Author's note: This is a long chapter and I originally planned to chop it into two or three parts but decided that it was better to keep it as a one big chunk. So, grab a bowl of your favorite ice cream or a cup of hot chocolate, sit back and you're ready to go. I'm entering into the busiest season at work and in life generally so the schedule for the next updates may vary a lot. Thank you for the reviews. Please feel free to leave feedback.
... ...
The completely rebuilt Himinbjorg observatory stood once again proudly on the end of the Rainbow Bridge like a magnificent beacon. The golden dome shone brightly in the daylight glow as Heimdall walked along the bridge to resume his post in a ceremonial changing of the guard ritual. He was accompanied by Thor who walked by his side and they stopped in front of an honor guard of Einherjar warriors. The change of shift went by the protocol and the guards left, leaving the newly inaugurated observatory in Gatekeeper's hands.
"Beautiful, isn't she?" Heimdall asked admiringly, standing in the opening of the observatory, holding Hofund, the Bifrost sword against his shoulder.
Thor smirked at his words. "Well, yes. But I think you should have gone out more often seeing other ladies before returning to... her."
Heimdall chuckled a bit. "She is all I need," he assured and entered the round chamber, studying the details. It looked exactly the same as the old one, but was perhaps even brighter and it smelled new, unused. That was something rare in Asgard.
A few uneasy bleatings echoed inside the chamber, and Heimdall looked down at a white goat that was tied on to large chopped tree trunk. He moved close to the animal and petted its horned head before it tried to ram at him. "There, there, my friend. We have a grand task to do today, you and I," he told to the goat that relaxed under his touch, losing it's willing to fight.
Thor stared at the goat that was the first test subject to be traveling through Bifrost to a desert moon and back. "I do not envy you, my horned friend."
The goat bleated back at him and dropped a handful of droppings on the polished floor as an objection for the task it was signed on.
The thunder god lifted his finger in a scolding manner. "There is nothing to eat in a barren moon. So, you are better to behave or Heimdall will leave you there."
Heimdall groaned at the mess and looked at Thor. "I asked them for your adopted brother but they sent me this creature instead. It seems that both of them can leave nasty things behind," he jested and then took more serious tone as he circled the center platform and rested his mighty sword's tip on the floor. "Tell me, how is Loki?"
"He is much changed," Thor answered in a forgiving tone, recalling his ferocious fight with Loki that led into the destruction of the earlier observatory and almost at end of their lives. That memory still made his chest tightening. "Loki has made enormous amends and I truly believe he has given up his old ways."
"I believe it when I see it."
"I thought you see everything."
"Exactly. You can tell him that his mortal has been doing well."
"You can tell that to him yourself. If I know my brother at all, he will be here bothering you as soon as Father gives Loki his blessing to enter Bifrost again."
Heimdall let out a good-hearted snort to that. "You still call him your brother?"
"Why wouldn't I? We may not share the same blood but our past together cannot be erased."
Heimdall nodded and heaved then a duty-filled sigh glancing around him. "It is time," he informed and turned back at Thor. "You may want to step farther away... in case something goes wrong."
Thor's smile fated. He hadn't even doubted about it that something could go wrong. When Heimdall power-ups the Bifrost machinery, a vast amount of dark energy streams straight into the observatory. One construction error could cost them a new observatory and a loyal Gatekeeper.
Thor gave a solemn nod. "I will be right outside, my friend," he said encouragingly.
Heimdall smiled warmly. "Are you telling that to me or to the goat?"
Thor grinned. "To the goat of course," he jested but then his expression told that he would be looking after his old friend in case something would go wrong. "Good luck!"
As Thor walked out, Heimdall let this gaze wander one last time around the beautiful, monumental, golden structure, hoping it would not become his doom. Then he moved to the platform on the middle and placed this great sword into the ignition switch, watching down at the goat.
"To a moon and back," he wished and said a silent prayer before he turned the sword.
The machinery began whirling around him with the familiar sounds as the observatory was searching and locking into the selected destination. And then; a bright flash.
... ...
"Ah…?" Steve Rogers was stunned, staring at the disturbingly confusing sight around him as he stepped out of the old brown station wagon.
It had gotten to be an aftermath of the cruelest massacre of the snowmen's history. Some of their chubby, white bodies were stabbed, mutilated, decapitated and slashed beyond recognition as far as it was possible for figures made out of snow.
Emma bit the inside of her cheek embarrassed as their unexpected house guests gawped at her self-made practice arena on the snowy front yard of the cabin house. After Logan had refused sparring with her because she was pregnant, she made a whole army of snowmen and practiced her skills, killing them several times.
Logan had gotten used to the chaos she had created and moved between the fallen snowmen, carrying two bags of groceries to the house. "Yeah, if you like this then you'll love what she's done on the backyard."
Emma smiled awkwardly as her mom looked at her. "Anger management practice," she defended. "My therapist recommended it."
Aileen nodded in some sort of understanding. "I guess it's not healthy to bottle up your aggressions," she reasoned. She was delighted though, to find one snowman standing intact with a black tie around its neck and some cheep sunglasses stuck on its face. "Oh, that one has a tie! How cute," she exclaimed to break the awkward silence which only seemed to turn worse.
Coulson glanced at Emma on the moment she subtly tried to glance at him. Yeah, that one was clearly agent Coulson made out of snow. He took note (to his relief) that this one didn't have a scratch on it and he was touched that she hadn't sunk her icy claws on "him". But then while passing it, he noticed a long icicle shoved up in its snowy ass and he scowled at Emma questioningly.
She fought off a smirk, avoiding his gaze. The icicle completed the art work!
Emma had difficulties to understand how the hell all of this happened. She had her mom now, who had refused to leave her once she'd found her after all these years. Aileen didn't take no for an answer. She sat in Logan's car next to her daughter and forced them to take her along. Coulson saw it as his obligation to follow and protect Aileen. He couldn't let her go there alone. And Steve Rogers had no better things to do so he tagged along, but obviously he wasn't going to let Logan slice his boss into bits. Logan gave them one-sided deal; to leave behind all their communication systems and weapons or they wouldn't be coming along at all. Coulson took the deal, having his own interests in mind.
"Oh, what a beautiful house. I love the log walls and that stone fireplace is amazing," Aileen admired the view that opened from the front entrance straight into the living room as they walked in. "Is this your own place, Logan?"
The rusty old wagon they came with and the luxury log house didn't quite match, and Logan's expression spoke on his behalf. "It's rented," he murmured. It was the closest thing to truth.
Still doubtful about the motives of their guest, Emma tried to be friendly for her mom's sake who was blissfully ignorant about her past confrontations with SHIELD. Apparently Coulson had kept all that from her.
Emma cast a long, hesitating look at Coulson and Steve Rogers.
"So, here we are. There's a bathroom over there and two more upstairs. You can leave your coats... or shield here," she said and directed the last one to Steve.
With a recollection that now felt comical, Steve placed his star-shield down against the wall and gave her a small smile. "Don't go stealing it this time!"
"Um, okay. Maybe I'll just borrow it and go sledding on the hillside over there," Emma answered with a tiny smile.
"Sounds great. Maybe I'll come along," Steve suggested.
Oh god! Was she flirting with him, Emma wondered with a smile she couldn't wipe out from her face. In fact she couldn't look at him without grinning like an idiot so she preferred to avoid the eye contact with him.
She noticed that Coulson was observing them both with his agent's perceptive eyes and she collected herself quickly. "Why don't you all make yourselves at home?"
That happened rather fast.
... ...
The sparkling light of energy streamed through the Rainbow Bridge from the Asgard's power source to the Himinbjorg, opening a connection to the Bifrost with a bright flash in the distant horizon against the dark infinity of space.
Odin gazed at the sight in anticipating silence from the heights of his palace's tower, his mind's eyes following the travel of the dark energy across the space. His palms squeezed on the railing and his lips moved as though he had been praying for success. The beaming flash of the Bifrost energy ended but the expecting silence on the balcony continued. The observatory stood still in one piece which was a wonderfully good sign.
Allfather wasn't alone on the grand balcony witnessing the first 'ignition' of the new Bifrost observatory. He had Frigga on his left side and Loki on his right. It felt a highly ceremonious moment. A moment of truth that whole Asgard was following from the citadel. Thor had wished to stay closer to the Himinbjorg. In case something would go wrong, he would be there to save Heimdall.
More than anyone, Loki wished that the Asgardian craftsmen had done their work properly and the observatory would hold. If not, his idiotically noble-minded brother was in real danger and Loki could say goodbye to his chance to see Emma for another six months. He was counting the seconds, eyes fixed at the observatory. If the second flash would come then the connection was stable and worked on both ways. He stood motionlessly, his hands behind his back, only his fingers rubbed against his thumbs nervously.
Another ignition. The energy streamed again, opening the Bifrost as Heimdall was operating the machinery. And then it was over. It strongly seemed that their connection to all the other eight realms was restored.
Odin closed his eye with peaceful mind and felt his dear wife's hand squeezing his wrist and whispering how wonderful news this was. Allfather had seen everything; Heimdall was fine, the test goat was returned and the observatory was intact, and what was the most important; Thor had made a wasted trip to the bridge.
At a loss of words, Loki kept staring at the observatory, his eyes moist as he was suddenly burdened with irrational amount of sentimentality that hit him without a warning like a tidal wave. The last time Himinbjorg was in operation, he used its powers to destroy Jotunheim, tearing his birth realm apart. He fought Thor with such unleashed fury that he could have killed his brother a thousand times. And now, those memories pained him deeply, making him regret his actions, wishing he could have taken them all back. However without hitting the rock bottom, he would have never gotten there where he was now. Thanks to Emma, Thor and his family he had gotten a second chance. The only question left was would he finally get a second chance with her.
Loki thought he had been perfectly prepared to make this one request from Odin, but he found it to be the ultimately hardest task as he turned at the old king. His gaze met with Frigga's briefly and she gave him an encouraging nod, knowing exactly what he was after.
Loki looked at Odin with a pleading expression, feeling like an insecure teenager after all his grand achievements. His throat felt dry, his fingers were clenched into fists. This time he couldn't take no for an answer. "All- father," he begun in a wavering voice, very unlike him.
Odin opened his eye and faced his boy with a calmly curious face, studying him as though he had seen straight into Loki's soul. "Is it about the mortal?"
Loki swallowed and his dark eyebrows came down in an innocent frown. "I gave her my word," he answered sheepishly and took a deep breath. "I would ask your permission to..."
Odin lifted his hand and to Loki's surprise landed it on the boy's shoulder. "Go!" he said with a subtle smile, giving his blessing as though he had handed keys to his son to borrow his new expensive car. After all Loki had accomplished in the past six months, it was the least Odin could offer to him in return. "Pay a small visit to her... but be warned, Loki. Heimdall will be watching you. If you cause any trouble in Midgard or break any of the terms, he will bring you back straight away."
Loki needed a moment to take in Odin's words. Frigga's subtle smile confirmed that he had heard correctly. That had been a big fat yes. Whatever Frigga had done to soften Allfather up in the past few weeks, she had done a tremendous job.
"Give her my regards," Frigga said warmly with full conviction that Loki had deserved this opportunity to visit the girl. She had made certain that her husband was in a favorable state of mind for Loki's request and she secretly wished her son would use this given opportunity wisely.
Loki understood more than well what she had intended. "I will most certainly do that."
Amazed, he thanked Odin and Frigga, and walked backwards out from the balcony, remaining his dignity. But from there he ran like a rabbit and his guards did their best to keep up with him in their heavy armors.
... ...
"We'll take it over from here," Coulson informed firmly as they all settled inside the house and were unloading the groceries in the kitchen.
Relenting, Emma and Logan let Aileen and the SHIELD director take over the kitchen. Emma could only stare at them perplexed, as Coulson took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves and begun preparing dinner as if he did that every day. Yeah, probably he did, but she had a hard time to imagine that a SHIELD boss could be a normal person doing normal things (in someone else's house).
Aileen shuddered a bit with chill. "We could use a little more warmth here, don't you think?" she suggested while gathering the ingredients on the kitchen island. "I would absolutely love to sit by the fire, and Emily, you should keep yourself warm. You don't want to catch cold now with the baby and all."
Emma looked suffering as she picked up a saucepan and a wooden spoon and handed them to Aileen. They had kept the room temperatures low for a purpose; because of her condition. "Mom, there's no need..."
Logan saw his opportunity to get out for a moment. "I'll go fetch some firewood," he volunteered and spun on his heels and then glanced at Steve. "Give me a hand with chopping the logs, soldier boy?"
"Sure," Steve said and went after Logan.
Emma nibbled her lower lip, while watching them go. She caught herself checking out Steve's ass, which - she had to admit - wasn't so bad to look at in his patriotic spandex. Her innocent, little girl's daydreams met with her modern day fantasies and it was messing her head. She liked it that Steve Rogers was tall and broad like Loki (maybe broader), and had actually smelled pretty nice when he'd been in close enough range to sniff at inside their car. But he wasn't Loki. Not even when her hormones were crying in the need of a man. Those damn hormones were going to kill her! She already had bun in the oven; there was no need to go on heat. Soon, she feared, even Coulson was starting to appeal as an arousing type.
"Captain Rogers. He's great, isn't he?" Coulson asked and pulled Emma back on earth with his comment. "I know what you're thinking..."
Emma frowned doubtfully, turning at him. "You do? Like... is he any good in bed and does he think of his country while he's doing it?"
Aileen gave her a scolding look as if she'd been a cheeky teen again. "Ems!"
"No," Coulson stated nonchalantly and put the saucepan on the stove. "I was thinking more of... how awesome it is to meet a living legend."
"Well, I think it's a pure wonder that Steve Rogers is alive. Do you remember the stories grandfather used to tell you? You adored Captain America when you were a little girl?" Aileen said tenderly and touched Emma's shoulder.
It had felt so good to hug with her mom after all this time, but all the touching was beginning to feel uncomfortable and Emma stepped further away, securing her personal space. "Yeah," she murmured and fingered her old trading cards on the table where Aileen had placed them, giving them a studying stare. "But I'm not a little girl anymore, Mom."
"I know, darling." Aileen followed her daughter and her hand already rose to stroke Emma's hair but she pulled back. She felt like she needed to keep touching Emma to make sure she was real.
Emma glanced at the obstinate chef who was already chopping onions skillfully as if he'd born a knife in his hand. "You sure you don't need help there?"
Coulson nodded with perfectly dry eyes. "I got this. Why don't you two sit down and leave the cooking to me. You've got a lot catching up to do."
The situation felt so absurd that Emma could only wonder was it all just another weird dream. Coulson was cooking in her kitchen like he owned it. Was Fury going to do her breakfast? "Well, you go easy on the drugs, sir. I try to avoid anything that gives me heartburn."
His knife stopped chopping and Coulson looked at her under his brows, recalling the time he had to drug her. Apparently she recalled the same thing. "Just basic curry. You'll love it."
Emma folded her arms. "Right."
Aileen excused herself and went to the entrance hall, leaving the two of them alone for a minute.
Emma sighed, needing to fill the silent gab between her and Coulson. "I'm... glad to see that you're alive, Coulson," she confessed, failing badly in her matter-of-factly tone, and looked away from him.
"Thank you, I guess," he responded and picked a red pepper under his blade. "I was touched by the snowman… until I saw the backside."
Emma rolled her eyes, hating that he had seen it. "That's what you'll get for letting me blame myself for your death. Fury was pretty convincing."
Coulson could hear from her voice that she had genuinely mourned him and he found it surprising. "Sorry about that, but I had to disappear for a while." He disarmed himself and put his knife on the cutting board. It had been impossible to talk with her about the business matters when Aileen was around. "I heard what happened in Nevada. A big disaster the whole thing. How did it go with Loki... and Thor?"
The topic was unnerving and Emma's folded arms tightened around her. "You can reassure your men in black that the god of mischief won't be returning any time soon. I heard it from a reliable source."
Coulson surveyed her for a moment, seeing that she had changed a lot and apparently taking distance from Loki. That was a good sign. Perhaps the menace god had died. "I want you to know that what ever happened in the past, we are on the same side now, Emma."
She nodded in subtle agreement but there was something determine in her eyes as she looked at him. "I would like to believe you, but I've seen too much. Trust me I don't want hurt anyone, but you can bet your ass that I will hurt as many as I have to, to keep this baby safe."
He answered her threat with a collected frown. "Then we're sharing the same priority. In fact, I have an offer for you..."
Both dropped their staring contest and the subject as Aileen returned and tried again approach her daughter with the old photo album she pulled out from her bag and show it to her. "Emily, do you remember this? I have kept all the pictures. Would you like to look it over with me? Please."
Emma turned to her mom and just stared at the old album, the content of it suddenly flashing in front of her mind's eyes. There was her whole past life between those covers from the time when everything was fine. She would have loved to look at it but at the same time she would have been tearing open old wounds and she couldn't do that. She dropped her gaze down to hide her watering eyes that wasn't due the onions.
"Do you think we could do it later? And please call me Emma. That's my name now."
Aileen held the album against her chest and fought off her tears. "Okay. How about we just sit and talk? Or just sit together?"
Emma nodded and they sat on the couch together, that small space between them still feeling like they've been miles away from each other.
... ...
"What does Coulson wants with Emma? What is he after?" Logan demanded, holding an axe on his shoulder and glaring at Steve Rogers in front of the woodshed.
Steve picked up the chopped logs and kindling on his bended arm. "As far as I know, he just wanted to reunite a mother and a daughter."
Logan snorted and brought his axe down on another log, cutting it in half. "Don't think I believe that shit for a minute! These guys don't do anything out of the goodness of their heart."
"Coulson is different. He cares. He wants to give her a chance to start anew."
"We'll see about that. You can tell to your buddy that if he ever hurts Emma or her baby, there'll be a hell to pay."
... ...
Emma shot a sideways glance at Coulson who was on the hearing range in the open kitchen and faced her mom with an awkward smile. "So... how've you been?" The question sounded so lame and unfitting for the situation that she could only focus on the TV screen that wasn't even on.
Aileen nearly burst into tears and placed her dear old album on the coffee table. "I've managed, somehow. It hasn't been easy ever since you..."
Emma nodded. "Yeah, but you look great, Mom."
"Thanks. So do you. I ah... I love what you've done to your hair."
"Really? I hate it." Emma grimaced and swept her curls back behind her ears. Her hair had two inches regrowth with her natural golden color and the rest of it was dark brown. "Logan said that my hair looks like I've shoved my head in a skunk's ass."
Aileen looked Emma in the eye then at her double-color hair and then her face again. "Yeah, it actually looks pretty awful," she admitted and gave her a sorry smile. They both let out tiny nervous laughs.
Emma played with her fingers. "I heard you're married and have two kids," she said, trying not to sound as bitter as she felt about it.
"Divorced. It became official six months ago. Joint custody."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Don't be. It was a marriage of convenience, arranged purely for common and selfish reasons," Aileen confessed with a sorry smile. "Henry provided for me financially and helped me back on my feet and I supported him with his career goals."
"What does that mean?" Emma grimaced lightly. "Do I even want to know?"
"Henry is gay and his former management was too conservative to accept his sexual orientation."
"But... you two got kids?"
"Sweetie, he is not the only man in the world," Aileen divulged coyly and Emma covered her face, hiding her puzzled, blushing smirk. "Enough about me. I want to hear everything that's going on with you." Aileen took a moment to admire her daughter's rounded belly. "You look beautiful. I can't believe that my baby is having a baby. When is your due date?"
Emma's smile faded slowly with uneasiness because of their eavesdropper."It's in... May," she said adding an extra month on her current weeks. She could hear how the wooden spoon stopped stirring on the sizzling saucepan as if Coulson would have made a quick calculation.
"A spring baby. It is a perfect time, the weather is getting warmer. Do you know is it a boy or a girl?"
Emma shrugged. "I've liked to keep that a secret."
"You have been seeing a doctor, haven't you?"
"Yeah, sure. Everything is fine." That was a major understatement.
"I'm glad to hear that. And the father?" Aileen asked cautiously.
Emotions filled Emma's eyes for a moment when she thought about Loki. She would have so wanted to tell her mom about him, how wonderful and perfect he'd been, how good he'd been to her, everything about him, but instead she had to lie and she hated to lie to her mother in so significant matter. She saw no other way around it and stated coldly, "He doesn't know and never going to find out."
Aileen looked shocked. "But...?"
"Look, it was just casual sex. We didn't know each other very well. He didn't know I'm a mutant and I'd like to keep it that way." Emma touched her belly, feeling the tiny one kicking her for being such a damn liar. She wanted to bail out from the difficult situation and shot one more glance towards the kitchen. "Could we step outside for a moment?"
"Of course." Aileen nodded and they went out on the veranda.
Emma closed the door to seal their privacy and begun right away, "Mom, what do you really know about Coulson? What's he been telling you?"
Aileen wrapped her arms around herself in the cold but smiled. "I've knowing him for months and I trust him. Phil promised me to find you and he did."
"Phil? What happened to Mr. Coulson?" Emma asked brusquely and continued with a joke, "Don't tell me you are sleeping with him." Aileen didn't have to say word when Emma read the answer from her face and gaped. "You are... sleeping with him! Mother! Of all the guys in this world you picked up Coulson?"
"This has nothing to do with..."
Emma ran her hands over her head and left them behind her neck as if in surrender. "Oh my god! He's a SHEILD agent... or their boss. You do realize he's been only using you to get me?"
Aileen gave her a sheepish smile. "Actually it's the other way around. Please, listen. Phil is a kind, loving, caring man. He's been very understanding and he's been talking so highly of you. You made a great impression on him with your work and skills and he wants to hire you..."
"Yeah, I bet!"
"It seems to me that you two are getting along so fine... and your little sisters loves him." Aileen took a step closer to Emma with a serious face. "Sweetie, if I'd have any reason to doubt him, I would taser him no questions asked and let my stupid Dalmatian eat him."
Emma lifted a brow with a smirk. "For real?"
Aileen lifted her hands on Emma's shoulders. "No one hurts my baby girl anymore. No one," she promised solemnly. "Now, let's get back inside. You are freezing here."
Emma would have preferred to stay outside in the cold which had become like second nature to her. "Mom, gills, remember? I don't freeze, I'll adapt."
"Well, I don't."
"Do you mind if I stay here for a while? I've got a lot to think about."
"Sure." Aileen smiled and gave her a tiny hug and returned inside.
Emma turned looking at the frozen, snow-covered lake view, not really looking at anything. Her silent army of slashed snowmen greeted her, lining a path to the lake. Her mind had hardly begun processing everything what was going on, when the door behind her opened again and Steve Rogers joined her on the veranda.
"Hi, I hope you don't mind if I join you here," he said slightly awkwardly and closed the door.
"Hi!" Emma answered with a puzzled smile, glancing at him. "Not at all..." She noticed Logan through the windows keeping an eye on them like a proper father, pointing his imaginary claws towards Steve and then shoving them through his own head. Emma smirked to his gestures and glanced at Steve again who was offering her a jacket like a gentleman.
"It's very cold here. Your mother asked me to brough this to you," he said while holding her brown jacket for her. Seeing her standing there in a sleeveless tunic was enough to bring him goosebumbs.
"Oh, thanks." Emma took the jacket with one hand and draped it only over her shoulders. She wouldn't have needed it and her self-preservation instincts prevented her from turning her back at him to let him help her with the jacket. But it had been a nice gesture. "But it's not that cold to me. I could lie there on the beach only in bikinis all day. I guess you haven't seen my files yet?"
"I have," Steve blurted out, shaking the image of those mentioned bikinis off his head, and grimaced. "I mean... I was briefed about your background."
"Okay."
He stole a glance at her belly. "Doesn't the baby get cold?"
She glanced at him, surprised by the caring sound of his voice, and wrapped her hands protectively around her belly. "It will be fine in there as long as I am."
They both looked a bit uncomfortable and kept a safe distance of 5 feet between them, staring at the lake view ahead for a while.
"This place looks great and the view with the mountains is amazing," Steve said then and crossed his arms. "And the zombie snowmen are the cherry on top," he added and got a soundless chuckle from her. "How long have you been here?"
"Coulson sent you to talk with me, didn't he?" she asked doubtfully.
Steve gave her a sorry frown. He wasn't comfortable with lying to anyone. "I'm that obvious, huh?"
"Yeah," she grinned and added murmuring, "I bet he told you to sweep me off my feet to join you guys."
"Is there any chance it's working?" he jested.
"Oh, yeah. I'm getting hot already by your charms and can't resist the call of duty," she joked and felt somehow easy to talk to him. She could tell he wasn't a full-blooded SHIELD guy. He had that old-fashioned kindness in him that was rare these days. "To tell you the truth, I was going to marry you... when I was five."
Steve shot her a surprised grin. "Really?"
She shook her head embarrassed. She had already said too much, but what the hell. How often do you get a chance to meet your childhood hero? "That was until my grandfather had the heart to tell me that you had died in action. I wept myself to sleep for two weeks."
"Wow!" Steve sighed, unsure was she just joking, but he smiled fondly to her little girl's dreams. "It would have never worked. Our marriage, even if I'd been around. Probably would have been illegal in most of states. You were five and I'd been about 70."
"I've dated older," Emma stated firmly and after saying it aloud burst out laughing to his expression. "Sorry. That sounded so fucking creepy. I mean... I didn't date anyone when I was five, but... oh, shit!"
He chuckled, knowing she had probably meant Loki. "You know, a pretty girl like you shouldn't use such bad language."
She fell silence and only smiled confused. He had called her pretty. Had he meant it?
"Um... Seriously." She paused to gather her thoughts. "Now that you are actually here, Captain Rogers... I want to thank you."
"For what?"
"My grandfather was captured by Nazis back in 1940's in Germany. Corporal Walter Morrison. You saved him and many of his friends back then," she told and smiled sadly with the old memories. "He kept telling me about that story when I was little. He said that he and the boys would have wanted to buy you a drink but..." She glanced at him and met his gaze. "If he would have been here now, I know, he would have done that. So, if you don't find it too awkward, I would like to buy you that drink some times. To honor his memory."
Steve nodded in understanding, touched by her story. "I'd be honored."
"Okay," she whispered timidly. "Thank you."
"Okay."
They stood outside watching the mountains in silence and her thoughts returned to Loki as the little guy was expressing its presence again, using her as a punching bag. She wasn't setting up a date with anyone. She wasn't betraying Loki. She would never betray him. Not when she was carrying an alien life inside of her.
... ...
They all sat around a dinner table in the living room, Emma opposite her mom, Logan on the head of the table next to her, Steve on her other side and Coulson next to Aileen. It was weird and not as cozy as one could have imagined. Everyone tried to act on their best because of Aileen who apparently didn't have a clue what was really going on around her. She was like the UN on the conflict area, conciliating the hostile parties. It was like all of them had some ugly, life- threatening secrets they didn't want to reveal to her or to each other. It would have been funny if it wasn't the truth.
They were eating rice and chicken curry prepared by Coulson with Aileen's help. It was actually pretty delicious and Emma wolfed down her food with ravenous appetite. It wasn't just the fact that she was hungry, but she wanted to get the dinner over with as fast as possible because she was sweating from every pore of her body. It was the room crammed with people and that damn lighted fireplace sending out heat that was too much for her to bear.
Steve was sitting too close to her. She could smell his tempting odor with her sharpened up senses and she wondered was he only a honey trap set for her. He had been nice and polite and made intelligence conversation with everyone, and dammit, she had started to like him as a person.
"Darling, are you getting enough vitamins? You look so very pale," Aileen remarked, watching her daughter with a loving concern and passing her a bowl of salad over the table.
"Oh, thanks." Emma smiled as responsively as she could and took the salad bowl, took some of it on her plate and passed it on to Steve. "I'm taking multivitamins and try to eat healthy."
Coulson gave her a judging glance across the table like a dad. "Healthy? There were only beer and pickles in the fridge."
Surprised by his observation, Emma pointed her fork at her father. "Those are his!" she defended and subtly wiped her forehead to a napkin.
"And loads of ice cream in the freezer," Coulson added questioningly.
Logan pointed at Emma. "Hers!"
Emma shrugged innocently, staring at the ice cubes in her glass longingly, wishing to pour it all over on herself like in some freaking wet t-shirt contest. "We went shopping today for a reason, okay?" She took a long gulp of the iced water, the cubes clinking in her glass as she devoured the drink.
Coulson couldn't ignore her visible discomfort. "Are you okay? Is the curry too spicy?"
"The food is great as long as it won't kill me," Emma acknowledged. "Baby hormones." That was her excuse for everything weird.
"You know it is very important to eat healthy for both of you. The baby will take everything it needs from you and you must make sure you have a proper nutrition. I think you should favor organic food... and maybe be out more often."
Emma pressed the side of the cool glass against her cheek and fought off an urge to snort since she had a bit bigger things to worry about than her diet. Yeah, the baby was taking everything it needed from her and right now it wanted her to cool down and go ice swimming in the frozen lake. And she was practically living outside now days.
"Yeah, well, Logan hunts and fishes. There's nothing more organic than a skinned deer carcass slammed on the table," Emma retorted as much to her mother as to Logan who used to bring his fresh kills inside the house for chopping. She hated it.
Steve Rogers chewed his mouth empty and asked conversationally, "Are the hunting grounds any good here?"
Having no interest of keeping up the conversation, Logan eyed at Cap and Coulson while loading his fork with rice. "It'll do. But unfortunately it's not hunting season now. It makes my knuckles itchy," he said as a warning.
Coulson washed down his mouthful with a sip of water and eyed at the mutants. "So, hunting and odd jobs? Was that how you were planning to provide for the upcoming baby? Emma, you don't have papers. You're an illegal immigrant here. Have you thought about the child's healthcare? Education?"
"We've got everything figure out, thanks. Private schools and stuff," Logan grunted.
"I'm sure."
Aileen placed her cutlery on her plate and grabbed her paper napkin, her attention fixed on her troubled looking daughter. "Emily... Emma, I was thinking," she begun, a smile lighting her eyes with a glimmer of hope and hesitation, "You could come living with me."
Emma and Logan exchanged looks and Emma licked her lips, changing her glass on the left side of her neck. "Ah, look Mom..."
"You both are welcome, of course," Aileen promised glancing at Logan, twisting her napkin in her fingers, "We have plenty of space and a nice guesthouse. Logan, you could stay as long as you like. And Ems, I'm sure you would love it there. The house in near the beach, just like we always dreamed of. We could all help with the baby and..."
Emma put her glass down with an unintentionally loud clunk. "Mom, please..." she repeated aguishly, combing her fingers through her hair. Even her scalp felt sweaty and she wished just to disappear.
Aileen carried on, "Your little sisters can't wait to meet you. We could start all over again as a family, together. Phil said that everything will be all right. You will be safe with us."
Emma turned at the only Phil there was wondering what was he really up to. "Other than dating my mother, what's your place in all of this?"
Logan snorted. "Aileen, you're dating him?"
Aileen ignored Logan's judging tone and glanced at Coulson with a loving smile. "We've been going steady for months already."
"Christ!" Emma hissed quietly and tried to forget what her mom just said, glowering at Coulson suspiciously. She had seen them sharing tender touches and calling each other by first names and it did look like they were in love, and she found it hard to accept.
Coulson had his arms on the table and he leaned forward. "Emma, I'm offering you a deal, here and now. I have nothing to hide, everyone can hear it," he said, looking her in the eyes. "I would have recruited you into my new team as an agent, with learning by doing method, however the current circumstance is greatly against my original plan," he admitted pointing his hand towards her belly.
Emma swallowed and resorted to her ice glass again, keeping it against her belly. "Then what do you want from me?"
"Come back to the States and help me out. As the director of SHIELD I can guarantee all of your safety. Aileen is right. We'll keep you, your baby and your family safe from Hydra. I've got friends in high places. I'll drop all of the allegations and charges against you. I want to give you a fair chance to start anew. No more looking over your shoulder. All I'm asking from you is to participating in a few tests..."
Logan straightened himself in his seat. "Here we go!" he grunted, annoyed, dropping his fork. "You came here to set up a nice dinner and some old-fashion threatening?"
"Hear me out. Please," Coulson continued in his calm tone and Emma could only stare at him, "You have a gift. You adapt, you heal fast. That gift could save lives if we could harness its possibilities. We just need some blood, maybe a bit bone marrow if you're up to it to donate some."
Logan cracked his knuckles, giving Coulson a murderous glare. "So, basically what you're saying is that you just want to exploit her?"
"That's not it." From Emma's eyes, Coulson saw the twinge of fear passing her thoughts and he lifted his hands reassuringly. "I won't put you through anything you feel uncomfortable with. I wouldn't risk yours or your child's heath. It could be done after a year, or two, or whenever you're ready. No one is going to touch your child, I promise. Frankly, my predecessor asked me to coerce you into this project by any means, but I don't want to do that. I know your history too well, Emma. I don't want to force you into anything. I won't. "
"SHIELD can do pretty amazing things," Steve Rogers added, sifting in his seat to look at Emma better. "I mean, look at me. Back in the forties, I applied to the army several times but the recruiters rejected me every time. They told me that I wasn't an army material. I was scrawny and 5'4 tall, shorter than you. But I wanted to serve my country so bad that when SSR, the early version of SHIELD approached me, I volunteered into an experiment they offered. They gave me this serum that made me what I am today. I guess it was the only reason I survived for being in ice for 66 years. The people of SHIELD just as director Coulson here brought me back. They had the means to unfreeze me."
Emma gaped at the man. "You were in ice for nearly 7 decades?" she asked, only fantasizing about that wonderfully cooling idea.
"Yeah."
"Why were you in the ice in the first place? Did they put you in there? Are they going to freeze you again after we're done here?"
Steve grinned lazily. "No, but I'll like to see them try," he said and Emma shared his grin.
"He heroically saved the lives of millions of people in 1945 by crashing Hydra's Valkyrie bomber-plane into Arctic Ocean, in ice. Decades later, when we found him, we did all we could to bring him back," Coulson explained proudly and with a fan boy admiration and it got Steve slightly awkward.
"Valkyrie..." Emma murmured sadly, her fingers drawing tiny circles on her belly. That name sent her far off on the frozen planes of Greenland where she met Loki the first time and she would have so wanted to go there on the glacier, letting the arctic winds cool her down.
She turned back at Coulson. "But I'm not a hero like him," she said pointing at Rogers. "In fact Fury considered me as a traitor for what I did and I don't even dare to imagine the charges you have against me. I bet treason for starters. Why would you give me this chance?"
Coulson met her gaze with sympathy. "Well, the thing is that you saved my life once. A couple of times actually and you stopped Loki, not to mention exposed the Hydra infiltration inside SHIELD. By my standards, that makes you a hero. And I owe you a debt. This is my way of paying it. Just a few tests and you'll be doing something good, something that really matters, for an exchange of a whole new free life. Come on. What do you say? Florida is great in this time of year."
Aileen held Coulson's hand openly on the table and turned her hopeful eyes from him to her daughter. "Everything will finally be okay, Ems."
The warmth of the room and the emotional load of the situation were getting the best of her and Emma felt her abdomen getting tight with a building up cramp. It felt suddenly so cold, cooling good and yet bad at the same time, and it was spreading like painful waves all over her in the rhythm of her heartbeats. She had overheated her body by staying inside too long.
She got up on her feet while she still could, staring at the people around her. "Could you please hold that thought?" She knocked over her glass and the water bottle on the table but didn't care about the mess. "I need to... ah... go," she stammered in a slightly pained voice, holding on from the edge of the table.
"You okay, kid?" Logan asked quietly as they eyes met and she nodded. He knew her best but not good enough. "You don't have to decide now. Why don't you get some fresh air?" he suggested and helped the chair out of her way.
She exhaled slowly. This was something new. The strange coldness and waves of pain was taking turns inside of her and it felt like pins and needles all over her body. She was visibly trembling and taking support from Logan.
"Emily?" Aileen sounded worried.
"What is it? Is the... baby coming now?" Coulson asked greatly concerned.
Emma grimaced. "Oh, you wish!" she grunted. "I'm fine. I just need to get out for a minute."
When she glanced at her mother, she noticed that something made Aileen staring back at her in a perplexed manner. She recalled that look. It was the same Aileen had when she had seen Emma's gills the first time eight years ago. "What's wrong, sweetie?" Aileen asked, standing up on the other side of the table.
Steve Rogers noticed the same thing and kept gazing at Emma confused. "I'm sorry for saying but... you don't look too good..."
Coulson too was on his feet, his eyes nailed at her. "Emma, what is happening?"
Emma turned at Logan, who was partly holding her, his face also a question mark. That's when she noticed her own hand on his shoulder, the skin of her hand and arm was very slowly changing color into pale blue, her own natural hue giving way. The same thing happened to her face. It kept happening like in waves, spreading all over her with every heartbeat, like the blue deepening hue would have been carried by her veins that were gleaming unnaturally blue under her skin.
She shot a quick look at Logan and whispered that she needed to go and then she fled out through the main door, leaving behind their bombard of questions. She didn't want to stay under their gazes on the veranda and headed on the front yard.
Once out, she ran to the closest snow mound, dropped on her knees and surrounded her belly with the snow, scooping it all over her abdomen in panic. She sucked in a grateful breath, the frosty air feeling like a blessing. The cold evening around her was like a lover's caress. She scooped some snow in her palms and washed her face and neck with it.
Then she stared at her pale blue hands and arms in disbelief as if she'd been in a nightmare, just wanting to wake up.
"What just happened to her? Logan?" Coulson demanded, getting a flashback from the 90's when he encountered his first aliens.
Logan turned back at their puzzled houseguest, standing broadly in the entrance hall, stopping them from going after her. "Sit down! She'll be fine," he reassured hastily. "She just needs a minute. I... I've seen a lot of mutants who are blue. Not a big deal."
Aileen marched in front of Logan with a fierce look like ready to murder someone. "Not a big deal? Didn't you see her? She is not fine. Don't you dare to stand between me and my daughter now, Logan!"
Logan watched down at her and stepped aside relenting and she went out looking for Emma, but the men he didn't let pass.
Logan glowered at Coulson and Cap under his brows. "Get your asses back at the table!"
Coulson took a daring step closer. "A normal pregnancy shouldn't be a problem to a woman who adapts to anything. I'm taking a wild guess here that Loki is the father of that baby. Am I right?"
... ...
Pulling her coat on, Aileen dashed outside after her daughter and found Emma sitting on her knees on the ground and hugging herself with a pile of snow as if it had been a blanket. "Ems?" she called out softly while approaching her kid. The snowmen army in the dimming yard looked spooky.
"I'm turning into a damn smurf. How about that, huh?" Emma said wryly and kept staring at her hands that looked still unnaturally pale. The coldness and her adapting abilities were working its magic on her. All the pain was gone and the blue hue of her skin had slowly faded away as if her body had absorbed and subsided her freshly sprouted, fledgling Jotun features. "Fuck! Did they both see it?"
With unwavering steps, Aileen moved next to Emma, unsure what they had actually witnessed. "Yeah, but it's all right. You'll be okay. We'll get through this together, darling."
Emma heaved a tired sigh and wiped her face with the back of her palm. "It was so easy to fall in love with him," she confessed with a sad smile, took a deep breath and let it out through her mouth. "I had been afraid to let anyone close for years but I fell head over heels for him."
"For who?" Aileen asked cautiously.
"Loki. The father of this baby. His name is Loki. He was the greatest thing that ever happened to me and by far the worst. You should have seen him, Mom. He was perfect but what else could you expect from a god, right?" Emma said sounding desperate. She dug herself up from the snow and swiveled round to see her mother's confused face. "You'll think I'm crazy for what am I about to tell you, but it's okay. Sometimes I think that I must be crazy too, but then I feel this little guy kicking inside of me and I know that Loki wasn't just an illusion. I didn't make him up."
Aileen stroke her girl's hair and placed her hands on Emma's bare arms, feeling her pale skin so terribly cold and fearing that she would get sick, at the least. She had turned blue for Chrissake! "Then tell me."
Emma tilted her head with a hopeless, rueful grin. "The man I fell in love with... the father of your first grandchild... is an alien. And I'm not talking about some foreign guy across the seas, I'm talking about a full-blooded, living and breathing being from a completely another planet and another galaxy. He literally fell into my life from the sky. And this baby is a half alien and when Coulson and his buddies figures it out, they'll never leave me in peace." She gasped, frustrated, waving her hands." There. I said it. I know it sounds insane but that's the truth, Mom."
Aileen just stared at her daughter a few seconds, unable to hide her concern and disbelief. "Okay," she sighed dispassionately, stroking Emma's arms. She had seen worse cases in her work and this was her own child who had gone through a lot. Her delusional behavior would be the least of their worries now. "It's okay. We'll get through this. Phil genuinely wants to help you. Please, let him."
Emma dropped her gaze and her exhale came out with a faint snort. It felt like the trust they had been rebuilding again was already cracking and breaking. "Mom, I tired of being afraid..." she whispered weakly.
"There's no need to be afraid, darling." Aileen held her daughter tighter and shuddered with cold as a cool breeze blew over the yard. "Why don't we go back inside to talk more?"
"You go, Mom. I need a moment." Emma released herself from her mom's hold, knowing she didn't believe her, but she couldn't blame Aileen for it. She wrapped her arms around her, thinking it over once more and just standing there. "I guess it's time to stop running," she pondered aloud. "Could you please ask Coulson here after a few minutes? If his bargain still stands I need to make this deal with him."
Aileen nodded. "I promise it will be all right. He's on our side. There's no force in this world that could take you away from me. I love you, sweetie."
Emma nearly dissolved into tears with those words she had missed so much. I love you, sweetie. It was the same words her mom said before that big black SUV took her away. Emma swallowed hard and tried to smile. "I love you too, Mom," she said in a tiny voice that sounded emotionless.
When Aileen reluctantly left her daughter alone for a minute and went back inside to deliver her message to Coulson, Emma felt like she stood in an eye of an emotional storm where logic held no place. She saw only two options; either to get rid of Coulson and Steve Rogers or take their deal and hope for the best. Both felt very, very bad choices. She finally had her mother and Logan. She didn't want to leave them but neither could she risk the safety of her baby. She wondered if Coulson already had a cold locker with her name tag on it in some secret SHIELD base. Was she really going to take his deal? What if he would betray her?
She let out a suffocated groan of despair and punched her fist through the closed snowman's head with her claws, knocking the sunglasses off its face. Oh, great! She just killed snow-Coulson!
There wasn't just a desperate storm whirling inside her. She took note that the wind grew stronger around her like a suddenly building up twister, waving her hair and the hem of her tunic-shirt. Stroking her hair off her face in the wind, she lifted her gaze up at the darkening sky and her heart skipped a beat the moment she saw the first sparkles of the colorful whirlwind in the clouds. The unnatural tornado came down from the sky in a huge flash, hitting on the yard beyond Logan's car. The vibrating, bass-like wave that it made, knocked over the remaining nearby snowmen, sending the loose snow flying out of its way all around. Emma stood her ground, watching the vision before her like a statue, feeling the vibration in her chest that also woke up the little guy. She welcomed the cooling breezes that caressed her before the wave of warm, electrified air took over. Then it was over, the snowflakes returned slowly back on the ground, floating down nearly magically like inside of a huge snow globe. And in the middle were three figures, men, emerged from the sky.
Emma inhaled cautiously as the snow veil was thinning and revealing one of the men who was surely dressed in black and green. "He's... here," she sighed in awe, not believing her eyes, wondering who the hell the other two were. "Here comes your daddy," she whispered to her baby, laying her hand on her belly.
She took a few cautious steps forward, her heart pounding fiercely. The man advanced towards her across the wintry yard, the falling snow thinning so that she could see his beautiful face. It was really him; Loki. The other men followed him like bodyguards, their impressive, huge helmets like the horns of Minotaur.
Leading the way, Loki strode to her across the snowy yard, overwhelmed with sparkling delight when he saw her. The moment he spotted her, he took note she was wearing his colors as though she had been expecting him and his inviting dimples expressed his approval. The coldness of the Midgardian winter enveloped him, reviving his Jotun senses and it felt like returning home with every step that carried him closer to her. And just like on their very first encountered, he found her again alone on a frozen land.
Being too stunned to even smile, Emma just went to him, meeting him in the halfway, forgetting her troubles. The last time she saw him, he had been nearly dying with that awful, gaping laser burn in his lower chest. And now he stood there, appearing somehow mightier than ever. She halted right in front of him as though to check that he was real at first, whispering his name with the tenderest sigh he'd ever heard.
"My dearest Emma," he nodded subtly and beamed at her with a smile warm enough to melt Greenland glaciers.
Puzzled, she glanced at the guards in the golden armors behind him. "Did you make it? Are... are you king of Asgard now?" she barely managed to ask, seeing it the only reason he could have been accompanied by those guarding warriors.
Loki smiled fondly to her remark. "I gave up that venomous dream to pursuit a better, more glorious one." However, being finally there with her, he surely felt like he'd been crowned king of the Nine Realms. Not even the presence of his guards could spoil the moment from him. "Um... Emma, my royal guards. Einherjar, meet the most precious woman in Midgard," he introduced, his eyes never leaving her. Emma waved her hand at the strange warriors who bowed to her formally and Loki continued, "Don't mind about them. What matters now is us."
His observant eyes took in every bit of her, her two-colored hair that (he had to admit) didn't become her, her lovely blue eyes, tears on her cheeks, her lips that he could tell were quivering with emotions, her green tunic shirt that hugged her forms and revealed the shape of her fuller breasts and rounded belly. Her small frame was otherwise maybe even more slender than he recalled and she looked so very pale, evidently due to her abnormal pregnancy. Even so, in his eyes she looked more beautiful than ever. His gaze, still full of wonder, lingered a moment on her graceful bump that cradled the life he had sired. Merely looking at it woke his primal desire and obsessive protectiveness of her.
Seeing where his eyes were fixed and failing to interpret his gesture, Emma frowned with a spark of anger. "Don't you dare to give me that look. It is yours!" she defended hastily.
Loki met her gaze with a million-dollar-smile. "I know, my Valkyrie. I know."
Her hands clenched on her slender hips. "You better have a damn good explanation for it, Loki! Because... because you have no idea what this thing is doing to me."
"Would you believe me if I say I do?" he asked in a sorry tone. It was as though they were picking up where they had left off six months ago and his compassion towards her knew no limits. "You are very beautiful," he breathed out affectionately, offering his hand to her.
"I've looked better," she said in a wry tone of voice. And a lot bluer like just a moment ago. That would have turned him on! It didn't hurt though, to hear a nice compliment from him.
"Maybe your hair is a bit of a mess but otherwise you are very lovely," he spoke sincerely with a longing smile, his hand still waiting for hers. She hesitated to take it, but took anyway and his hand felt so warm against her icy fingers. "And so very cold," he added, concerned, feeling the coldness of her skin. He reflexively cupped her both hands in his and stepped in to her guarded personal territory, and she let him. "Emma, you are freezing. Let me give you my coat."
"It's okay," she protested softly before he made a move to unclasp their hands, loving his sweet concern of her, loving his gentle touch. "Have you already forgotten that I'll adapt? Cold is great. I need it. It's better than chocolate."
He searched her eyes and took her hands against his heart, and she inched closer into the field of his magnetic charm, studying him, looking up in his eyes, that showed only affection and tenderness. This was her Loki. The one she had fallen in love with. She could smell his divine scent with her sharpen up senses, and that and his dimpled smile was enough to confirm her. His hand rose to her face and he brushed her cool cheek with the back of his fingers, earning a shivering sigh from her.
His tender touch made her break into a melting smile. "You are really here," she whispered and pressed herself against him, feeling him solid and real. She felt the kicks of their baby as though the tiny one had been greeting its dad and it brought happy tears into her eyes. Her hands roamed over his chest to his shoulders and further up, touching his face that felt much warmer than her own skin. "Please, don't ever vanish again."
One strong arm wrapped around her, the other hand caressed her dyed hair that changed back into her original blond color with a glow of his magic. He held her gaze and smiled approvingly as she looked more like herself again.
"I won't. I am here and I shall never leave you, Emma," he promised in a passionate tone and closed her into a cuddling hug which she gave into eagerly. She held him tight, pressing her face against the side of his neck, smelling his skin, smelling the scent of his hair. Her body quivered in his embrace and he loved it, knowing she hadn't been holding anyone else this close. "I am sorry I burdened you with waiting for me so long, but I am here now and I have come to claim you as my own," he said softly, his cheek against her golden curls. He inhaled the sweet scent of her hair, the fragrance of exotic fruits he could almost taste.
Emma moaned in response, absorbing him with her every sense, becoming nearly drunk of him. He was really here. His voice was so sexy, he looked so damn hot, he felt so good and he smelled divine and she wanted to drown in his embrace and he said just that... Wait? What did he say?
Emma pulled her head back to look him in the eyes but his gaze was already fixed on somewhere behind her. "What...?"
"Emma!" Coulson's concerned voice echoed on the front yard as he moved forward with Logan, Aileen and Steve Rogers. They had all ran outside after the strange vibrations that had gone through the house and then they stopped on their tracks after seeing Loki and his intimidating guards.
Loki stared at the men and the blonde woman who bore a resemblance to his Emma. It seemed to him as though Emma had been playing house with SHIELD agents, and he didn't like the idea. His suspicious gaze dropped down on his lover. "Um... Did I interrupt something?"
Emma glanced at the others over her shoulder and bit her bottom lip. Things were sure to get complicated. She could already imagine how fun it was going to be to continue the dinner together with all of them. "Coulson, look who's here. Everything is fine. Loki just came to say hello. I bet you're a bit surprised, but trust me, so am I." She smiled like there wouldn't have been anything odd with the situation. "Loki, I want you to meet my mother, Aileen. Mom, this is Loki of Asgard, the man I told you about. And his um... entourage. Loki, Steve Rogers. I guess the rest of you already know each other," she gave a quick introduction and turned her face back at Loki. "We were having a dinner. Are you hungry? Have you already eaten? There's plenty of food left..."
He held his protective arms around her. "A dinner with the family sounds lovely, my dear, but the next time we shall dine in Asgard."
"Loki!" Logan grunted and moved closer across the yard. "You've got some nerves to show your face around here, you son of a bitch!"
The Einherjar warriors stepped forward in front of Loki, arming themselves with swords, guarding their lord as much from the mortals as the mortal men from their trickster god.
Emma startled, watching the situation develop. "Wait! Hang on now! Logan! No one's getting physical!" she shouted out, getting worried for all of them. "Loki, tell your guards to back off! Why don't we all just go back inside?"
Coulson greeted the trickster god with a sullen look through Loki's men, wishing he would have brought his new big guns with him. "So, you've returned, Loki. As the director of SHIELD I demand you to state your business in Earth."
Loki's hand settled on Emma's waist, keeping her near. "I have come to take back what is mine, son of Coul. And that is none of your concern," he answered with a subtle smile that hardly curved his lips. Then he continued to Logan in more benevolent manner, "Logan, it is good to see you too. Thank you for looking after Emma while I was gone. I came to retrieve her like I promised. We fear your realm is unsuitable for her condition." His gaze switched to Aileen with his charming smile. "Madam, a pleasure to meet you. Emma has told me a great deal about you. All the more reason why she should come with me. But let me assure you, your fair daughter will be safe with me."
"Emily... what is he talking about? Please, you can't leave now. We just got together. You are not feeling well," Aileen protested breathlessly, not fully understanding their odd situation or where those men had came from, or the sudden change of Emma's hair color. Her daughter looked now almost as the same, innocent girl as she was when Aileen lost her. "Let's all go inside to talk. I would love to get to know your boyfriend."
"Emma, please step away from him!" Coulson ordered, really missing his gun and back-ups. "Loki, she is under SHIELD's protection and is not leaving this planet!"
"Let her go, Loki!" Steve demanded, arming himself with his shield, ready to fight with the Asgardian warriors.
Emma gaped at Loki dumbstrucked while the others begun their choir of objections she hardly paid attention to. His eyes locked with hers in a kind and loving way. "Say goodbye, my love. It looks like it is time for us to leave already," he stated and drew her tightly against his body.
"Could we just talk about this at first?"
Watching Emma and Loki together again, Logan did something he thought he didn't have in him; he quelled his anger and said the hardest words ever, "Take good care of her, Loki! Or I swear I'll come up there somehow to beat you beyond recognition!"
"It will be my greatest honor, Logan." Loki bowed his head in wonder after gaining Logan's blessing. "Heimdall, open the Bifrost!" he shouted then up to the cloudy sky.
"What? No, you can't take my daughter away from me!" Aileen yelped in disbelief, feeling like they had suddenly entered into a powder keg. Everyone was tensed and Phil Coulson was behaving like a stern soldier giving orders and revealing a side of him she had never seen before.
Coulson and Steve were advancing towards Loki's guards when Logan knocked them down from behind.
"What the hell, Logan!" Emma shook her head, disquieted by their sudden arrangement, her gaze bouncing between the two men she loved.
Logan gave her a rueful smile. "I love you, kid. See you next time."
"Logan! Father?" Emma whimpered, staring Logan in the eye, not ready for leaving him or her mom like this, unable to free herself from Loki's hold. "Loki, I can't..."
Like a roaring storm, the glimmering shower of rainbow lights came straight down from the sky upon them and sucked them within it. Their figures vanished from the face of Earth in a brilliant flash, carried away by a force beyond understanding of the remaining mortals on the silent front yard. All four of them were gone; Emma, Loki and the guards. Only some snow was floating back on the ground on the burned Bifrost stamp after the gust of strong whirlwind.
Stunned, Aileen took feeble steps forward the circle in the snowy ground, her gaze still beholding the sky that had swallowed her daughter somewhere up there. "Where is she? Where's Emily?" she cried out in a shock. She couldn't fit it in her head that everything her daughter told her about her alien boyfriend was true.
Steve pushed himself up from the snow and faced Logan annoyed, giving him a shove. "What's the matter with you?"
"What the hell was that, Logan?" Coulson joined the questioning. "You let Loki abducted her? We could have saved her together!"
Ignoring the others, Logan bent forward, his hands on his knees. The pain he felt was the worst of its kind; emotional, and it was eating him up. He had learned to love his daughter. He had allowed himself to love her, swearing he'd be there for her no matter what. And now he gave her up without a fight. Why?
Logan swallowed hard, his eyes brimming, trying to reasoning his own choice to his-stubborn-self who wasn't willing to comprehend it at all. He knew Emma would have taken Coulson's deal if she had stayed and with it risked her whole life. He had seen the way Loki looked at her; his look had spoken volumes. That goddamn alien loved his kid and Logan was sure Loki would keep her and her baby safe better than anyone on this planet. It didn't make it any easier to let her go. He never gets used to losing the people he loved.
Aileen stared at Coulson and Logan, looking simply hopeless. "Someone's better tell me what the hell just happened to my daughter!" she screamed out in a pained voice, worry twisting her insides. "Where is she?"
Coulson went to her, his face clouded with remorse. "Aileen... I'm so sorry. We need to talk."
Logan sat himself on the cold snow, his breathing harsh and heavy as if he'd run a mile. His tearful gaze met with Aileen's. "Emma is safe," he promised to her and nodded towards Coulson, "from his people. She'll be safe."
He really hoped so.
... ...
The Bifrost Bridge sparkled all around them and it felt like they had been skyrocketing through the tunnel of endless northern lights across the universe. The vision was breathtaking and Emma hardly dared to breathe as she was holding on Loki for dear life. In a few seconds her precious Earth was left light-years away and she feared that letting go of him would cast her out into the unknown space. Loki kept her safe. He held her close and tight, their bodies glued to each other, hers all tensed and his as though protecting her and their baby.
No matter how furious she was to him for making decisions without her approval and snatching her away from the only people she cared about, her family, she was struck with awe and wonder when traveling through the wormhole with him. It was an astonishing opportunity given to her, too extraordinary to be ignored by arguing. She could let him have it later.
As she kept marveling the sight around her, Loki kept watching her. She was finally there where she belonged to; in his embrace. When she turned her face at him, their eyes locked and she couldn't shy away from the intensity of his gaze, not while being in his arms. And then it truly hit her with magnitude, that momentous realization; the Trickster had kept his word and returned for her. He could have taken her anywhere in the world and the scariest part of it was that she wasn't the slightest afraid, not with him. In a split second she could read him. His emerald gaze dropped down on her lips, his hand cupped the nape of her neck, his thin lips parted before his face came down closer to hers. She felt her heart quivering with the cocktail of emotions only he brought out in her and her fingers clutched on the back of his coat. She had missed him so much. He used that small golden opportunity and kissed her, the touch of his lips as light as a breath on hers. She surrendered to it, closing her eyes and tasting him. It was enough to steal a little piece of her soul and yet making her feel more complete than in a long time.