One Year Later

The snowflakes outside of The Avengers Tower sticks to the windows with determination as the sun tries to melt them away. It's cold and late November as an early winter storm brews across New York. Everyone is stuck inside with nothing to do but wait for it to pass.

"Has this been the longest you've went without Loki?" Natasha asks as you sit with her by the fireplace in sweatshirts and leggings with hot chocolate.

"Yes," you admit. "I'm worried he won't get back before Christmas, even though he doesn't care for it."

"It's been, what, four weeks? He should be back by next Friday."

You take a sip out of your mug. "I know, but I get worried that Odin and Frigga will hold him up on something. Time runs a lot slower there."

Four weeks ago, the king and queen sent a request for the princes--Thor and Loki--to return to Asgard after being away for so long. Frigga sent for you and Jane to also go along, but unfortunately, Fury sent you on a two day mission. Jane still went and Loki didn't want to go, but you both knew he had to and the quicker he left, the faster he would return.

"Yeah, I get that Frigga wanted to see Jane and Thor since they just got engaged, but I don't understand why they forced Loki to tag along," Natasha points out.

"He's their son too. For them on Asgard, they haven't seen him in months, so I get it. I just miss that annoyingly pale giant."

"I'm sure he's hating every second of not being with you, (Y/N). The guy is like stone when you're not in the same room, let alone realm," she states, downing the rest of her drink.

You snicker, thinking about what Loki must be doing around the palace without you there to bug him every second.

"Anyway, when do you think Loki will pop the question?"

"We have many, many years ahead of us, Nat. There's no need to be in a hurry. Thor and Jane's time is on a clock and they're trying to have a forever in a limited amount of time."

Natasha nods and you get bored of sitting around doing nothing but talk about the man you're missing.

"Enough of that," you say, setting your cup on the coffee table. "Oh, is Bruce in the lab? I needed to ask him about something."

"When is he not in the lab?"

"True."

You get up and pad your fuzzy sock-covered feet against the shiny flooring and into the elevator, taking it down to the restricted floor where all of the Science Bros' high-tech experimenting takes place. You enter your code and walk into the large area where you see Bruce hunched over one of the tables with his glasses perched on his nose.

"Bruce," you say, startling him as you sit on the stool across from him and begin fiddling nervously with your hands.

"Yes, (Y/N)? What can I help you with?" he asks.

"I was wondering if you would be able to run some tests and see exactly how many years I may live," you quickly rush out.

You've been thinking about your lifespan for a while, and since you finally have time, you thought it would be nice to know if you will live forever or not and it will definitely take your mind off not having the God of Mischief around.

"I can try. I'll just need a blood sample to run your DNA to obtain statistics and-"

"Okay, Bruce. I trust you and I don't need to hear the complicated medical terminology."

You chuckle and roll up your sleeve, getting random flashbacks of your time in HYDRA when you would regularly get tested on, but push them aside.

Bruce pokes a needle into your arm and takes a tube of your dark red blood, not bothering to tape up your arm knowing it will heal instantly. You fix your sweatshirt and sift through his paperwork as he puts your blood through multiple different tests over the course of two hours.

"The results are in," he says, voice deeper than usual.

"Did you purposely do that for dramatic effect?" you question.

"Maybe," Bruce mumbles sheepishly. "I've never been able to do tests like these on an immortal. It's astounding! I always wanted to, but after everything you went through, the others told me if I asked, they would lock me away and never let me out."

"It's fine, Bruce. Just tell me what you found out," you say as your heart beats a little faster.

"Well," he starts, showing you a paper of your DNA over another set of regular human DNA, "as you can see, your chromosomes are fifty times more active than the normal sample. Your bone tissue is also riddled with platelets that repair at the speed of light-"

"Okay, okay. Put it in simple terms," you interrupt.

Bruce takes a breath, not being able to contain his excitement but you sense a hint of worry.

"Your blood shows that it's circulating at an unnatural pace, and with our technology, I can say it's inconclusive for the most part how long you will live, but because the test doesn't show an exact age, it's safe to say you will live forever."

You nod slowly, already expecting that answer, but that means that you'll watch not only Loki, but everyone and everything in existence age and wither away to dust

"Not that I'm going to off myself or anything, but could you make something that counteracts with my DNA and kills me for sure? Is that something that you can make?" you asks, just above a whisper. "Living forever isn't something I want if it means watching everyone I love die."

Bruce looks saddened, knowing how you feel. He unexpectedly walks over to the other side of the room and opens a secret vault, taking out a vile of black liquid and returning to the table, extending his hand out to you.

"I made this when I first got here and still wanted to kill myself. Our DNA is somewhat the same because of our mutations. I went off mine to make it and I know for a fact that this will kill literally anything after drinking it. I'm aging and I will die, plus I'm happy and don't need it anymore. Take it," he says.

You hesitantly take the vile and grasp it in your hand. "Thank you."

Bruce nods and you leave him to go back to working in the lab. You go back to your room and store the vile in a small locked box under your bed until you'll need to use it in the future.

You exit your room with a yawn and realize how late it's gotten. The tower is relatively quiet with only a couple of lamps on to illuminate the dark areas and it seems as though everyone has turned in for the night.

You walk down the hallway and enter Loki's room, gently shutting the door behind you and sauntering over to flop on his bed. The covers still faintly smell of him, but it's starting to fade. You cocoon yourself in the blankets and close your eyes.

A few hours later, you hear something but are still too sleepy to react. You come around a little more and hear a door open at the end of the hallway, then footsteps heading back to the door of the room you're in.

You keep your eyes closed as you hear someone enter and shut the door behind them while setting something on the ground. You can tell the light has been turned on and you wait for whatever will happen next.

"Darling?"

You recognize the rich accent immediately and jump up from the bed with lightning speed and let your eyes adjust to the lit up room. You run over to Loki's form and he hoists you up to let you wrap your legs around his waist and arms around his neck, completely smothering him.

Loki holds you tight against his body and keeps a firm hold on you. He breathes in your fragrance and let's out a content sigh at being in your presence once again. As for you, you're just enjoying the feel of him against you and the thoughts of how much you missed him flood your mind.

"I know it was nearly a month for you and only four days for me, but I missed you more than words can describe," Loki whispers.

"A month felt like a year. Please don't leave me again," you reply, realizing how big of a hole was left in your life while he was gone.

"Never. I tried to leave an hour after I got there, but none of them were having it. I had to help plan for Thor's coronation and my mother only wanted to discuss the wedding. It was dreadful."

You chuckle and lean back to press kisses all over his face to which he responds by kissing your lips passionately to make up for lost time. You soon unwrap yourself from him and realize something.

"Did you get your hair cut?" you growl, reaching up to mentally measure the length that had been to his breast bone when he left but is now barely below his shoulders.

"Father's doing. Says a prince should not have hair too long to where it looks unprofessional. Sorry, love," Loki replies sympathetically, knowing how much you love his gorgeous mane.

You give a frustrated sigh and turn to shove him down on the bed and straddle his hips while he sits against the headboard.

"It will grow back, so it's fine, but I'm going to have words next time I see him," you say, running your hands over Loki's chest.

"Not scared of the big, bad king anymore, are we?"

"Nope," you reply. "Not when it comes to you."

"I love you," he says.

"I love you more."

"Don't."

You laugh and kiss him again before leaning back and telling him about what has happened in your time apart, including the Vile of Death. Loki understands and trusts you to be responsible with its contents, but he can't say he's not happy to know you will be by his side his entire life.

The thing that has always plagued Loki was that he never thought that if he fell in love, he would outlive his partner. He thought he would be the one to endure the heartbreak and crashing reality from the fairy tale he would live. And now that he has found the one for him and the tables are turned, he knows he needs to protect what the two of you have until his last breath.

Loki has wronged many in his life, but you are everything to him and the one and only person who will have his heart and soul completely, and no matter what happens, you and him will have your happily ever after, even if in this fairy tale the princess fell for the villain instead of Prince Charming.

But, hey, it's better this way.