Having left Stark Industries, Loki decided to head straight to Mexico. It was well known that Mexico was struggling under pressure from America and so Loki wanted to do his bit to give back to the first country he'd run into.

As a result, he collected all the books he could get his hands on pertaining to human biology and mortal medicine and quickly absorbed the information. Then, armed with forged documents and medical qualifications, Loki presented himself as a surgeon and all-round knowledgeable guy.

*

"Well," said the hospital administrator, "This is slightly unorthodox."

It had been a few days since his interview at Stark Industries, he'd done his reading and now he sat before his potential future boss, waiting for the verdict.

"How so?" Loki asked carefully.

He had forged documents and didn't exactly want his secret getting out.

"It isn't often that we accept volunteer surgeons," the man said with a laugh.

Loki smiled. He had offered to work for no wages, just bed and board. Loki himself couldn't work out whether it was because he wanted to make a good impression or do it out of the kindness of his non-existent heart.

"I don't want wealth," Loki stated earnestly. "I want to help people."

The administrator sat back and stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"When can you start?" He asked suddenly.

Loki grinned.

"As soon as possible."

*

True to his word, Loki started work the next day. It was no secret on Asgard that he'd been handy with a knife, always one for skewering his enemies if not blasting them to kingdom come with his seidr. But Loki could also do delicate work. He'd carved runic symbols onto the ground almost daily as part of his work as a master sorcerer. As such, scalpels and detailed work didn't present much of a challenge.

He was first introduced to a doctor called Daniel by the hospital administrator.

"Daniel is my trusty guy," the administrator explained. "Any questions, ask him."

"I'm the man to ask," the man said proudly.

"Good," said Loki, smiling, eyeing the man.

"Brilliant," declared the administrator, "I'll leave you to it."

"Sorry about him," Daniel said as the administrator walked away. "He's lazy and everybody's hoping he'll be replaced soon."

"That's fine," Loki replied. "How malleable is he?" He asked carefully.

The other guy grinned.

"What percentage is he a pushover? One-hundred percent. We've placed bets on how soon he'll be replaced actually. Want to see?"

The staffroom was small and poorly stocked. The corkboard in the centre was the main object of curiosity and pinned to it was a mugshot of the administrator with scribbled numbers dotted around it.

"It's not much but we're proud of it," Daniel declared and it took Loki a minute to realise that the doctor was talking about the corkboard and its bets rather than the actual hospital or even the staffroom itself. "Anyway, I work in the ER."

Loki had brushed up on his medical terms and knew exactly what that was.

"I'll be working in surgery," he replied. "Alden Walker."

He extended a hand.

"Nice to meet you, Alden," Daniel answered, smiling.

It turned out that Daniel was an American in his mid twenties who'd done the traditional Ivy League med school path before making a similar decision to Loki and choosing to help Mexico. Originally planning to be a therapist in New Orleans, he mainly worked in the ER, helping anyone who walked or crawled in, but also did his fair bit of paperwork since he was the administrator's favourite.

The door suddenly opened and in walked a nurse, who headed straight for the coffee machine.

"Hello Libby," Daniel said with a grin. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Stop harassing me, Daniel, or I'll punch you when management aren't looking."

"So feisty," Daniel shook his head, amused.

The nurse took a mug out of the cupboard and turned around, clearly about to berate the cheeky doctor when she saw Loki and dropped the mug. In a flash, he strode forward and caught it in mid air.

He held it out to her.

"You probably didn't expect to see me again," he commented.

It was the same nurse who'd treated him after his car accident all those years ago.

"No," she replied, amazed, taking the mug. "Thanks for catching that."

"No problem."

"What's going on?" Asked Daniel, curious. "Is this an ex of yours, Libby?"

"No," Libby said, glaring at Daniel. "An old patient of mine."

She turned back to Loki.

"You were involved in a hit-and-run," she remembered. "How did it work out for you?"

"Not too bad," Loki replied, indicating their surroundings. "I became a surgeon."

"Why are you here?"

She sounded confused. Loki smiled disarmingly.

"Why else? I wanted to repay the kindness you and the rest of the hospital showed to me."

"Dude," said Daniel, "The nurses are gonna love you."

This time Libby did hit him, punching him on the shoulder.

"Hey, we're not all airheads!" She exclaimed. "And we don't all fall for the sob stories. The doctors are usually the ones who do that," she accused.

Loki raised an eyebrow at Daniel, who conceded the point.

"I could fall for anybody with that face," he muttered. "But first I would need a coffee. Or some Dutch courage."

"Coffee coming right up," laughed Libby and Loki joined in.

This would be fun.

*****

A.N. How are you enjoying the story so far? Thank you so much for reading!