Asgardians meet Guardinans
Loki felt entrapped in the ship. He restlessly paced through the various areas, avoiding people as much as possible. He told himself it was the tightness, the limited resources, the slow pace of the travel, but in truth, it was the goal they were heading toward.
Terra.
He didn’t want to go back there, didn’t want to have to step foot again on the site of his greatest defeat. Especially since it was more complicated than anybody knew. If anybody ever found out… probably nothing bad would happen. Nobody expected more of him after all, but still, the idea anybody could ever know…
He shook his head, he couldn’t admit the truth, not even to himself. He went to his brother’s quarters, they had to talk. He fully intended to start over, to tell the entire story, come clean, but again he couldn't.
Half-truths, omissions, he sometimes almost became exasperated with himself. It was as if the illusion Odin had forced upon him had seeped into his whole being, had poisoned him beyond repair. But he knew, even though illusion and deceit were part of who he was, he also had to take on responsibility.
After all, he had managed to allow his brother a little closer, allowing himself to put the tiniest bit of trust in Thor. Maybe he'd managed to do a bit more.
The alert went off.
A ship had appeared right in front of them. It wasn’t big, just a ragged looking Ravager-ship. It interrupted their schedule. And their moment.
For once, he was able to be honest with himself, he had no idea if he could talk to his brother. He couldn’t even think about it. Loki had his nightmares where he couldn't escape the truth. In his dreams, he remembered everything, just to suppress it again as soon as he woke up.
They arrived at the command centre the moment the other ship made contact. The screens flickered and showed white noise. Again. They had many technical problems and not much chance to assess and to repair any damages.
He looked at the others. Hell, they weren’t even all cleaned up from the fight. The Hulk had changed back to a human, and he was happy about that. He wondered who had been able to talk Banner down. The raging beast was the last thing they could use right now, even if Banner looked a little frayed on the edges. Maybe for him, it would have been better to be hidden away within the beast than having to deal with all this.
The voices coming from the speakers sounded frazzled and metallic. Seeing that no one made any move to improve the communication, he sighed and got to it himself. It either seemed they were still too shaken to think practical, or it was his typical luck, and he was the most skilled technician on board.
If that was the case, they might be all doomed. He might know his way around the more common tech well enough, but he always enjoyed exploring magic more. Besides illusions, mind magic and tricks, he had focused mainly on healing and manipulation of flesh and mind. His mother’s influence, he guessed. Not that he really had the mind of a healer, but it had come handy for him so far. Maybe it was time to offer aid to others too, he mused, right now, it might not even be considered another weakness, even more humiliating than his other traits and talents had been among much more physical warriors. The current situation might teach them that his magic had its place and usefulness too.
He kept tinkering until the monitors came alive, and the voice became clear. He saw the appreciating nod of his brother, and was surprised to feel good about it.
But then, a look back at the monitors made him freeze. It seemed as if everything came to a halt right then and there, as if time had just stopped.
A thrown-together looking crew was greeting his eyes. He saw a talking animal from a species he’d never seen before, a male from the unnamed people, a human-looking man, a half-grown flora colossus and an antenna bearing woman. What made him stop was the most familiar face of them. The Zehoberei.
Gamora.
His breath stopped, and he felt ice running through his veins.
Gamora.
How? How could that be? How could she be here, of all places? Why here? Why now? He trembled without realizing it. He was paralysed. He saw the mouths of the others moving, realized they were speaking, but he couldn’t fucking move. His mind was ripped open, her mere sight breaking down the carefully crafted barriers which had held his memories in check. Those barriers that had enabled him to maintain his facade, not so much for the others who didn’t care anyway, but for his own sake, for his own sanity. His nightmares threatened to burst into reality and awoke from his memories, overwhelming him.
Gamora.
She hadn’t seen him yet, if he could just move, just get out of here. She turned. Now she looked at him.
It was over. She'd found him. She saw him. She was here to get him.
Silent tears streamed down his face when the raging madness started to rise, started to consume him all over again and still, he was frozen on the spot. She stayed silent, only her eyes widened for a moment. Then she looked away. Pretending not to have seen him. Was she waiting for a better moment? Was she trying to lull him into false security? He had to warn his brother, warn the others.
Gamora. Thanos daughter. Thanos.
Thanos.
He didn’t see how he startled everyone when he finally fled the room.
____________________
Thor hadn’t seen his brother’s first reaction. He had been completely immersed in what those self-declared ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ had to say. They came in the name of the Nova Corps, offering an alternative to Terra. Of course, Nova Prime didn’t think it was a good idea to wage the advanced Asgardians onto a planet-bound species who didn’t even have the means to venture out of their solar system on their own. The only reason they hadn’t intervened before was that… well, Asgard being Asgard. But now they were fugitives, and that seemingly dimmed respect.
Didn’t it matter that the Asgardians had a long-time relationship with the Terrans? Their cultures were already intertwined!
When Loki darted out of the room without any warning, he was startled, but he got angry. Loki, what was he up to now?
Thor turned and opened his mouth to call him back.
But his brother was gone. He felt deeply annoyed. Whenever he thought he might finally be at the brink of understanding, his brother always acted up again.
This time, he wouldn’t run after him. Thor was about to apologise when his eyes met with the Zehoberei woman. She gave him such a knowing look that he wondered what he had missed. But this had to wait, Loki had nowhere to run, they were in the middle of nothing. He could only space himself, and he doubted even his crazy brother could do something this stupid. It might not kill him to just jump out an airlock, but floating into nothing couldn't be his desire.
So he stayed and spoke to the other crew, and they agreed that they would board the ship and talk about possible options for the Asgardians. So the Quadrant docked and the so-called Guardians came aboard.
________________
“You can’t seriously believe that Terra would be the most welcoming place to settle down!” argued the man called Quill for the umpteenth time, “I mean, I am from Terra, I am half Terran and yet even I don’t want to go back to this place.”
He sat back and crossed his arms without looking at his teammates.
“That’s something I never understood.” Gamora pitched in, “on one hand, you’re always going on and on about how great your culture is, and then you always find excuses not to go home. And now, you’re urging others not to go there either.”
He turned and stared at her in disbelief to shut her up, but she only stared back, unfazed.
“Really?” he forced out. “That’s not the time now, we have a mission…”
Gamora interrupted brusquely, “yeah we have, and the reasons we were given are perfectly sensible. Those people should take Nova Corps on their offer. But if Thor wants to see his friends, why can’t we take him? He was there before and you could visit…”
“I said no!” Quill interjected stubbornly, “besides, I’m only…” He stopped and turned away.
“Where’s Rocket?” he asked quickly, trying to change the topic.
“Repairing the ship.” Thor and Gamora replied at the same time.
“Beside the point,” Gamora went on, not letting him off the hook, “don’t try to deflect! You didn’t answer my question! Why can’t we…”
They were interrupted by a loud bang and an angered voice barely dulled by several doors, accompanied by a shriek that sounded like a very frightened Mantis. Before anyone could react, Drax barged through the next door, ready to destroy anybody who might be threatening his friend. After a quick glance at each other, the others followed suit. Quill could barely conceal his feelings of relief.
Soon they saw was Drax flying out of an almost empty cargo room in a sparkle of green arcane power. He looked furious but got up, more cautious.
When they rounded the corner, their look fell upon a terrified Mantis cowering in front of a totally enraged Loki. The trickster literally threw sparks, and his expression was furious.
“How dare you!” He roared, his voice shaking in raw anger. “How dare you intrude into my privacy! How dare you invade my….” At the movement of their arrival, he turned, the second he saw Gamora he stopped moving. It was as if any strength and energy were sucked out of him, and his face showed a picture of such absolute terror that Thor would not have thought possible to ever appear on his brother's face.
She turned away in shame.
“What’s going on here?” Thor confronted his brother, who flinched back as if afraid to be hit. The God of Thunder, who had made a move to grab his shoulders, stopped immediately.
His brother never flinched. He carefully stepped towards Loki, having a closer look. What he saw was a creature at the brink of breakdown, it barely resembled his brother. The trickster’s overconfidence and arrogance had vanished as if it never existed. All shields were taken down. Beneath the surface, he now saw a frightened, cowering child.
“This is my fault.” Gamora’s voice was barely audible, and she evaded his gaze.
“What did you do to him?” Thor demanded to know. She looked up, Loki was still frozen on the spot and the shivers running through his body masked the shaking of his head. Panic drowned the begging in his eyes, but she was attuned to such things, she still saw it.
She looked from him to Thor and realised Loki hadn’t told anyone what happened when he was with Thanos. She should not talk. But another glance at Thor made clear she didn't have a choice. The man was almost ready to hit and ask questions later, the man’s body was charged with lightning and his energy made her hair stand up.
“I was there,” she stated calmly, “I was there with him when he…”
“NO!” Loki exclaimed, “don’t you dare…. You can’t! It didn’t happen! I WON’T LET IT HAPPEN!!” He lunged forward in a final attempt to stop the inevitable, but his brother caught him and held him back.
“I demand to know what’s going on here!” he thundered. Loki went limp in his arms. He finally gave up with a look of pure hopelessness.
Gamora wished she could stop now, but if this should end well, she had to take responsibility.
“I was my father’s favourite executioner when they brought your brother in.” She said, “I was overseeing his…” she stopped herself and looked into Thor’s eyes, straightening up. There was no time for tiptoeing around the facts, “I orchestrated his torture. Thanos wanted me to make absolutely sure he would fulfil his part of the bargain and get Thanos what he demanded. I was the one to ensure his absolute truthfulness and loyalty, so I broke him to the point of no return. At least that's what he made us believe.”
“You… you tortured him?”
She stepped closer despite Thor’s now murderous look, and caught Loki’s eyes. She spoke directly to him now, “Your cunning and courage earned your escape from Thanos clutches. You managed to blind all of us, but ultimately, your sabotage was obvious. I have seen thousands of souls crushed in front of me, thousands of people giving in. I thought no one could endure what you did and still be able to resist. I always feared I could be next, and the mere thought of being subjected to that torture was my chain to servitude. My fear held me captive, and I was afraid to challenge my father's wishes. Seeing you escape your enslavement after all that was done to you, hiding all that information about your brother and his allies while being under the Other's direct mind-control, set me free.”
Loki straightened a bit and looked back into her eyes. When she was sure he was listening to her, she continued.
“I’ve always wanted to tell you how you gave me the courage to leave. To fight. You showed me it could be done. No one believed anyone could defy Thanos until you did. You made him trust you, and then you turned around and led his whole army into a battle they could not win. You knew you would lose, and your chances were slim, you also knew what he could do to you and that it wasn’t even the worst he could do if he caught you, but despite all that, you escaped.”
She looked around.
“Thanos is coming. He didn’t get what he wanted when he sent Loki to Terra, but that doesn’t mean he’ll give up! He’ll hunt for the infinity stones, and we need to distribute all powers where they are needed. The Asgardians would be invaluable when it comes to defending the infinity stone Nova Corps protects. We also need to go and warn Terra.”
When she looked from one to the other, her Teammates felt the urge to stand up again and stand in a circle. She knew them so well she could see it in their eyes, and it made her smile.
“We all need to be ready when Thanos’ endgame begins.”