It had been two months since Adrian came to Asgard, properly this time...and he still hadn't heard from Abigail. Considering she tended to hang around Hawkeye (who was almost permanently partnered with his mother) that could only mean bad news.

So Adrian called his father to ask Heimdall if he knew where she was.

Only to come face to face with said girl.

"Abby? I thought this line went to dad?"

"Yeah, I'm on Asgard. Coincidentally I may have made Loki a teeny-tiny bit paranoid about arrows now..." said Abigail a little bit annoyed.

"Why are you on Asgard?!"

"Someone thought it would be funny to tell your grandparents about us...and then convinced Odin that it would be a good idea to meet his grandson's fiancee now rather than after he became an heir to the throne. I've been here for over a month now," said Abby.

Adrian groaned.

"Dammit. I bet this is dad's idea of insuring I actually come to visit. And Frigga probably...no, she definitely helped with the convincing," said Adrian.

"In any case could you return so these musclebound morons will quit trying to hit on me? I've had to hang around Sif just to get rid of them!"

"I'm on the next flight there. Just hang tight," promised Adrian.

But first, he had to do a little shopping to prank Loki with. No way was he letting this one slide!

Loki's first indication that Adrian had finally learned about Abigail was the massive pie to the face. Thor had started laughing when he realized what his brother had been hit with.

"Where's Abigail?" he asked the nearest maid.

"The gardens, milord."

"Right. Time to show that little brat who's the top prankster around here," said Loki.

Abigail was suffering yet another one of Fandral's come ons (normally done after a practice match so she had no issues with kicking his ass) when someone slapped her ass from behind.

Under normal circumstances she would punch the bastard responsible. However she recognized that hand.

"Sorry Fandral, she's taken," said a voice she really missed.

"It's about damn time! What took you so long?" she asked turning.

Adrian was right behind her.

"Had to get something to pay Loki back for dragging you up here," deadpanned Adrian.

"In that case, it's perfectly acceptable. Need any help?"

"The more the merrier, besides, shooting arrows in dad's ass does get boring after a while," chuckled Adrian.

There was a sudden rainshower above his head.

"I knew you were behind that attack."

"Prank war?" said Adrian grinning.

"Absolutely. Asgard is boring as hell after a century or two," agreed Loki without hesitation.

Fandral winced. The last time Loki had a prank war it took ODIN to get him to stop.

Frigga was amused. Pranks had been going around for over a week, and she alone knew why aside from the culprits.

"Another prank war?" sighed Odin.

"Adrian was less than pleased Loki brought his girlfriend to Asgard without telling him."

Odin had met Abigail...and had been impressed. Had she been born on any world but Midgard, she would have joined the ranks of Sif and Brunhilde years ago.

She stayed only because Loki wanted to see the look on his son's face when he found out she had meet his grandparents.

"Can you inform them to tone it down a bit?" asked Odin.

"I'll let Loki know you're onto them. They should be done in about a week," promised Frigga with a laugh.

And sure enough the prank war settled down. It was a draw between the teams of Abigail and Adrian against Thor and Loki.

Abigail was just happy that the men of Asgard were finally leaving her alone after Adrian gave her that hickey.

A month after that (and being dragged back to Asgard by a rather bored Thor who had bumped into him during yet another raid by bandits) Adrian found himself in a rather...unique situation.

Odin had him stuck in a room being quizzed on what he knew of politics of the realms. For every answer he got right, Odin's eyebrows went up.

Mostly because he had Heimdall checking on Adrian, and the man had never once gone anywhere near the palaces or ruling bodies of the realms he visited.

Loki however, was well aware of Natasha's training methods. One of which happened to be integrating yourself with the lower classes and becoming one of them for a short period of time. Which mean Adrian learned about each realm from the ground up, and was more aware of who the ruling bodies were and who ran them than even Thor was. The peasants knew about their kings and queens, they just didn't care. But they taught their children about them, if only so they knew who to avoid unless summoned.

"Enough. Tell me, Adrian, just how is it that you know more about the ruling classes of the nine realms when even Thor has trouble?" asked the woman who would have been his tutor in the subject.

"My mother," said Adrian with a shrug.

"Your...mother?"

"My mother is an elite assassin, one who is rather well known on Midgard. Part of her training she had me go through as a child was how to blend in with the working class. No one expects to find the son of an assassin among them, they're more likely to hide with the nobles who people would be too afraid to offend. As a result, you tend to learn who rules which realm, how long they've been in power and who their family is. Those below serve the people above them, and they make it a point to warn their children in case they attract the attention of anyone from a much higher class than them. They were more than happy to enlighten me on the subject since I was a traveler," said Adrian.

Loki couldn't help it, he snorted openly.

"I believe that was more of a case of 'who not to piss off and why'."

"Semantics," countered Adrian.

The tutor looked at Odin helplessly. However Adrian learned the ruling classes, it was clear she wasn't needed. It had taken the man less time to learn about the nine realms and who ran them than it had to teach Thor the same information that almost never stuck to his brain. Loki had learned it, but he was always the more subtle of the brothers and preferred to read rather than brawl.

"It would seem that your mother's method of teaching is quite effective," said Odin even.

"She is a very good teacher...and it didn't hurt that she tended to throw beanbags at my head if I looked like I was about to fall asleep," said Adrian. Beanbags loaded with a minute amount of the Kiss.

Adrian had developed his immunity early on, partly from handling and partly from his mother's training methods.

"So what else was I supposed to learn while cooped up in a room all day?" he asked.

"Etiquette..." started the tutor...until she saw the man fall almost immediately asleep at the thought of more of those lessons.

Loki helpfully zapped him.

"Cheer up. It should go much faster than the last time you had to take them while in training for your mother's family."

"Don't remind me! All those freaking spoons and cutlery! And all the lessons of how not to act around the noblewomen! I avoided even thinking of Russia after that horror fest!" groaned Adrian.

Loki was clearly amused, the tutor not so much.

"Has he had to take such lessons on nobility before?" she asked.

"His grandmother on Midgard forced him through an entire six months of it, and the only reason it took half the time was because he wanted to get it over with the first time instead of taking remedial lessons. I believe his mother took great pleasure in using it as a threat in the rare occasions he misbehaved."

"Why did you have to put me with a woman who was the granddaughter of Russian nobility and who's mother would recognize my birth name on sight?" whined Adrian.

He had nearly been forced to undergo a second series of lessons on English nobility because of his birth name, until Natasha reminded her mother that her son would rather be a Romanov than a Potter or a Black because of how backwards and insular the English were. He still had to learn it just in case.

"I dare say that Adrian would be just as charming as Thor with more luck when it comes to remembering what is and isn't allowed. What else is there?"

The tutor looked at a loss. Thor was barely acceptable, and it was true Adrian would likely have better luck in a more social setting than his uncle. And since he clearly didn't need any lessons on nobility, she had nothing to do.

Odin dismissed her and looked at Loki.

"It would appear that your decision to let Adrian leave Asgard was a wise one."

"I know my son. He hates being cooped up since he learned how to turn into a crow, and sitting around for hours on end for something he considers boring would be torture for him."

Loki had gotten Abigail around that hurdle by doing it while practicing her bow. He quizzed her while she shot her arrows into a target (mainly things with Amora and the Executioner's face on it) and she passed with flying colors.

If, an hour later when Odin was satisfied that Adrian will at least be able to handle court life better than Thor, he leaves the room at a rather fast pace before shouting 'FREEDOM!' with an insane cackle, no one comments on it. Aside from Odin giving Loki a Look.

"Adrian really hates lessons on noble life?" said Loki sheepishly.

If Odin thought Adrian would stick around after learning he wouldn't have to suffer more lessons on nobility, he was wrong.

Instead he decides to abscond with Abigail and take her on a tour of the nine realms to introduce her to his new friends.

"So when's the wedding?" asked a mischievous Eowyn.

Adrian looked at Abigail sheepishly. He had proposed to her during the prank war, partly to lure Loki and Thor out of hiding but also because he genuinely loved her. Abigail had said yes because she knew that Adrian was a rare guy and she would be a fool to let him slip away.

Besides, Frigga was somewhat intimidating when she put her mind to it.

There was, however, a minor problem to just getting hitched.

They had no idea who was going to walk Abigail down the isle on Earth (they were going to have two weddings...one for Earth and one on Asgard, mostly because Earth still had trouble acknowledging that there were other inhabited worlds out there without freaking out, and their governments didn't acknowledge Asgard's authority) and it was something that had sparked a bit of a debate between them.

Abigail thought of Blade as an older brother, and he technically was considering he was raised by Whistler since he was thirteen. But Clint was also her brother, and she knew he would want in on it.

"I have no idea. We're still trying to get the details down," admitted Adrian sheepishly.

Actually he had an idea about that, but he wanted to surprise Abigail.

On Earth...

Clint and Blade were having a bit of a stare-off. Mostly because one of them was going to be beside Adrian and the other was walking Abby down the isle. Who knew Blade had a protective streak towards family?

So when Adrian called and offered a new option, the stalemate ended.

Clint was going to be his best man while Blade walked Abby. Zoe was going to be the ring girl while some of the younger mutants acted as the flower girls.

Since it was going to be held in Xavier's mansion (partially because he was good friends with the Professor but mostly so they would have a rather large amount of back up in case someone came after Adrian because of who his mother was) the mutants were all excited about it.

Mostly because this was something fun for people who weren't mutants but would defend them without hesitation. Besides, they all loved Adrian.

"I still can't believe he's getting married," said Natasha over another shot of vodka.

"Face it Nat, you raised him and now he's grown up," said Clint. Blade was currently making a list of upgrades he was going to ask Adrian to do for him, since he was one of the few magicals that the half-vampire trusted to do it right the first time.

Natasha downed her drink. It was hard to believe that a few decades ago she had been bouncing her son on her knee between missions, and now he was planning to marry his girlfriend of two years. She didn't know whether to be happy or cry.

"Look at the bright side...at least you know he still calls you every week. Loki said that he's lucky to hear from him once a month since he went to Asgard," offered Clint. It was weird seeing Natasha like this.

It was one thing to learn about the Black Widow having a son... that had been pushing the edges of his weird-shit-meter the first time. But it was another thing entirely to watch as one of the most feared assassins in the world freak out over said son getting married and generally acting like any other mother her age.

Perhaps, at it's core, Clint was just glad that Natasha could still feel like a regular mother even after all the crap she had been through in her life.

"Didn't you once tell me that you two set them up to start with?"

"More like we told Abigail she might as well jump him because he had never had a date in his entire life," said Natasha openly grinning.

Any other male his age would have been mortified by the thought of his mother arranging for the son to get a girlfriend she approved of. For Adrian he had taken it in stride... he had been raised by Natasha and had to undergo several years of learning how nobility worked from his grandmother. He was very well aware that he might have ended up with an arranged marriage to someone he could barely tolerate. The fact that Natasha had only nudged the two together rather than force them was a nice surprise...and he was the one who had chosen to marry her, not the other way around.