Disclaimer: Not mine.
"Boys," she said slowly, unable to remove her gaze from her bed, "why is there a strange, unconscious man in my bed?"
"Because he don't fit on the couch or bunk beds," Joey said proudly.
Jack frowned at his little cousin's lack of help.
"Well… it's kind of a long story," he said, looking at his mother to try to gauge her reaction, which was in all ways not good.
"Oh, I think I have time for this one."
"Where's your helmet? Elbow pads?"
Jack dug around in their room, tossing random toys over his shoulder as he tried to find his cousin's protective gear. As soon as he found it, they could get to the pick-and-pull. His newest creation was almost complete, but just needed a few finishing touches and tweaks. The science fair was just around the corner, and Jack knew he'd win if he could pull everything together in time.
"Found 'em!" Joey shouted, running over with the items in hand so Jack could help get him ready.
"Now remember, don't go wandering off, okay?
Joey nodded, grinning widely as they went downstairs and towards the alley to get their bikes.
Although Jack was excited to get his supplies, he knew it was his responsibility to take care of Joey, but he never saw it as a burden. His mother was always so busy, and he knew she loved them, that's why she was always worrying and doing fifty things at once. Jack knew she thought she hid her stress and fears well, but he had always been an intuitive boy. Sometimes he felt bad for her, knowing how much she needed a hand, how much she struggled, but there wasn't anyone to help. Betty tried for so long, but the woman was getting older, and he had overheard her telling his mom how her health wasn't so good. Cancer, the doctors said. Jack hadn't seen his mom cry, but he heard her that night, alone in her room, weeping for her surrogate mother. Joey didn't help matters much either. He was always so stubborn with his mom. Never did anything when she asked, always thinking he knew better. He was four! Practically a baby! What did he know? Thankfully, for some reason, he usually listened to Jack.
Together they rode their bikes to the junk yard, smiling up at the owner, Gerry, once he let them through the gate.
"Your mom actually let you two come here by yourselves?" the man questioned, since he was so used to the matriarch following them here to watch them like a hawk.
"I'm ten, not two," Jack replied, getting off his bike and helping Joey dismount from his bike (still with training wheels. A baby, see!).
Gerry helped the older boy detach the wagon he had tied up to the back of his bike.
"I got to go make a few calls. Help yourselves. If you need anything give a shout, but when you're done, just make sure the gate is shut behind you."
"Thanks Gerry."
With the wagon in one hand and Joey's small wrist in the other, Jack went to go find some treasure.
Digging around through the metal playground, Joey swung a small pipe like a sword, fighting off imaginary foes, slicing through them with each valiant swing.
"Take that! And that!"
"Joey, don't climb up on that," Jack shouted, glancing at him as he dug around inside the hood of a car.
"Jack?" he called back, drawing out the boy's name in a question, "when do you think my mom will come get me?"
Joey hopped down from a pile of tires and approached his cousin, watching him frown slightly.
Jack hated when Joey asked him this. He never knew what to say, and whenever his mom tried to answer the little boy, said boy threw a temper tantrum.
"Joey, I... what's that?" he questioned, looking off in the distance and seeing a car nearly bent in half, the roof caved in as if something heavy fell on top of it.
"What?" Joey asked, but Jack was already moving, grabbing the handle of the wagon and his cousin before pulling them closer to the anomaly. "Maybe it's an alien! I'll kill it and we can be famous!"
"Joey, be quiet and wait here."
The boy was going to protest, but Jack was already moving closer to the car, his brow furrowing in confusion when he saw feet hanging off of the bent roof. Placing his hands on the trunk, he slowly pulled himself up onto the car, craning his neck to see onto the top of it.
"Alien?"
Jack jumped, nearly falling onto the ground before glaring over at his cousin. He put his index finger to his mouth to shush him while shaking his head. It wasn't an alien, just a man.
"Oh!" Joey continued to shout. "He dead?"
"Shush!"
Jack climbed on top of the roof, getting closer to the unconscious man before reaching out and feeling for a pulse in his wrist. The man's skin was cold, but he could feel the tickling of blood flow under the pale flesh.
Sitting back, Jack stared at the man. His hair was pitch black and longer, not like a girl's though. He must spend a lot of time inside, because he had no tan whatsoever. Dark circles surrounded his eyes while small cuts and bruises littered his face and probably the rest of him. Growing up in the city, Jack knew a bum when he saw one, and this guy didn't seem like one. While dressed in a black long sleeved shirt and black pants, they were slightly dirty, but not raggedy.
Either he had a bad accident or someone did this to him.
From over his shoulder, Joey's pipe poked the man right in the ribs, but he didn't stir at all.
"Joey! You don't just poke someone with a stick!"
"It's a sword!"
"Go get the wagon."
Joey sighed, but did as he was told.
Jack continued to watch the man, wondering what happened to him.
"What are we going to do with him?" Joey questioned as he pulled the wagon over.
"We'll take him to Gerry. Help me pull him onto the wagon."
The boys each grabbed a foot and began to pull with all their might, grunting with the strain as they slowly tugged the man off the car and onto the wagon, wincing when his skull slammed against the rim.
"Oops," Joey muttered while Jack checked to see it he was bleeding.
No, they were good.
"He's too big, Jack. He don't fit."
"Just make sure his head and body are on the wagon, his legs can drag behind. He's got shoes on, so it won't matter."
It wasn't like they would be going very fast.
Gripping the handle again, they pulled the wagon through the lot and towards the office at the front of the complex.
"Come on, Gerry will know what to do."
Not wanting to leave Joey alone, Jack took his hand and led him into the office, waiting until Gerry got off the phone.
"Listen to me!" Gerry shouted into his cell, "That fucker came onto my lot and stole a thousand bucks worth of merchandise! I want him thrown in jail! I want that fucking money back, and if I so much as see that motherfucker again, I'll kill him!"
The boys' eyes grew at the word choice their normally collected friend used.
Jack glanced out the window to the man in the wagon. He didn't steal anything, but he was here without permission. What would Gerry do? Would he send this man to jail too? He was pretty sure he was innocent, but adults rarely listened to reason since they always thought they knew best.
"Let's go," Jack whispered and tugged Joey out the room.
Hurrying over, Jack pulled a tarp from one of the nearby piles and covered the man before hooking the wagon back to his bike.
"Where are we going?" Joey asked when his cousin helped him onto his own mount.
"Home. We'll let him wake up, then see what happened to him."
"But what if he's an alien in disguise. He'll eat our brains, and-"
"Zombies eat brains, aliens either take over the world or abduct us. He doesn't have a ship, and he can barely move, much less conquer us."
Joey sighed, but began to follow once Jack led the way out of the junk yard.
"You say that now..."
"And like Joey said, he was too big for the couch or the bunk beds, so we put him in here," Jack said, pointing to the bed.
Her bed.
"How did you get him up the stairs?"
"The elevator in back."
"It's broken."
"I fixed it last month."
"Or course, you did," she sighed, shutting her eyes as she felt a migraine starting.
"Mom," Jack whispered, his eyes pleading for her to understand. "He's hurt. I just wanted to help."
"I know that, but you can't just pick up some stranger and bring him home! He's not a lost kitten, Jack! We don't know who he is, what he's done! He could be a criminal!"
"Or an alien!" Joey shouted.
Both mother and son shot him silencing looks.
"He won't hurt us," Jack urged.
"And how do you know that? Hmm? You said he's been out since you found him. Are you a mind reader now?"
"No, but-"
"Jack, he's not staying. He could be dangerous, and I'm not going to risk your safety based on your hope that he could be your friend."
Tears came to her son's eyes and she bit her bottom lip, knowing she just hurt his feelings. Jack didn't have any friends at school, and while it stung to point that out, she'd rather him have hurt feelings for a moment than be attacked by some man.
"That's not why I brought him here," he said, his little jaw tight as he tried not to cry. "Something bad happened to him and I wanted to help. You always say to help those who need it."
"And you did enough, Jack, but it's not our responsibility."
Grace left the room and went to grab the phone.
"Who are you calling?" Jack asked, following on her heels.
"The police."
"No!"
Her son ripped the phone out of her hand before moving back to her room.
"Jack! Give me the phone."
"Mom, please. I-"
Joey's scream cut off whatever Jack was about to say and they both ran into the bedroom. Joey stood in the corner of the room, jumping up and down.
"Joey, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" Grace questioned, rushing to his side.
"There was a spider, I kill it," he said proudly, lifting up his foot to show a sticky mess under his shoe.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Grace stood back up and turned, only to still when she noticed they were now being watched by the man in the bed.
Emerald colored eyes watched them warily as the man slowly sat up, wincing when he moved a little too quickly. His tongue licked his split lip, and Grace couldn't help but notice the way his body was moving into a defensive position. With Joey already behind her, she reached to pull Jack away from the bed, but instead he shook her off and got closer to the man, whose eyes snapped towards the boy at his approach.
"Jack," Grace hissed, not liking how the man was acting like a cornered animal.
"Are you hurt real bad?" Jack asked him, wringing his hands together in front of him.
Grace watched as the man mouthed words, but no sound escaped. His pale forehead wrinkled as he mouthed even more words, gaze dropping to the floor while he scooted higher up the bed. His hands began to tremble slightly as he reached for his throat, clawing at it while he looked like he was shouting, but only remained completely silent.
Who the hell was this guy?
No.
This wasn't possible.
Waking up with every part of his body aching was enough proof that he had been stripped of his godliness and magic, but this was too much.
Too cruel, even for Odin.
Loki continued trying to talk, to force any sound from his lips, but through his panic, he knew it was futile.
The Allfather took his voice from him.
His mind flashed back to his sentencing, to the words his 'father' spoke to him, to the way those words stabbed him in the heart like a knife and twisted, even the way his loving mother looked at him with such disappointment, but stayed silent. Even Thor, who kept promising of forgiveness, refused to say anything in his defense.
How could they do this to him?
"Jack, come here," the mortal woman whispered, trying to get the child back to her side.
His gaze returned to the humans in the room, his mind pushing back his vulnerability to instead assess his current predicament.
Of course Odin would send him to Midgard, but he remembered slamming into some sort of metal before the darkness overtook him again, not a surprisingly comfortable mattress.
"We're not going to hurt you," the boy closest to him said. "I found you in the junk yard and brought you here to rest. We only want to help."
Loki frowned at the child.
There was no helping him. A failure, a lost cause, that was what he was reduced to now.
"Mom," so the boy was the woman's progeny, "why isn't he saying anything?"
The woman nearly gasped when his eyes met hers again, but she kept herself calm even though she was obviously struggling not to make any sudden movements.
"I don't think he can."
"Oh!" the boy bolted for the nightstand, causing Loki to shift up onto his knees, forcing his body to obey despite the pain.
"Jack!" the woman shouted, reaching out to yank the boy towards her in reaction to Loki's own sudden movement, but again the child dodged her efforts.
"Are you an alien?" the youngest one asked while trying to fight his way from the woman's grasp.
"Joey, be quiet," she admonished, covering his mouth with her hand.
He watched the woman, knowing she was just as wary of him as he was of them. Loki had never felt this vulnerable before, without his armor, without weapons, his powers, and certainly not without his silver tongue. It was certain he could overpower her easily, her petite and slender frame easily dwarfed by his own tall, strong form. Obviously, she knew this, but the children seemed to sense no danger from him.
The boy, or Jack as his mother called him, dug out a pad of paper and a pen from the drawer before handing it to him.
"Since you can't talk," he explained.
Smart boy.
With a quick glance towards the mother, he slowly reached out and took the items from him, noticing the woman relaxed a little when she realized he wasn't going to lunge or attack any of them.
"What's your name?" Jack asked, leaning closer to watch the paper for his answer.
Loki leaned back a little, before putting the tip of the pen to the paper to write, but then froze. Clenching his jaw, he focused on forcing his fingers to write the letter 'L', but the pen didn't move.
Of course, the Allfather would take this away, too. Now he couldn't communicate at all.
Snarling silently, he tossed the pen and paper aside, reacting so angrily that the woman took two steps forward to grab her son.
"Mom!" Jack shouted when she snatched him by his shoulder and tugged him to her.
"Jack, that's enough. This man needs a hospital."
Loki's head whipped up and shook his head. He couldn't risk it. What if SHIELD found him? He was already being punished enough, being poked, prodded, and tortured would be too much.
She noticed his head shaking, and she sighed.
"So you know English, then?"
Loki nodded, relieved that he could as least answer yes or no questions.
If only he could ask his own.
"Okay then," she reluctantly releasing both wriggling boys, but she never took her eyes off of him. "Are you injured badly?"
Shifting his limbs, he crawled off the opposite side of the bed, before shaking his head. Sore, yes, but nothing he couldn't handle.
"Do you know where you are?"
He shook his head no, again.
"Are you an alien?" the youngest one (Joey was it?) asked.
"Joey go to your room," the woman ordered.
"No," he responded with defiantly.
Loki's lip quirked at such stubborn display and how the woman seemed to be used to his disobedience.
"You're in Chicago. Does that sound familiar?"
Again, no.
"I really think you need a doctor. You obviously have some sort of head trauma, and-"
She stopped talking considering he just stood there shaking his head.
"Well, I'm sorry, but you have to go somewhere, you can't stay here."
All three males focused in on her. Joey looked annoyed, Jack nearly betrayed, but Loki watched her apprehensively.
Of course, when Thor falls to earth he's welcomed with open arms, but no one wants him around... except for the children.
"Mom, where's he going to go?"
"Jack, I.." she trailed off, glancing between the boy and him.
Loki let out a long breath.
She was just trying to be a good mother, to protect her young. While he didn't plan to, nor was he in a position to, hurt any of these mortals, he was a still a monster.
Raising his hand, he got their attention, pointing to himself and then the door.
Relief flickered in the woman's eyes before she nodded and led the group out of her room and toward the front door.
Jack's shoulders slumped when he realized what was happening and he ran into his room, nearly shutting the door on Joey who was following him.
"I'm sorry," the woman beside him muttered, and he didn't know if she was speaking to him or the boys.
Perhaps to all of them.
When her dark eyes rose and met his gaze, he saw true, honest regret.
Why would she regret this? He wasn't her responsibility. He wasn't to be pitied. He was still a god, despite his little condition. Loki still had his pride, his dignity, and he certainly didn't need the pity of some poor mortal and her naive offspring. Straightening up to his full height, he towered over the young woman, staring down at her coldly.
But what he didn't know was Grace recognized that move. Her father used to do it when he was getting frustrated and annoyed, more with himself than with her.
"Take care of yourself, okay?"
No, he was planning on letting more harm come to him on this forsaken waste of a planet. What an idiotic thing to say.
Still, he nodded curtly and opened the door.
If Thor could navigate this planet, Loki was sure he could do so just fine, even without magic or his voice.
If only he knew it wouldn't be so simple.
A/N: Again, thank you so much for the alerts/comments. It truly inspires me to crack open the laptop and write even more. I already have the next few chapters outlined, so hopefully I can keep updating frequently. Please review, leave criticisms, comments, ideas, or complaints. I'm open to everything.