Poppies

I leaned forward slightly, watching the woman in the bed. She was old, well into her 90's. Her hair was short and stylish and had a defiant pink streak that was startling against the steel gray. The monitors at the head of the bed beeped quietly. Her skin tone was still warm, though lightened with age. She looked fragile, her skin draped artfully over her bones. There was an IV line in her delicate, frail right arm; her wedding band, too large for her finger, encircled her thumb instead. I smiled.

She opened her eyes suddenly and winced, pressing her hand to her midsection where the cancer that was consuming her had started in her liver. Her head turned, and her startling blue eyes drilled into mine. "Mom?" she rasped, looking a little startled.

"Hi, baby," I said.

"Damn, you almost gave me a heart attack. You look good for a dead person," she said, coughing a laugh. I couldn't help but smile a little. "I'm dying, aren't I? Like, imminently."

"Yes," I confirmed. "That's why I'm here, Martha. I didn't want you to be alone."

She nodded. "I can't honestly say it won't be a relief. Were you there for Xander too?"

"I was, but he died in his sleep. I only got a few words after."

"So... what comes next?"

"Well, soon, your spirit's going to leave your body and an avatar is going to show up to take you someplace else. It won't hurt, and it's not scary, although there's some disorientation."

"I don't suppose you're my avatar?" She coughed again.

"I'm sorry, baby, I wish I was. But I'm not here for you."

"Do you represent somebody?"

"Yeah," I said, shaking my head. "Odin. I'm a valkyrie."

She grinned. "Such a bad ass. So is dad with you? Or anybody?"

"I don't know where dad is, unfortunately, or your grandparents, or Uncle J or your cousins or your brother, for that matter." I sighed. "But Uncle Bucky and Emma are in Folkvangr with their friend Steve Rogers, and your godfather Tony is in Valhalla with me. I see Thor, Sif, and Loki sometimes."

She thought about this and was about to speak when a nurse came in for a check. "Who were you talking to, Martha?" she asked as she moved with quick, capable movements.

"My mother," she said matter-of-factly. "I'm going to die soon." The nurse looked startled, glancing around, but couldn't see me. The only reason that Martha could was because her life was coming to a close.

"Don't be in a hurry to leave us," the nurse said finally, probably wondering if Martha was losing it.

"You've been a great nurse, Ellen, and you've made my time here much...nicer than I anticipated. But I've had it with this cancer. Thank you for your care," she said, touching the nurse's hand lightly.

"Well, I thought that Martha Wayne-Coulson would be much more of a diva," the nurse said, smiling at her. "Instead I got only a little tyrant." Martha laughed, then coughed. "Take it easy, and I'll be back around in a couple hours." The nurse moved quietly to the door and her next patient.

"She's quite a gifted nurse," Martha remarked. "I left her a little something in my will." She looked at me again. "So tell me what you've been up to in Valhalla. What's it like? What's Odin like?"

So I told her, from my modest start to finding my uncle again, becoming a valkyrie, my role in the labor uprising, all of it, although I skimmed over the more difficult parts and omitted details about Tony. "And you know how Thor is?"

She nodded. "He's a lot of fun, although being a king is a heavy responsibility."

"Yeah. Well, Odin's not like that." I rolled my eyes. "But he's being dragged, kicking and screaming, into the twentieth century."

"But it's the twenty-first century," she pointed out.

"Oh, honey, it's enough of a struggle to get him into the twentieth century. He wouldn't listen to me, so I had Steve Rogers lecture him about command responsibility, and educating him on human rights is taking a fair amount of time and a huge expenditure of effort. It was a lot easier with Frigga, but Loki says she was always more reasonable. Of course, she's a woman too." We nodded.

"So you're together with my godfather?" she asked, turning that over in her head.

"Well, your dad isn't there," I said, and she lifted her hand.

"I'm not mad, it just seems weird. I never got that kind of vibe from him, that he was interested in you."

"Didn't happen until we were there awhile," I said. "Things changed. The age difference is gone, I don't work for him. He's changed a lot. He's a lot calmer these days, now that he doesn't have so much responsibility on his shoulders."

"Well, dad would want you to be happy," she said. "I can't imagine Tony as anything less than tightly wound, but I imagine that death has a way of changing priorities."

"It does, and there's not as much tech to mess with, so he's finding other interests. And I want your dad to be happy too," I said with a sigh. "But I think eventually that we'll see each other again." And I explained my hypothesis about how the afterlifes would come together to fight one last battle; Ragnorak in Valhalla and Folkvangr.

"I sure hope you're right, Mom," she said. "Because this time is too short." Her eyes filled with tears. "I missed you. A lot."

"Not a day goes by that I don't think of you and Xander," I said truthfully. I missed Damian all the time, but I longed to see my kids. She quickly caught me up on my grandkids and their kids, the latest on the business, which had thrived under her direction.

"You are utterly your father's daughter," I said with pride. "I'm sure he'd be as proud of you as I am."

"I hope so, Mom, I've tried to do you both proud."

"You and your brother were my greatest accomplishment," I said gently. "I could never not be proud of you."

"You were the best mom," she said. "I know I spent more time with dad, but it wasn't because I didn't love you," she said hastily. "I want you to make sure you know that. You were a real inspiration to me. Hard act to follow."

"Oh, baby, I never doubted it. You were a chip off the old block. Bruce said you were so much like your dad that it was scary." I smiled at her. "He was right. Both of you so exceptionally talented."

"If I see dad, I'll be sure to let him know how you are," she said suddenly.

"I do hope you end up somewhere where you know somebody," I said, anxious for her. "But I know you'll do well no matter where you are. If you see your dad or anybody else, pass on my love. I miss you all."

"You said that when I went to kindergarten," she said. "'I know you'll do well, Martha. I have confidence in you,'" she murmured. "And then I knew I was going to be ok. Every time I started someplace new I remembered that and it gave me courage." She shivered suddenly. "I'm getting cold, Mommy. I don't think it will be long now."

She was right. We reminisced until she started gasping for air. "My love to everybody," she mumbled, then the monitors flatlined. After a moment, my wonderful daughter's soul separated from her body and she got up, graceful as she ever was, just as treasured as the day she was born. An avatar winked into the room, studied her, nodded at me, and extended its hand.

"I love you, Martha. Be happy," I told her, and she grinned, the same carefree smile she flashed when she went away to college, when she told me that she was pregnant with her first child.

"Love you too, Mom. Don't cause too much trouble." And with that, they were gone. I sat there as the nurses rushed in, a doctor not far behind. But there was a do not resuscitate order, and the doctor called the time of death. She left, and the nurses disconnected the monitors and closed her eyes. The nurse I hadn't seen before turned for the door to call the morgue attendant, but Ellen lingered a few moments, smoothing the blanket, placing Martha's hands over her chest, then headed for the door. I exerted my will slightly and she looked over her shoulder, frowning.

"Thank you," I said to her as she jerked around, seeing me faintly. Before she could really freak out, I faded, then went back to where I belonged.

I didn't cry until I got to the quarters I shared with Tony. He held me and wiped my tears. This was why Odin didn't want us contacting those we'd loved in life; separation a second time was far harder and now my little girl was gone beyond my reach. Tony cheered me up by remembering things she'd done.

"She was a funny kid," he said affectionately. "She acted like a teenager, all drama, for about a month when she was almost sixteen. Then Wayne said she couldn't come into work with him if she was going to act like a brat, and that was that. She turned just as charming as her mother." He nudged me and I managed a watery laugh.

"I'm not noted for my charm," I admitted. "Any of that she got from her father. She absorbed a lot of charm from you and Loki too."

"Good role models," he said modestly, making me laugh for real. We talked about my daughter for the rest of the evening, and I was glad I'd been able to be with her at her end. She was still awesome. As awful as my pregnancy had been, once it was over it was worth every second of the time I'd had with her and her twin. And I found myself hoping that wherever she was, she was taking after me, just a little. Raising hell, just a bit, a touch of her mother to go with her into new adventures.