'I would advise you to...'

The medic lost his train of thought at the hiss of the door to Loki's room. For a moment, Loki was glad to have the reprieve. The medic and his assistant had been poking and prodding at him for some minutes now. He was less glad, however, when he saw the source of the interruption.

'Is Nebula not with you?' Gamora asked as she strolled into the room.

Loki grabbed his shirt and pulled it back on. 'Why would she be?'

'Why shouldn't she?' Gamora replied, then cocked her head in an eerie imitation of her adoptive father.

Nebula had in fact spent the best part of an hour here and had left only when the medic had demanded custody of Loki one last time, but Loki wasn't about to share that titbit with Gamora. Instead, he turned to the medic. 'Is there anything else?'

'No, I believe I'm satisfied with your condition,' the man replied. He gestured for his assistant to start moving out of the room, then in a half-hearted tone, went on. 'It would, of course, be wise to be respectful of your body in the coming weeks.'

'I'll do my best.'

'Are these two going to finally release you from their care?' Gamora said once the medic and his assistant left Loki to endure Gamora's company on his own. 'How nice. Your body-guard must have missed you while you were stuck here with only the lonely Nebula to hold vigil over you.'

'Why should she feel lonely when she has a sister as wonderful as you?'

Where he had half-expected a backhanded slap — Gamora could be liberal with such when provoked, came only a derisive chuckle. 'Nebula thinks you two are good friends. But it strikes me as odd that your body-guard knew your real name, while you didn't deign to inform Nebula of the truth. Guess she wasn't special enough in your estimation.'

Loki surmised Gamora was still bitter about her recent defeat; those who were unaccustomed to losing seldom made for gracious losers. If she hadn't already, she would probably try to rub this fictive relationship between Brunnhilde and him into Nebula's face. It was an attempt to drive a wedge between himself and Nebula. He could appreciate the sentiment and the pettiness of it, but the method was so crude it was nigh embarrassing.

She really is unused to losing.

'The guard knew my true name because she entered my employ before I thought to adopt another name,' Loki said, tugging at the collar of his shirt. The garment had been sewn for a species with a different anatomy to his own and didn't sit right on his shoulders no matter what he tried. 'I'm afraid you've misinterpreted the relationship between us. I pay her to watch my back, not to warm my bed or whatever other nonsense you've dreamt up.'

Gamora raised an eyebrow. 'Why does a combat master feel he needs someone to watch his back?'

'I knew very little about the Sanctuary before I arrived here. It's only sensible to have a back-up when you are entering unfamiliar territory. Surely your father taught you that much?'

That left Gamora silent long enough for Loki to reach for his coat.

'Your concern for the quality of acquaintances your sister makes does you credence,' Loki said in a tone so polite it could only infuriate, 'but I'm afraid, I don't have the time right now to answer a host of questions. Your father expects a great deal from me.'

'I'll expect we'll have a chance to speak again soon enough,' Gamora replied.

Loki smiled and offered her a shallow bow as he hurried out of the room. He was keen to be gone before Gamora spotted his rising anxiety. Petty grounds or not, she had it in for him. Now that Brunnhilde had sparked her interest, she was unlikely to forget about the Valkyrie's existence and move on.

Trouble was, Brunnhilde was a vulnerability. He had fed her that story about spying on his father's behalf — a story that directly contradicted the tale he had spun for Thanos. And Brunnhilde's mind had no protections against the mind stone; Thanos needed only to look.

'There has to be a way to smooth this over,' Loki told himself.

Yes, it's true, my father initially sent me on a covert mission to investigate your crusade, but when I got here, I came to agree with your philosophy. Why didn't I tell you earlier? I wasn't sure you would believe my change of heart. Why continue to keep the Valkyrie around? I'm pretty sure she reports back to my father, I didn't want to take the risk of him realising I'd switched sides.

That was weak. A dim-witted child would be incredulous at such a load of codswallop. Loki swore. When you had a story, you need to trim all the loose ends, when was he going to learn this lesson?

I was desperate to leave, but the only way my father would let me go was if I did this mission for him. He told me to find the Valkyrie. She's a fugitive, having betrayed her oaths. I think my father has been using her as an informant — she passes on news from outside the Nine Realms. If she is his agent, I am sure she's reporting on me as well. I couldn't let him find out that I'd legitimately changed sides.

Why didn't I tell you? I... don't know.

Perhaps he could just go up to Thanos and sell out Brunnhilde now under the pretence of full-disclosure? After a momentary consideration, Loki dismissed the idea. Thanos would be enraged. Loki himself wouldn't come out unscathed, but Brunnhilde would bear the brunt of it. Of course, once Thanos tore out the contents of her mind, he wouldn't find the memories to support Loki's claim that she was Odin's informant. At that point, the rage would turn back to Loki.

Besides, the suggestion that Odin might be interested in Thanos' work would implant a dangerous suspicion in the Titan's mind. Once he considered Asgard a potential threat, the realm wouldn't be safe.

This was all working out too bloody smoothly.

'Well,' Loki muttered under his breath. 'You need to trim the loose threads. She's got to go.'

The first step to fixing up a horrendous fuck-up in your plans was to look like you didn't realise you had made a mistake. Thus, Loki took the medic's advice and made no effort to push his body. He strolled the streets, pausing to listen to the buskers and lingering at a stall that stocked knick-knacks the Sanctuary's inhabitants could entertain themselves with during their sparse leisure time. He picked out a Kree puzzle box that he then fiddled with the rest of the way to the hostel.

When he entered the suite, Brunnhilde was upon him in half a second. She pushed him against the plaster wall and aimed the tip of her knife at his throat. Before Loki could respond, however, she seemed to realise who she was manhandling and lowered the knife.

'Where the hell have you been?' she demanded.

'Making new friends,' Loki replied, gently pushing Brunnhilde away from him. 'It rather took a lot out of me, I was in the Palisade's medical wing. Can we move this to the suite proper? You and I need to talk.'

Brunnhilde's lips curled as they moved into the lounge area. He wasn't sure if she doubted his explanation for his two-day absence or if she was irritated he had not sent a message to her informing her of his situation. In hindsight, he ought to have arranged for a messenger. But in either case, it wasn't going to change what he needed to tell her.

'We sure are overdue for a conversation,' Brunnhilde said. 'Someone was in here yesterday while I was at dinner. They searched the rooms. They were good, but they missed a few details when they were putting things back into place.'

'Is anything gone?'

'No.'

'Are you certain there was someone in here then? I move your stuff around all the time and you've never suggested someone had been through the suite until now.'

Brunnhilde glared at him. 'When you move something, you move it, not shift it over by half an inch. Do you think I'm so incompetent that I can't tell the difference? Besides, you haven't been here, have you?'

Loki swore. If the chaotic mess Brunnhilde left behind was a strategic decision on her part, so be it. But just because Brunnhilde didn't notice something was missing, didn't mean there wasn't something she had overlooked. Moreover, a smart spy could have made copies before returning the originals to their place. He shook his head, then sighed. This development only confirmed his instincts.

'Change of plans,' Loki declared. 'Take half of the remaining money — I trust you know where it is — and get yourself onto a ship getting out of here. When you get back to Sakaar, go to Nahera's in the M'or precinct. I made arrangements with him for a secure locker, so he'll be expecting you. There will be 1.7 million in there. Fair compensation for your work here.'

'Are you sure about this? That's rather sudden. I can still be useful to have around here,' Brunnhilde responded after a momentary pause.

'I've made up my mind. If you can't find a smugglers' ship heading in the right direction, just take yours. I'll find my own means to get out of here.'

'Ah... sure you will.'

'Gamora saw you coming out of my bedroom and overheard you referring to me by my real name!' Loki replied with more venom than he'd intended.

'How the fuck was I supposed to know —'

'I called out for a "guard", didn't I?' he shot back. 'She saw you and thinks there is something between us. And she has it in for me. It only follows that she'll try to use you to get to me. By the sound of it, she's already trying with this intruder.'

'How is it that she has it in for you after you spent two days in the med bay? What did you do to piss her off?'

Loki was about to explain about his intercession into the life-long rivalry between Gamora and Nebula, but decided against it. That was mere distraction now. He gestured in Brunnhilde's direction. 'This isn't about Gamora, it's about her father. The contents of your memories can condemn us both and Thanos has the means to extricate them in about two seconds.'

'If my mind's not safe, neither is yours.'

'I've already survived the trial, Brunnhilde. I've given Thanos enough to make him believe I can become an instrument to fulfil his ends. Back on the ship I explained to you how I came to be out here. Should Thanos extract that memory from your head, I'd be hard-pressed to reconcile that with the story I told him. A few extraneous details I can explain away, but there are limits to my talents.'

Brunnhilde turned the knife in her hands. 'All these undercover theatrics. Have you considered that you are making this overly complicated? We know now he's up to no good. Just shank the bastard.'

Loki burst out laughing. When he brought himself under control Brunnhilde was staring at him as if he were utterly devoid of common sense.

'A Valkyrie through and through, even after all these years,' he said, offering her a condescending smile. 'Just charge out with your weapons drawn. How well did that work out for all of you against Hela?'

'Fine, Odinson. Do as you fucking like,' Brunnhilde replied. She slipped her knife back into its holster and began gathering up the articles of her clothing scattered all around the suite.