Chapter Two

The sky was a pale shade of grey; no sun broke through the clouds to shine its warm rays of light on the city. It was early in the morning, that time of day that people complain about when accidently woken from a peaceful slumber. But the city never slept and there were people on the move at all hours - cars, cabs, and the noises of public transportation could always be heard. Office lights shone in several of the glass and metal towers clustered in the city centre. No doubt people were working overtime, trying their hardest to fulfil their boss' desires. The subway followed its laid out path, screeching whenever it turned. Bridges rumbled underneath the weight of a freight train.

This was ultimately the sound that woke Loki from his pain-induced sleep.

He could still feel a warm, dull pain seeping from his left shoulder. His head throbbed in sync with the rhythm of a passing train. As it carried on its route, the pain subsided, leaving a heavy feeling as he slowly rubbed his temples. He felt dizzy and his vision blurred, unsure if the pains and sounds were real or just part of a vivid imagination. His clothing felt damp and clung to his body. Water had soaked his boots, leaving his feet wet and cold. His long leather coat was slightly torn from his ignoble landing and he could feel droplets of water falling from his hair and onto his back, leaving a wet trail down a relatively dry shirt.

Slowly, he opened his tired, heavy, and dark-rimmed eyes. The events of the previous day came back and the realisation suddenly hit that he was no longer in his dull-coloured cell. No, he was in a much worse place, a place filled with lowly vermin crawling on its surface. Vermin that were always breeding and expanding, believing themselves to be worth more than the insects they truly are. To be as low as them – a powerless, weak creature – it sent chilling shivers down his spine. To be nothing more than a dead shell walking in a noisy, rancid city, where the only reason for existence was to die and become food for the worms.

Loki took in his surroundings. Somehow, he'd managed to drag himself to an area that was sheltered from the weather of the night. His feet were still lying in a puddle of dirty water, which explained his now wet and dirt-encrusted boots. A foul odour seemed to be spreading from a few nearby containers.

"What a filthy place in which I find myself," he mumbled to himself. Nobody was around to hear his thoughts.

He pulled his feet out of the shallow mud pool and used his good arm as support so he could stand up. His muscles ached from the strain he put on them. Loki had slept against a low concrete wall. A mark in bright full orange saying "B.t. wolfs" covered other faded-out signs. It was a form of human art he in which he could find no merit. The area shook as a loud rumble was heard, signalling another passing train which shook the foundations. His head throbbed once more. The train seemed bent on depriving his brain from function.

Deciding it was time to take a look at his more discomforting injury, he removed his coat and tossed it uncaringly on the wall. Loki moved his arm, biting back a hiss at the uncomfortable feeling stinging his shoulder. Luckily, his arm did not seem broken or even dislocated from impact, but it did feel badly bruised. The fibres of his shirt clung crusted to dried blood.

Gently, he started removing the fabric, ripping open the seam under his arm. He pulled the sleeve from his arm and tore it for further use as a bandage. As he tore the fabric, his wound re-opened, showing an angry red colour as blood slowly flowed out in small streams. The skin around it was a deep purple colour with smaller red specks, indicating some slight damage to the blood vessels. After binding the wound, he grabbed his coat from where it hung haphazardly over the wall and redressed himself.

He ran his hands through his hair and sighed deeply. The license plate of a nearby parked car gave him his only knowledge of his current whereabouts - he was somewhere in the United States.

"Time to find out where I am on this wretched planet."

The small stones and rocks on the dirty ground rolled and crackled beneath his feet. He moved to the edge of his cement and steel shelter. A car passed by on a one-way street, its driver giving him a fast glance before going back to the road ahead.

Further up the street, there was a large intersection where the one-way street hit a larger four-row street. He could see the light turn red as the car that had just passed him slowed down. Across the street stood a cluster of apartment buildings, big square blocks of red brick and windows. The narrow one-way street had stairways running along the side to provide a fast escape for the street's inhabitants should an emergency arise.

The lights finally turned green and the car sped up as it went around the corner. Loki checked the street and no cars seemed to be speeding his way, so he crossed the roadway. Dimmed lights could be seen in one of the apartments and soft giggles and laughter could be heard from within. Its inhabitants were no doubt frolicking around in the early hours.

At the stairs, he could see cigarette buds in the corner as he passed. Currently, there did not seem to be a soul around and the door of the apartment building creaked as it opened and he entered the main hall. The right side was covered with letterboxes, numbers, and names on the corresponding doorbells. Most of the mailboxes were empty, but letters hung out of a few of them. Their owners were probably too lazy to care for correspondence, resulting in an overstuffed mailbox. He grabbed a stack and shuffled through it. It consisted mostly of pamphlets and commercials for nearby stores. He pulled out a pristine white envelope and looked at the address.

"New York." Of all the places he could be dumped, Odin decided to drop him here? The place where he was once so close to victory yet so far from realising his downfall?

S.H.I.E.L.D. was probably still in close proximity, vigilant as ever and keeping a keen eye on any strange phenomenon happening, like the fluctuation that was made when he fell. He'd landed in the hornet's nest and could practically feel them breathing down his neck. He had to get away from this area before he was seen or recognised. There was a good chance that Fury and the Avengers would deem Odin's punishment too light, and he had no desire to be locked away in Fury's air fortress. Unlike before, his human form would give him no option for escape.

He walked out of the apartment block with haste and didn't even notice he was still holding the letter clenched in his white knuckles. The streets seemed busier than before and filled with the noises of cars and people. As morning came for those who worked, people woke up at an almost alarming pace.

He turned right and walked quickly down the street, heading for the intersection. He saw the lights turn from green to yellow and heard a vehicle coming up from behind him at a slow speed. Loki glanced over his shoulder to see a small red car, nothing special. The driver was an elderly woman with thick glasses that hid her eyes, but he was sure she was watching him.

She sped up and the window of the passenger's seat went down. Now that she was stopped at the red light, she looked back at him and asked, "Are you all right?"

He stopped dead in his tracks and stared at her. That stupid cow...do I look all right? Of course not! I'm a powerless god on the run! He felt annoyed by the question since he was obviously very much not all right, yet somehow he managed to put a friendly smile on his face.

"I've had a rough night and, to be honest, I'm late for work."

She looked at him and nodded understandingly. "It's a bad neighbourhood here and has gotten worse as of late. Where are you headed?"

He thought about it for a second, but the answer was simple and obvious.

"Downtown."

"Well hop in then. I can't take you to the city centre, but I'll drop you off at the next subway station."

Loki got in the car before the light hit green. He glanced into the rear view mirror, not even noticing his own face, because what grabbed his attention was the image of a black car parked under the bridge he had just vacated. The car was clean and clearly of a higher cost than most people living in the neighbourhood could afford. He felt a pang of panic that faded into relief as the woman started driving, disappearing into the steady flow of traffic.

Her car smelt oddly of chemicals, which disturbed his sense of smell and made his nose sting. Too much perfume masked the woman's normal scent and a quick look around the car revealed its source. Two different air fresheners hung on her mirror, one pinewood and the other lavender. Both smelled horrendously chemical. He guessed the woman was around age sixty since wrinkles covered both her hands and face. She used too much make-up in an attempt to look younger. Instead she got the opposite effect, her light foundation making her wrinkles cast deeper shadows on her face.

This was his fate now. He would grow old in just a few short breaths. That is, if he did not die sooner. He never understood how humans could get joy out of such a short life and living without meaning or purpose. They were like cattle, mindlessly wandering in ignorant bliss of their end being only a footstep away.

"Care to tell me what happened? You look awfully roughed up. Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" She was chatty and had an annoyingly high-pitched voice. And she was nosy. He hated nosy people.

"No."

"Are you sure? I know you said you want to go to work, but it's ridiculous looking the way you do."

"I said NO!" He did not bother appearing friendly anymore. He felt much too uncomfortable for that. God, her voice sounded like the cackling of a chicken. "You should refrain from asking questions for the remaining time," Loki said with a stern voice, glaring at the now clearly frightened women. She flinched away from him and turned her head, her body language more demure now. God, women are chatty blabbermouths anywhere. He could not take this humiliation anymore based on his interactions with this human.

The apartments grew higher and office buildings came into sight. People carrying suitcases and briefcases walked in haste. The woman stopped the car near a bus stop and pointed toward it. "There's a station just behind it, sir."

Sir? Glad to know he still had some form of authority, even if it was just from a spooked human. He should be spoken to with respect, even if it was out of fear. No, especially if the voice held fear. This only added power to his statement that humans were meant to be ruled. Perhaps he could make do on this planet. There was some fraction of people who had power. He could find one and use that person to his own advantage. There should be ways of gaining more knowledge and power in this world. There could even be ways to regain portions of his strength.

Loki opened the car door and turned around to face the woman. His coat billowed up at the movement. "Know that it was an honour for you to drive one such as me." He grinned at the lady. He might have lost his powers but that did not mean he couldn't hold a certain degree of authority over others. He slammed the door and made his way to the subway station, disappearing between the humans moving about the entrance.

He followed the stream of people descending the stairs that led underneath New York City. The flow of people suddenly stopped and he felt jammed within the narrow confines of the tunnel. A person shoved him in the ribs, which caused a sting of pain to ripple throughout his body. He wanted to lash out, but as he turned around, he saw several men and a woman at the ticket gates looking with purpose into the crowd and searching the faces of those wanting to board the subway. Every now and then, they checked a person's papers to keep up the pretence of having a normal search. There was no way of escaping the stream of people he was stuck in now. Turning back would be noticed and he felt no joy in knowing there would be other guards upstairs as well.

There did seem to be one defect in their checkpoint, the far left side where people still walked freely past the ticket booth. He made his way there, letting long tendrils of black hair fall over his face, looking down at the ground and trying to not be noticed.

He passed the ticket booth.

Too easy crossed his mind before a hand was pressed to his chest restricting his advance.

"Your identification, please." The black suited man looked at him intently and withdrew his hand from Loki's chest.

"I left it at home," Loki let out a sigh. "Look, I am certain you can see I had a rather difficult night, but I need to get to work. I no longer have my identification." His tethered up coat and bruised arm would only make his lie more believable.

The man seemed to ponder a moment, his eyes holding the tension of thinking. "What is your name, sir?"

Loki smiled his fake alluring smile. "Locke Ladislav. Look I really need to—"

He was cut off by the man making a sympathetic waving gesture with his hand. "Be off and get to work. And make sure that you have your identification next time, Locke."

Loki felt relieved and walked down the escalator to the subway. One was just arriving. People stood behind the line, waiting like this was an everyday normality. Could humans really be deceived so easily? It didn't matter now. He was safe. He entered the transport vehicle, the doors closing behind him with a swish. Before the subway started driving, he looked in horror at his reflection in the glass door.

Thank you guys for the kind comments^^

And for taking your time to read this fanfic.