Shine Again (An Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame Story)

Chapter 49: Evil Brewing

    "Of course," is what she replied, but it was empty.

    With that, the two girls stepped back into Anja's room. She set her phone down on the table next to her tiara as they walked passed it, making the decision to leave it there instead of lugging it to Wakanda where it would likely get destroyed in battle. At least this way if she survived she wouldn't have to deal with the hell that was going to her service provider's store and getting a new phone. And if she died, well, it wouldn't be an issue anymore. She figured the only person who would be trying to contact her at that point would be Layla, given all the weird circumstances, and she knew exactly where she was going and could call Steve or something if needed.

    Layla caught her friend's uneasy facial expression, and bumped shoulders with her as they continued walking out of her bedroom and down towards the Bifrost. "You still feeling queasy?" she asked.

    Anja nodded. "I think my nerves are shot from all of this, honestly. It's got my stomach in knots, but I'm going to try to just push through it. I don't have a choice, you know?"

    "Hopefully it gets its shit together before the battle. Can't have you throwing up everywhere," Layla replied. "Although maybe it would gross Thanos out enough he just leaves."

    "Having fought that madman, I don't think a little vomit is going to deter him," Anja muttered. "But a girl can dream, I suppose."

    "You and I both know you don't want to dream about him," Layla retorted with a laugh.

    "No, can't say that I do," Anja assured, unable to hide the disgust in her voice. "I prefer my dreams to be very Thanos-free."

    "They're probably all of Loki," Layla teased.

    Anja shrugged, knowing what she was about to say would ruin her friend's day- even if it wasn't completely true. "Yup, and all of them are very not safe for work."

    "Ugh, TMI, Anja," Layla responded.

    "Hey, you're the one who brought up what I dream about," Anja replied. "You should know better."

    Layla didn't get a chance to reply to her before they reached the Observatory. Thor, Loki, Valkyrie, and Heimdall were all standing there talking amongst themselves until they noticed the women enter the room. The four of them were dressed in their armor as well, leaving Layla as the only one dressed casually.

    "I feel like I missed a memo," Layla said, crossing her arms with a huff.

    "You can change once we see Loki and Anja off," Thor answered. "It won't be long now that you have arrived."

    Loki stepped forward as Anja took another step towards him. He met her with an outstretched hand to take hers and a devilish grin on his face. "I'm glad to see your armor fits perfectly," he stated, "but you're missing one important little detail..."

    His voice trailed off, and he waved his free hand in front of her face. After a few moments, Anja felt something heavy, cold, and metallic come to rest on her head, framing her face and cheek bones. Anja took the hand Loki wasn't holding and reached up to touch whatever it was he had conjured onto her, and soon realized it was a headpiece of some nature. The horns threw her off for a moment though. They were nowhere near as large as the ones on Loki's helmet, but prominent enough that they would not go without notice. Anja knew exactly why he did this, even if he didn't admit to it.

    "They suit you," he said quietly, interrupting her thoughts.

    Anja smiled, more than positive she was bushing. "Thank you."