Loki, the Undying
Rated: T
Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischief, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.
000
It took Loki a matter of hours to go from petty gambling to the high roller's floor. He hadn't had need to go shop for new clothing, as spending some time in his Jotun form had drastically replenished his magic to the point where he was starting to feel normal again. He walked through a few of the 'high end' stores, which mostly meant the shops that had the nicest, stolen goods, and decided what was considered expensive. He used his magic change his plain clothing to look something like the Grandmaster's outfits—but of course, in black and green.
"—Ah yes, I have been to the Versante belt, spent some time in the palace… My brother got so inebriated that he ran through the gardens during the queen's birthday tea, totally, stark naked. I might have encouraged it and—"
Ah, yes, he was doing what he did best. He had managed to get himself into a VIP booth and was entertaining a group of people, all of whom had quite a bit of money. Each time they would set down their chips, which were used as currency in the casino, he would swipe one or two. Sitting in his pocket dimension, he had a small stack, which he could exchange for funds.
Tony, well, Tony was also enjoying himself. Perhaps a bit too much… he had bought himself a fancy outfit and he was sitting at once of the tables. He had pointedly stayed in eyeshot of Loki, though Loki had managed to make it to the high roller's area first. Tony had followed no long after, having hit it big on the lower floors.
Though he started off strong, he had started drinking. Loki couldn't necessarily blame the man—he had a lot weighing him down, and being in a den of sin had possibly brought out the worse. Loki had reluctantly resigned himself to keeping an eye on Stark, just in case.
Cass… Loki had no idea where she had gone. She had paid for Stark's clothes, given him a cache of credits, and disappeared. She could be anywhere—she could be right next to him.
For a brief moment, Loki considered the possibility that he could stay on the satellite for a while. He could get himself in with someone rich and powerful, hop a ride to another system, start a new life… He could forget about Thanos and move forward. Have the life he always wanted… But as he looked around and saw that there were many empty booths, booths that had likely once been packed filled with people, he knew that he could not.
He had to set right what he started.
"What's wrong?" A woman, with teal skin, dressed in silver with fancy jewelry, placed her hand on Loki's cheek and turned his head so she would look at him. "You look so serious."
Loki smiled and took her hand, running his thumb in a gentle circle on her palm. "Nothing is wrong, love, just making sure we have the best seat in the house."
"Now, now, don't hog him!" Another woman, the same species, slid into the open spot next to him. He laughed loudly, causing the two women to laugh along with him. "Waitress! More drinks!" She second woman wrapped an arm around Loki and waved down one of the scantily clad servers, who were pink with antenna. The server approached and held out her tray, and both of Loki's companions dropped chips on it.
"You know," said the second woman, "if you wanted, we could go to the next floor. I can get us in."
"Oh?" Loki said, "and what's up there?"
The first woman giggled. "You'll have to wait and see."
As much as Loki would have liked to go on an adventure with the two lovely ladies, his eyes landed on Stark. Tony's chip pile was awfully low and he seemed to be shouting at the dealer.
"Ah, well," Loki said, somewhat reluctantly, "as endearing as that sounds, I rather like it here. Besides, we have drinks coming!"
The drinks never came. Though Loki considered waving another server down, he never got the chance. Eventually, Stark hit his limit and unfortunately, he was somewhere where his name meant nothing.
There was a crash, which caught Loki's attention. Tony's Ironman suit was starting to cover him as a male worked to stand up from the ground. There was broken glass around him. "I may be new around here," Tony shouted, "but I know a cheat when I see one. You think I don't see what you're all doing?"
One of the security guards, a large, rock like creature similar to Korg, took a few steps closer. Tony turned his repulsors on the guard. That only brought two more security guards.
"Ladies, as much as I've enjoyed your company, it seems our time here has come to an end." Loki said, to begging for him to stay, he smiled and pulled them off of him, sternly but gently. They followed after him but stopped when he dove into the mix of security guards and pulled Tony out by the collar. "Sorry, sorry! We're leaving! Yes, yes, I just—hey, I'm just trying to help—no, I didn't do anything for once—"
Loki's attempt at a good deed, rescuing the human from a pile of aliens, turned into a bar fight.
Tony sent one of the guards flying, Loki kicked one in the back of the knee, knocking him to the ground. Fighting erupted as a few people made grabs for chips in the chaos, including Loki, and out the duo went. Loki and Tony ran for the door, throwing tables behind them and grabbing whatever valuables they could.
"Exit's blocked," Tony shouted, "door to the right!"
Loki sent a simulacrum to the exit door while he and Loki turned to the right, heading for a staff door. They ended up in a small kitchen and knocked a chef down. The two of them pushed their way through until they found an employee set of stairs. Loki grabbed an employee who was walking up and threw him to the side so that he and Tony could run down.
Out the back door they went and they didn't stop until they were two blocks away, hiding behind a stall with strange fried eggs.
"For Odin's sake… I didn't even get to cash in my chips!" Loki said, leaning back on the ally wall with a thud. He let his clothes change back to their normal, plain state. "Don't tell me you lost everything."
"I was fine, you know, you didn't need to pull me out of there. I would have handled it myself," Tony said, throwing his arms up and pacing around, "but yeah, it's gone. It was rigged. I calculated the statistical outcome, and they were altering the results. Every third roll, one of the dice would land on the star, which isn't possible, and—"
"Chips, please."
Tony's rant was cut off as one of the servers from the casino walked from the dark and held out her tray.
"Uh, what?" Tony asked. She wasn't looking at him, she was looking at Loki.
"Chips," she said, wiggling her tray in front of Loki. He stared at the pink server for a moment and then realized that her eyes were brown. The other had all had red eyes. She had been the one who took the chips for his drinks, but hadn't returned.
"Oh, I should have seen that sooner," Loki sighed and shook his head. He waved his hand and all of the chips he had swiped throughout the night appeared on her tray. It was a rather hefty stack. Without a word, the server turned on her heel and went back down the ally. "So, hungry?"
And thus, Tony Stark sat down with Loki Odinson on a bench at the stand with fried eggs. A half hour later, Cass sat down next to them and ordered.
"Do you think we got enough?" Loki asked between bites.
Cass shrugged. "Hopefully. If not," she unclasped the top of her slightly baggy coat and showed off a fancy necklace. Loki recognized it as one that one of his companions was wearing. "This should cover the difference."
"I am working with thieves," Tony muttered, eating his second bowl. Apparently he enjoyed it more than the space rations they had been eating on the ship. Who could blame him.
Loki let himself discreetly smile for a moment before focusing on his food again. His night had actually be quite fun, and it was even better knowing that no one was going to chastise him for using his sleight of hand to benefit their party. Now, they just needed to meet up with Nebula.
000
They returned to the ship to find that Nebula was waiting for them. She had found a seller but couldn't get a meeting with him until the next day. They drew straws to see who would get the pleasant task of waiting with the ship over night—Cass drew the short straw. She swore under her breath but agreed to stay, as long as Loki took Kylepo. He agreed and was honestly quite content with the company of the cat—he liked Kylepo better than he liked the woman.
They found an Inn that was hardly suitable, but neither Loki nor Tony felt the desire to argue with Nebula. The hope of having their own rooms with some short lived privacy, even in a 'shady motel' as Tony called it, was better than staying yet another night on the ship. The three of them checked in but then ventured around the corner to a nearly empty bar playing what Loki equated to low jazz music.
"How did you meet Cass," Nebula asked, interrupting their silence. She wasn't interested in conversation, and Stark had his head in his hands. Alien alcohol wasn't sitting well with him.
"She pulled me from the wreckage for the Asgardian ship, apparently."
"Thanos left you alive?"
Loki shifted uncomfortably. He felt a phantom pain in his throat as he gulped down his drink. "Well, no, I don't think intentionally. I was… very nearly dead. She was with scavengers who came to pick the wreckage clean." He decided not to mention that they had combed through the corpses and taken anything valuable. It would only make him angry.
"Hm." Nebula tapped the side of her glass, knocking a chunk of ice to the bottom.
"You clearly have more thoughts on the matter."
"I don't know what she is," she replied.
"What do you mean?" Loki asked.
"I have a database of species. I can look at someone and determine their species and place of origin. I can't determine what she is."
"What about me?" Loki asked somewhat softly. "Can you look at me and tell what I am, even when I'm hiding?"
Nebula turned her head to eye him up and down. He could see her pupils dilate for a moment and she shrugged. "It isn't totally accurate. I cannot tell you're a Jotun like this. You read as Aesir, however my data suggests you're a mutation."
Loki hadn't expected to be called a mutation and he found himself offended. Tony snorted.
"You'd think you'd be called a mutation when you were blue," he said and reached for his drink. Loki had wisely asked their bartender for something non-alcholic. They would need to stock up on water for the human, who needed it more than the other three travelers.
"Watch it," Nebula snapped. "Blue is a fairly common species color."
"Doesn't make it any less weird," Tony muttered.
"It does, your human mind is just incapable of accepting what's different from itself."
"One of my best friends is green!"
"No," Loki replied, tilting his glass towards Stark, "you're friends with Banner, who looks like you. I get along better with the Hulk than you do, these days."
Tony looked up at Loki through somewhat squinted eyes, clearly bewildered. Loki smirked and chuckled lowly.
"Ah, I see he didn't tell you too much about his role in saving Asgard or the brief time spent on our ship before Thanos…" Loki sighed, "well, nevermind. Stories for a different day. I'm going to turn in before the cat takes over my bed. Tomorrow then?"
"Tomorrow. Get Cass before lunch for the meeting," Nebula said.
"Why do I have to get her?" Loki balked as he stood and pushed his chair in.
"She's your rescuer. She's your problem."
000
Author's Notes: Eh, the ending isn't exciting. Just wanted to drop some information. Also, if you're familiar with Sailor Moon, I picture the bar as the bar the Amazon Trio chills in when sorting through targets, with the same sax music in the background all of the time. This story is just going to some strange places. DnD in spppaaaceeeee. I'm anticipating 2 to 3 more chapters in space. If I keep my current pace, they should be on Earth by the end of next week =)
Thank you everyone for your reviews! Siart22, GreenSand, Rowanoak, Loftcat27, and xXCinderzXx
Ever Your Servant,
A.F
