Anja cringed as one of the nurses pressed a piece of gauze to her temple. Whatever was on it caused her horrible burn to sting something fierce. She had been sitting in this bed for what seemed like an eternity now, in nothing but her undergarments and a thin robe so the nurses could get a better assessment of her injuries. Her clothes had been so tattered anyway she may as well have not even been wearing them. Normally she would've been self conscious, but with it just being Loki, Bruce, and the nurses, she didn't care. Loki had already seen her naked, and Bruce had seen her in a swimsuit, so that wasn't much different than her underwear and a robe.

    She glanced around the infirmary, trying to keep her mind off the pain the side of her head was in as the nurse continued to clean it up. Why she couldn't have minor injuries like Bruce she would never understand.

    Speaking of... Bruce was awake now, partially reclined in his bed. He had several cool rags and ice packs resting across his mostly nude body. He was still only clad in a pair of shorts, the tattered remains of his slacks. Despite all that had happened, he seemed pretty good. Probably because he had been the Hulk for most of the ordeal, and had been unconscious for the worst of it. Mostly he was just bruised. Lucky bastard.

    Loki was in the bed next to her, a brace supporting his neck while also holding an ice pack in place. Miraculously nothing had broken, but the nurses thought he could use it anyway. He had removed the top half of his armor, leaving his chest and arms exposed. His left arm was outstretched, allowing him to hold onto Anja's hand. He didn't even flinch as she squeezed his hand tightly, as she tried to ignore the pain from the burn. Anja's eyes lingered on him, partially because she wished she could tackle him, but also because she was still in disbelief as to how close she had been to losing him to Thanos. That realization hurt a hell of a lot more than the burn on her head.

    After a moment, her thoughts were interrupted by the pressure on her temple lessening. Anja looked over to see the nurse moving away from her, a small smile on her face.

    "It will take a little time, but you should heal without much issue, miss," the nurse explained. "Your healing abilities certainly lessened the damage, and not just for yourself." The nurse glanced over at Loki before looking back at her. "You saved the prince, and for that, you have Asgard's thanks."

    Anja smiled. "He would've done the same for me," she answered, giving Loki a loving glance.

    The nurse glanced between the two of them and then at Bruce, a smile on her face. "I'll let you three rest. I'm sure you'll have visitors soon," she stated before bowing at the waist and leaving the room.

    Anja immediately got off her bed and plopped herself on Loki's lap, her legs straddling his thighs so she could look at his face. "So I'm not sure how I feel about being bowed to," she admitted.

    Loki smirked, resting his hands gently on her legs. "As long as you are mine, you will have to get used to it."

    Anja raised an eyebrow. "But how did they- oh. I guess the hand holding gave it away, huh?"

    Her boyfriend continued to smirk as he slowly nodded. Anja wasn't sure if he meant to, or if the brace on his neck was hindering his ability to nod. "That, and you kept staring at me," he added.

    "Look, it's not my fault I'm still not used to seeing you partially dressed, so bite me," Anja countered, blushing. "I'm still used to you being covered in tight leather armor more often than not."

    "Mm, I think we can arrange a change in that," Loki mused.

    Anja leaned forward and cupped his face, careful not to bump into his brace. "Sounds like a plan," she replied. "But you have to promise me not to almost die on me again."

    His smirk turned into a soft smile. "I promise," he assured. "So long as you do the same. You're much more reckless than I thought you would be."

    Anja hadn't even thought about her own actions to that point. Everything she had done was out of desperation; she hadn't even realized how close to death she had likely come herself. Between fighting Thanos' minions, and of course the Titan himself, she was lucky to be sitting here as relatively unscathed as she was. But what Loki was probably talking about was the blast to the face she gave Thanos. That was stupid, but it had been at least minimally effective.

    "Maybe so, but I saved your life," Anja replied before sighing. "Anyway... I promise."

    "Good," Loki said quietly.

    Anja stared into his eyes, noting they didn't seem as green as usual. There was much more blue in them. Anja figured he was probably one of those lucky people whose eyes changed colors with their moods. Layla was one of them, and it had always made Anja insanely jealous; her eyes were always just boring brown, except in sunlight when they turned a strange amber color. This just meant now she had two people whose eyes she could be jealous of.

    She rubbed her thumb gently against his cheek, grateful that somehow they had survived the encounter with Thanos. Anja didn't know what she would've done if she had lost Loki. Something stupid, she was sure. She knew they hadn't been together that long, but she would be lying if she said she hadn't fallen in love with him. Against her better judgment, even. Anja had been quick to fall in love before, and it brought her nothing but pain. She hoped this time would be different.

    Anja leaned forward, and kissed him deeply, something she had been wanting to do since she had saved him from Thanos. It caught Loki off guard for a second, but then he kissed her back with just as much passion. She felt his hands slide up her legs to her hips, gripping onto them tightly. She shifted her weight, pressing against him as she continued to kiss him. Loki let out a low moan, and pulled her closer to him.

    "Aw, come on, guys! I'm sitting right here!" Bruce groaned.

    Honestly, he had been so quiet Anja had nearly forgotten he was there. She sighed and moved away from Loki, despite him tightening his grip on hips for a moment before relenting, allowing her to move so she was no longer straddling him and instead just merely sitting on his lap. This was far from over, but it would have to wait until later. Anja looked at Bruce, but it was Loki who addressed him first.

    "Oh, I'm sorry. Can't handle the heat?" he asked, smirking.

    "Can you two just not be all over each other for a few minutes?" Bruce continued.

    "No?" Anja responded, only partially joking.

    "The lady has spoken," Loki said, shrugging.

    The expression on Bruce's face was hard to read. Anja couldn't tell if he was mad or just embarrassed. "Alright. Fine. You guys are free to do whatever you like," Bruce responded. "But can it at least wait until I'm not sitting here?"

    "You have legs, use them," Loki suggested, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Oh, that's right. You were told to relax for a few hours."

    Bruce huffed, indignant. "You're damn lucky I won't disobey medical orders," he answered. "But I'm sure this is about to be the least of our problems."

    Anja almost asked what he had meant, but was cut off when Thor, Tony, Layla, Spencer, Brunnhilde, Heimdall, Rocket, Groot, Korg, and Miek all filed into the room. The room was now full, and she was glad she had hopped beds to be with Loki. She wasn't claustrophobic, but the number of people in the room certainly made her feel uneasy. And suddenly, Anja knew exactly what Bruce meant. They were going to have to finally tell the others what had happened on Knowhere. She knew this wasn't going to play out nicely, and she was mentally preparing herself to defend Loki and his actions once more.

    "You guys look like shit," Layla opened the conversation, as she and the others sat on the empty beds and chairs in the room. Only Tony and Thor remained standing.

    Anja raised an eyebrow. All things considered, she thought they looked fine. After all, all three of them could've been dead after the beatings given to them by Thanos and his cronies. "After what we went through, we could look much worse," she snapped. This conversation was not off to a great start.

    "Yes, let's talk about what happened," Tony replied, leaning against the wall. "What happened to put you all in this state? This was supposed to be a quick retrieval mission, and you look very empty handed."

    "We walked right into an ambush," Loki hissed. Anja was glad he picked up the accusatory tone in the others' voices too and wasn't having it. "Thanos was waiting for us. He had already acquired the stone by the time we arrived on Knowhere. There was no stopping him."

    "So what exactly happened?" Thor questioned, crossing his arms.

    Anja and Loki exchanged glances, wondering how to best explain what happened. Anja knew there was no way that the rest of the group was going to be calm about Thanos obtaining another stone, let alone two. There was no way this conversation wasn't going to end in an argument. Anja squeezed Loki's hand, hoping he knew that meant she had his back in this.

    "It's like Loki said," she started. "He beat us there and was waiting for us. A fight ensued. It didn't go well, hence our injuries. He has three stones now. That's really all there is to it."

    "Three?" Tony questioned. Anja nodded, and that prompted him to continue. "What ones?"

    "Power, reality, and... space," Anja listed, counting them on her fingers.

    "Wow," Rocket muttered. He seemed both amazed and annoyed.

    That last stone got Thor's attention real quick. He turned to Loki, an incredibly angry look plastered to his face. No one needed to even tell him that Loki had the stone and gave it up; Thor already knew. This was going to be ugly. "You lied to me," he grumbled. "Why am I not even shocked?"

    Layla caught on immediately, much to Anja's displeasure. "He had the Tesseract, didn't he?"

    Anja glanced over at her boyfriend. He looked very much like a puppy being scolded, and it broke Anja's heart. Anja knew he had the best intentions for doing what he did, but she was worried the others wouldn't see it that way. Especially when so many of them were looking for a reason to blame him for anything that went wrong.

    "I can explain," Loki started, his voice sounding desperate. But none of them wanted to hear his explanation. It was too late for that, just as Anja had feared.

    "No. I asked you back on Jotunheim what happened to it, and you told me you didn't have it. That you had left it on Asgard," Thor replied, his voice booming with anger. "Because of your actions, Thanos has another stone, another weapon he can use against us. You just couldn't stop and not be a liar and a thief for two seconds."

    "I fucking knew it," Tony added, shaking his head. "I told you he couldn't be trusted, Anja. I told you so. And look at where he's led us. He hasn't changed a damn bit, and if this doesn't open your eyes to that, I'm not sure what will."

    Anja didn't need to glance over at Loki to see his expression continue to soften. He would never admit it, not even to her, but he was sensitive, and Anja knew he was taking all of this bashing to heart. She hated it, and she was only a moment away from telling all of them off. This was so unnecessary. Yes, he had lied to them about having it, but in the end, did that really matter anymore?

    Layla shook her head, looking at Anja with a disapproving look upon her face. "He's right, you know."

    "See, she agrees with me," Tony replied, almost sounding smug if he hadn't been angry. "He's nothing more than a slimy villain, and that's all he's ever going to amount to."

    Loki opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off.

    "So did you just hand it over to him or what?" Thor continued to question. "Because I would just love to know how you lost your greatest love to that maniac."

    "Would all of you shut the fuck up for two damn seconds and let the man talk?" Anja snapped. "How can he tell you what happened if you all just want to stand around talking shit instead of listening before you actually pass judgment?"

    The room fell silent, and Loki squeezed Anja's hand in a silent thank you.

    He took a deep breath, searching for the words to explain his reasoning. "First of all, if I hadn't taken the Tesseract with me, Thanos could have obtained it sooner, since it likely would've been floating in space after Asgard's destruction. I delayed his acquisition of the stone by several weeks, and he didn't obtain it without a fight," Loki explained, although Anja was sure this wasn't going to be a good enough reason for the rest of them. Nothing would be. "Secondly, you are wrong about what my greatest love is. I gave him the Tesseract to save Anja's life. He was going to kill her if I didn't. Would you rather her be dead? Because that's the alternative."

    No one else spoke for a few seconds, so Anja filled in the silence. "I then saved his life in return. He had made a sacrifice play to get myself and Bruce out alive. I didn't take kindly to Thanos choking him, so I blew up. Literally." She paused, taking a deep breath. "After arguing with Quill, I remembered that Thor mentioned the Bifrost was being rebuilt, and I hoped it was finished so I called for Heimdall."

    "That answers my question on how you knew about how to work the Bifrost," Heimdall spoke up. He seemed to be one of the only ones who was being cordial here, and Anja was grateful for that.

    "I was hoping I did, anyway," she answered quietly. "I just... I wanted to get us out of there before something worse happened."

    The room was silent for a moment, until Spencer looked up from her phone. She had been quiet this whole time, and Anja wasn't sure where her friend stood on the matter. She was starting to feel as if she and Loki were in this alone.

    "So you guys know that episode of Spongebob where Mr. Krabs tells everyone to 'reach into his pocket now and take what he's got' and Spongebob reaches into Plankton's pocket and finds a Krabby Patty?" Spencer asked.

    Anja was going to point out that more than half the room was not from Earth and would have no idea what she was talking about, but Tony beat her to it.

    "Spence, the only ones who know what you're referencing are me, Anja, Layla, and Bruce. Everyone else is an alien and has never seen Spongebob," he explained.

    Spencer huffed, leaning back in her chair, looking at her phone again. "My point still stands. Someone should've reached into Loki's pockets and found the Tesseract. Would've saved us some problems, maybe."

    Now that she had made that connection, Anja supposed that was a fair assessment of the situation. And it hadn't been a rude one, at least. She was more intrigued by her friend's phone usage. Spencer had never been one to excessively use her phone before, so her being on her phone during an important meeting was strange. Not that Anja had time to think about that because the animosity picked right back up.

    "Hell, Anja's taken his pants off enough, she should've felt it," Layla continued.

    "Wow, really? Are you really dragging our personal life into this right now? That has literally nothing to do with it," Anja retorted, her irritation growing by the second. "This is about Thanos. This isn't the time to be pointing fingers at anyone."

    "Except it was your boyfriend's actions that have brought us here," Tony persisted. "Did you know he had the Tesseract?"

    Anja was offended. "Well, no but-"

    "-so he lied to you too then," Tony cut her off. "How many offenses does he have to commit before you realize there is no redeeming him?"

    And that was where Anja was drawing the line. She went to try to stand, but Loki held her back by holding onto her arm tightly, seemingly knowing very well what she was thinking. She was going to punch her friend in the jaw, and Loki knew it. Anja huffed and stayed seated on Loki's lap, lashing out from there instead. Either way, Tony was about to get hit with some facts.

    "You don't get it, do you? You have a lot of nerve telling me who I should and should not love. Loki isn't perfect by any means, but neither are the rest of us. We have all made damning mistakes," she ranted, getting more riled up by the second. "I understand his reasoning for this. He did what he thought would be best, and ultimately, he did buy us some time when it came to Thanos getting the stone. And honestly? If he didn't have that stone, I wouldn't be here to argue with you now. Thanos would've killed me. In a heartbeat. So you should be damn grateful to Loki for saving my life instead of berating him like he's some insubordinate child." She paused, taking a deep breath, trying to keep the tears back that were swelling in her eyes. "The fact that you can't put aside your petty hatred over something he did six years ago, and under mind control at that, is absolutely ridiculous. It's pure bullshit, Tony. I'm happy and alive and that should be enough for you, but I don't think it ever will be."

    Tony sighed, and ran a hand over his face. "Anja, you're missing the point."

    "Oh no, I see it clearly," she continued. "You think I'm blinded. That I'm under some sort of spell. That... that I'm stupid for being with him and for defending him like I do." Anja shook her head, a few tears falling from her eyes. "You have no idea what we just went through, and for you to insinuate that Loki willingly gave our enemy what he wanted- that he willingly betrayed us, betrayed me? Just... just fuck you."

    Tony just stared back at her. Anja knew she had snapped, and rightfully so, but the pained look on her friend's face hurt nonetheless. It needed to be said. Anja was fed up with everyone ganging up on Loki. He was not perfect, but he was not the only person who had made mistakes. People could change, and Anja knew that better than anyone; it was more than time for the others to learn that lesson too.

    Anja felt Loki pull her closer to him, her face coming to a rest on his shoulder as he gently rubbed her back. She was surprised he was being so calm throughout this; he was normally just as feisty as she was. Yet at the same time, she was grateful he was being more level headed than she was in this moment. Honestly Anja wasn't sure the universe would be ready for the day they both lose their cool.

    "She's right, Stark. Whether you want to admit it or not," Loki said, interrupting her thoughts. His voice was quiet, yet Anja could hear the anger in his tone. "My past may be tainted with misdeeds, but please know I would've never willingly given that maniac an Infinity Stone. He did torture me six years ago, in case you forgot that fact. I only gave him the Tesseract to save Anja's life. The fact of the matter is that you want to hate me so badly that you're willing to twist anything I do to fit that narrative. By all means, continue to do so." Loki paused for a moment. "It's not going to change what actually happened, nor is it going to change mine and Anja's relationship."

    Anja closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, glad to know that at least wasn't going to change. Not that she was worried about that.

    She was shocked to hear Bruce speak up next. "Guys," he sighed. "I have to side with Anja and Loki here. Yeah, he can be a snarky asshole, but he isn't a bad guy. Not anymore. I was there- when he helped save the Asgardian citizens from Hela, and when he saved Anja from Thanos. I don't think you understand; Thanos was literally torturing Anja with the Power Stone. That's why she has that scorch mark on her face. It's a miracle she's alive, and you can thank Loki for that. So just... just drop it."

    Anja popped her head up to look at the scientist. She was not expecting that from him of all people. She could see the look on Loki's face in her peripheral vision, and he looked just as shocked. It seemed Bruce had buried the past, and Anja was grateful for that.

    "Thank you, Bruce," Anja said quietly.

    "Yeah, Banner," Loki echoed. "Thanks."

    "Don't mention it," Bruce went on. "Someone has to relay the facts here."

    "I agree. Loki's not a bad guy. He is an excellent leader," Korg chimed in, Miek nodding enthusiastically beside him. "We were able to make it to Asgard to help the cause under his careful guidance."

    Loki smiled, but it was weak and joyless. "Thank you, Korg."

    There was a beat of silence before someone spoke again.

    "Thanks for trying to give me a heart attack," Heimdall added. "I should've never promised your mother to keep an eye on you boys. I'm going to end up in the grave prematurely."

    Loki looked at the Gatekeeper. "I apologize. I am sure my mother appreciates the sacrifices you make for her children."

    "Oh it's a sacrifice alright," Brunnhilde said with a laugh.

    Loki gave her a look, but Anja was glad he never got the chance to speak.

    Spencer sighed, looking away from her phone again, causing Anja to look over at her. "I have to side with Anja and Loki too. While it sucks Thanos has three stones now, he could've gotten them that much sooner. I don't know if any of you have seen the calendar since we've been back but uh... it's the middle of April. Asgard was blown up four-ish months ago. Thanos could've had that stone then, but because Loki had it, he didn't," she explained. She shifted in her chair slightly, allowing her to look at Loki directly. "And since no one else has said it, thank you for making sure Anja made it home to us. I appreciate it."

    Loki's smile seemed less forced this time. "You're welcome, Spencer. I would've never been able to forgive myself if something were to happen to her."

    Tony opened his mouth to say something, but Thor cut him off. Anja was grateful for that too. She was still more than ready to fight her friend if he made one more dumb comment.

    "Let me take responsibility for my brother being a dumbass. I'll deal with him later," he sighed. "At this point, all that truly matters is that they are all alive. Thanos may have a third stone, but he will not get the other three. We can still stop him."

    Thor, ever the optimist. If he had been the one to actually fight Thanos, maybe he would be singing a different tune, but somehow Anja doubted it. Thor had always been overconfident about his abilities and she doubted an ass beating or two was going to change that.

    "Not to interrupt this family drama, but what happened to Quill and the others?" Rocket asked. "Why didn't they come back with you?"

    Anja forgot they hadn't said what happened to the rest of the Guardians yet. This could be yet another thing that could start a fight. She closed her eyes, resting her head against Loki's chest again, hoping he could explain it.

    And he did. "Thanos took Gamora, and the others decided to go after them. Given our injuries, and the fact Thanos is sending his Black Order to Earth, we needed to return here," Loki said. "All of them are fine, or at least they were when we departed."

    "Great, just great," Rocket responded, throwing his hands up in the air as he turned and stepped into the hallway, Groot trailing behind him muttering. That was about the reaction she thought he would have.

    Thor took a deep breath. "Well, I think we've covered everything we can for the moment. Let us allow them to rest. We will reconvene later to discuss our next steps."

    Everyone stood and started to make their way out of the room. All except Spencer, who was once again looking at her phone. She reached over and grabbed Layla's arm, holding her in place too.

    "Didn't you hear Thor? We should let them rest," Layla said.

    Spencer nodded, not looking from her phone. "Oh I heard him."

    Anja raised an eyebrow at her friend. Spencer was normally the last of them to not follow orders. What was she up to?

    A few moments after the last of their friends left the room, leaving Spencer and Layla in the room alone with Anja, Loki, and Bruce, Spencer sat her phone down on the table next to her. The younger girl took a deep breath and looked at her friends.

    "We need to talk."

*****

Hi everyone! Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter posted. It's been kind of a weird month here. Not for any particular reason. I had busy weekends at work since the beginning of July, so I've often been too tired to write- even into the week. I was off this past weekend, and then I go back on Saturday. I was supposed to be up north on vacation with my best friend, but 2020 decided that wasn't going to be a thing. Anyway, this chapter had been done for a while; I just hadn't edited it or anything. I finally got around to that today so I thought you all deserved an update. I'm going to try to be better about updating this story- even if it means I no longer have an extra chapter ready to go.

This has been a rough year on so many fronts, and I hope all of you are safe and doing well.

~arty_writes