Notes:

I will be writing in where I have altered the plot, any scenes that are not written can be assumed to have played out as they did in Canon unless otherwise mentioned.
I've watched this movie way too many times, so I might assume the reader knows the original plot too much, if you get lost at any point please let me know and I will edit or add notes for additional context.


ooo


The Statesman, one day after Ragnarok,

The shadowed form of Loki glanced around. Satisfied that no one watched his passage before he turned down a narrow corridor under the sign indicating: escape pods.

Thor came around the corner after his brother, cushioning his steps and mindful to stay in the shadows. He slipped into the Pod just before the doors closed behind him.

The rumble of its engines and a jolt.

The pod had been released.

"I thought we were beginning to trust each other?" Loki turned from the console; his arms spread in a gesture of openness.

"Turn this pod around Loki."

"I'm afraid I can't do that." One delicate hand waved over the console, indicating the bright blue letters and the lack of a gearstick. "Autopilot is set, nothing we can do about that now."

The void beyond twisted for a second and the statesmen blinked from the screen.

"First jump of five. Destination: Midgard, arrival in five days." The saccharine voice announced.

Thor had gone from caution to anger and now he settled on confusion, facing his brother, his arms crossed.

"Wh-"

His question was interrupted by the arrival of a new blip on the screen.

Blue light fazed in and the hulking form of a purple titan filled the cabin.

"Give me the tesseract."


From the center seat of the Statesmen, Heimdall watched the projection of Thor struggling against the titan who called himself Thanos. Loki stood to one side, paralyzed. The video had popped up moments after an alert indicated an escape pod had cleared ship-space and made a jump.

"The tesseract or your brothers head?" Thanos threatened, crushing Thor's skull in one hand. The gauntlet he brandished glowed with a single purple light. "Your choice."

Loki held back the flinch, faking unconcern even as his eyes darted at the storage compartment in the wall between them.

Thanos grinned and dropped Thor, "the traitor betrays himself. How… disappointing."

"You really are the worst, brother." Thor groaned out as the glowing cube was raised in a purple fist.

Loki met his brother's eyes, tears tracking down his cheeks as strips of metal peeled from the wall and pinned Thor to the floor. "I'm sorry."

"How touching." Thanos said, his voice low and mocking. "The last heirs of Asgard, dying with their planet."

The blue gem glittered in the golden fist, and Thanos fazed away as the pod exploded.

Hulk roared and Heimdall searched for the light that would show him Thor.

All was darkness in the void of space.

"Thor has gone beyond my sight, may the Allfathers receive him."


Loki fell to his knees behind Korg, his shoulders shuddering as he struggled to breathe. "no." The whisper broke from his chapped lips and Loki wept for his brother.

"I will destroy Thanos, I will have my revenge."

"Son of Odin, your people look to you now." Heimdal spoke low, his hand on Loki's shoulder, grief twisting the corner of his own mouth.

"Let them see my rage, I will wash the stars in his blood." Loki breathed his hatred, his eyes glowing hard.

A cough, the shuffling wail of a child lifted above the muttering of the survivors and shocked Loki from his trance.

He looked down, a moment of shame hardening into resolve. "I have waited to be king all my life, and now… I must not fail."

Loki rose before his people, his head bowed in open sorrow.

"Thor, Son of Odin, beloved brother and King has gone from the world. We, few that we are, most go on, Asgard will honour her dead through the living."

He turned from the group and motioned for Hulk and Heimdall to join him. "It will take days for our ship to reach Midgard, we must send someone ahead to warn them, Thanos is going after the stones and two are already there. I must stay with my people, Hulk will you go?"

Hulk nodded solemnly and Heimdal grasped the edges of the magic to send the green giant hurtling through the bifrost.