A/N: Hello everybody! I just wanted to say thanks for 1.1k reads on this story! It means so much to me and thank you for supporting my writing. This particular one is a little angsty and was better in my head but I hope you still enjoy it. Thanks again.

The dark empty space seemed even colder than usual today. When a visitor arrived here days ago , you thought it would be a welcome change of pace from your dismal life floating through space as Thanos' servant, but it had only made your life seem more dismal and terrifying. Seeing the innocent boy tortured day after day with little rest between his beatings and manipulations.

About a week ago, you had traveled to a place called Sakaar with Thanos and his minion, The Other, to see a man named The Grandmaster. Thanos had been looking for a new henchman for a while and occasionally, he would send you and The Other to Sakaar to peruse the wreckage and holding cells of the lost souls of the universe. While you were on your visit, a young scraper came to alert The Grandmaster to a new find. He had been all too perfect. He had just the right connections to make Thanos' evil plan possible. While still unconscious when you'd found him, The Other did not hesitate to pay The Grandmaster handsomely and have you take him back to Thanos' lair.

You had grown a bit attached to the God of Mischief while nursing him back to health. When he'd woken up, he'd been confused and shaken. He was clearly feeling a tremendous loss of some kind and while you couldn't explain it, you were overcome with an inexplicable urge to comfort him. While it had to be done in secret to avoid the wrath of Thanos, you did your best to care for Loki. Even if your best was only sneaking a little extra food onto his plate or trying to engage him in a quiet conversation even if he wouldn't talk to you. He was nearly always silent, but you thought that he seemed like he wanted to talk to you sometimes. You certainly hoped he did.

Now, however, you weren't daydreaming about what could possibly happen between you and the God of Mischief in another life. You were stuck in real life watching him be tortured for what seemed like the hundredth time since he'd arrived only days ago. Some of Thanos' methods appeared more tame to an onlooker than others. For example, sometimes Loki would just sit pensive looking with his eyes closed while his skin became increasingly pale as Thanos mind controlled him. Other times, however, Thanos' methods were not as easy to watch. The current situation was one of those times.

You turned your face away as Loki was crying out in agony. He was clearly trying his best to stifle his own screams through gritted teeth and pained moans, but it was not working well. His expression was pained and he writhed to try to leave Thonos' grasp. That wouldn't work though. It never worked. You'd been trying for almost a year now. Nothing worked.

A silent tear fell down your cheek as the energy of Thanos' power pulsed at Loki's head. You wiped it away before anyone could notice. Thanos then stopped the beam of energy and Loki slumped to the floor. He let out a groan and tried to pull himself up off the ground. He was so weak that he had to try several times before he was back on his knees. Thanos' towering figure then rose from his chair and began to step off of his pedestal of sorts.

"We don't have to do this, Odinson. All you have to do is-"

"MY NAME IS LOKI LAUFEYSON!" Loki's voice broke as he practically screamed the words at Thanos. His voice was full of pain and suffering. You just wanted it to stop. To take the pain from him. Absorb it all so he didn't have to feel it anymore. "Do not bore me with your personal problems. I do not care about your past or anything relating to it. You just need to realize that you are on the wrong side. While this torture is quite enjoyable for me, it is unnecessary. You just have to join me. Pledge your loyalty to me, and we don't have to do this anymore. Until then, I will continue this until I break you. And believe me, boy, I will break you," Thanos continued. Another tear fell down your cheek.

Loki was silent, though he clearly wanted to respond. His face was in the form of a withering stare at Thanos. The mad titan waited another moment before stepping towards Loki. Loki stood still and Thanos approached. "Fine. Your decision is questionable, but that can be corrected," Thanos said as he held out his large blade and The Other came to his side quickly to retrieve it. Thanos then raised his fist into the air. He was going to strike Loki in the head. It wouldn't kill him, but you knew Thanos would make the recovery as painful as possible. You couldn't just sit by and watch.

"Alright, stop!" You moved forward and swiped the weapon from an unsuspecting Other. With the large blade in your hand, you charged at Thanos. For a moment, you thought you might prevail, but Thanos was too quick as you felt yourself suddenly stuck in place. Thanos just laughed a horribly menacing laugh. You stood frozen as he used his powers to render you immobile. Your eyes flashed with fear as you felt your body be dragged closer to Thanos. "Well, this is a surprise. My servant risking her life to save an ignorant outcast? My, my, my," Thanos pondered sarcastically. He had clearly suspected what you had done.

He looked almost amused with your rescue attempt, but when he saw Loki's panicked expression, his face changed. "But perhaps you are not completely useless," he said thoughtfully. Before you knew it, you were being gripped in a tight headlock by Thanos. Your throat grew tight and you could barely breathe. You tried to scream, but all that came out was the little air you had left. You felt Thanos' blade pressed against your temple. You looked at Loki who was still seated in front of you. His eyes were wide, but he was trying to show as little emotion as possible. He would not give Thanos the satisfaction.

"I'd like to offer you a choice," started Thanos. "You join me, or she dies." He pressed the blade harder into your head and grabbed your throat tighter. You saw Loki's face get slightly more frantic and you quickly shook your head at him. You would not let him sacrifice himself for you. He then sighed deeply, but did not say anything. "Alright, you've made your choice," he said menacingly. Energy then pulsed from his hand and into the blade and you began to feel the heat as it crept closer to your face. It very soon became painful, and you twisted your face to avoid shouting. You began to let out a groan, but the pain stopped when Loki yelled.

"That's enough!"

Thanos smiled and ceased his energy projection. "Well, boy. I expected this from her," he said as he loosened his grip just slightly. "But I must say this is a surprise from you. I did not think sentiment was in your nature. Yet, here you are. Exchanging a life for a life. This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child's prayer," Thanos spat. Loki looked down. "Just let her go," he said quietly. Just then, you felt a large dagger materialize in your hand. You found Loki's gaze on you. You then heard a voice in your head. "Stab him in the stomach and then run. Take it and stab The Other on your way out. Hide. Do not come back. I will come for you if I make it." It was Loki's voice. You had not been aware of his telepathic powers, but you had other things to worry about. While you weren't sure you could get out of here using only a dagger in the first place, if you were able to, you didn't think you'd be able to just leave Loki or watch him be killed. You knew you had no other choice, however, and readied yourself to strike.

All of this while Thanos monologued and mocked Loki. "Pleading will do you no good, Odinson. So I believe we've made a- Argh!"

You plunged the dagger into Thanos' stomach and your body fell to the floor. The blow was a bit painful, but you recovered quickly and gripped the dagger tighter. You ran at The Other and dragged the dagger across it's throat. The Other fell to the ground and did not recover. Loki's magic was weak, but he was able to conjure tight ropes that wrapped around Thanos.

You were still in the middle of space, so there weren't many ways you could escape. You hid behind a large rock pillar and just waited. Waited for whatever horrible thing was happening to be over. You heard Thanos break free from his restraints and thrash forward. He went over to Loki and quickly raised his hand again. "I will not tolerate this disrespect, as you will now learn," said Thanos threateningly. Loki braced for the impact of the blow.

You looked down at the dagger that was still in your hand and before you knew what you were doing, you had thrown it straight at Thanos. Much to your surprise, the dagger hit Thanos right underneath his jaw and dug deep into the skin. He clutched a hand to his neck and fell to the ground. While he did not move, you knew better than to assume he was dead. He'd be back on his face in a matter of minutes. You knew time was of the essence.

You raced to the body of The Other that was still on the ground and grabbed a small key from a pocket in it's cloak. You rushed to Loki's side and undid his restraints as quickly as possible. "We have to go, we don't have much time," you said frantically. To your surprise, Loki did not move right away. The first thing he did when his hands were free was wrap you in a tight embrace. Your mind screamed for you to break it and run, but your heart begged you to stay. You returned the hug and let your feelings unfold for a moment. You had just killed your captor that had kept you trapped for a year and now you were hugging the person you had wanted to hug for a full week now. Your brain was racing trying to process all the emotions you were experiencing, but all that stopped when you noticed your shoulder had become wet with Loki's tears.

His crying was silent, and barely noticeable, but once you noticed it, you could tell it was serious. Loki was shaking in your arms and his breath was catching occasionally. You did your best to comfort him and held him tightly. While you didn't know him well yet, there was something about him that had caused you to care for him more than you had cared for anything in a long time. After a bit, Loki broke the hug and sniffed a little.

"Should we..." he said gesturing towards Thanos' ship that was on a platform in the distance. You shook your head. "Not that way. Thanos can catch us easily. We need to go to Earth- I mean Midgard. It's our best bet. On top of that, we need to warn the people of that realm. Thanos will wake again soon and he plans to destroy everything. We can't let that happen."

Loki sighed, but nodded. "Thanos told me about a door he'd use to get there. Do you know how to open it," Loki asked. You bit your lip and nodded. "I think so. Grab that scepter," you said gesturing to a weapon lying next to Thanos' chair. "And follow me. I'll see what I can do," you continued.

Loki did what he was asked and you got to work with the many switches and dials that were laid out in front of you. There was a platform in the middle where the traveler stood while energy pulsed from a beam that you needed to turn on. That would open a doorway to Midgard and you could walk through to the location wherever the door let out. You were able to turn it on, and with Loki's help, the two of you quickly figured out how to open the doorway. Once you did, all you could was a black hole in the middle of the platform. You found yourself a bit anxious to find out what was on the other side.

You looked up at Loki who was already looking at you. He grabbed your hand and looked at you seriously. "Are you ready?" You nodded and he began to step forward. You followed his lead, and soon the two of you were just feet away from the doorway. The two of you stopped for a moment and exchanged uncertain glances. "Before we go, I need to say something to you," said Loki softly. You knew the two of you probably didn't have time for this, but you let him continue anyway. "Thank you. You were kind to me these past few days and you lessened the pain of being trapped here. I wanted so badly to talk to you, and I'm sorry I didn't. You saved me. You're the first person who's been kind to me in, quite literally, ages and you saved me. I'm not very good at showing gratitude, but I hope you'll let me try."

You smiled at his speech and squeezed his hand. "Thank you, Loki." The two of you looked back at the portal and began to step forward, much more confidently this time. For the first time in a long time, Loki was truly happy.