You stared at the piece of paper Nat was showing you. She was right, the Space, Mind and Time stones had all been in New York City on the day Loki had attacked.

"Kid, I know what you're thinking. And it's a bad idea." Tony told you kindly but firmly.

"I- wasn't thinking anything." you replied, turning to look at him. This was a lie.

"That's a lie." he said, raising an eyebrow.

"I want to see him." you said, speaking without thinking. It was all you knew.

You practically heard the sympathetic glance which Nat and Bruce shared behind you.

"Course you do, but you also want to get him back in the long run. Which might not happen if we mess up..."

"I wouldn't mess up." you said firmly.

"You would be a liability. And that's completely understandable, anyone would be... but it's not a risk that we should take. You know that; I know you do." Tony said, looking at you piercingly.

You did know that. But for the moment your heart was speaking to you louder than your head was.

"What if this doesn't work? It could be my last chance to see him-"

"And what if it does work? You can have the rest of your life with him. Which would you rather gamble on?" Tony asked you.

You hung your head. Regardless of that, half of the universe was at stake. It would be selfish of you to risk everything just to see a version of Loki who didn't even know your name.

"I know." you said quietly, looking back at Tony, who gave you a sad smile.

"I should go tell the others about this." Nat said, standing up.

"Call a meeting." Bruce suggested.

Fifteen minutes later everyone was assembled in the kitchen, and ten minutes after that the final plan was on the hologram before you all.

The Soul and Power stones were in space relatively near each other in 2014. The Space, Mind and Time stones were in New York in 2012. The Reality Stone was on Asgard in 2013.

The thought of going back to Asgard made your heart ache with a longing which was almost as strong as the urge you felt to see Loki again. The kitchen was silent as everyone looked at the hologram.

"All right. So we have a plan." Tony broke the silence.

"Six stones. Three teams. One shot." Steve stated.

"Let's go." you said, standing up abruptly. Everyone turned to look at you in shock.

"Wha- right now?" Rocket asked.

"Yes, now. Why not?" you asked impatiently. No one seemed to have an answer.

"She's right. We've waited five years, why wait any longer?" Nat asked, standing up next to you.

"An excellent point. No time like the present." Tony added, also standing up, "Let's go."

You followed him from the room, adrenaline pumping through your veins, not quite able to believe it. Less than two hours ago you'd been happily eating pancakes on the sofa with Thor... and in a few minutes you would be back on Asgard. Eleven years ago.

Tony pulled you to one side before you suited up.

"Kid, listen. I know we all want this, badly. But you need to make sure you come home, stone or no stone, okay?" he said to you seriously, putting a hand on your shoulder.

"We're going to get the stone, Tony. But yes, I will come home. Don't worry about me, okay?" you told him, putting your hand on his arm and smiling at him reassuringly. He didn't look convinced.

Everyone had their own Quantum suit; within minutes you were all suited up and walking towards the raised glass platform. Nerves, excitement and downright fear were coursing through you in equal measures; mostly you were nervous about how Thor was going to react when you got to Asgard.

You were slightly concerned about how you were going to react too. Rocket was coming with you and Thor, which you didn't know whether to be relieved or annoyed about. Tony, Steve, Bruce and Scott were going to New York, 2012, and Nat, Clint, Nebula and Rhodey were going to space, 2014.

No one spoke as you formed a circle on the platform. You tried to think about anything but the stakes of this mission. They were as high as they could possibly be.

"Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends. We lost family. We lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams, you know your missions. Find the stones; get them back. One round trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know, but that doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives. And we're gonna win. Whatever it takes. Good luck." Steve said in determination, aiming the last part at Tony, who nodded.

"He's pretty good at that." Rocket commented, looking at Steve, breaking the tension massively. You smiled, deciding that you were glad he was coming with you.

"Right?!" Scott said, looking for all the world like an excited nine year old on Christmas morning.

"All right, you heard the man. Stroke those keys, jolly green." Tony said to Bruce, before looking over to you and winking. You smiled at him nervously, trying to get your heart rate under control.

"Tractors engaged." Bruce told everyone, looking up.

"See you in a minute." Nat said to Steve, before smiling at you in excitement and putting her helmet up.

You smiled back at her, before following suit and then turning your head to look at Thor. He was swaying on the spot. You took his hand and squeezed it tightly.

You were so nervous that you hardly paid attention to what happened next. You only knew that there was a flash of light and a burst of energy, and then you went Quantum. Scott and Clint had explained to you all what it would be like in minute detail, but nothing could have prepared you for the sensation of hurtling through the Quantum realm.

The only thing that you could even vaguely compare it to was travelling by Bifrost. Times a million.

It only lasted for a few seconds, and then your feet hit solid ground. You let go of Thor's hand to steady yourself and opened your eyes. The rush of nostalgia you experienced as you did rendered you unable to do anything but stand and stare.

It had worked. You were stood in the west wing of the palace on Asgard. Homesickness overcame you with such force that you were momentarily rooted to the spot, unmoving, your mouth open slightly.

Overcoming the initial shock you'd felt, you rediscovered the ability to move suddenly and stumbled forward as though in a trance, over to the gap in the wall which looked out over all of Asgard.

"Y/N? Y/N, come on, pull it together." Rocket was saying to you. You ignored him, tears filling your eyes as you hungrily took in the view before you.

Home.

A sudden, sharp pain lanced through the back of your leg and you gasped in discomfort, turning the look down. Rocket had hit you in the calf with the device he was holding which would collect the Aether from Jane.

"Snap out of it!" he said angrily. He was right, you needed to concentrate. You had a feeling that was going to prove very difficult.

Thor was looking around in concern, stood behind one of the large columns which lined the huge corridor, appearing to be a bit shell shocked. You followed his gaze towards the huge wooden door which led into the next room at the end of the corridor and saw two women stood talking by it.

"That's Jane." he said hoarsely.

"All right, here's the deal Tubby-" Rocket said, and you targeted a badly-aimed kick at him, which he easily dodged.

"-you're gonna charm her and I'm gonna poke her with this thing and extract the stone and get gone, lickety-split." he finished, holding up the device he'd previously used to try and maim you.

For a moment you considered suggesting a better plan, one which involved you turning invisible and doing it, but then you remembered that it didn't actually matter if anyone saw you. Changing the past wouldn't change the future.

Before you or Thor could reply another door opened behind you and you all ducked behind the columns nearest to you. Peeking around yours carefully, you saw Frigga, surrounded by four of her ladies.

Your heart did several back flips before you thought to look at Thor, who was staring at his mother with a deep, deep sadness upon his face.

"Who's the fancy broad?" Rocket asked, looking at the expressions on your faces in confusion.

"It's my Mother. She... dies today." Thor told him, his voice constricted. Your heart ached for him.

"Oh. That's today?"

"I can't do this. I can't do this. I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't have come. This was a bad idea." Thor said suddenly, turning away and pushing his hands through his hair. You moved towards him instinctively, trying to work out what to do.

Your brain wasn't working at full capacity. You were on Asgard. Asgard. On Midgard at this exact moment in time you were with Loki in the tower, wondering where Thor had disappeared to for the past few days.

And Frigga was walking about forty feet away from you. Alive.

"Thor-"

"No, no, no. I think I'm having... I'm having a panic attack. I shouldn't be here... this is... this is a bad-" Thor groaned, turning in circles.

"Come here." Rocket said firmly, and Thor shuffled towards him. Then Rocket slapped Thor right across the face.

"Rocket!" you exclaimed angrily, but he didn't even bat an eyelid.

"You think you're the only one who lost people? What do you think we're doing here? I lost the only family I ever had. Quill, Groot, Drax, the chick with the antenna, all gone. Now, I get you miss your Mom. But she's gone. Really gone. And there are plenty of people who are only kinda gone. But you can help them."

Thor looked away, knowing that Rocket was right and hating it.

"So is it too much to ask that you brush the crumbs outta your beard, make schmoopy talk to Pretty Pants, and when she's not looking, suck out the Infinity stone and help me get my family back?" Rocket told Thor heatedly. You were furious with him for slapping Thor, but it seemed as though it had actually worked.

"Okay." Thor sniffed.

"Are you crying?" Rocket scowled.

"No... yes!" he replied sadly, turning to you. You moved forward and hugged him tightly, at a loss.

"You need to get your act together too. I know you miss your home but we're not gonna get your space boyfriend back if we don't get this friggin' stone." Rocket told you as you made eye contact with him over Thor's shoulder.

"I know." you said, pulling away from Thor with new-found determination.

"We can do this. You can do this, alright?" you told him.

"Yes I can." Thor said, nodding and wiping his eyes.

"Good." Rocket said, turning back to look at Jane.

"I can do this, I can do it... I can't do this." Thor spoke to himself, turning and jogging away from you and Rocket.

"Alright, heartbreaker. She's alone. This is our shot-"

"He's gone." you sighed, and Rocket span around in annoyance.

"Thor? Agh!" he exclaimed in annoyance.

"Listen, it's not going to take three of us to get the Aether from her; you go get it and I'll keep an eye on Thor. If you need me just think it really loudly and I'll hear you." you told Rocket.

"Think it really loudly? What does that even- you know what, never mind. Go get Thor." Rocket replied.

"Remember, it doesn't matter if anyone sees you, but try and be a bit inconspicuous." you called after him. He acknowledged that he'd heard you with a wave of his hand, disappearing through the large door through which Jane had walked through.

You turned and teleported after Thor. He was hiding behind another column, before which Frigga was stood, now alone.

"What are you doing?" you whispered to Thor, who jumped when he saw you.

"What are you doing?" Frigga asked you both, suddenly stood directly behind you.

"Aah!" you and Thor yelled, reeling backwards away from her, startling her in turn and provoking an exclamation of surprise from her.

"Oh, god." Thor said, his voice breaking.

"You're better off leaving the sneaking to your brother." Frigga said, frowning at Thor, and then you. You stood frozen, feeling as though someone had hit you in the chest with something very large and solid.

"Yeah, I was simply just going for a walk, and uh..." Thor tried to explain himself while simultaneously trying to hide his physique.

"What are you wearing?" Frigga asked him, gesturing at the tatty old clothes he was currently adorned in.

"I always wear this, it's one of my favourites." Thor defended poorly as Frigga moved towards him and put a hand on his face.

"What's wrong with your eye?"

"Oh... my eye. That's.. you remember the Battle of Haroquin? When I got hit in the face with a broadsword?"

"You're not the Thor I know at all, are you?" Frigga asked him quietly.

"Yes I am." Thor argued, clutching at straws.

"The future hasn't been kind to you, has it?" she mused, her hand still on Thor's face.

"I didn't say I'm from the future." Thor responded, equally as quietly, clearly relishing the fact that he was speaking to his Mother.

"I was raised by witches, boy. I see with more than eyes, and you know that." Frigga said matter of factly. Thor broke.

"I am totally, totally from the future." he told her, his voice wobbling dangerously.

"Yes, you are." Frigga said simply.

"I really need to talk to you."

"We can talk."

You looked away as mother and son embraced, trying not to think of Loki, thinking instead that you should probably go and find Rocket and see if he was okay.

"And Y/N. You're here too." Frigga observed; you turned back to them to see her now looking at you intently.

You opened your mouth, and then closed it again, swallowing hard. She beckoned for you to come to her and you did, slowly.

When you reached her she looked at you in such a way that you were sure she was finding out everything about you. Then her gaze moved down to the base of your neck. You were confused for half a second, before you remembered your necklace.

Your hand flew to the ring which sat on the chain around your neck, Frigga's ring. She raised her right hand, upon which the very same ring sat upon her ring finger. You stared at it in shock, your brain unable to rationalise what your eyes were seeing.

"I assume Thor didn't give that to you." Frigga said to you, smiling. You let out a half laugh, half sob. It was so, so unfair that Loki couldn't be here to talk to her.

"Come. Let's go somewhere more private." she continued, placing a hand on your back and holding her other hand out to Thor. You glanced over your shoulder, thinking about Rocket, but only for a second. He would be okay, and you'd know if he wasn't.

Frigga led you to her private chambers where she sat down with Thor to talk. You walked over to the window, only half listening to their conversation, content to just stand and look.

This was all gone now. Reduced to nothing by Surtur.

Being back in the palace made you miss Loki with an intensity that you hadn't felt in a while. Not that you didn't miss him every day, but being back here... it made you want him back so badly. It made you want Asgard back, and the life that you'd had here.

In hindsight, for all its flaws, it had been absolutely perfect.

Thor was telling Frigga about how he'd killed Thanos.

"His head was over there; his body was over there. What was the point? I was too late... I was just standing there. Some idiot with an axe." he said glumly.

"You're no idiot. You're here, aren't you? Seeking counsel from the wisest person in Asgard." Frigga said to him.

"I guess, yeah." Thor shrugged.

"Idiot, no? Failure? Absolutely. But do you know what that makes you? Just like everyone else." she told him, moving to sit next to him.

"I'm not supposed to be like everyone else, am I?" Thor asked in defeat.

"Everyone fails at who they are supposed to be, Thor. The measure of a person, of a hero, is how well they succeed at being who they are."

"I really missed you, Mother." Thor said, so quietly that you barely heard it. Suddenly there was a commotion from outside, and then Rocket came skittering into the room, holding the device which was filled with something red and glowing.

"Thor, Y/N, I got it!" he exclaimed, standing up to show you. You spun around and beamed at him.

"Rocket! Yes!" you said happily, before realising that that meant it was time to leave. You'd only just got here. Thor seemed to have had the same thought.

"Mother, I have to tell you something." Thor said quickly, but Frigga shook her head.

"No, son, you don't. You're here to fix your future, not mine."

You frowned slightly. Did Frigga already know what was going to happen to her today?

"But this is about your future." Thor stressed.

"It's none of my business." Frigga told him firmly.

"Hey, you must be Mom. I got the thing. Come on, we got to move." Rocket said impatiently. You turned and looked back out of the window, wishing you'd thought to bring your damn phone. You had no pictures of Asgard, only memories.

"I wish we had more time." Thor said to Frigga, his voice cracking.

"No, this was a gift. And you're going to be the man you're meant to be. And you, Y/N..." Frigga said, holding out an arm to invite you over. You tore yourself away from the window and moved towards her.

She reached up to touch the lock of Loki's hair which was braided into yours. You hadn't realised that it had been on display.

When you see him again, tell him that I love him. And I'm sorry we didn't get to say goodbye.

It was the first time you'd had someone's voice in your head since Loki. You closed your eyes briefly; you hadn't realised how much you'd missed it. When you looked back at Frigga her eyes were swimming with tears. You nodded emotionally, and she pulled you into an embrace. Then she turned back to Thor, and hugged him too.

"I love you." Thor told her, his voice muffled as he pressed his face into her shoulder.

"I love you too. Look after yourself." she told him gently.

"Come on. We gotta go." Rocket stressed.

"Goodbye." Frigga whispered, stepping back, clasping her hands in front of her chest. You looked around one last time, and then sent your gaze out of the window.

"Three... two..."

"No, wait!" Thor interrupted Rocket abruptly, sounding panicked. You looked at him, alarmed, and then he held his hand out. You smiled in understanding.

"Wh- what am I looking at?" Rocket asked in confusion.

"Oh, sometimes it takes a second." Frigga smiled. Seconds later Mjolnir shot through the window into Thor's hand. You beamed at him.

"I'm still worthy." he breathed, happiness and surprise battling for victory over his face. He'd given you an idea.

You concentrated for a moment, before summoning a sword from the armoury downstairs into your hand. If you couldn't have your old sword back then this was the next best thing.

"Oh, boy." Rocket said, looking back down at the device on his suit which would take you back to 2023.

"Goodbye." Thor whispered to Frigga.

"Bye." Frigga mouthed.

You stared out of the window again, attempting to burn the image of your home into your brain: the Bifrost glittering in the sunlight stretching out across the water, the Observatory way, way off in the distance, the courtyard, the houses, the trees and the steps and the people and... and then it was gone.