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When Loki's eyes slowly cracked open, there was frost on his cheeks and warm fingers on his hand, voices murmuring softly in the background. He felt utterly spent, as if each emotion to ever exist in his body had been sucked out, leaving him hollow, but somehow in a good way. Almost peaceful.

He was vaguely aware that his body hurt. It was at a distance, through what had to be emotional exhaustion. Despite that, he felt rejuvenated compared to the bone-deep weariness remembered from just before falling asleep.

"Luke," Moth said in their soft voice and brown eyes came into view. "Do you feel better?"

"Define 'better'," He replied, but with none of the usual venom and slowly shifted himself into a sitting position, back leant against the wall. When he moved his arm, he winced and bit back a surprised yelp. Bringing the offending appendage to his face, he examined it. On his right hand, where his pinky finger should have been was a neatly bandaged stump. Adrenaline and the shock of seeing Thor alive must have stopped him from realising sooner.

A small fist came to rest on his shoulder and he made to shrug it off, but Hon Dör's voice stopped him. "At least you didn't lose the whole hand…?" She said, sounding almost nervous.

Loki snorted. "I can still fight, it's not important."

"Not important…?"

He glanced over at her cracked mask and felt his lips curl gently upwards. "Not important. I know a warrior, Týr, who lost his entire arm in battle and has yet to give up the sword."

"I do not want to go to your Nine Realms if we get out of here."

A laugh burst from his mouth and Loki bit it back, but couldn't control his smile. "Too crazy for you?"

"By far," Hon Dör replied, chuckling. "The Kursed? Racism? Amputation being normalised? No thank you."

"Then I hope you find a way to wherever it is you're from. And to your brother."

She hummed noncommittally. "Maybe not."

Moth glanced over at her from where they knelt, bandages still in hand and keen eyes scanning their patient for anything else that required tending. But now they were looking at Hon Dör, concern evident in the lines of their face. "Why?"

"I… Was Royalty. In Andromeda," She sighed, leant her head back against the wall. "One of the lesser families, from one of the lesser worlds. When the Mad Giant attacked and enslaved us, I rebelled."

Something about that name… But Hon Dör was speaking again with a heavy voice.

"I only made it worse. He slaughtered my people in retaliation for even the slightest indiscretion. Me and my brother, we fought Him, but were thrown into space. You know the rest."

"Why attack him? The small masked one?" Moth had a look close to awe on their face. "If you both fought against the Giant."

Hon Dör sighed and her head dipped forward again, until her chin rested on her chest. "My brother… He didn't rebel with me at first. If I had complied, then he believed his negotiations would have worked. That there would have been fewer deaths." Her thumbs twisted in her lap, looping each other. "I was… Angry, I think. If we had worked together from the start, then our home wouldn't have been enslaved at all." Then she laughed, a soft huff of breath. "How about you, Moth?"

"Me?"

"No, the wall." There was a smile behind that mask, Loki could hear it. A sad smile, trying to gloss over what she had shared. "You said something about a… Colony?"

"I was sent here by my collective, to recruit this planet," They said with a shrug. "I have yet to succeed."

Loki tuned out of the conversation, which continued to flow around him, the calming lull of murmuring words allowed him to focus. Without the constant buzz of realisation that Thor was alive and the quiet calm that had settled over him after sleeping, plans seemed to almost form themselves.

But there was nothing new for him to plot with. The Valkyrie's servant passage would doubtless have security now in place after their little escapade. And he didn't know another route, except perhaps through the front door. Which would be unbelievably stupid, but, with Thor, these two and his own strength returning... It wasn't as impossible as it had been.

However, he had little time to plan.

After a few minutes of relaxing against the wall, feeling the aches and pains of his body melt away, the door opened.

A singular guard stood in the entrance and there was none of the apprehension Loki normally felt. Instead, a grin spread across his face. The murmur of conversation had died away, and all three cellmates were staring up at the armoured creature.

"Luke, you're coming with me," It said, stance relaxed and shoulders back, a hand rested threateningly on the pommel of its sheathed sword.

Loki slowly turned his head to look at Moth and Hon Dör, the smile wrinkling skin about his eyes and he wanted to laugh. "This is too easy."

Even Moth seemed to understand before the guard, stood there with no comprehension.

"Should I?" The Prince asked, rather theatrically, as he slowly and leisurely got to his feet.

An answering grin from Moth and Hon Dör chuckled. In another situation, he would have called the shared expression rather evil, except for the twinkle of mischief that flashed in their eyes. Without anything else to say, he turned to the guard. "Well then. If you would kindly step inside."

Through the helmet, he could see the guard's brow furrowed in confusion and Loki sighed, grabbed it by the arm and yanked. When the creature was inside, he pushed it towards Moth, who promptly whacked it over the head and got to work, bandages now put to a more nefarious purpose.

"No elaborate plan this time?" Hon Dör commented, looking at the downed guard with satisfaction in her voice.

"Not much of a point if opportunities are going to be handed to us on a silver platter," Loki said, leant down and removed a sword from the guard's sheathe, then patted the inert body for more weapons. His search only yielded a small knife, which he kept, but the longer blade was passed on to Hon Dör. "Know how to wield this?"

She huffed, grabbed the hilt and twirled the blade with ease. "I lead a rebellion against the Mad Giant. I can use a sword."

Moth stood from the thoroughly bound guard, walked to them, a smile on their face. "Let us get out of here."

"Agreed," Loki ran a finger over the small knife's edge, then stuffed it into his belt. He strode to the door and poked his head out, checked both ways, then turned back to the other two. "We must find my brother. He's tall, blue eyes and long, blonde hair. If I was the Grandmaster, interrupting that fight would be a capital offense. Hon Dör, do you know the way to the hall?"

She thought for a moment, but then nodded and sheathed the sword decisively. "I'm a trusted messenger. We won't have to fight if we don't look armed."

Loki slowly nodded, adjusted his knife to be hidden beneath his overcoat and then stared pointedly at the long blade protruding from Hon Dör's robe-like clothing. It was almost large enough to be a greatsword for her, short as she was. "How do you plan on-"

Mask tilted in such a way that it was impossible to mistake the look she must have been shooting at him, Hon Dör twisted the fabric wrapping her body, shoved the pommel beneath her shoulder. And suddenly there were no flashes of silver to give the sword away, only a suspicious-looking bump running down her side, but bored, half asleep guards wouldn't notice it. Especially if they were all as incompetent as the ones they had encountered so far.

Seemingly ready, the group set off.

Hon Dör in the lead, Loki only a pace behind and Moth level with him. They walked quickly, chins up and assured that they belonged in the halls. For the first guard they passed, the Prince couldn't help how his hand hovered over where his knife was hidden, but nothing happened. It could have been asleep standing up, for all the attention they were paid. And from there they went faster, striding down the corridors with no heed to the creatures in armour.

Loki kept his eyes from darting around, but it was an effort. Because all it would take to completely bust their escape was someone with half a brain to see them. If they recognised them as gladiators and knew that Hon Dör wasn't supposed to be out. Or for the guard they had knocked out to be found, tied up in their cell. That would be quite incriminating. Hopefully, all three of them would be off-world by the time it woke and started yelling.

Each step closer to the hall brought more people. Crowds of them in ridiculous, over-the-top outfits he hazily remembered from his first day on this forsaken planet. Skin on show and decorative armour, with swords so exaggeratedly large there was no true use for them. Even with all these eyes, there was no suspicion at all. With the armour and robes and Moth's embroidered loincloth, they blended into the fools, resplendent in gold and red and silver and precious stones.

Against all logic and any assumptions that the Grandmaster's hired help had brain cells, they made it.

No complications. Not even a second glance and Loki wanted to laugh. He, Moth and Hon Dör stood before the doors, where the tyrant was supposed to be. Where his brother should be.

Except… He had predicted that based on what he would do in the Grandmaster's place. And the Grandmaster was utterly insane. Unlike Loki, who had previously been utterly insane, but he thought he'd improved a little. At least past the whole 'I'll-make-everyone-my-slaves' phase, which this bastard still seemed to be stuck in.

So. What would an absolute madman do? With Thor, who'd apparently held his own against the Hulk, supposedly the most powerful fighter the tyrant had.

"Oh shit," Loki hissed.

Hon Dör was at the doors, but glanced back. The guards seemed to suddenly become aware and stared at them.

Moth placed a hand on his shoulder, "Luke?"

He felt like slapping himself in the face. "I'm an idiot."

"What?" Hon Dör had turned completely, shot a look towards the guards and tensed.

"The Grandmaster is absolutely batshit crazy, yes?"

Around him, crowds of chattering sycophants came to a halt at his rather loud proclamation, during a chance lull in conversation. Which conveniently occurred the moment he spoke.

"... Yes," Moth said after a beat. A beat so silent you could hear the bangles jangling on a creature's arm as its hand covered its gaping mouth.

"Maybe you shouldn't have said that here?" Hon Dör hissed under her breath.

But Loki was thinking. "And, since he's mad as a bag of cats, he won't execute Thor via melt stick for a capital offense. Oh no. That would be too sane!" He laughed. "No. If he made me a gladiator for killing his lover in front of him, then he will certainly make Thor one."

"Great," Hon Dör glanced at the guards again, who had their hands hovering over weapon hilts. "We should go."

Loki snorted. "Probably."

And, needing no more communication, they were running. Behind them, yells as the guards stopped being useless and uncertain, gave chase. Crowd parting before them, they fled. Hon Dör sprinted ahead, fastest and the Prince came in second, with the lumbering, green giant behind him, but not by far. Despite their bulk, Moth could move when they wanted.

"Where," Loki gasped in a breath, heaved it out as he pumped his legs, boots tapping loudly on the hard stone. "Are we," He pulled in more air. His steps were sharp enough to be heard over the guards yelling futilely behind them. "Going?" He was in better shape, but sprinting and talking had never been easy.

"The Champion's chamber!" She yelled back without breaking stride. Or pausing for breath. Loki scowled. "If he was deemed such a brilliant fighter, then he is allowed to be escorted for socialising. And, if he wanted to talk to the Champion-"

"He would," A gasp for air. "Be allowed to," Another. "Visit him."

"Exactly!" Hon Dör was suddenly running backwards and Loki wanted to rip those legs off. How was she faster than him? She was tiny! Instead of the more violent option, he snarled and put on a burst of speed.

Apparently, it was a long way to the Hulk's room, because even after what had to be half an hour of running, slowly transitioning to a jog, Hon Dör showed no signs of slowing. Loki huffed, but kept on, legs starting to ache.

Which, thankfully, was the moment they arrived at the door.

The smallest, yet bafflingly fastest, arrived first and pounded on the door, throwing her weight against the metal. Then with a frustrated yell, she kicked the door and clang of metal on metal reverberated in the corridor. "Open-"

It slid smoothly into the walls, revealing a certain woman blocking their entrance.

Scrapper 142.

Loki balked, then sped up, barrelled straight into the Asgardian. "You bitch!" He yelled as she was shoved away from the now-open doorway, shock on her face. Behind him, Moth and Hon Dör shot into the room and hastily worked the keypad, closing it. Then promptly whacked it until sparks began to fly just as angry shouting could be heard from outside.

And suddenly, Loki was no longer straddling Scrapper 142, but was being pinned against the wall, blade at his throat and a furious face centimetres from his own. "You filthy Jötunn."

"At least I didn't abandon my kind to die," With a shout, the blade was pressing forward, but her eyes were unfocused, blurred with rage and Loki knocked it aside, gripped the wrist and wrenched, felt muscles relax and brought up his other hand, grabbed the knife and shoved at her shoulders. Enough to get some space for his leg to come up and kick her away.

But his foot connected with only air. Got a glimpse of furious features and then hands were about his neck, constricting, his trachea crushed beneath steel thumbs and he couldn't breathe. Loki could feel his mouth working, muscles tensing. And then he brought his arms above his head, lined elbows up to hers and they pistoned down, breaking her grip. Spun away and brought up the knife in a guard before she could move back in.

"You know nothing of that," She was hissing, hair in a mess, strands escaping her braid and twisting in the air.

Loki grinned in response. "So I was right. You are a coward. I couldn't be sure why you survived, of course, but thank you for the clarificatio-"

A blur and she was engaging again, a hand out to grab his wrist, but she never reached him.

Because a giant, muscular arm wrapped about her middle, just as a similar - although green - one grabbed Loki by the shoulder, forcibly enough that he couldn't move.

"Enough!" That was Thor's voice. And he was reminded why they were here in the first place.

Loki snarled and shrugged away Moth's grip. But he felt the sudden explosion of rage slip away. "Fuck you," He hissed at Valkyrie, though without the venom of before. He was exhausted and shocked and empty. What had to be only hours ago, if that, he had been lying on colourful gravel. Dying. His supposedly-dead brother metres away, miraculously returned to life whilst his slipped away and Loki just didn't have the energy for this. "Now help us escape."

"... What?!"

"Help us escape. Do your ears need healing?"

"Why would I help you?" Eyebrows raised almost into her hairline, but the expression, incredulity mixed with disgust, was more encouraging than the previous sanity-void anger. He could work with that.

"Not me. My brother," Loki gestured, keeping his face an emotionless slate. No matter what had happened - the arena, his inadequacies, thinking said brother was dead - they needed to get out of here. Everything else took a back seat. "Thor. Son of Odin Borsson and Frigga Fjorgynnsdottir. Crown Prince of Asgard."

Her eyes widened slightly. So she hadn't known. Loki suppressed his smirk.

"You are a Valkyrie. Asgard is in peril and her King calls upon you for service, through his son and heir."

But the classic Æsir patriotism he had been counting on was void in her expression. "Were. I was a Valkyrie. Not anymore." The last vestiges of rage left her, leaving the line of her shoulders softer and eyes downcast. Thor's arm uncurled, staring at her in surprise. "Royals have done nothing for me, even when we gave our lives. Why would I help you?"

Loki opened his mouth to respond, but Thor was already talking. "It will not happen again. But right now… We don't even know what she is."

"She?"

"Women can be credible threats to Asgard! I am well aware that f-"

A sigh from Valkyrie and Loki shared her sentiment. Which was rather detestable, that he agreed with her, but Thor was always quite polarising. Especially when he put his foot in his mouth and proceeded to chew.

"The threat you two are scared of is a woman?" The hint of a smile which had tugged at the corner of her lips had morphed into another frown, but this time her brow was furrowed with worry. "Did she use magic? Summon weapons? Ice cold eyes and-"

"Yes, that's her."

"Hela."

Loki felt his eyebrows pulling towards his hairline despite himself. "How?"

A bark of laughter. "That bastard of a King really didn't tell you anything? Claimed our victories as his own!"

Thor started to glare, his mouth opened but this time, Loki was first. "Didn't tell us what?"

"The Great Conquest. When Odin All-bastard conquered the Nine Realms, gaining power over them and completing the challenge set out by the Norns since the beginnings of Time itself… Like a bunch of pompous, drunk teenagers!" Valkyrie's head tipped back as she spoke, stared down her nose at Loki then turned to glower up at Thor. "You thought he did that by himself?"

Again, Thor made as if to speak, but when the younger Prince gave a miniscule shake of his head, slowly closed it again with a wary look in his narrowed eyes. Then promptly ignored his better judgement. "That is what we were taught."

"You were taught wrong. Unbelievably," Glanced back at Loki, promptly strode away from the others and leant against a wall, fishing a bottle from an alcove he hadn't even noticed. Took a swig and wiped her lips on the back of her hand. "He had help. A lot of it. The Valkyries, Ljosalfar, turning their backs on their sister race. And Hela. His daughter."

Loki felt the gasp in his throat and locked his lips to keep it in, but Thor couldn't suppress his. "She's our sister?" The elder Prince managed to say through clenched teeth. "No. We would've known."

But Loki could see the truth on her face. "Thor. It makes sense."

No response.

"We wreaked havoc on the Nine Realms together. All of us. Bane of the Nine." Brown eyes stared at the opposite wall, glossed over. Years upon years of ignoring and blocking out this truth crumbling down inside. "But Hela was greedy. After taking Jötunhei-. Something changed. She turned on us. Killed and rampaged across Yggdrasil. Odin banished her. If she's back… Not good."

Loki ran a hand through his hair. Then brought a knuckle to his mouth and bit down, too exhausted to really have a reaction to this new information. "I already guessed that," He said after a beat. "If Odin banished her, how did she escape? That should be impossible."

A snort and shrug. "I'm a warrior, not an ergi."

And before his anger could burst into flame again, there was disgruntled rumbling from deeper in the chamber and Loki jolted back to himself, returning from puzzling over how this new information fit together. Did it explain Frigga? His childhood? How to break Odin's binding of his magic?

On the other side of the door they had come in through, angry bangs reverberated and dents were already visible on the metal. Thankfully, whatever his cellmates had done to the keypad kept it shut. However, the more concerning noise in that moment was the unfortunately familiar stomping of feet.

Loki had known, in the back of his mind, that this was a confrontation which was inevitable. But he'd been distracted by Valkyrie, the entire having a (adopted) sister revelation. And then the usual gobsmacking sight of Thor being not-dead. Which his thoughts seemed to do backflips over every second he remembered it. Damned sentimentality.

But before the Hulk could make his appearance from the darkness of the doorway, there was a more friendly green form in front of him. Large, scarred arms crossed over their chest, Moth planted themself firmly in front of Loki, back straight and shoulders back until there seemed to be a wall of muscle before him. And a small smile curled across Loki's face. It was nice to be protected, even if unnecessarily. He wasn't a child!

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Valkyrie and Thor both looking rather incredulous, but there wasn't time to ponder it, as the Hulk made his entrance.

"Hulk was sleeping," The cavernous mouth said, and suddenly Loki decided that his newly acquired meat shield was not at all unnecessary but was, in fact, very much a necessity. And if he had to accept being treated as a child, so be it. "Why you all loud?"

Thor grinned and walked up to his supposed friend. "Hulk. Remember me? We're buddies from work!"

A slow frown, then even slower recognition. "Puny god?"

"No. That's him," And the bastard pointed towards where Loki was not cowering behind Moth. "I'm his brother. And an Avenger. You and me? We're friends."

Thankfully, there was no age-long pause whilst he considered this time. "You are friends with Banner. Not Hulk."

"No! Ban- Hulk!" Thor looked rather scandalised, but Hon Dör and Valkyrie both seemed quite amused by the situation. "We need to get out of here. And you're from Earth. So, since we're such good friends, you're going to take us to the quinjet!" When there was no immediate response, the fake smile crumbled a bit at the edges, revealing true panic beneath. "Right?"

Loki wanted to roll his eyes and claim disgust for how his brother was (terribly) attempting to leverage his friendship. Mainly because that's what Thor would do whenever it was him pouring his last vestiges of calm and collected into a smile in the hopes that someone would help him. But he didn't have the energy. Nor the bitterness, to his surprise. It seemed he had cried and slept and ran it all out.

Instead of the answer Thor was likely hoping for, Hulk's unnaturally green eyes focused in on Loki, so tall he towered over Moth and could peer over their shoulder to stare down at him. "Puny god," He said again, but this time to the right person. "You hurt friends."

"I-" Loki really hadn't been planning on actually conversing with the beast. But he wouldn't stammer in the face of a mortal! Albeit a rather odd one. "And you bit off my finger."

A pause.

A rather shocked pause. He could see Thor out the corner of his eye, mouthing at him, trying to gesture subtly and utterly failing.

But his head wasn't wrenched from his shoulders and the large face crinkled with disgust. "That what it was. You tasted bad," He simply commented and turned away, back to Thor.

Somewhere on the other side of Moth's body, his brother, Valkyrie and Hulk talked. Loki tried to tune in; to eavesdrop if nothing else, but found that suddenly small hands were on his forearms and he was being tugged to look downwards. Hon Dör's mask, dirty and cracked, stared back up at him.

"Are you okay?" She asked, voice hushed and back purposefully to the others.

Loki blinked, then nodded after a pause. "Are you?" He glanced at where his impromptu bodyguard had now turned to regard him, face unusually stony.

"Yes," Moth replied and Hon Dör dipped her head. "We will need the Champion to escape, if your brother is right…"

"Thor. His name is Thor."

Behind her mask, the short woman was watching him shrewdly. "I don't trust him. Well. Not to get us out of here at least."

Loki glanced down at her and let a smirk spread across his face. "I have a backup plan, just stick close."

With that, he broke away from them and strode to the huddle of Hulk, Valkyrie and Thor. They were, predictably, planning to brute force their way to the quinjet. And then brute force the fragile mortal technology into working.

"You're a Prince. Can you even fight?" Valkyrie was saying, her tone semi-serious and Thor's face seemed to invent a new shade of red.

But, to Loki's surprise, he laughed instead of exploding in rage. "If you're so doubtful, we can have a warm up."

Actually, the explosion of rage would have been better. He had faith in his brother's ability, but against a Valkyrie? Whilst said Valkyrie was useful to their escape?

"Didn't you realise? There's a window," Loki interrupted, before the two inflated egos could clash further. "We can scale the walls."

All three stared at him. He sighed. "Going through the front door won't work, unless one of them decides to suddenly turn traitor. Therefore, the window."

Thor raised an eyebrow. "I don't see a window."

"That's because it's in the other room. Use your brain. He," Loki gestured, "Is the Champion. Therefore, the window."

Valkyrie shrugged. "Not wrong. But the big fella isn't very nimble."

Loki snorted. "He can climb skyscrapers, don't you worry." He then proceeded to investigate the adjoining room. Smirked when he saw the large, wall-sized pane of glass.

It overlooked the entire city, showcasing spiraling towers and what had to be the ring, rising as a block of raw metal. Flashes glimmered over it and beams of light shot into the greying heavens, overcast with clouds. It was late evening and Loki looked up at the sky he hadn't seen for far too long. There had been the opportunity, of course, in the arena… But no time.

In the reflection, he watched as others entered and Thor walked over, stood beside him. Gazed out on the sprawling mess of shimmering metal and bold colours. He sighed and the glass misted over, condensation fogging the glass.

"He bit off your finger? When?" Thor said. It wasn't quite caring, more bewildered. Not a return to how before this mess. Before Midgard and the Void and the damned Frost Giants, how his brother would ask about every scrape and bruise. Would patch the smallest scratch up, even if his younger brother protested. Not in the presence of his friends, but after they were asleep, Thor would often be at Loki's side, shaking him awake through the sleeping bag and proffering his little bag of ointments and bandages. Even though whatever mark he was concerned for was usually no more than a little red blemish by that point. "Loki?"

He glanced over at the slightly taller Asgardian and summoned a rueful smile. "Just before a certain oaf dropped in. It's the smallest one."

When Thor glared at him in the reflection, Loki sighed, but the wry expression gradually became genuine and he proffered his right hand for inspection. Slowly, his brother peeled away the bandages and he hid a wince. Because he had forgotten that it was an illusion maintaining his appearance. And that, with his finger now a stump, it would be damaged.

But the expected recoil of disgust didn't happen and Loki glanced over at his brother. He probably looked quite anxious, a small part of him worried, but he was too focused on how Thor - monster hating, Jötunn slaying Thor - was simply studying the injury. Despite how his entire hand, pretty much, had turned that revolting colour.

It hurt, a bit, and the rough fingertips were far too hot. As he studied his brother's face, he winced in pain whenever he touched the truly blue areas, but otherwise his features were blank. Loki was almost impressed - Thor had finally learnt how to hide his thoughts.

His hand was flipped over and there was finally an expression - eyebrows raised, Thor looked up at him. "What's this?" He gestured to the rune etched into Loki's palm.

It was raised, faint purple-white lines in a twisting knot that spread from the heel to where fingers joined his hand.

With a tug, he attempted to break the older Prince's hold, but found that there was a fist about his wrist and it was tight enough to grind bones together.

"Loki…" There was a threatening note to Thor's voice. "Is this some blood magic attempt at circumventing father's binding? I have warned you and warned you about betraying m-"

"Shut it!" Suddenly there was a small form between them. Hon Dör's small but strong fingers pried Thor's hand from Loki's, flinching back on contact with the latter's skin, but persevered until Loki could pull his arm completely away. He stepped back, relieved, and swiftly bound it again, hiding the skin and scar and stump from view. "If you think Luke has some secret power at the moment, you are sorely mistaken. I don't know much about these 'Realms' that you both are from, but it's fucking insane and I'm sick of it." She heaved in a breath and straightened her back. It was hilarious, in a vaguely hysterical way, to see such a small being giving Thor, Prince of Asgard, a dressing down. But with the hysteria and exhaustion mixing in his stomach, Loki had to swallow down laughter. "And he won't tell you this, but he was worried absolutely sick about you. Wouldn't think about anything else. He has been working towards getting off this forsaken planet to save you since he got here. Shut it and stop being a dickwad!"

Above Hon Dör's head, Loki's brother looked rather gobsmacked. His mouth hung a little open and his eyebrows seemed to be expressing a desire to join his hairline. "I-… Is this true?"

Loki blinked. Shrugged. "It's just an illusion rune, Thor. I wouldn't trust me if I were you, but no more lies; I want to get back to Asgard." He hesitated for a moment, however, when the incredulous and slightly paranoid expression didn't fade, he continued. "It's my home too which you don't seem to remember."

Slowly, the Crown Prince nodded, acceptance beginning to replace suspicion on his face. At least this newfound ability to hide his emotions was unpracticed.

Then Valkyrie evidently decided to break the fresh silence and strode over to the window, sparing the Princes nothing more than a curious glance, and started searching the glass for cracks.

Which reminded Loki of something. "Deactivate the obedience disk."

She glanced up at him and snorted. "I'm already helping you leave. Why would I do that, too?"

"From the generosity of your clearly bottomless heart," He smiled sweetly and she responded with the same expression.

"Why, you flatter me, Sir Savage!"

"And you are my equal in such, I assure you. Now, since I'm pretty desperate to get out of here, you're going to deactivate the shock collars before we find out how savage being 'particularly small' made me," Loki grinned widely. It was always satisfying to remind people of their words.

She eyed him for a moment. "You've got some issues, Luke," She said, but fished out the fob and a beep resounded, then the clink of metal hitting the floor. Loki unconsciously rubbed his fingertips against the now-bare skin at his temple. Then he gave a mocking bow, made sure to thoroughly ignore her comment and stalked off.

Hon Dör and Moth were talking quietly, shooting glances at the others every so often and Loki joined them with a weary sigh.

"Is everyone in the Nine Realms that racist?" Hon Dör said, shock evident in her voice.

Loki glanced down at her, somewhat surprised. "You don't have animals used in children's bedtime stories?"

"... Of course we do, but they're fictional."

When he looked to Moth for clarification, they nodded somberly. "What I remember from my planet before the Behemoth is that our childrens' monsters were made up."

"This is so fucked up," Hon Dör declared, but without enthusiasm, as if saying it simply because she had to.

His lips quirked up, bemused. "And why do you care?"

"Because it's wrong. It's wrong and disgusting-"

But he never got to hear just what her reasoning would be, as there was a phenomenally large bang. Screeching of metal against metal and sudden stamping of boots, far too loud. Inside the chamber.

Loki hissed; he'd thought they had more time! He was in the centre of the room, in a desperate and thoughtless move to help Valkyrie with the window, but guards were flooding in before he could make it.

He turned to face the horde pouring through the doorway with a grumbled oath.

A strangely familiar stout woman was first through, box-like face sour and pinched. Slitted eyes and short stature aside, she was imposing and seemed to fill the room despite its size. Her gaze roamed the area and no one moved, as if that would help. But when she locked eyes with Loki, recognition flickered.

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