Reign

Chapter 1: Phenomenon

She followed the same trail that she did every day to go home after a non-eventful day of work. There was nothing different about today as she looked out of her truck window and out to the fields of sugar, driving home as she did nearly every day of the week.

Her family was farmers of sorts. They tended to be old-fashioned and less modern. Instead of new fancy tractors that could get work done in half the time, her parents used their old farm tractor that always ended up breaking for some reason or another.

Of course, she was less interested in farming than she was about everything else in the world. Her parents knew this, as she was just an adopted member of their family. They didn't mind that she didn't share their passion for farming and such, and they supported her through life in everything else she wished to accomplish.

Ash Storm was her name. A simple twenty-one year old girl making her living from a local coffee shop. She knew just about everyone in the small town that was a few acres away from her own home. Of course, there was something about her coffee that people seemed to love in the morning or even after lunch, in the late afternoon. Well, she didn't mind. After all, the tips paid her house pretty well.

Her family allowed her to build a house off into the fields where she was isolated and alone; not that she was always alone. She had her dog, Figi. She was a constant company, not to mention the friends who were invited over every now and then. But today was different. She just wanted the afternoon to herself.

After she came in view of her house she breathed a sigh of relief. She was finally free from the constant communication of life. As she was working in the coffee shop that morning, she had noticed on the news that the great and powerful God of Mischief had returned to Earth. She couldn't stand how people made a big deal of everything on the news networks. While it slightly irritated her, she couldn't help but be amused at the gossip that it brought every morning to the shop.

People were so amazed at the might of SHIELD's mighty superheroes. Which, of course, it was them who were called to duty. Ash was just waiting one of these hours to hear of the fateful battle between the brothers, Loki and Thor. She had heard stories of such fights between the gods, though for some reason she could never seem to understand why Thor was always the victor. Was there never a story where Loki came out on top? What a plot twist that would ever be.

She let out an annoyed breath. They were only stories, she reminded herself before having to harshly slam the breaks of her truck. Her eyes were wide as she gazed into the sugar cane field less than half a mile from her house. Figi was on the porch barking as Ash was stopped in the middle of the dusty road.

Ash immediately climbed out of her truck and ran to the slightly smoking field. Her heart thumped with anxiety as she was eager to see what odd phenomenon was in the field. She waved her hand to clear the strange green smoke from her face as she stepped closer to the figure on the ground, and to her surprise, it all cleared in a single fluent motion. She was used to these surprises by this time of her life, but what she wasn't used to was finding a certain God laying in the fields just outside her house.

Loki Laufeyson, she thought to herself. It was him, certainly. But what was she to do? Was she to call SHIELD? No, they would certainly come to pick him up and simply forget her deed, as it seemed in the stories she heard. But would she take him back to her home? Of course not! If SHIELD were tracing Loki down then this would be the first spot they would check, and they would definitely have questions for her regarding the unnaturally scorched fields.

She didn't want to pose a threat to the seemingly short-tempered God. She asked fairly loudly, "Loki Laufeyson?" After a minute of no answer and no seeming movement, she prodded his boot with her shoe. She waited only a moment more before receiving no response and she muttered with sympathy, "I guess I'll take you somewhere safe..."

It was quite strange to be taking this all so calmly. In fact, she was sure she would have cracked by now. Though, she was still having the high sense of anxiety. She was taking Loki, the God of Mischief, with her. Dear God, she was crazy.

She was surprised at how fairly easy it was to transport him to the back seat of her truck. It didn't help that his helmet was continuously protruding through the seats of her truck so she simply took it from his head, momentarily gazing at his perfect hair and the frame of his face. He wasn't what she thought he would look like in person, for a villain. He was surprisingly attractive. 

She placed the helmet in the back of her truck and called for Figi to join her in the front seat as she drove back to the town, nervously checking back at Loki every few seconds for any signs of being awake. Upon driving into the town she settled with paying for an apartment for the weekend. It was right near the edge of the town, where she mostly liked to be.

As soon as night fell it was easy for her to transport Loki to the inside of the apartment. There were two rooms, one bathroom, a kitchen, and a small living room. It was everything that could be expected from an apartment of the size. Though, the rooms were down a hall where one would need to actually enter the house in order to see them down the short hall.

It worked out for her because she was able to easily set Loki into the adjacent room from her. She looked at him for a moment before going to her own room. She was far too tired to concern herself with showering at that time. She pet Figi's head before lying next to her under the covers. She finally decided to clear her thoughts of Loki and of everything else. She had quite an eventful day ahead of her and it did her no good to dwell on things and keep herself awake for the night. She needed what rest she could get if she were to at least survive the day to come.

(A/N: Hello! Nice meeting Ash! Isn't she an exciting one? Hehehe Feels great to get this book off the ground! Though I'm super nervous... I'm pretty excited about it! Hope it's enjoyable! Plus, just request for an update if you want more than one a day. I'm one step ahead and my chapters are ready for you!)