Legendary

One thing I wasn't expecting in Prague was the work to be so much fun. I was able to get a lot of up-close and personal looks at the structure as the damaged walls were carefully brought down and I demonstrated how to use the substances that Tony had developed for me to stabilize the timbers and mortar in the areas that didn't need extensive reconstruction. Everyone I worked with was professional and focused on the job, as I'd expected, but they were as curious about my methods and materials as I was about their architectural heritage. I had a much better time than the last time I'd been there, and on the weekends Modi and I explored the city. I revisited some places that Damian and I had seen on the trip that had culminated in our engagement and resolved to bring him back for the grand opening of the tower once we were finished. A lot of it had changed and modernized, but the prized historical sites were largely the same. I did miss the kidlets, though, and bought some toys to kind of expunge my guilt. Christmas was coming, anyway. Modi was enjoying the city very much, and since we were seeing it in greater detail, he had one up on his sister.

One afternoon I was considering some water damage at the roofline, and a guy in a hard hat came up the stairs and handed me a roll of blueprints. I hadn't asked for them, and opened my mouth to question this. When I saw his red and black eyes, I shut my mouth with a snap. "You're not the only one interested in HYDRA, but you do have access to the most resources," the guy said rapidly and quietly. "Don't unroll those blueprints in public." His voice sounded kind of weird and I couldn't place the accent. At the sound of others in the stairwell, he winked at me before he turned and trotted casually down the stairs. The foreman came up and we talked about what I wanted to do to repair the damage. I pushed aside my curiosity and waited until we went back to the hotel after work. Modi had made friends with some of the people in the restoration crew, and I told him to go ahead and have some fun. There were plans for dinner and dancing. I was going to be staying in.

I had dinner at the hotel before going upstairs to finally take a look at those mysterious blueprints. It took a bit for me to understand what I was looking at when I unrolled them. I don't know what I expected, but it was not this. There were blueprints for historic preservation projects all over the world, and all the international Valkyrie projects were represented, plus the Hall of Justice in DC. There were red markings on all of them. I tapped my fingers and thought. Some of the markings were on loadbearing walls, and once I started looking, I saw that the spots were places where a building could be brought down or spectacularly damaged.

I muttered obscenities as I pulled up an internet search. Who was the odd-eyed stranger? He was a mutant, for sure--unless he was wearing contacts, maybe--but his physique suggested that he wasn't sitting around on his muscular butt. I went right to a bookmarked fan site that followed past, current, and returned superheroes and did an image search for red and black eyes. There were more than you'd think. The first one that popped up was a guy associated with the X-Men, but up-to-date speculation was that he was taking some time apart to do solo work. Le diable blanc, the white devil, Gambit. No wonder he'd tried to alter his accent. His lush Louisiana accent would be a dead giveaway. I leaned back in my chair and smirked. Tony wasn't going to like this. Gambit had stolen some of his tech once, but now-General Rhodes had helped him when he found out that it was to help save another mutant's life. Quicksilver also had worked with him once, but I didn't know details about it.

I was concerned that all of Valkyrie's international projects were present in these blueprints, and did a check to see who had been awarded the other projects. Seven different firms were included, but none of the others had more than three projects represented. All the firms had many more contracts that were not represented in the blueprints. Valkyrie was the smallest firm targeted. Was somebody out to torpedo my business, and if so, why? Was it related to the simple fact of my mutations and/or my valkyrie status, my connections with superheroes, random hate, or was it just me? First things first. I researched the other companies, but there was nothing exceptional about any of them or their principals. They were all more established than Valkyrie, with proven track records, well known and respected.

I scanned the room again and went into the bathroom even though the rest of the room checked out, calling Emma on my secure communicator. We caught up briefly on family and our businesses. "Well, that's why I'm calling," I said, speaking to a towel so that my voice wouldn't bounce around the hard surfaces and risk being overheard in the next room. "There I was today, checking out water damage at the roofline, and this guy came up to me, passed me some blueprints, not unusual, but then said not to unroll them in public. So when I got back to my room, I found that they're plans for important historical conservation projects. All of Valkyrie's projects are included, but there are blueprints for seventeen other projects shown, like the Leaning Tower, the Great Wall, the Sidney Opera House, the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal, and the Blue Mosque. There are markings where all of the buildings could be damaged severely or destroyed with explosives. And the kicker is that I think the guy who gave me the plans was Gambit. What do you know of him?"

There was complete silence on the other end of the line. "Why do these things happen to you?" she asked. I think it was rhetorical.

"Gambit said it was because I have access to the most resources," I said, shrugging.

"How sure are you that it was Gambit?"

"Pretty sure," I said, considering. "I'd give it a solid 98%. I checked him out on that website, SupersStalker. The eyes are the same, general build and height the same, the accent was off, but that's a pretty distinctive identifier."

"Ok," she said after a moment. "I saw Cyclops the other day, he was shopping for a make-up gift for Jean. I have no idea why she keeps going back to him." I agreed. Cyclops was a jerk. "But he did say that the X-Men were somewhat smaller right now, Logan, Gambit, Storm, and Nightcrawler are off on their own. He wasn't really broken up about it." She sighed. "I'll tell Steve, see what the next steps are for the Avengers. When will you be back here?"

"End of the week. I won't be coming back to Prague until February."

"Ok. We'll start reaching out. Will you be talking to your other contacts?"

"Yeah, right after we're done. I wanted your take on Gambit first. Do you think he's trustworthy?"

Emma laughed. "Remy's a master thief. I would trust him to keep his hand in there, but personally, yes, I trust him. Plus he was delivering, not picking up." I smiled. "Let's set up a meeting when you get back." We arranged a meeting at the house the evening I returned and hung up. Then I called my husband. We cooed at each other for a bit--how I missed that man--and finally, reluctantly, I got down to business. Damian listened attentively.

"How reliable do you think Gambit is?"

"I called Emma to ask, she's worked with him off and on in both lifetimes and she thinks he's solid. I think the blueprints are legitimate; they're worn like you see at a construction site and they have the up to the minute restorations marked on them." And I was going to study them before turning them over. It's always good to learn new ways of doing things and to figure out why each company might have won the bids. It wasn't illegal or even unethical; once the projects were complete, copies of the blueprints would be filed with the cities in which they were located, open to public inspection. Doing it now was convenient and would give me a better understanding of the projects which would help when we discussed dirty tricks.

"Well, Petal, when is the meeting? I'll talk to Dad and Daniel, see what the Justice League can do about this, get them tracking down villains."

"Gambit said this was related to HYDRA."

"Of course," he sighed. "They're proving as hard to stomp out as the mythological one. Well, we'll start working our angles and come to the meeting." His tone warmed. "I miss you, ya habib alby." I grinned at the endearment, which meant love of my heart. I didn't know much Arabic, even after one plus lifetimes with Damian, but I did know a lot of romantic phrases. Business out of the way, we moved on to more pleasurable topics.

"I can't wait to be home, darling. Prague is lovely, but I miss you more than I can say. How are Alfred and the kids?"

His bright blue eyes sparkled. "Fiona is moving in with Alfred."

I grinned and our fingers tapped on the screens of our devices in a virtual high five as we discussed things. He'd sent a huge bouquet, chocolates, and a great bottle of Champagne to the guest house for both of us. Then he updated me on our progeny. "I caught Iris riding Eira like a pony. Bless her; she's so good with the kids." My mouth dropped open.

"I'd have expected it more from Miles."

Damian nodded. "He was too busy trying to climb the cat tree to get to Signy to notice." I started to laugh. "Prague sounds pretty good right now."

"I'll be home soon," I reassured him.

"Thank god. I'm a little frazzled."

"You might want to see if the kids would like to go riding with you," I suggested. "Eira's big, but she's not really meant for transportation. You could hold them while you walk the horses."

"Diana and Daniel came down for dinner, Alan had the night off," he said. "She offered to give riding lessons."

"Wow. That's really generous of her, but I think maybe their dad should get them started, see if it's something they'd really take to or a passing fancy. I'd hate for her to get all revved up about teaching only to have her pupils flake out."

Damian laughed. "I think it was more an excuse to borrow my children," he said indulgently. Then his eyes cut to the side and he looked at me through his plushy black lashes. I got that familiar sinking feeling.

"Oh, Damian, what did you bring home this time?" I asked plaintively. He smiled brightly, a little anxious to put a lid on his latest misdeed.

"Some foxhounds," he said quickly. "There's a rogue hunt around here, animal control busted them for abusing their hounds. I had to help. Daniel's having a kennel built, he likes them too."

"You're taking up foxhunting?" I frowned. That didn't seem like a Damian thing at all. He didn't approve of hunting unless it was for food.

"No, but the horses seem to like having the dogs around. They really like the barn cats too."

"Just remember we're about full up at the house," I entreated him, and his smile was relieved. I let him distract me with plans for the two of us when I got home, and reluctantly ended the call. Now I wanted to try to wrap things up a little earlier than planned. When Modi got back, he scanned the room again; there was a 'maybe' indicator on one of the windows, indicating the possibility that a parabolic microphone was being used, but it could also be the wind. We moved to the far end of the room and turned away from all the glass, just to be safe. He'd had a good time earlier, but was sharp and focused on the issues before us now. Before we left, we'd check the tower to see if there was any type of device in the places that had been indicated, and if there was, we'd have to deal with it. In the meantime, I removed a couple of staples on the underside of the sofa lining and put the blueprints inside for safekeeping, then hammered the staples back in so that hopefully nobody could tell that they'd been diddled with.

The next day I made the rounds of all the construction in process. Walls were going up again over one of the spots indicated on the blueprints, and I'd thought through some reasons to inspect several places carefully. It was while the foreman and I were inspecting an area treated with Tony's stabilizing agent that I was able to manipulate the foreman into finding the first device. I didn't have to fake my shock; there was a crap ton of explosive, far more than was necessary to bring down the building. We got everybody out immediately and called the cops. Their bomb squad shortly found all four devices and the city council alerted. They called for an emergency meeting that afternoon, which I attended, and the decision was made to up the security, using contractors from two companies since the first one didn't have enough available personnel to double the surveillance. The police, attached to the city's historic buildings, offered an officer for 24 hour protection, and the bomb squad was going to inspect other important buildings irregularly, especially those under construction. A news crew asked me afterward how the bomb came to be discovered, and I outlined a routine inspection before the walls went up again and my shock that the beautiful tower would be targeted like that for no apparent reason.

"It's so disturbing," I said, and I didn't have to fake that emotion. "If the bomb had gone off, who knows how many people would have been hurt? What damage to the building, if it could have damaged the Clementum? It seems so pointless." That night, the late night news anchors reported that a group or someone named Typhon had taken responsibility, but the reasons were unclear. The anchors posited a few possibilities, including distaste that a Returnee was directing the restoration, possibly because I was an American, or someone who wanted to make a political statement by blowing up the tower. They showed a clip from the emergency meeting and my interview afterward, along with one from the mayor and one from the chief of police. I checked the station's website along with other news sites in translation. The reaction from posters was anger and they were glad that the devices had been discovered, but no responses stood out. A text from my uncle checked that I was ok.

My research on Typhon was easy. Another monster from Greek mythology, he was called the father of monsters and was allegedly the most dangerous of all of them, sporting a hundred dragon heads. Huh. Not dissimilar to a hydra. I rubbed my eyes as I thought. Was this a new threat or a rebranding attempt by HYDRA?

I couldn't wait to get home.

Over the next couple of days, the bomb squad checked the structure thoroughly before any walls went up and they assured me that they would continue to do so. I gave them my contact information before Modi and I returned home, but everything continued to go smoothly and nothing else was found. My husband picked us up at the airfield and dropped Modi off at the embassy so he could chat with his uncle. We continued home, where I got snuggles from my babies and coffee and huckleberry sour cream tarts from Alfred.

After a dinner that I was largely too full to eat, we went down to the batcave where Diana, Superman, Daniel, Tony, Bruce, Bucky, and Steve met me. I spread out the blueprints and acquainted them in detail with the scope of the problem. Diana furthered our understanding of the myth of Typhon.

" His parents were Gaia the earth and Tartarus the depths of hell," she said somberly. "He was said to have been the most ferocious creature ever to roam the earth; when he stood upright, his heads brushed the stars. The lower half of his body consisted of two coiled viper tails and said to have wings that, when spread, could blot out the sun. Fire flashed from his eyes, striking fear into the heart of any living creature, even the Olympians. Only Zeus dared face him in a battle so mighty that the earth quaked and split and tidal waves engulfed the land. Eventually Zeus conquered Typhon by casting a hundred lightning bolts at the dragon heads and cast him into Tartarus, where he was sealed away for all time. Hesiod described him thus in The Theogony: "The hands and arms of him are mighty, and have work in them, and the feet of the powerful god were tireless, and up from his shoulders there grew a hundred snake heads, those of a dreaded drakon, and the heads licked with dark tongues, and from the eyes on the inhuman heads fire glittered from under the eyelids."

"Daunting," I said, frowning, into the silence that followed. "I resent the use of wings."

That made everybody smile. "The hydra was a water snake with nine heads," Bucky said. "This sounds like HYDRA ramped up on steroids. Do we have any intel on Typhon yet?" Not yet, people were still out collecting information and running down leads.

Steve snorted, looking at a web page he'd pulled up. "The hydra's parents were said to be Typhon and Echidna," he said sourly. "I think that we need to be looking at at a group made up of current or former HYDRA members, probably ones who don't think HYDRA is doing enough. Either that, or it's somebody completely different, looking to springboard off HYDRA's reputation. But my gut is telling me that it's related somehow to HYDRA."

"Well, if it's your gut telling you, old man..." Tony quipped, and rolled his eyes. Steve cast his heavenward.

"Teh Justice League doesn't have the intelligence-gathering capabilities that the Avengers do," Daniel said, jumping in. "Let's let the Avengers take the lead there, and then perhaps the League can take charge in tracking down Typhon once more information is learned about him, her, or them." There ws a little debate, but that was satisfactory to all. I'd already contacted my teams at the other sites where Valkyrie had contracts and they were searching for devices. None had come up yet, but they'd retain vigilance. The League decided to contact the authorities in charge of the other structures represented in the blueprints as well as a few others to obscure our knowledge. Emma would continue trying to locate Gambit to get information on the source of the blueprints. That was about all we could do for now.

I just hoped it would be enough.