The spacious, golden halls reflecting the gleaming sunlight of Asgard echoed with strong and fastening footsteps, approaching a small group of people in the middle of heated discussion. All of them seemed to take in the strength of those footsteps at the exact same time, turning around to meet the frantic approacher.

"Where is he?" demanded a low, growling voice.

On this demand the group started again quickly whispering to each other before one of them managed to quiet down the others. A man in long robes of gold and seemingly the most authority turned again but unfortunately didn't manage but stutters.

"Where is my brother?" Thor demanded again upon stopping threateningly close to the tall man in robes.

"Ah, we find ourselves in a rather peculiar situation, but I can assure you..." the man started, but any answer beginning like that wouldn't please Thor at all.

"I seek not assurance but answers! Now tell me what happened!"

Another man stepped forward from behind the others and met Thor's irritated state in a calm manner.

"We are currently looking at an empty cell and a knocked out guard, but there is no sign of anyone leaving Asgard," the man answered with calmness similar to Heimdallr's. "And we do need you to calm down, son of Odin."

Thor took a deep breath. "My apologizes. But take my word, we might not have much time. Tell me, where is this guard you speak of, has he been questioned?"

"According to the latest word that has reached us, the guard was walked to the healing room but he showed no signs of reviving. I might suggest we return to him in later time."

The taller man had found his voice. "Yet your brother might have been on the loose for some time now. We have no notice when was the last time anyone visited the penitentiary, except for this morning."

"Thor, not a soul in Asgard knows your brother's intentions as well as you do, do you not know where he might be heading to?" A smaller man with a long beard asked.

Thor considered this for some time but shook his head.

"He does not wish to stay in Asgard, but with the Bifröst unavailable he must seek a route elsewhere."

Thor struggled for a moment but added, "He has always been quiet regarding the hidden routes, and I'm afraid he has never mentioned much of those to me, not to anyone. He has denied the very existence of them, but a brother knows when the other lies. I did hope he'd come clean in the questionings, but I was left disappointed."

The elders pondered a plan of action, and after rushed discussions speculating the runaway's destination, Thor decided to first have a word with Heimdallr and then Odin himself. With the Tessaract he would be able to chase after his brother, but only after coming up with the best place to start the search from.

Walking back the way he had come from, Thor felt both anger and disappointment bubbling in his chest. He didn't wish to start such foolish conflicts once again, but he also knew he was the one to be sent searching.

And Loki needed to be found.

Loki kept his eyes closed and his breathing stable. Hardly an effort. It was far more of a challenge to keep up his disguise with no disturbance. He had been absorbed in his magic for hours on end, deep in thought, only taking any note of his surroundings every now and then by ear. The Healing Room was rather quiet and calm, no urgent cases emerging right then, which stood to reason - most of the trouble in Asgard had been once caused by Thor and the rest. Things had certainly quieted down around there.

Whatever the reasons, it did help Loki's situation - the less the visitors in those quarters the smaller the chance of someone realizing the hoax.

Frankly, it would be easy enough for someone at some point to realize that the face Loki was supporting had never been seen in Asgard before. And it would only be a matter of time before an actual guard would step into the picture and connect the dots, though Loki had no intentions of finding out what would happen then.

Loki had adopted different features for himself, such features that could easily be forgotten - and of course an official guard's uniform, his magic keeping them up. Just for insurance he was also using his magic to create a weak distress field around himself, so less attention was paid to him. So far it was working: he was left "sleeping" and no one but a nurse took a second look at him. Textbook camouflage, really.

His escape was up to finding the right timing. As soon as he got out of there, preferably unnoticed, the rest would be clear. Loki had had a lot of time to figure out the plan of action, starting from the minute he'd been captured, and clearly the step of getting out of the Healing Room was the most unpredictable one. Loki was not in the mood of hurting anyone, but would do if necessary.

He couldn't help but feeling rather disappointed in the security they had had surrounding him. The easiness of getting out of there had gotten him quite cross, actually. Loki had been underestimated, his magic basically laughed at, his "weakness" bought way too easily.

Well, that wouldn't happen again.

He tried to concentrate, pushing the uninvited thoughts out of his mind. Facts. He couldn't wait there much longer. By then, actions must've had taken place, most of the guards would be busy searching the whole of Asgard, looking for Loki. From where? They had nothing to go on, and they'd figure that one out quite soon. Soon, they would have no choice but to consult the elders of witchcraft, though they'd postpone that as long as they possibly could. Finding Loki would not be all that difficult when the elders stepped in. But at the moment, all they had was "a knocked out guard" and it was their next logical step. So it was crucial that Loki'd make his leave as soon as possible. Distraction. He distinctly hoped he could come up with something, but he would be needing all of his magic and skills in getting out of Asgard. He would not waste any of it in getting out of a Healing Room where he could easily enough kill with his bare hands, no magic required.

Taking a deep breath, Loki prepared himself for action, feeling his magic bristling somewhere inside as well as all around him. He felt his pulse starting to quicken slightly, the sound of his blood rushing in his ears, his very heart beating out of his chest. That was what he had become addicted to, that feeling, the pure rush of blood and adrenalin through him.

The fraction of a second Loki decided to act and rise from his blurry state of magic and meditation, he realized that something was going on outside the Healing Room, people were rushing down the halls, the Healers going outside to sort something out. It was that hesitation that cost Loki every bit of his calculations, and he suddenly felt his concentration falter, his magic dissolving in a blink of an eye. His body shaped back into his own, and in a rush Loki sat up without a second thought, his eyes wide.

In horror, Loki checked himself, his form back to normal, his clothes the ones they'd given him for his imprisonment. Not only was he very much exposed like that - the rattle outside was the only reason Loki wasn't currently being pinned to the floor by guards - but something about himself felt awfully amiss. He realized his magic had been way weaker than he'd even dared to think of, and he felt far too weak and frightened to his own liking.

And then he looked up.

Loki found himself staring straight into a Healers wide eyes. Apparently, she had been coming to check in on him - a tray of medicine was currently lying on the floor after she'd dropped it upon seeing him. Seconds passed by, both of them perfectly still, Loki angry and terrified by the fact that he hadn't heard her coming.

The noise outside the Room suddenly became somewhat louder, a cue for Loki to get a move on. He practically flew off the bed - an act that caused a surge of dizziness inside his head - saving but a quick glance to the main door, otherwise keeping his eyes locked in hers. She immediately made a move, either to the door or just to scream a warning, but Loki didn't stand idle to find out what was in her mind. The next second he was grabbing her wrists, one hand flying to her mouth to muffle any sounds she attempted to make. A struggle followed - she fought back, viciously, but blood was rushing in Loki's veins, the sound of his heart pounding in his ears as his grip on her remained, hard enough to break bones even with the slightest twist. After stabilizing his posture, he dragged her along so he could reach the nearest cabinet. Eyes wide and fierce, she watched him going through the cabinet and started struggling harder, the act followed by a muffled scream of pain. Loki could only guess which bones of her body had given in to the pressure of his grip.

Loki found what he'd been looking for in the cabinet, feeling relief of sorts run through him in the middle of all the sudden chaos. He felt far more confident being armed, especially considering that he would have to reach his own quarters - most likely guarded given everything that was going on - to find any of the decent weapons he was accustomed to. The scalpels he held in his hand would do until then.

He moved one of the blades against her throat, just below the pulse point, as the sound of raised voices reached them through all the other noises outside, and by the disjointed sentences Loki could guess what the havoc was about; a word of Loki's disappearance had reached the warriors of Asgard and upsetting them, and apparently they could have no answers from anyone else, so they'd come to the only place they thought they could find an explanation - to the guard that was supposed to be lying unconscious in the Healing Room. Conflict had ensued when the entitled guards wouldn't let anyone in, probably following such orders.

Loki half sighed, half groaned, knowing that they would soon reach an agreement outside. That, or the warriors would force their way in. He needed to use the other passageway out of the Room as quickly as possible to get to the more silent halls.

He turned back to the woman that pain had already silenced, but who still faintly did her best to escape his hold. Loki watched her eyes that were above all filled with pain and scare, but looking deeper, he could see so many other emotions. Anger and devotion. Blame, perhaps. Flickers of judgment, and then, at last, the pure pleading that caused her eyes water, reducing her into such a degrading mess of an Asgardian.

He stuck the blade through her throat.