Hey guys, it's Illusions from... Guns and Illusions! This is my first Loki fanfic. Actually, it's my first fanfic in general. I've been waiting so long to write one of these, and I finally sat down and did it (after the pleading and begging from Guns) ! I also wanted to let you know, this story happens after the movie Thor but before the movie The Avengers. Thanks. Hope you guys enjoy! :)

Rating: T (For mild language.)

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Loki. Though I wish I did.

Ara drove down the dusty road, her fingers tight on the wheel. This was probably the thousandth time she'd driven down the uneven, gravelly path, but it was as scary as ever. Technically this wasn't really a road, and driving on non-paved ground made Ara nervous. Evergreen trees lined the path, the low sun causing them to cast unearthly shadows against the ground. Ara gritted her teeth as her truck suddenly dipped down, the bumper almost hitting the earth before coming straight up again.

"What the hell?" Ara stopped the car. To her left, a giant hole had opened in the earth. It almost looked like a crater, the earth caving into a flat, pie tin shape. This hadn't been here the day before. Ara came to this forest all the time, enough times to know that this crater had never existed before today. She'd came into the forest for a reason, and she knew if she wasted any more time she'd miss her opportunity, but curiousity got the better of her. Opening the rusty truck door, she hopped out onto the gravelly road, not bothering to shut it behind her. The crater-like thing was huge, at least one hundred yards in diameter. It started a little ways off from the road, and there were broken trees scattered around the edges and inside it.

Ara walked deftly to the border of the huge hole, standing right on the edge. It was only a few yards deep, and if she fell into it she'd easily be able to climb out.

What was this thing? She stared in fascination. Whatever had caused it had been huge- and heavy. It had cracked trees right from their trunks and sent them toppling to the earth. Shouldn't there be a meteor or something? Ara peered around, but there was nothing in sight that could have caused the gaping hole. It was simply there.

Ara began to walk along the edge, placing her heel to her toes and walking with her arms out. She wasn't sure why, but this crater deeply fascinated her. She'd come into the forest to paint the sunset-she had her canvas, paints, and tools in the car- but she felt a strong urge to paint this hole instead. It wouldn't be half as interesting as a forest sunset; certainly no one would buy it. All the same, however, Ara felt the familiar pulsing in her head, knowing she wouldn't be calm until she'd at least sketched the thing onto paper.

Skimming the sight, she tried to picture how best to present the huge thing. Her eyes passed over the trees that had survived whatever caused the hole, standing happily unbroken around the area. The shadows were deep and black, almost dangerous. Ara's hands itched to move as she observed this, her eyes flitting over the gray-black areas. It was so dark, inky black... Ara blinked. There was a man standing beside a tree. He was wearing black, blending into the shadows. And he was bleeding.

"Hello?" Ara stepped away from the hole in his direction, the crater instantly forgotten. Seeing he wasn't responding, she began to run towards him. "Excuse me? Are you all right? Sir?"

The man either didn't hear her or ignored her, his face turned away. Ara stopped a few feet behind him. His jacket was black, ripped, and torn. She could see the side of his face, as well as the gushing red cuts that ran down his temples. Bruises covered almost his entire cheek, blue-black in the shadows.

"Holy shit," Ara whispered.

He still wasn't responding. Ara figured he was in shock from whatever he'd just been through. She carefully placed her hand on his shoulder. "Sir?"

At her touch he turned, shaking her hand off his shoulder. His face fully turned to her; Ara could see the extent of the damage. His lip was split and bleeding, and a gash ran across his forehead. He eyed her warily.

"Um." Ara let out a shaky breath. "Are you…okay? Oh, that was a stupid question. I mean, can I, like, help…" she trailed off, seeing the man wasn't focused on her. His gaze passed through her, staring instead at the crater. "Oh, uh," she mumbled, turning to look at it again."It's… quite big, isn't it? I wonder what caused it? Oh, what am I doing. You're bleeding. I mean, you probably know that… I can take you to a hospital. If you need me to."

He turned his eyes to her, and Ara flushed, realizing how flustered she sounded. The man just stared at her, his eyes blank.

His eyes… they were green. Almost shockingly green. Ara blinked.

"A hospital."

Ara jumped, wakened from her momentary reverie."So… you do speak," she smiled. "Yes. I mean, you look like you need help.

The man blinked. "No, I don't need to go to a hospital. I'm fine."

Ara almost laughed aloud. "Sir, you are definitely not fine. Come on, my truck is over there. I mean, unless you have your own car, though I didn't see one. I'll come with you though… you don't really look like you're in driving condition. Rosehill is just a few minutes away.

"Rosehill?" the man asked. Ara noticed he had an accent- British, but slightly subdued, as if he'd spent quite a bit of time in America already.

"The nearest hospital," Ara said in answer to his question. "It's about ten minutes from here. Do you have a car?"

"No."

"Then come on, I'll take you."

"I don't need to go to a hospital," the man insisted.

"Well, you need help," Ara said, slightly annoyed. "Come on, my truck is just over here." She turned on her heel and began to walk in the direction of her truck. The man didn't follow. Sighing, Ara stopped and turned back. "Okay, look," she said. "I'm not leaving you alone in the woods. If you don't want to go to a hospital, at least let me take you to my place. I can clean up the blood and give you some Tylenol or something."

The man considered for a moment. "Alright," he said finally.

Ara turned towards her car, walking at a more brisk pace. The man, however, turned and began to walk towards the crater.

"What are you doing? Ara called. "The truck is over there."

The man ignored her, and hopped down into the crater. He walked to the middle, and reached to the ground. Sighing slightly, he picked up something from the dusty earth. Ara stood at the edge of the hole, eyebrows raised. Whatever he'd picked up appeared to be a sort of green fabric, a garment of some sort.

"Alright," Ara muttered. "Um. Can we go…? Oh, okay."

The man had picked something else up from the crater- a large spear, reminiscent, Ara thought, of something out of a movie. Even from where Ara was standing, though, she could see it was real… and dangerous.

Apparently finished with his crater-dig, the man climbed back out from the crater, and walked over to stand beside her. Ara stared at the spear and then back at him, hoping for an explanation, but once again, he bluntly ignored her.

Sighing, and slightly exasperated, Ara turned for her truck again, wondering what she had gotten herself into.

The ride back to Ara's apartment was silent. Ara didn't like to listen to the radio during a drive, and the man didn't seem to be one for conversation.

"So…" she'd said cheerfully, about two minutes into the drive. "What's your name? Mine's Ara."

The man let out a curse under his breath as the truck lurched dangerously forwards before saying, "Loki."

"Cool. I've never heard that name before," Ara said, smiling. "I mean, of course, there's that god- Norse, I believe? His name's Loki, but I mean, I've never met a person with that name before."

He didn't reply. Not even a nod. After a few other failed attempts to start a conversation, Ara gave up, instead glancing wearily at the spear resting in Loki's lap every few minutes. He didn't provide any further explanation on where it came from or why he had it, despite her furtive, pointed looks.

Finally pulling into her parking spot at her apartment building, Ara opened the truck door, waiting patiently as Loki climbed out from the car. Was it just her…or had his bruises faded slightly…?

"Well?" Loki asked quietly, breaking her from her stare.

It must be the light. "Right," she said quickly. "We're on the top floor. You're in for a bit of a climb." Entering the building, Ara led him to the stairs, ignoring the weird looks from the property manager, who was standing behind the front doors. Her room was six floors up, but Loki didn't complain. In fact, once they reached the top, he didn't even look slightly winded. Despite the few people Ara had ever escorted up these stairs, Ara could gladly say he was the first to not even mention the climb once they reached her room.

Ara never expected company, but she kept her apartment clean, and for once she was glad. She had a man in her home, and even if it was a strange, spear wielding man, Ara felt slightly self-conscious.

Entering the room, Ara peeled her coat from her shoulders and hung it up, gesturing for Loki to do the same before disappearing into the kitchen to get some Tylenol. When she came back out, Loki was still standing at the door, his shoes still on, though his jacket was tucked beneath his arm.

"Oh, you can come in," Ara said quickly. "Just take your shoes off." He watched her for a few moments before peeling a pair of black, not to mention expensive-looking, boots off of his feet. He stepped onto the carpet, keeping his jacket tightly secured in his grip.

"You can come into the kitchen," Ara said, feeling slightly awkward. He followed her into the tiled kitchen, sitting down in her offered chair. Ara stood for a few moments, trying to decide what to do.

"You know what," she said finally, "You're too covered in blood for me to do anything. I think you should take a shower first before I try to fix you up."

It took a while to convince him, but realizing she wasn't going to give in, he agreed. Ara gathered some clean clothes, left over from her last ex that sort of looked like they might fit. It was awkward having him shower in her house, but Ara figured she was helping someone, so what the hell. While he showered, she began to sketch the crater, giving in to the itching temptation to do so. She'd been feeling it since they'd started the drive.

She had just finished shading and contouring the hole when Loki appeared from her bathroom, hair wet and shirtless.

Ara didn't bother to hide her staring. He probably got this all the time. The dust that had covered his hair had washed off, revealing black waves that reached just past his ears. And he was tall. Ara wasn't sure why she hadn't noticed this earlier, but he was easily six foot. His looks- lean, with almost a demeaning feel, wasn't the only reason Ara stared. If she'd thought the bruises had cleared in the parking lot, they were most definitely lighter now. The dark, inky marks that had covered his face were now paler, almost a green-yellow. The cuts, cleared of blood, were already scabbed over.

There was green-yellow bruising across his chest, and from what Ara could see, his back too, that she hadn't seen before. Despite the obvious, more extensive bruising that was now revealed; it was a definite improvement from the hellish sight she'd been met with earlier.

Ara swallowed, feeling fear building itself in the back of her suddenly sticky throat. This wasn't natural. Bruises didn't heal themselves within the hour.

He was aware of her shock. It was clear, the way he stared at her, some deeper torment or meaning passing between them. There was silence for a moment, quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

"What are you?" Ara whispered, horrified.

She gripped the counter behind her, unable to keep her eyes away from his face.

"I'm Loki," he said simply, running his hands through his hair.

"You're Loki…" Ara closed her eyes. She took in a deep breath. She knew what he was. In fact, she was certain. What had she said to him in the car earlier? "Loki," she said again, "Norse God of Mischief?"

He nodded.

"Loki… Thor, the God of Thunder's brother?"

He nodded again, his bright eyes never straying from her face.

"Loki. Immortal. Asgardian Prince."

He smiled sadly. "I told you, I didn't need a hospital."

Ara let out a breathy laugh. She ignored the waves of shock spreading from her toes up to the tips of her fingers, and managed to say, "Get out of my house."