It's inevitable that Thanos finds him. Loki knows this, has planned for the fact for years now. Admittedly, he never thought it would happen quite like this, but the end result is the same.

The Chitari ship looms over their own.

In the end, Loki knows what he must do. It's a variation on a theme and as he has been told how very predictable he is, Loki hopes, even as he pulls the lever controlling the gravity on the ship, that Thor will see through this farce. It's a stretch and would certainly have been all but impossible in the past, but Thor has become much more perceptive in recent years.

Loki knows this better than anyone, for Gungnir has shown him many things during his tenure on the throne. It is safely tucked away in one of his myriad interdimensional pockets now along with the Tesseract and several other treasures from Asgard's weapons vault. Loki intends to keep it that way. He knows he will have to hand over the infinity stone to Thanos in order to prove his loyalty, but the mad titan will have no need for the rest.

There is chaos aboard without gravity. Aesir in various forms of undress float in the halls and a few call out to him, their savior. Loki ignores them and plants each magically endowed foot on cold, hard steel as he makes his way to the control room. Important that they see him, not that he allow them to distract him from his goal.

Loki shuts the door and seals it with magic. The Valkyrie looks startled to see him. She opens her mouth, perhaps to warn or perhaps to deride, but it doesn't matter. Loki's spell catches her in the middle and she floats boneless toward the ceiling.

"Interesting," a very familiar voice says. Chills vibrate down Loki's spine but he merely smiles and allows his dispassionate gaze to meet Thanos's onscreen.

"Yes, I rather think I moved up the timetable. Apologies."

Thanos's eyes narrow but there is a distinctly amused tilt to his mouth.

"I see. So it was you."

"Who else would it be, pray tell?" There are few who would test Thanos thusly and this, Loki thinks, might just be why he is still alive.

"None but the false king. Did you tire of your throne so easily?"

"As enjoyable as it was to sow discord throughout the universe from the All-Father's golden throne, I am happy for the change of pace." Loki's lips twist as though he has made an excellent joke and in a way he has. He does not hold his breath. He doesn't flinch. He merely waits for the culmination of a plan years in the making.

"And the Tesseract?" Thanos is all business, as always. Loki manages not to slump in relief. However, he cannot still his trembling legs and must settle one hand on the console in front of him in order to steady himself.

"I keep my promises," Loki says, his tone managing to be both playful and serious. He produces the infinity stone seemingly out of thin air. "In fact, I located two more on Midgard where this ship was heading."

Thanos drags his gaze from the Tesseract's blue glow to Loki's face. He smiles and one of the old scars on Loki's back tingles. He ignores it, just as he ignores the pounding on the door and Thor's angry shouts. Instead, Loki makes a complicated motion with his hand and the Tesseract disappears.

Thanos grasps it almost before it is done reappearing. If he is surprised, he doesn't show it, just soaks in its raw power before the comm flickers and goes dark. Thanos chuckles as several things happen at once: the Valkyrie's body crashes to the ground as gravity is restored while Loki's spell fails and the door opens.

Thor stumbles in, his fist still raised. "Loki. What have you done?" Thor's mouth is a grim line and Loki is so, so relieved that he is still such an idiot.

"Whatever do you think?" he says, as he moves to the side, putting the console between them.

Thor's gaze jerks to the Valkyrie and back to him. Loki can practically smell the ozone in the air. "What did you do to her?"

"Careful, Thor. We're in a spaceship," Loki says, instead of answering the question. It comes out like a taunt, but Loki is serious. He would guide their inevitable fight out of this room full of delicate equipment if Thanos wasn't expecting a show.

Thor rushes him with a fistful of electricity aimed for his head. Unfortunately for him, Loki has learned a lot in the past two years. He catches Thor's fist and sends the jolt running through Thor's body instead. He crumples as completely as he had under the Valkyrie's sway on Sakaar.

Loki jerks his unconscious face up toward the camera and leans in to whisper in his ear. "I think it's about time for introductions, don't you?"

He smiles at the dark screen and makes the same complicated motion over Thor's body.

It disappears.

Loki stands still, his head canted slightly to the side, until the screen lights up once more.

Thanos has Thor's head in his overlarge hand and is squeezing it while Thor screams in agony. Loki's heart lurches in his chest, but he doesn't let any of this show on his face.

"Do you think this will save you?"

"Certainly not," Loki says with a chuckle. "Everything and everyone else on this ship already belongs to you." He steps closer to the screen. "My past deeds are what will make you realize my worth."

Loki details all he has done to destabilize the nine realms while he ruled Asgard, including the removal of Odin and the death of Hela plus the destruction of the realm. He finishes with, "of course, you already knew all of that so what we are really doing here is wasting your time, something which I recall you hate."

There is a squishing sound and Thor's screams cut off with an awful finality.

"May I?" Loki tries for bland and succeeds. When Thanos doesn't say anything, Loki shrugs and teleports over anyway.

His first thought is to look at Thor's body but he doesn't. Instead, he kneels in his brother's blood as Thanos places a slippery hand on his head and pats it, once.

"We're leaving," Thanos says, and Loki's eyes slide closed. He can hear the furious roars of Banner's Hulk over the intercom before it cuts out.

Loki knows Thanos has left the Asgardian ship to the rest of its tedious journey to Midgard solely for the satisfaction of crushing it another day. Thanos is pleased with what he, or rather Loki, has wrought this day and it is enough.

For now.

Loki solidifies his resolve and opens his eyes to face the inevitable. It will be difficult, even for him, but he will manage it somehow. If not, he will die trying. Strangely, the thought doesn't bother him as much as it used to.

Loki supposes that even monsters can sometimes become heroes out of necessity.

.

Thor wakes to someone shaking his shoulder and opens unfocused eyes to find an ashen-faced Valkyrie staring down at him. Red lights strobe across her face as the ship's alarms blare.

"Are you alright, Majesty?"

Thor pushes past her and stands.

"Where is my brother?" Thor fears he already knows the answer, has feared it ever since Loki paralyzed him with his own lightning. He heard his brother's voice as if through a fog, whispering to the mad titan, but there was an undercurrent to his tone that Thor recognized instantly. If he could have raged against his own stillness he would have. Instead, he only slipped further under Loki's thrall until he knew no more.

"Gone," the Valkyrie says, and Thor's heart sinks. "He attacked me."

"I know. Me too." Thor rubs his fist and turns back to her. "And Thanos?"

"Gone as well."

Thor nods, his hands clenching uselessly at his sides. He remembers when they were children, how easily Loki's laugh would come at his expense. He thinks Loki must be laughing at him now for having fooled him so utterly once again.

"I could never predict you," Thor whispers. The Valkyrie raises an eyebrow at him and he shakes his head. "Sorry." Thor sucks in a breath. "We have to get him back." The thought of his brother in Thanos's nightmarish grasp once more is enough to make him sick.

"If you say so," the Valkyrie says, and Thor can already tell that this is going to be hell. But that's never stopped him before and it certainly won't now.

"He saved all of Asgard. Again." Thor's smile is quick and rueful. He turns to the porthole and watches the stars rush past. A moment to collect himself, nothing more. In another he will again let the mantle of king settle on his shoulders and face his people.

For now, he thinks only of Loki.

.

Idek what this is except a reaction to the second Infinity War trailer. It's clear that Loki is going to have to make some hard decisions in order to save both himself, Thor, and hopefully everyone else on that spaceship. I am sure he is going to be misunderstood. As usual. But I think Loki's going to pull a Snape (except hopefully without the dying part) and be instrumental in taking out Thanos in the end. At least, that is how things should work in an ideal world. They know Loki's legion of fans will be pissed if they destroy his characterization by making him an actual baddie, right? Right?

Title from Cracks (Flux Pavilion Remix), which is good mood music for this piece. Better title coming later, maybe.