Both/And

Chapter 2: Home to Roost

Thanos stands on what remains of a ship, bodies at his feet, Thor and Loki amongst them, trying to keep calm in the face of the utter destruction of their community. Hulk has already made his move, flung to Earth at the last second as Heimdall's last act as guardian of the Aesir. Thor, beaten bloody, crouches on his knees. Loki, calculating his next move, slowly circles the room, listening for clues as to who in the carnage may yet be living, as well as wracking his brain for ideas that might save them. He has only one idea, and it seems like an absolutely terrible one.

Thor tries to stand, pain surging through his body, and is immediately kicked in the side, toppling over. Loki tries not to show his emotion.

"You failed me," Thanos says to him, "I sent you to Earth with one mission. And you did not deliver."

"I did not anticipate the group that calls themselves 'Avengers' being there to fend off my attack," Loki answers, "I was thwarted."

"Whatever you wish to call it, you failed," he answers, "And you lost the Mind Stone."

"No, not lost. It's still on Earth, and the planet isn't so large – the search should be easy for one as powerful as yourself."

"And I will be heading there as well. But the Space Stone...I assume it went to Asgard. And Asgard is now simply rubble. Where, praytell, is my Infinity Stone?"

"We don't have it!" Thor yells, "So will you please leave us to die in peace?"

"No, I think you're lying," Thanos says, gesturing to one of his lackeys. They yank back Thor's head and, watching Thanos for a signal, hold a blade to his cheek. Thanos nods. With one swipe, they cut a deep gash in Thor's face and he screams as another of them wrenches his arm from its socket and punches Thor in the side of his head. The bludgeoning and cuts continue.

"Enough!" Loki shouts, "End this."

"Then give me what I want," Thanos says, disarmingly calm amongst the carnage.

Loki sighs and pulls the Tesseract from where he has had it concealed, "And then will you allow us a dignified death?" Thanos laughs and Loki knows there is no way his request will be granted, his heart sinking.

"No, Asgardian, there is no dignity in death for a coward like yourself." One of Thanos' minions plucks the Tesseract from Loki's hand and offers it to Thanos from their knees.

Loki locks eyes with Thor and shakes his head, "I'm not Asgardian. I am Loki, of Jotunheim, son of Odin...and I am no coward." Thor's face falls and he knows Loki is planning something that will probably end badly, one last desperate bid toward freedom...for at least one of them. Thor dreads to consider Loki might not be thinking of his own survival.

Thanos closes the distance between he and Loki and reaches for his throat at the same time that Loki disappears from in front of him, reappearing near Thor, lashing out at the minions of Thanos nearest. But Thanos is fast and with the power of the Tesseract now in his gauntlet, he is in front of them both before Loki even realizes he's moved. He grabs Loki's throat, lifting his feet off the deck. There is no time to draw a weapon, no time to cast something other than to desperately conjure protective energies with which he surrounds his windpipe, hoping to keep it from being crushed. He casts an illusion over himself, hoping it will hold. When Thanos jerks his hand to snap Loki's neck, he is ready, and he has enough strength to mimic the sound before going limp, his body shuddering under the carefully constructed veil that shows everyone else his death as he is thrown to the deck. Thor roars in anguish, Loki's heart breaking for what he's asking his brother to see.

Thanos spits on him as he walks past, "Pathetic." He heads back to his own vessel, gesturing for his minions to follow, "Destroy this place. Leave the other one. He can die in the explosion."

With a few more blows, Thor is bleeding and gasping on the floor, unable to move, his grief at Loki's death overwhelming. He barely hears the engines of the shuttle as Thanos and his people leave.

Loki drops the illusion and takes deep, gasping breaths as he turns over to his hands and knees, his throat bruised and sore from Thanos' grip. He crawls over to Thor and turns him over, very gently touching his cheek, using his magic to heal the worst of the wounds enough that Thor won't bleed to death.

"You're alive," Thor says weakly.

"Yes. My illusions can be used for more than mere trickery, Brother," Loki whispers.

"Asgard has fallen. There are too many dead."

"Valkyrie will lead our people well, wherever they land. Asgard will continue. And we will find them again."

Thor barely manages to sit with Loki's help, "No, we won't. We're going to die here. They're going to blow this ship to nothing."

"That doesn't mean we have to die," Loki says. "Let's get you up. This time, I'll be the one protecting you." Loki ducks under Thor's arm and braces himself, hauling his brother unsteadily to his feet. "You're a lot heavier than the last time I did this," he says.

Thor weakly laughs, "Well I think the last time was when we were children, wasn't it?"

"It was quite some time ago," Loki answers, "Perhaps even that long."

Explosions tear through the ship and Thor leans against Loki, "How do we survive this?"

"By trusting me," Loki replies. As the blast rips through the hull, flinging them into space, Loki tightens his hold on his brother, a green glow enveloping them to keep the shrapnel from shredding them to ribbons.

And then they are flying through nothingness, the cold biting against their skin, ice crystals forming on their hair and lashes before they race across the rest of their bodies. Thor's eyes are closed and Loki hopes that he is merely unconscious, not yet dead, but dares not to loosen his grip to feel for a pulse. His body is stiffening and he isn't sure he'd be able to detect one, anyway as the cold envelopes him. His grasp on Thor weakens as he freezes, even as he wills himself to stay awake and to stay together. The last thing he sees before he blacks out is the flash of a starship approaching through the darkness.