Author's Note

Song Lyrics from Lawson - Four Letters
/watch?v=ONQACAueB3I&list=PLb-h0TgZRJZpYbnvq7gW1FBvsBMdCI_mZ&index=20

Additional Song: Astrid S, HRVY, R3HAB - Am I The Only One
/watch?v=qctsr2952Hw&list=PLb-h0TgZRJZpYbnvq7gW1FBvsBMdCI_mZ&index=24

Whole Playlist:
/playlist?list=PLb-h0TgZRJZooJ-TPIjxWEFoYEnXi2vcl

The woman, who really turned out to be a former Valkyrie, led the group to some kind of container. Luciana stopped in front of it, scrutinizing its green color scheme. "Is this your home?"
"Something like that." she responded, entering something on the keypad outside the door, which promptly opened. The group went inside and further along a green walled corridor. At the end of it Valkyrie stopped, explaining how she had had a change of mind. Luciana didn't quite know what was going on, but apparently the other woman would be joining them on their quest back to Asgard to hunt down Odin's real firstborn child.
"So, I wanna be on the team. Has it got a name?"
"Yeah, it's called the Revengers."
"Revengers?"
"Since when?"
"Because I'm getting revenge. You're getting revenge. Do you want revenge Bruce?"
"Uhm, I-, I'm undecided."
"Okay. Lucy?"
"I'm gonna get revenge for the brain cells I lost listening to this conversation." the brunette replied deadpan.

"..."
"...Anyways, I've got a peace offering."

A door to another room opened, with Valkyrie quickly stepping inside, followed by Thor, although he stopped right after the entrance. Intending to do the same, she however found herself walking into the back of Dr. Banner. Rubbing her nose, she called out to him a little annoyed. "Bruce, it's called a doorway, because you make way for others to walk through the door."

"Surprise~" a familiar voice reached her ears. Before she had any way to react, the scientist had already taken a few steps backward and was now hiding behind her. With the obstruction of her view gone, she could now see Loki who was sitting on the floor on the other side of the room in chains. Not having been prepared to face him here out of the blue, her heart made a jump in her chest. She could see that the God of Mischief was just as surprised to see her, as his eyes went wide while the smug grin dropped from his mouth. Maybe that's why he didn't see the metal object come flying towards him. It hit him right on the head and fell to the floor after with a clatter.
"Ow."
"Just had to be sure." it came from his brother who had thrown it. He stepped to the side, following Valkyrie into the back of the room.

That left Luciana and Dr. Banner still at the entrance. She could feel the scientist shaking behind her, as he had grabbed onto her sash. He made no signs of intending to step into the room anytime soon. Surmising he was scared, she chuckled inwardly and walked in first. And surprise, the man followed, close behind her.
"Hello, Bruce." Loki addressed him, the smugness returning to his features.
The scientist took a step to the side, although still holding on to Luciana. "So, last time I saw you, you were trying to kill everybody. Where are you at these days?"
"It varies from moment to moment."
Hearing that, Dr. Banner took a step back, his face displayed even more fear than before. It was clear to her that Loki was just messing with him, although the poor man was too terrified to notice. She involuntarily chuckled at the scene.
"I didn't think the fearsome Hulk would be chicken enough to hide behind a woman." the second prince continued his joke. Unfortunately, that didn't get him the reaction he had hoped for.

"Well, from what I saw in New York she's the only person in the room that can handle you. No offense Thor."
"None taken. And you're right. You're probably safest with Lucy. My brother wouldn't stand a chance. She could probably top him over in five seconds."
"Oh, I'm pretty sure she already did." Valkyrie chimed in with a smirk.

Suddenly it was very quiet in the room. All three of the men stared at the Asgardian woman, their expressions varying from shock to confusion and disbelief. Luciana on the other hand was still looking at the chained man in front of her. He had immediately turned his head away from her, although it hadn't been fast enough for her to not take notice of the slight pink on his cheeks.

"I feel I'm missing something here…" Thor spoke in a wary tone. But before the conversation could deter any further into what would become very uncomfortable, Luciana cleared her throat. "A-anyways, uhm, what's the plan exactly?" she asked, trying to get them back on track. It got her a smug grin from the other woman. She glared at her in return as she walked over to the others, followed by Dr. Banner.
"So, Sakaar and Asgard are about as far apart as any two known systems. Our best bet is a wormhole just outside of city limits. That way we can be back in Asgard in about… 18 months."
"Nope. We are going through the big one."
"The Devil's Anus?"
"Kinky."
"Anus?" it came from Dr. Banner who had been helping himself to some food on the counter. "Wait, wait, wait. Who's anus?"
"For the record, I didn't know it was called that when I picked it."
As Dr. Banner started to ramble about the scientific traits of the wormhole, the brunette pushed herself up on the counter. Her legs dangling, she conjured her phone, beginning to type into it feverishly.

Sent to: Liz
"Liz, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I'm about to enter someone's anus.
And no, it's not as it sounds. It's worse."

The conversation proceeded onwards without her taking much notice of it. Not that it mattered. After all, she knew what they would be talking about. The group would discuss their need for a spaceship, coming to the conclusion they would have to steal it from The Grandmaster's repertoire. Loki would offer his assistance in exchange for being brought along. That's how things always proceeded.

Sent to: Liz
"By the way, I'm apologizing beforehand for the amount of spam messages you're gonna receive once I have a connection again."

Unlike the brunette, Loki actively followed the conversation. Or at least appeared to from the outside. His eyes seemed to be focused on the group of three, but in reality it was the woman sitting on the counter behind them that had his attention. The moment she had appeared in his line of sight earlier, the events from last night had immediately pushed their way back into his mind. Several emotions had come crashing down on him without warning - shock, embarrassment, joy, anger, confusion, pain and sorrow. Just seeing her face had him in an emotional turmoil. Yet she somehow seemed completely normal.

Sent to: Liz
"But I have to do something to occupy myself. And I kinda don't know what else to do so… I'm in a really awkward situation here right now."

At first he had thought to see some kind of reaction on her face when she saw him, but whatever it was quickly disappeared and soon Luciana had acted like her usual self. As if the night before had never even happened. Did she not remember it after all? She had been drunk after all, but…
The thought of being the only one that remembered hurt him.

Sent to: Liz
"I did something really, really stupid at this freaky dude's party yesterday. Well, I was drunk but…"

It pained him even more than her running away without an explanation all of a sudden. He had wanted to ask her about it all day, but before he could search for her The Grandmaster had called for him. But now it seemed like he wouldn't get any answer even if he got the chance to talk to Luciana. Being the only one who remembered meant he would never know the reason. After all, to her it was like nothing had ever happened, it only had any impact on him alone.
But wasn't that as good as it not having any meaning at all?

Sent to: Liz
"You know I never drink, for a reason. But yesterday I grabbed a drink from the wrong tray and it ended up being a cocktail. And then I kinda…"

For all his life Loki had never felt like he had belonged somewhere. His whole childhood had been a lie. People he had thought of as his family had only been deceiving him. And when he had tried to prove his worth to them they had outcasted him. Everyone he knew had made it clear that he had no place with them. At first it had hurt, incredibly so, but after a while he had grown numb to the pain, accepting it as a part of what his life was and always would be like.

Sent to: Liz
"Urgh, I can't even write it without feeling weird… Ok, here it goes. I-"

But Luciana had always been different. Unlike everyone else she had never turned her back on him, had never deceived him. She had always been there, smiling, dancing and singing, dragging him along with her - without a care for who others thought him to be. Even after the crimes he had committed she had been there, offering her hand. Again and again she had tried to drag him out of the darkness that was dreading to swallow him at times. She was like a light, always shining brightly - too brightly for him. So brightly he had always been scared it would burn him if he reached for it.

Sent to: Liz
"IkissedLoki!"

But last night she had reached for him, like she always did. And when they had shared a kiss for the first time, he had thought, for the first time in his life, that there might be a place where he belonged after all.
A place at her side.
But now…

"Well, we have Lucy, so it should be alright?" Dr. Banner said on the topic of taking the God of Mischief along with them.
"That's right. It should be fine. Probably."
"Are you sure? She hasn't been listening to a word we said these past minutes." Valkyrie scoffed, pointing at the brunette on the counter.
"We're gonna steal a ship from The Grandmaster and we need Loki because he stole the security codes. And you guys are worried about getting stabbed in the back."

"What is it, Val? You think I can't type and follow a conversation? Please, I know how to multitask." Luciana teased while whisking the phone away. She jumped from the counter, joining the group again. Expectantly, she held out her hand to the other woman, who raised an eyebrow at the sight.
"The key." she said, motioning for the still shackled prince behind them. "He won't be much use to us like that, will he?"

Wish my heart could talk
But it's all in my head

Soon the group put their plan into motion and Luciana found herself fighting her way up The Grandmaster's tower at the side of the two brothers.
"This feels almost nostalgic." she chuckled. However, the two men didn't seem to share her sentiment and instead started bickering, the way they always did. She let out a sigh as she hit another soldier with her laser canon. And when the three found themselves in front of the elevator she had been brought down upon her first arrival on Sakaar, Luciana had enough of their squabble.
"Lucy?" Thor asked from inside the elevator. "Get on."
"Well, it looks like she doesn't want to be on an elevator with you brother. She might catch your stupidity, after all."
"What did you say!?"
"Urgh… Shut up! Both of you!" she groaned in annoyance, drawing both their attention. "I'm tired of this never ending back and forth between you two! I am taking the stairs down the hallway. I'll meet you at the top, and you guys better have talked it out or you both will make acquaintances with my powers. And then you're gonna wish you had talked."

The last thing she saw were their stunned expressions when the elevator door closed in front of her. Shaking her head, she darted off down the hallway to the right. As she ran up the huge staircase, her powers allowed the brunette to hear their conversation even when being separated through several walls. However, it sadly didn't go down the way she had hoped it would.

"I'm probably better off staying here on Sakaar."
"That's exactly what I was thinking."
"Did you just agree with me?
"Come on, this place is perfect for you. It's savage, chaotic, lawless… Brother, you're gonna do great here."
"Do you truly think so little of me?"
"Loki, I thought the world of you. I thought we were gonna fight side by side forever. But at the end of the day you're you and I'm me. I don't know, maybe there's still good in you. At least Lucy thinks so. But let's be honest, our paths diverged a long time ago."
"... Yeah, it's probably for the best that we never see each other again."
"That's what you always wanted."

As usual Luciana wanted to slap both of them across the face right there. How could two people talk past one another that badly? Words couldn't express the frustration building up inside her hearing this bullshit. No matter how many times she listened to their conversation, it never failed to aggravate her. However, her heart skipped a beat when the topic unexpectedly changed to something different from the previous times.

"So… you believe Lucy thinks there's still good in me?"
"Oh, I'm sure she does. She's always been the one person to always take your side after all."
"I guess so… Maybe, I'll-"
"You should ask her."
"What?"
"To stay here with you. She'll most likely agree to it."
"That… I don't think… I mean, why would she? I don't think she's particularly fond of this place."
"Oh, brother, I didn't think you of all people would be so blind."
"What's that supposed-"
"Just ask her. You'll see."

"Hey, let's do Get help."

Luciana didn't quite trust her ears when she heard those words and for a moment she thought her exhausted mind was playing tricks on her. Quickly she shook her head, continuing her ascent faster than before. And for the rest of the way her sprint wasn't the only reason why her heart kept hammering in her chest.

And you would heal all of these scars
If I let you in

When she finally reached the top, her eyes grew wide at the sight in front of her. The soldiers guarding the harbor of The Grandmaster's spaceships were sprawled across the floor, unconscious. But that wasn't what had surprised her.
A bit to the side she could see the figure of Thor who was leaning over the spasming body of his brother.
"What the hell did I miss?" she yelled, running over to the two.
"Well, it's not really that hard to guess, given the situation, is it?"
"Did he-"
"Yep. I mean, of course. Did you expect anything else from him?"
She turned to look over at Loki on the ground with sadness in her eyes. Slowly she crouched down next to him, reaching out her hand towards his cheek. But before her fingers could come into contact with his skin, the God of Thunder grabbed her wrist.
"Don't touch him. Unless you want to get shocked too."
"Ah… Right."
"Yes. Now come, he alerted the soldiers, we don't have much time."
"But-"
"Leave him. He's only got himself to blame for it to end up this way."
"..."

From the corner of her eye she could see the figure of Thor heading towards a brightly orange colored aircraft. However, she did not move, instead remaining frozen to the spot.
"Lucy!" the blonde called for her in the distance.
Closing her eyes for a moment, she sighed. When she opened them again she rose to her feet, her eyes still glued on Loki, who stared up at her, his eyes pleading for her to free him from his torment. However, she couldn't. A sad smile slowly appeared on her lips.
"I would have stayed. If you had asked." she quietly breathed before turning around, running after the God of Thunder. She would help the group escape from Sakaar and then go and fight Hela with them. Just like she always did. Like she was supposed to. But did she really have to? She had already gotten away with so many things. Maybe just this once she could…

Inside the ship Thor had already positioned himself on the pilot's seat. He pushed a few buttons and soon the control panel lit up.
"Well, that was definitely faster than your last attempt."
"Oh, you're here Lucy? For a moment I honestly thought you would stay behind." the blonde joked, as he turned to face her.
"About that…" she started. But when she saw the knowing smile on her dear friend's face, Luciana quickly realized that there wasn't anything she needed to explain to him.

If I keep on holding back
You'd be the best I never had
And that haunts me