Even he couldn't believe he'd pulled it off. Loki leaned heavily against the alley wall, bleeding and exhausted, far too weak to stand yet. He had done it, though. He had somehow escaped from the Chiatauri… right out from under Thanos' nose. And so, here he was in Midgard, the last place anyone would expect him to be. It was going far too well so far and this made the Chaos god just a tad nervous.
As consciousness slowly returned, Loki realized that he currently sat near a dumpster, just behind what seemed to be the human equivalent of a tavern. Too run down for more than a faintly mild revulsion, he listened blearily to the music and rowdy laughter filtering out a back window. He was clearly near people and therefore not safe in this form and so, summoning up what scrap of magic he had left in him, Loki shifted form to the only shape he could manage at the time. Exhausted, the god passed out.
It had been a good night for Anna. Friday nights always meant a little more energy in the bar and a few more tips tossed her way, especially when she could play just about anything on the beat up old piano that anyone in the place could think of for a request. She had knocked everyone's socks off tonight and had earned the last bit of her rent for the month with enough left over to eat pretty darn well this week. All in all, things were going well.
It was a little under half an hour after last call, and Anna was halfway out the door when the owner came up to her. Lindsey had been her childhood friend and even roommate for a few desperate years not so very long ago. Lindsey had finished her business degree and moved in to run her father's bar after he passed while Anna limped along as a waitress by day and musician by rowdy weekend nights. Although the pair we so very different, they remained friends. Lindsey also kept Anna's darkest secret, the only soul to do so.
"Hey Nanna?" Lindsey asked nervously, "I think there's something around back you need to see… I was taking out the trash and, well… you'd better just come have a look."
The something turned out to be a stray tomcat that looked like he'd been through hell. Anna had seen plenty of animals hit by cars, but this poor little thing took the cake. He bled sluggishly through a shocking number of wounds with two painfully twisted limbs that were so obviously broken. Shallow, painful breaths whistled in and out of the motionless, starved form as agonized wheezes that only brought thin flecks of blood. Anna knelt down to scoop up the tortured creature gently with a clean towel Lindsey handed to her.
"Thanks Lindsey… I've got it from here." She smiled sadly at her friend, carrying the cat to her car. The women said their goodbyes and Anna left.
Loki felt warm and at peace when he came to, something he hadn't felt in far, far too long. Wrapped in something blessedly soft and comfortable, with all of his hurts mending too steadily to be worried over, he was only vaguely aware of something rubbing gentle circles behind his ear. Too relieved to do anything else, the once-prince merely leaned into the touch and purred.
Purred? Loki slowly opened his eyes and terror gripped him at once. Still in his cat form, he found himself in a completely unfamiliar room, curled pathetically on a human woman's lap, of all undignified things! A feral hiss escaped his throat as he scrambled away, scratching the stranger's arm as best he could in the process. Crawling under a nearby desk, Loki took up the best defensive stance he could manage at the moment. No one would touch him again. Ever.
After cleaning her arm, the brunette returned, crouching down to Loki's level, who hissed and spat like a demon. Instead of being repulsed, however, she simply smiled, her chocolate eyes soft at the edges and shining with the offer of kindness that asks nothing in return. Loki had only ever seen that sort of expression on Thor directed at him before and for a moment, he was thrown off guard.
She had been speaking to him, and he hadn't been paying attention but now, he let her words wash over him, finding her gentle reassurances soothing and surprisingly welcome. It really didn't matter what she was saying, Loki hadn't been treated so gently since he was a small child and the fact that it came now, unlooked for and after the worst tortures he had ever endured, affected him far more deeply than he would have liked to admit. With slow, careful movements, she reached for him, stroking a hand along his side. It was then that Loki felt the slight pull of what was preciously close to healing magic as a freshly reopened wound closed beneath this strange woman's touch. With her free hand, she reached behind her and produced a small plate bearing what Loki immediately recognized as shredded chicken. He quickly dragged himself forward, eating his first meal in months ravenously. He barely acknowledged the woman as she clasped both hands around his rebroken hind leg, setting and healing the limb with whatever form of magic she used. Sated, Loki looked longingly at the rest of the food still on the plate that he could not hope to force down and yet could not bear to waste.
"Don't worry sweetie." The woman cajoled, following Loki's miserable gaze. "It's not going anywhere. You can eat as much as you want anytime, ok kitty?"
The woman then went back to her previous train of conversation; consisting mostly of variations of "good kitty," while gradually shifting Loki onto the sofa. Once she had settled him next to her and re-wrapped him in a fresh, fluffy towel, the woman gingerly reached over and picked up the remote, flipping on the television. He allowed her to resume absently stroking behind his ears as the low droning from whatever dull program was on began to lull him. For now, Loki was safe and so, laying his head on his strange rescuer's knee, he finally succumbed to the call of sleep.