~~~Linda's pov~~~
I slowly walked to the entrance of the large room where I knew my parents were.
Am I ready to see them again? It's been so long...
After a few more steps, I was able to look inside the room and see two people talking to each other.
I couldn't hear anything other than my heart hammering inside my chest when they turned and I saw my mom and dad's faces.
My breath hitched as a memory resurfaced.
~~~Flashback~~~
"I miss her so much!" I sobbed into my dad's shoulder as we sat on the bed in our small room.
It seemed even smaller without Mom there.
"I know. I miss her too." His voice was broken as he stroked my long hair. "But she would want us to be strong."
"I can't! What If I lose you too?" I cried harder at the thought. "I can't go through that again!"
"Oh, Linda..." He held me even closer. "You won't lose me. I promised you I'd never leave you again, and I intend to keep that promise. Just remember those stories we always used to tell you. You're going to make it through this."
"Yeah, but you won't!" I let out another sob. "Mom didn't!"
"Even so, we'll still see each other again."
"You won't remember me, though." I sniffed.
"Then you'll just have to remind me." He smiled at me comfortingly.
~~~Flashback Ended~~~
I'll just have to remind him...
That got me thinking. How would he know we'd see each other again if it hadn't already happened?
That means when that version of my dad did this whole time travel thing, he saw me and knew who I was. That means I saw them and told them.
This is a headache turning into a migraine. Time stuff is too complicated. You'd think it would come easy for a girl who spent three years of her childhood in a place that solely existed to monitor all of time. But no.
I shook it off and walked over to where they were standing, my feet feeling as if they were dragging on the floor with every step.
Finally, I reached them, the anxiety I was experiencing made it hard to breathe or even think clearly.
"Hi, um..." My words were quiet as I played with the necklace around my neck, something I did when I was nervous. I couldn't bring myself to look into their eyes. Not yet. It's been too long.
These are my parents. I'm talking to my parents.
Mom spoke up first, with a soft, gentle voice. "Hey, do you need any help getting to the upper levels?"
Her voice is exactly like I remember. Sweet and loving, but also capable of being sarcastic or firm when needed.
I quickly shook my head. "No, no. I just wanted to thank you guys. I'm glad the prophecy all worked out. Maybe Virgil wasn't so crazy."
Virgil wasn't crazy. A bit obsessed, yes. Crazy? No.
But I suppose that's kind of my fault. I'm the one who told him about all this. And if the stories my parents told me are correct, he died a few minutes after they appeared here.
"Oh, you knew Virgil?" She asked, her interest peaked.
I nodded, not adding anything more, not able to get the words out. I still hadn't worked up the courage to look at Dad yet.
"He told us about some leader of the 'believers.' Would you happen to know who that is?" Her questions continued, getting harder to answer without giving away who I was.
I started fiddling with my necklace more aggressively, trying to come up with a vague answer that wouldn't compromise my identity.
"Yeah, actually, I do..." I trailed off as the clasp of my necklace broke and fell to the floor, the locket opening upon impact.
Shit.
I quickly went to reach for it, but Dad beat me to it.
My eyes widened as I realized that he would see the picture. "Wait-"
But I could only watch as he looked at the family photo and his eyes went wide as saucers.
Tears began to form in my eyes as he stared at me, a knowing look in his eye.
My heart clenched as I realized something. This is how he finds out. In every timeline, I did this. I always ran into Aunt Jemma. She always convinced me to go see them. And when I did, my necklace always broke and revealed who I was.
And Sylvie said time wasn't fixed.
Yeah, sure, okay.
And as if all this wasn't bad enough...
"Catherine, look at this." He handed Mom the locket, but his eyes were still trained on me.
I wanted to stop it. I wanted to prevent her from knowing, but it was like I was frozen in place.
I wasn't ready for this and that was being made abundantly clear.
"Okay?" She looked at him strangely and a bit confused. That is until she saw it. "How... How do you have this?"
I blinked back tears and swallowed hard. I had to answer. I had to. "It was a gift from my dad."
My voice was shaking, as were my hands. "He told me to keep it with me. Always. To remind me of my family." I felt a surge of courage and finally looked them in the eyes, only to see them staring at me in disbelief, their eyes holding a look of understanding and Mom glanced down at her baby bump, where 'little me' was. Safe and sound, and not yet traumatized.
"You mean, you're..." Her voice wavered as she continued to stare at me.
"Our daughter?" Dad finished her sentence, his voice filled with shock.
~~~Loki's pov~~~
"Yes!" The young woman in front of us let out a small, relieved sob. "I'm sorry. It's just so amazing to see you guys again." Her eyes were filled with unshed tears.
I could barely comprehend what was happening.
I was talking to my daughter, twenty-five years in the future.
My daughter...
"Guys! Get ready to go! Deke said that he's almost at the Zephyr!" Coulson yelled over to us, breaking the moment between the three of us.
The girl in front of us wiped her tears. "I have to go. But I wish you guys the best of luck." She said, her voice wavering, before running off.
No. She can't go. Not yet.
"Wait!" I called after her, desperate to know more, but she was already gone.
Before she could get too far, I attempted to read her mind, just to see something. Anything.
I needed to know.
I scanned her mind quickly, grasping at any information I could get before the connection was lost, and saw what she had been thinking about moments before.
She was recalling something... It was a memory of her as a little girl and... It brought tears to my eyes to think about what I had seen.
I took in a shuddering breath trying to process all of what I had seen.
Catherine and I both figured we didn't make it to this point in time because we never ran into our doubles. But the most important thing had eluded our minds entirely.
What had happened to our daughter?
Now I know.
"Loki? What's wrong?" Catherine's voice broke through my thoughts, making me turn to her.
I didn't say anything for a moment, not able to find the words. "Let's just say the future isn't very bright," I answered, my hand tightly gripping the necklace that she had left behind.
She said I gave it to her...
"You looked into her mind, didn't you? What did you see?" Catherine asked anxiously. I could tell she was as shaken up as I was, if not more.
I couldn't bring myself to voice what I had seen, but it was her right to know.
Very reluctantly, I played the memory in her head, showing her exactly what I saw a minute prior.
After a moment, tears welled up in her eyes, and when she looked at me, I could see her features filled with sadness and fear.
"So that's it? That's the future? I'm going to die in five years, and it looks like you're going to join me shortly after. Our daughter will grow up with no one and..." Her breathing rapidly increased, signaling that she was about to have a panic attack.
~~~Catherine's pov~~~
I'm going to die. Loki is going to die. And our daughter... She's going to grow up, alone. Alone in this dystopian hellscape!
I should have known. We haven't seen any of our doubles over the past month at all. No one seemed to recognize us either. We must've died during the very beginning of the invasion.
The thought just made the panic worsen.
What did she go through? She only looked to be five or six in that memory, meaning she would have been orphaned before she could even reach age seven.
How could I just leave her like that? I should have tried harder to stay alive. Then I could have been there for her-
No. I can't think like that!
It hasn't even happened yet. There's still time to change things.
My breathing was uneven as I gasped for air, my vision becoming fuzzy. All these thoughts were sending me into a panic attack. I had to stop.
Even though I was spiraling, I could make out the sound of Loki trying to say something and felt him pull me close, my head resting against his chest.
"Loki..." I tried to reach out to him telepathically, seeing as how my voice wasn't working at the moment.
"I know. I know." His voice was the only sound that echoed over my panic, and I could feel the anxiety slowly lessening. "Just breathe. I cast an illusion over us. The team can't see what's going on."
Through the overwhelming feeling of my lungs closing up and extreme panic, I still felt myself smile internally. He knew I hated it when there was any attention on me. And the fact that as soon as I started having a panic attack he put up an illusion to keep the others away, made me realize how much he cared.
I mean, I've always known that he cared about me, but this extra attention to detail made my heart swell. Or, you know, as much as it could while I was in the midst of a horrible panic attack.
Then it all vanished. All the anxiety-filled thoughts and the crippling feeling of not being able to breathe just went away.
I knew for a fact that Loki's magic was the reason for the relief.
"Love, listen to me. You need to calm down. I know it's hard, but I need you to take a deep breath and focus."
I gulped back tears and did as he said, taking slow, deep breaths.
Just like that, my vision cleared up and I could see that Loki was looking down at me, concern filling his eyes.
"See? You're okay." He gave me a soft, relieved smile as he held me close.
He wiped away my tears with his thumb. "And we are going to stop this future from ever happening." He reassured me, rubbing my back slowly, effectively calming me down. "We have to."
I nodded, smiling weakly against his shoulder. "And we will. But right now, you have to go after her."
I had made up my mind. He had to see her.
"What?" He pulled away and looked at me in shock.
"You heard me. Go after her." I stated again.
"I can't. What if the monolith opens, and I'm not here? And I'm not leaving you after what just happened." He shook his head, his eyes still wide.
"It won't. When it starts to open, I'll call out for you and you'll teleport straight back here." I assured him. "Plus, she forgot her necklace. Who better to give it back to her than her dad?"
"Okay." He nodded and took down the illusion. "I'll be right back." He promised me and pressed a kiss to my forehead.