Author's note: Yup, I'm back again! Fall break starts today and I'm done with classes till Monday! Yay! Anyway, thanks to Much Ado 96 and her wonderful support!

Warnings: Meh, none really

Disclaimer: I own nothing.


Instead of warm light, she was met with cold air. Her eyes instantly opened and instantly there was pain. She let out a yelp and sat up, surprised that she was lying in her bed. "What the fuck? she asked herself, events of last night returning. "Am I dead? This can't be heaven! Dad? Dad, where are you?"

"No Dad here I'm afraid," Loki entered the room with a tray of tea. "I told you what would happen," he set the tray down on the bed, unsure of what to do next.

"Fuck off," the reminder of her father's death brought the weight of sadness back. She took the tea in her hands, staring down at the mixture. "What happened?"

"Many things. Ana warned me relatively quickly that you were not reacting well to the news, so I created the illusion for you. That way you could experience your choice without it being final. It was a rather clever idea, I must admit," he took a cup of tea for himself.

"Pompous much?" she grumbled, drinking the tea to soothe her dry throat. It tasted like the tea her Dad used to make. "Bad shit tends to happen around me. My Grandparents say I'm cursed; the spawn of a demon."

Loki set down his tea, "You should realize that I am not the right one to have this discussion with," he reminded her.

"You don't have to listen," she set down her own cup, gathering the blanket around her like a coat. She stared down at her lap blankly. "Where do I go from here? I have nowhere else to go."

"Need I remind you that you are a guest in the palace of most powerful of all the Nine Realms?"

"Well that's fucking wonderful. Any other good news you'd like to share?" she snapped, hiding further in the blanket.

He thought about the question for a moment. "I shouldn't tell you this, but I will. Anastasia spoke with me earlier and she explained why she asked me to create the illusion for you. Mind you she has tried to end her life more times than she could count. The act puts life in perspective apparently," he trailed off.

"Should have just let me die; it would have spared you all the trouble." she wiped away the tears. "I thought you weren't a touchy-feely kind of guy?"

"I am not that type of man, but that doesn't mean I don't have a conscience," he took another casual sip of tea. "Besides, I'm not the only one here with opinions."

"What are you getting at?" she moved the hair from her eyes, the blanket falling to her shoulders.

"I'm telling you that people here actually care about you and would not like to see harm come to you, albeit that there are always exceptions," he explained simply.

"Name some people," she ordered quietly. "The only one who ever truly cared about me is dead. After all the sacrifices he made, he ended up dying." She dug her nails into her flesh, trying to stop the sobbing fit that was threatening to erupt.

"One, stop hurting yourself. Ana has been healing you all night long," he reprimanded her. "Second the queen cares, Anastasia does, as do Thor and I. Ingrid cares. Anyone you got to know here cares. Believe it or not. Do not let your father's death be in vain," he advised.

She paused, now feeling rather embarrassed. Her cheeks burned with shame and she blinked back more tears. "He's right," she admitted to only herself; she would never say it outloud. "I have to keep going. I'll find a way home and give him a proper burial. Then I won't have to step foot here ever again." She stared at him, frowning. "You care? I highly doubt that."

"Doubt what you will. You heard me say it the first time," he smirked.

"Can you stop being an asshole for one minute?" she snapped, throwing the blanket off herself and standing up. Her legs were weaker than she thought and she instantly fell over flat on her face. "Fuck!"

Loki rose and helped her back into bed, ignoring her request since it was likely impossible for him not to be a snarky asshole. "Ana should be in shortly to heal you some more," he told her.

"Fine," she lay back in bed, staring up at the ceiling. "What am I going to do?" she asked, biting her lip in worry and she fingered the beaded necklace around her neck. "I didn't even get to say goodbye."

"Most people don't." he stated point blank. "But it is up to you what you do from here."

She didn't know why she said it, but it came out of her mouth before she could stop herself. "Teach me magic," she asked, almost wondering why she even asked. "If I'm going to be here, I need to do something productive."

Loki almost choked on his tea. "I doubt you have the dedication for the art," he excused.

She narrowed her eyes. "Try me," she crossed her arms. "I don't want to be useless. I need to do something if I'm going to be here for a while."

He stared at her for a long moment, contemplating her request, though she couldn't predict the answer. "Prove to me you have what it takes," he told her. "Then I might teach you."

"How?"

"Be creative," he smirked, clearly enjoying the amusement of that possibility.

"Creative in what?"

"Magic is only as effective as the mind utilizing it," he shrugged, pouring himself more tea.

"Damn it," she grumbled, fingering the beads on her neck. Looking at him, she frowned. "Can you stop what you're doing?"

He raised a brow, "And what would that be?"

"You have the perfect posture for a picture. Do you have any paper? A pencil? Fuck, a pen will be fine."

"Check under your pillow," he told her plainly, seemingly unfazed by her statement.

She lifted her pillow, finding a pad of unlined notebook paper and a pencil. "If you move, I will hit you," she stated before rambling to herself. "Why didn't I see it before? Shit, you have the perfect eyebrows!"

"Flattery will gain you nothing," he nearly laughed, obviously already knowing what she said was true.

"I'm not being flattering," she rolled her eyes. "I'm still injured, so I need something to do. You happen to have perfect eyebrows, so I must draw them. It is my duty as the daughter of an artist," she nodded, leaning back and already shaping the outline of his body. She wouldn't let him see her work, too focused on the task at hand. He simply sat still, sipping his tea, content in the silence.

She hummed for a few minutes, totally forgetting he was there and then began to start singing an Apache hymn her father had taught her. Drawing his face was a bit difficult, but she didn't care. This was the perfect specimen to practice her abilities on. It would make her father proud that she was still doing what he taught her. She shaded in his dark hair that lay neatly on his head; not a single strand out of place.

Ana snuck in through the doorway, walking quietly over to Neena and peeking at what she was doing. "How are you feeling?" she inquired.

"Fine," she commented, still focused on the task at hand.

"Let me see your hands," she held out her palms expectantly.

She set the picture down and gave the woman her hands. She felt a shit ton of pain and yelped, glaring up at Ana. "Ow," she grumbled. "Why does it have to hurt so much?"

"Because my healing reverses the injuries so you feel the pain, but it's only backwards," she explained.

"Well it still fucking hurts," she picked up the notebook and pencil. "Now, where was I..."

Ana stood up from the bed and began to leave but Loki caught her arm, "Are you alright, darling?"

She forced a weak smile, "I just need some rest, that's all."

"You don't look well," he pulled her next to him so she was sitting on the arm of his chair. Neena studied them for a moment, the two of them unaware of what she was doing. While they were chatting, she made a quick outline of Ana'a body, adding her blonde hair soon after.

"It was a long night," she tried to joke, but Loki only rolled his eyes at her. "No, but I'm fine," she reassured him.

"Yet you are pale and your eyes have fallen heavy. I think you are lying," he shook a quick finger at her. She slid down from the arm and into his lap, wrapping an arm over his shoulders.

"I suppose I am a tad exhausted," she sighed, glancing over at Neena. "So you're posing for a portrait, I see?" she changed the subject.

"I was merely sitting here enjoying my tea. My posture is perfect as you may have already known," he smirked at her, rubbing a hand comfortingly up and down her leg.

"How could I have missed it?" she teased, running her fingers absent-mindedly through his hair, ignoring the annoyed look on his face. "You really should grow it out," she commented.

"Yup," Neena agreed, nodding her head but not looking up from her work. "I agree."

Loki and Ana then began to speak in whispers, their faces lacking usual smirks and smiles. Loki only nodded, trying to convince her of something, but she seemed to be refusing. He must have convinced her of whatever it was since she leaned in and kissed him for a long moment.

She cleared her throat, looking up from the finished picture. "Ew, PDA," she smirked, trying to pretend she wasn't feeling awkward.

Ana pulled away from him, looking slightly brighter than she was a moment earlier. "Better now?" Loki asked, wiping blood from his lip.

"A little bit," she smiled.

"So…" Neena trailed off, now wanting to do nothing more than leave the room. "Your picture's done. I'll just leave it here."

She stood up to leave, but ended up falling over again, much to her embarrassment and annoyance. "Damn," she groaned, smacking her head on the floor. "Why am I so weak?"

Ana got up and sat herself down across from Neena. "Well, as Loki explained, you had kind of committed suicide in the illusion we created for you. Everything you felt and did was real and it affected your body, so when you hit the ground, your bones broke, you lost a lot of blood, and you damaged all of your organs, but you did so all in the safety of your bed. Does that make sense?"

Well, that just sounded confusing, but she got the jist of it. "Fuck," she muttered into the floor, not remembering any of it. "Damn, that sounds bad."

"It wasn't exactly fun to listen to either. Breaking bones isn't the most pleasant sound," Ana offered with a weak smile, trying to be lighthearted.

That didn't make her feel any better; it only made her feel irritated, but she sat up. Taking the notepad off the bed, she handed it towards Ana. "Here," she plopped it in the blonde's lap. "Hope you like it, Barbie."

Ana picked up the notepad in her hands and studied it carefully, her grey eyes revealing nothing. Then she smirked, "It's pretty good, Tiny." She held it up for Loki to see from his chair and he nodded, hiding any hint that he might be impressed.

"You can keep it," she leaned back on the floor. "I don't want it. And you're welcome."

"We'll certainly hold onto it," Ana smiled, tearing the portrait from the pad carefully before it disappeared to God knows where.

"When can I go to home?" she asked for the umpteenth time since she arrived in this weird place. "Dad…" she trailed off before sighing. "Needs a proper burial."

"I don't know," Ana admitted, looking to Loki for an answer but he only shrugged.

She frowned, putting more thought to it. She couldn't imagine it; her home burned to the ground. Her Captain America shrine, the paintings she and her father made and acquired over the years. All of it was gone. Except for one thing. "I need to go home," she said abruptly. "There's...something I need there."

"You would have to bring it up with either the queen of Odin," Ana explained.

"Where are they?"she asked, turning to Loki. "You would know, wouldn't you?"

Loki sighed, "The queen is most likely in the gardens and the All-Father is meeting with advisors somewhere in the palace. But only he can grant you passage to Midgard since Heimdal requires his orders."

"So, I'm going to be stuck here for a while?" she asked sullenly."

"That would be correct," Loki replied in a tone that didn't sound sorry at all. "I doubt the All-Father will grant you the right of passage."

She tried to stand up, legs feeling still a bit shaky, but a lot better than before. Loki and Ana were now in their own world; a world where it was only them and nothing else. Not wanting to be a third wheel in that party, she walked on shaky legs out the door and if they didn't want her to leave, they didn't say anything. "Good riddance," she rolled her eyes. She snorted at the thought of them. "Couples."

She didn't know where she was going or where she was going, but that wasn't her biggest concern. She walked slowly down the corridor, legs slowly getting stronger. Other servants milled around and didn't pay her any attention. A few guards eyed her warily, but otherwise were silent. Then, a hand reached out over her mouth and she was pulled into an empty room. "What the fuck?" she hissed as soon as the hand was removed. "Who-"

A hand was placed over her mouth again, a pair of brown eyes meeting hers. It was the same guard that delivered her to her room yesterday. "Be quiet!" the man hissed at her. "Do you want everyone is Asgard to hear us, you stupid halfling?"

Again with the name calling! She glared at him, half tempted to bite his hand off. "Will you be quiet?" he asked. "If you do, I'll remove my hand."

She nodded and slowly, the hand was removed. He waited a few seconds as if he were expecting her to shout or make a scene. When she didn't, he spoke again. "I overheard your talk with the Prince and his lady friend," his lips curled distastefully at the mention of Ana. "And I heard that you want to go to Midgard."

"Yes," she admitted, not liking his tone. "Why were you spying on us?"

"I was stationed to guard your door," he said simply. "And I have a proposition for you. Are you willing to listen?"

She didn't trust this guy; not at all. "I'm listening," she crossed her arms defiantly. "Go on."

"No one wants you here, Halfling," he sneered and she bristled, ready to strike him but he continued to speak. "I can get you to the Bifrost and have you sent to Midgard. Once you're there, you can never return here. Asgard has no need for half-breeds, nor do we have room for them."

She bristled yet again, ready to put this man in his place, but Loki's words echoed in her ear. The All-Father would definitely not allow her to go home, yet this man here was, offering her a way out. "Alright," she agreed, with almost no hesitation. "Do you promise that you will get me home? And that you won't try to kill me?"

"I promise," he nodded. "There would be nothing I would like better than to see you gone."

"And there is nothing I would like more than to never see you again," she sneered, following him out the door. "So, where is this "bifrost?'" she asked.

"Just follow me. And keep your mouth shut, understand? You talk more than any creature I've ever seen in my past two thousand years."

"Whatever you say, Grandpa," she followed him outside, watching as he mounted a beautiful brown stallion with ease.

He stared down at her, eyebrow raised in question. "What are you waiting for? Get on!"

"I can't reach!" these horses seemed a lot bigger than the ones back home. Just what were these people feeding them. "Why are your horses so damn huge?"

He leaned down, pulling her up by the arm. "Humans," he sniffed disdainfully. "Hold on. If you fall off, I won't catch you."

He gave the horse a slight kick, leading it to where he wanted it to go. For a good ten or fifteen minutes, they rode across the bridge in silence. It was an impressive bridge; she would give them that. The image of rainbows flashed across her eyes as the mid afternoon sun flashed across her face. The wind roared in her ears, and a large golden dome lay before her, still many minutes away across the long bridge. "How long is this thing?" she asked, trying to make her voice louder than the wind.

"A mile, at least!" he called back in a short tone that left no more room for discussion. "We're almost there!"

Five minutes later, he stopped the horse outside the golden dome. He hastily plucked her off the horse, pointing towards a man in golden armor standing behind a golden sword. "That's Heimdall," he began. "He'll get you through to Midgard. Now get out of here!"

He grabbed her by the arm, practically dragging her through the dome till they stood right in front of the dark skinned man with golden eyes. "Heimdall," the guard began, feigning politeness. "This child needs to return to her own world. Will you not open the gate and send her there?"

Heimdall lowered his gaze to meet hers. His golden eyes unnerved her; seeing as they betrayed no emotion. "The All-Father has not given her permission to leave," he stated simply, almost boredly. "I cannot let her pass."

"Listen here," the man was beginning to lose his patience. "Asgard has no room for halflings" he looked at her in disgust. "Asgard is better off without her!"

"The All-Father did not give permission," Heimdall stated again with batting an eyelash. "And he is here."

"What?"

"Oh shit."

It was like they appeared out of nowhere. Odin was right in front of her with Gungnir in his hand and armor all over his body. Several guards were there along with Thor, Loki, and Ana. The latter two did not look impressed with the situation; Loki looking a little intrigued while Ana just looked disappointed. She had a feeling it was directed towards her, but she was too dumbstruck to do anything else but stand still, Odin's one good eye on her.

"You have deliberately disobeyed my orders, halfling," he stated with a cold voice, sending chills of fear down her spine. He then turned to the guard. "You are hereby relieved of your duty, as protector of Asgard."

"What? That's absurd!" the guard feigned hurt. "She made me take her; she threatened my life!"

"I did not!" she protested, not entirely shocked that he would do this, but the betrayal hit her like a block of ice. "He's lying! He said he would get me home!"

"Be quiet!" he snapped, drawing the sword from his belt. He grabbed her in a headlock, pressing the tip of the blade against her throat. She felt like throwing up, feeling the warm trickle of blood drip down her throat. The guard looked toward Odin. "All-Father, I just wanted what's best for Asgard! This thing has been nothing but trouble since she got here! If we just get rid of her, then she won't be a problem anymore."

"Asshole!" she hissed, but gave a small cry of pain when he pressed the blade a bit firmer. "You promised you wouldn't try and kill me!"

"Release her this instant!" Odin ordered in steely voice.

"Unhand the child!" Thor voiced, hammer in motion; ready to strike.

On normal circumstances, she would have complained about being called a child, but she knew better than to do that here. She met Ana's now worried gaze, a bit frightened at the site of her giant pointy silver scepter and the almost murderous look she was giving the man. Loki just stood there calmly, watching it all play out with calculating eyes.

"Damn," she fought against the guard, trying to release herself from her captor. Rage was building up, a type of anger she hadn't felt for years. She had been only five years old when she felt this angry. She could feel the white hot fury building up inside her chest. How dare this man do this to her? How dare these people deny her a chance to get home. "Bastard," she glared up at the man, feeling nothing but spite towards him. "Burn in hell!"

The most unexpected thing happened next. He burst into flames; quickly letting go of her and she moved out of the way. He screamed, flailing around for a few seconds as the fire burned inside his armor. "Stop this immediately!" Odin hollered at Ana.

"It wasn't my doing!" she insisted, looking dumbfounded. Odin just turned to Loki, who simply shrugged.

"Then who is doing this?" Thor asked, obviously confused.

"Perhaps it was Neena," Loki suggested innocently. "She did say burn in hell."

Odin looked to her. "Cease the fire!" he commanded.

"I don't know how!" she sputtered, obviously confused.

Ana just conjured up a bucket of water, tossing it at the burning man. Instantly the fire stopped and his body lay lifeless on the ground. The stench of charred flesh made her stomach turn and she had to turn away in order to prevent herself from vomiting. She stood awkwardly, everyone's eyes on her. "What are you all looking at?" she snapped, blushing red. "Quit looking at me!"

Ana put her hands on Neena's shoulders, looking her straight in the eye. "Neena," she began. "You did this." She tried to explain.

"What? How? I only told him to burn in hell…" she trailed off. "I couldn't actually set someone on fire! What the fuck? I...I couldn't have killed somebody!"

She wasn't a murderer, was she? She didn't actually mean for him to die; sure he was an ass, but that didn't mean she wanted him dead.

"Neena," Ana started again. "Please, nobody is accusing you of murder."

"Take her to high security dungeons at once!" Odin ordered sternly. "We'll keep there until we find out what happened here."

"You can't do this!" she called out, feeling the guards pull her away. "I didn't mean to! It was an accident!"

"Calm down; I'm coming with you!" Ana followed reassuringly.

"Fantastic!" she snarked, wincing as the guards yanked tightly on her arms. "Anyone else want to join the prison bandwagon?"

"Put Lady Ana in there as well," Odin commanded. "For the murder she committed two weeks prior."

"Go fuck yourself!" Ana spat, flipping him off as the guards and Neena caught Loki's look of amusement.

The cells they were forced into this time were more isolated than the rest. More guards were stationed to keep watch. Ana didn't even bother trying to escape, muttering something about how the force field was more intensive than the other cells. So Ana just sat down Indian style, arms crossed and glaring at nothing in particular. Of course, she did the exact opposite. She paced around, sputtering every curse under the sun while Ana just sat quietly.

"How can you just sit there?" she snapped. "And you murdered someone?"

"Unintentionally," Ana replied calmly.

"But that's still murder! How can you murder someone and still call it unintentional?"

"Very carefully," she shrugged.

"That doesn't make sense!" she shouted loud enough for the guards to turn around and give her an irritated look.

"What do you want me to tell you?" she asked, growing increasingly frustrated.

"I don't know; something!" she continued to pace, digging her nails into her palms for the tenth billionth time that day. "I set someone on fire! Shit! I'm so going to hell for this!"

"To be fair, it was an accident. I don't know how you did it though," she pondered the idea.

"Well that doesn't help anything!" she flopped down to the floor next to her. "Some stay this is turning out to be."

"You get used to it rather quickly," Ana reassured her. "Besides, Loki should be here to get us out sometime soon."

"He will?" she asked, very doubtful about that.

"He doesn't have much of a choice."

"Do I want to know what you're implying?" she asked hesitantly, fiddling with the ring around her finger.

"Probably not," she laughed, glancing at the ring she was playing with. "So where did you get the ring?"

"Oh, my Dad gave it to me," she swallowed hard at the mention of her dad. "The night before I got here. It belonged to my Mom, or something like that."

Ana reached over and held her hand out, "May I see it?" she requested.

"What? Oh, sure."

Ana took the brown ring and inspected it thoroughly in all the different lightings that were available. "This metal is of Asgard, and this bead," she trailed off, looking at it closely. "This is like nothing I've seen before…"

"Well that's just fan fucking tastic," she grumbled, earning herself a look from Ana. "What?"

"You don't have a strong suit of optimism, do you?" she teased, seemingly oblivious to the fact they were in prison. "You should show this to Odin. He might actually be useful to find out what it is," she handed the ring back to Neena.

"Well when we get the hell out of here, I suppose I could show it to him. Are you sure you've never seen this type of bead before? You are over eight hundred years old and you've been a lot of places I'm assuming."

"Positive," Ana nodded. "I may know what it is made of when broken down, but I don't know this compound."

"So, how long do you think it will take tall, dark and creepy to bail us out?"

"No longer than a day. Though I doubt he would even wait that long," she joked.

"Okay, that's not so bad?" she offered, trying to sound a bit more optimistic. It probably failed and she more than likely ended up sounding pessimistic. "So, uh, do you know what the current time is?"

"I'm guessing it's rather late in the evening. I'll just turn in for the night," she mumbled, conjuring up a pillow and a blanket and began to get comfortable.

"Hey! What about me? What am I supposed to do?"

Ana sighed, curling up under her blanket, "You'll learn how to do it yourself soon enough."

"Can I at least have a blanket?" she shivered, now feeling rather cold. "It's freezing!"

"All the more reason to learn," she grinned.

"Aw, come on!"

"Fine," Ana groaned after a moment of silence, several blankets appearing beside her. "Build your fort."

"Thanks, Barbie," she wrapped the blankets around herself, making her look like some sort of burrito. "Night."

"Night, Tiny."


Well, review! Isn't Neena's optimism wonderful? Not really XD