You scanned the room for threats the second you appeared in Loki's room, ignoring the blood dripping down your arm, ignoring the pain from the burns using a trick you'd learned nearly a thousand years ago to hide pain and discomfort from your conscious mind while you focused on your duty.

You relaxed when you saw that the room was clear and turned to Loki. "Are you alright?" you asked, looking him over with a healer's eye. He sighed heavily in exasperation, bent, and threw you over his shoulder as he stood again. You yelped as the leather of his armor dug uncomfortably into your stomach and cried out in pain when your red blistered, bleeding arms hit his back, breaking your concentration on hiding the pain from your mind. "Loki!" you protested, and even you could hear the pain in your voice.

He set you carefully on his bed. "I'm fine. You're the one actively bleeding and the idiot Jotun who jumped in front of a fireball," he reminded you sourly. He was angry you were hurt, angrier that you had been hurt saving him, but you could also see his worry over your injuries.

"That fireball was going to hit you. There was no way in hell you were dodging it," you reminded him equally sourly, trying to focus on bickering instead of pain. Pain would make you useless. Bickering was more useful.

"I could have taken it," he growled, looking over your injuries. You avoided looking as you got the pain back hidden behind shields in your mind. It took a lot of concentration, though. "We're safe, you can ditch the armor, by the way," AKA he wanted you in better clothes for him to work on your arms. His own armor shimmered away to a green tunic and black pants. You could tell he was upset when he automatically donned Asgardian clothes.

"What if Thor brings danger back with him?" you protested about the armor.

"Then you'll summon your armor back in less than a second," Loki reminded you, overly patiently. "But he won't. He can deal with the ravens." You sighed and let your armor shimmer away, settling on a blue tank top and soft black pajama pants. You glanced at your arms and wished you hadn't. You were bleeding badly from the deep gouges the raven's talons had left in your arm and the burns were swollen blistered messes. Jotuns were weak against fire and even small burns were worse on you than humans or Asgardians. These were not small burns and would have been even worse had Loki taken the attack instead. Loki sat beside you on the bed and summoned the first aid kit. "Why aren't you screaming in pain? This is really bad, love," he was in healer mode, worried about nerve damage.

"I'm a Valkyrie. I learned early to block out pain during battle to protect our charges, as you well know," you reminded him, your voice distracted as you focused on doing just that.

"You should have let me take that attack. This is going to hurt just to bandage," he was really concerned over your injury. He got to work stitching the talon wounds closed first, wincing at the small whimpers of pain you couldn't help, though you tried, you really tried to hide how much it hurt. At least he wasn't suggesting pain pills until you knew that you were both safe and staying that way. You wouldn't know that until Thor came back to report on the ravens.

"Loki. My darling prince. You have heard the oaths twice now. You have accepted them twice now. 'My life ever before yours'," you reminded him firmly. It was easier to focus on words and talking than on just ignoring the pain.

He growled, frustrated, but his hands were still gentle as he worked, cleaning, stitching, bandaging your arms. You fought hard not to whimper in pain. He would just get more upset. "I never wanted..." he started, though he seemed at a loss for words.

You reached up with the hand he wasn't currently working on to touch his cheek. He looked at you through tears in his eyes. "I know, love," you'd had this conversation the first time you'd been injured defending him on official duty, shortly after you'd sworn the oaths the first time.

"I never wanted this. I never wanted your life before mine. I never wanted you hurt defending a monster like me," his eyes and voice were so full of tears. He looked so sad and haunted.

You leaned over and kissed him. "You've always been so perceptive about everyone but yourself," you told him warmly, a fond smile on your face as you tucked a loose strand of hair back behind his ear. He looked so soft, vulnerable, and confused until he caught sight of the wounds on your arm again and snarled, remembering his task. He got back to work with the bandages and healing salve. He nodded at you to continue your thoughts. He could listen and bandage wounds at the same time. "You're not a monster, love, you never have been. You've been my best friend since we were infants and I have loved you as long. Honor and oaths be damned, I would defend you to my dying breath because I love you. Not because you're a prince. Not because of my duty to the throne. Not because of any of that bullshit, which just gives me a legal right to defend and advise you. But because I love you,"

He looked up from his work again as he tied off the bandage on one arm. "Truly?" he asked softly, hesitantly, as if he couldn't spot a lie himself.

You leaned forward to steal another kiss. "Truly, my love," you told him warmly. He gave you a small, reassured smile and got to work on your other arm. Then, to lighten to mood: "Even though it was your plan with the bilgesnipe that got us grounded to a cell in the dungeons, even when you decided we had to go hunt potion ingredients all night during the full moon though you knew I was a walking bruise with a broken arm because of training that day, even through your horrid crush and pining over Lady Ingrid," you teased. He flushed a deep shade of red that was nearly purple at that awful reminder and you couldn't help laughing at him.

He glared at you for the teasing, but you saw the mischief and teasing in his own eyes. "Well, whose idea was it to steal Odin's two thousand year aged liquor for our first attempt to get properly drunk?" he countered.

You laughed harder at that memory. "If we were going to get well and truly drunk to find out what it was all about, we had to do it properly," you told him just as innocently as you had all those years ago. "It's not my fault your idiot brother caught you sneaking the booze from Odin's room and decided he needed to join in our adventure. It's wasn't my fault that magic and that much alcohol have such...interesting results when combined." You'd been all of around 20 years old and just stupid kids.

"We blew up that entire wing of the palace," he reminded you, also laughing at the ridiculous memory. "Mother grounded us all until the repairs were completed. And she made us live through that awful hangover alone in the dungeons as a lesson,"

"I still think they took an extra long time on the repairs just to keep us out of trouble for a week," you grumbled, still not over being locked in the dungeons for a week. At least you'd been across the hall from Loki so you had some entertainment.

"So, my darling, you have an embarrassing old romance to tease me about. Surely there must be someone over the last 900 years... or do I only get to tease you about that oaf Lord Bodil?" he teased.

"Lord Bodil was a moron and had no shot with me, as you damn well knew before you suggested he attempt to woo me," you reminded him with a glare. That had been a horrible experience. Loki had watched from the sidelines, smirking the entire time while the poor courtier had tried to stumble his way through asking you out. It was about the same time that Loki was pining over Lady Ingrid, and he had done it just to be an ass. "In answer to your other question, just because you had 900 years of practice courting ladies, which I don't fault you for of course," it wasn't his fault he hadn't remembered you. Of course he would have dated in that time. "Doesn't mean I had 900 years of being courted," you reminded him grumpily. "The inability to touch the mortals is not conducive to having a relationship with one," you reminded him. "Besides, I had to keep moving around a lot so the mortals wouldn't figure out that I don't age like they do. I was burned at the stake once, that was more than enough,"

"How did you find out you couldn't touch the mortals, anyway? I can,"

You shuddered at the memory. "You're full Jotun, so you have more control over your Jotun form than I do," you explained quickly. He nodded, accepting that part of the explanation. "Anyway, it was shortly after Odin sent me here. Some asshole thought I was an easy target to attack because I was a maiden living alone. He attacked me on my way home, his intentions were..." you shuddered again, remembering his sickening thoughts. "Dishonorable," you finally completed that thought. Loki growled at someone dare act dishonorably toward you. "He died when he touched my bare skin, before I could even shove a blade into him. It's happened a couple other times over the years, but never to innocents. I've been careful on that front," you added quickly. You had been mighty careful over the years, but during battles and stupid men and pickpockets couldn't be helped.

"I shall have to give you the experience of a proper courtship, then," Loki said a bit sadly.

There was a knock on his bedroom door before you could answer and you jumped to your feet, pushing Loki back down on the bed when he tried to join you. You went to the door and yanked it open, dagger already pointed and primed for the chest of the person on the other side. You stopped your movement when the dagger was a centimeter from impaling the Thor on the other side of the door. He didn't look concerned at all at nearly being impaled, except when he saw the half-done bandage unraveling from your arm.

"How badly were you injured?" he demanded.

"What did the ravens want?" you countered as you vanished the blade and stepped back from the door. Loki rushed over to you after he managed to get up from where you'd pushed him back onto the bed.

"Would you stop that, you stubborn little Valkyrie?" he grumbled. You smiled at him and kissed his cheek.

"Can't," you told him with a smirk. He muttered about incorrigible Valkyries and finished tying off the bandage he'd been working on when Thor interrupted.

"You're also not going to take anything for the pain until Thor tells us about the stupid winged rats are you?" he grumbled.

"Nope,"

"Talk quickly, Brother," Loki growled at Thor.

Thor boomed his laughter. "How bad are her injuries?" he asked Loki, finally remembering that you wouldn't talk about it. You took inventory of the bandages and fought back a curse. You hadn't paid attention while Loki worked, distracting yourself from the pain instead. You had bandages from your palms to your elbows. It had been a miracle you'd been able to hold the dagger at all to threaten Thor with.

"Bad. She was burned pretty severely and the talon wounds were deep, which is your fault, clumsy oaf," Loki grumbled. "And she's hiding a ton of pain, I'm sure," you shrugged at that. He wasn't wrong.

"Were this many bandages really necessary?" you grumbled at Loki. You could barely move your hands at all.

"Quite necessary. Don't even think about complaining or I'll have to remind you that you don't want nerve damage and you would like for your hands and arms to heal properly so you can continue being a Valkyrie," Loki told you pleasantly. You huffed.

"Fine," you grumbled. He kissed your cheek and wrapped an arm around your shoulders reassuringly, protectively.

Thor shrugged in response to Loki's grumbling about him being a clumsy oaf. "It was more important to try to get you two away from the ravens, though I do not believe I succeeded..." he was sad by that and you understood his sentiment. "They were here to spy, as per usual. I'm sure they know who you are, I tried to get you away before they could see your sigil, but I do not believe I stopped them in time. I made sure we did not give them any indication that we know who you are. I am sure our parents will assume we know, that you would believe it dishonorable to leave us without our memories... all we can do is wait for the fallout..."

"I doubt Odin is going to be pleased..." you said softly.

"He does not have jurisdiction on Midgard," Thor offered the suggestion that things might be ok because of it.

"No, but he can order you two to return home," you reminded him sourly. They both blanched at that. It hadn't occurred to either of them apparently.

"I won't allow it," Loki said firmly, holding you more tightly against him. "I finally found you again. I will not allow him to take you from me again. He exiled you to protect his secret about me. That secret has been exposed. There's no reason for him to keep you in exile anymore. I will not let him take you from me a second time. You're my Valkyrie, bound to my service, and we are children no longer." You'd been 150, technically adults, but still, the Allfather had had the ultimate decision. You'd been so young and so far under his thumb. Neither of you had been able to fight his decision then, but there was a hope of having more leverage and power now.

"It will be alright, Kyrie," Thor added. You nodded and had to trust in your princes to keep you safe. "Speaking of Father, kindly never make my ears bleed with that particular curse again. Seriously, coming from a lady..." You laughed at his offended look.

"Do you know how badly being burned hurts a Jotun?" you asked him. "It would have been worse had Loki taken that fireball, which was the intention of that idiot monster." Thor looked even more horrified at that idea. He knew how susceptible Loki was to burning. He nodded at you, then, accepting your certainty that you'd done the right thing.

"Brother, pleasant as it is for you to come give us unpleasant news, I would very much like to get my lady to bed so she can recover," Loki said pleasantly, pulling you back away from the door so he could slam it in Thor's face. You laughed at Thor's spluttering on the other side. Before you could protest, Loki had swept you up in his arms. You protested, but he quieted you with a kiss. "Hush, love. You saved me, I get to care of you, that's the deal," he reminded you.

"Cheater," you told him, but let him tuck you into bed. And even let him dose you with pain meds. He was right and that was your arrangement.

"Rest, darling. It'll only be a couple of days. You heal remarkably fast," he kissed your forehead and climbed into the bed, pulling you to him so your head was on his chest. He knew you'd fret otherwise. You still protested softly. "Shh, Kyrie-love. We'll go out somewhere nice when you've healed, I promise,"

*

It took a few days before your arms healed enough for the bandages to come off and you hated every minute of it. Well, almost every minute. Loki did bribe you to be in a reasonable, read non-homicidal, mood with kisses, reading to you, and amusing you by pranking all of the Avengers. He did have to disappear to help out the team on occasion, and you were even more grumpy, read borderline-homicidal, at being left behind when Loki was potentially in danger. Cap, Tony, and Loki all insisted it was important and left you in Thor's care, read let Thor baby-sit you so you wouldn't stab people. Stark was impressed you could stab people without issues, but couldn't hold a fork without magic, and had to have Loki brush your hair. That last part you didn't mind at least.

Needless to say, the entire team was relieved when the bandages could come off your arms, though you still had to be careful for a few more days.

*

"C'mon, Lohk, it'll be fun!" you had one of Loki's hands in both of yours and dragged him toward the elevator, that Saturday morning. The temperature had finally started cooling, like it realized it was nearly fall outside.

"Darling, you haven't told me where we're going, just what to wear," Loki protested. He had also protested the jeans you had told him to wear, though not the soft green long-sleeved shirt whose fabric he had cooed over because it was so soft.

"That, my darling prince, is because it is a surprise," you reminded him overly patiently. You were dressed similarly in jeans and a super soft thin sweater.

"Thor will worry if he doesn't know where we are," Loki protested. He wasn't protesting the outing. He was protesting that you hadn't told him where you were going. Especially as he was taking you out for a romantic excursion of some variety that evening.

You grinned at Loki. "Good thing I told him where we're going, then. The entire team knows, and knows how to reach us if there's an emergency," you replied before he could come up with more protests. "Now come on before I decide that you need a blindfold so you don't find out where we're going,"

"Brother! Save me!" Loki reached out a hand to Thor, who was laughing at his brother from one of the couches in the living room, where Thor was enjoying a huge mug of coffee.

"You are a creature made entirely of silliness," you told Loki, exasperated with his antics, but laughing at the same time.

"Mischief and chaos, love," he corrected, teasing in return.

"I know better than to pick a fight with your lady. You are on your own, Brother. Go have fun,"

With that, Loki let you drag him onto the elevator and down to the garages. He stopped protesting when you were out of sight of the others and just wrapped an arm around your shoulders, while yours went around his waist and he kissed your hair.

You summoned the keys to one of Tony's cars. It was one he said you could borrow indefinitely. Loki opened your car door for you, even though you were driving. You smiled, impressed that he knew the custom.

"Now will you tell me where we're going?" Loki pestered once he was in the car.

"Nope," you told him brightly and began the drive. He huffed and pestered and bothered, but you held firm until you arrived at the shabby run-down looking building.

"Darling, this does not look like a good place for us to be..." Loki told you doubtfully.

"I'm aware of that. Looks can be deceiving," you told him. "I swear, it'll be fun," you added at his dubious expression. He got out of the car, looking put-upon and like he feared he was going to have to protect you from thugs or something. You took his hand and led him inside.

His jaw fell open when he saw the ice rink. "It's ice..." he said stupidly, watching the people who were already skating.

You grinned. "That it is," you told him, amused by his baffled expression, and led him up to the counter. You paid and got ice skates for you both. You put them on at the edge of the rink and glided out onto the ice with well-practiced movements.

"Darling, I don't know how," Loki admitted softly.

"Trust me, love. You do know how," you glided back over to him and took his hands. "Come on, trust me," he hesitated, unsure at the tiny blades on his feet verses the ice rink. You sighed and pushed up your sleeve, displaying the tattoo on your wrist. "Am I really going to let you be hurt, your highness?" you asked with a hint of teasing. He gave you a small smile, lifted your arm, kissed the sigil on your wrist, and finally went with you onto the ice, reassured by your words and gesture.

You were a thousand percent correct that he was a natural on the ice. After one circuit of the rink he was comfortable and giddily enjoying skating with you. Neither of you were affected by the cold and were only wearing long sleeves to not look strange to the mortals. When he got more comfortable, you danced your way across the ice and even showed him how to do a jump and land without killing himself.

"How did you learn how to do this?" Loki asked when you sat on the sidelines drinking hot chocolate for a break.

"One of the places I lived for awhile the lakes, rivers, and creeks would freeze over every winter. It was easier to skate to town than to try to navigate the snow covered roads. I put on a pair of skates and picked it up automatically, just like you did," you told him. "It's in our blood," you reminded him, but cryptically enough that the mortals wouldn't pick up what you were talking about.

*

You enjoyed your morning of ice skating, had a nice lunch out, and went back to the tower for a couple hours of quiet reading before whatever Loki had planned for that evening. He wasn't telling you what he had planned either. It was only fair, though frustrating as hell.

"Your outfit for the evening is laying out on your bed for you, my love," Loki whispered in your ear late that afternoon. The entire team traded knowing looks. Apparently, they all knew what Loki was up to and probably what he was planning for the evening.

"I take it that's my cue to go put it on?" you teased with a grin. He inclined his head with a smirk.

"I will meet you upstairs in an hour," he told you warmly. Most women would be offended at only getting an hour to get ready, or having their date tell them that they were only getting an hour to get ready. You weren't most women. Also Loki knew exactly how long it took you to get ready for any event from weapons training to a formal ball. You grew up across the hall from him. You knew that him giving you an hour was him giving you more than enough time, especially with magic involved. You snapped your book shut and vanished it as you stood from the couch.

"Very well, silly trickster," you told him and leaned down to kiss him lightly before you teleported upstairs. There was a gorgeous black floor length halter dress laid out on your bed. There was a matching shawl and heels laid out as well. When you touched the fabric of the dress, you saw that the top layer was actually a shimmery material that would shimmer blue as you moved and it caught the light. It was beyond gorgeous. You smiled at your Loki, knowing he was planning something fancy and elegant for the evening and ducked into your bathroom to get a quick shower. It definitely didn't take you the full hour to get ready, especially with magic, but you took extra care on your hair and makeup. You wanted to look extra nice for this evening. It obviously meant a lot to Loki to set up something Midgardian for you to do.

There was a polite knock on your bedroom door exactly an hour after you'd left the living room. Of course Loki was prompt. It wouldn't do for the overly polite prince to not be, especially when he was wooing his lady. Though really, you were already wooed...

You opened the door and smiled warmly at your prince, who was in an all-black perfectly tailored suit of sexiness. "Your highness," you greeted him with no hint of sarcasm on your lips this time as you dipped into the proper curtsy. This wasn't an occasion for joking, not when he was putting so much effort into this evening.

He took your hand to raise you from the curtsy and bowed over it to kiss your knuckles. "Lady Valkyrie, you look wonderful this evening," he greeted you formally and presented you with a bouquet of roses.

You accepted them with a bright smile. "Thank you, my prince is too kind." Ok, you couldn't keep formality with him forever, at least not in private. In public in Asgard was one thing... He smiled, though, and the bouquet was suddenly in a vase, which was floating out of your arms to the nightstand next to the bed. Showoff.

"You are most welcome. Shall we, Lady?" he asked and offered you his arm. You placed your hand lightly on his arm. You waved at your door when you stepped away from it and it closed behind you. He gave you a smirk, knowing you were showing off as well. You smiled at his knowing expression and you both laughed.

"So, are you going to tell me where we're going now?" you asked as you rode the elevator down to the garage.

"No," he replied with a grin. You huffed.

"Of course you're not. That's what I get..." you grumbled.

He kissed your cheek. "That is exactly what you get, my darling," he told you kindly as you walked to 'your' car.

"You're going to have to give me directions at least," you teased.

"No, I will not," he replied with a mischievous grin.

"Lohk..." your voice was a warning. Playing around with cars wasn't a wise decision for anyone. You two would survive a car crash, but mortals were much more breakable.

"Trust me, darling," he said as he opened the car door on the passenger side for you. He held your hand as he seated you in the car and he carefully closed the car door when you were settled. He got in the driver's seat.

"When did you learn how to drive?" you asked incredulous and impressed as he backed out of the spot and actually seemed to know what he was doing.

"During all of those 'missions' while you were injured. The Captain taught me. He thought it would be a useful skill and Lady Natasha created a convincing document for the authorities should the need arise, which I assure you it will not,"

"Impressive," you told him honestly and he beamed in pride over the compliment. "Also sneaky, silly trickster. I could have taught you,"

"You could have, but then I could not have surprised you," he replied warmly, obviously enjoying his surprise. You didn't blame him. It was a good surprise and something he could be proud of learning. It wasn't long before you pulled into a different parking garage. "Apologies, darling, we do have a short walk to our first destination,"

"That's not a problem," you replied as he parked in the garage. It seemed to have automatically recognized Tony's car. Loki came around to open your car door and offered you a hand to help you out of the car. You took it, though you didn't really need the help. He escorted you a couple of blocks to a nearby theater. You both scanned the streets as you walked, automatically watching for danger without looking like you were watching for danger. It also seemed perfectly normal to be walking with Loki escorting you, just like old times. When you entered the theater, Loki pulled a pair of tickets from the inside pocket of his suit jacket. "You did do the thing properly," you told him, still impressed.

"Of course I did, darling. I did promise you a proper evening out," he kissed your cheek before he handed the tickets to the ticket collector. You caught his slightly threatening glance at the people who were looking at you. There were whispers, questions if you were really Loki and Valkyrie, a couple of whispered dares to look at your arm for your tattoo. Your arms were bare. You ignored them and kissed Loki's cheek reassuringly. The usher led you up to one of the boxes. You caught Loki tipping them for their assistance, and were impressed again. He really had done his research. You wondered who helped him.

The view of the stage was fantastic. "So, how did you learn so much about Midgardian dating customs?" you asked while you waited for the show to start.

"Stark was helpful...for once. The other men of the Avengers were as well," he admitted. You laughed and wondered what bribe Loki had had to use on Stark for that bit of help. You realized that you still had no idea what show you were here to see. You wondered how you'd missed the signage, but figured your trickster had intervened somehow.

You watched in anticipation when the show began and realized it was ballet, Swan Lake to be exact. It was a fantastic show and so beautiful. You hadn't seen ballet live before. You glanced over at Loki, knowing that Midgardian men became bored very quickly with ballet, but he watched with interest, true interest. You could see when he was faking.

*

"The show was fantastic," you told him over dinner at the small, but fancy restaurant. "I can't believe they do that without magic!"

"The feats of the mortals are quite impressive," he agreed.

You chatted about the show throughout the course of dinner. Topics also included gossip about the team, old stories about them, previous missions, laughing about embarrassing things Thor had done in his youth, and reminiscing about the extremely ill-fated royal family camping trip.

Loki ordered an extremely chocolaty fudgy cake creation for dessert. You both had an unhealthy love of sweets, and this thing was to die for. You both grinned like children over it and devoured the entire thing with no qualms whatsoever.

"Darling, I did have a question for you. A mystery of the missing memories so to speak," Loki said when the dessert was gone, while you were chatting and finishing your glasses of wine.

"You're still missing memories?" you asked concerned. "You should have told me!" You hadn't realized that your magic hadn't worked right, that he was still missing things.

"No, no, love, nothing like that. Your magic was quite effective. No need to fear. I just had a bit of a mystery I've been pondering and I thought you might be able to help," he corrected with a smile.

"What mystery?" you asked, curious. You caught an edge to his emotions. He was up to something. You just couldn't quite place a finger on what it was.

There was a shimmer of green magic and a small box appeared in his hand, small enough to fit in the palm of his hand comfortably. "I've had this in my trinket box for 900 years and have been pondering for all of that time why in the nine realms I had it. Would you mind taking a look to see if you can figure it out?" Obviously he had placed whatever it was in a different box to show it to you tonight.

"Of course," you replied and reached across the table. Loki passed you the box and watched as you removed the lid. Inside was a smaller box, surrounded by cloth so it wouldn't move. Only one kind of box in all the nine realms looked like that.

It was a ring box.

You lifted the ring box out carefully. 900 years? He'd had it 900 years? He'd had it before you were exiled? No.

It couldn't be...

You opened the lid of the ring box and saw a beautiful diamond in a gorgeous delicate silver ring setting. It was gorgeous, the design simple, but elegant.

You looked to Loki and saw that he had moved while you were shocked at the ring. He was on one knee beside your chair. The entire restaurant was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. "I do apologize, my darling, that this is coming 900 years later than planned. I hope you will forgive the delay. Now that I have found you again, I do not wish to spend another single day without you in my life, at my side, in my heart. My love, my darling, my dearest, my Valkyrie, will you do me the honor of being my wife?"

"Yes, of course, yes!" you told him without thought. It was exactly what you'd wanted since you could remember. What you always thought would happen since you turned 100 and Loki kissed you the first time. What you and the entire court had thought would happen until the day you were exiled. You and Loki both stood. You wrapped your arms around his neck and kissed him to the applause of the restaurant.

When you finally broke the kiss, Loki took the ring box from your hand, carefully removed the ring, and slipped it on your finger where he had planned on it being for 900 years.