Above All Shadows [Loki Timetravel fic - Completed]

38. Sakaar: A Reprise

It was bright sunlight when Heimdall brought them down on Sakaar. He burned his mark unto a pile of unidentifiable trash in doing so. Loki scrambled over to the next mound, which looked to be more stable and stank less, then collapsed onto his knees.

'Couldn't we've done that earlier?' Brunnhilde scoffed.

Loki let his head drop down to his chest. 'A toddler with the right sensor in his hand would be able to track the dark energy Heimdall used to send us here. Thanos and the Maw would've tracked us in minutes. They'll probably track us now anyway, it'll just take them a little longer.'

As Loki spoke, shivers ran up his spine. At times, Thanos lost his temper and acted on impulse, but that wasn't how it usually happened. He preferred to think problems through, to consider the variables, to find the most damaging response to an insult. And while he worked to track Loki down, he would have enough time to do just that.

And when he finally does come, it'll be with the fury of a wildfire.

He didn't want to contemplate what would happen to him and to Brunnhilde should they ever end up in the Mad Titan's grasp again, but his mind refused to cooperate. The stench of melting plastic and rotted flesh filled his nostrils; the howls of the dying echoed in his ears. Before he knew it, he was dry heaving. Loki's only salvation was the fact he hadn't consumed a proper meal in days.

'Loki? What's going on with you?' Brunnhilde grasped him by the shoulders and once the tumult in his stomach subsided, she pulled him to his feet. 'Come on, this isn't a place to linger.'

It was a long, largely quiet walk to the city. Loki had nothing to say and Brunnhilde only uttered banal encouragements when his pace started to lag. The two hours he had spent unconscious back on the Nesha IV hadn't built up his strength nearly as much as he'd liked and the trudge through the uneven, trash-laden surface of Sakaar left him exhausted anew. By the time they reached the building when Brunnhilde kept her flat, he was ready to collapse once more.

'I should've fucking known,' Brunnhilde groaned as she reached for the door to her apartment. 'I'm assuming you didn't do this?'

The lock was obviously broken and there were deep gouges all across the door itself. At a light push, the door popped open to reveal chaos. Brunnhilde's apartment had hardly been well cared for back when Loki had broken in and dragged her along to the Sanctuary, but this was different. Splinters of broken furniture and shards of shattered liquor bottles littered the floor; a number of filthy slogans had been scrawled across the walls.

'I'm going to figure out what the looters took with them,' Brunnhilde said. 'Clear up the couch as best you can and sit down. You're starting to sway.'

Loki didn't waste what little energy he still had on arguing. He brushed off the splintered wood and plaster off the couch, then collapsed on it. Brunnhilde moved through the apartment, muttering darkly under her breath as she found more and more damage. Loki sighed and allowed his eyes to drift shut.

When he opened his eyes again darkness met him. He lay on his side, his legs curled up and a thin blanket tangled up around him. Loki untangled himself from the material and sat up. He was still in Brunnhilde's apartment. Light from the neighbouring building fell through the shattered windows and provided enough illumination for Loki to make out the remnants of the furnishings.

'Loki,' Heimdall called out from a distance. A quiet sound followed, reminiscent to the rumble of a spring brook, then Heimdall's form took shape in the centre of Brunnhilde's apartment. Wind seemed to tousle his dreads and his eyes reflected a light that wasn't visible on Sakaar. 'Are you in need of assistance?'