Chapter One: Out of Time, Out of Mind

"In books, as in life, there are no second chances. On second thought: it's the next work, still to be written, that offers the second chance."

-Petra Nemcova

The muted raise and fall of voices broke the quiet inside this room. The tiny space was bare, the dirt floor had leaves and dead grass in the corner's. The only items inside were a single uneven chair and a wooden tray with scraps of untouched food. What few rays of light made it through the tiny, barred window were filled with dust. The level of light was bright enough to indicate it must be afternoon but the lack of particular warmth or a chill gave the impression of a neutral climate or season.

"Really mother? The best you could offer was a cell of a new kind?" Even in his thought's, Loki retained a sarcastic tone. He frowned at his less than pleasant new cage. Even Asgard offered him some vague view and more than a single chair of adornment. Frigga had stated she would give him the second chance he asked for but that it would come at a cost. She would have to hide him where no one could think to look. "As much as I enjoy puzzles, mother, this crumbling hovel was not the equal punishment I was looking for when I argued that Thor possessed the chance to redeem himself ."

This body felt as if it were his, and yet he knew it was not. His mother had found him a human form, and it certainly looked like his own as best he could tell without a mirror. His hair was still dark, his hands and the shape of his body were unchanged. His clothing was different, it was fancy, some older style of the human realm. Did I take over the mind of someone that does reenactment's then, or a overzealous fan of historical events? Certainly, this body had more layers than most humans wore even in the winter. Were they not so old, I might even appreciate the atheistic...

"Trapped in the body of a human. Perhaps I was better off on Asgard." Loki thought distastefully. His mind was his own, he lacked any memories of this place or the human whose life he'd just stolen. "For all your claims of respect for the mortals, you certainly don't mind using them as puppets when you please, mother. Unless this sap was already about to die, in which case I better be wary. I lack the strength that my Jotun body offers."

"I've lost my spells as well. I can feel the magic around me but I can't access it. Another limitation to my new human life I imagine. What a pathetic method of redemption...how am I to prove myself if I don't even know who I am?" Loki continued his mental tirade against his new predicament until an answer came in the form of an interruption.

"Baronet Sharpe." The short man in tweed and cotton stated as he opened the door. "Where were you this morning between the hours of seven and seven-thirty?"

A name but more questions.

"I've seen these sorts of scenes before." Loki sighed at the thought. Clearly since he was in prison the human he now possessed was far from a stand up member of society. How did the play go?

"Could you tell me why I'm here, officer...?" He let the question hang. Instead paying attention to his own words. His voice was similar to his own just as his body was. The tone a bit lighter than the one he would normally use but close enough.

"Finlay." The officer stated, a little harshly. "Don't ask questions, tell me where you were?"

"Having breakfast, I suppose." Loki answered, frustrated with the lack of information he had to go on.

"Suppose? You don't know?" The officer jumped on the indecisive word like a starved animal on scraps.

"Officer Finlay, do you often know your exact whereabouts minute to minute?" Loki could play the game of asking questions to questions at least a while longer before the man grew fed up with him.

The policeman huffed in non-reply and wrote something on his small pad of paper. His own style of dress was not the formal black uniforms Loki had seen in New York. Had he been misplaced in time? Is that what his mother meant by a place no where would think to look? It would be brilliant if it wasn't also frustrating...

"Do you know where your sister was this morning at the hours previously mentioned?" The officer moved to the next question.

"No, I do not." Finally, an easy question to answer honestly. Now, if Loki was inadvertently lying, that wasn't his fault.

The man wrote some more.

"What is your interest in Edith Cushing?"

"This would be infinitely easier if I had more information to go on." Loki's thoughts remained seeped in displeasure. "Better to play along on some level as best I can. Midgard doesn't have the best history of taking care of it's mental patients, if they think I've lost my memory I could end up trading for yet another cage."

"I will not cooperate further without knowing why I am here or without a lawyer." Loki was half-bluffing. He didn't know enough about Earth history to gauge an exact year based on the clothing, but the accent sounded American. He hoped he was in a time civilized enough for the threat to work.

"If you want to do this the hard way, I'll play along." Finlay stated, unaware of the supernatural status of his suspect. "Your sister has been apprehended following an attempted attack on Mister Cushing this morning. He has already reported to us that you took money from him to stop courting his daughter."

"Well, you picked a real winner in personality didn't you, mother? Someone who other parents would pay to get out of their child's lives, I wonder how many in Asgard would do the same?" Loki frowned at his own predicament, as there was a knock on the door.

Offering only a vague nod at the officer when he excused himself, Loki was lost in thought. "Had my host been trying to commit a murder to get the girl he wanted? Or had the sister? This is all a little exhausting only twenty minutes after the transition. At least they didn't come in to ask questions when I first woke in this form."

"All right, you are free to go Sharpe. Your alibi holds up, one of the kids at the hotel says he served you breakfast at that time." The officer stated as he re-opened the door. "But don't be thinking you'll be getting on that train and heading back to England. Your sister isn't leaving the jail and you aren't to leave the area until more of this is cleared up. Do you understand?"

"Perfectly." Loki nodded, rising to his feet. "May I see her? My sister."

"Not right now, she's still in questioning. I'll have to talk to the captain to see if he'll allow it but the soonest that would be is tomorrow. You should stay close to your hotel or the station." The officer stated after a moment to consider.

"Understood." Loki agreed. He'd hoped he might be able to get more information from this body's sister but it was just as well he didn't remain at the police station. As it was, he was lucky to be getting out of here without the issue of someone catching onto his false identity.

The city outside the doors of the building that functioned as both prison and police station and the general buildings certainly set him as long before his recent activities on earth. There weren't concrete and glass skyscrapers reaching dozens of stories into the sky. Women were all in gaudy, loud attire fit for appearance as opposed to application. Women on Asgard wore gowns but they were loose-fitting and battle ready not purely for show. It immediately impressed that this was a time when women were very clearly the secondary sex. At least mother had resolved him of that designation, pretending to be a woman was perfectly fine when it got you things you needed. In this period it would do less for him than the gender he was born with.

"Baronet Sharpe," Loki glanced up, it was his new name...of sorts. He frowned a bit, he would have to get used to that. He couldn't exactly tell people to call him Loki. That might give away his presence, and how would that work. His mind active and aware in two times at once? Could he give his future self a warning as to how to best proceed? Unlikely, he probably wouldn't be able to get off of Midgard at this rate. "Hello sir, good morning. Do you need a ride somewhere?"

The driver appeared to know him. The middle-aged man had several wrinkles and scars on his hands and wore clothing that was all together lesser than what Loki was dressed in. A horse and carriage was near him, the horse nonplussed by the busy street. There were mostly automobiles but still several carriages with horses, it was likely how this man made a living.

"Yes, do you know the way to where I'm staying?" He put on a smile with the question. People always reacted better if you smiled at them.

"Of course, I dropped you there two days ago." The driver replied, clearly happy. "If you can wait a moment while I run into the post, I'll be back in a minute."

"I don't mind waiting." He accented, moving to get onto the carriage before anyone else happened to recognize him. He dug in his pockets while the man took hurried steps toward the building next to the police station marked 'post office'. This driver would want to be paid after all. He was searching for coins or money on his person when he found a pocketbook.

"Should have thought of this sooner." He chided himself for not looking in his own pockets when he first woke. "Of course, I was still disoriented from the change. This counts as the furthest I've been from Asgard, even the void wouldn't apply to out of time. I wonder how mother managed this."

The small checkbook had his temporary name; Baronet Thomas Sharpe. The address was somewhere in England, there were several business cards but he only recognized one of those names: Carter Cushing. He had to assume this was either who 'his sister' had targeted, or related to the target in some way. There was a photo of himself and a woman. They looked as if they could be related. His eyes settled on the male however. He was almost a perfect copy to his own Asgard form. His mother must have considered this long before the topic of Thor's punishment came up. She'd found Loki his human doppelganger. The sister was so-so, though she looked a little shrew-like from the photo given her expression was far too serious. The human Loki, Baronet Sharpe, had a softer expression in the small photo. It was black and white but at least it gave him the image of his sister so he'd be able to recognize her when he did visit.

"Back sir, I'll be on the way if you don't mind then?" It was phrased strangely but Loki picked out the question and motioned the servant to continue. The carriage moved, it was less than comfortable but he ignored the bouncing, intent on continuing his wayward 'self-discovery'. Sliding the picture back into place he found a set of tickets next to a few bills. At least he'd be able to pay for his ride. The tickets were for a train, and then boat, back to England. The train was marked for a year over a hundred before the current time...

"You must have truly drained yourself to put me here, mother." It was a grim thought. Loki glanced out at the bustling street without seeing it. His eyes were unfocused, instead considering this new problem he'd gotten for himself. He was out of Asgard, but this was hardly true freedom. He lacked magic, he lacked strength, he couldn't call on Heimdall. He was alone more now than when he at least had his mother to argue with in the dungeons.

"Here you are, sir." The man had pulled up before long to a long hotel and Loki made quiet note of the name for the future, paying the man and walking inside. Of course, he still didn't know what room he was in but he was hoping someone here would know without him having to ask directly. He entered the lobby and immediately noticed this place was a far cry than the dusty dirt floor cell he'd been in at first. Polished hardwood floors and grand ceilings with windows along an entire wall. The whole place was glass and expensive wood with some furnished plants here and there to add to the expensive look, at least his new body could afford to reside somewhere decent.

"Thomas...Thomas stop, I need to talk to you." He realized that was his bodies first name when someone grabbed the fabric on his arm to pull him to a pause. He turned to look at a young blond who was out of breath and still holding onto his arm. Her hair was up and off her shoulders and back, the neck of her dress went high, as seemed to be the style. She was staring at him with mixed fondness and distrust – an expression he wasn't solely unfamiliar with.

"You..." She seemed to think better of whatever she first thought to say and then withdrew her hand. "My father, have you heard about him?"

At least she was kind enough to introduce herself. Memory was something Loki prided himself on. This had to be Edith Cushing. "I just left the police station, I can't believe it."

"Your sister...were you in on it?" Edith asked, still distrustful. "And your letter?"

"Great, now I am writing letters? Is my host a poet as well?" Loki thought in irritation. "We're gathering a crowd. Midgardian or Asgardian, both apparently love a bit of drama."

"Can we speak in my room instead of out here?" Loki didn't any conversations to be overtly public just now. He didn't know nearly enough about his situation to risk that.

"...yes, yes, of course." Edith lost a bit of fire after following his gaze around the room. She didn't want such openness either.

"Let me check the desk and we'll go." Loki answered, needing to bide time since he wasn't sure where he was staying. She crossed her arms but waited as he moved to the desk to ask if anything had been left for him. Thankfully, there was a note and he was able to read the box number it came from...now just to lead her to his quarters and try to figure out more of his situation.

"All set." He offered an arm and she frowned but accepted it a moment later. So she did have some feelings for his host. Perhaps those could also be used to his advantage, particularly if she was so keen to hold onto the arm of the man whose sister tried to kill her father. There might be hope for this world yet...

He walked down to his room, only making a slight misstep once. At least all the hallways were similar enough that no one seemed to find his momentary lapse strange. In the room the bed was being made, but he motioned the maids out and nodded in appreciation as they closed the door. He knew enough to at least be polite to the help.

"Tell me Thomas, what was that? What is going on? Why did Lucille attack my father? What are you up to?" Edith demanded, it was clear she was good at holding onto her emotion but part of her uncertainty still leaked into her voice.

"I don't know why my sister attacked him. She's gone mad, Edith, I didn't have anything to do with it." Loki was already bored, this wasn't exactly a difficult role to play. Pretending to be easy when you really didn't know what was happening was simple.

"You...you don't seem the same." Edith said, quietly. "There's something different about you."

"I just heard my sister attacked a man in cold blood for no reason. I am concerned. How is your father, is he all right?" Loki wished he could make an illusion to do all of this for him. He cared little for whatever personal issues were plaguing the mortals beyond how they effected him.

"He'll be all right, he got a nasty bump on his head but the doctor said with some observation he'll be back to new in a week or so." Edith explained her father's condition. "He didn't want me to come. He said you all planned this, that he paid you to..."

Despite her incredible composure until now her voice still broke and she glanced away, at a view of a lovely back garden out the large windows. Loki frowned, could she at least tell him what it was he was accused of this time? His host was apparently even worse than he at keeping any loyal allies.

"...say those horrible things about me." After her moment to pause and regroup she was back to serious and while the pain was in her voice, the tears were gone. "The letter you wrote me, was it some ruse to gain my affection after your sister killed my father? You knew I didn't care that you had no money, I wasn't worried about that."

"Now I'm poor? Well, that's horrible news...best I fix what I can between us if she's to be my only source of income in Midgard. What's something a woman would eat up?" Loki thought, not wanting to lose what little connection this body might have.

"I meant every word." He went with it, since he had no idea what this mortal had said or what his original intentions were. He stepped closer as he spoke, letting his voice drop an octive. "I feel as if, a link exists between your heart and mine. Don't you feel the same?"

Loki knew by the way she kissed him that she was unlikely to leave. He would figure out a method of survival through the few connections he was aware of. It was slightly better than prison, for a novice, Edith Cushing wasn't a poor kisser.

End Chapter

Hope folks like it. Sorry I've been nonexistant for a while. I've started going to college, which absorbs time, on top of having a baby in the NICU. I just really wanted to write for a while after watching Crimson Peak. I'm actually not a fan of the screenplay, but all the potential of the lovely character's and cinematography so I felt like making this. I hope people like this strange crossover.

-Aura

To my reviewers:

Well there aren't any yet, Chapter One and all...but I'll shout out to you if you have specific comments or questions for me : )