Banished.

Pale blue eyes searched his surroundings and he wanted to use every single curse he had learned from his time spent with the midgardians. This was absolutely his luck. He glanced up at the sky and sneered, he wondered if his father knew where he was dropping him. He felt that somehow he knew exactly what this place was to him. This place was absolute hell to him absolute hell. He grimaced and looked up at the tall buildings around him.

If his father had gotten one single tiny little thing right, he had dropped into an alleyway that didn't seem to get much attention from the people moving about the city. He glanced around him and sighed once more. His Asgardian garb faded to the image of the Midgard garb he had worn to visit Thor when he was being held by that Coulson fellow when he had been banished. Loki pulled the dress coat closer around him and tossed the green and gold scarf back over his shoulder.

He walked out of the alleyway and looked up towards the tallest building he could see. It just so happened to be Stark tower. The thought made him grimace yet again. He hated this city with a passion. He hated New York. He hated it with such a burning passion. He met eyes with a woman as he had begun walking once more. She blinked and then looked to the man she was with and whispered something to him. The man looked his way as well, but Loki continued on. He didn't want to attract too much attention.

He knew what would happen if he did. The memory of the big green fellow was still prominent in his mind. He did not like being rag dolled by a beast in the slightest. However, it seemed that the beast wasn't around. Or maybe he was just trying to lie to himself. He didn't want to think of that dreadful little boy band at the moment. His only concern was her. He had to find her. And he knew he had to do it swiftly.

He stopped by a little news stand and the woman behind the counter smiled at him brightly. "Good morning, Sir." She greeted and he offered a small smile. "How are you today?" she asked and he watched her with careful eyes. "I'm in a bit of a pinch here, dear." He said and she smiled even brighter at him. "Alrighty how can I help you?" she asked and he pursed his lips in thought. "I'm looking for my lady friend. You wouldn't have happened to have seen her have you?" he asked and she tilted her head lightly. "I see a lot of people every day, if you could give me a better description I might be able to help." She said with a smile and he nodded.

"Alright." He began. "She's about this tall," he began, raising his hand to his side, almost to his shoulder, but not quite. "And she has white hair almost to her hips, but not quite there. last I saw she had it in a braid. She's got brilliant blue eyes, almost like the color of your marker there." he said pointing at her bright blue highlighter. "But her eyes are odd, she has a medical condition and she can't be outside without sunglasses. She left home without them today and I'm dreadfully worried because she won't be able to see." He explained and the girl gave him a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry, I haven't seen her... however, if I do I will find a way to let you know. Just be sure to stop by here every now and again and I will let you know if I have seen her." The woman said and he nodded. "Thank you." He said and she beamed at him. "It's no problem, I know I would panic if my friend were missing in New York, too. The place is too big and far o dangerous to be wandering around without being able to see very well." She said and he nodded. "Thank you again, I am very grateful to you." He said and she waved him off as he made his way down the street.

This was wonderful...

Absolutely wonderful.

He glanced up and saw the same news stand that he had passed by about six times now. How hard could it be to navigate this town? Very hard. Apparently very hard and very irritatingly difficult. He glanced up and saw that Stark tower was still to his left, which meant... he needed to cross the street to the right. He turned to cross the street and noticed that his face was plastered on that damnable news stand.

His upper lip twitched in annoyance. That conniving little...

He took a deep breath and attempted to sink into the crowd as it crossed the street, but they were going the opposite direction and each of them were looking him right in the face. This couldn't possibly end well for him, he already knew this. The whispered only proceeded to get louder as more people passed him. The streets silenced, all of the cars stopped moving completely and there were even people recording him as he looked their way.

He bit his lip slightly and cursed his luck. The crowds had all stopped moving and those that were around him had formed a circle with a five foot radius around him. The flashing of cameras and phone lights made him curse his luck all over again. However, his amusement showed when all electronics in the area became taken over with a salt and pepper screen of static. Everyone within his range began looking at their phones in confusion.

"Seems like you shouldn't be recording an innocent man." He said and they looked up at him from their phones. "I may look like that Loki fellow, but I assure you I am not. My name is Thomas Sharpe. You wouldn't believe the amount of times this has happened to me elsewhere." He chuckled and the people eyed him wearily. "I assure you I am just a common Englishman on a business trip to New York." He said and they muttered to themselves.

"I assure you that the only reason I am still here is because I have lost a certain friend of mine and I am desperately trying to find her." He said, but a familiar mechanical noise filled his ears from behind and he dropped his hand from his chest. He looked up at the crowd to see them dispersing within nearby establishments. "So... Thomas Sharpe huh?" the amused mechanical voice chuckled.

Loki grit his teeth as the illusion of his familiar armor formed over him, a spear in hand as he spun and lunged for the man in the red and gold suit. Iron man avoided his swipe easily. "I meant no harm." Loki snarled as Tony hovered around to settle in front of him. "No harm?" that's a new one." Tony said in a snarky tone as he shot towards Loki. Loki took off in a run, ditching the spear as he ran. The spear vanished from sight, seeing as it had only been an illusion to get some distance between Stark and himself.

Loki dove behind a nearby car and tried to hide under it, but Stark lifted the car off the ground and Loki took off running once more. However, this time he created illusions to help him escape. 'The real one is running to the left, sir.' Jarvis' voice echoed within Stark's helmet. Tony completely ignored the illusory clones and dove straight for the real Loki. Stark sent him flying with a metal foot in the center of his back.

Loki released a pained yell as he hit the ground and went rolling. Loki struggled to get to his feet as Stark swooped over him once more, grabbing him by the collar of his coat and lifting him off the ground once more. Loki struggled in Tony's grasp, only to pull his knees to his chest and use the force from shoving himself off of Stark to free himself. Loki landed on the ground and held his hands together, his eyes bleeding red for a moment as the air chilled.

Before Loki could conjure anything to help him get away Stark hit him with a blast from his gauntlets. Loki hit the ground a few feet away, nursing his now burned torso. His hands clutched his chest as he struggled to catch his breath. Stark landed nearby and walked over to him, only to crouch beside him and grab him by the throat. "See, Loki. This is why you need to think over your little plans of domination." Tony sighed, amusement thick in his tone.

"They'll never work, buddy." Tony sighed, his other hand on his hip as he tightened the grip on Loki's throat with the other hand. Loki was struggling for air, his mouth opening and closing while the only sounds escaping him were the sounds of him desperately struggling to get oxygen in his lungs. Tears pricked at Loki's eyes and Tony furrowed his brows. He had never seen the Asgardian so pitiful.

"Why aren't you fighting back for real?" he asked as he slowly released his grip on Loki's throat. He didn't release it enough for Loki to be able to get free, nor did he release it enough for Loki to get the full capacity of air he needed. Tony was curious as to why Loki wasn't going all out. "What was that?" Tony asked as Loki tried to say something but all he could managed was a desperate rasp of a word.

"If I put you down and you run I'm going to beat you until you can't walk, do you hear me?" Tony asked and Loki struggled out a nod. The moment Tony dropped Loki, Loki took off in an all out run. "Dammit man, don't you understand what I meant by that?" he asked with a deep sigh as he blasted Loki once more, this time Loki slammed into a car. When Loki saw him coming once more he shoved himself off the ground and tried to run once more, but Iron man collided with his back and he hit the ground face first.

This time Tony wasn't going to let him up. Tony attempted to punch him in the face, but Loki grabbed his hand and used all his strength to try and push it away from him. It impacted the asphalt on the opposite side of his face that Tony was trying to hit. "I could step on you, you pitiful little Asgardian. End you like the annoying little insect you are." Tony ground out as he stood from his place over Loki. He then proceeded to place his foot in the center of Loki's chest and add pressure.

Loki grabbed his foot with both hands and struggled to try and shove it off of him, but to no avail. He was once more struggling for breath. "What Loki? No usual smart ass comebacks?" Tony asked as he slowly added more pressure. "Are you regretting not taking the offer for that drink now?" Loki cried out in pain, but that wasn't what made Stark remove the majority of the pressure that he'd placed on Loki's chest.

It was what he said.

"I'm here for her... I'm here to save her! I have to find her!" Loki had yelled with desperate breaths. Stark crouched down beside him after he removed his foot. He grabbed Loki by the collar once more and sat him up once more. "Find who?" Stark asked and Loki looked at him with pain filled eyes. "I have to find Syndra." He said, his tone still breathless. Stark watched him intently, trying to decipher any small tick of deceit from him.

"You're here to find a woman?" he asked Loki and Loki nodded weakly. "Might I ask why exactly this woman is so important that you continuously run from me? Even under threat of yet another physical beatdown?" Tony asked and Loki watched him through half lidded eyes. "You know if you don't tell me I will just continue to beat the shit out of you. You have honestly had this ass kicking coming for a year now." Tony said and Loki offered a smirk.

"I know." He said, that smirk fading from his lips. "I understand why you want me dead." He said and Tony watched him carefully. "Yeah, well you being all... uh... regretful and stuff is really not helping my want to kick your ass. Kinda makes me feel like shit, stop it." Tony snapped and Loki looked up at him in confusion. "I'm going to ask again, and if I don't get an answer this time I'm going to let the videos of you being on Earth again hit the internet so everyone will know." Tony threatened and Loki sighed.

"She's important to me because..." Loki began but his mind went blank for a moment. Why was she important to him? Was it because she was his friend? Was it because she had jumped in front of him to save him? Was it because she was quite possibly the reason Odin treated him like he did Thor? Was it because she had been a face he had seen day after day and had become fond of? What exactly was it? His lips pursed as he pondered these thoughts.

"Well?" Tony asked, stirring him from his thoughts. Loki looked up at the man who had actually revealed his face to talk to him this time. "I owe her..." Loki said and Tony stared at him in irritation. "She was banished from Asgard trying to save me." Loki explained and Tony stood and grabbed Loki by his coat collar once more. Loki flinched away, expecting another hit but it never came. He looked over at Tony and his helmet had already snapped shut once more.

"Come with me." Tony said and motioned for Loki to follow him. Loki took off in a swift limping hobble after the man. He wasn't going to risk another injury from the man by trying to run off again. He was already in enough pain as is. Loki watched as the Ironman suit flew from Tony's form piece by piece. It all flew straight up to Stark tower. Tony shoved his hands in his pockets with an audible sigh.

"You alright back there Sir Hobbler of Asgard?" he asked and Loki sent him a dirty look. "I told you not to run." Tony said in his own defense. "Yes, well, when one is told not to run by the person who just tried to choke the life out of them, the first instinct is to try and get away. Hence the running." Loki spat and Tony chuckled as the front door to the Stark tower opened in front of them.

"Jarvis, take us all the way up." Tony said and the doors closed before the two of them. "Of course sir." Jarvis said and Loki quirked a brow. Tony just smirked at the Asgardian. "Artificial intelligence, Jarvis has been here for me since the start. Haven't you Jarvis?" Tony asked and Loki listened for the reply. "Not quite sir, you did have to create me." Jarvis said and Tony rolled his eyes.

"Alright smart ass you know what I meant." Tony sighed and Loki smirked once more. "Of course I did, sir." Jarvis said and Loki refrained from chuckling. The elevator doors opened to a room filled with computers and robots all around. "Jarvis, pop up holograms." Tony commanded and the table in the center of the room lit up with holographic objects. "Ok Loki, I'm going to help you." Tony said and Loki looked over at him in surprise.

"This girl..." Tony began, earning a confused look from Loki. "What does she look like?" he asked and Loki limped over to the table and looked at all the images of faces flashing all over the place. "Why would you help me?" Loki asked as he reached to touch a hologram. "Because I've seen that look before... The one that was in your eyes when you were trying to figure out what to say... I've had that look in my eyes many times." Stark said as he set up the software so that Loki could create a rendering of the woman.

"The look in my eyes?" Loki asked and Tony nodded. "Yeah... that little confused look. In time you'll figure out what it means, but I'm going to help you find her." Tony said as he stepped away from the table. "If she becomes an issue, like you were... I will not hesitate to take affirmative action. And I promise you that." Tony said and Loki nodded, still pondering what Tony meant by that confused look in his eye.

"In time you'll figure out what she means to you, right now, though... you need to find her. Preferably before someone else does that has bad intentions for her." Tony said and Loki nodded. "Ok so how you work this thing is, you find the features that closely resemble her own, and then you can build a rendering of her face. That will help us find her." Tony said and Loki nodded as he reached for the first part.

"You can also stretch and smooth until it looks just right." Tony added at the last moment. "Alright..." Loki started as he focused on the Holo-table. The doors opened and a woman squealed in surprise, but her noises didn't bother Loki as he set to finding the right parts. "Tony!" the woman squealed in a hushed tone, which made Loki glance at her from the corner of his eyes. It was the ginger haired woman that always followed Stark around. His eyes flickered back to the task at hand.

"Tony Stark! What on earth are you doing!" she shrieked and Tony chuckled as he made his way over to her. He placed a finger to his lips to hush her and she only proceeded to get angry with him. "What were you thinking Tony! Isn't that-" she began but he silenced her with a swift kiss. She closed her eyes and Loki smirked, he could tell there was anger coming. "Oh I know you did not just-" she began but he did it again and she opened her mouth to speak again. This time she grabbed his mouth with her hand as he tried to silence her that way once more.

"Is that Loki?" she asked angrily and he opened his mouth to speak but she pressed the palm of her hand over his mouth to silence him. "Don't speak. Just nod." She said angrily and he obeyed her with a nod. "Isnt he the one who nearly destroyed New York in its entirety?" she asked and he opened his mouth once more but she glared at him and he nodded once more. She took a deep breath and released it, only to slowly remove her hand from his mouth.

"Alright... Now explain, now." She demanded and Tony scratched his head and opened his mouth to speak, but she glared at him. "Don't even try and B.S. your way out of it. I want the truth." She snapped and he nodded. "I'm helping him." Tony said and she paused, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and gently closed her hands into themselves. She released this breath and opened her eyes once more.

"So let me get this straight." She began. "You." She said and pointed at Stark. "Are helping him, the homicidal maniac who forced you to go through a rift into space and nearly DIE." She said as she pointed at Loki. And Tony just nodded. "What are you helping him with exactly?" she asked, the anger still present, but now it just seemed she was desperately willing this to be a horrible dream and she was going to wake soon.

She was rubbing her eyes and Tony cleared his throat and was going to speak but Loki did first. "He's helping me find my friend." Loki said offhandedly and Pepper buried her face in her hands and made a noise that sounded like a cross between crying, screaming, and laughing. When she removed her hands from her face and released the deep breath she had pulled in, she looked at Stark.

"Do you not realize what kind of friends he usually has? Or have you forgotten?" she hissed and Tony smiled at her. "No! Don't you smile at me!" she snapped and he reached out towards her and she stepped back away from him. "I am so angry at you right now, don't you dare touch me." she hissed and Tony pouted at her. "To be honest, Mrs. Potts..." Loki began and she snapped her head to look at him.

"No, don't you talk to me either." She snapped but he rolled his eyes and continued anyways. "Those were not my friends. I can fully assure you of that." Loki continued and Pepper continued to glare at him. "This woman though..." Loki said as he reached to stretch and smooth the features of the holographic face. "I can assure you that she will be of no harm to any of you. I am just trying to find her because she is in danger." Loki said and Pepper stepped over to the table to look at the image of the woman that Loki had created.

"Why is she in danger?" Pepper asked and Loki turned to face away from the two in the room. They were confused as to why he wouldn't look at them, but what he said made sense as to why. He didn't want them to see the weakness that he was showing them. He didn't want them to see that he was truly worried about this woman. Pepper looked up at Tony who had a smirk on his lips and she glared at him. She looked at Loki with sympathetic eyes that she never thought she'd have for anyone with his reputation.

"She's in danger because of me... Not because I would ever hurt her... But because I know people who will hurt her to get to me."

:-:_:-:

She glanced up at the dark sky and sighed. She looked about thirty feet across the way and saw that there was something imprinted in the ground there. She made her way over to it and touched it. It had the same pattern as the area she had landed in, which made her smile. This meant that someone from Asgard had come here. She ran her fingers over it and it was freezing cold, it didn't hold the warmth of the magic her Celtic circle had.

A frown crossed her lips because of this. That meant the circle before her was far too old to have been Loki's, if Loki had even actually been transported here as well. Her eyes became downcast as she stood to her full height. She thought Odin was going to kill Loki, which was the only reason she had actually jumped in front of him. She thought that her last act of kindness towards Loki was going to be her saving his life. She thought she was going to die.

She thought her suffering was over. Now... it's just beginning. She had no idea where she was, but she hoped that Loki was alright. A small smile crossed her lips as she strolled forwards. The look of fear she had seen in Loki's eyes gave her hope that he and Odin were going to work something out. She looked back up to the sky. A full moon shined its rays down on her pale skin. She smiled softly and made her way towards the lights she saw in the distance.

She had walked for what felt like weeks, but she was just being dramatic. She saw that there was light peeking up from over the horizon and she knew she didn't have long before the sun of this planet graced her with its boundless light. She saw a building in the distance and she began running towards it. When she got there she sat down under the canopy that sheltered it from the sun's rays.

Needless to say she preferred the moon of this realm; it was more resigned with the sharing of its light. A young girl spotted her sitting by the building after who even knows how long. The little blonde sat in front of her on her feet and smiled at her. Syndra wasn't expecting her to smile so brightly at her. "Hello." The little girl greeted, which made Syndra smile. "Hello young one." She greeted back and the little girl's eyes lit up.

"I love your accent, where are you from?" she asked excitedly and Syndra blinked in confusion. "I'm from Jotunh-" she began but smiled and spoke once more. "I'm from Asgard, where are you from?" Syndra asked and the little girls eyes shined so brightly that it made Syndra's chest flutter. She had never met anyone so excited to hear where she was from. "This is New mexico. We are in the United States on Planet Earth." She said and Syndra's eyes widened as she opened her mouth to ask the young girl how she knew what she was asking. "I know because I have met someone from Asgard before, yes I did. Oh yes I sure did." The little girl chirped excitedly.

Syndra's eyes crinkled with her smile and the little girl reached for Syndra's hair. She had flinched away at first, but once she saw what the little girl was doing she sat still. "You have very pretty hair miss." She said and Syndra smiled. "Thank you, yours is pretty as well." She said and the little girl giggled behind her hands, a soft red blush coating her cheeks as she shook her head rapidly.

"So why are you on Earth?" the little girl asked after she had gotten over her little fit of embarrassment. "Um. I'm not sure actually. I'm not here to hurt anyone, but I don't have a particular reason for being here." Syndra said and the little girl pouted. "Aww, shucks." She muttered and Syndra looked at her in confusion. "What is it?" Syndra asked and the little girl sighed heavily. "I thought you were here to be a superhero like the mighty Thor." She said in exasperation.

"Why do you need a hero here?" Syndra asked, fear gripping her chest. The little girl looked at her and frowned. It seemed the little girl could see she was scared. "There's this guy over in England causing trouble. Me.... Mel... Melek something..." the little girl sighed as she scratched the side of her head. "Melekith?" Syndra asked and her fears were confirmed when the little girl snapped her fingers and grinned at her.

"Yeah that's it!" she exclaimed and Syndra's eyes hit the ground, that familiar prickling of tears at the back of her eyes. "Miss?" the little girl called worriedly. "I'm sorry if I upset you miss." She said and patted her on the head. "It's ok..." Syndra whispered, but the little girl's lower lip began to tremble as well. "I'm sorry I made you cry..." she sobbed and Syndra looked up at her quickly. Syndra pulled her into a small embrace and the little girl's sniffles slowly stopped.

"Here look at this." Syndra said, trying to divert the girl's attention from her previous sadness. Syndra held her hands together, then when she pulled them apart there was another of the blue ice roses in between her thumb, pointer, and index finger. The little girl's eyes lit up like they had never lit up before. Her little mouth agape in awe as she took the ice rose from Syndra's grasp.

"Wow!" she exclaimed and stood. "Wait here!" she said and then took off around the corner of the building. She came back a few minutes later with a group of people, mainly adults, but there were some children there as well. Syndra pressed herself into the wall of the building in her discomfort. "Miss! Miss! Will you show them too?" the little girl asked and the people murmured around her.

"They won't hurt you, I promise! Everyone, this is a friend of Thor's!" the little girl chirped and they all looked down on her. Their stares made her increasingly nervous. "I'm gonna call her Elsa!" the little girl chirped happily, but Syndra was not comfortable with all these people around her. "Casey tells us that you are trying to find your way to the battle with Melekith. Is this true?" an older man asked, and Syndra nodded slightly.

"I suppose so..." she said softly and the man offered her a hand. She carefully took his hand and he pulled her to her feet. "Forgive us, Miss. Little Casey just gets overly excited more often than not." He said and the little girl pouted at him. "I do not." She whined and Syndra laughed softly. She looked around at all the people surrounding her and sighed, her smile vanishing. "Will you make me a rose?" an older woman asked and Syndra blinked in confusion.

The elderly woman had hopeful eyes. A small smile found its way to Syndra's lips. "Of course." She said softly. "They may melt, but it will take a long time so I would be sure to keep them cold." Syndra said as she held her hands together and closed her eyes. She handed the elderly woman a bouquet of the ice roses. The crowd erupted in murmurs and she couldn't help but smile as everyone became awestruck because of what she had done.

Soon she began handing them out to everyone that had walked over, and before long, there wasn't a person in the small town that didn't have a rose. "Miss, may I ask your name?" the elderly woman asked once the crowd had died down. "My name is Syndra." She said softly and the elderly woman smiled. "Lovely." She whispered and held out her hand to Syndra, who hesitated to take it.

"It's alright dear, I won't hurt you." The elderly woman said and Syndra smiled sadly. "I know... it's just I can't see in the sunlight..." she said and the woman smiled and nodded. She walked away, but came back a few minutes later. She held out a pair of sunglasses for Syndra. "I'm not sure how much these will help, but we can try them out." she said and Syndra furrowed her brows at the things in the woman's grasp.

The woman stepped forwards and carefully placed the sunglasses over Syndra's eyes. Syndra looked around in awe. "It's so dark." she said as she looked all around her. The woman held out her hand once more and Syndra took it this time. "I'm going to get you some things you might need for your journey." The woman said and Syndra stared at her in surprise. "T-thank you..." she managed and the elderly woman smiled at her.

"You are very welcome lady Syndra. I'm just content being able to assist a future defender of Earth." She said and Syndra smiled, but the frown in her eyes was evident. "I don't know where to start..." she said and the woman smiled over at her when they had reached her home. "Your path will show itself to you in due time. To start you just need to travel. You need to go searching for your path." The woman said and Syndra listened intently.

"Once you begin searching for your path, your destiny will find you all on its own."