Three or so hours - and lots of snarky comments - later, both Quinjets landed in a somewhat remote part of Iceland near the lagoon-like area of Hóp. Anja had never seen anything like it. The shallow, frozen body of water stretched as far as her eyes could see in one direction, and on the other side was their new ship. In some sense, she was used to seeing sprawling bodies of water; her foster family took her and Layla on many camping trips to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Lake Superior was more like an ocean than a lake, and Anja recalled spending countless hours on its shores forgetting her problems. What she wouldn't give to be there now.

The young woman shook her head and turned to stare up in awe at the spaceship sitting right in front of her. Yet another thing she had never seen before. She had seen many planes and crafts since hanging out with Tony and the Avengers, but nothing like this.

"Say hello to your new home, my friends," Thor boomed, shaking her from her thoughts as he gestured towards the gleaming spacecraft. "Her name is The Frigga, after our mother. She may look bulky, but she is quite fast."

"Uh, big guy, is this the ship that carried your people here to Earth? Because I'm going to be really sad if that's all that survived," Tony murmured quietly, standing next to the god.

"No. Loki was able to acquire this ship while I set up the rest of the population in Norway. We met up again later," Thor explained, smiling softly. "The ship that brought us here is much, much larger."

"Huh," Tony spoke, looking impressed. "Kind of surprised Loki didn't take that chance to dip, but cool."

"That makes two of us, but don't tell him that," Thor quietly agreed, grinning. Louder, he beckoned the rest of the group to make their way to the large vessel. "Come friends, I will give you a tour before we load the rest of our cargo. Plus, there are two others I'd like you to meet."

"Wait, there are more of us?" Layla piped up, jogging to catch up to the God of Thunder.

"Of course," he responded, giving the blonde a soft smile before gesturing at what appeared to be two aliens standing near the ship's entrance. Anja blinked a few times, unsure she was seeing things correctly.

"Hey man," a large, blue rock looking creature piped up, waving at Thor. "Welcome back."

"Korg, thank you, my friend," Thor exclaimed, gripping the large alien's hand before looking at the rest of his friends. "Korg, this is Layla Williams, Anja Konstantinova, Spencer Grey, and Tony Stark."

Thor gestured to each of the members he named off and Korg waved to each person with joy. "Hello! My name is Korg. I'm made of rocks, as you can see, but don't let that intimidate you! You don't need to be afraid, unless you're made of scissors. Just a little Rock, Paper, Scissors joke for you. This is my very good friend Miek." Here he gestured at a much smaller purple alien standing beside him. "He is an insect and has knives for hands."

"Hiya, Korg! Hi, Miek!" Layla exclaimed, grinning at the alien as Loki grumbled to himself in the background.

"By the Norns, if he greets every single person like that the first time he meets them, I will stab myself."

Anja shot him an amused look and an eye roll. Always with the theatrics. Not that she minded.

"I met Korg and Miek on Sakaar, my friends, and they helped defend my people against Hela. They will be good shield brothers!" Thor grinned, crossing his arms. "The same goes for our new shieldmates. I have fought with them in many battles, and they will be most helpful on this journey."

"Sounds good, man," Korg grinned, turning to lead the way towards the ship. "That Heimdall guy stopped by a couple times with some really serious fellows and left a bunch of cargo for us to take on our trip. Nice guy, Heimdall, but he's a bit creepy, too."

"Ah, yes," Thor laughed, shrugging, "but he's a loyal ally. Worry not about Heimdall, my friend. Anyway, let's give our friends the grand tour."

Everyone else followed after the two, heading in to get their first glimpse of the ship. Loki had spared no expense, it seemed- if he actually paid for the ship, which was highly unlikely. It looked more like they were on a luxury yacht than on a spaceship.

"I've only seen the cargo bay, but this ship is gorgeous. Not gonna lie, I totally thought it was gonna be something out of a typical sci-fi movie where it's all grungy and the wires are exposed," Anja murmured, making Loki laugh.

"Humans lack imagination," Loki ruminated, stroking a finger down a cream colored wall. "We are going to be spending varying periods of time in space. Why make something terrible to look at and uncomfortable to be in when you will be living in it? You'd be sick of it right from the beginning."

"You have a point," Anja agreed, looking around. "And humans are stupid, at least a great majority of them. Many of the problems my species face are a direct result of their own actions."

Loki hummed an affirmative and gestured for Anja to venture on. The two quickly caught up with the others. Thor was leading them out of the cargo bay and into an area that housed both a medical area and a dining area, and had been explaining what everything was.

"The ship has two floors, which includes this back part that holds the cargo bay," he explained. "Above us is an area that I had Korg set up as a sort of training and exercising area. There is always a possibility that we may have to fight our way out of situations so we all must be ready for that possibility." Taking a left once they entered the corridor outside of the cargo hold, Thor began to speak again. "This corridor pretty much runs the length of the ship. The next area we will come across is the access to the escape pods, followed by the crew quarters, and the lounge and command center at the very front."

Anja honestly had blocked out most of what Thor was saying as she took the time to marvel at the ship's interior. Everything was done in beautiful shades of cream and browns, and the warm colors made her feel like she was at home as opposed to some spaceship. That alone was bound to make things easier on her.

Anja about walked right into Bruce as Thor came to a sudden stop at a cross section of hallways and casually gestured around. "To the left and right at the end of the hallways are the escape pods I mentioned, should we ever be unfortunate enough to need them. Myself, Loki, Brunnhilde, and Korg will show you all how to operate them right after we get outside of Earth's atmosphere. There are also access points to some of the ship's weaponry, in case we need that."

Once again moving, the group calmly took in the luxurious views as Thor came to a stop in the hallway again. There were five doors on both sides stretching out towards the front of the ship that were the same cream color as the ceiling, standing out against the dark brown walls. "These are our rooms to stay in for the duration of the trips between realms.  Luckily we have enough rooms for everyone so no one should have to share. That's fortunate."

"Oh darn, I am sure some were hoping they'd have a roomie," Tony replied, a smirk plastered to his face.

Thor shook his head, barely stopping himself from laughing. "Maybe so, but in any case, everyone can pick their own room. If they end up not liking being alone, they can bunk with a friend later."

Brunnhilde shrugged in nonchalance and headed towards the first room on the left. The others took her lead and moved towards a respective room. One the left side, back to front was Brunnhilde, Bruce, Tony, Layla, and Thor. On the right side, respectively back to front, was Miek, Korg, Spencer, Anja, and Loki. Anja was more than a little grateful to have her room between the two of them; being near a few of her closer friends made her feel a bit more comfortable.

Anja opened the door and stepped in only to stare in awe at the bedroom. She wasn't expecting it to be so homey, but Loki's words about wanting to be comfortable rang in her head, so she supposed she couldn't be entirely surprised. The cream color from the rest of the ship carried into her room, and she was more than okay with that. A full-sized bed sat against the wall, neatly made in cream colored sheets and a dark blue bedspread on top of it. The bed itself was centered over a plush rug, and she couldn't wait to sink her toes into it. Across from the bed on the wall hung a screen Anja assumed was some sort of television, although on an alien spaceship she supposed it could be anything, and a small bookshelf.

To the right of her was a doorway, and after stepping into it, it was easy to see it was a personal bathroom. It wasn't large by any means, but she had her own toilet and shower that she wouldn't have to share with anyone else and that alone made Anja incredibly happy. She liked her bathroom to be incredibly neat and now she wouldn't have to fret about that. Plus she really liked the tile work so it was a win-win.

Exiting the bathroom, she noticed Loki standing in the middle of the room, arms crossed and looking smug. "Well, is it to your liking?"

"More than," Anja replied, smiling back. "It's so... opulent. I'm going to feel like I'm not even on a spaceship."

"Unless you look out the window," Loki grinned, pointing at some heavy drapes hanging on the other side of the bed.

"That's a window?" Anja exclaimed excitedly, rushing over to pull pack the dark blue fabric. True to his word, there was a floor to ceiling window that currently gave her a view of Hóp. "Nice!"

"Yes. There are certain times when I like to just sit and read a book while watching space fly by," Loki quietly murmured, smiling. "So I figured rooms with a view would be a nice benefit."

"You've spent some time in space?" Anja asked, moving about the room, looking over the smaller details. She noticed there were hidden storage areas within the walls that opened to a gentle press, and found herself completely fascinated by them for a moment.

"Not a lot, but it has happened. I am 1,052 years old after all," Loki smirked.

"Damn," Anja whistled. "Us humans must look like babies, in comparison. In any case, thanks for the nice ship, Loki. It will make space much more tolerable."

"More like... adorable pets," Loki teased, "and you're very welcome, Lady Anja." The man beamed, soaking up the compliments. They made their way out of her room and into the hallway, where Spencer, Layla, Tony, Thor, Brunnhilde, and Bruce were already standing.

"I can lead you all on towards the lounge and command area, since the others have already been on the ship before. Come," Thor explained, heading down the corridor.

The corridor opened up into a large room, which was very obviously a lounge to relax in. This room, too, was two levels, and large windows looked out towards the lagoon. The room, unlike the hallway, was a cream color, with carpets to match. There was one large couch that made a C-shape that could probably hold all ten of them comfortably with room to move around still. Coffee tables dotted the area, and to the side was a large glass staircase that led to more sitting areas uptop. Anja could just make out large bookshelves lining the walls on the second story, and she knew exactly where she was going to be spending a lot of time.

"Command center is just up there," Thor commented, gesturing at a set of doors further in the room. "Korg is pretty proficient with ships, thankfully, but all of us are going to get a crash course in this throughout the trip. It's better to have all of us know what to do in case of emergencies."

"Aw, man. I can barely drive a car decently, and you want me to fly a spaceship?" Layla moaned, making Spencer and Anja snicker.

"This is gonna be fun," Tony grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Peace, friends," Thor laughed, "The ship runs a lot of things on autopilot, so you're mostly not going to have to do anything. You can fly the Quinjets, yes? This won't be much different."

"Except, ya know... this is an alien spaceship," Layla deadpanned, blinking at Thor. "And probably not in English?"

"We'll teach you," Thor sighed, realizing he wouldn't win this battle. "Alright, come on. Let's go load up our cargo. The sooner we leave, the sooner we get to Jotunheim."

"Wait, what?" Loki exclaimed loudly, turning to stare with wide eyes at his brother. "No, absolutely not, we are not going to Jotunheim, brother."

"We must; we need allies," Thor calmly explained, ignoring how Loki was slowly starting to panic.

"Thor, you great oaf, they aren't going to ally themselves with us! We tried to destroy their realm and Odin stole the source of their powers. Are you really that thick?"

"Loki, we must try. They have a say in this fight against Thanos just as much as anyone," Thor expressed.

"No, Thor. I am not going to head directly to my own death in your quest for allies. No. If this is your plan, I will stay here on Earth," Loki growled, face pinched in anger.

"Brother, see reason. We are going to Jotunheim, and that is final!" Thor demanded, crossing his arms.

"No. There is no way I am staying on this ship and going to Jotunheim!" the raven haired man screeched, just shy of stomping his foot. "No!"

Anja frowned. Something told her this wasn't going to be a relaxing first trip after all.

*****

Hi again! Sorry it took me a little longer to post this chapter. It's been a rough few days. I spent the weekend nursing a bad migraine, so I didn't get much done- let alone on the writing front. On top of that, it seems our baby is going through what is called "sleep regression" and has resumed waking up a lot during the night. I imagine it wouldn't be so hard if she hadn't been sleeping six to eight hours beforehand. So I'm pretty tired, but I am just reminding myself that this is just a phase and it will pass.

I've been working on a sort of bonus chapter for this story. I was doing some editing and noticed in a few chapters from now, there was a bit of a large time jump (something like 5 days) so I thought it would be a perfect spot to insert a "bonus" chapter. It's going to be a fun one, I think, and I hope you all enjoy it.

I'm still about six chapters ahead of what I'm posting, and I am hoping I am able to keep it like that. I can't be certain with the holidays in the next few weeks that I will be able to get as much writing done or to post quite as regularly, so there may be a week or so off for a bit. Maybe not. I guess we'll see what happens!

Hope all has been well with you all!

~arty_writes