Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Until next time, little godling.”

Loki looked up from under drooping eyes just in time to see the door slide shut behind The Other as he left the room.

The bastard hadn’t even bothered to unchain him from the wall before running off.

Loki let out a low, rasping sigh. The sound of it alerted him to the fact that his lungs were more than likely bruised-- just another thing he would have to heal when he was released. He tried to catalogue that away for later, placing it on a list of things to remember. But Loki was finding it hard to clear his head-- to think straight. He couldn’t even remember what he had done wrong this time that made the Mad Titan believe he needed more punishment.

Loki pulled ever so slightly at the chain holding his right arm and shuddered from the pain that shot through him like an arrow, sudden and overwhelming. Perhaps that hadn’t been the best idea, in retrospect. 

It was pointless, anyway. There was no getting out of the chains. Out of Sanctuary . Away from Thanos. And Loki had tried, but he guessed his slipperiness hadn’t been enough. His luck had finally run out.

Loki let his eyelids flutter shut, having found that he had no more strength to hold them open. If he had learned anything in these long months, it was that he had to save his strength. Even these few moments of solitude -- and he had no idea how long they would last-- were blessed. He hardly was ever alone.

Loki didn’t quite know how long it was that he hung there from the wall-- time made even more uncertain due to the possibility of him passing out once or twice-- but he was shaken to alertness suddenly by the sound of the door sliding open once again.

Oh Norns, please no. Have mercy.

He couldn’t handle another round.

“Up.”

Loki frowned at the voice, and followed it back with his gaze to the source. Oh. So they had actually listened this time.

Gamora frowned right back at him. She carried a pack in her arms which Loki recognized as the sort which held medical supplies.

“You couldn’t have come sooner?” Loki asked, not bothering to question his strangely good fortune. It wasn’t often Gamora bothered to help him (not that that was any fault of her own-- they were all just trying to survive on this ship).

Gamora rolled her eyes as she came closer to Loki and began to undo his chains. The work was slow-- Thanos insisted on only the best restraints for his prisoners (and Loki had been especially troublesome in the first few months of his stay)-- and neither spoke. There weren’t really any words that could be shared, anyway. 

Loki breathed a sigh of relief when his limbs were finally free, and gently rubbed at his wrists with a grimace on his face. 

He sank down, kneeling on the cold, blood-stained floor of the room, his legs too weak to hold him. Gamora knelt down beside him, and opened up her pack of supplies.

Loki closed his eyes as she began her work, drawing his attention away from the discomfort of his shoulder being relocated. Of his wounds being cleaned and stitched. Of the burns being soothed. Gamora’s hands weren’t quite as rough as they could have been, and Loki appreciated that. It was the small things, the barely noticeable favors, that made everything bearable.

Gamora nudged his side, and Loki shifted to accommodate her beginning to wrap his ribs and lungs with bandages. He tried to keep his breathing steady and deep, but he couldn’t help the wince of pain as she secured the wrappings.

It did feel better, though.

The floor beneath his side was cold and damp-- he didn’t want to think about what made it so-- and Loki shivered. The draft from the ceiling vent was especially chilling at that moment, now that Loki noticed it. Though he supposed he should be grateful for it-- the heat was always so much worse.

Gamora paused in her ministrations to raise an eyebrow towards him. Loki glowered right back at her. He didn’t need this, especially now.

She shrugged and went back to stitching a gash in his leg.

Loki shifted up when she finished and leaned back against the wall where he had previously been hung from. Just a moment. A few seconds of peace. That’s all he needed. Then he would get up and go back to whatever he was needed for.

Yes, a minute of quiet sounded very nice.

Loki startled at Gamora shaking his shoulder. He blinked up at her, and belatedly realized he had closed his eyes. Gamora’s lips were pursed, and her brow was furrowed. She studied him for a second before shaking her head. 

Loki groaned slightly. No, this wasn’t what he needed. He just wanted a little time to rest. Perhaps head back to his room-- at least he had a bunk there, a place to sleep somewhat comfortably. A nice nap would do wonders to help along his healing, didn’t she know that?

Gamora still had that strange look on her face, but it had hardened slightly. As if she wasn’t about to let Loki guilt her into letting him sleep. Damn.

She reached to her side and grabbed another bag that Loki hadn’t noticed that she had brought with her. He silently cursed himself for not noticing this detail-- carelessness like that would get him killed.

Gamora pulled open the flap and pulled out a bundle of black leather. Loki frowned-- why did Gamora bring him his clothes when he could just head to his room to get some unripped leathers himself?

Gamora didn’t seem to be in the mood to explain as he tossed the bundle to him, then pulled out a pair of his boots and dropped them on his lap.

She bit her lip when she turned to Loki. “Try to be presentable.” she said quietly before grabbing the two bags and standing up. “I’ll wait outside.”

Presentable? Who even cared about -

“No,” Loki whispered.

He looked up at Gamora, no longer kneeling beside him, and he was unable to hide his widening eyes. 

Gamora looked back at him with something akin to pity. 

“Hurry up,” She told Loki, “Thanos is waiting.”

*****

Thanos. 

Loki had heard stories of the half-legendary figure in his childhood-- tales of the Mad Titan who wished to kill half of all life to show his devotion for Lady Death. Loki had never thought he would meet the monster of the myths. 

He wished he had been right.

Instead, Loki had found himself crash-landing in Sanctuary , Thanos’ realm. He didn’t remember what had happened beyond the blinding pain of impact, though he guessed it was some sort of interrogation as to why he dared to trespass in ‘Sacred Space’. The first thing that Loki was truly conscious of was waking up in a cell, being strapped down to a table. There was no explanation given to him, but Loki didn’t need one. He knew what this was-- the universe’s punishment for him. No, the Norns wouldn’t let him die. His attempt to take the cowardly way out was met with disdain, and so they had much greater, horrible, plans in store for him.

He hadn’t quite been wrong.

The minutes bleeded in hours which bleeded into days, weeks, months.

And Loki kept bleeding. 

Loki did find out what they wanted from him-- not many things, in fact. His waking days were spent being bombarded by the same two questions over and over again.

How did you find this place?

Is Odin planning an assault?

Of course he could never escape the house of Odin. He would always be recognized as the second son the one who wasn’t good enough. 

Loki remained silent for as long as he could bear it, unwilling to even speak of his-- of the man who had betrayed him.

And yet, he inevitably failed.

I don’t know! He would scream. He doesn’t care! 

It was ironic, Loki had thought, that for once, the truth didn’t save him.

“I have heard you have been rather defiant, little Odinson.”

Loki had trembled-- from rage or fear he did not know-- on the cold rocky ground before Thanos’ throne.

“I am no Odinson,” he rasped, and then he found himself coughing up red.

Pathetic.

Thanos seemed to think so, as he shifted in his throne, a displeased look upon his face.

“You have a problem with authority, do you not?”

Loki had laughed, or tried to. The first humorous thing he’s heard in months, and it comes from Thanos?

“That depends upon the authority.”

Loki was well aware he was playing with fire then, that he should tread carefully with his words. Do what he’s always been best at and talk his way to survival.

But what if he didn’t want to survive?

Loki tumbled forward at a sudden strike to the back of his head, and his hands scraped against the sharp rocks of the ground.

“Watch your tongue when in the presence of Thanos, worm . You should be grateful for the honor you have been given by even being allowed in the Great Savior’s presence.”

Loki had resisted the urge to laugh hysterically at the words of The Other, who seemed to hate Loki with a burning passion. Grateful? For this? Loki would be grateful the moment his heart ceased to beat in his chest.

“At ease, Other,” Thanos had murmured. “He does not know.”

The Titan rose from his throne and stepped down to the ground. His steps shook the room.

Loki had pushed himself back up to his knees, desperate to gain some semblance of control over the situation. And yet all he felt was helpless as Thanos knelt down before him.

“He does not know,” Thanos had murmured again as he stared at Loki like some piece of meat he was contemplating whether or not to purchase. He reached forward and took Loki’s chin in one hand. Loki tried to pull away, but he just wasn’t strong enough. A desperate wish for a dagger drummed through his mind.

Thanos tilted Loki’s head, inspecting him. Every millisecond felt like an eternity. Finally, Thanos had dropped Loki’s head, and he fell to the ground. Thanos rose back up to his full height, and Loki felt incredibly small.

“He will learn,” Thanos decided. He turned back to his throne, clearly dismissing Loki and those others. 

Thanos had strolled leisurely back to his place, as if he had all the time in the world. As he did so, he proclaimed, in a seemingly casual manner (though the words carried the heavy weight of an unavoidable command.)

“Break him. It will be good to have one of Odin’s on our side.”

*****

Loki had thought the worst months of his life were those first few on Sanctuary . He had also thought that Chitauri torturers were the most sadistic creatures he had ever met. But it turns out that they were far from skilled in the techniques of gathering information. And that worse times were about to come. 

The Chitauri were all dull blades and swooping waves of pain which crashed over him in all-encompassing agony.

The Black Order was different

The Children of Thanos were like precise scapals, delicate and slim slashes of hurt that      struck where he was weakest. They found the chinks in his armor and struck there, again and again and again.  

And that was before they added magic into the mix-- because Norns forbid the pain be merely physical . Instead, they reached into him, into his mind, into his thoughts and feelings and memories and muddled until he wasn’t quite sure of anything anymore.

They showed him his family-- showed them coming to save him. Showed him with them back on Asgard where everything seemed alright. And then they would rip it away from. Sometimes he would wake up in his cell, suddenly thrust back into reality.

But the worst they did-- what really broke him-- was when he was left in these fantasies. And that’s all they were-- fantasies. They would slowly begin to sour, to curdle at the edges. So Loki was left to see his life fall apart over and over before his eyes. He was left helpless as his family turned against him and spat out all the words he feared most. He spiraled down and down and hit rock bottom and it just. Wouldn’t. End. 

It was almost a relief when he was yanked back to consciousness.

But then it would repeat, in an endless cycle. His memories were messed with, till he didn’t know what had actually happened. 

Other times everything was repressed, and all sensations were stolen from him and he couldn’t. Feel. Anything. There were times he could barely remember his own name.

It wasn’t always the same figure, though Loki could barely differentiate any of them due to the overwhelming agony that pervaded every inch of his being-- inside and out.

It was only then-- when he could barely take another second of it all-- that the questioning began. Only one, but it turned Loki’s insides and for once in his life he was glad he had always been so stubborn.

“Are you ready to submit, Asgardian?”

No, no he wouldn’t. Even as his head was thrust into water till he couldn’t breath, and knives sliced past his skin deeper-- to the bone. And those tendrils of someone else sunk into his mind. 

Even as his senses were torn away from him, and the magic dampening chains that bound him kept him from his seiðr so long that he was scared it was gone forever.

“Are you ready to submit, Asgardian?”

Even as Thor told him over and over again that he hated him, that he couldn’t believe he had ever cared for a Frost Giant .

“Are you ready to submit, Asgardian?”

Even as his mother told him that he was no son of her’s.

“Are you ready to submit, Asgardian?”

Even as his father told him he was merely a means to an end.

“Are you ready to submit, Asgardian?”

Even as whispers crept into his ears, telling him that it would be better to just give in and end all this suffering.

“Are you ready to submit, Asgardian?”

Even as he screamed and screamed and screamed .

“Are you ready to submit, Asgardian?”

Loki coughed up his blood as he laughed at the faceless horrors that swarmed just outside of his vision. He had never been one to grovel, to beg for forgiveness. Why on earth would he begin now? He may not have been as strong as Thor-- as good -- but he was strong in his own right. And he would. Not. Break. 

But then he started to tire.

As his head was thrust into water till he couldn’t breath, and knives sliced past his skin deeper-- to the bone. And those tendrils of someone else sunk into his mind. 

And as his senses were torn away from him, and the magic dampening chains that bound him kept him from his seiðr so long that he was scared it was gone forever.

He started to tire.

And as Thor told him over and over again that he hated him, that he couldn’t believe he had ever cared for a Frost Giant.

He started to tire.

And as his mother told him that he was no son of her’s.

He started to tire.

And as his father told him he was merely a means to an end.

He started to tire.

And as whispers crept to his ears, telling him that it would be better to just give in and end all this suffering.

He started to tire.

And as he screamed and screamed and screamed .

He was just. So. Tired.

“Are you ready to submit, Asgardian?”

Loki didn’t even have the strength to lift his head. He collapsed there in the cell, in a pool of his own blood (at least he could feel it . But even that consolation started to fade away.)

Blood. Blood and pain and darkness. That was all that was around him now. He was not even granted the sweet release of death, forced instead to withstand this foul, pointless existence. 

Everything else faded away. And Loki was left with pain and tiredness and an overwhelming sense of hopelessness.

He barely scratched up the breath to whisper the single word that damned him. And as he said it, he felt the grins begin to spread across his torturers’ faces.

“Yes.”

*****

Being called ‘Son’ and ‘Child’ had almost been worse, however. 

The pain had stopped suddenly, and Loki was blessedly back in reality. He could take the aches and soreness if it meant he knew it was real . But that meant that what Thanos was saying was real as well.

“To be a member of the Black Order is the highest honor. You have been saved, my child. You are called to a greater existence-- you are called to serve in our mission.”

There were the faint noises of shifting from around Loki, of those other so-called children. Of others taken just like him and twisted into something different. Something unnatural . But he didn’t dare look up now. Loki’s entire world was the gravel beneath his knees, of irregular shapes yet a uniform pale gray in color.

If he could just focus on that, on something that wasn’t wrong , maybe he could anchor himself to the present moment. (the past held nothing but torment for him, and the future seemed so bleak)

“Do you accept this responsibility?”

The air gained an electric charge that almost reminded Loki of-- no. Don’t think about it. Dwelling on such things could only spell disaster. No fostering of hope-- Loki had learned that that didn’t exist anymore. Hope was worthless in the grand scheme of the universe, and survival was all that one could accomplish.

Survival. Did he even want to survive anymore? There had been a time, not too long ago, when his answer would have been a resounding No . 

But that had been the cowardly route, and the Norns had made it abundantly clear that there would be no escaping his punishment-- escaping what he deserved. To run away meant only to run to something far, far worse. There were no avenues free to him, now. And as much as he wanted to dash away, as much as he wanted it all to end , he knew it could not. 

So Loki looked up from the gravel, and stopped ignoring his fate which he could not escape. He looked into Thanos’ eyes, and somehow remained steady.

He had a choice to make, but it was no choice.

“I do… Father.”

*****

Loki had never been very good at making friends. There had never been anyone during his childhood that he truly thought of as a companion-- besides Tho- besides one other, that is. But even then, the years had drawn them apart.…

So Loki had trouble making friends.

Thanos didn’t seem to get the memo.

*****

Cull Obsidian had been the first that Thanos had tried to pair him with. Cull was a hulking brute (of what species he was, Loki was unsure. They were probably extinct, though, after Thanos’ culling) who had no understanding of the word ‘subtlety’. He seemed to think that the assignment Thanos had given him was to torment Loki’s days as much as he possibly could.

This led to Loki getting several broken bones in the first few hours of so-called ‘training’, and even more the next day. (It took a while for Loki to find the med bay, and his magic was far from capable of handling such extensive injuries without any extra aid; it would be for a while). So Thanos decided that it probably wasn’t working out.

The next member of the Black Order that Thanos decided Loki should shadow was Ebony Maw, a noseless, spineless creature who spoke in groveling and adoration. The first few minutes Loki had spent with him were filled with constant praising of Thanos and his deeds, and Ebony telling him he should be grateful for all that the Titan had done for him.

Loki had been granted access to weaponry again by this point, but he was inching closer and closer to getting that privilege revoked from him by stabbing Ebony in the neck.

The only positive he considered in the situation was that he learned far more about Thanos’ history, his goals, and how he had gained each child.

Loki found he was once again the strange one-- all other members of the Black Order had been taken as children, when Thanos had slaughtered half of their planets. He, contrarily, had come to them . And far older than the others as well.

Of course, this knowledge didn’t help him much when Loki and Ebony attempted to kill each other (Loki wasn’t sure who had started it, but he was convinced that he was the one who had ended it).

Suffice it to say, Loki was sent to spend time with another child of Thanos. (though thankfully he was still allowed to keep his knives. It seemed that Thanos wasn’t completely against his children attacking each other-- just when they made a mess, or went too far)

Loki wasn’t sure exactly how many children Thanos had in his inner circle-- there were some that he saw regularly, and other people who may have been lieutenants and not members of the Order, and still others who were talked about but he never met-- Ebony hadn’t gotten quite to that part when he and Loki started to fight. But he already knew of Proxima Midnight when she was tasked with watching him.

Proxima was annoying, as simple as that. She acted like she was above everyone else, and talked far too much for Loki’s liking. She grated on his nerves, though not as much as Ebony.

But what Loki really disliked about Proxima was what came with her. Namely, one Corvus Glaive.

Corvus was another member of the Black Order, and was already Proxima’s partner (he had heard rumors that that was true in more ways than one), but he had been off of Sanctuary for a while on a mission for Thanos, so he was not there when Loki was expected to shadow Proxima. He had not been very happy when he had come back to find him and Proxima training together-- if it could be called that. It mostly consisted of Proxima attempting to stab Loki with her three-pronged spear with vicious glee.

Corvus had thought that it would be a wonderful idea to join in. 

Loki had thought it would be an equally wonderful to get the hel out of there and hide until he knew it was safe.

With the avenue of Proxima and Corvus gone (destroyed), and no other Black Order members available, Loki was left with no more options.

Loki truly did have trouble making friends.

*****

Thanos looked at Loki with an almost mournful look upon his face. “You have caused me great difficulty, son.”

“I apologize.” Loki murmured, and twisted his hands together behind his back.

“ Father .” Thanos admonished. “What, are you ungrateful, Loki?”

“No, Father,” Loki cringed internally at the state of his voice. “I’m sorry, Father.”

Thanos nodded, accepting Loki’s words. “I understand that it is in your nature to cause trouble -” and why did that line hurt so much? “-but I will not coddle you further.”

This was coddling?

Thanos approached him, and Loki tensed for the coming strike. But there was none-- instead, Thanos walked past Loki and to the doors of the ship.

“Come, child, let us see if there is not one more chance for you.”

Loki followed along quickly, not wanting to get too far behind. Thanos strolled out of his throne room’s entry hall, and into the maze of corridors that made up the flagship. Loki was at his heels the whole time, and felt akin to a dog following his master.

The walk was not too far, but there were still several silent minutes that made up the journey. 

Finally, they reached some inconspicuous double doors in a seemingly normal section of the ship. “Come,” Thanos said as he flung them open.

In the room-- which looked to be one of the various kinds for combat training-- were two women, sparring. Loki recognized them as two of Thanos’ daughters that Ebony had mentioned-- Gamora and Nebula.

The pair immediately stopped fighting when Thanos came in (Loki followed behind in his shadow, trying to regain even a shred of dignity).

“Father,” they acknowledged in unison.

“My daughters,” Thanos greeted. He held his arms open in a greeting. “I have a task for you.”

“What is it, Father?” Nebula (Loki thought the luphomoid was Nebula. Though he could be mistaken) asked. Her voice was a strange mix of bored and anticipating.

“Your brother here,” Thanos said, and Loki took that as his cue to step forward slightly till he was to Thanos’ right, “Is in dire need of direction. He will remain with you until he learns our ways. Teach him, and keep him out of trouble.”

“Of course, Father,” the Zen-whoberi (Gamora?) said. 

The Titan nodded. “Good, Gamora. Do not disappoint me.” He nodded to blue women. “You as well, Nebula. I would hate to find you require more improvements..”

Loki was unsure of what Thanos meant by that, but at least he knew for sure which sister was which. He stood there as Thanos turned to leave. 

“Behave, boy.”

With Thanos gone, the room was suddenly quiet. No one moved. (Loki took the fact that neither of the sisters had tried to kill him yet as a good start)

Loki eyed Nebula and Gamora’s weaponry-- Gamora had a large sword and Nebula some knives-- and smirked. “Fine blades you have there.” Neither said a word, so Loki decided it would be safe to speak some more-- to get a feel for the situation.

The Zen-whoberi raised her eyebrow at him, unimpressed.

Loki leaned against the wall, and summoned a dagger of his own into his hand. The brief flash of green lit up the sisters’ faces, and Loki noted with a touch of amusement that they flinched back in surprise. Not large flinches, nor obvious, but it was good to know he set them on edge.

“You two seem to have your own partnership going on. I would hate to intrude.”

“You don’t look all that sorry,” Nebula growled, glaring at him.

Loki gave her a look of feigned innocence. “I believe we can both blame Thanos for this.” He shrugged then tossed the dagger to his other hand, “but if you really don’t want me, I'll go back to my room. You can tell Thanos that it didn’t work out.”

Loki turned to go, curious to see how they would react. He froze before he could open the door, as a blade embedded in the door  just in front of him. He turned back slowly to see Nebula glaring at him, and Gamora frowning.

“You’re not going anywhere. Father said you’re with us, so you stay with us.”

Loki grinned, a hint of mania in his eyes. First death threat, and she wasn’t even trying . Perhaps this arrangement could prove profitable afterall. 

So he turned around slowly and settled a smirk on his face. “Well, let's get on our way, shall we? We mustn’t disappoint the master.”

*****

Their first mission was to a planet called Leshg, and a small group of Leshgians were to be killed. That was all that Loki knew. Though he supposed it didn’t quite matter how these people had pulled Thanos’ rage upon them-- they would end up dead either way. He wasn’t overly worried about this mission either-- they had had a few weeks to grow accustomed to each other

He continued to not worry about the mission when they had left, departing in one of the ships that were apparently set aside for the Black Order’s use. Even as Nebula threatened to gut him like a fish when he tried to ask her if she happened to know anything else about the planet.

Luckily, no one was killed and they made it to Leshg with no injuries. By this time, Loki was still unworried about the mission. The city was bustling, but they knew exactly where they were going-- the palace.

“Remember,” Gamora said as she retracted her sword and placed it back at her hip, “In and out. Make sure there’s a witness who sees us, but don’t cause a scene.”

Nebula scoffed. “We know . You don’t need to lecture.”

Gamora had narrowed her eyes at her sister, but hadn’t said another word. So Loki had led them out of the ship, casting an illusion so that they looked like the same species as the locals, and blended in. Loki didn’t look behind to see if they were comfortable with this. There was no time.

They had continued on into the palace unhindered, and made it to where they needed to go. The group they had been ordered to assassinate were together in a meeting, so there was no need to track down individuals. There was still no worry in Loki’s mind about the mission.

Though there was regret when he slit the first Leshgian’s throat

They were done in less than a minute after Gamora led them in and proclaimed their coming deaths due to Thanos. It was efficient, and Loki was glad it was done quickly. He was no stranger to killing-- had been in enough wars in his life-- and this was far from personal. But the reasons behind it made him uneasy. (he buried it all and pushed on.)

“Loki-- get the girl!” 

Loki whipped his head around at Gamora’s words to see a small serving girl dashing towards the exit. “But we need a wit-”

The girl reached the door, and Loki saw a second too late that she was not only trying to leave, but trying to get to the panel by the door. She smacked said panel and suddenly an alarm blared out in the room, and beyond.

Loki cursed and ran to the girl, yanking her aside and shoving her to the floor. He pulled open the door and held it open as Gamora and Nebula raced past him, but not before Nebula smacked him.

“You idiot, ” she snarled. 

Loki didn’t have a counterpoint.

They barely made it out of the palace in one piece, and had to kill several guards to escape. Loki tried to help them to avoid the authorities, but there were just too many of them. And there was nothing he could do when they started to fire at their ship as they left the atmosphere.

“That was stupid,” Gamora said when they were safely in space half an hour later.

Loki sat in his seat and stared out the window to the stars rushing past. “I know,” he replied, “No need to lecture.”

“It’s not us, you need to worry about,” Nebula said, the first thing she had said to him since their hasty retreat from the conference room.

Loki glanced at her, and saw the tense lines in her face. “I know,” he repeated, tiredly.

They continued on for the rest of the journey in complete silence.

*****

And… that was what brought Loki back to the present, freshly led from his cell to Thanos’ throne room by Gamora. Loki realized belatedly that the mistake on Leshg was how he had ended up in such a predicament. Of course, a mistake as grandiose as that one was doubtless going to be punished. Thanos accepted nothing less than perfection. He mentally shook his head, trying to regain his mind from the fog.

Thanos looked down at Loki, his face saddened and frowning. It spoke to Loki much more of a displeased parent than of an enraged megalomaniac.

“You have not shown me your true potential yet, child.” Thanos chided, as if Loki hadn’t done as well on a test as he had hoped and not newly punished for failing a mission to kill royalty.

Loki bent his head down, having long since learned it was best to cow before the Titan. No amount of poking and prodding at his limits would earn him the rest he truly wished for – only more pain. (for not the first time in the past few minutes, Loki wished Gamora hadn’t left)

“I apologize, Father.”

Thanos sighed, as if put out. “I only want the best for you, my son. For you to be the strongest you can possibly be. But you know swords are forged by flame.” 

“I know, Father.”

“Then why don’t you give me your best?” Thanos asked.

Loki swallowed. “I don’t know, Father. I’m sorry.”

Thanos shook his head. “You may have learned much, son, and yet you still have much more to learn.”

Loki closed his eyes for a moment, trying to gain some semblance of calm. It was difficult on Sanctuary , there was no doubt, but Loki had perfected his ability to block out all unnecessary senses and surroundings and draw his focus internally – with the exception of the Titan before him. Loki was not so insane as to ignore Thanos.

The shifting of the chitauri guards behind him faded away. The scraping of the stones beneath his knees dulled. The frantic breathing of his heart calmed.

Thanos looked up to the sky, a furrow in his brow. “Unfortunately, I do not have the time to deal with you at this time.” He turned to look behind him and nodded slightly. He looked back to Loki. “I thought you were stronger. But perhaps not yet.”

Loki blinked slowly, biting his inner lip with his teeth. 

Never good enough. 

Even here .

“You have put me behind schedule,” Thanos continued. “I intended to have you retrieve an item of great importance to me, one that must be procured as soon as possible. And yet your trip to Leshg took far longer than intended, and now you must take far more time to recover. This is unacceptable.”

“I am sorry, Father, I can still help. I -”

“Be quiet, Loki.” Thanos snapped, his eyes flashing. “Now is not the time for insolence.”

Loki recoiled slightly and snapped his mouth shut.

Thanos nodded in satisfaction. “You will have further chances to prove yourself. But now, you have only disappointed me.”

“Father, you wished to see me?”

Loki barely concealed his stardledness at the sudden arrival of Proxima’s voice. He glanced to his side to see the woman standing beside him, a hand on her hip.

Proxima looked at him with a look of triumph.

Loki glared right back.

“Ah, yes,” Thanos said, “You will be sent to Terra to retrieve the space stone.”

Terra? The space stone?  Loki was frozen in place. In all his time with Thanos he had only heard whispers about his quest for the infinity stones from Nebula and Gamora, the occasional footsoldier, and references from Ebony. But they had all made it very clear: Thanos hadn’t found another infinity stone for a long time. And he had the mind stone squirreled away in some hidden vault that no one knew of, waiting for the others to bring it out.

And Terra… they must mean Midgard. He had heard rumors that was where the Tesseract had been left.

Unfamiliar emotions swirled in Loki’s gut, and he couldn’t quite make out what they were. Midgard was so close to-- and under the protection of -

No. It was better not to think of such things.

Not to hope .

“I will do so, Father.” Proxima said. “When do I depart?”

“Within the day,” Thanos said, “We have lost too much time already. We must pursue our goal.”

Loki clenched and unclenched his teeth.

Proxima nodded. “Very well, Father.” she turned to go, but Thanos halted her with his next words.

“Retrieve the scepter and bring it with you.” He smiled. “Like calls to like.”

Proxima grinned wickedly. “As you wish, Father.”

Her steps retreated behind them.

For a moment, Thanos seemed lost in thought. He had a satisfied look upon his face, though a touch contemplative as well. Then he turned to Loki, and his brow hardened.

“As for you, my son,” He began.

Loki held his breath. 

“Do better.”

*****

Loki wasn’t sent on a mission for three weeks after that.

It was a lonely three weeks.

Although he hated to admit it, Loki had begun to enjoy Nebula’s company, and even Gamora’s. He missed their sparring sessions. But being sequestered to his room in order to heal was far from conducive to a good fight. Though he did wonder, a bit, why he was left alone for so long. It was unlike Thanos to leave one of his so-called children unattended for any significant length of time. Perhaps personally it was not so out of the ordinary – but no one had been sent to check up on him. Only the regular Chitauri guard routine to make sure he stayed inside.

At the end of the three weeks, Loki was practically foaming at the mouth. He had never been one to yearn for movement or adventure, and he would usually be satisfied staying in the room for weeks on end with the only break to eat or relieve himself. But that was different on Sanctuary . On Sanctuary , there was always a wariness which settled over him, and was in his bones. To be alone for the first while was not too horrible – welcomed, even. But as the days stretched on he worried. And Loki hated being uncertain of things.

There was also the matter of there being little to do -- he had no books with him from As- from before. And there was not enough space in his room to move much.

Luckily, the end came, and Loki was allowed out with little fanfare.

He headed straight to the specific training room he had found he liked the most in the few sessions he had spent there.

“Oh joy, he’s alive.”

The training room was not empty, as Loki had anticipated. Instead, Nebula and Gamora were there. Gamora was working on her forms, swinging her sword with expert precision. Nebula was leaning against a wall, working on some knives.

Loki smirked. Well, there’s no point leaving now, is there? he thought.

“ Dear Nebula,” Loki asked sweetly, his eyes going wide, “did you miss me? ”

Nebula rolled her eyes and went back to sharpening her dagger. 

Loki shook his head and walked further into the room. “You did, didn't you? I’m astonished-- I didn’t think you cared.”

Nebula snorted, then pushed herself away from the wall. “All those weeks of bedrest scrambled your brain.”

“I assure you, my mind has been ‘scrambled’ for a long while. Some sleep wouldn’t change that.”

“Then how about your fighting?” Gamora countered, coming across the room to join them. “How unpracticed are you after all this time?”

Loki eyed Gamora’s sword, and Nebula’s knives, and his smirk grew.

“Care to find out?”

*****

Thanos seems to have run out of options when it came to me , Loki thought somewhat sardonically. So he chose the path with the least amount of possible damage.

Said path regarded Loki’s placement with Nebula and Gamora. Even following the somewhat disastrous failure of the mission to Leshg, the Mad Titan had still deemed it appropriate to send Loki on another mission with the sisters.

His sisters, according to Thanos.

Loki still hadn’t quite accepted this yet. But he knew that compliance would be the … healthier option for him.

The mission in question was to investigate rumors of the Soul Stone’s location on some backwater planet in the Zygon quadrant… and kill anyone who had true knowledge.

At present, however, Loki was in an armory with Nebula and Gamora, gathering the necessary supplies. When they were all set, they would depart.

The work had been silent so far – so nothing out of the ordinary. Surprisingly, however, someone interrupted the quiet.

“Proxima didn’t come back, did you know?” Gamora asked, and Nebula and Loki paused in their preparations.

“Really?” Loki asked, his emotions a tight knot.

Gamora nodded. “Apparently the Terran defenses were stronger than anticipated. And they had aid from Asgard.”

Nebula nodded, her curiosity seemingly satisfied.

“Father isn’t going to be pleased.”

Gamora gave Nebula a look. “Why do you think we haven’t seen him?”

Nebula shrugged, a glare on her face as always. “Let’s just get going, alright.”

Gamora nodded, then looked at Loki. “Are you alright?” she asked.

Loki blinked, realizing that he had been lost in his thoughts. But the news… so he had been right before. Not that it mattered right now. He hadn’t been the one sent.

Loki covered up his inner turmoil with an easy smirk. “Oh, yes.”

Gamora gave Loki a look, but didn’t comment. Instead she turned back to her blaster and began to fiddle with it, making sure the settings were just right.

They lapsed into silence again.

A few minutes later, Gamora glanced over her shoulder to Loki, who was lacing up a boot, and to Nebula, who was standing by the door with a bored look on her face. “Are you ready?”

Nebula scoffed before nodding once.

Loki stood up from his boot, and gave Gamora a tight smile. “Let’s get going, shall we?”

*****

Thanos looked down at the three of them in a line, and had a smile on his face. “I am proud of you, my children. You have succeeded.”

Loki internally let out a sigh of relief at Thanos’ words. There was a part of him that hadn’t even thought there was a chance of Thanos’ approval, but it was true. There would be no punishment for this particular mission.

Though perhaps Thanos’ pride was punishment enough.

“I am glad I placed you three together,” Thanos said, “It was good for Nebula to have someone she could challenge.”

Nebula tensed ever so slightly next to Loki, so subtle that he definitely wouldn’t have noticed it just by looking at her.

Loki kept his gaze downturned and his chest knotted slightly. 

Oh .

Loki snuck a quick glance in Gamora’s direction, but she seemed emotionless-- unbothered. She either didn’t understand the weight of Thanos’ words, or didn’t care. Loki wasn’t quite sure which Gamora fell under, but he supposed that that didn’t matter right now.

This was all too familiar to him, and he never thought he would see this again (there was a midgardian phrase he heard once – deja vu – that seemed to fit the situation quite well). But this time he was not a part of the repeating relationship - he was not one of the two opposing forces.

(Fate truly was cruel. For as soon as he left one sibling, he had been forced to watch two more fall into the same pattern. And there was nothing he could do.)

“Thank you, Father,” Gamora murmured. 

Thanos nodded to his daughter. “You have shown your reliability as always, Gamora. You have helped shape Nebula into a promising tool. I hope you continue to do the same for your brother.”

Ah, there it was – movement. Loki’s eyes caught the subtle shift in Gamora’s kneeling form, one that spoke of discomfort and uncertainty. So she did feel something. Interesting.

Thanos turned away from them, and back to staring out across the stars. “Continue performing like this, and perhaps you shall prove yourselves. For now, go. Train. I will call on you when I have the need.”

The three of them departed quickly, but Loki couldn’t shake the sour, cold, twisted feeling in his gut. 

He couldn’t help but feel like this had been the opposite of a success.

*****

Life on Sanctuary was far from easy, though Loki had to admit that as soon as he had gained Thanos’ favor, it became far less horrible.

As he walked down the halls, Chitauri cowed before him. Ranking members of Thanos’ army nodded in respect. He didn’t have to watch his back every single waking second – though he still did, due to habit.

Being a member of the Black Order was the highest rank one could achieve on Sanctuary , but he hadn’t quite been a member before – his probation period of sorts was well known among everyone on the ship. Now, he was treated like a prince again (though so different – what he wouldn’t give to go back to Asg-). 

Loki shook his head slightly, shaking those thoughts out of his mind. No, stop . One of the guards at the end of the hall gave him a weird look, but a quick glare his way caused the poor creature to shrink away. And he went on his way.

“Pass me a whetstone”

Loki rolled his eyes covertly as he flicked his wrist towards Nebula, not even a few seconds before entering the armoury that Nebula was using. The gray stone flew across the room from the shelf it had been kept on, heading straight for Nebula’s head. Directly before impact, the luphomoid’s hand shot out and snatched the whetstone from the air.

She didn’t even thank him.

“I’m not your servant,” Loki drawled as he leaned against the table where Nebula was working to sharpen her knives.

Nebula scowled. “What else is magic good for?”

Loki raised an eyebrow. “Battle, obviously.”

Nebula grumbled something under her breath as she went back to working on the mechanics of a set of knives that extended into escrima sticks. She had warmed up to Loki a lot over the past couple of months, and now only threatened his life or wellbeing when she was really annoyed.

“One of these days you’ll be too late, and get a dent in your skull” Loki said after a while. “You should protect yourself and just thank me sometime.” 

Nebula rolled her eyes at Loki, though there was little heat (A subtle warmth curled its way through Loki’s unease, relaxing him a bit).

“Never,” she said after a while. “Not on purpose.” And Loki found himself almost chuckling at that comment. 

“You won’t do what on purpose?” Gamora asked as she came in. 

Loki smirked. “Be nice.”

At the same time, Nebula replied with: “Act like a coward.”

Gamora eyed the pair of them, then murmured something to herself under her breath.

“Why are you two bothering me?” Nebula asked, “it was peaceful without you here.”

Loki shrugged, “I was bored.”

“ I came for the weapons,” Gamora said, “I need new knives.”

Nebula scowled. “And you somehow found me. It’s stupid and annoying- at this rate I’d rather be with Ebony.”

(Loki wrinkled his nose at the thought of spending any more time with Ebony than needed – it made bile rise in the back of his throat, and his hands begin to tremble. But Nebula and Gamora… didn’t seem so horrible.)

Gamora rolled her eyes at Nebula, annoyed in her own right, and went to the area with the knives. Nebula herself went back to tinkering with her poles.

And Loki, Loki stayed there. Because while he was now accepted anywhere on Sanctuary , the only place he felt he belonged was right there.

*****

SNICK!

Loki cursed under his breath as he dodged the sudden strike from Nebula’s throwing knife. That had been closer than he would have preferred.

Loki spun to the side and sent his own returning knife, which his opponent dodged just as easily. They were fairly evenly matched in that regard.

The training room that they were in-- although that was a loose term, the space was more like a large hanger with weapon racks-- was better lit than some of the others, for which Loki was grateful. It would be much harder to spar with Nebula if he couldn’t see. (he supposed that was the point) So for now, this fight was far more leisurely than some of the others that they’d had in the past.

“Agh!” Nebula yelled as she dove at Loki and brought the two of them to the ground. They rolled on the floor together for a second or two before Loki managed to twist out of Nebula’s hold and come up to a kneeling position.

Ah, yes. Leisurely.

A flurry of blows were exchanged, and Loki groaned internally at the thought of the bruises that he would have to endure tomorrow – Nebula was not being conservative with the hits from her metal arm.

But Loki struck Nebula’s head, whipping it to the side and momentarily distracting her. Loki used his momentary opening to flip Nebula over his back and bring her crashing to the ground.

Nebula was barely on the ground for a moment before she sprung up to her feet and kicked Loki in the face, sending him to his hands and knees. She followed up with a strike to his gut, and Loki was once again fully on the ground. 

She stalked forward to him, clearly intent on finishing him off.

But Loki didn’t fail that easily.

When her foot was in range, Loki hooked his own around it and twisted until she was brought to the ground right alongside him. They both tried to tackle each other at the same time, and ended up in a strange knot position, with each others’ hands on the other’s necks.

Spots began to dance in the corners of Loki’s vision, and he knew he had to get out quickly. So he took the risky route and dropped his hands from Nebula’s neck quickly, reaching for one of his hidden daggers strapped to his hip. He brought it up, but Nebula spotted what he was doing a split second before he could stab her, and rolled away to avoid the blade.

They sprang to their feet simultaneously, and Loki couldn’t help but laugh. He wasn’t quite sure why, though. 

Nebula glared at him and pulled twin knives from her own sheaths. Ah, so they were doing this now.

Loki flicked his wrist and another knife appeared in a flash of green in his free hand-- now that he wasn’t in close corners with Nebula, he figured it would be best to use one of his weapons from his dimensional pocket, as opposed to wasting the precious few already in his clothes.

Nebula scoffed and muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like “show-off.”

Loki’s eyes narrowed. Oh, now that just wouldn’t do.

But then, just as the pair had taken a step forward to re engage in their fight, the doors at the far end of the room slid open with a smooth SHLICK.

Both Loki and Nebula paused ever so briefly to catch a glimpse at whoever had come in. There weren’t very many options – anytime Thanos wanted to see his children fight it was far more official, and said children avoided each other like the plague.

Unsurprisingly, it was the only likely choice: Gamora.

The woman came in and leaned against a wall by the door, watching them.

By this time, the split second that they had stopped fighting was over, and they were back to slashing at each other with knives.

But there was an undercurrent to Nebula’s moves now, a tension. She fought with her usual ferocity, yes, but there was an aspect of viciousness to her movements that Loki wasn’t used to seeing.

Loki dodged to the right, and cast an illusion of himself going to the left. Nebula fell for it, lunging a bit too far, and ended up stumbling away from Loki, her back turned.

A small huff of laughter came from across the room, and Nebula scowled.

“You’re gonna pay for that,” she growled, and lunged again. Loki allowed himself the small pleasure of a tight smirk as he ducked and brought up a knife towards Nebula’s gut. Nebula countered his blow with one of her own, and the suddenness of the force drove the knife he held out of his hand. It clattered to the floor.

Loki teleported away a few yards to catch his breath and was about to conjure another to replace the one lost when he saw the look on Nebula’s face. There was an animalistic quality in her eyes, one that Loki knew all too well.

It reminded him of younger days, when red fought green, and a son just wanted to prove himself.

Loki felt Gamora’s eyes on his back as he conjured the second dagger to once again have weapons in both hands. Nebula saw and sped her approach up. A few milliseconds later, and they were clashing again.

The clanging of metal upon metal echoed throughout the room, in harmony with weathered grunts and tired pants. The occasional scrape from boots on the floor or thump of kicks also joined in.

Loki groaned internally as Nebula threw him to the floor. He wished they weren’t so evenly matched sometimes-- it would save him the pain.

He had lost his other dagger by this point, and hadn’t bothered to replace it. Nebula too had gotten rid of one of her knives when she had thrown it at Loki’s head. The other she held in her hand.

Or she did .

Upon seeing Loki on the ground, not trying to get up, she sheathed the knife in question stalked forward toward him. When she was in range, Loki spun out with his leg, looking to pull her down just like he had done a few minutes before. 

But Nebula saw it coming.

Instead of falling to the ground, Nebula used Loki’s instability as an opening to dive on top of him, using her momentum to pin him to the floor. 

Loki groaned from where he was, but with his arms in the positions they were, there was no way out.

“Submit,” Nebula growled ferociously, and Loki smiled grimly. 

“Of course.”

Nebula moved back from Loki, and rose to her feet. She was breathing heavily. 

Loki sat up as well, just in time to see Gamora’s faint smile. She nodded to Nebula once. Approving.

Nebula blinked back, not quite comprehending. Then she looked back to Loki, and her expression darkened. “You meant to pull that move twice. You weren’t even trying.”

Loki’s eyes wandered to the flash of green that was exiting through the door, then back to Nebula. Her eyes were hard as usual, not like how they had been mere seconds ago.

Loki smirked. “I don’t know what you mean – it was an honest mistake.”

Her eyes searched his for what felt like an eternity, but was most likely only a few seconds. 

She seemed to find what she was looking for.

“Just don’t let it happen again,” Nebula muttered, without her usual heat.

Loki rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to smile. His stomach swirled with some unknown emotion, one that filled him up and yet didn’t overwhelm him.

“Of course not.”

*****

Meals on Sanctuary were taken in one of the various mess halls strewn across the massive ship. While there was no official organization as to where everyone ate and in which halls, Loki had found that – like everything else in this Norns-forsaken place – there were unspoken rules.

Certain areas were far from appetizing, and so the Chitauri frequented those places. There were others that specific members of the Black Order had unofficially claimed as their own territory.

Eating where you weren’t supposed to was as close to treason as you could get without actually betraying Thanos. It was a personal assault on the person’s non-existent honor. At least, that was the attitude that Loki had found was most common. (through experience, unfortunately.)

He had tried to eat at the same place as Ebony one time. It… did not go well. Loki had barely made it out alive initially, and had spent hours tending to the wounds inflicted by the kranan’s infernal needles. To make matters worse, Loki had almost been poisoned various times after the incident. Though Ebony insisted that was unrelated.

At that time he was also not in Thanos’ good graces, so while other ranking officers of Thanos’ prized army were relatively wary of him, he was far from welcomed.

But it was fine. Loki had been used to toleration – had dealt with it his whole life.

The creeping from one place to another, trying to find a place of his own, however, ending when he joined Nebula and Gamora’s group.

It had happened during the bone-tired time following the debrief of a mission. The three of them had walked out of the chamber where The Other had called them, having just returned from a trip across the galaxy. They hadn’t slept in days, and Loki was especially looking forward to falling into his bunk and sleeping for at least a solid four hours.

It was then that Nebula had proclaimed out of the blue: “I’m hungry.”

Gamora had rolled her eyes. “We all are. But we’re tired too. Food can wait.”

Nebula had glared at her, as if she took that as a personal affront. “I’m getting food.” she stated.

No one moved for a moment, and Gamora looked like she was battling something inside. Loki took a step back – intending to  slip away unnoticed.

“We’ll go together,” Gamora said, a look in her eye. Loki understood that feeling – not wanting to be alone in that moment.

Nebula grunted as if she didn’t care much one way or another, but Loki saw the small hint of satisfaction in her posture. Good, they all earned a bit of happiness after that mission.

But then Nebula looked over her shoulder to Loki, who stood somewhat awkwardly at the end of the hallway behind them, trying to figure out what he should do. “Are you coming?”

Loki blinked. An invitation such as this one was not what he was expecting. But… it didn’t seem all that terrible to him at that moment. And the apprehension in his gut melted away to some other feeling that wasn’t quite so cold. So Loki smirked lightly and moved to follow the pair.

“Of course.”

After that, they ate most of their meals together. Of course, there were instances when one or more of them were on a mission, or training or being… improved. But there was a small bit of strange comfort that came from attempting to see each other at least semi-often.

And that was where Loki was heading to one morning, in search of breakfast.

But there was something different that day.The mood on Sanctuary had been strange ever since that morning, Loki had noticed as he walked down the hallway. The Chituari were acting differently, and he hadn’t seen any of his so-called siblings at all. Usually he saw at least one by that time, even Nebula or Gamora.

So Loki was left to wander back and forth between the winding corridors, pondering what was different.

He entered the mess hall, finding it mostly sparse. A few Chitauri were in the far corner, and one or two officers were eating in other places. This wasn’t necessarily out of the ordinary, but still put Loki on edge.

Then he saw Nebula bent over a bowl of food (what Loki not-so-affectionately called “slop”) at their usual table, and relaxed. Good, now to see if she was in a stabbing mood or not.

Loki grabbed some food and walked over to her, sliding into a seat across from her.

“You’re not dead,” Loki proclaimed.

Nebula grunted and continued to shove the gruel into her mouth.

“I saw a pile of scraps in the hall earlier – I was worried.” Loki’s steady frown slowly gave way into a small smirk.

“If you want to keep your toenails, I advise you to shut your mouth,” Nebula growled. “I still have a headache from last week.”

Loki resisted the urge to cringe at that – he hadn’t been there when Thanos had replaced part of Nebula’s spine, but he had heard the screams.

Loki held up his hands in defense, and leaned back. He was in no mood to antagonize Nebula further. Besides, he was well aware of the seriousness of Nebula’s threat.

After a few minutes of quiet eating, Gamora plunked down next to Loki, a tray of food before her. She looked at the two of them, and sighed. “Don’t antagonize her, Loki.”

Loki scowled. “I did no such thing.”

Nebula snorted. “You should watch yourself – you don’t want to be on my bad side, not with Corvus out for your head.”

Loki stilled, the spoon halfway to his mouth. “Pardon?”

Gamora turned to look at Loki as if he had multiple heads. “You don’t know?”

Loki raised an eyebrow and leaned forward onto the table. “Know what?”

Nebula grunted and turned back to her food. “Not my problem.”

Gamora pursed her lips, clearly debating whether to tell him or not. “Corvus is back. Since last night. And he blames you.”

Loki closed his eyes and breathed slowly. Ah. Of course. 

It had been a few months after Proxima failed to retrieve the space stone for Thanos, and disappeared in the process, when Corvus had finally realized that she would not be returning.

Corvus had begun to lash out, for just that reason. Loki himself had not been there for any of his now-famed tantrums, but he had heard much about them. It had gotten to the point where Thanos had sent Corvus out on a mission to search for struggling planets to ‘save’, rather than allowing him to stay on Sanctuary . (Word was that Corvus had killed some higher ranking officers in Thanos’ army, and that’s what finally called the Titan to action)

They had had a blessed few months free of him, and they were the closest to peaceful as could come in a place such as this. But alas, everything in Thanos’ domain was destined to be ruined.

Loki looked back down at his food and resumed eating. Both Gamora and Nebula followed suit. What else were they supposed to do? They might as well enjoy the food while it was hot.

Well, enjoy was a strong word. 

Gamora suggested that they spar after breakfast, and once Loki and Nebula agreed, the three of them took their dishes to the dumping bucket and set out.

They didn’t make it far.

“Asgardian.”

The three of them pulled up short, and Loki unfortunately found himself front and center of their little triangular clump. So he had no cover from Corvus Glaive, who had just stepped into his path.

The man wore full battle armor and carried his glaive (Loki would never get over that choice of weaponry) in one hand. In the other, he held Proxima’s abandoned spear. He was there for a fight.

Loki raised an eyebrow. “Corvus. How unlovely to see you. How was your trip?”

Corvus glared. “You’re awfully carefree for a man who’s about to die.”

Loki raised an eyebrow. “What would Thanos say to that?”

Corvus growled – low and animalistic – and Loki grinned grimly inside. He was well aware that he was playing with fire. That poking too much would get him burned. But he found he didn’t care too much at the moment – he wanted to see Corvus snap .

Corvus was showing an amazing amount of restraint at this point, he hadn’t even tried to leap at Loki or start a fight. Instead, he glared past his target and to the two women behind him. “Sisters, this doesn’t concern you. You can go.”

Loki internally groaned. Gamora and Nebula would surely go, but that was far better than them joining Corvus.

Then, the unexpected happened.

“Don’t tell me what to do, brother,” Nebula growled, and took a step forward till she was standing beside Loki. She had a pair of knives drawn and held at the ready.

To Loki’s left, Gamora mirrored Nebula’s movements. She brandished her sword in front of her. “Go now, Corvus. You’re being ridiculous.”

“ I’m being ridiculous?!” Corvus snarled. “ He’s the reason Proxima’s gone!”

Loki took a step forward, and twitched his fingers. Green flame curled around his hands like snakes, primed to strike. He looked at Corvus, and felt the green fire begin to dance in his eyes as well. 

“Actually, I believe that was her own fault. It’s not my fault she failed and never came back.”

“Loki,” Gamora growled under her breath, “shut up.”

But Loki had never been good at listening to orders (his fatal flaw, some would say), so he did what he did best and kept pushing till something broke.

“What?” he asked, with fake innocence, “I may not be as stupid as Proxima, at least I’m still here alive, whereas she’s-”

“IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE YOU!” Corvus bellowed and launched himself at Loki. “BUT YOU’RE HERE, AND SHE’S NOT!”

Loki had been ready, however, and spun behind Nebula and out of Corvus’ way. Corvus stumbled forward and whirled back, rage apparent in every fiber of his being. “Do you know what Thanos said? He said that we can’t go to get Proxima – that she’ll have to come back herself and beg for forgiveness.”

Loki summoned a pair of daggers to his hands, which too had taken to the flame, and held them in preparation to counter Corvus’ uncontrollable rage when Nebula forcibly shoved Loki out of the way. “Stop it, both of you.” She growled. “Do you really want Father to hear about this?”

Loki stilled, and watched as Corvus did the same.

Gamora stepped in between them as well. “You should go, Corvus. Before this ends badly for you.”

Corvus looked at the pair of them with an almost shocked expression. “You’re protecting him?” He demanded. “What happened to you, sisters? You’ve gone soft.”

“The only soft thing here are your guts, which are about to be spilled across the floor.” Nebula snarled.

Corvus glanced at each of his sisters in turn, then cast his glare upon Loki. “Watch out, Asgardian,” he warned. “I’ll be coming for your head eventually.”

And with that, He turned and stormed out of the mess hall through a different exit.

Loki blinked, and the magic dissipated from his form. The daggers were sent away next. For a second, he wondered if anything had actually happened. But it had, and Loki knew that quite well. What Gamora and Nebula had done was unexpected, yes. But it was far from unwelcome.

(And there was that part of him that reveled in it. It had been so long since someone had stood up for him like that. Not since Tho- not since years ago.)

Loki looked at Nebula and Gamora, each with matching expressions of dark protectiveness upon their faces. One after the other, they looked at Loki.

And there it was again – that strange feeling that churned in his stomach but wasn’t actually unpleasant . It was almost… warm. It swirled around inside of him, and eased his aches and pains. It made everything just a little bit less bleak. He didn’t quite know what it was yet. 

But for now… Loki didn’t think he needed to.

Loki opened his mouth to speak, but was for once rather hesitant with his words. He smiled softly, so unlike the smirk he had worn as a mask over these long months. 

“Thank you… sisters.”

*****

The world was dark and quiet and still.

Loki sat on his bed, his legs dangling and his hands in his lap. The only sources of light were the faint emergency glow lines at the bottom of the cold metal door, and the even paler light shining from the stars through his window.

Even the stars around Thanos  are dimmed, Loki thought darkly. Everything near him is ruined.

Including me.

A light draft came in through the vent and Loki shivered. Not for the first time in all his stay here on Sanctuary did he wish for the warm golden glow of-

Loki cast his gaze to the window, just a small circle cut into the metal wall, a tiny portle to the world outside.

The world away from Sanctuary .

Logically, Loki knew it existed. He had been there. Lived there. But there was still that part of him, one that was growing ever stronger, that doubted. There was nothing certain here, afterall.

And yet the stars kept on twinkling in the distance, shining despite everything else.

Loki tilted his head, as if looking out the window would answer the question that gripped his mind with its cold claws. Unfortunately, the universe didn’t seem to be in an answering sort of mood. And Loki was left there to wonder.

The breath from his lungs was steady. In. Out.

His heart beat on. Bu-bump. Bu-bump.

Loki didn’t bother rubbing his arms with his hands, even though the draft was strong and he longed for a touch of warmth. The effort seemed far too much to him for the moment. So he continued to shiver in his room, staring out the window.

He didn’t know how much time passed in that room. Most likely no more than an hour or two, the night-cycles never differed. 

As for Sanctuary – time was strange in that place, the days melted into each other, culminating in the ever-constant cycle of pain and missions and a dull sense of hopelessness. 

There was nothing to do in all that time except count it. Count the days. The weeks. The months.

The years .

Loki brought his gaze down to his hands, which had begun to twist around each other unbeknownst to him. He rubbed at his knuckles aggressively, trying to feel something other than the pain.

He had never intended to stay here for so long (whether he meant this ship, or this life he did not know). And yet… time had flown on and dragged him along behind it.

Years.

His family doubtless have stopped looking for him by now (if they ever did). 

Loki cringed – No. Don’t think about them. Don’t think about any of it.

That had been his mantra these years. Repeated over and over too himself in times when he just wanted to fall down and call out to those whom he had left.

And he had tried – he had tried so hard to cram those memories into a little chest and bury it deep in his heart. He had tried to distance himself from who he had been before. He had tried to forget all the past pain and live from moment-to-moment. He had tried to keep his face steady, and never betray what he truly felt. He had tried to block out the superfluous emotions and just survive .

He had tried, and he had failed.

Loki choked suddenly, a single sob barely making it out of his throat. He scrunched his eyes up, and rested his head in his hands. He just wanted it all to be over. He wanted to be free again. He wanted to go home. He wanted to laugh and be happy, and he wanted to apologize to his family – to beg for their forgiveness.

(He had never been one to beg, before Thanos.)

But that was impossible.

He was here now, on Sanctuary , and he was here to stay. Escape was impossible.

And the thought of going home.…

He had made mistakes – so many mistakes – and they haunted him. They had led to his downfall (in more ways than one). They had led his family to hate him (they must, after what he did). Of course, he was destined to make such disastrous mistakes. He would always be the lesser brother. The unwanted son.

Never good enough.

At least he knew why now – he was a monster. 

And that question – the one that had kept him awake all these hours, the one that had been at the center of all his thoughts – was answered.

Loki blinked slowly, and returned his gaze to the porthole, to the stars, and to the world so close yet so far away. The world he wished to return to.

That was no longer his world, now. He didn’t deserve it.

The stars kept on twinkling.

*****

“Father requires your presence.”

Loki looked up from where he was sharpening a dagger on his bed to see Corvus standing in the doorway, glaring at him. (he never really had gotten over their spat two years ago, though Thanos had forced them to be relatively civil. If at least for the sake of the ship)

Loki set down his weapon and rolled his eyes. “I’ll be right there.”

“Now.”

Loki glared at Corvus and stalked past him into the hallway. When he was far enough down, he felt Corvus recede in the opposite direction. Interesting. Corvus wasn’t typically a messenger, Thanos left the Chitauri for that. This must be important.

When Loki arrived he found that he was not alone in Thanos’ presence. Gamora and Nebula were standing to the side, leaning against the rocks. The Other was opposite them, staring at the newcomer who stood in the center. Said newcomer was a man in all black with a large hood and an even larger war hammer.

The hammer was different, but still reminded him of -

Loki inclined his head to the turned throne out of habit and took his place to Nebula’s left.

“Ah, so you have decided to join us, my son.”

Loki suppressed his flinch at Thanos’ words. “Yes, Father. I apologize for my tardiness.”

Thanos turned to look at him, and Loki was completely still. No matter how many years passed he still couldn’t shake the habit that came from when the Titan cast his gaze his way.

“No matter. We have matters of greater importance to discuss.”

Loki didn’t relax as Thanos turned to the newcomer (who, now that Loki could see him better, was a Kree.).

“Speak.”

The Kree scowled, and Loki held his breath, waiting for him to be struck down by Thanos for his insolence. 

Nothing happened.

Loki paused. This man must have something of great value to Thanos if he was willing to let disrespect go so easily.

“I want your aid in annihilating the Xandarians. In return,” the kree said “I will offer a power source I know of. There is word of an orb, hidden away, that I believe might be beneficial to your own goal.”

An Infinity stone.

Loki resisted the urge to curse. Of course Thanos would deal with this arrogant fool for one of the stones-- and it sounded like he didn’t even know what it was.

Beside him, Nebula and Gamora had grown just as interested. Nebula leaned forward slightly from where she had been messing with a blaster, her face tense.

Thanos smiled at the Kree, a sickly, patronizing look. “Thank you, Ronan, for your offer.”

The now-identified Ronan nodded sharply, his face still with an edge of anger to it. “So do you accept?”

The Other hissed from his place. “Watch your tone, Kree .”

Ronan bared his teeth at The Other, but was cut off when Thanos chuckled. Everyone turned to look at him. The Mad Titan leaned back into his throne and put a contemplative hand on his wrinkled chin.

“You are bold, Ronan. I will give you that.” There was a pause in which everyone held their breath. 

“I will accept your offer,” Thanos decided. He gestured to Loki and his sisters. “I will send my children with you to serve, and ensure our goals are reached.”

Loki was still, but the tiniest bit of relief scratched it’s way into him. At least now he knew what was expected of him. He knew what he had to do.

“Thank you, Father,” Gamora said, nodding to Thanos. 

Nebula, not to be outdone by Gamora, stood and approached Thanos. “When will we depart, Father?”

“Immediately.”

Ronan was grinning with a self-satisfaction that grinded on Loki’s nerves, but he ignored it in favor of turning to Thanos.

“We will not fail you.” The alternative was much, much worse.

Thanos spared Loki a glance. It was contemplative and cruel, and yet there was just a hint of satisfaction.

“See to it that you do not.”

Chapter Text

The Dark Aster was entirely too similar to Sanctuary for Gamora’s tastes.

As she walked down the large hallway towards Ronan’s throne room she couldn’t help but catalog the similarities – the darkness everywhere, the bleak colors. The sense of doom looming over them. The infestation of stupid footsoldiers who were only good enough to die. 

And yet The Dark Aster had something that Sanctuary never had: Hope.

Gamora’s face didn’t betray the emotions that slunk around in her heart, but they were there. They were there, and Gamora was done ignoring them. No longer would she stand aside as Thanos slaughtered more people — a whole planet . No longer would she be the perfect, doting daughter.

Thanos was all the way back at Sanctuary now, and the only ones who watched her were Ronan and her siblings. Gamora still had to remain vigilant, yes. But there was a weight off of her chest now, a weight that had remained upon her for years .

Gamora didn’t bother acknowledging the guards standing outside of the double doors she pushed through, and headed in without a word.

Soon , she thought, soon I will be out of here. I will steal the Orb when Ronan gets it, and I will be free.

But for now, she had to suffer through another meeting with the Kree and her siblings.

Ronan looked up when Gamora came into sight and scowled, but didn’t say anything. She hadn’t really expected to – Ronan didn’t seem to care all that much what she and her siblings did as long as they helped him. Though paradoxically,  he seemed eternally annoyed at their presence.

Nebula was inspecting her hand as if she had no care in the world, and she ignored Gamora’s entrance. She had been especially snappish ever since they were assigned to aid Ronan, and Gamora didn’t exactly know what to do to help. Or if she could do anything.

Loki, though, looked away from the dagger he was sharpening and looked at her like Ronan did. His eyes squinted at her and Gamora wondered, not for the first time, if he could see more than he let on.

Loki sighed and flicked his hand. A flash of green magic appeared in its wake — which never ceased to set Gamora on edge, fighting and science were set in stone, but magic (and Loki) was a whole other beast — and his dagger disappeared to wherever all his stuff went.

“Shall we get started, then?”

Nebula rolled her eyes. “So impatient, Brother.”

Ronan growled and slammed his hands down on the arms of his throne. “You won’t tell me what to do.”

Loki’s face seemed to transform from a stony, observationary look to a light, placating smile with brows crooked ever so slightly. It was all together too-perfect of a look, and it set Gamora’s nerves on edge. 

“On the contrary, I was merely asking your lordship whether we may begin. Completely up to your discretion, of course.”

The words themselves seemed mocking, but the way that Loki delivered them was sweet and calming. Ronan leaned back on his throne, seemingly appeased. (Gamora would always wonder how he did that)

“Very well,” he said. “You wished to hear about my retrieval of The Orb, correct?”

None of them said anything, but Ronan didn’t seem to care.

“I have sent my best man – Korath – to retrieve it with a group of some of my best soldiers. You will have it within the day. Then we shall move forward to destroy Xandar.”

Gamora didn’t know what the orb was – she suspected, yes. But there was no concrete evidence in any specific direction. It could be merely what Ronan claimed it to be – an energy source that Thanos wanted to power Sanctuary (it was a large ship, and they had been having a bit of trouble in regards to fuel recently).

Or it could be something much more powerful.

But that didn’t matter right now, not when she was so close to getting it, to meeting with The Collector, and disappearing into the stars.

“Where is it?” Loki asked, pulling Gamora from her thoughts. “And why didn’t you send us to get it?”

“Morag,” Ronan replied, annoyed. “And as I said – I sent my best men.”

“Sorry if that’s not exactly encouraging ,” Nebula said. “How do you know someone hasn’t taken it already?”

Ronan ground his teeth at Nebula and Loki’s prodding. “Morag has been abandoned for centuries – no one is left alive there and that does not take into account the geysers that ward off ships.” Ronan continued.

Gamora tilted her head, studying him. Beside her, she felt both her siblings do the same. They were so in sync sometimes

“ Believe me – my men will be the first to the Orb.”

*****

Ronan was growling in rage at Korath’s words, and Gamora couldn’t help but feel as if she were right back with Thanos. But no . She wasn’t. Ronan was an entirely different kind of megalomaniac, one she had to treat entirely differently.

At the same time, she had to worry about the Orb as well. Gone – when Ronan had insisted he would get it. She could have sworn she felt Loki shaking in laughter beside her when they heard the news. Now, though, he had disappeared into the shadows behind Korath, watching like he always did.

“Nebula, go to Xandar and get me the orb.”

What – Gamora startled slightly at Ronan’s words. No! She needed to get it. This was her chance! Gamora regained control over her features and a split second she buried her panic back down again.

“It will be my honor.” Nebula said, walking forward from her place across from Gamora.

“It will be your doom .” Gamora countered, stepping forward as well. She ignored Nebula's expression and turned to Ronan. “This happens again, you will be facing our father without his prize.”

Nebula scowled. “I’m a daughter of Thanos. Just like you.”

“But I know Xandar.”

“Ronan has already decreed that I-”

“Do not speak for me.” Ronan growled, cutting Nebula off. Nebula recoiled slightly, and clenched her jaw. It seemed that Ronan was done playing games, and that they would do best to obey him.

Ronan stepped forward, and loomed over her. “You will not fail,” he growled.

Gamora held her gaze steady, not backing down from Ronan. She felt eyes on her – Nebula’s and Loki’s – but she wouldn’t be cowed. She didn’t know where they stood, what they would think of her plan, so it was better to not tell them. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and she was going to take it no matter what.

“Have I ever?”

*****

Gamora was walking through the halls after leaving the meeting, trailed by Loki and Nebula, when her sister pulled her to the side. Gamora sighed inside – Nebula had never been patient.

“Do you think I don’t know?” Nebula demanded

“Sister…”

“You would keep me from advancing? You would have Ronan tell Father that only Gamora furthers his great plan?”

“I would keep you alive.” Gamora murmured. And while that was far from her actual reasons for going, she couldn’t deny the small amount of truth in that statement – despite everything, she still wanted Nebula safe. Or at least as much as they could be.

“Compassion?” Nebula questioned, stepping forward, “What would Ronan say to that?”

“Please, Nebula.” Gamora pleaded. “You have known me since Thanos took us both from our homes. You have stood beside me in training, in modification, in battle.” Anything to get Nebula to step aside.

Nebula didn’t seem to care. “I have stood behind you – when I am every inch the warrior you are. The screams of my victims fill every field.”

“It’s because you take too long to kill them.” Gamora couldn’t help but rebuke.

Nebula snarled in rage and lunged for her. Gamora countered her attack, and began to shove Nebula against the wall a few feet behind her when they were both suddenly and violently shoved apart with flashes of shimmering green magic.

Both she and Nebula whirled to Loki, who stood a few yards away, his arms outstretched towards them, glowing faintly green.

“That’s enough! ” Loki snarled, “Killing each other won’t solve anything.”

Nebula scowled at him. “This doesn’t concern you – just go slink away like usual.”

Loki scowled right back. “You’re upset, I understand. I’m-”

“Oh? And what about you? You’re just standing to the side like you always do, waiting for one of us to step in and act-”

“ Nebula .” Gamora admonished.

“Don’t act all high and mighty on me , sister.” Nebula said, her eyes flashing. She turned to look at Loki. “and don’t think you can play mediator forever – you’ll have to choose a side.”

Nebula stalked off without another word, back to their rooms.

Loki looked after her. “I intend to,” he murmured under his breath. 

Gamora stared at Loki for a long moment. “You didn’t have to get involved,” she snapped, and stormed off.

*****

“-and we shall await your return,” Korath finished, bowing his head. 

Gamora nodded. “Thank you,” she said stiffly. “Now I must depart; there is no need to keep Ronan waiting.”

“Of course, Gamora.”

Korath bowed again and turned around, walking away from her. Gamora watched him leave.

“You play your part quite well,” a voice said from behind her, and Gamora whirled, extending her sword out beside her.

“Oh, relax,” Loki drawled. “It’s only me.”

“Hilarious,” Gamora muttered, glaring at him. “What do you want, Loki?”

The humor disappeared from Loki’s face, and he straightened up from where he was leaning against the side of her ship.

“You’re planning something.”

Gamora beat down the panic. “I’m planning to retrieve the orb for Ronan and aid our father in destroying Xandar, yes.”

Loki huffed a humorless laugh. “We both know that’s not true.” He leaned forward ever so slightly. “I know when someone’s lying.”

Gamora cursed internally. But right now there was nothing she could do to convince Loki he was wrong – she had heard the stories about him, and knew he was right.

Gamora put a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow at her brother. “What are you going to do about it?”

Loki worked his jaw around, staring at her. He was searching for something in her face, but Gamora didn’t know what. 

Whatever it was, he seemed to find it.

Loki leaned back against the ship. “Nothing, of course.”

Gamora startled – she hadn’t thought Loki would let her go like this. But then again she didn’t know him very well, beyond being forced to spend time together by Thanos. They were… as close to friendly as they could be. As kind as could be allowed in a world devoid of it. But Gmaora had always thought that anyone on Sanctuary would sell out the others if it earned them something. It wasn’t personal, it was a matter of survival.

Gamora blinked at him. “Then what do you want?”

“Nothing,” Loki answered simply. He sighed tiredly and looked around the hangar – to anywhere but her. “You really think you can do it?” he asked. “Escape?”

Gamora pursed her lips. This was so unlike the Loki she had come to know, the one who was hard like the rest of them. The quiet one who spoke more with smirks than actual words. But that question – that question needed an answer. “Yes.”

Loki’s smirk was back, though now it seemed more tinged with genuine humor. “Well I must say that your optimism is amusing.”

“I’m so glad to entertain you.” Gamora deadpanned.

“It won’t be easy,” Loki said, ignoring her response, “But the favored daughter cannot fail.”

Gamora scowled at his taunting tone. “As soon as I get the orb, you’ll never have to see me again.”

“Nebula’s going to be pissed.”

“Well, by then I’ll be gone.”

“Thanos is going to hunt you.”

“I’m quite good at hiding.”

Loki eyed her. “You’re rather committed, aren’t you?”

“Wouldn’t you be?” Gamora asked. “You tried to escape so many times at first – if you had another chance, wouldn’t you take it?”

That sobered Loki up. He swallowed, and he was staring at her again. “I don’t think that chance will ever come,” he whispered.

Then Loki blinked, as if he hadn’t meant to say that. Hadn’t even known that was what he thought. (Perhaps he didn’t know himself, either) He took a breath, and a small smirk returned to his face. “That doesn’t matter anymore. I live only to serve.”

Gamora eyed him, at the resignation in his frame. “So you won’t tell?”

Loki huffed a laugh. “Quite the contrary – I’m invested in your success.”

An alert on the tablet by Gamora’s side beeped, announcing that the ship was ready for her departure.

It was time for her to go.

Loki took a step away from the ship, clearing her path to the entrance. “Good luck, sister. You’ll need it.” he inclined his head to her.

“Thank you,” Gamora murmured as she turned away, and toward the gangplank of the ship. She stepped upon it, and away from the life she was leaving behind. With each step, the last bits of the weight that hung over her drifted away.

As she reached halfway, a thought occurred to her.

It might be nice to have a companion. It would certainly make things easier.

Gamora turned at that last moment, an offer on her lips.

But Loki was gone.

Chapter Text

Gamora was gone.

Loki wasn’t surprised — Hel, he’d even given her his blessing. But it felt all the more real standing in Thanos’ throne room.

“-First she lost a battle with some primitive-”

Loki groaned internally at Ronan’s constant ranting. The Kree had to be one of the most annoying creatures he had ever come across in his thousand-odd years. To make matters worse: The Other was yelling right back in indignation.

The only good side that Loki could possibly find was that Thanos was still facing away from them in his throne, looking out toward the stars. He hadn’t turned once in all the time since Nebula and Loki came in and sat along the rocks opposite The Other.

“Thanos put Gamora under your charge.” The Other spat in rage, and Loki gritted his teeth. 

“-then she was apprehended by the Nova Corp-”

“You are the one here with no one to show for it.”

“-Your sources say she meant to betray us the whole time.”

“LOWER YOUR TONE! I be-”

Suddenly The Other’s words were cut off by Ronan suddenly thrusting his hammer out and sending a blast of force that whipped The Other’s head around.

There was an audible crack.

For Loki, the moment seemed to freeze — He was no immortal being, that was a death blow. This fact seemed to sink in as his body crumpled to the ground. 

Beside him, Loki felt Nebula’s shock emanating from her. How dare Ronan attack Thanos’ lieutenant? (Though Loki couldn’t say he was mad the creature was dead.)

“I only ask that you take this matter seriously.” Ronan said, turning to face Thanos again.

He's done for, Loki thought.

“The only matter I do not take seriously, boy, is you.” Thanos said, turning around. “Your politics bore me, your demeanor is that of a pouty child.”

Loki hid his smirk at Ronan’s face, and Thanos’ by looking down at his hands, where he was sharpening a dagger. 

“-And apparently you alienated my favorite daughter Gamora.” Thanos finished.

Loki paused in his sharpening to glance at Nebula, who clenched her jaw, but continued to work on her arm.

“We shall honor our agreement, Kree… if you bring me the Orb.” Thanos decided, and Loki was mildly shocked at how much Thanos was willing to put up with in regards to Ronan. But, of course, an Infinity Stone was in the balance (one which Gamora better be keeping safe.).

Then Thanos added: “But return to me again empty handed, and I will bathe the starways with your blood.” 

Loki didn’t bother to hide his smirk that time.

Nebula closed the opening in her arm and stood. “Thanks, Dad. Sounds fair.” she said as she sauntered down. “Come on, Loki.”

Loki stood and followed behind Nebula quickly, sending his knives back into his dimensional pocket. He held his head high, and smirked at Ronan — they had won this round.

“This is one fight you won’t win.” Nebula said to Ronan as she walked past. 

Loki caught up to her, and they walked side-by-side down the path back to the main sip of Sanctuary. “Where to, Sister?” Loki asked.

“Let’s head to the Kiln.”

*****

The Kiln was overwhelmed within minutes. But as Loki strolled through the halls of the prison, taking out guards, he realized that it had nothing to do with Ronan’s assault.

Gamora had caused quite a bit of chaos in her time there.

This became far more apparent when they made their way into the main holding area – the space was in shambles, the prisoners were running free, and the guards were all over the place.

“She’s not here,” Nebula growled from just behind Loki, where she was finishing incapacitating a guard who had dared to stand in her way.

Loki resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “No, she’s not,” he said instead.

Nebula cursed, “we wasted time going back to Sanctuary – we could have had her by now.”

“Don’t tell Thanos that,” Loki muttered, then vaulted over the railing of the gangplank to land among the prisoners and guards. “Hello there,” he began cordially.

The guards stared at him in shock, and then pointed their guns at him.

Loki sighed as he dodged to the side. “Now this isn’t very polite,” he said, then sent out half a dozen illusions of himself to disrupt the guards. Loki leapt out himself, and sent out knife after knife into those who opposed him.

Nebula joined him as well, and within minutes they had the whole place cowing before them. Nebula scowled at the spot of blood on her boot as she stepped over the bodies. Loki could relate – though the dark liquid didn’t show up much on his black leathers (oh how he missed his green), the knowledge that it was there was enough to cause his nose to wrinkle with disgust.

But with all the men taken care of, all that was left was to search for answers.

“Where is she?” Nebula demanded from the nearest guard that she grabbed, holding her blades to his neck. “Where is Gamora, daughter of Thanos?”

The guard shook his head as vigorously as he could without cutting himself. “I-”

“TELL ME!”

Loki rolled his eyes and turned to a clump of other guards slumped on the floor, but who weren’t dead or even unconscious. He thrust out his hand and the three of them were lifted and shoved against the wall.

“I don’t suppose any of you would be forthcoming?” He asked darkly, stepping forward slowly and tilting his head to the side. He brought a dash of green fire to his eyes and tilted his head slowly.

The guards trembled in fear, but said nothing.

Then, before Loki could say anything else to his captives or Nebula could yell at the guard some more, the steady beating of feet came from one of the hallways out of the main prison space, and Loki and Nebula tensed. They remained tense, even as Ronan came into the room with a battalion of his Sakaaran soldiers.

“Where is Gamora and the Orb?” Ronan growled as he looked across the sea of bodies.

“I – I don’t know!” the guard cried, and Nebula scoffed.

Ronan growled, “Oh, really? Do you know what happens if you don’t answer me?”

“This is pointless,” Loki sighed, toying with the people under his magic for a moment, portraying the aura of boredom. “She’s not here, neither is the Orb. Why are we still here?”

Every moment counts, Loki thought. But I don’t have many to give.

“I want information,” Ronan growled. “And I will have it.”

“I swear,” the guard said desperately, “I don’t know where they went! I swear!”

Nebula scoffed. “If he knew where they were headed, he would have already told us.”

“Yeah!” the guard cried, nodding his head as much as he could.

Then an alert sounded from Nebula’s wrist, and she glanced at it. Loki let his prisoners slide down to the floor and he turned to his sister – whatever it was, the look on her face told Loki it was important.

“Ronan, the Nova Corps sent a fleet to defend the prison.”

Ah, that explained it.

“Well then,” Ronan said, turning away to walk down the hall. Loki and Nebula followed suit immediately, leaving the squad of Ronan’s men with the prisoners. “send a Necrocraft to every corner of the quadrant. Find the Orb. Any means, any price.”

“And this place?” Nebula asked.

A scream came from behind them. The guard who Nebula had been interrogating. Loki didn’t flinch.

“The Nova can’t know what we’re after.” Ronan said, “Cleanse it!”

Loki nodded even though Ronan couldn’t see him, and turned back to where they had come from. “I shall meet you on the ship,” he said.

Nebula glanced at him and gave a sharp nod. But Loki could see her mind was otherwise occupied.

He reached the area where they had been before, and looked across the hundreds of people — criminals and guards, defenseless. Ronan’s men looked to Loki for orders. Loki closed his eyes for a brief moment, begging for forgiveness — from who he didn’t quite know. But there was no room for weakness; no place for personal qualms. Not when survival was on the line.

“Kill them all.”

*****

Nebula broke away from Loki the moment they made it back to The Dark Aster , storming off and muttering under her breath. Loki hesitated for a moment before deciding not to follow her. Her emotions had been running high ever since they took this assignment – even before Gamora left – and they had just kept building. There was something about being away from Sanctuary for so long that added tension to everything. Of course, Gamora’s desertion hadn’t helped matters.

So he left Nebula alone. And since Ronan didn’t need him either, Loki was left to wander the ship by himself. 

They had been on the ship for the past week, and yet all that Loki had seen were the quarters he and his sisters had been given, and where they were expected to be for Ronan. Granted, there wasn’t really all that more to the ship – or any large war ship such as this one – but Loki still found himself walking through the halls, taking note of where things were.

The architecture was dreary, and Loki scowled at what Ronan called ‘decor’ – the man really had no taste.

Loki found himself moving beyond the decorative larger halls of the ship, and more into the technical areas. Here, more workers darted back and forth on various assignments. Loki continued in this area, intrigued. One of the men saw Loki and ran up to him, his eyes wide.

“Sir,” he said, “we have an incoming communication you should see.”

Loki raised an eyebrow. “Show me.”

In less than a minute, Loki found himself in what was the main communication room of the Dark Aster. There were a dozen different personnel there – a mix of Kree and lower ranking Sakaarans – who were working on various devices. But Loki was led to the main platform overlooking them as the anxious Kree who had found Loki messed with some of the technology.

Then a transmission sounded over all the chattering in the room, and Loki’s stomach dropped.

“Ronan the Accuser – I call you. I know where the Orb is that you seek, and I summon you to retrieve it. I will face you here – on Knowhere.” The voice was deep and slow, and in the background of the recording Loki heard the sounds of bustling people. 

Knowhere – Loki had heard of it – from Thanos and… before . He knew that The Collector controlled the place. The Collector, who loved rare and unique items and creatures. An elder of the universe who no doubt knew the worth of the Orb. He must be Gamora’s buyer.

“Sir, what should we do?” the Kree technician asked warily.

Loki cursed under his breath, then turned and swept out of the room.

“I must alert Ronan.”

*****

Nebula had been shaking in barely contained rage the whole ride to Knowhere. She hadn’t said a word since Loki had alerted Ronan to the message that had come through. Though just like Ronan she had jumped at the news of a lead toward Gamora’s – and the Orb’s – whereabouts.

Loki kept his gaze ahead of him and off Nebula as he stood in the ship as they left The Dark Aster and descended into the mining colony. Loki had felt increasingly dragged along, since Gamora left – and he kept to the background. To watch was to know what was happening, and knowledge was power.

They descended into the realm, and Loki took the seconds he had to look around at his surroundings – in any other circumstance he would relish the opportunity to see the new environment, to see all the bright colors. All the bustling people.

But he couldn’t – not as the brightest color among the multitude was an explosion of purple light from one of the larger establishments.

So they had released the stone after all – and it was Power. Somehow that made the whole situation worse.

(Ronan, too, saw the explosion, and watched with interest.)

Their ship, along with the small fleet that trailed behind them, landed in the relative center of Knowhere soon after the light snapped out of existence – as if it had never been there. But it had. And that meant that Gamora was there too.

The ship opened and Ronan stalked out, Loki and Nebula flanking him. Loki searched the crowd, but Gamora was nowhere in sight. The only prominent figure was the large gray and red shirtless man who approached them with a grin on his face.

“Ronan the Accuser!”

“You are the one who transmitted the message?” asked Ronan, tilting his head ever so slightly.

“You killed my wife. You killed my daughter!” the man responded angrily, brandishing his knives.

Loki sighed inside. This man wanted revenge, and now he would have to die for it. It was a shame, really. 

Then a pack of mining pods flew by overhead. Fleeing. 

Loki cursed under his breath – he could feel the aura from the Power Stone from there. 

Nebula, though she could not feel the stone like Loki could, also picked up on the fact that their sister was attempting to escape. “It is Gamora.” Nebula exclaimed, whipping around from the sky to look at Ronan. “She is escaping with the Orb!”

Nebula didn’t wait for Ronan’s permission before she was racing back into their ship. “Come on, Loki,” she snapped before barking out orders to the Sakaarans in their native language — Get to the ships! Move!

“Nebula, Loki, retrieve the Orb.” Ronan said when he and Nebula were already in their ship and lifting off. If there had been time, Loki would have scoffed. 

“We need to get her,” Nebula growled as they lifted off the ground.

“Where am I supposed to be?” Loki asked, “You took the pilot’s chair!”

“Stop. Talking.”

Nebula swerved suddenly, and Loki had to grab the back of her seat to steady himself. He cursed under his breath. “Be careful!”

Nebula ignored him, and looked at the computer display which was scanning the multitude of pods that they were chasing.

“The stone is in the furthest pod. Bring it down!”

“Are you insane?” Loki exclaimed. “That’s an Infinity Stone – you don’t know what would happen if you tried to blow it up!”

“It’s indestructible,” Nebula countered as they dodged an attack, “It’ll be fine.”

“You’re going to get us all destroyed.”

“SHUT UP!”

They began to fire on Gamora’s pod – at least, Loki assumed it was Gamora’s – but were unsuccessful. Another swerve came, and Loki was thrown to the side of the ship. He glanced out of the window to see some of the pods ramming into more of Ronan’s fleet.

“They’re insane!” Loki exclaimed.

“Are you going to do something about it?” Nebula quipped.

Loki scowled, but threw up his hands, enveloping their ship in a glowing green shield, just in case the deranged pilot tried to get them next.

Nebula pulled up quickly, following Gamora’s pod out of the main city of Knowhere and into open space. But this time Loki was relatively prepared, and was able to keep himself steady and standing upright.

He watched as they caught up. Oh please Gamora, get away.

Nebula messed with the communications, and a light turned on, signaling a connection was made.

“You are a disappointment sister. Out of all our siblings, I hated you the least.”

“What am I – bilgesnipe bladder?” Loki scoffed. He passively balked at the quip. When was the last time he had said something like that?

Nebula ignored him.

“Nebula, please.” Gamora’s voice begged over the communications system, and Loki tensed.

“Sorry, Sister,” Nebula said, sounding rather unapologetic. 

“Loki?” Gamora asked, somehow knowing he was there. Or perhaps she was just desperate. “You know what’s at stake.”

Nebula wasn’t looking at him, but Loki was all too aware of the fact that she was listening to every word he said as they narrowed in on Gamora.

“Sorry, Sister.” Loki said simply, regretfully. No matter how much he wanted to see that Gamora could make it – that escape was possible – he had no way to help. (And he had his own survival to worry about) “But you chose your path.”

“Please – if Ronan gets the stone, he’ll kill us all.”

Nebula clenched her jaw, “Not all. You’ll already be dead.”

Wait, wha-

And with those last words, Nebula locked onto Gamora’s pod, and let loose a barrage of blasterfire.

“No!” Loki yelled, darting forward.

But it was too late. The blasts had found their target. Gamora’s pod exploded.

All was still and quiet for a moment, and Loki could vaguely make out the shape of Gamora floating in space. The Orb – that damned stone that had caused all of this, was pulled into The Dark Aster by a tractor beam as if nothing had happened.

Loki stood there in the ship, frozen in shock, as Nebula piloted them away from Gamora – away from their sister . Away from the one who completed their trio. 

(Sure, they hadn’t been close in the traditional sense – the weight of Thanos’ presence keeping them each concerned with themselves. But Loki had no idea that Nebula would actually kill Gamora. Not when there had been those moments in those years when they had felt close. When they held onto each other because they were all they had. When they had stuck together because being alone was so much worse. When they protected each other because who else would? When they had fought together, trained together, and talked.

Those times had been horrible, but they had been real . Real when so much of what was around him wasn’t .)

Nebula turned them back to The Dark Aster and said simply: “Ronan, it is done.”

Chapter Text

“What the Hel was that?” Loki snarled as he followed Nebula down the hall toward their rooms.

“I completed the mission,” Nebula said tightly as she walked along.

“You killed Gamora! ”

“I completed the mission,” Nebula repeated.

She reached her door and opened it, clearly intending to disappear into the depths of her room and ignore Loki until Ronan required her presence.

Loki unleashed his rage with a flick of his hand, slamming Nebula’s door shut with a blast of green magic.

“ What were you thinking? ” Loki demanded as he stood there, trembling.

Nebula whirled back to him, eyes wide. “Don’t you dare lecture me!” she spat. “I did what I had to do to get the Orb – or have you considered how Thanos would respond to learning more of his children lost him an Infinity Stone?”

Loki, for the first time in longer than he could imagine, didn’t care what Thanos would do. He no longer feared what the Titan would think, or how Loki would pay for his mistakes. He had paid and paid and paid for years . 

But none of that seemed to matter anymore – not when Gamora was dead.

“You killed her,” Loki snarled again. “There’s no way she could possibly have survived such conditions, and you just left her there.”

Nebula stilled. “So? What did she ever do for me?”

Loki took a step back. “You don’t mean that,” he said. This was… this was all wrong. 

“Of course I do,” Nebula sneered, and took a step toward Loki. “She was the perfect one – she was always the winner. And she never even cared what happened to me – at least you were aware . But Gamora… Gamora didn’t care.”

Loki swallowed, and shook his head. “We were all worried about ourselves – you can’t fault her for that.”

“For not even noticing ?”

“And you think she deserved to die for it?” Loki countered – the course of the conversation veering ever so closer to his own unresolved feelings.

Nebula scoffed and turned back to her door, but she seemed to think better of trying to head into her room again. Instead, Nebula leaned against the cold wall of the hallway.

“She got in the way of what needed to be done – she knew the consequences.”

Loki shook his head, and stepped closer to Nebula. “You really think that? After everything?”

“ ‘Everything?’  How could you possibly know what we went through  – you weren’t there for all those years,” Nebula snapped, leaning closer to Loki. “You have no right to say you know what it was like when you were brought in so recently. You showed up and made your place and never stopped to consider what it was like for us – to grow up there, without childhoods.”

“I lost my life to him just as you did,” Loki said quietly.

Nebula didn’t have anything to say to that, and so shrugged. “I did what I had to do.”

“So did Gamora.”

Nebula whipped her eyes back up to Loki from where they began to wander. “Whose side are you on?” she hissed. “Gamora betrayed us. She ran off and thought she could just leave without any consequences.”

“Have you considered the consequences for your actions? Ronan now has the Orb – and thanks to your loose lips, he’s aware it’s an Infinity Stone. What do you think he’s going to do with it?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Nebula countered, “the mission was to retrieve the Power Stone – which we did. Nothing else matters.”

Loki shook his head, and turned around. “Keep telling yourself that, sister.”

*****

As he stormed down the halls of The Dark Aster , Loki couldn’t think straight. He needed - he needed to focus. But all that came to mind when he tried to steady himself was the image of Gamora floating alone in space, no one to save her from her tomb. And then followed by Nebula, so unaffected, sizzling with her own rage. 

Loki slammed rested a palm against the wall to support himself and took a few large, deep breaths. He needed to think – he needed to truly consider what was going on and create a course of action. Otherwise, he would lead himself to his own downfall (again).

Breath.

In.

Out.

He had tried so hard to keep it all together – his own sanity, and the tentative bonds around him. Alive, and together. But now there was nothing he coul-

“No.”

Loki swallowed, and straightened up (his hand still against the wall).

“I won’t break again.” he whispered. “Never again.”

Gently taking his hand away from the wall, Loki breathed a long sigh. A plan – he needed a plan. Simple steps, a flow to follow.

First — calm down.

And then Nebula, he needed to talk to Nebula. If they could just speak, perhaps when they had both calmed down, it wouldn’t be so disastrous. They could fix something for once. They could – they could work out a plan together. 

Then… then they-

“Sir.”

Loki resisted the urge to whip around to the Kree lackey who had somehow snuck up on him. Instead, he folded his hands behind his back and slowly turned around. By the time he was facing the man, his face was composed.

“Yes?”

“Ronan demands your presence.”

Loki glared at the messenger, not even bothering to conceal his annoyance at being summoned. (Summoned, like a lapdog. And that was all he was, wasn’t he?)

But when Ronan called, he had to come.

*****

It was in the meeting room – the one that The Other had used to talk to Ronan before to summon them to Sanctuary – and Loki got a tight feeling in his stomach. 

Nebula was already there; she ignored him.

“Good, you are both here.” Ronan said, without turning around. “I expect a message from your father any minute.”

The knot tightened at Ronan’s words.

“Nebula,” Loki whispered, low enough that no one else could hear, “we must tal-”

Then the wall lit up, and Thanos’ face appeared before them.

“Ronan,” Thanos acknowledged. “My children.”

Loki kept his face blank as he inclined his head.

“Father,” Nebula acknowledged.

Ronan brushed on ahead: “The Orb is in my possession. As I promised.”

“Bring it to me.” Thanos said, ever the patient man Loki knew him to be.

“Yes, that was our agreement.” Ronan said, and began to move. “Bring you the Orb and you will destroy Xandar for me.”

Loki tensed at Ronan’s words – something was wrong. Very wrong.

Beside him, Nebula was equally as tightly wound. Her hands twitched at her sides, milliseconds away from drawing her weapons.

“However,” Ronan continued, going to Korath to take the Orb from him, “now that I know it contains an Infinity Stone, I wonder what use I have for you.”

Very, very wrong.

“Boy…” Thanos warned, “I would reconsider your current course.”

“Master!” Korath cried (apparently there were some intelligent creatures on this ship) “You cannot! Thanos is the most powerful being in the universe!”

Ronan looked down at the Orb, and broke it in half. The purple glow from the Power Stone illuminated the large room, and Loki was frozen in place.

“Not anymore.”

The Kree reached out and plucked the stone from its cradle, and immediately started to scream. Purple glowed through his veins, and for a second he seemed about to be overcome by the Stone. But then he straightened up, and retrieved his hammer from Korath. The Stone was slammed into his weapon, and Ronan sighed in satisfaction.

Loki spared a moment to glance at Nebula, and found her staring at Ronan with a fascinated look in her eye.

“You call me boy!” Ronan exclaimed, turning to Thanos. “I will unfurl a thousand years of Kree justice on Xandar and burn it to its core. Then Thanos… I’m coming for you .”

The communication cut off abruptly, emphasizing Ronan’s dark words.

Loki didn’t dare move from his position – his body was completely still, but his mind was racing. What should he do? Sure, he was almost certain he was powerful enough to handle an Infinity Stone were he to get it from Ronan — but how to get it? Should he? Which was worse, Ronan or Tha-

“After Xandar, you are going to kill our father?” Nebula asked, an undercurrent of eagerness layered in her voice.

“You dare to oppose me?” Ronan asked, turning to them.

Nebula was breathing heavily now, and her eyes were alight and alive like Loki had rarely seen before. “You see what he has turned me into. You kill him, I will help you destroy a thousand planets.”

“Nebula…” Loki said in a low tone, reaching for her shoulder.

Nebula whirled on Loki, her eyes ablaze as she threw off his hand. “You want to go back to him ?” she demanded. 

“Think about what you’re doing,” Loki countered, not acknowledging her words.

“I have thought, and I know what I’m doing.” Nebula held up one of her knives towards his throat. “But if you stand against me,” Nebula warned, “If you ruin this, I will kill you where you stand.”

Choices – he had had so few as of late. But now was one of the most important he could ever make in his life. And the consequences…

Didn’t seem to matter.

The knot in his stomach was tighter than it had been before, but it no longer choked him. It was settled, and held his emotions in a tight bundle as they bounced around inside him. Yet they weren’t overpowering him.

Now, for the first time in years, the fear of pain didn’t drown him. A light cut through it – one he had thought had been extinguished on Sanctuary . He didn’t name it – couldn’t, for fear of being let down again if this all blew up in his face. But it was there .

And maybe, just maybe .…

“There will be no need for that, Sister.” Loki said, letting the familiar smirk settle over his face. He gently, casually, pushed Nebula’s dagger away from his face.

“So you will follow me?” Ronan asked, staring at him with intense eyes.

And Loki did what he did best — pushed down all the emotions blooming in him, both good and bad, and locked them away. There was no going back now.

(his plan – to remain steady. To turn his plummet into a dive. It was all he had.)

“Yes, my liege.”

*****

The Dark Aster descended upon Xandar, and Loki could only stare out of the grand front window. He had chosen his new role, and was playing it well, but there was still a nugget of doubt at the thought of committing genocide again that he had trouble getting locked away.

Nebula, in contrast, had thrown all caution and apprehension to the wind and was the loyal lieutenant of Ronan. But Loki couldn’t fault her – found he didn’t even want to try .

Survival. That’s what they had always put first.

And it appeared they would have to fight for it once again – as then Loki spotted a large group of ships coming into view. M-ships. Ravagers. (Hadn’t he seen some of them back in Knowhere?)

A second later Nebula spotted them as well, and approached Ronan quickly. “A fleet approaches. They appear to be Ravagers.”

Before Ronan could do or say anything, some of the ships let out large energy blasts that rolled toward them, and then exploded out, blocking their view.

“Clever,” Loki muttered to himself before turning to the nearest worker. “Do we have a visual?” He demanded, layering his voice with anger.

“No sir,” the Kree said, desperately working on his equipment.

Loki looked back to the energy blast which was blocking his sights, and clenched his fists. He felt like he should be doing something, anything.

The blast dissipated, revealing far fewer ships than had been there previously. Loki whipped around to look at Ronan and Nebula – the latter of whom went to her earpiece and barked out orders to dive.

“They’re beneath us!”

The pilots of the smaller attack ships deployed, and they looked like a swarm of bees that began to clash with the Ravagers.

“Forward thrust, now!” Nebula barked at the Kree piloting The Dark Aster as she marched past them. 

Loki followed her, not quite sure what he should – or could – be doing himself. Of course, standing in someone’s shadow had always been his specialty, he thought darkly.

One of the communication devices that Loki had received when he had first been sent to Ronan beeped, and Loki glanced down at it. There was a report – barely a few sentences, really – that spoke of a ship coming into The Dark Aster through a hole blasted in the side. 

“Ronan,” Loki said, glancing up. Ronan looked to him, but Nebula cut him off.

“The starboard kern has been breached!” she informed him, having received the news as well, “We have been boarded.”

“Continue our approach.” Ronan said, with little worry in his voice.

“Are you sure that is wise?” Loki asked.

At the same time Nebula countered “But the Nova Corp have engaged.”

Ronan didn’t seem to care about anything that either of them were saying. “None of that will matter once we reach the surface.”

“You are being idiotic,” Loki couldn’t help but bark out, “At least acknowledge the dange-”

“Know your place,” Ronan growled, and Loki flinched back. “I know best, you’d do well to just obey and be quiet.”

Loki clenched his jaw, but didn’t say anything more. There was no point. Nebula also saw the futility of trying to talk to Ronan  any more, so she grunted in acknowledgement and turned to the exit. Apparently she would deal with the problem herself.

“Seal security doors! Now!” 

For a millisecond, Loki debated his options – to stay in the room with Ronan, or follow Nebula to deal with the intruders. Obviously, one was preferred over the other.

Nebula cut out orders in the guards language – go! Move!  

“Get out my way!”

Loki bit back a quip that he knew wouldn’t be taken well, and remained silent but for the grunt of having to keep up with Nebula, who was now racing towards the starboard side of the ship where the breach  had come from.

“Where are we going?” Loki asked as he ran beside Nebula through the halls. 

“To kill the intruders,” Nebula shot back. “A guard said one of them is a Zen-Whoberi.”

Loki almost stumbled. “Gamora is alive?!”

“Not for long.” Nebula growled.

“Nebula-”

“Not now, Loki!” Nebula cut off. “And hurry up!”

But Loki continued to lag behind. Gamora. Gamora was here? And Nebula was on her way to fight again, and Ronan was on his way to destroy Xandar, and Thanos was doubtless going to come after them because there was no way in he would let them go this easily and it was all happening so fast and he felt so much like when everything fell apart before-

Loki came to a stop.

Nebula kept on running.

Running to another fight – running with a purpose. Nebula had always known exactly what she wanted, and would do anything to get it. 

What did Loki want?

He didn’t know.

And that doubt – that doubt that Loki had tried to keep buried away just like all his other emotions bubbled up. He tried – oh he tried – to push them back down. He didn’t need emotions right now. But still the doubt rose up in him, and gripped his mind with such fervor that Loki found he couldn’t move.

But it wasn’t alone – the other emotions rose as well – desperation, anger, frustration, sadness, pain, hurt, shame, regret, resentment, and fear. They escaped the cell he had made for them in his heart and charged out into the open like a warrior on a war horse, loud and unable to be ignored. They flew out, bursting through the gates of apathy that he had built up, and consumed him.

It was like being in the center of a storm – the wind whipping around him tearing his attention in every which way. The clouds of it blocked out the light all around him, drowning him in gloom.

(There was a time when he had found storms comforting.)

And then a light cut through the darkness — and Loki almost sobbed. Because there was another emotion that followed those that he had locked away. There was another that came more slowly, not stampeding like those before, but creeping out cautiously. As if it weren’t sure of anything.

But this emotion – this small spark that he never thought he would see again – was there. He had assumed that the ember had been snuffed out before, stamped into oblivion years ago. And yet it came, and it cut through all the pain and fear and rage and glowed so brightly. And he thought… he thought he could name it now.

Hope.

It sparked and shimmered and shined in the wake of all those other emotions that plagued him. And it didn’t go away – it grew and grew until it became a raging fire in his soul, consuming everything in him. He couldn’t help but blow on it – encourage it to rise in his heart.

Because now, after all these years, he saw his chance.

And by the Norns was he going to take it.

Nebula was still running ahead of him – running towards something. 

Loki had spent so long running away that he thought he might take a page out of her book, and run towards something as well.

She was about to turn a corner, and clearly had either not noticed Loki’s absence (she was so caught up in her own world, in her own rage), or didn’t care enough to bother with him. Whichever was true, Loki didn’t care. He sent ahead an illusion of himself catching up to Nebula. He wasn’t sure whether his sister would notice the difference, so preoccupied as she was, but it was better to be cautious than to later regret it, and pay for his mistake with his life.

It was the perfect time to escape – the chaos from the battle going on around them made for ample distraction, so no one would truly notice his absence. Not before it was too late. And yet Loki still cloaked himself in an invisibility spell to avoid being seen. There were eyes everywhere on the blasted ship.

No one raised an alarm as Loki stalked down the halls – no one noticed him as he practically ran towards the ship bay. Not even the technician on watch was aware as Loki darted past him and went for the nearest ship that wasn’t in use.

It was a smaller pod, with only enough room for one person. In other words: Perfect.

Unfortunately, there was a worker of some sort who was finishing up fueling the ship. He stood straight and turned to see Loki, with his glamor removed, standing before him.

“Hello, there. I’ll be needing this.”

Before the man could scream, Loki sent a dagger to his throat. He couldn’t quite find himself to feel sorry.

Loki sat down in the pilot's seat, and ran he hand over the consul, bringing it online. He hadn’t had much chance to try his hand at driving such ships, but the basic functions were the same as those pods that Thanos had had on Sanctuary, so he was at least confident that he wouldn’t crash. Mostly.

The ship responded to his workings, and lit up. The engines fired up, and Loki couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief and euphoria that it worked.

But he was not out of danger yet – he was not even off of the dreaded flagship.

Loki tapped the controls – his pod lifted up in the air, and he raced out of The Dark Aster.

And into a warzone.

*****

Loki had just wanted to slip away from the battle and Ronan quietly, subtly. But the apparent allegiance of Ravagers and Nova Corp before him were very determined to make that not happen.

The fight going on in the sky that Loki found himself in was entirely different from anything he had found himself in before. There were aspects of all-out clashes of armies that he had taken part in in his youth, but it was a completely different beast. They were flying, shooting at each other with blasters that Loki had used somewhat in his expeditions with The Mad Titan (it was because of this that he was skilled enough to avoid getting hit himself), though never to this extent.

Time passed strangely during the duration of Loki’s flight – it was both extremely slow, sluggish in its hesitancy to proceed, as well as fast as lightning. Every millisecond Loki was aware of, and yet they dragged on till he felt as if he had spent years flying through the air.

Loki whipped his head around to try and see what was going on in the battle around him, and thankfully was able to avoid another attack. In the corner of his eye he could have sworn he saw a figure drop from The Dark Aster and onto one of the ships, a figure that looked suspiciously like Nebula. But Loki dismissed that though almost immediately. He was just seeing things. And now was not the time for distractions.

Ronan’s fleet began to dive bomb the city, and yet others still attacked the Ravagers. So Loki found himself trying to thread a needle-like pathway through the eye of the battle around him.

To make matters worse: The Dark Aster began to fall.

Loki let loose a barrage of profanity which wouldn’t be acceptable even in the bawdiest of underground bars as he pulled a tight corkscrew turn between two Ravager ships, and tried to slide past The Dark Aster in a risky move that if he pulled off, would have left him in open sky.

But he didn’t pull it off.

Loki’s breath caught in the moment that he realized he had misjudged the distances between his ship and Ronan’s – there was no undoing what just happened.

His ship was clipped by the edge of The Dark Aster in it’s descent, and Loki went spiraling off to Norns-knows-where. He tried desperately to regain control of the steering, to pull himself out of his inevitable crash. But the ground was sprinting right at him, and he couldn’t see anything, and his ship began to overheat, and the sounds of the battle were just as loud as before, and smoke began to come into the cabin from some unknown malfunction and-

And the world went black.

*****

Loki’s heart was beating rapidly as he gained consciousness again – it was dark, and he couldn’t see a thing. But then he heard the thrumming of fighting outside, and felt the cool material of the ship around him, and then finally saw the smallest crack of light through the edge of the window.

It was all there, and it calmed him somewhat. For a moment he had thought he was in the Void again, or in the hands of Thanos.

But it was fine. He was fine. Everything was fine.

Even as his side screamed out at him and his head was pounding in a rhythmic tattoo not unlike the dwarves in their forges.

It was fine because at least he was alive. Which Loki had to admit, as he slowly sat up, was more than he was expecting.

But again, it seemed as though the Norns thought his life was some sort of cruel game they wished to extend for as long as possible.

Loki groaned as he tried to kick at a piece of metal that had come loose from elsewhere in the ship and pinned him down. It took some work, but he managed to get free of it. Without the metal holding him down, Loki’s body was relatively free. 

He felt his magic kick in, sparking over his skin and seeping in to heal the aches and pains that ailed him. To fuse the broken bones and sooth the pounding in his head. 

Loki dropped his head back onto the seat, letting out a great breath of relief. It had been… a rather long time since he had used his magic to heal such large injuries (on the Sanctuary, he had always been bound by magic-dampening chains that limited his abilities), and a small part of him had worried whether or not he was still strong enough to do so. Or whether, like everything else that came in contact with Thanos, it had been whittled down to nothing.

But that didn’t matter now, it didn’t matter because he was healing. And… he was also in the center of a warzone. Loki had no way to know what was going on outside of the dark, enclosed world of the trapped ship, but he doubted he would be left alone for very long.

So Loki steeled himself, then gently pushed himself up into a seated position. From there, he was able to stand up and make his way to the entrance of the ship.

The door was stuck.

Loki cursed under his breath, and shoved his side against the jam – his shoulder didn’t quite agree with that. For a second, he considered teleporting out of the room. But that took an incredible amount of energy that the god just did not possess at the moment. So instead Loki braced himself again, and rammed his shoulder into the door again. Even as weakened as he was, he found he was able to burst through the smoldering metal and into the sunlight.

He was free.

Loki coughed a laugh at that thought. Free. In more ways than one. And yet not completely – he still needed to get away from this damned ship and hide away somewhere.

It was then, as he stumbled away from the wreckage, that Loki heard it.

Music.

Loki paused, momentarily confused as to where the sound was coming from. And what it was, really. Because it sounded vaguely Midgardian – but that couldn’t be. The Midgardians were primitive, and no one from the Nine Realms would be on Xandar.

But still the music kept playing, and Loki found an urge inside of him to follow the noise to its source. There was something… summoning him there.

But he didn’t follow it. He couldn’t.

Loki wasn’t a hero. He wasn’t like… he wasn’t like Thor. (Thor was strong, and Thor was good, and Thor wouldn’t have broken like Loki did.) And he had accepted that long ago. Long before he had locked away those thoughts and memories in his heart. (Somehow they decided to come back now, to plague him when he had thought himself free)

Loki reached out with his mind, for just a moment. A fleeting search for two souls’ energy, just to see if they were alive.

They were.

And they were both behind him.

But he wouldn’t do more than those seconds of searching. He didn’t have many seconds to spare, he told himself. They were alive, and could handle themselves. They didn’t need him – no one did. It was best to just leave.

(he mostly believed it.)

So Loki turned away and made his way forward. Away. Running away – he thought he wouldn’t do that again. 

No.

Now was not the time for second thoughts. So he clenched his jaw and slipped into the shadows of the broken buildings, not daring to take the chance of being seen. Even in chaos such as this, there were always eyes watching.

The shadow welcomed him back as it always did – with cold hands that clung to him as he slunk along. (Nebula had been right)

Then a wave of purple rolled it’s way across the city, and Loki felt the thrum of energy deep in his bones.

The Power Stone.

Loki closed his eyes, and braced himself so that he didn’t fall over from the force of it. The origin came from behind him. Where Gamora and Nebula had been. Where the music had come from, heralding fate.

His heart stopped for a moment, but Loki couldn’t find it in him to chastise himself for the weakness.

“Norns, let them be alright,” Loki murmured. But he couldn’t go back now. He had to escape – he had to run. For the first time in over three years he had true, genuine hope. And mere sentiment would not tear it away from him.

He ignored the guilt pooling in his gut as he walked away.

Chapter Text

Loki had been on Xandar for over a month before he got sick of the planet.

Honestly, he was rather impressed with himself for holding out for so long – ever since the… incident with Ronan, he’d been hunted like a rabid animal by the Nova Corps.

Though it was still better than being on Thanos’ leash.

*****

Shrouded in darkness.

Wary of everything that moved.

That was how Loki found himself following his hasty escape from the ship he had stolen from Ronan, leaving the smoking and twisted heap of metal behind him and searching for some safer harbor.

He hadn’t thought it would be easy, and to be proven correct was far from a surprising development. But it certainly was not a welcome one.

All of Xandar – not just the Nova Corps – knew his face, and had even begun their search as early as a day after Ronan had been dealt with. (He heard it had been Gamora, joined by a group of mismatched outlaws. But they were gone now – they had left the planet and there was no way for Loki to know where they went.)

So there were few options left for Loki on Xandar. Of course, wearing the visages of natives and utilizing the pop-up camps for survivors had helped. But it all felt like borrowed time. And there were little benefits other than the passable food and the small snippets of conversation he overheard from the Xandarians about everything from the weather, to rumors about their planet’s saviors.

(The Guardians of the Galaxy? Really? If Loki ever saw Gamora again he had some choice words planned for her.)

So Loki had decided to leave Xandar, and had nothing but satisfaction in his heart as the blue planet faded away into the distance from his vantage point on the ship he had boarded.

The question from there, however, was where to go next. Loki had an extensive knowledge of the galaxy from both childhood tutoring, and practical insights from his time in the Black Order, and now he had a chance to use that. What planets would take him? Where he would be able to walk around in a face his own, and not of another? Not his, not really. Just another lie.

(The most obvious answer to his multitude of questions was firmly pushed away from his consciousness before he could even consider it.)

Loki was more knowledgeable about the universe than before he was with Thanos – travelling far and wide to commit atrocities had its perks, Loki thought sardonically – but he still didn’t know everything. Certainly not as much as Gamora or Nebula.

Both of whom were doing Norns-know-what, Norns-know-where. 

Especially Nebula – he hadn’t heard any mention of her more than the bounty on her head (along with his own) set by the Nova Corps. So she had to be alive. And Loki knew without a shadow of a doubt that she wouldn’t have gone anywhere near the Sanctuary again. 

Nor would Loki. Which was why he kept an eye on his surroundings at all times, dreading the sight of the noseless Ebony Maw, the form of the hulking Cull Obsidian, or the thin shadows of Proxima and Corvus. He wouldn’t let them get him again, so he had to keep moving.

But moving from planet to planet was a dull, sullen existence, and as much as Loki passively enjoyed the new sights, he found the drudgery of not staying in any place for too much time began to wear him down.

It was lonely, even with crowds of people all around him. He could allow no one to get close (he knew what happened when that occurred – he ended up betrayed and hurt and wanting it all to go back to the way it was, no matter how despondent that had been).

And trouble was bound to find him eventually. 

But… despite all of Loki’s thoughts concerning staying solitary, a part of him disagreed. He had always been an independent individual, and prided himself on his lack of need for others. And that pride was what kept him determined to figure out how to brave the storm that he was now in, swept from side to side by the Norns. 

But a little bit of that pride peeled away with each minute, with every hour, that he spent wandering aimlessly. And it made him think – first fleeting thoughts, then building up into genuine consideration – that maybe he should change his course. 

It might be nice prove beneficial to have a companion to join him (if she would have him) to wherever he might end up. It would certainly make things easier.

Loki swallowed, and steeled himself, now determined.

He needed to find Nebula.

*****

It was surprisingly easy to locate Nebula’s whereabouts – to the point where Loki genuinely wondered about the Nova Corps’ intelligence. Then he actually heard where she was, and cursed.

The Sovereign.

Nebula couldn’t have chosen someplace else to be captured? Loki thought derisively as he stalked down the corridor. The Sovereign were a strange race, completely gold and obsessed with perfection. Loki had only met a Sovereign once, but had staunchly decided afterward never to see them again – they were annoying and strange and set his teeth a grinding.

But he’d gone anyway, to get Nebula.

Nebula. 

His sister.

Possibly one of the only people in the entire Galaxy that didn’t hate his guts.

Loki winced at that last thought as he snuck around the corner and slunk into the shadows. Perhaps that was wishful thinking – Nebula had been rather pissed off at the world last he saw her. And his leaving in the middle of the debacle certainly wouldn’t have helped the situation.

He thought he should probably have a plan for what to say when he saw her again, lest Nebula immediately attack him in a fit of rage. He had to be delicate and understanding and calm.

“Hello, sister,” Loki murmured as he paused by a corner to let a pair of people walk by. “I couldn’t help but get word of your predicament.”

The rustling of a door sliding open came from ahead, and Loki ducked into an adjacent hallway so as to be out of sight. When the people passed on, Loki returned to his chosen path unhindered.

“And as we both have bounties on our heads larger than the Kree Empire, I propose a mutually beneficial partnership.”

Loki straightened up slightly, keeping his head high as he melted a glamor over himself. His skin shifted to gold and his clothes changed into those customary to a lower-ranking Sovereign.

A few seconds later, he nodded in passing to another man, who was walking primly by.

Loki resisted the urge to grimace when the glamor fell. There wasn’t necessarily anything wrong with the Sovereign's form – it was a standard bipedal with just strange coloration – but he strongly disliked it nonetheless.

“I have an exit strategy, if you care to join me. And passage to any planet we choose.”

Loki came to the end of the hallway and grinned wolfishly as he spread his arms.

“What do you say, Sister? Shall we journey for ourselves for once?”

There were no people to applaud his wonderful speech, but Loki didn’t need one. He thought it was quite nice – but will it convince her? He wondered. That was the real test.

Loki paused outside the doors that led to the prison, eyeing the area around him. When he saw no eyes upon him, he slunk in. The Sovereign didn’t have a large prison system, especially in the main palace, but Loki had it on good authority that Nebula was being held in one of the special holding cells. Said holding cells were directly in front of him.

And they were empty.

Loki froze, eyeing the empty rooms with discerning eyes, trying to see if he were missing something.

No. They were really empty. Meaning Nebula wasn’t there.

Loki cursed under his breath, and quickly began to search the other cells further in. 

Nothing.

Norns, please let her not be dead, Loki pleaded as he raced back out again. He didn’t think that the Sovereign would be the type to execute Nebula, but that fear was all that held him in those moments.

Loki’s eyes were slightly wild as he darted through the door again and down the hallway. He melted a visage of a reasonably high-ranking Sovereign over his figure as he moved.

He needed to find someone who knew something. Better yet, he needed to find Nebula. There was no way he was just going to leave her, not again. He had no desire to leave the planet alone.

As Loki rounded the corner, his prayers were answered. A female Sovereign walked down the hall, adorned in clothes of the court. Clearly someone who would know about the whereabouts of such a high-profile prisoner.

Loki slowed down to a relaxed stroll as he approached her.

“Excuse me,” Loki asked the woman, layering on as much charm as possible, “But would you mind telling me where the prisoner is – the Luphomoid, the Mad Titan’s daughter?”

The woman looked Loki over distastefully, but didn’t seem too suspicious. “She was just taken,” the Sovereign said, “some band of lesser beings bargained for her in return for protecting our Anulax batteries.”

Loki blinked, and a knot of emotions began to form in his stomach. “Those beings wouldn’t happen to be called… The Guardians of the Galaxy, perhaps?”

The golden lady sniffed. “Yes, that sounds about right. Mighty pretentious, don’t you think?”

Loki nodded, the facade of calm remaining firm. “Oh yes, very much so.” He paused, then asked, “How long ago was that?” It couldn’t have been long – he just heard about Nebula being here two days ago, and had set out immediately. 

“An hour or so, I believe. But they haven’t set out yet. Leaving right now, if I’m not mistaken.”

Oh. 

“Thank you, you’ve been very helpful.” Loki smiled thinly to the woman, then turned and began to walk quickly towards where she had gestured. Once out of sight, Loki lept into a full-on sprint. He raced through the halls, deftly avoiding any servants who were walking through the halls.

He burst through a pair of wide double doors, and out onto the street. Sovereign glanced at the outburst in displeasure, but otherwise ignored him.

But Loki couldn’t care less at that moment, because just then, right before him in the rising sunlight, was the soft purr of a distant engine rising above him.

Loki froze, breathing heavily, as he stared up at the disappearing form of Gamora’s ship. 

Gamora’s ship, where she along with her crew had taken Nebula from the Sovereign. Gamora had always been compassionate, as much as she could in Sanctuary. And now that they were free… of course she would hear word of their sister’s plight and come to help her. After all, Loki thought bitterly, that was what siblings were for. 

Loki scowled at his luck. He had been too late.

Just an hour earlier and he could have gotten to Nebula himself. (If she would join him. Which was hardly certain.)

And yet a small part of him –  so miniscule that he didn’t notice it till he turned and walked back towards the palace – wished Gamora had come for him as well.

*****

Loki took a swig from the bottle of water in his hand and stared out across the sea of people swarming through the port. It was eerily similar to how he had begun, Loki thought, but he didn’t have the energy to fully think through that comparison. There were some things in the universe best left untouched.

He had been in the alcove where he now resided for a few hours, though the city itself – Quilong, on the planet Vyliv – for the past day and a half. It was some backwater planet that the Nova Corps wouldn’t come looking for him on, and at the moment that was all that Loki was looking for.

After the failed attempt to get Nebula from the Sovereign, Loki had hopped on the closest ship he could find that wasn’t part of the golden people’s fleet, and made his way to the closest planet that he could find that fit his limited criteria. He found it, easily enough, and hadn’t left the main city at all.

He… didn’t quite know what to do, after everything. He didn’t know where else to go. What else to do. He couldn’t quite think straight either, hadn’t for a while. It was as if he were completely done with the world, and all his energy had been sucked up. 

His mind wasn’t fully clear at the moment, either, Loki realized belatedly as he took another sip from the water and tried to moisten his dry lips. A sense of fogginess had overtaken his senses and kept him mellow.

Or, perhaps, he was finally noticing it.

After he had fallen – let go. Was pushed. (he didn’t even know any more; so many variations of the same horrible moment kept haunting him) – his mind had been meddled with for so long that in a sense it wasn’t truly his anymore. Perhaps that had finally caught up to him now, or maybe now that he had distanced himself from Sanctuary, he could see just how much he had been twisted into something… other.

Loki had once prided himself on his mind – on his rationality and creativity. On his ability to see things that others could not. He was proud of his sharpness, which seemed no more. He was a dull knife, good only to be melted down and molded into something different entirely.

He felt like he was drowning in the waters of his soul, consumed only by himself. 

But at least now, here on this street corner, he was relatively safe.

Safe.

Alive. (At least for now)

It was strange – at first, when all of the events of the past few years happened (and even a little before), he hadn’t wanted to live. He had wanted everything to end. And then he had decided that he should survive, if only to suffer whatever punishments the Norns saw fit to dole out to him. But now… now he cared more than before, and yet far less. 

He didn’t care about the punishment or pain as much now – he didn’t care if that’s all that was planned for him. Because now he wanted to truly live . He wanted to survive and fight and maybe, just maybe, the Norns would have mercy on him. 

He didn't care about what was to come. And yet he did. Because he had hope now, he had hope that things might be alright. And he cared about that.

So he would cower no longer.

He would fight.

That’s what he had thought when he had first pulled away from the chaos around him, and escaped Ronan and Thanos. He would fight to be free and away from the pain he had dealt with for years. And he had, in a way. He had gotten out.

The same urge to fight still ran through his veins, Loki could not deny it. But, like a warrior coming down from the adrenaline high of battle, he was calmer now. 

Loki set the bottle of water down beside him, and set his gaze out across the square of bustling people, and narrowed his eyes. He didn’t quite know what he was looking for. Something, anything. But at least he was looking.

The fog was still there, but Loki was more aware of it now, and for that he was grateful. And in the corners, on the edges, it seemed to fade away slightly. 

Maybe it was a sign that it wasn’t permanent. 

Maybe a dull knife was good for something, afterall. 

Loki hoped so.

There were so many people, of so many different species in that square. The bustling back and forth was distracting, yet welcome. But there was something there – Loki felt it deep in his core. He desperately needed to find a purpose again. Something to do, somewhere to go. Something else to struggle with, other than himself. Something new. Just a reason to stand up and go-

“-to the Nine Realms,” A man was saying, and Loki froze. His eyes zeroed in on a pair of red men standing in front of a ship, crates littered around them.

His breath caught in his throat.

The haze that had flowed over him for so long was suddenly stripped away, leaving him bare and vulnerable. A still, cool skeleton of himself that was not comforted by the warm blanket of melancholy.

“We’ll bring the cargo to Vannaheim,” the man continued, “then move on out of the system to Criziion.”

Vanaheim.

It was so close to Asgard that for a moment Loki almost wept. This  – this was it – this was his chance. This was what the Norns had been waiting to grant him. Loki was now nearing the end of his journey through the darkness and could now return to the light.

Loki stood up shakily, and dropped the drink to the ground. The liquid spilled out and he felt the smallest hints of dampness on his feet through his thick boots.

He took a step forward, ignoring the people bustling about him, all on their own paths. His path was right before him.

That ship – that one over there. He had his eyes on it (he couldn’t blink – he needed to see that it was real. He wouldn’t be able to handle it if it disappeared in the milliseconds it would take to briefly close his lids) as he took another step forward.

Vanaheim. 

And from there, he could go to As- Asgard – he could lift the spell that still wrapped around his shoulders which kept him hidden from Heimdall’s sight and be found. He could make his way to the familiar regions of the Aeser’s realms and be brought back home.

Home.

Loki flinched at that thought – hard.

Because… that word was a lie, wasn’t it? And he would know, being god of lies and all. After everything that had happened – and oh, was that a phrase with so much to pull out of. There was no one small incident that Loki could point to, no one pivotal moment that had set events off into a horribly wrong course. There had been much that he had done, each worse than the last, that accumulated into a mountain of blame that rested upon his shoulders. 

He had brought the Frost Giants into Asgard.

He had caused Odin to fall into the Odinsleep.

He had tried to kill Thor.

He had attempted to destroy Jotunheim.

He had lied to Frigga – and that still weighed down on him even knowing that he had been lied to.

Because for all of his guilt and regret for his own actions, he was still angry. 

His anger had melted away over the years, as it was rather difficult to find time to be angry when you had to fight for your life, and deal with much larger problems – but it was still there in the smallest tongue of flame that burned on (it had been revealed, just like all those other emotions, upon escape)

Anger at the lies. Anger at Odin and Frigga for not telling him. Anger at Thor for never seeing him.

(he never wanted the throne – he just wanted to be his equal).

But it could never be. And that was just another matter on the list — he was the son of the enemy. Now that he knew that (now that Thor doubtless knew that as well), there was no going back to how things had been. And that was why everything had happened the first time, wasn’t it?

And because of everything he had fallen.

And…

And everything that had happened after that.

How would Loki be able to look his parents in the eyes knowing what he had done while he was gone? How could he face Thor knowing how he had succumbed. How he had broken. How he had been a coward and weak and how the pain had become too much. How he had let his mind get overrun. How he had bowed to the Mad Titan.

And after he had bowed. How he hadn’t even fought back, just went about doing the monster’s bidding. How he had become son to the warlord. How he had had no dignity left and cared only for his own survival, and how that had shaped all of his decisions (or lack thereof).

Even if his family – even if they still called him family, which they wouldn’t – were to even look upon him, they wouldn’t want anything to do with him if they heard his story. And they would, one way or another – no matter how silent he would try to be, they would demand to know the answers to their questions. They would see his scars from the countless battles and enhancements, they would see the look in his eye that spoke of more than Loki would ever wish to say. They would question, and Loki would answer.

And he was just so damn tired of lying.

Loki found himself closer to the ship that would soon set out for the Nine Realms, though he didn’t remember walking any more. It was a fine ship, so much nicer than any of those others he had taken from one planet to another. 

That was somewhat ironic, wasn’t it?

The people pooled around him, and Loki felt as if he were in his own bubble. No one around him could even fathom the thoughts racing through his mind (like he and Thor had raced through the trees together in their youth, when they weren’t burdened by years of growing apart). There truly was no one in all the galaxy who understood, who he could talk too. 

Alone. Even when there were people all around him.

(the smallest part of himself whispered that that wasn’t entirely true, but Loki didn’t hear it)

“Are you alright, sir?” 

Loki glanced aside to see a man – the one who had been talking earlier, the one who was going on the ship to the Nine Realm – looking at him strangely.

One moment.

One choice.

One answer.

Loki straightened, blinked for a second. Then his mind resolved itself, and there was no going back. He settled a self-confident mask over his tumultuous emotions (not buried though, never again) and flashed a charming smile.

“Oh I’m quite alright, thank you for asking.”

The lie rolled off his tongue as easily as honey. (somehow that made it all the worse)

Chapter Text

Nebula’s anger had begun to build when they were sent to aid Ronan, and it had continued to build in those months since. It had built up, and had exploded out onto Gamora, when they had fought in The Dark Aster. But her anger was far from diminished after the altercation, especially after she had run – run after she had lost. Lost to Gamora, for the millionth time.  

Nebula was just so tired of losing.

So she stayed angry – on the brink of being set off into a spiral of rage that would decimate anyone and anything around her.

She didn’t burst when she had gone from one planet to another, searching for some semblance of a safe haven – but she almost did when she was captured by the Sovereign. Though there was a special aspect of shame at the turn of events; she hated the Sovereign, they were conceited idiots who she had had the great displeasure of interacting with once before. Her dignity took a great blow when she acknowledged that her best chance at getting quick funds were to steal the golden people’s anulax batteries, and had taken a greater blow when she was actually caught in the process.

At least the prisons weren’t cesspits – that was all that Nebula could use to comfort herself while she sat alone in the cell they had taken her to. No, the room was far nicer than any of the cells she had previously spent time in. But it was still a cage, and one that she needed to break out of.

But before she could do so, Gamora showed up.

When Nebula had been dragged out of her cell by the guards, and taken through the halls, she hadn’t much cared where they were taking her, or what they would do to her. She was far more preoccupied with finding a chance to escape. And do so effectively – she couldn’t find herself seconds away from getting a breath of fresh air just to be dragged back to her prison.

All those thoughts had disappeared when she caught sight of Gamora and her crew standing before the Sovereign’s High Priestess. 

“Family reunion, yay!”

Nebula swore she never wanted to kill anyone as much as she wanted to kill Peter Quill at that moment. Well… except maybe Thanos. But due to the chains still holding her hands captive, and the various armed individuals surrounding her, Nebula had to content herself with the wonderful thought of throttling the Terran within an inch of his life, then stabbing him repeatedly. It was a nice thought, and kept her occupied. There would be nothing to shake her here, she would be unflappable.

And then Gamora had said she didn’t care about her. Was only there to collect her ransom.

And that… that had hurt. Even after everything, even despite all she had done to Gamora to elicit that sort of attitude… it had still hurt.

Nebula clenched her jaw at that line, but kept her breathing steady. Whatever. It was fine. She was still mad at Gamora, so there was no reason for that dark spot of betrayal to bleed through her circuits, sparking and sizzling with an emotion more akin to sadness than anger.

Nebula didn’t say anything, even as Gamora’s companions talked to the High Priestess, and Gamora dragged her away. There was no point, really.

Though she couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the stupidity of Gamora’s crewmates. Really, this was what her sister thought was worthy of leaving her for? She could only hope that Loki – wherever that scoundrel was – hadn’t sunk so low as to spend time with a ragtag bunch of misfits who clearly didn’t know when to shut up.

They weren’t even all that entertaining.

*****

Gamora’s ship was a mess, but it was different from the Sovereign’s prisons, so for that Nebula was… not quite grateful. But not annoyed, at least.

“That stuff about my father… who does she think she is?”

“I know you’re sensitive about that.”

“I’m not sensitive about it, I just don’t know who he is.” 

Scratch that about not being annoyed – the live Soap Opera Drama was grating on her nerves. Nebula gave Gamora a look explaining quite entirely how she felt, but her sister staunchly ignored her, deciding that eye contact was a plague, and one that she would avoid at all costs.

“Sorry if it seemed like I was flirting with the High Priestess. I wasn’t.”

“I don’t care if you were.”

“Well I feel like you do care. That’s why I’m apologizing. So, sorry!”

Oh lord, kill her now. Nebula was done with everything – the running, losing, the constantly looking over her back. But most importantly: Peter Quill. (What made matters worse was that Quill was right;  Gamora did look like she cared. Nebula almost gagged at that – where was Gamora’s taste?)

Of course, that wasn’t the most important topic on Nebula’s mind at the moment, as she was dragged by Gamora through the belly of the ship, and her restraints were attached to a beam. She needed to figure out how to escape, and that couldn’t happen till Gamora was out of sight.

Then Nebula caught sight of the bowl of yaro root, and her attention was immediately stolen away. If her stomach could rumble, it would have been as loud as a broken engine at that moment.

“I’m hungry.” Nebula demanded. “Hand me some of that yaro root.”

Gamora rolled her eyes. “No. It’s not ripe yet. And I hate you.”

And oh did that set off the sparks that had whiled away the time in her heart. Nebula’s eyes widened ever so slightly at that comment, and her breathing caught in her throat.

“You hate me?” She spat at Gamora, “You left me there while you stole that stone for yourself. And yet here you stand, a hero.” It just wasn’t fair. How did Gamora deserve all this good fortune when they had fought through the same hell-hole to survive? When they had both committed atrocities (even together, at times). The rage crawled its way up Nebula’s spine, setting her alight with its flame. “I will be free of these shackles soon enough, and I will kill you. I swear.”

Gamora… looked less than impressed. “No. You’re gonna live out the rest of your days on Xandar, wishing you could.”

Nebula lunged forward to Gamora. She wasn’t quite sure what she was attempting when she did so, she didn’t know if she was attempting anything at all.

Either way she failed. Again. 

And then she was left alone in the loading bay of the ship, Gamora and the others departing to the cockpit. Which meant that Nebula was alone when the ship began to get barraged by attacks. She didn’t quite know what was going on, but she felt every single shutter and boom around her. She also saw the yaro root laying there, just beyond her reach.

And yet even that was taken from her.

(Nebula swore she was going to stab the big gray and red man many, many times the first chance she got.)

As Nebula was thrown back and forth, only staying in relatively one place due to the manacles, she hysterically thought that the Sovereign were steadily looking like the better option. Afterall, she was clearly about to die due to the Guardians’ idiocy.

*****

“Someone followed you through the jump point. Set me free. You’ll need my help.” Nebula offered, quite logically, she thought.

Gamora didn’t think so, and made that perfectly clear to her, much to Nebula’s chagrin. “I’m not a fool, Nebula.”

Nebula scowled, “You are a fool if you deprive yourself a hand in combat.”

“You’ll attack me the moment I let you go.”

Ugh. Checkmate. “No I won’t.”

And then once again Peter Quill had to open his big mouth. “You know, you’d think an evil supervillain would learn how to properly lie.”

“Loki was the liar,” Nebula retorted.

Quill blinked at that. “What?”

“Loki,” Gamora said, an annoyed tone in her voice. “Our brother. He was sent with us to Ronan.”

Quill blinked, but Drax spoke up – “the witchy looking man.”

Gamora looked like she wanted to reply to that, but she didn’t have the chance, as that was when the mysterious ship came down, and the strangers emerged.

Nebula couldn’t care less about who they were, they were just more obstacles to her breaking out. (and the reveal that the man was Quill’s father added another plot-twist to the Soap Opera she was witnessing.) And she was still kept near everyone, still being watched. And forced to watch the idiots act like… idiots. (Nebula thought that was quite an apt description – simple and to the point.)

Fortunately, Gamora left with some more of the others with the mysterious man, and Nebula was left with greater and greater odds of escape. And as soon as she was free, she was going to go after Gamora, and show her just how much her rage had been burning. Next, she would find any clue as to where Loki was hiding, and make him pay for leaving her like he did.

For now, she busied herself with tricking the Tree into letting her go, and shooting the Ravager captain in the head.

“Well hello, boys.” Nebula said, feeling her confidence coming back. She was in control and everyone knew it. That control she was going to hold onto, and never let anyone take away again. And… at last she could have a bite of the yaro.

On second thought, maybe Gamora had been right before.

“It’s not ripe.”

*****

Her time with the Ravagers seemed to blur by. From taking the Fox and the Tree and the other Ravagers onto their ship, to watching the purge of the loyalists, to having to step in so the idiot Taserface – for once she actually agreed with the Fox, that was truly the most inane alias in existence – wouldn’t kill any of Gamora’s crewmates.

Nebula didn’t quite know why she stepped in at that point, and lobbied for them. She tried to tell herself it was the logical source of action, but something about that explanation didn’t sit quite right with her. But that didn’t matter, she told herself. She just locked those feelings away and sunk deeper into her anger.

She got a new hand from one of the men – Kraglin, she thought, but wasn’t certain. She followed him to the ship, and with every step the rage flared up. Nebula was under no circumstances going to back down now. One of the ways she had survived under Thanos was taking each mission, each assignment, each goal, and focusing on that till every other insignificant thing didn’t matter anymore, and all that was left was the drive to completion. She had her goal now, and she’d be dead before she left it unfinished. 

Time continued to pass by, faster now, when she boarded the ship and set out to reach Gamora. The stars raced by just as the seconds did, the light streaming together as the moments melted into minutes. 

And then she reached the planet. There was something strange about it that Nebula could not quite place – something not quite right. But Nebula shook off those feelings, devoting all of her energy to the anger that she was steadily sharpening into a deadly blade. Gamora better be ready, because Nebula was coming.

Nebula took a deep breath as she stared down at the planet, trying to steady herself. But she was still shaking slightly; from what, she didn’t quite know. She wasn’t scared. She couldn’t be scared.

Nebula settled her face back into the frown of determination, and let a cold sense of determination take control of her senses and movements. Allowing no room for mistakes, she tilted the controls down, and dove towards the planet.

*****

She saw her – there. There was Gamora, sitting in the field none the wiser. Sitting there so free. The sight of it made Nebula let loose a yell, even though Gamora couldn’t hear it, as she let loose a barrage of canonfire upon her sister.

But Gamora saw her ship too soon, and began to run.

You’re not getting away that easily, Nebula thought as she followed her sister with the ship, having no regard as to whether it would come out of the fight undamaged – it wasn’t her’s, it could crash and burn just like the rest of the world for all the care she’d give. It could burn and burn and burn until everything around it was consumed in the fire.

And crash it did, and catch fire soon after. She was stuck in that cave, stuck as she saw Gmaora pull a discarded cannon onto her shoulder, and shoot her. A bolt of fear struck through Nebula like lighting for a split second at the sight of it – No, no no nononono! She would not lose again, she would not fall victim to Gamora for the countless times in her life. This time was supposed to be different.

And then it was.

Nebula hung there in the ship, about to fall below into who knows what, certainly a large chance at death, when she saw Gamora’s face. A flash at first, and then her full face. Her sister was there – dragging her from the wreckage, and to the safety of the cave. It was… surreal. This couldn’t be reality. This was – this was-

But the goal – the goal was there. Her goal. She, she had to follow through or-

“Are you kidding me?” Gamora cried, but Nebula didn’t register the words in her ears. SHe had one goal. And the goal was right in front of her.

She grappled with Gamora, fighting to come out on top. This fight was unlike the others they had ever taken part in before – all the decorum and protocol that had been held up by rigid rules under Thanos had been tossed out in favor of the rugged brawl that the two sisters found themselves in.

Nebula whipped over her and reached Gamora's belt. She pulled out a dagger and held it up in one hand towards Gamora’s face as she held her throat firmly in the other. 

Nebula’s heart was beating a rapid tattoo in her chest, echoing around in the cold metal cavities where flesh should have been; just another reminder of what was taken from her. 

Nebula was ready, the dagger was ready. This was her only chance, and she was staring it down with all the rage that kept crashing through her like a tsunami, leaving her no escape. She was drowning in it – it pooled through her lungs and choked her throat and got into her wires and sparked and sizzled and smoked through her limbs, leaving a trail of it everywhere it touched, and everywhere it didn’t. It consumed her, and there was no escape.

Nebula lurched forward with the blade, intent alight in her. And then she froze, after barely moving an inch. Because… Gamora was right there. Staring up at her. Helpless. Just like Nebula had been for years . The tables were finally turned, and… wasn’t that enough? Wasn’t that what she had really wanted all this time?

A side of her rose up then, one she hadn’t felt in decades – not since she had been a little girl. She had thought she had killed it, ripped it out like so much of her body had been ripped away from her. She had thought that this small piece of who she was had been banished, not by Thanos or the years of torture, but by herself our of self-preservation. When she had told herself not to hope anymore, not to wish for things she could never achieve. 

But that part of her was back now, and it was back with a vengeance. It rose up and fought the tsunami. It countered the rolling fire and soothed the sparks till the rage fractured into a thousand different emotions that were far from calming but at least they weren’t overwhelming anymore.

Nebula dropped the blade

“I win. I win . I bested you in combat.”

“No.” Gamora countered, always trying to best her. “I saved your life.”

Nebula scowled. “Well you were stupid enough to let me live.”

“You let me live.”

Nebula didn’t acknowledge that fact, no matter how true it was. She didn’t quite know how to feel about that yet, and now was far from the right situation to do some soul searching. Besides – “I don’t need you always trying to beat me.”

“I’m not the one that just flew across the universe just because I want to win.”

“Do not tell me what I want.” Nebula couldn’t take that anymore – no one was going to tell her how to live her life anymore.

“I don’t need to tell you what you want, it's obvious.”

That was when she finally broke.

“You were the one who wanted to win. And I just wanted a sister!”

It was then, as Nebula stared at Gamora’s face, that she realized she wasn’t so angry any more. Her heart was a churning tempest of emotions, but the most prominent of the feelings – the one that flew above the rest like a bird and rose and rose and broke through the clouds to find the clarity of the clear sky above – was different. And like that bird, the revelation flew past her and into Nebula’s mind, letting her see unobstructed by haziness anymore.

Desperation.

Desperation to be seen. Desperation to not be tossed to the side anymore. Desperation to do something for herself for once. Desperation to have something more. Desperation to survive, to live, to not be the one crushed by the world around her.

Desperation to just be Nebula.

“You were all I had.” Nebula said quietly, that the other part of her – the naive little girl – was voicing herself. “But you were the one who ‘needed to win’.” She scowled without heat, and turned back to Gamora. “Thanos pulled my eye from my head. And my brain from my skull. And my arm from my body, because of you .” 

The silence that filled the cave was broken only by the crackling of the fire in the background, leaving the pair to stare at each other as they breathed heavily. But there was something in that stare – something that made the little girl in Nebula jump for joy.

Because Gamora was staring at her – and it seemed like this time she was actually looking.

*****

Nebula felt like she was on top of the world – not even the discovery of whatever messed up practices the living planet (What in the world had Gamora gotten herself into?) had could dampen her mood. Because by her side was Gamora, and they weren’t fighting – anymore – and they were working towards the same goal.

Not even working together with Gamora’s crewmates and the bug lady seemed like a big negative at the moment, though she decided that maybe not every single member of her sister’s crew was deserving of being stabbed. The Tree seemed fairly harmless.

The remark from Drax (she thought that was his name, but they hadn’t actually been introduced yet) about family settled over her in a way she wasn’t quite sure how she felt about it yet. Family. That was a nice sounding word, one she’d like to own for herself. Like Gamora owned it herself for her family. Which didn’t include her.

“What’s Smurfette doing here?”

“Whatever I need to do to get a damn ride home.” Nebula replied, even though there was no home for her to return to. It was an empty word, one without any meaning. Yet.

“She tried to murder me!”

Nebula was oh so tired of these people. “I saved you, you stupid fox.”She wasn’t quite sure why, but she did. So he had to deal with it.

“He’s not a fox!”

Well then what is he? Nebula thought. Really, it wasn’t her fault he looked exactly like the foxes she had seen.

Despite the animosity, Nebula still helped the Guardians (what a stupid name, Nebula would have to tell her sister to change it later) save the galaxy or whatever it was they kept going on about. All she cared about was that she got out of the mess alive.

Then she saw her sister fall, and Nebula’s heart dropped right alongside her. There was no way she was going to let her sister die like that – not before they had even talked. And definitely not after Nebula felt visible for the first time in years. Gamora had no right to fall like that, so Nebula raced after her.

And then she was safe, and Nebula could breathe a small sigh of relief. She told Gamora to get over it, but Nebula couldn’t get over it – the emotions were back again but they weren’t so negative anymore. There was a sense of euphoria that was bubbling up in her, making her feel light headed.

It kept building as she and Gamora jumped together onto the rising pillars, so in sync without even talking to each other. It kept building as they fought the planet, and the Sovereign (an especially large part of her happiness came from seeing the golden jerks exploding before her eyes). It kept building as she worked with the blue Ravager, and then with the others. It kept building as they got off the planet, and came out of the whole debacle alive.

And Nebula felt alive for the first time in a long time.

*****

They were there – the crew. Gamora’s crew. Gamora’s new family. They were in the room having a funeral for the Ravager, Yondu. Nebula didn’t have many thoughts on that, any feelings for the man who died. It had been… nice to work with him, but she didn’t know him. Not like the others seemed to.

That didn’t stop a dark feeling from beginning to curl in her gut, rising up till she felt it begin to choke her.

Nebula felt Gamora’s eyes on her, but that just made the feeling all that much worse. So she turned right around and stalked back through the hall she had entered through. And she kept stalking down through the ship, feeling the clangs of her steps reverberate through the walls as she heard their ringing. She was alone in the ship, now – everyone was back at the funeral.

It was the best time to leave.

Nebula didn’t even blink at the thought – her nerves held steady in resolve. She stalked forward toward the ship, telling herself over and over to not look back. Because if she did, she would do something she couldn’t undo.

“Nebula.”

Nebula froze in her spot, and turned to the voice that slashed through her chants. Gamora.

The Zen-Whoberi looked at her with regret in her eyes as she walked closer to her. And Nebula’s heart skipped a beat at what words she heard next: “I was a child like you. I was concerned with staying alive, until the next day, everyday. And I never considered what Thanos was doing to you. I’m trying to make it right. There are little girls like you across the universe who are in danger. You can stay with us and help them.”

And that was tempting – oh so tempting. And Nebula almost said yes, she wanted so desperately to say yes and mend what had been broken by the years, to build what had never been constructed. But there was still anger in Nebula’s heart, and she couldn’t settle down until it had run its course. That anger may not be directed towards Gamora anymore, but there was a larger target whom she would strike.

“I will help them by killing Thanos.”

Gamora sighed, stepping even closer. She seemed almost… disappointed. And that – that Nebula didn’t like. “I don’t know if that’s possible.”

Neither did she.

Gamora reached out with a hand, and Nebula flinched. Habit telling her to back away, to run before she could get hurt. But Gamora didn’t seem to mean any harm, and her hand was soft, and something in her broke as she felt her sister's arms wrapped around her. Nebula could have sworn all of her circuit boards short circuited at once. This – this couldn’t be real.

But it was real. This was not one of those dreams she had indulged for years (never quite willing to let the hope go, even when logic told her it wouldn’t happen. There was no family on Sanctuary ), this was her sister standing there right before her, drawing her close. 

“You will always be my sister.” 

It was real, it was real, it was real, the chant thrummed over and over through Nebula’s mind. The running and anger was over, because she was here. She had won the race and had gotten the prize: Acceptance.

Nebula looked at her sister for a long time, eyes searching her features, her whole demeanor. She looked happier than she ever had on Sanctuary , she had finally found her place here with her crew of idiots.

Gamora had found her place, but Nebula hadn’t quite yet. So she would pursue what she knew and let it consume her until she knew nothing else.

But Nebula kept her eyes on Gamora, and felt something deep inside her mend slightly. Her sister. Now no longer in word only, but now in reality. Sisters. She savored the word. It held so much meaning, that Nebula didn’t even know what all of it entailed. But it was hers-- it was theirs . And no one could take it away, now or ever. Not Thanos, not the world, not any of those fake siblings who hadn’t even cared about each other back on Sanctuary. At that thought, Nebula was suddenly shocked back to the moment at hand, feeling so much more grounded than she ever had. 

But… it wasn’t completely true, was it? Nebula looked at Gamora steadily, and was reminded of someone else who had been there for even but a few of those years – someone whom she hadn’t thought of before. Someone who she had been angry with almost as much before the anger had simmered away. Someone who may have left like Gamora, but who had at least made attempts before. Someone who deserved a chance as well (and maybe she deserved a chance to prove herself right back). 

“Do you… know what happened to Loki?” Nebula asked, pausing in the door to her ship.

Gamora blinked, then frowned. “I… no. I thought you did?”

Nebula scowled. “He slipped away right before I went to confront you on The Dark Aster. I didn’t see him after that, he’d just slunk away.”

Gamora’s eyes got distant for a moment. “He found his chance,” she murmured, and Nebula felt as if her sister was speaking of something she didn’t know about.

Gamora turned her gaze back to Nebula again. “Do you think he went back – to Asgard?”

Nebula frowned. “We would have gotten word of the Nine declaring war on Thanos, I think.”

Gamora nodded and looked off to the side, her gaze beginning to grow distant again.

“Well, wherever he is, he can take care of himself.” Nebula swallowed. 

Gamora smiled. “And I know you can as well – but try to be safe anyway?” It was a question – a genuine request – and so unlike the orders Nebula had heard all her life.

Nebula nodded once, then stepped into her ship. “Goodbye, Sister.”

“Goodbye.”

Chapter Text

Family. That’s what Drax had said they were – first when they were fighting Ego, and then later on when they were back on their ship and everyone was present. No one had countered him.

Gamora’s heart had warmed at that word – at the meaning. Of course, they were no ordinary family. But that didn’t matter. What they were was special, and Gamora cherished it with her whole heart.

There was still a small part of her that thought of the other part of her family – a sister who had run off to fight a battle no singular person could ever hope to win, and a brother who had disappeared into the stars and she didn’t know whether she would see again.

She wished she had had more time with them – more time to talk with Nebula, to make up for the years she hadn’t seen her. More time with Loki, to get to know the man who didn’t seem to even know himself.

So Gamora hoped – she hoped to see Nebula come back, and she hoped for even a rumor of Asgard regaining a prince. Something to know that they were alright – that they were alive.

It had only been a week since Nebula had left, and a couple months since she had last seen Loki. Not a lot of time in the grand scheme of the universe – even less for Loki, Gamora thought with a hint of humor, considering how old he was – and yet it felt like an eternity. Every hour stretched on into decades.

So Gamora decided to keep busy, throwing herself into day-to-day life with the other Guardians. It was rewarding work, it was nice – more than nice – to have a purpose that wasn’t killing and destruction. And the companionship was just as welcome.

Still, a part of her still felt missing.

*****

Traveling around the galaxy now that she had had her record scrubbed by the Nova Corps was an entirely different experience, Gamora found. Where she had once been reviled with fear, she now found gratefulness and welcoming faces. (Once someone thanked her for how she had saved them. On the street. Unprompted.) Of course, there were still the occasional glances of apprehension, but with every job those faded further and further.

It was while on Vyliv, a quaint yet technologically advanced planet, that Gamora once again was amazed at people’s reactions. 

Say what you would about Peter and his penchant for dramatic names, but branding them the Guardians of the Galaxy had really paid off. The natives of the planet recognized them after a while, and were extremely welcoming, proclaiming how honored they were to have such an esteemed crew in their ports. The others ate up the attention.

After a while, Gamora herself had to admit that the smiling faces of the Vylivians was a nice feeling.

But they weren’t the only kind of gaze sent their way.

Gamora looked out from where she was seated on the roof of the Benater, scanning the trees and then in the other direction to where the city began. There was something crawling up her spine, a feeling that they were being watched.

“Hey, Gamora, what’re you doin’ up here?” 

Gamora didn’t bother glancing to the side, where Peter had climbed up to join her.

“Watching.”

Peter nodded. “Good. Those trees look suspicious.”

Gamora chuckled, “the trees aren’t the problem. It’s what’s in them.”

“Birds?”

Gamora sighed. Peter could be so smart sometimes, and yet at times like this… Gamora was just happy he hadn’t gotten himself killed before she had met him. “Something’s not quite right here, hasn’t been since we landed.”

Peter came closer and sat down beside her. “Whatever it is, I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

“You’re awfully confident about that, aren’t you?”

“Hey,” Peter grinned, leaning back with that self-confident air of his. “Have I ever led us wrong?”

“Do you really want me to answer that?”

Peter frowned, his eyebrows furrowing. “We’re still alive, aren’t we? And we’ve been doing quite well, as you very well know!”

Gamora sighed again, though this one was softer, less annoyed and more affectionate. She scooted a few inches closer to Peter, and found herself leaning against his shoulder. An arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her closer to his side. Gamora couldn’t help the small smile that spread across her face.

“It really is a beautiful sunset, isn’t it?” Peter asked after a while.

“Yes.”

“You know what else is beautiful?”

Gamora tilted her head to Peter, a smile creeping up on her face against her will. Peter may be an idiot, but he had a way with words.

“What?” she asked quietly.

“The ship,” Peter proclaimed proudly. “Do you see this shine? Groot and I did a great job on the waxing, didn’t we?”

Scratch that about Peter having a way with words. He most definitely did not.

Gamora pushed away from Peter, and gave him an unimpressed look.

Peter frowned. “Jeez, it’s a joke! I meant you, okay? You’re beautiful.”

“The moment’s gone, Peter.”

Peter sighed. “Dang it.” He glanced at her again. “You sure?”

Gamora stretched out onto her back, and looked up at the rose colored sky. Peter was right, it was a gorgeous sight. And precious, too. She cherished this ability to just stay out late and watch nature paint colors and images she couldn’t have even dreamed of years ago.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“For what?” Peter asked, confused. “The waxing? Because Groot and I really did work on it and-”

“For being here,” Gamora cut him off. But that soft affection still curled itself warmly in her chest, nestled right by her heart.

Peter seemed to sober up then, and lay down beside her. “You’re welcome,” he said quietly. “And hey, what are… whatever we are… for?”

“Mmm,” Gamora hummed. “Some unspoken thing.”

The grin was clear in Peter's voice in his next words, “Yeah. It’s a secret. Just the two of us.”

They lay there together for a while after that, and Gamora soaked up the moments eagerly. They spent the time together quietly, just enjoying each other’s company. It wasn’t until the sun had set that Peter slowly sat up, groaning and stretching his arms.

“Well, we should probably head in now. The others could be about to blow up our ship.”

Gamora rolled her eyes but sat up as well. “Fine,” she said.

Peter stood up, and held his hand out to her. Gamora accepted, a smile on her face, and the pair came down from the side of the Benater and to the entrance of the ship.

Right before Gamora stepped in, she glanced back towards the trees, and felt her spine tingle again. There was something out there watching them. And something about it was… eerily familiar.

But whatever it was – whoever it was – wouldn’t be a problem. She wasn’t going to let anything hurt her family.

*****

They were in a restaurant – a genuine restaurant, not those seedy underground bars that Peter and Rocket tended to know about. Sure, it wasn’t the nicest place, but the food was good and none of the customers looked like they had just come out of a gun fight.

“These shredded Hron are amazing!” Mantis exclaimed happily as she shoved more of the crispy stringy food into her mouth. “We muth geh da wessipee!”

“Yeah, I don’t think that the owners would like that,” Peter pointed out. “They kinda have a business to run.”

“I am Groot.”

“No, you’ve had enough!” Rocket admonished, trying to take the sweet sugary drink that Groot had discovered out of his hands. 

Gamora hid her laugh behind the napkin she brought up to her face. The scene before her was too funny, and warmed her heart. It was so different from the haphazardly put together meals that they ate on the ship between missions, because here on Vyliv, they had a chance to breathe.

Drax grunted as he grabbed the platter of Hron from Mantis, reaching over Groot, who was still trying to get his drink back.

“These are mine!” Mantis protested, tugging them back.

“They are for everyone,” Drax countered. “And you had yours.”

“I am Groot!”

“No! If you have any more you’ll be bouncing off the walls of the ship when we get back and you’ll never sleep again.”

Drax paused in his acquisition of the Hron (though Mantis tried to keep tugging, the plate went nowhere) to glance at Rocket. “Is that true?” he asked. “Bouncing is not a good sign of health, and sleep is required to live.”

“Not literally-” Rocket groaned.

“I am Groot!”

“No, that was not an admission of defeat you scoundrel!”

Over the chaos, Peter caught Gamora’s eye, and grinned at her.

Gamora bit her lip and set down her napkin onto her lap. 

Having fun? Peter mouthed at her. 

Her smile remained on her face even as Gamora rolled her eyes and shook her head teasingly. Peter pouted in return, and it took a great deal of effort to keep a laugh from escaping her mouth.

“Can I have my Hron now?” Mantis asked timidly, getting impatient at Drax.

“I am Groot!”

We really need to learn what he’s saying, Gamora thought to herself. Afterall, relying on Rocket for everything was a lot and bound to catch up to them at some point.

Rocket growled at Groot, muttering something about survival percentages of sugar addiction lower than stabbing victims, and Drax was beginning to get twitchy.

In a split second, Gamora was preparing to stand up and stop the inevitable fight that was about to begin.

“Are you ready to pay?”

Every person at the table froze, looking up at the clearly anxious waitress who stood before them, carrying a tablet.

“Yes!” Peter exclaimed before anyone else could say something. He stood up quickly and began to rifle through his purse – satchel, Gamora mentally chided herself, and couldn’t help the grin – doubtless for some money. 

Across the table, Mantis had gone back to stuffing her face like there was no tomorrow, Drax was sneaking some of the food as well, and Rocket and Groot went back to wrestling over the drink.

“What the-” Peter muttered under his breath, and Gamora glanced at him. He had a confused look on his face. “Do any of you know what happened to my wallet? Or my techpad?”

All at once the commotion at the table stopped. 

No one spoke a word.

Gamora slowly raised an eyebrow.

“Jeez, Quill,” Rocket said, Tentatively letting go of Groots drink and crossing his arms. “Do you lose everything you touch?”

Peter scowled at Rocket. “No! But I could’ve sworn I put it right here.…” he went back to rifling through his bag.

Mantis blinked up innocently at Quill. “What is a… wallet?” she asked curiously.

Peter blinked at that, as if not quite sure whether Mantis were serious or not. Luckily for her, Gamora was well aware of how much Rocket and Drax had been corrupting their newest crew member – including extensive acting lessons.

“Well, it's what we keep our money in.” Peter began, “but I can’t find mine so-”

“That sounds like a you problem,” Rocket said matter-of-factly as he stood up from the table. Drax and Mantis stood up as well, and Groot hopped onto Drax’s shoulder.

“Woah, woah, woah,” Peter said, holding up his hands, “where in the world are you guys going?”

“I need to get Groot down to bed,” Rocket explained, “look at the poor kid, he’s practically in a coma already. Really, Quill, it’s your own fault for keeping him out past his bedtime.”

On Drax’s shoulder, Groot froze at Rocket’s words, then gave a huge yawn and law down as if he were so tuckered out, he couldn’t handle another second of alertness… despite the fact that just minutes before he had been drinking a highly sugary beverage and hopping up and down.

Peter frowned, clearly not convinced. “Rocket, you can’t be-”

“I am holding Groot,” Drax interrupted and started to walk toward the door. “If we move him, he dies.”

“What?” Mantis asked with wide eyes as she raced to catch up to Drax. “Is that true?”

“Yes,” Drax said. “It is what Quill calls a… metaphor.”

“That is not-”

“See ya Quill,” Rocket gave him a mock salute, “try not to get sold into slavery to pay for our food – Gamora would kill you.” Then he cheerily strolled out of the restaurant after the others.

Peter sighed heavily, and looked at Gamora. Gamora, however, was looking at the waitress who was looking more and more annoyed, and then to the manager standing directly behind her.

“Gam-”

Gamora stood up, cutting Peter off. “I should go after them – make sure they don’t burn down the city.”

“Gamora,” Peter almost whined, disappointment clear in his voice. But Gamora pretended not to hear him as she exited the restaurant, leaving Peter to deal with the staff.

“Sir,” the manager was saying right before Gamora stepped out, “there is still a matter of payment.”

Gamora felt the door slide closed behind her, and then she was standing alone in the cool night air, feeling the breeze ruffle her clothes and braid. A moment of peace was all she took for herself, before she was once again moving and catching up to the rest of her family.

“…I’m just saying we’re home free now – who wants to hit up-”

“So which one of you took Peter’s wallet?” Gamora asked, interrupting Rocket’s quite telling sentence.

The quartet froze in unison, then turned to her with wide eyes.

“Please,” Gamora said, “I’m not going to tell him.”

“That’s what she wants us to think!” Rocket scowled.

“I am Groot.”

“Yeah, I know that’s why she said it you little goober, but my point still sta-”

“I did!” Mantis said cheerily, taking Peter’s wallet from her pocket. “Drax promised to take me someplace to get plastic surgery.” she said the words with such wonder that Gamora almost felt bad for popping her bubble.

Almost.

“Drax,” Gamora sighed, and rubbed between her eyes.

“What?” Drax asked, “she clearly needs it.”

Gamora decided to save that strain of thought for a later date, and looked back at the others. “And his techpad?” she asked in a deadpan.

A moment of complete silence overtook the crew. Then Groot slowly stood up on Drax’s shoulder and guiltily raised his hand.

“I am Groot.” he said, in an apologetic tone, and for once Gamora thought she understood what he was saying.

“It’s alright, Groot,” she said gently, “but where is it?”

Rocket groaned and pulled it from his bag. “You aren’t gonna tell Quill, are you?”

Gamora debated for a long moment, before shaking her head. “But no surgery for Mantis, she doesn’t need it.”

Drax opened his mouth to argue, and Gamora mentally prepared herself for a long-winded argument. But then a prick on the back of her neck jolted her to alertness. Gamora froze for a moment, ignoring whatever Drax was saying, and lifted her head to scan their surroundings.

No, she wasn’t imagining it; someone was watching them.

“-mora? Gamora?!”

Gamora glanced at Rocket, who was frowning at her. “What’s wrong?”

The others were looking at her with worry as well, and Gamora blinked. They couldn’t feel it? She would have thought that at least Drax would have been able to tell that they were being observed by some unknown person or thing, And Rocket most likely as well.

But no, they were completely oblivious.

Gamora glanced around them again, trying to search for an origin of the strange feeling she was getting. They would have to be incredibly well adept at stealth, for her not to be able to pinpoint them. 

She could count on one hand how many people she had met who could do that.

“It’s nothing,” Gamora said, willing herself to relax her muscles and face. “Come on, let’s get back to the ship.”

“But we need to buy-”

“There’s online ordering, Rocket.” Gamora rolled her eyes and began to walk again. “Besides, Groot needs to sleep.”

The watchful gaze didn’t follow them.

*****

“I am Groot.”

“Yeah, you’re right, Gamora is ignoring you.”

Gamora glanced over from where she was stacking crates of supplies with Mantis to the ramp into the Benater where Rocket and Groot were sitting. The latter had something behind his back, and had a concentrated look on his face.

“I am not ignoring you, Groot,” Gamora sighed. She gave Mantis a look, letting her know she’d be right back, then went over to the pair. She knelt down beside Groot and frowned at him. “What’s going on?”

Groot shifted back and forth, looting down at his feet, and Gamora smiled. He was clearly anxious about something, but it was rather adorable. It cut through the unease that Gamora had been feeling all morning.

“Well go on,” Rocket said in an impatient voice (however the look on his face was anything but), “I’m not gonna do everything for you.”

Groot nodded, as if stealing himself, then looked back at Gamora. Then what he had been holding behind his back was pulled out and revealed.

“Is this for me?” Gamora asked, looking at the wildflower Groot was holding in his hand. It was almost as large as he was, and bright green with pink stripes.

Groot nodded, and Gamora took it from him, twirling it in her fingers as she inspected it. It was beautiful, and smelled lovely.

“I am Groot.”

“He says it reminded him of you,” Rocket shrugged. “I have no dast idea why, though.”

“I am Groot.”

“It was either that or one of the squirrels he was attacking all morning. But he figured you could kill your own tree rodents.”

“I am Groot.”

“No, they aren’t my cousins! You need to stop listening to Quill.”

Gamora chuckled at their exchange, then reached forward a hand and nudged Groot. “Thank you, Groot. It’s beautiful. I love it.”

“I am Groot.”

Gamora glanced at Rocket for the translation. He sighed and didn’t meet her eyes. “He’s asking if it makes you feel better.”

“What?” Gamora asked, confused.

“I am Groot.”

“You’ve been acting weird these past few days. Groot says you keep looking around like something’s about to attack.”

Gamora swallowed, and resisted the urge to look over her shoulder at the trees, where those eyes were watching them. Familiar, in a way she was almost certain she could place. But not completely . There was no guarantee she was right, and even if she was, the answer.…

Gamora smiled at Groot. “I just have a lot on my mind. But we’ll be alright.”

Rocket muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like “half-assed excuse” and scratched his cheek. When Gamora gave him a look, he coughed and started to fiddle with his gun.

Groot had a look of concentration on his face, and he stared her down. Gamora stared right back.

“I promise,” she said, “I won’t let anything bad happen.” She came down beside Groot, sitting on the gangplank right beside him. Groot lifted his arms up, clearly asking to be picked up. Gamora obliged, cradling the small sapling in her hands. She looked out at the trees, then back to Groot. She didn’t quite know who she was talking to when she said: “I’m here for you.”

*****

“Okay, but on Terra, we have this thing called a Molotov Cocktail-”

Gamora rolled her eyes affectionately as she walked down the hall from her and Peter’s room, past the main area of the Benater, overhearing a conversation between Peter and Rocket. They had been talking about explosives for the better part of an hour, and every time she heard a snippet, she was more confused.

But at least they were getting along better now, and for that, Gamora was grateful. (she remembered when Peter got mad at Rocket for keeping a bomb in the ship, but they seemed to have moved past that.)

She walked around the table, and down the length of the ship to what was essentially a loading bay. There, she found Drax and Groot digging through one of the crates she and Mantis had brought in the other day.

“Where are my knives?” Drax asked, a confused look on his face as he continued to dig through the crate. Groot seemed to be delighting in jumping around the edge, dancing through the packing fluff that came flying with every desperate stroke of Drax’s hand.

“Is something wrong?” Gamora asked.

“Quill did not order my knives,” Drax explained seriously. “I need them.”

Gamora eyed the multitude of blades strapped to Drax’s legs. “Don’t you have more in your room?”

“You can never have too many knives, Gamora. Shouldn’t you know that?”

Gamora shrugged, “Sword,” she said in explanation. Not that she didn’t use kives, but she preferred the use of a single blade first and foremost. The amount of daggers she had didn’t matter to her as much, as long as there were enough to be useful.

Neither had she ever obsessed over their quality, as her siblings had. If it drew blood, it worked.

Drax nodded and picked up Groot. “We will be getting knives in town. Don’t leave without us.”

“I am Groot!” Groot protested, seemingly at being torn away from his fluff.

“I will get you a tiny knife,” Drax promised, turning to the exit, “It will be small yet sharp. You can stab your enemies with it until they scream in terror.”

“I am Groot!”

“That was an excited noise, correct?”

“I am Groot!”

Gamora chuckled, and followed them outside, but not into town. There was one final member of their crew she wanted to check on.

Gamora walked around the length of their ship, and came to a stop when she saw Mantis apparently trying to sneak away from their camp and toward the city. In her hand she held – once again – Peter’s wallet.

Gamora quirked an eyebrow and leaned against the hull. When Mantis glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone was watching her, she froze at the sight of Gamora. 

“Are you going somewhere?” Gamora asked.

“I…” Mantis bit her lip. “I am getting sustenance.” At Gamora’s blank moment, she continued: “I am getting more of the shredded Hron we had a few days ago. For the team!” she insisted, then deflated. “And me.”

Gamora sighed. “Just get me some Goin tea?”

Mantis lit up and ran towards her, intent on giving a hug. But Gamora was immediately on the defensive, and had her arms up in an instant. At Mantis’ disappointed look, Gamora sighed.

“Not… not yet,” she managed. “Have… fun.”

Mantis frowned at her, but nodded in understanding. “I will get you your tea!” she promised.

Gamora watched her go, then turned back towards the ship. She walked around the edge till she was back to the opening. She paused, however, a few yards away at the sight of a small patch of flowers. They looked like the same kind Groot had given her, and she reached up a hand absentmindedly to where she had gently placed it in a braid in her hair, careful to make sure that it wouldn’t be crushed.

She knelt down beside the flowers, which held a multitude of colors. Some were like the ones Groot had given her – green and pink – But not all of them. Some were a deep teal blue with hints of purple. Others were a full emerald green with dashes of a delicate yellow. 

“Hey, Gamora,” Peter called out to her, running up.

Gamora rose from her knees, raised her eyebrows in a questioning manner, and asked, “Yes?”

“I’m gonna grab my wallet, then Rocket and I are gonna head into town to grab the things we need for a Molotov-” Peter paused. “Oh, right, you don’t know what that is. Okay, picture a bottle of alcohol blowing its nose, but instead of snot, its fire and-”

“I get it.” Gamora said, cutting Peter off. “Is it dangerous?”

Peter paused for a long moment. “I’m not sure how you want me to answer that.”

Gamora rolled her eyes again. “Nevermind. Just don’t blow off your thumbs”

Gamora chuckled, and watched Peter walk off muttering things under his breath about her not trusting his abilities. He was cute, especially when pouting.

Rocket raced past her from the inside of the ship, cackling maniacally as he ran to catch up to Peter.

Eh, it was probably fine. Gamora thought with a chuckle as she turned back toward the opening of the Benater and took a step towards it and into the ship.

She paused on her way into the ship, and smiled.

“Do you want to come out now? They’re all gone.”

Gamora heard a soft rustling sound from behind her. It sounded like nothing more than the wind breezing through some trees and leaves, gentle and subtle. But Gamora knew better as she turned around, the smile still on her face.

Her eyes landed on the figure who was appearing out of what seemed like thin air – green light shimmered around him, bringing him into existence. The light rippled from the ground up, leaving behind a man dressed in all black leathers, with long dark hair, and eyes as green as his magic. There was no doubt as to who this was.

“Loki.”

Gamora put her hand on her hip (oh so close to her sword; just in case) and tilted her head a degree to the side. 

“Gamora,” Loki acknowledged with a tilt of his head, and folded his hands formally before him.

“Why were you watching us?” Gamora asked, and decided to skip past the pleasantries. Loki could run circles around her with words, and she wanted to get to the point. A clear answer – that was what she needed. Especially as she wasn’t sure if anything she knew about Loki were true at the moment or not.

Loki smirked, “I was here first. You and your noisy crew decided to encroach on my space.”

That felt like a cop-out, Gamora mused.

“Why are you even here?” There had to be a reason – why he was on this planet, yes. But also why he was here. Why he had been watching them. Why he had decided to reveal himself and stand here before her.

Loki’s eyes narrowed a fraction. He knew what she was asking.

“Unlike you,” He said after a second, “I have quite few choices when it comes to planets I can go to. I’d like to remind you that I was no hero who saved the day. I have a rather large bounty on my head. Though I suppose I should be flattered.…” he mused the last part, and a flash of humor spread across his face for a second.

That was all true enough, but it wasn’t an answer – certainly not one to the real question Gamora was asking. A thought occurred to Gamora then, and she passingly wondered why she hadn’t thought of it before

“What about your planet?” she asked, curious. “What about Asgard?”

Loki flinched at the name of his home, and Gamora felt like she made some overstep, some kind of mistake.

“That… is not an option.” Loki said softly – so quietly that she barely heard him.

Gamora tilted her head, inspecting Loki. He was… different. From the last time she had seen him, and from the time before that.

Where was the menacing child of Thanos she had known for years? Where was the man who cloaked himself in shadow and lit himself with green flame? Where was the man with sharp knives and sharper words? Where was the man who ruthlessly cut through whoever he needed just to survive?

Where had he gone? Because the Loki right in front of her looked like none of those things. He looked beaten down and oh so tired.

Loki looked at her, and his smirk was gone. Gamora had only seen him lose that look once before, years ago. And then right before he had let her go to escape Ronan, when it hadn’t served him to do so.

Gamora was under no obligation to help him, and he was not acting like she was. But Gamora couldn’t help but remember a conversation just mere months ago when Loki was under no obligation to help her, yet did anyway. 

Why had he done that?

Why was he here now?

At least Gamora received an answer for the latter.

Loki spoke quietly. Tiredly. His voice had lost all its charm, and all that was left was raw vulnerability. “I… have nowhere else to go.” The question was implicit.

He swallowed, and Gamora wondered if she had ever seen him so vulnerable. Not for a long time, not since he had first come to Sanctuary, before he had been hardened just like the rest of them. Just like her and Nebula had been. They had all been forged in the same flames, hadn’t they? They were all the same.

“Please, Sister?”

She looked at him, silent and trying to hide the fidgeting of his hands behind his back, and caught his eye, watching as he held his breath. She recalled what Drax had said: Family. She wanted hers whole.

And then Gamora smiled softly at her brother, and gestured up the gangplank. “Welcome aboard, Loki.”

Chapter Text

“Mantis doesn’t even know what a wallet is, Rocket.”

“Yes she does! And she stole it – not me!”

“I found it on the ground,” Mantis said, looking confused and hurt.

Peter sighed heavily and turned to Rocket. “See?”

Rocket growled something under his breath and kicked at a pebble on the road. “You’ll see, Quill. One day, you’re gonna be so sorry, you’ll be begging for me to forgive you! And then I’m gonna laugh in your face and Groot’s gonna give you a flower to feel better, but I’m gonna stomp on it and-”

“Uhuh,” Peter said, absentmindedly as he looked at the ramp leading into the Benater. Something was off – he was quite sure what, but he knew something wasn’t how it had been when they’d left. It was his ship – he’d know.

“Aw, not you too, Quill” Rocket groaned.

“What?” Peter asked.

“You are going spacy,” Drax explained, “Just like Gamora has been.”

Gamora.

Peter blinked, not quite comprehending Drax’s words beyond Gamora’s name. He picked up the pace, heading up into the ship. Gamora – she was alone, they’d left her there. And sure she could handle herself (and would probably kill him for insinuating she needed protection), but that didn’t stop Peter from walking through the small loading bay to the main room as quickly as he could just to see-

Gamora, sitting at the table, a smile on her face as she drank tea.

With a stranger. 

A stranger, who was dressed in all-black leathers, with long black hair and bright green eyes and looking heavily armed with a variety of knives. He and Gamora stood up together, looking tense.

Peter froze, and blinked once. Twice. Thrice. The others caught up to him in a second.

“Uh, Gamora…” Peter said uneasily, about to ask who was in their ship right now.

The answer came, unexpectedly, from Drax.

“Loki!”

“What?” Peter did a double take, looking back to- “the evil brother who tried to destroy Xandar?”

“He’s not evil.” Gamora countered.

“I see word of me has traveled,” Loki drawled, eyes flashing.

“Brother,” Gamora spoke in a warning tone, “shut up.”

“Oh!” Mantis said cheerily, “he’s like Nebula!”

“Yes.” Gamora said.

At the same time, Rocket scowled “No!”

“What?” Mantis asked, confused.

“He tried to destroy Xandar!” Peter repeated.

“So did Nebula.”

“Actually, neither Nebula nor I actively attempted to destroy the planet,” Loki drawled.

“Loki!” Gamora snapped. “Not. Helping.”

Loki shrugged, looking unbother. “Just making sure the truth is heard.”

“I am Groot!” Groot squeaked, crossing his arms.

“Yeah, Groot’s right,” Rocket growled, “You still helped Ronan. Guilty by association.”

Loki raised an eyebrow, and glanced at Gamora, who gave him a warning look. Loki apparently decided to ignore it as he turned back to Rocket and said, “So did Gamora. Is she guilty?”

“She left-”

“Thank you, Rocket,” Gamora said, “But I don’t need you defending my honor.”

“He’s a maniac!” Rocket countered, and hefted his gun. “He needs to go!”

Gamora whipped out her sword in response, and Loki suddenly had knives in his hands (Peterhadn’tseenhimdrawnthemhowthehe-)

“Hey!” Peter shouted, trying to keep everything calm, this was spiraling way too fast and why on earth did Rocket think that drawing a gun was okay?

The positions in the room shifted, as Drax drew his own knives, and Groot yelled what sounded almost like a war cry . Peter had his own gun out as well, but he didn’t even know when he had grabbed it and Gamora was looking like she was going to rip them apart.

(So… he was probably in the Dog House wasn’t he? No, bad Quill! Not the time for those thoughts! )

So Peter didn’t notice when Mantis came out of nowhere, somehow getting across the room to Loki and Gamora’s side.

“Mantis!” Peter and Gamora shouted at once. (Oh, so now Gamora sees the danger of bringing her clearly highly unstable – if he was anything like Nebula – brother into their ship with no warning.)

She reached out and tapped Loki’s forehead. Her antennae lit up, and she blinked rapidly before she stared at Loki with wide eyes. She choked, her lips trembling.

Mantis stumbled away 

“He is lonely.” Mantis said with wide eyes. “And… sad.”

Peter froze at that and stared at Loki, who was looking more and more like a cornered animal than a bloodthirsty maniac.

“How dare you!” Loki snarled, and went to launch himself at Mantis. 

There was a period of milliseconds that Peter panicked – he was too far away. He couldn’t get to them in time. He was the captain, he was supposed to protect his crew but-

“Loki,” Gamora said in a low voice. She reached out an arm and grabbed her brother’s shoulder just in time to keep him from running Mantis through.

Loki whirled to Gamora, breathing heavily. Before he could say anything, Gamora shook her head. “She didn’t know better.”

“Are we gonna shoot him?” Rocket asked, and Peter realized he needed to make a decision. Along with Rocket, everyone else was looking at him. Rocket looked trigger-happy. Drax looked, well, knife-happy. Groot was on the floor, waving his arms around in what might have been an attempt to look bigger than he was.

Then he met Gamora’s eyes, and saw a desperation in them that surprised him. But it wasn’t entirely unfamiliar either. He had seen it once before, just a couple weeks ago. When Gamora had been staring out the window, at the empty space where Nebula’s ship had been.

–…–

Peter had walked in, shutting the door behind him. In the distance he heard Rocket yelling at Drax about something stupid, but he could deal with that later (or let Gamora. But she didn’t seem quite up to it at the moment). Right now, he needed to be here.

“We didn’t have any time.” Gamora had murmured without any context, but Peter understood what she had been talking about.

“We don’t know how much time we get with people,” Peter shrugged as he rested his chin on her shoulder. “That’s life.” he wrapped his arms around her from behind, holding her close. Gamora reached up to place her hands on his arms, keeping him close in return. (he ignored her slight shaking)

“But I should have done something,” she anguished, tightening her grip on his arms. “I should have said something, but now she’s left and I don’t know if I’ll see her again.”

“That’s the thing about family – we always find our ways back to each other.”

Gamora twisted in Peter’s grip to look up at him. Her face was hard and frowning at first, searching his face. But after a moment, she seemed to find what she was looking for and began to soften.

“She’ll come,” Gamora whispered. She didn’t sound like she quite believed it, but there was a hint of hope. “They’ll come.”

“Yeah,” Peter nodded, giving her a squeeze. “You’ll see.”

–…–

Peter blinked the memory away, and zeroed in on Gamora, catching her eye.

“Do you trust him?” Peter asked Gamora earnestly.

“Yes.” Gamora said without a hint of hesitation, which was slightly startling, but not entirely unexpected. (From the flicker in Loki’s eyes, he seemed even more surprised.)

Having made his decision, Peter nodded to himself in satisfaction and put away his blaster. “Naw,” Peter said in answer to Rocket’s earlier question. “I think Gamora would be mad at us.”

Rocket made a noise of disappointment and set down his gun, and the others in various degrees of either annoyance or lack of care put away their weapons as well.

Gamora and Loki, however, didn’t move from their tensed positions. At least, Gamora didn’t until she met Peter’s eyes. She was searching for something, but for what Peter didn’t know – should he make a face at her? Shoot beams from his eyes that were filled with info?

Peter settled on a casual wink and grin – a classic, and one that Peter was eighty-seven percent certain Gamora found charming. 

Peter cranked that estimate up to an eighty-nine when Gamora relaxed and rolled her eyes good naturedly. She glanced at Loki, and they shared some kind of silent conversation between them for a few heartbeats, before seemingly settling whatever it was, and turning back to the others.

Loki glanced back to Peter, and folded his hands behind his back as he opened his mouth to speak.

“I’d hate to intrude – are you-”

“Look,” Peter shrugged, “I don’t care that you have a whole Sith Lord vibe going on – if Gamora trusts you, that’s settled.”

Loki frowned at him. “You’re Midgardian.”

“Mid- what?”

Loki pursed his lips. “Human – or, Terran, I suppose. You’re from Earth.” 

Wait what, how did he -

“You got my Star Wars reference!” Peter crowed, an intense sense of joy coming over him. “You know what Sith are?”

“If you mean the sorry excuse for sorcerers from the space movies, then yes, I do.”

“You know what movies are! You’ve seen Star Wars!” To call Peter ‘thrilled’ would be an egregious understatement.

“Yes, what does that-”

Peter turned to Gamora, an out of control grin on his face. “I don’t care if he’s evil – you have a cool brother. We’re keeping him.”

*****

“Wait, are you human too?”

“No.”

“Huh. Then wha-”

“That’s quite enough of that.”

*****

Loki watched as the other members of Gamora’s crew disappeared into unknown parts of the ship, watching him with untrusting eyes. He didn’t blame them – he wouldn’t have trusted himself if he were in their position. 

Except Quill, he seemed entirely too eager to accept him after he heard Gamora’s shocking words. He was cheerful as he nodded to them in acknowledgement, then skipped off to whatever he was supposed to be doing.

A moment later, and they were alone again. 

“You have an… interesting crew.” Loki decided on. Yes, that was good – the perfect mix of casual and reserved, with a dash of polite interest. 

Gamora smiled, soft and happy. “Yeah. I’m lucky to have found them.”

“Hmmm,” Loki hummed, nodding slightly.

“What?” Gamora asked, setting the tea down. “What is it?”

Loki resisted the urge to bite his lip, and instead kept a smooth expression on his face. “It's nothing.” he managed.

“Loki, if you’re going to be here, you need to be honest.”

Loki eyed Gamora before sighing. “Guardians of the Galaxy?” he asked Gamora, “Sister, what has happened to you? Where is your dignity?”

Gamora had rolled her eyes and took a sip of her tea. “It's not a lie.”

“It’s baudy.”

“You’re baudy.”

“Excuse me?!”

That easy banter had been quite welcome, and Loki had settled into a place of comfort that he hadn’t realized he had missed until that moment. Gamora, too, had looked more at ease.

Loki didn’t want to ruin the moment, but there was one more question he had to ask-

“Gamora,” Loki began, “where is Nebula?”

Gamora froze, and let go of the cup of tea to clasp her hands together. “Gone.”

“I can tell that but where -”

“She went after Thanos.”

Loki froze. No. No, no, no. “What?”

“She wants to kill him-”

“She can’t.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Gamora ran a hand through her hair, distressed. “But she was determined, and wouldn’t listen to me.”

“She’ll- she-”

Loki took a breath and rubbed his face. This was not the news he had been hoping for when he sat down. 

Gamora took a breath. “She’ll come back.”

“What?” Loki asked, looking up at her. “How could you possibly – how could you think that when you know.…”

Gamora quirked a lip. “That’s the thing about being away from Thanos – hope abounds.”

Loki nodded, and looked back down at his own cup of tea. It was finished. Norns, he hadn’t even remembered drinking it.

Gamora stood up, then reached forward and plucked his mug from the table, along with her own. “Come on, it's been a long day. I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping.”

“I can!”

Loki and Gamora turned to see the woman with the antennae standing in the doorway. “I can show him his room!” the woman said cheerily as she stepped over. “Please?”

Gamora looked torn for a second, and Loki sympathized. 

“Alright, Mantis” she acquiesced after a moment, and glanced at Loki with a look that clearly said: later.

I look forward to it, Loki replied, then turned to follow his guide.

“This way,” the woman with antennae of unidentifiable species – Mantis, Loki corrected himself, remembering how she had been referred to when he had been watching them – said as she led him away from the group. The layout of the ship seemed fairly simple, as they just weaved around a set of steps and into what Loki assumed was some form of storage room which had been converted into crew quarters.

Loki looked around the room – it was small, barely a nook, but it was a far cry from the cell-like accommodations of Sanctuary. It had a… worn feel to it as well. Not steril by any means.

“I… apologize for earlier.”

Loki turned around and raised his eye at Mantis. “Oh?”

“Yes.” She looked nervous. “I am trying to learn not to read emotions without asking, but you were a stranger and I-”

“It’s perfectly alright,” Loki snipped, turning back to the room. He was still slightly annoyed, but the gesture was… appreciated.

They lapsed into silence for a few moments, until Mantis spoke again.

“We do not always sleep here,” Mantis said, and Loki glanced back at her with a questioning look. “We have rooms on Kraglin’s ship,” she went on as if that explained everything (Loki resolved to ask Gamora who Kraglin was), “We go out for jobs and fly on this ship, but Kraglin has the big one.

“He is trying to get his own Ravager crew, but we are still welcomed,” She blinked at him, as if waiting for something.

“Ah,” Loki said simply, turning back to the room, and continuing looking over it. It clearly wasn’t only for his use, with other people’s belongings littering the floor and empty spaces.

“Do you have anything?” Mantis asked after a second of silence, “I believe we have space in the cupboards-”

“That will not be necessary,” Loki interrupted, a sour feeling curling in his stomach. “I do not have any belongings.” Besides a handful of weapons he held on his person and in his dimensional pocket, that is, along with a spare set of leathers. But Mantis didn’t need to know that.

“Oh,” Mantis looked down for a brief moment before looking up again and smiling. “I had nothing when I joined the crew too. But we get stuff! I know how to steal Quill’s wallet, and we pick things up.” Her grin brightened even more – which Loki would have thought not possible – as she finished with: “You will get things too! I’ll help.”

Personal belongings? What a novel idea.

“I look forward to it.”

*****

When he was young, Loki had wanted to explore. Not for the cause of great adventure or epic battles like… like Thor had. (he found that though the memories were coming back, he still couldn’t find himself able to delve into them. To reclaim them.) Not that Loki had shied away from adventure – he had always wanted to accompany the others, to spend time with them. To be worthy as well.

But there was still an aspect of Loki’s heart that had wanted to explore merely to learn. To gain new experiences. To just look around him and savor something that he had never seen before.

As he got older he got few chances to truly explore like this — there were some occasions, yes, trips to Midgard and Vannaheim, and the rare venture out of the Nine Realms. But those travels had been overshadowed by the vastness of royal duty and epic quests. They had always been complicated in a way he had never wanted.

Then he had fallen. And the tempest of horrible fortune had grabbed Loki and swept him up into years of even more captivity, though of a kind so much worse.

But now… now he had the galaxy laid out before him.

Loki looked out of the porthole on one side of the room Mantis had led him to. No more were there dim stars returning his gaze, but luscious trees and vibrant animals. There were so many more planets like this one that he could see, that he could explore.

In the distance Loki heard the Rabbit and Quill ( Midgardian – what were the chances?) arguing, and sounds of things crashing to the ground. 

This is a fresh start, Loki thought with a smile, and a good one. 

He was going to like it here.

(If he could get over how annoying everyone was, that is.)

Chapter Text

Loki stared up at the ceiling above his bunk, his hands folded upon his stomach, as he tried to relax. He hadn’t slept all that well that night, or any at all, really; it was rather difficult to allow oneself to rest when they were sharing a sleeping place with two complete strangers, one of whom had already invaded his mental privacy.

(Her apology, while appreciated, did nothing to settle his nerves. The mere thought of her abilities…  reminded him of experiences he’d rather not revisit at the moment.)

Of course, nor did it help that his other ‘roommate’ snored extremely loudly the entire night.

So Loki had spent the entire night as still as a rock, staring above him. He only truly closed his eyes when Mantis and Drax awoke themselves, and departed from the room – somewhat – quietly.

He was alone, finally, and yet he still didn’t move.

Finally, when he could no longer hear any of the crew nearby, Loki slowly rolled himself to his side and then pushed himself up to a seating position. A quick scan of the room proved that it was, indeed, just as messy as before. 

Loki sighed – he hadn’t shared a room with anyone messy for centuries. But there was nothing to be done on the matter, no other place to go. (And he was beyond grateful to Gamora for allowing him to stay with them.)

Loki stood up and stretched quickly, trying to limber up and ease the aching in his back. Then he reached under the sheets and pillow to retrieve the various knives he had stashed in easy-to-reach places for the night. He strapped half of them under his clothes, and stored the others in his dimensional pocket, before stepping to the door.

And pausing.

Loki pursed his lips, a sudden thought occurring to him. He glanced down at the clothes he was wearing – lightly rumpled from the night. It was the same all-black ensemble he had worn for years. The mere sight of them caused him to wrinkle his nose with displeasure. But it was his only choice – he didn’t even have a change of clothes stashed away.

At least.…

“Norns have mercy,” Loki muttered before he threw caution to the wind and reached into his dimensional pocket – deeper, to a part of it he hadn’t dared touch in years – and pulled what he found to the surface.

Loki flicked his wrist, willing the flashes of green-gold to run over him briefly, leaving behind them his old clothes, the ones he had worn… Before.

His Asgardian leathers.

It… didn’t feel quite right.

Loki shook his head, trying to get the feeling out of his head. No – he had left Thanos, and now there was no reason to wear the clothes the Mad Titan had given him.

Loki rested his hand on the door and took a breath. He had to move on.

Feeling somewhat unprepared, Loki stepped out of the room, sliding the door shut behind him, and turning to the main room of the ship. Unfortunately, he was not as alone as he had hoped. (though he supposed that made sense – they weren’t going to trust him immediately if ever)

Peter Quill, the Midgardian (Loki had to admit he was a touch curious as to how the man had found himself traveling the greater universe), sat at the table, drinking something from a bottle and fiddling with his tablet.

Loki squinted and took a step further into the room, beelining for the fridge that held food. Gamora had shown him the previous night, letting him know it was all “up for grabs” except for the Hron, which was apparently Mantis’. 

Quill startled when Loki crossed his vision. “Oh… Loki.” He frowned. “I thought you were with Gamora?”

“Evidently not,” Loki said, taking a bite of the unidentifiable block of food and almost gagging. If he was going to stay here, he had to make sure Gamora got better food – it was almost as bad as on Sanctuary.

“Huh,” Quill said awkwardly. “You sleep okay?”

“Like a rock.” Loki deadpanned.

“Really? ‘Cause I know Drax snores really badly and-”

Loki stared at Quill as he started going on a long-winded speech about all the reasons Loki shouldn’t have been able to sleep on his ship. Was this man serious?

Or, a better question: What was Gamora thinking?

Loki had seen them spending time together a few times when he was investigating the Guardians, trying to see if Gamora was alright it were safe. There was no doubt that there was something going on – most likely Gamora hit her head while fighting Nebula and losing all reason. 

Quill eyed his clothes then, and Loki felt annoyance creep into his posture from where it had been previously relegated to his thoughts.

“You know you’re gonna stand out like crazy in that, right? Are you trying to look like an elf?”

Loki scowled, offended. “Elves are annoying creatures, and very proud. Ljósálfar are hardly deserving of impersonation.”

Quill stared at him for a long moment. “Okay,” he said slowly. “You’re still dressing weird.”

“You Guardians are hardly attempting to be subtle.”

“Eh, fine, do what you want.”

Loki sniffed and turned away from Quill, going back to searching for something edible. But Quill’s words had already struck a chord with Loki, and he paused in his task to stare down at the leathers he wore – that his mother had given him.

He couldn’t wear them, he realized; for both practical and… other reasons.

His clothes were very distinctive. And while he did still have a spell on him that kept him hidden from Heimdall… word getting out of an Asgardian in these parts wouldn’t be good.

And as the leather began to itch in a way that it never had and wasn’t entirely real (he just wanted something real), Loki realized he – that he couldn’t wear them.

Loki whirled around, abandoning the fridge and heading back to the room. “I’ll be changing now.”

He left Quill there, not caring what he had to say, and found himself back in the room, wearing the black leathers again. The ones he had been given as a member of the Black Order. As one of Thanos’ children. As a perversion of who he had been before.

But he wasn’t the young prince who had just wanted to be seen anymore. And he didn’t feel quite free of the cold assassin that Thanos had created. (Not quite, but someone different all the same.)

He stared down at the black, trying not to remember where the splotches of other’s (and his own) blood was. Of the stains he had scrubbed out of existence yet still knew were there.

A knock came at the door. Once. Twice. Three times.

Loki took a breath, and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he went to the door and opened it, only to find Quill standing there in the doorway, carrying a bundle of red leathers.

“What is this?” Loki asked with a raised eyebrow. He didn’t really have the patience at the moment.

“You… only have those, right?” the Midgardian asked with a furrow in his brow.

“Yes,” Loki clipped, already done with the situation. It wasn’t Quill – alright, it was a tiny bit Quill – but the tension that he had been trying to deal with alone. And an interruption certainly did not help matters.

“Do all you guys have a thing for black?” he asked, and Loki did a double take.

“Pardon?”

“You and Gamora  and Nebu- oh, no, Nebula was wearing purple.” Quill shrugged, as if unbothered. 

Loki squinted at Quill. “Well, we were in the Black Order.”

Quill blinked. “What?”

Loki raised an eyebrow. “Thanos’ cult of children?”

Quill nodded slowly. “Riiiiiiight,” he drew out. “Cool. Well, I brought you these. I know… Gamora didn’t want to wear her old clothes anymore. So I thought you – well, these might fit. They’re fine for now.”

Loki looked down at the clothes, which he now recognized as a stack of Ravager garb. As he eyed them, an idea began to blossom in his mind (perhaps he could reclaim a part of himself afterall.)

He looked back up and met Quill’s eyes.

“Does it come in green?”

*****

The leathers did not, in fact, come in green. Much to Loki’s consternation.

But by that point the idea had already risen from his mind to overtake him with an eager fervor, and there would be no assuaging the desire any longer. 

So he took the leathers from Quill with a tilt of his head, and disappeared back into the room. Laying the clothes out on the floor (after sweeping it as best as he could, of course), Loki eyed the few different pieces thoughtfully. 

He remembered, a long time ago, summer afternoons in his mother’s atrium, watching her make clothes. She was a queen, so naturally she hadn’t needed to make things such as that, but she had told him that she enjoyed it. Had guided his hand over the fabric as she told him what she was doing.

Loki closed his eyes, blocking out all the other thoughts that plagued him, about lies and untruths, and memories of nights he’d rather forget. He blocked them out, and focused only on her voice.

Perhaps it hadn’t all been bad.

*****

Loki put one on – his favorite – and looked around. There were no mirrors in the crew quarters, but he made due with a quick summons. 

He eyes his reflection, the clothes on him. Then he glanced back down to the others on the floor. A thrill at the sight dashed through him.

“Yes. This will do nicely.”

*****

Unfortunately, not everyone thought so.

“What did you do to my clothes?!” Quill demanded, standing up suddenly from where he had been sitting at the table, playing with his blaster.

Loki raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. “On the contrary, you gave me these. Therefore they are no longer yours.”

“But - but you ruined them!”

Loki looked down at the leathers, which he thought were actually much improved. “I beg your pardon?”

“They’re - they’re green!”

Loki smiled satisfactorily. “Yes, that was quite the point, I believe.”

“I - you - why - when - how -”

“You are quite an articulate one, aren’t you?”

“How did you even change the color, they were-”

Loki was cut off from replying, as just then a commotion from outside the spacecraft was heard from the open ramp. A crash, it sounded like, and voices.

Loki and Quill eyed each other, unanimously deciding to finish the argument some other time (perhaps with some blades? That would be fun), before they both turned to walk down and out of the main area of the ship and down the loading bay and onto the gangplank. 

“Hey – It’s not a race!” Quill called out after him.

Loki rolled his eyes so far back he swore he almost saw his brain (which was much deteriorating with every moment he spent in the Midgardian’s presence), and kept walking.

That was when Loki froze.

Because there, standing close by Gamora – hundled, really – as they talked in low whispers, was Nebula.

*****

Nebula had stood in her ship – battered as it was – for almost half an hour before she finally stirred up enough courage to depart from the vessel and follow the intel she had gained to find Gamora.

She stumbled at first, then growled at herself to keep it together. She could handle her aches and pains later, for now she needed to find-

Gamora.

She was stalking crates by the entrance to her ship along with a few other members of her crew – the bug girl (Mantis) and the tree (Groot) – and for a moment Nebula paused in her approach. A sea of doubts rose up inside her, and Nebula had to beat down at bought of panic that Gamora didn’t care, that she wasn’t expecting to see her again, that-

But Nebula was far too stubborn to let that happen. She was back, and Gamora had to deal with it. 

Her fears were assuaged when her sister caught sight of her. The doubt evaporated in an instant at the sight of Gamora’s thrilled look. She immediately stopped what she was doing, dropping the crate with a crash, but not seeming to care as she came to meet Nebula as she came forward.

“You’re back.” Gamora said, relieved.

Nebula scowled, “Not forever, so don’t get your hopes up. I need – my ship got damaged when I tried to infiltrate Sanctuary and I-”

“You what ?!”

“Piss off, Gamora, you knew I was planning to do that.”

Gamora pursed her lips. “You could have gotten killed.”

“I’m here aren’t I?”

Gamora’s face softened at those words. “Yes,” she whispered, “you are.”

“And I’m not dead, so there.” she felt uncomfortable at the affection, and had to resist the urge to shift around.

Gamora smiled at her then, and the feeling faded a touch. Because Nebula felt whole. 

Her sister raised her hand and held her shoulder. “It’s good to have you back, Nebula.”

Nebula shrugged just enough to make a point, but not knock Gamora’s hand off. “What else was I supposed to do? You and your idiots are at least competent enough to have a ship, and I told you I need a place.”

Gamora nodded. “Of course, stay as long as you want.” She glanced back at the ship. 

Nebula followed her gaze, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Was something wrong? She returned her gaze back to Gamora, who didn’t look overwhelmly worried about anything – whatever it was couldn’t be serious – but her face certainly spoke of, at the very least, apprehension.

“Nebula, there’s something I need to tell you-” Gamora began.

Nebula squinted at her sister until she heard the approaching steps of two people from the inside of the ship. She glanced to the side for a split second, then froze.

Loki stood there, beside the idiot Quill.

He was – he was just standing there, in green Ravager leathers. Standing there without a care in the world, as if nothing had happened.

“You,” Nebula growled, whirling to fully face him. “What are you doing here?”

Loki raised an eyebrow, though he seemed just as surprised to see her as she did him. “Hello, Nebula. I see you’re back.”

“What is he doing here?” Nebula snapped at Gamora, who was clenching her jaw.

“He needed a place to stay so he joined-”

“He just showed up, and you let him stay?!” Nebula’s thoughts were racing past too fast to fully grasp meaning, still overwhelmed by the shock of Loki here. With Gamora. In front of her. She had thought about this moment before, hadn’t she? Thought of what she would say. What she would do. Where were those thoughts now?

“You showed up here without letting me know too,” Gamora pointed out. She reached out to replace her hand on Nebula’s shoulder, from when she had shrugged it off, and frowned. “What’s-”

“Where have you been?” Loki interjected. “There aren’t that many places that would take a child of Thanos, I would know.”

“Oh, is that it? You couldn’t find a place to stay, so you came here? You’re desperate?” Nebula snarled at Loki. “Not a pretty look on you.”

“Bold words for the woman who looks like she barely got out of her last fight,” Loki said, inspecting his nails. “Last I saw you, you were planning on killing Gamora. How did that work out for you?”

She couldn’t think – couldn’t process. What to – calm. She had to breathe. But Loki’s casual air was so infuriating; how dare he act like nothing was wrong? How could he be so casual? It was making her angry.

The unfortunate thing about Nebula’s anger, however, was that it caused her to act rashly. To fall back on it when all else failed. To not truly think through her options and just jump upon the most violent one that allowed her to beat others, and her emotions, into submission.

Nebula lunged.

Loki seemed to be expecting the blow, which boiled Nebula’s blood even furthur. He swept to the side, and leapt down from the ramp leading into the Benater. 

Nebula ignored the cries from those around her – Gamora and the Guardians – as she whipped around and went to attack Loki again, letting loose a flurry of punches and kicks upon him

With that, Loki went on the offense against her, and Nebula had to roll backwards to avoid the knives he brought towards her.

Nebula whirled to the side, dodging Loki’s next blow, then unlatched a dagger from her leg and brought it up to Loki’s ribs, but he deftly avoided them.

“Surely we can come to an understanding?” Loki asked easily as he ducked Nebula’s swipe.

Understanding? Oh Nebula understood perfectly how this would go. Her thoughts had crystalized – honed by the sudden inferno.

“I thought we had one before,” Nebula snarled. “But you lied.”

Loki threw a knife past Nebula’s ear, which she narrowly missed. “I do that a lot, you’ll have to be more specific.”

“You know what you did!” 

“I have done many things.”

Nebula roared in rage, and brought another knife into her hand. Twin-wielding the blades, she launched herself at Loki again, jumping high into the air 

“Just tell me,” Loki asked, “You clearly as so inside your head that-”

“It was us!” Nebula snarled, done with his yamoring. “Or did you forget that we were together during the trials? Neither of us could be as good as Gamora, so we were together.”

Loki stumbled back – at her words or her stab attempt, Nebula wasn’t quite sure.

“I thought you wanted to prove yourself,” he shot back. “You didn’t want my help.”

“I didn’t need your help,” Nebula countered. “And then Gamora left, so it was just the both of us. But then you ran off too!”

“I needed out – don’t you understand that? You were the one who was willing to betray Thanos first, and I was dragged along!”

“So you would rather be with Him?”

“Norns, no! But we were just trading one insane warlord for another!”

“One clearly better than the other.”

“Ronan wanted to destroy a whole planet!”

“And Thanos wants half of all life dead!”

Loki shoved her back and shook his head. “Still destruction that we would be taking part in.”

“What would you have had me do?” Nebula yelled, “Run back to Thanos just to get ripped apart again? Ruined every single day? Fighting for my life?”

“I wish you had talked to me.” Loki said, “Just a few moments to parley, and maybe we could have escaped together. Away from Ronan, and Thanos. Slipped through the cracks, as opposed to joining a terrorist in his quest to use a damn Infinity Stone to blow up Xandar.”

Nebula’s movements slowed for a fraction of a second, though her mind was racing far faster than it had before – those words. They reminded her of something. Something she couldn’t quite place her finger on yet.

“But when things didn’t go your way, you ran. Like a coward.” Nebula spat. “You say you care, and we could have escaped, but you forget about me in your desire to keep yourself safe – you left me, Loki!”

Nebula was on the ground now – her legs whipped out from under her by a strike from Loki. He was – he was above her now, daggers in hand. But she didn’t care, she was hissing and sizzling and no matter what a part of her mind was telling her, she needed to let this out.

“You left.” Nebula was breathing heavily as she stared up at him.

Loki seemed to sober up in that moment, dropping his smirk as he stared intensely at Nebula. He seemed to be peeling her back, searching for something deep inside her. “Would you really have come with me?”

Nebula blinked. She didn’t – didn’t have anything to say to that – would she have? 

No. 

Her rage had blinded her too much.

But now that inferno had burned down to its coals.

“And I didn’t forget about you.” Loki said. Nebula opened her mouth, a protest on her lips, but Loki continued on before she could say anything: “I went to get you from the  Sovereign, but I was too late.”

Nebula couldn’t breathe. She could only stare at Loki with wide eyes, not quite comprehending. 

“What?” she murmured, barely above a whisper.

Loki smiled humorlessly. “Gamora got there first. I watched her ship take both of you away.”

Nebula blinked rapidly, then turned to Gamora. “Did you tell him?” she demanded, “About the Sovereign.”

Gamora was looking just as surprised as Nebula was, which half-answered her question. But Nebula wanted to hear the words. Needed to hear them.

“No. None of it.”

Nebula looked back to Loki, and felt her brow furrow. A single question was on her mind, a single word.

“Why?”

“Those years on Sanctuary meant something, Sister.” Loki said quietly, looking down at Nebula. “We may be broken, but we’re stronger together. Because… because I care. And I haven’t truly cared about anything in a long, long time.” 

He let the words float in the air for a few moments, in which no one spoke another word, nor breathed. Then he flicked his wrists, and the daggers disappeared from his gripped hands. He extended one of his hands out to her.

An offering.

Nebula stared at the hand for a long time — what felt like an eternity but was most likely only a handful of seconds. And in those seconds she remembered what she had come to realize after she had reconciled with Gamora – Loki had been there. Not much, but there were moments (letting her win when Gamora was watching because all she had wanted was her sister’s approval, watching her back during missions when it would behoove him to let her go, passing her items despite all the complaining, belittling Ebony with her. Countless dashes of camaraderie). And maybe those moments needed to be acknowledged, and maybe – just maybe – they deserved the chance to make more. 

And that – that thought. That’s what she had been trying to remember. That was the promise she made herself when she left Gamora. They both deserved it, after all.

The hand was still there. It wasn’t a demand, but a question. And one that Nebula answered when she extended her own hand and clasped it with her brother’s.

“Just don’t do it again,” she muttered as she stood up. 

Loki smiled softly at her – and didn’t that make Nebula feel like she had died and woken up in a strange parallel universe? Only once had he dropped his smirk before, but even then it hadn’t been quite like that. She tried to reach back in her memory, but Nebula couldn’t recall Loki smiling with such carefree affection. 

“Of course not, Sister.” Loki murmured, just as softly.

“That’s it?” Quill demanded, cutting off the moment. “You fight, and now you’re suddenly good?”

Nebula shared a glance at Loki, who’s smirk had returned. He glanced at Quill and said: “We’ve always been… rather productive when we’re fighting.”

Quill made a noise of disbelief and started to mutter something about ‘dysfunctional families’, but Nebula didn’t care.

Because then Loki looked back at her and smiled. And Gamora, from where she stood to the side, was shaking her head affectionately. 

And for the first time in years, Nebula felt like things would be alright.

“You’re still on probation,” she growled without heat, and Loki chuckled.

Chapter Text

“And you’ll be staying permanently with us, correct?” Loki asked as he delicately slathered the piece of bread with some kind of pale brown paste. He wasn’t quite sure what it was, but it wasn’t slop, so he decided it was passable.

Nebula looked up from her bowl to glare at him. “You’re prissy today.”

“And you’re not answering the question.”

Nebula scoffed, “I don’t need to answer to people who stick their pinky out when using a knife.”

“I was most certainly not.” Loki shot back, placing the knife down on the table. “You’re being incorrigible. And you know what I do when people annoy me?

“Oh please do tell,” Nebula said blandly, glaring back into her bowl.

Loki smirked.

***** 

“You’re a regular magician.”

“Sorcerer.”

“Wizard.”

“Mage.”

“Witch.”

“I swear if you name one more-”

Gamora stepped into the main area of the Benater to see Nebula and Loki sitting together at the table, eating breakfast, and arguing. Nothing much had changed, had it?

Loki glanced up seeing Gamora standing there by the hallway. He folded his hand on his lap.“Ah, Gamora,” he said, “good morning. You’re just in time to hear the tale I just regaled Nebula with the time I turned someone into a-”

“End me now,” Nebula grumbled, over her bowl of cereal, nursing it like an alcoholic nursing a bottle.

Gamora smiled and walked around to get a bottle of water from storage. “Where are the others?”

“Dead.” the pair said in unison, and Gamora did a double-take for a moment at the utter seriousness of their expressions.

Then she rolled her eyes. “Very funny.”

Loki and Nebula made eye contact, and the former smirked.

Gamora saw a note on the computer screen then, and plucked it from where it had been taped to the corner.

Went stealing shopping - Rocket

“The fox left you a note,” Nebula said oh so helpfully as Gamora set down the small swatch of paper.

“Don’t call him a fox,” Gamora admonished, sitting down beside them.

“Yes, he’s not a fox, Nebula,” Loki rolled his eyes and took a bite of the bread he was holding. “They said they’d be back by nightfall.”

“He looks like a fox.” Nebula grumbled, looking back into her food.

Gamora eyed her and Loki briefly before sitting down at the table. “What are you eating?” she asked.

“Slop.” Nebula said.

Gamora rolled her eyes. “Please, this is hardly the worst food you’ve ever had.” 

Nebula grunted, one which Gamora noticed was most likely her ‘affirmative’ one. She had been trying to decode some of Nebula’s nonverbal speech patterns, after noticing that not every grunt seemed to mean the same thing. Unfortunately, it was almost as hard to understand as Groot’s language.

Gamora glanced at the food her siblings had put out on the table, and frowned. Had they really not stalked up before leaving the last planet? Thank goodness that the others had headed out to the nearest city to get – what she hoped was – food. She suspected all they had in the fridge was Mantis’ Hron. (which probably wasn’t even good anymore, considering they left Quilong a week ago)

“You’ve discovered the trove, then.” Loki said in response to Gamora's look.

She sighed. “We’ll get more food, I promise. That’s probably what the others are-”

“SKREE!”

All three of them froze and turned their heads to the direction of the loading bay at that sound – like a wounded, corned animal. It was far too close to have come from outside the craft.

They rose in unison and turned cautious toward the sound. Gamora saw Loki slide a pair of knives into his hands from the corner of her eye. They all began to slide toward the noise, Loki going left, Nebula going right, and Gamora coming up in the center.

CLANG!

Throwing caution to the wind at that next noise, much louder than the first, Gamora darted forward down into the loading bay, reaching for her sword at her hip – only to freeze.

Behind her, her siblings pulled up in a halt at the same sight that had made Gamora resheath her sword and put a hand on her hip.

“I am Groot?” Groot asked cautiously, slowly dropping the small rodent he had been manhandling into submission.

“Skree!” the little animal squealed in protest.

“You have got to be kidding me.” Nebula said.

Gamora closed her eyes for a long moment to regain her sense of calm, then opened them again to look at Groot. Groot, who was currently trying to hold the mammal behind his back as if it had never been there.

“What are you doing with that?” Gamora asked softly but firmly.

Groot shifted from foot, looking down at his feet.

Gamora sighed, and knelt down in front of him. “Are you trying to keep it as a pet?”

“I am Groot!” he exclaimed, and Gamora felt – not for the first time – frustrated that she couldn’t understand him.

Behind her, Loki snorted in amusement. Gamora turned back to glare at him. 

“What?” Loki asked. “As far as attempts to capture one’s enemy goes, this one is rather humorous.”

“Enemy?” Gamora asked, and glanced back at Groot just in time to watch him glare at the tiny animal. Oh . “Groot,” Gamora sighed, “Not every animal is looking at you funny.”

“I am Groot!”

Gamora, while not knowing the exact wording, was fairly certain she understood the gist of what Groot was trying to say. “No,” she said, “let it go.”

Groot pouted, but Gamora wasn’t going to have it. She reached around and plucked the animal from Groot’s grasp, and shooed it down the ramp.

“You should know better,” she admonished.

“This isn’t the first time?” Nebula asked warily.”

Gamroa shook her head sadly. “No.”

“That’s it!” Loki proclaimed. “I refuse to stay here for the whole day.” He wrinkled his nose. “I will not be cooped up here in this madhouse.”

“I am Groot!” Groot squealed indignantly, which Loki ignored.

“Same,” Nebula crossed her arms. “I don’t want to be in a small space for the whole day with you either.”

Loki raised an eyebrow. “You will if you stay with us.”

Nebula narrowed her eyes on him, and Gamora got the distinct impression that it would be in her best interests to cut off this conversation before it devolved into another fight.

“Fine.” she said, “Let’s go out.”

Her siblings turned to her in unison, looking surprised. 

“Really?” Nebula asked.

Gamora turned to Groot, kneeling back down beside him. “We’re going to go out, okay? Do you want to come?”

Groot glanced at Nebula then back to her and shook his head.

“Alright then,” Gamora smiled, ignoring Nebula’s scoff behind her at Groot’s look and Loki’s chuckle of ‘not even the tree likes you.’

Gamora stood up completely then jerked her head toward the exit. “You want to go? Let’s go. The city is an hour away from here. A walk in the park, Peter said.”

“Oh goody,” Loki said, “A field trip.”

***** 

Nebula stared at the road from the warehouse of spaceships that the Benater had been parked at to the nearest city. It was long and winding and most definitely not a nice stroll in the park. (Nebula filed that away under growing list of reasons to murder Peter Quill.)

“That looks longer than an hour,” Loki commented from beside her. “I do wish we had stayed on Quilong.”

“What were you doing there?” Nebula asked, “there’s nothing there.”

“But we were near the city,” Loki countered, “And it was a good hiding place. One which Gamora just happened to be visiting.”

“We’re not there anymore,” Gamora said. “And this is a nicer city anyway.”

“This is too far to walk,” Nebula complained, crossing her arms. “Are you sure we can’t take the ship?”

Gamora sighed. “No, it’ll be too loud and big, and it's not even that far. Besides, we can’t just take it – what if the others come back and we’re still gone?”

It’ll build character, Nebula thought sardonically as she turned her gaze to the far side of Gamora, where Loki was walking. Aha – Plan B.

“Can you bring us there?” she asked.

“What, me?” Loki reacted, surprised.

“Yes, you.” Nebula rolled her eyes. “You can teleport.”

Loki pursed his lips, then looked back to the hills before them, a long trek with no visible destination. “It’s too far,” he clipped out. “I don’t have the strength.”

“I thought you were some fancy wizard,” Nebula scowled.

Loki ignored the insult, shaking his head. “I could, once. But I was younger. It was years ago.”

“You don’t look that old,” Nebula muttered under her breath.

“Please, stop.” Gamora sighed, before Loki could retort. “It's going to take us a few hours to get there, and you just have to deal with it, nebula. Don’t be mad at Loki.”

“Yes,” Loki agreed. “Especially because it was Gamora who roped us into this little excursion. And wouldn't let us take the ship.” The last part he said to the side under his breath.

“You wanted to get out,” Gamora groaned in annoyance, and stomped ahead of them, up the next hill. Nebula eyed Loki in their sister’s absence. He didn’t look nearly annoyed as she was, his face a calm mask over whatever true feelings he had.

But then he met her eyes and quirked an eyebrow. Truce? The expression seemed to ask.

Nebula looked away.

*****

“This is it?”

“What’s wrong?” Gamora asked, glancing back between Nebula and Loki before surveying the city before them. It had taken a little over an hour to get there, but now they were. Yet her siblings looked like they doubted it was worth it.

Loki pursed his lips. “Gamora… are you sure this is the whole city?”

Gamora rolled her eyes. “Yes.”

“It’s tiny.”

“Well, we’re more likely to be recognized in larger cities.”

“But there’s nothing to do here.” Loki countered.

“Go look around,” Gamora argued, “They make good weapons, I’ve heard. And when was the last time you just walked around a city for the sake of it?”

Nebula tilted her head, considering. “Two years ago. After I killed the leaders of the Sedogl clan. I ate cake.”

Gamora paused. She had no doubt that Nebula was right. But… that wasn’t quite what she had meant by her question.

Nebula seemed unbothered by Gamora’s introspection, nodding to herself. “I want cake.” she decided.

“Well you two go enjoy that,” Loki said, “I have things to do.”

“What?” Gamora asked, “Where are you-”

“See you later, Sisters.” Loki smirked, before disappearing in a ripple of green light. The place where he had previously been lying, left empty.

“Oh,” Nebula grumbled, “now he teleports.”

*****

Loki materialized on the back of the vehicle beside his sisters ten minutes later carrying a finely carved wooden box and wearing a brilliant grin on his face. The grin only grew at the sight of Gamora and Nebula jerking away in surprise, the latter of whom swore at him.

“Did you miss me?” he asked, sliding off of the hovercraft and spreading his arms slightly.

“No, it was relaxing without you,” Nebula barked.

Gamora gave her a look. “Relaxing? That’s what you call it?”

Nebula crossed her arms and glanced away. “At least Loki wasn’t yammering.”

“I do not yammer.” Loki scoffed. “And you should be nicer to me, you know.”

“No thanks.” Nebula drawled. 

Loki tossed the box from one hand to the other and smiled serenely. “Your loss.”

“What’s in the box, Loki.” Gamora asked, eyes sparking with curiosity.

“Just a treat for the three of us, is all.” Loki replied, turning the box over to unlatch it.

At those words, however, Nebula perked up. “Is it Yaro Root?” she asked.

“Better make sure it's ripe first,” Gamora remarked, eyes twinkling.

Loki glanced from one woman to another, frowning. “I feel as if I am missing something,” he muttered.

“Nothing important,” Gamora waved her hand. “Just show us what’s inside.”

“Well, as you know,” Loki began, opening the lid. “The people here are well known for their metalworking skills. And there’s only one style of metalworking any of us are interested in.”

He turned the box around, allowing Gamora and Nebula to see the contents of the small box, and watched in satisfaction at the looks on their faces.

“Knives.” Nebula said quietly, with an eager inflection in her tone.

“Only the best.” Loki explained superiorly. “You should have seen the price the shopkeeper was charging for these.”

“And where’d you get the money?” Gamora asked slowly.

Loki tilted his head and shrugged. “I have my ways.”

“You stole them.”

“Liberated them.”

“Took them without paying.”

“The payment was me patroning the shop owner’s establishment.”

“Brother-”

“Shut up and let me touch them.” Nebula interrupted, stepping forward to pull out one of the blades. She twisted it around in her hand before nodding. “Well balanced.”

“And sharp.” Loki said gleefully.

Nebula eyed him before tucking the knife into a sheath at her side. 

“Am I almost off probation?” Loki asked.

Nebula scoffed. “Don’t push your luck,” she replied. (Though Loki took that as a win.)

He gestured with his head to the box, “would you like one, Gamora?”

Gamora reached out and grabbed one of the knives. “It’s pretty,” she reported, somewhat dubious.

“It’s a dagger,” Loki countered, “what’s the point if it isn’t beautiful?”

“I’ll never understand you,” Gamora said, putting the dagger in her boot, “It's meant to kill – how it looks is irrelevant.”

Loki pursed his lips, but knew better than to argue with Gamora – she had always been ignorant about the importance of aesthetically appealing blades. There was a craftsmanship when it came to using them, which should be reflected in the tool itself. An elegance that was utterly imperative.

“Pretty knives work better,” Nebula said, jutting her chin out at the box which still held a dagger.

Loki grinned. “Exactly, Sister.” he closed the box with a snap then whisked it away to be opened later. He was going to enjoy sharpening it later. 

“You know,” Loki began, casually, “we’d be able to get many more weapons together if you stayed with us.”

“Careful about the wood,” Nebula advised, completely ignoring him, “the tree may have a fit over you using the bodies of his cousins to keep valuables.”

Loki raised an eyebrow, then decided it would be best to follow that road of questioning a little later. Besides, there was another question he had been wanting to ask: “You’re awfully sharp about the little sapling, aren’t you? And he clearly has no love for you.”

“You read the room.” Nebula said, deadpan, “I’m in awe of your power.”

“As you should be.”

Nebula frowned. “He’s still resentful I turned him and the fox over to the Ravagers after I convinced him to let me out of the handcuffs Gamora had told him not to take off of me.”

Loki froze. “And how did you get into that situation in the first place?” he asked slowly, barely moving a muscle.

“Gamora came for me at the Sovereign – said there was a big bounty on my head.” Nebula shrugged. “Her crew needed money, apparently they can’t get it elsewhere. So I was contained.”

Loki glanced at Gamora, unease settling across his mind. His sister was looking away from the two of them, tension laced through her stance.

“What?” Loki asked quietly.

Nebula glared at him. “Gamora was going to turn me in for a bounty.”

Loki pursed his lips. That… did not quite compute.

“She tried to kill me before that,” Gamora said finally, “Twice.”

“So she hated me.”

“I did not.”

“You told me you hated me.”

“You said the same thing.”

“When?”

“When you tried to kill me. Multiple times.”

“Verbally?”

“You were trying to kill me.”

“I didn’t succeed.”

“Not for lack of trying.”

“How in the world did you two make up?” Loki interjected, shoving aside all the roiling thoughts in his head about how mistaken he had been about the two of them (He had thought– Gamora was the kind one– what else had he been wrong about?)

“I tried to blow her up.” Nebula responded.

“Then I tried to blow Nebula up.” Gamora added. “Then we fought.”

Nebula said sernely, “I beat her. Finally.”

“Congratulations,” Loki said wearily, feeling as if he knew only a fraction of the necessary information.

Nebula nodded. “Thank you.”

Gamora crossed her arms. “We talked, eventually.”

“Barely.”

“Enough.”

Nebula acquiesced with a single nod. “Enough.”

The three of them lapsed into silence for a moment before Loki said quietly, “we really do use fighting to solve our problems, don’t we?”

And just like that, the tension was broken. 

Gamora snorted involuntarily, huffing out a few chuckles which complemented the crinkling in the corners of her eyes. 

“Don’t tell Quill he was right,” Nebula remarked, her face softened, “It’ll go to his head.”

“Everything goes to his head,” Gamora contradicted.

“Oh,” Loki smirked, “No longer siding on your precious Captain’s side? How rebellious of you, Sister.”

Gamora rolled her eyes, and glanced away with a smile on her face. Then her eyes caught on something. “Look.” She gestured in front of them. “Let’s stop there.”

Loki’s eyes lit up at the sight of the shop just down the road. Despite Gamora’s obvious attempt to change the subject, the miracle before him had captured his attention. “Oh, thank the Norns – real food.”

*****

“Do you think this is enough?” Gamora asked worriedly as she surveyed the wide array of food they had just bought from the last three shops they had gone to. Well… mostly bought. She had watched Loki and Nebula pilfer various items. The latter of whom had given her a blank stare, as if daring her to say something.

She didn’t. She wanted food just as much as her siblings, after all.

“I suppose it will have to do for now,” Loki remarked a touch sadly. “We’ll have to build up a pantry.”

“What’s a pantry?” Nebula asked.

Loki looked at Nebula, surprised. Upon realizing she was serious, he said: “It’s a collection of food, more basic necessities to have on hand at all times and not just the perishables.”

Nebula wrinkled her nose. “I looked at the food – they already have that covered.” 

Loki nodded, clearly understanding something Gamora didn’t. At her blank look, Loki supplied, “There are so many preservatives in those things, the crew will live forever.”

“If we don’t kill them first.” 

Loki grinned, “that’s the spirit, Sister!”

“You’re not killing anyone,” Gamora admonished, frowning.

“Not if she doesn’t stay with us,” Loki nodded before looking at Nebula expectantly. “You will be staying with us, right?”

Nebula scoffed. “Put a spell on the supplies or whatever.”

Loki didn’t sigh or show any other outward signs of disappointment at Nebula’s dodging of the question, which Gamora was certainly feeling. He just snapped his fingers and the piles of bags and boxes flashed away, safely tucked away wherever Loki kept his things. (Gamora resolved to ask him sometime)

“Where to next?” Loki asked after a moment. “Back to the ship?”

Nebula shook her head. “Not yet.”

Gamora smiled. “Then come on, let’s explore.”

Loki’s eyes lit up at the suggestion, and Nebula seemed vaguely intrigued, so Gamora took that as a win. 

She took a step forward, back into the street, with her siblings following her. And that – that felt good. Right.

They were walking together, then, in a line. The street offered enough space to do so, especially now that fewer and fewer people were walking and there was only an occasional vehicle driving by.

“Is this…” Nebula began, before abruptly cutting herself off. Gamora looked at her, curious. Nebula rarely looked as uncertain as she did at that moment.

She shook her head. “Stop looking at me.”

“You were going to say something,” Loki said, “It’s only polite to look at the person in such a situation.”

Nebula glared at him before looking away again.

Gamora turned away, letting it be. Her gaze caught on a small cart by the side of the road, a few blocks ahead. A girl was there, with whom Gamora assumed were her parents.

Then Gamora blinked, because the other group of people she saw there didn’t compute for a second.

A small gang of men — a half-dozen or so, armed with blasters – standing before the cart. Said blasters out and pointed at the family.

“Hey!” Gamora yelled, suddenly leaping into a sprint towards the altercation before her. She ignored the surprised sound of Loki and Nebula behind her, eyes only for the man who was holding up his blaster to the little girl’s head.

The small group turned around to stare at her, some holding up weapons.

“Leave them alone!” Gamora said warningly, coming to a stop a small ways away – close enough to act, to threaten, but not to overwhelm. Beside her, Loki and Nebula came to a stop.

“Stay out of it, lass. You don’t know what you’re dealing with.”

“I know enough,” Gamora retorted, glancing back at the small family. The family who had been threatened.

Little girls, she had told Nebula, who we can help.

There was no way she was going to stand aside.

“You must be new here,” the man said, “you see, this is my town. And these fine business owners owe me a substantial sum.”

“Go,” Nebula said, “consider us letting you live repayment.”

“And who are you to say-” the man froze then, eyes widening in recognition. 

Loki tilted his head. “Something wrong?”

“Black Order,” he whispered. The sound spread out across the street in the stillness, reaching to the men around him and echoing around.

Everyone froze.

Then the leader of the group snarled, face contorting into a rage-filled mask. “Children of Thanos – you’ll die for what you’ve done!”

*****

“Oh for Norns’ sake,” Loki groaned, “Are you serious?”

The man – Loki, for the life of him, had no idea whether he knew of them in passing, or if they had met before – drew a blaster from a holster at his hip.

“Serious as a heart attack,” he growled, and tapped his shoe. It must have been some sort of symbol, as at that moment more men appeared at the doors of all the buildings around them, drawing weapons and brandishing them threateningly.

(Well, only slightly. If Loki were being honest, they had no chance. And this entire altercation was already bordering on utter ridiculousness to him.)

A moment. 

A single, quiet moment. That was all they spent, staring at each other.

Then they attacked.

The leader moved first, bringing up his blaster and firing off several shots. Loki dove to the side, rolling over his shoulder to come up in a kneeling position and throwing half a dozen. The crashes of the men in the windows of the nearby buildings were especially satisfying. 

But there was no time to savor them, as that was when the ground fleet moved in. 

They came quickly, and Loki fought back quite easily – it was almost relaxing, he had to admit. Though the multitude of small cuts and hits the enemies landed on him was a stark reminder that perhaps he shouldn’t take the whole fight too lightly.

He kicked one of the men into the cart, accidently, but still doing some damage. But he already whipped around to defend from a strike from one of the men who had already risen from the ground.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noted that they were all spread out by this point – even the shop owners and their daughter, trying to shelter on the edges of the street yet unable to escape away without being injured.

A length of time later – Loki had no idea how much time passed in reality when the twisted measurements of battle-time were so cloudy – they had already moved down the street slightly, the fight straying into nearby alleyways. The leader of the gang was gone as well, so Loki had seen him get shot earlier, so he couldn’t have gone far.

“Can you handle it here?” Gamora asked breathlessly as she swept the feet from under the nearest attacker then pulled a knife – the new one, the one Loki had given her – from her boot and stabbed him with it. Hmm, it was sharp.

Loki made a shooing gesture with his hand before he disappeared with a ripple of green to reappear on the other side of the square and stab an individual before he could get off a shot in Nebula’s direction. 

“Go!” his sister called.

Loki caught a glimpse of Gamora grinning before she drew her sword and sprinted down a side road.

I’ve missed this, Loki thought as he brought down his elbow to the back of one of the men. Such fun.

*****

“Nebula, I have to ask,” Loki began as he dispatched another one of the men and sidled up to her. “Did you happen to hit Gamora very hard on the head when you fought?”

Nebula scowled in confusion as she kicked one of the guys and brought him down. “Why?”

“Surely you have also seen… how her judgment has been laxing recently?”

Nebula froze at those words, her lips twitching into an almost-smile. He did not just say that. She met his eyes, glaring at him for daring to make her almost smile.

“We hit each other hard, but not that hard.” 

Loki nodded solemnly. “So it is an ingrained character trait?”

“Or Idiot-by-association theory.”

“Which was increased exponentially due to the sheer number of imbeciles in her immediate vicinity?”

“And sucking-face with Quill.”

“Yes, that would cause the symptoms to worsen.”

“She can’t seem to notice.”

“That’s the sad thing about the disease,” Loki shook his head sadly and leaned against a building. “One’s reasoning becomes non-existent.”

“That won’t happen to us, will it?”

“I’ll stab you before it does.”

“Likewise.”

They nodded at each other, satisfied at the deal, and Nebula felt like bouncing. But she wouldn’t, because there was work to be done. (and Loki would look at her weirdly)

They got just to the cusp of the town square, when Loki halted them. “Let’s wait for Gamora.”

“Are we sure she can handle it?” Nebula couldn’t help but ask, scowling down at the body of one of the gang members

Loki just looked over at her, grinning “She needs the exercise and time away from the stupid.”

“Is it a cure?”

“Only temporary, unfortunately. We can work on a propper one later after she’s gotten her enrichment.”

“What’s going on?” Gamora asked, dropping from the roof of a nearby building. “I handled the other side.”

“We handled this area,” Loki said, gesturing to the fallen bodies of the criminals.

Gamora nodded, then turned to the square. Behind her, Nebula and Loki shared a small grin, unable to hold it back any longer.

“Then let’s move in.”

*****

The street corner was a mess as the three of them rounded the corner in unison, Gamora leading the way while Loki and Nebula flanked her.

Gamora darted out a hand into the throat of one of the goons who dared to step nearer to her, sending his crashing to the ground. The others slowly backed away after that.

“Please,” the man said as he caught sight of them, “You, you-”

None of them spoke a single word as they continued to stalk forward. Drunken goon after hired man came at them, but they were entirely in sync, darting around each other to dispatch the adversaries as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Out of the corner of her eye, Gamora caught sight of one landing a hit to Nebula’s arm, causing it to spark briefly. Her sister then clobbered her opponent over the head and swearing as she smacked her arm.

And yet just as quickly as it had happened, Nebula was back to fighting as she had before, and Gamora had her own attackers to deal with.

She ducked to avoid the strike of one, darting out and stabbing him in the leg, bringing him down. Gamora stood, gaze darting around in quest for the next opponent, only to do a double-take when she saw none.

Instead, the man who had first started it all was stumbling backward away from them. He tripped over something on the ground, and continued his retreat as a crawl on his back, scrambling away as fast as he was able.

He was stopped in his tracks by a dagger, thrown from Loki, pinning him by his clothes to the ground.

“Please,” the man repeated desperately, unsuccessfully attempting to pull at the knife, “please!”

“What do you say, Sisters?” Loki drawled. “Show mercy?”

“Depends, Brother,” Nebula replied in the same tone, “do we stand for the insult?”

“We’ve done enough.” Gamora decided, and despite the annoyed look Nebula gave her, and the disappointed one Loki sent her way, both of her siblings nodded.

“We give you your life.” Loki said, twisting a dagger in his hand as he gave the man a viscous smile. “I suggest you find it in yourself to be grateful.”

“And run before we change our minds,” Nebula added.

The man, blubbering and panting, stood shakily to his feet before turning around and dashing down the street till he turned around the block, stumbling as he did so.

*****

Nebula rolled her eyes and glanced back at the bodies of the men who had threatened the family. They deserved what they had coming, there was no doubt about that.

She also saw the family, coming together and huddling away from the devastation in the street. The parents were kissing their daughter’s forehead, and holding her close. From a nearby building, three more children ran out and started to yammer intelligibly.

Nebula scowled in distaste and cast her gaze elsewhere around the square, looking for something more interesting to look at. When she looked back, she saw Gamora talking with the family, and Loki looking just as bored as she was (albeit less annoyed) across from her. 

Nebula grumbled under her breath and crossed her arms.

“Are we going soon?” She asked Gamora (well, Demanded really. But she had had enough of this town, and it was clearly Gamora’s fault for keeping them there), who was in the process of receiving a bag of what was most likely money. 

Her sister sighed heavily. “Yes, of course.”

“Thank you,” the mother said timidly, and her husband nodded.

“We are in your debt.”

“It’s alright,” Gamora said, “just as long as they know not to come back-”

“Not that this isn’t just the most wonderful form of conversation,” Loki said, sliding in among them, “But we really must be going.” He glanced towards Nebula, and nodded at her with a pointed look. One that was some variation of ‘stop’. 

What? What am I supposed to stop doing? She hadn’t done anything and was just standing there and-

Nebula blinked, realizing belatedly that her fists were clenched and her. She paused and took a breath, letting some of the tension bleed out of her form.

“As my sister said, we are glad we could be of service. Though we have to go.”

Nebula tuned out the thankful mutterings of the family and met Loki’s eyes. She squinted at him, and wrinkled her nose. ‘I didn’t need your help’ she tried to say, injecting her face with about as much ‘unneeded’ as she could.

Loki just quirked his lip in response.

*****

Gamora watched the reunion of the family with a soft smile on her face. They were crying and laughing and hugging and they were just so happy to be together again. Gamora’s smile shrunk a fraction of an inch as she looked over her siblings. They were almost identical, standing with their arms crossed in the same position, and annoyance written across their faces.

She didn’t quite know what was setting them off like that, but considering that neither had run off into the hills screaming yet, Gamora decided that it probably wasn’t an end-of-the-galaxy problem. 

But they were still unhappy nonetheless, and that might as well be as big of a deal.

She turned around, away from the family, and nodded at them.

“Let’s go home.”

*****

The ship was exactly as they had left it, much to Gamora’s relief. It didn’t look like Peter and the others were back yet, though. Groot was still the only one left, and the trio had caught him trying to divebomb the squirrel creatures from jumping off the top of the Benater.

“He is so small and filled with violence,” Nebula remarked, watching him.

Gamora shook her head. “He’s a sweetheart, really. He just… has a thing about animals his size. They set him off.

“I understand.” Nebula nodded. “Though someone should teach him how to make traps.”

A series of images flashed across Gamora’s vision, one of Nebula teaching Groot how to make traps for all kinds of animals. It would be the death of all local fauna as they knew it.

Loki grumbled something under his breath, and Gamora whipped her head around towards him. His face, which had previously been a mask of calm, had a scowl on it which could almost rival Nebula’s. He was rubbing at his shoulder, and winced.

Gamora opened her mouth to ask if he was alright but-

“Well, I need to get some ice,” Loki snipped. He turned and walked into the ship. Gamora watched him go with a small frown on her face. She glanced toward Nebula, who was fiddling with her arm. It was sparking a bit, probably having gotten hit sometime during the fight.

“I’ll… be back.” she said, and headed into the ship.

*****

Loki grunted, trying to reach around to ice his shoulder blade properly. But it was at an awkward angle, and every part of him was sore, so he was having a spot of trouble. 

It was worth it, though, Loki thought to himself, and smiled a fraction of a smile. Despite the uncomfortableness of the aches and pains he received and the various scratches, the day had been worth it. Besides, that’s all they really were – some soreness and some scratches. Not nearly as traumatic as other injuries he had received before.

Loki dropped the pack of ice for a moment, breathing heavily. He considered using some magic to hold it up, but quickly dismissed that idea. He was much too tired, and might end up hitting himself or not getting the right place.

“Let me.”

Loki looked up sharply to see Gamora standing in the doorway, looking decidedly concerned. When had she gotten there? He should have noticed her before, carelessness like that wou– no.

“Very well,” Loki murmured, handing the ice pack over to his sister.

Gamora took it, then looked around the small room that Loki had retreated to, frowning. Loki was about to retort that it wasn’t his fault that the space was a mess, when Gamora grabbed his arm and dragged him out and took the more brightly lit main room of the ship.

“Sit,” she said, directing him to the table. He obliged, and sat on the edge, his back toward Gamora. 

The first touch of ice to his back caused Loki to hiss lightly, but he next was more gentle, and it soothed his aches. Loki was still holding his breath, though. And a touch of tension still crept its way along his muscles, telling him to be ready.

Ready for what? He asked it. Afterall, wasn’t this like when Gamora had helped him before? And now, without the looming threats above their heads.…

So he slowly let go of the held breath, then breathed in again, and out again. Steady. As he breathed, he let his body relax as well.

“You’re both breakable.”

“Well, Nebula,” Loki said, not looking up to see her entrance, “I believe you are mistaken.”

Nebula came around in front of him, and crossed her arms. “Says the man currently icing his shoulder and with several cuts that need stitches.”

“No, they don't. I will heal.”

“Yes, they do.” Gamora countered. “But only a couple. Nebula, can you grab me the med bag from the cabinet there?”

She rolled her eyes, but went to the cabinet anyway. She came away with a bag marked with medical supplies. She tossed it at Gamora, who reached up and caught it in one fluid movement, and set it down beside Loki.

Nebula took a step closer, squinting at Loki’s shoulder. “They won’t scar,” she decided.

Loki rolled his eyes. “And I just wanted one more for my collection.”

Nebula scowled at him, but sat down on the edge of the table opposite him. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a knife, so small it could barely even count as a blade. She then took it to the paneling on the inside of her arm, glaring at it profusely as she tried to wedge the panel open.

“Stuck?” Gamora asked.

Nebula violently yanked the panel open, then looked at Gamora over Loki’s head. “No.”

Gamora sighed heavily, while Loki resisted the urge to quirk his lips into a smile. Nebula met his eyes, and Loki could see just the tiniest twinkle in her irises.

“You two are both impossible,” Gamora muttered.

Loki opened his mouth to reply, when the needle went in for the first stitch. Loki hissed at the unexpected pain, and clenched his hands. 

A warning next time, perhaps? he thought sarcastically.

“Sorry,” Gamora murmured, and kept stitching up the gash on the back of his shoulder blade.

Nebula looked like she wanted to call Loki a baby, but then her arm sparked again, and she looked down at it with a scowl. She took the tool in her hand to it, trying to fiddle with some wires to get them back into place, but it was too large.

“There,” Gamora said, satisfied, as she finished stitching the rest. She stepped around to sit at the table across from him and Nebula, and dug around in the med bag for a second before producing a tube of what looked like some sort of cream.

“Put these on the rest of your cuts.”

“I will heal.” Loki rolled his eyes, exasperated. Though he did pocket the tube with a flick of his wrist.

“Sorry for making sure you don’t die,” Gamora shook her head. She glanced at Nebula, and her arm. “You too. Don’t start a fire in your circuits.”

Nebula scowled again, but gave a sharp nod of acknowledgement before turning back to her work. She continued to fiddle with the wires in her arm, which Loki could just barely tell were pulled from where they were supposed to be attached to some circuit. 

She was having trouble, Loki could tell, with nothing but her fingers and the thin blade with which she had managed to get the panel open in the first place.

Nebula glanced up, and Loki flicked his gaze to the other parts of the room – any other part really. He didn’t want Nebula to become annoyed with him for daring to send his gaze her way. She hardly seemed in a good mood anyway.

The silence spread over them like a blanket – though it was far from suffocating. It was almost… warm. They had all spent time in silence together – waded through the depths of it together for years. That silence had been ever present, and Loki had never liked breaking it.

Nor did he really want to break this silence, but for a different reason. It was companionable, and dare he say peaceful.

As his eyes flitted around the room, Loki’s attention was caught by a small metal tool – long and thin, with a sharp point and a few buttons along one side. He recognized it from before – from the countless times he had witnessed Nebula tuning herself up over the years. 

Loki flicked his fingers, and the tool flew across the room, aimed directly for Nebula’s head.

A moment before impact, her hand shot up, catching the small metal object with one hand. She brought it out in front of her and stared at it for a moment before slowly, oh so slowly, setting aside the knife and bringing the tool to the wires in her arm.

The silence plucked back control from the brief respite of Nebula catching the tool, laying across them all again.

Loki began to rub at one of the bruises on his forearm

“Are you staying?” Loki asked quietly, not looking Nebula in the eye. 

“Yes.” Nebula answered, looking up from her arm. She looked from Loki to Gamora and nodded. “I am.”

A beat.

No one spoke.

Then Loki breathed out a deep sigh of relief, and allowed the tension to bleed out of his frame. Across the table, Gamora was doing the same.

“Really?” she asked, tentative. 

Nebula rolled her eyes. “Yes, I said so already.” 

“Oh good. I’ll begin packing for the move immediately.” Loki said, a small grin on his face. He stretched out his arms, testing the stitches, as well as the mobility of his shoulder. Good, it would heal within the week. Or perhaps a bit faster, he still wasn’t sure how his healing was working at the moment.

“What?” Gamora demanded.

“You little-” Nebula spluttered. “I stay then you say- what?”

Loki rolled his eyes. “I’m not leaving you. I just need to move.” His sisters stared at him, and Loki shook his head. “You honestly didn’t expect me to keep sharing a room with Drax, did you? Now that you’ll be staying, we can change the sleeping arrangements without someone accusing me of frivolous reasons.”

Gamora leaned against the table, putting her head in her hands. “You’ll be the death of me,” she grumbled.

“I do hope so,” Loki said cheerily, “seeing as how Nebula has failed.” he paused. “I do hope you don’t try to kill me, next. Perhaps I should consider placing our beds on the far sides of whatever room we choose.”

Loki glanced at Nebula, expecting her to snap at him for the joke, but found only that she was frozen in place. Her eyes slightly widened in surprise. 

“You want to share a room with me?” She asked softly. There was a look in her eye, one that Loki couldn’t quite decipher. But it wasn’t annoyance or anger or disgust, and for that Loki was grateful.

“Perhaps,” Loki said coyly. “We’ll need to find a room. Perhaps we can rearrange the floor plan, or-”

Loki froze, a far more important matter suddenly occurring to him, and leaned forward toward Nebula, tenting his fingers as he stared her down. 

“Do you snore?” he asked seriously.

Nebula cocked an eyebrow. “I stab.”

A smile spread across his face. “You’ll do nicely.”

Chapter Text

“This was a mistake,” Gamora sighed as she watched Loki and Nebula stalk back and forth between the halls of the Benater. They had been prowling like this for the past couple of hours, and with each passing by their mutterings gave Gamora a new set of migraines.

“What? Why?” Peter asked, coming up next to her. “They look happy.”

Gamora raised an eyebrow at Peter, then pointedly turned her gaze to where her siblings were eyeing the walls to be knocked down.

“You know, on Midgard, open floor plans are very popular.” Loki commented of handedly, tapping his chin as he did so.

“What’s Midgard?”

“Where Quill is from.”

“Oh. Terra. They hate walls there?”

He nodded sagely. “Yes. Now where did you put that lazer saw?”

“Uhhhh,” Peter said, looking back to Gamora. “I see what you mean.”

“I have half a mind to tie them to the top of the ship. There should be enough space out there,” Gamora smiled.

Peter nodded. “Slow death. Got it.”

“Oh, Loki could handle it. He doesn’t need to breathe.”

“What?!”

Gamora strolled forward, and plucked the saw from Loki’s hands before he could cut the wall. He looked more perturbed than angry, however, and for that Gamora was grateful. Perhaps there was some hope for the ship.

“Stop it, you two.” Gamora said. “We just got this ship. You can’t ruin it so soon.”

Nebula blinked. “This isn’t the same one as before?”

Gamora raised an eyebrow. “Do you mean the Milano? That got left on Berhert.”

“Where’d you get this one, then?”

“Kraglin had it, it’s one of the extras the Ravagers had stored in some warehouse somewhere.”

“It doesn’t look different.” Nebula asked dubiously.

Gamora raised an eyebrow and glanced around. “It’s bigger.”

“So then there must be a room available.” Loki decided.

Nebula tilted her head. “Or we’ll make it available.”

Loki nodded. “Very well. Come, Sister, let us explore the lower deck.”

Gamora shook her head as she watched them stroll off. 

*****

“You know you could just share with me?” Gamora asked tentatively once they’d returned from the lower deck – still mostly storage, though, so not really bedroom material. 

Both of them looked at her like she was crazy, then pointedly turned their gazes to Peter, across the ship talking with Mantis.

Gamora raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

Loki sighed heavily. “Oh, nothing, Sister. But we’re much better off by ourselves.”

*****

“Do we really need an engine? We can just hook you up to the system.”

“I hate you.”

“But we’d have more space if we-”

“I’ll stab you first.”

*****

“Let’s dump the fox’s weapon collection.”

“Nebula, be serious.”

“I am.”

“Sister, Rocket seems far more unstable than any of the others.”

“So?”

“If anyone should be allowed to keep his weapons, it should be him.”

*****

“Why are all these rooms filled with junk?”

“I have no idea. Perhaps they haven’t had a chance to go through them?”

“Hmph.”

“Not this room then?”

“No.”

“Don’t worry – we’ll find it eventually.”

*****

“We found it.”

Gamora looked up from where she had been sharpening her sword, to Loki and Nebula standing side by side with their hands behind their backs.

“You found what?” Gamora asked warily.

“Where we’ll be staying,” Loki answered smoothly. “There is an unused storage closet on the starboard side of the ship. Once it has been cleaned up, it shall serve its purpose.”

Gamora frowned. She had been in that room once before that she could remember, when they had moved out of Kraglin’s main ship and into the Benater officially. She couldn’t recall whether it had been in use up to that moment. Though she doubted whether or not that would matter all that much to her siblings.

“A storage room,” she asked.

Nebula nodded.

“You can store all your emotional baggage in there!” Rocket cackled as he walked by.

“That’s it,” Nebula growled, darting forward. “I’ll make a coat out of you, rodent!”

“Sister, calm down!” Loki urged, pulling Nebula back so she couldn’t reach Rocket before he had finished scampering up the ladder and out of sight.

“What was that for?” she spat.

“We need to plan these things better,” Loki cautioned, “Give him a false sense of security before we begin the hunt.”

“You don’t think you could be just a little bit nicer to them?” Gamora asked.

Loki sighed, and Nebula grumbled, but neither answered Gamora’s question, for which she was beginning to become annoyed.

“What, what is it?” She demanded, crossing her arms. “You’re here, and I’m glad you are, but this crew is here too and-”

“The crew is fine,” Nebula interrupted, and Gamora blinked.

“If a tad annoying-” Loki put in. 

“More than a ‘tad’.” Nebula grumbled.

“-though we’ve both had to deal with you for years, so it really is no trouble.”

Gamora blinked. “What?”

Nebula nodded. “We have practice, don’t worry. We haven’t killed you yet.”

“Not for lack of trying, of course.”

“You tried to kill Gamora?”

“I was speaking of you, Sister.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, I thought that was rather obvious.”

Nebule frowned steadily. “I thought you tried to kill Gamora before.”

“I don’t remember any such event,” Loki frowned as well. “Though perhaps it wasn’t very memorable?” 

“Gamora never is.”

“Agreed.”

“What is going on here?” Gamora demanded, interrupting her siblings’ banter.

“We’re bonding,” Loki said serenely, with a smile to match.

Nebula nodded. “He gave me a dagger.”

“So the way to your heart is to give you weapons?” Gamora asked.

“And your’s isn’t?” Nebula asked incredulously. “Then what is?”

“Murder attempts?” Loki asked worriedly before Gamora could answer. “If so I’m dreadfully behind. But worry not, I will rectify the situation at once.”

“No!” Gamora said, “No, there are other people. And they haven’t killed me. In fact, they’re the sweetest, kindest, most genuine-”

Gamroa cut herself off and eyed her siblings. Nebula just looked confused and Loki was unreadable.”

“Nevermind,” Gamora said, a touch wistfully. “It’s… just an unspoken thing.”

“Uhuh.”

*****

“What is this?” Mantis asked, frowning as she inspected the bowl that Drax just handed to her.

Drax frowned right back. “Food.”

“But what kind?”

“Stew. I have made it for years. The ingredients are different, but it tastes alright.”

Loki rolled his eyes as he tossed his dagger up in the air and caught it when it came down. “You should be grateful for what we bought.”

“I am, when did I say I wasn’t?”

Loki sighed and tossed his knife. “Nevermind.”

Gamora smiled at the scene. Thank you, she sent Loki’s way when they made eye contact. It wasn’t much, but at least he was trying a little bit.

“Eat, Mantis. The soup will make you less ugly.”

Now if only she could get Drax to try too.

“Drax.”

“What? My mother always told me that.”

Rocket snorted mid slurp from his bowl of stew. “Did it work?”

“Yes.”

“But how do you know for sure?” Rocket pushed. 

“My mother said so.”

Silence fell over the group for a long moment, which the various crew members spent in what Gamora deemed one of three separate camps. The Oblivious Squad consisted of Drax and Mantis, who were silently going about their tasks, without a care for the second group. Said group was most easily described as the Troublemakers, in Gamora’s opinion. Peter, Rocket, and Loki were sitting in their respective places, looking like they were barely holding back their laughter. And finally, the Observers, which Gamora herself was a part of. Along with Groot and Nebula. Not quite laughing, but watching the exchange with a distinct dread that they would be included soon enough.

Gamora looked down at her bowl and smiled – all in all, the night was going far better than she had hoped.

*****

“So I said ‘well, then stars are just nuclear Cheetos!’” 

Peter finished the story with a flourish of his hand and a big grin on his face.

He was met by blank stares.

“What… is a ‘Cheeto’?” Drax asked slowly.

Peter blinked. “It’s a Terran food-”

“I’d hardly qualify it as a food,” Loki muttered. “They’re barely edible.”

“You’ve eaten Cheetos?” Peter asked excitedly, completely forgetting Drax’s question.

“Yes.” Loki clipped out, apparently fresh out of his patience for Peter. “It is hardly the most unbelievable thing in the world. For instance, that story you just told.”

“It was not unbelievable!” Peter shot back, taking another bite of the bread Drax had pulled out of the bags of food Gamora and Loki had stored on the ship earlier that day.

“You called yourself cool seven times,” Nebula muttered from her seat between Gamora and Loki. She had previously had a perch on the ladder, but Gamora had convinced her to sit at the table with the rest of them. Though mingling was apparently too much for her. (it was fine. They had time – all the time in the world.)

“That was the Narrator.”

“Quill, that's a load of crap and we all know it.”

“Not everyone – Gamora, you liked my story, right?”

Gamora looked down at her food. 

“Gamora,” Peter said, a hint of betrayal in his voice.

Gamora took a long bite, eating it and chewing thoroughly. As she swallowed, she could have sworn she saw Nebula smirk.

“Well, what about Groot!” Peter said, desperately, “You believe me, right?”

They all looked to Groot, who was still playing with his food, completely unaware of the conversation going on around him. He had also found a coloring set – though from where, Gamora had no idea – and started to color on paper beside his food.

He glanced up at all their faces and frowned. “I am Groot?” he asked.

“No, you don’t have food in your teeth,” Rocket answered, and they all returned to their food.

“I am Groot!” Groot began, holding up the colored pencils and grinning. He then returned to his page.

Gamora glanced at Peter over the table, and raised her eyebrows. Peter gave her a pleading look, but she would not be moved. Finally, he sighed.

“Just you wait till next time – It’s gonna knock your socks off.”

“Why would a story remove our socks?” drax questioned.

“No, not literally…” Peter groaned. “Drax, It’s another metaphor.”

“But a story should not be able to remove someone’s clothes.”

Nebula rolled her eyes. “This is ridiculous.”

Loki tilted his cup to her and whispered “I’ll drink to that.”

They clinked their drinks while Gamora rolled her eyes. Though when Nebula tipped to her own glass, Gamora had no choice but to smirk and toast.

*****

Half an hour later the meal wasn’t done yet, and neither was the conversation, despite it calming down a bit. Gamora was enjoying looking around at everyone, and smalltalk took over for any rowdy storytelling that Peter had been trying to push that night.

“Knives are inarguably better than blasters,” Loki argued.

“No, they’re not!” Rocket and Peter retorted in unison.

“Loki is right,” Drax chimed in before Gamora’s brother could throw himself across the table at her boyfriend. “You can stab with knives, but you can throw them as well.”

“Long range and short range,” Loki nodded, giving Drax an appraising look “exactly.”

“You can shoot a blaster close up or from far away!”

“But far away, the aim can be more difficult. And for close combat, the size causes it to be an unwieldy weapon.”

“Gamora!” Rocket growled, “You’re not gonna stand for this slander, are ya?”

“Don’t look at me,” Gamora said, “I use a sword.”

“Which is just a wannabe knife,” Loki pushed.

Gamora stared at him, and he looked away. 

“Perhaps another change in topic is necessary,” she suggested.

“Oh come on,” Peter groaned. “We were just getting somewhere.”

“Yes, you were edging closer and closer to being shown personally how much more effective knives are.”

“Haha! Quill – he was going to stab you!”

“Not it I-”

“Groot,” Gamora interrupted, “Do you have anything to say?”

Groot squinted in thoughtfulness, then nodded. At Gamora’s encouraging nod, he turned fully to look at Loki and began, “I am Groot.”

“Yes, green is my favorite color,” Loki said absentmindedly. “What is yours?”

Gamora froze. Along with everyone else.

“What did you just say?” Rocket demanded, slamming down his cup.

Loki glanced up from his bowl. “Pardon?”

“What you just said – what was it?”

Loki blinked. “I was just telling Groot what my favorite color is. I apologize – is that a crime?”

“You understand the tree?!” Nebula demanded.

“Not a tree,” several people countered at once, including Gamora herself.

“I’m with Rocket here,” Peter said, “You speak Groot?”

Loki frowned. “Yes, of course. You didn’t know that?”

“How the heck did you learn Groot! It’s just three words!”

Loki sniffed and went back to his plate of food. “I learned it in school.” At the blank stares of everyone around him, Loki sighed. “It was an elective, alright? I found the complexities of the language intriguing. And I got quite a good grade, I will have you know.”

“What kind of school teaches Groot?” Drax asked.

Loki paused in taking a bite, and set down the piece of bread. “The one I went to,” he said simply. “The academy was rather prestigious.”

“But wha-” Peter started to say.

“You should teach us,” Gamora interrupted, noting the unease rippling through Loki’s now-tense form. He clearly had no desire to discuss Asgard. Besides – “Rocket tried once. He threw pencils at us.”

“They’re made of wood!” Rocket argued. “You learn through osmosis!”

“That is dumb,” Drax argued, “Groot is alive, the pencils are not.”

Rocket rolled his eyes. “We get along just fine with me understanding him. We don’t need Loki to teach you guys.”

“If you insist,” Loki remarked. He took a bite of the meat and shrugged. “Besides, it is not ‘Groot’ as you say. The language belongs to the Flora Colossuses as a species. Groot just happens to be his name.”

“Did you know that?” Mantis asked Rocket. “It is fascinating!”

“Yeah, I knew that,” Rocket said, puffing up his chest. “But he’s Groot. And I ain’t ever met one of his species. So it's Groot. Right, Groot?” 

“I am Groot!”

Rocket froze. “You don’t mean that.”

“I am Groot.” Groot crossed his arms.

“But-”

“I. Am. Groot.”

Rocket scowled and turned back to his plate of food, grumbling under his breath something that sounded suspiciously similar to “pencils behave better.”

Loki sighed. “I suppose it’s settled then.”

“What’s settled?” Gamora asked, leaning forward slightly.

“I will be teaching you all how to understand our smallest crew member.” He took another bite of food.

In front of them, smiling widely with his hands proudly on his hips, Groot said: “I am Groot.”

Chapter Text

“I need a bigger gun.”

“Half the stuff on this ship is guns, Rocket!” Peter retorted, rubbing his face.

“Yeah, and now I need bigger ones!” 

“How much is it gonna cost?”

“Couple thousand credits.”

“Couple thou-” Peter choked. “You know what? Alright. Let’s add that onto the bill.”

“And Groot is gonna need some fertilizer.”

“Since when does Groot-” Peter stopped mid sentence at the sight of Rocket winking violently and jutting his thumb towards the screen where their client-to-be was watching them, unimpressed.

Peter didn’t even know her name, but she was some kind of rich big-wig in the Qwanx district, and had called to hire them for who-knows-what. (Gamora probably knew. He’d have to ask her.)

“Yeaaaah,” Peter said slowly as the realization hit him. “Groot’ll definitely need some.”

“I am Groot!”

Rocket ignored whatever Groot had said, saying, “that’ll be a few hundred more credits.”

“And we’ll need the new water filtration system. I’m sick of drinking Drax’s piss just ‘cause ours is broken.”

“The what is what?!” Loki demanded from where he was leaning against the wall next to Nebula. He had a horrified look on his face, which added an extra layer of fun to the whole thing.

“And Mantis – she’ll need more pens.” Rocket gestured to where Mantis was frantically scribbling notes down on her pad of paper like she had been for the past hour or so.

“And my hair product.”

“Your… what?”

“My product! What, you think this mayne is natural? It takes work.”

“Yeah, okay – how much is that, Mantis?”

Mantis glanced up. “Three million and two-hundred credits! Plus tax.”

“Who even pays tax these days?” Peter asked, confused.

“I think we might need to ditch your hair goop, Quill. It’ll shave a good three-hundred thousand of the bill.”

Hmm. Seemed fair.

“Whattaya say, ‘Mora?” Peter asked, turning to her with a big grin on his face – the charming one, the one Gamora liked.

Gamora looked back at the screen, and the noble-lady-person, and gave a tight smile. “I’ll call you back later to talk about the cost.”

She sniffed. “I do hope you’re worth it.”

“It’s all in the name, lady.” Rocket answered, putting his hands (Paws? Were they paws? Peter had always wondered-) behind his head and leaning back.

*****

“Alright, listen up guys!” Peter announced to the group, standing at the head of the table and looking out across everyone. Only Mantis and Rocket were actually sitting at the table, the former sitting primmly with her stack of notes, and the latter utilizing the entire table to dismantle a single grenade. And add more explosives to it.

The others were spread out across the room, though at least they were there. Groot was on top of the engine, swinging his legs back and forth and humming lightly. It wasn’t any specific song that Peter recognized; more of a tuneless hum to keep the sapling occupied.

Drax was standing to the side, directly across from Rocket’s chair, sharpening his dagger with a small whetstone. His attention was on the blade, though he did glance up when Peter called for attention. The others did too, however briefly in Rocket’s case, with the exception of the three final crewmembers aboard the Benater.

The siblings were leaning against a back wall in identical easygoing-but-not-really stances with their arms crossed. Gamora was in the center of their little row, flanked by Loki and Nebula. Their gazes had crossed the room around them, like beacons, drinking it all in, a few minutes ago. Now, however, they were whispering to each other in hushed tones and exchanging looks. Peter had no idea what they were talking about. Didn’t know what to think.

He… didn’t know quite what to think about the newcomers at all. He had made up his mind on a lot, actually. Like how he was certain that Nebula was mentally deranged with Loki not that far off either, and he definitely never wanted to get on any of their bad sides. And the fact that Loki knew about Earth stuff – he got his Star Wars reference! Peter was going to have to try Star Trek next, or Jaws! – made Peter willing to throw all caution to the wind. (Because… Star Wars.) And, most importantly, it made Gamora happy that they were there. And yet despite the certainty he had decided upon, Peter wasn’t quite sure what to think about Loki and Nebula themselves. He didn’t know them, not really. And they were both so much more closed off than Gamora – Peter assumed that if they heard the phrase team bonding they would run for the hills.

Well, a first mission together was the perfect opportunity to find out! Trial by fire, right?

“Guys!” Peter repeated. “Really?”

This time, everyone looked over at him, and their gazes remained on him.

“Yes?” Nebula clipped, as if he had interrupted some grand and very important meeting.

Peter cleared his throat. “It’s time for a team meeting! Everyone knows we were hired by the rich lady-”

“Countess Gwandé.” Mantis helpfully informed him.

“-to do that thing-”

“Stop the smugglers.”

“On her planet-”

“Siloj.”

“Because they’re interrupting her trading.”

Peter glanced at Mantis, who nodded. “That’s right.”

“See?” Peter began with a grin, “All we need now is a plan!”

*****

“Quill sucks at plans,” Nebula muttered to Loki, who glanced at her with a twinkle in his eyes.

“Why am I not surprised?” he asked.

“-So that’s when we bring in the explosives!” Quill finished saying.

Rocket looked back and forth from the table to Quil and back again. “Oh-ho-ho,” he said, “I like this plan.”

“We can’t just blow up their base!” Gamora interrupted.

“What, ya suddenly goin’ pacifist on us or something?” Rocket questioned.

Nebula snorted. Gamora? Pacifist? That’d be the day.

“No,” Gamora countered, “that’s not the mission.”

Mantis nodded suddenly and furiously from where she was sitting, catching everyone’s attention. She blinked at the sudden gazes, then glanced at her notes before speaking. “Gamora is right. The Countess wanted us to get their records.”

“Why records when we can just kill them all?” Drax asked, and to her horror, Nebula was inclined to agree.

“She is going to arrest them.” Mantis answered.

That caused a whole new uproar among the group, which Nebula had a hard time following. They kept overlapping each other’s words, cascading cries crashing into each other as the argument covered any sense whatsoever.

“Oh the humdrum of doing things legally.” Loki drawled to Nebula. They were next to each other now, since Gamora stepped forward and into the fray.

“Since when are you law-abiding?” Nebula asked skeptically.

Loki raised an eyebrow at her. “I wasn’t always a wanted criminal, Sister.” he said simply.

Nebula held his gaze for a moment before growing uncomfortable. She hadn’t really heard much about Loki’s past beyond the rumors from outside sources. He had never talked. That one phrase was the most he had ever uttered to her, yet the way he said it.…

“Oh dear, Rocket looks awfully close to throwing that grenade at Quill.” Loki remarked, cutting her thoughts off. 

Nebula glanced over to see that Loki wasn’t wrong – in fact, Groot was also looking like he wanted to go violent.

“They are entertaining, aren’t they?” Loki mused.

Nebula grinned. “Their one redeeming quality.”

*****

“Now that that’s settled,” Quill said forcefully as he looked at all of them sternly. Which was made all the more poignant by the fact that Gamora was standing behind him, with her arms crossed as she glared at anyone who dared to cause another ruckus.

Mantis shifted slightly in her new seat, slightly annoyed at having to be moved around. Everyone’s places had been changed – with the exception of Loki and Nebula who had staunchly refused to move and even Gamora didn’t seem to have the energy to argue with them – after the near brawl. Mantis was sitting on the engine now (well, more like leaning against it. She wasn’t quite Groot’s size). Drax was sitting at the table, which had been cleared of Rocket’s mechanical parts and Rocket himself; he was standing with his hands on his hips where Drax had been seated before. Groot was sitting on the floor over by Gamora’s siblings, now fiddling with some scrap pieces of metal and string and twigs.

“Are we all clear on the plan?” Quill finished.

There was a quiet moment as Mantis waited for someone to raise their hand or voice some concern or another. But… no one did. She glanced around, looking from face to face, only to see determination in everyone’s faces.

“Alright then,” Quill said with a grin. “Let’s show ‘em what we got!”

*****

“You do not get to sit there.” Rocket said, staring at Mantis.

“Why not?” She asked, looking down at her seat. It was one of the ones in the middle, across from where Quill was sitting.

“Because if Quill decides to get knocked out, I’m the only one who can fly the ship!”

“Didn’t your flying cause us to crash last time?” Drax asked from his seat – he had chosen a spot on the lower deck, below Quill.

“That was partly Quill’s fault.” Rocket countered.

“Yeah, but only a bit.” Quill said, hand behind his neck. He glanced back behind him to Gamora, who rolled her eyes.

Loki glanced between them, then around at the rest of the crew. Groot hadn’t chosen a place either, as he was standing idly to the side with his collection of scraps. As the argument continued, Loki felt rather grateful that he and Nebula had staked a claim to the two seats beside each other in the very back of the row.

“Why can’t you sit with Drax?” Mantis asked, confused.

“That’s a bad idea,” Gamora muttered. She glanced at Loki and Nebula quickly, as if trying to decide something. Before Loki could ask what it was, she had already taken a step forward and into the fray. “I’m sitting down there.” she said.

Beside him, Nebula crossed her arms tensely. Who’s with us? Her stance seemed to say. And Loki understood, in a way. After all, Gamora had remained by their side ever since they had joined the crew.

“Come, Sister,” Loki muttered, sitting down in his seat on the right rather than just standing in front of it, “This is just getting good.”

“Stupid, more like,” Nebula grumbled, but sat beside him all the same. 

They watched, Loki slightly fascinated, as Rocket took the seat beside Quill, and Mantis was relegated to the spot directly behind him – and in front of Loki. Groot was told to sit down as well, and he was left with the last remaining seat.

“Is this gonna be like middle school?” Quill asked, “Claiming seats and all?”

“I have no idea what that means,” Gamora sighed. 

Nebula glanced at Loki, a question on her face. 

“Contrary to popular belief,” Loki said, “I am not familiar with Midgardian schooling habits.”

“Hmph,” Nebula grunted back. It was a mix of disappointment and acceptance. 

“Lucky we have enough seats,” Quill said, glancing back at Loki and Nebula. “In the Milano, you’d be standing right now.

Nebula rolled her eyes and settled down in her seat. She closed her eyes. “Let’s just get going – aren’t we on a schedule?”

Quill grinned. “Alright – what tunes should we play for our first mission together?”

*****

“I swear to the Norns, Quill, if I have to hear “Dancing Queen” one more time, I will rip out your vocal cords through your right nostril and use them to strangle you then get Nebula to help hide the body.”

Loki growled, his heart filled with more rage than it had in the past month. The rage grew at the sight of Quill inching his hand toward the controls.

Beside him, Nebula blinked awake, shaken out of unconsciousness by the utterance of her name. “Whose body are we hiding?”

“Quill’s.” Loki smirked.

Nebula lit up, her eyes going wide and a smile drawing itself on her lips. “I’m in.”

“No one is killing Peter,” Gamora said, “And stop complaining, Loki.”

“Yeah,” Quill said, tapping something on his screen, “stop complaining, Loki.”

Loki reached down to fiddle with his harness. He wasn’t actually going to kill Quill. But having the option couldn’t hurt.

Of course, that was when the oh-too-familiar music began to play yet again over the speakers.

Ooh, you can dance, you can jive…

“That’s it!”

*****

Peter stood in front of the group, completely un-murdered, thanks to Gamora’s efforts. He was pretty sure that Loki wouldn’t have actually killed him there, especially with all the possible witnesses, but Gamora’s protectiveness was greatly appreciated.

“How’s it looking, Drax?” He asked, as Drax was the one on lookout, watching the cliff-side base of the smugglers.

“No one has spotted us-”

“A miracle,” Nebula grumbled.

“-we should go now.”

“Great!” Peter said with a grin. He was so ready to get going on the mission. “Alright, let’s split up. Gamora and I are gonna go first, ‘cause we need to get around to the other side. Drax, Loki and Mantis, you can leave now too. Rocket, you Groot and Ne-”

Nebula set her jaw. “I’m not going with the fox.” 

“Don’t call him a-”

“He’s not-”

“Rocket isn’t-”

“For the last time,” Nebula growled, cutting everyone off, “I don’t care what you say – he’s a fox!”

“I am not a fox!” Rocket snarled right back.

Loki sighed. “For Norns’ sake, what do you think foxes look like? Rocket is clearly a rabbit.”

Silence spread across the group, so quiet Peter could have sworn he heard crickets. 

Finally, Rocket said simply, “Well that’s a new one.”

“What-” Peter shook his head, still not understanding, “What kind of rabbits have you seen?”

Loki replied, puzzled, “He looks exactly like a rabbit.”

“You don’t think I’m a racoon?” Rocket asked, dubious.

Loki shook his head, still looking just about as confused as Peter felt.

“Or a trash panda?” Rocket pushed.

Loki wrinkled his nose. “Oh heavens, no.”

Rocket eyed Loki suspiciously, with a touch of thoughtfulness. Or at least, that’s what Peter assumed was the other look in Rocket’s eye. He nodded once, sharp and quick, and that seemed to be the end of that.

Peter sighed heavily. He really didn’t want to change the teams around now, but the look Gamora was giving him clearly gave him no choice.

“Fine – Nebula, you can go with Drax and Mantis. Loki-”

“Understood,” Loki said. He looked at Rocket. “Let’s get going, shall we?”

Rocket shouldered his gun. “Heck yeah.”

“Wait, you guys are moving las-”

Peter was cut off by Loki, who gave him a mock salute. Then he… disappeared in a flash of green light; Rocket and Groot were gone as well.”

A moment of silence fell over the group.

“Okay – we so need to talk about how he did that.”

*****

“How’d ya do that?” Rocket asked Loki over his shoulder as he crawled down the air vent.

Loki frowned. “Do what?”

“The teleportation.”

“Magic.”

“Oh.”

“I am Groot.”

Loki rolled his eyes. “Yes, it is rather obvious when you think about it.”

“Aw, shut up,” Rocket growled. As he finished the sentence, he came to a stop. “‘Sides, here’s the exit.”

*****

“Be careful,” Gamora said, “remember – you mentioned there were motion sensors on the corners.”

“I’m always careful.”

“Really?”

“I… think it would be in my best interest to shut up now.”

“Mmm.”

*****

“Turn right,” Mantis said, gesturing to the hallway.

Drax nodded once as he followed her, glancing back to look at Nebula, who was bringing up the rear. But she followed, and they kept moving.

*****

Peter leaned closer to Gamora, grinning. “Y’know, It’s been a bit since we were alone.”

“I know,” Gamora said, turning to Peter in lieu of sneaking down the corner. A spark of guilt shot through her, for just a moment. “I’m sorry – but my siblings-”

“Oh, I know. They’re pretty clingy.”

Gamora stopped, leveling an unimpressed look upon him. “I wouldn’t tell them you said that if I were you.”

“What, they’d kill me?”

“Yes.”

“…noted.”

*****

“Nebula, do you know what a metaphor is?”

Nebula frowned at the seemingly casual question, on guard for some ulterior meaning. 

“Yes.” she answered simply.

“Good,” Drax said, “Quill said we may need them.”

*****

“Peter,” Gamora whispered, staring past him. “Don’t move.”

“What,” Peter began, confused. He blinked at Gamora, anxiety rushing through him. “Why, did I do something wrong?”

“No – not-”

Peter yanked himself away from her, stepping back a few steps. “What?”

Gamora closed her eyes, just as an alarm began to go off through the entire base.

“You set off the motion detector.”

*****

An alarm suddenly blasted through the hallway, causing the lights to shift to a bright 

“I am Groot!?” Groot asked. Or, as Loki and Rocket understood it – “what happened!?”

Loki and Rocket made eye contact in an instant.

“Darnit, Quill.”

*****

“I did not do that,” Drax announced loudly, as to be heard over the alarm. He looked from Nebula to Mantis. “Did you?”

“No!” Mantis said, “What did Quill say to do if we were caught?”

Drax grounded, not remembering – though in his defense he hadn’t really been listening to anything Quill said after he said they wouldn’t be blowing up the base on their way out. He looked to Nebula, though he didn’t think she would be much help – she didn’t exactly have the greatest track record in not getting caught.

Nebula was staring at the troops that were rounding the corner, heavily armed with guns and bodyarmor.

“He didn’t think we would.”

*****

Rocket stared at his gun as it was being taken away from him, a dark feeling curling in his stomach.

“I’ll miss ya, baby.”

He ignored the weird look Loki gave him.

*****

Nebula stared down the smuggler before her as he tried to threaten her with his gun.

“No.”

“Lady, I will shoot you-”

“Nebula,” Mantis began, “maybe we should-”

Just then more guards came back to them around the back, and Nebula sighed. They were outnumbered, and without her siblings.…

“Fine,” she said, “we surrender.”

*****

“I am Groot,” Groot muttered. Which, in his mind, was a valid argument. The sooner they got through this, the sooner he could go home to the ship and take a nap.

“Fine,” Loki grumbled, handing over a dagger. Though Groot was fairly certain that he had way more on his person.

*****

They were brought to some kind of command place in the base. Peter almost snorted when he realized it was actually the target point they had all been trying to reach. They’d gotten there way faster, actually, than if they had followed the plan.

Though as he looked at the faces of his team around him, Peter figured they wouldn’t be too pleased if he pointed that out.

“What are you doing in my base?” the leader asked, stepping forward from amongst his troops.

“Uuuh, base?” Peter asked. His mind was racing – what to do? What to do? What to- Oh. “That’s what this is?” Peter scratched his chin dramatically. “We thought it was a- a- a haunted house.”

The man – he looked Kree, Peter thought – blinked. “A… what?”

Peter grinned – oh yeah, it was all going to plan. Initiate operation: Confuse the Baddy Into Letting Them Go.

“Yup. You know the thing – zombies, fake oozie stuff? Hey, have you ever seen Ghost Busters ? ‘Cause if you tried on a rhinestone unitard, I’m decently sure you could pull off a pretty good Gozer.”

“Peter,” Gamora hissed, looking at him with a panicked look on her face.

Peter looked back and winked charmingly. Don’t worry – I got this , he tried to say in his smirk.

Gamora shook her head desperately.

“I am not Gozer,” the guy said, his hand inching closer and closer to the blaster on his right hip. “I am Grinhi.”

“They both start with a ‘G’!” Drax said, grinning. 

“Yeah,” Peter said, pointing at Drax. “He’s right.”

“But Rhinestones are too flashy.”

“I dunno, that’s kinda the point.”

“Are they meant to be terrifying?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. Absolutely.”

“Ah, I understand now.” Drax turned to the guy – Grinhi – and said, “You should try to be scarier.”

“Would I be scarier if I shot you right now,” Grinhi growled, ripping out his blaster from his side and pointing it at Drax’s forehead.

“Yes, much better! Shoot me now – then the blood will be real!”

“Uh, Drax, maybe you shouldn’t tell the guy with the gun to shoot you.”

“But it must be realistic!”

“Yeah, but that’s what the ooze is for.” Quill snapped his fingers. “Hey, you know all this advice isn’t free, right?”

“What?”

“Y’know, if you really want to do this, you’re gonna need professional help. That’s where we come in!”

*****

“No, I’m being real here. We have some serious consulting credentials! We can help you with everything! For a small yet generous fee, of course.”

Loki looked at the disaster before him, feeling just as disbelieving as the leader – Grinhi – looked. They weren’t getting out of this alive at this point, Loki thought sullenly, and closed his eyes. The only emotion he felt at the moment was cold, dead, tiredness. No, not fear of being killed. Nor rage at Quill for anything. Nor even panic.

He just felt done.

Unfortunately, this caused him to take drastic measures. 

Loki opened his eyes and sighed lightly before taking a step forward. Then another. A few steps more and then he was standing at the front of their group, completely unperturbed at the dozens of weapons pointed towards him. When he passed Nebula, she gave him a look. He wasn’t quite sure what it meant, though it was most likely something along the lines of either what are you doing? or what took you so long?

(He really needed to figure her out. But there was no time now.)

“Make him stop,” Gamora muttered under her breath to Loki.

Loki smirked. “If I may speak?” he asked.

Quill gave him a look, which Loki supposed boiled down to annoyance at his gamble being interrupted. But Loki had no intentions to derail

“Go on,” Grinhi began.

Loki was abuzz with adrenaline, racing through his veins in a quick chant of finally, finally, finally. He was in his element now, and his Silvertongue would not fail.

“My associate is absolutely right. Might I suggest we first begin with looking at your floor plans? The bare bones are an absolute necessity when one is endeavoring to create the greatest attraction on this side of the Nova Empire.”

“What?” Grinhi asked slowly.

Loki spread his hands before him as he said with practiced sweetness. “Would you like us to begin our presentation?

*****

Thirty minutes later they were sitting in their seats on the Benater, completely silent. They had both the information needed for the Countess – freely given by the smugglers as a part of their ‘consulting agreement’ – as well as a business card for Grinhi’s House of Horrors in case they wanted to use the success story on their website.

They had been in such a position for the past ten minutes, each person of the crew either utterly miffed at the fact they had gotten out of their previous predicament, or quietly preening.

(Gamora proudly led the former faction, whilst Loki and Quill led the latter.)

“What. Was. That?” Gamora broke the silence as she asked the question slowly, her voice dark and low.

Loki smiled serenely. He made eye contact with Quill, who had twisted around to look at him.

“I believe that is what they refer to as ‘Teamwork’.”

Peter grinned, clearly still riding the high of their first successful mission together, before putting his hands behind his head.

”Welcome to the Guardians of the Galaxy!”

Chapter Text

Nebula looked at the room before her, and felt like she could almost smile. They had put quite a bit of work into getting it ready over the past week and a half or so, clearing away random stuff that had been in there before and adding in what was necessary for it to serve its purpose.

It wasn’t that large of a room — quite small, really. But there had been enough space to put in bunks set into the left-side wall, from where one first entered the room. They were stacked on top of each other, and set into an alcove so they didn’t jut out at all. 

Along the wall directly across from the door was row upon row of shelves. There were four shelves, also set into the wall, that ran for the entire twelve feet. There was space underneath, possibly to fit some other type of storage unit, though Nebula doubted that the space would ever be needed.

Beyond that, there was just the standard light set into the ceiling and two other bare walls.

It was Uncluttered. Utilitarian. Just what a room should be.

“We’re done,” Nebula said authoritatively, crossing her arms and looking at Loki. 

But her brother certainly didn’t seem to match with what her expectations were – his glance was sudden, and filled with a mixture of surprise and dubiousness. 

“I disagree,” he said evenly.

“Why?” Nebula narrowed her eyes. She didn’t wait for an answer, saying, “We have everything we need – anything else would be frivolous.”

“You and I have very different meanings of the word frivolous,” Loki countered.

“I’ve never needed anything more than this,” Nebula pushed. What was that look Loki was giving her? She didn’t understand it. It was annoying, he should stop.

“Sister,” Loki began, looking between her and the sparse room in which they stood, “have you ever actually had a room before?”

“Of course,” Nebula grated her teeth. “On Sanctuary.”

“This room is not meant to be a cell,” Loki rolled his eyes before pausing, as if surprised he had said that.

Loki met her eyes and maintained her gaze, before quirking his lip. It wasn’t a smirk, not like his usual one, but more of a lopsided smile. Anticipation danced in his green eyes.

“Well then, I must teach you.”

“Like you could teach me something.”

“I resent that.”

“I resent you.”

“First rule in sharing a room with someone,” Loki held up his hand. “Never disagree with the seniority.”

“First rule of our room,” Nebula countered. “There is no seniority.”

Loki smiled. “Very well. Though I don’t think it’s ours quite yet.”

Nebula turned her gaze back upon the room, not quite understanding her brother’s words. But the way he said it made her think that it was probably important.

“Fine,” she said, “then we’ll make it.”

*****

“I get the top bunk.”

“I beg to differ.”

“I put it in – so I get it.”

“I’m older than you.”

“Since when does that give you the right to-”

“I don’t know! But it always worked for… nevermind. You can have the top bunk.”

Mantis stepped into the doorway of the room that Loki and Nebula had chosen, cautious. The door had been left open, so conceivably they wouldn’t be too upset by her intrusion, but they seemed to be in the middle of an intense argument, so she couldn’t be sure. 

“Um, hello?” Mantis tried to ask.

“Ha!” Nebula barked at Loki, before leaping up into the top bunk bed in one smooth movement. 

“No need to gloat, Sister.” Loki rolled his eyes. “Just know I can easily stab you through the mattress, and ergo have the advantage.”

“But I have the high ground!”

Loki froze. “Norns, if Quill finds out about the prequels… we’ll be done for.”

“Excuse me?” Mantis asked, taking a step inside.

Nebula and Loki noticed her at that second try, glancing over.

“Yes?” Loki asked. “Did you need something?”

“Yes!” Mantis said, perking up as she remembered her mission. “Quill wants a team meeting.”

*****

“We have a problem-” Quil began.

“Your hair?” Rocket asked, yawning heavily. “‘Cause that just screams ‘problems’ to me.”

Quill rolled his eyes. “No. And my hair is fine.”

“All in favor of Quill shaving off his hair?” Rocket asked, glancing around.

“Aye!” Drax said, raising his hand.

“I am Groot.”

“I truly believe that may be worse,” Loki drawled, inspecting his nails – they were a bit cracked. He made a mental note to see if he could pick up some sort of product to deal with that. Afterall, it had been years since he’d spent time taking care of himself his hands.

“Seconded,” Gamora said. “Now can we get to the point?”

Quill rolled his eyes. “We’re low on supplies, no to mention we need to make some repairs to the ship-”

“Which I told you about last week,” Rocket interrupted.

Quill  put his hands on his hips. “Thanks, Rocket.”

“What are we going to do?” Loki asked, curiously. From Quill’s stance, it wasn’t all that hard to garner that the midgardian had already thought up an answer to their conundrum.

“Well, we’re not that far from the Xion starsystem – just a few jumps away, actually – so I thought we could-”

Mantis sat upright and clapped her hands. “Oh! Yes!”

“Yes?” Nebula muttered, “yes what?”

Quill grinned. “That’s right – let’s go see Kraglin.”

Mantis was grinning as she jumped into some long-winded speech about how this was an amazing idea. Groot joined in, stating how this was another chance to convince the others to let him have his own room. That, of course, got Rocket involved with a lecture, which Drax felt he needed to counter without even knowing what the subject was on. And, with the others distracted, Quill and Gamora shared a look that was far too sweet for Loki’s preference. (Subtlety, thy name is not my sister and Quill, Loki thought sardonically.)

“Oh.” Nebula grumbled, drawing Loki’s gaze. She looked quite the opposite of excited. Loki was suddenly reminded of the fact that she had spent time with the Guardians before he had, so she must know this ‘Kraglin’, whoever he was. (Mantis mentioned him before, but he hadn’t heard much else.)

Loki leaned over to Nebula, a question already on his tongue. 

Before he could ask anything, however, Nebula scowled. “He told me to buy a hat,” she said distastefully.

Loki raised an eyebrow. “Now that’s just cruel.”

*****

“Alright, we’re here!” Quill announced, “up and at ‘em, guys, we need to do some unloading.”

Loki groaned. 

“Oh boo hoo, manual labor,” Nebula said snarkily – she had been in a somewhat bad mood during the whole trip. (though not that Loki could quite disagree with her – the music selection had… not been to his tastes. Though at least there was some variation beyond Dancing Queen .)  “Is the precious, prissy, prin-”

“Move it!” Quill said again, shooing them back. “It’ll take a while to get the crates-”

“Oh for Norns’ sake,” Loki groaned, lifting his hand up and snapping his fingers. There was a dash of green light that played across his nails for the briefest of moments. “There, all done.”

Quill blinked. “Uh… what?”

Loki sighed heavily. “All the crates are now in the holding bay, that is what you wanted, isn’t it?”

“You-”

“Don’t question it,” Gamora said to Quill, walking past him.

“Okay?” Quill said questioningly, but by that point Loki had turned around to join Gamora (and Nebula) in walking through the ship and to the loading bay. 

As he had promised, all the crates that had been in the loading bay of the Benator for the duration of the flight were nowhere to be seen. Loki straightened at the sight, a bit proud of himself. He hadn’t moved items of such magnitude in a rather long time.

“It’s smaller than I remember.”

Loki glanced over to Nebula, who was staring at the ship from one of the windows behind him. He stepped over to look as well. It was a rather large ship, with multiple docking bays like the one they were currently in. 

Rocket rolled his eyes as he walked past them. “That’s ‘cause it’s not even the whole ship. Just a section of it.”

“What’s he doing flying around with only part of a ship?” Nebula scowled.

“We had to blow up the rest of it.”

“What? ”

Rocket grinned before he stepped down the exit ramp. “Let’s go ask him himself.”

*****

“Aw, hey Quill. Been a while.”

Quill grinned. “Yeah, well, we needed a place to stay.”

“Yer always welcome. I meant it.”

“Good, ‘cause I need a moment away from the idiots.” Rocket not-so-subtly jutted his jaw toward Drax and Mantis.

“I as well,” Drax nodded. “Come, Rocket, we can escape them together.”

Loki let out the tiniest huff of laughter behind his hand. He hadn’t stepped forward like the others, preferring to remain slightly higher on the ramp along with Nebula, in order to survey the situation.

But that tiny noise seemed to catched the Ravager’s attention, and Loki suddenly felt Kraglin’s eyes upon him. Loki looked up, and sighed in preparation for whatever would come. (he really hoped he wasn’t going to have a blaster drawn on him again. He wasn’t in the mood.)

Kraglin stared at Loki and Nebula, his eyes wide. One second, then two, then three. When they came precariously close to eight seconds, Loki was just beginning to feel uncomfortable.

“Huh, you’re back.” Kraglin said after a second more. “And… yer brother’s here too.”

Well, Loki thought reasonably, that’s not too horrible.

“Yeah,” Rocket said sarcastically, “we saw two homeless crazy assassins, asked ‘is anyone gonna take those?’ and didn’t wait for an answer.”

“I’m not crazy.” Nebula said. She glanced at Loki, but held her tongue. But he is, went unsaid.

Loki smiled at her, a tiny curl of something twisting inside of him. “Oh, I agree. I’m a touch mad – have been for years.”

Rocket cackled.

“Well…” Kraglin began, biting the inside of his lip. “I guess we havn’ met yet.”

“I’ve heard much,” Loki said, surprisingly not feeling any warieness.

“Same ‘ere. Though… they’d be comin’ from wanted posters an’ all that.”

“They never seem to get my good side,” Loki frowned.

“Uh,” Kraglin paused, seeming not quite sure how to talk to Loki. Not quite getting it.

“He did that to me too.” Nebula muttered into his ear. “Apparently he didn’t want to hear about my plans, even when he asked.”

Loki blinked, looked between Nebula and Kraglin, and then smirked. “Sister dearest,” He said, “did you monologue to the poor man.”

“I did not!” Nebula hissed. 

Loki looked back to Kraglin, and smiled. “I assure you I won't do any such thing.”

“Uhuh,” Kraglin repeated. “Do ya want a tour?”

*****

“Pick a room, any room. I have a lot, at tha moment.”

As they had gone through the ship, it became more apparent that Rocket must have been telling the truth in regards to this only being a single section of a larger vessel. There were parts that connected to unused docks, and proportions which didn’t quite fit. The only place that this wasn’t immediately apparent, however, was the crew quarters.

There were a dozen or so smaller rooms, though as they were going by Kraglin and then Quill said that in their old ship, the crew mostly slept in one place.

So the rooms were up for grabs. And they hadn’t really been used before. And the others already had their rooms.

Loki smiled.

*****

Loki looked at the room which he had chosen for his own, and frowned. It was fine – well, as ‘fine’ as a Ravager’s quarters could be – but didn’t quite feel… right. He glanced around the room, then thought back to the space Nebula and he had claimed aboard the Benator. No, it wasn’t the same. Though the idea of having privacy appealed to him greatly. A space to his own.

Besides, he told himself, it isn’t permanent. Just for necessary instances.

Loki eased his face out of a frown, nodding to himself. It was alright. The room was of passable standards, yes, but the imperfection was okay. Nothing had to be perfect.

He turned around, and stepped into the abandoned hall. There were distant creaks and mutterings from the bowels of the ship – just enough noise to know that people were there , that the place was indeed inhabited, and not some ghost ship. The lack of explosive, overwhelming  sound was rather peaceful, instead of suffocating.

Loki slipped down the metal planks and around a corner to a room which had been pointed out to him a mere hour ago.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about-”

“Gamora. I’m serious.”

“And so am I! If you don’t want a room next to Rocket, then just pick another room. It’s not that hard, Nebula.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“The tree already claimed the others. He told me not to touch them.”

“How unlike you, Sister, to heed the words of a child,” Loki drawled from the open door, taking a step in after the announcement of his presence.

Nebula glanced over at him, not looking the least bit surprised. “This is different.”

“Oh?” Loki asked, coming to sit beside Gamora on her bed. He gave her a tilt of his head in greeting. Gamora reciprocated, a smile dancing on her lips.

“It is.” Nebula tried again.

“And why is that?” There was something in Nebula’s stance that intrigued him. Something that fluttered across the line between uncertainty and embarrassment.

“He’s… persuasive.”

Loki grinned, leaning back slightly on the bed. “Gamora, is there something she isn’t telling us?”

“It seems like it, Loki.” Gamora put her head on her palm, leaning her elbow onto her knee. 

“You two are horrible.”

“Yes, that is universally acknowledged.”

“And despicable.”

“Such a raving review.”

“I hate you.”

“That’s not true,” Gamora said, a hint of force in her words.

Nebula rolled her eyes before sighing heavily and plunking down on the chest against the wall across from him.

“He gave me a look.”

Oh. Now that wasn’t what Loki was expecting.

“It was…” Nebula knit her eyebrows. “Convincing.”

Gamora chuckled. “He gave you the eyes didn’t he?”

Nebula sat up straight. “You know them?”

“What are these… eyes?” Loki asked slowly.

Gamroa turned to him, dropping her and her eyes alight. “Groot has this look-”

“Completely unfair.”

“-that makes you want to help him.”

“Baby eyes,” Loki said, his eyes widening in understanding. He should have known – it was a universally known fact that small, adorable creatures had an innate ability to sway others to their side.

“He’d make a good apprentice,” Nebula rolled her eyes. “You could teach him to swindle Quil.”

“Not that it would be that hard,” Loki responded, smiling.

“You two could stand to be nicer,” Gamora sighed.

“Did you not see when we worked to get us out of that trouble last week! Quite creative, I would say.”

“And it won’t happen again.”

“I find your lack of faith disturbing,” Loki smirked. He froze. “Quill has corrupted me.”

“What?” Nebula asked, confused.

“I-” Gamora paused, then, looking back and forth between the two of them. It was as if a knot inside of her came undone, and her expression softened into something with an emotion Loki couldn’t quite decipher. 

“I’m just glad you’re here.”

Loki felt his throat tighten, for reasons he didn’t quite understand. Or maybe he didn’t want to understand. Maybe he wanted to stop being bogged down by all these emotions and took him hours and hours to sit and untangle. Maybe he should stop trying to understand, and just feel.

“I am too,” Loki whispered.

Nebula eyed the pair of them for a long moment, before she rose from her chest. Loki froze, thinking Nebula was going to leave. But instead she did something he would never have expected. She walked over, and gestured with a flick of her wrist at the space between Gamora and Loki. 

“Move.”

Loki scooched over a few inches, Gamora doing the same, allowing them to sit in a row upon the bed. They were quiet for a moment, Nebula gathering her thoughts. Finally, she said: “I’m glad I came back.”

Loki let out a sigh he hadn’t realized he had been holding. He relaxed, then, in their presence. Not quite touching, but there and real in a way he had craved for a long time. 

The moment was suddenly broken by a loud scream – it echoed throughout the halls of the ship, and into the room where they had been situated. It was a low noise, more akin to a yell than a shrill cry.

And it was unmistakable Drax’s.

The three of them made eye contact in an instant before standing up and moving to the door. Whatever it was could be completely harmless… or a serious problem ( oh please let it not be serious, Loki groaned internally). Either way, they would have to check it out.

They got to the door, only to be interrupted by Kraglin, who was walking past the door whistling absentmindedly. Well, closer to sneaking by.

“What happened?” Gamora demanded, and Kraglin froze.

“Nothin’, nothin’.” he said. “Whatever it was – it wasn’t me!”

Loki noticed, just as Kraglin was scooting off, that he didn’t have his arrow with him.

Not my problem.

Chapter Text

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Gamora asked Peter, her brows furrowed. “To go to Xandar now?”

“What do you mean – they love us there! We’ve had strong ties to the Nova Corps ever since my dick message” Peter said the last part in explanation to Mantis from over his shoulder.

“Actually, I think it was when we saved their planet from utter destruction.” Rocket countered.

“You saved a planet, Loki?” Mantis asked curiously to Loki, who was the closest crew member to her. He was sitting at a table with Nebula, pulling out knives. 

Loki looked thoughtful. “Well, not that one, per say.”

“He and Nebula were with the douchebag that was tryin’ to blow it up!” Rocket said.

“No need to be so harsh,” Loki drawled.

“Guys,” Peter tried, “can we please get back on track?” Who knew leading a team like this was like herding cats? Maybe Peter should write his memoirs about this… hmm. That was a thought for a later time. 

“Yes,” Gamora said with a touch of force. “Are you sure?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Peter asked, confused. What on earth could Gamora be worried abou-

“Loki and Nebula.”

Oh. Oh.

“Hmm, did you mention us, Sister?’ Loki asked, looking up from the game he and Nebula had just been playing with some daggers. It was the kind where you stabbed between your fingers extremely quickly, except for some reason the pair had decided to toss in a bit of juggling, switching daggers between them periodically by throwing them at each other.

“Loki, you’re a wanted man.”

“Well that’s good to hear,” Loki drawled, turning back to his game.

Nebula tossed her dagger at Loki. “She means we have bounties on our heads.”

“Oh, I know,” Loki said, switching hands in the blink of an eye. “It’s just nice to hear I’m worth something.”

“I’m serious,” Gamora said.

“And so am I!”

“Gamora, it's fine,” Peter interjected. “I mean, come on. That whole thing with Ronan was like four months ago. They can’t still want to arrest them.”

*****

“You both are under arrest.”

Peter stared at the large group of Nova Corp soldiers as they quickly enshrouded his newest crew members with a sinking feeling in his chest. They weren’t in any danger – at least, he didn’t think so. They were going somewhat quietly, looking for all the world like they’d be out of the situation by the end of the day.

As Peter felt the cold hard stare of Gamora on his back, he decided that he was pretty darn motivated.

Loki and Nebula were led away from the port where the Benatar had been parked, disappearing from sight. Replacing them was none other than Rhomann Dey, who had come with the soldiers after somehow getting the intel that a couple former children of Thanos were here.

“Really, Quill?” Dey asked him before he followed the group. “Those two? What were you thinking?”

Peter swallowed. “Yeah, here’s the thing – they really aren’t all that dangerous!”

“They both have a combined number of ninety-seven infractions, almost all of which are violent crimes.”

“True,” Peter cringed, “but they’ve changed.”

Dey shook his head. “Bring it up with someone higher up, Quill, I’m not in charge here.”

*****

“I’m not losing them again.” Gamora growled at him, her hand on her sword. “I need my siblings back.”

Peter swallowed heavily. The look that Gamroa was giving him… well, it sure was motivating. “Look, Nova Prime likes us! I’m sure I can work something out.”

“A brilliant plan.” Gamora deadpanned. “Just like coming to Xandar, the heart of the Nova Empire, who put the bounties on Loki and Nebula’s heads.”

“And now I’ll get them off,” Peter countered, before blinking. “Poor wording.”

“Face it Quill, you ain’t gonna win here,” Rocket said. Peter glanced over at him to see that he was fiddling with some scraps of a grenade. Quickly working them over in his hands, not stopping the fidgeting for a second.

“Gamora,” Peter tried again. “Come on, we can get them pardoned! Let’s just go talk to Nova Prime, and we can-”

“I’m not sitting through another of your plans,” Gamora scoffed and turned on her heel before stomping out of the room. Her steps echoed down the hallway towards their room. ( Her room. There was no way Peter was gonna be sleeping there tonight.)

The room was quiet for a long moment, before Rocket finally set down his project and stood up. “I’m not gettin’ in the middle o’ this. Come on, Groot.”

Peter blinked at their departure, heading around and down a different hallway.

“Alright then,” he said, turning to his remaining crew, “Mantis, Drax – how politically savvy are you guys?”

*****

As soon as Peter left the ship, accompanied by Mantis and Drax, Gamora stood up from her place by the window and glanced around her room. She grabbed a small bag, and darted around the space as she tossed items into it, gathering all that she would need.

When she was satisfied with what she had, Gamora turned and exited the room, walking down the hall until she came 

“Get up.” She said, walking past Rocket, who was sitting on the steps leading up to the upper deck.

“What?” Rocket asked, leaping down to the floor. Beside him, Groot hopped down as well. The tree didn’t ask any questions, opting instead to begin to follow Gamora across the room toward the exit.

Gamora paused in the opening leading to the loading bay. She hiked the bag on her shoulder and looked between Groot (who had puffed up his chest and crossed his arms determinedly) and Rocket, whose hands were twitching in barely concealed anticipation. Despite his confusion, Gamora was well aware that Rocket knew what was up.

She raised an eyebrow. “You’ve broken out of twenty-three prisons, right?”

Rocket got a proud glint in his eye. “That’s right.”

Gamora smirked, feeling a bit like Loki at that moment. 

“How do you feel about breaking into one?”

*****

There was a time, Peter thought, that he would have been utterly thrilled by the idea of listening to alien elevator music in an alien elevator. Unfortunately, that time had long passed, wiped away by the harsh brush of reality.

It turns out that elevator music – whether alien or not – universally sucked.

“This does not sound like your playlist,” Mantis said, a confused look on her face.

“No crap,” Peter grumbled. 

“I think it sounds much the same,” Drax remarked, and Peter and Mantis both gave him a look that asked if he were crazy.

“What?” Drax asked, affronted, “they both have a beat.”

“But they’re-”

Peter was cut off at the very beginning of his argument by the dinging of the elevator. The doors opened into a large waiting room, decorated in the typical Xandarian fashion (at least, to Peter it looked normal.). There were rows of seating available, and one large desk at which sat a woman who was most likely a secretary. She wore a navy-blue suit, which was a striking contrast to her pink skin and hair.

“Alright guys,” Peter said, stepping out of the elevator, “Let me do the talking, okay?”

*****

“They weren’t sent to the Kiln-”

“Poor Nova Corps lost faith after I  was through with it.”

Gamora gave Rocket an unimpressed look out of the corner of her eye as they walked down the sidewalk. Groot was on Rocket’s shoulder, grinning happily as he bounced along.

“Am I wrong , though?” Rocket asked, and Gamroa had to admit that he wasn’t necessarily.

“We broke out together.”

“Yeah, well, this one is gonna be way easier. It doesn’t even come close to the Kiln’s security.”

“I am Groot,” Groot remarked.

“Yeah,” Rocket agreed, “the food is probably worse.”

“Loki’s going to be pissed,” Gamora said.

“You think he isn’t already,” Rocket said incredulously.

Gamora smiled without much humor behind it. “Oh he is. But we haven’t heard whether there’s been a sudden increase in guard fatalities, so we’re safe for now.” And with that, she sped up her pace enough to gain some distance on her two team members, determined to get to the prison as quickly as possible.

“I am Groot.”

“Yeah,” Gamora heard Rocket remark to Groot behind her. “They are scary.”

*****

“How much longer will it be?” Peter asked again, leaning on the secretary’s  – whose name, he had learned, was Duja Kay – desk.

Duja looked up from her papers and raised an eyebrow. “As I’ve said countless times before this, I’m not sure. Nova Prime has an incredibly busy schedule.”

“But we’re-”

“The Guardians of the Galaxy. I know.”

Darn. Seventh try, and that line still didn’t work.

“It’s really important,” Peter began.

“And my time is precious.” she gestured back to the seating area. “Take a seat, Mr. Quill. I’ll alert you when you can head up.”

Peter sighed in defeat and turned around to where Drax and Mantis were sitting, reading magazines. “It’s going to be a bit longer, guys.” he muttered, and sat down beside them.

Wordlessly, Mantis passed him his own magazine.

*****

“Watch closely, Groot,” Rocket said as he held up the device to the metal plate covering the ventilation system. “It’s very important you hold the laser at the right angle.”

“Are you almost done?” Gamora asked, feeling impatient. She wasn’t fidgeting – no, instead she had gone as still as an immovable stone. But that didn’t defeat the fact that Rocket should hurry up.

“Another key step in a propper Prison break-in is that all team members are quiet and let the master work .” Rocket said pointedly before activating the laser and began to carve around the edge of the large square, creating an opening.

CLANG!

The metal fell backwards with a loud noise. Gamora’s muscles tightened in anticipation.

“Relax,” Rocket said as he pulled out a coolant gun and set to work lowering the glowing hot edges of the entrance down to a manageable temperature. “We’re good.”

“I am Groot?”

“Yeah, Groot,” Rocket said, “you can go first.”

Gamora turned to look around them, searching for any hint of guards who were on their way to apprehend them. 

Nothing.

Gamora swallowed slightly before turning around and following Rocket and Groot into the prison.

*****

Peter fidgeted in his seat, tapping the rolled-up newspaper on his knee over and over, drumming a frantic rhythm. They’d been sitting here for a long time, the exact length Peter was ignorant to, as he didn’t have access to a watch.

So he was left to sit there, metaphorically twiddling his thumbs as he waited for Nova Prime to see them.

It felt like he was waiting outside the principal’s office, to be honest. And when Peter began his life in space, he’d thought he’d never experience anything similar to that ever again. Of course, the pressure was even higher this time, as now he had to figure out how to convince one of the most important people in the galaxy that these two former assassins were about as dangerous as a couple of bunnies.

“They’re like killer rabbits!” Peter muttered to himself, and resisted the urge to laugh. Oh, that one was good. He’d have to remember it for later, so he could tell Gamora.

Gamora. Crap.

“She’s gonna be so mad when we get back, whether we get Loki and Nebula or not, isn’t she?” Peter asked, somewhat rhetorically.

“No!” Mantis said, setting down her magazine, “why would you think that?”

Peter shook his head. “I was harsh, and I didn’t listen to her.” He paused, frowning for a second in thought. “I… should have invited her along, shouldn’t I?”

“She would not have come,” Drax said. “But don’t worry, she will be back at the ship and be happy to see her siblings. Then you can resume your futile attempts to woo her.”

“I am not ‘attempting to woo'-”

“Ahem.”

Peter glanced up, his gaze along with those of Mantis and Drax, zeroing in on a new woman, dressed in the same uniform as Duja, standing at the entrance to another hallway.

“Uh… yes?” Peter asked.

“Nova Prime will see you now.”

*****

“They're in the cell at the end of this hall,” Rocket pointed after he leapt down from the vent. Gamora and Groot followed him quickly, and they made their way down the hallway until they came to a door barring their passage.

Wordlessly, Rocket set out to work on the lock. A few seconds later it dinged and swung open.

Move, move, Gamora thought urgently as Rocket stood up. They were so close! They were-

They were there.

Gamora couldn’t help the smile that blossomed on her face as she caught sight of Loki and Nebula, sitting in a cell together playing a game of cards (that Loki most likely was not supposed to have smuggled in there) at a short table.

There was a wall of glass separating them, edged with metal and a mechanical lock, but that did nothing to dampen her relief.

Loki and Nebula looked up from their game at their entrance, and grew twin smirks on their faces.

Gmaora put her hand on her hip as her brother stood up and tilted his head.

“What took you so long?” 

*****

Nova Prime raised a singular eyebrow at Peter, looking entirely unimpressed. “They’re criminals.”

“But they're a part of our crew!” Peter countered. “This is all one big mistake – shouldn’t they get their records wiped too?

“You saved the galaxy.”

“Nebula helped at one point!” Peter countered. Of course, the second time was because she had no choice, and it didn’t really have anything to do with the Nova Empire.

Nova Prime gave him a dubious look. “And Loki?

Peter paused, momentarily stumped. He glanced back at Mantis and Drax, who were flanking him a few feet away, “So… he’s joined us on missions since then.”

“Starlord, they committed heinous crimes against our people-”

“You better say something smart.” Drax muttered under his breath, and when Peter looked back again, he saw that Mantis was frantically nodding her head.

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. If Gamora was mad now, Peter didn’t even want to think about how furious she would be if he came back without her siblings.

“Wait!” Peter said, holding up his hands as Nova Prime began to turn away. “You don’t have the whole story.”

She turned, a curious look on her face, and folding her hands in front of her. “Yes?” she asked.

If there is anything good in this world, please please let Gamora protect me from getting eviscerated for what I’m about to say next.

Peter swallowed heavily, then looked the woman before him in the eye, and said plainly: “They’re insane.”

She blinked. “I’m sorry, what?”

But when Peter committed to something, there was no way he was gonna back down. “Just think about it,” he said, “Thanos was clearly an unhealthy influence! They’re mentally unstable!”

Nova Prime frowned. “So then I can have them moved to a mental health establi-

“Oh come on. Everyone knows the best place for crazy people is with other crazy people!”

“Mr. Quill-”

“You do agree they’re insane?” Peter asked.

Drax took that opportunity to answer, in Nova Prime’s silence. “Oh yes, they are seriously messed up.”

“Nebula threatened to eat my toes!” Mantis said, out of breath.

Peter snapped his fingers at them, nodding with all the confidence he had in himself. “Really, Nova Prime. They need help. And… Gamora is their sister. We can help them.”

She raised an eyebrow, ”You want to… reform them?”

Peter grinned. Oh yeah, he was close. “Think about it this way – do you want to deal with two bloodthirsty former children of Thanos, or do you want us to?”

Nova Prime was silent as she stared Peter down, then glanced at Drax and Mantis. After a moment, she pursed her lips.

“Come with me.” 

*****

Peter didn’t think he would ever be able to properly articulate just how relieved he was when the leader of the Nova Corps led them out of her office and on their way to let go two criminals with rap sheets longer than a Star Wars opening text crawl. 

Gamora was so gonna forgive him after this.

“You wouldn’t believe how happy Gamora is gonna be to get her siblings back.” Peter rambled as he tried to stay in step with Nova Prime. “They’ve all been getting closer after they reunited. And it’s really great for them, all three of them.” 

“I am… glad.” Nova Prime began. “As long as it doesn’t end up in a genocide.”

“Naw, you’re all good with that! I think Loki would get annoyed if he had to clean up the blood from his clothes. Oh! Did I mention to you what he did to my leathers, ‘cause this story is really -”

“I want to ask Loki something when we get there.” Nova Prime cut him off. 

“Oh, uh, yeah. I think he’d be cool with that.”

“Good,” Nova Prime said, and they lapsed into silence until they turned a corner, not too far from where she had said Loki and Nebula were being held.”

They were almost to the cell block when the alarm went off.

“Oh no,” Peter muttered. “Gamora… you didn’t.”

*****

They raced into the area, Nova Prime trailing behind them by a few feet, to find Gamora, Rocket, and Groot breaking Loki and Nebula out of their cell.

For a second, everyone froze in place.

Then, before Rocket could even turn off his welding torch, Peter put his hands on his hips.

“Really, guys?  What are you doing here?”

“Really, Quill?” Rocket countered. “I haven’t had a chance to use this thing in forever! This was my chance!”

“So glad our arrest was convenient,” Loki muttered.

Peter pointed at him. “You be quiet, I just got you pardoned!”

“Not me?” Nebula asked in a deadpan. “Oh dear.”

“It’s because she’s blue, isn’t it?” Loki asked. “That’s horrible.”

“No, it's because I have more confirmed kills.”

“I highly doubt that.”

“Be quiet, both of you!” Gamora snapped.

“Yeah, Gamora, you wanna talk?” Peter asked. “What are you doing here?! Why aren’t you back at the ship waiting for me?”

Gamora’s eyes flashed, and a tiny part of Peter went Oh shi-

“How dare you.” Gamora growled. “You knew exactly how I felt. I wasn’t going to just let them rot here-”

“Oh yes, my complexion is rather adverse to that.” Loki said serenely, and Nebula scowled at him.

“And you expected me to just sit on the ship and wait to see whether you got them out, or somehow made it worse- ”

“We played cards,” Nebula said, “there’s nothing worse.”

“You could have been executed ,” Gamora retorted.

“Ah, the sweet release of death,” Loki sighed. “That is something to long for.”

“Is he serious? Are you serious?” Peter demanded. He didn’t think Loki was serious but then again how was he supposed to kno-

“It didn’t stick last time, so nothing to worry about.”

“We’re having a conversation later,” Peter and Gamora said at once. They turned slowly and looked at each other.

Peter blinked, turning his gaze to Gamora. She was looking at him too. They held each other’s eyes for a long moment, before Gamora softened ever so slightly. Peter grinned right back.

“I got them pardoned.”

“Thank you.”

Hey, maybe they’d be alright after all.

“Ahem.”

Everyone in the room turned to look at Nova Prime, who herself looked as if she needed a rather long nap.

“You can go now,” Nova Prime said crisply, though Peter had to admit that it sounded a lot more along the lines of a desperate “please go.”

He grinned. “All right Guardians, let’s go home.”

*****

Loki was pleasantly surprised with how the day had gone, if he were being honest. Not only did Gamora come to break him out of prison, but it turned out that Quill had gone and gotten them exonerated to boot! (Loki resolved himself to ask the Terran how he had done so – Loki was rather curious.)

Gamora grinned at them, before jutting her jaw towards the exit. “Come on.”

Loki trailed behind the group, looking over them one by one. Quill, leading the way with confidence. Drax walked with him, exchanging conversation with Mantis as she bounced happily. Gamora and Nebula nodded to each other before Gamora began to sidle up to Quill and whisper something in his ear. Rocket, with Groot leaping off of his shoulder, debating whether breaking into a prison was more fun than breaking out of one.

They were a ragtag bunch, but Loki didn’t mind. He, too, had nowhere else to go. A past which he would not revisit.

“Loki Odinson.”

Loki froze, his heart jumping into a sprint at those two small words, thumping against his chest in a rapidly fearful tantrum. Trapped in there.

“How strange it is, to see an Asgardian – and one of the favored princes at that – working for Thanos. As a member of the Black Order.”

Loki swallowed, before turning to Nova Prime slowly. 

“Not anymore. I’m not… him anymore.”

“Then who are you?” she asked slowly. 

She wanted to know – but Loki wanted the answer more. He felt empty as he tilted his head. “I’m not sure.”

She gave him an appraising look. “How did it happen?”

Loki paused, before he felt his gaze being drawn at the team heading down the hallway, their positions different from before. Mantis was bouncing along in between Groot and Rocket. Gamora and Quill’s hands dangled precariously close to each other as they walked. Drax was asking Nebula some question, though they were too far away for him to make out the exact words.

He looked back to Nova Prime, and smiled humorlessly, self-deprecatingly.

“When one falls, one finds it rather hard to claw their way back up again.”

Loki turned, and walked away.

*****

“So how did you get us a pardon?” Loki asked curiously from where he sipped water at the table.

Peter shrugged as he took a bite of the dinner Drax had made. “Oh, I used the insanity defense and promised Nova Prime we’d reform you both.”

There was a large shattering noise as the glass in Loki’s hands broke from his clenched fist.

“You what?” Nebula demanded.

Chapter Text

“The whole language is boiled down into three words, however, once you understand the structure, it all becomes much easier to manage,” Loki said, gesturing to the screen upon which was written ‘I AM GROOT’.

He glanced out across his class, mildly surprised to find that they were taking the lesson rather seriously. Everyone was in various degrees of taking notes, despite Loki’s previously held belief that they would completely disengage from learning.

Then again, Loki supposed he shouldn’t really be surprised. After all, it was the group who brought up learning how to speak Groot just the day before. After a week of nothing interesting happening after leaving Xandar, perhaps even a class was enough to pull them from their boredom.

“For instance,” Loki began again, crossing his hands before him, “the first letter translates to the subject of the sentence, and the nouns. The second is the action; verbs, adverbs, adjectives, and so on. And the final word encapsulates the tense.”

Loki gestured to each word as he spoke, using his hands to add to his words. So far, no one looked too lost.

“But what if he’s saying one word?” Mantis asked, raising her hand.

Loki raised an eyebrow. “As in literally speaking only one word, or meaning one word?”

“The second.” She frowned. “Though, I’ve never heard Groot say only one word. He does that?”

Loki nodded. “To answer your first question – the implications are in the other parts of the sentence. For instance, if you were to ask Groot to pass something, and he says ‘no’, the ‘I’ will imply you, to which he is speaking, the ‘am’ will actually mean ‘no’, and ‘Groot’ will imply he means no in the future tense, as he will not.

"As for your other question – incomplete sentences aren’t common, as when he were to trail off in meaning, the sentence is typically completed. It is his tone that changes the translation.”

Loki clapped his hands together. “And that brings me to a similarity between our languages – tone. As I am sure you have noticed, sarcasm translates quite well. As do anger and sadness and others of the like.” He folded his hands in front of himself once more, feeling quite satisfied with himself. It felt nice – it felt amazing – to talk like this. To have others interested in learning what he knew. He had… had wanted this for a long time, Loki found himself admitting. In another life, when all was different.

But he was here now, and this small act of teaching had stirred something inside of him.

It had been a week since that conversation (if it could be called that) with Nova Prime, and the question she asked still haunted him. Yet this stirring inside of him.…

“Any questions?” Loki asked his class. And himself.

*****

“Hey, Loki!”

Loki turned around to see Quill approach him, coming up the stairs to the upper deck where Loki was looking out at the stars.

Loki raised an eyebrow, “Yes, Quill.?”

Quill looked contemplative for a moment as he came fully into the room and walked closer to Loki. “I was wondering something.”

“Oh?” Loki asked, vaguely interested. “It doesn’t have anything to do with last week’s lesson, does it?”

“Nope,” the captain said, “though I’m looking forward to the next one.”

“Oh?” Loki asked again. He… hadn’t quite been expecting that. That’s nice, he thought in the back of his mind, to be liked.

“Yeah,” he replied. “But, my question.”

“It would be a shame if you forgot to ask.”

“Uhuh. So, how many Terran movies have you seen?”

Loki froze. Oh no, he did not want to have this conversation. He remembered all too well how Midgardians got in regards to their entertainment. And though he had begrudgingly begun to enjoy the company of the crew on board – even Quill – the idea of being dragged into an hours-long conversation about such topics was one akin to being flayed alive. And he had the unfortunate luck to experience the latter.

“Quill, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah you do – you’ve seen Star Wars.”

Loki pursed his lips. “It was not my idea.”

“What?” Quill asked.

Loki rolled his eyes. “Yes, fine, I saw the space movies. But I don’t see why you’re so excited.”

“Which was your favorite?”

Loki sighed, realizing that he should probably just tell Quill what he wanted to hear so he could end this conversation as soon as possible. “The first. Though I'll take anything but the prequels; Jar-Jar Binks is an idiot."

Quill’s eyes grew so large, Loki was passively worried whether he was alright or not.

“There… are prequels?” the Midgardian asked, barely above a whisper.

It was at that moment that Loki realized he had screwed up. So then, as Quill began to quite literally vibrate in excitement he did what any sane person would do – ran.

Or, rather, teleported. Loki was gone in a blink of an eye, a flash of green in his wake. The last sight he had seen before appearing in his and Nebula’s room was Quill, with his mouth open, about to ask countless questions.

*****

“Are you gonna leave soon?” Nebula asked, staring at Loki, who was sprawled out on his bunk.

Loki raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, Sister, I have no idea what in the world you could possibly be talking about.”

Nebula scowled at him. “You’ve been avoiding Quill for a week.”

“And this is you telling me you despise my company?”

Nebula blinked, and her scowl was gone. “Of course not,” she muttered, before tossing a bag at him.

Loki caught it easily, and opened it up to find cloth of two colors – an emerald green and a rich purple.

“What’s this?” he asked slowly, inspecting the cloth with curious eyes.

Nebula hefted the other bag she was carrying on her shoulder. “Sheets. I have the pillows here. And blankets.”

A smile crawled its way out of Loki’s heart and onto his face. “You went shopping without me?”

His sister shrugged. “You wouldn’t leave the ship.”

Lokki nodded, once, understanding what Nebula was saying – or asking, really.

“I’ll go with you next time.”

She gave him a look. “good.”

They set to work on making their beds after that. Loki began tucking in the sheets, spreading the fabric over the thin mattress with care. He placed the pillow down, and folded the emerald green blanket before placing it at the foot of the bunk. His heart warmed at the color, and he glanced at Nebula. She finished up putting together the top bunk and returned his glance, sensing his eyes on her.

Nebula frowned at his look. “It’s just bed stuff.”

“Yes,” Loki acknowledged. “But it is also a… first step.”

*****

“Ya got it all wrong.”

Loki looked up from his lesson notes with a raised eyebrow. “I’m sorry?” he asked thinly.

Rocket rolled his eyes. “That’s the stiff way – honestly, no one really talks like that.”

“But the grammar,” Loki began to argue.

“Isn’t how Groot speaks. Right Groot?”

Groot looked up from coloring. “I am Groot.” Or, to Loki’s chagrin, “he’s right.”

Loki sighed heavily, and looked at Rocket. He… hadn’t been quite happy with Loki teaching the lessons on Groot’s language for the past month. Which was only natural, Loki had to admit, as the rabbit had been the one to try originally and apparently had known the flora colossus for the longest.

There was something in his eyes, though, that made Loki pause for a split second more than he would have before.

“Is there… anything else that I have been incorrect in?” Loki asked slowly.

Rocket grinned. “Oh boy, have you ever.”

*****

The wind whistled through the trees, and Loki had to admit that it was rather peaceful. He was sitting on a rock, one of the naturally flat formations amongst the woods of the planet they had stopped on while waiting on jobs. It had been almost two months since their last job, and a little over five weeks since the incident on Xandar, and the break was enjoyable.

Loki wasn’t the only Guardian enjoying the planet – Drax had gone off somewhere, as had Gamora and Quill. The latter went as a pair (Loki honestly wondered whether they were trying to be subtle or not.). Mantis was on top of the Benatar, lying stretched out in the sun.

The others were left seated in the soft grass of the clearing, enjoying the light breeze. Rocket had remarked at one point how the air helped make his explosives work better, and while Loki was dubious of such a claim, he had to admit that the air flow certainly helped clear his head.

He could… think, there in the sun. But he didn’t quite want to yet. Though a part of him shined at knowing it was an option.

Instead, he busied himself watching Groot and Nebula. 

As much as Loki would have thought that they were destined to eternal animosity, he was not quite surprised to see them bonding. It was, after all, over their shared desire for violence.

It had been a while ago that Nebula had mentioned teaching Groot how to make traps to capture the small tree-bound rodents, but apparently she had not forgotten, as that was exactly what they were doing at that moment.

They had gathered various string and wire and twigs and had been working together for the past hour, going through multiple variations of traps that vaguely reminded Loki of when he had gone hunting, years ago.

He paused at that thought – at that memory. Or, rather, his thoughts of it. They were not negative, like he had expected. But, instead… neutral.

He shook himself out of it before he could delve much further into contemplation, a part of him telling himself he did not want to open up all that at the moment. He blinked and looked back to his sister and her pupil.

“I am Groot?” Groot asked, pointing to the trap.

“Yes,” Nebula answered absentmindedly, “it does leave the small beasts dangling in terror.”

She froze.

“I… understood that.”

Loki frowned. “What, Sister?”

“The tree. I understood him.”

Loki grinned. 

*****

“I am Groot.”

“Nope, didn’t get that.”

“I am Groot?”

“Oh!” Quill pointed at Groot. “You’re asking why Nebula is grumpy today!”

“I am Groot!”

“He wasn’t, Quill.”

“Well, it isn’t because of me, right?”

“You called us insane. I’m still mad.”

“Come on — that was six weeks ago!”

“Loki, look,” Nebula drawled, “he can count standard time.”

“A feat that must cause his enemies to tremble,” Loki smirked, meeting Nebula’s eyes.

“You guys are mean. Gamora — tell them they’re mean.”

“Do you want to keep your toes?”

“Depends — do you like my toes?”

“Oh my go-” Nebula put a hand over her mouth, muffling her groan at Quill’s words.

“You know, I’m actually half god. So Nebula’s not that far off.” Quill remarked, grinning as he glanced at Loki. The others didn’t seem surprised at the claim, so he assumed that it was some reference to before he joined, hence why Quill would look to him.

Loki raised an eyebrow at the captain, “And I’m fully god.”

“Wait, what?”

Loki froze for a second, realizing what he just said. Oh no. No, no, no. Why had he said that? The joking and ease that had slowly taken over as he spent more time with his fellow Guardians had gone too far, eased him too much. 

Rocket pointed at him, mouth agape. “You’re Loki,” he said.

“Of course he is Loki,” Drax said. “And you’re Rocket.”

“No,” Rocket said, “you’re the Loki.”

Loki leaned back in his chair, attempting to cover his discomfort with a mask of ease. From the looks Gamora and Nebula were giving him, it wasn’t quite working. 

“What are you talking about, Rocket?” Quill asked.

“He’s an Asgardian!

“Holy crap – like the Norse Gods?” Quill demanded, realization. taking over his features. And Loki sighed heavily. “They’re – you’re real ?”

“I certainly feel real,” Loki remarked. 

“So, like, like Thor, and Odin, and all the Valke-”

“Yes.” Loki clipped out, stiff. This – this was exactly what he didn’t want to talk about.

Suddenly a presence was at his shoulder, and Loki didn’t need to look over to know it was Gamora. 

“Peter, the Nine Realms are a system of planets.”

“They’re myths on Earth,” Quill said.

“That’s because Midgard is one of the Nine,” Loki said, regaining a tiny touch of composure with Gamora by his side. 

There was a moment of silence, Quill seemingly trying to take in all the new information.

“You’re… actually a Norse god?” He asked slowly.

“I am the god of chaos and mischief,” Loki said, the words feeling natural on his tongue. And, oh, that was interesting.

“Who else knows?” Mantis asked. “Rocket told me people knew who you are, before.”

Loki shook his head. “No, they only know of Thanos’ children. And I haven’t… been with Asgard 

“It has been six weeks,” Loki said, “I highly doubt that if she had told anyone, we wouldn’t have heard about it by now.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t sound like something Nova Prime would do,” Quill said, “she tends to like to stay out of our business.”

“Plus, Asgard is rather… remote,” Gamora began. “They don’t really interact with other systems.”

“So does that mean we could turn you in and get a big reward?” Rocket asked, and Loki couldn’t breathe.

“Not funny, Fox,” Nebula snarled, and Loki blinked when he noticed that she had stationed herself on his other side, across from Gamora.

Oh, Loki thought, that’s nice.

“Relax, Nebula. Not like I was actually thinking about it,” Rocket rolled his eyes. Then his gaze found Loki’s, and he grinned. It wasn’t a mean grin, but one that spoke more of camaraderie.

“I mean, come on – you’re a Guardian.”

Chapter Text

Loki awoke with a start, suddenly aware of a presence in his room which should not be there. 

Nebula was there in the bunk above his, breathing softly. There was no other noise in the room, no creaking of floors or whispers of a person moving around objects. But they were still there. Loki felt this new heartbeat when he strained his ears. 

“Pst – Loki.”

Loki was out of his sheets and turned to the intruder with a blade in his head in less than a second. Though he froze at the sight of the one who stood before him, barely an inch away from his weapon.

“Relax,” Rocket hissed, and Loki closed his eyes.

He took a deep breath, sighing out through his nose, before he deigned to open his eyes and look at Rocket through the darkness.

“Yes?” Loki asked quietly, realizing that they probably shouldn’t wake Nebula at what was clearly the middle of the night. She tended to get rather violent when met with a night of too-little sleep.

“Hey, did you mean what you said about being god of mischief and all that?”

Loki frowned at the question. “Yes.” Rocket was the one to recognize him that night. It had been a while already, almost a standard month, and the subject had not been brought up again. (He suspected Gamora had something to do with that, though his sister would strongly deny any meddling if he were to pursue such a line of questioning as one he wanted to.)

Even in the little light of Loki’s room, he could still see Rocket grin. “Great! I got some chaos we need to cause.”

Suddenly, any sleep that had still been desperately clinging to Loki’s mind was brushed away with a disinterested hand. To replace it, burgeoning curiosity lit up his thoughts. 

“Oh?” 

“Yeah,” Rocket began, before glancing upwards toward Nebula, who had shifted in her sleep. 

Loki sighed and flicked his wrist. For the briefest of moments, a green bubble formed itself around Rocket and Loki. Though it was gone a moment later.

At Rocket’s look, Loki waved his hand, this time the only thing it did was display Loki’s interest. “Go on. She won’t hear anything you say.”

Rocket grinned. “See, it’s this kind of ingenuity I think would do great for my mission.”

“And what is that? Or did you wake me up in the middle of the night purely because you wanted to get stabbed?”

“Basically, I saw this really interesting place near the port where we're parked at. It's a shop, you see. A weapons shop.” Rocket’s eyes grew dreamy for a moment, and Loki knew the feeling, “And oh, it had a huge blaster – right there displayed in the center! And ya know… it had a wide arrangement of knives.” he said that last part with a suggestive grin.

Loki considered Rocket for a moment, despite already knowing how he was going to reply. After a few seconds, he smirked. 

“Well, you certainly know how to get on my good side.”

*****

It took a minute, but there they were, right outside of the Benatar, about to go on their journey to the shop Rocket had discovered. Loki glanced back at the ship, searching for movement or even a breath of sound.

All was still.

“Are we clear?” Rocket asked in a hushed tone.

Loki turned back, and felt a buzz in his veins. “Yes. Lead the way, Rocket. I’m very interested in the place you’ve been describing to me.”

“Oh boy are you gonna like it!” Rocket began as they started to walk out of the area where many other ships were parked, and down a long walkway leading into the city. “I saw it with Quill, but we didn’t have time to stop in.”

Loki nodded. “Gamora told him to stay on schedule, didn’t she?”

Rocket groaned. “And he listens to her!”

“Gamora can be rather persuasive, to be fair,” Loki said.

“Naw, it’s ‘cause they’re together.”

Loki got a twinkle in his eyes. “Oh, haven’t you heard? It’s an unspoken thing.”

“She said it to you too?!” Rocket exclaimed, “what, is that a line they’re required to use or something?”

“I will admit I am uncertain – they seem rather besotted with each other, though.”

Rocket shivered in an exaggerated fashion, and Loki felt tempted to join him. “And Gamora’s even more strict now.”

Loki frowned. “No, she’s not strict.”

“A party-pooper.”

“No.”

“She thinks we’re idiots.”

“I will concede on that point,” Loki smirked, “but Gamora is hardly the most level headed person herself.”

“Then how do you explain why she doesn’t let us have fun?”

Loki kept on walking for a few minutes, silent as his thoughts warred with each other. Rocket didn’t say anything either, allowing his question to hang between them.

“My sister is… protective.” Loki said at last. “She is holding on, in a way. Clutching what is around her close so it doesn’t leave.”

Rocket scoffed. “We’re not gonna leave.”

“She knows that, I think,” Loki replied. “Just wait and see – she’ll loosen up. Once she gets comfortable, she’ll be more exasperated than worried.”

“How do you know?” Rocket asked.

Loki quirked his lip just a touch – so barely raised that it was almost invisible.

“I know my sister.”

*****

“Oh Norns have mercy – you were right.”

Rocket grinned as he let the door (with a newly broken lock, courtesy him) slide closed behind them. “I know, right?”

“Don’t we have enough money to pay for these?”

“You’re seriously asking that?”

“I’m just curious.”

“Well then, yeah. But where’s the fun in that?”

“Where is the fun indeed?” Loki remarked slowly. 

Rocket stroked one of the gund on the wall, a spark in his eye that sent a hum of excitement through Loki. 

“Hey, speaking of fun.…”

*****

“This was a horrible idea!” Loki yelled as he dodged a pair of pedestrians and sent a glare Rocket’s way.

Rocket, who had a pack of weaponry on his back that was larger than he was, scoffed. “You coulda said no!”

“That is beside the point.”

“Look, when someone hands you a grenade, you don’t have to immediately use it!”

“That way!”

Rocket and Loki cursed in unison at the voice of the port’s enforcement squad, who seemed nearer and nearer to catching them.

The pair ducked under some kind of obstruction to avoid getting toppled over, their surroundings moving by at far too great a speed as to be recognized.

Loki swept around a corner, Rocket right on his heels, when he felt a manic laugh bubble up from deep in his chest. He let it out, cackling as he leapt up a divider at the end of the alley, turning only to offer a hand to Rocket.

They met each other’s eyes, and Rocket began to laugh as well. They kept on laughing as they weaved through buildings and passersby, leaping through openings and twisting down paths.

They kept on laughing as they went down the walkway leading to where their ship was parked, and they kept on laughing as their surroundings were replaced with the myriad of ships that were stored there.

They stopped laughing, however, when they saw their ship. And who was there. 

They froze at the sight of Quill, standing on the ramp of the Benatar, his hands on his hips and a confused look on his face.

A single beat of each of their hearts was all it took before they were running again, sprinting past Quill and up into their ship.

“Go, go, go!” Rocket yelled.

“We have to get out of here!” Loki added, “move, Quill!”

“What the-” Quill was following them, “what’s going on?”

Fortunately for Rocket and Loki, neither was forced to answer their captain in that instant, as that was when the loud voice announced from outside the ship: “RELEASE THE FUGITIVES AND YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED!”

Quill just sighed. “Up and at'em guys!”

Rocket was already up in the cockpit, Loki right behind him and strapped into his seat. Rocket was fiddling with the controls, flipping switches and furiously tapping at the screens before him. “Come on, come on,” he muttered.

“What’s going on?” 

“Sit, Sister,” Loki said in lieu of a response. Nebula, though she seemed bothered, sat down anyway.

 Drax followed directly afterward, dragging a barely-conscious Mantis alongside him. He went to set her down in her chair, but was jostled to the side as Rocket brought the ship up.

“What are you doing with my ship?!” Quill demanded as he stomped into the room along with Gamora and Groot.

“Flying it!” Rocket countered.

“Where!?”

A large BOOM rocket through the ship, tossing them to the side.

“Away from that!” Rocket yelled back. He fiddled some more, bringing the ship up and sending them shooting suddenly down the tunnel and out into open air.

“And you better sit down now, ‘cause we need to go!”

*****

“What. Were. You. Thinking?” Gamora demanded three hours, two jumpoints, and one very long video call later.

“That keeping up with our skills is a valuable pastime,” Loki said easily, playing with the new knife he’d gotten – the cobalt blue one, with gold inlay.

“And your skills include getting banned from a major port with a warning that if you ever return, you’ll be shot on sight?”

Rocket hefted the gun in his arms, which really was almost twice his size. “They couldn’t handle our awesomeness.”

Chapter Text

“Another successful mission, guys,” Quill said with a grin on his face as he sat down at the table. “How are we feeling?”

“Like you could have told us the Ghringzians were offended by the color blue,” Nebula spat, sitting down herself and crossing her arms.

“Sister, please,” Loki attempted to appease her, “we all know you are a very dashing indigo.” 

Nebula leveled her stare at him. He didn’t back down, much to her dismay

“Colors, schmolors. We got the loot!”

“He’s right,” Drax said, nodding to Rocket. “We will have many more credits, now.”

Nebula narrowed her eyes in a manner that Loki had started to refer to as her ‘pout’. Though that was entirely inaccurate. It was her thinking face. She was thinking, pondering, as she glanced at Loki.

He raised his eyebrows at her, which she had come to know meant ‘what are you thinking?’

Nebula crinkled her eyes and tilted her head. ‘I have a plan.’

A light roll of eyes in response translated to ‘I can tell.’

‘We should do something together. With the money.’ Nebula conveyed, or attempted to. Their silent conversations had refined, over the months of working together, but they weren’t perfect. Nebula wasn’t quite sure if they ever would. But for now, she savored their own secret language.

“Well, Nebula and I must be off.” Loki announced in lieu of a response.

“Why?” Gamora asked, head whipping over and away from Mantis, who was attempting to get Gamora to let her braid her hair.

Loki grinned, and what he said next had Nebula smiling as well. “We’re going shopping.”

*****

“They compliment each other, don’t they?” Loki nodded toward their room, spread out before the pair of them, when Nebula gave him a questioning look. “The colors, I mean.”

“Purple and green,” Nebula deadpanned, “how original.”

“It is perfectly alright to have favorite colors, Sister. And to decorate your room as such.”

“We’ve grown predictable.”

“It is a bedroom.”

Nebula huffed a puff of air out of her nose and glanced away. She moved away from the door, trailing her fingers first from the wall to the left, around and onto the bunk beds, past the wall of shelving, and around to the small seating area they had set up, with a pair of low-set chairs (bolted into the floor, of course. How could they not be when Quill and Rocket’s flying was inevitable). She turned back to Loki, right where she had started.

Loki nodded, understanding the look on Nebula’s face. “It’s real,” he whispered.

“It’s ours.”

*****

The room had developed over the months, additions being bought at markets whenever Loki and Nebula had a chance to escape together. Gamora came with them, more often  than not, but she didn’t offer more than the occasional opinion or suggestion. Overall, just the two of them had put it together.

It was complete now, a perfect blend of a rich green and deep purple. The bare metal walls had been draped with tapestries, depicting various swirling leaves and flowers which bloom across the fabric, accented with hints of gold and silver.

The same colors melted their way onto the thick rug that covered most of the floor, the only spot left uncovered was right by the door, where they could place their shoes like Loki had insisted. The rug was thick and warm and cushioning in a way that made the room feel less like a former storage closet and more like a home.

They had a pair of chairs tilted toward each other slightly and facing across the room to where the bunk beds were. Between them was a small chest with a flat top, which could also serve as a table. A lamp was set above the chest, a softer glow than that of the main light built into the ceiling, which was the only part of the room left completely unchanged from its previous state.

Across from the door, the shelves were already being filled up. Loki had started to clear out his dimensional pocket and store some of his items in the room, and onto the shelves. So far the drawers set in the bottom were filled up with both siblings’ clothes, and the space above displaying a variety of knives – the ones they had both decided were too pretty to just be kept stored away and out of sight. The space not taken up by weaponry was reserved for bits and bobbles – tools for Nebula’s cybernetics, bottles and jars, the occasional book they had found, and various other nick-nacks. Filled up, but still with room for more.

It was a good room.

*****

“I FOUND IT! EVERYBODY GET UP, I FOUND IT!”

Nebula groaned loudly as she sat up in bed and dropped to the floor. She was only semi-conscious at that moment, barely awake enough to grab a knife from under her pillow as she rose to her feet.

“What in Hel-” Loki mirrored her movements and stood beside her.

“Quill.” they both growled at once.

Apparently, they were not the only ones who had that idea, as when they stalked out of their room, all the other members of the crew were up as well and moving toward the main room.

“What is goin’ on out here?” Rocket asked, rubbing his eyes. “Why is Quill yellin’ so loud?”

“It is the middle of the night,” Mantis agreed, “he should be asleep like us.”

“It’s no time for sleep, guys!” Peter Jason Quill — soon to be Deadman — announced, looking far too awake for any good.

“I will stab him,” Nebula muttered to Loki, “don’t hold me back.”

“Like I would want to,” Loki replied.

“Peter, what are you doing?” Gamora asked blearily, coming out from the hallway. She was, to Nebula’s surprise, the last one out.

“I found it! After all these years!” Quill replied, bouncing up and down and waving a small device in his hand. Nebula thought it looked like his music device. “I was going through the songs on here,” Quill continued. And, oh, Nebula had been right. “When I found it!”

“Found what?”

“Footloose!”

A long, long silence enveloped the group.

“Is that the story where someone put sticks up people’s butts?” Gamora asked slowly.

Quill blinked. “Well, yeah, bit no. But —but it’s – this is the song! By Kenny Loggins! It went with it.”

Nebula closed her eyes for a second. Beside her, she could feel Loki vibrating with rage.

“And this couldn’t have waited until the morning?” her brother hissed beside her.

“I thought you’d be excited?”

“Just me, or everyone whom you awoke with your bellowing?”

“Well-”

“Gamora, I apologize for what I’m about to do, but I assure you that the blood will eventually come out of the floor.”

“Oooh,” Rocket grinned, “things are heating up!”

“Take this,” Nebula handed him her knife. Loki grinned in thanks.

“No!” Gamora countered. “You’re not killing Peter. He doesn’t deserve it.”

“He kinda does,” Rocket replied.

“You all need to kick off your Sunday shoes,” Quill said, nodding to himself.

Loki’s eye twitched.

“Stop,” Gamora snapped, stepping in between them. “No murder tonight.”

“What about tomorrow?” Loki asked hopefully.

“Cut loose, footloose,” Quill was humming to himself.

“Not then either.”

“Quill – talk some sense into Gamora.”

“You want me to tell her you can kill me?” Quill glanced over, giving a look to Loki that spoke of just how much of a crazy idea that was.

“Nebula, could I have some help?” Gamora asked her pleadingly, and Nebula wanted to chuckle at that – but she was cut off by a yawn. 

“I should put you out of your misery, it would be the kind thing to do.”

“I just wanted to share this with you!”

“In the middle of the night?”

“You know, I bet you haven’t even seen Footloose.”

“Oh praise the Norns, he said something intelligent. No, Quill, contrary to your belief, I have not seen every single Midgardian movie ever created. I would have gone insane.”

“You already are!”

“For entirely unrelated reasons, thank you very much!”

“Oh, now you’re thanking me?”

“It is a phrase, you utter idiot!”

“Boys, boys, you’re both pretty.” Nebula rolled her eyes, completely done with their antics. She wanted to go back to sleep, and right now, they were both preventing that from happening any time soon. Which was rather inconsiderate – after all, how was she going to plot Quill’s demise when she was yawning every few seconds. And if helping Gamora was the way to get her back to bed, then fine. She would do it.

For some reason, Drax was the one to grow offended by Nebula’s words, neither of her targets able to form a response.

“No they’re not.” He frowned heavily. “Loki is pretty. Quill is like a soft baby man. A dude.” 

Loki blinked, taken aback.

Quill looked like he might just combust on the spot, and, alright, Nebula had to admit that that was rather amusing.

Drax, nodding as if he just answered the greatest question ever added: “Pretty witch man.”

Nebula glanced at Gamora, and raised her eyebrows. Her sister quirked her lip in response. Good, Nebula thought, we’re on the same page.

“Call me that again and I shall castrate you.” Loki hissed.

“Wake me up again and I’m setting off all the bombs Rocket has stashed aorund here,” Nebula added, standing up and walking out of the room. “I’m going to bed.”

As her eyes drifted closed, her mind feeling safe cocooned in her blankets on her bunk, Nebula heard the distant cry of “Rocket has what?!”

*****

The world was bright and loud and animated.

Loki sat on the window bench, staring out of the wide pane set into the upper level of the Benatar that allowed a wide view of the space around the ship. Of the twinkling stars and distant Novas that swirled around them.

Even the stars are brighter away from him, Loki thought with a small smile. Happiness and hope abound, as Gamora says.

The sound of banging and distant conversation drifting in from the stairs leading to the main deck, reminiscent of a heated debate. Knowing the other guardians, Loki would be more surprised if it weren’t.

He cast his gaze back to the window, not a small porthole, but instead a wide view of space that seemed to stretch on before. 

The world away from Sanctuary.

He hadn’t thought it had existed, then. He had known, of course, but he hadn’t believed. But that had been so long ago, so long that it began to fade to distant memory. 

He doubted he would ever forget those years spent on Sanctuary, the wounds were still fresh – physical and mental. His magic still had not fully recovered, he still awoke in a cold sweat some nights from dreams that seemed to chase after him like a hound hunting a rabbit. But his magic was returning, and the daily pain he felt had slowed into a dull ache most days. His mind had started to block out the worst of those memories, not allowing him to subject himself to recalling them.

Healing. A small word that held so much meaning. 

The stars kept on twinkling in the distance, shining despite all that past pain. They were there, and constant. They had shined with a refusal to be extinguished. That defiance had grown, as it had grown in him, and now they were free.

There had been a time, long ago, when he had looked out at different stars and pondered a question. 

The breath from his lungs was steady. In. Out.

His heart beat on. Bu-bump. Bu-bump.

Despite his physical steadiness he had been anything but, in his mind. But Loki thought he might be now. It helped, certainly, having his sisters there. 

He didn’t know how much time passed in that room. Most likely no more than a quarter hour or so, he was never alone for very long. 

As for Sanctuary – time was strange in that place, the days melted into each other, culminating in the ever-constant cycle of pain and missions and a dull sense of hopelessness. 

There was nothing to do in all that time except count it. Count the days. The weeks. The months.

The years.

Loki brought his gaze down to his hands, which were soft and pliant in his lap. He inspected the scars on his knuckles, on his palms, on his wrists and forearms. Those scars told a story, one which he was certain was not over yet.

He had thought he would never leave Thanos, but he had. That chapter in his life was over, and he had moved on.

A year ago.

He was here now, away from Sanctuary, and he was away to stay. Escape, it turned out, had been possible. He had already spent a year away from that awful place. A year was far from a long time for him, not when millenia would stack up across his life. But it had felt like a long time. He had savored every moment after his escape.

He had escaped, and found his way here.

He had made a home.

He had made mistakes – so many mistakes – and they haunted him. He doubted they would ever stop haunting him.

But he had made choices too – choices which had been good. Choices which had led him here, to this ship. To these people. To his sisters.

Loki blinked slowly, and returned his gaze to the window, to the stars, and to the world so bright and close, surrounding him.

That was his world, now. He didn’t know if he deserved it – didn’t know if he ever would. But this world was tangible and here and by the Norns was going to cling to it.

The stars kept on shining.

“This is real,” Loki whispered, whether as a promise to himself, or an assurance, he was not certain. “This is real.”

*****

Loki smiled down at Groot, who over the past few months had grown from a small sapling, into a somewhat larger sapling. More comparable to a toddler, as opposed to the baby he had been before.

“I am Groot,” Groot remarked. You look happy.

Loki’s smile widened a fraction more. “Yes, I am. You don’t look too down yourself.”

“I am Groot.” Nebula said she would go hunting with me at the next planet we stop at.

“Hm,” Loki hummed. “I remember hunting. Larger game than you’re going for, of course.” At Groot’s look, he elaborated: “stags, mostly. The occasional bilgesnipe.”

“Are you corrupting Groot?” Rocket asked as he popped into the room.

Loki rolled his eyes. “We all are corrupting him,” he said amid Groot’s protests. 

Rocket chuckled. “Don’t I know it. Oh – I was supposed to tell you that Gamora’s looking for you.”

Loki nodded to Rocket, and then to Groot. “Well then, I best be on my way.”

*****

“You called for me, Sister?”

Gamora turned away from Mantis and smiled at Loki, who walked into her room and greeted her with a nod.

“Yes,” she said, “where’s Nebula?”

Loki rolled his eyes. “How am I supposed to know? I wasn’t told to get her.”

“I’m right here.” Nebula stepped into view right behind Loki, her hands on her hips. “What is it and why was it important enough to interrupt me planning for Groot and my lesson?”

“Ah, so now you two strategizing to murder any poor small rodent you come across is lessons now?”

“War is always with us.” Nebula remarked. “And we need to eat.”

“Speaking of which,” Mantis said, “I told Drax I would help with dinner, so I need to-”

“No you don’t,” Gamora said, easily sidestepping Mantis and slipping behind her siblings so that she stood in the doorway. “I’ll help Drax.”

“That is a recipe for disaster,” Loki muttered, and Nebula smirked.

“Stop it, both of you,” Gamora rolled her eyes. “I just need you both in here, for an hour.”

“Ah, the time has come,” Loki nodded to Nebula. “She’s finally snapped.”

“This is her plan – keep us here and lock the door,” Nebula nodded back. “She’s going to kill us.”

“I don’t think that Gamora is going to-” Mantis tried, but the siblings shook their heads at her.

“This is Gamora, Mantis. Something nefarious is afoot.”

“Afoot?” Nebula asked. “Is that even a word?”

“Yes, it is,” Loki countered. “Just because my vocabulary happens to be larger than yours-”

Gamora rolled her eyes heavily as she turned around, leaving her brother and sister to bicker to their hearts’ content. She shut the door before Mantis could get out as well, ignoring her crewmate’s pleading look.

She walked down the hallway, the tiniest bounce in her step. This was going so well – all she needed was for the three of them to stay in that room for long enough, so that she and the others could get the area ready.

Gamora highly doubted that Loki and Nebula would allow themselves to be cloistered away for too long, so they had to work quickly.

But it would be worth it, she decided, a small smile on her face. Today was an important day, and she 

“They’re preoccupied,” Gamora said, “now let’s get this ready.”

Quill grinned. “They don’t suspect?”

Gamora tilted her head, pondering the question. “No more than usual,” she decided.

“Great – they’re gonna love this!”

*****

“What in the Norns is going on out here?” Loki demanded, materializing by the stairs leading up to the cockpit. The area around him had been completely covered with paper streamers and brightly colored candles. A tablecloth had been thrown over the table, which had then been topped by a variety of foods.

Rocket and Drax froze from where they were setting down a large tray of Yaro root.

“So this is why Gamora told us to stay locked up in the room,” Loki nodded. “Sister, Mantis, it is a party!”

Nebula and Mantis walked out of the hallway a couple seconds later to look around at the spread.

“Is that shredded Hron?” the latter asked, practically bouncing with eagerness. “Just like I’d hoped!”

Quil’s face fell. “Gamora didn’t even try to keep it a surprise?”

“I told you I’d keep them away,” Gamora retorted, “what else did you want me to do? Knock them out?”

“I’d like to see you try,” Nebula and Loki muttered at the same time. They glanced at each other and grinned.

“Gamora, it’s a surprise party, you don’t just tell them to stay put and hope for the best!”

“It worked, didn’t it?”

“Debatable!”

“Relax, Quill,” Nebula rolled her eyes. “Just tell us what’s going on.”

“Yes, why were we singled out?” Loki asked.

Quill sighed heavily and nodded to Groot, who was over by Quill’s music, poised to pause it.

“Do you know what today is?” He asked slowly.

“No,” they answered in unison.

“You’re just going to have to tell them,” Rocket said. 

“Fine,” Quill said again. “We’re celebrating you guys joining the team.” he grinned. “I counted it out, and today is exactly between when we defeated Ego, Loki stopped stalking us, and Nebula came back.”

Loki paused for a second, taken aback. He hadn’t quite known what this was – he had in all honesty assumed that it was some kind of Midgardian celebration – but he had most definitely not been expecting this.

“Why?” Nebula asked slowly.

“Because,” Gamora answered, “we appreciate you.”

“And I wanted cake,” Drax added.

“There’s cake?” Mantis asked, somehow bouncing even more now.

“And matching music!” Quill announced, and Groot pressed play again.

“Come on guys, we can cut it and eat.”

The cake… wasn’t actually all that bad. A bit too sweet, if Loki were being honest – he was far more accustomed to fruit and nuts, of course – but it wasn’t bad . The Hron itself was good as well, but what was far more enjoyable than the food was the people. Rocket, talking and pulling out a grenade to illustrate his points, Drax answering back. Groot began to look power hungry with the control he had over the soundtrack.

And the look on Nebula’s face when she got the Yaro Root – “it’s ripe”, Gamora had seen fit to add for some reason – made his heart warm. Even as Nebula countered with some inside reference of her own, and their conversation devolved into an exchange which Loki couldn't follow – now knew if he wanted to at all.

Loki smiled as the sound of his sisters’ bickering faded into the background, accompanied by an unfamiliar midgardian tune that Quill seemed all too happy about.

It felt good to be home.

Chapter Text

Thor was tired.

He had been tired for a long time, yet he hadn’t focused on it for so long. Adventure to adventure was how he had leapt, diving into battle and anything to keep him occupied. And he had loved it – he had always loved being a hero – but now, standing on the balcony in his rooms, the bone-deep tiredness was beginning to wear on him.

Perhaps it was being home – after all, he had spent so much time away from Asgard these past few years. And now he was here once more, in the place he grew up.

Where everything reminded him of his brother.

Thor sighed heavily, casting his gaze out across the winding gardens and pathways of the palace. There were people bustling back and forth, keeping themselves busy as they went about their various duties – carrying baskets full of items and rushing messages to their various destinations. People just walking and enjoying the evening sun that washed across Asgard, casting them all in a warm golden glow.

This time of day had been Loki’s favorite, Thor remembered fondly. The last hours of the day when people were attempting to fulfill their daily duties before nightfall. The casual chaos of the hour had let him slip in and out of places he probably shouldn’t have been, plotting little bits of mischief that had disrupted and delighted.

When they were younger, Thor had followed behind him, dragged into whatever plan his brother had carefully crafted during the earlier part of the day. Pulled into plans that would only succeed if he joined in with enough gusto.

But that had been centuries ago.

And he was gone now.

There would be no more evening jests together – not that there had been for a long, long time. They had grown older, and grown apart. And soon the warm glow of the sun had not been casted upon them together, but apart, as they went their separate ways. It had shined upon Thor, as he used the last time of day on the training grounds, practicing and drilling his forms. It had shined upon Loki through windows, as he began to seclude himself in the library or his rooms, drawing away from the world.

Thor turned away from the view of the palace, shaking his head slightly as he walked into his own rooms, leaving the balcony behind. 

Through the window he passed as he walked down the hall, Thor could catch a glimpse of the Bifrost, repaired to the state it had been for thousands of years. The sight of it filled him with a strange combination of excitement and dread.

It had taken him many months to be able to even look at the Rainbow Bridge – every time he had turned his gaze to it, he could feel the whistling on the wind around him as he hung. He could feel the strain in his muscles as he tried to hold on. He could smell the burning of the fires. He could feel the distant spray of the waters upon his skin. He could see the swirling stars around them.  

He could see Loki, his eyes looking so broken and defeated, as he let go.

For all the people Thor had saved, he couldn’t save his own brother.

And that – that weighed down on him. He doubted he would ever be free of that feeling. Of feeling that he failed Loki. He had been so arrogant and focused on himself that he didn’t see Loki’s pain. He wasn’t there for his brother when he needed him most.

Though if he had been there, Thor wondered if he would actually have done anything differently. He had been angry, just as his brother had been. 

Yet his anger for Loki –  for what he had done – seemed inconsequential now. No matter how enraged Thor had been at Loki for letting in the Frost Giants, lying to him about their father’s death, and for attacking the mortals and him with the Destroyer… he was gone now. And all that rage was useless. He would never be able to talk to his brother, to demand answers. To make him understand. To understand himself.

Though Loki hadn’t been in the state to be reasoned with, at that time. 

“This is madness.”

“Is it madness? Is it? Is it!?”

It had been madness – Loki had lost his mind in those days of Thor’s banishment. He hadn’t known quite why then – hadn’t known why Loki refused to call him ‘brother’. All he had known was that Loki had been so desperate for a fight – begged for one. Viciousness had pervaded his entire being, as he had trembled in his place, hand on Gungnir. His eyes had shined with barely contained tears. Loki had barely been holding himself together, so undone and broken.

Thor closed his own eyes at the memories, breathing slowly as he walked down the familiar path. 

“Are you alright, your highness?”

Thor opened his eyes and nodded to the servant going by. “Yes, of course.”

The servant nodded back, unsure, before glancing over her shoulder and seeing the doors which marked Thor’s destination. She turned back, her eyes wide with understanding.

“Oh – yes, your highness.” She nodded once, quickly, and darted past him on her way to fulfill whatever duties she had.

It was an unspoken rule, among those in the palace, not to disturb the royal family when they went in those doors.

Those doors, which Thor opened slowly and slipped past. He was almost delicate with them, more careful than he usually was with anything else. But he had to be, when he was here, in order to preserve the room just as it had been when its occupant had been there. Though servants would come in to clean it when necessary, Thor shuddered at the thought of causing lasting damage.

Thor closed the door behind him, and cast his gaze around the room. The bed was perfectly made, crisp and precise. Gold blankets and pillows artfully placed, no disarray in sight. 

Candles, regularly replaced, lined shelves along the sitting area. In between were tomes, stolen from the library or owned for years, were placed. A couple daggers had been placed in empty spaces as well – fine ones, forged by the dwarves of Nidavellir.

(Thor remembered when they had first been placed there — four-hundred-and-twelve years ago, following an especially successful hunting session, when they had gone to the star-forge as a celebration.)

The chests placed at the foot of the bed were closed, and Thor knew that they were filled with more blankets and pillows. The tops were worn down, accustomed to be used as a resting place for boots and discarded armor.

Thor took a slow step into the room, stepping down the steps and he walked reverently around the room. 

He ducked his head into the washroom, at the bath and the washbasin lined with bottles of half-used oils and lotions. They had doubtless gone bad by now, but the thought of removing them turned Thor’s stomach.

He pivoted, and went through the walkway to the study.

The large desk was covered with papers, stacked in neat piles. Once, Thor had gone through them, finding that they mostly consisted of magic theory that he couldn’t quite grasp. Interspersed were political papers, treaties and briefs and plans for one thing or another. Thor had mostly understood those ones, and the notes along the sides had been especially helpful for those he did not. Maps had been spread across some of the open space, of places in the Nine Realms. They had been marked in various places with ink, words scratched in that Thor could only partially read (they marked places he had wanted to go to. Yet never would.)

Thor smiled, though, at the sight of the book. It was not a political book, all about governmental duties. Nor was it on seiðr. No, it was a history book. Well, more of a story-book at that. Meant to be read for pleasure, as opposed to study.

It was opened, face up, with a ribbon marking the reader’s place.

The thirty-second chapter, page two-hundred-and-twelve.

Thor found himself there, grazing his fingers over the soft pages. It had been a favorite book, his mother had told him, read in times of peace.

He stepped back out of the study and found himself back by the bed, freshly creased as he sat upon it with his hands in his lap. Though Thor didn’t worry – someone always came in and fixed the imperfections which had not been there before, keeping the illusion of normalcy alive.

Loki’s rooms were just as they had been, four years ago.

Before his coronation, before Loki had let the Frost Giants in. Before Thor had been banished and Loki had had his mental breakdown. Before their fight on the Bifrost, and their final minutes together.

He remembered Loki in those last moments. All his rage had bled away, and he had desperately called out that he could have done it, for Father, and for all of them. It was so different from how he had been minutes before – screeching and attacking like a rabid animal – that all Thor had wanted then was for their father to pull them up, up until they were safe and Loki would stop looking so weary.

But then he had let go.

Thor rubbed his eyes, elbows on his knees. He desperately hoped that Loki had found his peace now, resting and free of pain in Valhalla. He knew that he himself hadn’t yet, if he ever would. In the grand scheme of his life, very little time had actually passed. What were a few years when in comparison to thousands? Yet the years had worn him down all the same. His brother, his best friend, was gone. (And those thousands, those thousands of years to come, that he would have to face without him… were daunting)

Thor was just so tired.

*****

Loki’s funeral was when it had truly sunk in that he was gone.

Thor had stood, stoically staring as his brother’s barge had been sent out across the stars empty, no body ever recovered. He had been lost to the stars.

Thor hadn’t moved, had barely acknowledged the people who would apologize for his family’s loss. He had all but shut down as he stiffly went from place to place, saying the bare minimum to those around him and doing only what was required of him.

It hadn’t felt real – couldn’t have been real. Loki was – Loki was known for tricks. It all had to be a cruel jest. He would wake up one day, and Loki would be there, and they would laugh, and it all would have been one long, horrible dream.

That had been what had gone through his mind on a loop for the days following Loki’s.…

The funeral had put an end to it.

 The lights had been floating away, the ship alight with flame, when Thor had finally breathed one last deep breath, and closed his  eyes.

It was real, as much as he didn’t want to be, as much as he had run from reality, it was real. He had been backed into a corner by the truth, and there was no escaping it.

“Thor, are you alright?” his mother asked him that night, coming up to him at the feast to commemorate the dead.

Dead. 

Loki was dead. 

By his own will.

Thor hadn’t answered verbally, giving his mother a short nod. He took another sip of the mead in his hand, long and slow, before setting down the pint on the table before him. He wasn’t in the mood to drink, wasn’t in the mood to make merry like those around him who had set themselves to honoring the fallen.

“Thor, come here.”

Thor turned away from the table and to his mother. He raised his eyebrows in a question, but she hadn’t answered any more than holding out her hand to him. He had taken it, unsure of what else to do, and allowed himself to be led by his mother away from the noisiness of the hall and to the side of the room to overlook the proceedings.

“Thor, what is on your mind?” his mother asked him softly.

“What else, mother?” he answered with his own question. “He’s gone.”

“He would not want you to distress yourself,” she began, but was cut off by Thor’s bitter laugh.

“No, no he would like it.”

“Thor,” she reprimanded, eyes widening.

“He- he hated me. He hated me, and attacked-”

“Because he was hurting, Thor. That doesn’t excuse your brother’s actions, but… he loved you. He loved you more than anything.”

“Not then, he made it clear that I was the bane of his existence, and-”

“Oh, my son,” Frigga sighed, resting her hand on his face. “He felt like the world was against him. And we had no chance to tell him it was not.”

“I just… I don't understand why.” Thor said, shaking his head. Why, why had Loki looked so deranged on that bridge. Why had he spat and hissed like a cornered animal and turned to violence as if it had been his only companion. 

Frigga looked over to Odin, across the great hall, her eyes filled with more meaning than Thor could understand.

“The time was hard on all of us, Thor,” she said eventually, “Loki especially.”

Thor felt his throat tighten. “That doesn’t explain – what did I do wrong?”

“Do not blame yourself, Thor,” his mother whispered, pulling him into her arms. “There is no fruit in pondering what could have been – what could have been said or done.”

“You don’t do it yourself?”

Frigga looked at him sadly. “Of course I do.”

*****

It had almost been a year when his question had finally been answered.

Thor had been avoiding his parents, not going to dinner with them or spending time together. It was not just the king and queen, though. He had found himself more withdrawn over the months following his brother’s funeral, not going on adventures with Sif and the Warrior’s Three. He would go to the training fields to practice, throwing himself whole-heartedly into the familiar actions, then return to his room where he would dine. 

The cycle would repeat day after day. Week after week. Month after month.

One day, however, it was disrupted.

He had been walking back to his rooms, having had to end his day early due to others coming out to use the field, when a servant had come up to him with a request from his mother to see her and his father in their rooms as soon as he was able.

Thor had thanked the servant before hurrying back to his rooms to bathe – his mother would kill him if he came to her drenched in sweat.

He found himself right outside their doors less than an hour later.

“Thor,” Frigga greeted as she opened the door before could even knock, “come in please.”

“What is it, Mother?” Thor asked. “Why did you call me here?”

“Is it not enough to wish to see our son?” Odin asked, standing from the couch he had been sitting on.

Thor wrinkled his nose in thought. No, it wasn’t. But it was strange, 

“We have something to tell you,” Frigga began slowly. “It is about Loki.”

Thor had frozen. This wasn’t – he hadn’t expected this when he had been asked to see them. But, a part of him whispered, you should have .

His mother had guided him down to the couch, and dread began to build itself a small fortress in his heart, rising and rising until he could barely see anything else.

After a minute – and a look from his wife – Odin sighed and started to speak.

“Your brother,” Odin began slowly, “was not yours by blood.”

Thor blinked, not comprehending. “What?”

Frigga patted Odin’s arm, encouraging him to continue. Though by the look in her eye, one could tell it was almost more of a command.

“Years ago, when the fighting with the Jotun’s was complete, I had wanted respite from the battle. Just a few moments of peace before I had to return. I found myself in a temple of the Jotun’s, a place completely abandoned since before the fighting had ended.”

He paused, looking at Thor’s face. But Thor was shuttered, not fully understanding what was going on.

“In the temple, I heard the cries of a child. I investigated, searching the cold stones until I found the source of the noise, a small Jotun child–”

“Loki,” Thor whispered.

His father nodded. “I could not just leave him there, and so, I took him home.”

Thor blinked again and found himself searching through his memories, for anything that would make this make sense. That would explain. 

“Why didn’t you tell me before,” Thor demanded. “Did Loki - oh. No, Loki didn’t know, did he?”

“I’m not your brother. I never was.”

Odin said, “I told him when he went into the vault to inspect the Casket of Winters.”

“When was this?” Thor asked slowly.

“Directly following your banishment.”

I wasn’t there, his mind whispered, I was gone and Loki was alone.

(Loki had wanted to kill all the Frost Giants – Thor swallowed at the resurgence of the memory.)

“Why are you telling me now?” Thor asked this question far more resigned than his others had been. “Now when – when he’s-”

His parents didn’t answer immediately, turning to each other and engaging in a silent conversation. Thor remembered when he had been younger, he had always never understood their looks with hidden meanings. Once, Loki had come up beside him, and they had spent the evening quietly whispering together, trying to guess what their parents were talking about.

“So that you can understand.”

*****

“You should see her.”

Thor jolted in surprise and glanced over his shoulder to his mother, who was standing in the doorway of his room.

“See who, Mother?” he asked slowly.

“Your mortal,” she replied, a light quirk upon her lip. “Lady Sif tells me you miss her.”

Thor felt his shoulders begin to hunch. “I cannot journey to Midgard now,” he said.

“And why not?”

“Mother.…”

“Son.”

Thor frowned, looking her up and down as he tried desperately to find the words that would correctly explain his swirling emotions to her.

She eyed him right back, her eyes seeing far more than she would ever admit to him. “You do miss her, do you not?”

“Of course,” he said, a touch of desperation in his tone. “But father-”

“I will deal with your Father, Thor. I have done so for centuries.”

“The Bifrost is not yet reconstructed,” he said after a moment. “How am I to reach Midgard?”

Frigga smiled softly. “The reconstruction is almost complete – you should be able to go within a fortnight.”

Thor glanced down at the pile of his armor he had been polishing before being interrupted and decided that he could finish it later. He put down the rag and brushed off his hands.

“I don’t suppose there is any way that you will allow me to get out of this?” he asked slowly.

His mother tilted her head in a way that told Thor there most definitely was not , and folded her hands before her.

“Do you want to?” she asked quietly.

And that was how Thor found himself journeying down the rainbow bridge for the first time in over a year, riding upon his horse alone. Sif and the Warriors Three had offered to accompany him, but he had declined. This was something he must do himself.

So he had been alone as he had jumped down from upon his horse, and he had been alone as he had walked into the golden dome. He had been alone as he had nodded to Heimdal, and he had been alone as he shot through the Bifrost toward an unknown location (the Gatekeeper had not said where she was, just that he knew). He had been alone as the light dissipated, and he had found himself upon Midgard.

He had been alone, until he wasn’t.

“Jane.”

She turned away from her desk faster than Thor had seen anything move before. Their eyes met his at that moment, widening in disbelief. He smiled then, at that look, and that seemed to make something click for her.

“Thor,” Jane said quietly, just above a whisper. “You came back.”

*****

Being with Jane was calming, and Thor could readily admit that his mother had been absolutely right when she had told him to go see the mortal. There, he could relax. He could spend time with Jane, and laugh with Darcy, and let go of responsibility for a few blessed moments.

Though he still missed the other friend he had made while he had been banished.

“Where is Erik?” Thor had asked, looking around.

Jane and Darcy shared an awkward look. 

“He’s… not working with us anymore.” the former began.

“He’s a turncoat,” Darcy said at the same time.

“What?” Thor’s brows knitted together in confusion.

“Shield offered him a job,” Jane explained after a moment. “He went to work with them on some top secret project.”

That had been the last discussion of Selvig, beyond the occasional mention. At one point, Jane shared something called a ‘text’ from the scientist, which was rather a very small letter sent through their electronic devices. In it Selvig greeted Thor, welcoming him back and asking how he was. It was the only one however – he was apparently not allowed to communicate any further.

And Thor? Thor was good. He was far better than he had been spending all those months wiling away in Asgard, where everything he saw reminded him of his brother. Though sometimes he missed bouts of sparring with his friends, or seeing his parents.

But he resolved himself to head back soon – not permanently, he was determined to come back and keep visiting Jane. But go back to spend time with his mother, and laugh with the others, and just be home.

In the meantime, though, Thor was enjoying the peace of Midgard. The simplicity of the lives the people led. It truly was peaceful.

That is, until Agent Coulson made another appearance. 

It seemed like a regular day – they had awoken early, the sun just rising on the horizon, and made their way to the nearby diner. Usual orders were passed around, and Thor had more coffee than Jane said was alright, but he didn’t mind.

Despite the multitude of tense glances and confused looks the people of Puente Antiguo had been giving him for a while, they had seemed to calm down. By now, no one really batted an eye at Thor’s presence.

“They’re desensitized,” Darcy had told him, a grin on her face. “You know how you can go nose-blind? This is like that, but with you.”

Thor had given her a look, most definitely not understanding her words. 

Jane had rolled her eyes. “Darcy,” she admonished. “That was a horrible explanation.” Then she looked at Thor and smiled. “They’ve gotten used to you, simple as that.”

“Ah,” Thor had nodded. “I suspected as much.”

So now it was far from a rare occurrence for the three of them to go to the diner, before heading back and doing whatever was planned for the rest of the day.

Jane was always interested in learning more about Asgard, and the magic there, and really anything that Thor had to tell her. Darcy was interested, too, to an extent. Though she mostly just wanted to know what mythology got right or wrong.

“So, tell me – do you really have a chariot pulled by goats?”

Thor laughed. “No, of course not. Horses are a much more efficient form of travel.”

Darcy gave him a skeptical look. “Huh.”

“It is true,” Thor said. “Goats are rather slow, even Asgardian goats. And to have them pull a chariot? Horses are much faster, and you only need one.”

“But the goats-”

“Guys!” Jane interrupted from where she had been sitting by the window, going over her notes.

“What?” Darcy and Thor asked in unison. Their confusion, however, was dispersed at the sight of the fleet of black SUVs right outside their door.

Through the window, they could see only one figure exiting the foremost car. He was familiar to all of them, and the sight made Darcy curse under her breath.

“Stay put,” Jane said tersely, with no room for argument, and went out to meet him.

“What is she doing?!” Darcy demanded.

Thor didn’t answer, his eyes looking through the glass and his hearing not even straining to pick up the words exchanged.

Jane crossed her arms as she stared Coulson down. “What do you want?” she gritted out.

“I assure you, we aren’t here to bother you, Dr. Foster.”

“Your presence speaks otherwise,” Jane said with barely-concealed disdain.

“Ma’am, is your … boyfriend… available?” Coulson asked slowly.

Jane squinted, her surprise carefully concealed under a glance that looked altogether entirely unimpressed. “Why?”

“We…” Coulson paused for a fraction of a second, so small that it was barely noticeable. “-need him to punch stuff.”

Jane had been taken aback at that, and re-crossed her arms briefly to settle herself. “Care to elaborate?”

“He told us he was an ally, and that he would protect Earth. We need him to hold up his promise. There’s a threat. We need his help.” 

Jane had stared at Coulson for a long, long, moment after that before clipping out a short “wait here.”

Jane had made her way back inside, shutting the door behind her. Then she turned, looking at Thor with an indecipherable look in her eye. “You up for punching something?” she asked slowly.

Thor smiled. “I would rather use Mjolnir.”

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem,” She said, “It sounds like a more generic ‘hitting things’ situation.”

“Then I would be amenable to aiding the son of Coul.”

Thor had said as much, as he walked back out flanked by both Jane and Darcy, and came to a stop before Coulson.

“You are asking for my aid?” he asked slowly.

“If you meant what you said.”

Thor nodded. “Of course I did.”

And that was how Thor had found himself being whisked away from Jane in a matter of minutes, accompanying Coulson back in his vehicle to a distant point in the desert. There, a sleek aircraft had suddenly made itself visible, garnering a small blink of surprise from Thor.

They boarded the aircraft, and sat down. Other nondescript agents entered and bustled around before things settled down, and they were lifted into the air.

“It’ll be a couple hours,” Coulson said to Thor before pulling out a small black item – Thor remembered the name of which was a ‘tablet’ from his discussions with Jane – and began to mess with it for the majority of the flight.

After a while, however, Coulson looked up. It was just after the third hour of the trip, when Thor would have assumed that they would have arrived already.

“Do you have a last name?” the agent asked. “A surname?”

“Odinson,” Thor replied. “My full name is Thor Odinson.”

“Odinson,” Coulson repeated, marking something down on the tablet he had before him. When he was done, he looked up 

The place – Coulson had called it a ‘helicarrier’ – was a strange looking contraption, far different from what Thor remembered of past Midgardian aircraft. Though it had been many decades since Thor had last paid attention.

They had departed from the quinjet, and Thor allowed himself to be led across the wide open space and through a set of doors leading inside. 

“How did you know I was here,” Thor asked Coulson as they walked in-step.

“We’ve been keeping tabs on Puente Antiguo – the energy levels similar to your portal.” Coulson replied. “Got word of you coming back, put two and two together.”

“You’ve been watching Jane,” Thor stated.

“Perhaps.”

“I would greatly appreciate it if you were to cease doing so.”

“No-can-do, Mr. Odinson. Shield has business with Dr. Foster, and you can never be too careful.”

“Then what sort of business is this,” Thor asked, “that you requested my aid?”

Coulson stopped at the end of the hallway and gestured to a door – nondescript and like all the others they had seen before this.

“Come on in and find out.”

*****

“Mr. Odinson, this is Stever Rogers, Natasha Romanov, Tony Stark, Clint Barton, and Bruce Banner.”

Thor looked across the room, acknowledging the five occupants arranged around a table 

“Who’s this?” the blonde man – Steve Rogers – asked. 

“Why’re dressed like a renaissance fair?” the man with the beard – Tony Stark – asked at the same time.

“I am Thor Odinson,” Thor replied. “God of Thunder and Crown Prince of Asgard.”

There was a silence that came over the group now

“Wait, so I can’t join because apparently I’m a narcissist – but this guy is good when he’s delusional?”

Coulson looked on the brink of snapping – something about Stark’s presence clearly riling his feathers – as he said: “Mr. Odinson is not delusional. He’s telling the truth.”

“Puente Antiguo,” Barton said. “That was you, right?” he glanced at Mjolnir, hanging from his side from his belt. “You got the hammer back.

Thor raised an eyebrow. “You were there?”

“Front row seat.”

Thor inclined his head in response, not quite caring one way or another – Coulson was already there, after all. 

“Good, you’re all here.”

All heads turned to the new voice coming from the back of the room. Said voice belonged to a man dressed in all-black leathers, with an eye-patch over one eye. The man walked inside further, moving around the table to stand by an array of computers.

“Mr. Odinson, I’ve heard much about you,” he said, watching Thor.

“And I’m afraid I have not had the pleasure,” Thor replied.

“Fury.” the man – Fury – nodded. “I’m the director of Shield. I asked you to come here.”

“Any particular reason as to why?” Thor asked.

“You are our resident alien,” Fury said, and then continued despite the shifting reactions from a couple of the other people in the room. “And since one has decided to declare war on us, your input is appreciated.”

Thor nodded slowly. 

“I think it would be better if we just play the footage,” Fury said, gesturing to Coulson. “These were uploaded to our satelite before the base exploded.”

Everyone turned their gazes to the table, which lit up with a video, and listened as audio began to play over unseen speakers.

It was in some kind of laboratory, metal contraptions and computers everywhere. At the center of one of the contraptions was a glowing blue cube.

The Tesseract.

The mortals had found the Tesseract.

It was glowing irregularly, sparking the scientists around it to look rather nervous. One of the scientists especially caught Thor’s attention.

“Selvig,” Thor said quietly.

“You know him?” Banner asked.

“He is a friend.”

Others, Thor recognized after a second. Barton was there, conversing with Fury to one side.

All conversation stopped, however, when the portal opened.

It was just as Thor would have imagined it – cloudy and blue and giving little glimpses of the world far, far away. A few seconds later, the portal dissipated, leaving a group of figures standing in its smoking wake.

The majority of them were identical, as the smoke cleared Thor’s blood ran cold.

Chitauri warriors.

But the figure that was different from the others rose first.

She was tall, with long black hair that blended into her warm armor. The upper part of her face was a midnight blue, and curled away on either side into a pair of black ridged horns. In her right hand she held a short scepter with a shining blue gem.

She tilted her head slowly, inspecting the place around her. “So this is Terra,” she said in a grating voice which carried throughout the room. “Not all that impressive.”

“Who’re you supposed to be,” Fury, on the recording, asked. 

“I am Proxima Midnight,” she said slowly. “Sent by my father to save this world.”

“We’re not in need of saving,” Fury responded. “Why don’t you go find the next planet?”

“You all need saving,” she said, beginning to step forward. “And you have something my father requires to fulfill his purpose.”

“I’m afraid you aren’t gonna get that,” Fury said, and his agents began to spread out behind him. In turn, the chitauri troops spread out to match them.

Thor watched as the exchange quickly became more volatile, until the fighting began. It was, in all honesty, a slaughter. The Chitauri outnumbered the agents they fought, and the woman – Proxima – was a formidable opponent.

There was only one moment in the middle of the fight, that she spared a life. It was Selvig, Thor noted with relief, who was not struck down. They exchanged words too low to be caught on video. A second later, however, a “Get him, he knows how the Tesseract works,” could be heard.

In the corner of the video, Barton could be seen escorting Fury out, followed by a pair of other agents.

The way Proxima handled the spear in her hands, however, was what interested Thor the most. She held it as if it were a new weapon, as if this were her first time using it. And though it glowed bright with power, she did not use it. As if she didn’t know how, or couldn’t get it to work.

For all of the experience that dripped from her practiced forms and barked out orders, she looked entirely out of her depth with the scepter.

Why, then, was she carrying it?”

The video ended then, without Thor getting an answer to his question. They watched as she stalked out of the room, the Chitauri dragging an unconscious Selvig behind them.

There was a moment of quiet in the room, before Fury spoke. 

“Do you all understand why this is a serious threat?” he asked, “we got an alien with a powerful item with one of the few scientists who actually knows how it works and a clear desire to bring us to destruction.”

“So,” Barton said, “what’s the plan?”

*****

The plan, it turned out, hadn’t formed fully until it was all almost over. And even then, it was more of a ‘you go stop those bad guys, I’ll stop these bad guys’ sort of thing. At least, according to Stark.

They hadn’t had a plan as intel came in of the Chitauri being sighted in various places, finding the different items and substances that Banner and Stark had been discussing. Though they had started to gain an idea that Proxima was trying to open a portal to let her mysterious father in, with an accompanying Chitauri army.

They hadn’t had a plan as they discussed back and forth what her ‘MO’ (Barton’s words), guessing it was most likely destabilizing the government of Midgard – Earth – before bringing in their troops to finish off the job. 

“I’m getting sightings of the Chitauri in New York,” Agent Hill came into the room. “Sir, what would you like us to do?”

Fury opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Romanoff

“She’s going after the UN,” she started suddenly, eyes widening a fraction of an inch.

That was when their plan had started to form.

Their plan had continued to form as they headed to New York, with the exception of Banner, and to the United Nations.

Their plan had formed itself almost completely when Banner was able to locate the Tesseract – also in New York, though in a different part of the city, and they realized that they had to split up. Even more so when Stark realized that the building in question was his own.

Their plan was carried out as they split up, going to both the UN to halt the brigade of Chitauri warriors who, they then discovered, had been planting bombs inside the building while it had been in session.

The other part of the plan was the second group, heading to Stark’s tower to rescue Selvig and halt Proxima before she could get the Tesseract to work.

Their plan had a brief hiccup as the portal opened, and the chitauri began to pour out.

Their plan was quickly revised to ‘kill all the bad guys’ (Roger’s words), and it went off without a hitch.

Banner slipped himself into their plan as he arrived on the scene, and promptly grew into a rather large.

(who hit rather hard, much to Thor’s annoyance.)

By the time Thor had made his way to Stark’s tower, they no longer needed a plan.

Because there she was, Proxima Midnight, standing with only her scepter to defend herself, as she desperately fought to salvage her plan.

Thor had been the only one to fight her, Romanoff having disappeared to stop the portal somehow. The others were stopping the Chitauri forces, just as Thor had been minutes before.

But he was needed here now, needed to stop the threat to Midgard.

The threat, who appeared to recognize him.

“Ah, the mighty prince of Asgard. I’ve heard much about you, Thor,” Proxima crooned as she dogged his attack. “Wait, weren’t there two of you?”

Thor’s blood turned to ice at her words.

“Where is Loki?” she paused “Ah, that’s right, he-”

“Be quiet,” Thor snapped, cutting her off. “You know nothing.”

“I know more than you’d think,” she replied. Then protected her back from Romanoff’s barrage of bullets.

“This way,” the woman called out to Thor, and he saw what she was talking about – there was more space across the next roof. And the way was clear, as the Chitauri troops were being felled.

Thor had mostly drowned out her chatter by the time the others had arrived – but then she uttered: “And I can’t believe you’d show your face so soon after what your brother did, the coward. It’s all over the galaxy. You must be so ashamed.”

Thor’s vision went red.

He launched himself at Proxima, no regard for anything around him as he brought his hammer upon her. Distantly, he heard words of warning, telling him to stop, but Thor didn’t register them as he struck Proxima again.

She was breathing heavily, raggedly, as Thor brought her up by her neck.

“Don’t you dare speak of my brother again,” he said in a low, threatening tone. Then he dropped her, and she crumpled into a heap at his feet.

“So,” Stark said, after a long moment, “how do you all feel about Shawarma?”

*****

For a little while, Thor had a moment to breathe. He had loved the adventure with the – now named – Avengers. The thrill of facing a foe in battle had dashed through his veins with utter joy. He could breathe as he did what he enjoyed.

He still felt that joy as he came back to Jane – this time with Selvig behind him. He felt joy as Darcy chatted about what she had been doing, and introduced him to more Midgardian music.

He felt joy as Jane showed him more of her research, and felt joy as he answered the questions she asked.

Though that joy faded slightly, as Jane showed him her latest work. There was something about it, something he was unsure of. It had to do with the Convergence, he realized, and told Jane that he would return to Asgard to do some research of his own read some of Loki’s books and that she should wait until he had more information.

He had been right, it turned out. 

But Jane hadn’t listened.

Thor had panicked as he had come back from the palace to the Bifrost, and Heimdall had told Thor that he couldn’t see Jane. And he had continued to panic as he had brought Jane back to Asgard, determined to find out what was wrong with her.

His panic hadn’t subsided, even as his father berated him for bringing Jane to Asgard when he had only permitted his son to visit her.

His panic had shot up again when the Dark Elves attacked the palace. Even more so when he heard that his mother had been in an altercation with Malekith, in order to protect Jane.

Not another, Thor thought to himself quietly, as he raced through the halls, I could not bear to lose another family member.

He hadn’t, and his panic simmered down into a low worry.

He had gotten there in time, his father there as well, and they had fought the Dark Elf back. They had been beaten back, leaving Asgard to lick its wounds.

Odin had ordered a full-assault the very next day.

They traveled to the Dark Elves’ world, a sizable number of Einherji in tow. The fighting had been fierce, beating down Malekith’s forces, that Thor almost missed when he had caught sight of Jane in the crowd.

But there she was, alongside his mother, as they got Malekith to remove the Aether from the mortal.

(He asked, later, how they convinced him. His mother had laughed and said that Malekith just needed to think that it was his idea)

And then it was done.

They were back on Asgard, for a few precious days, before Thor had had to return Jane home. She had been sad to go, having latched onto Frigga and her magic theory lessons.

She would have liked Loki, Thor thought to himself as he watched the pair of them discussing the history of magic, and the different sorts of spells.

But then they were back, and it was worth it to see Darcy again, and her intern (Thor still couldn’t quite understand what the man was doing there), and talk to Erik.

It was worth it, Thor decided, to spend time on Midgard.

*****

There was hardly any break at all front the time Thor returned Jane to earth, to jumping back in with the Avengers.

The tower turned out to be the place he spent the most time, more so even than Jane’s place. He had a room there, with his name on it, and it felt good to have that again.

The time spent with the Avengers was a great deal of fun for him – he enjoyed the banter, the attempts to lift his hammer, and the camaraderie.

And then Ultron had attacked. And suddenly they were dragged into a rather serious problem, and no longer the simple missions to clear out Hydra dens or aid whatever government had requested their help.

Suddenly, they were back to world-ending catastrophes. This time, courtesy of a fleet of evil robots designed by Stark and Banner, along with a pair of siblings who had joined their foes.

But it was hardly the worst that Thor had faced – strangest, perhaps, but that was only because Midgardians themselves were a rather odd species with peculiar tendencies – and he would not back down. He had remained confident in his skills, in his team.

Until the vision.

It had been strange, at first, and then quickly devolved into terrifying.

The Asgardians all around him, the men and women in finery drinking and celebrating. The whole aura of the room was strange, not quite right.

Then he saw Loki.

His brother, alive and laughing 

“Loki?” Thor asked, barely breathing. “Are you alright?”

His brother turned his gaze to Thor, and smiled with a mad glint in his eye. “Thor,” he crooned, “you have come to see our demise?”

“What-”

“Oh, I have not been ‘alright’ for a long time, Thor. You should know – you were there.”

“Loki, I swear, I – I wish – I’m sor-”

“We are all dead, can you not see?” Loki snarled. “They’re all dead, just like me. You’re a destroyer, Odinson.”

He hadn’t been alright after that for some time, talking to Selvig to bring him to the pool to have his vision. The Infinity stones answered him, answered his questions.

And brought many more.

But they still saved the day. Thor watched as it was all solved – as Ultron was defeated, and the twins turned sides.

He also watched as Wanda lost her brother, her twin. And that had shaken him almost – if not more – badly than anything else that had happened. Watching her cry as her brother was lost forever.

Thor breathed through it all. This adventure was completed, and despite the loss, the feeling of fighting alongside those he trusted was a welcome one.

*****

“Do you have to go?” Darcy whined, “I’m gonna miss you.”

“You’re gonna miss the excuse to buy fifty kinds of pop tarts,” Jane corrected Darcy with a grin. Then she turned to face Thor with a slightly more serious expression. “You are coming back, right?”

Thor grinned at her concern. “Of course. It is merely a few months – trivial even for you mortals.”

“I beg to differ,” Darcy muttered.

“Go bother your intern,” Jane shot back.

Darcy looked affronted. “Hey, I have valid emotions and-”

“I assure you, Darcy, that you may stock up on as many pop tarts as you wish in expectation of my return.” 

Darcy gave him an appraising look. “Could I get some of that Asgardian gold to pay for it?”

Thor frowned, confused at the question. “Sure that will not buy you very many?”

“If I get it melted down, I can sell it and buy enough pop tarts for a lifetime!” She raised her eyebrows. “An Asgardian lifetime.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jane said exasperated. “Now can I talk to my boyfriend alone?”

“Sheesh, you could’ve just asked,” Darcy rolled her eyes, though she did stand up from the kitchen table and make her way to the exit. “I’ll be listening to music on my ipod,” she called out over her shoulder as she disappeared down the hallway.

“I’m going to miss her,” Thor acknowledged.

“What about me?” Jane asked, smiling.

“Of course I will miss you,” Thor assured her. “Though it is just a short trip. It has been far too long since my friends and I have had some propper adventures. Or good hunting. This will be good.”

“So you’ll just go off into the sunset for a while and come right back when you’re done?” Jane asked.

“Well, we will be stopping in Asgard first,” Thor said, “the others will meet me there. I need to visit my parents, of course. And there’s… someplace I’d like to see before I go. After that, though?” he nodded. “Off into the sunset for us.”

Jane chuckled. “Well, enjoy your guy trip.”

“Sif is going too,” Thor pointed out.

Jane rolled her eyes at that. “Fine – enjoy your warrior trip.”

Thor laughed goodnaturedly before reaching across the table to pull Jane’s hands into his own. “Thank you,” he said.

“For what?”

“For… everything.” Thor decided. “I have enjoyed my time on Midgard – partly due to the Avengers – but none of it would be worth it without you.”

Jane grinned. “And here I am only using you to make new discoveries.”

“A mutually beneficial arrangement, I assure you.”

“I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too.”

He kissed her knuckles before turning to the door.

*****

Thor looked up from his hands in his lap, and took a deep breath. He was tired, yes. He was exhausted by everything around him.

But perhaps, just perhaps, he didn’t have to be forever. 

He had millenia ahead of him, so much time left to live. And he would – barring being struck down in battle, Thor was going to live. Someday, he would grow worthy enough for the throne, and take over for his father. Someday, he might just grow to be less tired.

Someday, he would see Loki again. 

And for now? Well, now Thor had a trip to go on with his friends. 

He stood up slowly, and smiled as he gave one last glance around Loki’s bedroom. He would not be returning for some time – he had no true plan as to how long, but at the very least a few months. (Sif had already mentioned her itinerary.)

He had already said his goodbyes to Jane and Darcy and Selvig, and he was certain that the Avengers would be alright without him for a time.

After all, they were only mortals. What trouble could they possibly get into on their own?

Chapter Text

Gamora couldn’t sleep.

Usually, when this happened, she had been awakened by nightmares that sent her heart pounding in her chest and an irrational fear clawing at her. Those nights she would shake in place for a while as she desperately attempted to ground herself in reality. To assure herself that she was there, on the Benatar, in bed, and Sanctuary was a thing of the past.

Usually, Peter would wake up after a little while, and wrap his arms around her and whisper into her ear until she had calmed down enough to lie back beside him, and be held until she drifted away into semi-consciousness.  Not sleep, though. She found she could never return to sleep those nights.

But this wasn’t one of those nights, and Peter, as much as Gamora loved him ( loved him. That was new. But… it was true), was the problem.

Because Peter, bless his soul, was snoring.

Gamora groaned heavily as she rolled over in bed and pulled her pillow over her ear, trying to sandwich her head to deafen the loud noises Peter was making. Unfortunately, she was unsuccessful.

She was also unsuccessful when she tried to rouse Peter enough for him to stop – even enough for her to slip more pillows under him to try and limit the problem. Not that she tried all that hard, however. After all, Peter lost enough sleep because of her and her issues. Gamora just didn’t feel right bothering him when he desperately needed the rest.

Gamora curled up her legs into her chest, squeezing them close to herself as she clamped her hands over her ears. She just needed to breathe through it – if she kept on breathing, eventually it would all fade away, and she would slip into unconsciousness. 

She repeated it to herself, over and over again, as a mantra: just breath, just breath, just breath.

She breathed.

Peter snored.

Gamora growled in frustration – she had slept in worse conditions, why couldn’t she sleep here? Somehow, though, Peter’s snoring was far worse than the battlefields, wildernesses, and countless times she had had to sleep on the run. There truly was no hope.

A few more minutes passed before Gamora finally accepted this, sitting up in bed and throwing the covers back.

(Peter grabbed them in his sleep and pulled them close, ever the blanket hoarder.)

She rose to her feet, taking a second to stretch the tiredness from her limbs before she quietly slipped out of the room and crept along the hall of the ship.

The Benatar was silent in the middle of the night, only the distant creaking of metal punctuating the silence. Out here, with the door closed behind her, Gamora couldn’t even hear Peter.

Silence truly was bliss.

Except now she had to find a place to sleep, because as much as Gamora was relieved by the silence, she was already beginning to miss her bed. And while she could, technically, sleep upright, she really, really did not want to resort to such extremes.

Gamora stepped past one of the crew quarters, and could just hear Drax from through the door – he could truly give Peter a run for his money – before making her way to the common area. There were chairs there, so if worse came to worse, she could collapse there.

If she was willing to go the chair route, she could probably find a more cushioned one up in the cockpit. The others had fallen asleep in each of theirs many times, so why couldn’t she? There was also a window seat in the upper deck, so she could probably curl up there too.

But all choices would most likely be rather cold. So Gamora cast her gaze back down the hallway from which she had emerged, calculating how much she was willing to risk to grab a blanket from her room.

Nothing quite appealed to her, however. But it was better than waking Peter up.

Or, Gamora thought, there is the other option.

She pursed her lips in thought for several seconds, before she finally decided where she would go.

*****

Gamora held up her hand to knock on the door before her before pausing, and lowering her fist.

It was most likely far safer if she were to just slip in unannounced, rather than wake her siblings from their slumbers. (Nebula had been so cranky with Quill, Gamora shuddered to think how her sister would react to her, whom she clearly had no reservations about when it came to actual stabbing.)

The door slid open noiselessly, and Gamora stepped in quickly before shutting the door behind her, leaving the room in almost total darkness. There were softly glowing lines along the edges of the floors, emergency lighting that was everywhere on the ship.

Though the lack of light didn’t bother Gamora too much, not when she could see relatively well without it. The enhancements in her eyes allowed her to see in almost pitch darkness, far worse than the condition she found herself in now. So Gamora glanced around the room, a soft smile on her face as she saw what Nebula and Loki had done to the place – the lived-in feeling, the customization so it worked for them. Her smile grew to its peak, however, when she stepped onto the soft carpet that covered most of the room.

It was luxurious, deeply cushioning and warm and the texture was perfect.

She sank silently to the floor, and stretched out on it. Yes, coming here was a much better idea than trying to find someplace else to sleep. Sure, she would probably have to deal with her siblings in the morning. But for now, it was entirely worth it.

“Gamora?”

Gamora glanced up suddenly at the sound of Nebula’s voice, coming from the top bunk. She watched as her sister was fully awake in a matter of seconds, and leapt to the floor before her.

Gamora sat up, and grimaced. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

Nebula watched her for a moment. “What’s going on?” she asked finally. “Are you alright?”

Gamora shrugged. “I’m fine – but Peter was snoring loudly, and I needed someplace else to sleep-”

Nebula seemed to perk up at her words. “Quill’s to blame?” she asked with what Gamora could only describe as eagerness.

“Well,” Gamora tried to say, trying to correct her sister. But it was too late.

Nebula seemed to have fully decided what she would do, and proceeded to ignore Gamora as she grabbed her blankets from her bed, along with her pillows, and threw them at Gamora’s face.

“These are yours,” Gamora protested, “what will you-”

Nebula swatted her hand as she went to the other side of the room and pulled out a few more blankets and pillows from her chest, and brought them back over to the carpet. She dropped them on the carpet before sinking to her knees to begin to arrange them. They ended up with a pile of blankets tossed over each other and underneath to provide further cushioning, along with pillows by their heads in a large mountain.

Gamora looked down at Nebula’s creation, and then to her sister herself. “You sure you don’t want to just stay in your own bed?” she asked feebly.

Nebula gave her a look, which Gamora easily translated to mean: does it look like I plan on going back to my bed?

Gamora sighed and lowered herself onto her elbows. “You have a nice room,” she said.

“Thanks.”

“Lots of pillows.”

“Loki insisted.”

“Oh?”

“He says he knows how rooms are supposed to be made.”

“He sees himself as quite the authority, doesn’t he?”

Nebula pursed her lips, and Gamora’s brows drew closer together in interest. 

“He’s seen more,” Nebula said after a moment. “He knows a lot more than us.”

Gamora nodded, understanding her sister’s words. Though she had none of her own to share in return.

She only leaned over a few inches, bumping her shoulder against Nebula. A year ago, a gesture like that would have gotten her a stab in the gut – they had only hugged once at that point, and even then neither of them had truly known how to act in regards to each other. Now, though, after so much time in close quarters and fighting side by side, it was only met with a played-up nose wrinkle.

“You’ve gone soft, Sister.” Nebula said, though she reached over and bumped Gamora back – albeit a bit more unsure.

“I think I’m alright with that,” Gamora replied. “We deserve it, don’t we?”

Nebula looked down at her hands, her face hidden so that Gamora could only wonder what her sister was thinking.

The moment was interrupted, however, by a long, low groan that originated from the lower bunk. 

Gamroa glanced over, slightly concerned, as she watched Loki groan a bit more, then completely roll out of his bed to collapse in a heap on the floor with a solid thump.

He looked up from his arms, seeming at least semi-coherent, and Gamora relaxed.

“Why’re you ‘ere?” Loki slurred out, still blinking away the sleep from his eyes.

Nebula answered for her, rolling her eyes as she said, “Quill snores, apparently.”

Loki scrunched up his nose and squinted his eyes. “I always knew there was something wrong with that man.”

The words, combined with the expression upon her brother’s face, caused Gamora to laugh. It wasn’t like Loki didn’t have quite the intimidating face – quite the opposite, in fact – but the sleepiness had made him look like a petulant child.

“Someone’s cranky,” Nebula said, voicing Gamora’s thoughts quite well. 

“I wonder whose fault that is,” Loki pondered as he rose up and made his way to the impromptu pile. With him he brought his blanket and pillow, dragged along behind him.

Gamora winced. “I’m sorry, I just wanted to slip in and-”

“Nonsense,” Loki waved his hand dismissively before dropping the blanket and pillows beside Gamora. “Move over.”

Gamora obliged, scooching a few inches to the side so that Loki could plunk down upon the carpet and pull his blanket up over his shoulders. He placed his pillow below his head, and closed his eyes.

“Hey, don’t do that.” Nebula snapped, grabbing some of Loki’s blanket from across Gamora’s lap. “Share.”

“On the contrary, I brought the blanket, therefore it is mine.”

“He has a point,” Gamora said.

“Stay out of this, invader,” Nebula spat without any heat. “Our room, our rules.”

“One of the rules we came up with,” Loki said as he pulled his blanket away from Nebula, “was the right to personal possessions.”

“I bought that blanket.”

“For me.”

“I never said that.”

“You handed it to me.”

“I held it out, and you stole it from my unguarded hands.”

“Oh stop it – Gamora clearly doesn’t need this.” Loki sighed, passing his blanket over to Nebula to be arranged over the three of them.

Gamora glanced to her left, toward Loki, then to Nebula on her right. “I’m not fragile, you know that.”

Her siblings shared a look that, much to Gamora’s dismay, clearly said: she’s crazy.

“You left Quill,” Nebula said. “This is a good sign.”

“Stay on this path, Sister, we will help you recover.”

“Oh stop it, both of you,” 

“Why you continue to share a room with that man is beyond me,” Loki rolled his eyes.

Gamora smiled softly. “It’s just… some unspoken thing.”

Her siblings exchanged a look that she didn’t quite catch in time to understand. But it was fine – it wasn’t like they knew about her and Peter. To them, it was just the divvying up of the rooms. Her and Peter, them, Drax and Mantis, and Rocket and Groot.

Nebula muttered something that sounded like “repeated brain damage,” and Gamora frowned.

“Peter doesn’t have brain damage.”

Loki grinned at her words. “Of course not – he was just born that way.”

“When did this turn into a bashing Peter session,” Gamora asked.

“Since you ran tearfully to us, complaining about how he is ruining your sleep schedule.” 

Gamora shoved Loki with her shoulder playfully. “I was not crying. And it’s not his fault – he’s just snoring a bit.”

“You should give him a magic potion,” Nebula suggested to Loki, “being a witch and all.”

“I am not a witch,” Loki snapped. “Besides, I hardly have enough magic for myself – you honestly think I’d waste it on Quill?”

“What?” Gamora asked, momentarily forgetting Loki’s dig at Peter. “What do you mean?”

“Well, for one he’s annoying-”

“What do you mean about your magic?”

Loki paused for a moment before shrugging. “Exactly what I said.”

It was hardly an answer, but Gamora decided to let it go. After all, it was late, and they were all tired. (She did, however, file the comment away to be revisited at a later time.)

They settled down for a little while, so much so that Gamora actually thought that there was a gleaming bit of hope that she would actually get a touch of sleep tonight. Then Nebula spoke again.

“Is this what siblings do?” she asked, and despite the initial annoyance Gamora felt, she stilled. Both she and Nebula turned their gazes upon Loki – after all, he would know.

“What?” Loki asked, “sleep-overs?”

Nebula nodded once – short and tight. 

Their brother pondered for a long moment before he eventually said, “yes. I haven’t – not in centuries, really. But… yes.”

Nebula softened, satisfied with the answer, and Gamora began to wonder 

“You really are old,” Nebula mused.

Loki looked affronted. “Excuse me?”

“Centuries. You said. You’re an old man.”

“I will have you know,” Loki seethed, “I am rather young for one of my kind – I will live for millenia to come.”

“Wow. Old.”

“You know, the reason I came here is that it was supposed to be quieter,” Gamora mused pointedly, though she wasn’t all that mad. It was nice, she had to admit, listening to them.

“Nebula started it.”

“I did not!”

Gamora shook her head affectionately and lay down fully, closing her eyes. The bickering on either side of her faded away as her siblings settled into their own places, and peace soon spread over them. 

It was warm, there on the floor. With more blankets than she knew what to do with, and pillows thrown from one place to another. Where the three of them were close together in each other’s spaces, sharing body heat and enjoying each others’ presences. 

Soon, Gamora drifted off into a deep slumber.

Chapter Text

“Hail to the prince!” 

The call was shouted by someone indistinguishable in the crowd, but it caught on, and soon enough Æsir around the banquet hall were yelling and laughing and chanting as they tossed back their heads and drank merrily.

Thor laughed along as he drank the mead in his cup, pausing every so often to talk to Sif by his side, or join Volstagg in enjoying some of the bounty laid before him. It had been so long since they had truly had a celebration such as this one in the Palace, a seemingly pointless celebration with no tragedy slinking along in the encircling shadows. It had been so long since they had just had a celebration following an adventure with his friends. 

So Thor enjoyed it, he ate and drank and made merry as he bumped shoulders with passersby and savored the air around him. 

But there was someplace else entirely on Thor’s mind.

He bid his goodbyes to his friends, and kissed his mother’s cheek in farewell before he took a breath, and slipped out and away through a side door.

Thor was out of the banquet hall and far enough away from the celebrations for the noise to have faded to a distant memory when his father stopped him.

“Thor.” Odin said, face stony with disapproval.

Thor met his father’s eyes as he came to a stop, defiance present in every fiber of his being. He knew what was coming.

“Father,” he acknowledged, “have you come to stop me?”

“From heading to Midgard again? Thor, you spend too much time there already.”

“I don’t think-” Thor began, a harsh tone creeping its way into his voice.

“Must I remind you once again that you told me you wished to become worthy to take the throne?” Odin interrupted, his question coming out sharply.

“And I still wish so,” Thor countered. “But I also wish to go to Midgard. I have people there-”

“And you have people here. Your people.” Odin snapped. “A prince’s duty should be to his people first and foremost-”

“Are we not the protectors of the Nine Realms?” Thor countered, interrupting his father. “And is Midgard not one of the Nine?” 

Odin shook his head tiredly, “that may be true, yet you are going for selfish reasons.”

“Is it selfish to care?”

“You have your mortals that you wish to see, Thor,” Odin said, lowering his tone to a more normal volume. “Son, we need you here.”

“You can survive without me for plenty of time,” Thor argued, “I only wish to check on them. I am not going away permanently, Father.”

“And yet your mind has already left! You hardly spend any time here, you are off galavanting and don’t-”

“And Asgard has needed me so desperately as of late?” Thor asked. “Father, I was here when the Dark Elves attacked, and I will be here to aid you at a moment's notice. Do not mistake my desire to go for a lack of loyalty.”

“Your loyalty is not in question, it never was. But we need you.” Odin began, “Thor, I will be honest with you-”

Thor had had enough. This argument had been brewing between them for long enough. It had picked up at times – such as when he brought Jane to Asgard – but had never been fully resolved. He was tired of it, high-strung and ready to snap.

“As you were honest Loki?” he spat, and his father went silent.

They both stared at each other, and a deep endless void started to eat away at Thor’s heart. They hadn’t talked since then. They hadn’t mentioned his brother since that one night when Thor had been told of Loki’s adoption. Since then, the topic had never truly been breached.

(Loki was a topic now, a mere memory. Thor thought that he would have hated it.)

Loki’s name had hardly been brought up, and even then the majority of the time was in conversations between Thor and his mother. They had never spoken of the events that took place those few years ago.

Thor hadn’t quite known he felt such rage towards his father – not to that extent.

“I failed your brother,” Odin said quietly – barely a breath above the soft breeze that blew through the palace. “Forgive me for not wishing to fail you as well.”

Thor swallowed, and tore his gaze away from his father’s. When had they become so strained? When had they become so distant? It all had fallen apart so quickly, and he hated it. He hated fighting with his father. He had done so countless times in his youth, always filled with arrogance. But they had been merely petty squabbles. Now, standing before the king, he despised the arguing.

“I know, Father,” Thor answered after a second. “I just wish… allow me to go, please? I will not depart without your blessing.”

Odin looked at him, searching for something in his eyes. Eventually, he seemed to find it. “Swear to return.”

“I swear.”

His father sighed then, looking older than Thor ever thought he did. “Then go.”

Thor nodded, then turned around and walked down the hall towards the Bifrost without another word.

*****

“Ah, my prince.” Heimdall greeted with a tilt of his head.

Thor nodded back in acknowledgement as he made his way past the gatekeeper.

“I am going to Midgard, Heimdall,” Thor said, though it was most certainly unneeded – Heimdall always knew where Thor wanted to go.

“As you wish, your highness,” Heimdall said as he pulled out his sword and inserted it down before turning it. “Though a word of advice.”

Thor turned, wary. “What is it, my friend?”

Heimdall didn’t move as he stared Thor down. “All is not as you left it.” he said cryptically. 

Thor had wanted to question him – ask what the meaning of those words were – but Thor had already been whisked away by the Bifrost.

No matter, he could always ask Jane and the others if they knew.

*****

“The Avengers broke up, dude,” Darcy said as she opened up a box of poptarts, “like a band.” She took a bite of the poptart. “Like the Beatles.”

Thor stared at her, not comprehending the words that now hung in the air between the group.

Jane and Selvig stood to the side, not making eye contact with Thor. Somehow that made it all the worse. Jane opened her mouth as if to speak, glancing up for just a second, before she bit her lip.

“There was a… disagreement.” Selvig told him. “Politics got in the way, and then there was something about Roger’s friend from the war, the Winter Soldier.”

“We don’t know everything,” Jane said, glancing up. “The news has been unreliable.”

Thor swallowed, as he looked from Selvig, to Jane, and then to Darcy.

“Who is left?”

“Stark,” Darcy answered, holding up her fingers as she counted off, “Vision, Rhodes. Hawkeye is on house arrest, and so is the other guy – the new one. Bug-man?”

She glanced at Jane for help. The mortal answered: “Antman, I think.”

“Huh. I thought there was another.”

Thor’s brows grew even closer together. He swore Midgard grew stranger each time he visited.

“And what of the others?” he asked.

“War criminals. They’re on the run, right now. Haven’t been seen for a while.”

“Spider-Man!” Darcy burst out, and three pairs of eyes landed upon her at once. “What? I just remembered him.”

“Who?”

“New hero, he was on Stark’s side. He’s pretty young, I think. Hey, d’you think you could ask him if he’s actually an Avenger? Or just some kind of intern?” Darcy questioned.

“I… will bring it up with Stark.” Thor said, looking back over his friends. “It seems we have much to discuss.”

*****

The Compound seemed emptier than Thor remembered it. First as he flew in, and then as he walked down the halls inside. There was no noise of distant people, nor any hint of warmth.

The only presence was that of Stark’s AI, who greeted him before guiding him to where the aforementioned mortal was going through the fridge.

Thor wasted no time getting to the point.

“What happened here?”

Tony looked surprised for the briefest of moments, taking a second to drink in the sight of Thor standing before speaking.

“You’re back.”

“I am.”

Tony sighed and closed the fridge, reaching into the cabinet and pulling out a bottle. He went to another cabinet and retrieved a pair of glasses. He set both the bottle and glasses down before pouring out a couple drinks. He slid one of them across the counter towards Thor.

“I’m alright.” Thor said, eyeing the drink suspiciously. He lifted his eyes back to his friend, and was surprised to see that Tony looked even more tired than he did before.

“Trust me,” Tony replied, “you’re gonna want that.”

Thor just frowned, sitting down on the stool before him, and waited for Tony to speak.

And then he did.

(Thor took the drink.)

He heard the story, from the beginning in Lagos, to the woman who confronted Tony at MIT, to the introduction of the Sokovia Accords.

Thor had thoughts on those – emotions that threatened to rise up and cause him to interrupt the account that Tony was giving. But then he saw the look on the face of the man before him, and kept his mouth closed.

He kept his mouth closed, even as Tony went on about the Accords and the disagreements among the team. Even as Tony told him about the attack on the United Nations, and how Barnes had been incriminated.

(Thor did not miss the way that Tony’s eyes had tightened in restrained emotion at the mention of Roger’s old friend. He did not miss the way Tony clenched the glass in his hand so tight his knuckles turned white.)

Thor listened as Tony told him about hunting down Barnes. About Steve getting arrested as he tried to protect his friend. About how he had almost signed, but then  Steve had backed out. About how they had fought again. 

Thor listened as Tony told him Barnes had broken free.

Thor watched as Tony paused, looking down at his drink, before topping it off and knocking it back in one fluid move.

Thor listened as Tony told him about Steve leaving.

About the fight at the airport. About Rhodey falling.

Thor opened his mouth to ask if he was alright, but Tony had just waved his hand absentmindedly and informed him that he was elsewhere in the compound, alive and recovering.

A moment later, Tony started to speak again. But he was speeding up now, words rushing out as he told Thor how he had found out Barnes had been framed, and had gone to Sam. How he had made the trip to Siberia, and talked to Steve.

How they had confronted Zemo.

And his parents – his parents had been killed. By Barnes.

“We fought,” Tony said, glancing away. “I lost. Steve left the shield when he left.”

Thor looked at Tony intently, searching for the unsaid words. Because there was clearly more to the story than was being shared. 

“Where are they now?” Thor asked instead, deciding that if Tony didn’t say anything now, he probably wouldn’t with prompting.

Tony shook his head. “I don’t know. Steve left me a phone to call him, but I haven’t looked.”

Thor nodded slowly, trying to wrap his thoughts around everything that had happened in his absence – what had happened while he had been gone.

There was a phrase that Jane had told him that Thor felt applied: deja vu.

“I am sorry that I was not here,” Thor said.

“Yeah, well, we can’t go back and fix our mistakes. Much as we’d like to.” Tony said, standing up.

Thor watched as he took both the glasses and dropped them off in the sink, before turning back around.

“Your room is just how we left it.” Tony said, walking around the corner. “It’s good to have you back.” he patted Thor on the shoulder on his way out.

*****

It was two days later before Thor finally broached the topic that had been wearing on him.

“I wish to see them.”

Tony glanced up from his tablet, eyes wide at Thor’s words.

“I told you, I don’t know where they are-”

“You mentioned a phone?”

“That seemed more like an ‘emergencies only’ type-”

Thor, however, would not be moved. He stared Tony down, not willing to back down. He had heard Tony’s account of the events, and though it seemed relatively balanced, he still wished to hear from Steve and the others.

And, if he were being honest, Thor just wanted to know that they were alright.

“Fine.” Tony rubbed at the bridge of his nose, clearly tired. “I’ll get in contact.”

Thor nodded, satisfied with the attempt. There was hope for them yet.

*****

A few days, and one impromptu trip to some country named Wakanda, later, Thor tried to talk to Tony again.

“Stark,” Thor pleaded, “surely there is something you can do?”

Tony glanced away, his face stony. “Sorry, Point-break, I have my hands tied. Ross is mad at me already, and I doubt he’d appreciate my meddling.”

(Ross is a big problem, Natasha had told him. To all of us. Well, that was something they all seemed to agree on.)

“At least try.” Thor interrupted. “Surely it would be worth it.”

“Yeah, I don’t think Rogers is all that happy with me now. Not to mention I’m really not pleased with him either.” Tony shook his head.

(I was wrong with Tony. Steve had said. And: I miss it, y’know? Home.

The others had agreed with him, either with murmured assent or looks of affirmation.)

“Tony,” Thor tried, “don’t you want them back?”

The mortal’s face softened then, and Thor noticed all the emotion the man had tried to keep hidden away up until that point. He was tired, yes, but there was so much underneath that tiredness. Sadness, for one, and melancholy acceptance. Regret. Yet mixed in was just a dash of burgeoning hope.

“Fine,” he said after a moment, “I’ll see if there are any loopholes or anything we can exploit.”

Thor grinned, relief flooding through him. He reached over and gave Tony a friendly hand on the shoulder. “I have complete faith in you, my friend.”

*****

“I apologize,” Thor said over the call, regret abundant in his tone.

“I get it,” Jane replied, “it’s all messed up over there, isn’t it?”

Thor took a deep breath, thinking about the place he had returned to, the people who he missed. 

“Yes,” he said, “It will take some time to fix it.”

“I’m not going to see you for a while, am I?” Thor hated the hint of disappointment in her voice, but it was unavoidable.

“I truly am sorry,” he said, apologizing again. “I-”

“Thor,” Jane interrupted, “I get it. You need to be there.”

Thor sighed, a ghost of a smile gracing his lips. “Yes.”

“Promise to call?”

“Of course.”

Jane’s tone was lighter when she said: “then I look forward to it. Talk to you later.”

Thor stared at the wall as the call was ended by FRIDAY, trying to collect his thoughts. He wished he could spend more time with Jane, he truly did, but the mess with the Avengers had struck a deep chord within him, and he was well aware that he could not turn his back now. Not again.

The future is headed for the past, Thor mused with a touch of distress furrowing his brow. The team – the family – that had come together was already racing down the path of destruction that had faced Thor’s family before.

But Thor wouldn’t accept that – couldn’t accept that. He would keep his family from falling apart as it did before. Because he couldn’t go through that again. He couldn’t go through the pain of losing something he hadn’t valued as much as he should have. 

He was determined, and when Thor was determined, he succeeded. He would not leave them as he had left Loki alone to flounder. He had made a mistake with his brother, one he had not seen until it was far too late, and that would not happen again. He was going to do better for them. As he wished he could do better for Loki. 

Because his brother had deserved better. His family deserved better. Asgard had deserved better.

He hated how things were now – he hated the strain upon his relationship with his father. He hated how he and his mother walked as if on eggshells around each other. He hated how cold Asgard seemed now – the shining city that was his home. It felt empty and lifeless.

That would not happen to Midgard.

Thor stood up and brushed off his shoulders – he had work to do.

Chapter Text

“I am Groot.”

Gamora glanced over from her mug of tea to see Groot bounding his way over to Loki, a small glass jar in his hand. He had an eager look on his face, which mirrored itself in his tone as he called for Loki’s attention.

It had taken a long time, and a fair amount of rolled eyes from both her brother and Rocket (Gamora swore she lost a brain cell every time those two paired up), but Gamora was beginning to understand Groot. Her (and the others’) understanding was typically limited to simple phrases that the small tree spoke, but it was exhilarating to be able to understand anything at all.

And so Gamora paid extra attention to Groot as he held up his jar and asked: “I am Groot?” 

Will you give me more –  to keep?

Gamora watched, not quite understanding what was going on. Though Loki undoubtedly did, as he chuckled and held up his palm. “Very well, but not too much. We have a mission later, yes? I’d like to save my strength.”

Gamora blinked, and was suddenly reminded of that night a few weeks ago, and the comment Loki had said about his magic. It didn’t quite make sense though – from what she had heard, strength shouldn’t be a problem.

She was drawn out of her thoughts at the sight of sparks that erupted just a few inches above Loki’s palm. They danced around, bright light paired with light popping sounds.

Fireworks.

Groot dutifully held out his jar, tipping it forward to allow Loki to more easily slide the dash of magic into the jar. The second after it was in, Groot cheered and screwed on the cap.

“I am Groot!” Thank you!

“You’re welcome, youngling.”

She waited until Groot had wandered out of the room and off to take care of his new little jar of fireworks before she whipped her head around toward her brother, determined to broach the topic.

“Loki.”

Loki blinked. “What?”

“What was that, that you said about your magic-”

“What? Groot wanted some more fireworks. He likes them.”

“Not that. What you said after.”

Loki rolled his eyes. “No need to be so cryptic, Sister, you’re much better disposed to come out and say what you mean.” 

Gamora rolled her eyes right back before crossing her arms. She knew when he was deflecting. “I thought you were one of the most powerful sorcerers in the Galaxy,” Gamora said. “The rumors-”

“Were true. Not any more.” 

Her brother fiddled with the edge of his blanket, curling it around his fingers and brushing the pads of his thumbs over the seams. For a moment, Gamora didn’t know whether he would continue. But then he did.

“Why do you think I rely on showmanship so much?” Loki asked quietly. “I’m not as strong as I once was — my magic took quite a beating for all those years. I’m honestly lucky I can still summon items from my pocket.”

Gamora met his eyes. “You can teleport.”

Loki shook his head. “Only short distances. I used to be able to traverse great lengths, but now I cannot.”

“You move stuff.”

Loki waved his hand. “Mere child play. I was once a great mage, Sister. A prodigy. I could create armies of illusions and weave spells that some could only dream of.”

Gamora pursed her lips at those words, trying to process and decide what she thought. In lieu of actually deciding, she stood up from her seat and moved across the room to settle herself beside her brother.

“It’ll come back,” she said. Loki scoffed, and Gamora elbowed him. “Stop it.”

“Stop what?”

“Not believing me.

“Well, considering you know nothing of seiðr-“

“I’m right.” Gamora interrupted,  “Now stop arguing. You’re too negative sometimes.”

Loki lapsed into silence, momentarily surprised by their words. Then he sighed ever so slightly, and shook his head.

“I hope so,” he whispered, leaning his head back to stare at the ceiling. It was a mix of pipe and wires and other such ship-innards that only Rocket and Peter could make sense of.

They creaked and groaned in the way that it always did. Once, Rocket had compared it to its own language. Granted, he had been speaking sarcastically, making a shot at Peter’s skills. But Gamora liked to think that he had been right, in a way.

“He took so much,” Loki whispered, barely audible. And despite the background noise, Gamora managed to hear him just fine.

Gamora swallowed, her throat going dry. She knew whom Loki was speaking.“Yeah, yeah he did.”

“We can’t get it back, can we?”

“Not all of it. But… He didn’t take everything.”

“It feels like it,” Loki remarked.

“It does.” Gamora agreed. “But we can move on. Make new memories.”

Loki glanced at her, and this time Gamora noticed a spark of humor in his eyes, dancing alongside the melancholy and hope.

“Ah yes. New missions, new distractions.”

“There’s a new one coming soon,” Gamora grinned, “Peter will be back from his meeting with Nova Prime soon.”

“Norns have mercy on his soul.”

*****

Nova Prime looked Peter up and down, then back at Rocket and Mantis who flanked him. She looked disappointed, for some reason that Peter couldn’t quite fathom. After all, she was the one who had asked for them to come to this meeting rather than just sending a comm with the job proposition.

“Just the three of you today?” she asked slowly.

“Yeah,” Peter answered, “you asked for me to bring a couple of the others. What’s wrong?”

Nova Prime shook her head before turning around and walking around the large holo-table set in the middle of the room. She pressed some of the controls at the base for a moment, before the holograms whooshed around and settled down to reveal a Stryloc male with deep purple scales that race across the entirety of his face, with the exception of his slit-pupiled eyes and stringy black hair.

“This,” Nova Prime began, “is your target. Sadif Hí is a known mercenary and weapons smuggler. But he’s managed to evade our forces for-”

“Oh boy, he’s an uggly fella, isn’t he?” Rocket laughed, “I mean, look at his nose!”

Mantis started to laugh along with him, looking to Rocket for approval. “Yes,” she said, “his nose is funny.”

Nova Prime looked entirely unimpressed.

She tapped the screen, pulling up coordinates. “This is where our intel has him – somewhere on Ghor X24. Though we don’t know the specifics-”

“Pong’s.”

Rocket and Peter spoke in unison before glancing at each other, sharing a look.

“Excuse me?” Nova Prime asked.

Peter startled. “Oh – it’s a bar.”

“Completely reputable,” Rocket nodded in an exaggerated manner. “Totally makes sense for us, galaxy-wide heroes of the highest moral whatcha-ma-call-its, to know about.”

“But he’s probably there. Because…” Peter blinked, desperately trying to think of a reason for their target to be there. “It… is exactly where we would expect him not to be.” Peter finished, nodding with a confidence that he most definitely did not feel.

Nova Prime stared him down, and Peter was struck with the reminder that this was one of the most powerful people in the Galaxy, and that he should probably tone it down.

“That’s the kind of A-plus thinking you get with the Guardians of the Galaxy,” Peter grinned, giving her a thumbs-up. “See, your people would never have known that, right?”

“No,” Nova Prime said slowly, “no, they wouldn’t.”

Peter got the feeling she meant that in a different way than he thought.

“Anyway,” Rocket said after a moment, “We got this one in the bag, no problem. Gonna take us two days tops.”

“Make it one.”

“One and a half.”

“Good enough.” Nova Prime said, paired with a sharp nod. “You’ll have your payment as soon as the target is in our custody.”

Mantis grinned at those words. “We will see you then!” she said.

Nova Prime nodded. “Yes, I will.”

Peter wasn’t quite sure how he felt about the ominous undertones of those words, and he was a bit confused by Nova Prime’s wording. Though when she spoke next, he was struck by a cold hard slap of realization.

“I look forward to seeing you for the debrief,” Nova Prime said, holding Peter’s gaze. “All of you.”

Peter swallowed.

*****

“I got good news and I got bad news.”

“Norns save us,” Loki muttered under his breath, still loud enough, however, that Gamora was able to hear it from her place beside him.

“We’ll take the good news,” Gamora informed Peter, elbowing Loki in the ribs. 

Be nice, said the glance she shot towards him.

Loki rolled his eyes, but it’s Quill.

“Good news,” Peter said, “we got the job and know where the guy is.”

“And the bad news?” Nebula asked suspiciously. She was sharpening 

Peter cringed. “You gonna put that down?”

“Depends on what you’re gonna tell us.”

Peter sighed, apparently accepting whatever was on his mind.

“Nova Prime wants to check in with you guys to make sure you’re sane.”

The room became so silent, Gamora could easily make out the heartbeats of her siblings.

“We are screwed.” Rocket cursed.

“Excuse me?” Loki demanded.

“Yeah, didn’t know about this?” Peter asked, “you were there!”

“I wasn’t payin’ attention! I was too busy stealing her paperweights.”

“You stole Nova Prime’s paperweights?”

“What? They were plated in solid gold!” Rocket protested, glancing between Peter and Gamora defensively, “can you blame me?”

“Yes!” multiple voices called out at once.

“Can we please get back to the point?” Nebula demanded, stepping away from the wall she was leaning on and throwing her dagger onto the table with a loud clang. The noise reverberated throughout the room loudly, drawing everyone’s attention to the Luphomoid.

“Nova Prime just wants to see you,” Peter tried again, “It’s really no big deal. You’ll-”

“I would much rather avoid seeing that woman if at all possible,” Loki interrupted. His weight was shifting from side to side in the tiniest of movements – so small that Peter and the others most likely did not notice. But Gamora knew her brother. And she knew that every part of his body was screaming discomfort.

“I don’t think it can be avoided,” Mantis said after a moment, looking truly apologetic. “But she is our ally, yes?” at the nods she continued: “so we shouldn’t worry!”

“On the contrary,” Loki argued, “there is much to worry about.”

“How are we supposed to convince her we’re ‘rehabilitated’?” Nebula asked. “What does that even mean?” What if we’re not good enough for her, her eyes added silently.

“You’ll be fine,” Gamroa said, stepping in. “we’re all a bit crazy here, she won’t bat an eye. Just act natural.”

“I’ve never been a shining beacon of mental health,” Loki muttered, “not for decades. What does ‘natural’ even mean?”

“It means you do your best – and don’t threaten to kill me in front of the most powerful woman in this sector.”

Loki and Nebula met each other's eyes at Peter’s words, both looking distinctly saddened. Gamora sighed. She really hoped that this would go well.

“Oh!” Mantis said, blinking. “I can teach you how to act sane!”

“Ah, a crash course.” Loki drawled, “just perfect.”

“To be fair, Mantis is the sanest out of all of us.” Peter countered.

“I am Groot!” Groot announced indignantly. 

“You wanna attack every rodent you see,” Rocket countered, “ya don’t count.”

“In his defense,” Loki told Rocket, “Mantis is a kleptomaniac.”

“Not you too,” Peter groaned. “Loki, don’t listen to Rocket - Mantis has never stolen my wallet. He just likes to throw her under the bus.”

Loki looked at Peter as if he had grown a second head. “Are you truly that obliv-”

“That’s enough!” Gamora announced loudly.

“Loki, stop antagonizing Peter. Peter, stop arguing with Rocket. Groot, you can be sane too if you want. Rocket, you will be returning what you stole. Mantis, thank you for the offer, but I don’t think it would help. Nebula, stop filming this. Drax, wake up.”

“Huh?” Drax asked, sitting up in his chair whilst blinking rapidly and looking around. “What did I miss?”

*****

CRASH!

“Why didn’t you tell us you were banned from here, Rocket?!” Gamora demanded as she ducked to avoid a  high-speed flying bar stool.

“Everyone’s banned from here!” Rocket argued back as he let off a barrage of blaster-fire, “I’m not special!”

“I’m not banned from here,” Peter yelled as he lept back behind a booth, coming up to let off a few shots from his twin-blasters, paired with a couple of frustrated swears.

“Think again!” the bartender yelled out from behind the bar counter where he was hiding from the fight.

Peter cursed again.

“Haha, take that, Quill!” Rocket cackled gleefully.

“I am Groot!” Groot cried as he ran to where Gamora was hiding behind an overturned table. She had spent enough time in combat situations to be able to devote a sufficient amount of attention to be able to understand him – stop arguing!

“Groot is right,” Mantis agreed as she leapt over the side of the bar, coming into sight of Gamora. “We are getting nowhere!”

“Which is all Quill’s fault,” Nebula spat from somewhere off in the warzone that Gamora couldn’t quite see. 

“You know, if we actually focussed on the mission, we may get somewhere!” Loki remarked, suddenly at Gamora’s shoulder, his arrival only announced by the flash of green that Gamora saw out of the corner of her eye.

She turned, making eye contact with her brother. “We’re cornered, aren’t we?” she asked. Gamora had been marking out everyone’s positions over the past couple of minutes, and was fairly certain that they had been backed into the farthest corner of the establishment with no way out.

Loki nodded grimly. “Hí has found reinforcements with some of the other patrons,” he said, “I do suggest that we finish up quickly.”

“That’s the dream,” Gamora sighed, sticking out her head from behind the table to check out the view. She pulled her head back, however, to avoid a blaster shot that narrowly missed her head.

Yeah, this wasn’t the best position that they had been in.

Loki rose up high enough to throw a couple of his daggers, and from the thumps that followed, Gamora knew that they had found their marks in the walls across the room.

“What are you thinking?” Gamora asked when Loki ducked back down, a tense look on his face.

Loki paused for a moment, thinking furiously. He was startled out of it, though, at the sound of a loud explosion near them, and Rocket’s loud cursing.

“I want to try something,” Loki said slowly. “I don’t know if it’s going to work, though.”

His expression had changed from a far-away one to an intensely earnest look. He was asking for permission.

Gamora shrugged. “Do what you can,” she said, “we’re too boxed in, and I can’t use my sword.”

“This is why blasters are not the superior weapon,” Loki remarked in a joking manner before nodding to himself, and standing up straight.

Loki spread out his arms, hands splayed with palms down, and as he did so a wave of rippling green spread out from his person throughout the bar, dissipating into the walls.

For a second, Gamora wondered what that was supposed to do. Just for show? But then she noticed how quiet it had gotten, and glanced around the room.

It was not just quiet – it was still. Everyone in the bar, with the exception of the team, was frozen in place, suspended mid-air in whatever positions they had been in before. The same went for almost all of the inanimate objects, and in one case, a bolt from a blaster.

“What… just happened?” Peter asked, putting his blaster away.

Nebula rose up from her place across the room, where she had been tucked into a booth. “Loki did magic, isn’t that obvious?”

“Wait, did you stop time or-”

“Time is fine.” Loki gritted out. “This is merely a… suspension of reality.”

“That doesn't make any-”

“Unfortunately, I have neither the time nor the patience to answer you right now, Quill.” Loki winced. “I’m not sure how long I can hold this. So might I suggest that we grab Mr. Hí and depart?”

“Yes,” Drax said, brushing off some saw-dust from his shoulders, “I want a shower.”

“There’s a joke about a blood-bath in there somewhere,” Peter muttered under his breath, and Gamora sighed affectionately.

“Don’t worry,” she whispered to him, “you’ll get your pun soon.”

Peter looked back to her and smiled in a way that lit up her heart. “Aw, thanks ‘Mora.”

“Can we please get moving?” Loki demanded again, and Gamora was startled out of her smile.

She cursed herself for forgetting about her brother, especially seeing now how he grit his teeth in strain.

Nebula was already ahead of her, however, grabbing their target from where he hung midair and slapped some of the cuffs the Nova Corp had given them onto his wrists. She began to drag Hí behind her, leading the way out of the smoking bar.

Gamora made her way to Loki’s side, offering her arm to him when he released his shoulders, shaking slightly from the effort. He took it immediately, steadying himself as he took a few deep breaths. A few seconds later, Loki had regained control of himself enough to relinquish her support and stand up straight.

He nodded to her once in thanks, and Gamora quirked her lip in return. Shall we go? She asked him silently.

Loki smirked back, and they made their way to the door together.

“Whelp,” Rocket said, staring at the fire in the corner and the distant screaming. “we’re never getting invited back here.

*****

“Is everyone okay?” Gamora asked when they were back on the ship, already standing by with a pack of medical supplies.

“I lost feeling in the entire left side of my body,” Quill joked. “So I’m all right now.”

There was a wave of groans and erupted amongst the crew.

“If he says another word,” Nebula hissed to Loki, “I’m cutting out his vocal chords.”

“I’ll hold him down for you.”

*****

“-of course it was not nearly my best,” Loki was saying, gesticulating rapidly as he spoke, “but it was far more than I had done in years! Did you see the quality of the suspensions, Sister?”

Nebula, who was walking beside him, nodded without saying a word. While it was a touch disheartening, the lack of sheer derision was enough to spur him onward.

“I must try more when we get back home, perhaps I can get a journal from Mantis to write this all down. Oh, I wish I had some of my books. I’m sure there was one about the theory of relearning skills, rehabilitation. Entirely hypothetical, of course, as I highly doubt there have been many magic-users over the years who went for so long without seiðr in the pursuit of knowledge. But it would still be useful, wouldn’t you say?”

Ahead of them, Peter turned a corner, leading the rest of the Guardians through the snaking halls of the main administrative building of the Nova Empire. Loki didn’t pause longer than it took to give a cursory glance around to reorient himself.

“And I also wish I had some of my personal notes – I kept so many over the centuries about myself. They would be helpful now. But no worries – I can begin again.”

The thought of beginning his meticulously taken entries had at first shrouded Loki in a hint of melancholy, though even that was fading quickly. After all, it was a new experience. And the thrill of exploring his abilities made him feel like a schoolboy again.

“Of course, I have no need to actually relearn any of the theories and such for seiðr. I am, of course, passing through the Grammar and Logic stages of development. But now I must use what I know to retry many spells and skill sets – I have knowledge of where to begin, but I need to practice until I know where to rebuild my strengths. The Rhetoric stage once again – amusing, in a way.

“You don’t understand any of this, do you?” Loki asked slowly, 

“Nope.” Nebula looked at him like he was crazy for assuming otherwise. After a second she glanced away and shrugged. “But I like hearing you talk. Keep going.”

Loki balked at the words. “Really?” he asked incredulously.

“You get excited,” Nebula shrugged again, “like when we talk about knives.”

Loki took a second before a smile began to crawl its way upon his face.

“Well then,” he said, taking a second to breathe and reset himself. “As you are surely aware, magic has been compared to weaponry for Norns know how long. But did you know that.…”

***** 

“Hí is being processed as we speak,” Nova Prime said to Peter as soon as he entered her office, leading his crew behind him. “You did a good job.”

“Well ‘course we did!” Rocket said before Peter could thank her. “What’d you expect?”

Peter sent a pointed look to the Raccoon before turning back to Nova Prime. “Thank you.”

The rest of the Guardians filed in behind him at that time, and Nova Prime’s attention was immediately drawn away from Peter and to the pair of siblings who were huddled close to each other. 

Gamora led them in, face held high as she stared Nova Prime down. She took her place beside Peter and put her arms over her chest.

Nebula and Loki, however, hadn’t seemed to have noticed where they were quite yet. Loki was talking animatedly, gesticulating with an excitement that was matched in both his tone, and his face.

“-so it is less an extension of one’s abilities, and more a part of their unique nature. For instance, I am more inclined towards types of magic associated with mischief, or breaking the natural order of things. Someone with an inclination to nature would be far more skilled with the workings of plants, or stone or some such.”

Nebula nodded along, her face set in a look of intense concentration. She clearly didn’t want to miss a single word.

“Ehem.”

Loki paused in his lecture to look over to Nova Prime. The tiniest flash of surprise darted across his face before he settled into a calm, confident look.

“Ah, Nova Prime,” he tilted his head in acknowledgement, an amicable lilt in his voice. 

Nebula nodded, looking as reserved as she usually did. Though her arms were by her sides as opposed to crossed like Gamora’s – Peter appreciated the effort.

Nova Prime looked between the two, eyes narrowed ever so slightly. 

The room was quiet for a few moments before Peter got tired of the awkwardness and decided to solve it in the best way he knew how – talking.

“So anyway,” he said, “about that mission, huh? Rousing success, eh?”

“I don’t think so,” Mantis frowned. “I didn’t get to use the grenades Rocket gave me.”

A beat.

Two.

“The what?!” Peter demanded.

“Hey!” Rocket cried. “That was a Don’t-Tell-Quill!”

“Isn’t everything?” Loki frowned. “What makes this one different?”

“I thought Quill liked blowing stuff up?” Nebula asked in unison.

“It’s the principle of the thing,” Peter argued, “letting Mantis have bombs without me? After I told him about Molotov Cocktails? It’s a breach of trust.”

“I suppose it would be a bad time to mention the knives, then?” Loki asked innocently.

“I knew you guys had kni-”

“The ones for Groot?” Nebula finished, and Peter paused.

“Excuse me?”

“He is tiny and requires defensive tactics,” Drax spoke up then, “we all knew this. Except you. And Rocket.”

“You know, I’m gonna have to agree with Quill on this one,” Rocket said, then shivered heavily. “Ugh, that hurts my mouth.”

“Wait – you agree with me?”

“‘Course! Groot should get a tiny blaster first, we already established-”

“Oh not this debate again,” Loki groaned, “please spare me your weak talking points. A blade is far superior, so of course we gave some to Groot. Besides, we made sure they were small enough so that he would be able to handle them properly. And he is being properly trained, and will only use his skills for good.”

“We gave him sheaths too,” Nebula pointed out. “Safety first.”

Loki nodded seriously. “Of course.”

Peter glanced at Nova Prime then, and his stomach dropped. You know, maybe this wasn’t quite the conversation topic they should be having in front of the women they were trying to convince not to have two members of the crew committed to some kind of mental institution.

She was looking at them with a stony expression on her face.

“Hey guys,” Peter tried, “let’s shelve this for later, right?”

The group paused, then seemed to simultaneously remember exactly where they were, and exactly who was in the room with them.

Mantis shook her head sadly. “I offered the lessons.”

That’s not gonna help us now, Peter groaned internally.

They all looked to Nova Prime, standing across the room. Beside him, Peter felt Gamora wound up tight in anxious anticipation.

“Well,” Nova Prime said then, “You certainly are passionate.”

Chapter Text

KA-BOOM!

“At that,” Rocket yelled from his perch on top of Drax’s shoulder, “is why you never mess with the Guardians of the Galaxy!”

Gamora laughed as she ducked a blow from one of the smugglers they were fighting and executed a quick three strike combo to his torso, causing the man to collapse on the floor in a writhing heap. Rocket was having fun, but Gamora couldn’t fault him for that. After all, so was she.

“Wow, this is great,” Rocket remarked to Drax, “you make a good substitute for Groot now that he’s short.”

“I am Groot!” Groot protested.

“Sure, you’ve grown, kid,” Rocket yelled back to whatever Groot had said, “you’re still short!”

Gamora dispatched another one of the smugglers, making a good pace across the warehouse they had been clearing out. She paused long enough to hold out her non-sword hand out to Groot. Groot really had grown like Rocket was saying – he was far from a ‘baby’, and more akin to a toddler in terms of size. Though she still privately thought that he was still a baby to her – no matter his stature or maturity. She had just spent too much time carrying him when he was a sapling to think otherwise.

Groot grinned at the gesture, and took Gamora’s hand. She plucked him up easily enough, and proceeded to deposit him atop her shoulders.

“There,” Gamora said, “now you get a spot like Rocket.”

“Shame!” Rocket cried, pausing briefly to shoot his massive gun a couple times at fleeing smugglers, “That’s copyright infringement – I could sue you for that!”

“Since when have you ever cared about the law?” Gamora shot back.

“Since Loki said he’d help me sue you guys.”

“He said what?”

“Sorry, can’t say more. It’s in my contract.”

“You should not sue us,” Drax broke in before Gamora could. “Our money is your money. You’d lose money yourself that way.”

Rocket blinked down at Drax, momentarily caught off guard. “That,” he said definitively, “is not how it works.”

“Yes it is.”

“No it isn’t.”

“I am Groot,” Groot huffed from Gamora’s shoulders. They’re not paying attention.

“You’re right, Groot,” Gamora said, “let’s go take care of the bad guys while they’re busy, okay? We can finish up before we rendezvous with Peter and the others.”

Groot cheered, and together they charged forth. Gamora used her sword, sweeping out at anyone who dared approach her – which actually was quite a few lackeys. They hadn’t seemed to learn quite yet that there was no hope of them defeating her.

Despite it being rather easy to take out the smugglers that swarmed the large warehouse, it was still taking some time to clear out everyone. They were a few minutes behind schedule. 

Gamora sighed internally – she really hoped that her siblings hadn’t tried to kill Peter yet. Hopefully Mantis would balance them out. 

A second later, Gamora found that her wish had been answered.

KA-SHLUNK!

Gamora jerked back at the loud noise of metal falling to the floor, gaze immediately zeroing in on the huge doors at the far side of the warehouse that just came off their hinges. Rocket and Drax came up beside her just as the smoke was beginning to clear, allowing them to see Peter, Loki, Mantis, and Nebula standing in a row.

Rocket began to cackle. “Oh, these guys are done for now.”

Gamora couldn’t help but agree.

*****

The fight was going well, and Gamora was having the time of her life. Groot was still on her shoulder, even a few minutes later, and he had begun to toss small objects – rocks or sticks, Gamora was unsure – at the foes they were facing. He still wasn’t quite big enough to fight on his own, but he was enjoying himself, so that was enough.

Gamora had made her way to Peter’s side, and they were fighting together, staying close as they cleaved through the thugs they were fighting. It was nice – no, better than nice – what she had with Peter. Whatever they were. She loved it.

Rocket had jumped down off of Drax, and was now fighting alone. Though Gamora wasn’t worried, he had a mad look in his eye, and could clearly take care of himself.

In the corner of her eye, Gamora could see Loki flit across the fight, flashes of green remaining in place longer than even him. He would stab and strike and then disappear, off to the next target.

Mantis was fighting beside Nebula, only a few yards away from each other as they took down their enemies.

A little ways further than Nebula and Mantis was Drax, who was also doing quite well himself.

It was messy, and it was chaotic. But they all worked together brilliantly all the same. Gamora wouldn’t quite say that there was organization in the madness, but there was certainly a consistency and coherency that came from teamwork.

“What the hell?!”

Gamora sighed. She spoke too soon.

Her gaze snapped across the fight, to where Loki had just appeared beside Nebula. She watched as he grabbed her wrist and spun her away from the thug that was about to stab her with a knife. Nebula had barely let out her remark of surprise before she was whisked away, just like Loki, in the telltale sign of teleportation.

They reappeared with the ripple of familiar green on the other side of the thug, and Loki immediately jumped back into the fight, using the new angle to take down three separate opponents in one strike.

Nebula, on the other hand, stumbled for a second, completely disoriented. She regained her stance a split second later, however, and jumped back into the fight beside Loki’s side. 

Gamora drew her attention away to whack the smuggler near her with the flat of the blade, bringing him to the ground. She glanced around for another opponent, and yet found none.

They’d taken care of all of them, and the once-open floor of the warehouse had been transformed into a sea of downed men.

The only thing of interest was Nebula, who stalked up to Loki and put a dagger under his chin.

“Do that again, I cut off all your limbs.”

Loki raised an eyebrow, completely unalarmed. “If I don’t need to, I won’t.

“Shut up.”

“You shut up.”

Gamora rubbed her forehead. Why did she get the feeling they’d be having that argument again sometime in the near future?

*****

“Duck under,” Loki’s voice rang out, “then I can swing you around.”

“Like this?”

“No, lower.”

Gamora paused at the bottom of the ramp leading out of the Benatar , her brow knitting together in light confusion at the word. The confusion continued as she caught sight of what her siblings were doing.

They were practicing their forms, she recognized. But they weren’t the typical fighting training that they had all taken part in over the years. No, this was different.

They were practicing teleporting.

Gamora turned away quickly, sliding back up the ramp of the Benatar, a grin on her face. She could still hear them working behind her – darting around as Loki teleported them from one place to another. 

She glanced back only once, just enough to see Loki also teleporting Nebula separately from him – both to and from himself. Apparently their fight with the smugglers a few weeks ago had struck a chord with the pair.

That was good though, Gamora decided as she walked up the ramp and into the ship itself. They were working together – without any arguments. 

Sometimes they still managed to surprise her.

*****

“Wait,” Rocket said, eyes getting wide, “I just had the best idea.”

Loki looked at him, frowning. “What is it?” he asked. Gamora could see the intrigued-confusion upon his brow.

Rocket’s eyes were even wider now, bright with the thrill of a brilliant (in his eyes, at least) plan. “You can do sleight of hand type stuff, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you can summon and disappear stuff right?”

“Yes.”

“So… we should totally see if we can find the nearest casino!”

(Gamora swore she felt a headache begin to form at those words)

Loki’s eyes grew to match Rocket’s, if it were even possible. “That could prove to be a fruitful endeavor.”

“Oh heck yeah!”

“And it would be good to stop – I need to drop into some shop to pick up some things.”

Rocket looked at Loki suspiciously. “Things… for magic?”

Loki rolled his eyes. “No, not spell ingredients. Merely writing utensils – I require some paper to write out my progressions, the computer simply won’t do.”

Rocket’s eyes lit up, and he darted across the room, not replying to Loki at all. Gamora watched as he rifled through some drawers before yanking out a yellow notebook, about as large as his face. He held it up triumphantly before making his way back to Loki and holding it out to him.

“It’s not green, but it’s all I have, so don’t get pissy it doesn’t match your aes-”

“This is wonderful,” Loki said, his eyes bright. “Thank you, Rocket.”

Rocket blinked at that, then puffed up his chest. “Well,” he said, “you’re welcome. Just don’t forget about the casino plan.”

Loki smirked. “Oh I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Loki didn’t put down that notebook for the next week. It was just as eternally present as the green leathers that Loki favored, always by his side or in his face. Though it annoyed Gamora at times that Loki would prefer to have his nose in the pages than actually talking to her, she decided that she would let it be. It was clearly important to him.

Besides – she kept remembering the sadness on his face when she asked him about his magic. How doubtful he had looked at the thought of him ever recovering. So it was worth it, it was worth giving him peace to scribble in his book and go off to practice the same spells over and over. 

It was worth it.

She gave him space as he darted around the ship, pausing every so often to grab a bite to eat (Nebula had threatened to disembowel him if he skipped meals) and then depart again.

It was like watching a wild animal in its natural habitat, Gamora thought sardonically. The Wild Loki would appear and disappear at random times, his tendencies and habits a mystery. And she never knew what mood he would be in.

Sometimes he was distant, his mind completely on other matters. Other times he was too aware of what was happening, over-sensitive to the proddings of Nebula and the lights and other sensations around him. 

Even other times, he was in the middle, engulfed in his book–

“The third track is what I should focus on,” Loki muttered to himself, scribbling in his notebook as he walked past Gamora and down the deck of the Benatar and outside.

She watched him go, curious. Right before he actually left the ship, a flash of emerald enveloped him, and her brother disappeared from sight. 

*****

“So.” Peter began. “Is this more Voo-doo, or Hokus Pokus type stuff?”

Gamora glanced up from where she was polishing her sword, confused. She understood about half of the words that Peter just spoke.

Loki, however, seemed to know exactly what Peter was trying to say. If the long groan he let out was anything to go by.

“I assure you, Quill,” Loki said tiredly, “that my magic is none of the sort.”

“So you don’t use a cauldron or dolls?” Peter pressed. 

Gamora rolled her eyes at his antics – she could tell clearly from the tone in his voice that he only partly meant the questions that he was asking.

“No. I do not.”

“You’re not a witch?”

“I told Drax, and so now I will tell you – call me a witch, and I will castrate you.”

“What is a witch?” Mantis asked, speaking up for the first time. She was standing in the doorway, having come in a few moments before.

“Apparently,” Peter said exaggeratedly, “not a real thing.”

“Incorrect,” Loki admonished, “my mo-” he paused and blinked for a moment, screwing his face up in a way that spoke of confusion, uncomfortableness, uncertainty, and an overwhelming sadness.

A second later, and it was all gone, safely tucked away behind a mask of exasperation. It was a good one, Gamora had to admit, so good that she almost didn’t notice it. She probably wouldn’t have, she was hesitant to admit, if she had not seen the emotions that had swirled underneath but a moment before.

“Witches exist.” Loki said. “But I am not a witch.”

“They're all the same to me,” Peter shrugged. “You just wave your hands and then stuff happens.” Peter’s eyes widened. “Do you… do you use wands?”

“Thank the Norns you don’t know about Harry Potter,” Loki muttered under his breath, too quiet for Peter to hear. Though Gamora, with her enhanced hearing, could just make it out. She tucked away that piece of information for a later time. Perhaps she would ask Loki.

He glared at Peter, letting the displeasure upon his face answer the question.

“No? Okay then. Can you use a wand?”

“Some do, I do not. They are a hindrance.”

“Okay, but do the words ‘bippity boppity boo’ actually do anything or-”

“Do you have any serious questions?” Loki demanded, cutting Peter off.

“I’m just searching for answers,” Peter shrugged.

“Perhaps if you actually wished to learn, as opposed to making inane comments, I could-”

“Oh!” Mantis exclaimed, “I want to learn about magic!”

A pause.

Loki looked her up and down, something twinkling in his eye. It was a complete one-eighty from his demand before, and it made Gamora both extremely wary of what plans he was hatching, and happy at how content her brother looked. The twinkle dwindled into something a touch more considering.

“I don’t think you have the ability,” Loki began slowly. “Some species have the tendency to magic, or the capability to learn, but I’m not certain about yours.”

Mantis’ face didn’t lose even a fraction of its eagerness. “I don’t care,” she responded, “I just want to know how it works.”

Something clicked in Loki’s face, Gamora noticed. She watched as he straightened up completely, his chin lifting ever so slightly. The twinkle in his eye had bloomed into a complete and utter shine that spread from his irises to the grin that had overcome his face.

“Well then, Mantis, Guardian of the Galaxy,” Loki said, folding his hands before him, “how would you like to become an apprentice to a Sorcerer?”

Mantis beamed.

*****

“Yes, this will provide the space we need.” 

Mantis nodded at Loki’s words, marking something down on her clipboard. “Space. Sufficient.” she muttered under her breath.

“Magic can be performed in very limited space,” Loki said over his shoulder as he led Mantis down a gangplank, “however, for more combat-oriented magic usage, space is good.”

“Do things ever explode?” Mantis asked, still scribbling down notes.

Loki shrugged. “Both purposefully and not.”

“Kraglin won’t mind if we explode his ship, will he?”

“Not if we only destroy a little bit,” Loki responded, moving further away. “He was generous enough to allow us to use this space, surely he was aware of the consequences when he did so.”

Gamora rolled her eyes at those words, pairing it with a subtle shaking of the head and light chuckle. Though she couldn’t necessarily deny the truth in Loki’s words – when they had come back to Kraglin’s ship the day before to restock and also just to visit, the captain had offered the large cargo bay that they were in now for Loki’s use. Loki had lit up brighter than a flash from a blaster in the dead of night. Even though Kraglin didn’t know Loki as well as she and the others did, he had certainly heard enough to know he may need to pay for damages in the coming week.

Here they were, the next day, making use of the offer. And it mattered, Gamora thought unshakeby. Loki needed this. But, she added, Mantis needed this too. She had seen how Mantis had disliked being distanced from Gamora and her siblings – unlike the others, who were perfectly fine with bumping shoulders, they kept her at a distance.

It wasn’t Mantis’ fault that her powers brought back bad memories for the siblings. They just did. The thought of her privacy being invaded made Gamora’s skin crawl. The thought of someone knowing more than they should, of getting into her personal space and prying. 

(She knew it was the same for Nebula – they had both had similar experiences in Sanctuary, after all. Though from what she had heard of Ebony Maw’s boasts, Gamora suspected that the idea of invading one’s mind was an entirely different kind of terror for her brother.)

So this mattered. It mattered to Loki, and it mattered to Mantis. They may not overcome their issues anytime soon (if ever), but spending time together was surely a step in the right direction.

Gamora was pulled out of her thoughts at the feeling of a presence entering her blind spot.

“Should we worry about that?” Nebula asked her, coming up from a hallway behind her and settling to her right, leaning against the railing.

Gamora glanced back to where Loki was talking to Mantis about special qualities to various incendiary spells, smiling at his broad gesticulation.

“No,” she said, “I think this is good for them.”

Nebula nodded, completely confident in Gamora’s words. “Alright.” she said, and turned her gaze back like Gamora to watch the pair. A moment later she straightened up from the railing, and rolled back her shoulders.

“You going?” Gamora asked.

Nebula smirked. “I’m gonna see if Loki will turn Quill into a frog.”

Gamora sighed. Baby steps.

Chapter Text

She was weightless in the air, suspended by some kind of invisible force, allowing for just a moment to simply exist. No force upon her, not even gravity. It was… it was…

Torture.

Nebula jerked as she realized where she was, not held down by chains or strapped to a table. No, there were no such basic contraptions there to keep her in place. She was frozen.

Thanos only ever held her like that when he wanted to peel her apart, layer by layer. To strip away parts of her until she was barely a skeleton with wires running to and fro. To pook and prod and pull out parts of her body, leaving them suspended just like she was in the air where she could see them. It was as if she were exploding in times like these, and yet paused in the middle before all the debris could spread out far, far away.

No, these debris would be placed right back where they were. Or some similar equivalent, at the very least. Because for all the time that Thanos spent pulling her apart, he took just as much pleasure in putting her back together. Leaving her almost exactly the way she was previously, except how she had the tingling feeling of her body not truly being her own anymore. 

A low chuckle echoed throughout the room.

Nebula began to twist back and forth more – no matter how much she knew that resistance was futile, she still fought. If she stopped fighting, then that would be the end. She at least had the comfort that she had done all that she could.

Which was nothing.

She could barely move, she was putting far too much strain on her muscles and joints and assorted parts, and yet nothing happened but an ache which began to form in her jaw.

The chuckle grew louder.

“Ah child, why do you fight?”

Thanos. He was here, and there was no escape.

Neblue groaned at the effort – something had to give. Something had to happen. She twisted and turned and gasped and tried so hard to make it stop but it wouldn’t. She could feel it now, the beginning of the operation. She was being peeled back, and nothing was happening and yet she twisted and turned and gasped and-

And- and- and-

Nebula gasped awake, sitting up in bed abruptly, clutching at her chest. It heaved from the tremor of unshed tears. (She couldn’t cry now, not after what Thanos had done. Synthetic eyes had no room for tear ducts.)

She couldn’t cry, but she could breathe. Nebula gulped down huge breaths of air, trying to get her heart and mind under control. It was over. It had only been a nightmare. It wasn’t real.

(It had been real, though. A lifetime ago, that had been a staple staple of her daily life. Somehow, that made it far worse than any specter or demon that she could have seen in a dream.)

She was here. She was here in her bed, with her sheets, in her and Loki’s – no, that wasn’t quite right. Nebula blinked, looking around the dark room with heavily lidded eyes. This wasn’t their room on the Benatar. This was her room alone, on Kraglin’s ship.

She was alone.

Nebula shook that thought out of her head roughly, bridging one hand up to cradle the side of her face as she squeezed her eyes shut. If her eyes were closed, then she could block everything out. She’d be safe.

She was still alone.

She was alone, until she was not.

Nebula opened her eyes at the sounds of her door swinging open, and blinked at the flood of light from the hallway’s guiding floor lights. A figure was standing there, one who – despite Nebula’s mental fog – was completely non threatening to her.

The figure took a step forward into the room. Only one, pausing in hesitation at moving any further, and Nebula recognized who it was.

Gamora pursed her lips. “Can I come in?”

*****

Dead. They were all dead.

Gamora couldn’t breath as she stared down at the bodies of everyone – Mantis and Drax, and Rocket and Groot. Peter. Her siblings. They all just lay there, bodies broken down and bruised. Blood swirled together over the whole scene, and the overwhelming stench of death pervaded the air.

Dead.

Dead .

“You did this.” The voice was loud and booming and oh so familiar. “I taught you, my daughter, but you were the one who was willing to listen.”

Gamora began to shake, frozen in place at the dark words of Thanos. He was somewhere behind her, she could just barely tell, but she didn’t dare to look. She stood stalk-still as he began to croon at how good she had been for him. What a perfect daughter she had become. How she had listened, had never questioned, had taken the modifications with not even a flinch.

“You were just what I needed.” the disembodied voice of the Mad Titan boomed. The tone was soft and proud, and yet the words echoed throughout the whole dark space. 

Darkness surrounded her, she barely noticed, with the only light shining down dimly upon her family before her. Anything beyond that, she was unable to see.

“You fought brilliantly, my daughter.” His voice grated on Gamora’s nerves – made her want to yank out her own hair and collapse to the floor and cry and cry and cry until the end.

“You won me many planets.” The scene suddenly shifted, and Gamora dry heaved at the vertigo. “Do you remember this one, child?”

Yes. She did.

Gamora’s heart tightened so much in her chest, she wouldn’t have been the least bit surprised if it were to give out right then and there. She knew this planet, it had been one of her first conquests for Thanos. She had been seventeen at the time, and was rearing to prove herself to him. 

Half of the people had died that day, and she had basked in Thanos’ approval.

Gamora blinked over and over, unable to look away from the utter destruction around her. Half of the people had died in the end, yes, but that hadn’t included those who had fallen to valiantly protect their homes and lives from the Mad Titan.

There were so many.

Her eyes were clouded with a faint tinge of red, almost as if the sprays of blood that had flown through the air had been so thick as to create a mist. The area around them had a warmth to it, from all the bodies that littered the ground. They had not cooled yet – the battle just barely over. 

“This was one of your great triumphamphs.” Thanos announced. “There were others, of course.”

The scene began to shift rapidly, and memory after memory began to assault her senses – Garríf, Dijol, Harruv, more and more and more. 

It never ended.

No matter what she did, now matter what she wanted, it would never stop.

She was back where she started.

“You try to do right,” Thanos whispered in her ear, and she could feel him now. She could feel his presence at her shoulder, and she could feel his breath upon her. He was so close – she had sworn to herself that she would never let him get this close to her again. “And yet death follows you. Destruction. You will never be free of it, child.”

Peter.

Nebula.

Loki.

Groot.

Drax.

Rocket.

Mantis.

Her family. Her family that she had fought for, had bled for. Her family which had finally become whole, and along with it her heart. They lay broken before her. Broken and bloody and ruined and dead . They were gone. Gone, gone, gone. It was all her fault.

Thanos had a smile in his voice. “You will never be free of me.”

Gamora awoke with a choked gasp.

Her hands flew to her throat immediately, clutching herself as she fought to find breath. It took some time, but she found it, and with it came the awareness of where she was. In bed. With Peter beside her. His soft snores (thankfully not as bad as that night a few months ago) were calming, and grounding.

Gamora reached over, her hand outstretched to shake Peter awake. Afterall, it was what they did together. One of them – Gamora, more often than not – would wake up from some nightmare, and then the other would wake, and they’d fall asleep in each other’s arms.

Gamora paused, her hand just inches from Peter’s shoulder.

Tonight was different.

Gamora rose from the bed, not quite knowing where her feet were taking her. She moved across the room, then slipped out quietly. The door shut behind her with a click. 

She winced at the noise, but Peter didn’t seem to stir. She was fine.

She was fine.

Gamora swallowed, and began to pad down the hallway, past all the rooms of her crewmates. She listened carefully as she walked, hearing their quiet breaths even through the doors. It calmed her, somewhat, for which she was eternally grateful.

She paused at Loki’s door, a war going on in her mind. She lifted her hand to the metal, about to knock and ask for entry, when a quiet gasp caught her attention.

It came from Nebula’s room, just behind her.

Gamora was there in an instant, at the door. She didn’t hear another noise, but she had already made up her mind, and pushed her way in without a second thought.

Nebula was awake, curled up in her bed with her face cradled by one of her hands. 

Gamora pursed her lips. “Can I come in?” she asked quietly, holding her breath as she awaited the answer.

Nebula blinked, confusion like a syrup that her consciousness was trying to wade through. After a moment, though, she nodded. Just once. It was enough, and Gamora made her way into the room with only a pause long enough to shut the door behind her. She sat down on the bed beside Nebula, and became aware all at once that it was rather cold on the ship, and she was not wearing any shoes. She tucked her legs underneath her, and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Did you have a-”

“Yes.”

“Me too.”

“Mm.”

“Was it about-”

“Thanos. Yeah.”

“It always is, isn’t it?”

Nebula hummed an affirmative again, and burrowed a little deeper under her sheets. Gamora copied her movements, and was rewarded with just a bit more warmth. 

It was still quiet in that room, though, and she didn’t like it. It was stifling, almost. Like a wet blanket that kept her from fully relaxing under its oppressive nature.

“Do you… want to talk about it?” she asked slowly.

“Yes.” Nebula bit out. Then frowned. “No. I need…”

Gamora swallowed, understanding completely. She reached an arm out, slowly, meeting Nebula’s eyes so that her sister could understand exactly what she was doing, and wrapped it around her shoulders.

Nebula stiffened at first, and Gamora began to panic that she had done the wrong thing. But then her sister softened slightly, and leaned over. Gamora felt the fire in her heart grow just a bit brighter as Nebula rested her head upon Gamora’s shoulder.

They sat like that for a long time, alone together in the quiet, until a knock came at the door.

*****

Spirling. Down, down, down.

Always falling.

Never landing.

Twisting back and forth in the air (or lack of it) trying to gain traction, yet still failing.

There was nothing around him – no more of the tiny footholds he had managed to carve out for himself over the past few years. 

It was all so wrong.

He never wanted this to happen – not again.

Suddenly the fall was over – suddenly he was crashing down onto cold hard metal, crushing the bones of his ankles and legs from the impact. His hands slammed down before him, attempting to salvage whatever he could from his impact.

Pain shot its way up from his palms, through his wrists, and up his arms.

He gasped loudly, crumpling to the floor completely. His breath was ragged, barely managing to drag its way through his lungs and throat. He pressed his forehead upon the floor that he was resting on, the cool surface chilling him from the touch. A moment there, he spent, shaking from the pain, from the tension dancing its way through his closed off and shredded mind. It had been torn apart, clouded and strung up like an animal that was being preserved in order to be hung on a wall as a trophy.

A trophy. A conquest.

That was what he was.

That was all Thanos thought of him.

Thanos.

That brought up something in Loki, something that was just on the tip of his mind. Some kind of warning. He –

“My son.”

Terror darted its way through Loki like lighting – lighting , that was important, wasn’t it? Because with lightning came-

“You have come home.”

The fear gripped him then, giving him the resolve to stand up fully and begin to limp down the hallway before him, leaving the trail of sticky dark blood behind him. It was a tracker – they would be able to follow him, Loki realized. Them. The Black Order. 

He could hear their cries behind him – he heard the cackle of Corvus Glaive and the low taunts of Ebony Maw. the screeches of Proxima Midnight and the roar of Cull obsidian. And below it all, he could still hear the rumblings of Thanos’ voice.

“No,” Loki whispered, using the wall to support himself as he tried to go down the hallway as fast as he could. It seemed to go on forever in front of him – stretching on for twice as long with every step he took in down it.

Stretching on and on, no matter how quickly he went.

He was speeding up then, ignoring the screaming of his limbs as moved. Movement was his only chance. If he were to stop, if he were to slow down, then he would truly be done for.

No, that wasn’t quite right, was it? He was a deadman anyway. He was dead already, and had been for a long time.

Ever since he let go from that Norn’s forsaken Rainbow Bridge.

It had been his choice then, his to end his own life. His choice that had led to all of this.

Suddenly it was not only the voices of the Black Order that whispered from the shadows. There were more, more from a past life. A life he didn’t even deserve anymore. A life he didn’t truly know how he felt about. He hadn’t thought about it for a reason.

It was here to haunt him now.

The whispers cut through the low noise of his strained groans. Whispers from those he had known – Sif, Volstagg, Hogun, Fandral.

Whispers from those he had called family. But they weren’t, he knew that now. Odin. Frigga. Thor.

His stomach turned at the voices. At the accusations.

What you did!

How you betrayed us!

Ungrateful-

And then the one that made him freeze.

You won’t even call me brother, will you? You’re so scared. Do you hate me? 

“I-” Loki choked out, voice hoarse and frozen. “I don’t – I didn’t – I want-”

It was too late.

The howls of the Black Order were closing in. Together, in harmony with the new addition of Chitauri battle cries, they rose to a volume that was unbearable.

Their claws were just reaching his flesh when Loki fell off his bed.

THUMP.

Loki barely acknowledged it, barely acknowledged the floor upon which he found himself. A floor, beside a bed. He had fallen off, hadn’t he? From the thrashing?

Yes – yes, that was right. He was by his bed. In his room.

Not on Sanctuary.

“I got out,” Loki muttered, “I got out.” he blinked rapidly, and was passively surprised to find that tears tracked their way out of his eyes. They cut down his face in twin pillars, dripping onto his sleeping shirt.

When was the last time he had cried? Loki didn’t quite know, the feeling was almost alien to him. What wasn’t, however, was the pain. The phantom pain was still with him, but this time it was no different than the usual aches and pains. He had been dealing with the distant physical reminders of his time on Sanctuary for a year (almost two, at this point)… now was no different.

Loki cringed at the pain, drawing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around his legs. He rubbed at the joints, trying to ease the moaning of his limbs. It didn’t help, not really. But it never did.

Some wounds… even time could not heal.

Loki swallowed, and blinked rapidly. The room around him was hardly registering in his mind, and what was was tinged with a distinct tinge of not right. Something was not right here.

He rose to his feet slowly, not bothering to replace the blanket that had come undone upon his impromptu fall from the bed. He was not thinking fully, the fog was back.

It wasn’t like when he first left, though. No, this fog was less like when he had been wandering around the universe alone, and more to do with the incoherency that came when one just woke from a dream.

A dream.

That’s all it was.

“I got out.” Loki whispered the words to himself as he walked down the hall, towards his destination. There was only one option, really – his other sister not-so-subtly sleeping with their captain as she was.

The door was nondescript, so like every single other one in this wing of the ship. But it was different to Loki – it was unique compared to every single other around him.

He knocked on the door, wincing with a sea of regrets that began to wash over him in waves. Perhaps this wasn’t a good idea – Nebula needed her sleep too. It was selfish of him to want to go to her for comfort. 

(To go to a sibling for help after a night terror. Just as he had done with Thor.)

Nebula wouldn’t, Nebula was–

Calling him in.

He opened the door and shut it behind him.

“You too?” Nebula asked, the barest touch of humor in her tone. It didn’t quite read her eyes.

She wasn’t alone. Gamora was there as well, for some reason not with Quill. She watched him with concerned eyes.

Loki couldn’t even manage to summon the strength to raise one of his eyebrows as he usually did. He was just so tired. He opened his mouth, about to ask whether he could come over, when Nebula moved over closer to Gamora and tilted her head toward the empty space.

Hurry up, Nebula’s eyes were conveying.

Loki obliged.

The bed was soft as he sat upon it, and warm from both of his sisters.

“You okay?” Gamora asked softly, meeting his eyes.

Loki shrugged, not sure how to answer. He pulled himself under the blankets as Gamora and Nebula had, and tried to pull his thoughts together.

“Are you?” he asked in lieu of a reply. His voice felt raw.

Gamora’s eyes tightened. “I will be.”

Nebula’s sigh was audible in the quiet. And that, thought Loki, summed it up fairly well. They all had their troubles, and yet they were similar enough to understand. They all understood each other, despite the individual troubles that haunted each other. 

Haunted by the past, each of theirs holding a different tale, no matter how many of the interweaving paths of history crossed.

His dream haunted him, even as Loki was in the bed which in all reality was a touch too small for the three of them. Even the comfort of being near each other was not enough to fully banish those memories from his mind – only one, really. Already the rest were dissipating from his thoughts like most nightmares did following wakefulness. 

Those words.

You won’t even call me brother, will you? You’re so scared. Do you hate me? 

He had, Loki was honest enough to admit the fact. He had hated Thor. He had hated the shadow in which he had found himself for centuries.

And he was – he was scared when he thought of Thor. (what would he think of him? What he had done? What he was?)

But it didn’t change the fact that they were not siblings. It hurt Loki to think it, but Odin had been clear when he had told Loki the truth. They were not 

Thor wasn’t his brother. Thor wasn’t his brother, just as Nebula and Gamora weren’t-

No.  

That was not true.

Gamora and Nebula were his sisters. They shared no blood, but had been bound together by those years spent in Hel. They had been forged in the same flames and cooled by shared experiences. They hadn’t been raised together, but that didn’t matter. They were just as much his siblings as Thor- 

As Thor. Thor, his brother. Thor, his brother who he had been raised with. Who he had fought side-by-side with in battles. Who he had trained with, and adventured with. Who he had gone to when the day had been too much. Who had always been the strong rock in his life, no matter how much the years had drawn them apart.

If Nebula and Gamora were his sisters, then why was Thor not his brother?

Perhaps… perhaps things back then hadn’t been entirely bad, Loki thought quietly. He snuggled down lower under the blanket, reveling in the warmth and comfort of his sisters beside him. Both their presences calmed his racing heart.

And things aren’t half-bad here, either.

And they would get better – they had been getting better for so long (almost two years at this point), and there was no indication that it would stop. Loki wouldn’t let it stop. And, he thought with the barest touch of humor, both his sisters were much too stubborn to do otherwise as well.

It was quiet in the room, which set Loki’s jaw on edge in a way that he almost didn’t notice. At least, not until Nebula’s voice cut through the darkness.

“Tell us a story.” 

Loki blinked in confusion. “Pardon?” he asked.

Nebula’s shoulders seemed to draw even further in on herself. “Talk,” she whispered, her voice still hoarse, “please.”

Gamora shifted as well, her eyes meeting Loki’s with a pleading look. “Please?” she echoed, and Loki understood.

Silence was a death sentence. They needed noise, something to cling to listen to to stave off the terrors. Because it was in the quiet that the nightmares struck, when you were alone and isolated.

Loki understood, and he realized that maybe he needed that as well. 

(Afterall, how many times had he been left alone in his quiet, with no one to speak to and no one to listen? How many times had he felt as if he were screaming into a bottomless pit with no noise escaping his lips? How many times had he felt as if he were drowning in the blankness?)

He breathed slowly, thinking. 

He settled down in the bed a bit more, as did his sisters. He frowned, questioning.

Debating. 

“There once was a golden kingdom,” Loki began after a long moment, and he felt Nebula and Gamora’s attention immediately latch onto him and his words. “It was ruled by a wise king, and a loving queen.” He swallowed. “They had two sons, two princes, who were raised together since long before either of them could remember. The younger was not theirs by blood, however. He had been taken in when he was just a babe.”

Loki’s breath hitched for the tiniest of moments, but the warmth and safety that he felt there in that room soothed him.

“And yet, he was still loved as their own.…”

Chapter Text

“A lot less planning this year.” Nebula said sarcastically as she stepped into the main area of the Benatar, one of her practice knives in hand, to see Gamora leading what seemed to be an extremely intense meeting. There were papers everywhere, and all the screens had been taken up with notes – things on food, colors, and general “Idea dumps”. Peter, Rocket, Drax, and Groot looked immensely tired as they struggled to write down notes. Groot was making paper stars with the discarded scraps. Across the room, Loki was lounging with a book in hand and Mantis was braiding her hair.

Gamora raised her eyebrow towards Nebula. “It’s been two years – we need to celebrate.”

“Yes,” Loki said, not looking up from his book. “You are clearly doing a wonderful job with the celebrating part.

Gamora’s eyes tightened at that. “We’re planning what we’re going to do tomorrow.”

“You’re panicking because your think tank doesn’t have any ideas.”

“You don’t think this is all that important, do you?”

“No,” Loki said exaggeratedly, setting aside his book (it flashed away to wherever he kept his things when they weren’t in use), “I have no idea why such a day would be anything less than a mundane occurrence.” 

“On this day,” Drax spoke up suddenly, apparently not understanding Loki’s sarcasm, “two years ago, we were in the middle of expanding our team. First we had Nebula from the Sovereign, then we met Mantis, then Nebula decided she didn’t want to kill us all-”

“I’m still debating,” Nebula drawled, and chose that opportune moment to toss her knife up in the air. (perhaps some of Loki’s drama was wearing off on her)

Drax frowned at that, but continued: “then you joined, then Nebula came back. And today is directly in the middle of it all.”

“It’s not just about you, though,” Rocket shot in, “the whole team formed together – we get at least some of the credit.”

“You can have as much credit as you want, Rocket,” Gamora began placatingly, “after you finish helping us plan something to do.”

Rocket squinted at that, looking rather put out. Nebula just smiled, happy it wasn’t her who had Gamora breathing down her neck.

Loki rolled his eyes. “Let’s just go out.”

“Out?” Rocket asked, eyes snapping up from his notepad, “out where?”

“Anywhere!” Loki shot back. “We have a space ship, do we not? We can go anywhere in the galaxy we could possibly wish to!”

“I am Groot.”

Quill raised his eyebrow at the tree. “We are not taking you to a bar.”

Groot let out an outraged squawk at Quill’s words, and put his hands on his hips. “I am Groot!” I’m big now!

“You barely reach my hip,” Qull shook his head. “You’re still tiny, Groot.”

“Back on Asgard,” Loki said, “children are raised on mead. Surely Groot could handle some alcohol?” 

Nebula blinked in surprise at Loki’s casual reference to his planet, so unaccustomed to him speaking of it in any way beyond veiled allusions. And yet, here he was, throwing around a comment as if it were the easiest thing in the world when she knew for a fact that it was anything but for him.

Her eyes met Gamora’s across the room, and she could tell they were thinking the same thing. But then Gamora shrugged ever so slightly, and Nebula understood her meaning: the other night. 

The night when Loki begant to tell them about his childhood – and his ‘before’. Nebula didn’t remember her ‘before’, she had been too young when she was taken by Thanos to recall more than the barest of hints. Smells, blurs, ghosts of a past life. Gamora had been older than her, and she remembered more. At least, Nebula thought so – her sister had never actually said anything to her. Not like Loki had. Loki had kept them awake late into the night with his stories – stories and grandeur and battles woven in between with mundane daily routines. It had been real, and special. He hadn’t spoken any more about it since then, since they got back from Kraglin’s ship and back to their own wanderings. 

Clearly, though, it still stuck with him.

“Yeah, well,” Quill began, momentarily surprised at the reference (He didn’t know as much as she did – but he was more aware than he looked, sometimes), “Groot’s not Asgardian, okay? So he’s gonna stay away from drinks till he’s older.”

“You truly are no fun,” Loki frowned – pouted, really.

“So bars are off the table,” Rocket began slowly, “what about… gambling?”

Quill considered for a moment. “That sounds fine.”

Nebula rolled her eyes. “Sounds like a perfect place for a kid.”

Quill pointed at her. “You were, like, killing people by age ten. You can’t talk.”

“Peter!” Gamora admonished.

The Terran had the dignity to look chagrined, but Nebula was smirking.

“Rocket?” she asked.

Rocket squinted at her. “What?” 

“Do you have any ideas for ‘Family-Friendly’ planets we could visit?” 

Gamora’s face drained of color, and Nebula thought that that look alone just put ten more years on her lifespan.

Rocket, meanwhile, was one moment away from breaking out into a full-on cackle.

“Well, if you want my opinion-”

“Yes please.”

“-then easily the best place for everyone would be Sakaar!”

“Norns have mercy,” Loki muttered under his breath, and Nebula decided that this was the best idea that she had had in a long, long time.

Her sister, however, didn’t seem to share in that sentiment. “Sakaar is a backwater trash heap that’s loud and gaudy and is the scum of the galaxy.” Gamora stated, her arms crossed over her chest. “Completely unreputable.”

Quill, bless him, did not catch any of her hints: “Sounds fun! Let’s grab Kraglin – we’ll make a day of it!”

*****

They grabbed Kraglin.

The Xandarian had seemed less than thrilled at being dragged away from his new crew of Ravagers – he’d been working very hard to get his own clan up and running – but after a quick talk with Rocket, he seemed a bit more inclined to accept their invitation.

“‘Sides, my first mate could use some practice,” he’d said.

And that was that – Kraglin was brought on board the Benatar (despite the lack of seating for him, though he made due), and they were off toward the planet that was literally where all the galaxy’s trash ended up.

(there was a joke in there somewhere, Loki just had to find it)

Despite the planet’s less than appealing description, Loki could feel Nebula practically vibrating in excitement beside him – well, that wasn’t entirely true. Nebula didn’t vibrate like others (such as Mantis) did. Neither did she bounce, nor did she fidget. Nebula was a rather reserved woman in that sense. And yet despite that, Loki could feel that anticipation and excitement radiating off of his sister in waves.

She was quite satisfied with her actions as well, though Loki thought that she should be proud. If the daggers that Gamora had been glaring their way were any indication (and Loki thought they were.)

Loki was proud of his sister as well – being god of chaos was a title that he took seriously, and one of his duties was cultivating mischief in others. Who was he to discourage her?

(At least, that was what he planned to tell Gamora if she asked)

The only kind of mischief and fun that Loki was prepared to actively discourage, however, was unfortunately sitting just a couple of seats in front of him.

“Who wants to hear a joke?”

Peter Quill: skilled pilot, capable captain, and decent planner. He was not, however, a comedian.

“No one.” Loki rolled his eyes and took another bite of the snack mix Nebula had brought up to the cockpit for the two of them.

“Oh! What do you call an insect that lives on a moon?” Quill asked, completely ignoring Loki’s warning.

“Mantis?” Nebula asked with a straight face. 

“I am not a bug!” Mantis protested.

“‘Course you’re not.” Quill assured her. “Besides, the correct answer is – get this – a Luna-tick.”

“Booooo!” Loki called out, tossing a bit of the snack mix he was sharing with Nebula at Quill. 

“That really sucked, Quill,” Rocket agreed, tossing some of his own food at the Terran.

“You all are just a bad audience,” Quill groussed.  

There was, however, one person who laughed at Quill’s joke.

Kraglin, from where he was standing up in the corner, was chuckling. “I missed yer’ humor, Quill. They don’ appreciate ya here.”

“See, that’s what I’m talking about!” Quill said, “thanks, Kraglin. They just don’t seem to understand art around here.”

“I took tutoring in art appreciation for centuries before you were born, Quill.” Loki scoffed. “I think I know more about art than you.”

“Agree to disagree.”

“I did not agree to that!”

“Hey, can you guys can it?” Rocket asked, “‘cause it looks like we’re here.”

“Crap!” Quill hissed out as their ship came to a stop over a large, colorful, and distinctly trash-ridded planet.

“Gravity from the portals,” Rocket said, “watch out.”

“I’m trying!” Quill shot back, and brought their ship through one of the most complicated landings they had ever done in all the two years of Loki’s time with them.

(he swore two of those barrel rolls were unnecessary)

Nevertheless, they made it to the ground relatively unscathed. Though Loki swore he would be pestering Quill about his flying skills for at least a few months after this. It was what the Midgardian deserved, afterall, for making him spill his snacks.

“So,” Quill said, completely unaware of Loki’s machinations, “where to first?”

They looked around at the bustling streets around them – filled with so many people of various species, and countless shops. Everything was rather bright and colorful.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Rocket asked, giving Quill a weird look. “Sakaar is famous for, like, one thing dude.”

Quill nodded. “The parties.”

“The trash piles.”

Quill gave Rocket the strangest look. “What?”

“Uh, the trash?” Rocket scoffed. “What else are we gonna check out? Everything ends up here! There’s so much that we could take and resell!”

“That sounds nice,” Kraglin remarked, “maybe we could find some cool stuff.”

“You’re telling me you want to go rifling through trash instead of heading to the actual city? There’s banners for some kind of contest of champions too! We should go watch it.”

“It’s a trash planet.”

Quill scoffed. “And you keep telling me you’re not a racoon.”

“You take that back!” Rocket snarled.

“Both of you be quiet!” Nebula snapped. “We can split up, alright?”

(Loki raised an eyebrow at the proceedings.)

“Hey, that’s a good idea,” Rocket said, “we should split up. I can go check out the real tourist sights, and Quill can do his froo-froo crap.”

“It’s not froo-froo, but fine. Hey, wait. I'm the captain – I’m the one making decisions here!”

Gamora went to his side, resting her hand not-so-subtly on Quill’s bicep. “Let’s go, Peter. We can meet back up in a few hours?”

“This is how every horror movie starts,” Quill muttered under his breath. And though the words were ridiculous, they struck a chord with Loki.

“Should we be worried at all about seperating,” Loki asked, “seeing as Ronan’s soldiers were, in fact, Sakaaran?”

A moment of silence fell over the crew.

“Naw,” Rocket said, “we’ll be fine.”

The rabbit nodded to himself with an immense confidence that did anything but instill itself in others. Then he holsted his humongous rifle up his back, and turned around to head off in the direction that he had pointed out earlier. Groot and – surprisingly – Kraglin followed as well.

Nebula leaned over to Loki’s ear as she passed him on her way to the trash heaps. “Twenty credits this trip ends with us getting banned from some establishment.”

Loki smirked. “Thirty. And it's the whole planet.”

*****

The trash heaps were exactly what Nebula had pictured. In fact, she thought that they were incredibly self-explanatory. There were portals up in the air that periodically spat out more stuff, which was a bit of a change. But other than that there really wasn’t much out there.

It was still better than the idea of getting drunk in a club with Quill, though. Or, rather, watch everyone else get drunk. She couldn’t, not after the modifications.

Besides… Nebula would be lying to herself if she were to say the thought of getting more things – things that would belong to her – didn’t excite her. 

“This place is a treasure trove!” Rocket exclaimed, and Nebula actually found herself agreeing with him.

“I am Groot.” Groot remarked – I wanna climb. He did just that, leaping gleefully up a small mound of trash, pulling at stuff and scrambling until he reached the top. A little crow of triumph came from him when he was done, and Nebula resisted the crinkling in her eyes.

“Where to first?” Rocket asked? “Or is it all the same?”

Nebula hummed noncommittal as she dug into a pile of trash, finding a pristine garrote wire. Yes, this was a wonderful decision.

Kraglin shrugged. “Just don’t go near the portals – that’s where the scrappers hang out.”

“Scrappers?” Nebula asked, glancing up.

Kraglin pointed farther out, to where a couple ships were circling new trash that was being dumped out. As they watched, the ships began firing on each other. A woman leapt out of her ship and onto the other, and began shooting down the gunners with a huge rifle.

Nebula glanced at Rocket, to see his eyes widening in desire.

We are not stealing that woman’s gun, Nebula thought in determination.

“Let’s go that way,” she said, and dragged the others in the opposite direction.

*****

“I am Groot?” Are you sure that we can take this stuff?

“Stealing is always morally acceptable,” Rocket told Groot. “As long as we’re the ones doing it.”

Nebula nodded solemnly at the advice the fox was giving the sapling (well, he wasn’t a sapling anymore. He was more the size of a large toddler. Or maybe a kid? Nebula wasn’t entirely familiar with the growing habits of flora colossi.) as she reached down and put a nice looking vase into her satchel.

“Rocket is right,” she said, “that’s basic economics.”

Kraglin grinned at that. “‘Sides,” he began, “out’ere in the trash heaps, everythin’ is free reign. It don’t count as stelin’ till ya get ta the city and’ try stelin’ that stuff.”

Rocket was grinning even more broadly now, “this is the best place in the universe.”

Nebula eyed him. She understood the sentiment, but still made a mental note to watch Rocket. She really didn’t feel like getting arrested today. Or bailing anyone out.

“I am Groot.”

Nebula felt the corner of her lip twitch up at that. “Yes,” she said, “you can take that bobblehead back home.”

“I am Groot.” I’m putting it in the cockpit.

“Quill’ll like that,” Rocket said, “he has a thing for those things. Calls them hula ladies?”

“Must be a Terran Thing,” Kraglin said, “he talked ‘bout those things to the captain too.”

“I’ll ask Loki, he knows that kind of thing,” Nebula said. Her attention was drawn away, however, at the sight of a bright yellow hat. 

Ah yes, her collection was growing.

*****

Five hours later, and Groot decided they were done.

“My bag isn’t full yet,” Nebula protested, “we can stay for a little while longer.”

“I am Groot.” My feet hurt.

“Get Kraglin to carry you.”

“Hey! I have my stuff to carry!”

Nebula sighed heavily, then looked out across the miles of treasure that they wouldn’t get to explore. But she needed to be the responsible one here – no matter what her siblings would have to say about it – and accept that Groot didn’t want to stay anymore.

“Fine,” she said, “let’s head back to the city. We can stop at a restaurant or something – Rocket, did you steal Quill’s wallet?”

Rocket scowled at that. “Mantis got to it before I could. But I got his techpad, and it has his bank info on it.”

“Good enough,” Nebula decided, and they – reluctantly – turned back to the city. 

The return wasn’t the most fun – Nebula had to resist the urge several times to grab some item or another – but eventually they were back on the edge of the city, and ready to fully leave. But first, they had to check out just one last interesting sight.

“Is that a ship?” Nebula asked in surprise. It looked like one, yes. But they hadn’t seen anything of such high quality anywhere in the heaps before this.

“Any logo?” Rocket asked eagerly, clearly already getting ideas, “if it’s in this good shape, maybe we could-”

“It says ‘SHIELD’ on it,” Kraglin called out over his shoulder.

“Oh” Rocket remarked, looking disappointed. “not a company I’ve heard of. Probably not worth a lot of money then.”

“I am Groot,” Maybe that’s why it was left out here without anyone taking it?

“Probably,” Nebula said. “Let’s go, guys.”

Kraglin sighed. “Darn.”

*****

They were doing so well – they’d gotten back to the city, and had stopped at a restaurant. Well… ‘restaurant’ was the loosest of terms. But they had Groot’s favorite type of sugary drink (Quill was gonna be so mad at them for letting Groot have that, but Nebula and Rocket had both decided that they would blame Kraglin), so all was good.

All was good, until Rocket decided that he couldn’t keep his grubby little hands out of the pockets of some passersby.

Some passersby, who turned out to be law enforcement.

Just their luck.

“You guys! Stop right there – you’re under arrest for thievery.”

Nebula closed her eyes for the briefest of moments. “Crap.”

*****

“So,” Mantis said as the others left. “Where are we going?”

Quill blinked. “Uh, yeah. Good question.”

“Oh for Norns’ sake,” Loki rolled his eyes and began to stalk down a side street, “let’s go find something.”

“I am following Loki,” Drax said, and began to follow him first, quickly joined by Mantis who hopped up to Loki’s right.

Quill muttered something under his breath and went along a second later. And from the feeling of eyes upon his back, Loki was fairly certain that his sister was there right beside him.

The streets were crowded, people carrying masks of a large green man and wearing brightly colored clothing. There were shouts and laughs and bustling all about.

Loki ignored all of that, however, his gaze skimming past the common folk in search of something special. Finally, he found what he was looking for.

A couple of blocks down the street he saw a luxury speeder going down the road.

as it flew past, an idea began to form.

“Mantis,” Loki said, “how would you like to learn about using magic as a persuasionary tool?”

Mantis lit up. “Yes please!”

A warmth bubbled in Loki’s heart at her eagerness – he was so happy she wanted to learn, that she cared enough to watch with fascinated eyes. Of course, he couldn’t let her down then.

He followed the luxury speeder down the side streets to the largest building in the immediate area, and knew in an instant that this was the right place. The craft heading in through doors blocked by a pair of guards, who looked bored as they waved the craft by.

“This is good,” Loki remarked to Mantis, “bored minds are more prone to suggestion.”

Behind him, Loki heard a strangled gasp. He glanced around to see Quill staring at him with wide eyes.

“Are you… gonna Jedi mind bend them?” he asked in a loud whisper.

Loki smirked and turned around again.

The guards barely glanced up. “No further – the Grandmaster’s party is for special guests only.”

Loki’s smirk melted away into a pleasant smile as he gently reached forward and tapped the guard’s shoulder in the guise of friendliness. His magic sparked from his fingertips as he tapped into the guard’s mind just enough to plant his suggestion.

“Oh,” Loki said, “but we are his guests. You should let us in now.”

The guard blinked rapidly for a few seconds, his mind readjusting to the intrusion, before he glanced over their whole group again and nodded sharply.

“Apologies, you may proceed.” he nodded to the other guard, and the doors opened to allow their entrance. “Up the stairs and to the right, sir.”

“Thank you ever so much,” Loki smiled before gesturing for the others to follow him.

“That was amazing!” Mantis beamed, “how does it work?”

“Well,” Loki said, “I’m not controlling his mind, you must note. I just… introduced an idea to his mind. I find the front of his consciousness, and plant it there.”

Mantis nodded before pulling out a notebook that she seemed to keep with her at all times, and scribbled it down. Loki smiled at that.

“I can tell you more at a later time,” he said, “for now – it seems that we have arrived.”

Indeed, Loki was right. They had gone up the stairs and through the right door and found themselves in a huge area filled with a couple of bars and even more brightly colored people. There was music playing in the background and several dozen people dancing.

It truly was a party.

“Goodbye,” Drax announced, “I am getting a drink.”

“Probably more than one,” Gamora muttered as Drax made a beeline for the nearest bar. 

Quill chuckled before he looked at the remaining part of their group. “I’m going to dance. Who wants to come?”

Loki wrinkled his brow. At that. Mantis shook her head as well.

Gamora sighed. “I’ll come.” she glanced at Loki and said, for some reason, “if he doesn’t have a partner he’ll get mad.”

“Ah,” Loki said as the pair of them left, “and I’m sure that’s the only reason.”

Mantis giggled from beside him. “They are cute together.”

Loki sniffed. “Possibly. Though I still theorize that Gamora’s head was injured when she chose him.”

“Has she denied it?”

Loki snorted. “Oh, she’s denied the whole thing. Poor Gamora, she thinks the rest of us are oblivious to their entanglement.”

Mantis blinked. “Oh… that’s true.”

“Strangely.”

“Does Quill–”

“I think he indulges her,” Loki answered. “Either that, or he’s even more oblivious than I originally thought.”

Mantis frowned. “It’s the first – I’m sure.”

Loki gave Mantis an appraising look. “Well, you certainly know more about the way people feel than I do.”

Mantis grinned. “It’s not just because of my powers,” she pointed out, and Loki couldn’t help but huff out a laugh.

“Of course not, you’re far more emotionally aware than the majority of us.”

Mantis nodded. “That’s true.”

Loki glanced around at the party. “Alright then, all-powerful Mantis, what do you think we should do now?”

“I think that we should get some drinks,” Mantis proclaimed.

“Have you ever gotten drunk before?” Loki asked. He couldn’t help the touch of surprise that came from hearing Mantis’ suggestion.

“Nope,” she said, “but Drax looks like he’s having fun.”

Loki glanced over to see that Drax was already taking shots at the bar. He had to admit that Mantis seemed to be right.

“Very well, then,” Loki said, “let’s get some drinks.”

It had been a very long time since Loki had gotten drunk, so long that he struggled to remember the specific time. Well… a good part of the struggle probably came from the drink that he was sipping. He wasn’t drunk – not even remotely. Though he enjoyed the pleasant feeling that came from the delicate martini he was sipping.

It was far different from the mead he had drunk on Asgard, and even more so from the sour liquor he had had at some point on Sanctuary. It was far sweeter. Not quite to his taste, but certainly not so much so that he dumped it.

Mantis had discovered quite quickly, however, that she didn’t really like the taste of any alcohol that she had tried.

“It tastes like vinegar.” 

“It tastes like sour yeast in liquid form.”

“It tastes like socks.”

Finally Loki had just ordered a plain juice for her, albeit in a fancy glass, and that one seemed to do the trick.

“This is much better,” Mantis said in satisfaction.

“I’m glad,” Loki said. “Especially since we’ll have at least one sober person when we leave here.”

He glanced around at the party, and was rewarded by seeing that he had in fact been correct – Gamora and Peter were still dancing, though they each had a couple glasses in their hands. And Drax was still at the bar across the room. Though he wasn’t alone at this point, and was instead talking to an old man with silver hair. He wore gold robes 

There was something… different about him. Something that gave Loki pause. He had a power to him, far different from those he had felt in the past. In fact, the only time he had felt anything similar had been on Knowhere, when he and Nebula had been trying to get the Power Stone from Gamora and the Collector. The Collector, who was-

An Elder of the Universe.

So that was the Grandmaster.

Loki blinked the surprise away before freezing.

“Mantis,” Loki asked slowly, “what are the odds of us getting out of a situation alive if it rested upon Drax not offending someone.”

Mantis frowned, and pulled out her notebook. A few seconds of note-taking and calculations later, and she glanced up again.

“Thirty percent.” she said.

“And if Drax were drunk?”

Mantis’ eyes widened in horror. 

An instant later they were both across the room, heading towards Drax and the Grandmaster.

“Hey, what’re you rushing for?” Quill demanded as Loki brushed past him.

Loki turned. “Drax is drunk and talking to the Grandmaster.”

“The guys in charge of this party?”

“The man in charge of the whole planet,” Loki corrected. He met Gamora’s eyes. “He’s an Elder of the Universe.” he said.

Gamora cursed under her breath, and pulled Quill away from the dance floor. Together, all of them quickly approached the bar where Drax was sitting, drinking and chatting with the man (who looked remarkably like Jeff Goldblum from that Dinosaur movie, Loki had to admit).

“And this is my champion,” the Grandmaster was saying, gesturing up at the screens set above the bar. On it displayed a large arena with a humongous green man of around eight feet in stature beating down gladiators as if they were toy soldiers. “He’s quite the specimen, isn’t he? Goes by ‘Hulk’.”

“Yes,” Drax said, “he looks like a formidable opponent.” 

“I throw anyone I don’t like in there, easy place to get rid of pests, you understand?”

Drax nodded. “Yes. Pests are bad.”

“I like you,” the Grandmaster said with a grin, “it’s nice to meet a similar thinking person.”

Drax frowned. “I do not think the same.”

The Grandmaster paused. “Why is that?”

Loki swore under his breath and stepped in. “Ah, Grandmaster. It is an honor to meet you.” 

The Grandmaster turned and smiled, completely forgetting about Drax for a moment. “Well I always like to meet my fans. What’s your name, young man?”

“I am Loki,” he rescinded, a pleasing smile on his face. “I see you have already met my friend Drax. These are Peter Quill, Gamora, and Mantis.”

Pleasant, that’s what he needed to be. And then he could get Drax safely out of this conversation and they could get out of here before something blew up.

“Ah, you know this guy?”

“Yes,” Loki smiled, “unfortunately, we must be off. We travel from planet to planet, you see. And another one is expecting us soon.”

“One is?” Drax asked, and it took a great bit of self-control for Loki to not smack the man upside the head. 

“Yes, Drax,” Mantis said, “we should go now.”

Drax nodded to the Grandmaster. “Thank you for letting us spend time on your trash planet. We won’t be back.”

The Grandmaster’s eye twitched. “Pardon?” he asked slowly.

Drax smiled. Loki swore.

“Your alcohol was terrible, but it worked. Thank you.”

“Drax, we need to leave-” Quill started, but was cut off.

“No, I don’t think you do.” the Grandmaster said. “Topaz, hand me my stick.”

Topaz – a woman who had been standing behind the Grandmaster unnoticed up until that moment – stepped over and handed the Grandmaster a large gold scepter.

“Do you know what this does?” the Grandmaster asked.

Loki decided he didn’t want to find out. Neither did Mantis and Gamora, apparently, as they met his eyes in that moment, and immediately seemed to know what the plan was. Gamora grabbed Peter’s shoulder, and then Loki’s hand. Mantis grabbed Drax and Loki at the same moment.

A well of power, deeply ingrained in Loki’s entire being, rose itself up in him at that exact second, and they were all enveloped in a flash of green magic.

A blink later, and they were directly outside, standing by the pair of guards that Loki had charmed earlier. 

“Aw crud,” Quill muttered as he shook out his limbs. “So that’s what that feels like.”

“No time to worry about it,” Loki said, “look.” he pointed up at the building where a commotion seemed to be happening. Guards were beginning to pour out down the stairs. In addition, the street behind them had started to fill with yelling. There were multiple people who were rushing through the crowd, with even more guards hot in pursuit.

Loki blinked as he recognized the group that were running by them. They were coming from the east – from the trash heaps .

“Move!” Kraglin yelled. “The cops!”

“We need to get off this damned planet!” Nebula exclaimed a second after Kraglin, grabbing Loki’s arm as she pulled him along.

“Gamora was right!”

*****

“Well,” Rocket said when they got back to the Benatar, “that’s one more for the list.”

Nebula watched as he made his way across the room and began to mess with the screens set up by the table. A moment later, the ‘Complete List of Places We’re Banned From’ showed up on screen.

“Dang,” Quill remarked, “that’s only our third planet?”

“I thought we were banned from Gozem?” Drax asked a second later.

Rocket shook his head before tapping the screen. “We’re only banned from the western province, not the whole planet.”

A light began to shine in his eye that Nebula made note of – it might prove beneficial to know that at least one member of the crew wanted to get the whole planet done.

The unfortunate side of the whole conversation was that Nebula owed her brother thirty credits. But she’d get them back eventually – she was sure of it.

“Well we can’t go back to any province on Sakaar,” Gamora remarked. 

“You really think they could keep us out?” Quill asked, a grin on his face.

“I don’t know,” Gamora said, “they had decent security. Besides, I’d hate to get hrone in the arena and have to deal with the Grandmaster’s Champion.”

Nebula frowned at that – she hadn’t actually seen the warrior like the others had – and leaned over to her brother. “Was he really that tough?”

Loki squinted in contemplation. “I could’ve taken him,” he said with confidence.

Something about the way he said it made Nebula doubt that very much.

Chapter Text

Deja vu.

It was a new phrase that Gamora had learned just earlier in that day - something Terran. Peter had made that remark, when he had been taken away by the cops and Loki had explained it to her soon after. And yet not even the euphoria of learning a bit more about her boyfriend’s culture couldn’t stomp out the utter rage she felt toward her siblings for getting them arrested.

Again.

*****

“This isn’t my fault!” Loki protested at Gamora’s glares.

Gamora raised an eyebrow toward her brother, who was at that moment pacing across the other end of a moderately sized cell that they had all been tossed into. Honestly, Gamora had thought that when all of them had been exonerated by the Nova Corps, that they wouldn’t end up in such a situation again. Unfortunately, that had been wishful thinking. Because their pardon did not extend past the Nova Empire, and there were still people who hadn’t heard that they were heroes.

“How is this not your fault? You and Nebula were the ones who were grabbed by those enforcers first. They zeroed straight in on you, not any of the rest of us.”

“Then why were Quill and Mantis the ones who were taken away for questioning?” Loki shot back, and Gamora paused. It was ten minutes ago – barely any time at all after they had finished being processed – that Peter and Mantis were taken away by two separate enforcers. 

“Maybe they just chose the two of them randomly. Next you or I could be pulled.”

Loki hummed at her response. “Yes, yes, but have you considered that we were all arrested for a completely different reason?”

“So you weren’t doing something illegal with Nebula before we all got arrested.”

Loki frowned and shook his head, “no, of course not.”

Gamora almost believed him. Almost. But the thing was, Gamora knew perfectly well the stories about her brother. About his mokier – the God of Lies.

“Nebula, were you and Loki knowingly breaking any sort of law prior to our detainment.”

Nebula shook her head. “Nope.”

Unfortunately for Nebula, she was not a century old deity who was blessed with an ability to spin false truths like a spider spins a web.

“Liar.”

Loki narrowed his eyes. “And you, Sister, are rather untrustworthy of us.”

“Loki, you know perfectly well you both are lying to me.”

“And you know perfectly well that it would be suicide for us to not to.”

“Stop dancing around the issue.”

“There is no issue,” Loki argued back. “Besides, what we should be focusing on right now is our desperate need for a plan.”

Yes. A plan to escape. A plan to fix this mess and get them back home. A plan that got Gamora enough time to berate her siblings for whatever illegal thing that they had done this time.

Of course, there was one person who happened to be a master at escaping prison.

Gamora glanced at Rocket, and met his eyes. He seemed to know exactly what she was asking, if the way he puffed up his chest in determination was anything to go by.

“I can get us out,” Rocket said solemnly, and everyone else looked at him. “But I’m gonna need Nebula’s arm.”

There was a quiet moment between the group.

“Are you serious?” Gamora asked slowly, her words steeped in warning. At this rate, there wasn’t going to be anyone on the crew who she didn’t want to throttle within an inch of their lives.

Rocket, to his credit, did not back down. “Yup. One hundred percent.”

“I refuse to give my arm to a rodent,” Nebula announced. “I’d rather let Loki style me.”

“Excuse me?” Loki demanded.

Nebula stared at him. “I’d look like walking shrubbery, with your apparent infatuation with the color green.”

“Infatuation?!”

“Sorry – love-affair.”

Gamora sighed heavily as the other’s conversation dissolved into pointless bickering. She just hoped that Peter and Mantis were doing better than she was.

*****

“Peter Jason Quill.” the cop said, dropping a stack of files onto the cold metal desk at which the conversation – or lack thereof – was taking place. “If that is your real name.”

Peter blinked. “What?”

“Do you think this is funny?” the cop demanded. “Don’t you go pulling that innocent act – confusion won’t help you here.”

Peter squinted at the man before him. “So is this the kind of new interrogation techniques you guys are being taught right now?”

“Sir you better start saying something intelligent or else-”

“Hey,” Peter interrupted, “can we just skip to the good cop right now? This is getting tiring.”

“There’s no ‘good cop’ coming for you, criminal,” he spat.

Peter nodded slowly. “That’s what they all say.”

“Just cooperated, Terran, or else you and your bug friend are going to prison for a long, long time.”

“What do you even want with her?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Yeah, I would.”

“How about we start with something simple,” the cop said, “what is your real name?”

*****

“Peter Quill, eh?”

Mantis tilted her head and furrowed her brows at the words. Were they meant as a greeting? But that didn’t make any-

“That’s what your wallet says, at any rate.”

Mantis smiled, adopting what she had heard Rocket refer to as her ‘innocent’ face. Internally, however, her mind was racing.

“What about my wallet?” she asked.

“So you claim that it is your wallet?”

“What are you claiming?”

The cop sighed and sat down at the table before her, pulling out a large stack of papers in the form of a huge file. Strange, Mantis would have thought that such a technologically advanced planet 

“Today, this bank account was used three times. Two of which by you. However, the third was used by a Terran we currently have in our custody.”

Mantis didn’t blink. She was fairly certain that she knew where this was going.

“It is my job,” the enforcer said, “to figure out which of you is the original owner of said wallet and bank information, and which of you to prosecute for identity theft.”

“Oh. You should get him, not me.”

*****

“You see, young one, a holding cell is an entirely different beast from a propper prison,” Loki instructed Groot.

“I am Groot.” Is it easier to escape?

Gamora closed her eyes. She was so grateful that none of their guards could understand their tiniest crewmember’s words. That was a surefire way to get them locked up for all eternity.

Loki sighed heavily. “Rocket, I defer to you and your further wisdom.”

“And thanks for that,” Rocket answered. “The thing is, it depends on whether you want to. The security typically isn't technically as strict, but there are more people just watchin’ ya.”

“If you strike hard and fast,” Nebula added. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Or you lure them closer and crush their skulls,” Drax nodded.

Groot stared at her and Drax with awe in his eyes. 

Gamora felt a war raging inside of herself. On the one hand, she was certain that this was all incredibly valuable information. On the other hand… Groot was young. And no matter how much he grew, she wanted him to stay small and sweet forever.

Better to distract this impromptu lesson before it went too far, then.

Gamora caught Loki’s eye. “Can you go check on Peter and Mantis?” she asked, “Teleport to where they are and cloak, or something like that?”

Loki smirked. “Your wish is my command, dear Sister.”

*****

“I’m going to ask you one more time: why are you attempting to impersonate Peter Quill.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mantis said, her eyes wide and confused. She didn’t look like she knew what was going on, or what she was doing.

But Mantis did know what she was doing. After all, she was the apprentice of Loki, master sorcerer and god of deception.

“Seiðr is important,” Loki had told her once. “However, it is not a skill that I can actually teach you. Yet there is one form of magic that I can do.”

“What is it?” she had asked.

“The way of words.”

Mantis was going to use all the skills he had taught her.

“I was born, and my parents gave me that name,” she said, “are you trying to talk about Mantis? He likes to play pretend sometimes. Just ask him!”

*****

“So I just heard from an associate of mine,” the cop before Peter drawled as he re-entered the room, “that you fancy yourself a Lord of Stars.”

Peter’s eye twitched. “It’s Starlord, actually.”

The man’s eyes lit up, as if he had caught Peter in some kind of lie or falsehood.

“Is that so?” he asked, glancing down at his notes. “Then would you mind telling me about how you decided ‘dance’ was a valuable war strategy.”

Peter squinted. He knew that wording. “You got this from Mantis, didn’t you?”

“I’m sorry. Do you mean the real Peter Quill?”

“I mean the bug woman who seriously has issues. I mean it.”

“What kind of issues?”

Peter grinned. “She once said our mutual friend was a puppy, and tried to pet him.”

Peter kept on grinning, as the cop scribbled down a note, murmuring under his breath something that sounded like ‘delusional tendencies.’

*****
Loki had had his eyes closed for a long time. Not so long that Gamora had begun to grow worried, though. But it slightly unnerved her how still he had grown while he had done… whatever it was that he was doing.

(He’d said something about sending projections or illusions, because he could cast his consciousness into them? But they were invisible, so it wasn’t the same? Honestly Gamora didn’t understand, but she assumed Mantis would.)

Gamora’s gaze darted immediately back to her brother as she heard him shift.

Loki opened his eyes, and glanced around. Then he grinned.

“Well?” Nebula demanded. “What did you see? What’s going on?”

Instead of offering an explanation of any sort, Loki just smirked and winked. Both she and Nebula knew what that look meant – Trust me, just follow along.

“Oh officer,” Loki called out. “My young friend Peter here,” he gestured to Groot, “would like some water. Is that alright?”

The nearest enforcer’s eyes widened. “Sorry,” he said, “what did you say the tree’s name was?”

Loki frowned, looking for all the world like an innocently confused young man with no ulterior motives whatsoever. 

“This is Peter,” he said, “Peter Quill.”

“I… see. And who are your other companions?”

“Ah, do you speak of Mantis and Danny DeVito?”

“Uh.…” the cop frowned. 

Surprisingly, Drax was the one who seemed to understand first what Loki was doing. Or at least that it was in all their best interests to follow along with whatever his plan was.

“Yes, those were the ones you took. Are they coming back soon? Quill here gets lonely.”

Loki sighed heavily. “As my companion said – Peter here truly does care for the pair of them. Despite their tendencies to take his things. Like, say, his wallet.”

The cop's eyes seemed to grow impossibly wider with each word.

“Uh… yeah,” he stammered out after a moment. “I just need to talk to my superiors.”

*****

“Will you be pressing charges, sir?” the cop asked Groot, glancing between the small tree and Peter and Mantis, who were standing by the door in handcuffs and looking perturbed.

Groot tilted his head in consideration, and Gamora sighed heavily.

“I am Groot,” he finally decided.

The cop looked faintly confused. “Sir, we just proved you are, in fact, the true Peter Quill why would you-”

“It’s his language,” Loki interrupted, his eyes alight with joy at the situation. “He was just saying that no, he doesn’t want to press charges. He also thanks you and your whole force for the invaluable work you did today.”

“This is a load of shi-”

“Hush, Danny,” Loki interrupted, and waved his hand. A flash of green alighted Peter’s lips, and suddenly they were stuck together, and the Terran couldn’t speak.

“I am Groot,” Groot laughed, pointing. That’s funny.

Gamora glared at Loki and Rocket. “You corrupted him. ”

Rocket leaned over to Loki. “Would now be a bad time to mention that I stole Quill’s techpad?”

*****

“So…” Quill asked slowly, after they were back on their ship. “Who’s this ‘Danny DeVito’ guy you called me? His name sounds familiar.”

Loki raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know him? He’s rather famous on your planet.”

“Yeah. So who is he?”

“Let’s just say he’s the… height of Midgardian physique.”

Chapter Text

“Have you ever considered going into the acting business?”

The drug lord stared at Quill following his words with wide eyes, completely caught off guard.

“I’m serious,” Quill pushed, “that monologue was exactly the type of drama they’re always looking for. Am I right, Loki?”

Loki stepped up beside Quill and grinned. “Oh absolutely – besides, you can go anywhere with a jawline such as the one that you possess.”

“Yeah, jawlines are super important in the Biz.”

“I… have a nice jawline?” the drug lord asked. 

“Absolutely!”

“Of course.”

“Hmm,” he murmured, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

“You know,” Loki said, “I happen to have a contact in the Nova Empire who would absolutely love to get to know you. Her name is Irani Rael. If you’d like, I can give you her private communication line.”

“I think I might take you up on that,” the drug lord said, his eyes shining with the gleam of new doors just opened to him.

Gullible. That was the only thought that was going through Nebula’s mind as she watched the exchange unfolding before her. This guy was way too gullible.

“Well, we’d just be off then,” Loki said as he passed the drug lord a piece of paper with a number on it. “You wouldn’t want to keep us detained like this, not after such a misunderstanding such as this one.”

“No, no – of course not!” the drug lord rushed out, and he gestured to his subordinates to let them go.

They walked away from the warehouse completely in one piece, unscathed and feeling fantastic.

******

“Ooooh, child! Things are gonna get easier!”

“Ooooh, child! Things are gonna get brighter!”

“Ooooh, child! Things are gonna get easier!”

“Ooooh, child! Things are gonna get brighter!”

Nebula rolled her eyes as Quill, Gamora, and Mantis sang along to the music that was being blasted over the sound system of the ship. It was a good-natured eye roll, though. Not that she’d ever admit it to anyone, but she found herself growing less exasperated with the spontaneous singing sessions with each one that occurred. She wasn’t quite to the point of singing along yet – a small part due to her not actually having all the lyrics memorized and therefore abstinence was a self-defense mechanism against embarrassment – though she suspected that a few more months would at least get her humming.

Groot was actually humming along – something that intrigued Nebula a great deal. He couldn’t actually sing the lyrics, and singing ‘I am Groot’ over and over had gotten old for him rather quickly. So humming was the next best option. And boy did he hum with gusto. 

Rocket was also humming occasionally – though he kept glancing around to see if anyone saw him. So Nebula wasn’t sure whether it counted or not. 

The only people who weren’t singing – besides Nebula herself – were Loki and Drax. Though due to Drax’s current state of unconsciousness, she was willing to leave him out. Loki, however, had his nose buried in a techpad. (she suspected that Mantis had loaned it to him, which naturally meant that it was Quill’s)

Nebula, feeling rather bored at that moment, decided to interact with her brother. In a reserved, mature fashion, of course. That was how Loki communicated – with no exceptions. Ever. 

She poked him.

“Ow!” Loki exclaimed (even though Nebula knew for a fact that it hadn’t hurt him). Loki, instead of taking the ‘high road’ out, reached over and poked her back.

Nebula scowled. “What was that for?”

“What was – you know for a fact-”

“I didn’t do anything,” Nebula insisted, then cast her gaze over toward the front of the ship. “Gamora!” she called, “Loki poked me for no reason.”

“There most certainly was a reason!” Loki called out just as loud.

Nebula lit up. “So you admit that you poked me?”

“That is beside the point!”

“The point – like your finger when you poked me?”

“Nebula, cease and desist at this instant or else I will most certainly stab you in your sleep tonight.”

“Oh. From poking to stabbing, now?”

“Both of you stop it!” Gamora interrupted, exasperation seeping into every word that she spoke. “Why won’t either of you behave?”

“It’s in our blood,” Nebula and Loki said at the exact same time, with twin grins on their faces.

Gamora groaned and dug her head into her hands. “Be quiet, okay?”

“What do we get out of it?” Loki asked slyly, and Nebula perked up in her seat. Ah, so this was how they were playing this.

Gamora didn’t look back towards them, but from the utter frustration seeping off of her form, that was probably for the best. Gamora’s glare, when pointed at you, was not the most fun experience you could have in a lifetime.

“What do you want?” their sister asked in a low voice that communicated just how much she knew she was going to regret that statement.

Nebula met Loki’s eyes, and they smirked toward each other.

What should we ask for? Nebula asked. With a contemplative squint.

Depends. Do we want things or a favor? Loki responded with a twitch of his brow.

Both.

Tall order.

We can make it work.

Loki’s eyes lit up. I have an idea, his face said, as he pulled up his techpad again and began to swipe through to what he had been studying just a few minutes before.

It was a star map. More accurately, it was a map of the sector that they were currently in.

Nebula’s eyes zeroed in on the planet that Loki was pointing to, and she knew that today was going to be a good day. 

“We want to go eat cake,” Nebula announced.

“On Prishij.” Loki added.

“They’re famous for their cake.” Nebula made sure to say – because really, that was what was important here.

“Alright,” Gamora sighed as she looked tiredly between Nebula and Loki. “We can go on a fieldtrip.”

*****

Cake. Nebula decided that she had never truly known the meaning of that word. At least, not until she had stepped into the  little bakery that boasted having the greatest cake in the galaxy.

Suffice it to say, they hadn’t been lying. And Nebula had finally, truly lived.

There had been so many kinds of cake – flavors from countless planets and cultures, styles from even more. Nebula had been at first disappointed that they wouldn’t be able to try every single type, even with Quill’s wallet (graciously donated by Mantis, much to their captain’s chagrin) on hand. There just simply wasn’t the time.

So Loki had suggested that they bring some back with them. And Nebula had to admit that that made her feel a bit better. Not completely, but they could always come back for more. (Nebula was determined that this would be one planet they were never banned from.)

The variety was enchanting, though even Nebula herself had found a favorite – it was bright orange and tasted reminiscent of Idajian spiced liquor.

“Oh my,” Loki said when he took a bite of a deep brown cake.

“Is i’ good?” Nebula asked, a bit still in her mouth.

“It’s chocolate ,” Loki said with such eagerness. “Actually chocolate.”

“What’s that?” Gamora asked. She was currently eating a current-red cake that Nebula was already planning to pilfer when her sister’s back was turned.

“It’s Mid– it’s a Terran flavor,” Loki explained, “a quite popular one.”

“Oh?” Nebula asked, already stealthily sliding her fork over. Loki rolled his eyes and passed her the slice.

“We really should bring it back with us – I highly doubt Quill has had this in a long time.”

Gamora smiled proudly – the look she always got whenever Nebula or Loki was bonding with the crew – and said, “I think he’d like that.”

“In the meantime,” Nebula said after swallowing the bite of Loki’s cake – it really was divine, maybe Terrans weren’t complete idiots – “Let’s eat more cake.”

*****

“Well,” Gamora announced as they stepped out of the shop carrying a large box of cake – including the orange kind that Nebula insisted they get more of and Loki’s ‘chocolate’ for Quill – “we got cake.”

Loki raised an eyebrow and said sarcastically: “Really? Why, I hadn’t noticed.”

Gamora rolled her eyes. “Can you take care of these?” she asked.

Loki waved his hand and the box of cake disappeared in a flash of emerald green magic, whisked away to whatever dimensional pocket Loki kept his things in. Nebula watched it happen with a faint fascination. There was something about the sight of magic that frustrated and confused her right alongside the feelings of awe that she had.

“Okay, can we go home now?” Gamora asked. “I can comm the Benatar and-”

“No.” Nebula interrupted, frowning at the mere suggestion of cutting their day short. “We’ve barely done anything.”

“We had cake,”  Gamora responded, “like you asked.”

Loki glanced between Gamora and Nebula, and she could tell he was debating which side to take. Nebula sent her brother a look that she hoped conveyed just how outraged she’d be if he took Gamora’s.

“But we haven’t had our ice cream yet,” Loki said after meeting Nebula’s eyes. “You can’t have cake without ice cream, can you?”

Gamora blinked, and looked thoughtful for a moment. She had clearly never heard anything about ice cream and cake before – though to be fair, neither had Nebula – but she acquessed anyway.

“Fine, we’ll get some ice cream.”

Twenty minutes later, they found a cart that sold the desert and were munching along happily. Upon trying ice cream (for the very first time, though she wouldn’t admit it), Nebula decided that cake may have a fierce competitor for her favorite food. 

Nebula eyed Loki. He’d been the one to suggest this – perhaps she could do something nice for him as well. “You’re off probation now,” she said simply before taking another bite of her ice cream.

Loki stared at her, not fully comprehending. “ Pardon?” he asked slowly.

“You’re off probation. Congratulations.”

“It’s been years, Sister! Two whole years!”

Nebula frowned into her cone. “So?”

“So?!” Loki spluttered. “So – I have been living with you for two years (which for mortals is actually a rather long time, if I recall correctly) and you are only just now giving me your approval?”

“You had my approval before. Now you’re off probation to boot.”

“I do not think that word means what you think it means.”

“And you do?”

“Yes! Yes, I do!”

“No you don’t.”

“Yes I do.”

“No you don’t.”

“Yes I do.”

“No you don’t.”

“Yes I do.”

“Yes you do.”

“No I don’t-”

Loki froze at their last exchange, and his eyes were filled with what Nebula could only describe as an unholy combination of surprise and murder.

Worth it. 

“It’s time to move on,” Gamora interjected, grabbing Loki’s elbow and Nebula’s wrist. “Come on.”

Loki glared at Nebula as he was dragged away by Gamora. Nebula, being on the opposite side of their sister, wrinkled her nose back at him. Really, what was his problem?

“Oh look,” Gamora said in a deadpan, “a street performer. Something to do. No murder involved here.”

“Yet.” Nebula and Loki said in unison. Nebula glanced at her brother and met his smirk with her own. There – all better.

Gamora rolled her eyes. “Are you both good now?”

“Certainly better than that guy,” Loki said sarcastically, gesturing towards the street performer. He was some kind of magician, who was doing spells.

“What?” Gamora asked, “are you insulted by him making a mockery of your craft?”

Loki huffed out a chuckle. “Oh please, I’m not bothered by such plebeian antics.”

Huh. Plebeian. Interesting word. (Nebula made a mental note to use it later when Loki wasn’t around.)

“Oh look, a shapeshifting spell,” Nebula said as she watched. “Could you do that one?”

Loki gave her a side eye. “If this is you asking me to turn Quill into a frog again-”

“No,” Nebula said rather quickly, purposefully not meeting Gamora’s eyes. “What about yourself?”

Loki stilled. “It would not be needed,” he said simply.

“Why not?” Gamora asked before Nebula could.

Loki pursed his lips. “I am already a shapeshifter. It is an innate ability that I have.”

Nebula blinked in surprise – why hadn’t she known that before? “Can all Asgardians do that?”

Loki somehow managed to tense even further, and she realized that she had overstepped some invisible boundary. Despite this, however, Loki answered her. “No, not all Asgardians. Perhaps one in twenty? Other – other species in the Nine have the ability as  well.”

“So no spells for you?” Gamora asked.

Loki seemed to brighten slightly. “None so clunky as that one – It’s simply a mental action for me. I think of myself as a snake, and will myself to be such. Spells are only for changing others.”

Nebula bit her lip. “Like, say, a spell to make someone a frog?”

Loki smiled at her. “Yes. Though the… social backlash may advise one not to do that.”

“Not when Gamora’s around.”

“I’m around right now,” Gamora pointed out, and Loki and Nebula shared a glance.

“Good to know, Sister. We’ll adjust our plans accordingly.”

“Maybe we should go now,” Gamora said, rolling her eyes in exasperation – and a fair bit of amusement to boot. “Peter will want to try that cake we got him.”

“Alright,” Nebula decided, “let’s go home.”

*****

“Now this is cake!” Rocket crewed as he took a huge bit of the slice of cake that he had taken.

Quill laughed at his antics, nodding along in agreement. “Oh yeah, this is awesome, guys.” he got a look in his eye that Nebula didn’t recognize. “I didn’t think I’d ever eat chocolate again.”

“As a friend of mine once said – ‘let them eat cake’.” Loki said with a smile on his face.

Quill choked on his bite. “Wait – you knew Marie Antionette?”

“Hmm?” Loki asked with a smirk. “You mean that lovely French girl? At one time, I suppose. I do wonder what happened to her.”

Quill’s eyes were bugging out. “The – the french revolution happened.”

“Oh you Midgardians and your revolutions.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Thank you for the cake,” Drax said to Nebula, ignoring Quill and Loki’s squabble. “This is a good day.”

Nebula glanced down at her slice of cake – the orange kind that she had saved for herself – and barely contained the smile that came at those words. She would never admit it – not in a million years – but… she agreed with Drax. Spending time with her siblings, doing things that normal siblings did, was alway something that she would enjoy more than she ever thought she would. She’d never say so to anyone – not even to Gamora or Loki – but it was true. It was special.

Today had been a good day.

Chapter Text

Lady Sif of Asgard was a woman of simple desires – she wished only to race into battle with her shieldmates by her side, and adventure till the end of her days. Unfortunately, that was a bit hard to do when said shieldmates weren’t present.

Hogun was currently on Vanaheim, staying with family during one of the rare quiet lulls when nothing seemed to be happening on Asgard. 

Fandral had been invited to a cousin’s wedding, and he had been gone for the latter part of a week for both the celebration and the obligatory partying that was doubtless going on, even at that very moment.

Volstagg was training a new battalion of Einherjar that had just been recruited. Of course, that had kept his hands full as he tried his best to whip them into proper shape.

And Thor… well, Thor was on Midgard. With his mortal friends, doing Norns-know what.

Sif rolled her eyes at the thought, and a tiny sliver of jealousy slithered its way out of her heart, even against her attempts to keep it away. She couldn’t help it, however – the part of her that felt like she and the others had taken a back seat in their Prince’s life in favor of the ‘Avengers’ that he spent so much time with.

It wasn’t true, though. Thor cared for them just as much as the Midgardians – their trip not even a mere year before was proof of that. They still went on adventures, but the mortals were… temporary, in a sense. He should spend time with them, they were his friends as well, after all.

Still, Sif was bored. One could only reorganize all the armories in Asgard – much to the chagrin of the Weapons Master – so many times.

Nevertheless, Sif found herself in the eastern wing’s third-floor armory, specifically at the wide row of swords. 

“Length, style, or type of metal,” Sif mused to herself as she eyed the row of swords. There were more, but this one was the first, so Sif decided she’d best start there. Besides, it was right next to the bows, which she had just finished lining up. (by age of the wood grain, as she’d gotten bored of the previous use of draw-power) “Or maybe alphabetized by second owner.…”

“Are you sure this is the most pragmatic, especially if all the troops needed to retrieve weapons in a hurry?”

Sif whipped around at the voice of the newcomer, whom she hadn’t even noticed entering.

“My Queen,” Sif greeted with a bow of her head, fighting back the twinge of embarrassment.

“Lady Sif,” Frigga said with a smile, “I’m glad that I found you here.”

“Of course, Allmother.”

“You know,” the queen remarked, after a quiet second, “you didn’t answer my question.”

Sif bit the inside of her mouth. “This keeps them on their toes.”

“Hmm,” the Queen hummed, “well then, we’d best be off before the Weapons Master returns to see and throw a conniption fit.” Her tone was questioning – a request.

Sif smiled, and stepped toward the door in acceptance. She had heard the Queen ask the same unspoken question in a multitude of ways countless times, and she had yet to deny her.

“Yes, we’d best be off.”

*****

They had all mourned in their own ways. 

The Warriors Three had separated, sinking into their different duties and moving on. Life went on, Hogun had told her, why shouldn’t they?

Sif, at first, didn't know what to do. She’d had a multitude of emotions swirling inside of her that she hadn’t been sure how to deal with – sadness, every time she knew she wouldn’t see Loki again. Regret, because for all of the adventures that he joined, she felt as if she hadn’t truly known him. And confusion, as she still didn’t know the full story of what had happened – one moment Loki was ruling in Odin’s sted, the next he was gone and Thor had an empty look in his eye as he refused to speak of what had happened.

Thor hadn’t talked for a long time. It had been unsettling – to see him, usually so loud and open, silent and closed off. (A small part of her remarked that that was how Loki had begun to look, over the last century or so) He had come back – which was more of a recent development if Sif were being honest – and yet he still hadn't fully let go of the melancholy in his eyes.

The Allfather had hardened. Not a sternness or lack of leniency that he had sometimes seemed in times of past, but a coldness. Odin had seemed to care little for trivial affairs, and though Sif tried not to speculate, she thought it was because he couldn’t bring himself to have the energy to do so. It was not that he didn’t care, because Sif knew he did. He had grown far too protective of Thor, barely allowing him out of Asgard until very recently. 

And Frigga… She went on walks. Sometimes alone, sometimes accompanied by her husband or son. And sometimes Sif herself would join, which had grown more frequent over the years.

Sif enjoyed the walks, the conversations with the Queen. At first, they were short, barely qualifying as walks, and more akin to a quick update on Thor as they moved down the halls for a stretch before soon departing in their separate ways.

Now, however, Sif found herself looking forward to them. Frigga had an air about her, a calming presence that could dull even the worst of Sif’s boredom and never failed to put her at peace.

She hoped that she could do for the Queen even a fraction of what she did for her.

“Tell me,” Frigga said and they stepped onto the path, “how is my son doing? You seem to have talked to him more than I.”

Sif frowned. “We have barely spoken over the past few months, my Queen, I don’t think I know much more than you.”

“Still,” Frigga said with a soft smile, “I wish to hear what you know.”

Sif nodded, fairly used to talking about Thor to his mother – times such as this one when she wished to know how he was, and he did not tell her.

“I highly doubt he does not wish to speak to you, Allmother,” Sif began, “He has dedicated himself to bringing the mortals – the Avengers – back together fully, and it has taken much time.”

“Oh, I am well aware,” Frigga said.

“He should send a raven soon, though. From his last one – a few months ago, so it may be out of date – he said that he had met with the part of the team that had left, and convinced them to come back.”

“And the part that stayed?” Frigga questioned, “the last I heard they were not so eager to reconcile.”

“Thor convinced them, somehow. He was vague.” Sif scowled softly upon saying those words, rather frustrated with Thor. He had talked about much of what he was doing, and yet at the same nothing at all. It would almost have been impressive, if not for the fact that Thor most definitely had not intended to do so. 

It reminded Sif of Loki. Except when Loki had talked in circles, he meant to do so. He could talk and talk and entrance someone without him truly saying a thing.

“They’re still working on the document, or the law, that keeps them separated. But apparently threats of arrest weren’t enough to keep them away any longer.”

Frigga hummed in acknowledgement. “And what of his woman?”

“He and the mortal – Jane Foster – are no longer together,” Sif said, and regretted that she could not say any more. Thor himself had not told her much, only that it had been mutual, which she sincerely doubted. After all, the prince had seemed thoroughly distraught when sharing the news.

“Ah,” Frigga said with a knowing look, “Well, he’ll be alright.”

“Of course.”

The discussion faded away, and the pair of women continued walking down the garden path in silence. Sif was not usually one to enjoy such silence, and the fact that her walking companion was the queen would in other circumstances do nothing to settle her nerves.

But Sif knew Frigga, she had known her since she was a little girl, running through the halls of the palace, joining up with the boys to fight in play battles. There was comfort in that.

The silence was peaceful.

They paused in their steps to allow for a small garden snake to slither across the stones in front of them. It was green, and thin, and for a split second Sif thought she recognized it. But then she banished the thought – it had happened so many times over the years, seeing something that reminded her of the second prince. It made her heart ache anew each time.

She missed him. Before, she has found him annoying, joining in with the others in teasing him on their adventures. There had been his pranks – ranging from benign to that time he cut off her hair – but they seemed inconsequential now. He had been, in all honesty, a friend. Not as close as she now wished (which she regretted), but a friend all the same.

Frigga nodded as the snake disappeared into a blooming rose bush. “Almost like him, but not quite.”

Sif swallowed. “Yes.”

“Loki did love his shape-changing.”

“Yes,” Sif nodded, “I have yet to see someone with such skill as he – he was unlike any other Asgardian who possessed the ability.”

The queen had a strained expression upon her face, and Sif knew that she had made some misstep. “Yes,” she said simply, “but he was no less loved.”

Sif hid the confused pursing of her lips, knowing that the woman before her was miles away in her own thoughts, speaking of something that Sif didn’t understand.

They walked in silence, through the winding gardens that had begun to thin out from the thick bushes and trees of the center to the softer, more delicate plants of those on the edges of the garden. The path before them was coming to an end, splitting off into those which went into the palace propper.

A moment later, they paused at the edge. That was when Frigga’s eyes softened back into the present and she smiled at Sif. “Thank you for accompanying me.”

Sif blinked, then smiled back. “Of course,”

Frigga gave her a long look which Sif knew she couldn’t even hope to begin to interrerate. The expression remained present on her face, even as she began to speak again. “Good evening, Lady Sif,” Frigga said in farewell, pausing in the archway leading to the west wing of the palace.

Sif inclined her head, “And to you as well, my Queen.”

*****

There had been a time, Sif forgot when, that she had come up beside Thor on a balcony in the palace. It was in the early evening, the sun just beginning to set, and time for dinner. She had come to fetch him, upon the Queen’s request.

She found him alone, silent and still as he stared out across the palace. It had been… so unlike the Thor she knew. 

“Your highness,” she greeted.

“Lady Sif.”

They lapsed into silence, and Sif found herself looking out across the gardens just as the prince was. There was something about the sight that brought memories of centuries before to the forefront of her mind.

Ah. So that was why he was here.

The breeze changed, and carrying with it came the distant laughs of children playing in the halls – carefree and joyful. 

“Do you ever wonder,” Sif began slowly, not looking at Thor, keeping her instead trained upon the moving trees, “what you would do if you saw him again?”

Thor blinked, and suddenly he was miles away. Sif was worried for a moment, whether or not he was alright. He was so distant in a way that he hadn’t been before. Before, he had been a silent pillar, trapped in the present. Now, he was caught in a place – a time – far away from there upon the balcony.

But then he spoke, and Sif sighed with the barest touch of relief. The words, though, twisted her heart.

“I would hold on and never let go.”

Chapter Text

“When in doubt, puppy-dog eyes are the way to go.”

Mantis stared at Rocket with wide eyes, her brows lifted high upon her head and upturned ever so slightly. Her lips began to tremble just a touch.

“Like this?” she asked, and there was even the tiniest bit of a warble in her voice.

“Yes!” Rocket said emphatically, “that’s exactly it!”

“Hmm,” Loki hummed as he watched his apprentice’s performance. “Good, yes, but not perfect.”

Rocket eyed him. Though the rabbit had invited Loki here as a special guest teacher to the lecture, so he was fairly certain he wouldn’t be kicked out for merely speaking.

“What?” Rocket asked, curious.

“She needs to get her whole body into it,” Loki responded. “A phenomenal face, indubitably, but it would all be for nought if the rest of her is relaxed.”

Mantis screwed up her face to the way it was before, though this time she began to wring her hands as well.

Loki clapped. “Wonderful!” he praised her.

Rocket nodded. “Yeah, much better. You should try that on Quill next time.”

“And if you continue to practice, you may even be able to work your way up to Gamora in a few months.”

Mantis grinned at their words. “Thank you!”

When she had turned away to grab a drink of water, Loki leaned over to Rocket. “Thank you for inviting me here. As well as tutoring her.”

“Yeah, I figured this was good for her magic lessons, too.” Rocket said, “on top of those wordy-lessons you’re giving her.”

Loki frowned, “I’m teaching her the art of persuasion, though that’s unconnected. Whatever do you mean?”

“Y’know – magic is ten percent spells and ninety-percent pretending you know what you’re doing?”

Loki felt his eye twitch as he looked upon Rocket with growing anger. “How dare you diminish my craft-” Loki said, offendedness soaking his every word, when he was cut off by the opening of the Benatar’s loading bay.

“We’re home!” Gamora’s voice called out in the near-distance.

Loki stared Rocket down in order to convey the message of you are dead to me, but he wasn’t entirely sure that it came across. After all, the majority of the crew weren’t nearly as good at having silent conversations as Loki and his siblings were.

“We’re in here,” Mantis answered when Loki didn’t say anything.

“No we’re not,” Rocket said – loudly, and sarcastically – “we ran away to the Kree Empire.”

“Good riddance,” Nebula said as she appeared in the entryway, flanked by Drax, Quill, and Gamora. “The yammering will finally stop.”

“I don’t yammer! ” Rocket shot back, “you need your wires checked.”

Nebula gave Rocket an unimpressed look. “I was talking about Loki, but keep it up and you’ll prove me right twice over.”

Loki scowled. “Gamora, Nebula is being rude to us.” 

Gamora groaned, stepping past Nebula and coming to sit down at the table. “I need a drink to deal with you.”

“Ha,” Nebula said, “Gamora says you’re too annoying to deal with in any state but inebriated. I win.”

“No,” Loki countered, “she can’t reprimand you while she’s sober. That’s on you, not me.”

“Keep talking, and I’m strapping both of you to the roof and letting Rocket take the ship on a joyride,” Gamora threatened, not even making eye contact with them through the pinching of her brow with her fingers.

Loki met Nebula’s eyes, and lifted both of his brows. Blooming headache.

And in under five minutes, too. Is that our new record? Nebula conveyed with a tilt of her head and crinkling of her eyes.

“Both of you stop that, now.” Gamora said, still not looking up.

“Stop what?” Loki asked.

At the same moment, Nebula said, “we’re not doing anything.”

“That is not true,” Drax frowned, “you were doing your witchy face-conversations.”

Loki scowled. “Why do you always insist on using the word ‘witchy’ when describing me? There are countless other adjectives for you to pick from.”

“But I want to be accurate.”

Nebula snorted, and Loki shot her a look. You could help, you know.

You can defend yourself, was his sister’s oh-so-generous reply.

“They’re doing it again!” Drax said, pointing.

Gamora finally looked up, though it was only to glare at Nebula and Loki. “Can you two behave for just five minutes?” she asked. 

Loki was just about to fit in a quip about how that was ‘asking too much’ (and from the way Nebula opened her mouth to speak, Loki was fairly certain that she was planning to do the same), when Gamora added on: “we have news.”

The attention of everyone in the room immediately swiveled to Quill, leaving Gamora to nurse her headache in – well, not peace, per se. But at least the attention was off of her.

Quill was used to this by this point. After all, he was their captain. He took the leadership role rather seriously, in contrast to pretty much everything else.

“Pack it up guys,” Quill announced with a grin. “We got a job.” 

*****

The job, it turned out, was an assignment to free a planet a few hours travel away from a band of inter-planetary pirates that had been terrorizing the system. It was a rather simple plan, really – find the bad guys and beat them up – but Loki didn’t really care.

After all, it had been a few weeks – almost a month, really – since they had had their last mission. At that one had been an old lady who needed to get her cat out of the tree and had somehow managed to contact Nova Prime for help.

So Loki had to admit that he was anticipating an actual fight. And this one wasn’t in the Nova Empire – those missions were always the most fun.

He was in such a good mood, that Loki actually began humming along to the songs that Quill played, and found himself even enjoying them. Really, after Quill had promised not to play Dancing Queen anymore (at least when Loki was around), the rest of the songs seemed, dare he say it, almost bearable.

The trip was over before it had even begun, much to Loki’s chagrin (though he knew if he were to say so, Quill would make fun of him, and then doubtless Drax and Rocket would join in). But then again, Loki wasn’t entirely upset. They had arrived.

The planet was relatively normal – a marshland world with villages spread few and far between. They had been given specific coordinates to one of them, and they proceeded there promptly.

The village was relatively normal – it was similar to others that they had passed, a large collection of buildings lifted up on stilts, as to remain out of the water. They landed upon a platform that was lifted just as the buildings, and made their way out.

The people were relatively normal – the native people (Iotas, whom the Guardians had encountered on various other planets) were dressed in simple garb, and clustered in the village nervously. They looked like they could be attacked at any moment. And from their info, Loki knew that that wasn’t entirely false.

What wasn’t normal, however, was the woman who was standing with the native villagers, talking to them.

She looked normal enough, small-ish, with blonde hair and a red and blue suit. She looked to be Xandarian, perhaps, or Terran. (Or Asgardian, Loki mused. After all, they looked the same).

But that couldn’t be right, Loki thought with distinct certainty, because though she looked like a typical humanoid, power radiated off of her in a way that tingled the back of Loki’s mind. There was something familiar about it, familiar in a rather unsettling way. It was intense, and yet at the same time, felt almost like a ghost – she had been touched by something far more powerful than she, and something had stuck.

Her clothing struck a familiar chord in him, though not nearly to the same degree. And in more of a benign fashion (pun not intended, thank you very much, Quill), to be fair. It was red and blue, a suit made of thick 

Loki was ten yards away from her when he froze, realizing with sudden certainty where he knew the power coming from the woman.

The Tesseract.

An Infinity Stone.

Loki swore under his breath at the realization, his heart beginning to thrum in his chest. From beside him, Gamora gave him an odd look, asking if he was alright.

Unfortunately, Loki didn’t get a chance to respond. As that was when one of the villagers recognized them. 

He was a relatively young man, with sea-foam blue coloring. He was talking to the woman, so presumably he had some sort of authority in the village. 

“Thanos,” the villager whispered, eyes wide. “The Black Order.”

The woman whipped her head around and stared at the Guardians with heat in her gaze. She tightened her fists.

“Oh Norns,” Loki groaned, “not again.” It had been a long time since he or his sisters had been recognized as children of Thanos. Or, well, been recognized by people who hadn’t heard that they had defected. Even out of the Nova Empire, the Guardians had found people had known about their pardon, and welcomed their help.

So Loki had gotten used to people not fearing them. Unfortunately, pockets like this one still existed. 

Gamora elbowed him, shoving him forward just a step. Great, Loki thought, throwing me to the wolves, now?

Loki spread his arms in an appealing manner. “Please, this is a misunderstanding. If you would just let me explain-”

That was when the blast of energy struck Loki firmly in the chest, sending him careening backwards some thirty-odd yards.

It took a second for the dust to clear, and when it did, all Loki could manage was a groaned “ow.”

“Are you alright?” 

Loki blinked slowly up at the face of Drax, who was leaning over him. “I’ve been far worse,” he managed, and sat up.

Only to see the woman go after Nebula.

Loki was upon his feet in an instant, rushing back to the fight. Nebula had been hit hard, and still hadn’t gotten up yet. This woman was strong, and Loki knew with a distinct certainty that neither of his sisters would be able to handle much more, no matter the amount of modifications they had.

“Duck!” Loki called out as Gamora made to attack the woman. Thankfully, his sister listened, and rolled out of the way. Loki took the opening, and went in for a strike of his own.

“Is this really necessary?” Loki asked as he punched the woman.

She recovered easily, much to Loki’s annoyance, and came back up with a vengeance. Her fists streamed with a golden sparking energy that stung even without the contact of her fists. “For a child of Thanos, absolutely.” she growled 

“You seem to harbor a great deal of hatred for the Mad Titan-” Loki managed, before he had to dart to the side. 

He teleported around behind her and went to strike her. Out of the corners of his eyes he could see the others regrouping, trying to figure out what to do. Nebula was being helped up by Mantis, and Quill was holding Gamora back. Good – Loki didn’t want her anywhere near this.

“-as you should, of course.”

The woman didn’t pause in her attacks, but there was a flash of something in her eyes at Loki’s words.

“If you would only pause for just one moment!” he pleaded.

The woman didn’t seem to care, and instead began to hover in the air to give herself an advantage on the attacks. For not the first time in years, Loki wished he had the ability to fly like his brother. Honestly, he would even settle for one of the jetpacks they kept stashed on the Benatar, regardless of how clunky he normally found them.

The woman landed a solid kick to Loki’s chest, sending him skidding backwards. Unlike the last time, however, he was prepared for it, and didn’t go tumbling. Instead, he used the distance to begin to spread out a variety of illusions, which seemed to throw the woman. His illusions crowded around her, and she had no idea which one was actually real until she sent out a circular blast of energy that momentarily knocked Loki back.

It also knocked the others back, but Loki couldn’t spend that much time worrying about whether they were alright, as then the woman came back for another attack.

“Was that really necessary?” she asked.

Loki grinned wolfishly, all teeth. “As a trickster, ye , yes it was.”

“Agh!” the woman yelled in rage as Loki brought back his illusions, “Why don’t you actually fight?”

“You know, many people in my life have said that to me,” Loki mused as he unleashed a flurry of blows upon her, all of which she blocked, “they’ve said I don’t fight properly, and that I take a coward’s way out.” he disappeared only to reappear directly behind her, pulling her into a headlock, “but I don’t see it that way. I win.”

For a moment, Loki thought that he had actually managed to subdue the woman.

That is, until she flipped him over her shoulder and punched him in the face, whipping his jaw to the side.

“Not this time.” she growled.

“Oh for the love of- will you stop?! They left him! They left Thanos!” Quill yelled, his voice somehow managing to rise above the loudness of the fight.

The woman didn’t look his way, but she still took some time to respond. “Why should I trust you – you’re clearly working with them.”

“That’s not insulting at all.” Loki rolled his eyes.

“After all the people you’ve killed, I doubt you’re much bothered by an insult.”

Loki scowled. Though a tiny part of himself whispered that she was right. He had killed people, for Thanos. He killed others to remain alive himself.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Loki spat, “we are-”

“Oh, please,” the woman snapped, cutting Loki off. Along with those words, she managed to kick him down to the ground and get on top of him, her fist poised above his face, and glowing with the promise of a lot of pain if she were to give him a direct hit.

“We left him,” Loki spat in her face, not caring whether she hit him. As long as the attention was on him and not his sisters or his crew, then that was enough. “I don’t expect you to know what it is like to be forced to work for something who took your life away, but when one gets an opening to escape, they take it.”

Her breathing hitched – not noticeable to anyone else, though Loki had spent centuries reading people. He didn’t know this woman specifically, but something he had said had struck a chord within her.

“In case you didn’t notice, there are no Chitauri soldiers with us,” Loki said, slower this time. “No backup. This is not a mission from Thanos.”

The woman didn’t take her gaze away from him – smart, if Loki were being honest – but realization was dawning slowly on her face.

“Then why are you here?” she asked, though her grip had already loosened from Loki’s leathers.

He held her gaze. “Atoning.”

Apparently, it has been the right thing to say.

The woman stared at Loki for a long moment, apparently making up her mind. She extended her hand to him, this time it was blessedly not glowing, and said, “we should talk.”

Loki smirked – though it was more than a tiny bit forced – and accepted the help.

“Yes,” he said, “that would be appropriate.”

*****

They sat down in the village’s pub. Or at least, what Loki assumed was their version of a pub. It was a public building with long tables for eating, and there was a bar with rows of barrels and mugs. 

It took all of his willpower to stop himself from asking for a drink.

“You okay?” Gamora asked, coming up beside him as he sat down at the table that the villager had offered to them for their use. 

Loki smiled, “I’ll heal.”

“You’re dead on your feet.”

“Only on the inside, Sister.”

Gamora scowled. “That doesn’t even make sense.”

“Hmm,” Loki hummed, “perhaps one of those hits to the head did more damage than I thought.”

“I think you were born that way,” Nebula said, taking her seat. “Or dropped on your head as a child.”

“Bold of you to assume that I was ever held,” Loki shot back, and the table fell silent.

The woman coughed. “Sorry for attacking you.”

Loki rolled his eyes. “Oh all of you, relax, I’ll be fine. I’ve dealt with worse.” he looked at the woman, “and it’s quite alright – I would have done the same thing in your position. Though perhaps with more knives.”

Quill was still wincing, “and-”

“Hush, Quill, I was held as a child. Do none of you Terrans understand humor? I swear-”

“You’re Terran?” the woman asked, cutting Loki off. And he had to admit that he was a little more than a bit miffed about that.

Quill frowned. “Yeah, I am.”

The woman glanced at Loki. “No normal Terran could handle that fight.”

Loki rolled her eyes at her implied question. “Oh I’m not Terran – I’m Asgardian.”

“What do you know about Terrans?” Quill asked, before the woman could speak (though Loki did note her blink at his words).

“I am one,” the woman replied. “Born and raised on Earth.”

Quill froze, his eyes wide and his mouth gaping. Loki understood. To see someone from your own planet after so many years?

“I don’t believe you gave us your name,” Loki said after a moment. Best to give Quill as much time as he could. “Perhaps introductions are in order.”

“Carol Danvers,” she – Carol – said, her helmet coming off. “I go by Captain Marvel.”

Hmm, Loki thought, perhaps it's a Midgardian thing – giving yourself a hero name. How tiresome, to have to switch between the two.

Quill’s mind seemed to be on the same topic, and he recovered his tongue. “Told you superheroes have names,” he muttered to Gamora before turning back to Carol. “Peter Quill,” he introduced himself, “I also go by Starlord.”

Carol’s eyes widened in fraction in recognition of the name. “So you really aren’t with Thanos,” she said, not quite a question. Oh. Now she recognizes them.

“No,” Gamora said before Loki could speak. “We left him years ago.”

Carol nodded. “And are you Nebula or Gamora?” she asked, her tone the barest touch of sheepish.

“Gamora,” Gamora said, “that’s Nebula.” She then gestured to the others. “That’s Drax, Rocket, Mantis, Groot, and then Loki.”

“Loki.” Carol squinted. She looked as if she were on the cusp of recalling where she recognized that name.

Loki smirked. “Yes, that’s my name.”

“How’d you end up in the Black Order?” she asked.

Loki stilled. “I fell,” he said simply, raising an eyebrow, daring her to comment on it.

“Must have been some fall,” Carol responded.

“You have no idea.”

“And what’s with the Kree get-up?” Nebula asked suddenly, and Loki stilled. Upon a reexamination of Carol’s suit, he realized that his sister was, in fact, correct. That was a Kree suit, albeit with the color pallete altered.

so that had been what he’d recognized earlier.

Carol tilted her head, but didn’t look the least bit concerned (unlike the others, who were looking rather antsy). “I stole it.” she replied.

“I am Groot.” I like her.

“We need to work on your taste,” Loki shot back to the sapling, who had thankfully stayed far away from the fight and was uninjured, “Not all thieves make good friends.”

“I am Groot.” She’s friend shaped, though.

Loki rolled his eyes at Groot and glanced back to find Quill opening his mouth and speaking.

“How’d you manage to do that? They keep those things under lock and key. Even Rocket would have trouble with it.”

“Wanna bet?” Rocket demanded, clearly affronted.

“You are not going into Kree space,” Gamora said, “that’s a terrible idea.”

Rocket sighed. Gamora’s word was final, after all.

“I kept it when I defected,” Carol said before anyone else could speak.

There were some appreciative noises from the group, and even Loki had to admit that he was somewhat impressed. It was practically unheard of, people who had left the Nova Empire. And one who had such strange abilities as Carol? They definitely wouldn’t have let her go easily.

“Is that how you found yourself with powers from the Tesseract?” Loki asked, his curiosity winning out.

Carol froze. “How do you know about that?”

Loki raised his eyebrow. “Oh please, you positively reek of its power. One doesn’t erase the imprint of an Infinity Stone from themselves so easily.”

Carol stared at him for several long, palpable seconds, before she leaned back in her seat. “That was before. They took me directly afterwards, I broke out, now I’m going around and doing my best to help people.”

Not the most elegant segway, but one that Loki would accept. “So you’re here to remove the pirates as well?”

“Yes.”

“Great,” Drax said, “we should team up!”

Carol looked at them, jaw working as she examined their ragtag ranks. “Alright,” she said, standing up. “Sounds like fun.”

*****

Though her demeanor was completely different from the Guardians, Carol Danvers had a remarkably similar battle strategy: hit them hard so they couldn't get back up.

It was almost annoying, Loki thought to himself on the way back to the Benatar, how Carol just leapt into the fray, barely leaving anyone to fight. Luckily, though, there were plenty of pirates to fight. Apparently, they had stumbled upon their current base. The Pirates were completely eradicated in the course of a mere hour, with no possibility of them recovering.

Their employer was definitely getting their money’s worth.

“This is where we part,” Carol said when they had finally departed from the village and returned to the Guardians’ ship.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come in?” Gamora asked, “for a drink?”

Carol and Quill eyed each other, and Loki knew exactly what they were thinking – a chance to talk to someone from their own species for the first time in doubtless years.

“I have to get back to the place I’m staying,” Carol said, though her tone  was apologetic. “I need to feed my cat.”

“You have a cat?” Quill asked, interested. “Like a real, normal cat?”

Carol cringed. “Uh… no. He’s technically a flerken.”

Rocket jerked. “You got a flerken?! Are you insane?!”

“He’s tame,” she said defensively.

“Yeah, I want you to look me in the eye and tell me your monstrosity hasn’t mauled anybody.”

Carol grew quiet at that. “He lived,” was all she said.

Loki cringed at that. He didn’t know what flerkens were, but he was fairly certain that he never wanted to encounter one if he could help it.

Nebula, however, had a look in her eye which  Loki could only describe as a worrying combination of eagerness and contemplation. He made a mental note to bar his sister from adopting an army of such creatures to unleash upon her unsuspecting enemies.

“Well, I guess you gotta go then,” Quill said, “a hungry flerken is dangerous.”

Carol paused, her lips pursed in consideration. “Here,” she said, “I’ll give you my comm info.”

Quill grinned at that, and so did the others. “Sounds great.”

Numbers were exchanged, and promises were made to be in contact. Once it was done, Carol stepped away from their little group and smiled.

“I have a feeling we’ll be seeing each other again.” 

With those final words, her helmet came back, and her whole body lit with the powerful glow of one touched by an Infinity Stone. She rose in the air, gaining speed, until she had flown into the planet’s atmosphere and out of sight.

Interesting, Loki thought, the Norns must have plans for her.

Chapter Text

A breeze came through her window, gently waking Natasha up from the catnap she had laid down on her bed to take in the slow afternoon hours before dinner. She blinked open her eyes warily, daring to check how much time had passed.

Twenty-five minutes on the dot.

Natasha stretched up in bed, rolling her neck out as she swung her legs over the edge and stood up. She felt refreshed and at ease – though there was still plenty of time before she was needed anywhere, so a tiny part of her still felt antsy. She didn’t like having nothing to do.

She needed to move, she knew. Though she wasn’t quite in the mood for a workout or some training. She never was, right after a nap.

Natasha was, however, hungry. And that was easy to fix.

The kitchen was empty when she came in, much to Natasha’s surprise. Usually around this hour at least someone was getting something to eat to hold themselves over till it was time for dinner. It didn’t bother her too much, though, and she pulled out the drawer that held her protein bars, opening up the false bottom to find the array of hidden bars she had stashed there. (She ended up picking a chocolate and sea salt caramel one.)