So, I think the next chapter may be cave drabbles. Sort of like a montage of their time in the cave. Hopefully that will get the story started a bit faster – and get some interesting dialogue in! What do y'all think?

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Cara figured she'd stop by her own cave before setting off for town. It was on the way – more or less – and she had a few trinkets stashed away she thought she might be able to trade for more useful things. She tried to clear a path as she walked. Hopefully it would be big enough for her to pull a cart through on the way back. If she hurried, the round trip should take her only five days. Two to her home; one day to town and back; and two more for the return journey. On second thought, probably should make that six days.

As she walked, her thoughts drifted to Loki. He was quite the character, to say the least. And definitely not unattractive. She'd been lying when she'd said he wasn't her type. Although, if she was honest with herself, she'd say she didn't really have a type. After John had died, people as a whole hadn't held much interest for her.

She brushed away the tears that had come unbidden to her eyes at the thought of her brother. Sweet and innocent, he'd died of infection shortly after losing both his legs to a car crash. There hadn't been anything the doctors could do. One minute he'd been there, grinning up at her and jabbering about how excited he was to start Junior High in the Fall. The next, she was gazing down at his still, gray face in a white padded casket. He'd been adopted, but it didn't matter. Nothing could get that boy down. Even the day after he lost his legs, he'd been bouncing up and down on the hospital bed, trying out his new stumps and deciding what color he wanted his prosthetics to be.

If he were here, now, she'd bet money that even Loki wouldn't be able to scowl at him for long. She wondered what he'd say if he could see her – living alone in the woods, separating herself from everyone and everything.

She smiled to herself. John would probably just smack her in the head and make her call her parents.

Then again, he'd probably have to make them call her. They'd blamed her for John's death from the beginning. It was easy to do, considering she'd been the one driving the car. In all reality, it had been the drunk truck driver carrying a load of steel rebar that had driven Cara off the road, but John had never blamed anyone. It wasn't in his nature. And he had made Cara promise not to blame herself before he died. It was one of the few promises she'd carefully adhered to.

Hence why she was living in the woods – far, far away from her parents' hateful words and from painful memories best left forgotten.

Lost in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed the sun setting until after it had grown dark. Not caring to make a fire – and fearing wolves in the night – she climbed a tree and wedged herself in to sleep.

Ѡ

"Hey there Cara," an older man in a worn baseball cap greeted her as she opened the door. "How've you been?"

She smiled, genuinely happy to see her old friend. "Eh, you know, Tom. Same as always. You? How's the family?"

"Sue took a trip down to Cali to see the kids. My granddaughter's getting married in a few months," he beamed. Cara couldn't help but like Tom. He had been like her own grandfather since she'd moved here.

"I'll have to find something to give them as a gift, then," she laughed. "How's business been?"

"Same old, same old. It's slowing down a bit now that winter's coming, though. By the way, there are a couple tourists looking for a woods guide to take them hiking in the next couple days. Thought you might be interested."

She grimaced, disdain evident in her face. She didn't mind tourists. She just hated when people did stupid things. "Tell them to come back in the spring. The snows are coming in the next few days, and the wolves have been more active than normal. I'm not taking anyone out there 'till it calms down a bit."

"I doubt they'll listen, but I'll pass on the message anyway. How long're you in town for?"

She shrugged. "Just the day. I found a better cave I want to move into and I have to move kinda quickly."

He nodded quietly. "You could always stay with me and Sue. We'd be happy to have ya."

"I know… I just… I can't," she smiled sadly. He always offered, and she was running out of reasons to refuse.

"You can't blame me for trying," he shrugged. "What do ya have for me then?"

She pulled out a few bundles from her pack. "These. And I'll have pelts for you when the winter's over."

He took out each and inspected them carefully. They weren't anything particularly special. Carvings she'd done in bone. But tourists seemed to like them, so Tom had told her to keep bringing them in. There were maybe twenty in all.

"I'll give you $100 for all of them. I'd give ya more, but I can't right now. I'll make it up to ya with the pelts in the spring."

"You really don't have to give me anything, Tom. You know I don't spend any of it."

"It's the principle of the thing," he replied, counting out the cash.

After a few more minutes of small talk and catching up, Cara said her goodbyes and started off down the street towards the biggest building in the town. Wal-mart. As much as she despised the store, it was likely the only place she'd be able to find what she was looking for. She smirked to herself, envisioning Loki's future reaction. She'd have to get a good color.

"Hey there sweetcheeks. You haven't been in town for a while."

She scowled pointedly at the large, well-dressed man swaggering out of the bar. He smiled stupidly at her. "Not now, Eric. I don't have time."

"Awww, honey," he pouted. "You never have time."

She smiled sweetly, mocking him as obviously as she could. "That's because you're never worth it. Now please leave me alone."

"When are you going to let me take care of you instead of running off into the woods all the time?" He put his hand on her shoulder, clumsily attempting to pull her towards him. Eric had been attempting to seduce her for years. He just hadn't caught on to the fact that she just wasn't interested in his money.

All pleasantries completely erased from her mind, she glared darkly at him, placing her hand pointedly on her hunting knife. "Remove your hand before I remove it for you. And I won't be nice about it."

Fear flashed in his beady eyes before he quickly snatched his hand away. "I won't always be so nice, sweetheart."

She flipped him off as she strode angrily away.

Ѡ

Loki was beyond antsy. He didn't think he'd ever gone this long without any form of entertainment whatsoever. He'd settle for counting ceiling tiles, he was so bored. Unfortunately, he was in a cave, and counting the bumps on the ceiling didn't work as well. He'd tried it anyway.

At least the poison had been something. He was almost tempted to try and knock the antler away just so he would have something to occupy his thoughts other than memories. Thinking of Thor was becoming rather old.

Where was she? She said a few days. It had been nearly a week. How dare she leave him alone for that long? He was lying naked in a cave for Allfather's sake. How humiliating. When that woman – that mortal – got back she was going to get a piece of his mind.

He hoped Heimdall wasn't watching.

If he wasn't chained to the floor, he'd be pacing in irritation. Actually, he'd probably be doing something more entertaining and productive, but the sentiment was the same. He was restless beyond measure and there wasn't anything he could do about it.

Night was beginning to fall before there was any evidence of her return. As she emerged from the greenery, pulling a large wooden cart behind her, she slipped on a small patch of ice that had formed in the mud and fell on her face.

Loki laughed as she pushed herself to her feet. The expression on her face made him wish that he'd planned that himself. He watched her struggle to remain glaring at him before she broke out in an embarrassed smile. All thoughts of a lecture were instantly thrust away.

"You look tired," he commented as she pulled the cart the rest of the way inside. "And bloody." She had a long scratch running down her arm where her sleeve used to be.

She grinned wolfishly. "You should see the other guys." She motioned with her head to the cart, where two dead wolves were piled on top.

"Impressive," he complimented, raising his eyebrows.

She shrugged. "The wolves and I know each other well enough by now it's a fair fight. They had the upper hand for quite a while, though. How's the weather been?"

"Refreshing." If he was honest, he was a bit chilly. But he didn't need to be honest.

"Got you a present."

"Oh really? I don't suppose it's pants, is it?" He could only hope.

She grinned. "As a matter of fact." She pulled a bright orange bundle from underneath the wolves.

His sardonic scowl disappeared to be replaced by a degree of horror. "No." She continued to stride towards him as he protested. "No. No. No. Those are not pants."

"Sure they are. They're just of the… tear off variety."

"They're of the 'burn them now' variety."

"Well," she said as she knelt beside him. "If you happen to get your powers back anytime soon, you're welcome to burn them as much as you like. Until then…" She flung off the wolf pelt and looked him straight in the eye. "You're going to have to deal with it."

He almost felt insulted that she didn't spare his exposed body a glance. His pride was saved, however, by the slight color that rose to her cheeks as she covered him. "I have a hoodie for you, too. It's going to take more effort to get you into, though." What in the world was a "hoodie"?

She set to unpacking the cart for a while and he decided to merely watch as she organized her stuff into piles. One comprised of food. Another of furs. Another of bones. And one more of wood. As she carefully unloaded a small cylinder with a crank handle, his curiosity was peaked.

"What is that? It looks ridiculous."

"It's a generator. It lets me charge my iPod and my phone. I'll show you later." She began unpacking wooden crates full of books.

"Is this everything that you own?" He'd been living in relative poverty since leaving Asgard, but that was nothing in comparison to how she lived. She was completely self-sufficient. At least he'd been taken care of. There hadn't been any need to catch or grow his own food.

"Pretty much. I had a small garden at the other cave, but I'll have to replant in the spring anyway. I traded for some canned stuff in town, so we should be okay." She glanced over at him curiously. "Why?"

"I didn't think Midgardians still lived this way."

"They don't. I'm somewhat of an oddity. I've heard of people in Alaska homesteading, still, but they have houses and sometimes a constant supply of electricity."

"So why do you?"

"It suits me."

"Fair enough, I suppose." He began speculating on what had driven her out here. There wasn't anything appealing to this life. Just dirt, blood, more dirt, and starvation. And, apparently, naked Norse gods being tortured endlessly in mysterious caves. He smirked to himself. Well, he supposed that might be a good enough reason to forsake the rest of her race.

As she neared the end of her labor, the woman unloaded something that particularly caught Loki's eye. Crates of crystal clear, filled plastic bottles. Water. He swallowed unconsciously as she stacked them a few feet away from him. She caught him staring at them and smirked.

"I'll share, I promise." Her gaze shifted uneasily to the mouth of the cave, where the darkness of night was beginning to gather.

"What's wrong?"

"The wolves will want the food. And they'll want revenge. I don't particularly feel like facing the whole pack alone." She set to work building a fire, visibly straining her ears to listen. "Hopefully your earthquakes will have kept them far enough away they won't come looking for us tonight."

He nodded absently and found himself staring at the ceiling again until she twisted open a bottle of water and moved his head into her lap. "I think I may put out some traps or build a fence or something tomorrow."

"Didn't they bother you at your other cave?" he asked between gulps.

"They didn't like to venture too close to town. The people there have no problem shooting them – endangered or not." She pulled a strip of jerky from her coat pocket and tore off a piece to chew on, offering him a bit in the process. "I'd rather not cook anything tonight, if you don't mind. I'm tired."

He wasn't in a position to argue, so he didn't. The water and jerky were still better than nothing, if only slightly. They fell into a comfortable silence, and he discovered that it was intriguing to watch her eat from his vantage point on the floor. If she noticed him watching, she paid it no mind.

"Thank you… Cara," he ventured after a while. He wasn't above gratitude where it was due – even if it was to the most lowly and outcast of mortals.

She just smiled down at him for a moment, and he caught himself thinking that she should smile more often. "Keep being nice and we'll call it even."

"You'll have to give me more water for that to be a fair trade," he teased, earning a splash in the face of water. He half laughed, half choked as he mused, "And maybe a crown."

"Good luck with that," she grinned. "I hope you can take it as well as you dish it out."

"I suppose we'll find out, now won't we."

"Sure will."

At least he wouldn't be bored.