I have returned to plague your world with my slightly-better-than-average fanfiction. Fear me. As always huge thanks to the immensely wonderful Josie Raine who ensures that only my good ideas come before you.

Disclaimer: I don't own the MCU, though it would be very cool if I did. I could finally make Coulson return to the big screen. It's long past time.

Anywho, enjoy :)

Willy's Diner was a little hole in the wall of a restaurant. The sort of place that the tourists wandered straight past. But the food was good and the help was always friendly, so the old place had its fair share of regulars. Willy himself often manned the bar and took great pride in knowing the name and order of every single one. Of course this late at night nobody came into his little restaurant anyhow. Naturally the second he thought that, one of the oddest sets of customers he had ever seen came in. Leading the way was a tall thin man with an aristocratic air about him, wearing a very expensive suit. Following in his shadow was a tiny girl wearing a dress that, in a previous life, might have been yellow.

"Hi there, what brings you fine folks here tonight." Willy called out, just because they looked a bit strange was no reason not to be polite.

The tall man spoke with an almost Shakespearean accent "It was the only eatery that didn't stink of ale and piss."

"Fair enough, most of those dives don't even have proper food. You made a good choice. You want a menu?"

"Thank you" he gave the menu a glance. "I've not had most of these, would you recommend something?"

"Not from around here huh, how 'bout I get you started with a cuppa coffee and we can go from there. What about you kid, you want anything?" At this the girl squeaked and ran back behind her companion, clasping her arms around his leg

"Hey, I don't bite. Come on out." Willy smiled at the shy girl. She shook her head. Willy noticed out of the corner of his eye the man looked rather uncomfortable, like he wasn't quite sure what to do.

"Amber, please let go." he said stiffly

"Amber, that's a pretty name." Willy said "Tell you what Amber, if you come on out I'll make you a big stack of my famous chocolate chip pancakes."

She peeked out from behind her companion and nodded before ducking behind him again.

"Great, I'll get those started for you, have a seat."

As Willy bustled into the kitchen behind him Loki found himself having some time to think. If he was to stay on Midgard for any extended period of time. A fate which seemed more likely with every passing hour, he would have to make plans. His magic could solve any problems with money, and even without it he could still use the false identities he had set up during the invasion, that was the easy part. No, the hard part was sitting next him, scribbling on a piece of paper. What was he supposed to do?

"You keep thinkin' so hard your brain's gonna melt." Willy said, placing a steaming mug in front of him.

"What?" Loki was startled from his musings

"Something my Ma used to say when I was a kid, thought it was appropriate. Take a drink, problems don't seem so bad when you have a hot cuppa."

"How do you know I have problems." Loki muttered before taking a sip "This is good."

"Course you have problems. You put up a tough front. But when you think no one's looking, you slump like you've been punched in the gut. Plus your girl looks like she hasn't had a proper meal in a month. Speaking of." He swept into the kitchen and brought out a massive plate stacked high with pancakes glistening with syrup. The entire thing was bigger than Amber's head.

"Now don't eat that too fast or you'll make yourself sick." Willy gave her a smile, which she tentatively returned before diving into her feast.

"Now I know it ain't none of my business. But if you wanna talk, I'm a pretty good listener." He said as he turned back to Loki

"Where to begin" Loki muttered "What would you do if you woke up one day and found out that everything you thought you knew was wrong. If everything you tried to do to make it right, only made the problem worse. Until you finally stopped trying and just let yourself be the monster you think you must be. Then you wake from your dream and realize that all you want is for things to be the way they were before. But it's just too late." He smiled sadly.

"Wow, that's quite a story. One thing I've learned in all my life, is that you can't change the past. All you can do is try to make the future better." Willy shrugged "Just keep going, one day at a time, until you find where you want to be."

"But what if I don't know where that is?"

"There's no hurry, the best things in life only come when you've worked for them"

"Hmm, you may be right." He took a sip of his drink, contemplating the old chef's words. He was pulled once more from his thoughts by a small tug on his sleeve.

"Look what I drew!" Amber said excitedly, holding up a crude sketch of a pink blob, a green stick figure and a small yellow shape. He was about to dismiss it and go back to his drink, until he realized what she had tried to depict. The pink blob was in fact the man he had turned into a pig. The stick figure, himself, standing protectively over the small shape, who could only be Amber. He found himself smiling for the first time in a very long time.

"It's beautiful." He said, and when she smiled back the entire room lit up. She pushed the picture into his hands and scampered back to her seat.

"She's a good kid" Willy said once she had gone back to her food "She obviously adores you"

"Allfather only knows why." Loki said as he slipped the picture into his pocket. "I don't deserve it."

"Then you best start earning it quick. You only get one chance with kids."

"How would you know?" Loki asked

"You ain't the only one who's made mistakes in your life."

"Fair enough" Loki noticed that Amber had fallen asleep "I think we had best find a place to stay for the night. How much do I owe you for the food?"

"Tell you what bud, you agree to come back sometime and this one's on me." He held out his hand

"Deal"

Alright that's that. I'd say I'll try to be more on top of writing, but I try not to make promises I can't keep. My schedule is a sentient being that hates me. In other news. The incredibly lovely Josie Raine has elected to create her own story, which can be found under the penname JosieRaine88 on this very site. Go read it, it's very good.