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Loki hadn't moved a muscle and his hand remained around Amelia's throat, "What?"

"I am getting you out of here. Now."

"That's impossible, there is no way you and I would make it out of the corridor."

"It's the middle of the night, no one is here except for those two outside."

"It wouldn't take long for them to realize it was you that let me escape. They would come looking for you."

"I thought about that. My family had a home in the mountains before my father died and my mother brought me to the city. It will be a little dusty but…I am pretty sure no one would look for us there. And even if they did, they wouldn't find us." She explained confidently.

Loki looked skeptical and moved off of her, "Listen I know you mean well—"

"You can't really tell me you would rather stay here?"

"It's not me I'm worried about."

"Don't let's just get you out of here, then we can worry."

Loki stood and offered a hand to help her up.

"I think we should also get you some clothes, it will be hard enough smuggling you out of the city, let alone if you are naked."

"I have an idea about that," Loki said with a smirk.

Eliza took a deep breath, "Okay. Just follow behind me." She made for the door.

"Thank you, boys," She said to the guards lightly, "Ellis will be happy you didn't disturb her."

The pair made a noise, as though they were about to speak as she passed by them, but instead of speech the loud crack of their head's being slammed together and the gut wrenching sound snapping bone. Eliza knew the two guards lay dead on the floor; she also knew they deserved what they got, but she still couldn't turn to look.

"Hurry up!" She whispered.

"I would if there weren't so many buckles and straps." Loki hissed back trying to get the armor and helmets off one of the guards. A few minutes later they ascended the steps out of the lab and their lungs filled with the cool night air.

At least, they made it this far.

"If I wasn't running for my life I would say the city looks beautiful," Loki observed as they slipped through the streets.

Eliza thought about stopping at the stables to get her horse, it would certainly make the travel to her home in the mountains quicker but its tracks would be easier to follow.

It was dawn by the time they reached the base of the mountain; if the guards weren't found already it would only be a matter of moments. Would they think Loki escaped on his own? How long before they discovered that she was missing as well and put the pieces together. Regret hit her that she hadn't thought to bring some of her families heirlooms with her, but there was nothing she could do about that now.

The once clear path up the mountain was now overgrown with thorny bushes and trees knocked over by storms. In her mind, it hadn't felt like she had been away for that long, but it certainly seemed that way now. Amelia tried to clamp down the bubbling worry that the house may not be in the best shape as she had thought.

The sun was high in the sky and their legs ached by the time the cottage came into view. At first glance it seemed intact, even the garden that she had helped her mother plant seemed to be flourishing thanks to the latter's skill in casting spells.

"Oh thank the Norns." She breathed when she opened the door and saw everything was how they left it, albeit with a thick layer of dust.

She looked at Loki, "I think we may have left behind some of my father's things." She mumbled as she headed for the master bedroom.

"Here," She handed him a pair of cloth pants and a hunter green tunic.

"Thanks," He ducked into one of the rooms to change.

"A little bit of work and this place won't be half bad," Amelia said out loud to herself. She peeked into the cabinets in the kitchen and noticed her mother had left most of the cooking things behind, opting to buy new when they moved to the city.

"So what do we do if they come looking for us?" Loki came back into view, the clothes were faded but fit pretty well she thought.

She held up a finger, "My father," Amelia started kicking rugs aside, "Had come back from the war with Jotenheim a bit…paranoid…he built a safe room under the house with a trap door…somewhere…here!" She excitedly knelt and pushed the braided rug away to reveal a small metal handle. "If we see anyone coming we can hide down here!"

Loki nodded, "Sounds like a plan."

"I am going to get us some water and see what the garden has in terms of food." She grabbed a bucket from under the sink and a basket from the hook by the door. It hadn't seemed like it when her mother whisked her away, but they really had only brought the essentials.

Both turned in early that night, exhausted but with full bellies from the fresh vegetables and the couple fish Amelia was able to catch when she was getting water, Amelia's eyes closed the moment her head hit the pillow.

Amelia was awake first the following morning and ventured outside for water and some fruit she spied the night before. It wasn't much of a breakfast but its what they had for now.

"Loki?" She called when she returned, the door of the room he slept in was still closed.

"Loki?" She knocked and the door creaked open.

The bed was empty.

"What the Hel?" Throwing open the curtains so the sun light filled the room Amelia saw the note on the bedside table.

Amelia,

I know you aren't going to be happy when you see that I've left but it is for the best. If they find me with you…I shudder to think what will happen. At least, maybe this way you can try to convince them that you came up here to take some space. I will take the armor with me and hide it somewhere, that way there is no proof I was with you. I have never known what it felt to be grateful to someone but, I imagine this is what it feels like.

I'm not sure where I will go from here, but I know for sure this place is not home for me, and I need to find it.

Thank you, Amelia, for showing me that kindness can still be found in the darkest of places.

Loki.

Amelia sighed and folded the note and put it in the drawer, closed the curtains, and went out to the kitchen to eat.

It would be many years later, while Amelia watched smoke billowing from the city below, that she would come to learn that the name Loki meant God of Destruction.