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“there’s no chance in hell that I’m going,” Nebula said flat out. Gamora nodded her head in agreement. “That’s entirely fair. Now it leaves you 4.” Natasha said Thor was not going. Loki had decided that. There was no chance, but that left the super soldiers. Surprisingly, Loki felt terrible that he and Thor had been brothers for the last 1,000 years, but they had only been friends for a century. Sure, he didn’t like Steve much, but that didn’t mean he wished death upon him. This did not guarantee that someone would die, but there was a chance, and everyone knew how much a chance mattered. If Loki were more selfless, he would volunteer, but after almost dying three times, he wasn’t too keen on a fourth.
“We’ll go,” Steve said. That made sense. Steve was a hero through and through and would sacrifice himself to save half of the universe. Bucky didn’t say a word or show any emotion, but they both decided that. “OK, remember that this doesn’t mean that someone is going to die. There’s just a chance of it.” Natasha said, but she didn’t like the decision. “So, who will be on the team now? Loki, Steve and Bucky, you're already going, but if Thanos is there first, we need people to be there to fight.” Tony said, “And people need to be here to fight. There will be two infinity stones here.” T’Challa Said, “Unless you intend to give up the space stone.” Stephen said it was directed at the younger god. Loki shook his head.
“Thanos has a large army, and he needs to get the infinity stones, so he will send as many as he can until he gets the stones,” Loki said, preparing them for the amount of fighting it would need to win this “are there any special people or tools we need to be aware of.” Tony said, “There are mindless creatures such as the chutari and the outriders that work as a hive mind, then the black order, the more powerful people such as Ebony maw, Corvus glaive, Proxima midnight, and cull obsidian. They all have their own abilities that revolve around battle. They have weapons and lots of them, but nothing you haven’t seen before.” Loki said, assuming that they had most of these weapons themselves. “Could you explain the Black Order in greater detail so we know what to expect.” Natasha said, “we can explain the Black Order.” Gamora said, “you should start the journey to Vomir before Thanos can get there first,” Nebula said Loki agreed.
Loki walked out of the room to prepare for space travel. Thor ran up behind. “Can we talk?” Thor Pleaded Loki considered denying him briefly, but considering this could be the last time they saw each other, he wasn’t risking it. “Make it quick, Thor,” Loki said, avoiding Thor’s gaze. “I love you,” Thor said, grabbing Loki's attention. “I’ve made some mistakes over the years, but I just can’t let you leave not telling you that.” Thor whispered, “Thor, I Love you, and after all this, the sun will shine on us again. We’ll find a new normal, I promise.” Loki responded sadly. Loki was lying. He knew there was no way he would be getting out of this, but Thor needed that hope to fight. “Goodbye, I’ll see you soon.” Thor said before going back into the room, “Hopefully.” Loki muttered before leaning on the wall, waiting for the other two to come out. This was a terrible situation Loki had got himself into, and it was all his fault. If only he hadn’t let go all those years ago, none of this would have happened. But Loki then got mad at himself because it wouldn’t have gone well either way. If he hadn’t let go, maybe Thor would have let him go instead. That memory was muddled after the mind stone had rifled in his brain. Certain memories weren’t clear anymore.
Steve and Bucky walked out after 15 minutes and started walking in a different direction, not even noticing Loki. Loki caught up to them not very long after they started walking. They were discussing something Loki had no desire to listen to. Loki was planning their route to Vomir, which would take the shortest amount of time so they could be back before Thanos got back from Nowhere. They had walked into a launching bay, but they needed a ship that could survive jump points 4, to be exact and guessing that these two had never been to space before, this was going to be fun. It should only take two days for the round-trip.
“Obviously, you’ll be flying,” Steve said it was directed to Loki. “I would assume so unless either of you knows how to fly in space,” Loki said, “not something they taught in school. At least when we were in school.” Bucky said with a chuckle. They should probably be on good terms if they were to spend the next two days together. “my school didn’t teach me either, but I needed certain skills being Asgard’s prince.” Loki said solemnly. There was a chance he wasn’t entirely truthful. No, he was never taught in the learning halls how to pilot ships, but he learned because he wanted to be like Thor. Thor could fly anything, and Odin was so proud of that. As always, Loki thought if he were like Thor, Odin might be proud of him, too. If it was any surprise, no, Odin didn’t care that Loki could fly better than Thor because there was always a reason Thor was better, but that was not something to think about at the moment.
Once everyone had climbed aboard the ship, Loki decided it seemed sturdy enough to handle space and started studying the controls. “How old are you exactly anyway?” Steve asked, “I could ask you the same question.” Loki said, “I asked first.” Steve responded hm, well, that’s fair. “1323 years old,” Loki responded after a minute. He was born in 695; he and Thor were born only months apart, and Loki honestly had no idea how he hadn’t realized sooner, “How are you even alive.” Steve asked, surprised by
what he had just said. He knew Thor was over a thousand years old, but not the exact age. “most species in the Nine realms live to an average age of 5000 years, but Odin was quite older than that. Thor and I are only months apart, but we were told we were twins. Thor was but minutes older,” Loki said, sitting in the pilot chair. “How close in age are you?” Bucky asked for Loki. These questions were a waste of time, but who cares? “Thor was born in April, and I was born in December, so 8 months or so apart,” Loki said it was hard to remember his Name day. Loki could only remember his own because it was always the winter solstice on his birthday, another thing for a therapist. “how old are you two, if you don’t mind me asking.” Loki asked, “I’m 101, it’s old here.” Bucky said, “And I’m 96.” Steve said. “you two are friends, right?” Loki questioned, his back turned to them, testing the controls. Steve and Bucky talked over each other for a minute. Both had a bright blush on their faces. “It’s complicated.” Bucky spat out. “I don’t mind whatever your relationship status is. I’m not a prude.” Loki said they obviously had something going on. “From what I’ve heard, Asgard isn’t the most accepting place,” Steve said. Thor had spoken of some relationships as unholy and unacceptable before, so it wouldn’t surprise him if Loki shared those sentiments. “no, it isn’t. It doesn’t love when you aren’t binary or normal by their standards. Believe me, I know.” Loki said from experience, he knew how toxic Asgard could become. “Are you speaking from experience?” Bucky questioned. Loki suddenly got very quiet, and they sat in silence for a few minutes. “Yes, I do not fit into boxes very well,” Loki said quietly, “so I’m guessing that Asgard wasn’t very welcoming to a prince like that.” Steve responded, “You have no idea,” Loki said, and that’s where the conversation ended.
They had started up the ship, getting ready to leave the atmosphere. “I hope you handle motion sickness well,” Loki said. Ever since that conversation ended, Loki had become more reserved. Steve and Bucky both realized the high possibility that Loki was queer now in what way? That’s not something you would ever ask someone, especially how Loki reacted to the question. As they left the atmosphere, the ship started to shake violently, but once they had left Earth, ultimately, space was more beautiful than it looked on Earth—space lit up with colours they had never seen before. “it’s amazing.” Bucky said the ship started to move closer to an opening in the empty void of space until they reached a jump point. Shooting through it, they entered another piece of space over the top of a very green planet, with water littered around the land. They circled the planet before arriving in front of another jump point. Before pushing through again, it felt like minutes moved like hours or maybe the other way around. As they went through the second jump point, Loki got out of his seat after setting the ship onto autopilot. “it will take a few hours until we get to the third jump point.” Loki said, knowing they would want to know why he had gotten up. Loki started to walk around, looking through the ship. It had a kitchen, bathroom and only two bedrooms, which seemed to answer Loki’s question about their relationship. Loki asked which bedroom they preferred. They had no preference, and Loki claimed one of the bedrooms, locking it with magic, falling into the bed, and drifting to sleep.