Author's Note: The vacation is over (I very glad actually; there were some good parts but some of it was just meh) and typing took a little longer than expected so sorry about the wait, but hopefully the chapter will be worth it. Apologies again because more characters will be suffering in this chapter.
This chapter and the next will kind of be a Segway for the big things to come ahead so if this one and the next kind of read like nothing except for character building is happening, this is why. Don't worry, I got a plan! (And hopefully everyone will like it so…)
On a separate note, we're up to ninety reviews! Ten away from a hundred! I cannot believe it and I just want to give every single reader, reviewer, follower, and favoriter a great big "Thank You"!
Thank you!
Enjoy the chapter and my now usual "Author's Note Again" at the end. I have a special request at the beginning. I don't even know if everyone reads that…oh well, look at me getting all sidetracked. On to the chapter!
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Chapter Seven: "New Hand?"
At the sight of the bloodied and limping billionaire leaning against the odd blue girl, Steve and Bruce both rushed up the space pod's ramp to see if they could really believe their eyes. "Tony?" Bruce asked, reaching out for his friend. "What-what, how, you-?"
The blue girl who had her metal arm around Tony answered, "Thanos stabbed him with a piece of his armor."
"I'm fine," Tony muttered. His bloodied hand was clutching at his left side, blood had stained through his black hooded zip-up coat.
"We must get him to my lab," Shuri called.
"Here," Bruce said stepping closer still to Tony. The blue girl traded places with Bruce so that he was the one supporting Tony and she was off to the side. Steve helped too. Tony's eyes shined with surprise and a sort of sadness when he saw Steve.
"Cap."
"Tony."
Tony looked the bearded man up and down and half chuckled. "You're the only man I know that can pull off both the Boy Scout look and the lumberjack look."
Steve smiled. "He'll be fine."
Rhodey shook his head. "Of course he will. He's looked death in the eye multiple times and still manages to come up with a smart quip. Only guy I know who does that."
"Clearly you haven't spent that much time with Clint," Natasha said stepping out of the way as Steve and Bruce lead Tony down the ramp and closer to the group.
"Agent Romanoff," Tony greeted. Then he seemed to notice that the redhead was a bleached blonde. "What happened to you? Decided to find a new spring look?"
Natasha smirked and almost absentmindedly felt the tips of her hair. "No. But you're the second person to ask me that."
Tony glanced around at the remaining Avengers all circled around him and the two other men supporting him. "Reindeer Games actually did it, didn't he?" he asked, turning to Bruce who smiled slightly. Bruce knew he was talking about his request for Loki to get him to the Avengers headquarters and to tell them all about Thanos. To assemble the Avengers.
Bruce nodded, "Yup, he sure did."
"And…and he didn't try to kill anyone?"
Steve remembered Tony's nickname for the trickster god so he knew who and what they were talking about. "Nobody," he answered. "Except for Thanos and his people."
Tony blinked a few times and softly scoffed. "Well, huh…who knew?"
M'Baku cleared his throat off to the side, impatiently. "We should get him to the lab like the Princess said and get all of these people to the shelter."
"I agree," Valkyrie said walking from Thor's side and heading in the direction where some of the refugees stood clamoring among themselves.
Ramonda stepped forward and said, "General." Okoye turned to her former Queen awaiting orders. "You go with her and make sure that the Asgardians are settled in." Okoye bowed her head and went to follow Valkyrie.
Tony's gaze followed Valkyrie's retreating form and he shook his head. "She's a loud one. Shouted orders and insults the whole ride over."
Thor shrugged. "She does that."
Tony had seen Thor but it was only at this moment that he actually realized what it meant. "You are alive."
Thor sighed, "Why does everyone think that I died?"
"Because a Squidward looking creep with powers told your brother that he and Thanos had killed you."
Leave it to Tony Stark to be bluntly honest. Thor looked to Bruce in mild surprise because the gray and brown haired man had forgotten to mention that when he told Thor all about his and Loki's day. Bruce nodded appearing slightly uncomfortable, like he knew he hadn't told Thor everything and was now being called out for it. Why Bruce didn't tell him that, perhaps he hadn't thought that it was of high importance, would probably remain a mystery. All Thor knew was that he now understood why Loki had been so relieved and happy to see him in Wakanda. And why he had gotten so irritated when Thor had shrugged it off.
Thor wanted to smack his forehead with his hand. He really could be a witless oaf sometimes.
Once again M'Baku impatiently cleared his throat. Natasha came very close to rolling her eyes, but instead she resisted the urge and said, "Evidently, the fur ball wants us to hurry it up and get Tony to Shuri's lab."
"Hey, do not knock my fur clothes. I would like to see you survive the subzero temperatures of the snow covered mountains in your spandex leather outfit." M'Baku noticed Ramonda giving him an unamused glare and even though she never had any authority over him or his people, he quickly changed what he was saying to go back to being in "favor" with the former Queen. "I mean, ah, yes I would like us to hurry along."
"Nice save," Natasha muttered not at all holding back her sass.
Steve shook his head. "Seriously Nat?"
"What?"
Steve let out a deep sigh. Tony half chuckled, "Damn, I've missed this." With that Shuri, M'Baku, Ramonda, and the remaining Avengers all started making their way through the field and back towards the city, followed by Steve and Bruce still supporting the frail looking Tony. Thor had made the conscious decision to not follow them and to instead stay behind and make sure that all of the Asgardians were okay and not too shaken up.
But before he did anything he felt like he just had to stand in the yellow grassed field amongst all the now empty emergency and work pods. He just needed a moment of calm and of nothing happening. A moment were he didn't have to think or worry. The last couple of weeks had been extremely rough, not to mention just this single day, and it honestly felt like he hadn't had a moment to just…well, not do anything.
He stood watching the small group lead Tony away. It had almost been two years since he had seen the genius, billionaire, playboy, and then he forgot the other thing Tony had described himself as all those years ago. But the point was it had been so long. Actually it had been so long for all of the team. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He should help the two fierce warrior women with attending to the Asgardians now. He had had his little moment of nothing so-
He slightly turned around and saw out of the corner of his eye that the blue girl was still standing on the side of the pod ramp. And she was staring at him. Her eyes were deep bottomless black orbs that did more than just stare at him, they stared right through him. Thor wasn't sure if it was those eyes of hers that made him instantly feel cautious or if it was her unfriendly demeanor. She wore an almost vicious frown. But if you took away those two factors she really was an interesting sight to behold. Her blue skin tones, her shiny and elegantly carved metal arm, the contrast of her old and worn metal hand, her Ravager red uniform, the machine grafted to the side of her bald head.
She certainly was a sight.
Thor consciously became aware that she was eyeing him in the same way that he was eyeing her. Actually it was more like she was sizing him up with a judgmental gleam. He uncomfortably fidgeted around at her unceasing stare. "So," he started quietly. "Um, Valkyrie said that you, well, that you knew of me and my brother." The girl slowly stomped down the ramp and stood about five feet away from him. Thor could not put his finger on what it was, but something about this girl just rubbed him the wrong way.
"Your brother," she said, her voice sounding practically mechanical. "He is Loki, Prince of Asgard?"
"Yes."
She was silent and she didn't move a muscle but there was a flash of excitement or maybe it was hope, it was really hard to tell with her, that ran through her eyes for a split second before it disappeared and she went back to her unfriendly appearance. She glanced down at the grass that she stood in. "Valkyrie spoke of you and Loki in the present tense…and then Stark said he saw…" She looked back up and met Thor's eyes. Then she calmly and seriously asked, "He's alive, isn't he?"
Now Thor was confused. "Loki? Yeah, of course he's alive."
The girl seemed to let out a deep sigh of relief and take a step backwards. She muttered to herself, "I knew he had failed with the plan, both my father's and his own plans for betrayal. It was all so crazy and insane…of course he would fail. I knew he was taken back to Asgard and subjected to their justice. But-but then Thanos said that Loki had died in the world of the Dark Elves. That he had died a…but then Valkyrie and…and now you yourself said…where is he?"
Thor really was confused and he didn't know what to make of this unusual girl. She had this gruff disposition and this underlining attitude that made him not like her, but then when she had just spoken there was a true amount of concern for his brother. Genuine concern. "I'm sorry, how do you know my brother?"
The girl met his eyes again, her eyebrows scrunching together in confusion. She was staring at him again and for every long second that went by Thor grew more and more antsy. Boy, this girl had a knack for appearing menacing and getting under his skin. Then suddenly the girl's eyes widened with realization and they became softer. She whispered, "He never told you."
Thor shook his head. "Never told me what?"
She opened her mouth to say something but the second she did somebody shouted out, "Nebula!" At the sound of Rocket's voice, Thor spun around and saw the rabbit, no Loki said he was a raccoon, finish sprinting over with a look of urgency and surprise. He stopped a few feet away from where Thor and this girl who was apparently named Nebula stood. Rocket was panting as he said, "Nebula, didn't…expect you…to be here…God, I need to breathe…"
He stopped talking and placed both hands on his knees trying to catch his breath. After a few moments of this, Rocket stood back up straight, still looking pretty winded, but he continued anyways. "I'm actually glad to see ya Nebula, cause if you're here then the Guardians gotta be here too." Nebula's lips parted again but she didn't utter a word. "Nebula? The Guardians are with you, right?" Rocket's tone suddenly had gone from hopeful and confident to borderline nervous. In the short period of time that Thor had known the rabb-raccoon he had picked up on the simple fact that Rocket was pretty much fearless. A little odd and a bit of a sarcastic asshole but… Seeing him suddenly look so scared was like a punch in the stomach. Nebula still hadn't said a word and her unfriendly look was beginning to fall and in its place was a sorrowful appearance. And it was clearly killing Rocket to not have an answer. "Nebula?" he tried one more time.
"They're all gone, okay?" she practically yelled. Her sudden and unexpected outburst made Thor jump slightly and the two warrior women both paused to stop and stare, possibly looking to see if there was trouble.
But Rocket only gasped and took a step backwards, shaking his head. "What?" he whispered.
Nebula closed her eyes and said, "Thanos killed Gamora to receive the Soul Stone and the rest of them vanished into dust."
Rocket shook his head more and faster. "No, no, no, no. I, uh…I can't be all-all that's left. I just can't be." He just stood there in silent shock looking smaller than usual. Thor didn't know how to help his friend. The raccoon wasn't like Loki who he could just scope up in his arms and vow to always protect. Rocket was a whole other person with his own set of complicated emotions and ways of handling a crisis and with the pain of loss. And evidently his way of dealing with the world halting news that his team was gone was to lash out. His head popped up and he pointed accusingly at Nebula. "I don't believe you. Why should I? You tried to kill me and Groot and Gamora and all of us numerous times! How do I know you're not still working with your dear old dad and that you're not gonna try and kill me and everybody else here in the-the name of that psycho?!"
Nebula did not at all react to Rocket's shouting like everyone else on the field did. In fact it seemed to harden her resolve. "I am not lying. What I said is true and if you do not believe it then suit yourself." The gravity of reality set its weight down hard on Rocket and his beady little eyes started to well up.
Thor tentatively stepped forward and reached out for Rocket. "My friend…" But that's all he got out before the raccoon turned away and ran back to the lit up city. Thor put his hand back down to his side and shook his head sadly. Damn Thanos for this. For this and every other act he was responsible for. He glanced back at Nebula and took note that she was no longer as hostile looking as she had been before. He said to her, "Should you ah, or maybe I…go after him?"
Nebula shook her head. "I have been reliably informed that I do not do well when it comes to my or other people's emotions. If you want to be my guest but…not me. Not me." There was a new air of sadness to her, a more intense and dramatic air of sadness. One filled with loss and self-loathing and hopelessness. One that was vaguely familiar to Thor.
One very similar to Loki's deep air of depression.
…
"What about Dr. Strange?" Bruce asked Tony who was sitting on one of the silver metal tables while Shuri placed a handful of the small metal beads on his deep, nasty, poorly mended wound. Ramonda helped her daughter by holding the beads while Shuri placed them where they would effectively heal Tony's wound. M'Baku stood close to the door leading in and out of Shuri's lab, giving the remaining Avengers a little privacy. And of course the remaining Avengers, after making sure Tony was in fact okay, made it their priority to find out what the hell happened to Tony and how he ended up on an abandoned planet with a metal armed blue woman. Tony had already told them all that Peter Parker, the Spider-Man, his protégé had been one of the many who had disappeared into dust. He was taking it very hard, rubbing his head, and then becoming uncharacteristically quiet. Bruce then asked about the wizard doctor he and Loki had met in New York. "Loki said you went after him. I mean obviously Thanos got the stone, but…"
Tony understood what Bruce was asking and he shook his head sadly and tiredly. "He's gone too… The damn stupid jerk." Tony squeezed his eyes shut and slammed his right hand against the metal table causing both Shuri and Ramonda to start. Tony didn't seem to notice anyone's concerned or worried glances, he just started rambling. "Strange with his inflated ego, goes on and on about how it's his duty to protect the stone and how he would save the stone over me or Peter or anyone else and you know what he does? Go ahead, guess." Nobody said a word. "He trades the stone for my life. My life! That God damn hypocrite! He makes such a big fuss and then he saves me." He shook his head again although this time it was almost in disgust. "Damn bastard…"
Bruce took a few steps back to where Natasha stood off to the sidelines next to Rhodey and Steve. As Bruce walked away from Tony, Steve stepped forward trying to carefully approach him. "Tony…I know that this is hard for you but…"
Tony brushed him off. "Yeah, yeah, I got it Paul Bunion." Tony took a deep breath and let it out almost in a huff and continued with his story, but this time he started from the beginning. "After I told Reindeer Games to get Bruce to the headquarters and assemble you guys and..." Tony glanced around the small group knowing full well that they were cut in half in size, "well, everyone else, Strange, Peter, and I were on the doughnut space ship. We took care of Squidward and we all decided to continue heading for Thanos. That's when Strange made it crystal clear that he would pick the stone to save over me or Peter. We crash landed on this big void and empty planet. It was all dusty, like a desert wasteland. There we met these really weird oddball characters who wanted to take down Thanos because he kidnapped their friend. We all made this plan to defeat Thanos and it almost worked but…" Tony swallowed and glanced down at his hands folded in his lap. "Well, there is no use going on. You all already know that we failed. And everyone except for me and Nebula are gone." He put his hands up to his face in a defeated manner.
It was extremely difficult for the small group of heroes to see their, at one time, unappointed and unofficial leader broke down to being so tired and weary. Steve placed a firm hand on Tony's shoulder and said in his soft, comforting voice, "You did your best. We all did. There was nothing else any of us could have possibly done."
Tony dropped his hands and glared at Steve with what appeared to be hostility. "Yeah, tell that to the fifteen year old who vanished in my arms Steve."
Steve blinked in slight surprise at Tony's display of total despair and anger when he spoke about the loss of the boy from Queens, but then Steve sighed knowing Tony only too well. Tony's family had been gone for a long time and he had a knack for finding and befriending people and collecting them for his makeshift family. Wasn't that what the Avengers was for Tony Stark? For all of them? Steve had never thought about Howard Stark as a family man, but he had been proven wrong and he had the sinking feeling that his thought of Tony never being the family man with kids had also been proven wrong. Tony had a kid, not a blood kid, but a kid all the same. And he had watched him disappear into dust.
Steve sat next to his friend on the table as Shuri waved her bracelet over the small beads on Tony's side and they all lit up in a blue hue. "This job was never easy, you knew that going in. Sometimes…sometimes we can't save everybody, but I think-no, I know that we will figure a way to fix this."
"How?" Tony asked miserably.
"I don't know yet."
Tony sighed and rubbed his tired and teary eyes. He muttered, "I want to kill Thanos for this."
Steve glanced at Bruce, Natasha, and Rhodey who all stood in their own cloud of loss and feelings of being powerless to stop Thanos and save their teammates and then to Shuri, Ramonda, and M'Baku who had lost so much themselves, their actual blood. Steve nodded in agreement with what Tony had said, remembering the fear in Bucky's eyes and the fact that he never got to say goodbye, again. He clenched his hands into fists. "Believe me Tony, you're not the only one."
…
Closer to the center of the city was a seven-story blue sleek building that was used as a sort of shelter. There were no homeless or poor individuals in Wakanda but the building had been built in case of hard times, whether economically or due to extreme weather or just about anything. The building had its own shield that could be brought up around it, a large supply of food and water, several hundred beds and baths, and a whole floor that was basically a hospital. In theory it could have also been used as a safe house, almost like an above the ground bunker, but when T'Challa had ordered the city of Wakanda to be evacuated, he had not ordered them to the shelter but further away from the fight still, to a neighboring city. He had wanted to ensure that the civilians would be safe and the only way to do so was to take them out of Wakanda.
That's what General Okoye told Thor and Valkyrie as they all stood in the doorway of a large sitting room, watching several Asgardian families settling in. It warmed Thor's heart to see his people safe and sound and most of all happy. Or, well, something close to it. "I want to thank you and the Princess and all of your people again for allowing us to stay here," Thor said watching a curious little girl play with a holograph on a screen that was stuck to one of the walls.
"Do not thank me," Okoye said. "Thank King T'Challa for making the offer and the Princess for continuing her brother's offer."
Valkyrie patted Okoye on the shoulder. "Well, thanks for helping us with getting everyone to the building then."
Okoye nodded with a slight smile. "Yes, of course. I was only doing what my former Queen asked of me."
Valkyrie crossed her arms. "You're one of those follow every rule, support the crown with your undying loyalty warriors, aren't you?" Okoye nodded again. Valkyrie half scoffed, "Okay then. Good for you."
"She has some trust issues when it comes to royalty," Thor said, feeling obligated to explain Valkyrie to Okoye.
Valkyrie didn't like that at all. "Don't explain me to other people," she snapped. "And I have every reason to be untrusting of royalty. My former King basically screwed me and my Valkyrie sisters over."
Okoye was silent for a second before saying with a hint of sadness, "Well, all I have to say is that I would always follow my King and support his actions." And then at the last second she added, "My only problem with the crown is Princes who think they know everything."
"I know! What is up with that?" Valkyrie exclaimed. "I mean, take this one for example," she motioned to Thor, "he thinks that he can decide what is best for me, without even consulting me."
Thor sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I thought you weren't mad about that anymore."
"Guess what, I am."
Thor stared at Valkyrie and her brilliant brown eyes both muttering, "I should probably leave if you two are going to start bonding over "Princes who think they know everything". I have a feeling it will not make me very happy."
Okoye smiled again and Valkyrie smirked. "Yeah, alright you do that. Me and the General will just be discussing all the dumb things that you've done."
"And that's why I'm leaving." Thor left the two warrior women to discuss their problems with their Princes and already he was not feeling very happy about Valkyrie talking about him in an ill manner behind his back. Oh well. He probably deserved it for not coming to her and asking her to get on one of the emergency pods.
He walked down several inclined planes that were meant to replace stairs until he was at the bottom floor. He could have stayed in the building and checked in with everyone but he decided it was time that he go and tell Loki that the Asgardians were alive and well. It was pitch black nighttime now, but you would never know it because of all of the bright lights on the buildings. It was like this city never had an evening, it only had a never ending day. When he was approaching the black and gray sleek building that held Shuri's lab and the room he had left the sleeping Loki in, he saw that Nebula woman sitting by herself on the lit up stairs off to the side of the building. Her hands were folded together and her head lowered in a depressed manner. "Hi, there," he said, startling her. Oh great, that's just what he wanted to do. Startle and upset the girl he couldn't quite understand. "Sorry about that. Um, what are you doing?"
Nebula glared at him and said in a tone, "I'm sitting by myself sulking, what do you think I'm doing?"
Thor tried to keep his patience, although it was pretty easy to do so. After years of dealing with Loki he had become a master of dealing with smartass comments. "Ah, I see. Did you ever talk to Rocket?" Nebula shook her head no and never took her gaze away from him. "Ah, well neither did I. I should probably put that on my list of things to do." She rolled her eyes at his attempt at lightening the mood. Thor took a deep breath. "Look, I-I feel like somehow we got off on the wrong foot and that you just don't like me very much."
"I don't."
"Well, I'm glad we've cleared that up."
Nebula stood up quickly from where she had been sitting on the stairs. Even in the dark her black eyes were piercing. "After all of the years you spent ignoring Loki, why should I?"
Thor couldn't help but blink in surprise at the way she had spat that out at him, but he almost immediately took the defense. "I'm sorry, what? You have no right to say-"
"I have no right to say? To say what? What is true?"
Thor didn't know what to be more surprised by: Nebula's harsh words or her obvious caring for Loki. He rubbed his pounding temples. "Okay, seriously I have to know. How do you know my brother?" Nebula gave him one more piercing glare and then turned around and marched up the stairs. Thor was right behind her calling, "Listen to me, I am only going to ask you one more time-"
"How do I know your brother?"
Why did everybody like interrupting him? "Yes."
Nebula halted to a stop and spun around. Thor had to stop himself from running into her. She stared at him with an unreadable expression before shaking her head. "You do not want to know."
"Let me be the decider of that." Nebula continued to shake her head and she started to walk away again, but Thor grabbed ahold to her metal arm to stop her. The second he did, he regretted it. She spun back around and looked like she was just about ready to punch him in the jaw. And those eyes of hers? Yeah, they got about ten times scarier.
"Let go of me right now," she said in an eerie whisper.
He immediately let go of her arm but her scary look did not go away. "I'm sorry, I just…he's my brother and I know that he is terrified of Thanos and that you are one of the step-daughters of Thanos and I have this sinking, dreadful feeling that…"
Nebula's shoulders seemed to relax a little bit and her eyes seemed to shine with a sort of remembrance. She softly said, "Thanos found him when he had fallen from Asgard. He wanted him to help him with his "purpose" but Loki refused…and he paid for that."
Thor did not quite understand. "What do you mean?"
His borderline cluelessness angered her and she instantly rounded on him. "What do I mean? What do you think I mean?! Are you truly as witless as Loki said? Thanos had him tortured every single day for months!"
That horrible feeling Thor had suddenly doubled as his worst fears and his morbid imaginations were confirmed. Fearless, sarcastic, brilliant Loki who had turned into a trembling terrified man at the very thought of Thanos…Thor had tried very hard to not think what it meant. But he knew he would eventually find Thanos and get him to tell him why. But now he knew why. Every single day? For months? He had a strong urge to run back to the room he had left Loki in, wake him up, and pull him into another tight hug. Why hadn't he told him?
Thor was basically in shock, his mouth falling open slightly just staring at Nebula, who's demeanor had changed dramatically. She was no longer enraged but crestfallen. Perhaps she realized how brutally blunt she had been. "I…I'm sorry… I just…Where did you say he was?"
Thor stared at her for another second or so before clearing his throat and replying, "He's um, I'll just ah, show you."
…
Do you know the feeling when you have woken up but you still have your eyes closed and you are still in a restful place, somewhere in the middle of completely awake and completely asleep? That was where Loki was right now. He hadn't realized he had even fallen asleep until this very moment of being half-awake. It had been a door creaking open and then shut that had awoken him. What time was it? Was the horrible day finally over? He swallowed, feeling how dry and sore his throat was. He should really just cave in and either heal it himself or have Shuri do it, but as he slowly woke up he remembered why he hadn't wanted it healed in the first place. He felt a gentle, yet firm hand on his shoulder, a cold hand.
Thor?
More than likely, but why was his hand so cold?
"Loki?"
At the sound of the soft metallic voice Loki woke up completely. His eyes popped opened. He was on a cushiony couch facing the back so he couldn't see who was in the room with him just yet. Not that he needed to see her to know. He slowly rolled over onto his back, taking note that he was in a totally different room and that he was not crazy after all.
"Nebula?" he said in a still hoarse voice. It was unbelievable. Completely bloody unbelievable. Here she stood before him, staring down at him with those beautiful deep eyes of hers. "This isn't a dream, is it?"
"No," she said softly again.
"Then-just," he rubbed his head slightly, "how?"
Nebula took a step backwards and started slowly pacing around the room. Loki could only stare at her. She hadn't changed a bit. She looked exactly the same as she had all those years ago when they had said their rocky goodbye. He took it back, there was one thing different. Gone was her purple top and black pants. Instead she wore a top to bottom red uniform. It looked like the uniforms that those Ravager thieves wore, but he doubted that she would join them. "I was fighting against Thanos with my sister's friends and a trio of humans. After the snap only I and a man named Stark were left."
"Tony Stark?" he asked surprised. How was it that he never ceased to be surprised?
"Yes."
Loki sighed. "Sure, why not. Go on."
"Anyways, we sent out a distress signal and the Asgardians came-"
"Wait. The refugees? They're alive and here?"
"Yes," Nebula said, this time with a little bit of an underlining tone.
He hadn't meant to interrupt again, he just had to make sure he heard her right. Thank the stars for having the Asgardians be alive. The loss of them would have been hard on not only him but also on Thor. Wait, where was Thor? Nebula was giving him a slightly annoyed look. She really didn't change. "I'm sorry, I interrupted."
"A little bit yes. Point is, Stark learned that the rest of his team was here and so, here we are." The rest of the team? Of course, the Avengers must have been thrilled to see their leader (or was the dear Captain their leader?) and they all must be somewhere having another regrouping conference, deciding what it was they were to do next. Loki sat up with a light groan and rubbed his tender throat. Nebula saw the horrible black and blue bruise on his throat and neck for the first time and her eyes widened "Are you alright?"
"Of course," he muttered as he sat with his feet back firmly on the ground. "I mean, besides the fact that half the population of the world is gone and that my head was almost ripped off like a daisy by your dad, yeah, I'm fine."
"Still the God of Dumb Quips, I see."
"Mischief," he corrected. "God of Mischief."
She half smiled, it was so nice to see her even half smile. Her resting expression was usually angry contempt or deep sadness. And since nothing else seemed to change, he doubted that that had changed either. Her half smile disappeared. "You know that for a couple of years I thought you were dead."
"Oh," he said feeling guilty that he was the cause of her now sad face. "You um, heard about the whole dark world thing then?"
"Yes," she said with her sassy and feisty tone. "You were supposedly stabbed through the heart and died a hero's death."
Was it crazy that he had missed her sass and feistiness? "Yup, that's the one. Um, sorry?"
Nebula sighed and sat down in a wooden chair that was right next to the couch. "I know why you faked your death. It was to get away from my father's inevitable wrath. I can't be mad at that."
"Well, actually I didn't fake my death." Nebula's eyes narrowed in confusion. "I just sort of miraculously survived and why would you be mad if I had faked my own death?" Nebula didn't answer, she just stared down at her folded hands. He could see the faint light reflecting off of her arm and her hand. Wait-her hand. It was a duller and dingier metal then what he had remembered it being and the corners of it were covered in dirt and grime. "New hand?"
She half smiled again. "Always so observant."
"I healed two of your fingers, I know that is not the same metal. Besides you would never allow your original hand to get so dirty and filled with all that disgusting grime."
"Always so perceptive."
"About everyone but myself." He tore his gaze from her for a moment and then he looked back at her with a bit of remorse. "I…I'm sorry about how we parted ways. I was-you were right about Thanos and the Mind Stone and I was just-"
"A stubborn idiot?"
"…Not exactly what I was going to say, but sure."
"It's just good to see you out from under his control." She didn't have to say "Thanos's" or "father's" control, the way she spat the word "his" like it was venom was more than enough to confirm that they were in fact talking about the mad Titan.
Loki smiled, realizing that she was free from him as well if she had been fighting with Stark and her sister's friends, also known as Rocket's little group of people. "You too."
She shook her head and closed her eyes in a tired way. "I was trying to kill Thanos before this whole mess with him collecting the stones himself even began. I was so close Loki, I swear to you I was. But…for a split second I lost my nerve and he was able to subdue me." She paused only long enough to let out a shaky breath. "I was stuck there on that damn ship of his for over a year. I always hated it, but I never truly realized how hellish it is when you're a prisoner. And there was no more talking. Before I had the prisoners but this time I had nothing."
Loki stared at the blue woman, his heart bleeding for her. He knew what it was like to be a prisoner on that ship and he doubted that Thanos would hold back the torment for his step-daughter. But it wasn't even that fact that made him reach over and grab Nebula's metal wrist in a compassionate sort of way. It was because he knew how much the talking meant to her. It was her only way of coping, the only comfort she probably had ever had. And Thanos took that away from her. She stared at him in bewilderment when his fingers wrapped around her cold wrist. "You can talk to me," he whispered. "You can always talk to me."
There was an old saying, eyes are windows to the soul or something like that. And Loki had to believe it, because what Nebula lacked when it came to speaking or expressing her emotions in the traditional way, she made up for it with those entrancing eyes of hers. An outsider looking in would assume that Nebula was still staring at Loki in bewilderment but someone who knew the woman like he did could see the hope, the calmness, and the relief run through her eyes. She swallowed and blinked her eyes a few times, pushing back the very visible tears. "So what do you wish to talk about?"
"Anything at all."
She was quiet for a moment, with a thoughtful look on her face. "Okay, I got something. How did you miraculously survive being stabbed through the heart? I know that you are virtually unkillable but, that seems a little ridiculous."
"Unkillable? Hmm. I like the sound of that. As for this whole "stabbed through the heart" thing, you really need to check your resources Nebula, because I wasn't stabbed through the heart."
"Heart, chest, it's the same thing."
"It's really not."
Loki was still reeling from what would probably be known as the worst day of his life and there was a part of him that still just wanted to curl up in a ball somewhere and do nothing but feel the weight of guilt and self-loathing because he deserved it still, but he wasn't going to do that right now. Nebula was here, the blue feisty girl with cold hands after all these years of being apart. And they started talking, started getting lost in the other person's stories, like nothing had changed. Only things had changed. There was no one coming to take Loki away for his daily torture and Nebula didn't have to slip away before one of her siblings discovered her.
The way they both saw it, the talking never had to stop.
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Author's Note Again: ATTENTION! I want your opinions. I have four working titles for Chapter Eight and I decided to put it to a vote. You want to be a deciding factor in the chapter's title then either leave me a review or PM me. The titles are:
Coping Mechanisms and Heated Arguments
Budding Friendships Contribute to Breakthroughs
Love is for Children
(and last but not least) Tears for Those Who "Died"
I would really like some feedback on this. If not, that's cool I'll just pick one. I should have the next chapter up in a week or week and a half, so figure that's the time limit.
Don't worry, I'm going to get more into Thor's reaction to learning what happened to Loki and Nebula's dealing with the loss of Gamora in the next chapter. Scout's honor! (Seriously, years ago I was a Girl Scout…) But back to this chapter, I'm sorry I made Rocket suffer and I'm really sorry I made Tony suffer with the loss of Peter. I'm terrible, I know. But hey, at least I didn't go into detail of how Peter disappeared like he did in the movie. Now that was heartbreaking to watch.
This chapter was really weird to write. Besides the fact that I was on vacation when I was writing the first half, this chapter was the first chapter to have Loki show up only at the end of it. Like really weird. I didn't even realize it till I was writing the intro to his scene and I was like, "Oh my God, I haven't written from his perspective this whole chapter." And I know I wrote about him, but it's not the same. So sorry about the lack of Loki. But hey, he and Nebula reunited so that's cool, right?
Has anyone seen "How Avengers: Infinity War Should Have Ended"? If you haven't, leave right now and go watch it on YouTube. If you have, wasn't it amazing?! I think it was one of the best videos HISHE has ever done. Like seriously, the best!
Anyways, I just want to thank everyone again for all the support and attention that has been given to my little story. You people are awesome! Thank you for everything. Peace!
