How do you heal?

Chapter 30: Intergalactic Crime

Early April 2015

Thor had left the compound early that morning and had gone to see his brother. His father had yet to release Loki from prison and Thor was growing agitated at the continued confinement. When he had arrived on Asgard he had spoken with his father about the discovery of the infinity stones and his belief that someone was playing a larger game with them but Odin wanted to hear nothing of it. So when Thor left Asgard he was devising a plan to free his brother, who he now believed had been wrongfully imprisoned.

"Heimdall, could you send me to Annie's friend Alex?"

When Thor landed in the front yard of a small home he didn't know exactly what he was going to do but he knew he couldn't ask the Avengers for help but Alex had seemed enthusiastic about her similarities to Loki so he thought he'd give it a shot.

"So you're saying you want me to travel to Asgard with you, act like a guard, break out your brother and then have him live here with me?" Alex asked as she sat at the table with Thor.

"Yes." Thor answered seriously. "I know it is a lot to ask but I am afraid no one else would help me free him and-"

"I'm in." Alex said, cutting him off.

"What?"

"If you've got a plan then I'm your man. Annie has been so swamped with all the new recruits and I've got enough PTO to take a few days off, no one will miss me so when do we leave?"

A week later after a lot of planning and a lot more luck Alex, Thor and Loki stood in the kitchen.

"You want me to live here?" Loki asked as he surveyed the house with a slightly disgusted look.

"It's either stay here with Alex or I take you back to Asgard. Heimdall has agreed to keep your whereabouts a secret as long as you behave and Alex has agreed to make you behave."

Loki turned his gaze to the tall woman and gave her a once over. "How is a mortal supposed to make me behave?"

Alex let a wild grin take over her face as she stepped right up to Loki, tall enough to meet him eye to eye. "I've broken men worse than you. Be happy that behaving is all I agreed to make you do."

"Very well, I've swapped one prison for another. Am I to lay about here all day with the mutt breathing in my face?" Loki replied as he stepped back and gestured to Bubba who had come to sit at his feet.

"Hell no." Alex said. "You will be a contributing member of this household. Cooking, cleaning, paying bills. A functioning member of society."

Loki looked at her quizzically. "And how exactly am I to do that? If you recall, I am a very wanted man here on earth. I can't exactly walk around the streets."

"Alex has a cover story, the job part we can work on later but for now you are to use your shapeshifting abilities whenever you leave the house to look like a relative of Annie, the owner of this home." Thor said and Alex pulled up a picture of Annie on her phone to show Loki. "The story is that you fell on hard times and your cousin has allowed you to stay in this house until you get back on your feet. The only person that ever comes here is Annie and Alex will know when that is happening. When it does, you will just have to stay at a hotel for a few days."

"Or shift into a cat and sleep outside with the others." Alex added.

Loki looked between the two before looking at the device Alex held out to him. A pale, plump woman with wild red curls and bright green eyes stared at him. Round rosy cheeks gave her a doll-like look and her baggy clothes were a bit..."Frumpy." He muttered to himself as he made a disgusted face.

A hard whack met his ear. "Ouch, what the hell was that for?"

"Frumpy is sloppy and we don't do sloppy. We work our asses off and therefore we do comfortable. Insult her again and next time I will use something sharp to hit you."

"Apologies." Loki said with a sneer as he looked at the photo again. He contemplated it for a moment before shaking his head and transforming. Alex looked the disguise up and down a few times circling. "Satisfied?" Loki asked in a lilting female voice as he pushed wild red curls back from his face.

"It'll do."