A/N: Heeeeey, sorry about the whole I've been dying with exams thing, what got worse is that now I'm dying in the Australian heat. So, won't keep you all too busy up here, this chapter's a bit centric around Emma and Jane, you'll sort of see why, but the next chapter's going to be an absolute ball... literally. Ehehehe, stupidly puntentional.

Disclaimer: I own nothing and the impendingness of responsibility is creeping up on me.

In Which Fury Chooses Stark's PA's Chapter 52

King's Landing

Asgardian beds were the best. No, not in the dirty way most people would've thought of (though it certainly ticked those boxes), but beds were huge. As in, you were drowning in blankets and pillows, sinking into the middle of a feathered mattress, huge. So as you could imagine, she spent half her night having a pillow-fight (yes, very mature of her) with her husband, who was now asleep under a large pile of them.

"Peek-a-boo." Emma chimed, lifting the pillow off Loki's head.

"Yay!" Loki said sarcastically.

"See, your daughter does take after you. She enjoys this game as well." She laughed, pushing his ridiculously long hair off his face to give him a small kiss. "What time is it?"

"Probably a good couple of hours until breakfast. You enjoy potatoes, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Good, you'll live."

"My dad's Irish. I've gotten attached to potatoes."

"That's a horrible stereotype to perpetuate."

"Yeah, it is. But in his case it's true." Emma looked towards the doorway, sensing that servant life was already abuzz behind those doors. "Frigga said she was taking Jane and myself to the marketplace, is there anything I should know?"

"Not particularly." Loki said after some deliberation "Though if you can shake them off, would you please check this?" Emma examined the slip of paper Loki took from the bedside stand, deciphering the runes.

"Figured out a way to get us off this planet yet?"

"It's only been a day, you can't already hate it."

"No, I mean for this." Emma held up the slip of paper "You said that we had to find the Collector, but even if we do, how do we relay intel back to SHIELD? I mean, this all sounds awfully complicated and incredibly like we're going to commit high-treason-"

"It's not high treason…"

"It is isn't it?"

"No, we merely snuck off on some alone-time. Perhaps our idea of a romantic date involves talking to black-market dealers on other worlds…"

"That doesn't sound like us at all." Emma argued

"With a murder."

"That's more like it." Emma smiled, they were however interrupted, and basically pushed out of bed to get dressed and prepared for the day. She played doll to Tove and Hilda's whims, as she was thrown multiple gowns and then her armour added more weight than she was accustomed to. She really didn't get the point to armour, but then she realised that this was Asgard, carrying swords and varying degrees of dangerous weapons was sort of normal. So naturally it would make sense, because chest-bumping Volstagg without armour was a mistake that ended in multiple chest and boob bruises. "Do you really not change outfits?" she asked Loki, slightly exasperated.

"Armour is built for all seasonal collections." He sassily replied, offering her an arm.

"Bitch please."

"No, it is. Anyway, this stuff stains like you would not believe." He complained, she ignored him, walking to the nursery and scooping up Valerie from her cot. Like all small children, Fenrir and Jormungandr seemed already way too enthusiastic for the day. "Good morning, darling." Loki kissed Valerie's head as she handed him over. Emma set about to look for a stuffed animal to occupy Valerie's time with.

Breakfast was a quick affair with plates piled high with various meats and potatoes. Asgardian tea was lovely. Natasha and Bruce gained strange looks, Loki informed her it was because they were continuing their morning Yoga sessions while on Asgard. "Your parents aren't here, is this meant to be a private breakfast just between us?" Emma glanced around the table, noting that Darcy had just arrived with more ideas for the wedding gown. Pepper was carefully feeding Phillie bits of solid food, both she and Tony smiling with pride as Phillie enjoyed his meal. Valerie on the other hand seemed quite content to drool on her father's beloved cape.

"I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this. I do have official duties to attend to today." Loki stroked Valerie's cheek, hoping to coax her off his shoulder. "Although, I do personally prefer our daughter drooling on this cape than you using this as a hair-towel whenever yours seems to be missing"

"Hey! It's really absorbent." Emma replied sarcastically, although truth be told, she was terrified about what she was meant to be doing today.

"Now love, just remember this is your first formal engagement. I am personally all for you creating a charismatic and individual character, however please remind yourself that you cannot hold the same trickster reputation that I still hold." Her husband finished his warning off with a slightly teasing tone, Emma shoved at his shoulder, rolling her eyes. "I heard the pier is lovely this time of year."

"Is this a challenge?" Emma quirked a brow.

"I suppose you could take it as such. Now, behave yourself, we wouldn't want horrible rumours encircling us, would we?"

"Not that we already don't. Something about your horrendous reputation about being an idle playboy-"

"Please, we shared that title." Thor interrupted, Loki nodded in agreement.

"Ah, I trust you enjoyed your breakfast. I do apologise for not joining you as intended." Emma whipped her head around so quickly that she could hear Pietro Maxmioff whisper 'whiiiiiplaaaash' into her ear. Frigga greeted them warmly with a small entourage of handmaidens, she was internally suspicious at an older woman Loki and Thor had pointed out to her the previous evening, Emma had the feeling this woman probably had her fair share of the brothers' mischief over the centuries.

"It's alright, the palace is lovely." Jane answered earnestly, Emma nodded enthusiastically, noting that she was the awkward tall-person (not for the first time in her life) in the party. Frigga seemed happy anyway and led them through the palace gates into hovercrafts. It was a short journey and they landed in the bustling marketplace with nary a hair out of place (in Jane's case, Emma required several hairpins to hold unruly curls back) and they were politely toured through the marketplace. Emma found herself being introduced to several members of the nobility, as well as several master-craftsmen. However she noticed Jane trying to unhook her arm from Frigga's and try to walk on her own. Frigga did eventually drop her hands in order to let them inspect some fabrics, Emma was just a little excited to be able to get her hands on such a variety of soft fabrics, imagining what it would be like to be able to cut them into patterns and sew them together into a flowing gown. Putting aside all fantasies of using her sewing machine on Asgard, they continued down many large boulevards. Emma managed a glimpse of the address Loki gave her, but several handmaidens caught her before she could even look in that direction. They did eventually manage to give them the slip as Frigga announced she was going to find them some food.

"Miladies!" One of Frigga's handmaidens called after Emma and Jane, as they wandered down a slightly muddy alleyway "You'll ruin your dresses!"

"I have other dresses." Emma replied in a tone worth of Natalie Dormer, Jane hi-fived her before they hitched up their dresses slightly, making their way down. Several children played with the Asgardian version of a football. Jane murmured to her about wanting to take apart all these toys the moment she had the chance. Asgard wasn't much unlike earth, there were many ethnicities, but they didn't seem to hinder anyone. "Does this place remind you of Omelas?"

"The short story?" Jane asked, as they stopped in the alleyway, having lost Frigga and her hand-maidens. "Sounds like Westeros but there's a kid locked up in a room? Sex, drug and more sex?"

"Yeah. This place is lovely and all, but don't you feel just a little bit…"

"Off. It feels a bit off." Jane answered, checking about if there were any people or potential spies nearby. "Odin does sound like a bit of a tyrant."

"And primogeniture's rampant." Emma added "Not to mention the shit Sif gets for being a badass warrior."

"Also, how are people going to survive with such small industries? Economically it's not sustainable." Jane fretted. Emma nodded, yes, she could accept Jane Foster as her lord and saviour. "What?"

"Just thinking the reforms you and Thor could pull off if we helped you with a coup."

"Loki's definitely rubbing off on you."

"No, I'm looking at the fact Odin's offered Thor the crown and he doesn't want it. All you'd have to do is nudge him in the right direction."

"Emma, friendly reminder I'm not Lady Macbeth."

"Shame."

"Emma Sherlock Holmes, you of all people should know what happens in Macbeth and what a horrible idea that is."

"But…"

"No."

"It was worth a shot." Emma shrugged, pointing to a passing cart at the other end of the alley. Together they ran down, Emma hitched up her skirts so high that they were barely brushing the middle of her thighs. The ascending stairs at top of the alleyway already looked like they could give you a cardiac arrest the moment you got to the top. And they did, it was practically impossible to skip stairs as they were so small and narrow, not to mention so fucking steep it was almost vertical. Helping Jane to the top, the pursued the cart, realising the vendor was selling food. The vendor thankfully stopped and crowds of small children swarmed around.

"Oh, that's the thing Thor was telling me about." Jane told her, before pointing to the pristine –clean hem of her golden dress, evidently having missed all the muddy puddles. Emma's Margaery Tyrell-esque dress had too escaped. "It's a treat that all Asgardian children love."

"What is it exactly?"

"It's an Asgardian pastry that's filled with Asgard's native fruit and caramel. I think he mentioned something like their equivalent to chocolate as well, but yeah. Have you got money with you?"

"Yeah, I do. Isn't this the…"

"Asgard's slums?" Jane finished for her. "More like government housing, but same thing I guess."

"Hm…" Emma held the heavy purse in her hand before moving towards the vendor. Some of the children were sharing small parts of the animal-shaped pastries, their clothes definitely looking worse for wear.

"Your highness!" The vendor stuttered, giving a grand and deep bow. Emma's eyes widened comically large in shock, incredibly surprised that anyone recognised who she was.

"Asgard has i-pads, remember?" Jane pointed out. "How much is a pastry?" she inquired, the speechless vendor refused to give an answer, however his small son answered for her, and she counted the amount of coin she had.

"Excuse me." Emma kneeled down to the childrens' level. "My sister and I were wondering if any of you would like a pastry."

"Ooh, I would!" One small girl piped up. Several others agreed with her.

"That's 1, 2, 3… 12 pastries, if you wouldn't mind." Jane told the child, handing the right amount of coins. As soon as they were handed out, the children thanked them and they ran off their respective ways. "That went well."

"Yeah. Winning over future minions one at a time." Emma smiled as one small kid turned around, holding his sister's hand and waving at her. She waved back, smiling before they ran away into another alley. "Seriously Jane, major social reforms. Universities available to these children, they might be able to replace the senate."

"Careful, that's treason." Jane teased as she pointed to the sparkling waters of the wharf.

"The amount of apathy I have sometimes, dear sister, is hilarious." Emma laughed, glad that they'd shaken off Frigga's pedantic handmaidens. "Anyway, this is much more like it."

"It's quieter, I'll give you that. I just-"

"What is it?"

"Does it feel weird to you? The sudden change in social status?"

"Yeah, I mean I'm tired of people throwing roses at my feet back on Earth." Emma replied sarcastically. "I'm guessing you mean the whole handmaidens and constant bowing and sudden bursts of flowery speeches? Yeah, it's a bit hard for two Earth girls to be thrown into the glittering world of crystals and gold."

"But your mother-"

"Raised the 4 of us as normal as she could. Sure, we got dragged around all over the world, but my parents worked hard, like yours did. They did the best they could for us, look where we are, started from the bottom now we're here-"

"You did not just quote that!" Jane slammed her hand over her mouth in attempt to stop bits of pastry from flying out of her mouth. Emma gave a cheeky grin before continuing down the pier with Jane. Fact remained they had to find Frigga and come up with some stupid excuse to explain their sudden urge to run away and never return. "Is that-"

"Are we never going to be free from the clutches of the evil handmaidens?"

"That would depend." Jane suddenly gave a dazzling smile, Emma followed suit, hoping they could get away with this one. To their despair it was the woman that introduced themselves as both Thor and Loki's old nanny. They were, simply putting it, fucked.

"Now, there is a reason those two monsters chose to marry you. And it is because I have been through this for hundreds of years, I know what to expect from the likes of you." Emma felt herself being unceremoniously dragged away from the pier, Jane too did her best to struggle. Frigga wasn't particularly arsed when they got back, in fact she was rather amused before she continued to walk them back to the palace.

"I couldn't get inside." Emma announced to Loki the moment they were in private. "Your mother has a lovely retinue of handmaidens that seem convinced they're gaolers."

"I should've warned you. I see you've met my old nanny." Loki stood up, offered her a cup of tea which she took gladly. "Did you at least see what it was?"

"It looked like another store, just like the rest. Are you sure about your sources?" Emma took a sip before repressing her retching.

"I'm sorry, I forgot that this tea was so much more bitter than you're accustomed to." He apologised, offering her a confection that resembled candied rose petals. "I am quite certain about the sources, though."

"Okay, so it's a very good disguise, I'll give you that- oh god what the hell was in that tea?" Emma still tasted the awfully bitter after-taste of the tea.

"Asgardian herbs, sorry about that. No, but we do have some progress."

"What?" Emma raised a brow "What happened?"

"Heimdall sent word that your two have been doing well, though he does expect trouble." She sighed, rubbing her temples, questioning why she ever signed up for this job. "You seem to have such little faith in them."

"No, I do have faith in them. I have all the faith I could possibly have, but I practically abandoned Mary and Bucky on Earth with no SHIELD and no way to contact us. About a billion people are going to want these people dead, whether they succeed or not." Emma corrected, Loki seemed to notice her cold tone and offered her another confection, she pushed the tray away, leaning back on the sofa. "I can't do this. I'm honestly so fucking excited that Jane's getting married and all, because oh my god, OTP, but-"

"I know." Loki said beside her, his arm sneaking around her waist. "In other news, the Officials are beyond pissed, and I'm expecting something after all, with the Allfather off planet so often-"

"Yeah, got the message. What was it Heimdall said? Let me into the private libraries? Is there something there I need to read?"

"Well, there is a reason behind my teaching you of runes." Loki answered evenly "I was hoping you'd be allowed into the secret annals of the libraries. You're mortal, young and innocent, you'd be an unsuspecting-"

"You want me to steal secret information on the gems. Is this what the Sweden account was about?"

"In a sense." Emma quirked a brow, not quite believing everything. "But that is beside the point. How was your attempt at winning over the populous?"

"I bought kids some pastries and I bought some really cute pieces of jewellery, but apart from that… I don't know, it's weird with people who sort of know who you are but sort of don't. I mean, I'm fine as I'm not called some Midgardian whore or something."

"They wouldn't."

"They might. Not that I care, but I'm more worried about Valerie. I don't want her to have to face the atrocities of the universe, but the thing is, I know she will, I just don't want her hurt."

"Well, if she isn't hurt, if she doesn't face heartbreak and tragedy and loss… she will never learn. We wish we could protect her, but we can't. We can however, prepare her for the worst the world can give her and make sure she can fight back." Loki had a point and she couldn't disvalue it. "Now, I can't have a Princess of the Realm looking nervous on her first official banquet."

"UGH!" Emma buried her head into the pillows, wanting to go and die in a hole somewhere.

"No need to sound so unenthusiastic. All you have to do is regally sit at a table, nod your head, eat food , dance gracefully (which you do quite well) and intellectually converse with nobles. They've taken quite well to you."

"Like an owner would to a pet."

"But you'd make such a lovely puppy." Loki teased and not for the first time in their relationship, Emma was conflicted between the urge to laugh or slap him in the face. And as usual, she chose to laugh.

"Milady!" Emma stood up from the sofa, smoothing out her dress.

"Yes?"

"We're a little busy." Loki countered, trying to pull her back down on the sofa.

"Shut up. Yes?"

"Milady, the Queen is calling you to her quarters."

"Why?" Emma hoped it wasn't about her 'delightful' behaviour that day.

"She is to instruct the Midgardians upon something, she will not disclose. If you would please follow me." Emma nodded, waving Loki goodbye and sparing a glance at the nursery where Jormungandr and Fenrir were taking expert care of Val. With a nervous breath she hitched up her skirt and ran out of the door, following the quickly-retreating handmaiden. "It's nothing serious."

"Is it?"

"Not particularly."

Yeah, this one's just a bit of a filler. But huge thanks to everyone reading this and I love getting reviews and replying back to those, they're always such awesome convos. If you have any suggestions for Asgardian shennanigans, please tell me, they'd be fun to write in. Still trying to plan the wedding, that's taking a while, but like I said up top, the next chapters are going to be so much more inclusive of everyone. Also, hobbit trailer came out (for those of you in the fandom, I have tissues on hand), Doctor Who is on hiatus again, Supernatural had 200 eps, Sherlock is still on hiatus and well... are we all okay over here? Seriously CAROL DANVERS! AGE OF ULTRON TRAILER! On the other hand, still waiting for the Black Widow film...

Once again, thanks to you all. Next update should be up soon, promise :)