Chapter 8
"You will come back," Nebula hissed. "If you die, I will learn your magic to bring you back from the dead to kill you again myself."
"Good luck with that," Loki told her. Aside from the fact that it was Asgardian magic, even he didn't know how to do resurrection spells. His- the woman he'd thought was his mother had never wanted to learn. "And you'll be the one coming to me. I'll stay on Earth and wait for you."
"And if Thanos refuses to send me?"
"I may have some ideas about that."
Vormir. The name of the planet that hid the soul stone echoed through his mind. He would not go there unless he needed to fight Thanos, but the possibility remained. Should he need it, he could get his hands on an Infinty Stone of his own.
Nebula studied him but didn't ask.
"You'll be alright?" he asked her.
"Yes."
He reached out, cupping her cheek as she leaned into him. "I'll see you soon, Neb."
"I'd better." She didn't comment on the nickname. He took that to mean she liked it, at least somewhat.
He kissed her one last time, and then stepped back. Thanos arrived a few seconds later, a minion beside him. He was handed a staff, and he felt his sheilds drop slightly. He fought back.
They reminded him of their deal, he responded with something arrogant that he barely heard, only hoping his voice didn't sound shakey. He wouldn't have known. He struggled with his sheilds, forcing them back into place. The stone must be in the staff, and he wanted to throw it far away, but that wouldn't help him.
He reached out, felt the Tesseract on Earth, struggled to keep his shields up as he opened a portal, pulling himself through and letting it close.
His sheilds slipped.
When he raised his head to look at the humans, the anger was back.