Legendary

Serena and I decided to go in on an employee together: a specialist in the artistic details that defined different architectural styles, an architectural historian. It would be easier to create our plans with that kind of resource, and when we were trying to preserve a building or fit it into an existing neighborhood, that kind of authenticity could make the difference between being awarded the commission or not. It would save time for the rest of us if we didn't have to dig for the information. This individual could also interface with interior designers and clients.

Which, to be honest, was a big part of the draw.

With the rise of HYDRA we were anticipating having to divert from our work for stuff like having to save the world. Again. But we were pros at that. We needed more help and started to talk about hiring employees who would be employed by one or the other of us but would have some overlap, so that if she needed a hand, I could toss her an assistant for a project and vice versa.

We were starting to be noticed for more than Serena and my identities as valkyries, my identity as the wife of one of the powerful Waynes, and and Serena's as the most glamorous Captain America. A joint project on a residence had been written up in Architectural Digest, and a really well-written article in a technical magazine described how I used Tony's innovations in my work. Carol and Dagny joined us in building reputations that extended beyond the city, and although Aslyn, Karen, and Margaret didn't get the press the rest of us did, we made sure to credit their work wherever possible. It wasn't just lip service; everybody in Valkyrie had a big role in our public successes. We began framing and hanging notable pieces on the firm in the conference room. We broke ground on ValkyrieVille after some issues with permitting, another big media day for the firm. We included two small public parks as well as other attractive landscaping throughout.

We'd decided to think ambitiously and were planning on phasing out our office tenants in time, taking over all of the Valkyrie Building office space for ourselves, but that would be a few years down the road and we needed space now. Public attachment to the Valkyrie Building kept growing; it was becoming a prime destination for parents to take their families for ice cream and our retail tenants were hip and unique, always a good thing for increasing foot traffic. We started to get requests for small weddings in the elegant space of our lobby or in our garden. We continued to host J's health fair, which drew attention and other sponsors to the event. The testing and treatment they were able to offer expanded. It felt really good to be helping others on a larger scale. We expanded our outreach and sponsored a Girl Scout troop in our neighborhood, parts of which were not receiving as much benefit from city revitalization. Martha did the training and became one of the troop's leaders, and Mom's coffeeshop and the ice cream parlor had discounts for our scouts when they came in wearing their uniforms. We renovated some of our precious space downstairs as a conference room that any tenant could use and let the scouts meet there; it was safe and secure and since it was by public transportation, easy for the scouts to get to. We were also able to attract notable people to help with their badges and the troop was able to create a lot of their own badges too. Tony led the study for the robotics badge, Damian did a badge on finance, and Steve was going to carve out enough time to teach fundamentals of design. Barbara took them on a behind-the-scenes tour of the public library, Bucky did the same thing at the zoo, and we were all relentless about pursuing friends and acquaintances to speak to the girls, arrange field trips, or do badge work. Emma was head down in designing my armor and her regular business, but she'd promised to teach a badge on jewelry, where each girl would make a pendant.

The only thing Bucky didn't like about the wedding was the pink. It was heart-warming to see the care he took in planning it with Nessa, each decision helping to craft the beginning of their life together. Bucky had been resigned to spending his life fundamentally alone once he'd decided to build a life independent of the Avengers, I think, and I got all gooey to see him with Nessa. They had decided to take us up on our offer to have the wedding in our garden, and the second weekend in June had us hosting. It had to be moved indoors hastily since a big spring storm moved in, but we rearranged the library so they could take their vows under the beautiful stained glass dome as the storm raged outside. It was a small wedding--our family and hers, the Avengers he was close to, and their closest friends. The cats made themselves scarce, and Charlie was shy, but Eira, Torburn, and Sigurd were regular guests. There was a moment when Iris escaped me and toddled speedily to her uncle, who was about to commit himself to Nessa. "Unca Baa--" she cooed. Nessa grinned, and Bucky smiled, stooped to pick up his niece, and put her on his hip as he recited his vows. Nessa took her when it was time for Bucky to slide her wedding ring on her finger, foiling my attempt to recapture my offspring, and was rewarded with Iris giving her a big kiss. Nessa gave Iris a kiss too, and gave her back to me so that she and Bucky could have their kiss. After dinner, Alan presided over the nursery where all the kids were happy to nap, being tired out from the wedding ceremony and having to dress up. I apologized to the newlyweds for my daughter crashing their vows.

"She's family," Nessa said, smiling. "It's too bad she's not a little older. I would have loved for her to be my flower girl. She's so adorable with those big blue eyes."

"I'm a little grateful to have been spared Miles as a ring bearer, no offense, sweetie," Bucky said. I laughed. Miles was proving rather difficult to civilize. I could see him being distracted by an animal or bored and just wandering off, putting down the rings and forgetting where. I adored my son, but it was true that Iris was an easier kid to manage.

It was a beautiful wedding and I was so happy my much-loved uncle had found someone to make his life with. They were going to honeymoon in the Canadian Rockies, staying in a nice lodge and doing some hiking.

In July I added three junior conservationists, all recent grads, to my business. Olivia had double majored in preservation and architecture, so she'd be able to float between my unit and Serena's, and Serena had a newbie who was interested in my side of things too, so things were looking up. I couldn't put bids in on everything I wanted to, partly because there were just too many projects, but also because the Hall of Justice was in worse shape than anybody knew. Some of the detail work was being held together with paint, it turned out, and things that we'd planned to renovate had to be replaced instead. There were continual clashes with the city's historic preservation committee and I ended up just hauling them out to the site to show them that heavy breathing was likely to bring the place down before they lightened up and gave in. Because there would have to be so much new work done, I was able to get rid of some of the worst additions that had been made and restored it to an earlier serene magnificence. We were able to install a hugely improved wiring harness all over that would permit more interactive exhibits and public presentations. Because the enormous, ugly brass scales of justice sculpture fell off the wall and almost crushed a committee member, we were allowed to leave it off and they agreed that a different representation of justice could be used instead. So we tracked down some sculptors. The best idea was a sculpture, to be placed on a Doric column, based on the female figure in the famous painting "Liberty Leading the People," except that she carried a sword instead of a rifle and scales rather than a flag. And she was fully covered in a long white chiton with a zoster worn low on the hips. Her hair and facial features were reminiscent of Wonder Woman, but none of her distinctive symbols were used. The committee, surprisingly, loved it, and we arranged for sigils of the founding members of the Justice League to ring the entryway about a third of the way down from the ceiling, making the link between the idea of justice and the Justice League pretty explicit.

By the time autumn arrived, the Hall was headed in the right direction, to everybody's relief. Diana had accepted a position at the Met and it became known among their friends, family, coworkers, and superhero groups that she and Daniel entered into a relationship. Yay! Ann was pregnant again and Tony had a dopey grin on his face most of the time. Steve was getting ready to expand his limited pret a porter collection, and made arrangements to lease space in the Valkyrie Building for his first boutique. Unfortunately, the stationer was closing his business, but that did free up space and we were excited about adding Steve's business. And around Halloween, Bucky announced proudly that Nessa was pregnant too.

Emma had taken her time with my armor in order to get it right, but she finished it just before Thanksgiving, and it was frankly magnificent. It was fitted to me to avoid blisters from chafing edges and to make the most of the safety features that would help prevent broken bones. The armor was lightweight and didn't restrict my movement, and it felt good to wear it. It had beautiful knotwork as the design, with ravens decorating the biggest clasps. Steve had taken the idea of our long white valkyrie dresses and made me a long tunic in dark red based on the design, pairing this with bottoms similar to yoga pants that tucked into stylish boots that had the greaves attached, with protection over the top of my foot and on the back of the ankle to help prevent damage to my Achilles tendons. There was a slight shaping over the heel so that if I kicked back at somebody, it would hurt more. I had an equipment belt rather than a sword belt, and I'd gone back to Asgard to make a short sword for the spine sheath. I had gauntlets that would work similarly to my cestuses, and a helmet that shielded my face like Emma's had when she'd been Paladin. My clothes had plenty of places where I could hide throwing knives or something larger, and Tony had designed a backpack that had a rigid base that made it look like my wings popped out, like the ones worn by Hawkman and Hawkwoman, but this also had a real backpack that I could use for equipment for missions or first aid supplies if necessary. It came off easily when I needed it. Emma also had made improved solid protection for my wing bones and a two-part coating for the feathers. The first coat was a light protective layer that was permanent but took a lot of time to cure. The second coat went on more quickly. It made the edges of the feathers stiff enough to cut, resisted breakage, and she'd added a little red tint to it so that it would look similar to the images captured in my big debut. Because it bonded to the protective layer rather than the actual feathers, it could be removed with the right solvent and elbow grease. Bucky and I kept up our training. My relationship with Malia had taken a huge hit over my refusal to accept the chain of command during Bucky's kidnapping, so it was easier just to work with Bucky. My uncle wanted to be ready for anything, never be surprised like he had been, and frankly, only Steve and I could keep up with him. I worked out with Steve and Torunn too in order to keep accustomed to different fighting styles.

This year, we had a bigger party for the twins, and invited not only family and friends--including all godparents--but Thor, Sif, and Magni as well. Torunn was going to go home for a bit with her parents on vacation, so Modi was stepping in as my bodyguard. It was going to be weird to have somebody different. When Torunn got back, he was going to go to the War College and study our military history. He and Magni both wanted him to be his brother's prime advisor, and everybody thought that exposure to different ideas and thinking from different species would benefit him, and this included different theories of warfare as well as other aspects of governance. The idea was that Magni would know Asgard inside and out, and Modi would bring perspectives and knowledge from other cultures.

Things were heating up in the hunt for HYDRA. A couple of possible bases had been identified and the Avengers were planning to check out one site and the League the second. Planning was intense. Christmas and the new year came and went before the ops were ready. Daniel gave me recordings of the planning meetings so that I could assist if necessary. The Avengers moved in on the French base; the legitimacy of the invitation was legally questionable since it was known that HYDRA members occupied key political positions and the request was made by a minority coalition, but it was accepted as enough of an invitation and they raided the base. They turned up enough evidence to warrant the arrest of key figures in politics and business and public investigations were opened. The second base in Romania was also raided, this time by the Justice League. This was a squishier case; the President had indicated that she wouldn't protest the raid should one take place, but there was no official sanction. The League went in anyway and struck a real gold mine of data. Unlike France's constraints on the Avengers, the League wasn't obligated to share the information with anyone but the Romanians, and their specialists set to work mining the data for all it was worth. The Avengers turned over complete data bases to the French, the US government, and the UN; the League just turned over the information to the Romanians and kept a copy for themselves. Because the League was based in the orbiting Watchtower, it was very difficult to compel them to do anything, and the UN, who wanted the information from their computers too, had to go to the Romanian government to get it and the Romanians decided who got what. They cleaned their own house and led the world in anti-HYDRA legislation, officially outlawing the group and providing stiff penalties for members. I listened in real time, but neither op required the presence of Valkyrie.

The records, once the League had decrypted them--they were a lot faster than the US government--showed that Niko Constantine had rejoined HYDRA and he hadn't fared well because he'd told us about HYDRA. He'd been reassigned to HYDRA's experimental division--as a test case. They were trying to do to him what they'd planned for Bucky, and I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Well, probably not. I wouldn't be too upset if it was the Joker in their clutches, for example. There were also hints that HYDRA was allying itself with other underworld cartels. So yay, something else to watch.

The guesthouse was finally finished, and Damian and I furnished it fairly well, lots of luxurious touches combined with practicalities like the whole-house vacuum and the latest appliances. There was a small patio out back with a firepit and landscaping that would be lush and verdant in a few seasons--Dagny's work, naturally. The English cottage style fit in with our house, even if it wasn't identical--this had a brick exterior rather than stone--and there was a well-concealed entry to the batcave too. There were three bedrooms, two and a half baths, a great kitchen with a dining area marked by small walls and an expansive archway, and a couple of rooms that could be used however the occupants wanted. It was furnished with some new things, some things we gleaned from the attics at the main house--Daniel was most insistent, and was cozy but not stuffy. Alfred accepted our offer to move out two days after it was complete, and after that, we noticed that Fiona's vehicle was tucked into the covered parking on a regular basis. Alfred's suite was converted back to a guest suite.

Damian entered his first dressage competition, looking impossibly elegant on the back of his great black Frisian Toby. They were both learning and while he didn't place highly, the judges had good comments for him and his seat was much admired. He looked even more dashing on horseback than he usually did, and I added new aspects to my daydreams. Daniel was getting into steeplechasing, which made me nervous. Serious accidents could still happen these days, and could be debilitating despite all the marvels of modern medicine, but he was a big boy and capable of making his own decisions, I kept telling myself.

Modi was not as good a bodyguard as his sister was, but he was capable of really effective menacing looming, so there was something to be said for that. I met with Selina for drinks after work, as we did every so often. The divorce had been hard on her; she really loved Bruce, but I honestly didn't think she was capable of staying on the right side of the law even for him, and she wasn't one to use her talents in a group, strictly a lone predator in the night. For his part, her slips were a problem for him but not the dealbreaker. His devotion to Batman had been a little more trying for her, because he was frequently out when she was trying to battle temptation. What ultimately drove the stake into their marriage was the issue of children. Bruce had his natural child Damian plus all the Robins that he'd adopted, and he was pretty much done with fatherhood. He adored being a grandfather, but he liked being able to hand a child back to its parents and get on with his plans. Selina wanted a baby of her own.

I was slightly late and slid into the booth with an apology. Selina waved it off with feline grace and sipped her drink. Instead of the classic martinis she usually favored, she was drinking something out of a highball glass. "Tough day/night?" I asked, giving the waiter my order and a smile along with an order of a house platter of nibbles.

"No, not really. Yes. I don't know. Maybe," she said, looking uncharacteristically addled. I reached over and took a sip from her glass. Tonic water and lime juice.

"Are you ok?" I asked, concerned.

"I'm pregnant." My eyes shot wide and I turned my lips in between my teeth in surprise. "I don't know how this happened."

"Really?" I had a light tone, trying to tease her into a less grim mood.

She rolled her eyes. "I know how I happened to be inseminated," she said crisply. "It's just that I didn't really think it would happen." She touched her fingertips to her eyes gently. "Bruce is really hit or miss about taking his birth control pill, and while we were married, I had discontinued my birth control method, but nothing happened." She sighed a little unsteadily. "I forgot about it during the divorce, actually. The last few times we've encountered each other in the dark... well, he doesn't really have it in him to turn me over to the police, so other things happen. He's much more primally himself in the suit, you know." I did know. Emma had stories about how the suit made him horny.

"What are you going to do?" I asked gently, placing my hand on hers and squeezing.

"Oh, I'm keeping her," she assured me. "Bruce...wasn't terribly excited." Her beautiful green eyes filled. Damn it, Bruce.

"I can assure you of my support and Damian's," I said. "He'll be thrilled to have a sibling. And there won't be much difference in age with our kids, so that's going to be fun." The waiter returned with my Brandy Alexander. I ordered another while he was there and got to work on my first drink. Delicious. This wasn't going to be a one-drink occasion. We talked about pregnancy and children and I asked if she was going to move. Her current apartment was fine for her and her three black cats, but it might be a little crowded with the baby.

She smiled. "I've leased the penthouse in the first apartment building in Valkyrieville," she said, and I grinned. We had two apartment buildings getting set to open. "I can move in in three months, so there's plenty of time to get settled before my darling arrives." It was a good choice, objectively speaking. The penthouse was level with another building next door and I felt sure that Catwoman would have a way out for her nocturnal activities. There were a couple of floors of retail, including a couple of good restaurants and another outpost of the Oasis grocery store would be in the other building. I thought about the other leases; there were a few spaces open and I thought I might try to get a specific tenant for one of the spaces: there was a new business that was an emergency kid supply type of thing, staffed twenty-four hours; they would bring parents formula or baby food if they ran out, arranged for diaper service or dropped off disposables, and had a small but choice selection of baby accessories for purchase or lease, like strollers, car seats, cribs, all that. And a nurse practitioner on staff for medical emergencies, a nanny registry, and emergency babysitters. I listened to her as she poured out her fears and trepidation, but she was excited to be a mom. I reassured her that Damian and I would be delighted to help and that she should call me for any reason. When we parted, she did seem reassured, hopefully by the assurance that she wasn't going to be alone, and on my way home, I called the company that did the leasing in Valkyrieville to tell them to do whatever it took to lure Tots-n-Tykes as a tenant.

I picked up my husband when I got home; we were going up to the mansion for dinner. Alan was going through a French cuisine phase, not to be missed. I told my husband the news, and as expected, he was delighted to know that he was going to have a sibling, but less than thrilled at his father. I accepted club soda from Alfred, not needing another drink, and talked with Daniel and Diana. Such a delightful couple, such lovely alliteration in their names. She was enjoying her new job very much, and I felt all warm and fuzzy as I observed the tenderness that Daniel had for her. The boy had discerning taste and knew how to treat his lady. Of course, it didn't hurt that he had Damian's example to follow. Now there was a man of extraordinary style and devotion.

"Goddamn it, Dad, you need to man up and accept responsibility!" my beloved bellowed. I jolted up straight and looked around. I'd missed Bruce when we came in earlier.

"I have made financial arrangements," Bruce snapped.

"That's not good enough!" The two men glared at each other. My husband's jaw was pugnacious. "That's your daughter or son! You have to be a father!" Miles woke up and added to the kerfuffle. I cradled Iris, glad I'd gotten the easygoing baby.

"What's this, Bruce?" Thomas barked, and he strode over to his son. Martha came over to me.

"What's going on, Alex?" she asked.

"Selina's pregnant," I said quietly. She looked furious and stomped over to her son.

"I think I'm just going to sit this one out," Daniel said quietly, and I grimaced in agreement. Martha didn't often raise her voice, but she really lit into her son and ripped him a host of new orifices. Diana, Daniel, and I sat quietly, huddled together as I rocked Iris. Alfred came in, frowning slightly as he listened to the fuss. He clapped his hands authoritatively, and the yelling broke off for a moment.

"Dinner is served. Ladies and gentlemen." His tone made it clear that he expected everybody to live up to those appellations during the meal, and the three of us scuttled around him and staked out one corner of the table for ourselves. Everyone else filed in shortly thereafter. Set jaws and blazing blue eyes were a commonality. There was the bare minimum of conversation to meet Alfred's standards, and we turned our attention to our dinner, a superlative coq au vin. Alan was doing wonderful things in the kitchen these days. Diana, Daniel, and I ripped out of the dining room as soon as we could, but there was coffee and dessert in the library before we could really escape. Alan had made eclairs. Damn it. I couldn't pass those up. I cursed both my greed and my sweet tooth. Alfred had a disapproving air as he passed out the coffee and Damian's jasmine tea. He held out Bruce's coffee stiffly.

"Master Bruce," he said balefully. I cringed. Alfred in a pet was bad enough, but he was disappointed, a tone he'd adopted only a few times in all my long friendship with him. Bruce cringed, and the fight and anger ran out of him. I sighed in relief; Bruce would step up and be a dad, not just a wallet. Damian knew his father had surrendered, and he drifted over, also relieved. I stroked a lock of his silky black hair back and he held my hand as we attacked the eclairs with a better appetite. We made it an early night and Alfred agreed to watch the twins while we went downstairs and had a swim to relieve the tension from the fight with Bruce. Then we said goodnight to Alfred and put the kids down for the night. They were sleeping through it for the most part, and I gave Damian a massage to really relax him, and I told him about Selina's plans. He nodded and said he'd get in touch with her and we talked about what help we could offer. Selina was doing quite well for herself financially, completely aside from her divorce settlement, so it wasn't a question of money but support. I fell asleep thinking of all the cute baby things I could knit, including a little hat with cat ears at the corners.

The next day I called my dad to commission a crib--something stylish and sleek--and ducked out on my lunch hour, returning with a bag full of soft and fluffy yarns. I planned for the cap and matching sweater, booties, and blanket, and I had a heavier yarn, but still supple and luxurious, for an afghan for Selina, something to hopefully reassure her that she wasn't alone during the days and nights of her pregnancy. Also called Steve and asked if I could talk him into doing a few baby clothes. I just said that Selina was expecting, with no details, and he said it wouldn't be a problem. He was doing some for Bucky and Tony's new babies too.

Then I'd done all I could for the short term, and I had to focus on work. I'd be going to Prague soon to start work on the Observatory Tower. This was real cultural heritage and the work had to be impeccable. I'd go over for the start of work to make sure that there were a minimum of unpleasant surprises awaiting us, and fly out periodically thereafter. And the first shipment of SmartBoard was going with me for the start of the work on the rest of the Clementinum.

And while I was there, I had a couple of contacts to meet who might have information on HYDRA. I'd be meeting them as myself, not Valkyrie, which was helpful, but it still wasn't going to be without risk. I was glad Modi was going along to watch my back. I'd rather have Torunn, we'd developed a really good working relationship for these sorts of covert activities, but she was still on vacation, and her brother was not unskilled. I just needed to train him.