That was a damn good bargain!

Smiling delightedly, Emma carried her purchases to their car that was parked on the other side of the street from the second hand store she had visited. She had made a real find and couldn't wait to show it to Logan. It was a baby's safety seat and some clothes, all used but in perfect order and hardly had cost a thing.

Her good mood seemed to be a catching sort as she got cheerful greetings from two elderly ladies who noticed her purchases and baby belly that already protruded out enough to be spotted under her open jacket. Under it she wore her nicest, sleeveless tunic top, green, that hugged her belly. She had finally let her pregnancy show because it was amazing how polite some people were to an expectant mother.

She walked across the street with briskly steps and hopped over a snowy mound that the snowplow had left behind next to the sidewalk. And more snow was slowly falling down in light, white flakes. And she loved it. Winter was so beautiful and cold. And she had discovered that cold was good for her baby and for her. She wouldn't have needed even the jacket to manage outside, but used it for not drawing too much attention from fellow mortals. And the thin pink hat she wore was only to cover her blond root growth in her colored hair.

Logan hadn't been eager to take a shopping trip to a bigger town, but Emma insisted that they should do it while she was still able to, gathering supplies they were going to need once the baby arrives.

As she returned to the car, she noticed an envelope that was placed under the windshield wiper and she slipped out a curse word, assuming it was a parking ticket. What hope was there for hiding from SHEILD if they couldn't avoid from getting a ticket? She lowered her sunglasesses on her nose and checked the sign which said that parking was allowed and she placed the stuff she was carrying next to the car and picked up the small white, partly snow covered envelope from the windshield. It had a handwritten text on it; "to E.M." and a small drawn smiley face next to it.

She glanced around her and smiled curiously as she flipped the envelope around and opened it, thinking it must have been from Logan. Some extra money for her purchases, she hoped. The moment she saw the content, the puzzlement struck her. Three original and vintage Captain America trading cards. And not just any cards. They were exactly the same kinds she had once owned, gotten from her dear grandfather Walter. They were almost in perfect shape. As if she had been handling something valuable and fragile, she turned them carefully around and felt a minor shock creeping in her heart in a form of nostalgic longing and tears. One of the cards had her own initials 'E.M.' written on the back with a tiny pink heart she'd once drawn when she was a kid, not yet knowing the value of the cards. She removed her shades and just gaped at her findings stunned.

Those were her cards! Her own cards she'd lost over eight years ago. This unexpected gift overwhelmed her with the dearest memories so deeply that for a moment she could only stared at the cards on her hands, pondering 'how?' Only her mom could have had them.

"Emma Morgan?"

A calm, familiar male voice came behind her, ending her stroll on the memory lane and pulling her back unmercifully to the cruelest present.

She recognized the voice and the man whom it belonged to immediately, and turned towards him slowly, facing a ghost from the past. She should have been able to sniff him out with her senses, but he was in downwind.

Looking straight at her, Phil Coulson stood on the same sidewalk two cars length away from her, alive and as collected as ever.

With a few slow, measured steps he cut down the distance between them. "I thought you might want your cards back," he said casually as if talking to an old friend and smiled a bit, motioning his glowed hand towards the cards she was holding. "It's a funny story really how I came to acquire those. If you've got some time I can share it with you. And the best part is that you can get them signed," he continued and nodded at her direction.

With a cautious glance over her shoulder she saw Steve Rogers standing behind her some 20 yards away, unmistakably recognizable with his Captain America uniform among the few people moving along the sidewalk. Cold terror ran through her tensed body. She forced the feeling away like Logan had taught her. She relaxed her muscles for a quick strike just like he had taught. SHIELD had found her. It had taken nearly six months but they hadn't forgotten about her and she hadn't forgotten about them either.

Against what Fury had told her, Coulson was alive. There was no point of putting the obvious into words. They were SHIELD people after all; they lied for living. Nevertheless a part of her was glad to see him, the part that had grieved over his death for months.

But then she pulled herself together from her mushy state of mind, because they had set her a trap and she had walked in it. Where was her father?

A grim expression formed on her face as she stared at the agent, taking in her surroundings. "We've got to stop seeing each other like this, agent Coulson," she murmured. "Where is Logan? What have you done to him?"

"He went into that hardware store four minutes ago. Car parts. I guess it shouldn't take long," Coulson informed and nodded towards the place along the street. He gave her a light grimace as if saying sorry and lifted his hand. "Before you'll get too angry with me, I've got to warn you. That is real Steve Rogers over there and he's a hell of a fast runner. Please, Emma, this doesn't have to get ugly. No one wants to hurt you."

Since when they went on a first name basis? Her hands returned by her sides and she let the cards and her shades drop into the baby's safety seat next to her feet. That's when Coulson made the clear observation as his attentive gaze dropped too and he noticed her visibly rounded belly and the baby seat.

She noticed that he noticed it. She swallowed hard, clenching her fists, her icy claws slowly emerging out from between her knuckles. The pain brought tears in her eyes but she didn't make a sound.

"It's not gonna happen, Coulson!" she declared, ready to fight, ready to kill. She wasn't going to let them get her or her unborn baby like in her nightmares. Her quick gaze swept through the street and the buildings, searching for more agents, snipers, anything strange she hadn't yet registered. This was what Logan and her dreams had been preparing her for.

For a tiniest moment Phil Coulson looked confused while gazing at her. "Oh? I guess congratulations would be in order," he said finally sounding mildly surprised.

Emma stood still, feeling sweat rising on her forehead. The baby was kicking stronger and she felt a cold cramp building just by pure rush of adrenaline. "Thank you," she whispered, unsure what was going to happen but she was a damn ready for a kill, willing the contraction away. Not now, little guy!

"You keep pulling your claws on me? That's hurtful." He adjusted his blue, merino wool scarf around his neck against the coldness and continued casually, "So… how far along are you?"

"It's not Loki's!" Emma reassured hastily before he even asked. The image of the frozen alien corpses in the SHIELD's base returned into her mind and she swore to herself that was not her baby's fate. "There was this guy in Greenland. Peter. We had too much free time during summer," she lied, breathing out the tightening feeling in her abdomen.

Coulson lifted his brows. "Okay." He took a couple more steps closer, remaining strangely informal and friendly. "Could we talk? Please, Emma. Pull your claws back in. There's a nice café back there where we can just sit and talk. We've been searching for you almost six months."

"The last time you bought me a cup it left a bad taste in my mouth. And I doubt Fury sent you all the way here just for a nice chat over a coffee," she grunted and sensed that Steve Rogers had advanced closer behind her, being only 10 yards away now and approaching. A few people passed by and her suspicious gaze followed them.

"Well, the thing is that Fury is not the director anymore. Don't you follow the news? There is a new boss and new rules. Not that I want to brag but Fury left me in charge. And let me tell you, SHIELD is not the same as it once was. You left us a hell of a mess to clean."

"Sorry about that."

Coulson shook his head and gave her a somewhat grateful smile, a dry Coulson smile. "Actually I'm glad you did it. SHIELD is becoming better. We have taken out the trash and started afresh. But trust me, I'm not here as an officer of SHIELD now. I'm here as a friend," he said compassionately.

She gave him a doubtful frown, the peak of the cramp already easing. "Yeah? And that's why you brought the muscles with you?"

Coulson shrugged. "No, I just thought it would be super cool to get your cards signed by Cap. When I heard you stole his shield I found it hilarious," he grinned and added whispering, "Don't tell him but I've always wanted to do that."

Emma just stared at him confused as if he would have needed a medication. Or maybe she needed some because it was starting to feel like he wasn't there to capture her like she'd feared.

Coulson registered someone moving out from a black SUV somewhere behind him and he took one more step closer to Emma, talking to her with a tone of understanding beyond her reasoning, "Please, put your claws away, Emma. There's someone I want you to meet who hasn't ever given up on you. She's been looking for you unrelentingly ever since you were gone."

The blonde woman from the SUV walked next to Coulson, her curly hair floating free on her shoulders, her knee-length long, plum-colored winter coat stylish like straight from a fashion magazine. Her sky blue eyes brimmed as she gazed at Emma with certain recognition. And Emma kept staring at her from the moment she spotted her face, speechlessly and holding her breath. The last time she saw that face, Emma was gazing at her through the tinted rare windows, sitting on the back seat of a big black SUV, sixteen years old and scared as hell but mustering her courage to look brave for her mom's sake. It was over eight years ago, before her life turned into a living hell.

"Mom?" Her voice was as fragile as her mind on that moment, the rush of emotions crushing her. Her claws retracted subconsciously and her feet just barely carried her.

"Emily," her mother, Aileen, whispered her real name like a prayer of thanksgiving and smiled through her tears while moving cautiously towards her. "Ems, my baby girl. Thank God, it is really you."

Emma glanced at Coulson and returned her gaze at her mother, uncertain and full of distrust, only wondering what her mother was doing with SHIELD operatives. It was her mother who talked her over taking a part of that experiment which made her life fall apart once. How could she have trusted her now when she appeared there with Phil Coulson? During the past eight years she'd missed her mom, hated her, trying to forget about her, and then missed again so terribly that it almost killed her. And now her mom was standing there in front of her and she couldn't bring herself to even look at her in the eye.

"No…" Emma gasped, looking suddenly so desperate and distraught, wanting just to draw off.

Everything in her mother was begging Emma to listen and to come closer. "Emily, I'm here for you."

All the feelings were too much for Emma to bear and she turned around before bursting into tears as if the woman had been only a ghost, nonexistent in real life. She had a baby to protect now. She couldn't fall for a prey of monsters. She wouldn't. She took support from the car next to her, concentrating with her anxious, sob-filled breathing and looked straight through Steve Rogers's broad frame that had emerged 8 feet away from her.

Steve Rogers shifted next to their car and watched Emma with concern. "Miss, I know what you've gone through. Trust me, I know. I've fought Hydra and paid the price myself," he said in a soft tone, unexpected for a soldier of his reputation (but there were only so few who really knew him). "What Hydra did to you, it was not your mother's fault. She was a victim just like you were. You have my word that we are not here to hurt you." He reached his hand towards her and showed her that old photograph of her as a six-years-old little girl running with the tiny star-shield. He smiled a bit. "And I'll always defend my greatest fans. Please listen to your mother. I lost mine when I was sixteen. You two still have a chance to find each other again."

Her sobs came out with confused chuckles as she kept staring at the photograph and then at him so puzzled. This emotion thing was killing her. It was worse than her beast-side.

Aileen felt Coulson's hand on her shoulder, encouraging her to carry on. "Emily, please, look at me," Aileen begged, being only able to imagine what was going on in her daughter's head. "I am so sorry. I can't tell you how sorry I am for everything that happened to you. Please..."

"Ems!" Logan called out for her, and she didn't really notice that he was there before his strong arm wrapped around her shoulders protectively. "What the hell is going on here?" Logan grunted at the people around them, eyeing suspiciously at Rogers and Coulson. They were bad company by his standards. He shouldn't have left Emma alone for a minute.

"Logan, take me away from here," Emma whispered to him anxiously, holding on from their car's door handle.

Coulson remained calm. "Logan, we both know she is staying in Canada illegally and I would hate to make this an official business. I have enough paperwork as it is. We just want to talk to you two, that' all."

Logan unlocked the car doors, sheltering his kid. "Yeah? Try talk to the hand!" he gruffed, showing his clenched fist.

Aileen looked at the man from her past, stunned. "Logan." Her emotional voice made Logan stop before he shoved his claws out. "My god, you haven't changed a bit in 26 years."

Logan's frown dropped as he faced her, taking a moment to recognize her. It was easy though, because Emma looked very much like her mother. "You don't look too bad yourself, Aileen."

Aileen went to them slowly. "I'm so glad you have found each other. I tried to find you for years when she was born. Logan please, I want my daughter back. Please, don't take her away from me now. I can't loose her twice."

The two sobby woman of the same family was a bit too much for Logan to take. For Christ's sake, this was the mother of his kid they were talking about! His hand stroke over Emma's back and squeezed then her arm. "This is your chance, kid. Talk with your mom. I've got your back," he encouraged her softly.

Emma breathed in and out, knowing she was stronger than just run away this time. She forced herself to turn and met her mom's gaze as if saying 'here I am now'. Her mother looked so different than she recalled, much more matured and classy like she'd been doing just fine the past years. And it stung Emma.

Aileen begun tenderly, "I see you're blessed with child and I know you must be scared and hurt and angry, and you feel that there's no one you can trust, but I am here for you."

Emma clenched her hands in so tight fists that her finger nails dug deep into her palms, drawing blood. "I'm no more that same kid you used to know. It's been eight years, nine…"

Aileen nodded with a sad smile. "…nine months and eleven days," she continued and swallowed her tears. "And every single day I have been praying for this one to come…"

"I have done some really bad things... things that grandma wouldn't ever forgive," Emma confessed, her voice sounding strange even to herself.

"It's all right. I'm sure granny Emma would have understood because you had no other choice."

Emma bit her lower lip to stop it from trembling, all the old mental wound opening and bleeding. "I came home... Why weren't you home?"

Aileen fought hard to keep herself together and stepped closer. "Oh, sweetie, because it wasn't our home anymore. Those people who took you back then, they stole everything from us. When I lost you, I lost everything; my only daughter, my whole life, our home, everything. I didn't abandon you, they stole you from me."

Emma blinked and tears escaped from her eyes. "They hurt me, Mom."

Aileen burst into tears too and just wanted to hug her. "I know. Phil Coulson told me everything what they did to you. I'm so sorry. If I could return into that day, I would never let them take you. I would fight for you until my last breath, but I promise now I won't let anyone hurt you ever again…"

The tiny kicks in her womb were like the encouragement she needed, and Emma met her mom in the halfway. Curbing herself Aileen touched her daughter's head cautiously and when she could tell Emma was ready, she closed her daughter into her arms, and they held each other like that for a long, long time, just crying all the pain of the years away. And in her mom's embrace that little, abandoned girl inside Emma found finally her way back home.

While the reunited mother and daughter hugged each other for a small infinity, the men drew back into a safe distance from them as if all that sentimentality would have been contagious. Steve Rogers was the only one of them three who survived out of it with dry eyes, whilst Logan and Coulson just stood there, visibly moved by the whole thing.

Logan cleared his throat after a while, crossing his arms and leaning his back against his car. "If you two even think of capturing her," he begun, giving a murderous glance at Coulson and Rogers under his brows, "I'll shove my claws down your throats."

"Good old happy-Howlett," Steve Rogers stated, not even slightly intimidated by his threat, and leaned sitting on the same car's hood.

Coulson crossed his arms too while walking closer to Logan's car. "Did you know your tail light is out?"

Logan cursed inwardly. It was that damn light bulb he had been looking from that hardware store when Coulson and his buddies found Emma. "Wanna give me a ticket, bub?"

… …

The Bifrost observatory looked so small and vapid when Loki gazed at it through the golden ring he was holding between his fingers. Today was the day he had been waiting for patiently for almost six months. The first test drive of Himinbjorg, and if it should be successful, he was finally going to ask Odin's permission to visit Earth. He had practiced his speech over and over again. Odin had to grant him this one favor. It was all he would ask.

His smile caressed the ring, which impressive emerald sparkled brightly under the Asgardian sky, matching the hopefully sparkle in his eyes.

He kissed the ring and closed it in his palm and conjured into his safe place. "Today is the day, Emma. I hope you are ready to leave your old life behind," he whispered in a dreaming tone.

He spent a moment longer on the balcony, enjoying the nippy taste of Asgardian winter (that was really nothing compared to Jotunheim) before returning to his chambers and getting himself ready for the big day.