Chapter Text
"Do you really think it would be wise to take us back to Earth?"
Loki asked his brother in a soft voice, raising a single eyebrow. Thor replied cheerfully, as if he considered Loki's doubt entirely unfounded:
"Yes! I mean, I don't know... They really love me there."
Suppressing the urge to laugh to himself, Loki rephrased his question.
"Well, do you think it would be wise to take *me* back to Earth?"
Thor looked at his brother, suddenly turning serious and skeptical. Surprised by this abrupt shift in mood, Loki clasped his hands in front of him and waited silently for his brother's answer.
"Brother, I won't let anyone blame you for something that wasn't your fault. I'll vouch for you if I have to! The Avengers will understand."
Loki barely managed to stifle a fit of hysterical laughter at his brother's unnecessary optimism. He had only just begun to convince his brother that he had regained his sanity, and he had no intention of ruining that now. In truth, he really didn't feel like his brain was constantly melting anymore. He sincerely hoped that was a good sign.
"If you say so, brother."
For a moment, Thor shot Loki a sharp look because of the mockery in his voice, but Loki simply flashed one of his most innocent smiles. Just then, Valkyrie's voice echoed through the ship.
"There's a ship approaching us! Everyone in charge, to the cockpit!"
Loki’s stomach clenched with a sickening, icy dread; he grabbed Thor’s arm and teleported them both to where Valkyrie was. Frigga, Heimdall, and Bruce were there too.When Loki looked out the window and saw the ship—which, even with his limited visibility, could not possibly be mistaken for any other—he suddenly began to feel sick.
"Thanos."
Even his own voice sounded foreign to him as he felt Frigga’s hand on his arm.
He stumbled back from the window, meeting anxious gazes. Taking a deep breath in a futile attempt to calm himself, he briefly entertained thoughts of escape. But there was a problem. No, he couldn't leave them here at Thanos's mercy. Cursing under his breath, he let his eyes wander aimlessly around the room.
"How powerful is he?"
That rational question came, of course, from Heimdall. The others were looking at him with a mixture of sheer terror, anxiety, and curiosity.
"I doubt he possesses more than one Infinity Stone. He came for me. He—!"
Loki was cut off as a blast struck the ship, and screams erupted from the section where the remaining Aesir were gathered. Gritting his teeth, Loki summoned Hela with his mind. Moments later, she was by his side, accompanied by Astrid. As Hela looked at him with concern, Loki leaned down and planted a kiss on her forehead. Then, dropping to his knees, he opened his arms to Astrid; the little girl—no older than four—stepped into his embrace without hesitation.
After remaining like that for a few seconds, he stood up. Loki glanced briefly at them.
"Go."
With a slight nod, Hela vanished, taking Astrid with her. Just seconds later, she reappeared alone. She looked at Loki defiantly, her chin tilted up as if challenging him to object. Loki sighed softly and turned to those who had been watching in silence. There was only one way out of this.
"Alright, I’m going to translocate us from here to Midgard. I’ll probably pass out. I might wake within few minutes. I might stay unconscious for days. I have no idea. If I don't pull it off, we’ll probably all die."
When he finished speaking with such composure, everyone was staring at him with varying degrees of horror. He reflected that, had he not been the one in this situation, he would have found those expressions quite amusing.
"My child, I admire your ability to walk among the branches of Yggdrasil, but can you really transport the entire ship?"
His mother was right. Normally, his carrying capacity was limited to just a few people. Casting an almost (almost!) sheepish glance at Thor from beneath his eyelashes, he said, "No."
As he opened his hand and caused the Tesseract to appear, Heimdall spoke instantly,
"You should have left it on Asgard," he said sternly.
Loki retorted with equal sharpness, "We would have died here without the Tesseract!"
Ignoring the other reactions, he focused, gripping the Tesseract tightly with both hands. He felt the seðir gathering at his fingertips. After lifting his head to exchange a final glance with his family, he concentrated all his strength on opening the portal. Out of the corner of his eye, he could make out Thanos' ship looming right upon them. He focused on channeling his seðir to overwhelm the Tesseract's blue glow, making the portal shine with the color of his own power instead.
Thanos likely suspected he had the Tesseract; he had no intention of giving him proof. Besides, let him think Loki had grown powerful enough to navigate a massive ship through the branches of Yggdrasil. As the power of the Tesseract merged with his own seðir , a searing whiteness engulfed them for a split second. Though his energy was instantly drained and his brain heated up to the point of melting, he managed to stay on his feet until he was certain they had made it through.
Hearing shouts of astonishment and joy from various parts of the ship, he realized he had succeeded; with one final effort, he sent the Tesseract into a pocket dimension and collapsed. Or rather, he didn't quite collapse; Thor caught him and gently laid him down.
"You are really the worst, brother."
The words, contrasting with his crooked grin, made Loki laugh. He faintly heard Frigga and Hela asking Bruce if he could examine him, and then he let himself go.