FIVE

Lies, don't wanna know, don't wanna know oh

I can't let you go, can't let you go oh

I just want it to be perfect

To believe it's all been worth the fight

Lies, don't wanna know, don't wanna know oh

- "Lies," Marina & The Diamonds

A day had passed, and there was no sign of Loki. Neither had the girl awakened. Thor, heeding his father's words, gathered the limp girl up in his arms and carried her out to Heimdall and the Bifrost.

Heimdall's face, to some, might have looked impassive, but Thor could tell that he was intrigued as he surveyed the girl. "I cannot see her," he said.

"You could not see Loki either, when he had fallen to the Chitauri." He sighed. "Heimdall… can you see him now?"

Heimdall's golden eyes looked through him, unfathomable. "You know that I cannot see those either in Hel or Valhalla."

"But what if he is alive?"

Heimdall turned, looking out of the huge sky window, his eyes on something distant. "I cannot see him. If he is alive, Thor… then he has found a way to hide himself."

He looked back at the girl, who still lay limp in Thor's arms. "Like her."

There was silence until Heimdall asked, "You wish to go back to Midgard?"

"Yes. To Jane."

"Very well." He inserted his sword, and the Bifrost rumbled to life. A blaze of color surrounded Thor and he was transported to the balcony outside Jane's flat.

Jane, seeing the light of the Bifrost, ran to the door, opening it and then stopping short as she noticed the girl in Thor's arms. "Who's she?" she asked.

"A Midgardian. I found her in Asgard's library… though why she was there, I cannot say."

"Is she hurt?"

"No, the healers say that she is healthy, but that she is trapped inside her own mind. They say she will eventually awaken."

"Thor, you should have taken her to S.H.I.E.L.D. I'm not a doctor, I can't help her."

"But you can care for her in a way they cannot, Jane. Please."

Jane sighed, tucking a windblown strand of hair behind her ear. "You'd better bring her in."

Thor carried her inside, laying her on the sofa. Jane had grabbed a blanket and covered her with it.

"So, let me get this straight. You found this girl in the library, unconscious, and took her to the healers, but they said she's human, and she's comatose?" Jane questioned.

Thor nodded. "Father thinks that she may have some connection with Loki."

Jane furrowed her brow. "But… isn't he dead?"

Thor sighed, running his hand through his hair. "He has fooled me before."

Jane wasn't sure what to think. Admittedly, she had been a little jealous when Thor had showed up with this girl, but now she was worried about him. If Loki was really still alive, she wasn't sure how he would handle it.

If he came back, she was going to slap him even harder.

It was about a day later when Alana woke up.

Her vision was blurry, and she didn't know where she was.

"What…" she mumbled, trying to clear her mind, "where am I?"

She saw a white ceiling, and then a huge bearded face stuck itself into her line of sight, making her flinch.

"Are you awake?" it boomed.

"Yes?" she asked, her voice a little stronger.

"Jane!" the man yelled. "Come quickly!"

Alana sat up, pressing her palms to her temples. Ow. Her head was pounding, throbbing. The last thing she could remember was reaching for a book atop a library ladder….Where was she now? Where was Lucas?

She slowly grew aware of her necklace, the metal hot against her skin. Danger.

She reached for it, feeling its warmth on her palm. Who were these people? What was going on?

A brunette woman hurried into the room, saying, "You're awake!" This, presumably, was Jane.

"Where am I?" Alana asked, warily. Her necklace was hot and she wasn't where she had been. Danger. Who were these people? Where was Lucas? Had they taken her somewhere else?

"London," Jane said.

London? How had she gotten there? Hadn't Lucas said it was dangerous to bring her back?

"How did I get here?"

The blond haired man cleared his throat and said, "I found you in Asgard's library, asleep. I took you to the healers and they said you were fighting a mighty battle in your mind. Father told me to bring you back to Midgard if my brother Loki did not return for you within a day."

All the color drained from Alana's face. "You… you know Loki? He's your brother?"

Now it was Thor's turn to furrow his brow. "Do you not know him?"

Alana sat up straighter, excited. "Do you know if I can meet him?"

Thor cleared his throat. "My brother… is dead."

What? "No…" Alana whispered, drawing her knees up against her chest. Her last hope of regaining her memory had gone, the only hope she had had left… Whoever Loki was, her story had died with him.

Jane sat next to her and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Why don't you tell us your story from the beginning?" she asked, attempting to clear up the confusion.

Danger, her necklace warned. Lucas had told her to hide… but she was back on Earth now, and he was presumably still on Asgard. Her heart panged a little, but she shoved her feelings aside. These people knew Loki. If she told them… maybe they could help her.

She's too trusting, Coulson whispered inside her head. Shut up, she thought. So what if I am?

Alana took a deep breath, and said, "My name is Alana Cooper, and I used to work in a government position, um, for a unit called S.H.I.E.L.D."

Jane gasped and Thor looked at her strangely.

"Um, do you know them?"

"Yes," Thor replied. "I am Thor."

Alana sat up straight, saying, "You're Thor? I… do I know you?"

He shook his head, saying, "I do not believe that I have ever met you before."

"Well… I have amnesia from, uh, fighting in combat with S.H.I.E.L.D., but…. There was something about New Mexico that I worked on. And you, I think. But I can't remember…"

Jane looked at Thor, exchanging a silent conversation. "Tell us about your amnesia."

"I can't remember anything from the year when I was sixteen years old. Also, everything after my twentieth birthday up until my twenty-second, which is when I woke up." At their looks of surprise, she grinned a little. "Yeah, I know… it's very specific. I feel like I should know a lot about Asgard, too. Lucas was teaching me more when – well. I guess not anymore."

"And how does my brother relate to your amnesia?" Thor questioned, his voice rumbling.

"Well… the word Loki is one of the only things I can remember from that period. I have these flashbacks sometimes, but I can't… they don't make sense."

Jane looked thoughtful, then asked Alana, "Who's Lucas?"

Alana smiled involuntarily, then said, "He was the first person to find me on Asgard. He was, uh, teaching me about it and… the worlds, I guess, until I could come back here."

"Did he say why you couldn't come back?"

"He said that he couldn't get me out because it was dangerous for him and me, if someone called Odin found me."

Thor looked at her in astonishment and was about to burst out with a retort, but Jane silenced him with a look and asked Alana, "Could you draw a picture of him, or describe him, or something?"

"Actually," Alana said, pulling out a small, leather-bound sketchbook from a pocket in her skirt, "I have one in here I drew of him as a Jotunn." She smiled. "He was teaching me about the different species in the galaxy, and I was drawing each of them. But he asked me to draw him as a Jotunn, instead of just a random one. I don't know why."

She rifled through the pages, ignoring Jane and Thor's significant glances at one another, stopping at a small picture. She held it out to Thor.

Thor stared at the sketch. Though small, it was a perfect representation of Loki's face, his high cheekbones and laughing eyes. Those eyes were not emerald green, though, but blood red, and his skin frost blue.

He traced the lines with his forefinger, then held it out to Jane.

She gasped. "But that's… that's…"

Alana looked at her inquisitively. "Do you know him?"

Jane stammered, at a complete loss for words.

Thor gazed at Alana curiously and said, "This is my brother, Loki."

A/N: Please review!