Pandora's Box

Disclaimer: I know, I know. *Facepalms* I bet you guys are all sick of OCXLoki pairings. Well, you're sort of in luck. This won't be anything too OC like that, but with be a reason for it's M status later. It's just an idea that was running around my brain begging me to write it. And damn it, it won't shut up. LOL. Well, this is (with much reluctance) my first Avengers fic I've ever written. As told from the aftermath. Well, if I have some things incorrect, I'll remind you it's my first shot so, if you see anything out of order, don't hesitate to let me know. It will also have a slight crossover with X-Men.

"Remorse is virtue's root; its fair increase are fruits of innocence and blessedness."

-William C. Bryant

"Wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others."

-Oscar Wilde

By: VampireQueenAkasha

"He has disobeyed his king... his fate is in his own hands now."

-Odin

Welcome to Midgard

The cold, damp water from the Midgardian clouds was a mild reprieve.

He could not comprehend how it came to this. How he came to endure such a fate from the Allfather's hand. How he was sent to this pitiful realm, gripping his way through mud and grass to a small cave to shelter himself from the storm. The cave was dry, but cold, forcing him to clutch himself to keep up with warmth in the disgusting, mortal form he was forced to bear. And for what? Because he had brought forth the army of the Chitauri to Midgard. Because Asgard feared what he was capable of.

"I will find a way..." Loki vowed, his green eyes filled with hatred in the darkness, "This won't stop me."

Several hours earlier, he had stood before the Allfather-he would never address him as his father again-and Odin had been so merciless with his sentence this time. He deprived Loki of every inch of his power and banished him to Midgard until he learned the nature of humanity. What angered Loki the most was that Thor had suggested such a thing to begin with. Not only was his brother a constant nuisance, he expressed mercy all the same.

And now here he was in Midgard, weak and without his power.

But Loki vowed that would not happen any longer. He would find a way to get it all back again. He would be damned if he wasted time learning anything about these loathsome creatures. There was nothing to learn from them anyway. There had to be another way.

There had to.

Loki remained in the cave until the rain ceased enough for him to leave. He began to get hungry and decided to search for something to eat. Unfortunately, with his lack of proper clothing that the Allfather had been so "gracious" enough to give as he had done for Thor, Loki had nothing. How had Thor fared so well? How had he been fortunate enough to survive on this pitiful little rock? Loki would have to prove himself better.

He walked through the forest until he came upon a highway where he could see presumably a shopping mart. In the distance, he caught sight of a human city not far either. The mart would have to do until he found more reasonable accommodations there. As he ventured into the mart, he could see several cars parked at stations where they were being filled with a peculiar fluid that smelled absolutely horrible. Loki wrinkled his nose and entered the store.

There was an elder behind the counter of a darker skin tone and Loki ignored him as he made his way to the cooling chambers. He reached inside and quickly pulled out a bottle of milk, tearing the cap off before guzzling down its contents. The man behind the counter didn't notice what he was doing until Loki started eating some fruit in the basket.

"Hey!" the man barked, rushing around the counter to confront him. "You better have plans to pay for that!"

Loki stared at him with a calm smile. "Oh, it's quite all right," he assured him, "I'll be off in a moment."

The man scowled now, his face getting red with anger. "Are you on drugs?" he spat, "Either you pay, leave or I call the police!"

"Is that a threat?" Loki asked, his eyes glittering in challenge.

Before he knew it, he was promptly thrown from the shop with a yell and out into the cold, wet dirt. People at their vehicles laughed and pointed at the black-haired man in muddy shirt and pants, some considering him to be a mindless drug addict as evidenced by their whispered words. Loki immediately snarled at them, staggering to his feet.

"What are all of you staring at?" he bellowed, indignant to their laughter.

He quickly rushed away toward the city, blotting out their horrid laughter. Loki swore that once his powers returned, he would surely give them a reason to be jubilant. As he made his way toward the city, he noticed a sign posted that read: BOSTON.

Loki frowned and decided that this Midgardian city would serve some use to him.

O

Loki ventured down the crowded streets of Boston, taking a moment to survey his surroundings. It was strange how mildly similar the towering Earth pillars reminded him of Asgard in some strange way. The mortals moved so much like shuffling corpses, it almost amused him if it wasn't for the constant shoving and chatter. His clueless wandering drew the attention of a homeless man in an alley nearby. He was an African American donned in scraps of clothing to keep himself warm in the chill air.

The man folded his arms across his chest and watched as Loki approached a vehicle that was home to unsavory characters. He shook his head with dismay, anticipating the worst. The worst came when Loki was punched in the face before the car screeched away. The man winced and uttered a soft, "Ooh" as Loki crumbled to the ground. Then, the man rushed to Loki's side and pulled him into the alley. Loki was dazed from the punch and scowled, staring down at his hand where blood had formed a small puddle.

"You know, I have never seen someone take a hit like that," he said, laughing, "You're either out of state or new to the world."

Loki frowned up at this homeless man. "More or less..." he growled.

The man smiled now. "Folks on the street call me Cookie," he told him, "What's yours?"

Loki winced at the pain in his jaw. He didn't feel like making any friends or acquaintances among the human population, but what did he care if this man knew his name? He looked up bitingly at the Midgardian in rags.

"Loki."

Cookie just laughed softly. "Gang name too?"

"No."

Cookie just shook his head. "Loki huh? Well, a name's a name anyway." He wrinkled his nose and chuckled to himself, standing and walking to a makeshift house of cardboard and garbage. "Whew, I gotta say; you smell worse than I do, and I sleep in garbage!"

Loki scowled. "I am in no need of your observation!"

Cookie held up two hands. "Hey! Just a joke, boy. No need to bite my head off."

Loki let out an exasperated sigh.

"Listen Loki; I don't need another enemy," Cookie told him, with a gentle smile, "And from the looks of things, you don't either. So I got just the thing that might make us friends." He reached into his makeshift house and pulled out a bottle of whiskey.

"Alcohol?" Loki questioned.

"Yeah!"

Cookie took a quick drink and offered it to him. Loki grimaced with disgust. "I will not consume anything that's lingered in the garbage!"

Cookie sighed patiently and gestured around him. "Take a look around you, brother. You don't have much choice."

After a moment of hesitation, Loki begrudgingly grabbed the bottle and took a drink. When he felt a coat around his shoulders, he looked up sharply at Cookie. The man had taken off his own coat and offered it to him. The coat was warm and slightly itchy, filled with a few holes and covered in dirt. While disgusting on its own, it did help Loki feel less cold than before; as much as he hated to admit that to himself.

"You look chilly," Cookie said, smiling.

"And what of you?" Loki asked, frowning at the act of charity. It confused him.

Cookie waved him off with a laugh. "I'm cool, man. I got all this to keep me warm." He gestured to his prominent pot belly.

Loki watched with confusion as Cookie disappeared into the box home.

How strange that this man helped him when he had so little.

O

The days that passed by, Loki had to spend them thinking about what he was going to do to get his powers back. Cookie was performing music at a street corner and the only reason Loki remained with him was simply because he was the only Midgardian he knew right now. But surely Cookie couldn't understand Loki's plight. He himself was homeless and without finances-to which he claimed he earned by performing on his guitar-but he wouldn't understand Asgardian ways.

But as Loki sat at the edge of a fountain, staring into the water, he began to ponder another plan. The Allfather claimed that Loki was required to understand humanity, but there wasn't much to understand. Perhaps he was to simply learn of their ways as Thor had. If so, Cookie could definitely help him in that regard.

"Loki!" Cookie rushed up to him, snapping him out of his thoughts, "Look what I got!"

Loki stared skeptically down at the object in Cookie's hands; it appeared to be a cigar. "Lovely..." he said, disinterested.

"I know, right!" Cookie exclaimed, as if he had just earned the greatest treasure in the universe. He kissed the cigar and looked skyward. "Thank you, God!"

Loki furrowed his brow, glancing up at him. "Which one?"

"God. You know, G-O-D."

"I heard you the first time; which one?"

Cookie frowned thoughtfully before grinning. "The God of Awesome, brother!"

Loki looked confused. "I'm...not familiar with that one."

"Mind if I smoke it then?"

"What you do with your ill-gotten gains is beneath my interest."

Cookie was so thrilled by his cigar that he quickly scampered off to smoke it and paid no mind to Loki's disinterest in his gift. Loki rolled his eyes with dismay at the pitiful delights of the Midgardian being and remained at the fountain's edge, continuing to ponder what he was going to do.

And how he would get his revenge.

Later than evening, Cookie had managed to get them some food that he called "spaghetti". Loki's stomach ached for sustenance and he felt ashamed for his desperation of food. He was eating food that Cookie consistently assured him was not from the garbage, but he didn't exactly trust his word either. What had he been reduced to? How had his life fallen so far to this?

"Loki," Cookie said, giving him a kind smile, "You got to keep moving on. Have faith and it'll get better."

Loki frowned intensely at that. "How can one such as yourself speak so eloquently of faith?"

"Easy. I try to look at the good parts of my life. I always think that things might get better. I'm still alive and in good health, so that's a plus. It's hard sometimes, but you can't let it get you down."

In a strange way, this filthy Midgardian had a certain wisdom to his words. A wisdom that Loki hated to admit.

Cookie smiled brightly now. "Well? Time to sleep."

Loki didn't find the dumpster to be comfortable to lean on, but he felt as if he had little option right now and simply closed his eyes. He rested his hands on his abdomen and struggled to recall the events that had led up to this moment.

He had a dream. More or less he thought of it as a dream and a recollection of past events.

Loki was kneeling before Odin and his mother who looked devastated. Unable to speak due to the muzzle that covered his mouth, Loki could only throw bitter, seething looks at the Allfather in silence. Odin simply regarded him with regret.

"Loki, you have not only caused this realm pain and suffering, but you have brought it to the innocent beings of Midgard," His voice was calm-too calm. He didn't seem furious, though he was adept at containing his rage quite easily. "When will it be enough, my son? When will your blind jealousy and hatred finally be quenched?" When Odin received no response, save for an indifferent scowl from Loki, his tone changed with calm authority. "You will not be shown an ounce of leniency, Loki."

Thor closed his eyes, standing beside Loki and wielding the chain that bound his limbs.

"Loki Odinson..." Odin began.

It was such hypocrisy that Odin would dare address him as his son when he had disowned and let him perish in the Void. Loki wanted to scream that he was no longer an Odinson-or even a Laufeyson-but he could not with the muzzle over his mouth.

"You have disturbed the peace of the ream of Asgard and Midgard," Odin continued, "soaked the world of Midgard in its own blood." He raised Gungnir before Loki and took the God of Mischief's staff from Thor's hands. "I deem you unworthy to bear the title God of Asgard..." And Thor watched in anguish as Loki began to experience the same thing he had. "...unworthy of your power. Unworthy of those who have betrayed. Odin, Allfather of Asgard hereby takes from you your powers. I leave you in the fate of those you've hurt so that you may come to understand their pain. In the name of my father..."

Thor backed away as Odin raised Loki's spear at his young brother, watching as Loki's magic began to drain away into it. His armor began to disintegrating as well and Loki didn't even look at it. He just regarded Odin with cold loathing. But Odin continued without consequence. "...and of his father before...I cast you out!"

When Odin had raised his spear, that was when Loki awoke to the sounds of screams. He looked up at the sight of Cookie in the middle of being stabbed several times by two men who looked disturbingly familiar to him. It suddenly occurred to Loki that these were the same men from the car that he had received the punch. Cookie's abdomen was soaked with blood and he was still getting stabbed while the men sneered at him.

"Filthy little shit!" one of them spat.

Loki didn't know what had compelled him to be so foolish; perhaps it was the fact that he was still fuming about these common thugs and their assumption that they would dare strike an Asgardian on the face. He immediately grabbed one of the men and threw him out of the alley and onto the sidewalk. This must have angered the other one because Loki immediately felt a harsh kick to his back and he was sent stumbling forward.

"Dude, are you crazy?" the other man sneered, "You must really wanna die!"

"Do we need to cut you too so you can get off?" the first one hissed.

Loki grunted and received a kick to his face. That hurt more than he thought it would and he felt himself falling backwards against a brick wall. Loki glared with hatred at the two men and grinned, locking his lips. He tasted blood in his mouth, but he would not dare feel intimidated by common thugs, no matter what weapon their wielded. The man wielding the knife flicked it back and forth in his hands, testing him to do something.

"You shouldn't play with knives," Loki hissed, "Someone might get hurt."

The two men stared skeptically at each other before laughing.

"You think you're the shit, huh, bro?" the knife man sneered, "Well, how 'bout I prove you right then?"

Loki tensed when the man lunged at him and grabbed his knife hand, struggling to keep it at bay. But he could feel the strength in his arms weakening from such a weak form. If he had his powers, this man would have been split in half without a moment of hesitation.

And then, he felt it.

A wet smack filled the air and a pain so sharp started in his back. Loki looked over his shoulder with a hiss at the other man who had plunged a knife deep into his back. Loki snarled at him and felt his body weakening from the blow. He crumbled to the concrete street, feeling a puddle of blood forming at his back.

The men laughed nastily and hovered around him. "Not so tough now, are you?"

Loki hissed with pain and felt his vision dimming. So this was my fate, Allfather? To be banished and killed by common fools? Loki suddenly felt so weak and numb that he no longer heard their laughter anymore.

But then, something changed.

"Hey! Move it! It's one of those freaks!"

Loki heard the men retreat into their car and quickly drive away. What had caused them to flee so quickly? He could barely see the sight of shoes as someone approached him and knelt down. He felt hands on his body and a gentle voice filled the air; a soothing female voice that reminded him of the sweet calmness of his mother.

"Sir? Can you hear me? You're bleeding. We need to get you to the hospital."

Sir? Hah. Loki would have laughed if he found the strength to do so. He barely felt himself carried away; the person who had saved him must have been of minimal strength because he could feel his feet dragging the ground.

My savior. Who...?

Loki struggled to look into the face of the one who had come to his aid, but he could only see the blurry outline of a pink face and brown hair before he lost consciousness.

O

Note-So? What do you think?