Legend

"Are you going to wear the pearls tonight?" Damian asked, the merest trace of concern in his voice. I shook my head and smiled.

"Nope, I have a whole lot of dress, and the pearls would just be an afterthought." I paused to arrange everything in the Merry Widow I'd chosen for the best line under the dress, and Damian grinned as he watched. "I know you're worried about them, Damian, but please remember that I am not your grandmother." I put on dainty fuchsia silk sandals with tall heels. "If anybody pointed a gun at me, I would feed it to them," I explained reasonably. He looked startled, then a smile lit his face.

"I did forget that history doesn't have to repeat," he said, "and I'm sorry for not considering your considerable self-defense prowess. I bought into the tragedy."

"I doubt that any woman would have wanted to be remembered just for the necklace she was wearing when she died," I said gently, adjusting the top of the stocking where it clipped into the garter.

"I can't wait to get home and take all that off," he said, eyes heating and stepping toward me. I took the opportunity to tie his heavy silk bow tie. "When did you learn to tie a bow tie?"

"Saw it on YouTube, wanted to surprise you," I said, and touched perfume behind my ears and down my cleavage. I put in the diamond and pearl spray earrings and grinned at him. "You might want to cover your eyes," I warned, then pulled the gown out of the bag. I pulled what seemed like a mountain of silk over my head and did the side zipper.

"Holy shit, Alex," he blurted out, and I checked the mirror. It was strapless, with a pleated and draped bodice with a sash that looked like an obi and a heavy lined skirt that opened at the sky-high slit in the front and followed me around dramatically. "That is incredible." He circled me, not easy to do even in the Dream Closet. "The red and hot pink should clash but they're just beautiful instead. Your dark hair keeps it from overwhelming you. You look both magnificent and formidable." He studied me and shook his head. "The earrings won't do, though." He opened his safe and brought out a box. "I just happened to have these, waiting for an occasion." I opened the box with some trepidation; inside were serious statement earrings. Diamonds were set into the narrow ovals that connected the post to carved rock crystal drops. I put them on; their lack of delicate detail let them stand up to the dress and the colors caught in the crystal drops.

"Perfect," I breathed. "But Damian, it's too much."

"You always say that, and it never is," he said, kissing my shoulder. "Come on, let's show Dad and we'll be on our way."

Bruce's eyebrows nearly met his hairline when he saw my dress. "My word, Miss Alex," Alfred murmured. "You look extraordinary."

""Nobody will be looking anywhere else with you in the room," Bruce said, kissing my cheek. "You've managed to make Damian extraneous." Damian laughed.

"It'll be nice for a change. Hey, Dad, can we take the Fossil Mobile? I don't think the dress will fit in either of our cars."

"The Rolls?" his dad said mockingly. "Yes, it would be a shame to get Alex's dress all crumpled. Don't you have a wrap, Alex?" he asked, frowning.

"I have plenty, but there's valet parking at the hotel and I don't want to have to mess with a shawl," I explained.

"I could drive you," Alfred volunteered. "I too will be in the city for the new year as Nora and I are going to Times Square." We tried to demur, not wanting him to work on his personal time, but he insisted, and Nora, bouncing in, said she thought it would be fun. She'd lost her reserve and was a lot of fun.

"Alex, who did your dress? That's amazing. You look like some sort of social battle goddess, out to lay waste to the field."

"It's absolutely glorious, isn't it? Thanks, Nora. It's made by Zuhair Murad, he's from Lebanon. I love it, it even has pockets so I don't have to carry a purse. I was worried it might be too much."

"Never heard of him, but obviously I should have."

"So who will you be putting under siege, Alex?" Bruce wanted to know, a little concerned.

"Johnson Kimble," Damian said, an edge to his voice that wasn't quite a snarl. His dad scowled.

"To be fair, I'm not personally going to waste him," I pointed out. "This is going to be a nice party, after all, and I'd hate to make a scene or ruin it for anybody. This is just the shot across the bow. So to speak."

"I almost wish I was going," Bruce said, settling more comfortably in his chair. Selina was coming over later, so I kinda doubted that. "Have fun, kids."

When we pulled up in front of the hotel, a few flashes greeted as I unreeled myself from the car with Damian's assistance and a reporter from one of the papers asked who made my dress. We made our way up to the party, where Damian gave our invitation and found us some sparkling wine and began introducing me to people I didn't know, movers and shakers in the elite business community and social sphere. I received a lot of compliments on my dress and had a good time. Most of the people I met were interesting people and conversation was stimulating. We were speaking with a recently-retired former member of Wayne Enterprises's board of directors and her husband, when an unremarkable sandy-haired man came up to greet Damian. I deduced this must be the infamous Johnson Kimble by the woman with him, bottle blond, implanted, and spray tanned the same color as her boyfriend. She wore a dress that was too sexy for the occasion, too tight, and with too much jewelry, which managed the remarkable feat of making everything look cheap and gaudy. Kimble introduced his date as Candice White and joined the conversation, uninvited. The director and her husband melted away, which is when Kimble started throwing barbs into his conversation, trying to get a rise out of Damian. Damian just looked at him indifferently. I was about to say something cutting when I was tapped on the shoulder.

"Hector!" I exclaimed. I was delighted to see him. We exchanged cheek kisses and I reached around and pulled Damian into the conversation. He introduced his wife, Josanne, who was a rising professional on Wall Street. "What are you doing these days, Hector?" I asked. "I haven't seen you covering soccer."

He flushed a little. "I got hurt my final season at Duke," he said. "Had a couple surgeries,so I couldn't have a pro career. By then I knew I wanted to go to law school so it wasn't as catastrophic as it could have been. I'm in the DA's office now. Since they cleaned house after the Joker case, I've been getting a lot of the best cases. I'm going to run for District Attorney in the next election." Josanne patted his arm.

"He'll have a new baby to bolster his credentials as a family man," she said, smiling, and we congratulated them.

I rummaged in my pocket, found my card case, and gave them both a business card. "Let me know how I can help," I said. I'd heard about a Ramirez who was an aggressive but fair prosecutor, but I hadn't connected it with the boy I used to date in high school. Damian and Hector started to talk about his work, and Josanne and I talked about hers. She was a lawyer in one of the big firms, checking compliance with SEC regulations.

"They seem nice," Damian said as we moved along to the dance floor, just in time for a nice slow song. Then we ran into some people who had known Damian's grandparents and had worked with Bruce earlier in his career. They'd been to our engagement party.

"I'd hoped to see you wear the Wayne pearls tonight, Miss Barnes," one of the ladies said. "Martha loved those pearls almost as much as she did Thomas, and she'd be thrilled that her grandson's intended was wearing them."

"I thought about it," I admitted. "But with this dress they'd just be an afterthought, and they deserve to shine."

The women smiled. "It's a vivid dress you're wearing," another said. "But so very striking. It's quite a pity that Martha couldn't know you. I think she'd be very fond of you, Alex."

"It's very kind of you to say so," I said.

"Martha was a lot of fun," the first one said. "She loved a good party and you could always count on her to be appropriate, but she had a wicked sense of humor. Thomas couldn't quite keep up, but he loved trying," she said wistfully.

We chatted a bit more. It was interesting to hear about Damian's grandparents from their friends. Until now, they'd just been victims and Martha had been the owner of a pearl strand that Damian thought was cursed.

I excused myself and went to the ladies room, which in this hotel had a large lounge attached. It was busy, as you might expect, but the stalls were roomy which was a big help as I wrangled my dress. As I checked my makeup, blotting my face and reapplying lipstick, Candice stepped to my side. "What do you see in Damian Wayne anyway?" she asked, reapplying her own lipstick. "Besides his money, of course. He's Muslim, probably a terrorist, absolutely a bastard." There were a couple of gasps in our vicinity.

I used my most bored voice. "I have no idea where you're getting your fake information, Candice. Damian's mother is American as was her mother, and of course Bruce is as well. Damian's an Episcopalian, and you'd be hard-pressed to find anybody who is more devoted to law and order than he is. His parents might not have been married, but I don't think that matters these days." I turned to leave.

"But really, what does he have beside the bank account?" It seemed like she really wanted to know.

"Besides the fact that he loves me, treats me like there's no other women in the world, shows me every day how much he values me? Not much, I guess," I shrugged, and the other women laughed. Candice's face darkened, and I decided to rub it in, just a little. "Of course, his finances are rock solid." I put a faint stress on 'his' and saw when she caught the implication. The women around us chuckled.

"You want to have little brown babies?" she asked angrily, and this time there was a moment of dead silence before more anger from the other women.

"I can't believe you just said that," one woman said in a disgusted tone. "Being around Johnson has dropped your IQ, Candi." I just shook my head and all the women who had heard this left with me, a mass exodus and cold shoulder given to Candice.

I was still inwardly fuming when I caught up to Damian and told him concisely what had happened. He smiled slightly. "Ignore it, Petal. Consider the source. She might have picked the argument, but you finished it." He left to get me a glass of water.

As soon as Damian had moved off, I found myself with unwanted company, the sleazy Johnson Kimble himself. "What's a woman like you doing with Wayne?" he asked, leering at me. "Slumming it with a camel jockey? Or is it just his money you're after?" He was more than pretty drunk. I grimaced at the sour smell of his breath and stepped away. He stepped closer. "Come on, let me show you what a real man's got."

This time I laughed. "I doubt that. You can't compare to Damian in any category. His money buys pretty things, but not me. Even if he was flat broke, I'd still love him because of who he is. He's not his money. He's incredibly smart and kind and he loves me to distraction." My smile edged more toward a snarl, then I brightened it up. "And unlike you, he's got a full head of gorgeous silky hair, a great natural tan, an enormous penis, and an incredible imagination. What could I possibly want with you?"

I'd pushed him too far. He bared his teeth and grabbed my breast. I saw red that was not my dress, grabbed his wrist, and put him in the most painful hold I could inflict. "Never touch a woman's breast like that!" I barked, immediately attracting attention. Or maybe it was the man making pathetic noises that did that. An older man frowned and summoned the doorman just as Damian arrived and took in the scene. His scowl turned to fury as he saw the scrapes that Kimble's nails had left on my skin.

'You son of a --" he made a fist and was ready to swing, when one of the bystanders stopped him.

"Your lady has things well in hand, Wayne," one of the older men we'd spoken with earlier said in a calming voice. "And given how neatly she has him begging for mercy, I think Kimble made a very poor choice of victim." The crowd laughed and I dropped his sorry ass, resisting the urge to kick. "It's unfortunate that your evening has been affected, my dear," he said to me, "but it would be a shame to risk getting blood on such a lovely dress. You certainly brighten up the party." He offered me his arm and we moved away, his wife taking Damian's arm and bringing him along.

"Calm down, honey," I said, touching his cheek.

He snorted, blue eyes blazing, then he smiled suddenly. "I will if you will," he said, and I smiled reluctantly. "You can't expect me to believe you don't want to drop kick him into the middle of next month." He touched the scrapes gently. "I can't believe he laid his hands on you."

"Control your temper," the man said calmly. "The man's been disgraced publicly. Doors will close to him that for the sake of his parents have remained open."

"Doors that he will need, considering how he's ruining the company his grandfather left him," his wife sniffed. "Damian, he's just sunk himself. Nobody will have anything to do with him after that scene. I personally saw him approach Alex and her try to leave before he grabbed her." She smiled. "That was quite a nice trick, Alex, dear. Refreshing to see a bully get what's coming to him." A little more calming, and we were ready to socialize again.

We excused ourselves to find something to toast the impending new year and found a nook against the wall to celebrate it with a kiss. A nice, appropriate kiss. I could wait til we got home for the rest of it. One's spouse could be a help or a hindrance in the circles the Waynes moved in, and I was determined to be as much of a help as possible. The approval of the older people would help, as I'd seen from the scene we'd just escaped. Damian was already widely respected for his acumen and abilities, but he'd been considered a little wild from always having shown up to events like this with a different woman each time. Until we'd met again. I smiled and kissed him lightly, just because.

"Feel better?" Damian asked, putting his arm around me.

"Yes. Being with you always makes things better. You?"

"I've calmed down, but I've got a plan now. I'm going to hire away the remaining talent at his business; I've got a start up that could use capable people. Then I'm going to sit and watch his business go under, him flailing helplessly."

"I like that," I said.

"He's done here," Damian said impatiently. "Let him crawl off somewhere else. He deserves worse." Then, curiously, "What did you say that got him so riled? Kimble usually isn't quite that crass as to grab a woman in such a public setting."

"Well, he's very drunk. He told me to let him show me what a real man is like." I made a face. "So I told him that you have great hair, a great natural tan, an enormous penis and a fantastic imagination, so what could I possibly want with him?"

He laughed, hugging me to him. "My darling, I love you. Do you think we're done here? Maybe I could see if Alfred and Nora are ready to go?"

"This has been quite an action-packed party," I agreed, "But I'd like to go home now. Mission accomplished, I think."

He texted Alfred; he and Nora were indeed ready to come home, and we made a farewell circuit, thanking our hosts and saying goodnight to the people we'd socialized with earlier.

Nora was so cute; she'd had a great time in Times Square and chattered happily about the entertainment, and how her uncle had taken her for ice cream after the ball dropped. I smiled, remembering the times Bucky had taken me for ice cream. Apparently uncles have a particular affinity for ice cream. Alfred listened indulgently and added his own comments. He let us off at the front of the house, and as soon as we were inside, I took off my shoes. "Ah," I sighed with pleasure, wiggling my toes. Nora giggled and wished us a happy new year before scampering off. Damian looked at me, a little forlorn.

"This wasn't the most fun we've ever had on New Years Eve, Petal," he said. I thought about it.

"Well, it definitely ranks above the first time we went to a new year's party," I said. The party at the Yale Club, where we'd been kidnapped by the Joker. Damian made a face.

"I'd really have to exert myself to make something suck more," he said, and I laughed.

"Maybe next year we could take a leaf from Bruce's book and stay in. Have our own private celebration," I suggested, and he brightened.

"I like that idea. Let me go get a bottle of wine, then we'll go upstairs," he promised, and I waited as he dashed for the kitchen and the wine cooler. He was back with a nice bottle of cava, two glasses, and he took my hand as we climbed the stairs. But the wine was forgotten for awhile once we got to our bedroom. It was a little warm once we opened it. "I wonder where we could find room to stick a little refrigerator up here," he mused as we sipped.

I just smiled. "Happy New Year, Damian, honey. This is going to be a wonderful year."

He kissed me. "This time next year, you'll be Ms Alex Barnes-Wayne, mine forever."

"And you'll be mine. But I'm already yours."

He sighed with pleasure. "And I'm yours. But I want to make it legal. I can't wait for our wedding, all the planning aside. Your dress must be something else; your mom teared up every time it was mentioned. I can't wait to see you walking toward me."

We chatted a little more about our upcoming wedding, then went to sleep.

The next morning, we picked up our clothes and straightened everything up before going downstairs. Selina smiled as we greeted her and Bruce at the breakfast table. "Alex got her picture in the paper," she said, waving it at us. I looked pretty good; the dress looked fantastic and the comment said I looked ravishing, a little yellow journalism there.

"Don't suppose you'd like to tell me why I got a call from Vance Kimble this morning, apologizing for his son's conduct?" Bruce said encouragingly. I made a face, Damian frowned, then told his dad what had happened. "No wonder Vance sounded mortified," Bruce said, shaking his head. "Well, you'll be pleased to know that Johnson is being sent away in disgrace. The business he inherited is down in Tallahassee, and he will be going there personally to run it."

"It's something, I guess," Damian said grumpily. "But I wanted to watch him twist."

"Soon you'll be too busy to think about Kimble," his dad said bracingly. "Alex, have you decided how many bridesmaids you want? You need to think about their dresses as well, and--" he was off again in Bridalland. Then just to make sure his son didn't feel left out, assigned some tasks to him too. The holidays were definitely over. "And have you thought about favors for the tables yet? Those candied almonds are always good, but maybe you want something different..."