THIRTEEN

We Have a New Plan

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Loki rounded the end of the ship to find a rather short gentleman covered in fur, sat on the kerb next to it. He was humming to himself as he patiently unscrewed something currently attached to the back of the vessel.

"Excuse me," Loki said.

The animal turned his head and looked up. "Oh, hey. What can I do you for?"

"Who are you, and why are you taking a stabiliser control box from the end of that ship?"

"Who are you and why do you care?" he asked amiably.

Loki smiled. "It's mine."

"Nah - these are junkers. They don't belong to anyone."

"No - this one is now mine." He reached down and took the stabiliser control box from the animal's hand. "And I'll thank you to stop dismantling it. I need it."

"Yeah but I need it more."

"I don't think you do."

"You don't know what I want."

Loki's eyes narrowed. "You want a ship that's much faster than this, with much better navigation capability, so that you and your arboreal friend can find your crew on Knowhere. However the stabiliser control box you're attempting to borrow from this vessel will not help such a ship."

The animal slotted his screwdriver tool into a convenient pocket on his work jacket and stood up. "Yeah? And who died and made you the god of knowing stuff?"

"That's a long story that we don't really have time for."

He folded his arms. "Right. What's your name?"

"Loki."

"Rocket." He put his paw out to shake.

Loki looked at it, then the stabiliser control box still in his hand. "You're not getting this back."

Rocket laughed and withdrew his hand. "I like you, Loki." He sat down again. "I don't want that stabiliser, you're right. I was just bored."

Loki reached up and sat the part high on the rear of the ship. "I thought you were on your way out of here?"

"So did I. Now I'm going to have to wait for your pirate-angel brother and friends to finish their war meetin' so Groot can tear himself away from the sexy one in the white outfit."

"Valkyrie."

"Yeah, her."

Loki frowned. "You mean he's smitten with her?"

"If that means 'follows her around with his tongue hanging out' then yeah." He huffed. Loki looked around, weighing something up. Then he came around and sat next to him on the kerb. "I'm telling you, man," Rocket went on, "the whole mating thing is annoying."

"Entanglements?" Loki ventured, his voice quiet, speculative.

"Yeah - them."

"They are messy and unnecessary."

"Absolutely."

"And they make you vulnerable."

"Damn straight." Rocket glanced at him. "You like her too?"

"Me? No. Not my type. Too… conscientious."

"I hear you," Rocket nodded. "What about the other one?"

"What other one?"

"The tall woman - long hair, looks like she could rip the arms off a fully-grown Groot."

Loki leant his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands. "No."

"Ah, come on, man, I seen her looking at you," Rocket smiled, elbowing him. Loki frowned at him in disgust, but Rocket was grinning now. "She's watching you, like she thinks you're about to try and steal somethin' of hers - like the kind of thing that you can't just buy a new one, if you get my meanin'."

"She's under the mistaken impression that I have an ulterior motive."

"A what now?"

"A secret self-serving reason for doing what I do."

"Well don't everybody?" Rocket asked.

Loki smiled, giving a slight eh-he-he-he chuckle under his breath. "I think I like you, Rocket."

"Yeah well. Watch that warrior woman, Loki. She either wants to break you in half or do that anyway but make you enjoy it."

Loki said nothing, instead looking up at the side of the ship.

.

.

The bunting went up between gaily painted houses in lovely straight lines, weighed down in the middle by nothing but happy words and good cheer.

Korg put his hands on his hips and looked up at the line currently being strewn from open windows. "Great idea, Loki," he said to himself. "Keep them happy and keep them protected at the same time."

Balturm, standing next to him with a digital clipboard and a look of satisfied boredom on his face, cleared his throat. "Sir - how does this do both?"

"Well one half of the city thinks the refugees are a burden, right?" Korg said. "The other half thinks we're here to steal land or possessions. So we have a party to keep everyone happy - a whole-day festival where everyone can get to know each other, swap stories, tell them about their mum. That breaks down walls faster than that incredible green fella."

"And the protected bit?"

"Well they can't start fights or riots when they're too busy talking about mums, can they?" Korg reasoned.

"Right."

"I tell you what, mums are the way forward. No-one gets upset when talking about mums."

"If you say so," Balturm shrugged.

"You'll see, Dave, you'll see," Korg nodded. "Now then, we get the carts of food and drink ready and when the sun starts to go down, we kick things off with a barbecue. Everyone loves barbecues."

"Except vegans."

"Yes they do - we've got veggies to roast and everything," Korg said off-hand.

Balturm watched him walk off. "Loki really does think of everything."

.

.

"—And in return I promised him ownership of their tiny kingdom and absolute power for as long as he wanted it," Loki shrugged.

"No - and did the sap go for it?"

"Oh yes."

Rocket laughed out loud, clapping his hands. "And you walked away with the magical flute thing?"

"That was the deal."

"You - you - you just walked away with it - for free!" he laughed.

"Of course he was unhappy when he actually checked the terms of the deal."

"Why was that? Don't tell me you lied to his face?"

"Absolutely not," Loki tutted. "He failed to specify the time frame whereby he wanted it to come to fruition, and I did not press the matter."

Rocket nearly fell over backwards, such was his belly-laugh. "You genius!" he cried. His paw went out and he patted at Loki's arm. "I mean you talk funny, but you're a man after my own heart."

Loki put his palms up in surrender. "I promise I have no plans to acquire any of your internal organs."

Rocket just laughed harder. "I like you, man. You should hang out with us for a while, on Peter's ship."

"What's all this?" asked a voice.

The two of them turned in their makeshift seats to see Valkyrie behind them.

"Oh, hey. Has Groot stopped drooling over you yet?" Rocket asked.

She smiled, walking round to his left side and thinking about sitting. "He has. We talked about it. He understands - I think."

"Fifty bucks says he acts like a stroppy teenager for the next month," Rocket scoffed.

She looked at Loki. "Well?"

"Well what? If you and my brother have finished whatever it is you thought was so important, can we go now?" Loki shot back.

She smiled. "We're done." She looked down at Rocket. "And you? Are you hitching a ride with us or going back to your ship on Knowhere?"

"You know, part of me really wants to go with my new friend Loki, here," he sighed. Valkyrie's eyebrows raised all by themselves. "But I should go find my crew. I mean, who knows what trouble they're getting into without their captain," he went on.

"Heavy is the burden of being you," Loki commiserated. Valkyrie rolled her eyes.

"Of being us," Rocket corrected. He stood up. "Well, gotta go. Look after yourself, man," he said, reaching out and patting Loki's shoulder. "If you're ever in the market for a crew who can get stuff at short notice, you let me know."

Loki twisted to look at him, almost eye height. "Thank you, Rocket. That's most kind."

"Oh it ain't kindness," Rocket grinned. "Me and my crew are good at doing jobs that get us paid, and with you on the team it would be like taking candy from babies."

Loki grinned. "Thank you, Rocket. That's most kind."

Rocket laughed, patted again, and turned to go. "See ya 'round, Loki. Happy hunting, Valkyrie!" He waved a paw over his shoulder as he walked off.

Loki got to his feet slowly. "Well?" he asked.

They heard boots and looked over to see Thor approaching. "Brother," he announced. "There's something we have to do before we can leave here."

Loki sagged. "There's always something. What is it? The dwarves want paying for your new axe? Can't you just show them a few tricks with your lightning sparkles so we can go?" he asked testily. Thor's face lost all pretence at humour. Loki cleared his throat quietly. "Ok, what?"

Thor gestured around them. "Thanos was here. He killed everyone bar Eitri, destroyed the mechanism for harnessing the star's power. We need to fix this before we leave."

"No," Loki said flatly.

"We promised Asgard would protect them - we promised them safety."

Loki stood straighter. "And like children they believed you. It was not Asgard's place to promise something they could not deliver, brother, and it is not for us to now right their arrogance."

Thor appraised him. "Yes, it is." He paused. "Had I been there, I would not have made such a promise without some way to back it up. But I'm king of Asgard now. I have to do something."

Loki looked at the floor. "Everyone bar Eitri is dead?"

"Yes."

"And the furnaces don't run?"

"Have you heard them whilst we've been here?"

Loki considered for a moment, then huffed. "Then he'll fix them. He has done before. I don't see why we have to help."

Thor looked at Valkyrie, just about keeping his anger in check. "Can you excuse us, please?"

"Of course - my king," she teased. She didn't look at Loki before turning and leaving.

The moment she was out of earshot Thor took a irritated step toward Loki. "Now listen here, you little sh—"

Loki's hands went to his hips. "This isn't fair," he snapped. Thor stopped short, surprised. Loki flicked an angry index finger up at Thor's face, making the wider man step back one. Loki's face was pale with anger. "I had a big plan for this - we weren't supposed to be here when we talked about it. Then Nidavellir and Xandar would magically be fixed and everyone would believe it was the death of Thanos that repaired everything."

Thor blinked. "You had a big plan?"

"Remember who you're talking to," Loki snapped.

"No - I meant you'd included Nidavellir and Xandar in your plans?"

Loki's lips went very thin and his hand dropped. "If you don't want my help, then fine." He lifted his left hand and two coloured stones and a metal ball appeared in his palm. "Take the stones. Use them as you will."

Thor eyed him for a long moment. He looked again at the gems. Then back at Loki's angry eyes. "I… What is this plan?"

Loki glared at him. "We need to be in a ship for it to work. And yes - it includes Nidavellir and Xandar."

"Then… I'm sorry."

Loki's mouth worked for a second. He stepped back one, his entire demeanour turning to one of wariness. He looked Thor up and down with something bordering on outrage. "You're what?"

"I'm sorry. I misjudged you." He hesitated long enough for Loki to stare, confused. "I mean… You killed Thanos. Thanos," Thor went on. "I…" He huffed, looking at his feet, then back at his brother. "I was going to find him and kill him, because I believed he had killed you, and Heimdall, and… so many people. But here you are, avenging your own 'death' and saving a universe."

"To be fair, the saving-the-universe part was an agreeable side effect," Loki allowed. "My main concern was killing Thanos so he couldn't destroy a universe. I happen to like it the way it is - in desperate need of good leadership."

"Everyone will believe, when they find out you killed him, that you did it to steal the stones. You and I will believe it was to get revenge. Cold, black-hearted, murderous revenge."

"You left out 'selfish'," Loki said, amused.

"And that," Thor smiled. "But maybe it wasn't. Maybe it wasn't all about revenge. I mean, didn't you feel just a little good about stopping so much harm that could have come to the universe?"

"You're still trying to find a tiny amount of good in me, aren't you?" Loki asked curiously. "Don't. You won't find it."

"I think I already have. You didn't have to stop Surtur by throwing his crown into the eternal flame as I asked. You didn't have to come back for us to save Asgardians in Korg's ship at all. And yet you did."

"Hela was going to keep after us until she was dead, and the Commodore ship was nearly out of fuel," he shrugged.

"Right," Thor said, unconvinced. "You know, Angela said you weren't as bad as all that. Of course I don't want to believe her - she may be just a little biased," he said, raising his thumb and forefingers to indicate an inch. "I mean, she still thinks you're just misunderstood."

"What has Angela got to do with this?" he asked stiffly.

"Oh come on, Loki. You think I can't tell when someone's fallen under your spell? Or you someone else's?"

"How dare you," Loki snarled.

Thor grinned. "See? Honestly, brother - it's been hundreds of years. I don't even remember the last time you looked at anyone twice. Well, save that soldier lad - the clever one, do you remember?"

"Is there something resembling an end to this conversation?"

"No."

"Can there be?"

Thor grinned. "And you still think of it as a weakness."

"Well that ridiculous Jane Foster made you weak," he snapped.

"That's your opinion, right or wrong," Thor shrugged. "The truth may or may not be very different."

Loki's eyes narrowed. "You've changed."

"Recently I've had cause to reflect on the last millennium," he said. "You should do the same."

"No-one tells me what to do."

Thor's grin went wider. "I believe that's one thing that will never change." He looked around. "So what do we do now? Trade playground insults and waste more time? Or do we get on with your plan?"

Loki considered him for a moment. "We need a ship. Let's just go."

"Right." He nodded, watching Loki walk past him and away. "Although the playground insults were fun, weren't they? Maybe we could do that and your plan, brother. Like the good old days. Except this time I'd know we were in the middle of one of your plans."

"Are you coming or not?" Loki called from way in front. "Does all that muscle make it difficult to walk fast?"

Thor chuckled. "Like old times."

.

.

Valkyrie fired up the engines, checking all the dials and read-outs. "Ok! Looks good!" she called.

"We're on the way up," was Thor's reply from some kind of speaker buried in the console in front of her. She gave up trying to work out where that was exactly and instead concentrated on finding the right controls to navigate the ship. She turned the pilot's chair to her left, surveying and reading, then to her right, finding useful things like weapons controls. She smiled.

Outside the ship, Loki had his hands on his hips and a face that spoke of repressed impatience. "Any time," he called politely.

Thor was a good twenty feet away, talking with Eitri. The dwarf knelt down to be closer to the relatively tiny Asgardian, putting an iron hand on his shoulder and saying something. Thor nodded, patted at him, and they parted. Thor waved at him and then hefted his new axe, carrying it back to the ship and the waiting Loki.

"Right, ready," Thor said. "Rabbit and Tree send their regards, but they've gone."

"Who?" Loki asked, clueless.

"My friend Rabbit - and Tree."

"You mean Rocket and Groot?"

"Who?"

"Just - can we go?" Loki asked.

Thor patted his shoulder as he passed him, walking up the ramp and into the ship. He turned left at the top, marvelling at the high ceilings to the corridors, the emptiness of the wide rooms he passed, the amount of space just waiting for someone to use.

"Are we clear?" Valkyrie asked. Her voice boomed through all the speakers around the ship, in every room.

"We are," came Loki's response, presumably through the same sound system. "Let's go. Use the co-ordinates I gave you."

"Yeah - and where are we going again?"

"To the co-ordinates - it's not a secret," Loki snapped.

Thor smiled to himself, continuing to wander the ship. Eventually he came to the cockpit door, and pressed a small button to make the door slide open. He found Valkyrie in the pilot's chair, nothing but a vast starfield in the window in front of her.

She turned the chair. "Hi. So far, so good."

He went to another chair by the consoles and sat. "Do we know where we're headed?"

"I have co-ordinates," she intoned, making him smile. "I don't know what's there, but at least I know where we're going."

"How long will it take?"

"About…" She read the dials and tiny windows carefully. "Maybe a few hours?"

"Fine," he nodded. He sat back in the chair.

She looked over at him. "Have you been walking the ship?" she asked knowingly.

"Apparently it's something a leader should do before using a vessel."

"How do you know that?"

"Loki told me."

"So how does he know that?" she smiled.

"I find it's best not to ask," he smiled back.

"Speaking of Loki… are you sure this plan of his is a good idea?"

"If I knew what his plan was I'd be able to answer that."

Her mouth fell open. "You don't even know what it is?"

"Nope." He swung his chair to and fro slowly. "But… I'm trying an experiment."

"What? 'Give Loki the reins and hope he doesn't kill us all'?"

He put his elbows on the arm rests, steepling his fingers in front of him. "I think if he's given a little bit of trust, he'll like it. And he'll want it again. And maybe he's not the same as he used to be."

"There are some things that never change," she said, turning her chair to look out of the window. "Death, taxes, and Loki's nature."

"Maybe," Thor said quietly, as if to himself. "Maybe."

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