Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my OCs, and most of them are heavily inspired by mythology.
"There is a face beneath this mask, but it isn't me. I'm no more that face than I am the muscles beneath it, or the bones beneath that."
V for Vendetta, Steve Moore
The basement where she appears is filthy, and dark, and stinks of the kind of gore that has been built up over quite some time. Loki is grudgingly impressed – she hasn't seen a proper torture dungeon since the middle ages. Through the darkness, keen eyes skim over the hunched forms of several filthy humans until she sees him.
Lafayette is chained to a pole by a metal collar around his neck, shirtless and evidently scared out of his mind, but unharmed. Loki's shoulders relax a little in relief to see her protection spell has held up (although she hadn't really doubted it would) and promptly sends the other prisoners into unconsciousness with a gesture of her arm and a little power.
To her friend, she must appear to simply blur into existence beside him, looking as human as she usually did in her Merlotte's work uniform, and it makes him flinch so violently that he staggers backwards, then gape up at her.
'Tori?' He breathes, sounding stunned, relieved and a little afraid all at once. The combination serves to fill her stomach with guilt. 'What the fuck?'
Ignoring the grim condition of the tile floor, Loki drops to her knees at her friend's side. 'Hey, Lala,' she smiles at him, and the expression is sad, 'I'm so sorry I didn't get here sooner.'
'H-How're you here? What happened to the others?' He gestures vaguely to the other captives, eyes wide with shock.
'That was me – a simple sleeping spell. They'll wake up not even knowing anything happened when I take it off.' She explains unconcernedly. 'Are you okay?'
'Spell?!' Lafayette nearly screeches the word, then claps a hand over his mouth, eyes darting fearfully to the stairs. 'Shit.'
'Don't worry, no-one can hear us down here just now,' she hurries to reassure him, and is relieved when some of the fear leaks from his face, 'another spell.'
He fidgets, staring at her like he's never seen her before. 'You a witch or some shit?'
'Not a witch;' she replies immediately, frowning, 'Witches are second rate energy manipulators. I guess the word to use would be "mage", or maybe "sorceress".'
Loki doesn't think explaining that she is an immortal from another dimension that used to be worshipped as a god would be good for her friend's heart – or his sanity. And it's hardly the time to discuss the semantics, anyway.
'Right.' Lafayette breathes out a shaky breath, absorbing the information. Loki watches the emotions play over his face, taking in the doubt, and the nervousness, and for a moment is truly afraid that he'll turn away from her because she is something "other". Then, in true "Lafayette" fashion, he rolls with it – and her heart swells with appreciative love. 'Alright; you a mage. Or whatever. Can you get me out?'
'Ah, well, I could.' Loki stretches her senses, unsurprised to learn they are beneath Fangtasia. 'But Eric – the vamp who owns this place – is Sheriff of the area. He's the boss of Renard Parish.' She adds to his confused look, and opens her mouth to elaborate on the delicacies of vampire politics, but Lafayette beats her to it.
'So, if just up an' disappear, he'll come after both of us, and we'll be in even deeper shit.' he summarizes, and slumping in defeat when she nods. 'Motherfucker.'
'I could get you out anyway,' she offers quickly. She really hates to see the look of defeat on his face. 'I could make him them forget you were ever here – maybe. Vampire minds...' Loki looks away, hating having to admit weakness. '...they're trickier to manipulate than humans, and Eric's older than most. But I could try.'
He stares at her for so long Loki grows concerned and skim-reads his mind; he is comprehending for the first time just how much she is willing to do for him, and it warms some lizard-y part of her brain that loves being appreciated. But he also sees the hesitation in her words, and eventually he shakes his head. 'That's probably not the best idea.'
'I'll find another way, then,' Loki tells him confidently, 'but it'll take a little longer.'
'That's okay,' he assures her, even though he's glancing around the dungeon, searching for a monster in the dark and terrified at the very idea of staying there longer, 'just hope they don't kill me 'fore you can do anything.'
'They won't be able to hurt you at all,' she promises, touching his bare arm and willing the protection spell to become visible. Lafayette makes a choked sound of disbelief, and Loki can't help but smile gently – showing a mortal her magic for the first time is always a little humbling. She allows the veil of green magic to sink back into his skin, and pinches him on his exposed bicep – hard. He tenses, bracing himself for pain, and goggles at his unmarked skin when he feels none and he fingers leave no mark.
He stares at her in surprise, then gives a short, incredulous laugh. 'Are you for real?'
'Yeah; but they'll know something's up,' Loki shoots him a small, conspiratorial grin, 'Just flinch and try not to invite any major harm and we'll be fine.'
'Got it.'
'I'll come back to visit as often as I can, okay? And you'll be out in no time,' she stands, 'so don't worry about it.'
Loki doesn't want to leave. Doesn't want to abandon her friend when he is clearly so lonely and cold and scared, but knows that she can't help him from his side, and knows she absolutely must.
But before she can retreat fully, Lafayette grabs her hand. 'Thank you.'
Loki's face softens, seeing his absolute sincerity. 'You don't need to thank me, Lala,' she leans down, pulling him into a warm hug, 'I promised to protect you, didn't I?'
'I guess.' He mumbles against her shoulder, and if, when she pulls back, her sleeve damp and his eyes red, she pretends not to notice. 'Still.'
'I'll be back, I swear.' she declares, and the words are full of old power. Oaths, to the Æsir, are sacred, and even a human recognises the absolute promise in the proclamation – so Lafayette relaxes, and Loki disappears with one last long look at her friend.
She re-appears in the parlour of her home, and rubs the back of her neck. Reclaiming a prisoner from a Viking... it reminds her of her youth.
xXx
To Loki's eternal chagrin, getting Lafayette out of Eric Northman's clutches without force is a little more difficult than anticipated.
A few discreet calls to her contacts in the Authority reveal that, from the standpoint of vampire law, there isn't any legitimate cause for her friend to be let go. Selling vampire blood is a grave offense, and the fact that the vampire supplying Lafayette has disappeared (died) does not help.
After two weeks (1) of searching desperately for some way to get her friend released, visiting an increasingly despondent Lafayette, and becoming quite agitated that the people of Bon Temps don't seemed to have even noticed the missing cook, Loki is at the very edge of her patience, and decides it is time for direct confrontation.
It's four am, and Fangtasia has just closed for the night when Loki struts across the parking lot to the closed employee entrance and bangs on it. Within seconds Pam swings it open with an unimpressed scowl.
'We're closed, doll.'
'I need to speak to Mr Northman.'
She quirks an eyebrow at the absolute surety in Loki's voice, but Pam opens the door a touch wider to allow her entry after a moment of deliberation.
'Fine – Eric hasn't eaten yet anyway.'
Loki pretends not to hear the comment, sliding into the darkness of the club. It hasn't changed at all since the last time she visited, though she imagines they have a new bartender.
Pam leads her into a hallway, black bondage style heels clicking against the tile floor in an intimidating drumbeat of clicks, and pauses at a door marked "Northman".
'Victoria Storm is here to see you,' she says in a level tone, and after a moment gestures for Loki to enter, obviously having heard Eric's response, 'good luck getting out.'
Loki shuffles inside, eyes taking in the room in full detail in a single glance. The relatively small, messy room would be like every office space she's ever seen if it weren't for the empty bottles of Tru:Blood in the wastepaper basket, and the beautiful Viking sat behind the desk.
His hair, Loki notes, is shorter than when she last saw him, trimmed to the top of his neck. It suits him, but now is not the time to boost his already inflated ego with compliments.
'Ms Storm,' his eyes drag over her form appreciatively before he meets her eyes, 'what a pleasant surprise.'
'Mr Northman,' Loki gives a stiff nod, reminding herself that she's supposed to be "playing mortal", and forcing her heart to speed a little, 'sorry to show up uninvited.'
He waves the apology off. 'It is no hardship,' he smirks, 'in fact, it's my pleasure. Sit.'
She takes a seat in front of the desk, back straight as a ruler.
'I'm here about Lafayette Reynolds.'
Eric stills completely in the eerie way only vampires can still – un-breathing, unblinking, unmoving. 'What about him?'
Even if Loki were human, she wouldn't buy the innocent act. 'He's missing. And I think you have him.'
'Why would you think so?' He demands, and there is no trace of his previous flirtation is his tone. Loki swallows against her dry throat – her next words are a definite risk.
'Because he has been selling V.'
The Viking is suddenly right in front of her, and the movement is so swift and sudden that her hair blows back a little at the burst of dispersed air. 'I should drain you dry for keeping this knowledge to yourself.'
She ignores his words, stone-faced in the face of such a threat. 'Lafayette was being supplied by a vampire of your Area – he had no idea that selling V was against vampire laws.'
Eric raises a disbelieving eyebrow. 'Indeed?'
She nods. 'His supplier, Eddie, was captured and staked by a woman named Amy Burley some weeks ago, so he can no longer confirm this or be held accountable for selling his blood. Lafayette's crimes should have been put the hands of human law enforcement.'
'You suggest I hand a V-dealer over to cops?' He questions with a scoff, and Loki allows herself a smirk.
'You took things into your own hands – Lafayette would surely report you for his kidnapping and imprisonment if he was turned over now.'
'I could glamour him.'
Loki's eyes spark in triumph. 'You'd be surprised how hard people cling to their worst memories.'
'I could kill him.'
'Then I would go to the police.'
A large, pale hand whips out to settle around her throat, not applying pressure, just threatening. 'I could kill you.'
'Could you?' Loki taunts in a breathy whisper, and they are both still, held at an impasse. She knows that, although he has his theories, Eric Northman has no idea who or what she is, and this gives her the upper hand. Loki is an unknown – he won't kill her if she has the potential to be useful.
And she does.
Eventually, he throws back his head and laughs.
It is a strange notion that, even after four-thousand years, people's actions can still surprise her.
Eric grins down at her, shaking his head almost... fondly. His grip on her neck shifts, now more an idle caress than an assault. 'I wonder if your blood is as fiery as your nature,' he muses aloud, and the jump of her pulse is decidedly not faked this time (2).
Loki gets back to business, tearing her thoughts back on track. 'Let Lafayette go.'
Eric sobers in an instant, opens his mouth, but it's then that Pam chooses to enter the room in a whoosh of air.
'Compton is here with his human,' she announces in Swedish, ignoring Loki and her close proximity to Eric, 'she is injured.'
'He cannot heal her?'
Pam shrugs, uncaring. 'He tried.'
The older vampire inhales, and his pupils dilate. Loki imagines that, even only part-fae, Sookie's blood must smell exquisite, and she has to admire the self-control it must be taking to not zoom away and rip her throat out.
'Fetch Dr. Ludwing.' He glances at Loki, and switches to English. 'You, come with me.'
The black-haired woman frowns, pretending to not understand the situation, but follows him out into the main room of the club.
Sookie is laid on her stomach on a table, writhing in pain and with three savage (and unmistakable) scratches carved into the flesh of her back, and Loki does a double-take of surprise that she quickly plays of as shock at the sight.
But seriously, what the fuck was a maenad doing around here?!
Despite the questions racing through her head, Loki gasps in concern, playing the part of concerned human friend perfectly. Bill is crouched over his girlfriend, frantic, and looks beseechingly to Eric.
'A doctor is on her way,' the Viking assures, and within moments Pam arrives with a short, wrinkled doctor. No-one notices Loki's eyes widening dramatically – she never expected to see a dvergr (3) on Earth.
This night is just full of unexpected turns of events.
Sookie, who seems to have regained some coherency, squints at the small woman who approaches her side. 'What kind of doctor are you?'
'The healing kind. I'm Doctor Ludwig, what's your…' She touches one of the wounds, and the telepath screeches in agony. '...name?'
'I-I'm Sookie Stackhouse. Am I dying?'
'Yes.' The doctor deadpans.
'No!' Bill cries, stepping closer. 'She cannot die. You will save her.'
Dr Ludwig growls. 'Back off vampire, let me do my job.'
'Forgive him.' Eric cuts in smoothly. 'Bill is abnormally attached to this human.'
But the Viking's words bring the doctors attention to him, and inevitably to Loki, as she is standing beside him, and she raises an imperious eyebrow. 'Hm. I never expected to see one of your kind here.'
'Likewise,' she returns, trying not to wince at the various sharp looks shot her way. Dvergr, dwarves, are a race from Niðavellir, better known as Svartalfaheim, a neighbouring realm to Asgard. While the Æsir collective tend to look down on dwarves for their "primitive ways", Loki has always been fond of them, and most of them return to regard - it isn't uncommon for her to pay visits to Niðavellir from time-to-time (3). They are also exceptionally wise, and astonishingly gifted in magic, so Dr Ludwing being able to see Loki for what she really is is no great shock, but subtlety is not their forte.
The dwarf turns back to Sookie with a brisk sigh. 'We don't have a lot of choices, she's been poisoned. You ever heard of Komodo dragons? Their mouths are teeming with bacteria. After one has bitten you, it will track you for hours, days, just waiting for the toxins to slowly eat away at your nervous system till you're good and helpless. Then it will devour you alive. (4)'
The part-fae gulps, eyes wide. 'I was scratched by a dragon?'
'No. But this poison is similar but way more efficient. I think I've seen it before but it's hard to tell without testing, and we don't have that kind of time.' She rounds on the vampires with a scowl. 'Give us some privacy; I need to remove her clothing.'
They oblige, though Bill seems reluctant to leave, and Loki moves to follow them when an aged hand points at her. 'You. Stay. You may be of use.'
She immediately scurries over to the other woman, ignoring Eric's curious stare. Loki may like dwarves, but they are incredibly wilful, and when they tell you to do something? You do it.
While Dr Ludwing cleans the cuts with a steady hands, she instructs Loki to put the telepath to sleep and introduces herself as a healer from the Western tribe in her native language. The tongue of dwarves was a complicated array of grunts and hums, but it flows from Loki's tongue so smoothly she could have been born into it.
'I am Loki,' she introduces quietly, and it makes the older-looking woman pause in her work.
'It's an honour, Princess.' The title is odd to hear after so long. The Dvergar have no system of monarchy - the very idea is rather foreign to them – but "Princess" is something of a pet name amongst them for the first daughter of Odin. It makes Loki smile.
'This was the work of a raving one,' she observes, gesturing to Sookie's bare back. Ludwing hums in interest.
'You recognise it?'
The Æsir mage chuckles. 'It happened to me, once. But I'm immune to poison.'
The doctor rolls her eyes, unimpressed, pulling a brown glass bottle from her bag and uncorking it. 'The blonde is not so lucky.'
She promptly pours the potion onto telepaths skin, and Sookie wails.
Loki hastens to grab Sookie's hips and hold her still, but the blonde thrashes wildly. Bill re-enters in rush, fangs out and growling, Eric following calmly. 'What are you doing to her?'
'Hold her down!' The younger vampire hesitates, uncertain. 'Or let her die, your choice.'
Sufficed to say, Bill restrains his bucking girlfriend by her shoulders very quickly after that. Loki does appreciate the trademark dvergr bluntness, but she can't help but wince to see her co-worker's agony. It takes quite a feat to cause her harm, and she is no stranger to pain, and allows some magic to seep out from her fingers to numb the pain at least a little – healing has never been Loki's area of expertise, but eventually the cries quiet, Ludwing stops pouring and Sookie sobs in relief. The dwarf clicks her fingers impatiently.
'You may heal her now,' Bill drops-fang, bites into his own wrist and puts it to the telepath's mouth – Loki and Eric, in a rare show of camaraderie, share a grimace at the sound of the couple's sensual whimpers.
After a few seconds, Dr Ludwing studies the flawless, tan skin with a nod of approval and addresses Eric stiffly. 'I'll expect my payment by the end of the week.'
'It's always a pleasure doing business with you, Dr. Ludwig.' He croons with a charming grin.
'Fuck off.' She calls over her shoulder as she bustles out the room. 'If you ever need a job, girl, contact me.'
And that's about as close to a "good job" as Loki has ever gotten from a dwarf.
'She is... charming.' Bill tells his sheriff wryly.
'Well, she's no fan of the fang,' the Viking shrugs, blue eyes fixed on Loki, 'but I am certainly interested to hear what she meant by "your kind", Ms Storm.'
Uh-oh.
Sookie coughs, thankfully pulling attention away from Loki for the moment. 'I'm healed?' Bill nods, stroking the sweaty strands of pale hair of his girlfriend's forehead lovingly, and the blonde falls almost immediately into unconsciousness.
A highly disgruntled Pam and a new, heavy-set Chinese vampire enter, and dutifully report that they only found an unrecognisable animal scent on the road where Sookie was attacked. Loki supposes that "animal" is a fair description of a maenad, but Eric hums in interest.
'How intriguing. Send an alert through the appropriate channels. Find out what the neighbours know.' His employees leave, and he turns to Loki. 'What do you make of it?'
She sighs – it's going to be tricky, dodging Eric's questions.
'Whatever it is,' Loki muses, deliberately vague, 'it's probably trouble.'
Bill pulls himself away from the slightly creepy staring, and gestures to his girlfriend. 'I don't wanna move her, but I won't leave her here.'
'Longshadow kept a coffin in back. He liked to feed before resting, so it might be a bit messy, but you're welcome to it.'
'Very well.' Loki grimaces at Bill's acceptance. Sleeping in a messy coffin? No thank you. 'I'll rest now then, and leave you to your business.'
But the Viking's attention is now wholly focused on Loki, and when Bill zips away, he moves languidly toward her. She considers following him and sharing the bloody coffin. It's the slow prowl of a predator, every muscle moving with complete purpose – Eric is dangerous.
If not to her health, then to her self-control. He's unnervingly gorgeous.
He leans close – too close for comfort – on purpose. 'I wonder if I could tell what you were by a taste of your blood – it must be special, for you to hide it,' Eric smirks, 'I suppose I'll find out for myself, in time.'
Loki tilts her head to the side, amused despite herself at the Viking's persistent ego. 'You won't.'
'Never say "never",' he admonishes, 'in time, you will beg for me to bite you.'
'I doubt it,' she fires back with a condescending smile, 'but feel free to keep dreaming.'
'I will.' Loki can't help but crack a grin at the Viking's confidence, but sobers when he goes back to business. 'You will spend the day here.'
'No. Release Lafayette, and I'll come back tomorrow night.'
His jaw clenches. 'Such blatant disobedience is either very brave or very stupid,' he warns, 'we haven't finished negotiating the human's release yet.'
'Then we'll finish it now.'
'It is nearly dawn,' Eric tells her, evidently growing impatient, 'so either stay here or leave and lose any chance to free your friend.'
One of Loki's hands clenches into a fist at her side. 'One thing you need to learn about me, Mr Northman, is that I don't respond well to ultimatums.'
He finally drops-fang, fire building behind his eyes even as his tone remains outwardly the same. 'And what you have yet to learn about me is that I expect my orders to be followed.'
Loki smirk is sharp, and edged in appreciation. 'How forceful.' She considers him with a sparkling green eyes. 'I'll stay.'
'Good.'
'But I won't like it.'
'I care very little if you don't.'
'And I want to see Lafayette – he must be downstairs, right?'
A reprimanding hand clamps down on her shoulder. 'That is not acceptable.'
'I have many flaws,' she admits, 'but I have never given a rat's ass over what's "acceptable".'
Loki escapes the iron grip with ease and saunters away, inwardly smug. The look of surprise on Eric Northman's face will stay with her forever.
(1) Two weeks is quite a long time, and I considered shortening it, but I will be deviating from canon quite a bit in the coming chapters, so I decided to leave it just this once.
(2) Eric may be a little OOC here... but the way I figure it, my OFC!Loki can go toe-to-toe with him, and that must inspire odd reactions in a thousand-year-old vampire.
(3) Dvergr (or Dvergar in plural)is the Old Norse word for "dwarf" – and as mentioned in this fic, Norse Mythology tells us that they reside in Niðavellir (the Dark Fields), one of the Nine Realms. Svartálfaheimr is the actual name for the realm, but this translates as "home of the swart elves", and so called "swart elves" are speculated to be synonymous with dwarves, and I ran away with the idea. Dr Ludwing is a great character, and I always supposed she was a little supernatural. (On a side note, I had a lot of fun researching Norse mythology for this fic, in case you couldn't tell.)
(4) New research has shown that Komodo Dragons actually excrete poison that kills their prey – it's a little irrelevant (as True Blood was aired before this was uncovered) but it's super interesting.
