The week flew by far too fast. Lusca supposed that might have been because she spent much of it napping. She was disappointed to find that the SHIELD Helicarrier had been located in Wakanda. However, she was more disappointed to learn that the Wakandan king had been imprisoned in New York as punishment for hiding the agents. His son, T'Challa, was now in charge of Wakanda's affairs.

On the bright side, none of the agents had been found in the Helicarrier. It seemed they had cleared out any vital information and run off. King T'Chaka had claimed that they'd left a month previous, but Lusca couldn't help but wonder if Natasha had sent them some warning.

Loki certainly seemed to think so, but he had no proof and he didn't seem to be overly worried that the assassin would try anything else. After all, it was very hard to meddle in the king's affairs all the way from Moscow.

Lusca was not even given a chance to say her farewells to the agent who had been so helpful to her. She was now friendless and helpless in the strange city and her week of relaxation was over.

On the first morning after her break she dressed as professionally as she was able and left her suite before she could be summoned out of them. Then, she went to Loki's office and knocked on the door. There was a moment of silence before he called for her to enter. Lusca assumed he was checking the security feed to see who dared disturb him.

"Good morning," She smiled cheerfully, unwilling to let him see her misery.

"Lusca," He nodded, reading over a paper and then tossing it over his shoulder carelessly, "What brings you here?"

"The week is up, I'm ready to get back to 'work'. What would you have me do?"

"You and I are going to the grand reopening of a school that was destroyed in the battle," He smirked, "It is time for the public to start seeing us together."

Lusca could have groaned at that, but she merely smiled.

"I love children. It should be a fun event!"

"You love children? Well, that is good to hear," He laughed, "Seeing as we'll have to have one of our own eventually."

And just like that her smiley demeanor broke and she was gaping at him angrily.

"Excuse me?!"

"I thought that would get you back to your usual miserable self!" He stood up and approached her, "Nothing to worry about right now. I was just sick of seeing that too perfect smile."

"You want a child? With me?"

"Not particularly, but I'll need one at some point. Why else do you think I wanted to marry a foolish Midgardian such as yourself?"

Lusca snapped her mouth closed and glared at him. She supposed she should have seen it coming. And as he said, there was no need to dwell on it now. Besides, perhaps SHIELD and the Avengers would be able to reclaim the planet before there came a time to discuss such a thing.

"At what time are we going to the school?" She asked stiffly.

"Now!" He grabbed her arm and led her out of the office, "School starts early!"

He could hear the reporters muttering amongst themselves. They wanted to know why he'd brought Lusca with him, which is exactly the question he wanted them to ponder. Rumors quickly became gossip, gossip spread to well known fact, and then, after people had made up their minds on the matter, they finally asked about it. However, before anyone could ask Loki would make it very clear just how "in love" he and Lusca were. She'd hate him for it.

Of course, today was just to get the idea into people's minds. Seeing them together would cause a buzz and once these love addicted Americans latched onto the thought of romance, well then they'd be much more eager to accept it when it became official.

As pictures were snapped, Loki made sure to shake the hand of every teacher who would be serving the school. He took a moment to thank them for what they were boldly agreeing to do before passing them onto Lusca for her to talk with.

This was actually the most fun he'd had in his kingship since he'd invaded Lyron. Teachers were truly people to be admired and he wanted them to know that. When he'd found out how little the educators of the United States were paid he'd spent an hour on the phone with the former president berating him over the matter.

The teachers seemed glad to be thanked, but rather leery of the person expressing gratitude. Loki didn't blame them. They were to be the pioneers of a new school system and it was nothing like they'd ever seen before. He didn't blame them for being suspicious.

"Sir," A middle aged teacher addressed him, her eyes wide, "Thank you for coming to this reopening!"

"Of course!" He smiled earnestly, "Am I right in assuming you are Principal Ermine?"

"Yes sir," The woman beamed.

"I want to thank you for allowing your school to be the first in our new program. It is a brave thing to do and many people will oppose and even hate you for it."

"I am aware of that."

"May I ask why you agreed to it?"

"Sir, some of us having been trying to change our broken school system for years. Regardless of how I feel about you or what you've done in this world, I will forever be grateful to you for attempting something new with our schools."

Loki was genuinely touched. He could tell that the woman was not a fan of him. She'd probably never forgive him since her school had been devastated in the battle. Everyone had hated him when they'd found out how many children and teachers had been killed and wounded in the battle. So he'd done his best to make up for it by completely funding this school's repair and this woman seemed to appreciate the gesture.

"May I ask where exactly you found the base for this new system? The new curriculum and all?"

"It is a combination of the programs of the most successful schools in your world, combined with the most successful curriculums and ideas of the Asgardian schools," Loki replied and he caught Lusca looking at him curiously, "Once we try it on a few pilot schools to see how well it works, we will be implementing it globally."

"And how long will the test period be?"

"Two years. That ought to give the teachers enough time to grow accustomed to it and report what works and what doesn't, don't you think?"

"Actually, sir," the principal said sheepishly, "If there are any high schools in the pilot schools you might want to extend the test period to four years to allow everyone to graduate through the same program."

"An interesting idea. I will take it up with the council of educators," He nodded, "It has been a pleasure meeting you and," He gave her a note card with information on it, "Should you think of anything off of the top of your head that might need reconsideration, this is the number of the head of the Education Council. She will be more than happy to discuss things with you."

"Thank you, sir." The woman half bowed, half nodded politely and moved onto Lusca.

With all of the teachers spoken to the next step was one he wasn't so fond of. Talking to the children. The elementary school kids were watching him with eager and curious eyes and he supposed that was to be expected. Even if he was dressed in a Midgardian suit children always took notice of someone different and new.

Once Lusca had finished talking with the principal, Loki smiled at the kids and then at the cameras. Time to put on a show.

"We are here for a new beginning, are we not?" He asked the crowd, "The restart of a grand school, the first day of a new school curriculum, and one step toward retaining the peace I have brought to your world."

A few people cheered at that and a few booed, claiming it was not peace.

"And, as the young are the bright light of the future," He gestured to the kids and one little boy waved shyly, "I will personally ensure that our new system of education never decays as the old one has. I will personally fight to keep these young people learning at their own pace, learning what they need to learn to help themselves, and to keep them well equipped to find their place in the world and better it."

A loud cheer went up this time. Who could boo against helping children? No one in their right mind. Even Lusca was applauding his speech and looking impressed. He realized he'd been watching for her approval and quickly looked to the children instead.

"Welcome to the first day of your new school!"

The kids were released by their parents with wild whoops and while some went straight for the front doors of the school, others lingered and approached Loki with shy smiles and tiny handshakes. Loki treated them all with the same respect he would treat and adult, but he couldn't say the same of the smaller children in the way they treated him. One kindergartener kicked him and was quickly scooped up and rushed away by her mother.

As he was crouched low, surrounded by grinning and laughing kids, it took him longer than he would have liked to notice a glint on a rooftop across the blocked off street. He looked down at his chest and found a red dot dancing there. That didn't bother him so much, since he knew it would merely bruise him, but when he saw the red dot flick from his chest to Lusca's he jumped to his feet, causing several kids to groan in disappointment. Lusca was holding a five year old boy in her arms and listening to him tell her about how excited he was to start school.

Right as he heard the snap of the gun Loki lept and wrapped his arms around Lusca and the little boy, with his back to the sniper. He felt the bullet's sting in his lower back and hissed in pain. When the shot rang out he immediately tapped his earpiece and ordered Barton to find the sniper and put him down. He also sent out a message to any of the other guards he had in the area to get the children and civilians into the school and out of the way in case there were more shots.

"By the volcano!" Lusca whispered, still being held by him.

"You need to get inside," he told her over the crying of the child in her arms, "Take this boy to safety, Lusca."

"Y-yes, of course," she started to turn and make for the school, but another shot rang out and hit a few inches away from her. Loki wrapped himself around her again and pushed her toward the door while shielding her.

"They're after you," he muttered darkly, "I don't know why, but they are after you."

"Oh." She seemed to be too shocked to say anything else, so Loki quickly got her into the school, told her to stay away from windows, and then strode away from the school and toward the sniper.

There was a long pause where he thought Barton might have apprehended the shooter, but then bullets began to fire rapidly at him from a machine gun. Evidently the menace was still out there. Loki quickly took cover behind a news van, knowing he wouldn't be able to walk through a downpour of bullets without sustaining some damage.

"Barton," he snapped, "Progress report?"

"Working on it, sir," Barton grunted. There was the sound of a fist colliding with something and then the bullets stopped. Loki took the opportunity to rush to the building of the sniper's hideout and do his utmost to jump from window ledge to window ledge until he was on the roof. Barton and another man were engaged in hand to hand combat when he arrived.

The other man had long brown hair and a black face mask that obscured any identifying details. Of course, it would have been fairly easy to pick this particular man out of a line up because he happened to boast a shining metal arm that bore a red star on the shoulder.

The metal armed man spotted Loki, grabbed Barton by the throat, tossed him toward the edge of the building and then ran and jumped for the next roof. Barton grabbed the ledge before he rolled off and Loki sprinted after the other man. He hadn't done this kind of thing since the battle. He was a tad out of shape, but he was still much faster and stronger than the metal armed man and he quickly caught up, throwing a spell that knocked the other man over onto the concrete of the roof.

"You are an agile one, aren't you?" Loki panted, "Why were you shooting at Queen Lusca?"

The man made no reply. He pushed himself back to his feet and pointed a handgun at Loki's face.

"We both know that won't do you any good so put it away before you hurt yourself."

The man still didn't respond and he did not put his weapon away.

"You're working for someone," Loki took a step closer, "You're some sort of mercenary."

Nothing.

"You probably do not even know the reason you were supposed to kill her. She's just another target to you," Loki sighed and took another step, the man tensed.

"Stay back."

"Oh! So you do have vocal cords! How nice. Who do you work for?"

There was a long silence.

"Back at the quiet game? Very well, we'll see how long you can stay silent when I control your mind," Loki conjured his scepter and jabbed it forward. The metal arm intercepted with impossible strength and tossed Loki backward. That served to make the Asgardian twice as irritated and then the fight really began. Fists, metal arms, bullets, scepters, and knives flew with such speed that neither man could take even a second to refocus.

Then, Loki dared to blink and the man was running and jumping off the roof. Loki quickly pursued, but when he looked over the edge the man had vanished

"Barton!" Loki barked into his communicator. He gave his location and instructed every available soldier, policeman, or guard to search the area for the metal armed man. Then, he made his way back to the school.

When he arrived he went in and entered the gymnasium where everyone was crowded. They all turned to him when he entered and reporters began firing off questions as quickly as the bullets had been fired earlier.

"Silence!" he roared and when they complied he put on his best furious expression, "The sniper has been stopped. I have garnered the information that he was sent by SHIELD to assassinate Queen Lusca - simply because she has allied herself with me for the good of her people. SHIELD did not care that the Queen held a young, innocent boy in her hands, who could have been killed as well. SHIELD did not care to wait until she was away from children to attempt this. SHIELD does not care for the young of this world, they care only for putting things back to the way they used to be."

If he did not know what enemy to blame for the attack he would pin it on another one of his problems. People had strong reactions when their children were at stake. If he played this right then he'd have the people of the world rooting out the agents for him. Nick Fury might be brought to him in the hold of angry mothers.

"I will not stand for this!" He seethed, "I will not let the innocent of my kingdom suffer at the hands of these insurgents! You have my word that every last operative of SHIELD will be captured and punished for their actions."

"Calm down," An older reporter laughed, "It's not like anyone was even hurt! It isn't a big-"

Loki rolled his eyes and tossed a quick, small dagger into the man's throat. When the action was met with gasps and horrified whispers he lengthened the scepter and hit the butt of it on the ground.

"Is there anyone else who cares to laugh at the safety of our children? Even attempts must be treated as a full on attack or we will never muster the courage to stop these fiends."

The parents and teachers all cheered and the reporters recorded it all. Loki kept his expression fierce, made a few more promises to destroy SHIELD and then calmed things down a bit.

"Now, I completely understand if the parents and teachers gathered here would like to postpone the first day of school," Loki said, "But I, for one, think it would show our enemies just how strong we are if we persist."

The suggestion was met with another cheer and the school day kicked off. Loki shook a few more hands, made a few more threats, and then told Principal Ermine that he'd be posting his personal guards outside the school to ensure safety, though he assured her the target was not the school, but Lusca. He wished her well and then he and Lusca left.

The car ride back was quiet and Lusca seemed to be thinking about something. Loki didn't particularly care what so he didn't ask. But she did and he was not prepared for the question.

"How much of it was a lie?"

"Excuse me?" He blinked.

"Just the part about SHIELD or the whole attack?" She turned in her seat to look at him and he tried to keep his face emotionless.

"You think it was staged?"

"I think you are the type to risk the lives of children just to make yourself look better," she crossed her arms and looked down her nose at him, "And I'm wondering if that is what just happened."

"I would never put a whole school's worth of young ones in harm's way just for good press," he snapped, offended at the idea. Although, he supposed from someone who'd only seen the bad side of him he shouldn't have been surprised at this assumption.

"No? Then why would you jump so valiantly in front of me? You and I do not like each other. If I was dead it would leave Lyron up for grabs. You gained nothing but good rep from saving me."

He raised his hand as if to slap her, but when she didn't even flinch he lowered it.

"You forget, Your Majesty, that you were holding a small boy," Loki sneered, "And apart from saving his life, I do not wish to go through the hassle of finding another fiancee who is of political value."

He was furious that she'd suggest that he would hire a sniper - to fire on a school - just to make himself look good. Obviously Lusca could not find it in her to see past the monster he'd been when he'd invaded. She couldn't look past the way he'd acted in battle to see the good he was bringing to her planet.

"If you say so," she sniffed haughtily.

"I do. But you are correct in saying that it was not SHIELD who ordered the attack. At least, to my knowledge," Loki allowed, "The sniper got away before I could find out who he worked for and why that party wants you dead."

"He escaped?"

"Yes."

"Well that's lovely, isn't it?" Lusca sighed and rubbed her eyes, "An assassin who wants to kill me is on the loose and I am to be forced to go to a million high profile events!"

"Do not fret over it," Loki waved the idea away, "I shall be by your side at these events in the coming months."

"And do you plan to take a bullet for me every time we go outside?"

"If I must."

"I- uh, well," she blushed, "Thank you. And if it wasn't staged, thank you for saving me today as well."

"You are welcome," he nodded with a grin.

"But next time," she cleared her throat, "Do not feel the need to get quite so close."

"Why? Did it make you uncomfortable?" He snickered.

"Obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be asking you to avoid doing it," she glanced at his sly grin and raised eyebrow and her blush deepened, "Oh I see. You were being flirtatious."

"Norns!" he laughed loudly, "Yes. Though if you have to point it out it isn't nearly as fun."

"Sorry?"

"I suppose we'll have to work on acting like a couple more," he ran a hand through his hair and chuckled, "Perhaps I will take some time tomorrow to teach you how to properly respond to a man wooing you."

"Oh please," She rolled her eyes, "I do not need to be instructed on how to be flirted with! I have had a boyfriend before, you know."

"Hmm, yes, the ever charming Councilman Azacca. When you were teenagers."

"Yes, so?"

In a flash, he was unbuckled and so close that he could make out tiny flecks of cobalt in her brown eyes. His arm snaked around her waist and pulled her closer to him. She stuttered out an objection, but fell quiet when his lips brushed her ear.

"Any teenager can flirt, my dear queen," he chuckled, "I seduce."

They were quiet for a moment before pulling into the underground parking of the former Stark Tower. Lusca swallowed nervously and then tried a polite smile, her weapon of choice for dealing with discomfort.

"Oh look! We're back!" And when they pulled into the parking space she was quick to open her door and unfasten her seatbelt. Too quick, for she fell out onto the cement floor, "Ow!"

Barton rushed over from the driver's seat and helped her up and Loki laughed.

"Clearly, you know exactly how to respond to insinuated romance, Lusca," He stepped past her, "Tomorrow we are going to the rescheduled garden party you missed. We'll practice there."

When the young queen thought he was out of earshot he heard her say a word he would have never expected to come from her mouth and he laughed. Then he left her to her own devices and went to see what he could dig up about the man with the metal arm.