wrong, shoulders slumped and arms crossed in front of him, a sure sign of lacking confidence. His demeanor was off and hair was messy- just as messy as his thoughts were at the moment. His eyes were red, blotchy, and blue.... she liked the green. He was visibly confused, hurt, and uncomfortable- appearing very out of place.
Slowly, she stood and he took a step back, unsure. She swallowed the lump in her throat, hurt by his actions, but didn't voice it. Instead she said, "thank you for agreeing to see me before you leave."
His posture was very stiff and so was his curt nod.
She sighed and tried to keep her tears from falling. "Is this real? You really don't remember me?.... you... you said I can't trust the Avengers. What do I do?"
He said nothing- he couldn't. What could he possibly say to bring any comfort to either of them?
When he continued to stay silent, she rasped out, "I hope things work out for you in your treatment... and that maybe you'll remember me. I love you."
He didn't want to remember her.... if he remembered her, he'd remember the horrific things he's done to her and Odin knows how many others. He still doesn't know what he did to New York, but he could tell it was bad.
"Please forget about me...." he whispered, brokenly, not even able to make eye contact with her.
Anger is what she felt at his words, but she knew she had to be careful with her responses. "How? We have a daughter, Loki, whether you remember or not... she's your responsibility too and she loves you so much." She reminded him, eyeing him. "We can fix this. We just need to heal as individuals first."
His eyes closed as he released a shaky breath. "I'm sorry.... good luck, Summer."
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