His head felt strange, as though Thor had struck Mjolnir into it a thousand times. And the surface of which it laid on was far too soft. He felt as though he could fall through to the other side at any moment. Pain shot through his side and for a terrifying second, he couldn't breathe. He very slowly opened his eyes.

He was in a dark, small room covered with photographs and sketches of half built buildings and monuments of all shapes and sizes. The walls were painted a soft yellow and the furniture was some dark Midgardian wood that he didn't care to name.

"Excuse me," said a soft, shaky female voice.

Loki sprang to his feet, only to flop back down again due to the pain that instantly spread through his body. A moan involuntarily escaped his lips as he held his head in his hands.

"If you're here to rob me, I promise you I have absolutely no money or valuables," stated the voice. Loki looked up. The female was looking at him through hazel eyes like she could be startled off at any second. Her hands shook as she brushed a strand of long, tangled, brown hair out of her face. She was of average Midgardian female height but curvier than most. She carried no visible weapons and possessed no known power that he could detect, so Loki relaxed his muscles.

"I am not here to rob you," he said slowly. Pathetic creature, he added in his mind. He stood up, carefully this time, and paused as his vision blurred.

"Then why are you here?" the female asked, crossing her arms over her light blue sweater.

Loki tried to think of a lie that wouldn't alarm the girl. Which was quite difficult to do, seeing as everything might alarm her. "I am here because I have no where else to go."

The girl's eyes widened. "No where else to go? As in…. you're homeless?"

Yes, creature. Are you daft? "Yes. You see, I've come very far and I have no money for residence."

"So, you decided to crash through my window and sleep on my bed?" she said, skeptically.

Loki glanced at the damaged window. "Yes, well, I apologize about that. It shall be fixed."

There was a pause as the girl looked the raven-haired man up and down.

"What's your name?"

Loki said the first Midgardian name he could think of. "Chuck."

"Well, Chuck, I hope you realize how sketchy it is to just hop into someone's bed, especially when you don't know them, and especially when you break their property in the process."

Sketchy? "Yes. I realize and I apologize. But I require your assistance. Temporarily, of course."

The girl thought about. "Fix the window and you might be able to stay here for a few days."

For a moment, Loki was blinded by rage. How dare a puny mortal order a Prince of Asgard around! But then he remembered, that he was now reduced to being a mortal, and was greatly hindered by his wounds.

"I will do so gladly, however, I require medical assistance at the moment," he said, lifting up his soiled black shirt to reveal a deep gash running from his top rib to his hipbone.

The girl gasped. "Oh my god, I gotta call the hospital!" She began to run from the room.

"NO!" Loki yelled. The girl froze in terror. He rethought the action. "Apologies. I just don't think it's that big of a problem. And it doesn't hurt that much," he lied.

"Are you afraid of hospitals?" she asked, sympathetically.

I'm not afraid of anything, you mewling quim. "Yes. Absolutely terrified."

"Then let's see what I can do here," she said, stepping towards him. "And my name is, Selena, by the way."

"Thor, Loki has escaped."

Thor looked up from his meal and looked at the prison guard with contempt. "What do you mean he has escaped? I thought there were a hundred guards on duty surrounding him!"

The guard swallowed audibly. "Yes, your highness, there were, however, they seem to all, have, um, well, uh…"

"Stop your stammering, and tell me what happened," Thor said impatiently.

"I went to take over for one of guards that were guarding the prison door and, to my surprise, there was no one outside. The building was completely isolated, save for this strange green ash that littered the soil."

Thor froze. Oh, Loki, what have you done? "And inside," he said softly, knowing the answer.

"There was no official inside, either. The gate to the dungeon was blown apart as well, and there was no sign of Loki anywhere."

Thor sighed and stared into his gold goblet. "Tell me. Did you see more of this green ash inside?"

"Yes, your highness. It was everywhere, especially on the remnants of the dungeon gate," the guard said professionally. "If I may say so, I am surprised. The gate has been enchanted to never open without a prison guard key, and the guards never come anywhere close to the dungeon aside from issuing the daily punishment."

Thor shivered. "Yes, I'm aware of the spell. However, we always do underestimate my brother, don't we?" He sighed. "Rally the troops. Search all of Asgard for Loki and issue out a level 5 danger warning."

"Right away, your highness." The guard bowed and left to complete his orders.

Knowing that they would never find Loki anywhere near Asgard, Thor pushed back his chair and went to prepare for his trip to Earth.

I swear to Valhalla that I will wait until you are old and weak, then I will make you watch as I place your grandchildren and children in vat of acid. "Ow," Loki said though his teeth.

"Sorry," said Selena, distractedly. She was focusing on not stabbing him with the needle too hard as she stitched up his wound. She wasn't too successful. "You know, if you went to a hospital like I told you to, you would be numb when someone did this."

Loki winced. "As I said before, I…fear hospitals." The only reason he didn't want to visit the Midgardian excuse for a professional medical facility was because they would have a lot of questions to ask him. Questions that he really didn't care to be bothered with. Furthermore, someone there may recognize him from his…incident earlier on in the year. "I would rather be here suffering than in that dreadful place," he said truthfully. The girl smiled up at him as if he had made a joke.

"There," she took small silver scissors and cut the thread she was using. "All done."

Loki stood up and glanced down at the girl's work. It seemed sufficient enough. "Gratitude." He glanced at the mortal as he took his shirt from the bed and put it on. She was staring at his stomach in a strange way. "What is it?"

She looked up at him, startled. "Nothing," she said quickly. She stood up and adjusted her sweater.

Loki stared at her for a moment then shook his head. He would never understand Midgard, especially its women.

Please review! - SB