Loki's Redemption

Chapter 9

Two hours later Tony is racing his bright orange Lamborghini down a country road with Thor in the passenger seat.

"Yes Tony, I see what you mean by subtle," Thor remarks sarcastically, hand gripping the door tightly.

"Flying would have been much faster, but it is a nice day for a drive," Tony quips with a smile.

When they arrive in the general area that Thor described Tony proceeds to slowly drive through the small town. "Well this is quaint."

They don't see anything that stands out and so Tony takes them farther out to the edge of town where there are farms and small houses. "I don't know that I can picture Loki being a farmer," Tony remarks wryly.

"My brother is very resourceful. And as a boy he enjoyed the outdoors a great deal," Thor responds wistfully, totally missing the sarcasm.

As they continue to drive Tony spots a bar and pulls in to the parking lot. "Why are we here Tony?" Thor inquires.

"What better place to gather information than a local bar?" he answers the blonde man as he steps out of the car.

Reluctantly Thor follows him inside. The bar is dimly lit and there are only a few customers scattered about. Tony walks directly up to the counter, slips a hundred dollar bill to the bar tender, looks over the rim of his sunglasses and says, "a friend of ours just moved to the area. Maybe you can help us?"

Quirking an eyebrow the bar tender says nothing, but pockets the bill. "About this tall," Tony continues, holding his hand up over 6 feet, "black hair, green eyes, talks like he is from 15th century royalty."

"Sounds like Eric. Showed up not too long ago I guess. Is there a problem? I don't want any trouble. I gave him a job here."

"No, no trouble at all. Thank you for the information. But please don't tell him we were here. We want to surprise him," Tony tells him slipping him another hundred.

"You got it, but he is due into work any time now," the bar tender offers helpfully.

"Well then, we will be on our way. Thank you for again for the information," Thor says as they turn to leave. "Let's go. I don't want to run into him," he directs to Tony.

"May be too late to avoid that," Tony mutters seeing Loki getting out of the passenger side of a car with a woman driving.

Loki immediately tenses up when he sees them standing by the door, but he smiles and gives a small wave to the woman as she drives away. "Well you sly dog. More cunning with the women than I gave you credit for," Tony begins.

"Why are you here?" Loki demands of Thor, ignoring Tony's comment.

"Brother, I heard you had been gravely injured upon arrival," Thor responds embracing Loki.

"I am ok now. Odin saw to that," he answers stepping back. "Why are you here?" he repeats.

"I asked Tony to locate you. You have many enemies in the realms and if they find out you are here and in human form you may be in danger," he explains. "I cannot interfere with your sentence, but I have asked Tony to watch over you in case something happens."

Glancing at Tony, Loki tells his brother, "I assure you, that is not necessary."

"Just think of me as your guardian angel," Tony interjects giving him a friendly slap on the back.

"Well we better get going," he says looking pointedly to Thor.

"I look forward to the day when you are back at your rightful place in Asgard," Thor says in parting as he gets into Tony's car.

As they pull away Tony says, "Jarvis, are you picking up the signal for the tracker I placed on Loki?"

"Yes sir, the signal is coming through, but once he removes that shirt the signal will be useless."

"That is why you will take all the thermo and biometric readings you can and begin tracking him by that signature. Then report to me when that tracker is stationary for at least 12 hours. And Jarvis, continue with the scans I ordered previously."

"Very good sir."

"Why do you want to know when the shirt tracker stops moving?" Thor inquires.

"He should take off the shirt when he gets home. So we will know where he is staying," Tony responds as though the answer is obvious.

"I see," Thor answers. "Thank you for helping me Tony."

"I had nothing better to do today, so you lucked out," he says smiling turning his attention to driving.