Friends From Work

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"Ana? Loki?"

Thor beamed brightly at the sight of familiar faces. Hela had almost killed him during the speedy path to Asgard in the Rainbow Bridge, but he managed to evade her clutches and crash through the Bifrost free from injury. He found himself on Sakaar, bound to a chair with an obedience disk on his neck, thanks to Brunnhilde. The Grandmaster, newly transformed into a colourful leader, stood behind a keyboard synthesiser in a VIP room in his palace, performing a tune to welcome his new contender. He danced on the spot, wagging his eyebrows suggestively at the God of Thunder. Thor could only sit there and watch, disturbed.

Ana and Loki were unusually close, seated together across the room from Thor, enjoying cocktails and mini sandwiches. Loki had just revealed a punchline to a joke, causing the crowd around him to burst out laughing. Ana raised her hand, giving Loki a high-five. She grinned at the trickster, going to lift her glass when her eyes darted over his shoulder at the blond man on the other side of the room.

Ana choked on her drink.

"Thor?"

Thor heard her mumble out his name, and began nodding his head, his smile growing. "Yes. It's me!" He called.

Ana gestured for Loki to look behind him, and watched as he turned white while his eyes enlarged significantly. He cleared his throat, offering his fellow VIPs a fleeting smile. "Excuse us one second." Thor's mouth dropped open when he witnessed Loki hold Ana's hand in his own. He couldn't stop staring as Loki led her to him, eyes squinting with suspicion.

Thor glared at their joined hands. "Loki!" He seethed.

They stopped in front of him, and Thor gasped softly when Ana leaned into the trickster, one hand resting on his chest. She had a shimmering, long blue dress on that matched the colour of Loki's suit.

"Shh!" Loki hushed. "You're alive?" He noted, looking his brother over.

"Yes, of course I'm alive." He glanced at Ana, "Loki, what kind of trickery is this?" Thor hissed.

"Relax, it's not really her." Loki waved it off. The second those words left his lips, Ana's eyes flashed green, the same green that anyone could find in Loki's illusions, and a smirk that didn't fit her spread on her lips. Loki had casted an illusion to deceive the Grandmaster into believing the real Ana wasn't out in the city, breaking laws and buildings.

"Where is she?" Thor panicked, trying to spot her in the sea of Sakaarians. He even focused on a buffet table off to the side where he assumed she could be. Nothing. "Is she dead? She can't be dead! I promised her doctor I'd look after her as long as there is life within my breast. There is still life in here, Loki!"

On cue, a window shattered behind them when a woman crashed through it. Thor couldn't turn his head to see what had happened because he was stuck to a chair, but Loki could and he widened his eyes, making sure that the Grandmaster wasn't aware of the accident. Ana rolled to a stop, and held herself up by her hands, choking from the smoke she inhaled seconds ago. She brushed the short strands of her hair away from her face, and breathed out.

"Ah, damn..." She muttered under her breath, spinning around, eyes on the aircraft that fell out of the sky, leaving a trail of thick black smoke in the air. She frowned to herself, and lifted a hand to her chin. "I really thought it would work this time."

She faced the crowd that grew around her, waving her hands reassuringly as she got to her feet. "It's all good, folks, the aircraft is heading away from the city." She assured, a wide grin on her face.

Behind her, a statue of the Grandmaster that everybody seemed to worship on a daily basis, collapsed the moment the aircraft crashed into it. She sucked in her lips from the sound of destruction, and shrugged it off. "It was ugly anyway."

Thor physically relaxed at her voice. "Oh, thank the gods."

Ana reached down and brushed the pieces of splintered glass from her ripped jeans, groaning softly when she saw she had scrapped her knees upon impact. She squinted when she saw an illusion of herself feel Loki up. She rolled her eyes, and he advanced on her. When he was close enough, Ana smacked him on the shoulder, earning a soft ow. The fake Ana disappeared, and the Grandmaster squinted at the way Ana seemed to change out of a dress and into a causal outfit within seconds. "What did I say?" Ana whispered.

"You said to keep a low profile." Loki whispered back.

"She's was touching you. That is so not me!" Ana retorted.

"Are you sure?" Loki narrowed his eyes.

Ana lifted her fist, and Loki raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, don't hit me. So?" He glanced at her expectantly.

"Another failure." Ana announced, rubbing off the soot from her forearms. "No ship in the junkyard is strong enough to get through any of the wormholes."

"Does this mean you're done?" Loki asked.

"Have you met me?" Ana scoffed. "Hell no. This only means I gotta look harder."

"Speaking of looking harder, look who finally decided to show up." Loki nudged her forward towards the Grandmaster and the man in the chair.

Ana recognised Thor's golden locks and gasped. "Thor's alive?" She slapped Loki again, causing him to stumbled on his feet. "I knew it!"

Thor finally smiled when the real Ana emerged from behind him, but it soon faltered when he saw the state she was in. He had only seen her minutes ago, but much about her was different. "What have you been up to?" He questioned. He looked at her kneecaps, grimacing. "You're bleeding."

Ana kneeled beside him and placed a hand on his arm, leaning in to whisper so that the Grandmaster wouldn't hear. "After Loki turned the Grandmaster into a cooler dude, he let me off the hook and I was allowed to do my own thing. I've been searching through the dumps for any kind of aircraft that can take us out of here. So far, ten failures." She reported.

Thor's eyebrows furrowed when he heard her say the amount of failures she came across. "How long have you been stuck here?"

Ana sighed, glancing up at Loki briefly. "Weeks." They said at the same time.

"Weeks? I just got here." Thor replied.

"It's been driving me insane, not knowing if you were alive. But I believed, and I'm glad you're okay, Thor. I can't lose you now or ever." Ana told him with a soft smile, and let herself breathe after a long time, relief flooding within her.

Thor winked, humbled by her words. "Don't worry, I won't be going anywhere."

"What are you whispering about?" The Grandmaster spoke up, startling them all. Truthfully, Ana forgot he was standing in front of them. Topaz had also appeared out of nowhere, and stared at the three. "Time works real different around these parts. On any other world, I'd be like, millions of years old. But here on Sakaar..." The Grandmaster trailed off, catching Loki's eyes, and blinked, a sly smile on his face.

He then motioned with his hand to Thor, "In any case, you two know this... you call yourself Lord of Thunder?"

"God of Thunder." Thor corrected, tilting his head at the Grandmaster to both Ana and Loki. "Tell him."

Before Ana could confirm their friendship, Loki interjected, "I've never met this man in my life." He laughed.

"He's my brother." Thor growled.

Loki shrugged. "Adopted." He added.

"And An-" Thor began.

"Marcy!" Ana quickly interrupted, shooting Thor a stern look. She was still under a false alias. "Is his teammate."

"Is he any kind of a fighter?" He asked Ana and Loki.

Thor started laughing, "You take this thing out of my neck and I'll show you."

The Grandmaster chuckled, fixing the collar of his robe. "Now listen to that. He's threatening me. Hey, Sparkles, here's the deal. If you wanna get back to Ass-place, Assberg..."

"Asgard." Thor reworded.

"Any contender who defeats my champion, their freedom they shall win." The Grandmaster continued.

"Fine. Then point me in the direction of whoever's ass I have to kick." Thor declared, grunting at the uncomfortable state he was in.

"That's what I call, contender! Direction would be this way, Lord." The Grandmaster took the device that controlled the chair Thor was in off his keyboard, and pressed a button, waving it forward. The unexpected movement of his chair alarmed Thor, and he cried out.

"Ah! Loki! Marcy, help!"

The Grandmaster instantly turned to the woman, jabbing the control against her chest. She swatted it away as he said, "You meddle with him, I put you back in the arena." He threatened, grinning. Loki grabbed her by her hoodie and pulled her back, sending the Grandmaster a reassuring smile, as if to say I've got her.

The Grandmaster nodded. "And clean your knees, you're staining my floors." He remarked.

Ana shook Loki off, glaring at him, then adjusting her blue leather jacket that was over a grey hoodie, and called after Thor.

"Don't worry, big guy! I'll see you soon!"

Ana kept searching through piles and piles of junk, lifting objects to hopefully reveal an aircraft that was still intact and capable of flight. Now, she had more motivation to find a way out. Thor was back, and she needed to get him back to Asgard so that he could deal with his sister, and ensure the safety of his people. She held what looked like to be a piece of metal from a military tank over her head, eyes trailing across the items she found underneath it. She lit up when she could make out a wing of a plane, and she abandoned the metal, throwing it behind her. She squatted on the edge of the mountain of junk, and reached for the large white wing, straining to get a good grip of it. Once she had ahold of it, she pulled, groaning. She stood and backed up, hauling the plane from it's hidden spot. The useless objects on top of it fell off, revealing the entire body of the plane.

Or what was left of it.

Ana let go of the wing when she saw that half of it was torn off. Her face fell, her shoulders deflated out of defeat. She balled her hands into fists, and clenched her jaw, frustrated. She acted out and kicked at the wing, making it rattle and collide into the mountain of trash behind it.

"Come on." She muttered, looking up at the sky dotted with wormholes. "Give me something, for once!"

Ana's ears picked up breathing behind her, and she spun to face the unknown. Her jaw dropped at the blonde standing in front of her.

"Help me, Ana. You're my only hope." Amora declared, reaching for Ana.

Ana grinned when her hands were taken by hers. "Star Wars, man, it's everywhere." She commented.

Amora didn't have the usual spark of mischief or playfulness in her eyes, and that caused Ana to frown. "I am not in a playing mood unfortunately. Hela has invaded Asgard and has forced Skurge and I to be her lackeys. You must pray to Heimdall, for he will show you the truth." She recited, gripping her hands tighter.

Ana looked at her hesitantly. "Heimdall? But I've never met the man. How would he know to answer my call?"

"You may not know of him but he is very much aware of you." Amora replied. She grimaced, shutting her eyes when a pulse of energy surged within her. It was a warning. "My form won't hold for much longer. Every fibre of my being is straining just to make sure you receive this message."

Ana nodded. "Well, message received."

Amora repositioned her hands so they held Ana's face gingerly. "Save us, Sentinel."

Ana frowned when Amora's eyes suddenly went wide out of fear. She didn't have time to ask her about it because Amora's form fizzled into green smoke that dispersed into the air.

"Amora?" Ana whispered. She panicked when a woman's scream suddenly came up from behind her. "Amora!" She turned, only to find nothing. She looked down at the metal rod she had mindlessly reached for, dropping it on the ground. She stepped away and looked at the air around her for any sign of Amora's enchantments. Ana didn't know Amora well, but from the moment she had saved her from Thanos' ship, she knew she could trust the Enchantress. She felt the need to return the favour, and rescue the damsel in distress.

"Okay, okay..." Ana breathed in deeply and closed her eyes. "Heimdall, if you can hear me, I need your help." She spoke into the air.

Ana peaked an eye open, and after seeing that it didn't work, she tried again.

"Heimdall, if you can hear me... please, I need to know if you can help me see the truth on Asgard."

Ana opened her eyes, and knew it worked. She saw the dark skinned man across from her, carrying his sword in one hand. His gold eyes pierced her identical ones from underneath the hood her wore over his head. She moved froward, realising now that he had linked their minds, and teleported her to Asgard. She looked down at her body, lifting her hands when she couldn't feel the breeze that made his cloak flutter behind him.

"Hello, Warrior."

Heimdall sent her a smile. It was forced, only because of the chaos around him. He had a group of refugees huddled behind him, and he stood in front of them, protective. He heard Ana's request, and answered her prayer. Heimdall hadn't been tuned into Ana's life for a while, and it was a surprise to him when her messy form appeared.

Ana walked forward, clutching her hands tightly. "Hi. I... it's nice to finally meet you. Thor speaks highly of you on Ea- uh, Midgard."

"Likewise." Heimdall replied. "I'm afraid that this meeting won't last too long for us to get to know each other better. I have my people to protect."

Ana's eyes showed the sympathy she felt as they held onto each other, flinching from the guards Hela had raised from the dead, using the Eternal Flame to bring them back to life. The guards were marching along the structure above them. Ana noticed now that they were concealed under a bridge, close to the mountains. "Yes, that's why I'm here. Thor finally got to Loki and I, but we're all stranded on a planet called Sakaar. We are unaware of Hela's plans and what she wishes to do to Asgard."

"The Goddess of Death has taken the throne and purged through the entire Asgardian army." Heimdall revealed, "She wants the rule everything beyond the Nine Realms, and is willing to tear through the cosmos to do so. We are left defenceless and alone."

"How can I help?" Ana desperately asked.

Heimdall recognised so much of her father in her just from that simple request. He let himself smile, nostalgia in his eyes. He placed a hand on her shoulder, "Come to us. Bring Thor, and all those who are willing to fight."

"I'll do everything I can." Ana nodded, determined.

Heimdall returned the nod, and ushered his fellow Asgardians to leave their current spot underneath the bridge. He looked over his shoulder to Ana, sending her a small smile. "Try looking in the third sector."

"Third sector?" Ana echoed, puzzled.

"You'll see it." Heimdall added.

Ana blinked, and her head was nudged back when she saw the familiar surroundings of Sakaar. She looked around at the signs attached to the metal poles posted at every sector of the junkyards. She followed the numbers until she got to the third sector, one which was closed off by a tall fence, and guarded by wardens.

Ana ducked behind the fence, searching for anything out of the ordinary. Her heart stopped when she spotted the aircraft. The exact same one she would ride in with her team in-between missions and Shawarma runs. The Quinjet. It was in perfect condition smack in the middle of the piles of space trash around it. She squinted then, trying to come up with a reason as to why it would be in Sakaar. It clicked instantly, and she gasped. "Wait a minute, that's the one that Bruce was on... holy shit!"

Ana straightened up, and ran towards the city. She beamed up at the sky, throwing her fists in the air. "A third of the Avengers are back!" Ana screamed happily. She jumped over a hill, and landed on her face in a pill of mud. It should have ruined her mood, but it didn't tarnish her mindset. She spat out the mud and grimaced for a few seconds, before a reluctant smile overcame her features.

"My mood is still intact. Because the Avengers are back!"

"Loki!"

Ana slid across the floor on her feet, coming up from around a corner, and finding the VIP room that overlooked the arena on the other side of the hall. The door was still open, meaning the match hadn't began yet. She raced towards the room, only to skid to a stop when the guardsmen extended their hands, blocking her from coming inside.

"No slaves, scrappers, gladiators, past girlfriends, boyfriends or relatives of the Grandmaster allowed." One of them drawled. He sounded like a recording to Ana.

Ana scoffed. "That is a long list of things I am not, nor ever going to be. I only want to talk to..." Her eyes trailed off as well as her speech, and she found Loki inside the VIP room, enjoying a martini. She clicked her fingers, and a mystical hand appeared behind Loki, and she slapped him upside the head to get his attention.

Loki grumbled to himself when he accidentally spilled his drink on his clothes. He wrung his hands to get rid of the alcohol, and turned around, glaring at the woman responsible. She made a motion for him to come over, and while he walked to the door, she gestured to the platters of food along the table.

Loki sighed, shaking his head.

Ana hardened her stare, and pointed at the food aggressively.

Loki looked up, muttering something under his breath that caused Ana's mouth to drop open out of shock, and he picked up two platters on his way to her.

Loki smiled at the guardsmen, slipping past them so that he and Ana could talk in private in the hallway. Ana relieved Loki of the silver platters, and breathed out.

"What are you still doing here? Set Thor free and let's all haul ass. I found our way out of here." She told him.

"I don't think that's possible." He gestured to the many guests inside the VIP room. "Too many witnesses. Besides, he's already prepped for a battle against the Grandmaster's champion. I placed a large waver against him, so tonight, I probably won't make it back to our room."