Chapter 5
The deal was set, and they let him out of his cell. No guards were with him. None were needed. As Thanos knew, Loki wasn't going anywhere. Not until the Earth was his.
A hand grabbed him from behind, and he whirled, a dagger in his hand. Nebula stood behind him, face as impassive as ever.
"So they finally broke you," she murmured, to herself more than him.
He scoffed. "I wouldn't say broke. Thanos had something I needed. I will have what I want now. My plans will come to fruition. Finally."
Nebula was staring at him now. "Plans?"
He was confused now. Surely, at some point, he had spoken of his plans to her. "Yes. My conquering Earth and using that to take over the Nine Realms, ending with Asgard." Had she forgotten? Did she care that little, just like all the others did?
"What did he do?" Nebula hissed. "What happened to you?"
Something in his mind tried to push out, to tell her what had happened. To remember what had happened in the first place. Something else pushed it back. "Again, nothing. We made a deal."
"The stone," Nebula muttered, still treating most of this conversation as if she were alone. It was almost enough to make him snap I'm here. "He wouldn't have used it, right? He wouldn't." She didn't sound like she believed herself.
Stone. An Infinity Stone, like the Tesseract? Which one would he use. Not soul, that had been missing for longer than Loki had been alive. Power, reality, time, or-
Or mind.
Something in his mind thrashed again, more methodical this time, hitting the weakest points.
"I should go now," he heard himself say, distantly felt pain as she slammed him back into a wall. The mind stone's control faltered for an instant, and that was all Loki needed.
"Neb-" he stammered out, grunting in pain with the effeort to keep control of hus own mind.
She kissed him. Relief lowered her defenses even as Loki strengthened his, and he kissed her back. She tasted slightly of metal, but he enjoyed that, it was so distinctly her that he didn't think of anything else for a moment, and then focussed again.
When she pulled back, they were both breathing heavily, staring at each other, eyes wide. He saw her smile for the first time, and he wanted to savor that, knowing how rare that expression must be.
"You're back," she whispered.
"I'm back," he promised her, and pushed away the memories of the mind stone invading his head, changing memories and feelings until he was someone else entirely.
"Thanos won't like that," she commented.
Loki grinned. "Well, I'm the God of Mischief. I'm sure I can keep that information from him."
"You're sure?"
"I've hidden far greater schemes from people who knew my tendancy for them. I can hide this from Thanos."
"Will you still go to Earth?"
"I think I must. But should I succeed, perhaps I could convince Thanos to send someone to watch me."
She stared at him. "You want me to..."
"Stay with me, yes. I don't want to be alone again, and I don't want you to be alone, either. I want us to be together."
She smiled at him. "I think I would like that."