Legendary

After a decent amount of conversation, Tony and I got up and I took him to my room for a more personal reunion. After, he nuzzled my hair. "Missed you, Tiger."

"Missed you too, Sparky." I kissed his throat. "I was afraid you'd be upset."

"I was upset, at how you were being treated. You guys work like dogs. I didn't realize just how bad it was. You didn't tell me."

"I didn't know it all, what the older ones were going through. We're a tough bunch, but it's ridiculous that people withheld things that others were entitled to just because somebody was petty or well, assholes."

"But you like it here."

"Yep. There's so much more freedom here, everybody I've met is more pleasant."

"Good." I rolled him on his back and straddled him, enjoying access to touch more of him. I traced the terrible scars left from his arc reactor.

"So why do you call me Tiger?" I asked absently, bumping my fingers over his abs.

"I came down to the training room once and saw you and Hogun going at each other with those swords. You were moving so quickly and elegantly, graceful, with that slippery quality, totally fearsome and lethal. I thought of that poem by William Blake:

"Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies.
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?"

he recited from memory. "So it seemed like an appropriate nickname here. You could carve up most of the people in Valhalla without breaking a sweat."

"I would break a sweat if I had to carve up most of the people in Valhalla," I teased, and he smiled.

"And look beautiful while doing it," he said, playing with the ends of my hair. "Your hair's grown a lot."

"So has yours," I said. "I like it longer, it's sexy."

"Yours or mine?" he quipped, and I grinned.

"So what provoked you to end up here?" I asked.

"Mostly, missing you. It's not just the sex, though," he hurried to assure me, "although your body and how you make me feel is a wonder of the world. I missed talking to you, bouncing ideas off you, eating dinner with you and finding out how your day went. Bruce is a great guy, don't get me wrong, we work great together, but he can't replace you. And there was all this bitching and moaning from most of the warriors, they have to do a lot more for themselves and they hate it. I finished my work so it was time to find you and leave them to their misery. Odin's getting a little frantic, I think. He's not getting more warriors now that you guys are gone, dissatisfaction has spread over to Frigga's realm as well, and he has no idea how to fix things. This is nothing that my workshop can fix, and I wouldn't have if I could have." He looked over my shoulder. "I was kind of worried that you'd replaced me," he admitted.

"You'd be a hard act to follow, Tony," I said calmly, and turned his head so he had to look at me. "I haven't even tried. I missed you too, for the same reasons. I missed telling you about my day, asking what you were working on, you trying to improve my terrible chess game. Spending time with you, and of course, the sex is pretty spectacular, Sparky." I ran my fingers along his cock, smiling with anticipation as it gallantly hardened under my touch. "You think Iron Man is up for another adventure?" He laughed so hard tears squeezed out of his eyes.

"Iron Man?" he chortled. "Iron Man's always up for riding a tiger." And quickly, I found myself on my hands and knees. Oh, yeah, I'd missed him.

It wasn't hard to fall into a routine; Tony gravitated to the smithies, where he found an interest in learning how to make metal parts for furniture, like reinforced corners for trunks or chests, other hardware like hinges and drawer pulls, cooking pots and serving vessels. He was particularly drawn to the serving vessels because he could make them look stylish and beautiful. He made me a tray in bright-polished pewter for the top of my chest; the handles looked like tigers. It was really beautiful, and everybody was impressed with the work.

My uncle also worked in the smithies, but to his surprise, he found himself drawn to shoeing horses and started training to be a farrier. Emma took up with the jewelers, and Cap stayed with wood, but he also started helping to fell trees, bringing them to a low-tech mill, and tending to the wood as it air dried. He also made me new knitting needles to replace the ones I'd had to leave in Valhalla.

The former valkyries eventually met up and discussed terms and conditions should Odin discover he actually couldn't run Valhalla without us. There wasn't a rush on it; time here seemed to run really fast in comparison to Valhalla and Folkvangr. The list was extensive and I personally doubted that Odin would accede to the conditions.

One afternoon I received a summons to the Great Hall. I'd been glazing plates and had to clean up, making me a little later than I wanted. It turned out that I was the last to arrive. Hela stood at the head of a table of the former valkyries. Behind her, Odin stood, arms crossed. I slid into the last place around the table.

"Now that you are assembled, Odin wished to address you," she said. "Be advised that he does not have the power to remove you from this hall if you do not choose to go. You must leave willingly." She stepped back and gestured to Odin, who glowered at her.

"Enough of this," Odin said, stepping up to the table and looking around at us. "I have allowed you time for your rebellion. It is time for you to return to Valhalla and take up your duties."

We all looked back at him, unimpressed by his 'forbearance' with our 'rebellion.' "And what has changed during our absence?" Brynhildr asked.

Odin smiled a little. "Those in charge of equipment and supplies have been forbidden to demand...favors from you in exchange for goods and they must make all goods available upon request," he said triumphantly. I felt like rolling my eyes.

"Not good enough," Eir snapped. "Who has the list?" she asked us, and Heidi passed down the conditions we'd discussed and agreed on. Eir picked up the paper and scanned it, nodding. "As a show of good faith, you must first allow our representative to go to Valhalla and retrieve our personal effects from our quarters. Then, upon her return with the items, we will sit down with you and discuss terms for our return. For those who wish to return."

Odin was pissed that we were taking such a hard line, but we kind of had him over a barrel. Grudgingly, he agreed to allow one of us to go and retrieve our possessions. I stood, and I think he wanted to groan. But I had agreed to go because I was the only one who could get back here if Odin suddenly became uncooperative.

I looked around the hall; it was as clean as ever and empty, as it should be during the mid afternoon. I left Odin there and went first to my quarters. I gasped when I pushed open the door. My room had been ransacked. The furniture, including the chest the valkyries had made for me, had been broken, the mattress and pillows slit. All my few personal possessions were gone--my hairbrush, comb, hairpins. My knitting needles and spindles were broken on the floor. I clutched my pendant, grateful that I rarely took it off. And the clothing, including the apology gifts from Frigga, were gone. My spear, shield, and swords were also missing. I left and checked the rooms of the other couple of valkyries in the annex; same thing there. A mess, and nothing on the list. I left the building and ran down to the valkyries' building, passing Tony's shop and quarters on the way. They were pristine. The only thing Tony had wanted was the sweater I'd knitted for him, and I took my needles and pins and the scissors that I'd kept with the sewing machine. Then I went on. The quarters for the rest of the valkyries...

I pushed open the door to Runa's quarters and gagged. The smell was horrible, the destruction worse. Again, all personal items had been looted, including the valkyrie weapons. There wasn't a room in the complex that had escaped some sort of despoilment. I headed toward the forge to find out what had happened to our weapons. Suspiciously, the forge was deserted. I found a few pieces in the scrap metal pile, but not nearly enough. But I did find my swords. The scabbard was broken, as was one of the blades. The other blade was bent. I picked up the pieces, grabbing a rag to wrap them in. The rag was surprisingly soft and I took a second look. The pink color was familiar... then I saw the embroidery on the hemmed side and knew where my dresses had gone. The dress I'd worn for the last night of Walpurgis had been cut up for rags. I was infuriated. I grabbed the bundle and charged back into the hall. Odin turned at my entrance.

"This is all I found," I said tightly, and showed him the remains of my treasured swords. "Some of our armor is on the scrap heap in the forge, but most of it is gone. All our few personal effects have been stolen. Our clothing has been ripped up and used as rags. The valkyrie complex has been looted, the furniture smashed, urine and feces all over the place. How could you allow this to happen, Odin?"

"It was not my doing," he protested.

"You are lord of this realm, Odin, and you should have controlled your warriors. We had little to begin with, and it's all gone now." I was shaking with rage. "Why would anybody do that anyway? What is wrong with you people?"

"They were merely releasing frustration," he tried to placate me.

"How would you feel if you came back to find that they'd done the same thing to your quarters?" I demanded. "And it is definitely gender-based violence, because Tony's things weren't even touched!"

"Gender-based...what?" he asked, puzzled. His cluelessness was the last straw for me. I grabbed the bent sword out of my bundle and stabbed him. Just the once, right in the middle, not over and over like Julius Caesar. I do have some self-control. I pulled the sword free, stuffed it back into the bundle, and popped myself back to Hel. I was still good at judging time, it seemed. They were still at the table.

"What happened?" Carol asked. "Where are our things?" Half choked with rage, I told them what I'd seen. That provoked everybody's tempers, and more than one of them wished that I could have done more damage to Odin. The meeting broke up, anger still high. The energy I'd gotten from my anger faded although the anger still burned, and I trudged up to the smithies to see if my swords could be fixed. Several smiths looked at them, and their opinions were all the same.

"I am sorry," my last hope said, patting my shoulder. "The steel isn't good enough and the damage is too great. But you can use these as a guide to make new ones, we will help you. And here, these grips look new. You can use them on the new swords. One of the specialists can make a new sheath too, using these pieces for a pattern." I had to be satisfied with that, and I would be grateful later, once my temper cooled off.

I went back to my room, appreciating it all the more, the way that my privacy was respected, that it was clean and cared for, that my things were where I'd left them this morning. Unexpectedly, I was a little weepy. There was a knock on the door; I snuffled, swiped at my eyes, and opened the door to Tony.

"Oh, Alex," he sighed, and cuddled me to him, rocking me gently, asking what had happened. I told him. "Oh, my darling, you've had a bad afternoon. Thank you for retrieving my sweater, though, it means a lot to me. I just wish you'd had better luck."

"I don't know why I'm so upset," I said, sniffing.

"Your private space was invaded, your possessions destroyed or stolen, your swords broken. Of course you feel violated," he said, kissing my temple. "You're probably wondering what would have happened if any of you valkyries had still been there when the perpetrators were rampaging around. And Odin let it happen." I nodded into his shoulder. He stood there patiently, letting me get through it, until I started to relax. Well, get less tense. "Do you want a cool cloth for your eyes?" he asked tentatively. "My mom used to do that when I was a kid, said it helped."

"I'll go splash my face," I said. I also needed to pee, now that I thought about it.

"When you get back, do you want to take a nap? You've got to be drained by that much rage."

"Will you nap with me?" I asked a little shyly, and he rubbed my back.

"I can't refuse an offer like that," he said. So I went and took care of things, and when I got back, took off my dress so I wouldn't get it all wrinkled. Tony was already out of his boots and jerkin, and patted the mattress in front of him. I curled up on my side and he fit himself to my back, putting his arm around me and gently rubbing my stomach until I fell asleep.

When I woke up, it was darker. "How are you feeling?" Tony asked gently, squeezing my hand. Sometime while I'd been sleeping, I'd taken his hand.

"Better," I admitted. He kissed my cheek.

"We can still get dinner," he said, and reluctantly I sat up. I could have stayed forever like that with him, but I was hungry. He laced my dress back up, waited as I fixed my hair, then settled my shawl around my shoulders. Winter was coming in Hel, and the air was chilly. "Let's eat, then come back here after. I'm not as good as you are, but I can give a passable massage," he offered. I smiled at him.

"That sounds fantastic," I said, and he smiled and held the door for me. "You're such a gentleman, Sparky."

"That I'm not," he said immediately. "You'll never find me putting my cloak over a puddle for you."

"You are to me," I refuted. "And you'd be nuts to ruin your cloak like that. How would you possible wear it after? It would be all muddy and dripping. I can easily jump the puddle or go around it. Your manners are lovely, but it's more than that. You make me feel appreciated and valued, like I'm important to you."

"You are, Tiger. Never doubt it," he told me as we started down the stairs, he preceding me. Tony only thinks he's not a gentleman. "I think you might just be the best thing that's ever happened to me."

His words touched me. I quickly rubbed my hands together to warm them up a bit, then stroked the back of his neck. "You're important to me."

"Good," he said, offering me his arm as I stepped off the last stair. "My plan is to make myself indispensable to you. I used to envy the kind of relationship you had with Wayne, how close you were, how well you were able to make it work. True partners in everything. I never could make my relationships work. I'd like something like that with you myself."

"I think we can," I said as we entered the hall. "It requires a lot of work and a mutual commitment to make it work, and I'm motivated."

He pulled out a chair for me at the nearest table; we had just made the end of dinner. "So am I. A lot of distractions that I had when I was alive are gone. The company, the Avengers, being Iron Man. They were important to me, kind of my obsession because I needed them to fill a hole inside myself. They provided satisfaction and purpose that I never found with Pepper or Con, and I probably wouldn't have been able to find it with Emma, either, because I didn't know what I needed or how to get it. Here I can see what's really important. My work isn't as important and I don't need to be Iron Man anymore. I like my work, but what I want, more than anything, is you." I picked up his hand and kissed his palm, holding it against my cheek.

"That's good," I said, grinning like crazy. "Because I want you too. I recognize what I feel for you because it's similar to what I felt for Damian. You have similarities with him, you know. Problems with your parents--his mom was a real nightmare--but I think the difference is that Bruce stepped up and was a good dad. It's more than just contributing the sperm and providing a company to run. Bruce made a huge effort to also connect with his son, which was an advantage you didn't have. But you both cared so much about trying to do the right thing and both of you are good men. And for some reason, you both really like me, so there's that." I smiled and held his hand in both of mine. "The difference is that you doubt yourself, your worth. But I'm here to tell you that you don't need to doubt, and I will show you that until you believe it for yourself, Tony." I was cut off as our dinners were served; that was fine, convincing him would take time and persistence until he learned to see himself like I did.

We had just finished when Captain Rogers sat down. "Heard some bad things happened this afternoon," he said. All the relaxation I'd found with Tony dissipated and I told him what I'd found in Valhalla. He scowled. "Odin has command responsibility," he said. "He doesn't run a very tight unit over there. But then again, neither does Frigga, although it isn't as bad there."

The concept that a commander was responsible for the actions of his troops was fairly new in Midgardian law, mostly having arisen from the Tokyo and Nuremberg war crimes trials after World War II. I completely doubted whether Odin had ever heard of the concept, much less the Midgardian laws. Still, I appreciated the sentiment, which echoed my own. "Your friends were talking about a list of conditions you had before, saying what would need to happen before you would return."

"Yep," I confirmed. "The list just got longer. Somebody's going to have to explain what command responsibility is and why he needs to assume it." He smiled.

"I'd be happy to," he said. I smiled too.

"I will take you up on the offer," I said. "Odin respects you, he'll listen to you. Unlike me." I said that a little sourly.

Rogers shrugged his massive shoulders. "If he wants the valkyries back, he'll have to listen and make changes. He may prefer the traditional Asgardians and Midgardians who obeyed him without question, but times change, and if he wants new followers, he's going to have to adapt too. Happy to help." He got up and ambled away.

"I'm counting on you helping me come up with some strategies that will ensure compliance," I said anxiously to Tony. "I don't have any idea how to make him stick to his word."

"We'll work on it," he promised. "I feel terrible. I have all those nice things in my quarters in Valhalla; initially I thought all new arrivals got them. But it wasn't til I saw yours that I realized that there was a differential. I thought you were right, though, when you said there were a lot of new arrivals. But none of you had much, and now I realize how abusive the situation is."

"Wasn't your fault," I said, patting his hand, then lacing my fingers with his. I felt better when I was touching him. "If things get straightened out, maybe you can offer to redistribute some of it, but I'd be surprised if anybody accepts. I think we all would want a fresh start, which would include the right to keep what we make and the spare time to make things expressly for ourselves." I grinned fiercely. "I might declare myself an enforcer; if anybody tries to screw with us again, I'll poof them here."

Tony laughed. "It would serve them right. You said you were ending your work in the pottery; what do you think you'll take up next?"

"I'm going to improve my weaving. I'd like to make tapestries and some nice rugs, and my skills are totally not there yet. But first I have to make new swords," I said, scowling and itching to put the hurt on somebody.

"You're the most inquisitive person I know," he said, reaching over to adjust my shawl where it had slipped a little.

"I've learned enough to produce usable items since I've been here," I said. "Now I want to start refining my knowledge and skills to make things that are well-crafted and also look pretty. So I start that with the weaving, then cycle through my skills again, improving them as I go. Between Irene, Carol, Dagny, and me, no matter what happens, we could supply our needs reasonably well. Irene is picking up farming basics, and Dagny is hunting, so with all the skills we have, we could be pretty secure and able to provide for ourselves and important others." I patted his knee. "That sense of security... well, it makes me feel less anxious, more in control. I may be overdoing it, but I need to know that I could be pretty self-sufficient." Tony nodded understanding.

"Well, can I lure you back upstairs for that massage? I traded for a special oil. It smells really good, and I can't wait to use it on the most sensual woman I know," he said, and I stood.

"I'd love to have your hands all over my body," I replied, and he grinned, springing to his feet.

"Outstanding. By the time I'm done, one way or another, you'll be too relaxed to worry about a thing, and hopefully pleasurably exhausted enough to get a good night's sleep."

A delicious shiver ran over me. "I place myself with anticipation in your very capable hands," I said, and we moved with purpose up the stairs to his room.