Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or Norse mythology. I'm not that old.

The Underground

It had never occurred to Loki how long falling through the universe would take before he would land somewhere. It gave him too much time to think about what exactly he had done. He had left the family he had killed his own father for. He had left his Sigyn. If she found out he was alive, she'd probably kill him herself.

The extra time also allowed his anger to fester. How dare Odin say no! Loki had saved his life. Granted he had also endangered it, but Odin didn't know that. How dare Thor be so self righteous! He had only been with the mortals for three days. Three meager days and now he was a changed man. Hah! Then again if Sigyn was here, she would say the same thing about him. He had changed drastically in three days, but she wasn't here. Loki put those thoughts out of his mind, closed his eyes, and waited patiently for his eventual landing.

"I can't believe Father is making me give Sif her hair back" Loki muttered as he searched for a method to magically restore hair within a large dusty book on his desk.

"I can't believe I am helping you." Sigyn grumbled, leaning on a pile of books on Loki's desk, reading the top one.

"Excuse me. But whose idea was it to steal her hair?" Loki glanced up at Sigyn. Loki watched Sigyn carefully as she scoffed, trying hard not to watch her lips.

"Mine. But who actually did it?" Sigyn raised an eyebrow.

Loki couldn't help but grin. "I did. I don't regret it for a second. You really should have seen her face."

"One of the lost moments of the universe." Sigyn sighed.

"I have an idea." Loki said abruptly, leaning towards Sigyn. A dangerous smile splayed across his lips.

"I love your ideas. What is it this time?"

"Restore her hair but make it black...permanently."

"Oh that's brilliant!" Sigyn said excitedly, leaning closer to Loki just inches away from his face.

"I never claimed to be anything less." Loki smirked.

"I believe I called your idea brilliant, not you."

"Oh that hurts! You don't think highly of me?"

Sigyn blinked. "I think the highest of you, Loki. I think you're phenomenal."

That gave Loki a pause. "Thanks. You're not too bad yourself."

Sigyn bit her lip and held Loki's gaze. His cheeks reddened, he had an idea what she was thinking. He had been thinking it just moments ago. He glanced down at his book, his mind froze. "I think I may have found the sp-"

Sigyn interrupted him, pressing her lips softly against his. Loki let out a sound of surprise. Sigyn ran her hands through his jet black hair, slowing pulling his head closer. Loki stood up and wrapped his arms around Sigyn's waist, dragging her on top the desk. In the process he awkwardly knocked the pile of books down. It didn't faze either of them.

"First time for everything right?" Sigyn whispered against Loki's lip, with a mischievous glint in her eye.

"I've heard the second is even better." Loki eagerly brought his lips back to her sweet lips.

Loki landed with a thump, the air knocked right out of him. That definitely left a bruise or two. He rolled his eyes as he sat up. It appeared he was in a busy roadway, many different types of people passed by him. One man roughly bumped into Loki. In less than a second Loki had the man up against a wall with a dagger at his throat.

"You dare touch a prince of Asgard!" Loki snarled.

The man was clearly homeless, and possibly drunk. "Nobody here cares if you're some prince."

"Where am I?"

"You don't know? Hah! That's hilarious." The drunk man burst into a fit of giggles.

"Where am I!" Loki shouted, bringing the attention of other passers-by.

"Calm down. You in the Underground." The man's words slurred together.

"The Underground? I've never heard of this place."

"Maybe they don't teach it in your tutoring classes" The man grunted as Loki slammed him against the wall.

"Tell me about this place! Everything you know!" Loki needed information if he was to survive in this Underground.

"It's the Underground of the universe. It's where all the criminals and exiles go."

"I'm not a criminal, nor an exile. I am a prince!" Loki whispered dangerously.

"Uh. Don't know what to tell you about that." The drunk gave Loki a befuddled look. "You're Thor right?"

"What? No! I am Loki." He was astonished and offended that someone would mix them up.

"Oh I almost couldn't tell the difference. That's good, starting acting like it, and not like a buffoon. Tricks and silver-tongues will go much farther here." Suddenly the drunk didn't look drunk anymore. He pulled himself out of Loki's grip and straightened himself up. Loki watched him curiously. The man gave Loki a wink, and vanished.

Suddenly Loki felt very much in his own element. This was going to be interesting.

AAAAA

Loki paced the stables slowly and paused at the 2nd to last stall. Inside there was a beautiful blond stallion. He neighed softly as Loki quietly entered it's stall.

"A beautiful specimen, though nothing compared to Sleipnir." Loki murmured as he stroked the horse's mane.

It really was too bad his owner had gotten on the wrong side of Loki. No one should try to trick the god of mischief. It never ends well for them, Loki thought as he whispered a spell.

The horse's eye glinted green before fading back to their normal shade of brown. Someone wasn't going to win the impending race, or any other for that matter.

Loki backed out of the stall quickly, and bumped into someone.

"Sorry sir." The page exclaimed.

"It's alright Fiske."

"What were you doing in that stall?" Fiske asked curiously.

"Business. Any news?" Loki had recruited the young boy as a confidant and spy in his smaller dealings.

"Well, you'll be happy to know that horse was many bets on it. He's the talk of the match, all thanks to me."

"Anything of actual importance?"

"I did hear some rumors about someone big looking for a tracker." Fiske's eyes lit up with excitement.

"A tracker?"

"There was Chitauri leader or something in the bar last night talking about it. And everyone says that the Chitauri have some deal with-" Fiske paused a moment, glancing side to side before whispering, "Thanos!"

"Hmmm." Loki paused thinking of the possibilities for something bigger than he'd ever done. "Good job Fiske." Loki clasped the boy on the shoulder.

"Can I help you with this one? I've been practicing my poker face."

"Not this time." The boy's face fell slightly.

"C'mon. I could help!"

"No." Loki said firmly, and started to walk out of the stables before he paused. "I would bet on that horse." Loki pointed to a smaller horse in the corner.

AAAAA

The Chitauri general paced in the alleyway. This was hardly the appropriate place for a man of his rank.

"This is what you get when Thanos wants the scum of Asgard to do his dirty work." He muttered under his breath.

"Oh that hurts" Loki mocked, a hand over his chest, appearing out of the shadows.

"Did you locate the master's item?" The general ignored Loki's comment.

"It must pain you to see me, scum, in a more valuable position than you are currently in." Loki circled the general slowly.

"Enough of your games. Did you locate the tesseract?"

"Yes. You won't believe where it is."

"Where?" The general said gruffly.

"Midgard or you know it as the planet Earth." Loki unleashed an unhinged smile.

"Damn!"

"So close, yet so far." Loki teased.

"Hold your tongue. There are other portal jumpers out here." The general turned away.

"None as good as me. Ask your master yourself. You will need me. Tell him I am prepared to make a deal."

"What sort of deal?" The general sighed, his back still turned.

"I want the Earth. You all want the tesseract. I can give you the tesseract, only if you help me conquer the earth. I think it's a simple deal."

"We'll see." The general turned around only to find Loki already gone.

Loki grinned from the shadows as the general left. It was a dangerous game he was playing. Thanos wasn't one to be trifled with, but neither was he.

Next Chapter: Back to Sigyn and Asgard.