Chapter 7: Human
Rating: T
Current Song: "Human" by Christina Perri

"I'm only human
And I bleed when I fall down
I'm only human
And I crash and I break down"

"Loki, meet Jack."

The two year old giggled and squirmed while dangling upside down. "It was in my bed." Loki looked utterly distraught, if not disgusted. He reeled back as little fingers grabbed at him.

"Spess man!"

"He's turning red." Stella continued to laugh as she gathered the little boy and righted him, snuggling his laughing form as she walked away and into the kitchen. "Let's get your breakfast, little man."

Loki stood, dumbfounded, his arm still outstretched. Allison approached him, hands in her jacket pockets. "I'm sorry he scared you."

Loki dropped his arm and scoffed. "He didn't scare me."

"Right." Allison smiled softly. "How are you feeling? I checked on you after dinner and you were out like a light."

Loki absently placed his hand on his stomach, suddenly reminded that it was throbbing. He was not sure how he felt about sleeping so soundly in such an insecure environment but he had needed the rest. "I'm fine." He answered quietly.

"You're a liar." Stella walked out of the kitchen with a glass of water and two familiar white pills. "You know the drill." She offered the pills. She smiled when he opened his palm without argument. "Jack is in his highchair having breakfast," she told Allison while handing over the water to Loki. "You two should join us in the dining room." She kept her hand out to retrieve the glass once the trickster was finished with it. Once he handed it back, she patted his cheek affectionately before turning to disappear into the kitchen. He hadn't even realized he was smiling.

"Stella's pretty great, huh?" Allison said, watching his expression immediately falter. "Let's eat." She turned, hands still in her pockets, and walked toward the dining room.

Loki stood still in thought. He was hungry but he was also beginning to realize that he was growing way too comfortable here. He was never meant for comfort.

"Loki! It's getting cold!"

He pushed the thought to the back of his mind for now, following Stella's call into the dining room.

"The quinjet went down just two miles outside of…" Tony Stark paused, bringing the blinking red dot into focus on his 3D interface before pointing at it, "Gifford, IL. Huh, Reindeer Games went to cattle farm central." Plopping down in his chair, he spun to face the others in the room: Thor, Banner, and Clint. The billionaire pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Things were so much easier before all the drama with Steve. "Clint, any word on Natasha?"

"I was able to get a message to her and she's on her way." The marksman answered, not really giving the conversation his full attention. He worked diligently on his bow, preparing for the battle he knew was not far away.

"I think we should accept that this is who we have to work with, Tony." Banner added, cleaning his glasses on his shirt. His head was pounding, worsening any time he attempted to focus on his latest transition back from his alternate self. He should have been lost after Asgard, leaving Hulk to permanently take his place. He inhaled deeply through his nose when the familiar twinge of pain sprung from behind his eyes, pushing the thoughts away.

Thor sat quietly next to the window, staring out into the clouds. His focus was solely on the whereabouts of his brother. Nothing about this was right in the mind of Asgard's king. Since returning to Earth, he had been forced to allow S.H.I.E.L.D. to house the Aesir survivors, which were few. 'Some king…' Now they searched aimlessly for his (once again) fugitive brother. But Thor still refused to believe it. Something about Loki that day had been different. He had looked to Thor, his eyes held no mischief, no malice… but just as he had, Thanos had appeared and…

"Thor!"

He snapped his head toward Stark. "I apologize. I've been...rather preoccupied as of late." Banner came to sit by the thunderer's outstretched legs.

"We know how hard this must be." He gently squeezed Thor's shoulder, offering what little support he could give. "I saw Loki up there, too. I thought maybe…" He trailed off. "But he had the tesseract, Thor. He ran from us."

"He ran from the titan." Thor countered.

"He ran." Tony interjected from his chair, face hidden behind his hands. " With the tesseract. Loki looks out for number one, big guy. I'm sure he's just biding his time somewhere until this can play to his advantage." He dropped his hands to his lap, spinning lazily in the chair.

"We'll figure out our next steps once Natasha arrives." Banner stood and walked toward the kitchen, suddenly feeling parched. He hadn't seen her since the events with Ultron.

"I fear we may be wrong this time." Thor sighed.

"Only one way to find out." Clint raised his bow, string pulled taught next to his ear. He released the shot, the arrow zipping over Tony's head and through the flashing red dot to penetrate the wall behind it.

Loki ate quietly, watching the ruckus around him from the same chair he had sat in the previous evening. Allison was again at the head of the table, but there was a special chair for the child positioned next her. Food was flying all over the room without much successfully making into the little sprog's mouth. It was utter chaos. He should be enjoying it, but it was the exact opposite. He had never been fond of children in Asgard, snarling at the little ones that would tug on his cape in innocent astonishment. They would run crying to their parents as he laughed. He smiled at the memories, before Thor's failed coronation. Before the Void. Before Ragnarok. If he tried hard enough, he could pretend that there had been a time when he was actually happy with the royal family.

"Spess!"

The oatmeal splattered across his face and everyone froze. Everyone except the perpetrator, that is. Jack banged his spoon against the top of his highchair, laughing loudly while Stella and Allison stared, wide-eyed, at the trickster and awaited some sort of reaction.

Loki bit the inside of his jaw in restraint and nodded, the initial upset draining when he set his eyes upon Stella, who was already reaching for a napkin. "This is why smarter species eat their young." He quipped as the older lady rounded the table and began to clean the mess from his face. He didn't miss the icy glare from his left.

"He's joking, Allie." Stella gripped his chin, a little firmer than necessary, turning his face toward her while continuing to wipe at his cheeks. "You're joking, right?"

"He'd taste terrible." His lip twitched into an almost indecipherable smile that disappeared just as quickly. Finally, he felt a bit more like himself for the first time since his arrival.

"He's joking." Stella concluded, releasing his face.

"Not funny." Allison huffed, turning to tend to Jack.

The meal ended without further incident and Loki quietly returned to his room. He sat on the edge of the bed and stared out the window at the frozen ground. The yard and animals were replaced with debris and bodies, the clear sky blurred by dust and smoke….

"Loki!"

His brother's voice was so far away, though somewhere in the logical part of his mind (where the pain had not yet penetrated), he knew Thor was closing in on them. The Avengers were coming to stop the titan and collect the tesseract. What they would do with him was unknown… His eyes rolled down to Chitauri blade in his gut and then back up to the large being who had wielded it.

"Thanos…"

"We meet again, fallen prince." Loki staggered backward and grabbed the hilt of the blade to yank it free and toss it aside. "And you finally fulfilled your end of our bargain." The tesseract's glow was reflecting in Thanos' eyes.

"I don't think so, purple people eater!"

Tony Stark descended in front of Loki, palms out to fire the repulsor beams into Thanos' chest. The titan was pushed back, a look of annoyance plastered on his face.

"Brother!"

Hulk and Barton appeared in Loki's peripheral just before Thor spun him around, one hand pressing against the wound in the trickster's stomach while the other remained on his shoulder to keep him steady.

"Thor…" Loki stared at him, instinctively pulling the tesseract closer. "You can't...win this."

"Brother, give me the tesseract." They searched each other's eyes while chaos unfolded behind them. "Don't turn back now." Thor wanted to give Loki the choice…

And then Loki was gone, teleporting himself to the now empty quinjet. He staggered to the controls, quickly pressing buttons. As the jet rose into the air, Loki gazed through the glass at Thor on the ground. His brother was watching him go, disappointment and betrayal shining clear in his now wet eyes.

"You would understand." Loki said to no one, wishing Thor could hear him. "If there were time to explain, you would understand."

"Hey, spaceman."

Loki's head snapped to the doorway to find Allison leaning in, her knuckles still against the frame. Had she knocked?

He cleared his throat. "What is it you need, spitfire?"

"Stella took Jack to town. I was wondering if you'd like to get out of the house for a while." The hand she had seemingly used to knock held a green winter jacket. It was too big to be hers, so it was also her brother's, Loki assumed. The other hand held a pair of boots, socks between her fingers. He seemed to be pondering the idea, his left arm absently wrapping around his middle. "If you're up to it, that is."

After another moment, Loki stood. He remained still, testing his balance. "Definitely." He nodded and reached for the dresser, shuffling through and pulling out a long-sleeved black shirt.

Allison waited in the door with the coat in her hand, a sympathetic pout on her face as she watched him struggle to get the clothing over his head. He managed and then reached for the boots and sat back down on the edge of the bed. Pulling on the socks had left him nearly panting. Bending at the waist was not the most comfortable thing to do when one has a patched up hole in their gut. Allison watched him struggle with the boots, noting how he never asked for help even when the movement was obviously painful. Standing once again, he accepted the offered jacket, heading for the door at his slower pace before she could say anything else. She fell in line behind him and pulled the door closed as the stepped out into the cold, winter air. She noted the chill that ran through the taller man but said nothing. They stood on the porch for a few silent moments. Loki had shoved his hands into the pockets of the jacket, his hair blowing wildly around his face. Allison stifled a laugh. Her hair is in its usual long braid, a style she's grown accustomed to after being on the farm for so long.

"Here." She reached over Loki's shoulders and pulled up the hood, ignoring his crossly furrowed brow. She made sure his hair was tucked inside and then stepped back. "You look like a normal guy now." Loki rolled his eyes and turned to gingerly conquer the few porch steps. A bark signaled Sadie's arrival, but much to Allison's surprise, the shepherd approached Loki instead of her, sitting and waiting for his attention. He scratched the dog behind her left ear as he passed and she began to trot along at his side, leaving Allison to watch them go. "Hey! What did you do to my dog?" She sprinted to catch up, leaning forward to glance from man to canine.

"What makes you think I did anything to your pet?" He retorted, regarding her stoically.

"Well, I mean...she likes you. Stella likes you. Jack likes you."

"The little mite has an interesting way of showing his affection." Loki recalled the oatmeal from that morning and closed his eyes briefly, shaking his head. Allison moved to stand in front of him and put out a hand to make him stop. "What now?"

"Tell me more about you. Where you come from, why you're here. No lies, no riddles, no….whatever that is you do when you try to confuse me."

"That hardly takes effort."

"You're a jerk." She stepped aside and turned to walk away, not bothering to wait for him. "No wonder someone stabbed you." He smiled as he began to follow her, hearing Sadie's retreat toward the fields to find something more interesting to do. The walked quietly for a few minutes, reaching the treeline on the outskirts of the farm. It was the opposite direction from where he had arrived, so any anxiety bled away. "You're frome Asgard. And Thor is your brother. And you're a god." He looked up at the back of her head, walking only a few feet behind her.

"We've established this, yes." He answered coolly.

"I'm still just trying to wrap my head around all this." Loki remained quiet. "It's... weird ."

"It is a lot to take in, I'm sure." He would have shrugged had she been able to see it. "There are a great many things midgardians are ignorant-"

"Midgardians?"

"Humans," he corrected. She had stopped to allow him to catch up to her, before keeping his pace to stay beside him. "Other realms, powerful magics, unspeakable dangers."

"You have magic, don't you?"

"I do."

"Why didn't you just use it to heal yourself?"

"Healing spells are complicated, which is why they are normally only cast by healers." He said it so matter-of-factly, as if she should have known. "I was," 'am' "too weak to even begin to heal from this."

"Would you have died if we had left you?" She asked, stepping over a downed branch. Loki chose to walk the extra bit to walk around it. Allison stopped and looked up, eyes wide. "Not that we would have ever left you."

Loki smiled, a small genuine one. "Eventually, yes." He started began walking again while Allison silently berated herself before following. "Contrary to popular belief, we're not immortal. Our lifespan is just not as fleeting as that of a human."

"Wow…" She breathed. "So, what was it like...you know, being born a prince and raised to be a king and all that?"

Loki twitched, hoping she hadn't seen it. His marred past was not something he would readily discuss with a human girl. "Tell me about your family." He countered, leaning back his head to look up at the gray sky through the canopy. "Your son is…" he searched for the right word, "spirited."

"Oh," came the quiet reply. "Jack's not my son." Loki looked down at her, brow furrowed, but she seemed to find something very interesting about her feet at that moment. "He's my nephew. My brother, Tom and his wife Chloe were Jack's parents." He noticed the quiver in her voice but allowed her to continue, intrigued. "The farm belonged to my parents. I had decided that the good ol' farm life was for me, so I still lived with them. You know, to help. Mom and dad weren't exactly spring chickens." Loki mouthed the words, utterly confused as to why she would refer to her parents as farm animals but remained quiet. "My little sister Jennifer, she was 12. She lived at home too, of course. My brother and Chloe lived in California. Tom had decided long ago that he hated the smell of the farm and moved to New York with Chloe. He worked in music, but it's a hard thing to get in to, so after a few years, they decided to come home." She had stopped walking now. "Jack spent this past spring with us while they packed. Then mom and dad got on a plane for the first time ever to go help. Jennifer begged to go. She said she'd never get to see a place as magical as New York City. She was adorable when she pouted, so of course they let her. They packed everything up in the city and helped load the truck...and then they all got on a plane..." Allison had begun to hug herself tightly, her knuckles turning white. "I agreed to keep Jack until they all got back… but they never came back." Her shoulders began to tremble with quiet sobs, but Loki was at a loss. He could sense from the beginning that she had lost someone… but not everyone.

"I'm...sorry." He said quietly, not sure how to ease the discomfort of the moment. He wasn't sure how long they stood there with Allison's crying the only sound. "And Stella?" He finally asked.

Allison wiped at her eyes and began walking again. "She was my mom's best friend. She practically raised all of us kids while my parents worked on the farm. So naturally, when it all happened, she stepped in to help with Jack." She looked up at him, eyes rimmed red with tear stains on her cheeks. "She's a life saver."

"She is." Loki agreed. He hadn't been making a joke but Allison began to laugh, gently at first but then louder. The trickster cocked an eyebrow at her. "I fail to see the humor."

"Stella...she…you…" Allison finally waved it off. "Oh, forget it. It's over your head."

"What is?" He answered, still just as serious, if not confused.

"Nevermind. Let's start heading back." She reached out to lock her arm in his, honestly a little surprised that he didn't pull away. "Stella will have my head if I keep you outside too long."

The walk back was quiet, but not uncomfortably so. Loki had to admit that the time in the fresh air had made him feel better. The pain had subsided and he did not feel as weak. If he searched hard enough, he could feel his magic burning inside, just a spark but there nonetheless. He would need at least half his strength to summon the tesseract and teleport away. He'd also need to find a way off the planet, but he could worry about that part later. First thing was first and the tesseract had to be-

"Allie! Allie!"

Loki looked up to see Stella bounding toward them as fast as her old legs would carry her, Jack on her hip. Her expression was panicked and make his gut twist in anxiety.

"What's wrong, Stella?"

The elder woman looked up at Loki and then back to Allison, who then glanced at each other.

"Sheriff Gill is here."