A/N: Holy shit, three years since this fic started and I still feel as loved as I did when I looked like a twelve-year-old. I still look like a twelve-year-old but kinda more attractive. Anyway, um, SURPRISE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY CROSS OVER YOU'RE WELCOME SORRY ABOUT THE DELAY.

Disclaimer: Still own and profit from nothing.

In Which Fury Chooses Stark's PA's Chapter 55

Hello world, I'm your wild girl

"State you name and rank, mortal." The High Lords demanded of her as Emma was guided to a pedestal where she was to give evidence, she refused to be parted with Valerie, her small warmth comforting.

"Emma Holmes-Laufeyson, Senior agent of SHIELD specialising in Tactical and Analytics, Queen I would suppose if you are counting it?"

"Yes we are,"

"Then exiled-queen of Jotunheim." Emma added, the title still baffling her. "And what is it you desire to know? What truths do you seek to distort?"

"Oh, nothing yet." Lord Fìth stood from his seat and Emma supressed a gasp, he moved from his seat to the throne that Odin would occupy. Oh she could use that, she could so use that. "What do you know of the murder of her Majesty?"

"Everything," Emma answered in as deep a voice she could muster. Tony met her gaze, nodding reassuringly, Loki smiled tersely. It was scaring her, seeing them so far away, so distant in the mezzanine. She was effectively surrounded by strangers. "If you even bothered to do your basic research you would have discovered that I was the operative executing Loki's rehabilitation and extraction of the truth."

"You?" Fìth questioned, becoming comfortable on the throne.

"Yes, I." she held her head high, Emma tried to forget the heaviness of the diadem and the constriction of the armour.

All around her thousands upon thousands of eyes stared at her, unblinking, determined to hear every syllable that she spoke. And so she did, remembering to pour in every minute detail, every small memory, every heartbeat. She chose her words carefully, skimming over the romantic tension and that final night. Emma recounted to the letter every waking moment and important exchange of dialogue, refusing to turn around and face her friends, for she knew that they were there and they were listening, she was sure of it.

Every now and again, Loki would search for her, awaiting eye contact with a smile before curtly nodding. With a deep breath she began to add the second side to the story, the deception and manipulation she created, the lies she was forced to live. It occurred to her that Loki never knew the full truth until this very moment, and she wasn't entirely too sure about how to feel about it. Of course she didn't want to lie to him and tell him everything, but at the same time, it was her job, she was never meant to run into him again, she could live without him knowing the whole truth.

"And would you claim that to be the whole of your tale?" A gentler voice came from the seat of Lords, the man's eyes were still as steeled as the others, but he and several other councillors seemed lighter in their judgement.

"Aye, indeed I would," Emma tried to stabilise her breathing, doing her best to ignore the frantic racing of her heart. "I am sure there are others who would testify and support my claim. I notice you have not allowed His royal highness, the heir apparent to testify?"

"Thor's opinion is biased, he can be swayed."

"So can you, should the opposite party have enough gold or enough armies." Emma spat at Fìth, though she could feel her legs shaking through the flimsy layers of cloth.

"Is that a threat? You can be thrown out of the courtroom if it is."

"It is not, it is merely a statement. Though, it must be saying a lot about your leadership if you feel suspicious about any mention of money or armies opposing you." Emma gave a nonchalant shrug, doubting herself with each passing second. The water in the large fountain still trickled, collecting in the crystal basin at the bottom, marking the amount of time that had passed. "But I must continue in my tale,"

"No you shall not, I think your account will suffice." Any attempt Emma made to continue to speak was stopped as two of the Lords guarding her pedestal had suddenly stood beside her, hands hovering over the hilts of their daggers.

"NO!" Loki shouted from his position, struggling against the grip of guards. All at once the court room was sent into an outroar, Emma could hear Tony swearing off the top of his lungs, the civilians of Asgard beginning to argue in raised voices that accumulated into a deafening roll of thunder.

"That is cruel, Fìth!" A woman from the High Council stood, gesticulating wildly, only prompting others who sided with her to do the same. Emma pulled Valerie close to her chest, wrapping her arms as tightly around her daughter as she could, they would not harm her, and she would not allow it. "Do you have no sense of dignity?"

"What crime has she committed? Harm me, but do not touch them, lest we all take you to be the true monster." Loki spat, a guard nearly throwing him against the wall, had it not been for a sympathetic bystander who caught Loki at the last moment.

"You do not love him, that so far is clear-pft, whether you chose to be one or the other is of no consequence, surely you were bewitched or-"

"You claim that I do not love him? That it is simply against all laws of nature?" Emma asked in a disbelieving tone, the hall at once falling into silence. "That this child in my arms not my daughter? Is she not of our own flesh and blood? Don't you dare tell me I did not carry her for almost nine months just to say I did not want her, that I do not feed her from my own breast. Do not think that I will not feel pain if her lips were to be plucked from mine nipple and her brains dashed. Do not dare say that I went through every layer of a Dantean hell not to love my husband." Emma shot back, the fury really beginning to get to her (and maybe paraphrasing Shakespeare). The ground around her seemed cracked and dry with heat, the atmosphere in the room electric as her voice echoed around the cavernous hall. Several of the Council had stopped at the nail-picking and their heads shot up, startled at the outburst.

"Women of your sort are one or the other, you cannot be both mother and a murderer."

"No, women can be both." Emma challenged, ready to jump off the pedestal and pull the high councillor into a juvenile wrestling match, irrespective of the fact she was in an elaborately embroidered dress. "I can be both. I thought this court trial was about my husband's life or death, not a lecture on gender politics on my behalf."

"In that case, would you like for the jury to be adjourned? I would say that we have hear quite enough of our fabrication-"

"Fabrication? I don't even have enough evidence that you came under your position lawfully." Emma countered, getting tired, she hadn't even had a proper opportunity to strike back at him for that pass on her daughter. "You haven't even given me a proper argument, this has all been mere name-calling. Give me your accusation and I will give myself an hour's respite to trawl through the annexes of the library to prove it."

"My accusation? It's quite simple, the manner of your speech merely proves it. I accuse you of having been bewitched. I call the court into a break, we shall meet again tomorrow."

"FUUUUUUUUCK!" Tony shouted, tossing books from shelves. Thor had pretty much slammed doors open, storming through corridors and corridors of books until they found the section they'd needed. Bruce, Natasha and Clint had been going through every digitally uploaded file in Asgard's extensive library, yet they hadn't found anything relevant yet.

"It has to be here somewhere. I recall Loki mentioning it in passing-"

"Speaking of Loki," Emma interrupted Thor "Why won't they let him stay with us, isn't he allowed to at the very least defend himself?" Thor stopped in his tracks, gently cradling Valerie as she napped.

"Sister, under normal circumstances they would, but-"

"But Fìth's a bastard-" Steve added unhelpfully, throwing aside various scrolls while Pepper skim read through several more.

"Language, Steven." Emma scolded in a teasing manner "But anyway, what did Loki mention in passing, Thor?"

"That a child cannot be conceived under the effects of bewitchment, or at least, the form of magic Loki performs cannot allow for true love to occur or some such." Thor explained, his large finger gently brushing an errant curl away from Valerie's face. He sat beside Emma, handing her yet another book. Emma nodded in thanks, opening to the first page and remembering all she could of her lessons from both Thor and Loki to begin to translate the ancient runes. "Are you faring well after today?"

"Yes, I am. How did he know though?"

"How did he know what?"

"He called me a murderer. It's true, I would suppose, but given the nature of my job and the cause I was fighting, you could excuse it to an extent. But, Thor, there's a point where it's questionable, where certain deaths are most certainly murders,"

"It does not do good to dwell on the past and forget to live," Thor said simply, the corners of his mouth twitching, it took Emma a fair few seconds before she realised.

"You dialogue-stealing bastard."

"I told you, I enjoy your Midgardian literature. Pride and Prejudice is a particular favourite."

"Oh, look at you, you baby Mr Bingley material, you." Emma smiled, nudging Thor's shoulder. "You're even marrying a girl called Jane, it's all very fitting, and I'm certainly not as pretty as Jane, which I guess would make me Lizzie, but are we nice enough to compare Loki to Darcy?" Thor paused for a moment.

"I would have stated you were Lydia and he Wickham, but I've always feared to incur your wrath…"

"That's fair, he's a bit of a rake and I'm utterly ridiculous. We could have Tony as Darcy and Pepper as Lizzie, but I've always seen her more as Emma Woodhouse. But I don't know who'd be Kitty or Mary… and I certainly don't know who'd be the Lady Catherine de Borough. Maybe Fury?" Emma shrugged before going through several more ancient tomes, her panic slowly building over the day. There had been some minor progress, there was now a small pile of relevant papers. Pepper had sat on the floor, playing with Phillie and Val, trying to keep them intrigued and out of trouble while she multi-tasked by reading some files.

The library had darkened now, lit only by multiple chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Minutes stretched into hours and her stomach was threatening to eat itself from the inside. Minor break throughs were made throughout the night, however nothing particularly riveting came up. Perhaps the biggest one was written evidence that Odin never decreed that Loki be killed, but everyone knew that and the Council while Odin was off-planet were effectively autonomous.

It wasn't until Tony and Clint led her to a smaller set of bookshelves that they began to make some headway.

"Espionage, huh?" Tony raised a brow.

"Every society's got one. Okay, let's go from that date…" Emma began to trawl through the immense number, simple scanning for relevant names, learning way too many things that she didn't need to know about certain people. It made her sick, bile rose in her throat and she made every effort to ignore it. In an instant she dropped the ledger on the floor, the papers scattering. The rage began to grow within her, a painful feeling in her chest expanded and her fingers felt numb. It took several moments for her to really comprehend the news.

"H-he… he knew. Thor, Odin knew." She dropped to the floor, hastily collecting the papers and practically shoving them into Thor's arms. "What's the one thing you can't hack into?"

"Books, papers." Natasha answered, her voice dangerously low and mingled with fatigue. "What did Odin's spymaster write?"

"It has come to my attention a faction of the Council are adamant against the arrival of Loki and his bride to Asgard," Emma read aloud, her voice and hands trembling. Steve stood by her side, a comforting hand placed on her shoulder. "Threats against their child are likely, as is the death of their child-"

"Oh god." Tony said shortly, summing up the general feeling in the room. Emma watched Valerie sound asleep in Pepper's arms, rushing over and rather rudely snatching her up, holding her as close as she possibly could, feeling her delicate heartbeat through her thin blanket, her finger gently stroking her rosy cheek, eyelashes fluttering on her rounded cheek bones. "Holmes? Holmes?"

"I-I'm… oh damn."

Loki was helpless, bound in chains, watching as a heartless lord held her small daughter in a single hand, her pudgy fists reaching for her mother. Thor was being held back by several of Lord Fìth's cronies. The hearing did nothing, Emma eloquently delivered her evidence, looking occasionally at the others who conveyed their support through warm smiles and gentle nods. She wasn't sure how it happened, but the guards at the foot of the podium held her fast.

"N-no…NO!" she held tightly to her daughter but still the guards wrestled Valerie from her, the small girl unaware of the events, staring at the Lord who took her from the guard with wide eyes.

"That is my niece!" Thor boomed, still struggling to get past as several more guards barricaded the foot of the stairs leading from the mezzanine.

"That child is an abomination, and I intend to make good on my promise." Fìth stood from Odin's throne, pointing at the child and smirking at the sight of the goblet of sweet-smelling milk. Emma clawed at eyes, fumbling under layers of robes to find even a dagger or a ridiculously sharp hair pin. Eventually she pulled a brooch from a guard and manage to pull the golden pin away from it's setting, slashing as deep as she could into the guard's hand.

"Armed with a pin?" Fìth snorted, Emma broke, standing free in the centre of the court. The goblet had already been pressed to Valerie's lips, the first couple of trickles already on her rosebud lips. Emma didn't care anymore, she simply charged at the lord who dared try and kill her daughter, pushing him to the ground and knocking the goblet from her hand. She clutched at Valerie, holding her close, furiously wiping the fragrant milk from her lips. The milk spilled along the white marble floor began to turn a sinister shade of black around the edges. Valerie began to turn cold and not knowing what to do Emma simply held her child and began to shout in anguish, her hoarse voice echoed around the cavernous hall, tears uncontrollably pouring from her face as Valerie turned more still in her arms.

"Fìth- the… the child-"

"I hadn't-" Fìth stopped in his tracks, looking at the scene with a numb shock, the smug grin sliding off his face with great speed. "I had not intended for-"

"INTENDED FOR WHAT?" Emma dared to turn in the direction of the sound, watching as Odin finally turned up at the mahogany Yggdrasil-carved doors, Frigga at his arm, her face filled with horror at the proceedings. Odin stormed through the hall, ordering the people of Asgard out of the hall and they scrambled through doors, shoving and pushing. The hall emptied, leaving only Emma in a pool of silken cloth crumbled in the middle of the room, clutching at her dying child, desperately sobbing the lullaby she sung to Valerie sleep with. Loki was released, his chains removed in an instant by Frigga, gathering Emma in his arms as she sobbed into his chest, blaming everything on herself. Emma found her surrounded by more and more people, as Steve sat by her side and Bruce gently patted her shoulder.

"Emma, do not move." Loki whispered into her ear.

"I-I can't-"

"No, don't move." Loki calmly guided her gaze towards Valerie's hand. An immense weight felt like it had been moved from her chest as her small hand was revealed to be blue. Loki's blue, lined with the same ancient runes of protection. Half-Jotun.

There was that episode of QI she remembered watching, the way the brain subconsciously retained information that the brain, when in a state of panic, flashed memories in order to find something relevant to help in a situation.

There had been talks in SHIELD, not so long ago, there had been plans in tactical should things get out of hand. Things she'd unearthed from her predecessor, the one that turned out to be fucking Hydra like the rest of them. There had been a plot to poison Thor and Loki should things get out of hand, seeing as overpowering physically them seemed ridiculous. The plan had involved her getting close to both, to unknowingly poison them. The poison procured from the Asgardian black market had been designed to work at a rapid pace and prevent any enzymes in an Asgardian from functioning.

Key word: Asgardian.

In other words, did not effect a half-Jotun half-human child. And Fìth hadn't the foresight to see that.

"You have murdered a child, condemned an innocent woman and destroyed the life of a man who far outranks you."

"He does not outrank me-"

"King of Jotunheim you ignorant bastard." Emma interrupted, doing her best to use residual anger in her tone.

"As he has no power here, then allow me." Odin stood straight, glancing once at the bundle in Emma's arms before facing the council. "I hereby strip you of your title and power, your family is to be banished from Asgard. You are to be executed instantaneously as is tradition by the mother of the child, as she wishes. This is my edict, my word shall not be challenged."

"Is that really necessary?" Fìth questioned nervously, fumbling with his robes, eyeing her with wary.

"Do not question by capability for vengeance." Emma handed the carefully concealed bundle to Loki, Thor and Pepper blocking his direct view. Natasha warily eyeing the baby in case she made a noise. Steve shook his head slowly as she stood, feeling the blade in her hand. She eyed Fìth, kneeling in his pitiable state, ready to have his head sliced off. Personally she'd prefer him to be hung, drawn and quartered, but no, that wasn't her game plan.

Calmly, she felt the blade in her hand, pushing Fìth to his knees and holding him in a head-lock, tip of the blade pressing into the soft flesh just below his ears.

"My darling husband, do you have any words to say?" Emma asked, subtly hinting that he show his daughter was actually alive. Loki stood up, using Thor for support, playing every part the heart-broken father as he had been merely seconds before.

"The problem is, Fìth, I will tear apart all the realms in order to protect my family. It's in my blood-"

"Your blood is worthless."

"Good thing then, because that's what saved her." Loki smiled in a fashion Emma had never seen before, it was menacing, the stuff of nightmares, like something had devoured her husband and turned him into a completely unrecognisable person. She felt Fìth go lifeless, unable to face the monstrosity Loki put before him. Emma chose to do it then, slashing the skin of his neck lightly, light enough to draw blood, not deep enough to kill him. She dragged him by the scuff of his robe, to be seen by all the city folk crowded at the wooden doors, desperate to know the goings on.

"Do with him what you want." Emma said curtly before turning on her heel, refusing to look back at the guards who closed the doors with haste and the city folk who slowly encompassed the deposed councilman.

"Forgive me." Odin said,

"No, I cannot." They were the last words she ever spoke to Odin All-father. He hung his head in shame.

"I understand." Frigga's gentle voice floated in the gentle east-wards breeze entering from the open doors.

"Your highness, shouldn't you be in the ceremony-" She knew him as Star Lord, that was how he introduced himself. He belonged to a group of free-lance fighters, kinda like Space Avengers. Star Trek Avengers. If the Avengers had more racial diversity.

"I opted out. Jane doesn't need as many attendants and besides, I can't face Odin, not after what he allowed to happen. I gave up on him ever intervening after I found those files. "

"Yeah, is your daughter alright though- is that someone?" Star Lord's head shot around in the direction of the corridor before relaxing a little. "It should be fine, Gamora's around that side and nothing can get past her. Sorry- was your daughter alright?"

"Yeah, she's alright. Has a fever though, I've been up all night, but she should pull through. I just can't stand seeing her in pain, every cry pulls at my heart too but… well… it's a parent thing. Loki acts like he's done it all before, but he's the last to admit it worries him just as much as if Val was his first child, like it's his first time nursing a child through a fever. Anyway, Odin, he should have, he knew Fìth had ulterior motives, supported the idea of a Republic-"

"A Republic, like Star Wars?"

"Yes like- Oh my god, you know what Star Wars is?" She stared at this man, kinda like a fit Andy Dwyer, but wearing the most awesome red jacket she had ever seen.

"You know what Star Wars is?" Emma asked slowly, quite unable to believe him, after all he'd told her he'd grown up with a bunch of Space Pirates. Kind of also like Firefly.

"Yes, I'm from Earth-"

"No way, you're from Earth!?" He laughed with surprise, clapping his hands together while Emma also giggled with nervousness. "My name's Peter Quill-"

"Quill- Quill? Peter Quill!?" Emma clamped a hand over her mouth, eyes darting about the empty corridor with extreme worry lest anyone find her in conversation with him.

"Ah, my reputation precedes me-"

"No, you don't understand, SHIELD have been looking for you ever since the day you went missing and… oh my god…"

"Let me re do this" Emma shook back her hair and held out a hand, "Emma Holmes, grew up in the heart of London. Know that rainy bitch of a city like the back of my hand, currently living in Manhattan and married to the exiled King of the Jotuns." He took her hand gladly and shook it.

"Peter Quill, abducted from America in 1988 by Ravagers, lived millions of lightyears away and could never get back. I miss the Poptarts and the music."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you. Just so you know, we haven't released Hoverboards like from Back to the Future II because the public would go insane."

"Not even self-lacing shoes?"

"Only at auction for millions of dollars."

"You ever seen one of these?" Emma smiled, holding back her tremendous laughter as from a battered jacket he pulled out a pair of well-cared for headphones and something she hadn't seen since 1995.

"A Walkman? Shit, I haven't seen one of these since the nineties." Emma gasped, holding it in her hands and quickly placing it over her ears and pressing the familiar play button, watching the recorded tape reels turn at a nostalgic pace. "Ooh, Cherry Bomb. Do you want any more of these? I have like a stack sitting in my old bedroom, I could have them all sent to you…"

"Don't worry about it, really. My mom gave me that, it's… it means a lot to me."

"I understand." She replied, handing back the device. "I should never have thrown mine out."

"You never know things mean important shit until you lose everything. Believe, I know, I've still got a Trollz that I won in a fairground game. And I hated those little bastards."

She was upset, let that be clear. She wanted to support Jane, Jane of all people deserved every happiness in the world. But Emma brought this upon herself, she forcibly ostracised herself in a society where she could potentially have been the "darling". The people liked her well enough, that was true, but could she do that to Jane? To Pepper, to Tash, to everyone else? Could she leave them all to speculation? If she had been selfish enough, but she'd had to learn, to grow up, to stop acting to juvenile. Of course once she'd wanted to be part of society, she'd taken it all in her stride at the start, as stupid and reckless she was, so consumed in her pride and death threats, it almost made her cringe to realise that she had to do so much growing up in the space of a few years. It was as if she found herself on the other side of thirty and her grave seemed so much closer. But she could procrastinate that.

Laughter sounded and so did raucous applause, Emma blinked several times before taking a deep breath and addressing Quill.

"Well, would you look at that?" Emma dared to peek through the slightly ajar doors, watching as the now married couple burst into happy laughter, tears trickling down Jane's ecstatic face, her floral crown falling even more askew than Thor's. With a hearty laugh, the golden prince swung Jane around in a tight embrace, before they pulled into a joyous kiss. It merely dawned upon her that it was drawing up close to a year since her own wedding now, and Valerie had grown so much in that time. Well, she suspected her Aunt Sue still thought Loki only married her because she was pregnant (and didn't have a problem saying it to his face apparently after a couple of drinks…).

Not to mention that a Lord tried to have said beloved husband executed and even more beloved daughter slaughtered before her own eyes. Ah yes, wedded bliss.

"We can all breathe now." Emma said simply, wiping a small tear that had fallen from her eyes. She was happy, she really was. But not as happy as she once would have been, perhaps, not with so many things to deal with once she got back, after all, she had until dawn. Funny how things came full circle, started with a lie in Dawn and ended with the truth at dawn. She could never repeat the amount of times that she'd never expected anything to come to this, she never expected her life to become so domestic of all things. At the very most she expected herself snuggled up on a sofa watching Netflix with a cat or something. Emma couldn't help but wonder if she had ever deserved the privilege in the first place.

"Love," Emma turned, searching for the source of sound, hitching the skirt up and running, almost colliding into her husband. "Oh, I assume it's over. We have precious few hours."

"Oh so few. Honestly, I'm kinda glad that we can leave now, I just want my internet and my guns and… and…"

"You don't know what you miss, do you?"

"No, but I am sure I will figure it out."

A/N:HAHAHAHAHA IT'S GONNA GET PAINFUL NEXT FEW CHAPTERS HAHAHAHAHA sorry. But like one of your otps might become canon so ehhh, hang in there. Also, please review, love those reviews :) This chapter is dedicated to my extension english 2 piece which will definitely be a trainwreck once I hand it in next year.