A/N: I never thought I'd update this but here we are. (I blame rewatching a few Marvel movies recently)

Thank you everyone who faved, followed, and reviewed since last chapter. :)

Not much else to really say.

Enjoy!

Time finally slowed back to its usual crawl and Steven dropped his hands back to his sides as Loki took a breath and smirked. "Was that so difficult?" he asked Steven.

Steven was not amused. "I did what you asked, now get out of my sight," he advised. "I no doubt have some damage control to do." He headed further into the Sanctum, walking quickly with cape billowing.

"Ooh, that sounds like such fun. I'll be sure to stop by after I become the finest lawyer this planet has ever known," Loki replied. "No doubt we'll meet again, Doctor. Farewell for now." He turned and left, taking on a more Earth-friendly appearance yet again, slightly more casual but no less refined.

"Where to start..." he wondered to himself as he walked the street, his ears once again bombarded by all of New York's sounds clashing against one another in a battle for supremacy, heading in the direction of the jail where he knew Thor to be. "My knowledge from before was somehow inadequate...the humans must have some sort of place to store the information I seek."

Since he didn't own a cell phone nor had the patience or awareness to steal one, Loki didn't think to use the Internet on his quest. Instead, he ended up in front of a rather large building nearby the courthouse where Thor's trial had been and would be again. He recognized the shape of books engraved in stone on the side. So they have them here as well...perfect, he thought before entering the building.

His assessment had been correct, as he'd walked into the structure holding both city court offices and the massive library used by its occupants and the occasional visiting prosecutor or defense lawyer, as well as the nearby university's students who studied the law.

Loki found his way through the very tall and grand lobby, almost reminded a bit of the halls of Asgard, and eventually discovered the main library. It was empty for the most part, as it was the middle of the workday, but there were a few scholarly looking humans going about doing what you do in a library.

He began to peruse the aisles of books, looking for anything to be found on crime, how to be a defense lawyer, the best way to *ahem* handle a jury...it took little time for him to get a bit lost, which was a strange feeling to have.

Halfway down an aisle he spotted a female human carrying a ridiculous number of books in her arms. She was following a taller male who seemed to be talking incessantly about...something. "For the tenth time, Thomas, I'm going to be observing in court next week so I won't be able to hang out as much," she spoke up as she looked about to drop her books.

"Aw, c'mon, Lilly, I didn't say you had to miss it!" Thomas pointed out, nabbing a book off a shelf to add to his much smaller stash under his arm. "Just wanted it on your radar, that's all. I've got work to do too." He started leaving the aisle, starting to ponder out loud something he'd seen in a magazine.

Loki carefully approached Lilly from behind, not in a weird way of course. She seemed to be aware of his presence somehow and turned her head, adjusting the load in her arms. "Do you need to get by?" she asked politely.

"Not quite yet," Loki replied cooly, able to see more of her now that he was closer; gold-brown hair dangled in her eyes and curled around her shoulders; there was a noticeable scar line that crossed her right cheek under her brown eye, patchily covered with some sort of facial paint. She was shorter than him, but not by much. "That must be terribly heavy, what you're carrying," he observed, not planning on offering to assist her.

"Oh, it's fine," Lilly insisted. "I used to work in the back room of a music store. Lots of really heavy stuff back there." She spotted a book she wanted to grab and placed her stack on the floor with a thud.

"Nevermind, then," Loki replied. It was easier to see what she was wearing now: teal jacket, purple t-shirt tucked into jeans, blue sneakers.

"So...is that all?" Lilly asked since Loki hadn't moved.

"Do you know where I could find the section on the criminal law of this planet?" Loki asked. "I've looked all over this maze of tomes and found nothing."

"...uh, yeah, there's three aisles for it," Lilly replied, confused by his wording. "I could show you, if you want."

"That would be most kind of you," Loki replied with a small, polite smile that was half genuine.

"Right..." Lilly agreed as she placed the she'd nabbed off the shelf on top of her pile of books. She hoisted it back off the ground, the top few teetering slightly and her sleeves being pushed back, showing slight spots of bright color inked on her peachy skin. "This way," she said like she knew the way even though she couldn't see in front of her.

Loki followed behind, anticipating all the books to fall. Surprisingly they didn't. What an odd level of strength, considering she's merely human he thought observantly. He wasn't impressed...only mildly perplexed.

"Here they are," Lilly said without flourish since her arms were occupied. "Go nuts. I've got lunch to get to so I'll be going-" She began to walk off, probably to find Thomas again.

"I beg your pardon?" Loki interrupted, looking at all the hidden words in front of him. "There can't be this much code for the law..." The law on Asgard was not nearly this extensive, or perhaps he'd grown up learning it so it hadn't been such a daunting amount of information at once.

"Criminal law," Lilly felt the need to correct him with a slightly impatient sigh. "This is just for New York. There's an extra aisle for federal stuff if that's what you're looking for." She continued moving away from him.

"I can't possibly read all this in a week, despite my many talents...there must be some sort of shortcut," Loki thought out loud.

"Sure, guy...good luck with that, bye-" Lilly quickly vanished behind many aisles of books.

Loki blinked in shock at how easily she slipped away, then sighed in frustration. There had to be an easier way...

Prince Loki of Asgard would not take the difficult route. He wasn't meant to do such strenuous things, even if they were to help achieve his goals.

He needed to seek knowledge from a smaller pool...and fast.

My Loki feels rusty so sorry bout that. Lilly and Thomas are OCs I've had for awhile so, uh, yeah.

Thoughts are always appreciated. Not sure if/when I'll update again.

Laters *teleports away*