Intruder!

The nearly silent turn of the doorknob. No knock. The door sliding gently, carefully open.

Intruder.

Someone with honest intentions would have knocked.

"What the hell? I told Point Break you could use this lab, but-" a man's voice in the doorway.

In an instant you were out from under the blanket, had leapt over Loki, and were making your way toward the intruder with a dagger in your hand. Your brain hadn't woken enough to recognize anything except that your charge was in danger.

"Smurfette, wait! It's me! Fuck! Are you even awake?" the intruder demanded. "THOR!" he called, backing away from the door. Was he after Thor too?

A hand grabbed the back of your tunic and hauled you backwards, back toward the couch. You'd only made it a couple of steps toward the intruder. Loki's arms wrapped around you, pinning your arms to your side as he pulled you onto his lap, holding you there firmly. "Kyrie-love, there's no danger. I'm here and perfectly safe," he purred softly and kissed the spot where your neck met your shoulder.

"There's an intruder," you protested as you blinked quickly to try to wake properly. You finally took in the scene and realized that Tony had snuck into the lab that you and Loki had taken over. Thor was running up to see why Tony was yelling for him. "Oh," you flushed when you realized that you'd nearly skewered Tony just for entering the room. You vanished the dagger immediately.

"Awake now, darling?" Loki chuckled as his grip around you loosened. He kissed your cheek, reassuringly. He wasn't surprised at your reaction. He was your charge and you had woken enough to sense the danger. The reaction had been automatic and wouldn't have happened at all had Tony bothered to knock. You would have woken at a proper knock.

"Sorry," you murmured. Tony just stared.

"Is there a problem?" Thor asked from the doorway as you scrambled off of Loki's lap and stood with him, keeping him a step behind you, just in case.

"Smurfette decided to try to kill me," Tony growled, glaring at you.

"Shellhead decided to try to sneak up on a sleeping Valkyrie," Loki countered coldly, using his icy bored court tone he took when he was upset with the person he was speaking it. He looked calm, but you saw his hand was curled in the perfect position for a dagger to materialize there.

"I just wanted to see what he did with my lab!" Tony protested.

"So you entered without knocking or announcing yourself and snuck inside, probably to see if something embarrassing was going on in here," Loki's voice was still cold. You reached out and touched his arm, reminding him silently that he couldn't kill Tony either.

"Stark, it is not wise to sneak up on a Valkyrie. They will attack first and ask questions later, especially if they feel their charge is in danger. Knock next time," Thor told Tony. "You are lucky that Loki managed to stop her." He was luckier that Loki had felt like stopping you and didn't just let you kill the moron.

"What the hell did you do to my lab?" Tony demanded as he stared in awe at the room, investigating the magic that had created the replica of Loki's sitting room. "It's so...real,"

"It's magic, Stark," you told him stiffly. This was supposed to be your safe space and you wanted him out. Thor must've seen your expression because he grabbed Stark's arm and started dragging him from the room.

"The magic will fade and your lab will return to normal," Thor told him while Tony spluttered and wanted to stay to investigate. Your attempted stabbing of him was already forgotten. He wanted to investigate the science behind the magic. Thor shoved Tony from the room and turned to you and Loki. "Have your apologies been accepted, Brother?" Thor asked, really asking the pair of you. You both nodded and Loki kissed your cheek again.

"My Lady Valkyrie is most gracious," Loki replied, his voice back to being a pleased purr. Loki grabbed your wrist again. You glared and tugged on it. He kissed your forehead, smirking at your ineffective tug, since it was designed to tell him to let you go without hurting him. "Stop that," he teased you lightly. He turned his attention away from you and back to Thor, showing Thor your wrist. "While you're here, Brother, I could use your assistance fixing this." You twisted your wrist from Loki's grip. He chuckled at your reaction. "Darling, you are aware that it has come to my attention that I have been neglecting my duty by you. Allow me to repair it now," he told you kindly, warmly.

You huffed, unused to attention, care, or...kindness after 900 years of not being able to let people get to close, of not being able to touch anyone for their own safety, of being alone and having to rely on only yourself. It was hard to let people back in again. Except Loki, but he had kisses for bribes and you were slipping quickly back into your old relationship, somehow as if the last 900 years hadn't happened.

"You should see what Reindeer Games did to the lab!" Tony's voice was back and soon the entire team was piling into your sanctuary, your taste of home. Everyone was oohing and ahhing and praising Loki's skills. He flushed, embarrassed over so much praise.

"We should get that fixed," Thor said, stepping closer to you and Loki before you could both escape to somewhere more quiet. Neither of you were comfortable around the team, though Nat seemed to have adopted Loki as well as you and Clint was warming up because Nat warmed up. Cap was impressed with your skills, and you had a feeling he would warm up properly when he saw you in action in the field properly. Thor's voice was booming, though and the entire team was looking over at you.

"In front of everyone?" you asked, horrified and flushed in embarrassment. They already thought you were weird. They only vaguely understood that Valkyries were duty bound to the throne, they understood even less that you were assigned to Loki's service. They didn't want to know and didn't dare ask what that meant. They didn't like it and had a hard time giving either of you a fair chance, though Loki's behavior hadn't helped any.

"The last time was in front of the kingdom," he reminded you.

You sighed and glared at him. "They knew what the ceremony was; they knew the honor that was being bestowed to both Loki and myself by it. They knew exactly the role of the Valkyries bound to personal service," you reminded him grumpily. The Avengers did not know any of that.

"We will let them see and then explain it to them. Loki is correct, though, and we need to get that sigil and his mistakes corrected," Thor told you firmly, but not unkindly.

You sighed heavily, but he was right. "Fine," you grumbled. You saw that Nat's hand was clamped firmly over Tony's mouth while she and Clint held him. They wanted to see what this was all about and knew they would get booted if Tony made a nuisance of himself. You summoned your formal battle armor, though you hated the flashy white and gold armor with its blue cape, preferring the black set you usually wore.

Loki kissed you. "Cool that charming blush, darling," he teased gently. You noted he was in his formal armor as well. You were doing the thing properly. He tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear, then did something that made your blush get worse instead of better. His lips against your ear he whispered. "This is the only time I will likely get to say this, so I fear I must take the opportunity. Kneel before me," his voice was a purr with just a touch of a dark tone to it, a tone very similar to the one from the security tapes you'd watched of the events in Germany, but not that malicious. Those words in that tone seriously did not help your blush. You were going to stab him for that later... Loki smirked at your reaction, then added for the room. "Thor's friends will not make fun. Or they better not. There is nothing to be ashamed of about a sacred oath," he added, glancing over at the suspiciously quiet group. "But we need to fix that sigil," Loki reminded you kindly. You nodded and he took his place beside Thor. You were embarrassed having to do this in front of the others and wanted to stab Thor, but you saw his point that he wanted the others to understand your culture.

So you stepped forward, dropping to one knee. Both of your arms were extended, holding your dragonfang blade in offering to Thor. Head bowed, you recited the words you hadn't needed in 900 years. "I am Y/N, a Valkyrie of Asgard, daughter of the famed Valkyrie Sigun. I have trained in the palace of the golden city and have passed the grand trial in the land of Valhalla. I am ready to accept my duty. I offer my services to the throne of Asgard," the words fell off of your lips and you remembered the day 900 years ago when you recited them to Odin, Frigga on one side of him, Loki and Thor on the other.

"The throne of Asgard applauds your achievements and welcomes your service, Lady Valkyrie. Your accomplishments and standing have earned you the assignment of personal service to Loki, your prince. Will you accept this honor and this duty, Lady Valkyrie?" Thor asked the words that Odin had, many, many years ago.

"I accept my duty," you replied now, just as you had then.

"Then reaffirm your oaths to my Brother," Thor was going off script a little, but it wouldn't matter and the warmth of his tone eased your heart. You glanced up as Thor stepped aside and Loki took his place. You saw the warmth in Loki's eyes and couldn't help smiling in return. He wanted this again, wanted you by his side. No, that wasn't weird on Asgard. Quite a lot of the Valkyrie who were sworn to personal service ended up marrying their charge. Valkyrie weren't chosen for personal service unless they had a reasonably strong bond with their charge, like you and Loki. Thor didn't have a Valkyrie yet since he hadn't gotten to know any of them well enough to accept their service. Plus he was Thor and just didn't see the need for a bodyguard/advisor/confidant.

"To my prince goes my faith and my love," Love wasn't part of the strictly traditional oath, but when the Valkyrie and her charge were courting already... it got changed to love. "To his blood goes my blade, my shield, and my fist, ever to defend him and his kin. To him I swear my loyalty. On my honor, I swear to be his guide, to be the light in the darkness, his sword, his shield, and protection. I swear my life ever before his. So I swear from this day until my final breath," you recited the words, looking directly into Loki's eyes. If you looked at him you could ignore the others watching, just as you had all of those years ago. Though, then, you were so proud of passing the trials and getting the assignment you had so desperately wanted. The honor of your service should have gone to Thor as the eldest, but he had stepped aside so you and Loki would both be happy.

You turned your blade, drawing it across the palm of your hand before you laid it at Loki's feet. Blood resealed the oath. Loki knelt, and took your blade in one hand. He took both of your hands carefully and stood, bringing you with him. He used your blade to made the cut across his own hand. He handed your blade back to you and you vanished it, to clean and resheath later, and took your bleeding hand with his, your blood mixing together.

"I accept your oath and your service, Lady Valkyrie, and swear in return to cherish your company, heed your advice, care for your well being. I swear to you my loyalty and my love, for this day and for every day to come," he spoke the reply, his eyes only for you. He flipped your hand over and summoned a handkerchief to bind the wound on your hand with. He had already used magic to heal the cut on his, but him binding your hand was part of the ceremony, part of the whole 'caring for your well being' part of the oaths. He lifted your arm and bowed over it, placing his lips against the sigil on your wrist again. This time it flashed completely back into existence, stronger than ever. Loki grinned up at you mischievously and stole a real kiss. You smirked at him and stole it right back.

Thor was chuckling when he announced the resealing of the oaths complete. He could do it as a representative of the throne. You'd needed at least one Asgardian witness, which is why the binding hadn't resealed when Loki kissed the sigil earlier.