Legend

That evening, Damian and I had dinner and cuddled a bit before he went out for the night. There was a slight but discernible distance between us that I suspected was a result of him waiting for my decision. The next day we had breakfast before parting, and I went in to the tower for work with my uncle, then finished my interviews and decided to do a little shopping. I went uptown to Athleta for workout clothes, then down to Modell's for shoes, then to Chacott's for ballet shoes. Natasha and I had started stretching and dancing again and I needed some new shoes for that. My renters insurance had paid out faster than I thought it would, so I had a little extra to spend. Then my last stop was Azaleas, and I headed back to the hotel. I cut through a parking garage to make better time, and slowed and turned as someone called my name.

I frowned to see Talia. She looked slightly out of breath and cross, but I'd been moving fast and I was dressed for it, whereas she wore a tight pencil skirt and heels. "You really need to stay away from me," I said conversationally. "Damian won't be pleased when I tell him you followed me."

"My son will get over it. Specifically, he'll get over you. What on earth is he thinking? You're fairly intelligent, pretty and I imagine he enjoys your body well enough, but you bring nothing substantial with you. No power, no money, no connections." She shook her head. And lunged at me with a knife. She wasn't as good as she thought, telegraphing her moves that much. I disarmed her easily, let her land some blows to see how she fought and what her skill level was, then pretty much beat her to a pulp. She was skilled, don't get me wrong, but she was not in my weight class. And the look on her face as she also realized this was priceless. Is it bad of me to be pleased by that? I consolidated my purchases a bit and picked up the knife with one of the plastic bags, wrapping it well and securing it with my ponytail elastic in case there was something on the blade. Then I turned my back on the mess on the ground and walked away.

I got home a little before Damian and took a shower to wash off the confrontation in the garage before starting dinner. He came into the kitchen, loosening his tie a little, a trace of apprehension on his handsome face. "Come sit down," I invited him, walking into the living room. He perched gingerly on a sofa and I sat on the coffee table , looking at him. "I've made my decision." He tensed and I shook my head, astonished. "Have some faith," I scolded him. "I'm staying. I adore you. Passionately, outrageously. You're the light in my life. I talked to Emma about what it was like for her; she's had two husbands in the superhero game and knows what the challenges are. Then I talked to Alfred." Damian's face was a study. His fear hadn't quite left him yet and warred with rising hope and relief. "Very interesting conversation, about which I'd be happy to fill you in later. But the truth is this. I love you, and I want to spend how much life we each have with you. I'm committed to you and to us. There's not much I feel like we can't get through together, but my hard line is infidelity or abuse. Anything else we work on together. Life is risk, and there's a possibility that an accident could part us next week, or, against the odds, that we die of extreme old age. So here it is. I want to be with you, ideally, I hope to marry you down the road, and I'd like to bear your children at some point. So what do you think of that?"

"I think that I'm the luckiest man on earth and that I don't deserve you," he breathed.

"Sure you do," I disagreed amiably, then stood up and untied the wrap dress I wore, peeling it back to show him the new lingerie I'd gotten that day at Azaleas. He stood up jerkily and yanked me to him for a frantic kiss. I ended up under him on the floor as we made love wildly and passionately.

Dinner burned. Whoops.

He rolled off me and after a moment I straddled him. "Also, your mother caught up with me when I was shopping today and told me that I wasn't good enough for you, so I beat her up. I'm sure somebody found her and called it in. There were cars going in and out."

He wheezed as he tried to focus on this. "And you're just telling me now?"

"Yes, I wanted to get the most important things addressed first, and I wanted you relaxed. She had a knife, but I disarmed her and brought it back. It's on the desk in the study, wrapped in plastic."

"You beat up my mother."

"Yes. Under other circumstances, I'd feel kind of bad about that, but she started it. And she's not as good as you said she was."

"She's not?" The conversation was penetrating the haze of sexual satisfaction.

"No. But maybe she's lost her edge since the last time you saw her fight," I said, feeling generous.

"What did she tell you?" I repeated the conversation. He lay there for a few minutes, thinking.

"What are you thinking?" I pressed. He was tense between my thighs. I decided I preferred it when he was exhausted and happy. He relaxed and smirked at me.

"I think it was naughty of you to hold that back." And he got 'payback.' Afterward, it took him a few moments before he regretfully disengaged from me and sat up. He fished the phone out of his suit coat pocket and called his dad, reporting my encounter with Talia. I heard squawking. He grinned at me, reaching out to play with my nipple. "Where did that happen?" he asked me, and I gave him the cross streets for the garage. He said goodbye to his dad and tossed the phone on the sofa, then helped me get up. We had to forage for dinner, then we actually made it back to our bed.

We were roused about an hour later by knocking on the door. He caught up his robe on the way out the door, telling me to stay put. I got up and put on my robe and followed him out. He grimaced at me before looking through the peephole. He muttered a curse and opened the door to his father, still dressed in his suit.

"Something burn?" he asked his son, trying not to smirk.

Damian ran an impatient hand through his thick hair. "Dad--"

"I found the hospital where your mother was taken," Bruce said smoothly. "I thought we might go and have a chat with her." Damian brightened and followed me back to the bedroom. When he emerged from the bathroom, I patted his very fine butt.

"Bring me back some ice cream," I requested. He grinned at me, threw on some clothes, and kissed me hard before bolting out the door. I grinned too and stretched. There's nothing like the physical sensation you get after the best ever sex, and we had a very strong emotional connection as well. I'd committed myself to him and I was prepared to stay with him for as long as we had together. I accepted him, both parts of his identity and the risks that came with that. I cleaned up the sad charred remnants of dinner and took another shower, using an edible massage oil I had instead of lotion afterward, and did my hair so I'd be all sexy for Damian when he got back.

With the ice cream.

I didn't have long to wait. I laughed when he came in with a pint of Ample Hills Creamery's Peppermint Patty ice cream and a dozen red roses. I didn't have to look up the meaning for that. "She doesn't like the idea of you dividing my loyalties, and she doesn't think she can corrupt you into being her tool. Dad took the knife and is going to analyze it to see if there was anything on the blade, but it's unlikely," he said, temporarily losing his focus as I licked my spoon and gave him a sultry look. "Uh... so. Right. Anyway, she seems to understand that there's the side that I like, the one with you and dad and the rest of the family, and then there's her side, her and Ra's, which is not the side that I will ever pick. And I told her that if she tries that shit again, I will dismantle the al Ghul criminal empire, steal the money--I'd donate it all to charity--and that then I'd come for her and the old man." His smile got cold. He fed me a spoonful of ice cream. "You really did a number on her. You're a lot more than she bargained for and she's afraid of you. I saw it in her face. So she promised to leave you alone and keep her distance from us both. I stepped out of the room and she and dad had a little chat, during which time I alerted the police that the international terrorist Talia al Ghul was at Mt Sinai. The FBI arrived as we were leaving." He seemed pleased.

"I feel like I should be sorry for beating up your mother," I said, frowning.

"Don't be. She's dangerous and a terrible person. Not much of a mother, either. You'll be a fantastic mother," he said, his eyes heating as he looked at me. For a brief moment, I had the urge to rip out my IUD and get started on that right away, but the urge passed. Whew. I wasn't ready for that yet. "Earlier, what you were saying...I'm with you. I don't need or want anything another woman can offer. There won't ever be anybody who can hold a candle to you. And I know that you can handle yourself, but if I ever lift a hand to you, you need to get away because there will be something wrong with me. I never want to hurt you. We'll have fights and I'd like to spar with you because I'm getting the idea that you're even better than I thought you were, but I'll never physically hurt you. A man doesn't do that. All I want to do is love you. And touch you. A lot. Not just during foreplay, but just to touch your face, hold your hand." I leaned forward and kissed him gently brushing my fingers over his cheek. He caught my hand in his and kissed my palm. "So what did you and Alfred have to talk about?"

I smiled, kissed him again, and added more ice cream to my bowl. "Well, you," I teased, rolling my eyes. "He told me about finding you on the porch, huge attitude in a little body, the struggle to socialize you." My smile softened. Alfred's stories had revealed a scared little boy trying to cover with a shitty attitude, homicidal tendencies, and an ego that wouldn't quit. "And we talked about his work, not the answering of doors butler stuff, his role as support staff to the family." I ate a bite of ice cream.

"And?" he prompted curiously, leaning forward as I ate another spoonful.

"He's getting old, and he's been worried because he hasn't been able to find a replacement," I said simply. Damian's face fell as he considered this.

"Alfred's always been there," he said quietly. "I can't imagine the day when he won't be." I nodded and spooned up more ice cream.

"So we did some figuring. I have my jobs, but training is in the morning and my work in the lab with Tony will be during the day, so he's interested in training me to take over his role as support staff. I have paramedic training and he'll teach me how to use the medical suite as well as doing the other things he takes care of in the bat cave." I watched for his reaction, not sure if I'd overstepped. Alfred had been enthusiastic, but his opinion wasn't the only one that mattered. "Eventually we'd have to move to the mansion."

Damian bent his head, then pressed my hand over his heart. His face was hopeful when he looked at me again. "You'd really do that for me?"

"Yes," I said. "Doing what you do, you need somebody who can take care of you when you come home. Alfred has no intent to retire any time soon, but he's thinking of the future. And I think that it's something that I can do effectively."

"You already have," he murmured, pressing my palm to his cheek and rubbing it. "When you picked me up off the floor of that parking garage in high school. What is it with you and parking garages, anyway?" His eyes sparkled at me.

"It's you guys who like to have the drama scenes in them, not me," I retorted. He snorted.

"I'd always planned on moving back to the house eventually," he said, offering me more ice cream. "I took this suite mainly to make it easier to lure you to me. It's a great location, nice amenities. Romantic. And private. But I love the house, and it's certainly easier to do the Robin thing there. And there's enough room that we can have our privacy." He frowned slightly. "We can put locks on the bedroom door, just to be certain." I grinned at him. "Would you consider moving there at some point? Not now, of course. I like being able to have you anywhere the mood strikes us, and that won't be possible at the house. I'll have to learn some self-control first." I chortled. I'd have to learn too. Just the thought of being walked in on by his dad--again--or Alfred was mortifying enough. And maybe in a few months the urge to pounce on him all the time would lessen. But while I could... I got up and pushed his chair away from the table, unzipping his pants and drawing him out. He got hard almost immediately. I smiled; it's always nice to be appreciated. I knelt between his legs and winked at him.

"Might as well take advantage of our privacy," I said huskily, and put my hands on him. He gasped when I took him in my mouth, still cold from the ice cream, but it warmed up fast.

"Yeah," he murmured afterward, his body relaxed in the chair, head dropped back. "We need to stay put here for awhile."

I sent him off to work the next day with a blitzed grin on his face and hummed as I got ready. I got to the tower in plenty of time to dance with Natasha, then worked with Sif. The Asgardian guards who accompanied her everywhere no longer thought we were wasting our time but watched intently. Pietro was whiny, and Bucky sparred with me full tilt to show him what either of us could do. Pietro shut up the first time I landed a blow. It was fun to spar like that, using every bit of my ability and knowing that I was giving my uncle a run for his money too. Pietro's training had become sort of a community event in the short time it had been happening, and afterward Kate approached me and asked if I could teach her too, at least to throw a punch. The Hawkeyes depended on their bows, but Clint knew how to brawl and it wouldn't hurt for Kate to know too. I took her over to the hanging bag and started to drill her on punching; boxing would probably fit her the best. It was easier to pick up and she most likely wouldn't be fighting most of the time. Toward the end of my time in the training room, as Bucky and I were comparing notes and discussing each student's needs, Tony showed up and asked me to come upstairs when I was done.

When I got up to his office, he got up and we went down a flight of stairs to the lab. I looked around, smiling. It was bright and sunny and as well equipped as I'd imagined. By the windows was a massive partners desk, walnut with beautiful figure in the wood and a leather-inlaid top. The right hand side was a cabinet with two shelves, the left side held drawers, and there was a center drawer. Two leather executive chairs were parked on either side.

"You'll be down here more than I will, so pick your side," he directed. We walked around the lab and he explained the equipment and where he wanted to start investigating. Then he handed me a phone like his and had me flip the first data set from a file. The lab was equipped with the same projectors he put anywhere he spent significant time and we spent some time walking around the projections, comparing and discussing. "We're having an open house here Saturday afternoon," he said. "Give everybody a chance to see the new lab, I've also invited a couple other people who are interested in alternative energy sources that aren't the big ones--solar, wind, hydro, geothermal. There may be opportunities for collaboration down the line. Bring your boyfriend," he directed. I repressed a sigh; we didn't have any formal plans for the weekend, so I'd planned to spend the days in bed. Or against the wall. Or in the shower. You know. Gotta switch it up now and then. But I supposed I could carve out some time to show Damian where I'll be spending most of my days. And we could get dinner on the way back home. "Invite your parents," he added. "They might like to see where you'll be working."

As we talked, I was eager to get started, and when I asked if I could start sooner, Tony was surprised and pleased and we arranged that I'd start on Monday.

On the way out the door, I ran into Aslyn again and we went to lunch and caught up. She was closing on a house on Friday and showed me pictures. It was really cute, midcentury, two bed/bath with an open floorplan, freshly painted throughout in a warm ivory that she really liked. It didn't come with appliances; she'd bought new stainless ones which would be delivered the afternoon she took possession; they closed in the morning.

"Do you need any help moving?" I asked, and we arranged for her to pick me up after she got her keys; we'd go to her parent's house and load her boxes into a moving van with a few pieces of family heirloom furniture. The rest of her furniture was also scheduled for delivery that afternoon, so she'd be able to spend the first night in her new home in comfort. Then we got caught up on other news; she was pleased that I'd be working all day in the tower again on Monday. It meant we'd be able to go to lunch more. She'd broken up with her girlfriend and I thought she was lonely.

"I finally met Damian's mother," I volunteered, and her eyes got big.

"What's she like? Did she like you?"

"No, she pretty much said that I'd snared her son with my vagina and that he could do much better. She's a rampaging bitch," I said, thinking of her and the knife.

"Wow, I guess so," Aslyn said, taken aback.

"It's ok, though, Damian doesn't like her either. She was a terrible mom."

"But his dad likes you, doesn't he?"

"Fortunately," I said, nodding. "Because Damian does care about his opinion." We talked more, then she had to get back to work. I went home and called Damian, looking out the window onto Central Park.

"Saturday afternoon? I can do that for a couple of hours," he said. "When you talk to your parents, ask if they'd like to stay over night. They could stay in the suite. I'm sure Dad would like to meet them." I heard Bruce's voice in the background. "Dad's also been invited to the party and would like to host your parents out at the mansion," he reported. "We could have dinner there after the open house, socialize." I thanked him and promised to extend the invitation.

When I talked to Dad, he was enthusiastic about both aspects of the invitation; Mom didn't work at the coffee shop on Sunday. I thought that he wanted to be sure that there weren't giant cabinets of chemicals teetering, ready to rain down on me at the merest nudge, that my boss was stable now, and he liked the idea of spending more time with Damian and meeting his father. "You are living with his son," he pointed out. "And if things go well..."

I smiled. "It's too soon to talk about marriage, but I am serious about Damian," I told him. "So it's good for you all to meet. You could have your choice of where to stay, actually. Damian also offered a bedroom in the suite."

"That's very nice of him," Dad said, pleased. We talked a little more, and arranged for him and Mom to drive up earlier and come to the suite; we'd have lunch and I'd throw my boyfriend to the wolves and let my parents grill him. Er, get to know him better. Then we'd go to the open house, go out to the mansion for cocktails, dinner, and after-dinner conversation, then Damian and I could go home alone. A ha! Then Mom and Dad would pick up their car Sunday morning and head back home.

Damian liked the plan too, so it was arranged to everybody's satisfaction. It wasn't the weekend I thought I'd be having, but on the other hand, maybe it was a good idea to do something else besides mount my boyfriend. I nodded to myself. Yes, I needed some outside interests.