Story begins during Endgame...

"So many stairs!"

You could hear 2012Hulk coming down the stairwell at Stark Tower, his heavy steps shaking the floor beneath you and he still had several levels yet to take before reaching the lobby where everything had gone to complete and utter hell. The plan was rapidly falling apart and you were powerless to slow the destruction.

"Stark, what is it?" 2012Thor asked the past Tony as he struggled next to him. "Is it your chest machine?"

You watched in awe as Scott kicked the case holding the Tesseract across the lobby and towards your current Tony where he picked it up almost too easily and strolled towards the exit at the far end. "Meet me in the alley, I'm gonna grab a slice-" he tried, but the stairwell door slammed open and he was met head-on by an enormous green rage monster.

"No stairs!"

The case was knocked clean from Tony's hand, spilling open before you could catch it. You were torn between helping Tony up and chasing after the Tesseract; one choice would help your friend, and the other choice could save billions. In your decision as you turned to hurry for the case you stopped cold. In a complete wave of slow-motion terror, the lock had broken and the Tesseract had come to a halt at 2012Loki's feet.

"Don't," you whispered, knowing full well that he would hear you, even over the mass commotion. "Please, push it back to me."

His eyes locked with yours, holding your gaze in a moment that took forever for the two of you, but the blink of a second for everyone else. His mouth was covered and bound closed, but you could see the question in his eyes, practically screaming to know who you were. He knew you but he just didn't know how he knew you.

He couldn't know, it was too early for this version of him, yet still there it was, the fire of recognition glaring back at you so strongly that you couldn't look away. He slowly bent down and took the Tesseract in hand, but he kept his eyes on you.

"Someone grab the cube!" you called out, but everyone was too focused on 2012Tony and Thor and his newly found life-saving thunder tap.

If only the team had listened to you. You were experienced at this; you knew the risks of time travel and you knew all the ways that this could go wrong before they began to play out right in front of you. You were a time slider, being able to weave in and out of timelines with ease, but they had insisted that it was too big of a mission to do alone. You had helped them map this out and warned them about what their bodies and minds would go through, but you never stopped to consider yourself. Maybe they were right, it was too much for one person to do, but as you watched Loki disappear into the portal of the space stone, you suddenly realized one thing that none of you had ever considered.

It hadn't been that long since you had lost him, the Loki of their timeline, and you knew that he would be here. You had prepared everyone else but had never prepared yourself to see your father again, and in a flash, he was gone.

~~~

The next day, after the battle was won and two of your teammates and friends were lost, Thor had said his goodbye to you privately where your secret could be maintained. He knew your lineage, but only because you shared that piece of a future timeline that Loki had created by taking the cube. It had taken a tremendous amount of convincing for him to believe that he was your uncle, but once he accepted it you were the only family he had left and now it tore at his heart to leave you.

"Will you go find him?" he asked quietly. The two of you stood on the cliff just beyond New Asgard, looking out over the chopping waves in a wind that pushed your balance. His long hair and overgrown beard was making him look like a transient, though it wasn't far from the truth.

"I don't know,'" you sighed heavily, "I've been in this timeline for years now, and I'm not sure if I have it in me to go back. I left that version of my dad for a reason. I'd rather remember the one that I found here, the one who became the man we both knew he could be. I've just finally begun to let him go...I don't know, Thor. After all this...I don't know what I know anymore."

"Agreed. But do consider a visit. This life is too short to miss opportunities, and you have a skill that many would covet. You can see him again any time that you choose. Some of us are not so fortunate."

"I'll think about it, on one condition," you smirked, turning to look at him.

"Hmm, what's that?"

"Eat a salad...just maybe add one in here and there...and some water."

"Fine, I'll consider it. Now come here," he quieted, becoming serious as he pulled you in for one final hug, "tell him I said hello, and please, maybe swing by and see your old Uncle Thor once in a while too."

"I don't even know where you'll be?"

"I'm sure that Quail will find a lovely place for me to make a home," Thor smiled, releasing you and turning towards the ship. "I can't imagine that he'll stand having me on board for long."

~~~

From that day, it had taken three years to rebuild the Avengers compound, and the team that moved back into what was nothing more than a shell now was considerably smaller, though nonetheless tested beyond where the original team had known for themselves. Moving day was uneventful at best, with trucks and trailers bringing in the last of the equipment that Tony had yet to complete, leaving it for Peter to decide what to keep and what to continue working on. Suitcases were haphazardly scattered in hallways of the upper levels as rooms were chosen, despite Sam doing his best to map them out and assign them.

His new role as leader wasn't off to a great start, but he would get there soon enough. You had taken a peek into that future on a day not so long ago despite your better judgment. A little peek ahead never hurt anything before.

"Please tell me that you found the right room," he grumbled under his breath as you approached him, lost in the mess on his desk. "I can't take one more complaint right now."

"I found it, I'm good."

"Knew I could count on you," Sam smiled, glancing up from his work for only a second. The phone began to ring, but at the sight of the number he let it go to voicemail without concern. "Where are we at with Parker and those trucks out there?"

"It looked like he was about done," you shrugged. "How are you doing? Need any help?"

"Nah," he exhaled slowly, rubbing his eyes and pushing back in his chair, "there's nothing here that can't wait for me to get around to it. The world knows that we're off-line this week with the move in, so if it's not the end of the world...again...then it doesn't get my time. Besides, Fury is sending in some SHIELD guys to take one of the new buildings as a remote HQ. He thinks having them nearby will make things easier for both sides."

"Sure, makes sense..." you trailed off.

"You okay?"

"Hmm?" you hummed absentmindedly, now staring out the window at one of the drivers of the line of trucks along the entry of the grounds. "Yeah...I'm fine..."

Sam checked your eyeline and turned his head to follow it, looking out the window to try to see what had caught your attention. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, but your demeanor had changed so significantly and so quickly that he knew better than to trust his instincts here. "No, something out there grabbed your attention. What's going on?"

"I'll be right back, I think I know that guy."

"Oh, so it's a guuuuy," he mocked, sitting back down and no longer interested. You didn't even take the time to argue and willingly accepted the method that worked to get him to back off.

As you approached the truck, your hands began to shake with the anticipation of what...or who you were about to see. It wasn't often that surprises hit you, given your ability, but you hadn't traversed time for quite a while now and had chosen to live in this timeline along with those already a part of it. You had yearned for a little taste of that normalcy in a life that otherwise had none. Maybe you were wrong, and maybe your mind was playing a trick on you. Sleep had been difficult, so it wouldn't be out of the question for exhaustion to be kicking in.

Also, no one else had made any movement towards the truck as if anything were wrong, so with each step you had gotten closer to talking yourself completely out of concern that you would find anything other than a random guy from SHIELD behind the wheel. Before the last few steps you looked around the grounds one last time, and still no one seemed to care about anything going on here.

Changing your mind, you turned away and began to head back to the building, but his voice calling your name stopped your feet, turning you back around so quickly that you nearly tumbled over as your knees buckled beneath you.

"Dad?!"