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
Though they managed to clear the satellite and even head in the right direction by chance, the Milano was damaged. It wasn't severe, but it was enough that Nebula wasn't comfortable jumping a large distance again without having the chance to makes sure vital pieces of the ship were repaired. Tony was confident that his nanotech could patch up any holes, but they would need to land first since he couldn't risk leaving holes in his own suit by giving away too many of his little nanos.
"It looks like there's a planet coming up that we should be able to land on. The driver doesn't have much data, and there are no active communication lines, but it does appear that this had some small settlements at one time or another," Loki said as he zoomed in on a nearby planet. Their converted driver pulled up a few images of an arid environment with a rather low population. Loki suspected it was rather outdated.
"Are there any landing guides or would we be flying blind?" Nebula asked.
"It… appears that there are some which would make it far easier for us and would minimize any further damage upon entering the atmosphere, but I don't think we'll be getting any help. Though, if you think that's a problem, then Earth is certainly going to be an issue. They are severely lacking in technology," Loki replied and sat back, letting Nebula lean over and poke around the screen.
"Hey! Not all of Earth," Tony snapped from behind Loki.
"Fine, most of Earth is lacking, is that better? It doesn't change the fact that there will be no prepared area for an incoming ship."
"That didn't stop Thanos's lackies from just… popping on into New York," Tony muttered.
"Thanos's main ship was as large as Asgard," Loki replied bitterly, "we're in a small vessel made for roguish antics. So, Nebula, would you like to take the controls, or shall I show off my impressive piloting abilities?"
"Move."
Loki obliged, but mostly because he was more willing to prepare himself for a rough landing from a passenger seat than be distracted with the controls. Nebula took over and lined them up with an old, outdated landing path as specified by their driver, and down they went.
It was a bit rough and there was a scratching sound that Loki didn't particularly like—most likely indicating a further need for repairs. But after they cleared the clouds, they found that the surface was large bare and flat, with little in their way. Nebula piloted quite expertly, and their touchdown was practically feather soft, all things considered.
"We can't stay too long," Nebula said, "we don't have enough rations for an extended trip, and there isn't much between here and Earth."
"If we kill and eat you Cass, will you come back from that?" Loki said, a brow raised. He was disappointed to find her reaction wasn't one of total disgust.
"The last group that tried that found I didn't taste very good and quickly died from eating rancid meat. I imagine a Jotun and a Human wouldn't fare much better," she said and unbuckled herself from her seat. Tony was staring at her, his jaw a bit agape as if trying to determine if she was serious.
"Horns said you couldn't die… Seriously? Someone tried to eat you?"
"Many have. I've been around for a very long time."
"As appetizing as this conversation may be, I'm opening the door. No signs of life in the greater vicinity," Nebula said and unbuckled herself. Once the door was open, Kylepo was the first one to venture off, eager sniff about the ship.
"I assume this place is fine for a weak human, yeah?" Tony said, taking a few steps further into the ship, just in case. "You know, no toxic fumes or whatever?"
"If you could handle Titan, you can handle this—though the solar radiation levels are a bit higher. May want to stay out of the sun as much as possible."
Loki stepped off the ship and had to squint his eyes. He knew immediately that if he slipped into his Jotun form, he would be in some severe discomfort. It was warm—no it was hot and not just by his Jotun standards. He would be surprised if Stark would be able to handle the atmosphere for too long. Beyond their landing area, which looked like it had probably been the main point of traffic who knows how long ago, there were some large hangers in the distance and a communications base, if Loki were to guess by the tower on top of it.
It took a while for Loki's eyes to adjust to the brightness and the light that reflected off the sand and rock on the surface, but he saw that there were actually ships—or, what he supposed were the remnants of ships—littering the area. Most were completely decrepit, having been left to the elements for so long, and covered in dirt and sand.
Tony followed after Loki, wearing his full Iron man suit, just in case. "Yeah, the radiation level is higher than Earth's but not exactly Chernobyl. Guess I'll plan on being on ship duty. I'm going to stretch my legs, then start repairs."
Loki made a beeline for the communication tower. He may not have had the same health risks as Stark, but he wasn't eager to hang out in the direct sunlight either. The tower was a fair distance away, and he was sweating by the time he reached the door. When he did, he took a pause before entering.
"Looks like something pretty large forced its way in," Cass said from behind him. He had heard her walking but didn't feel the need to slow down for her to catch up.
There were scratching on the metal door to the communications tower. Loki reached out and ran his fingers over a set, finding that their spacing seemed indicative of claws. "I don't suppose something could be living inside of there, do you? Shelter or not, there doesn't seem to be anything around here for leagues."
Cass shrugged, he could tell by her shadow, "dunno. Want me to go first and protect you from a big bad monster?"
Loki stepped to the side and swept his arm out. "Why not? After you. If something jumps out of a closet, I'll throw you at it."
Cass pushed the door open and walked inside without any hesitation. Loki presumed that the people who had previously lived or worked at the station were on the smaller end. He had to duck to get through the door and remained hunched as he walked behind Cass, whose petite frame had no problem in the corridors.
They entered into what appeared to be a waiting room. There were a few chairs that were strewn to the side and a broken glass window with a desk behind it. Loki imagined a receptionist would have worked there, buzzing people into the rest of the building. A glance through the broken glass showed him that there was a jacket of sorts still hung up on the door into the little room and even, what he assumed, was a lunchbox.
Cass went through the next door as well, which had also been forced open. It led into a larger room with a few cubicles, one of which had been torn apart entirely. There were doors on the other side of the room, to Loki's left, and a door across from him. He looked around the cubicles a bit and found that there wasn't anything of interest. Machines akin to computers, a few personal belongings, rolling chairs… Nothing interesting. He wanted to take a look at the cubicles on the far end, seeing that they were particularly torn up, but Cass continued on, and he chose to stay with her, just in case he wanted a shield.
Through the next door they went, which led to a long hallway leading to the left with windows lining one side—most of which were broken. Sand had blown in, covering most of the ground, but it was still fairly easy to walk through.
"I'm going to have sand all in my boots," Loki muttered and scowled, shaking his foot a bit to move what had already built up around. When he stood properly again, he heard a crunch. "Oh, that didn't sound good."
Cass stopped and turned around as he knelt down and brushed the sand off of whatever he stepped on. He would have assumed it was glass, but it sounded an awful lot like—"bone."
Loki nodded in agreement. Was it an animal bone, or did it belong to the former residents? He held it up-it was certainly long dead. He dropped it and wiped his hand on the side of his trousers before they continued onward, down to the end of the hallway. There, they reached a door with the same series of scratches, but it was closed.
Cass reached out and tried the door. "This one's locked. You want to give it a go with your immense Jotun strength?" She stepped aside and Loki gave her a bit of sneer, sensing sarcasm in her voice.
He tried the door again and found it was, indeed, locked. Not only that, but a shake of the door led him to believe that it was reinforced. Judging by the way the sand piled at his feet, and the fact that this door swung into the hallway instead of into whatever was on the other side, Loki figured it hadn't been opened in sometime.
Taking a step back, he kicked the door, breaking the lock and part of the door frame. It swung open and Cass walked inside, looking thoroughly unimpressed.
"Looks like we've found the inhabitants."
Loki looked into the room, which wasn't hard since he stood a head taller than Cass, and saw that there were a few skeletons littering the room. Loki furrowed his nose, expecting to smell decay, but there was nothing. The windows in this room had a few broken pieces, enough that the room had aired out over however long they had been there.
There were seven of them, vaguely humanoid, but very short and with tails. One the piles of bones seemed smaller than the others, leading Loki to believe it was a child. Cass walked in, callously stepping on and kicking around bones, to look out the window.
"There's an opening below here. I'd guess an underground hatch or something. It's opened. Probably why nothing could get in from the windows. Too far down with the hatch." She looked for a moment or two, then turned around to bend down and pick through the clothing of the one closest to her.
"Could you… just not?" Loki said in irritation, raising his hand and closing his eyes. He had seen war, he had seen corpses—he had made quite a few himself. But he was not one to go looting through bodies on the average day. All he saw were the dead Asgardians he had failed to save, and the image of Cass picking through their remains.
"They're dead. They've been dead for decades." She pulled a gold colored necklace off of one of the skeletons propped against the wall, causing the skull to fall off with a crash. It was brittle enough that it broke into pieces. She stood and took a step towards Loki.
He opened his eyes and clenched his jaw. She looked at him like he was an impertinent child, like it was ridiculous that he didn't feel the need to desecrate a family of corpses that had locked themselves in a room to die, alone, on an unforgiving planet. He grabbed her by the collar of her jacket in an instant and then launched her towards the windows. They, too, were brittle, and shattered upon impact. Out she went without so much as a scream.
Loki stepped around the bones to peer out the window, but saw that he could see far enough into the hatch to see where she had landed.
He'd go get her out later.
Maybe.
For now, he needed some peace and quiet.
000
Author's Notes: I was going to continue on a bit longer, but I decided to end it there so that you could all revel in Cass getting thrown out a window. Some of you may say that Loki may be too emotional when it comes to random skeletons, but I do feel like he is likely suffering from PTSD. I feel like he always fiercely loved the Asgardian people, which was evident by how much he wanted to rule them. It was the greatest honor to him. Also, he didn't have to take his escape ship to Asgard, knowing full well Hela was destroying it and he could die, but he chose to go save them anyhow. Loki doesn't know how to grieve properly, so it comes out at, perhaps, inopportune moments.
