Chapter One

How did it come to this? Well, I suppose that's a foolish question seeing as I know very well how this all came about. Especially noting that I was the cause of all of it. Everything that had happened replayed itself over and over in my head, the memories hurting more and more with each time it repeated. I pleaded with my father- no, that wasn't right- the Allfather to hear me out, crying that I had done everything for him for the entire realm. He didn't hear it, though. I suppose that's what finally sent me to the decision I made. I took one last look at the people I thought were my family before letting go of Odin's staff and sending myself hurling and falling through the seemingly endless sea of space that surrounded the world I knew.

I felt a slight tug as I was pulled through a wormhole. That was when I truly began to feel frightened for what would happen to myself. I closed my eyes and finally let myself let out the scream that I'd been holding in for a while now, tears slipping down my face. I clenched my eyes shut so I wouldn't see myself falling, therefore I didn't see myself fall through the odd portal that had opened in the space beneath me. All I knew was that I suddenly started falling much faster for a second or two before landing on something very hard square on my back. Pain swept through my entire body and that's how I knew I hadn't died. There was a liquid dripping down my brow and I immediately knew it was blood. Even worse yet, I began to hallucinate, hearing voices echoing in my ears.

"Tony, what just happened, who's that?"

"Do you really think I would know, Pepper? He fell from the goddamn sky!"

"Well, is he alive?"

"How should I know? He's covered completely in some weird armor!"

I felt something shake me a bit, and the presence of two people very near to my person. I groaned in pain, not wanting to open my eyes and see where I had landed.

"Oh, thank god, he's alive."

"Where did he come from?"

"Do you really think I would know that? Just look at him. He's definitely not from here."

"I'll call an ambulance."

"That might be a good idea, I'll see if he'll open his eyes."

With that I heard a pair of footsteps walk away from him and begin speaking quietly into something while the other stayed close to me, gently shaking me and dabbing off the blood from my forehead.

"Hey, buddy. I don't know if you can even hear me, but could you please open your eyes?"

I slowly willed my eyes to open and look around at the current world that surrounded me. It was dark, nighttime here. Yet, even if it was night, the people didn't seem to know that. I heard voices talking, the sound of things zooming about below. There were buildings that seemed to touch the sky surrounding me from every angle.

I heard myself let out a gasp before looking over at the man who had spoken to me, shaking me awake. His appearance only confused me further. He seemed to have the head and face of a normal man, though his body was made of a sort of red and gold metal armor with a glowing circle in the middle.

"Oh thank god you're alive… Who are you?" He asked quietly as the female spoke on her device. I heard something that sounded like an alarm coming closer with flashing lights and tried to sit up to get a better look. The man held me down though.

"Don't worry about that, it's just the ambulance coming to help you out. Just stay down and don't move too much. What's your name?"

"It's Loki." I replied quietly, letting him gently push me back with his metal hands as a large group of men came up and gathered me up onto their odd cot on wheels, wheeling me away. I looked back at the woman and man and wondered if I would ever see them again. Soon enough, I was wheeled through a large building and into a small moving chamber with lit up circles and small bells that went off periodically. Soon they loaded me into the back of a large white metal box on wheels, fastening me in. They put something over my face and soon enough the world went black.

I woke up to a bright white room in clothes that were definitely not my own with a thin tube sticking into my arm. I was in a rather comfortable bed and looked around the drab, plain room. A man beside me was talking silently with some others, saying something about how I'd woken up and seemed to be doing well. They nodded to each other, saying something about letting the visitors in. I looked around confused when the man and woman from before walked in, smiling kindly. I was surprised to find that the man wasn't made of metal.

"Hey, look who's alive and well," The man said with a smile, sitting down in the chair next to me. "You said your name was Loki, right?"

"Yes." I replied, nodding my head and looking at the other man.

"Cool. I'm Tony Stark and that's my assistant, Pepper Potts." He said, holding out his hand. I took it and shook it gently, looking over at the woman and smiling gently at her, nodding.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Stark, Ms. Potts. Thank you both for helping me." I said with a smile to both of them before examining the room I sat in with wonder. My eyes had now adjusted to the room, looking over at the door when a nurse came in and checked the odd screens with lines that went up then down then up again. She nodded to herself and took the needle out of my elbow, placing what seemed like an adhesive bandage to the miniscule wound. She helped me out of the bed, the tunic they'd given me falling to my knees. Pepper handed me a stack of clothes like I'd never seen before. Still, I moved over to the bathroom and changed into the clothes. The pants weren't the soft cotton I was used to and was instead some blue fabric. Either way, they were comfortable. The shirt was cotton though, but the sleeves were cut short just over the elbows. I came back out and Tony handed me a pair of shoes and socks I silently pulled them on. The socks were cotton and familiar, but the shoes were canvas and were held on my feet by white laces. They seemed like they'd be uncomfortable, but in truth, I rather liked them.

Tony gently took my elbow and lead me out of the room and into a much larger building, navigating expertly through the large building and out to a darker building where many of the metal boxes with wheels were lined up. Pepper left us there, going off on her own way. Tony lead me over to a specific one of the metal boxes, leaving me on one side as he walked over to the other. I just stared at him, then down to the thing, not at all knowing what to do. Tony sighed and came back around to my side, lifting a lever and opening what was apparently a door. He guided me in and fastened me into the leather seat with a strap before closing the door and doing the same on his side.

I watched with curiosity as he stuck a key into a small slot behind a wheel. Suddenly, the entire thing erupted into noise. I jumped and started to panic, believing I was in some kind of death trap. The door had locked us both inside the thing. Tony reached over and pushed me back in the chair, slowly calming me down.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. It's not a death trap, okay? Just chill out and sit back. I promise you won't be hurt by this." Tony said, the words relaxing me into silence. I felt the thing lurch backwards then turn and advance forward. It was in that moment that I realized the thing was a vehicle of sorts.

"Excuse me, but where are we going?" I asked, turning to Tony as we got out on what seemed like a road.

"Back to my place. I don't know who you are, or where you came from, but I intend to find out. I've got some questions for you and I refuse to rest until they're answered."