Legendary

"My word," was all I could think to say. The three of them swiveled toward me. I was then literally speechless and I was afraid to try to open my mouth for fear of what I might say. As it was, I held myself in place because I really wanted to slap my husband.

"Alex," Damian said, stepping toward me. "Xander's been following the criminals, finding out where they're living, where they're setting up their operations, what they're doing--"

"You know I've been worried that he's been hurt, maybe among the dead," I finally said flatly. "And you let me keep thinking that, because if he was ok, he'd have shown up by now."

"Mom--" Xander started.

"Surely you would have known that I'd want to see you or at least know that your body wasn't rotting away in a ditch somewhere. And Martha. Your twin. It's extraordinarily hard for her not to know where you are or how you are."

"It was my idea," Bruce said. "Having somebody who wasn't registered, looking into criminal activity undercover. And in case you were being watched--and since the Joker is back, you are probably under at least casual surveillance--it would be known that your son was still missing, the other valkyries and embassy staff ask you every day."

"I can't believe that you would be this cruel," I said, looking at all three men. I didn't waste any time. I popped up to the bedroom and got dressed for practice. Damian burst into the room while I was packing my change of clothes for the embassy after practice. I ignored him and popped down to the cloakroom and picked up my arms and armor, ignoring Bruce. Then I popped to Asgard. Their summer was lasting longer than ours, so it was no hardship to stretch out in the grass of our practice ground on the edge of Vigrior and try to rest. Eventually my mind calmed enough for a restless sleep, but I was still up with the dawn. I went up to the citadel for some breakfast and to practice on their archery range.

"What's wrong?" Serena asked as we warmed up. "You've got your battlefield face on."

"I found out that my husband and father-in-law have been working with my son. He's apparently either observing or infiltrating the gangs that are forming," I said sharply.

"Wait, what?" Serena said, stopping and looking at me. "They didn't tell you he was ok?"

"Nope," I said, biting off the words. "They apparently think I can't lie. Bruce said that 'since I'm probably under surveillance by the Joker' they wanted it to look like my son was still missing so whoever is watching won't be counting him into their plans."

"Oh, my god," Serena breathed. "What are you going to do?"

"Don't know," I said grimly. "Right now I'm so angry I don't even feel the hurt. I never thought Damian would do something like this to me. I don't know how to handle this." I hated saying it but it was true.

"Well, I can give you an outlet for your rage," she said, and today we worked in small groups. My group quickly figured out that something bad had happened and that I didn't want to talk, so I spent practice in three-on-one combat. I was tired when we finished, and took the diplomatic pouch for Loki reluctantly. Thor noticed and asked what was wrong. He and Magni were shocked that my husband would keep that knowledge from me.

Loki didn't say much, but he did offer me a cot at the embassy if I wanted, and I did. I took a moment and called my daughter. She was in quite a state, Damian having come clean that morning. "I can't stand to look at either one of them," she said, snarling. "But Daniel didn't know, just that they had an informant. He's sending me to London to oversee the business there for awhile."

"Send me some pictures so I can visit," I requested, and she said she would. I needed the pictures in order to visualize my arrival point.

"But I need some time to get a grip on this," she said, and I said that when she was ready for a visitor to let me know, letting her know that I was moving to the embassy.

"All the grandparents are furious with them," she said, barking a laugh that wasn't really funny. "They're really in a state. Bruce and my father are in over their heads."

"Good," I snapped, and then I had to go out. I found some relief in helping people get registered; at the very least it gave me something else to think about.

I popped back out to the house to pick up my stuff. "I was unaware," Alfred said, shaking his head. "I regret that I was unable to spare you the shock, Miss Alex." He had packed Martha's things and was preparing to drive them over so that she could take them on her flight.

"Not your fault, Alfred," I said, hugging him. "I'm going to stay at the embassy. If you need anything, though, call me."

"Thank you, Miss Alex. Likewise, if you need anything, please let me know." That was the hardest farewell to make. My folks were beyond furious, and Martha and Thomas were very nearly as angry. It was a little reassuring to know that I wasn't overreacting. Daniel called me later that afternoon. If he'd known anything about Xander, he'd have told me, regardless of what the others wanted.

The next day after practice, Thor changed my assignment. I was to work as a trainer for the guards; Thor was forming a specialized unit composed of some of the finest fighters in the guard and he wanted me to put the keenest edge possible on their skills. I would still take the diplomatic pouch back and forth, though. I was given a nice little room in the citadel, from which I could see the World Tree in the distance.

After dinner that night, I returned to my room and the rage receded enough for the hurt to surface.

When I dropped down to Midgard before valkyrie practice the next day, Tony was waiting for me. He didn't refer directly to the upset with Xander, but his hug was warm and made me feel marginally better. He mentioned that he and Emma had taken rooms at the tower and that Bucky and Steve were also being reassigned to Asgard.

"I thought that there was just one empty room at the tower," I said, distracted. He grinned at me.

"Ann made room for me," he said casually. I wasn't surprised, remembering how attractive and smart Martha's friend was, but I didn't know it had gone so far. "Well, we haven't seen much of each other lately," he shrugged. "And it feels kind of weird telling you about my new girlfriend. It shouldn't, you were back with your husband, but I felt like... it would be saying I've left you behind. And I haven't; we're still close, but..."

I smiled. The expression kinda hurt, but Tony was Tony and he deserved a smile, at least. "I was hoping you'd find somebody," I said affectionately. "I'm glad for you." He exhaled, then smiled at me.

"If you need anything, let me know," he said. "Emma wanted to assure you of her support too, but we didn't want to go over the top. How are the feather growth on your wings going?"

"They're about half grown in now,' I said with relief. "They're not nearly as itchy." He smirked.

"As soon as they're fully in, come by the tower and Emma'll treat the feathers with that protective compound." We chatted a bit more, then I picked up the diplomatic pouch. I told Loki where his goddaughter had gone, and he nodded. Then our conversation was focused on the job, a big relief. Torunn, her uncle's preferred shadow, also didn't say anything but she did tell me to let her know if I needed anything.

It was a relief to get back to Asgard. Odin did say that the deception was unworthy, but we talked mostly about the valkyries and Thor discussed the special group I'd be training, starting that afternoon after lunch. Then there was good news; I'd be working with Steve and Bucky. So after I finished morning practice, I had a light lunch, not willing to load my stomach up too much before another practice. I put my armor on, armed myself with my shield, spear, and swords, not having had a chance to ask Steve or Bucky what I should bring.

I was overdressed. I was the only one in armor (I'd have to ask Alfred how he'd gotten the metal so shiny) but Steve told his recruits that I was a good example. "All she knew is that she will be training you," he said. "So she came well prepared."

My uncle laughed. "Reasonably well prepared," he corrected his friend. "She probably didn't bring her knives." I smiled at him. The recruits looked slightly puzzled.

"It is well known that this valkyrie is always armed," one recruit ventured. "But why would she bring knives to a practice? They are unworthy weapons for a warrior."

The smiles were wiped off Bucky and Steve's faces. Mine hadn't worn one to begin with. "You haven't grasped the nature of this unit, then," Steve said. He proceeded to explain it; it sounded to me like it was a version of the Howling Commandos. "And if any of you feel like this kind of warfare is beneath you, speak now and I'll have you reassigned. But if you're still willing to get your hands dirty, let's get started."

Training, I discovered immediately, would be oriented to penetrating to achieve specific objectives. And if the valkyries were shock troops, this group was more like the Maquis of WWII. We valkyries were to take care of any aerial threats and first penetrate quickly to the vulnerable rear of the invading army where we were to raise as much hell as possible, but these guys were being trained for guerrilla warfare. Ambushes, sabotage, the use of their mobility and small group size to harrass the enemy and hit and run. They would also be given key targets once they were identified and orders to eliminate their target. I would be training them in archery and Bucky would be specializing in how to take care of a target closer in.

I blessed the Hawkeyes more than once during our training session for the excellence of their teaching. Clint in particular had been a wonderful teacher. I was a little less patient, but the stakes were higher than teaching a teenage girl so she didn't embarrass herself in class, and we probably had less time to do it in. It was easy to determine who had the most talent with a bow. Then Steve had them demonstrate their skill with javelins and discovered that they all had range, but their targeting was... erratic. Then to the use of spears and polearms, where expertise was greater, then swords, the basic weapon for Asgardians, which is where they excelled. Competency took a huge drop on closer work with knives. Bucky showed them how useful a knife could be. He tried to sneak up on me but I was too wary of him from our decades of training together and he couldn't surprise me. He grinned at me and successfully ambushed Steve. If he'd been playing for real, Steve would be dead. We quickly established a protocol where Bucky was always moving around the men. Sometimes he was there to help, sometimes he was there to attack. And the men never escaped unscathed. He'd inflict a shallow cut to remind them to pay more attention. After he'd terrorized them sufficiently, he started showing them how to defend against it. The men had incentive to learn quickly.

I talked to Bucky after that first training session to make sure he was really ok with using his asset skills again. He said that he was because the stakes were so high, and this time it was his choice. I also felt that part of it was because when the armies gathered at Vigrior, he and Steve would observe and assign targets, but they wouldn't be going out with the unit. They had to command the armies with Thor and Odin. They would be sending them out after the shock troops--valkyries above, at least initially, and the berserkers on the ground. Our job was to get ahead of the berserkers as quickly as possible in the event that we were grounded so that we wouldn't be in their paths. The unit was to focus on its targets and take them out as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Uncle Bucky tracked me down about a week after we'd started the training, after dinner when I was outside, on a little hill overlooking Vigrior. It was becoming my favorite spot. "Hey, sweetie," he said behind me, and I got up, brushing grasses off, to receive one of my uncle's special hugs. They don't really make anything better, but I always felt better because of the caring that was behind it. "How are you doing?"

By now the rage was pretty much gone, extinguished by the sadness that my husband, who I loved more than life, would play that kind of game with me. And my son. He should have known better. And Bruce. I thought he understood me, my training and skills, my outlook better than that. The hurt spilled out as I talked, sitting down once more, looking out at our eventual battlefield. He kept his arm around my shoulder as it all came out.

"Have you been back to the city since?"

"Mostly just to go back and forth with the diplomatic pouch," I replied, taking the handkerchief he offered. "There were a couple of times I covered for a little bit when there was a problem or when one of the workers was notified of a family match. Talked to Tony once, my parents came by to check and see if I was ok."

He didn't have any advice to offer; he'd just wanted to give me a shoulder to cry on. "Daniel did come up with a program linked to the surveillance cameras outside the embassy," he said after we'd sat in companionable silence awhile. "He did it to run facial identification on those who were there for registration as well as just passing by. The Joker was identified as picking up an ID for a falsified name, Jack Farceur. He was seen standing to the side, ostensibly looking at his ID, but listening to the two valkyries who were operating the printers. Daniel got the original footage, which has sound as well, and after cleaning up the audio, found that they were talking about you. One had overheard that something bad had happened to your son and was telling this to the other. Surveillance also caught R'as al Ghul at a distance several times, scanning the embassy workers, as well as a few as-yet unidentified people who did the same thing. It's not clear if all of them were there to check for you, but your presence--or absence, actually--has been noted."

"Just as well I'm up here, then," I said dourly and he agreed.

"So what do you think you'll do now?" he asked.

"I'm not planning on anything," I said. "Just to get through Ragnarok, hopefully."

He shot me a side eye. "Honey, you're not, um... you won't--"

"Am I suicidal, you mean?" I asked dryly. "No. I'll get through this. I'm just a little lost right now."

He exhaled and relaxed. "You know you could do anything you wanted," he said.

"Yeah, when it's right, I'm going to pick up an MIT catalog," I said. "Maybe I'll go for a PhD, if I find something interesting enough." We talked for a little longer, about nothing in particular, and he pulled me to my feet so we could return to the citadel.

A couple days later, a message on my communicator caught up with me and I swung by the tower to see Tony and Emma. She'd made cookies and fussed over me a little. It felt nice. I swung by Tony's lab and found him working on an Iron Man suit. I smiled. Ann was assembling a resistor. "Hey, Tiger," he said, jumping to his feet. Ann smiled at me. They made a good looking couple. He settled me onto a stool. "I wanted to see you to kind of feel you out," he said. I looked at him attentively. "Ann has an idea to start her own company," he said. "Well, we'll both be working on it. The oceans are still pretty trashed. There's all that plastic waste and damage from climate change. We've got some ideas to work on that, computer monitoring of water quality, finding and processing the plastic; the computer stuff will be mostly Ann's baby along with the biochemical engineering. I'll engineer solutions. We were going to ask you if you'd like to join, work on the biochem end of things. And we were going to ask Damian if he'd join as CEO of the business."

I stopped and thought about it. "I personally am going to pass on the offer to do biochem. I don't know what I want to do after Ragnarok, but I think I'm going to try something different. But if there's an investment opportunity, I want in." I saw the two of them exchange looks; hers was excited, his was confident. "As to Damian, I don't think you could do better, actually. Once the current crop of fires gets put out, I don't know how many Waynes will be needed at the company and he'll be looking for new opportunities. It's Martha who works the best with Daniel. I'd strongly recommend that you hire him."

Tony looked at me sharply and I knew he caught my drift. He'd probably thought about asking Damian to invest, but he might rethink that.

"How much were you thinking for startup costs?" I asked, and Tony thought that since they were starting from the beginning, about ten million. I grinned at him. My cheeks hurt from the exercise. "That won't hold you for long, Sparky," I said. "I'll invest a hundred million for 49% of the company." Ann sucked in a deep breath, but Tony started to dicker, as I knew he would. We ended up with my investment and each of us owned 33% of the company. It was a lot of money, especially for a startup, but if they could do what they set out to do--which I didn't doubt--it would be worth it, even if it was a bad deal for me from the initial investment side. "Get the papers drawn up," I said, "and let's get this started."

I went back to the embassy feeling pretty good. I had no doubt that the business would be successful and it felt good to me that I'd helped do something beneficial. Working with Damian, it would really successful and after they got going, I wouldn't be surprised if Tony tried to buy me out. Ha. He could try, but I know a good thing when I see it.

Thinking about that, when I got back I made an appointment with the embassy lawyer to make a new will. I wanted to make sure this business was covered if something happened to me. Then I flipped over to London at Martha's invitation. She clung to me and we finally talked about what had happened. But she had some good news; my grandma had registered in Britain's system and she'd seen her just the day before. They'd made arrangements to meet again on my next day off and I was so coming back for that. I went back to the citadel feeling much better.

We started having mandatory days off because there was concern from the medical staff that we were training too hard, and the next one fortunately coincided with the day I was going to meet my grandma in London. I arranged with Bucky and Steve to take the afternoon off too, which wasn't a problem. They didn't really need my help that much; I suspected that my assignment was more a way to get me out of the city while I was going through my issues. I was grateful for it, though.

I got to Martha's before she was even up; I picked up a book and read while I waited. When I heard Martha stirring, I called out to her and started the coffee. We both preferred it to tea, although Martha had gotten some for Grandma. Martha fixed a breakfast of eggs, sausage, and tomatoes while we waited, and we caught up. She was finding the work at Wayne--London engaging, for which I was grateful. We'd both been notified that both her children had turned up in the morgue, but she'd wanted time by herself and I hadn't pushed. It was another shock on top of the other. And her husband had gotten in touch. He'd moved on, he said. My poor baby. I wanted to mother (well, smother) but Martha said she just wanted to work and deal with her problems a little at a time. As long as she was addressing and not suppressing, I could respect her wishes but warned her I'd turn up the mothering if I thought she needed it. She sighed and we snuggled up on the couch with our coffee. What was bothering her the most was that she still hadn't had contact with her twin.

It was a relief when Grandma showed up. She'd brought snacks for afternoon tea, a custom of which all three of us heartily approved, but she fixed tea for herself and we sat down to talk, paused to make lunch, then talked more until tea. We stayed for dinner and Martha and I saw her off. She refused to take the transportation pod owned by Wayne Enterprises, saying it was a brief trip to Cambridge, where the government had resettled her. I stayed a little longer to make sure Martha was really ok, and went back to Asgard satisfied that she was as ok as was reasonable possible. She'd mentioned that my folks were coming out the next week to see her. I smiled; I'd be willing to bet that Martha and Thomas would be rotating out the week after. I told her to let me know if she needed anything or just wanted to talk, then scheduled another day with her three weeks out.

The next day, after valkyrie practice (I did feel better for the day off) I was assigned back down to the embassy for a few days. Despite the vaccinations, we still had a couple of valkyries who had gotten sick, and there were a few battling colds. In the interest of public health, nobody sick could work. "It's ridiculous that they don't have a vaccine for colds," Irene remarked as we got lunch before our shift.

"The viruses mutate too fast," I said, biting into a sandwich. The cold and a few dermatological issues like athlete's foot were the most resistant to eradication. Even the Asgardian healers didn't have a really effective treatment for colds, and they were seeing it more with the influx of humans living and working in the citadel.

Irene grunted and we moved on to other topics. Her parents had been registered and she was going to get time off the following week to visit with them. "Let me know if they need anything," I said to her, and she patted my shoulder. Then it was to work. It was nice to interact with people again where I wasn't barking orders at them. The government was starting to funnel registered people into better housing situations; even when they were in large spaces like the ballroom of an abandoned but structurally-sound hotel, they were providing partitions for privacy and noise control and lockers for personal effects. Other companies were stepping up like Wayne and prioritizing refitting abandoned buildings into apartments or starting new construction. The unregistered had less nice accommodations, but they were still being fed and housed. It was an incentive for people to register.

I was a little surprised to see the Joker across the street toward the end of my shift on the third day. He wiggled his fingers at me, and, after my shift was over, I crossed the street. I alerted one of the guards to keep an eye out, although I didn't see that he had any thugs around.

"How lovely to see you, pretty," he said as I joined him along the fence, an arms-length distance between us. The hated nickname still got on my nerves.

"Ummm," I said, unwilling to commit myself to anything.

"You don't seem that pleased to see me," he said, and I rolled my eyes.

"Given past history, you can't expect confetti and Champagne," I said briskly.

"I didn't mean for Batman to die," he said instantly. "It was an accident."

So he knew that Batman ran in the Wayne family. Good to know. I'd wondered what he did know about his archnemesis. "That's nice, but I meant the times you kidnapped me and tried to make my life a living hell."

"I admit that my courting may have been too avant garde," he said. "I regret any distress I caused you." You have GOT. TO. BE. KIDDING. ME. That was the suckiest apology I'd heard since my husband tried to justify not letting me know my son was alive and well.

"I'm a changed man, pretty," he said hastily, after a look at my face. "And to prove it, I thought I'd sing a little song in your ear. That boy of yours isn't as good as he thinks. He's drawn attention to himself from the wrong people."

"Xander?" I asked, standing up straight. "You know where he is?"

"Yes, young Alexander," the Joker confirmed. Then he rolled his eyes. "Do you mean that your husband has not seen fit to share that information with you?" he asked mockingly. I stayed silent. "He looks quite like his father. He's dyed his hair, but the roots are showing, and he's done nothing about his eyes or skin tone. His resemblance to what can be seen of one of the Batmen flapping around the city has been noted. That and he was observed talking to Nightwing, and not in an adversarial manner. His dear granny has plans for him, and they're going to be executed quite soon."

"How do you know this?" I asked, frowning.

"Well, criminal associates do associate, pretty. We're in the process of dividing up the city among us. Crime is so much better when it's regulated. And a man has to think of his prospects," he added.

"Thanks for telling me," I said, and he grinned. I flinched a little at the sight of that maniac expression and the grin faded. "Do you know anything about why my descendants are ending up in the morgue at such a high rate?" I asked, pushing a little. The grin vanished.

"It just so happens that I'm not the only one who's in on the Waynes' masquerade," he said. "It's not serving anybody's purpose to go public with the information--yet--but there are some who are interested in cutting down on the number of possible costumed crime fighters. I am not among them," he said. I don't know why, but I believed him. I nodded to him after rolling that around my head a moment, then said thanks and went back to the embassy.

I found a relatively quiet corner in the building and called Damian's number. It went to voicemail. Score! "I just received a warning that Alexander has been identified by some of the criminals he's been keeping company with," I said coolly. "Including your mother. He said that she's planning to execute a plan involving him soon, so you'd better pull him out now. Also, I had a confirmation that there are people who are targeting the family, taking out our descendants before they can take up the cowl again." I hung up, feeling relieved, and chatted with Loki a little before taking the diplomatic pouch back to Asgard.