There was a sharp knock on the door and the officer interviewing Percy beckoned them in.

"Detective, sorry to bother you, but the autopsy report just came in. Charlotte would like to see you immediately, with Perseus. If she's right then it could clear him of any suspicion." The messenger reported.

"What's she found?"

"The victim may have been under a sleeping drug at the time of murder."

~~~~

"A sleeping drug!?" Percy exclaimed, shock coursing through him.

Although he wanted to deny all possibility of the idea, he couldn't, recalling how they'd both slept earlier despite the night's plans and how they'd slept long past both their internal and external alarm clocks. A sleeping drug would definitely explain that. It might also justify why his head had been throbbing with the beginnings of a headache since he woke. Or maybe that was just stress and shock building.  

So suddenly finding himself with little else to say and his mind preoccupied with other thoughts of accusations and theories, Percy compliantly followed the detective and officers down to the autopsy room. 

Stark, despite all his protests, was not permitted to follow and had to stay in the waiting room. 

Down in the autopsy area, Percy was confronted with a sympathetic lady and he couldn't help but scowl in return. Her sympathy wouldn't bring Loki back nor would it make him feel any better thus it was a useless emotion to use against him. 

She noticed his scowl but said nothing, instead she turned to the officers and greeted them briefly before launching into an explanation on how Loki might've died, which Percy supposed he should listen to, being pretty important and all, but he couldn't help but shut it out.

Loki wasn't dead.

He couldn't be... could he?

Of course not. Percy scolded himself. In his world, nobody was truly dead. They always ended up somewhere. Loki had to be somewhere.

Percy turned back to the conversation when they started discussing the sleeping drug. The lady patted a metal table and asked Percy to sit and thus tentatively he did. He pondered the thought if he laid back on the table, closed his eyes and fell asleep could they conclude he was dead? Or maybe Loki would suddenly sit up on his own table and say it was naught but a joke.

Loki's body was lying unnaturally still on the table pushed into a corner with a sheet pulled over his face so Percy didn't have to see him. Not that that mattered because Percy was pointedly avoiding looking at his deceased lover.

"Hello? You okay hun?" The lady asked softly. Percy snapped back into reality. 

"I'm fine." Being in the same room as Loki had greatly sobered Percy.

"Okay, but you were affected by the sleeping drug as well weren't you?"

Percy shrugged.

"Well, could you possibly give me a sample for testing next time you go to the bathroom?"

Percy blinked.

Once.

Twice.

She smiled encouragingly at him. 

Percy took the cup, frowning slightly and looking at it distastefully as she pointed out the nearest bathroom. When he returned the cup was full, which he handed to her. They all waited a bit longer until finally, the lady - whose name was eventually revealed to be Sherry - returned with positive results, saying Percy had taken the sleeping drug as well. Given the body's post-mortem state and the powerful sleeping drug the couple had been slipped, Percy could officially be ruled out as a murder suspect. 

Following that, Percy had been lead back to the interrogation room and asked to recall last night's events once more, now that they could factor in the sleeping drug.

Percy really didn't understand what the point was. He'd been over the story a dozen times and his story remained unchanged and now they had evidence that he wasn't even awake at the time Loki was murdered. What new fact would they suddenly glean from his story aside from that he obviously didn't do it, having been asleep at the time.

The demigod sighed deeply before launching into his story for what he hoped would be the last time. 

"It was Saturday evening, I hadn't been home long. I'd just gotten back from Stark Towers, where I've been working for the last three years or so to celebrate my three year anniversary with Loki..." Percy's voice still hitched on his lover's name.

"We were having a round of drinks, some bottle of alcohol we'd been gifted by a close friend-"

"Given by a friend?" The officer interrupted. Percy frowned. The last few times they hadn't remarked on that part of the story.

"Yeah. Loki's brother, Thor, gave it to us. He said it was a gift he'd been asked to pass on from somebody on Asgard..." Percy trailed off, eyes widening in realization.

Oh.

"Could you give us that bottle for testing?"

Oh.

Oh no.

Oh hell no. Couldn't those bloody gods give them a break!? After everything he and Loi had through! 

"Perseus?" Percy snapped out of it, pushing back the unpleasant memories of the past.

"Uh, yeah sure." He mumbled, only half understanding what he was agreeing to.

It was about time he paid those Asgardians another visit...

~~~~

Hi, I know I've been MIA for a while, but I'm back now. End of year holidays are fast approaching and who knows, I might even get time for another ridiculous updating spree like we had for the first Rescue Remedy book. 

Peace,

BTSWD
Borntosingwithdrama