A/N: So I don't know why Thanos' ship is showing up at the end of Thor: Ragnarok when they've still got two years to go before Infinity War happens. I'm sure that'll be explained, but for now I'm going to assume that Asgard got a little sidetracked when making their journey to Earth. And thus this story was born. Oh, and apparantly "Brunnhilde" is Valkyrie's real name, so that's why she's called that here. I know I keep starting stories that take forever to finish, but this one's different, cause I actually wrote it all out first!

And yes, I did make up all the new planets and their inhabitants in this story.

Sigh. I really didn't want to be a Loki fangirl. It's embarassing to like something that so many other people like. But the reason I was able to write this story out before publishing it was because it just was so easy to do; it's like it was spilling out of me! So I guess I truly am a fangirl. (But Loki is a villain, guys. He may only be craving love and attention, but the things he's done are still horrendous, and there's nothing to be misunderstood about that.) So! Here we go, in a story that, despite my previous statement, shows just how much the bond between Thor and Loki is still there.

Loki wasn't entirely sure what the ship had hit. Of course it wasn't likely that someone would come and inform him of every little thing that came onto the ship's radar as a threat, but still, it would have been nice to hear screams from above or something to let him know to look out the window. He'd been below the main deck, in one of the only private compartments on the ship, which he'd instantly claimed as his own chambers. Fortunately Thor trusted him enough now to let him have it, which Loki was incredibly grateful for, because where else would he feel safe admiring his newly stolen—

"Loki!" Brunnhilde called, pounding on his door. "Thor needs to speak to you."

Ah, there was the messenger. Loki calmly opened his door and walked up with the Valkyrie. "What was it?" he asked, in the smooth voice that left the impression it didn't matter to him one way or the other.

"Another ship, we think. Came out of nowhere, and then disappeared."

"A hit-and-run driver?" A smile poked about Loki's lips. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather take this up with the space police?"

"Shut up, it's not funny," she said, shoving him. "And I didn't see the need to involve you at all, but your brother insisted."

Thor was standing in front of the ship's control panel, with lights flashing and sirens blaring all around him. He turned when he heard them coming, and his face took on a look of relief.

"Loki, please, make it stop," he begged.

"Yeah." Loki looked out the front window. "I think your problem, Brother, is that a big chunk of the ship is missing, and we appear to be falling."

"I know that, but what am I supposed to do about it?"

"Seriously?" Brunnhilde asked. "That's what you called him up here for?"

"He's better at making decisions than I am," Thor protested.

Loki shrugged. "Land it, as best you can. I see a planet right there. Anything else I can offer my expertise on?"

Thor didn't answer. He had rushed back to the control panel, stared at it blankly for a moment, then slipped in the seat and began pushing every button in sight.

"Should I start trying to evacuate people?" Brunnhilde asked.

"There's no time," Thor called. "Or resources, really, we're holding a few thousand passengers over the limit. Though if you wanted to warn them to strap themselves down, I think that might be a good idea."

Brunnhilde turned to comply, and Loki watched in amusement as Thor scrambled to get control of the ship. "Well, you really are just the worst at flying under pressure," he said.

"I don't see you doing any better!" Thor snapped.

Loki reached over and pulled a green lever, which righted the ship. Thor immediately took advantage and began pressing the correct buttons this time. He was able to maneuver it gently over and into the planet, picking a large grassy field to land in, fortunately before the ship could spin out of control again. Loki smirked, but Thor merely threw him a look of annoyance mixed with begrudging thanks before vacating his chair and going to see how his people were doing.

Loki, however, stayed and opened the doors. He slowly stepped down the walkway, his blue eyes darting over everything in sight. It looked very similar to Asgard, interestingly enough. He would have expected this to be one of the Nine Realms that he knew so well, as he didn't think it was possible to reach another planet simply by flying through to Midgard. And yet here it was, a planet that was covered in lush foliage; gardens and forests, with a large body of water in the distance. There was even a gold palace, though Loki could see at once that there was a marketplace surrounding the palace that looked as wild and unkempt as some of the alleyways of New York. This, at least, differed from his home planet.

That and there was a distinct lack of Bifrosts or Rainbow Bridges, of course.

He was still observing, silently taking everything in, when Thor joined him. "Where are we?" the god of Thunder asked.

"If I said Asgard, would you believe me?" Loki said.

"I almost would, yes," Thor said. "It certainly does look very much alike. That's marvelous, it means we'll fit right in. And that the people will be hospitable."

Loki raised his eyebrows and turned to give Thor an incredulous look. "Asgard? Hospitable?"

"Heimdall!" Thor called over his shoulder. "Look after the people. I'm going to go see if I can get some help for the ship." He turned to Loki. "Coming, Brother?"

"No, I think it'd be better if I stayed here and helped…um…look after the people."

Thor laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "Good man!"

Loki gave him a false smile as he wandered off, then immediately let it fall and walked past the people back to his own quarters. If there were indeed people coming to fix the ship—though he rather doubted Thor would be able to negotiate for help properly—then he didn't want anything incriminating to be found in his room. The next thing he did was to look around the ship for an owner's manual. He did this more for his own amusement then for anything else, and it was indeed amusing to him when he found it in an unused, broken locker. He took it back outside, sat up against the wreckage of the ship, and began reading it.

Brunnhilde came out at some point and said "Loki, I know you struggle with helping other people and all that..."

"Ugh, there's nothing quite as degrading," Loki replied, looking at her over the top of his manual. "So I trust you're not about to ask me to do anything like that."

"…But the medic robot is down, and we need help fixing it."

Loki thought for a minute, then waved his hand dramatically. "There, it's fixed."

"Thank you." Brunnhilde walked back in, and Loki listened for a moment, then heard a crash and shriek, and a loud "LOKIIIII!"

He smiled to himself. "I don't know anything about repairing robots, Val," he said, low enough so that he knew she wouldn't overhear him. "I just know how to give the illusion that it's repaired."

A few hours later, he was reading a very fascinating section of the manual that explained what to do if your oxygen tanks were for some reason chewed through by space pigs, when he heard someone trudging towards him. He glanced up to see Thor walking in what was a gallant attempt at a straight line, and he looked very disoriented.

"Well you certainly took your time," Loki said, flipping a page. "Didn't get any help then? Don't feel bad, you've got to work at the silver tongue thing. I'll go in a minute, just let me finish this. Did you know that if a space pig mates with a raccoon, the offspring will always be more raccoon than pig?"

"Right, yes, of course…" Thor said distractedly. Loki continued reading for a page or two, then looked up to see his brother still glancing around confusedly.

"What's the matter?" he asked. "Forgotten how to climb a ramp? Go on, your people will want to know you're back, and don't worry, I'm sure they'll forgive you for bringing them back absolutely no hope at all."

"Oh I know, I know, it's just…forgive me, but, who are you?"

Loki lifted his eyes. He narrowed them just for a second, then uncrossed his legs and stood up. "What?" he finally asked.

"Do you know what I'm doing here?" Thor asked earnestly. "And, do you know…who I am?"

Loki narrowed his eyes again. "Hilarious," he said. "Honestly, I'm surprised you even came up with a prank like that. I see, wander off onto the unknown planet, and then come back and try to trick the trickster by pretending you've got amnesia, was that your game?"

"Amnesia?" Thor asked, panicking. "Is that what I've got? That's bad, isn't it?"

"Thor, we really don't have time for this, so I should inform you that I've fixed the ship and we're going to fly away and leave you here," Loki said.

"Oh." Thor looked crestfallen. "Well, all right, I'll leave you to it then." He turned and began walking away."

Loki stood in shock for a moment. It took a lot to knock him off his guard, but this had done it. "Okay…so you're not joking," he said.

Thor looked back hopefully. "I'm not?"

"No." Loki grabbed him by the shoulder and marched him up the ship. "And we've got to fix this before doing anything else."