(All of the chapter titles, save chapters 7 & 8, are titles of songs by Josh Groban.
If you wish to listen to them, they can be found on YouTube or Spotify.)
We open upon a vast throne room that has high a golden ceiling and a beautifully formed throne at the end of the hall that is made out of solid gold. There are intricate carvings all over it in some ancient dialectal that is hard to comprehend for everyone except for those who know how to speak it. The hall is empty save for a few figures. One was in front of the throne, another stood beside it. The individual that was standing directly in front of the throne was an elderly man. One could tell that the throne was meant for him by his stately garments and regal stance. He held a magnificent golden scepter in his hand as he gazed down at one of the other figures who was bound in chains and was being lead down the hall by two other figures that stood on either side of him with his single blue eye.
The prisoner was none other than his unruly adopted son 'Loki'. He was dressed in his customary black and green leather clothing as he was being led down the hall by several guards. Once they reached the foot of the throne, Loki looked up at the man on the throne and his step bother, who stood at his side, with a look of distain clearly written in his bright green eyes. He then smiled his customary mischievous grin and asked, "What is all this about?"
Odin took a step forward and shouted in a fierce voice that pierced the thin morning air, "You know very well what this is about! You are the most disrespectful and dreadful person that could ever be! I wish I had just left you on that frozen rock to die!"
The smile instantly disappeared from Loki's face to be replaced with a cold blank stare. Little did everyone know that everything mischievous and malicious he had ever done was just a façade. All of his smiles and cruel jokes were just an attempt to hide that he was a broken man. He never felt like he belonged with the family that raised him, only to find out once he was a grown man that it was true.
He was the offspring of the king of the Frost Giants, sworn enemy of Asgard. After he was born, he was left in the temple to die because he was not expected to survive. When Odin discovered him there, he took him to his home in the hopes of using him to bring peace between the two races. But those plans never came to pass. Eventually, the child grew to this broken man that was standing in chains at the foot of the All Father's throne.
Odin continued to speak, "For all of your actions over the past few years, I should have you killed!"
Loki took one step forwards and replied to the king, "I welcome death. It will be a pleasant reprieve from this torment I have had to endure all my life." His voice was filled with rage and his shackled hands trembled with fury as he spoke.
"Take him back to prison and prepare him for execution." The All Father ordered. Then the guards turned him around forcefully and began to lead him back to the penitentiary.
Thor, Loki's adopted brother, stepped forward and said to Odin, "Father, must you really kill him? Perhaps there is good in him somewhere. He did assist in stopping the Dark Elves." Thor's usual thick harsh voice was brought down to a whisper as he spoke to his father. It was almost as if he was afraid of being overheard.
Then, Odin had an idea. A small smile played across his lips as he entertained the idea while he watched Loki being led away. "Wait." He said. The guards halted and turned around. "I have a better idea." Loki turned around then to watch as Odin descended his throne and walked over to him slowly. Once they were eye to eye, Odin said, "I will send you to Midgard. To the very city you unleashed an army upon. You will be made into a human walking amongst the others. They, not I, will punish you for your deeds." As Odin spoke, Loki's green eyes grew wide with terror. He knew what would be waiting for him on Midgard, thousands upon thousands of angry humans all eager to see him dead.
Odin turned to Thor and said, "See that it is done." He then walked back up to his throne and sat down and glared down at Loki's back as he and Thor walked away and turned the corner and headed towards the rainbow bridge.
Thor and Loki walked in silence for quite a while. They passed other Asgardians as they went about their daily business unaware of the injustice that was about to happen. Once they reached the Bifrost guard post, Thor told Heimdall, the gate keeper, what the All Father had said was to be done with Loki. Heimdall placed his large golden sword into the middle of the floor, thus starting up the Bifrost. Once it was all ready, Loki looked back at Thor and asked sarcastically, "Am I really to do this?"
"Yes Loki, you are! It is no less then you deserve." Thor replied. His gigantic mussels rippling as he stepped forward and pointed a threatening finger at his brother. With that, Loki grinned sadly and stepped into the transporter and vanished.
One minute, Loki was on Asgard, the next, he was on earth and his hands were unbound. He was still wearing his leather attire when he started walking along the road. He was not in the city, but rather a mile or two outside of it. It was hot in the blazing sun and the gentle wind brought little relief. As he was walking along, some of the passersby recognized him. They grabbed whatever they could find in order to injure him and began to follow him. Each of them were afraid of taking the first step so Loki did not think anything of it as he just continued to go about his way walking away from the city with the people trailing close behind.
Suddenly, he was hit from behind by a piece of wood. He stumbled and fell to the ground as a mob of angry people surrounded him and beat on him with the items that they had in their hands or they kicked him while they shouted at him. Some of them said things like 'You monster!' Others said 'You killed my friend!' There were other rude and cruel remarks that were made and directed towards him that I dare not mention.
Loki tried to fight back but he could not because every time he tried to push himself up, someone would either hit him on the back or step on his hands forcefully. After failing at attempting to stand about a hundred times, he decided that it would be best to just wait until they had their fill. The thrashing went on and on for what seemed like hours but, in reality, it was probably only a half hour.
Then, a female voice called out, "Stop!" But the beating did not cease. The voice called again a few moments later. This time it was closer as it asked, "Leave this man alone! Why are you doing this to him?" It was now right at his side so Loki looked over his shoulder because he wanted to see who was crazy enough to try and defend him.
Loki was shocked to find that it was a young girl. She had shoulder length brown hair and pale skin. He could not make out any other details about her because she was quickly pushed aside and landed on the ground with a soft thud.
He thought that was the end of her, but he was wrong. A few moments later, she called out again, "Stop it now! I am going to get the police!" The beating still did not stop. Soon, another man joined into the fray but this one was dressed in blue and gold fabric and he began pulling the brawlers off of Loki.
"Get off him!" This man shouted. When the people took no heed of his order, he raised a little silver object to his lips and when he blew on it, a sharp shrill whistle emanated from the small item. As soon as the sound rang through the air, the people backed away from Loki revealing a bloodied and bruised body.
The girl walked quickly up to him, knelt down beside him, and asked softly, "Are you alright?" Loki felt like shouting at her because he had just gotten attacked. He defiantly was not alright, but her voice was oddly soothing to him. Maybe it was because he just endured a half hour of endless pounding and shouting.
Loki nodded his head and pushed himself up with his bloodied hands so that he would be sitting upright when he examined this girl more closely. She appeared to be only about eighteen years of age and she had bright blue eyes that were filled with concern and sorrow as she watched him. She was wearing a purple shirt and a pair of loose pale blue jeans that had a few blood spots on the right leg. Lying at her side was what appeared to be a cane that was made out of drift wood. She offered a pale delicate hand to him to help him to his feet. Loki looked at her suspiciously through his swollen and bloodied green eyes. His shoulder length black hair was all disheveled and had bit of dirt splattered in it.
Ignoring her offer to help him up, Loki just stood on his own and looked down at her skeptically. There was a small bright smile growing on her face as she watched him stand up and she then struggled to her feet and the man that was dressed in blue gave her his hand as he helped her the rest of the way onto her feet. Once she was standing, Loki noticed that she was about a foot shorter than he was, if not an inch or so more.
Once she was standing, she smiled weakly and bowed her head in appreciation to the man in blue then turned to Loki and asked, "May I clean your wounds back at my house?"
Loki slowly nodded his head and watched as she offered her hand to him once again. This time he accepted her offer and took her hand. She smiled a bright warm smile as her pale fingers closed around his bloodied hand. Loki felt something inside him which he never thought he would ever feel ever again when he saw her smile and felt her soft hand in his rough grasp. He felt like someone genuinely cared about him.
As she walked with the cane in her right hand and her left hand grasping Loki's tightly, she led him into a small building that was poorly lite but was filled with warmth and the smell of fresh cut flowers wafting through the air. She led him into the kitchen and sat him down in a chair that was around a small table and then she walked over to a cupboard and retrieved a few items and came back to where he was seated. She placed a bottle of some strange liquid on the table along with some tape, gauze, and a bowl of water. She opened her mouth and a voice like sweet honey and the birds singing in the morning issued forth, "Could you please place your hands in the water?"
"Why?" Loki asked suspiciously.
She giggled lightly and said, "To clean them off before I treat them, silly" She replied with the same bright smile that had shown forth when she had taken his hand for the first time. Loki cautiously placed his hands in the bowl of water and watched as she picked up a cloth that was already on the table and dipped it into the bowel.
When the cloth came in contact with the skin on Loki's face, he winced slightly. "Sorry, I should have told you that it may sting." Again, Loki wanted to shout at her, but once he saw the look of distress and repentance on her face, the words vanished from his mind. He smiled weakly at her to show that it was alright so she proceeded to dab the blood off of his face. As she was doing so, she spoke, "My name is Grace. This is my house. If I find anyone who needs a roof over their head, food, or medical attention, I bring them here and do whatever I can to help them. You can stay here as long as you need to." Grace smiled at him and he found himself smiling a small smile back. "May I ask what your name is?" Her voice was soft and gentle as she spoke to him.
"Loki. My name is Loki." He responded.
Grace giggled slightly under her breath and continued to clean off his face with the liquid in the bottle that she retrieved from the cupboard. Loki was confused and Grace must have seen this on his face for she explained, "Your parents must have a sense of humor. Loki is the name of the Norse god of mischief." She smiled warmly and continued cleaning the wounds on his face.
"No, they do not have a sense of humor. I was just banished." Loki grumbled under his breath.
"Oh my!" Grace responded with shock clearly evident on her face. "Did they give a reason why?" She had stopped cleaning and looked in his green eyes as she waited expectantly for an answer.
For a moment, Loki considered telling her everything that transpired earlier that day. He compared Grace's gentle blue eyes to Frigga's loving blue eyes. Frigga, his adopted mother, had been killed recently by a Dark Elf. That event, past events, and the ones that followed are the reason that he was banished. She was the only one who ever made him feel like he belonged. She taught him how to use magic, a craft which he used often, and was taken from him. He felt a slight twinge of pain in his heart when he thought of his mother.
Grace watched as he thought over what to say to her and she saw his hands tighten into fists as they rested in the bowel of water. She watched as his smooth skin creased over his forehead in a mixture of rage and regret. His green eyes hardened and got a bit of an animalistic quality to them. Grace began to worry so she softly called his name. "Loki?"
Her soft soothing voice called him out of his thoughts of the past and back into the present. Loki looked into Grace's worried bright blue eyes as they searched his green ones for an explanation as to why he remained silent for so long. He found his voice after a few moments and answered her question that she had asked with a lie. "No. They did not give a reason why they banished me." He did not want to tell her the truth for fear that she would throw him out as well. She was the only person who had shown him any kindness in quite a while.
Grace smiled, shook her head slightly, and resumed cleaning his wounds. "You do realize that you are a terrible liar, correct? But, that is alright. If you do not want to tell me, you do not have to. Besides, it is none of my business." She said with a smile as she got a clean piece of gauze and medical tape off of the table. She then put it on a large gash that was over his left eye and taped it on. She then got a slight stern look on her face as she looked him in his green eyes and added, "But, please, do not lie to me again. It is not a wise thing to lie." Loki just nodded his head slowly. He was a bit caught off guard that this mortal could tell that he was lying to her.
"May I see your hands now, please?" Grace asked sweetly. Loki obliged and lifted his hands out of the water then Grace took them tenderly in her grasp and she cleaned them off one at a time using a different cloth that was on the table and the strange mysterious liquid that she used to clean the wounds on his face. She showed the same care and attention to his hands that she did when cleaning the wounds on his face.
As Loki watched her blue eyes going over every inch of his hands as she cleaned them carefully, he felt something inside his chest. It was almost like his heart was beating again. How could this be? How could this mortal, invoke these emotions in him? He must resist at all costs. What would others think if the god of mischief fell in love with a crippled human?
"There. Your hands are all clean now!" Grace said as she gently released his hand and grabbed the liquid off the table and walked back to the cabinet to put it away.
Loki watched Grace walk to the cabinet and placed the liquid back in it and then she excused herself with a slight bow and left the room. He just sat there and looked around the destitute room. It was small and poorly lite but there was a certain degree of warmth that he noticed upon entering the house that he never felt on all of Asgard in his entire life. He stood up then and walked over to the cabinet and opened it. Inside there were many bottles of liquids that were similar to the one that she used on him. Some were glass and others were plastic. He picked up a glass one in his hand and examined it closer. There were strange markings on it that he could not read. It must be in a different tongue.
"That is a powerful anti-bacterial liquid. They all are." Grace's voice came from behind him. Taken by surprise, he spun around and as he did, he dropped the small glass bottle and it shattered into a thousand pieces as soon as it hit the floor. Grace immediately walked over to the table, placed a change of clothes down, and picked up one of the cloths that were left on the table. She then struggled down to her knees and began to clean up the mess. Loki just stood there and watched her clean for a moment then he walked over to the table, grabbed a towel, and then he too knelt down and assisted in cleaning up the liquid. Grace thanked him for his help and once the liquid was all clear, she started to pick up the glass with her bare hands.
Loki watched as her hands got all bloody from the broken glass fragments coming in contact with her gentle skin. He carefully took the glass out of her hands and told her, "This is my fault. Let me clean it up. You go sit down and tend to your hands." His voice was soft and kind as he spoke to her.
Grace smiled and struggled to her feet again and walked over to the chairs and sat down as she watched Loki clean up the remainder of the glass. Once it was all clear, Loki stood up and walked over to the table and sat down on another chair that was around it. He watched as Grace slowly wrapped her hands in gauze and the blood began to soak through almost immediately. After she had finished, they sat in silence for a few moments.
Grace then looked over at Loki, stood up, and asked him, "Are you hungry? Can I make you something to eat?" She walked away into the kitchen and opened a peculiar looking cabinet and pulled out a carton that said 'eggs' on it.
"No, but thank you." Loki replied.
Grace looked over at him and smiled as she answered, "Nonsense! No offence, but you look like you have not eaten for days." As she spoke, she pointed a slender finger at him playfully. Loki smiled without knowing it as he listened to Grace's response to him. There was something about her that made him feel at ease.
Loki watched as Grace walked about the small room and noticed that she had a very peculiar gait. She limped and appeared to have a very difficult time bending her right leg. It also seemed as if every step she took caused her an incredible amount of pain. Why did she care about the troubles of others when it appeared as if she had enough of her own?
"Beth is late. She should have been home from school hours ago. I hope she is alright." Grace said sort of nonchalantly. She looked over at Loki and saw that he was staring at her feet. "Is everything alright?" She asked.
Loki was snapped out of his trance and looked up at her and blurted out, "What is wrong with your leg?" His voice had a trace amount of sorrow in it as he spoke. Grace heard it and placed the carton of eggs down on the counter. She then walked over to the table and sat down on the chair next to him. She pulled up her pant leg with the blood on it just far enough for him to see a medal brace on both sides of her foot. "I was born with a condition where the muscles in my right leg do not function properly. I have to wear this if I want to be able to walk even remotely customary."
Loki looked down at her brace and felt his rage beginning to rise in the pit of his stomach. "Why?" He whispered with a trace amount of anger in his voice.
"Why what?" Grace replied quietly.
Loki leaned forward and placed his head in his hands in an attempt to calm down and hide his anger. Grace then put her hand comfortingly on his back. They just sat there in silence as Loki composed himself enough to answer her. It took him a few moments before he could speak. When he could speak, he sat up and took a deep breath. He looked over at her and asked, "Who is Beth? Is she your sister? Your daughter?"
Grace stood back up and walked over to the counter and opened up the carton and pulled out the remaining two eggs that were contained within it and replied, "She is my adopted daughter. I do not have any paperwork to prove it but," She stopped for a moment and thought about what to say next. She broke open the eggs and fried them on a pan as she continued speaking. "You see she is an orphan who was living alone on the streets. I took her in." She then turned to him and said with a smile on her face, "You look uncomfortable in that leather attire. I brought a change of clothes out for you. They are lying there on the table. You can go into one of those rooms and change if you like while I make the eggs." She then pointed to a different room and added, "You can also clean the dirt out of your hair in the bathroom there I you wish."
Loki nodded his head and grabbed the clothes and walked out of the room. At that moment, the door opened and a little girl of about five or six years of age with black hair, dark green eyes, and a bright cheerful smile came running into the house shouting, "Grace, I am home."
Grace smiled and answered her by calling back, "I am in the kitchen, Beth." Beth came running into the room and jumped into Grace's open arms. Grace picked her up, set her on her hip, and said to her, "Where have you been, young lady? I was worried about you."
"I made a friend today. I was at her house and her mom made cookies." Beth replied with a smile.
Grace smiled a large joyful smile and answered, "I am so glad to hear that! May I ask what her name is?"
"Her name is Liza." Beth responded.
"She sounds lovely!" Grace replied as she turned back to the eggs that were frying on the stove.
As soon as Beth saw them on the stove she curled up her nose and complained, "Eggs again?"
"Hey, they are the only thing I can afford on my own. You are not cheap, young lady. You keep growing and needing new clothes."
Grace responded with a tinge of lighthearted teasing in her voice.
They continued to banter back and forth for a few moments. They were not aware of it, but Loki was listening to them with a small content smile on his face. He was standing in the adjacent room in the dark already changed into the new clothing that Grace had pulled out for him. It had been a long time since he heard loving banter and he had forgotten how wonderful it was.
The subject ranged from food to clothing and then people. Then, Grace told her about the guest that she brought to the house while Beth was away at school. She expertly explained to the young one the circumstances surrounding Loki, at least the ones she knew of. Then Grace set Beth down and told her to go run along and wash up for dinner. After she ran around the corner, Loki stepped into the room and Grace looked over at him and smiled. He had a dark pair of blue jeans on and a dark green T-shirt. "You look nice." She said with a heartfelt smile. She then turned back to the eggs and added, "I thought you would like those colors since are similar to the ones you were wearing earlier."
Loki looked down at the clothing that he was wearing and smiled slightly as he took a cautious step into the room. "I do like them; the clothes themselves are a bit uncomfortable though."
"You will get used to it." She replied. She looked over at him and smiled a reassuring grin. Loki could not figure out what it was, but there was something in her smile that caused him to relaxed and let his guard down slightly. It was almost like she engendered some sort of trust.
Grace then put the two eggs on separate plates and brought them over to the table. After she set those down she collected some silverware and carried them over to the table as well. Once she set those down she told Loki to sit down at the table with his back against the wall facing the entryway into the kitchen. As soon as he sat down, Beth finished washing up and ran back into the kitchen with a large smile on her face. She froze in place the moment she saw Loki and the smile vanished from her face.
Grace saw her and called her into the room reassuringly. Beth slowly and cautiously approached, never taking her eyes off of the man at the other end of the table. Once she sat down adjacent from him, he noticed that her eyes were a dark shade of green. Grace then placed one plate in front of her and the other in front of Loki and she joined them with nothing but a glass of tap water.
Loki felt a bit out of place among these two as Beth ate her meager meal of one small egg while Grace sat there sipping water. He remembered eating in the banquet hall on Asgard. There were always mass quantities of food and drink there and it hardly ever went to waste. But there were times were some of it did. Meanwhile here, there was very little food and a growing child. What little food they had, Grace was giving to Beth and him.
Loki looked down at the egg on the plate that was set in front of him and picked up the fork and knife. He then proceeded to cut the egg in half then he gave one half to Beth and he pushed his plate in front of Grace. They both looked up at him in shock and Grace asked, "Did I cook it incorrectly?"
"No, of course not. It is just." He stopped for a moment and looked at both Beth's and Grace's questioning faces. "I think you two should have it." Grace looked into his green eyes and smiled, she then proceeded to cut what he had given to her in half and looked back up at him. She then went and got another plate with silverware and came back to the table.
"We can share it." She said as she picked up the larger half with her fork and knife. She then laid it on the new plate that she had just retrieved and placed it in front of him. Loki was confused. She cleaned his wounds, gave him new clothes, and she is even allowing him to stay at her house. Now she is giving him some of the meager food that she has. Was there no end to this girl's generosity? Did she even know what he tried to do to the world that she lives in a few years ago?
After they ate, Grace showed Loki a room in which he could sleep and then she went to tuck Beth into bed. Loki looked about the room and saw that there were several small cots in the room and there was one small window that faced west with a cot beside it. Loki looked out and saw the sun setting in the distance and for the first time in a long while, he marveled at how beautiful it was. He stood there and watched as the sun sank over the horizon and saw shades of purples and pink along with some orange arise into the sky.
When Beth was lying in bed and Grace had finished tucking her in, she whispered to Grace, "He is scary."
"Who is?" Grace whispered back. Her blue eyes glimmered in the fading light that shone in from the single window in the room.
"Loki." Beth answered.
"Why do you think that?" Grace asked.
"He looks like the man who tried to destroy the city." Beth replied.
"I realize that he does. But I assure you, he is different. You need to get to sleep, dear. Do not forget to say your prayers." Grace then kissed the young girls forehead gently and walked to the door. She turned around to look back at Beth when she was in the entryway and said with a smile on her face, "Do not worry. Everything will be fine." She then closed the door and walked into the kitchen and began to clean up from dinner.
Loki was still watching the sunset when he heard her coming. He turned away from the beautiful colors in the sky and began to walk back to the kitchen. When he saw Grace standing at the sink scrubbing one of the plates clean, he stopped in his tracks. He stood there puzzling over her for a few moments. Why should someone as lovely as her care about a monster like him enough to give him a place to stay in her house?
Grace's hair was pulled back revealing that she had high cheek bones and sharp angular features. There was a slight smile resting on her soft pink lips as her bright blue eyes were set on the second dish as she washed the egg residue off of it. A slight breeze blew in from the open window in front of her and a strand of her brown hair that was hanging loose framing her face blew gently.
"Are you just going to stand there and stare at me, or are you going to do me the courtesy of coming into the room and speaking with me." Grace said. She looked over at him with a bright smile on her face and a glimmer in her blue eyes.
Loki was leaning against the wall as he observed her. Once he heard that Grace was aware of him watching her he immediately stood up straight and walked into the kitchen. He sat down at the table and saw that she had taken the wrapping off her hands. As he watched her dry the dishes, he noticed that it appeared that there were no wounds on her hands. He immediately stood up and walked over to her and asked, "May I see your hands?"
Grace was a bit confused at this request, but she offered her hands to him all the same. He gently took her hands in his and examined them closely. The cuts were indeed gone; in fact there was not even mark on her hands. It appeared as if nothing had even happened to them ever before.
Grace watched as Loki examined her hands carefully with a concerned look on her face. She looked up at his face as his green eyes slowly went over every single detail on her hands as he turned them over and over in his. "Is everything alright?" She asked after a few moments of silence had passed.
"Where are the cuts from the glass?" Loki asked as he looked into her worried blue eyes.
"I have always been a quick healer." Grace responded as she took her hands out of his and resumed drying the silverware.
"But that was thirty minutes ago! How could they have healed that fast?" Loki asked. His voice was raised slightly and his forehead was creased with confusion.
Grace remained silent for a few moments and continued to wash the pan that the eggs were fried in. Loki watched her and waited for an answer that did not come.
Loki turned and began to leave back to the room that he was to stay in when Grace answered, "When I was around six years old I had a friend who hand broken her arm when she fell from a tree that she had been climbing. My mother and I went to see her at her home after she got back from the hospital. When I sat next to her, I do not know why I did it, but I put my hand on her broken arm. Perhaps it was because I wanted to know what a broken bone felt like or perhaps I knew on some level what would happen afterwards." She stopped here and walked over to Loki who was standing in the middle of the kitchen listening intently. She stopped right in front of him and looked up into his eager green eyes.
"What happened?" Loki asked quietly.
"Her bone healed. It just snapped back into place and fused together. It must have been painful because she screamed so loud it was likely to have been heard across the block. As a result, her parents thought I was a witch and we were driven out of the house never to return." Loki listened to this story with growing concern. He had a vague idea of what was coming next.
Grace continued explaining with tears forming in her eyes. "As I grew, so did my gift and people I came in contact with were terrified of me. Eventually, even my parents grew to be frightened. So one day, they packed my things, loaded me in to the car, drove here, and left me."
Loki then pulled her into a tight embrace and let her cry on his shoulder. This could be why he felt so comfortable in her presence. They both had been rejected by their birth parents.
Back on Asgard, Thor walked up to Heimdall and asked him, "Can you see Loki?"
Heimdall replied in his deep gravely yet kind voice, "Yes I can."
"What happened when he arrived?" Thor asked. He was trying to hide how worried he was about his brother, but it was given away but the curious tone in his voice.
"He was attacked by several humans a few minutes after he arrived. But he is safe now. A young lady rescued him from being beaten to death. She cleaned him up and feed him. She even is allowing him to reside at her house." Heimdall answered with a smile on his face.
Thor smiled and let out a relived sigh as he said to himself, "He is being cared for. That is good to hear."
Later, Thor was sitting at the banquet table silently as all of the others sat around laughing and telling stories over each other. Lady Sif was sitting beside him and she noticed that he was not reveling as he usually does. He had not even finished his first cask of ale which was very unusual for him. "What is troubling you, my lord?" She asked.
Thor looked over at her and said, "Nothing." He grinned and took a swig of his ale.
Sif was not taking that for an answer. She could tell that there was something on his mind. "Do not lie to me, Thor. Does this have anything to do with Loki?"
Thor looked into her worried green eyes and confessed, "It does. He still lives and I am concerned that he will cause more trouble than good."
Sif smiled and said, "Do not worry about him tonight. See to your guests. Smile. Laugh with your warriors."
Thor took her advice and joined in the loud celebration only adding to the sheer volume of the gathering.
The next morning, Loki was woken by a sharp rap at the door. He got out of bed, stretched, and walked into the front of the small house. Grace was already at the door and when she opened it there were four muscular men standing there. One had a gun in his large hand and the others had knives.
As soon as Loki saw them, he ducked behind a wall. He knew that now he was human he could very easily be killed. He had no magic and no tricks to rely on. He only had a cripple with the gift of healing to assist him.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" Grace asked. She knew what was happening but she did not want to let on that she knew anything about it. She was not going to lie, but she was not going to let them know who was in her house.
"Have you seen him?" One burley man with a knife asked. He was bald with hard green eyes and had a brown handle-bar mustache. There were black tattoos on his arms and one of a barbed wire around his neck.
"Seen who?" Grace asked keeping up the pretense that she had no knowledge that Loki was around. The men seemed to believe it.
"The monster who unleashed an army of aliens in the city." Answered another one of the men. This one had black hair that was cut into a buzz cut with dark brown eyes and a singular tattoo of skull and crossbones on his arm.
Grace thought for a moment and said in reply, "Just for the sake of argument, what will you do to him once you find him?"
The man who held the gun spoke up now and said, "We will show him what happens to people who mess with New York. We are going to kill him." He had black hair that was a bit longer than the previous mans but he hand piercings on his face and a tattoo of a tear drop under his right hazel eye. The other men shouted in agreement with what this one had said.
Loki took a deep breath and looked over at Grace. He was mustering up the courage to confront the men at the door when he saw that Grace waved her hand behind the door at him to stay where he was.
Grace looked down at the ground for a moment and closed her eyes and said, "Forgive me for I am really slow." She looked up at the men then asked, "How exactly does that make you any different than him?"
This caught the men of guard. How was someone supposed to respond to that? It took a few moments but the man with the gun eventually answered, "Because he killed hundreds of people, we will only kill him." The other men shouted in agreement once again.
Grace did not waste any time responding to them. She actually shouted at them saying, "It is still murder! Do you really want his blood on your hands for the rest of your life?" She glared at the men at her door and with her bright blue eyes in conjunction with her pale skin it looked truly frightening. The fourth man tried to shove his way past her into the house but she stopped him by putting her arm out blocking the door in front of him and saying, "Where do you think you are going?"
"I thought I heard something inside. I am going to check it out." He had blonde hair that was left to grow and was disheveled. His dark green eyes were hard and suspicious.
"This is my house; I use it for healing purposes. I do not want you and your goons coming in and disturbing my patients!" Grace persisted. Loki could hear in her voice that her temper was rising. For some reason, he knew that her anger was nothing to be scoffed at and the men at the door must have known it as well, for they turned and left.
Once they were about six steps away, the man with the blonde hair turned back around and said, "If you do see him, be sure to let us know." Then he turned around and jogged to catch up with the other three.
Grace said under her breath, "I will do no such thing." There was a certain level of anger and rage in her voice that Loki did not think possible for someone as peaceful as she was. Grace composed herself and turned back into the house then closed the door softly behind her.
When she rounded the corner, she saw Loki still leaned up against the wall with a confused look on his face. "Why did you defend me?" He asked with shock and confusion clear in his voice.
Grace smiled and answered sweetly, "Because you are not the one that they are looking for." Then she went and knocked on Beth's door. She opened the door and walked in to wake her up because it was time for her to get ready for school. She saw that Beth was already awake and dressed so she smiled and offered to walk her to school.
Once they had left, Loki was left alone in the house. He sat in the sitting room looking at the other cots in the room when he remembered what Grace had told him last night and that she had treated his wounds. He looked at his hands and noticed that there was not a single mark on them. He then quickly stood up and walked over to the small mirror in the bathroom. He looked in it and saw the bandages on his face that had blood soaked through them completely. One at a time, he took them off and was stunned to see that all of his wounds were healed! Just like his hands, there was not a single mark on his face.
"Admiring yourself as usual, I see." Said a masculine voice behind him. Loki turned around and saw Thor standing there in full battle armor with his long red cape blowing in the soft breeze coming from the open window in the room. With a confused look on his face, he added, "Heimdall said you had gotten attacked. But there is not a mark on you. Why?"
Loki smiled in a cocky manner and said in his usual tough tone of voice, "Well I guess Heimdall was not watching closely enough."
"Why do you have bloody bandages in your hand then?" Thor pointed his muscular hand at the gauze that was in Loki's grasp.
Loki looked down at the gauze and frowned. He quickly devised a lie to tell his brother, but it got caught in his throat when he heard the door open and footsteps coming into the kitchen. "Get out!" He said quietly but forcefully. When Thor did not move, he persisted, "At least go into a different room." His voice was a bit softer then Thor was used to and it was very perplexing. "Please."
Thor was even more confused by this. What had caused this sudden change in his brother? He humored him and walked into a different room. Perhaps he could see what had happened to his brother when this person that is approaching enters the room.
The moment Thor was out of view, Grace walked into the room and saw Loki standing there with the bandages off of his face. She grinned and said, "All better I see. I suppose you will be leaving soon." Loki could see a slight hint of sorrow hidden behind her smile as those words came out of her mouth.
Loki, forgetting that Thor was just in the other room listening and possibly watching, walked the few steps up to Grace and tried to cautiously take her hands in his but she pulled them away. He looked into her eyes and said quietly, "Why would I do that?"
Grace looked down at the floor and answered, "Because everyone does."
Loki gently placed his hand under her chin and lifted her eyes. "Listen, Grace. You are the only person who has ever shown me any kindness and quite possibly, the only one who ever will. Why would I leave you so suddenly?"
Grace smiled and hugged him close. After a moment or two, she let him go and walked further into the kitchen. "I stopped at the store and picked up a few things. Would you like something to eat?"
Loki turned around and saw Thor standing in the shadows of the adjacent room with a large smile on his face. He quickly walked into that room and before he could say anything, Thor said softly, "I am glad you have found someone to care about, brother."
"Who says I care about her?" Loki snapped back in a hushed tone. His voice was harsh and rough as he glared at Thor.
Thor chuckled and put his hand on his brother's shoulder, "Your face did. I will leave you now." He then turned to leave.
"Wait, before you go." Loki stopped him. Thor turned around and saw an expression on his brother's face he never thought he would see again. It was strange seeing this look of concern mixed with worry painted on Loki's face. "Could you bring some food? Grace hardly has enough to feed herself let alone the growing young girl she is raising on her own." He asked.
Thor grinned and answered, "I will see what I can do." With that, Thor left back into the Bifrost.
Loki quickly walked back into the kitchen and said, "No, I am alright. I am not really hungry."
Grace looked back at him and smiled. "Nonsense, you have not eaten anything since dinner. At least not that I am aware of." Her warm smile seemed to penetrate deep into Loki's lost and broken heart and it warm it a bit. On some level, Loki knew that he would not regret meeting this girl.
When Thor exited the Bifrost he was still chuckling to himself. That is until he saw that the All Father had come to see what was occurring. As soon as he saw his father, the smile vanished from his face and he froze in place.
"Thor, perhaps you can explain to me just where you were." Odin said. His voice stern as he fixed his eldest son with a one-eyed glare.
"I was visiting Loki, father." Thor explained slightly sheepishly.
"I was not aware that you were going to afford him this courtesy." Odin replied.
"Father, Loki has changed. I am not sure how but," Thor stopped and looked down at the ground as he formed the correct phrase. "I think he is falling in love."
"How can that be? It has only been two days." Odin shouted.
Thor was flabbergasted as well, "I assure you, father, I am just as confused as you are." He smiled.
Odin turned to Heimdall, who was standing there silently, and asked, "Have you been watching him?"
"Yes I have, my king." Heimdall responded.
"How is it possible that Loki might fall in love with a human, the very race he tried to brutally concur?" Odin asked as he turned back to his son.
"I am not sure, father. It is a mystery." Thor smiled.