Our Glorious Purpose

“So you’re really going to join those space Avengers, huh?” Evelyn asks her brother in law, Thor, as he gets ready to board a spaceship.

“They call themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy,” Thor chuckles. “But yes, I will be traveling across the universe alongside them.” Evelyn lets a very faint smile appear on her face, patting his shoulder.

“Well, I wish you all safe travels,” she says. “It’s going to be lonely without…both of you now.”

“Sister, Loki may have left us physically, but he’ll stay in our memory,” Thor assures her, and Evelyn looks down, feeling tears threatening to fall.

“I just miss him, Thor…I miss him,” she whispers. Her brother pulls her into a hug, which she desperately returns. With Loki gone and him tagging along with the Guardians, she really didn’t have anyone left.

Her parents were dead, her home was destroyed, and she doesn’t exactly have friends here on Midgard. But she chose to stay there, to feel at least some normalcy in her life. Not that there was much of that anymore.

“I know,” Thor replies, pulling away from the embrace. “But you take care of yourself. You will let me know if you’re in need of anything, right?”

“Depends,” she sniffles. “Will you let me know the same?”

“Of course. Farewell sister.”

“You as well, brother.”

That was all 3 years ago. Why did it seem like these years were worse than the first five?

So many things had happened over time, Wanda created her own happy reality until it fell apart, Sam and Bucky had to take down a weird group and some off brand version of Captain America, and Clint was off training some woman to be the next Hawkeye all while trying not to get brutally murdered by Natasha’s little sister.

And Evelyn…well, she stayed the same. That constant nagging whole in her heart couldn’t be fixed, because she too had lost everything.

Just like Wanda, she found her own way to cope by creating a fake version of her old love by means of an illusion. She couldn’t let go, the pain wouldn’t stop. He was ripped away from her so quickly without a chance of getting him back.

The first time she cast the illusion, seeing him again, just how she remembered him, his green eyes full of pure affection for his lover; her pain go away, and her chest felt tight the more she reminded herself that he wasn’t there.

He wasn’t even real anymore.

“I know you’re not real,” she whispers, her voice trembling as it battled for stable speech. “But I just want to tell you that I’m-…I’m so, so sorry. For everything.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t try looking for you when you fell into space, for letting your father banish you to that dungeon, for not being strong enough to save you, because you’d still be here-! You-“

A choked sob escaped from her throat before she could swallow it back down, reliving the memories in her head, the pain as she watched Loki fall at the hands of Thanos, and her failed attempts to save him.

By the time she tried to heal him, he was already too far gone, not to mention her lack of strength from when the Mad Titan wrecked their ship.

Loki, the illusion of him, rather, was nothing but understanding. “I know darling,” his voice took to a soothing level as he comforted her. “But it isn’t your fault. None of it is…you did everything you could, and that’s what matters most.”

Evelyn’s eyes finally lifted back up to glance at him, showing that she didn’t really believe in his statement. Nonetheless, she wouldn’t argue over it. She didn’t have the strength to.

“Do not fret, you will see me again.”

This time, she lets out a disbelieving laugh. “How, in Valhalla?…I don’t think I can wait that long.” Her words came out with a light tone of voice, a simple jest, but deep down inside, she knew the words were true. If she was this broken even now, after 8 years, could she honestly handle the burden of her grief for millenniums to come?

The illusion of her lover stepped forward, and reached his hand out as if to grasp hers, only for it to phase right through her, a tingling sensation tickling her hand, as if a taunting reminder of what could’ve been his touch.

A soft sigh falls from his lips as he looks into her eyes.

“Please, do not lose hope, my love,” he pleads. “I don’t have the answers. Honestly. But if there’s anything that I do know, my dear, is that you will see me again. You will find me. You always do.”

Tears finally make their way down Evelyn’s face. She takes a deep breath, looking into his emerald eyes, before nodding as she convinced herself of his reassurances.

She would find a way.

=

Within a few days, Evelyn got to work.

She’d already crafted the first part of her plan, a golden ring, its material similar to that of Thanos’ gauntlet in strength, but not exactly the same.

She stared at the indent in the middle of the accessory, where the second tool was missing.

A Time Stone.

The infinity stone had been destroyed 5 years ago during the final battle against Thanos, alone with the rest of them, so she couldn’t ask Doctor Strange for it, as it was no longer in his possession.

Or in existence.

No, she couldn’t get her hands on the stone, but she could…create one herself, if all goes well.

It was a far fetched idea, but from what she learned on Asgard about her powers, the things she was capable of, there was no harm in trying, right?

“You are the Goddess of Aura,” she remembers the words of the Queen when she was younger. “You may be too young now, but you will mature into a powerful woman, strong enough to do almost anything.”

Anything.

Including bringing her love back?

There was only one way to find out.

Evelyn had collected a stone from outside of the small cabin where she stayed, one large enough to almost replicate the size of the original stone.

She sat it down on the wooden table, studying it as her hands hovered near each other. A golden glow emits from her palms, and the beam shoots towards the stone, trying to charge it, but to no avail.

Evelyn lets her hands drop with a grunt, as she paces back and forth for a moment, her mind trying to put together the missing pieces.

Her powers wouldn’t work alone. Something else was needed.

The more she thought about the real Time Stone, the more everything began to make sense.

The time stone controlled all the time in the universe, the multiverse, even. It was the product of the creation of time.

So maybe, to replicate it, she needed something that represented—or maybe played a part in time.

Once the idea came together, her eyes began darting around her house, searching for anything that could help.

The watch in her bedroom? The clock, maybe?

No, both of those only tell the time. They don’t technically count in the creation of it.

“Come on, what creates time?” She murmurs to herself, her fingers tapping on the table. “Think, think…”

Then like lightning, it hit her.

There’s only one other thing that she could think of that could contribute to the creation of time.

And it was currently reflecting off her window.

Going out the front door, Evelyn’s head lifted up to view the bright glowing orb in the sky, a hopeful look taking over her expression.

If she could absorb a little bit of energy from the sun, she could use it to fully charge the stone and recreate the original.

Lifting her hands up towards the sky, feeling the warmth of the sunbeams on them, she curls her fingers only slightly, and after a second or two, she notices the faint rays of light mixing with the lighter glow of her powers, until she’s sure she’s contained enough energy.

She keeps her hands close together to stabilize the matter as she carries herself back inside the little cabin, and back over to the little table.

“Okay,” she whispers to herself, letting out a soft, nervous exhale. “Please work…”

She begins to transfer the sun’s energy into the small stone, her magic stopping it from shooting out or causing any unwanted damage. If this didn’t work, she’d at the very least like to have a home still.

She watches as the ordinary stone begins to glow from the matter being forced into it, and eventually, when all of it is used up, she picks up the stone, her hazel brown eyes lighting up when it begins to burst into that familiar green tone, with occasional gleams of the golden yellow that was used to put everything together.

Evelyn lets out a small laugh, it worked. Actually worked.

Things were starting to look up now. She was getting closer. She was gonna see Loki again, for real this time, and not by an illusion she created to hold onto to a faded reality.

She was about to make it reality once more.

With a heavy exhale, she slowly inserts the stone into her ring, feeling the surge in her body almost immediately after the two connected. There was a faint flicker of light a few times as her body slowly began to absorb the power of the makeshift Infinity Stone, and it was no easy feat.

No wonder Thanos fried his hand.

Once it died down, she shook her arm a few times, ignoring the slight burning sensation that was left over as she began to focus.

Evelyn looks down at her ring, before outstretching her hand, balling her fist and opening it over and over again. After one last, more fluid motion of a curl and release of her first, a green portal begins to form right in front of her.

This was it.

She straightens her stance, grabbing the sword she’d laid out for this specific moment, cautiously walking into the portal, where her feet land on a familiar metal.

She was back on the ship.

Her stomach churns being back here. On this ship. One that was once full of people ready to relocate and build a new home, now cluttered with bodies and bloodshed, all within a matter of seconds.

A truly sickening sight.

“I, Loki, Prince of Asgard...” that familiar voice snaps her out of her uncomfortable state of nostalgia, quickly returning to the matter at hand.

Saving him.

She peered at the interaction from beside her hiding spot, the place where she landed, right behind the Titan.

“…Odinson, the rightful king of Jotunheim, God of Mischief, do hereby pledge to you…my- undying fidelity.”

Loki finishes his big display of “loyalty,” and Evelyn knows all too well of the dagger he’s materializing behind his hand as he kneels in front of Thanos.

She also knows all too well of the events that play out after that.

Loki’s quick to aim his dagger at Thanos’ neck, yes, but the purple alien was quicker, like he’d suspected Loki’s intentions from the beginning.

Of course. A god of mischief wouldn’t be known for loyalty.

His hand comes to an abrupt halt, the power from the stones holding it in place and stopping any movement.

“Undying?” Thanos repeats. There’s that smugness in his voice, the confidence that he’s won. “You should choose your words more carefully.”

Those words make Evelyn sick all over again, watching as the gloved hand of Thanos goes to Loki’s neck, lifting him up off the ground. She grips the sword’s handle tight, but her body falters in any actual movement, a tightening in her chest hindering her as she notices the way Loki flails around, his legs kicking as searches for a way out, to breathe.

No. She’s not gonna let it happen again.

With a swift motion so fast she could’ve put lightning to shame, she launches herself from her hiding spot and goes for the kill. She stabs Thanos in the back of his leg, the pain startling him just enough to drop Loki, who was unharmed (in the important ways). He turns over to face his attacker, in an attempt to grab her instead, but when he turned around, no one was there.

A brief silence passes by, of Thanos searching for her, and the minute he turns his back, it was too late.

Evelyn reappears behind him, and with a swift motion of her sword, he’s gone, head dislocated from the rest of his body as both fall to the floor of the ship with an echoing clang.

Her chest heaves as she stares down at his body, now lifeless.

She did it.

She saved Loki.

She saved the world.

Both Asgardians look at her in shock, unsure of how she was able to so much as move without the Mad Titan seeing her.

She looks down at Loki, reaching her hand out to help him up, when she’s flung back by Ebony Maw, Thanos’ second in command.

Her body hits the side of the ship, as she lets out a sharp gasp as her back makes a small cracking sound.

“Evelyn!” Loki calls out, scrambling to get up and assist her.

Maw flicks his hand towards Loki, binding him up in tight chains, before he floats over to Evelyn, a hateful sneer on his face.

“You,” he grits. “How dare you? How dare you kill our father?!”

“Well,” Evelyn says, one of her hands shifting without his consciousness. “First of all, my father’s dead. And second…”

All of a sudden, a green portal forms behind Maw, causing him to whip around in surprise, giving Evelyn just enough space to fight back.

She kicks him backwards with all her might, sending him flying into the portal, which she’s quick to close when she sees him disappear.

“I would never want to be the child of a murderer.”

The chains and debris bounding Loki and Thor fall away in an instant, and Loki is quick to rush up to his lover.

“Evelyn,” he says, panting breathlessly as he grabs her shoulders. “Darling…”

Without missing a beat, Evelyn grabs Loki and pulls him into a tight embrace.

“I did it,” she whispers in his ear, feeling her body go weak as all of her emotions began to bubble up and overflow at the feeling of finally being in his arms. Loki strokes her hair, placing a reassuring kiss on the top of her head as he held her.

“That you did,” he replies, pulling back slightly so that he could lift her face up with one of his hands. “I’m so proud of you, you- you saved us, you saved everyone.”

Evelyn lets her tears fall as she nods in agreement.

“Sister,” Thor muses from behind the two of them, to which they pull away to acknowledge him. “May I just say…you would have made a fine Valkyrie.”

She laughs softly, which gets choked up by a little sob, but she smiles nonetheless.

“Let’s take it back a little, maybe?” she teases, wiping her tears away.

This was it.

She could finally be whole again.

“Come on,” she urges, creating another portal that would take the three of them away from where they were now.

And then suddenly, a glowing orange door appears.

They all stop simultaneously, watching as a few armor-bearing people stepped out, a woman leading the team as she inches closer to the trio.

“Another sequence violation,” she informs those following close behind her studying the device in her hand. “Branch is advancing quickly. The quicker we get this done, the better.” And then her gaze moves to Evelyn, an amused smirk forming on her lips. “Variant identified. This should be good.”

Evelyn immediately puts her guard back up, her arms holding her brother-in-law and husband behind her, confusion and alarm flooding her senses.

“What…what’s going on?” she murmurs. “Are you with…Thanos or something?”

“No,” the woman replies. “On behalf of the Time Variance Authority, I hereby arrest you from your crimes against the sacred time line.” The others behind her hold up some sort of weapon, powering them on warningly. “Hands up. You’re coming with us.”

“Wait, wait-“ Evelyn stammers, her eyes flitting around in a panic. “I don’t understand, I haven’t done anything! What crimes?”

“You’ll find the answer to that soon enough, Variant. Now let’s go, last chance.”

“No, I can’t, please,” she pleads with them, her eyes conveying the amount of desperation she felt in this moment, clutching onto Loki’s hand.

The new offenders step forward, disregarding her words or requests to wait and to explain to her exactly what was going on, but rather, they tear her away from Loki as she lets out a scream in protest.

“Where are you taking her?” Loki demands, his brows furrowed as he pulls his dagger back out. He couldn’t use it on Thanos, but he would certainly use it on them if he had to.

His question is met with silence from the others as they continue to drag Evelyn away, although struggling as she thrashes around to free herself from their grip.

Loki’s frown deepens with worry as he watches her fighting back, before deciding to intervene, yanking back one of the guards apprehending Evelyn and flinging him to the side.

With less pressure on her right arm now, Evelyn elbows the other guy holding her, knocking him in his rib cage, causing him to stumble back from the impact.

With half of them out of the way, she tries to get rid of the others, with the help of Loki, eventually freeing her from their grasp.

She doubles over and clutches her side, panting heavily to try and regain her breath.

“We have to-“ she pants, pushing herself to stand upright as she looks at Loki, who’s right by her side, helping her out. Before she can finish telling him that they needed to retreat before they got caught, all of a sudden Loki let out a sharp gasp, his face scrunched up in pain.

Evelyn quickly looked down, her eyes wide in horror when she saw the burning, hole in Loki’s side.

He’s burning. Why is he burning?!

“Loki!” She cries, reaching for him as he sinks on his knees to the floor. Before her hand can fully envelop his, he’s disappeared in a cloud of sparks right before her eyes.

“No!!”

Evelyn’s head shoots up, noticing the guard standing above her, with that same weapon all of them had turned on earlier.

Her head fills with emotions, shock, horror, sadness, anger.

“What did you do?!” She screams, pulling herself up off the ground and lunging at the guard, knocking his weapon out of his hand as she slammed him up against the wall. “What did you do?!!!”

She gets yanked back, however, by the others behind her, quickly manhandling her until she’s in a position that’s impossible to her out of.

Not without a lot of pain, at least.

“Stop!” Her pleas fall upon deaf ears however, tears pouring from her eyes as everything begins to bubble over, and she goes from struggling to going limp in their grip, her body submitting to her impending doom.

“Please, please, no…” she sobs.

“We warned you, Variant,” she hears the woman speak from above her. “You’ve only made things worse for yourself.”

Without giving her any time to respond or plead again, a collar is suddenly placed around her neck, tight and unmoving.

Though, if she’s supposed to be a prisoner, this probably isn’t supposed to feel good.

“Reset the timeline.”

The man with the most hold on her yanks her into an upright position, shoving her limp body through the same orange door, entering an entirely different area.

It’s a bit dark, she can tell that much. There’s a door not too far up ahead, but she can’t focus on that right now.

She just watched Loki die. Again.

She saved him only for him to die again.

The guard begins to push her forward roughly with a grunt, to which Evelyn winces at.

“Alright, that’s enough,” she heard the voice of the woman in a low volume. “I’ll take her from here.”

Evelyn feels that tight grip disappear and turn into a softer one, but firm nonetheless, as if a signal that there’s no way she’s escaping, no matter how hard she tries.

To her, there’s no point of trying anymore.

Looking down as the woman guides her forward into a lighter lit area, her hazel eyes—now glossed with unshed tears that threatened to spill at any given moment—noticed three letters in big, bold orange, marked right into the ground.

TVA.