Ch. 11

"And me!" said a curvaceous brunette, trailing Dr. Foster . "What's up? I'm Darcy," she said, winking at Ward.

All of a sudden, there was a loud thud in the dark and, a few seconds later, they finally made out an armor-clad mountain of a man as he approached. "Where is the man called Fitz?" He bellowed.

"That would be m . . . m . . . me, sir" Leo sputtered nervously as he raised his hand.

"It was you that sent the message about my brother?" Thor asked.

"Yes."

"You must be mistaken. My brother is dead. Jane and I saw him die. I attended his funeral on Asgard," Thor said.

"Oh, he's alive. Maybe not for long, but he's alive," Ward said bitingly.

"Why don't we go inside the Bus and we'll discuss it with Agent Coulson?" Fitz suggested anxiously.

"Son of Coul? He is dead, also. He was killed before my very eyes by my brother," Thor said, confusion coloring every word.

"Yeah, about that . . . ," Ward began as he followed the group towards the plane.

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Skye couldn't sleep. She spent hours tossing and turning. If she thought traveling internationally gave her bad jet lag, she discovered that travelling intergalactically was much, much worse. She finally gave up and decided to explore the palace a little. She put a light matching robe over her nightgown and began to wander aimlessly down the halls. After half an hour, she realized with a start that she had completely forgotten where her room was.

She didn't want to wake anyone up, but neither did she want to spend the next several hours in a corridor. Just as she was about to knock on a random door for help, she held footsteps behind her.

She turned and saw an attractive man with a goatee striding towards her. His hair was tousled and the buttons on his shirt were mismatched. He was looking down, so he didn't see her at first as he whistled tunelessly to himself.

"Oh, hi, could you help me?" she asked tentatively.

He stopped and looked up at her, a smile gracing his face. He reminded her a bit of the actor from The Princess Bride, very dashing and intense, more the Dread Pirate Roberts phase, not so much the sweet farmboy.

"Oh, it would be my utmost pleasure, my dear, to assist so lovely a lady. Fandral, at your service," he said as he bowed low.

Skye was not entirely comfortable with the way he was looking at her. "Hi, I'm Skye. I just need to find my way back to my room," she said

"Returning from a secret assignation?" he asked, cocking his head and giving her a rakish smile.

"A secret. . . . No! I'm just jetlagged and I couldn't sleep and why is this palace built like the Labyrinth?" she asked quickly, bunching up the fabric of her nightgown nervously.

"You do speak rather oddly. I take that you are not from Asgard?" he inquired lightly.

"No, Earth, actually," she admitted with a wan smile.

"Ah, Midgard. It is home to such beautiful women. Well, Lady Skye, I would be more than happy to escort you back to your rooms."

"Oh, I'm not a lady . . . although, I guess, technically, I am a princess."

"A princess of Midgard. What a treat," he replied slowly, his tone low and suggestive.

"No. Of Asgard." She took a deep breath. "Loki told me that he's my dad."

There was a sharp intake of breath from Fandral. "Of course, that would be my luck. I meet the loveliest woman I have seen in centuries and she ends up being Loki's daughter."

"You . . . you don't like him, do you?"

Fandral pursed his lips. "I wouldn't quite say that. I've known him for centuries. Let's just say that our history is rather complicated." He paused for a moment, stroking his goatee thoughtfully. "I can, however, help you in your present predicament. I heard the maidservants talking earlier about readying a room for a royal visitor in the east wing. Allow me to escort you there," he said, offering his arm.

"Okay, thanks," Skye said as she took it.

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Within ten minutes, they were at the door to Skye's room. Fandral had kept Skye entertained with tales of the adventures he had embarked on with Loki, Thor, Sif and the rest of the Warriors Three. They had visited several different realms in their quest to defend and protect Asgard. She laughed so hard at some of the stories that they had to stop several times for her to catch her breath.

"Oh, here it is," she said as she finally recognized the door to her room. She reluctantly let go of his arm. "Thank you so much."

"You are most welcome, your Highness. Please believe me when I say that the pleasure was all mine," he said as he caught her hand and kissed it as he bowed deeply.

"G . . . good night," she stuttered, trying to collect her thoughts.

"I trust that you will have the most pleasant of dreams. I know I shall," he said and he turned and sauntered away.

All of sudden, staying in Asgard for a month didn't seem so bad.


Author's Note- For all of my SkyeWard fans, do not fear. If you've read "They Think I Don't Know", you know where my heart truly lies. If you haven't read it, go; read it, I promise you'll like it!