Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

1

The floor’s wet. That’s the first thing I’m aware of - and my ears are buzzing.

Where the hell am I?

I try opening my eyes but they feel so heavy. I take a few seconds to assess my body for injuries. Nothing feels broken, nothing hurts. My mind feels foggy.

Did I drink too much last night? Goddammit, Sammy! That wasn’t just beer you gave me, was it? I told him I neede – Diana!

My eyelids snap open and suddenly a flood of images and feelings come crashing down on me. The German plane I stole; crash-landing in the ocean; Diana looking down at me after pulling me out of the sinking plane; no man’s land; swaying; I love you; Diana’s face, pull the trigger, the heat… and then nothing.

I’m dead.

Or am I? I can’t be alive. If I were I would at least have my body burnt.

What is going on?

The buzzing in my ears starts to lift and suddenly I’m aware of the heavy footfalls of someone running towards me. I still haven’t found the strength to sit up, but as if I weighed nothing, I feel someone hook their arms under my armpits and lift me up.

“Stand up! Move! Now!”, a female voice shouts with urgency at me. Her accent is just like Diana’s.

I feel exhausted and my head lolls forward. I try to put one foot in front of the other, but it’s as if the signals my brain is sending to my feet are getting lost somewhere along the way.

I’m not exactly sure for how long I was dragged by this woman before we jumped down… somewhere. It felt like we were in the air, dropping, for an eternity. When we finally hit the ground, I felt like my knees had shattered into a million pieces. It was the most intense pain I have ever felt (physical at least). But as soon as I felt it, the pain was gone just as fast.

What is going on?

We must have walked for a couple of minutes, but for all I knew, we walked for hours. I was deposited (for lack of a better word) on the floor, my back against, what felt like, a huge boulder.

“General! What happened? I thought you had everything figured out. Were you mistaken?’”

Another female, same accent.

Am I in Themyscira again?

I try to focus on them and my surroundings but everything is blurry. I screw my eyes shut and will myself to snap out of whatever haze I’m in. Slowly, the moving blotches of colour start coming into focus. We’re in some kind of cave, a big cave. I lean my head back. I can’t even begin to tell where the top of this thing is or how far along it goes. There are torches on the walls creating some light.

I lower my eyes and find myself being stared at by a group of about twenty women, much like the time I was lassoed in front of Queen Hippolyta. That’s when I realize, that once again, I’m surrounded by Amazons.

“I was not mistaken, Aella. I was interrupted by him,” She says jerking her head in my direction. “Just as I jumped to the gates, he dropped from them.”

I remember her. She’s Diana’s aunt. What did she call her? Anteepe? Antelope? Antiope!

I groan and try to sit up a little.

“You’re dead. I saw you die. So I guess… I’m dead too?”, I ask unsure of, well, everything.

Her hard stare makes me feel like the biggest lump of garbage, but I look at her with as much intensity as I can muster.

“Yes, you’re dead. As are we. Welcome to the Underworld.” She says sarcastically.

My eyes widen a little at that and I nod my head slowly.

I’m dead.

And since Diana is not here, she must’ve killed Ares. Or are they still fighting? How long was I unconscious before I came to? Does time move the same? Is there time here?

I’m about to voice all of my questions when the Amazon Aella speaks again.

“What is your plan now, General? Will you attempt your escape again at the next opening of the gates?”

Escape? You can go back?! Man, they got it all wrong back home.

“Yes, I have to try. I will have to keep watch of the gates and time it out all over again. I have to get out of here. I have to warn them.”

Warn them? Who’s them? Does she mean Diana and her mother?

It all starts feeling like a little too much and I find myself spewing question after question.

“Can somebody please explain to me what the hell is happening?! You have to warn who? And what is this place exactly? Cause I sure as hell never picture heaven to be this unpleasant!”

Approximately twenty pairs of eyes look at me as if I were stupid. As if my questions had the most obvious answers. Then I remember who I’m talking to. Diana kept talking about Ares and Zeus and magic. All of them were created by freaking Zeus! Of course they know the answers to my questions! They always have! But I, a mere human, know nothing. So I need them to answer them now!

Antiope seems to reach the same conclusion as I do and she visibly relaxes. She goes down on one knee and rests her arm on it.

“We didn’t exactly have a chance to introduce each other. I’m Antiope. General of the Amazonian Army and sister to the Amazon Queen, Hippolyta,”

She says it with pride. The same pride Diana had when she almost introduced herself to Sir Pat - Ares.

“Captain Steve Trevor. Pilot of the American Expeditionary Force, assigned to British Intelligence… and spy,” No point in keeping that a secret, since I’m dead.

Antiope gives a resolute nod, “Nice to make your acquaintance, Captain Trevor. And to answer your questions, this is not heaven. Like I said before, this is the Underworld. A place in between if you will. This is the place where souls go while the judges of the Underworld decide where to send us,”

Okay, her answers are just generating more questions.

“As soon as I arrived here, I heard whispers of a great evil coming. An evil that would threaten all of mankind. As Amazons, it is our fore ordinance to fight for and with mankind to protect Zeus’ creation,”

I try to absorb all she’s telling me, but it’s hard to understand something you have so little background knowledge on.

She continues, “I needed to find out more about this great evil, and so I went to great lengths to gather information. I risked my soul to find out more, barely made it out. But my risk paid off. I have now enough knowledge to provide my sister and soldiers, hopefully, some advantage,”

I slowly feel my jaw hitting my lap. It seems we are condemned to endless war, no matter what. I saved today, but then tomorrow it’s as if my sacrifice was for nothing. How many more would have to die before we get to live in peace? By the end, will there even be anyone left?

“Do you mean to tell me that I sacrificed myself for nothing? Do you mean to tell me that I left Diana on that tarmac for nothing? Please tell me this is some kind of cruel joke,”

Antiope looks at me confused at the mention of Diana’s name. Her lack of an answer puts me on the edge and I feel my anger reaching its boiling point.

Suddenly, finding myself full of energy, I stand up and start punching the boulder with all that I have. A desperate and angry scream becomes the soundtrack of my misery as I reduce my knuckles to nothing. The physical pain comforts me, keeping me distracted from the agonizing pain in my chest.

Nobody even attempts to stop me, so I keep punching the boulder. I’m not sure how much time passes before I feel my knuckles crack. With one last guttural scream, I deliver one last punch and I lean forward, pressing my forehead against the cold surface of the rock.

I feel the steady trickle of blood pouring from the gash in my knuckles and the pain is almost blinding. But just like my knees, the pain is gone within seconds.

“You can’t hurt yourself in the Underworld and no one can hurt you, except of course, a God,” She sighs. “I understand your frustration. We all here died before we would have liked to and we all left behind people we love,”

At the mention of love I look at her and I can see in her expression that she knows how I feel about Diana. I try to fight the urge to cry, but I feel my tears spill over before I can stop them.

“It wasn’t enough. I barely got to spend time with her. I need more. I need her,” I put my hands on my knees and bend forward trying to steady my breathing.

Three weeks. That’s all the time I got to spend with Diana. From the moment I saw her I was a goner. Seeing her face for the first time with the sun shining brightly behind her, almost creating this aura around her like an angel.

It took me all of five minutes to realize how caring, compassionate and unapologetically good she was. To find one of those qualities in a person is rare, but to find all of them in a single body? It is almost unheard of.

We went through so much in such little time. Maybe even more than most people do in a lifetime. When we were ‘swaying’ outside Café Buvette in Veld, I knew. I knew right then and there that I had never known love. Not like this anyway. As a spy and captain, I didn’t exactly have a lot of time to go out and look for love, but I had been with other women and none of them came even close to making me feel how Diana did.

Screw death, I need more time with her. I stand up straight and look Antiope directly in the eyes with newfound determination. “You said you were about to escape. I’m coming with you,”

Her eyes widen with the realization of my statement. “Absolutely not! You think that escaping the Underworld is as easy as opening a door? You think Hades would make it that easy for souls to escape? I heard tales of the arrogance of men, but this is ridiculous!”

She turns around, hands on her hips to look at the other Amazons and they are all shaking their heads in disapproval with my decision. This is a fight I am not going to lose. I’m getting the hell out of here!

Pun not intended.

“You can’t stop me. We’re not on Themyscira anymore. You have no power over what I do or don’t do. Even if you don’t let me come with you, I’ll find a way to get out myself. But I would really appreciate it if you’d let me tag along, since I’m still not sure what the hell is going on here,” I say moving my forefinger in a circle.

She looks at me annoyed and I fear she might punch me. I find some relieve in knowing that if she does, it won’t hurt for long.

She shakes her head and exhales loudly from her nose. “You have no idea the things that live here. The chances of me getting out are low and I’m an Amazon. Are you really willing to risk your soul, knowing that if we get caught by Hades himself or one of his many monstrosities, we would be lucky if our souls get obliterated into nothingness? Escaping the Underworld is a very difficult feat, Captain. Are you ready to risk everything for a very small chance of returning?”

I feel myself stand up straighter and when I say my next words, I make sure she understands every single one, “All my life I’ve fought for everything that I ever had. For everything I am. The chances were always slim, but that never stopped me. So when you say there’s a chance of escaping, I don’t care how big or small that is. A chance is a chance and normally, that’s all the motivation I need, but this time is different. This time all my motivation is coming from one source and trust me, even if my chances were zero, I would still try with all that I have to go back to her.”

I take a step closer to Antiope, feeling a fire inside of me I have never felt before. “So to answer your question, yes. I am willing to risk everything for the chance of getting back to Diana. I need more time with her. Hades be damned.”

She raises her chin and the corner of her mouth rises slightly. “Then lets get back, shall we?”

Chapter Text

2

I wake up at 5:30am like I do every morning to go for a run. I turn on my nightlight and sit on the edge of my bed, allowing myself a few seconds to fully wake up. I roll my shoulders backwards trying to work out the kinks. I stand up and go to the bathroom to wash my face.

I try not to think too much about anything in case my mind goes to places I would rather it not go. It eventually will, but maybe I can delay it for some time. I finish dressing, grab my keys and go out into the still dark morning. I always start with a fast walk, working my way up to a run. I enjoy the quiet and emptiness of the streets, only a few cars on the road at this hour.

Like I always do, I start to mentally go through all the things I have to do today. I always start with the most urgent to the least urgent.

I need to call the art restorer to arrange a meeting so he can assess the damage on the recovered ‘Le pigeon aux les petits pois’. Then I need to start cataloguing the Macedonian weapons arsenal, so they’re ready for the Alexander the Great exhibition to be held in a month.

I reach an intersection and look both ways before crossing. I transition into a jog, the intersection being a mark I gave myself as a ‘start jogging’ point.

I need to talk to Chloë so we can come up with a plan for the auction that’s coming up for the newly found Chinese vases from the Jin Dynasty. After that, I have a meeting at 3pm with Monsieur Sabatier so I can show him the pieces I acquired in Gotham.

I start feeling the slow burn in my calves as I push myself harder.

I need to stop by the bookstore to buy the books I promised the kids before I go to the hospital.

I smile at the thought of them. Three years ago I started volunteering at the Hôpital Necker, a children’s hospital. There was a tour at the museum for the kids. I was making my way to my office when the tour guide, Mélanie, spotted me and motioned for me to approach the group. She introduced me and asked me to explain my job at the museum a little bit. Since that day I was not very busy, I stayed with them until they left.

I don’t think I had smiled that much in a single hour since… I couldn’t even remember. The next day, I researched for volunteering posts at the hospital and filled out an application. By the following week, I was playing and reading with the children.

I always look forward to Wednesdays. I almost feel a little spring in my step on the days I go visit them, but not today since today is – No. It’s too early. Don’t go there.

My jog turns into a run. I often find I have to make a conscious effort to not go too fast. The streets are relatively empty, but you never know. What if someone saw me get from point A to point B in a blink of an eye? It’s something I always have to keep in mind.

After 45 minutes, I go back to my apartment in the Oberkampf area and ride the elevator to the 7^th floor. I shower, then dress in a black Donna Karan pencil skirt and grey sweater tucked into it. I tie my hair up in a tight bun, apply very light make up and head out to work. I always stop at a café across the street from the Louvre to get myself a cup of the best coffee I have ever tasted.

I push the door open and the little bell dings, announcing my entrance. I look at the young man behind the cashier and wave to him.

“Bonjour, Mohammed,” I say smiling at him.

“Bonjour, Diana. Café noir grande, oui?” I order the same thing everyday, so him asking me is more out of habit than anything else really.

“Oui, s’il vous plait. J’ai besoin d’energie liquide,” I don’t really need the extra energy, but drinking coffee has become part of my morning routine and I feel like something’s missing if I don’t have it.

While he serves my coffee, I reach into my purse to pull out the 2€ I had already put aside. He slides the coffee cup across the counter and I do the same with the coin.

“Merci, Mohammed. Á demain,” I tell him taking my coffee and turning to leave.

“Á demain, Diana,”

I submerge myself into work, trying to keep my mind busy for as long as I can. There’s this rhythmic motion to my work, which doesn’t involve a lot of improvisation and that’s something that I like considering what my second unofficial job is.

I finish all I had to do today, always working hard to make sure I don’t have work piled up. I like getting home knowing that the next day at work will be enjoyable and stress free. I grab my purse and leave the museum to head to the bookstore to buy Pinocchio and Peter Pan.

Since I knew what I was looking for, I’m in and out of the bookstore fast. I’m about two blocks away from the hospital when I feel my cellphone buzz. I pull it out from my purse, unblock it and see an email from the hospital. I tap on the bubble and read it. Visitation is canceled for today because of a case of the flu that has spread throughout the floor.

My shoulders slump and I hope it’s nothing serious. I turn around and start walking back home. I decide to call Lea, the head of the nursing department at the hospital just to appease my mind.

“Bonsoir, Hôpital Necker,”

“Bonsoir, Lea. C’est Diana. I read the email and I just wanted to know if everyone’s okay,”

She exhales. Not a good sign. “Some of the kids have a fever, some just have the regular symptoms of the flu and others are completely fine. We will monitor them for the next couple of days. Hopefully by next Wednesday they’ll all be better,”

I shake my head. It really bothers me when things like this happen. These children are already sick, why do more terrible things keep happening to them?

“I hope so too. Would you tell them that I already have the books they wanted and that I’ll be there next Wednesday to read it to them?”

“Of course I will, Diana. I’ll tell them right now. They could use the cheer me up. See you next week,”

“See you, Lea. Take care of yourself,”

“I will,”

I hang up and continue on my way home. I can already feel the inevitable path my mind is taking. I just hope I get home before it really hits me.

And I barely make it.

I’m assaulted by the memories of that day. Burying my sword in Ludendorff’s chest, thinking that I had completed my mission, and the terrifying realization that mankind might not have been corrupted by the influence of Ares, but that they were acting on their own accord.

Then I see him, Steve, telling me to come with him. Asking me to help him stop Maru and me refusing to do so. If I had gone with him, if I had helped him…

I close my eyes to try and stop the images, but fire burns brighter in darkness and I see the plane blow up again with Steve still inside. I cover my mouth to try and drown out the choking sounds, but it doesn’t help.

I curve myself into a ball on my bed, his watch clutched on my hand and the only picture I have of him on my nightstand, courtesy of Bruce Wayne. Today is the 100^th anniversary of his death and the pain feels as raw as it did on that day in the tarmac.

Every year is the same.

On this day I try my hardest to keep my day busy, my mind somewhere else, but after 100 years, I still haven’t been able to find the formula that would make me live through this day, without feeling the crashing pain of his absence and the guilt of knowing that I’m the reason he’s dead. I could’ve saved him and I didn’t.

“I’m sorry, Steve. I’m sorry,”

I run my hands through my hair and sit up, taking the photo from the nightstand and resting it on my lap. Much like I did on Trafalgar square, I run my fingers over his face, wishing that the photo were in colour so that I could see his eyes. The bluest eyes I have ever seen.

“I miss you,”

Almost as if the weather were picking up on my mood, it starts raining. The raindrops hitting my window and the trickling sound of the water going through the drain are soothing. Only silent tears fall from my eyes and I feel myself calming down.

I close my eyes and try to project Steve and I outside of Café Buvette. The fascination in his eyes at being there to witness my first experience with snow. I smile at the playful look on his face; his hand moving my hair out of my face; later, his lips on mine…

Diana. Diana.

I hear my name from far away, almost like a whisper. I notice I’m lying down. I must’ve fallen asleep. I open my eyes to find myself on an open field. I sit down fast, inspecting my surroundings.

Where am I?

I’m dreaming. I must be, although no dream has ever felt so real.

I hear my name once again. I stand up and start following the sound. The more I walk the more beautiful this field becomes. It’s all green with flowers growing everywhere, the chirping of the birds creating a calming symphony.

“Diana,”

I stop abruptly, almost colliding into the body in front of me. I see a man. An older man. He’s tall and muscular. He has the whitest hair I have ever seen, almost platinum. He’s smiling at me with this shine in his eyes.

All of a sudden, I know exactly who this is.

“Father. You’re alive,” I never really believed he was dead. He’s Zeus. But I wasn’t sure he was alive either. I inspect his face, unable to help myself in trying to find the ways in which him and I are similar.

Even though he’s muscular, he has a round face, like mine. But that’s about it. I very much take after my mother.

“Yes, I’m alive,” He smiles at me. “It is very nice to meet you, Diana. I have been waiting a long time for this moment,”

I frown a little at that. “What took you so long? I accepted my role as the protector of mankind a long time ago.”

There were times when I could’ve used his guidance, his advice. Especially when I first left Themyscira.

His smile falters for a second. “The injuries I sustained from your brother’s attack took a very long time to heal. I just now have been able to gather enough strength to come to you, and just in time too.”

“What do you mean?”

He motions for me to follow him and I do. “Dark times are coming, Diana. Darker times than mankind has ever experienced and I need you to be ready.”

I feel a sense of dread creeping up on me. “What is it? Another crazy brother?”

He laughs and shakes his head. “I admire your ability to have a sense of humour, but no. No more crazy brothers. This threat comes in the form of Steppenwolf. He is one of the members of the self-named ‘New Gods’ from the planet of Apokolips. He plans to take Earth hostage with an army of Parademons until he finds the devices called Mother Boxes.”

My mind tries to absorb everything my father is telling me, but I struggle. “What are these Mother Boxes? And why are they on Earth?”

“What Mother Boxes are exactly is still a mystery, even to their users. But they have a set of properties ranging from teleportation to energy manipulation. They were brought to Earth so the boxes could increase their powers by absorbing the knowledge found there. On the wrong hands, very dangerous indeed,” He walks in front of me and stops. “It is vital that Steppenwolf does not lay a hand on any of the Mother Boxes. They are connected with nature and so they can develop feelings. If the Mother Boxes connect with him, if they develop love for him, there is absolutely nothing we will be able to do. Not even killing him will work, since the Mother Boxes will self-destruct when their owner dies and that destruction will wipe out Earth,”

I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand, but I also feel a sense of purpose and determination. “How do I stop them?”

He smiles proudly at me. “I am afraid this is a job you cannot do alone. You will need all the help you can get,”

I exhale loudly through my nose. “Are you referring to the league?”

He nods. “Yes, you will need their help. There are three Mother Boxes hidden somewhere on Earth, and each of the members has a very specific set of skills that will be incredibly helpful in finding each and every one. But they won’t be enough,”

I don’t think I’ve ever felt more confused in my life. The league is enough, but not really? “I’m not sure I understand…”

“You need to go back home, Diana. You will find all you need in Themyscira.”

I shake my head. No, I can’t go back. I haven’t been back in 100 years. “I made a promise that I would stay here, in Man’s world, and help. If I go back, I don’t know if I’ll find the strength to leave,”

“My daughter, I have complete trust in you. And like I said, you will find all you need there. Go back to your mother. She has missed you every day since you left. I hope you can trust my judgment, and I’m afraid I now have to leave.”

I feel myself being pulled from this dream and I try to fight it, but it’s futile.

“Father!”

I jolt myself awake and start looking around momentarily disoriented. Once the disorientation lifts, I stand up and pace the length of my room.

What did he mean by ‘all you need is in Themyscira?’ Does he mean my mother knows something that will help me? Is there a weapon in the tower that will be helpful in my mission? I groan, rub my face and sit back down on my bed, leaning back against the headboard.

“I trust you, Father.” I stare up at the ceiling and try to come to terms with what I’m about to do. “I guess I’m coming home,”

Chapter Text

3

I look up from behind the rock wall and wait for the gates to open. I can’t exactly tell for how long Antiope and I have been here, but it’s been a while. There are moments when it feels like time is moving fast, then it feels like it’s passing very slowly and the most unsettling one, when it feels like time has stopped.

According to Antiope, there’s a pattern to the gates opening, but they change after a certain amount of time, but since time is weird here to say the least, you must try and figure it out by counting how many souls go through the gates at a time.

The gates are above us, floating there, barely visible since its surrounded by, what I can only describe as grey, almost black clouds. It’s quite disturbing seeing the souls come through. Every time the gates open a group of souls are practically dumped through and they fall hard against the floor. After what feels like a few seconds, they start moving and I recognize the same confusion I had in their eyes. They struggle to stand up and when they do, they wander around trying to come to terms with the place they now find themselves in.

I turn my head to the left and see Antiope looking up at the gates with great concentration.

“Hey, why did you say I interrupted your escape? What’d I do exactly?”

Without taking her eyes from the gates, she answers with mild annoyance. “I had spent a lot of time figuring out the pattern of the opening of the gates. After confirming that the pattern was correct, I jumped up towards those rocks over there,” She points to rocks that have somewhat of a flat surface and with great equilibrium, you could manage to stand. “I waited and when the gates opened I jumped through them, but you came out of nowhere and pushed me down with you.”

I wince and put myself in her shoes. What if I had found a way out and spend so much time trying to time it perfectly, and then have those plans interrupted by some man?

“Sorry. But in my defense, I didn’t even know what was happening until you started shouting at me,”

I believe I spot a hint of a smile on her face. As disciplined and hard as Antiope is, she’s also kind hearted. I can see that. After all, she was one of the women who raised Diana.

“No need to apologize. I was not wrong with my calculations, which makes me think the Gods wanted you to escape with me. And who am I to question the Gods’ plans?”

My eyebrows shoot up at that. “You think so? Cause I fail to see the logic in that. If they wanted me to go back so badly, then why kill me in the first place? I would’ve loved some divine intervention,”

She shakes her head. “The Gods know what they’re doing and it would be foolish of us to question them.”

I don’t know. I would love to talk to one of them someday, ‘cause I definitely have questions. I look back up at the gates and see the same amount of souls go through again. “That’s five. It’s been five souls for a while now. Now what? What do we do?”

Antiope keeps her eyes on the gates for a few more seconds then nods. “Yes, I counted five too. Now we go back and try to figure out how to get you up to those rocks. You can’t jump that high. Let’s go.”

I nod. We stand up and try to look as if we were just relaxing behind a rock wall. According to the Amazons, you never know who or what might be looking.

The Underworld is an eerie place. In general, it feels like we’re underground, almost like a bunker of sorts. It’s all rock with the odd building-like structure here and there. You can sense it’s cold, but you don’t feel cold. It’s always well lit, but the source of light is a mystery. There’s no change to it either, so you can’t tell when a new day begins or ends. All souls here have this look of utter impotence. We are all to stay here until the Judges of the Underworld decide where we deserve to go.

One of the Amazons, Penthesilea, had given me a small lesson on how things work down here in the Underworld.

She had said, “There are three places the Judges can send us. Elysium, the Fields of Asphodel or Tartarus. Elysium is a place for the especially distinguished. There are no labors and an easy afterlife awaits those who are sent there. Normally, only those who had proximity to the Gods are granted access there, and of course if you are a demigod or hero.”

That sounds like the place I would like to go, I had thought.

“The Fields of Asphodel is the place where ordinary or indifferent souls who did not commit any significant crimes or did not achieve any greatness or recognition go. They will have an afterlife with neither happiness nor pain,”

Yeah, no, that doesn’t sound as great as Elysium.

She finished with the description of Tartarus, “Tartarus is the place where those who committed great crimes will pay for their sins. It is located far beneath the Underworld, as far beneath as the Earth is beneath the sky. Your soul will be condemned to eternal punishment where you will have an afterlife full of pain and misery,”

Have a nice afterlife, Ludendorff.

Antiope and I reach the edge of a chasm. At the bottom there’s a cave, which the Amazons have chosen as their refuge for the time being.

“Ready?” She asks me knowing the pain I’m going to be in when I land.

“Not really, but I don’t have much choice in the matter. On three?”, I say looking down. We’re so high up I can’t even see the bottom. I can’t wait to get out of here.

She nods. “One, two, three, jump!”

We jump and to try to keep my mind from the pain I’m about to feel, I start counting.

One, two

The things one does for love.

Three, four

I know you defeated Ares, Diana. I can feel it.

Five, six

I’m coming back. I won’t stop until I do.

Seven, eight

I hope you can forgiv – crunch

We land hard, but I’m the only one screaming in pain. I fall on my back and I can feel my legs dangling in an unnatural way when I bring my knees up. I try to breathe, but even that hurts too much.

“Just a few more seconds, Captain. Just a few more seconds,” I hear Antiope telling me, but two more seconds of this pain and I will lose my mind.

I feel a tingly feeling on my toes that starts climbing up my legs and just before I start clawing my eyes out, the pain is gone. I finally get a chance to inhale and slump back down on the ground.

“This sucks. This really sucks,” I say opening my eyes to see Antiope and Aella looking down at me.

Aella stretches her hand out to me to help me stand up and I take it. “Hopefully you won’t have to suffer for long. Were you able to find a pattern again?” She asks looking at Antiope.

“Yes, we did. Now we have to figure out how to get the Captain up to the rocks closest to the gates,”

Aella nods and says, “We were thinking about that too, General. We have some ideas,” She moves deeper into the cave and we follow her.

They proceeded with explaining to us the ideas they had, but on further thought, they realized that many of them were useless considering the fact that I’m a mere human. So most plans were dismissed with me saying: ‘I can’t jump that high’ or ‘I can’t punch through rock’.

There was one though that seemed quite plausible and involved teamwork.

The idea came from a quieter Amazon named Hebe. She suggested we use the ‘shield technique’, much like Antiope had asked Menalippe during the battle at the beach for me to get to the rocks. When I exhaled loudly at having to remind them again that I am not an 'advanced human' like they are, she looked at me exasperated and said,

“I know, Captain. What I was thinking is for maybe three of us to throw you upwards using a big enough piece of flat rock or any kind of flat surface, where you will be able to stand up properly. You stand on it, we pick you up and push you upwards hard enough for you to reach the rock, where the General will be waiting to assist you, should you require it,”

“Oh,” I cross my arms awkwardly at my now stupid reminder. “Yeah, that’ll work.”

Antiope contemplates Hebe’s plan and nods. “I think that’ll work. Good work, Hebe.”

The next couple of… hours? Minutes? Days? Or however long it was, we spend practicing our plan. Getting out of the cave is not a problem because Antiope jumps to the top of the chasm with a rope and then she throws it down at me. The only thing I have to do is hold on and she pulls me up. The same cannot be done to get down to the cave since, for whatever reason, the rope magically becomes shorter. I’m not sure why the Gods are playing with me like this, it’s almost as if they wanted me to feel the pain of the fall.

We use an almost rectangular shaped rock, so thin, I wonder if it’ll snap under my weight. Three of the most muscularly built Amazons wait for me to stand on it, then they lift me and ask me if I’m ready. When I say yes, I feel them bend their knees and I do too, to try and add a little more strength to my take off, and then with a warrior scream from the Amazons, I feel myself flying through the air, upwards towards a waiting Antiope.

Six tries before I went high enough for Antiope to hold on to me. And six times when I thought I was about to die all over again. When she finally took hold of my hand and pulled me up with incredible ease, we actually hugged and shared a victory scream that the Amazons below must’ve heard since we could hear theirs.

I didn’t even think twice before jumping down the chasm, my mind stronger now since I knew the pain awaiting me below. The intensity of it never changes, but the way I handle it does. Maybe that was the point all along. Get used to the pain.

This time I stand up the moment the pain is gone and smile at the soldiers. “We make a great team, huh?”

They all smile at me and someone at the back says loudly, “Maybe we should get you an Amazon armor so you fit in a little better, Captain!”

They all burst out laughing and I answer back, “I’ve been told I have great legs! I’m sure I would look great in it!”

I join them on the laughter and we move to sit around the fire. We never get hungry or tired down here. So we don’t eat and we don’t sleep. We mostly talk and share stories to fill our time and get to know each other a little better. But not right now, right now is a council meeting of sorts, where I’m being briefed.

“Captain, there’s something else I haven’t told you yet,” Antiope says looking at me from across the fire.

“What?”

“I told you the chances of getting out of here were slim, and the reason that is, is because of what we’ll find beyond those gates.”

I look to the burning embers. Yeah, I figured crossing those gates was only the first obstacle. “What should we expect?”

“The gates we can see from here are the first set of gates. The ones that will get us back to the land of the living are guarded by Hades’ hound, Cerberus.”

That doesn’t sound good. “Cerberus is a dog?”

“Cerberus is a monstrous three-headed dog, with a snake as a tail and snakes protruding from parts of its body. He is as tall as 10 horses combined and his many heads make it quite difficult to sneak past him,”

“And I guess telling him to sit down and be a good boy won’t work?” She doesn’t laugh at my attempt of a joke. Why would she? That dog is what will determine whether we go back or not. “What do we do then? Any ideas?”

She shakes her head and stares at the fire. “I don’t know what’s beyond those gates. I was just as unconscious as you were when I crossed them. We will only know once we’re there. That’s were the danger truly begins,” She raises her eyes to me and asks once again, “Are you certain this is what you want?”

“My answer is the same. I’m sure. Are you?” I ask trying to reignite the flame of determination we both had when I first got here.

She smirks, understanding what I’m trying to do. “As sure as I’ll ever be,”

Chapter Text

 4

The rest of the week I try to come up with a list of things that will help me be strong enough to get back to man’s world, to remember my duty to mankind once I’m home. The temptation I can already anticipate feeling the moment I cross the cloak covering Themyscira will be like no other. Seeing my mother again and feeling her comforting touch, one I have been longing for since the moment I discovered the terrible things that happen to men and the pain they inflict upon themselves, will be overwhelming.

It is at work, when I’m supervising the transportation of the pieces I acquired in Gotham that an idea pops into my head. Father said I would need the help of the league. I might as well involve them in the process now, partly at least.

As soon as I’m left alone in my office again, I pick up my cellphone and look through my contacts until I find the one I’m looking for. I stop at the W and exhale in mild annoyance at having to ask Bruce Wayne for a favor. I tap on the call button and bring the cellphone to my ear.

It rings once, twice…

“Ms Prince. What a lovely surprise,” He says cockily.

Now I’m severely annoyed, “Mr Wayne. How do you do?”

“I’m… wonderful, Ms Prince. Yourself?”

I roll my eyes. Okay, I’m bored. Get to it. “I’m great. I need a favor, Mr Wayne. A favor that will help us save the world. Are you willing to help me?”

I can almost feel the change in him, realizing this is an important call. “What have you found out?”

I walk around the table so I’m now facing the door of my office. “In summary, another alien looking to destroy us all. But this one is smarter, therefore more dangerous,”

“I miss the days when I thought we were the only beings in this universe. What do you need from me?”

“I need you and a yacht in Nice in two days. Is that something you can arrange?”

He chuckles, “You insult me, Ms Prince. Of course I can. But I’m curious now, how does this help us save the world? Or are you planning to relax before doing that and you’re just looking for a companion?”

Now is my turn to chuckle, “Don’t flatter yourself too much, Mr Wayne. You’re not exactly my type.”

“I’m rich and handsome. I think that qualifies me as everyone’s type.”

And this is as much Bruce Wayne I can take in a day. “See you in two days, Mr Wayne.”

“Can’t wait,”

I haven’t had a decent conversation with Bruce Wayne other than the ten minutes I spoke to him after Clark’s funeral, but I researched him. I know the circumstances of his childhood. That playboy persona is just a cover. His true self sneaks past the cracks of that cover all the time, and I’m pretty certain he doesn’t even realize it.

There’s prove of that. Like the time he decided to put his revenge aside to save Martha, Clark’s mother, or when he came back to fight alongside Superman to defeat Doomsday. And just now, he didn’t even hesitate to help me.

He has a good heart and I know his flirtation is just part of the playboy persona and part of the game, but he can be incredibly annoying.

I sent the day after the conversation with my father a request for a week vacation starting Friday, and it was given to me. I did that in order to force myself to actually go home. The plan is simple, although not necessarily easy to execute.

From Nice, we will go towards the Amalfi coast. I’ve tried to map out the location of Themyscira as much as I can, but there’s no way to do that. I figured once we’re in the Tyrrhenian Sea, I should be able to identify the more specific location of the island.

And Bruce Wayne? He’s role is to go looking for me if I don’t resurface after four days. I smile at the thought of having to tell him he’s basically going as a glorified chauffeur.

Two days pass in a blink of an eye. I wake up early on Friday morning to catch my flight to Nice from Paris. It’s a short flight of about 1h30min, and by 11am I’m walking down the marina, trying to spot Bruce. When I don’t spot him, I lower my duffle bag onto the floor and pull out my cellphone to call him.

I’m about to press the call button, when I hear the roaring of a motor behind me. I turn around to see a red Lamborghini parking across from me. I raise an eyebrow and put my cellphone in the pocket of my dress.

He knows how to make an entrance. I’ll give him that.

The butterfly door of the Lamborghini opens to reveal, as I had already guessed, Bruce Wayne wearing light blue shorts, a blue shirt and dusty brown moccasins. He pulls a duffle bag from the passenger’s sit and throws it over his shoulder.

I stand there looking at him, shaking my head as he approaches me. “Really?”

He shrugs, “What? It’s a nice car to drive. You should give it a try. You know what? Here,” He takes my hand and puts the keys of the car on my palm, “It’s yours. Then you won’t look at me like that after you’ve driven it.”

I look down at my hand and then up at him. “I don’t need a Lamborghini, Mr Wayne. I walk everywhere,”

He blinks at me and points at my hand, “I just gave you the keys of arguably, the best car in the world as a gift, and you don’t want it? Do you have any idea how many people would die for a present like this?”

I smile a closed mouth smile and tilt my head slightly to the left, “I told you before, Mr Wayne, I don’t think you’ve ever met anyone quite like me before.” I put the keys on the pocket of his shirt and lean down to pick up my duffle bag. “Shall we?”

He nods with a bit of a smile. He points to my right and says, “That one right there,”

I’m surprised to actually see a not overly flamboyant yacht (if such a thing exists). I climb up to it and make myself comfortable on the deck while Bruce fills out some paper work for the coast guard. Once he does, he climbs up and I hear him say from the Captain’s control room,

“You know, it would help if you told me where to go.”

I look over my shoulder at him and then back at the ocean. “Tyrrhenian Sea, towards the Amalfi Coast,”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I feel the yacht move and I let myself relax as the speeding vessel moves further away from the marina, and the sounds of the seagulls and people slowly fade until only the sound of the waves remain.

I don’t think I was conscious of how heavily all of this was weighing down on me, because next thing I knew, I was beginning to dose off, the pull of sleep too tempting. I let myself relax, recognizing that soon I would be lucky to be able to get a full night’s sleep.

I dream of lightning and a crack in the sky; I dream of a younger me running away from my last tutor, Mnemosyne; I dream of my mother braiding my hair.

I wake up with a start to see the sun setting. I sit up and rub the sleep from my eyes. I can’t remember the last time I slept this long. I stand up and walk to the railing of the deck, looking out to the sea.

I’m surprised by the beauty I see. How easy it is to forget that something so beautiful and powerful surrounds us. Even as big as it is…

“I was starting to wonder if you were truly asleep or just trying to avoid talking to me.” He comes to stand next to me and hands me a glass of champagne.

I accept it and raise it slightly. “You’re not that bad. To justice”

“To justice,”

We both take a sip. I lean on the railing, dangling the glass between my middle finger and thumb.

“I think I’ve now earned the right to some answers, don’t you think, Ms Prince?”

I exhale, “Yes, I think you have earned the right to some answers.”

I emphasize ‘some’ to make sure he understands that I’m not ready or willing to share everything about myself yet.

“Good enough. Let’s start with the basics. What’s your real name?”

“My name is Diana, Princess of Themyscira.” I haven’t said that out loud in a century.

“Themyscira?” He asks confused.

“It’s where we’re going. A secret island created by the Gods that serves as the home of the Amazons. They were sent to influence mankind with love and compassion,”

I keep my eyes on the horizon, but I can feel his eyes on me. “You’re an Amazon.”

I nod. “Well, half Amazonian.”

“And the other half?”

This time I turn to look at him. Bruce Wayne is a smart man, I’m sure he’s suspected I’m much more than just a woman with extraordinary abilities.

“God. I’m a demigod. My father is Zeus,” I take a bit of pleasure in watching the stupefied look on his face.

“Well, that’s… Now I see why you were not impressed with the Lambo. Demigod, impressive.”

I laugh and shake my head. “Any more questions?”

He rubs the back of his neck and leans backwards against the railing. “How old are you?”

“I’m 5000 years old, but my passport says 32,”

“Impressive that you have managed to cheat the system. Especially now with the high security technology that’s being used,”

I take another sip of champagne, “It’s not easy, but it has to be done. But it would seem that billionaires are the ones I should be wary of though, not government officials,”

In all my time in Man’s world I had learnt to identify power hungry people before they acted, and Lex Luthor came on my radar when I found out he was looking for kryptonite. It was really a coincidence that I found my photo in his private servers, and then to find Bruce trying to get into the server at the same time I was, was unfortunate.

He chuckles, “It would seem to be the case. I would be more than happy to help you with that. I can alter dates on personal documents with my eyes closed. With the right tools, government servers are easy to get into.”

It would definitely make my life easier if I didn’t have to worry about my documentation. Plus, we’re going to be working together, might as well start making friends.

“I’ll accept your offer. Thank you, Mr Wayne,”

He points his forefinger at me, “That’s another thing. Stop calling me Mr Wayne. It’s too formal, we’re on a yacht together.”

I shake my head, “Fine, Bruce. You can call me Diana.”

“Great! I do have a couple of more questions, Diana.”

“Of course you do.”

“You went to great lengths to recover that photo. Why? Who is the ‘him’ you referred to in the email?”

I bite the inside of my cheek. If anyone is going to understand the pain you feel when you lose someone you love deeply, it’s Bruce Wayne. But even after 100 years, I’m not yet ready to talk about Steve. I don’t know if I’ll ever be.

So I shake my head and stare towards the horizon as the sun disappears and we’re left in the dark. “That’s something I’ll keep to myself, Bruce. But I want to thank you again for finding the photograph and sending it to me.”

He nods, “At first I didn’t understand why you were chasing that photograph so much. No one would actually believe that a woman fought in World War I and nobody knew about it, or people could’ve thought that it was someone in a costume. But then I stopped looking at you and looked at the people beside you and figured you were not protecting your identity, but you were trying to get back people you loved. I can understand that.

By the way, I created a virus that would destroy any remaining digital copies. Last I checked they were all gone. The virus will remain dormant in case anymore were to pop up, but I don’t think it’ll happen. You are now the only person in the world who has that photograph.”

I almost feel like crying. I remember feeling such an invasion of privacy when I saw the photograph on Luthor’s servers, thinking that now that it had been digitized, there was no way I would ever be able to erase it. The notion that a huge part of my life was now potentially available to the eyes of the world, threaten to send me over the edge. And now, thanks to Bruce, I won’t ever have to worry about that becoming a reality.

“I feel like I’ve been saying this a lot, but thank you.”

He looks up towards the sky, “Alfred told me to be nicer. He says I need friends.”

I laugh. “Well, I feel that if I had an Alfred, he would tell me the same.”

“I have one more question, the last one.” He says raising his hands.

I nod.

“Why am I here exactly?”

I smile, knowing he won’t like my answer. So I decide to hold off in telling him.

“Not yet. I’ll tell you when we’re closer,”

He looks at me suspiciously, “I’m not going to like it, aren’t I?”

I shrug, playing innocent.

We go to the upper deck not too long after to have dinner and we talk. He tells me how when we go back, he’s going to start recruiting members for the league. Since I only know what I saw in the email he sent me, I ask him to tell me more of what he knows about the other ‘metahumans’.

They are all very impressive and I smile at the idea of having a billionaire, an Atlantean, a cyborg and a really fast kid as a team. Some gained their abilities by accident, others were born with their abilities and some created their own. All very accomplished, all, hopefully, ready to fight.

The next day I wake up by the aggressive side-by-side movement of the yacht. I change fast and go to the Captain’s control room, where I find Bruce very focused on trying to keep the vessel steady.

He looks over his shoulder when he hears the door opening, but quickly returns his eyes to the horizon.

“The storm came out of nowhere. The weather was forecast to be calm, no rain, no storms.”

I look at the ocean and I hear the clap of thunder followed by the light illuminating the sky.

That was very loud, I thought. It’s almost as if the sky was going to cra -

My eyes widen. My dream. Father.

I point in the direction of the lightning, “Bruce, go towards the centre of the storm.”

He looks at me as if I were insane. “Are you crazy?! Are you trying to get us killed?! Or actually, are you trying to get me killed?! ‘Cause you’ll probably live, demigod!”

Just then a wave hits us on the side, and we both barely manage to hold on.

“Bruce, I told you who my father was! Go towards the storm!”

He looks at me with eyes wide, remembering what I told him yesterday. “Why use such an aggressive method to tell us where your home is?!”

I smile at his acceptance of my parentage. Not a lot of people would believe all the things I said yesterday. But I didn’t exactly leave him much of a choice since I fought an alien with him.

He stirs the yacht towards the storm and as we get closer, it gets harder to hold on to something. Just when I start thinking that I could be wrong, I see a ripple in the space in front of the bow of the yacht.

“Bruce, you see that?”

He squints at where I’m pointing, but he shakes his head. “No, I don’t see anything.”

I don’t know if it’s because I’m an Amazon and maybe that’s why I can spot the cloak and he can’t, but I know that he will be able to cross it should he continue moving forward. I make my decision in that moment.

“Stop the yacht. This is it.”

Bruce tries to look for what I’m seeing but he can’t. But trusting me, he stops the engine and releases the anchor. The storm stops abruptly and a heavy fog descends upon us.

“I’m getting on the boat and I’m going south. Your job is to come get me by this time Tuesday if I’m not here already. That’s all I need you to do.”

He looks at me with his best ‘really?’ face. “So I’m basically your chauffeur?”

“Yes.”

He runs a hand through his hair. “Fine. Let’s get you on the boat.”

We go to the back of the yacht, where the emergency boat is and he lowers it for me. He helps me onto it and looks around.

“How am I supposed to know where to go find you? I don’t see what you see.”

“Just keep moving south and you’ll know when you’re in Themyscira,”

I turn on the motor of the boat and start heading towards the ripple.

“There’s not much to do when you’re alone in a yacht, you know!” He tells me as I move further away from him.

“Whatever happened with ‘there’s no complaining on the yacht’, Bruce?”

He crosses his arms and shakes his head. I look forward and as I see the ripple grow closer and closer, I wonder if there’s a bigger reason for me to be here.

Chapter Text

5

 I stand besides Antiope while she addresses her soldiers.

“You fought valiantly in life and you continue to fight valiantly in death. I have no doubt the Judges of the Underworld will recognize the heroes you all are. The Gods are anything but just, so do not fear. You will have a peaceful afterlife, I can feel it. If the Captain and I do make it back, we will honor your sacrifice and continue to live our lives fighting for peace.”

I nod, agreeing with her sentiment.

“If we don’t manage to escape, I do not want you to feel responsible. I know you all very well and I know you will feel that guilt. Don’t. Respect and understand the decisions the Captain and I are making. Even if we fail, it would have been in the attempt of doing the right thing. Good luck to all of you and may the Gods protect us in all of our missions,”

“May the Gods protect us,” They all say loud and proud.

I look at Antiope asking for silent permission to address her soldiers. She nods.

“Amazons, I will be forever grateful for the help you offered me and the mercy your people showed towards me when I first landed in your home. I had never witness someone had the amount of strength you all have and at the same time, show such compassion. You have showed me the power of women and you have showed me what we can accomplish when we all work together. Thank you.”

They nod their heads at me and smile softly. We could use more of them in the world.

“Shall we, Captain?” Antiope tells me nodding towards the top of the chasm.

“We shall,” I say jumping up and down on my place, loosening my muscles.

Antiope gives one last look to her soldiers and she jumps up towards the top. The three Amazons approach me with the same piece of flat rock we’ve been practicing with and lower it for me to step on it. I do and look up. I try to steady my breathing. Inhale. Exhale. I nod, “Okay,”

I feel myself rise.

“Good luck, Captain.”, Hebe tells me from my right.

I turn towards her. “Thank you. On three, soldiers.”

“One, two, three!” I’m launched from the flat piece of rock and I swear I’m going faster than I have before. Maybe the adrenaline gave the Amazons a little extra strength. I see Antiope coming closer and closer and she takes hold of my hand easily, pulling me upwards.

She smiles at me. “First obstacle conquered.” We wait for the three Amazons who threw me up to appear next to us. When they do, we move towards the same rock wall Antiope and I were hiding behind before, so we can assess when it would be appropriate for them to repeat the same stunt, but towards the rocks closer to the gates.

We move swiftly and unsuspected. By some miracle, it seems today is a slow day and not a lot of souls seem to be wandering around.

“I’ll go up and when I give you the signal, you do your part,” Antiope tells the four of us.

She stands up and walks across the path to stand face to face with the rock wall. She looks to her right, then to her left before she jumps up and starts climbing the wall with enviable ease. When she reaches the somewhat flat rock that’s right under the gates, she raises her fist and shows four fingers. I’m not familiar with those signals, but it doesn’t matter. The Amazons next to me seem to understand.

“Let’s go, Captain.”

We stand up and walk up to the wall. Following the same movements as Antiope, the Amazons look right and left before lowering the flat piece of rock for me to stand on. They all look and wait for Antiope to send them the signal again. When she does, they pick me up and on three I find myself flying towards Antiope again. I feel a lot more nervous right now, as this particular wall we haven’t been able to practice on for obvious reasons. She catches me by the forearm, but the space she’s standing on is very narrow and her foot slips.

I manage to swallow my cry of surprise to try and avoid bringing attention to us. Antiope manages to hold on by the nails, her hand still around my forearm. We are both dangling there for a full fifteen seconds. I try to take hold of the rock, but it’s so smooth, it’s impossible. I look down to find the Amazons gone, probably hiding behind the rock wall so they don’t draw attention to us.

I look up at Antiope and I see the strain on her face, but I can also see her mind working. I consider letting go of her hand. Maybe this was a mistake. She was right, I’m just a man. I may not have the necessary abilities to escape here.

I’m about to tell her as much, when I feel her pulling me upwards.

“When you’re close enough, take hold of yourself, will you?”

Words seem to get stuck in my throat. The only thing I manage to do is nod. I see her bulging bicep and the strain making her veins pop. I reach my arm out and as soon as I can, I grab onto the edge. I hear Antiope exhale in relief. She starts moving sideways along the edge to give me enough space to climb up. When we do, we allow ourselves a moment of respite.

“Not bad considering we pretty much improvised it, huh?” I tell her, still feeling my heart beating against my ribcage.

“Let’s hope we will continue having luck. Ready?”

I look to the gates now in front of me. I try to see what’s past them, but it’s completely dark. The only thing between the gates and us is a huge jump from one side of the wall to the other. A jump my human self can manage.

“Ready. Going on three seems to be working. If it ain’t broke… one, two, three, go!”

I run and jump through the open gates and land hard. The force of my landing propels me forward and forces me to roll over. I groan when I reach a stop and I hear Antiope do the same.

“You okay?” I ask her standing up, stretching my hand out to her.

She takes it and I help her up. “Yes, I’m fine.”

We both take a minute to inspect our surroundings. From this point forward everything is unknown. Therefore we must tread carefully. We seem to be standing in a corridor, very dim lit. Pillars that go from floor to ceiling decorate the path all the way down to the door at the end of the corridor. This reminds me of the long corridors at Buckingham Palace but scarier. This is not what I was expecting.

Recognizing the relief on my face she says, “Don’t let yourself be fooled, Captain. Remember where we are at all times and you won’t let yourself become careless. Let’s move carefully.”

I nod and as we move forward I keep repeating to myself:

You’re dead and you’re in the Underworld. You’re dead and you’re in the Underworld. You’re dead and you’re in the Underworld. Don’t let yourself forget that.

 My eyes are assaulted by the light that hits me once I cross the cloak. My hand automatically rising to protect my eyes from it. A stark difference from the fog I was just surrounded by a moment ago. I slowly bring my hand down and raise my eyes towards the cliffs.

Oh, it’s as beautiful as I remember them.

My eyes stay locked on the cliff where I know I soon be seeing shapes appear. The sentinels must’ve sounded the horns already. The motor starts sputtering and then stops. I had forgotten that technology doesn’t work within the boundaries of the island. I reach down for the paddles and start rowing my way to shore.

As I get closer, I hear the hooves of horses and I know that my mother is just meters away from me. I look down at myself and realize I didn’t change into my armor. Instead I’m wearing jean shorts and a white t-shirt and in my haste to cross, I didn’t bring my duffle bag with me.

I don’t know why I’m suddenly so preoccupied with what I’m wearing, but it bothers me that I completely overlooked that tiny detail. I reach the shore and I jump out from the boat and pull it onto the sand, so the tide doesn’t take it away. I walk a few steps forward and stop, letting my toes sink into the sand.

I close my eyes and lift my head towards the sun, much like I did on the cliff right before Steve’s plane crashed. I hear the horses’ hooves come closer until they stop not too far away from me. I don’t open my eyes, suddenly afraid of my mother’s reaction.

I hear the rings on her saddle jingle as she descends from her horse. I hear her feet hit the sand. I hear her gasp.

“Diana?”

I feel the tears building up behind my closed eyelids because I’ve now just realized how much I have missed hearing my mother’s voice. I’ve now just realized how by only being in her presence, I already feel ten times more powerful.

I slowly open my eyes and the tears spill over. I turn my head and see my mother looking at me as if I were about to disappear. I want to move but I’m unable to, but we always have been able to read each other so well, and I’m glad that hasn’t changed since she’s the one who starts walking towards me.

She’s close enough now that I can see her green eyes covered with a film of tears.

“Diana?”

I nod and with an exhale I say, “Mother,”

Apparently all she needed for her to confirm I wasn’t some kind of apparition was to hear my voice. She takes the few steps that separate us and finally, after 100 years I feel her arms around me.

I break down and let myself be comforted by the only person I have left in this world. I now see how stupid it was of me not to come back. I tortured myself all these years for nothing. She could’ve helped me recover after Steve’s death and my mother is nothing but understanding, she would’ve let me go back to Man’s world, just like she did the first time.

She pulls back and holds my face, wiping the tears away with the pads of her thumbs.

“You’re really here? My Diana?”

I nod and laugh, “Yes, yes. I’m back, Mother. I’m sorry I didn’t come before. I’m so sorry,”

She shakes her head vigorously and shushes me. “None of that matters now. You’re here now. You’re here now.”

She pulls me back in for a hug and I bury my face in her neck, just like when I was a child. I feel her kiss me behind my ear and I start laughing just because I’m so relieved.

She takes my hand and caresses my face once more before guiding me towards her guard, who are all looking at us with smiles on their faces.

They all look the same. After all, time has no effect on our bodies.

Venelia looks at me and bows her head slightly, “Welcome home, Princess”

“Thank you, Venelia. It’s nice to see you again. It’s nice to see all of you again.”

Mother instructs her guard to go back to the palace and inform the council of my return and to also make the preparations necessary for my stay.

“Mother, I’m not here to stay. I’m only staying for four days. I wish I could remain longer but I have a mission to complete.”

The disappointment is clear on her face. I can also see pain in the realization that if it weren’t for my mission, I wouldn’t have come.

She nods and looks at me. “Before you can tell me how I can help you, my love, I know you have questions and you deserve those answers.” She opens her arms wide. “Considering this beach is where it all started, I think it is fitting for us to have that conversation here.”

I look around and I can almost see everything play out frame by frame. This is where it all started.

“I only have one question, Mother.” I turn to look at her, feeling a sense of frustration. “Why did you lie to me about who I was?”

Her eyes shine with unshed tears as she answers almost immediately, as if she had been practicing for a long time what she would say to me.

“When I found out what Zeus’ plan was, I thought you would be just what He intended you to be - a weapon. I never thought of you as a living and breathing creature until the day you were born. When I first held you, the overwhelming love I felt for you was almost paralyzing,” - Her hand goes to rest on her chest – “And the realization that you were meant to fight Ares, potentially to the death, almost made me crazy with fear.”

I was taught that the connection between mother and child is like no other. The bond that unites them from the moment the fetus’ senses are developed will never be matched by any other. It is up to both mother and child to maintain that bond, but I always wondered, could the father create the same powerful bond?

I never asked because I didn’t have a father, but now that I do, I wonder if He ever felt like my mother did.

“Gods can sense each other. So I concluded that if you didn’t develop your powers, then Ares wouldn’t be able to find you. I debated with myself constantly and so many times I came so close in telling you the truth, but then I would see how unburdened your soul was and the innocence in your eyes was so great, I couldn’t bring myself to take that away from you.

But I underestimated the power of nature and from a young age you started showing a thirst for knowledge like no other. Who you were deep inside was asking for more. Antiope knew that, and I ignored it.”

At the mention of Antiope, my aunt, my teacher, my savior, I can’t help but feel the pain of her absence, my eyes moving to the spot where she died in my arms.

“She would tell me all the time ‘a scorpion must sting, a wolf must hunt and little girls must grow’.” She looks at me. “I didn’t want you to grow up too fast. You were a child. That’s what I wanted you to be. But Antiope was right to defy my orders and train you. If it weren’t for her, I don’t know what would’ve become of you.”

I shake my head, not knowing what would’ve happened had she not trained me as hard as she did.

“I made a mistake. I recognize that. I accept that. But I do not regret protecting you. You are my daughter and I will do everything in my power to make sure you are safe. Even if it means giving my life for yours.”

I turn my head sharply at her last remark. “Don’t say that. I lost Antiope and Steve. If I lost you too I would not be able to take it. Even as powerful as I am, I would not be strong enough to continue.”

She frowns at the mention of Steve. I look straight at her, silently conveying what he meant to me. She tilts her head to the right with understanding.

“You fell in love with him.”

I nod and the fresh waves of pain hit me all over again. “You were right about men, Mother. But not everyone is like that. Steve was good and all he wanted was to protect people. He sacrificed himself to save the lives of millions and there was nothing I could do to stop him.”

I choke on my words, the tears spilling freely from my eyes now.

“I made a promise to him after he died that I would stay and protect mankind. I would continue not only mine, but his mission. That’s the reason I couldn’t come back. I was keeping my promise to him. I couldn’t leave. I couldn’t,”

She hugs me and I practically collapse into her. I’m not sure how long I stayed in her arms, her comforting touch a reminder that right now, on this island, I don’t have to be the strong one. I allow myself to be comforted by the woman who did and gave everything for me.

I’m not exactly sure when we sat down on the sand, but that’s where we are now. My head resting on her shoulder, her head resting on mine, feeling a sense of serenity that I wish I could bottle and take with me back to Paris.

“I hope you can forgive me one day, Diana.” She tells me softly.

I raise my head slowly to avoid hitting her and I look at her. “There’s nothing to forgive, Mother. How can I blame you for wanting what’s best for me? I should be the one asking for your forgiveness for not coming home. All these years not knowing if I had survived the battle with Ares? I can’t even imagine what that must have felt like.”

She smiles at me and takes my hand. “I may not be a God, Diana, but I could sense that you were still very much alive. And I’ll say the same thing to you, there’s nothing for you to apologize for. You were keeping a promise and performing your duty as protector of mankind. I feel nothing but pride, my love.”

I nod and remember I haven’t told her why I’m here. “He came to me in a dream, Mother. Zeus. My father. He was the one who told me to come to Themyscira.”

Her eyes widen in disbelief. “What?! He came to you… That means he’s strong enough now. What did he say to you?”

“He said that a great evil is coming. Someone named Steppenwolf and he’s coming with an army of Parademons to look for devices called Mother Boxes, very powerful technology that he must not get his hands on. He said I would be able to find everything I need here. What can you tell me about them?”

She shakes her head in confusion. “I’m sorry, Diana. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have no knowledge of anyone by that name, and I’ve never heard of Parademons or Mother Boxes.”

Now it’s my turn to look confused. “Then why would he tell me I would find what I need here?”

She thinks it over. “One of the things that always bothered me about Gods is that they never speak without some riddle or hidden message. Maybe he meant something else? Maybe he told you to come so you could train some more. Are you aware of your powers? Or have you just tapped into them?”

“In Man’s world, the powers that I have control over now are more than enough, so no, I haven’t really been able to discover the extent of them. I know I can fly, but I’m only able to hover. I believe I have the ability to manipulate air, just because on really hot summers when I’m walking down the street and I wish there was some air, just by thinking it a current manifests itself. I know I can generate thunderbolts, but I don’t do it often because it exhausts me, but I can manipulate them should someone throw some at me.”

Mother is looking at me with fascination, her smile growing bigger and bigger.

“What?”, I ask feeling a little self conscious.

“You, my daughter, are a wonder,”

I laugh at the choice of adjective. “You know that’s what they call me out there. Wonder Woman,”

She laughs, putting her arm around me and pulling me closer. “Well, they’re not wrong. Wonder Woman. It suits you.”

Chapter Text

6

We walk at a painstakingly slow pace. Several times I have the urge to start running towards the door at the end of the corridor, but then I remember Antiope’s advice. Remember where you are and you won’t become careless. So we walk slowly, our heads constantly moving right and left, expecting something to jump at us from the wall, the ceiling, the floor…

It’s all very terrifying, but what unnerves me is the quiet. I feel like someone is trying to shove their fist down my ears. The thing about my job was that it was hardly ever quiet. Silence is not something I’m accustomed to during high-risk missions. Like the one we’re currently on.

“With all the planning for our escape, I never asked…”, I look up at the ceiling to find it completely covered in sinister paintings. Demons tearing humans apart, blood dripping from their fangs and claws.

A warning.

“What do you have to warn Diana and the Queen about?”

I ask in the barest of whispers, afraid of disturbing the rhythm we’ve managed to create.

She continues moving forward, putting one foot in front of the other with the upmost care. I continue following her lead.

“When I crossed the gate, I crossed it with seven other souls. Three of them were Amazons, the others, I had never seen before. One of them kept muttering to himself that he didn’t have the chance to tell anyone about the fault in the design. I ignored him, too preoccupied with my own death,”

We keep walking down the endless corridor. Even though we can see the door at the end of it, it’s like we’re walking over the same spot, not making progress. But Antiope never mentions anything, so I figured she must be seeing the progress in our movements I’m unable to.

She continues, “After some time though, his mutterings were beginning to aggravate me, so I walked up to him and told him to shut up. His eyes cleared somewhat, but then he grabbed me by the arms and started saying everyone on Earth was doomed. He said the evil that was approaching would be like no other. I asked him to explain himself, since in my experience as General, you should never ignore someone who tells you danger is coming.”

I raise my eyebrows at that. Back home normally you ignore everyone who tells you danger is coming, unless they’re military and have a thousand different confirmed sources, if not, you’re not even acknowledged.

“This man, his name was Dertiri, was kidnapped from his planet and brought to Apokolips, were he was enslaved by the ruler, Darkseid. He was put to labor in the camps of the research laboratories and without raising suspicion, he would read the diaries of the people working there. Dertiri was an inventor in his planet, so he understood what they were making.”

I feel a sense of dread at where this man’s story might be leading. One thing is to deal with bombs, gas and machine guns, but with aliens? Or whatever these things are, mankind might be out of its depth.

“Through the diaries, he was able to learn all the details of how a technology known in Apokolips as Mother Boxes work. But he also learnt of a fault in the design of the boxes. Dertiri discovered that the Boxes were made with volcanic metal, which with the incorrect quantity, are more than likely to destabilize the intended function of any device,”

I make a mental note to ask Antiope later how she knows of things like laboratories and technology in general. I thought everyone on that island had the same knowledge of modern technology as Diana.

“According to Dertiri, the Mother Boxes will only perform their desired purpose for a limited amount of time. Which means that who ever takes possession of them won’t know that they will not have it function properly for long.”

I feel as confused as I was when I first landed on Themyscira. It would seem that every second that I spend here I discover some other terrible thing to add to my list of terrible things.

“What do these Mother Boxes do?” I ask starting with the basics.

“Dertiri said they can heal, teletransport, manipulate energy, sense danger and life, create energy shields, rearrange molecular structure of matter, control the mental state of a host, communicate telepathically, manipulate the life force of a host to sustain it past fatal injuries, among other things. They can love too.”

“Oh, that’s it?” She gives me a sideways glance a little bothered by my choice to approach her revelation with humor. “You said you risked your soul to find out more. What’d you do?”

Before she has the chance to answer, we hear a rumbling noise coming from the direction of the door. We look at each other and then around us trying to find somewhere to hide, but since the only things adorning this place are pillars, we run towards a corner behind one of them hoping the darkness of the place will conceal us enough.

The doors burst open and what looks like a huge cloud starts floating at a steady pace down the corridor. Both our eyes stay locked on the floating… thing. When it reaches us, I make out what they are.

Souls floating in a cluster, unconscious not knowing yet that their lives just ended. I feel a chill that makes me shiver and I stick my hands into my pockets to keep them warm. Realizing that I entered the Underworld in the same manner makes me nauseous and my desire to escape grows stronger.

I’m about to ask Antiope if we should wait for the next group of souls to enter so we can make a run for it before the doors close, when it hits me what I just did without realizing it.

I take my hands out of my pockets and look at them. I turn them and inspect them, touching my face and feeling the cold fingertips on my cheeks.

“I’m cold. I feel cold!” I say a little louder than intended to Antiope.

She snaps her head back at me and takes my hands. “You feel cold?”

I nod my head enthusiastically. “Yes! You don’t?”

She smiles down at my hands. “Amazons are not affected by weather like men are. Good thing you decided to come, Captain. I would not have been able to tell we’re in the right direction if not for your sensitivity to temperature change.”

I’ve never been more excited to be called sensitive!

“Let’s keep moving, Captain. We’re getting closer.”

We stand up and start walking down the corridor once again. With my hands shoved down my pockets and feeling the cold sip into my bones, I’ve never felt so glad to be chilled to the bone.

Mother and I walk into the city side by side. We make our way towards the throne room where council meetings are held through the market. Much like when I was a kid, as soon as the merchants see me, they greet me with the same kindness and respect.

“Hello, Diana,”

“Hello,” I answer back with the most sincere smile and I continue to feel incredibly out of place with the clothes I’m wearing.

Mother of course notices and gives me the up down. “Is that what women wear in Man’s world?”

I look down at myself and pat my shorts. “Yes, during the summers at least. Through the years clothes have evolved a lot. With each decade they become lighter and lighter. When I first got there, I made a friend. Her name was Etta, and with Steve, they took me to a department store, which is basically a very big market all contained within one big building. The first thing I tried on was this big, ugly, purple dress, that had so many layers, I could barely move.”

I proceed to demonstrate how I walked liked a fat duck. She laughs and shakes her head.

“I’m glad you made friends there. I’m certain that helped your transition into Man’s world.”

My smile becomes wistful and I nod. “Yes, they helped me a lot. Especially Etta. She was so patient with me and I stayed with her after –“ I pause not wanting to call upon any feelings that might disarm me once again. “After the war was over.”

I clear my throat. “That’s one thing I wasn’t counting on; to make friends. I thought I would be in and out. Defeat Ares and then try to find my way back home, but I encountered so many things that blindsided me. Disappointment, grief, anger, loneliness. Throughout all my life here in Themyscira, I never felt any of those things with such intensity. But as time went on in Man’s world and all the people I called friends started dying, I found myself not quite feeling like there was a place for me anymore.”

I keep my eyes on the road ahead, but I can feel the sadness in my mother’s eyes. “You didn’t make anymore friends?”

I shake my head slowly, “None that really meant something to me. I figured, what’s the point? I will outlive them all. Just like Etta, Charlie, Sammy and Chief. My only consolation was that they lived happy lives after the war was over. It took time for some, like Charlie, whose wounds went beyond the physical, but they were happy. That’s my mission for mankind, Mother. To try and get rid of anything that may threaten that happiness. It depends on them to pursuit it, but it’s my job to take out all the big obstacles.”

We cross the threshold to the hallway before the throne room. Mother touches my arm, signaling me to stop.

“Leave us,” she tells the guards softly, but commanding.

They nod and close the big metal doors behind them. I look at her confused.

“Diana, I understand your reasons for wanting to protect mankind. Your mission is one that commands honor and respect, and I realize I did not know the Captain as well as you did, but he didn’t give me the impression that he would be okay with you sacrificing your own happiness for that of everyone else’s.”

I look down at the far corner of the room, avoiding her eyes. She’s not telling me anything I don’t already know. Steve would not have wanted me to live like this, but I don’t know how else to live.

“You’re right, Mother. But how could I even attempt to have a happy live when I could’ve saved him and I didn’t?”

She narrows her eyes in confusion and takes a step closer to me. “What do you mean?”

I swallow and steel myself to say out loud the words I have never said to anyone but myself. “After killing who I thought was Ares, he asked me to come with him to try and stop a plane full of toxic gas that would kill millions of people and I refused to. He begged me to come with him and I said no. He gave me several opportunities to change my mind and every time I said no. Mother, I forced him into having to stop that plane alone. He blew up that plane with him inside because I didn’t leave him a choice. I was immune to the gas and I still said no. I killed him. I loved him and I killed him.”

She shakes her head and takes both my hands firmly. “No. I know you better than anyone else, Diana. You must have had your reasons for refusing, if you regret them, that is understandable. But you didn’t refuse to go with him because you didn’t care what happened to him. I know your heart. You are good, and if you need confirmation of that just look at how you’re punishing yourself for something, I believe, you had no control over. You didn’t kill him, he made his decision and you made yours. You said it yourself in the beach. He sacrificed himself. You know that, so I don’t understand why you’re blaming yourself. You. Didn’t. Kill. Him.”

I bite down on my lip, tears blurring my vision. “But I could’ve saved him.”

“You can’t save everyone, Diana. You do your best and you hope that’s enough and sometimes, it isn’t. But if you tried your best, then there’s nothing you should feel guilty about.”

I wipe the tears away, feeling quite annoyed that’s all I seem to be doing today. “I don’t know how not to feel guilty.”

She tucks a piece of hair behind my ear. “You start by remembering the ones you did save. The happy lives those people lead because of you and him. That’s how you keep going. That’s how you honor him.”

I nod and look up to allow my eyes to dry out. “I think Steve would like that,”

“I think so too. Do you want me to delay the council meeting? Give you some time to freshen up?”

I shake my head. “No, I’m fine. I don’t have a lot of time, so we shouldn’t waste any,”

“Shall we then?” She says pointing to the doors and together we go meet with the council.

Chapter Text

7

“So, what’d you do?” I repeat my question since I’m still curious.

“Dertiri disappeared. We looked everywhere for him, but we couldn’t find him. We organized ourselves in search parties and looked for a long time before we stopped. I decided to continue by myself, some offered to come with me, but I refused to. I needed some time alone and I took advantage of the opportunity,”

I notice the corridor seems to be getting wider. I can sense something’s off but I can’t quite put my finger on it. It feels like someone or something is watching us…

“I walked and walked, keeping my eyes open for Dertiri. I found myself at the edge of Tartarus. It was horrible. I could hear the wailing of the titans. You’ve heard about the titans correct?”

She asks me, accepting I know close to nothing. “I’ve heard stories. Um, let’s see…” I try to recall my history classes from high school. “The titans were imprisoned by Zeus. Yeah, that’s all I have. I didn’t know the souls of the damned went to the same place the titans were imprisoned though.”

“Yes, all bad things go there. But like I was saying, I found myself there and I also found Eurynomos. He is one of the demons of the Underworld. That monstrosity eats the flesh of the corpses leaving only their bones.”

My face scrunches up in disgust. “Please tell me Dertiri was not – “ I’m physically unable to finish that sentence.

“No, of course not. Eurynomos eats corpses not souls,” She says matter of factly.

“Of course.” I cup my hands together and blow air into them trying to warm them up. I know I was glad before for the cold, but now I’m starting to remember why I didn’t like it. I shove them back into my pockets.

“I kept my distance from the monster just in case and decided it would be wise to return and get away from the river. When I turned to leave, I saw Dertiri standing up against a wall, rocking back and forth, his forehead touching the rock. He was making no attempt to hide, standing there in plain view of Eurynomos. I ran up to him and grabbed him by the elbow, attempting to stir him away but he kept fighting me.”

Antiope stops and starts looking around. She runs her left arm over her right one up and down. She looks at me and then back down at the corridor.

She feels the cold now.

We keep moving forward. “He started shouting nonsense back at me again. I tried to quiet him, but Eurynomos heard us. The demon started coming towards us slowly, its yellow eyes piercing, looking directly at us. I started shouting at Dertiri to move but he wouldn’t. I didn’t know what the demon would do to us or where he would’ve taken us to, so I grabbed him by the arm and started pulling him away.

I felt him take me by the wrist and I turned to look at him and he said: ‘Six days. When someone takes possession of the Mother Boxes, they will function for six days’ Then he removed my hand from his arm and told me to go. He started walking towards Eurynomos and I went to take a step in his direction, but the demon screamed and a winged monster appeared from thin air and took Dertiri. His sacrifice allowed me to escape,”

I shake my head in disbelief. Even in death this Dertiri was trying to help. “Do you know what took him?”

“I believe he was taken by a fury,”

I can tell by the tone of her voice that it truly angered her that she wasn’t able to do more for Dertiri.

“Then we’ll make it back. Make sure his sacrifice wasn’t in vain.” I tell her in an attempt to make her feel better.

She looks at me and nods, understanding what I’m trying to do. I’m about to tell her that I’m really starting to get cold when we’re assaulted by the brightest light. Having being in the Underworld for a while now, our eyes have become accustomed to the dim light, so this sudden change threatens to blind us. Our hands shoot upwards trying to protect our eyes, but it’s not exactly working. I turn to look at Antiope and I take her arm guiding her towards one of the pillars to my right, where we can hide behind while we understand what’s happening.

Once we’re somewhat protected, we rub our eyes and start looking around.

“What the hell is that?!” I ask her trying to make the spot I now see every time I blink disappear.

She leans to her left to try and see what’s there, but she quickly takes cover again. “I don’t know.”

The light starts to slowly fade and we walk out from behind the pillar to see what lies beyond the light. At first I’m confused because I’m looking at something that seems to be upside down, but then we both stop dead in our tracks, because what we see is amazing. The crystal blue water, the white sand, the cliffs covered in green. Right in front of us lays Paradise Island, Themyscira. It’s upside down, but that’s undeniably Themyscira.

We stand there, mesmerized. It’s like we’re looking through a window, with the wrong side up, but a window nonetheless. We’re in the Underworld, so I guess we’re looking up at Themyscira, instead of down.

“It’s been too easy,” I hear Antiope say and I feel the spell I was in break.

“I agree. Did you feel like we were being watched too?” I feel a sense of dread making a hole in my chest.

She nods. “Yes.”

I’m about to tell her that maybe we should just try to cross, that maybe little doggy was taking a nap, but I’m unable to because something ties around our ankles and pulls them backwards making us wipe out and land on our chests.

With a groan of pain, I flip onto my back and see the most terrifying and disgusting thing I’ve ever seen. Antiope described it to me earlier, so I’m able to recognize Cerberus immediately.

Her description of it was extremely accurate. I find myself staring into the eyes of one of the three heads this dog has. The snakes protruding from its back hiss menacingly at us, and I realize that it was snakes that wrapped around our ankles. I turn my head to the left to see Antiope looking directly to the other head.

“What do we do?!” I yell at her having no clue how to escape this thing. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Cerberus is enjoying watching us struggle against the hold of our ankles. It’s just watching us, tongue out, salivating, knowing that our escape is impossible.

Everything that happens next happens in a blink of an eye. Antiope reaches her hand into her boot and pulls out a knife that she passes over to me. Then she sits up and reaches behind her back to pull out another knife and she cuts through the snake around her ankle and I quickly copy her.

Cerberus lets out a bone-shattering growl. We stand up and make a run for it, towards Themyscira, but we are forced to move sideways as his jaws snap right at the place we had just been. We run towards the pillars, as the space between them and the wall is big enough for us to hide, but not big enough for Cerberus’ mouth to fit, or any part of it for that matter.

It tries though, and I start to fear that the pillar might cave. We look around trying to find something that will help us, but if the long walk here taught us anything, is that there’s nothing other than pillars and creepy paintings on the ceiling. It is at this point that I realize, much like in the tarmac, that someone must stay behind in order for the rest to move forward.

“We need a distraction, Antiope,” I don’t need to say more. She understands perfectly well what I’m saying.

“No, we haven’t tried everything yet.”

Cerberus starts swiping at the bottom of the pillar to bring it down. Smart.

“There’s nothing to try! Look around! It’s flat terrain. We both know it has to be me. You have to let them know about the Mother Boxes. We can’t both fail.”

She shakes her head and screams in frustration, knowing I’m right. The information she has must be delivered.

“I will not fail, Captain. That’s my promise to you.” She tells me confidently, looking directly into my eyes.

I feel tears pooling at the bottom of my eyes. I can’t believe I came this close to getting back to Diana. Maybe the time we did spend together was all we were meant to have, and every minute will be cherished until I cease to exist.

“When you see her, tell her I tried. Tell her I love her and that I’m sorry.”

Antiope nods and hands me her knife. “I will. Try everything, Captain, until you can try no more.”

I nod twice. I throw my head back and sniff. “I’ll run behind it, the moment it turns its head towards me, run and don’t look back. Got it?”

“Got it.”

I gather all the courage I can muster and stand up, walking around the pillar. I take my shoe off and throw it hard over Cerberus. The sound of my shoe hitting the floor makes it turn, and with its head turned away from me, I run and skid under it. I come to a stop near its back right leg and I yell to Antiope,

“Now!” I grab one of the knives and stab it with all my strength in the paw. The blade disappears completely inside its flesh and it lets out a gut-wrenching roar.

Antiope runs from behind the pillar, Cerberus too distracted by the unexpected pain. She jumps through the window creating a ripple and just like that, she’s gone.

“We need to exhaust every resource we have. Senator Acantha, inform the scholars and ask them to research the archives for any mention of Steppenwolf, Apokolips or Mother Boxes.” Mother says from her position on top of the stairs of the throne room.

“Yes, my Queen. I shall assist them on the task,”

Mother nods. “Very well. Phillipus, you shall help Diana in her training. There is much she must learn in order to defeat this evil. I trust you are the right person to continue the training my dear sister and beloved General started,”

“It will be my honor, Your Majesty. Your Highness.” She bows her head respectfully.

“The honor is all mine, Phillipus. I trust in you to help me achieve my full potential.” I say to her knowing she’s the woman for the job.

I look at the senators and high-ranking warriors in this room, and I feel that same determination I felt when I first came to the conclusion that Ares was wreaking havoc in Man’s world. The only difference is that this time I lack the innocence I had 100 years ago. I won’t ever let myself be caught off guard like that again. It cost me much that time. I won’t let it happen again.

“I thank you all for your willingness to help my daughter in her mission. Now let us not waste more time. Tomorrow we will meet ag –“

Mother is interrupted by the sudden shaking of the earth. It feels like an earthquake, but there are no earthquakes in Themyscira. I look at Mother and I see the confusion and terror at the unknown movement.

The doors of the throne room burst open and Venelia, followed by the rest of the Queen’s guard come rushing in.

“Your Majesty, something’s happening at the beach. We don’t know what it is.”

I turn to her and decide to follow her lead. She is my Queen after all.

“Let’s go see before making any decisions. Are there any immediate dangers? Attackers?” She asks as she walks down the corridor, me at her side.

“No, Your Majesty. It’s the sand, it’s moving in a swirl.”

“A swirl?” She repeats confused.

“Yes, the sentinels informed us that it started very small, they thought it was a regular swirl. But then it started growing, swallowing sand and just now the earth shook. We don’t know if it is connected.”

I start thinking back, trying to recall any time that something like this has happened, but nothing comes to mind. Themyscira has always been a peaceful place in every sense of the word.

“Was there anyone down by the beach?”

“No, Your Majesty. You and the Princess were the last ones there.”

We exit the throne room and find our horses waiting for us. If it weren’t for the confusing situation we’re in, I would have hugged and kissed my horse. She looks as glorious as she did the last time I saw her. I once again find myself cursing the fact that I’m not wearing my armor. The belts of the saddle will definitely be digging into the skin of my calves. I get up nonetheless and follow my mother with the Queen’s Guard behind us to the beach to inspect this mysterious swirl.

Making our way around the cliff and through the stone archway into the beach, there’s another ‘earthquake’ and the horses spook, but with a calming hand on their necks, they settle and we continue. Once we reach the area of the beach that’s causing trouble, Mother transitions into a gallop and we now can see the unnatural event.

The swirl is aggressive and it’s now big enough that it touches the water and it flows into it. We descend from our horses and start making our way to it.

Menalippe approaches us when we descend from our horses. “It just started turning faster, Your Majesty. I wouldn’t get too close. It’s increasing in size fast. We have never seen anything like this before.”

Mother looks at and around the swirl and shakes her head. “No, we never have.”

I think back to the times I made air currents happen. I did them without thinking about them, maybe if I focus enough...

“Mother, I could try and control the swirl. If it gets too big, it could put us in danger,”

She looks at me and thinks about it. “You told me you have no control over that particular skill. You don’t know what toll it could put on your body. This is not the moment for you to experiment, Diana. We’ll think of something else.”

I feel like arguing, but this is not the moment to question her. So I nod and try to think of what else could be done. Maybe if I direct some thunder into the swirl, it’ll make it stop.

“I could throw thun –“

BOOM

A huge explosion that came from the centre of the swirl throws us all backwards. We land hard on the sand. My ears ring and I can only hear the muffle voices of the Amazons as they try to understand what’s going on. I immediately stand up and check on Mother, who is just as confused as everyone else. After I make sure she’s unhurt, I stand up and start walking towards the place the swirl was. I hear Mother calling out for me, but I ignore her.

I walk across the cloud caused by the explosion and I’m left alone with my ears still ringing. I close my eyes and focus on making the cloud disappear. I feel the breeze I’m generating wipe my hair back and through the ringing in my ears, I hear the muffle sound of someone calling my name.

I stay focused on my task to clear the way for everyone to see, when I hear my name again. This time though, I open my eyes because that voice…

No, it can’t be.

The desperation I feel seems to feed my powers and the cloud fades almost immediately. I stand frozen in place, because the person I’m seeing is dead. She has been for 100 years. It can’t be. It can’t be.

“Diana,” Antiope says with a gasp and she falls to her knees.

I run to her and manage to position myself behind her to stop her head from hitting the sand.

“Antiope?! Antiope! Hey, no, no, no! Open your eyes! Mother!” I turn my head to see her frozen in place, just like I was, but she soon runs towards us and kneels by her head.

“Antiope! By the Gods!” She takes off Antiope’s headband and runs her hands through her blonde hair. “You’re really here. You crazy woman, you escaped. You escaped!” She says with a laugh.

I look at Mother and then back down at Antiope. Escaped? From the Underworld? I have flashbacks to when I was a kid and my tutors would teach me about the three realms the world was divided into. Zeus ruled the sky, Poseidon the ocean and Hades the Underworld. I was told escaping from the Underworld came with great risks and the chances of succeeding were close to none.

I know Antiope, she wouldn’t have defied the Gods for no reason. She’s on a mission.

I laugh and take her hand. “I can’t believe you’re here. I’ve missed you so much.” I start crying again, but this time I welcome the tears.

She is struggling to stay awake, but the smile on her face is as clear as day, “I have missed you dearly, Diana. Sister.” She tries to sit up but groans in pain.

“What is it?” Mother asks concerned.

“My chest, where I was hit. It really hu – “ She is interrupted by a violent cough. I help her sit up, so she doesn’t choke.

I hear the hooves of horses and I turn to see that Menalippe has brought over the cart we use to transport the injured. She leaps from the cart and with the help of Venelia, they bring over the stretcher to take Antiope to the healer.

They are all staring in wonder at the miracle we’re witnessing.

Menalippe kneels next to Antiope and says, “Welcome back, General. We’re going to take you to Epione so she can examine you.”

Antiope nods at Menalippe and Mother and I move her onto the stretcher. When we did, she let out an excruciating scream. That must be the price, I think. Relieving the injury that killed you without it actually killing you again. I look at my hands and there is no blood. I hope this is not permanent.

Mother and I follow Menalippe and Venelia as they place her gently on the back of the cart. I lean over Antiope and lay my hand on her cheek.

“We’ll follow you, okay?”

Her eyes are closed but she nods. We all get on our horses and follow the cart to the infirmary.

I can’t take my eyes away from Antiope’s form on the cart. The woman who taught me all about battle, all about honor is back from the dead.

‘You will find all you need in Themyscira’. Suddenly my father’s words make so much sense.

If only…

Chapter Text

8

Try everything, Captain.

“I don’t plan to do anything else.” I remove the blade from its paw and run towards the pillars having to dive, just barely making it before Cerberus can get me.

Now it’s out for blood.

I lean back against the pillar, clutching the knives against my chest trying to figure out a way to buy myself enough time to run. I hear the hissing of the snakes intensify and I look up to see them wrapping themselves on the pillar. I feel movement on the column and I realize that Cerberus is trying to bring it down.

I move to the next one and a few seconds later with a resounding boom, the pillar crushes onto the floor.

“Come on, think.” Three heads, six eyes and that’s without counting the dozens of snakes covering all of its body. If I could somehow get on top of it and try to blind it, but it’s so damn tall! And that’s assuming I somehow avoid all the snakes on its back. I can’t walk on its blindside because it has three heads, which means it has no blindside!

I scream in frustration because other than making a wild run towards the window that I know I’m not going to get to, I don’t think there’s anything else I can do. I don’t know what awaits me once Cerberus eventually catches me, but I have to try everything.

I close my eyes and try to channel all the energy I have left into my legs, hoping that will be enough to reach the window.

“Okay, okay.” I adjust the grip on the knives and look around the pillar to try and see where exactly the beast is. It’s standing diagonally from the pillar I’m hiding behind, waiting for me to come out. “Here’s to nothing,”

I go to take a step forward when I hear the warrior scream from several women. I see a rope tie around its left head, then another one on its right and another one around its middle head. I follow the rope across Cerberus’ back to see several Amazons trying to restrain it.

Then in a flurry of movement, I see Hebe run towards one of the pillars with a sword in hand and push herself off of it towards Cerberus’ back.

Huh, being able to do that would’ve made everything easier.

She’s not going for its back though, she’s going for the tail. She cuts off the snake’s head and it falls to the ground. The head of the snake is the size of my foot.

I stand in shock as the Amazons continue to tie rope around its legs and body, using the pillars to put their feet on and pulling every time Cerberus tries to fight the restraints.

“General! Captain!” Aella yells, looking around for us.

I step from behind the pillar still holding the knives against my chest and feeling the most confused and happy I think I’ve been during all my time here.

“How did… When di – What?” I shake my head and I look up to Cerberus looking at me with an angry desire to tear me apart.

“Where’s the General?” Aella asks not even acknowledging the beast.

“She crossed. She did it. How are you here?”

She smiles at me and looks at the other Amazons. “After you and the General crossed we decided to follow you just in case you needed our help. We weren’t sure if we were in the right path because we never saw you. We were considering walking back but we heard the roar of the monstrosity.” She says giving Cerberus a disgusted look.

It starts jerking its head and trying to jump and loosen the hold of the ropes.

“Aella, it won’t hold for much longer.” Penthesilea tells her pulling down harder on the rope tied around Cereberus’ middle head.

She nods and looks at me. “It’s time for you to go, Captain.”

I look at all the Amazons, all focused on their task but looking at me with an encouraging smile.

“What about you?” I ask concerned that they won’t be able to escape Cerberus once I cross. “Come with me. That way we’ll all be saved!”

Aella shakes her head. “No, Captain. We all talked it over. Our purpose on Earth was fulfilled and now, our purpose in the Underworld has as well. There’s nothing left for us in the land of the living.”

She looks at the window, Themyscira on the other side and unshed tears make her eyes shine.

“We are grateful to the Gods for making the island our home, but now it is time for us to move on. Go, Captain. Make sure you live a fulfilling life. Good luck.”

She stretches out her hand and I take hold of her forearm and she does the same with mine.

“Thank you for everything. Thank you all for everything. Good luck to you too.” I look at them one last time before I walk towards my exit point. I take those steps towards the window and I feel like I’m floating. I stand in front of it for a few seconds and then jump through it.

“The pain she’s in is physical, but there are no wounds for me to treat, Your Majesty. I will do research with the other healers to see if we find something on the effects leaving the Underworld has on one’s body, but right now other than giving her something to allow her to rest, there’s nothing I can do.” Epione says regretfully.

Mother looks at Antiope. She’s squirming under the sheets, unable to quiet whatever plagues her mind and body. “I understand. Thank you, Epione.”

She leaves to bring whatever it is that will allow Antiope to rest peacefully while they search for ways to ease her pain.

“How is this possible, Mother? No one has escaped the Underworld in millennia.” I sit on a chair next to Antiope’s bed and take her hand. Her squirming lessens.

Mother stands at the foot of the bed, looking at Antiope. “I don’t know. That is a question for her to answer. But what I do know is that Antiope is not one to do things without a motive. There must be something, a reason she fought to come back,”

I nod. “Yes, that’s what I was thinking too. I think she’s on a mission. To do what? I can’t even begin to imagine,”

Antiope’s squirming intensifies and she starts mumbling under her breath. I stand up and put a hand on her shoulder and try whispering calming affirmations in her ear, but it does not work. She wakes up with a start and tries to sit up, only for her to feel the pain again and collapse back on the bed. She looks disoriented and Mother touches both of her feet. Antiope locks eyes with her.

“You are home, sister. You are safe. Epione should be back any minute now with medicine that will allow you to get some rest.”

It takes her a minute to process what Mother is saying but she exhales and seems to relax. Her breathing is a bit shallow, the pain on her chest preventing her from taking a proper breath of air.

“Diana, is he here?” Antiope asks me.

I look up at Mother confused. She shakes her head. “Who, Antiope?”

Is she referring to Bruce? Does she know he’s waiting for me outside of the cloak?

My question seems to answer hers and she turns her head and starts shaking it. “He didn’t make it then.” She moves slightly up and groans at the pain the small movement causes her.

“I don’t understand, Antiope. Who didn’t make it?”

She looks at me with sadness in her eyes and takes my hand. “He was supposed to come with me. That was the plan. He wanted more time with you,”

My eyes widen and I shake my head. Those words. Only one person has said those words to me. I tighten my hold on Antiope’s hand and a desperate tone takes hold of my voice.

“Who said that to you?! Antiope, please,”

She swallows and her next words are punch in the stomach, “Steve.”

I feel like everything starts crumbling around me. He was trying to find his way back to me? He was coming and the fact that he’s not here... It feels like he just died all over again.

“He gave me a message for you.” Antiope says bringing me back from my world of pain.

“What? What did he say?”, I ask through my tears and I focus on every word that’s about to come out of her mouth because they are, in this moment, the only thing that might stop me from completely falling apart.

“He wanted me to tell you that he tried, that he loved you and that he was sorry,”

I can’t contain the cry that escapes and feeling like I need to be out in the open right now becomes overwhelming. I stand up, with my hand covering my mouth and walk towards the door.

“Diana,” Mother reaches out for me but I shake her hold on me and run. I run through the streets of Themyscira and inevitably, I draw attention. It’s only early in the evening and so much has happened since I arrived this morning. I wonder what else is in store for me in the next three days.

Not being able to take everyone’s eyes on me, I jump high over the streets and land on top of the tower, where all the precious weapons are stored. I look around and decide to go to the cliff I stood on when Steve’s plane broke through the cloak. I jump once again and when I land close to the edge, I scream with the pain of knowing that he tried to get back to me and now, he has to suffer a fate worse than death. I fall on my knees, shaking so bad that I have to wrap my arms around my middle feeling that if I don’t, I’ll shatter into a million pieces.

“Oh, Steve. What did you do? What did you do?”

This time I get to feel the full force of grief. Back in the tarmac the initial pain of grief was converted into anger. That anger helped me end Ares’ wrath upon Man’s world, but now with immediate danger not present, I am left to feel every single tendril of pain grief has to offer.

I’m thankful no one comes looking for me. I need time alone to come to terms with the fact that now Steve is truly lost to me forever. And the pain is made worse with the realization that I could’ve gotten him back in the first place. I don’t even get the comfort of hoping he’ll have a peaceful afterlife.

I sit on the edge of the cliff, legs dangling, hands tucked under my thighs. I watch as the sun sets and the orange lights bathes the whole island, the beauty of it calming my pain a little. The tears are still streaming silently down my cheeks and I wonder how many tears can one cry before they run out. I’ve been crying for 100 years and they don’t seem to come close to running out.

I consider standing up and walk to the confines of my chambers, but I seem to be unable to move, my whole body weighing me down. I close my eyes as the orange light reaches my face and the warm rays wash over me.

I hear the soft footsteps of someone walking in my direction, and I know without having to turn around or opening my eyes that my mother has decided that I’ve been alone enough time. She sits down on my right and says nothing, allowing me to guide her into comforting me. I keep my eyes closed, but bring my right hand from under me and hold it palm up for her to take. She takes it and I feel her bring it to her lips and kiss it.

She says nothing and I say nothing because there simply isn’t anything to say. Eventually it turns dark and Mother softly nudges me with her shoulder.

“We should go back.”

I nod and stand up. We start making our way back and I keep my head down almost physically unable to lift it. I feel Mother rub my back comfortingly. I’m about to ask her how one lives with the pain of knowing that someone you love will suffer the worst of punishments because they tried to get back to you, when much like earlier, the earth shakes.

We stop and I snap my head back up and stare at Mother. I see on her face the same expression I expect she sees on mine: confusion. We turn towards the ocean and the earth shakes again. A swirl appears again, but this time is not in the sand, it’s in the sky. In that moment the position of the swirl makes sense. Antiope came through on the same spot she died in and now, up in the sky, in the same place Steve’s plane crossed the cloak, the swirl grows bigger and bigger.

My eyes widen at the realization. “Could it be…?”

BOOM

An explosion and a burst of light come from the swirl and then I see. Something, someone falling from the sky. Suddenly with newfound energy I start running and jump from the cliff towards the falling body.

Please, please let it be him.

It feels like I’m moving in slow motion as I come closer and closer to the falling body. It’s hard to identify any particular feature that might confirm who this is because of the darkness. But then the body turns towards the moon, the light hitting his face and my heart almost stops.

I dive so now I’m under him and I grab him and turn so that I fall back first into the ocean. We hit the water and I wrap my arm around his chest and kick the water to bring us up to the surface. I start swimming towards the shore and I see in the distance the moving balls of light.

Mother must’ve called her guard and they’re coming with torches to illuminate the beach.

My feet touch sand and with the next wave I push his body onto solid ground. I lean over him, but I can’t really see his face clearly since it’s so dark. Soon enough, the Queen’s Guard comes close enough for the light of their torches to illuminate his face.

I gasp and my hand goes immediately to check his pulse. I feel the pulsing blood push on my fingers and I can’t help but smile.

“Steve. Steve, please open your eyes. Steve!” I shake him and his eyes snap open. He coughs and looks around before his eyes lock with mine.

He stares at me for a few seconds and says, “Wow,”

I laugh and cry. I touch his face, because he’s here and I need to make sure he’s real. “Steve! You came back! Why would you risk yourself like that? What were you thinking?!”

He sits up and places his hand at the place where my neck and shoulder connect and with his thumb, rubs my cheek. “It wasn’t enough. I just – I need you. I love you.”

“I love you.” Dammit, again with the tears!

He looks surprised at me. “You do?”

I laugh at his confusion. If only he knew. “Yes, I do.”

He nods and his smile grows wider. “Good, ‘cause it would’ve sucked if I made the trip all the wa – “ He gasps and looks down at his arms and legs, then he starts violently patting his body. He starts screaming in pain. I lean back, eyes wide, caught of guard.

“Steve!”

“Diana, it’s happening to him too. What happened to Antiope. Bring the cart! Now!”

I look back down at him. Mother’s right. He’s relieving what killed him. The burning.

Oh no. What do I do?

Steve is screaming in agony looking for the source of heat, but he won’t find it. I try holding him but he can’t comprehend what’s happening and whatever I say it probably won’t reach him. I do the only thing that comes to mind. I move behind him and wrap my arm around his neck, putting him in a chokehold.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I promise you we’ll find something to ease your pain. I have to do this.” I start tightening my grip around his neck.

He starts clawing at my arm, not understanding what’s happening. I keep repeating that everything is going to be okay until I feel him become limp on my arms. I release my hold on him and lay his head on my shoulder. I kiss him on the temple and hug him against my chest.

“We should move him now, before he wakes up again.” Artemis says to me.

I nod, but I can’t bring myself to let go of him.

“Diana. He’s here and he’s not going anywhere. We have to move him before he wakes up and finds himself in excruciating pain again.” Mother tells me kneeling down next to me.

“Yeah.” I look up at Artemis and Phillipus and they lift Steve gently off my arms and onto the stretcher. I quickly stand up and follow them getting on the cart next to him, refusing to be separated from him any longer.

100 years is enough time apart.

Chapter Text

9

I spent all night next to him. Epione gave Steve the same medicine she gave Antiope and they both had a restful night’s sleep. After checking Steve, Epione arrived at the same diagnosis she gave Antiope. No physical injuries to treat, just an incredible amount of pain.

Now as I sit next to him, my eyes going over every single line on his face, I hope that he remains asleep for as long as possible. His pain will be much worse than Antiope’s, as it’s his whole body that’s in pain and not just his chest.

Mother told me to go to my chambers and rest, but I said no. What if he woke up in the middle of the night with no clue of what’s going on? No, I would rather stay here.

“Diana,”

I turn to the bed opposite Steve’s and see Antiope is awake. I start preparing myself for when Steve wakes up, since it shouldn’t be long now. I stand up and walk towards her bed, bringing the chair closer and sitting down.

“Hey. How are you feeling?”

She shakes her head. “No change, I’m afraid. But I don’t feel as exhausted.”

I nod. “You should try to sleep some more. Everyone is working very hard to find a solution to this.”

She looks around me and nods her head towards Steve. “I see he made it back,”

I look over my shoulder and smile. “Yeah, he made it back. I don’t know how yet. Don’t take this the wrong way, I’m glad you’re here. But why are you back? Mother and I both agree that there must be a reason,”

She nods. “I met a man, his name was Dertiri. He told me someone named Steppenwolf was coming to take Earth hostage with an army of Parademons in search of Mother Boxes.”

My eyes widen. “I was warned by Zeus about this Steppenwolf and how he must not take possession of any of the Mother Boxes. He told me to come back to Themyscira.”

She smiles at the mention of Zeus. “I knew the Gods had a plan for me. The reason I came back is because Dertiri told me that the Mother Boxes have a fault in their design. They will only perform their task for six days. That’s it, no more, no less. Six days.”

I absorb the information. This is vital and will grant us a huge advantage. “He still could cause a lot of damage in six days. We will fight him and stop him from laying a hand on any of the Mother Boxes. Thank you, Antiope.”

She looks at me and inspects my face. “You have changed much, Diana. There is this hardness in your eyes that wasn’t there before.”

“I’ve experienced much in Man’s world, Antiope. I’m afraid that my innocence had to be shed in order to be able to survive there. I’ve grown much during your absence.”

She nods. “Yes, I’m afraid that happens when you go into battle. How long was I gone?”

“100 mortal years,”

She accepts this information well. “Not nearly as long as I expected then,”

“Yes, I don’t know how he’ll take it though. 100 years is a long time for a man,” I say looking over my shoulder at Steve.

“I know. That’s why I didn’t mention anything to him.”

Antiope lets out a groan. I turn back to look at her. “Let me go look for Epione so she can give you some more medicine,”

She nods and I leave the room to look for her.

I try to relax but my mind to busy trying to come to terms with everything that’s happened since I arrived to the island. I don’t know how Steve will react when I tell him he’s been gone for a century. I don’t know what will happen once we do leave the island.

What if they can’t find a way to ease their pain? What will I do then?

I shake my head and rub my eyes. No, don’t do that. They will find a way.

I hear footsteps and I turn towards the threshold and see Epione come in with a tray full of vials.

“Did you find a way to stop their pain?” I ask her hopeful.

She shakes her head. “No, Diana. But we’re not giving up yet, there’s much to research still,”

I nod slowly. “What is that?”

She lays the tray on the table. “We didn’t find a cure, but we found a way to numb their pain. So far what we’ve given them puts them to sleep, this won’t. That way they can stay awake.”

“That’s great! How fast will it work?”

Epione starts mixing the contents of the vials in a mortar. ”It should work immediately, but it won’t wake them up. The effects of last night’s medicine have to fade first.”

I nod and look at Steve. This may not be the cure, but it’s a step in the right direction. I hear the grinding of the pestle on the mortar and the scraping as Epione pours it into new vials. I see her apply a paste under Antiope’s chin, then she approaches Steve and does the same. It smells like eucalyptus.

“Antiope should be waking up first since she was given the medicine before he was. I’ll send word to the Queen.”

“Thank you, Epione.”

She leaves the room and I decide to go take a bath and change my clothes since it’s going to be a little while before they wake up. I lean over Steve and give him a lingering kiss on the forehead, already anxious for him to wake up since I now know he won’t be in pain. I walk over to Antiope and do the same.

I walk the short distance from the infirmary to the palace and I start thinking about all the obstacles that are coming my way. When Steve wakes up, he’ll have questions and lots of them. Everything he knows will be turned upside down, so even if I look for the best way to answer, the impact of what I tell him will remain the same. He is going to find himself in the same position I was in when I first came into Man’s world, the only difference is that other than me, he will be completely alone with everyone he knew now dead.

I climb the stairs and I find three servants leaving my chambers with empty basins.

“Good morning, Your Highness. The Queen asked us to prepare a bath for you. All you need has been placed for you already,” A sweet looking girl tells me with a smile.

“Thank you,”

All three bow their heads respectfully and wait for me to move past them and into my chambers before descending down the stairs. I walk in and stop to look around. Everything is exactly where I left it. The leather braid I was making to tie to my saddle is still seating on top of my nightstand; my diary is still on my desk, the book I was reading next to it.

I walk deeper into the room and run my hands over the soft, silk sheets covering my seashell shaped bed. I sit down on the bed and I see the book Mother used to read to me as a child resting on top of the centre table. I stand up, pick it up and start flipping through it.

Zeus created beings over which the Gods would rule. Beings born in his image – fair and good, strong and passionate. He called his creation ‘man’. And mankind was good.

I keep flipping through the pages and stop at the image of the Amazons coming out of the sea.

Greek warriors, men and women looked on as Hippolyta, and Antiope, Eliana and Artemis, Phillipus, and all other Amazons rose out of the sea, full-grown. The Greeks were awestruck by the majesty of Hippolyta and all her perfect, strong, loving subjects. The bringers of not war, but of harmony.

I close the book with a sigh and put it back down. If it had only stayed like that, peaceful, this whole mess could’ve been avoided. I look across the room to see the steam coming off of the bath and next to it, my armor. I smile as I walk up to it and touch the cold metal. The same gold armor I wore during my life here to represent my royal status. At first I didn’t like how I would stand out amid a sea of black, brown or red armors, but I came to embrace my role and trained hard to earn the honor of being called an Amazon by an Amazon. Of course my training was never completed, but I look forward to picking up where I left off.

I discard my clothes and step into the hot bath and allow myself to relax. I close my eyes and try to clear my mind as much as possible. I must approach what’s to come with a leveled head. And not just with Steve, but with Steppenwolf. I have a feeling this fight will require a combined effort from mankind, the league and the Amazons. Men will be difficult to convince, they always think they can win every fight, their ego their biggest weakness.

And where will Steve fit into all of these? He was never one to stay put and if I ask him to, he won’t listen to me. But this fight – this one is different. I need to make sure he’s safe. I can’t lose him again.

I stay in the bath until the water is cold and since no one comes looking for me, I assume Steve and Antiope must not have woken up yet. I stand up and reach over for the long piece of wool that has been made into a cloth, not quite a towel, but gets the job done. I step off and dry myself before putting on my golden armor. I stand in front of the mirror and stare back at the reflection of the woman I see. If it weren’t for all the things I know hides behind my eyes, I could’ve fooled myself into thinking I was staring at the person I was before I left.

Antiope is right. There is a hardness in my eyes that wasn’t there before. It’s in the slight frown I seem to permanently have. It’s in the way I approach everything in distrust until proven differently. It’s in the way I measure how deserving people are of my help before sprinting into action.

“Now you look like my Diana,”

I turn to see Mother looking at me from the threshold of my chambers. She smiles at me and moves to stand behind me looking at my reflection in the mirror. I feel her take the cloth out of my hand and she runs it through my hair, trying to dry it as much as she can.

I don’t say anything back.

“I know you’re not the same person who left this island. But you haven’t changed as much as you think you have,” She leans to the left and grabs the comb from my vanity and starts brushing my hair, focused on her task. “You still fight for what you believe is right, even when everyone tells you not to. You care deeply and that only drives you to fight harder. You’re loyal and you’re compassionate. That’s who my daughter is.”

I feel her section my hair in three and start braiding it. She looks up momentarily at me, “In case you were wondering,”

I smile but it fades quickly. “Sometimes it’s hard to remember who I am,”

Under, over and under, adding pieces of hair as she makes her way down, that’s what I feel as she braids my hair. “I understand why that might happen. Especially when you go into battle. But the thing I learnt was that you don’t have to put aside who you really are and replace it with the warrior in you. It’s the other way around.”

I frown at that. “What do you mean?”

“What I mean is that it’s the warrior in you who you have to put aside. You don’t need the warrior when you’re at home and you don’t need the warrior when you’re with family. Don’t ever leave out who you are when you go into battle because that’s what makes you different from the evil you’re fighting. Doing that is very dangerous, Diana. I wouldn’t want to see you make a mistake because you couldn’t remember who you were during those split second decisions you have to make in the battlefield.”

I’m taken back to the tarmac, when I was holding the tank above my head looking down at Dr Poison with Ares tempting me to kill her, about to crash her. If it hadn’t been for what Steve told me, I would have killed her.

It’s not about what you deserve. It’s about what you believe.

“You’re right, Mother. It’s just… hard.” I laugh sardonically since it’s the only word that comes to mind.

She ties my braid with a leather cord and throws the end over my shoulder. “If it were easy, then we would have no wars.”

I turn around and hug her. “I know. I love you, Mother”

“I love you more.”

This woman is full of wisdom. I wish there was someway I could communicate with her once I go back to Paris. Or maybe she could come visit…

“They’re awake. I came to tell you that, but they were still tired when I left. I was hoping they would be more awake by the time I came looking for you,”

I pull back. “Mother! You should have started with that! Let’s go!” I take her hand and pull her towards the door.

“My body feels funny,” I say looking at my hands and moving my fingers.

“It’s the effect of the paste under your chin, Captain. It has a numbing agent.”

“Oh”

I woke up about twenty minutes ago to find myself in a very comfortable bed. At first I thought I was still in the Underworld since the first thing I saw was the rock above me. But then I heard Antiope calling my name and I sat up slightly to see her across from me in an identical bed.

She explained to me where we were but my mind was still heavy with sleep. I think I heard the voice of Queen Hippolyta, but I’m not sure.

“You’re awake,”

I turn my head sharply to the left to see Diana standing at the entrance looking exactly the same as the day I met her.

“Yeah, I’m awake,” I say a bit dazed having forgotten what that smile made me feel.

She walks over and sits on the chair next to my bed. “Hey,”

“Hey, yourself.” I stare in fascination at every single part of her face, wanting to commit to memory every single detail. “So…”

She lets out a laugh, “So…”

The look in her eyes is very similar to the one she had in the hotel in Veld. I’m sure I have the same look.

Oh how I’ve missed her. Her eyes, her smile, her li-

“So! This seems to be a good time for you two to explain to us how is it that you escaped,” Queen Hippolyta breaks the spell bringing Diana and I back to reality.

Diana turns and looks at her Mother, knowing exactly what she’s doing.

“Yes, Mother. I guess this is as good a time as any.” Diana leans back on the chair and intertwines her hand with mine and she gives me a sideways look. Our small exchange in the streets of London plays in the back of my mind.

Why are they holding hands?

Probably because they’re together.

“Well sister, it all started when the Captain interrupted my escape by landing on me… -”

As Antiope and I tell the Queen and Diana our adventures in the Underworld, it dawns on me how incredibly lucky I have been. When I was running on that tarmac chasing the airplane filled with poisonous gas, leaving Diana behind and hearing her call my name, I thought that it wasn’t meant to be. I thought that the time we had was the last piece in the puzzle for me to fulfill my destiny, the one thing that would push me, motivate me to do what I was put on this Earth to do.

Now as I lie in this bed, with my body numb but the feel of her hand in mine as real as ever, I really feel like the luckiest man alive.

Alive. I’m alive.

“…and that’s how I managed to get past Cerberus. It was all them.”

“We will have a ceremony in their honor. What they did was worthy of all the praise and respect one can give. They will be remembered as the heroes they were,” Queen Hippolyta says with pride.

Antiope sits up a bit. “I agree. It is the least we can do.”

There is a moment of silence, when I remember the current state Antiope and I are in. “Um, can somebody explain to me why we felt like we were about to die all over again?”

The soft smile that everyone had on their faces drops and Queen Hippolyta and Diana share a look.

“We don’t know yet, Steve. We believe you are both relieving the pain from the injuries that killed you. Physically, there’s nothing wrong with either of you, so there’s nothing our healers can treat. But they are working really hard to find what exactly is happening with you.”

I feel Diana tighten her hold on my hand. I guess it couldn’t have possibly been that easy. Not that it was actually easy to escape, but all things considered.

“If we could figure out a way to escape from the Underworld, we’ll figure out a way to beat this. We’ll just have to. Isn’t that right, General?”

“That is right, Captain.” Antiope says determined.

I have to remain positive. I decided to comeback, there were risks when facing the unknown and I accepted them. This is one of the many consequences. I’ll face it and beat it, just like every other obstacle in my life. I just hope I remain on this Earth for a little while longer, just enough to feel like Diana and I got enough. Even though I know I will never get enough of her.

As the infirmary seems to be somewhat underground, we hear the echo of somebody's footsteps approaching before we see them. We all turn our heads in the direction of the entrance to see Epione come in with another woman.

“Sorry to interrupt, Your Majesty. We believe we have found what ails both the General and the Captain,”

All of our eyes widen, but what we notice is that neither Epione or the woman who accompanies her seem to be excited or proud of their discovery.

“What is it, Epione?” Diana asks with certain trepidation.

“I’ll let Ersa explain, Diana, since she was the one who found this particular information,”

Ersa, who is not as built as the rest of the Amazons I’ve met, but still incredibly fit, takes a step forward and pulls from behind her dress a small book. “It occurred to me to look for information about the history of the Underworld as opposed to medicine. I came across this small book that contains conversations the Gods supposedly had during the time of the division of Earth,”

Thanks to Penthesilea’s explanation back in the Underworld, I know what they mean when they talk about ‘the division of Earth’.

Ersa continues, “After the draw, Hades was not completely content with what he had gotten. He argued that his role was that of gatekeeper, whereas Zeus and Poseidon’s role were much more active. As Hades was known for his outbursts, Zeus and Poseidon were afraid he would have one and cause severe damage, so they decided to grant him power over how the Underworld was run.”

Well, that was a bad call ‘caused it sucked. And I fought in a war that lasted four years. Or at least I hope it didn’t last long after I was gone. I have to ask Diana what happened after I died.

“One of the things Hades did was built a failsafe of sorts. He took every possible measure to avoid souls escaping his realm, but in case they did, they would be condemned to eternal pain. Hades took pleasure in knowing that even if souls managed to escape, they would not be able to continue living since they would have to relive the pain of the injury that killed them.”

Queen Hippolyta shakes her head. “I have never heard of this! I think something like that would not have escaped all of us.”

“There is a reason for that, Your Majesty. When Zeus and Poseidon heard of this failsafe, they confronted Hades. They argued that if the soul escaped, then they should be able to return to the land of the living unscathed, as a prize for succeeding in the almost impossible. Hades told them that they should be more concerned with who escaped, for if it was an evil person that would not be good for mankind. They soon realized that they needed to comprise. Poseidon suggested that any soul who escaped would feel that unbearable pain, but it would only be permanent if they had committed evil deeds during their lives, otherwise the pain would only be temporary. Hades agreed under the condition that this agreement would not be spoken of, so that he could enjoy when the unexpected pain was felt by those who escaped.”

My blood boils with the knowledge that Hades is laughing right now at what Antiope and I are going through.

Diana stands up from the chair she was sitting on and walks a little closer to Ersa. “Wait, then how does this book exist? How do we know that the information it contains is true?”

I’m glad she’s asking the important question because right now, I’m unable to.

Epione answers, “We don’t. That’s why I said we believed we had found what ails them. There is no way to confirm that what it says is true.”

I think back to the beach, when I felt the pain of the fire that killed me. It was physically unbearable, but psychologically, it killed me all over again. Feeling the slow burn and how it increased in intensity, my nerves being fried and yet, when I looked at myself, there was nothing.

“Correct me if I’m wrong in my assumption, Ersa, but what you are saying is that the pain we are both in right now will stop?” Antiope asks.

“Yes, General. But upon further study of the text, I have come to the conclusion that Hades wants you to feel that pain, therefore any kind of medicine we give you will only delay the inevitable. You must feel that pain until it fades. No medicine. No numbing.”

“Are you certain, Ersa?” Queen Hippolyta asks.

She nods, “Should the text be a true transcript of the conversation the Gods had, then yes, Your Majesty, I am sure. Pain must be felt in order be rid of it.”

There’s no way around it then. If this is the price I have to pay to stay here, next to Diana, then so be it.

“Do you have any idea how long we’ll be in pain?” I ask for the first time since they came in here.

“No, Captain. My best guess would be days, no more than a week. After all, the point of it all was to punish you for escaping but in the end, allow you to live.”

I nod accepting what she’s telling me. “Better get to it then. No point in wasting time. I personally would want to not continue to be medicated.”

Diana sits back down and tries to give me an encouraging smile, but the fear in her eyes gives her away. “I’ll be next to you every second of it.”

“That’s all I need.”

Chapter Text

10

“It would be a lot easier if you let me carry you, Steve,” I tell him while helping him climb the stairs to my chambers, his arm thrown over my shoulders and mine around his middle.

He shakes his head and out of breath says, “No, I still have some dignity left. I can climb stairs.”

I sigh, “Men and their pride. This is the last flight, come on.”

We climb the stairs at a painfully slow pace. After Epione and Ersa explained to us what was happening to Steve and Antiope, Mother proposed to move them to a more comfortable space. Antiope decided to go to her chambers and I suggested Steve went to mine. I almost laughed out loud at how red Steve got when I told him he could go to my chambers in front of my mother and aunt.

Of course Mother and Antiope know perfectly well that I want to have some alone time with him, since we haven’t really gotten the time to talk since he arrived here, but Steve being a product of his time thought they would think something completely different.

Epione said the effects of the paste would fade in about 10 hours, which should be plenty of time to tell him everything.

Or maybe not.

“Last one, my chambers are right here to the right.”

We cross the threshold and I hear him whistle. “Wow. I’m pretty sure this was the size of my apartment in D.C”

I help him sit on my bed and I sit next to him. “You should see my mother’s. How do you feel?”

“Out of breath and tingly.” He exhales loudly. “So…”

I try to contain my smile but it feels like it might split my face in two. “So…”

Argh, to hell with it. I’ve waited long enough.

I lean forward and capture his lips with mine. I feel his surprise but he soon responds with as much enthusiasm as I do.

Oh, there it is again.

I feel something stir inside of me, that thing I can’t quite describe. A sensation that starts at the pit of my stomach and spreads all the way to my toes and fingers. I felt it only once before that night in Veld.

There has not been another man. I had lived my life without one and when I met Steve, I knew he would be the only man I would ever want. But it is now, with his hand resting on my face and the feel of his lips on mine that I realize how much I was craving to feel loved.

We pull apart and I rest my forehead against his. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.”

“I missed you too. So much so that I escaped the Underworld.”

I laugh and kiss him again. “Steve, we need to talk about some things. All that’s happened since you left. I’m sure you have questions.”

He nods. “Yeah, I have a lot of them actually. But first, I remember what you were wearing when you pulled me out of the water. I’ve never seen anyone wear that before. You were showing a lot of skin.”

I smile and stand up to grab my shorts and t-shirt. “These are shorts, they’re made out of a material called jeans, and this is just a regular cotton white t-shirt.”

He touches my clothes and looks curiously at them shaking his head. “What year is it?”

I hesitate. “You’ve been gone a long time, Steve.”

I see the fear in his eyes, but I also see the determination to not let my answer throw him. “Diana, please. Just tell me. I can take it.”

“It’s 2018. You’ve been gone 100 years.”

His eyes widen and he looks back down at my clothes. “Oh.”

I sit back down next to him. I start filling out the holes in his knowledge of how things work in the Underworld, just so he can see why things are the way they are. I tell him that time passes at a constantly changing pace as a way to stop the souls from noticing the passage of time too much. The Judges of the Underworld take a long time in deciding where each soul should go, so in order to avoid chaos, they manipulated how time works.

He doesn’t say anything. The only thing that tells me he’s listening to me is the nodding of his head.

“What happened after I died? What happened to you?”

I close my eyes at that. His whole world has been tilted upside down and he wants to know what happened to me.

I’m transported back to the worst night of my life. “Ares had overpowered me. He had me wrapped in iron sheets and I could barely move. I was on the floor, he was looking down at me telling me to give up. I saw the plane, the one you were in, flying above and I remember calling your name over and over, trying to pull strength from you. Reminding myself that you and everyone else were counting on me to defeat Ares. But then… then the plane blew up.”

I turn to look at him, knowing that he’s now here. That the pain I feel when I tell him what’s next is not something that I will have to feel with such intensity ever again. The pain of that night will never leave me, but I can now put that behind me and move forward.

“I have never experienced such grief and rage. It unleashed something in me, this raw power, and I killed everyone that was shooting at me without a second thought.”

I feel Steve take my hand, and I tighten my hold on him just to anchor myself enough to not let the pain of that night knock me down all over again.

“I remember the amusement in Ares’ face when he saw me unleash my power on them, but then he said something that snapped me from the spell I was in. He said that men were weak, just like you. That almost made me crazy. You had just sacrificed yourself to save millions. That made you strong, not weak. So I channeled all my rage towards him. But he still had one more card under his sleeve.

He rolled over a car and Maru came rolling out from it. When I saw her, my first instinct was to crash her because it was her. She was ultimately the reason why you were dead. I picked up a tank and looked at her directly in the eyes and I saw something I wasn’t expecting to see - fear. I closed my eyes and remembered your last words to me, and it was in that moment that I didn’t see her as a monster anymore. I saw her as what she was. Human. So I let her live. When I realized that yes, humans are flawed but if you give them a chance, they will surprise you in the most amazing ways.

Ares unleashed all he had against me and instead of fueling my power with rage, I decided to fuel it with love. I killed him and his influence on men was lifted. The war was over officially two days later when the armistice was signed on November 11^th, 1918.”

Steve lets himself fall backwards onto my bed and I stay sat waiting for him to say something. His eyes move left and right while he processes the, really, little information I have given him so far.

“What happened to Sammy, Charlie and Chief?”

“They all survived, barely, but they did. They all lived happy lives and died of old age surrounded by loved ones. Etta too.”

I see his eyes shine and he swallows hard. “Good. That’s good. Were there any more wars?”

My hearts sinks a little at having to tell him that the war that followed was even worse than the one he fought in. The faces of all those people still haunt me. “Yes, the Second World War from 1939 to 1945. I’m afraid it was even worse than the one before.”

He looks at me with a terrified look on his face. “How could it possibly have been worse? How many people died?”

I feel my face contort with the pain of the memories of those seven years. “They were never really able to get a concrete number. But it was estimated anywhere between 60 and 80 million people.”

The horrified look on his face portrays all his emotions rolled into one. I see the disappointment, the disgust, the pain and anger of knowing that men will never remember their past transgressions.

“How is that even possible? 80 million people…”

“I can go into the details of it, but not now. It’s long and painful and you don’t need to know everything right this instant. What I will say is that it was the biggest genocide in human history and until now, there hasn’t been a third world war, but I’m afraid the possibilities of one are getting bigger and bigger everyday.”

He rubs his face and looks at me pleadingly. “Can you just tell me something good? Anything?”

I smile softly at him. That I’ll be glad to give him. “Women got that vote, and Etta and I were there through it all. We still have to fight in several fronts. Women are not yet seen as equal to men in many regards, even after 100 years. But we’re getting there. We work, we drive, we do construction work.”

He smiles. “Etta must’ve been so happy. She was so excited about that.”

I smile at the memory of Etta jumping up and down and crying from the utter happiness that something so many women had fought for had paid off. “She was. She couldn’t stop talking about it. Not that she was ever quiet, but still.”

We laugh at the memory of the very talkative Etta.

“What else happened? How about technology? I can only imagine the progress made in a century.”

I lie down next to him and sigh. “Oh my God. Actually I don’t think you could even imagine what people have managed to create. Airplanes that fit over 300 people; portable telephones called cellphones; the ability to talk to a person face to face even when they are in different parts of the world; microwaves; laptops; cronuts; nutella; doritos and the latest trend, fidget spinners.”

I look at him and laugh at the confusion on his face. I have a feeling I’ll be seeing that expression a lot.

“You just said a lot of things I don’t understand. I have a lot to learn, huh?”

“You have no idea. I wish I could show you my cellphone, but I forgot it on the ya- Oh my God, Bruce! I can’t believe I forgot about him!” I sit up abruptly. I really can’t believe I forgot about him! I have to let Mother know he’s coming tomorrow, other wise they’re going to kill him once he crosses over.

“Bruce? Who’s Bruce? Is he your…”

“Friend. He’s a friend. I came here with him, but I asked him to wait outside of the cloak and to come get me after four days, which is tomorrow. I wasn’t exactly expecting for you or Antiope to come back, so now that schedule is going to have to be moved.”

He struggles a little to sit up, but he manages. “How much of a friend?”

He tries to ask nonchalantly, but his body language betrays him. “Steve, are you jealous?”

I try to contain the smile, but I can’t. I wouldn’t have painted Steve as the jealous type. Well, we didn’t exactly get to know each other that much, so I guess there’s plenty for me to learn about him.

He shrugs. “No, but you must trust him if you came here with him alone… in a boat. Alone.”

“Yacht,”

He frowns. “What?”

“We came here in a yacht. You wouldn’t catch Bruce Wayne in a boat if he could avoid it. He’s one of the richest men in the world.”

He bites down on his lower lip and lifts his brow. “Anymore of these friends I should know about?”

I shake my head. “Not really. I don’t have that many.”

“You don’t?”

“No. It’s hard. Watching your friends die and you’re left behind. So I thought it would be easier to not make any real friendships.”

I see the sadness in his eyes and I know what his next words are going to be. “I’m sorry you felt like that, Diana. I never wanted that for you. It sounds incredibly lonely.”

All these years I’ve tried to convince myself that no, it wasn’t loneliness that I was feeling, it was my dedication to mankind’s safety that was occupying all my time and that was why I felt alone, not because I was purposely keeping people at arms length. At first, I didn’t buy my own lie, but it turns out that if you repeat something enough times over a period of 100 years, you eventually believe it.

“Yes, it is. I eventually learnt to occupy my time, though.” I smile at the memory of the children in the hospital, who as sick as they might be, they still smile and see the best in everyone and everything. They fuel me to keep fighting. It helps when you actually know the people you’re fighting for.

Steve moves so he’s now completely lying down on the bed and he motions for me to lie down next to him. I smile and cuddle up to him, the sound of his beating heart more calming than anything I’ve tried in the last century.

“Tell me everything. How’s your life? What do you do? Where do you live?”

I start playing with the buttons on his shirt. “After the war was over, Etta and I agreed that I needed to integrate into the community. So we sat down one evening and she started telling me about all the jobs I could do with the knowledge that I already had. Of course it took us forever to find something, but we eventually agreed that librarian was a pretty good fit, since the system was simple enough to learn and with my extensive knowledge of literature, it shouldn’t have been too difficult and it wasn’t. I started working at the Maughan Library and I stayed there for about five years.”

I feel his hand start rubbing my arm up and down in a soothing manner. “I’ve been to that library. It’s beautiful, but it’s hard for me to picture you as a librarian. After seeing what you could do in the battlefield, it’s hard to picture you behind a desk.” He lets out a laugh.

I smile. “I know, but I liked it very much. Before that though, with Chief’s help, I contacted people who falsified some documents for me without asking too many questions. I needed all the basic documentation, birth certificate, passport, all of that. After those first five years as a civilian I guess you could say, I felt comfortable enough to venture on my own and make some changes. I decided to move to Oxford and get a degree in Art History. I needed that degree so more doors could open for me. Of course I excelled since everything that was being taught I had already learnt, especially in Greek and Roman art, so with that degree I was able to teach at Oxford, London and Durham University.”

“Now that I see you being. A teacher. I bet your students loved you.”

“I think so. I loved them. All the girls were eager to learn, some were full of questions and others wanted to act all cool around the others, but would come look for me in my office and asked for my opinion of this painting or that sculpture. I also taught regular history classes. I had a few students who became quite famous, like Marjorie Chibnall.”

I hold those years as a teacher quite dear to my heart. It taught me a lot about how people think, react and act in general. It taught me the importance of education for mankind and how that shapes their thinking in many ways. It was also quite rewarding to see women fight for an education and for a place in society above that of daughter, wife or mother.

“I was a teacher for about fifteen years. I then was forced to make some drastic changes because I kept running into people who I had worked with or taught to and they were all starting to comment on how I looked exactly the same. But then the war started so I tried to help as much as I could. Obviously it wasn’t enough. At the end of the day, I’m just one person.”

I struggled after the second war with guilt. My mind always went back to all the rescue missions and I would always look for the things I could’ve done differently. It was always ‘if I had done this’ or ‘if I had waited a little longer’, but I learnt that I gained nothing by looking back. What was done was done. No point in thinking in the ‘what ifs’.

I feel Steve rest his chin on top of my head. “I have no doubt in my mind that you did everything you could. And for the people you saved, it was enough.”

I nod against his chest. “It took some time, but I eventually came to accept that I did my best. But after the war, I became a nomad. I never stayed in one place longer than three or four years. I lived all over, from Thailand to Norway. I liked being a teacher so I taught whatever subject they wanted me to teach. Most of the jobs I would take were for languages, which as you may remember, I had no problem with.”

His chest jumps with a contained laugh and I feel him shake his head. Probably remembering my exchange with Sammy in the bar.

“I did that for about twenty years. I always made sure to go to the most remote of places to avoid somebody recognizing me in the future, and I think it worked because nobody ever said anything to me. I lived in 6 different countries during that time. Namibia, Thailand, Norway, Poland, Peru and Haiti.”

All the tiny villages I went to were always so grateful to have someone willing to move to places so far away from modern society. I was only glad to take the job and help them find the tools to succeed in the future.

“You’ve become quite the international woman.” He says with amusement. “How about now?”

“Now I live in Paris. I changed my modus operandi about twenty years ago. With the evolution of technology it became harder to falsify documents. For example, my Oxford degree is now worthless because one, it’s from the 20s and two, even if I forged one so the years would add up, employers might want to contact someone there and no one will have a clue of who I am. And if they searched the records, either my name would appear as a student from the 1920s or they wouldn’t find it at all which would immediately lead to suspicion of forgery, which I can’t risk.”’

I can almost hear him thinking, trying to figure out how I managed to cheat the system. “So what did you do? Did you look for menial jobs that wouldn’t require too many references?”

“In a way. When I moved to Paris five years ago, I decided that I would like to go back to art, any area at all. Whether it would be for teaching or selling paintings, it didn’t matter. So I looked for jobs related to art. I started working in this tiny art gallery called ‘Toile Blanche’ that sold minimalist paintings. They were looking for people who were knowledgeable in art and were good at sales. They interviewed me and realized that I had both qualities, so they didn’t ask for references. I worked there for six months. Then I found a job in another art gallery that was owned by the same people who owned ‘Toile Blanche’. I was sales manager there. Then I found a job in Musée Bourdelle as head of the art department. I was actually surprised they gave me that job considering that on paper, I had so little experience.

About a year into the job, there was an exhibition for the Argentinian embassy to display the work of Bourdelle in honor of General Alvear. Among the guests was the wife of one of the Louvre’s most generous donors. She asked who had arranged the display and she congratulated me on my work and asked for my name. About a month later, I was called by the Louvre’s Human Resources department to ask if I was interested in arranging an interview for the position of Antiquities dealer. I, of course, accepted and that’s where I’m working now.”

He pulls back and looks at me. “That’s amazing, Diana. The things you’ve managed to achieve. You’re amazing.”

“I’ve been very lucky. The good thing about working for so long is that you make quite a lot of money and I invested it too. So even if I don’t get a job that pays too well, I can still live comfortably.”

I really have been lucky in so many ways. I’ve been lucky that in 100 years, I haven’t been caught, with the exception of Lex Luthor and Bruce, but that matter was handled. I’ve been lucky that even though I didn’t open up enough to make close friends, I’ve been surrounded by good, loving people. And the luckiest thing of all, I got the man I love back.

“Are you telling me you’re a millionaire?” Steve asks jokingly.

I look up at him and smile. “Maybe”

He inspects my face trying to see if I’m playing with him, but he seems to realize I’m not and laughs.

“I’ll say it again, you’re amazing.”

“I had plenty of time to learn.”

It wasn’t that hard to amass the small fortune I have. I never splurged and only bought what I needed. It also helped that the amount of money I had in the 1940s was quintupled by the 1980s because of inflation. I didn’t need to move a finger. What was hard was moving that money around without raising too much suspicion. That was one of the reasons I never moved to the US. Over the last 30 years, Americans have become paranoid when it comes to immigration and an immigrant with a big enough bank account might attract too many eyes; especially one with no family or significant roots anywhere on record.

I visited the US plenty of times because of work, but I never went for pleasure. Being in Steve’s country, the one he was fighting for in the first place was too much for me. I couldn’t bear the thought of getting to know the country without him by my side, so I didn’t. Maybe now he can show it to me. I don’t know if I’ll ever consider living there, but now I definitely wouldn’t mind going as much as I did before.

“I have another question.” Steve tells me.

“Ask away.”

“Why did you come here?”

“My father came to me in a dream and told me about Steppenwolf. He said everything I would need I would find here in Themyscira.”

I feel him stop rubbing my arm. “Wait, I thought you had no father.”

I nod against his chest. “Yeah, I thought that too. Turns out my mother lied to me. Zeus is actually my father and I was conceived in the normal way.” I wrinkle my nose at that.

“Huh. So you’re half God?” He asks a little amused.

“Yeah, I was the Godkiller not the sword.”

He bends his arm so he’s now running his fingers through my hair. “I wasn’t that far off then. I thought you were an angel the first time I saw you. My angel on the wing.”

I laugh a little confused. “Angel on the wing?”

“Yeah. When I was sinking with the plane, I looked up and saw this silhouette standing on the wing and I remember thinking: ‘An angel is watching over me’. I don’t think I was that wrong since you saved my life.”

“I don’t know about being an angel, but I’m glad I was the one to rescue you. What would I have done if another Amazon had pulled you from the plane and you had fallen in love with her?”

He shakes his head. “I would’ve been grateful to this unknown Amazon, but I still think I would’ve eventually seen you and fallen victim to that smile of yours.”

I kiss his chest and keep playing with the buttons on his shirt. “And I think I would’ve fallen for your eyes. The bluest I have ever seen. As blue as the water surrounding this island.”

He takes a deep breath, chest rising and he sighs loudly. “I love you.”

Resting my chin on his chest and looking at him, I repeat once again what I should’ve told him a long time ago. “I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.”

He laughs and I move upwards so I can kiss him.

We stay there for a long time and as much as we both want to do more, we realize this is not the time. Not yet. So we lay there in each other’s arm and we say nothing. I feel myself relaxing more and more by the second and I start to nod off. I can feel Steve’s breathing getting shallower, getting sleepy too.

“Diana?” He mumbles bringing me out of my almost sleep state.

“Yeah?”

“I changed my mind. When the pain starts, I don’t want you with me. I don’t want you to see me like that.” He’s still mumbling, not fully coming out of his relaxed state.

I, on the other hand, am fully awake now. “We don’t know how long you’ll be in pain, Steve. How do you expect me to stay away, for possibly, days?”

He takes my hand and intertwines his fingers with mine. “There’s nothing anybody can do, not even you. There’s no point in you being there for every second of it. Go train. Keep your mind busy for the both of us. Come see me from time to time, but don’t stay for long.”

I shake my head. “Steve, you don’t have to do this alone.”

“I’m not. You told me you’d be there for every second of it, but it doesn’t have to be physically. I know you’re there. You’re always there.”

What he’s asking me to do is going to be not only mentally, but physically difficult to do. I want to be there, to remind him every second that this will pass. But I also understand what he’s saying. If it were the other way around, I’m sure I would be asking him the same thing and he would be fighting me on it, just like I am.

So against every single thing my mind and heart are begging me to do, I nod. “Okay, I’ll try. I won’t promise you anything because I simply can’t, but if that’s your wish, I will do my best to honor it.”

I feel him tighten his grip on my hand. “Thank you. But I do need you to promise me something.”

I get a bad feeling about this. “What?”

“Promise me that no matter what happens, no matter what I tell you, you won’t stop the pain. Even if I beg you to make the pain stop, you will not listen to me. I want this prison I’m in to end so that we can finally have the life we want. We won’t be able to do that if this doesn’t end, so don’t stop it. Promise me that.”

I stay silent for a few seconds. What he’s saying makes complete sense, but my heart won’t understand that. When on this very bed he starts screaming in pain, I don’t know what I will do. I don’t know how I will react. But I also know that Steve’s strong and he will beat this if he puts his heart and mind to it.

So, petrified but hopeful I say, “I promise.”

“Thank you,” he tells me relieved. 

It takes me a little while to fall asleep, but the steady beating of his heart eventually relaxes me enough.

It is later that night that I regret making that promise to Steve.

I’m violently awakened by the sudden jerking of his body and from his lungs came a scream of such agony, I’m almost certain the walls of the palace trembled.

Chapter Text

11

I sit up and lay my hand on Steve’s chest, but the gentle touch seems to be too much as his body jerks more violently. I pull my hand back and look at his face contorted with pain and I feel the tears coming. This will be unbearable and I can’t even imagine what he’s feeling.

“Shh, shh. It’s going be okay, Steve. I promise. I promise.”

His head tilts in my direction when he hears my voice and he opens his eyes with great effort. He seems to want to say something but he struggles for a little bit.

“Sh- shirt. Off. Off,”

I nod understanding what he’s saying. I start unbuttoning his shirt, already covered in sweat. I place one hand behind his neck and the other one behind his back and pull him up into a sitting position. I close my eyes at the pain that simple action seems to cause him. I remove his shirt as gently as I can and lie him back down on the bed.

The light coming off of the candles around my room are enough to let me see how very red his whole chest and neck are. I don’t know if it is from the physical exertion or from the heat he feels it's burning his body.

I start looking at him feeling the desperation crawl its way up to my throat. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to help him.

He starts thrashing his body, the sheets of my bed getting all tangled in his legs and the screams… the screams are the most horrible thing I have ever heard. Nothing but pain and despair, tearing right through me. I rip the sheets off and throw them on the floor to try and minimize anything that might cause him more pain.

But now what?

“Steve, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do,” I tell him kneeling on the floor, trying not to touch him even though there’s nothing more I want to do than hold him in my arms until this is over.

He grits his teeth, his hands clenched into fists. He tries to stabilize his breathing, but the pain is too overpowering. “T-tell me about the countries you l-lived in. Which one w-was your fav-favorite?”

He attempts to swallow his screams, but each time he seems less capable of doing it. I try racking my brain for anecdotes or anything about the countries I lived in, but the sound of his screams make it quite hard to focus. But I will myself to concentrate. He’s asking for a distraction and even though it probably won’t do much, this is the only thing I can do for him right now.

I nod, having found a little piece of information for each country I lived in to share with him.

“Peru had the best food. So diverse and completely different for each region you went to. But Thailand had the best beaches. They reminded me of home, the water crystal clear. The Norwegians, they knew how to have fun. I was in a village that was completely flat and during the cold winters, they would get creative and make incredible things with snow. Haiti was alive with music. They never stopped dancing and their energy was contagious. I lived in this cottage in Poland that was right in front the most beautiful grass covered mountains I have ever seen in Man’s world. Even in winter when they were covered in snow, they were beautiful. And in Namibia, I lived with the nomadic Himba pastoralists in Kaokoland. Their traditions have remained unchanged for generations and they are the most welcoming people I have ever met.”

He tries to smile but the pain won’t allow him to even fake one. “It s-sounds like you had f-fun.”

I feel the tears pooling at the bottom of my eyes. “Yes, I really did. They were peaceful people. I only had to put my armor on three or four times during my twenty years of teaching abroad, and some of them were not even to fight someone. They were to help people during fires or some kind of natural disaster.”

Those twenty years were truly peaceful and helped me fuel my desire to help. Modern society still has these stigmas about the natives of their own countries or from people who have less than them, and if they just bothered to look a little closer or tried to understand, they would realize that you don’t need much to be truly happy. You just need people who love you and people you love back. That’s what the people in Peru, Thailand, Norway, Haiti, Poland and Namibia were - happy.

Steve starts scratching his arms quite desperately, breaking the skin and drawing blood.

“Steve, stop. You’re hurting yourself. Steve.” I try pulling his hands away but he fights me on it. Eventually I’m able to stop him, his energy running out. I keep telling him stories about the people I met and the places I’ve been. He tries to pay attention, I know he is, but the pain is too much.

He eventually runs out of energy and loses consciousness, but his rest is anything but peaceful. He mumbles things I can’t quite make out. Sometimes I hear my name. Sometimes he fists the fitted sheet until his fingers are purple. I massage his hands until he lets them go.

It’s torture.

The sun eventually comes up and with it a new revelation.

Steve was unconscious all through the night and watching him now with the light illuminating my room, I get to see how much pain he’s actually in. He’s completely soaked in sweat, his whole torso looks like somebody threw hot water on him and his face – his face is contorted in pain, constantly grinding his teeth and his hands looking for something to grip.

“I can’t do this.”

“Diana?”

I turn my head towards the door to see Mother standing there and looking at me on the floor, head resting on the mattress with tears running down my cheeks.

“I was with Antiope all night, she lost consciousness not too long ago. I wanted to come see how the Captain was handling the pain and how you were managing.”

I shake my head. “I can’t do this, Mother. He made me promise not to give him anything for the pain, but I don’t know if I can do that after watching him suffer all night. I think I’m going to call Epione,”

She walks in and stretches her hand out to me. I take it and let her help me up. She pulls me in for a hug and I accept it, needing the comfort.

“I know it’s painful. Trust me, watching my sister, the strongest woman I know, crying out in pain and not being able to do anything about it – it’s incredibly hard, to say the least.”

She pulls back and holds my face gently. “This is not permanent. Keep repeating it to yourself and remind the Captain every time he feels he can’t take any more. It will stop and the rewards of this suffering will be worth it.”

I nod, trying to picture a future with Steve with no pain and no wars. I know we can be happy, but we’ll have to fight for it. Which is why when we do have that happiness, it will be even more cherished than it otherwise would’ve been.

“Diana,”

I turn around at the sound of Steve calling me. I move and kneel on the floor again. “Hey. How do you feel?”

Stupid question, Diana.

His breathing is still shallow and I start to really worry about dehydration.

“It feels like someone poured lava on me.” He moves his eyes over my shoulder, noticing my mother. “Your Majesty. H-how’s Antiope?”

Mother gives him a little smile and walks closer to us. “As well as you are, Captain. Thanks for asking.”

With a shaking hand, he wipes the sweat from his brow and I notice his breathing hitches when his hand touches his skin. “I t-thought maybe she would have an eas-sier time than I was.”

“No, apparently for this case, we’re all the same in the eyes of the Gods.”

“Too bad.” Steve’s body starts convulsing in pain and his screams resume. “Diana, I think you shou – “ He’s interrupted mid sentence by another devastating scream. “You should go n-now.” 

I shake my head. “No. You’re in too much pain. I’m not leaving you.”

He takes my hand and squeezes with more strength than I was expecting. “You’ve been here all night. Go distract y-yourself. I’m going to be right here when you come b-back.”

I search his face and see the determination in not letting me be a prisoner of this pain too. It truly amazes me how incredibly selfless Steve can be.

So I decide to listen to him. After all, I did say I would try to honor his wish. “I will go train with Phillipus for as long as she wants me to, but if at any point you need anything, you call someone to come look for me, okay?”

He nods, unable to speak anymore. I kiss his hand and stand up to leave.

“Captain, I’ll be sending someone over to help you freshen up a little bit,” Mother tells Steve.

Again, he only nods.

I look at him one last time and leave my chambers with Mother. As we’re descending the stairs I remember to tell her about Bruce.

“Mother, I forgot to tell you. I came here with a friend. His name is Bruce Wayne. I asked him to come get me after four days and that’s today. Expect a white vessel to cross the barriers of the island in about four hours.”

She nods. “I’ll send Menalippe and three others to wait for him. Anything you want them to tell this man?”

I haven’t really thought about what Bruce should do. It’s not like I’ve had a lot of time to think about anything these couples of days. Should he just go back out and wait for me? But I don’t know how long I’ll have to stay. Should I tell him to go back by himself? Steve and I went to Man’s world in a regular vessel. We could do that again. But that will take us a lot longer compared to going back in the yacht.

“Tell them to explained the situation to him and give Bruce the option of going back by himself or stay in Themyscira until we’re ready to leave. If he does stay, tell Menalippe to take him to the training grounds. I’ll explain to him the situation with Steppenwolf.”

Mother nods. “I’ll relay your message to Menalippe. I’ll be in counsel meetings all day long organizing potential battle plans. I’ll b – “

“What?” I ask surprised at her schedule for today. I had thought about asking Mother for the Amazons’ help, but it wasn’t something I was yet convinced to voice, considering how reluctant she was the last time I suggested she send a group of warriors to Man’s world.

She looks at me with a small smile and eyebrows raised. “You weren’t expecting I send my daughter to fight an extraterrestrial being with unknown powers all by herself, did you?

“I- well, you,” I exhale at a loss for words. “The last time you weren’t exactly… willing to send help.”

She looks down and nods. “That was a mistake and I made my decision based on fear. I was thinking of you and the risk of exposing Themyscira to Ares, but I also knew that even with your innocence, you would have been able to handle whatever men threw at you, at least on the battlefield.”

That’s true. Once I saw what their weapons could do, I knew how to defend myself. It was what they did to me psychologically and emotionally that caught me completely off guard.

“Are you sure, Mother? A war like the one coming could greatly reduce the population of the Amazons.”

“I’m perfectly aware, Diana. But I will repeat your own words, ‘As Amazons it is our fore ordinance’. That is what we were put on this Earth to do, after all. You have been fulfilling your sacred mission, while I have been more worried about preservation. That ends today.”

“Thank you, Mother.”

I spend all morning and all afternoon training with Phillipus. When I met with her and a group of about 15 other Amazons, she informed me she had been studying the Gods who had the same powers that I did and she believed she had found the best method to completely unlock my powers.

I was surprised by how seriously Phillipus was taking my training, but then again, Amazons are nothing but fierce and passionate in all they do. The training was even more intense than I was expecting. We began with simple armed combat. One on one just like last time, Artemis picked up an axe and started throwing blow after blow, and it took all of my strength to block every single one. Last time I trained with her, she hit me right on the jaw with the butt of her axe, but even then I knew she was holding back. Not this time, though.

All the other Amazons were watching in respectful silence as Artemis and I battled each other. I lunged with my sword, but Artemis deflected it masterfully and hit me on the side of the head with her elbow. Dizziness rushed through me, but I tamped it down. We started to circle each other, daring the other one to attack. Artemis faked a lunge, causing me to reflectively block, revealing to her what my natural approach was.

Deciding that it was time, Artemis ran a few steps before jumping and doing a 360 spin and slashing with her axe at every turn. I blocked all of her attacks, but I also knew that she wasn’t giving me much space to do any of my own. When she landed, bringing her arm in a full arc and bringing her axe down hard over my head, I rolled on my shoulder to the left and taking advantaged of my crouched position, I swept my leg to try and knock her down, but she saw it coming and jumped in time, but it was enough of a distraction. When she landed, Artemis stumbled backwards and I stood up fast and kicked her with all my strength in the hand and her axe flew off.

I pointed my sword at her and she bowed her head in submission.

I lowered my sword and then I heard an all too familiar boom. Everything slowed down as my arm instinctively stretched to block the bullet that was shot in my direction. I turned to see Phillipus pointing one of the rifles the Germans had when they invaded the beach. My eyes widened at the surprise of seeing an Amazon holding a gun.

I heard a battle cry as Trigona, Euboea and Niobe charged towards me, their swords poised for an attack. I dived and grabbed Artemis’ axe. Now armed with my sword and axe, I analyzed any potential weakness. I didn’t find any before they were on me. I started blocking and kicking, all in a flurry of movement. I’m not sure whom, but somebody pushed me and I lost my balance momentarily. In those two seconds with my guard down, Trigona punched me in the stomach and I fell on my knees. I recovered though and raised my sword just in time to block Niobe’s strike. 

I stood up fast and threw the axe at Euboea, the butt of it hitting her straight in the chest and knocking her down. Trigona and Niobe backed up a little and assessed the situation, much like I did. We circled each other, waiting for someone to attack first. I saw Niobe reach for her rope and I wished I hadn’t forgotten the lasso, but no matter, I knew what I had to do the moment I did it.

I dropped the sword and axe and with a cry pulled from the deepest parts of me, I slammed my fist on the floor and boooooooshhhhhh. A field of pure energy washed over the training grounds sending Trigona and Niobe flying across the field.

I stood there for a second, regaining my breath and I walked towards them and stretched out a hand to help them up. They took it and smiled at me, if not with a little pain.

“Diana, I hope you don’t mind if I am not your combat partner when you reach your full power,” Trigona said wiping the blood coming from the cut on her arm.

I laughed at their request. Phillipus dismissed all the warriors and thanked them for their hard work.

“You shot me,” I stated a little offended at the lack of warning.

“Yes, and it was curious that it was when I shot you that you seemed to move and think faster. Try to meditate on that and tell me if you find an explanation for that tomorrow when we resume with your training.”

She walked away, head held high with pride at her discovery. I follow her figure thinking about what she just said. I hate guns and the damage they cause; there’s no honor in them, so they definitely trigger something in me. But can I channel that into a more stable source of… inspiration, I guess?

I’m pulled from my inner wanderings by somebody's slow clapping. I don’t even need to look for the source. I know exactly who it is.

“Impressive, Diana. Although I’ve seen you do much more damage.” 

Standing on top of a rock I see Bruce Wayne in all his Wayne-ness.

“Bruce, I see you decided to stay.”

He jumps from the rock and starts walking towards me. “I wouldn’t dream of leaving. First you tell me you’re a demigod, then Zeus himself decides to be our GPS and now, your long lost love has come back from the dead? Next thing I know, I could be sprouting wings. I’m staying, Your Holiness. Plus, it doesn’t seem half bad here. Would you mind presenting me to your trainer there? She looks absolutely glorious.”

I try to look disapprovingly at him, but I can’t help the little smile that pulls at my lips. “Be careful, Bruce. You wouldn’t want to piss off any of them. Trust me.”

He shrugs. “At least give them the chance of getting to know me first.”

I raise an eyebrow. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

He smiles at me and I nod to the direction of the palace. “Come on. There are a few things I have to tell you about.”

On our way to the palace I tell him all the information we have on Steppenwolf and the Mother boxes. Again, his demeanor completely changes and I can already see the wheels turning in his head. As we approach the palace, he tells me that as soon as we arrive to Nice, he’s going to start his recruitment immediately.

“I hope they say yes.”

“I thought nobody could resist Bruce Wayne,” I tell him jokingly as we climb the stairs towards the chambers he’s going to be staying at.

“Turns out my charm doesn’t work that well on men. Good thing we have you.”

I snort at his insinuation. “I don’t think I cou-“

I’m cut off mid sentence by a desperate scream. My heart sinks at how his voice cracks. For how long has Steve been screaming?

“Is that…?”

“Yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow, Bruce.”

I leave him and walk towards my chambers to see Ersa and Epione attempting to restrain Steve.

“What’s happening?”

I don’t need an answer. When I walk close enough to my bed I see deep scratches all over his torso, all of them are pulsating blood.

“Steve, what did you do?”

He fights Ersa and Epione, thrashing and screaming. Eventually they manage to restrain Steve’s arms, tying the strong bandages on the rings that were put on my bed as decoration.

“His wounds need to be cleaned. He’s sweating quite profusely, they could get infected,” Ersa tells me pulling from her satchel clean bandages and a bottle filled with the glowing blue water from the springs that run all over Themyscira.

“I’ll do it.” I say stretching my arm out for the bandages and water, but my eyes remain firmly on Steve.

I feel Ersa put the things on my hand and they both leave without saying anything else, understanding I want to be left alone with him.

His screams turn into moans and I approach my bed slowly. I pour the water all over his chest and he screams in pain.

“I’m sorry. I have to clean them. I’ll do it fast.” I dab at the wounds as gently as I can, but it doesn’t really matter. The pain is always bad.

With that same towel I also clean his hands, trying to remove the blood from under his nails.

“Diana, make it stop. I can’t – please make it stop.”

I bite down on my lip and kneel down on the floor so I can look at him in the eyes. “You made me promise, remember? You told me to not stop the pain.”

He starts getting agitated. “I know what I said! But it’s too much. Please. Please.”

The tears spill over. This is what I was afraid of. But I know this is the pain talking and the Steve that made me promise to ignore anything he said would not want me to agree to anything.

“This is temporary. This will pass, and we’re going to be so happy when it does. You’ll see.”

He starts pulling on the restraints on his arms. “You’re not listening! I can’t take it! It’s too much. If you love me, please stop it. Please!”

“It is because I love you that I won’t do anything. I promised you that. I’ll keep my promise.”

He screams, but this time is not in pain, is in anger.

“Leave me alone.” He says not looking at me.

“Steve – “

“Get out of my sight!”

The amount of hate in those five words cut through me like a hot knife. I look at him, unable to hide the pain his words have caused and remind him, like Mother suggested,

“This is not permanent. This will pass. I love you.”

And with that I walk out of my chambers.

Chapter Text

12

I focus on my training. Or, I should say, try to. I channel all the anger, frustration and impotence I feel in every lunge of my sword, in every run, jump and punch.

It doesn’t go unnoticed by Phillipus.

On my third day of training (that’s how I refer to it in my mind, not ‘the third day of Steve’s torture’), I’m sitting on the grass in the training grounds trying to knock over one of the three vases that are in front of me by manipulating air. I have been here for thirty minutes trying to conjure up an either stronger or more contained current of air. So far I’ve knocked all three vases at once (several times) and I accidentally knocked Phillipus over one time as well.

“That’s it. Everyone, leave.” Phillipus says in a raised voice.

I shake my head in frustration as all the Amazons start leaving and I stand up to go anywhere but the palace.

“Not you, Diana.”

I look at Phillipus stunned by a second and exhale loudly.

Great, I think. I’m about to get yelled at by my trainer.

I become defensive before even listening to what she has to say, “I’m trying, okay? It’s not exactly easy to manipulate one of the elements at will.”

She stares at me, basically with a ‘are you done?’ face. “When I set up this exercise I thought it would be simple enough. It seemed to me that it required a reasonable amount of focus for you to do it. That’s what I saw less than a week ago in the beach when Antiope came back. You cleared that cloud in a matter of seconds. I know your mind is somewhere else, but if you can’t focus enough to complete this simple exercise, what exactly are you going to do when you fight Steppenwolf?”

What she’s saying is true. But my mind is a jumbled mess. My mind is with Steve. My heart is with Steve. The last thing I care about is having a better grasp of my powers, and I know that’s not fair to everyone who is depending on me, but I can’t help it. I have never felt as powerless as I do now.

What good is it to be part God if I can’t help the one person who needs me the most?

What good is it for me to manipulate air if that won’t stop Steve’s pain? What good is it to fly, if it won’t stop Steve’s pain? What’s the point?

“I’ve fought things not of this Earth before and won, Phillipus. I can handle whatever Steppenwolf throws at me.”

She narrows her eyes at me. “Can you now? Then knock the middle vase over right now. It’s just an object. It should be nothing compared to fighting ‘things not of this Earth’. Do it.”

I feel her words feed my anger and I take a step closer to her menacingly. She does not flinch. “I don’t have to prove myself to you.”

“It’s not me who you have to prove anything to. It’s yourself. I know you, Diana. I know you’re hurting, but the Captain’s pain will stop. Right now what you are training for is for a future with him. Do you really believe Zeus would have come to you if Steppenwolf were so easy to beat? Have you really become that arrogant?”

It almost feels like she’s trying to get me to open up by provoking me. Almost like she was hoping for me to shout what I’m truly feeling.

She succeeds.

“It’s not arrogance. It’s fear! The stronger I grow, the bigger the target on my back will be. Before I had nothing to lose. Now I have everything to lose. I have a weakness and that’s Steve. If I go up against Steppenwolf with everything I have, he won’t target me. He will target what I love most, because that’s what a smart person would do. I can’t risk his life, especially because of what he’s doing right this instant to get it back!”

The magnitude of what’s coming dawned on me this morning. My training was going fine, it could’ve been better, but with the realization that Steppenwolf is not someone I’m going to beat with a few good punches, suddenly I wasn’t so sure of myself. It was also in that moment that I finally understood my Mother. I cannot bear the thought of something happening to Steve because of the things I might decide to do. The urge, the impulse I feel to protect him is bigger than my desire to beat Steppenwolf.

It’s a vicious circle. If I beat the alien, then the impulse to protect Steve over fighting him will fade, but fighting Steppenwolf goes against what I feel in the first place!

“As Amazons we fight for what is right. As Amazons we fight for peace and justice, and as Zeus’ creation, we fight for the love we feel towards others. That’s what fuels the fire in our veins, Diana. The key to unlocking your powers lies in your ability to find the balance between your duty as an Amazon and who you are deep inside. Your duty drives you, but what you believe in is what defines you,” – she points to the vases – “Find that balance and those vases will be knocked over in a blink of an eye. Fuel yourself with love, not anger. You want to try again?”

I absorb her words and nod.

I look at the middle vase and focus on what I want it to do. I close my eyes and allow myself to think of all the happiness I’ve experienced in my life, not just since I left Themyscira. Flashes of many moments of my life go through my mind and my thoughts slow down when I get to Steve. Soon, I feel a tingling sensation in my fingers that starts traveling up my arms and down my body all the way to my toes.

What’s curious is that the memory that triggered that reaction wasn’t a memory of something I had lived through, but a dream I once had years ago. It was a silly little dream, where Steve and I were coming out of the movie theatre and we were, quite animatedly, discussing the movie we had just seen. I can’t remember the movie we had just watched and I can’t remember the discussion we were having, but I do remember feeling how utterly happy I was. I felt so light and unburdened I could’ve floated away in that instant. We both had a sparkle in our eyes I will never forget.

I open my eyes and throwing my right arm forward, air moves from behind and around me to knock the middle vase over. I keep my arm extended for a little bit and then bring it down.

“Balance. See you tomorrow, Diana,”

Phillipus walks away and I’m left on the training grounds by myself.

“Balance,” I repeat to myself.

I stay for a little while longer testing my newfound ease with my ability to manipulate air. I knock over vase after vase and I even manage to put them up right, although that took a couple of tries. Eventually I feel my energy running out and I go to the palace, but avoid going anywhere near my chambers.

It hurts me to keep myself away from Steve, but I don’t think I’ll be able to tell him no again. If he asks me once again to stop his pain, I will. I left clear instructions to anyone near him to let me know immediately if anything happens, even as little or insignificant as it may seem. Nothing has changed in the last three days since I saw him.

After training I struggle with my own thoughts and feelings, all too conflicting and confusing, so I distract myself and that distraction is called Bruce Wayne. He usually watches me train and analyzes everything everyone does. I wonder if he’s thinking about making something or if he’s silently learning some new techniques.

Over the last three days I always find Bruce in the balcony of the great hall playing with one of his many toys. He keeps connecting and disconnecting cables trying to get a signal and for the 500^th time I tell him,

“Bruce, you won’t get a signal. The island was cloaked by Zeus himself. Do you really think you will be able to connect it to the closest satellite? Do you really think you will be able to outsmart a God? The God?”

He gives me a quick glance and then returns his attention to his engineering. “I tricked you into liking me. Why not trick your father into letting me connect to the outside world? Maybe put a good word with daddy dearest?”

I shake my head and rest my elbows on the rail. “Why exactly do you want to establish a connection? That could be dangerous for my home, Bruce.”

He stops what he’s doing and looks at me. “I know that. This is not some kind of thing I’m looking to add to my list of achievements. A thought popped into my head after you told me about Steppenwolf,”

“What thought?” I ask curiously.

“Remember Victor Stone a.k.a Cyborg?”

I nod.

“You said the Mother Boxes could sustain life past fatal injuries. What if Victor is half man and half Mother Box? No such technology has been created. Wayne Enterprises has tried for years to come up with the technology to help coma patients regain consciousness without success and suddenly one man is able to bring his son back to life? A son that was in pieces.” – He shakes his head – “I think Silas Stone was hiding something in S.T.A.R Labs, something… alien, perhaps.”

I think back to the video of Dr Stone in his lab with Victor’s vital organs as the only thing left of him and how he used this box and then… Oh my God.

“Bruce, I think you’re right. We know where one of the Mother Boxes is now. We have to let Victor know he’s in danger,”

He grabs, what I think is a transmitter and shakes it at me. “That’s what I’m trying to do!”

If it weren’t for the severity of the current situation, I would have laughed. “Ok, but I meant what I said. You won’t get a connection. Maybe you could cross the barrier, send the message and then come back? And while you’re there, would you bring me my duffle bag?”

He stops trying to find a connection and puts the transmitter down. “Yeah, I had pretty much decided that’s what I had to do. I was hoping that maybe I would get a lucky break if I kept trying. Where did you leave your duffle bag?”

I smile. “The room I was staying at. Top shelf of the closet.”

“I’ll bring it safely back with me,”

“Thanks.”

Day four, five and six show great improvement on my powers. I have almost complete control over air manipulation. My fighting has improved as well, as I can now use air to increase my advantage over my opponent’s. Phillipus used a similar technique to the vases to help me direct my energy blasts, instead of just wiping out everyone and everything in front of me. And I get to do all of this with my armor and lasso since Bruce brought my duffle bag from the yacht.

There hasn’t been any news on Steve other than he spends most of his day unconscious. I’m not sure if that’s good or not. I feel guilty that I hope he remains that way so that I can go see him without him kicking me out again. I step quietly into my chambers to see him still restrained, but this time his arms are by his side. Probably Epione thought of a more comfortable position to keep Steve from continuing hurting himself.

I sit next to him on my bed and run my hand as gently as I can through his hair, not knowing if that would be too much for him. He moves against my hand and I take that as a good sign, so I continue with the gentle movement.

“This will be over soon. I’m sorry I wasn’t here more often, but I was afraid you didn’t want me near you.”

I feel a little silly. I know he won’t hear me and much less answer me, but I’m hoping he will, even though I know he won’t.

“I miss you so much. There’s a lot I want to tell you. I have gained so much control over my powers. I think you would be proud of me. Bruce figured something out too. He thinks he may have found one of the Mother Boxes. It was right under our noses too. One of the potential members of the league Victor Stone, also known as Cyborg, was saved by the Mother Box and is now a part of him. Bruce sent a message to him to tell him that he might be in danger. There was no response as far as we know, but if he answers then we’ll have confirmation that he has one of the three Mother Boxes. That’s a good first step, I guess.”

Bruce stayed in the yacht a full day waiting for Cyborg’s reply, but it never came. He might not have received it or he might have ignored it, which is less than helpful. But at the same time, the lack of an answer is, to an extent, an answer in itself. Bruce will take care of the finer details in understanding the technology keeping Cyborg alive when we get back, but for now at least we have let him know of the looming dangers.

“I was also thinking about what we’re going to do when you finally beat this. I was hoping that maybe you would go back with me to Paris. I know is a big step to ask you to move in with me, but I don’t want to lose more time. I love you and I’m ready to start a life with you.” I look at his face to try and spot even the slightest sign that he might be listening, but nothing. “When you wake up and have regained some strength, I’m going to ask you. I hope you say yes. If you say no, the ride back is going to be very unpleasant.”

I laugh, but it doesn’t quite reach my eyes.

“You don’t have to worry about that though. Just focus on getting through this. I went to see Antiope. She’s in pretty bad shape too.”

Antiope hasn’t stayed in a state of unconsciousness as much as Steve has, so her screams have been more constant. When I went to see her, Ersa was holding her hand and letting her squeeze as hard as she needed. I sat down for a moment with her and reassured her and reminded her, just like Steve, that this was not permanent. She nodded and after a moment, I left. Seeing her like that is incredibly hard.

I wish I were stronger, but I’m not.

On day seven I try flying. There’s not much progress in that. I can hover for about five minutes before I feel my energy being drained. And flying? I can barely move three feet before I’m plummeting to the ground. I lost count of how many times I fell.

And I know it’s stupid, but I keep getting distracted by Bruce flirting with Venelia. I don’t know if it’s because I find it incredibly amusing or incredibly annoying. Again, since it’s Bruce, I’m going to go with incredibly annoying.

When I fall for the millionth time, I turn sharply towards Bruce and send a gust of wind strong enough to knock him backwards from the rock he was sitting on and he falls with a thud on the grass.

Venelia and the rest of the Amazons giggle and Bruce looks offended at me.

“Hey! This is Salvatore Ferragamo and now you’ve put grass stains all over it!” He says standing up and dusting himself off.

“That’s what you get for distracting me. Next time I’ll send you flying over the cliff. Let’s see how much of a bat you are.”

Bruce gives me the ‘come at me’ hand gestures and I narrow my eyes at him.

“You’re not going to do that to me when I annoy you, right?”

I turn around, eyes wide to see Steve standing there with an arm thrown over Epione’s shoulder helping him stay upright.

“Steve?!”

I start moving in his direction and before knowing it, I’m throwing my arms over him, almost knocking him over. He lets out an ‘oomph’ at the unexpected force of my hug and laughs.

“Hey, you,”

He sounds like… Steve. He sounds tired and you can tell the walk from the palace to the training grounds exhausted him, but he sounds like the Steve I know and love.

“When? How? Are you okay?” All my questions come out in a rush, but I don’t care. It’s over. The worst of it is over.

“It just stopped. I was sure I was about to lose my sanity and then, it stopped. It’s like this heavy weight that had been dropped on me was lifted. Hey,” – He lays his hand on my cheek gently – “I’m sorry for how I talked to you. I didn’t mean any of it. Thank you for keeping your promise. I don’t know if I could’ve been strong enough.”

I shake my head and lean into his touch. “No, there’s nothing to apologize for. I’m just glad you’re back.”

My desire, my need to kiss him becomes overwhelming and not caring that everyone is staring at us, I lean forward and kiss him. I’m only self-conscious for half a second, but the relief I feel at having him back outweighs everything else.

“So why do you get to kiss humans but I can’t kiss Amazons?”

The spell is broken once again by the incredibly annoying Bruce Wayne. I pull back and look at Steve.

“Deep inside he’s a good person. Just remember that every time you talk to him,”

He chuckles and I take his hand and carefully guide him towards Bruce.

“Steve, Bruce. Bruce, Steve,” I say motioning to one another.

Bruce looks at him with amusement, “Well, it’s not everyday you meet someone who escaped the seventh circle of hell. Nice to meet you, Steve.”

He stretches his hand and Steve takes it. “Nice to meet you, Bruce. It’s not every day you meet a billionaire.”

Bruce smiles. “Fourth richest man on Earth, but who’s keeping track?” He looks at me and raises his eyebrows. “So? You didn’t answer my question. Why do you get to kiss humans but I can’t kiss Amazons?”

I complain loudly. “You know what? Do whatever you want. Don’t say I didn’t warn you when they beat you to a pulp,”

He smiles. “No, no. We’ll be all smiles by the time I leave.”

I look at him skeptically but say nothing else on the matter.

“Here’s where you’ve been training, huh?” Steve says looking around.

I nod. “Yeah. I was trying to fly today, but I haven’t really succeeded.”

“Show me what you can do,”

I look at him and see the amazement in his eyes.

“I would love to see what you have accomplished too, Diana,”

I look over Steve’s shoulder to see Antiope with Mother. I walk towards her and inspect her a little closer. I can see the same exhaustion Steve has in her eyes, but she stands tall like she always has.

“Antiope,” I hug her with the same strength I hug Steve and she lets out a laugh. We hug each other for a little while and then she tells me in a whisper,

“Show me your power, Godkiller.”

I pull back and nod. I walk back to the middle of the training grounds with Phillipus next to me. She looks at me with a small smile on her face and gives me a barely noticeable nod. She turns towards the Amazons I’ve been training with for the last week and looks at every single one in the eye.

“Warriors, it seems that now we have an audience. So let’s give them a spectacle. Don’t hold back. Steppenwolf won’t. Diana - ” She turns to me, “Balance,”

I nod and she walks to the side to give the Amazons and I our space. Trigona is the first to step forward with a sword in hand. We look at each other and I lean down to pick up my own sword. I nod to let her know I’m ready and half a second later, she lunges forward and I block.

Her strategy is different from the last time we fought. Now she’s being a lot more aggressive and I let her attack so that I can try to learn her movements and eventually anticipate them. 

Attack on the right, then left, hit over the shoulder, jump to avoid her leg sweep. Right, left, left, right again. I block for a good twenty seconds before I read her next movement.

I move my sword to block her lunge towards my right shoulder and with that fraction of a second gained in my advantage, I hit her under the chin with my elbow sending her stumbling back. I kick her on the chest and she falls to the floor, sword dropping from her hand. I hear the whizzing of an arrow coming from my left and everything slows down as I turn and cut it in two with my sword.

I see three archers pointing arrows at me and I sheath my sword and focus in creating a strong swirl around me to prevent any of the arrows from hitting me. I succeed in a matter of seconds and all arrows shoot upwards when they hit the wall of air around me.

I hear the heavy steps of someone running and I see Artemis with her axe running towards one of the rocks and she jumps towards it and then uses it to push herself off it and over the swirling protective barrier around me. She lands on the centre of it, right in front of me and she hits me on my right side and if it weren’t for my armor, I’m sure my ribs would’ve cracked.

My concentration is broken and the swirl disappears from around us. I find myself in the same position I was when Antiope pushed me and started hitting me with her sword, only this time is Artemis and it’s not a sword, but an axe. I raise my arm to protect myself, my gauntlets taking the blunt of Artemis’ hits. Because the axe is heavier than a sword, it takes her milliseconds more to bring it up over her head and down onto mine, so I take advantage of that and block her next hit with my left arm and with my right, I send an energy blast right at her legs making her wipe out and land on her face.

I quickly look up and see five Amazons have surrounded me and are waiting for me to attack.

I wouldn’t have waited.

Once again, I know what I have to do the moment I do it. I whip out my lasso and tie it around Athena’s ankle and yank hard. She falls on her back and I decide to heave her at the other Amazons. She flies through the air and collides with two of them.

Euboea and Niobe are left standing and I see Niobe pull her shield from behind her back and she starts running towards me. I run too and I jump high to bring my fist down on her but she skids under me and throws the shield up at me. It hits me and I fall to the ground hard. It is in that moment, when I raise my eyes and I see Steve looking at me, that I feel something unlock and a surge of raw power rages inside of me.

Balance.

I feel like there are magnets in my arms as I swing them up and I feel myself rise into the air. From there, I see more archers preparing their bows, more warriors coming at me with their swords and suddenly I find myself moving forward at lightening speed. I knock all incoming warriors down and send an energy blast towards the archers that makes the ground beneath them explode and they are pushed back by the force of it.

I lower myself down for the first time and when my feet hit the ground, I look around at what I have done.

There’s no one else coming at me. All warriors have been defeated.

I finally have control over my powers.

Chapter Text

13

We all walked back to the palace after the show the Amazons and I put for everyone. I was pretty exhausted and so was Steve, but the moment we were alone in my chambers suddenly I found myself with all the energy in the world.

I walked deeper into the room and I could feel Steve’s eyes on me. I looked over my shoulder and gazed at Steve directly in the eyes and I hoped they would convey what I wanted him to do.

He took tentative steps towards me until we were basically touching. He laid his hand gently on my cheek and I put mine on his waist. I felt myself sway at his touch and I closed my eyes at the warm sensation forming at the pit of my stomach.

I felt his fingers rub against my cheek and they slowly started traveling down my neck and shoulder. Eventually they stopped at my back. Opening my eyes, I saw he was waiting for me to stop him or reassure him in some kind of way.

“Do you remember how the buckles work?”

He nodded and with an exhale he said, “Yes,”

“Good,”

I closed the space between us and this time there was no rush, there was no immediate danger and there was nowhere to be in the morning. We clung to each other and no corner of our bodies was left unexplored.

Now, with Steve’s head resting on my stomach and my fingers running through his hair, I ask with no fear or doubt,

“Will you come with me to Paris? Stay with me?”

He smiles sleepily at me and nods. “I’ll follow you anywhere. You’re stuck with me, I’m afraid.”

I smile, “I’ve had it worse. We’ll have to think of how to get you in now. You can’t just show up with me. When we get to Nice, Bruce will have to fill out some documents for the Coast Guard and they will notice an extra passenger on board. They will probably ask for some kind of documentation to confirm you are there legally,”

Steve’s brow creases in thought. “We’ll have to falsify documents, but where though? We’re in the middle of the ocean,”

“We’ll talk to Bruce. He may not have powers, but he sure has an ability to make things happen in a blink of an eye. I’m sure he’ll know how to help you,”

I feel Steve nod against my stomach and that’s the last thing I remember before sleep takes me under. I wake up with the sun hitting my face, my chambers bathed in bright yellow light. I turn my head to see I’m alone in bed. I frown and turn my head to look around the room. I notice the balcony doors are open, the curtains being blown inward by the gentle wind.

I stand up, wrapping the bed sheets around my body and walking towards the balcony. I see Steve standing there, wearing only his pants, hands resting on the railing. I wrap one arm around his stomach, kissing his shoulder and resting my chin on it.

“Good morning,”

He runs his hand up my arm and turns his head to look at me. “Good morning,”

I pull back a little, and reading my movements perfectly, he kisses me. If it weren’t because 1) we’re in the balcony and 2) we’re supposed to go to the great hall to have breakfast soon, I would have let go of the bed sheets. I pull back before we both lose control.

“What are you doing out here?” I ask him looking over his shoulder at the ocean.

“I knew the island was beautiful the moment I crashed into the ocean, but from up here – Themyscira is truly a marvel, isn’t it?”

I hum in agreement. Steve once called it ‘Paradise Island’ and it truly is. There isn’t a single corner of this place that’s not beautiful or peaceful.

“We should try to come here as often as we can after we leave, don’t you think?”

I’m brought out of my daydream by his comment. “What?”

He turns and I lift my chin from his shoulder. “After what’s to come, I think we’ll need a vacation and what better place than your home? Besides, you’ve been far away from your family long enough. Trust me, not having family with you is hard. You still have them, don’t push them away.”

I’m momentarily stunned by the sudden shift in conversation. I selfishly forget that Steve’s dad, his only family, died right before he enlisted and me, having my family very much alive, decided to distance myself from them.

I think Steve confuses my silence for something else and he quickly backtracks, “I don’t mean to tell you how you should treat your family. I just – I don’t want you to later regret not spending more time with them, like I did.”

I shake my head. “No, you’re right. I think Mother would like that. I would like that,” – I take his hand – “You’re right.”

He nods and smiles. “Get used to it,”

I laugh and push him playfully. “Shut up,”

We get ready (and get slightly distracted, but none the matter) and head down to the great hall. Everybody was already there, so all eyes were on us when we walked through the doors late. I felt the heat climbing up my neck, but I kept walking to my place next to Mother. Steve sat besides me.

“Now that we’re all here” – Mother looks quickly down at me and I turn to look at Steve, both of us lowering our heads trying to hide an embarrassed smile – “I want you all to understand the importance of what it is about to happen. In a few days, when my beloved daughter returns to Man’s World, we will have forged an alliance that has never been forged before. Amazons and mankind will fight together to defeat an enemy to all – an enemy that threatens the very thing both of our people desire. Peace.”

Yes. The influence Bruce Wayne has is a great one and with his contacts with the government, especially his contact with Amanda Waller, an alliance forged with him is basically an alliance with the US government. I still have my doubts about how they will react to this, but Mother doesn’t know how they operate and our people and Bruce, Steve and I, need her words and encouragement right now for what’s to come.

“For centuries the Amazons have fought evil as it landed in our shores, but this time we are coming their way. No more of us waiting, no more surprises. This time we will surprise our enemies and we won’t do it alone.”

All Amazons, warriors and tutors alike agree with Mother, as their heads nod in ascent and a roar ricochets off of the walls. This is a perfect example of a leader rallying her troops.

“Amazons and mankind were created by the same Gods, and it is today that we become brothers and sisters. We will protect you until our dying breath and I now know, you will do the same for us.” She looks at Steve intensely and he’s taken aback by it. I take his hand and squeeze. I know what that look from my mother means. It means thank you. It means she acknowledges what you did and she respects you for it.

She nods and Steve nods back. He looks at me and I smile. The sacrifice he made was never acknowledged. Nobody ever knew that Captain Steve Trevor gave his life so that millions could live. They never knew they owed everything to this one man. Only five of us knew. Only one, 100 years later. But now, a whole population, albeit small, knows what he did. I know Steve never did anything for the recognition, but he deserves to know that people respect and commend what he did, and he now knows.

And hey, it’s not too bad to know that the Mother of the woman you love respects and likes you.

“Captain Steve Trevor and Bruce Wayne, please rise.”

I see the surprise in Bruce and Steve’s faces, but they rise anyway.

“For your dedication and bravery for fighting alongside my daughter and fighting for peace, I, the Amazon Queen, award you honorary citizenship to Themyscira. From this day forward you are welcomed on this island. From this day forward, you can consider this your home. Thank you. May the Gods protect you.”

“May the Gods protect you!” Everyone one in the great hall, myself included, exclaims. A cheer erupts and I stand up and hug Mother. I don’t say anything to her. She knows what this means to me. I look at Antiope over Mother’s shoulder and she smiles at me. I smile back and make a mental note to find the time to talk to her before we leave for Paris.

I turn to Steve and kiss him softly. The cheers from the Amazons grow louder.

“How does it feel to be an Amazon?” I ask teasingly.

His eyes dance with excitement. “All of a sudden I feel like I could punch through a wall,”

I laugh, “You probably can now,”

Everyone settles down eventually and we have breakfast. I look over Bruce’s direction and see how the Amazons just seem to be drawn to him like a magnet, but in an unexpected turn of events, he only has eyes for Venelia.

Dear God, I think. Could he actually…?

I shake my head. What needs to happen will happen, I guess.

Later, Mother, high ranking warriors, senators, Steve, Bruce and I head to the throne room to discuss what their plan is and how and when we could possibly meet in Man’s world.

“First of all, I would like to start this meeting by thanking Phillipus. She made the decision to step down from her position as General of the Amazonian army to allow my sister, and former General to take her place. She was not asked to do this nor was anyone suggesting she did, and yet she did it anyway. Phillipus, your counsel has been greatly appreciated and the warriors have great respect for you. As a token of my appreciation, I name you my hand; a position that has remained empty for centuries trying to find someone worthy. You are worthy of it, Phillipus.”

Phillipus takes a step forward and goes down on one knee. “Your Majesty, everything I do is for the good of our people and the mission the Gods gave us. I am humbled by your offer and I will do my very best to advice you as best as I can.”

Mother nods. “Rise. I know you will. Antiope.”

Antiope steps forward and looks at us. “As you might have noticed by now, we do not have the numbers mankind does, but we have the strength. One Amazon can easily take on 10 men and with our army of 3,000 warriors, I think we can prove to be quite helpful. Unfortunately, even with the information the Captain and I brought back from the Underworld, we are still at a disadvantage. Until we know for sure what powers Steppenwolf possesses, we won’t know how to attack best. In terms of weapons, the Mother Boxes are our best chance. We need to find one and we need to study it. The scholars of Themyscira are certainly the best equipped to do that,”

I see Bruce and Steve wince a little at that.

“General, you should know that my government won’t be as welcoming as you have been to us. They play a game of power and if they find any of the Mother Boxes first, you can be certain they won’t surrender it that easily, if at all.” Bruce says matter of factly.

Steve exhales, “They haven’t changed much, huh?”

“They’re ten times worse. Having the best military in the world hasn’t helped them stay humble either,”

Antiope looks annoyed by the realization that the alliance might one sided. “What do you suggest then, Bruce Wayne?”

He thinks for a minute, “There’s a woman. Her name is Amanda Waller. She’s in command of A.R.G.U.S, which is a United States federal agency operating under the jurisdiction of Homeland Security.”

Bruce just said a lot of words that went right over Mother and Antiope’s heads. I will have to explain to them how governments work in general later on.

“In a nutshell, her job is to defend the interests of the US by researching into people who possess superpowers and using them as ‘weapons’. She is a high-ranking government official. I can talk to her and explain the situation, see what we can do.”

“I do not mean offense by this, Bruce Wayne” – Mother says slightly exasperated – “But this Amanda Waller does not sound like a woman looking for peace. Actively looking for people with special abilities to use them as weapons? I don’t think it is within our best interest to join forces with her,”

I agree, but that’s not how things work in Man’s world. Governments in general are full of people only serving themselves and not the people they were sworn to look after. But they are the ones with the power, so they are the ones we must join forces with. The consequences of fighting Steppenwolf without including them could be seen as an act of war and that could be lethal.

“Your Majesty, I’m not disagreeing with you. Amanda Waller is ruthless and I have certainly doubted her intentions many times, but we need access and she has the keys. Having her involved is crucial.”

Mother looks to Antiope and she gives her a look that says the decision is up to her. Antiope looks at me and asks,

“What do you think, Diana?”

“I agree with Bruce. I have observed Amanda Waller and as much as I disagree with her methods, she is someone we need in order to begin a conversation with the high-ranking officials of the US government. We must tread carefully, but she is definitely important.”

Mother and Antiope nod and their eyes move left and right, analyzing every single detail over and examining every single threat before making any decisions.

“Phillipus, what do you think of this?”, Mother asks.

“Your Majesty, the General and yourself had decided to send a small group of us to Man’s world in order to introduce ourselves and our intentions with the upcoming war, but with this new information, I believe that is not longer a wise decision.”

“What do you suggest?”

“I suggest Diana is sent as our ambassador. The people of Man’s world are already familiar with her and they know what she fights for. And if it is Amanda Waller’s job to find people with superpowers, then she must know of Diana. There is fear in the unknown. They know more about the intentions of Wonder Woman than they do of the intentions of an unknown group of warriors from an unknown island. Diana is both Amazon and citizen of Man’s world. In my opinion, she is the best person to deliver our message.”

Phillipus looks to me and nods respectfully. I nod back in appreciation to her words.

“You speak wisely, Phillipus. Are you comfortable in taking that role, Diana?”

“I am, Mother. I know how to talk to them,”

I do know how to talk to them, but I’m not looking forward to it. I’ve somehow managed to avoid contact with Amanda Waller, but Phillipus’ assumption is not wrong. I am almost certain Amanda Waller may know a little too much about me, but since she hasn’t made her move yet, I haven’t made mine. But that ends the moment I talk to her. She will research until she finds everything there is to know about me. She may find out about Steve and that’s where I have to be careful. After what she did to Enchantress and the way she manipulated her and used Rick Flag’s love for June Moone to subdue the witch, I have to be extremely careful. If Amanda Waller dares to put one finger on Steve…

“It’s decided then. Diana will go in our behalf and when the time comes, we will fight. When do you think you will set sail back to Man’s world?”

I look at Bruce and Steve and see they are leaving the decision to me. “Two days, Mother. We leave in two days,”

I see the sadness in both her and Antiope’s eyes, but they hide it immediately. “Very well. I declare this meeting over. Thank you all for your time and cooperation,”

People start exiting the throne room and I stay back so that Steve and I can talk to Bruce about what we’ll do in two days.

“Have you two love birds decided what you want to do next?”

It almost seems he saves his annoying self just for me.

“I’m moving to Paris with her. Obviously.” Steve says.

Bruce smiles an almost sincere smile. “Yeah, that was obvious. Don’t worry about all the legal documentation. I just need your full name, where you were born, your age and I’ll do the rest.”

Steve looks surprised at Bruce’s offer. “Oh. Are you sure you want to do that? I wouldn’t want you to take unnecessary risks for me.”

Bruce laughs softly. “Like I told your girlfriend here, I can do that in my sleep. It’s no bother.”

He nods. “Okay. Thank you.”

“Sure.”

We stay quiet for a few seconds and sensing that I want to speak with Steve privately, he says, “Well, since we’re leaving soon I might as well do a bit of sight seeing.”

I nod and Bruce leaves the throne room followed by the guards that were at the entrance.

“Steve, we need to talk about what’s going to happen once we’re in Paris. I don’t think you shou-“

“Let me stop you right there. If you’re about to say that I should sit this one out, the answer is a resounding no.”

I exhale. I’m not surprised at all. I knew this would be his answer, and yet I still feel completely unprepared for his willingness to fight, even after everything that’s happened. Even after everything I know about him.

“I need you to understand something, Steve. This is not like before. We’re talking about an alien being that’s coming with an army, which powers we still don’t know about. You can’t just dive in, head first on this one. This fight is different.”

He looks at me as if I just stated the most obvious thing in the world. “I know. We both know the exact amount of information about this Steppenwolf. I know. But I’m not doing nothing. I simply can’t.”

I start feeling my frustration grow bigger and bigger with every word coming out of his mouth. Why can’t he see that I don’t want him to risk himself? Why can’t he see that I can’t bare the thought of him leaving me again? Why can’t he see that I’m trying to protect him?

“And what’s your plan exactly? Grab a shotgun and start shooting at them? Or are you going to infiltrate their camp?”

I know I shouldn’t be talking to him like that. It’s not fair. But right now, that’s the only way I’m able to speak; my frustration coming out in anger and annoyance.

My words hit their target though, because the expression on his face changes from mild frustration to one of anger.

“What do you want me to do, Diana? Drink a cup of coffee and eat a croissant while you, your friends and family and who knows who else, fights? You know who I am, and you know I can’t do that.”

Now I’m angry. Why is he so stubborn?! “There’s nothing you can do! Understand that. Please!”

He shakes his head. “I know I’m just one man. But I can talk to this Amanda Waller and maybe she ca-“

I cut him off. “You know nothing about Amanda Waller. You don’t know how far she’s willing to go to get what she wants. Your government is not what it used to be, Steve. What? Do you want to go knock on the Pentagon’s door and see if they’ll welcome you with open arms?”

He’s trying to contain his anger, but his eyes betray what his words don’t express. “I know my government! Don’t forget I used to be a part of it. You don’t need to tell me how things are. Plus, you’ve seen what I can do. What I’m capable of!”

“I’m not questioning your abilities, Steve! I’m saying that your abilities are not going to be enough this time!”

He rubs his face. “It’s not about what I can do alone. It’s about what I can contribute to the group! I know how politicians are and if you can understand how they think, then I -”

“Stop, Steve! You don’t get to tell me how things work anymore. Don’t forget that I’ve been on this Earth longer than you ever were. Longer than you will ever be!”

I close my eyes. Why did I say that? Why did I say that?

He exhales loudly and with his hands on his hips, he looks at the floor. “I know what you’re doing. But Diana, I can’t just sit by while you risk your life for mine and everyone else’s. Don’t ask me to do that. I can’t. I can’t.”

I look at him and wonder what is it exactly that goes through his head before making these decisions. I know what goes through mine, but Steve does not have powers like I do. So I guess in other words, he’s braver than me.

“Put yourself in my shoes for a second, hm? What would you do? Because right now, if we were fighting this alien, I would constantly be looking over my shoulder to make sure you were okay; that you were still alive, and that’s not only dangerous for me, but for the people fighting alongside me. What would you do, Steve? I want you to tell me ‘cause I don’t have the answer. What would you do if I had been the one dead for a century and suddenly I came back?”

He shakes his head, exasperated and he opens his arms wide. “I don’t know! I don’t know, Diana. The only thing I do know is that I made a promise to my country and to myself that I would fight to protect my home and to fight for what is right, and that’s what I did. For God’s sake, I gave my life for the greater good!”

“Yes! Yes, you did. But how many times are you willing to give everything, Steve? It’s not just you anymore. Don’t you get it? I need you. That was made extremely clear to me over this last century. And maybe it’s selfish, but you know what? I don’t care. Every day I fight and every day I give my all to, just like you, fight for what is right, but when do we get to enjoy the fruits of our labor? We deserve happiness too. We have the right to put ourselves first every once in a while.”

This is a thought I’ve had every now and then. But then the cynical part of me would always say ‘What’s the point? With whom are you going to share that happiness?’ It didn’t matter how many times I tried to be happy, actually happy, at the end of the day it was just me and that was never enough.

Until now.

“Listen to what you’re saying, though. You’re asking me to do nothing. You’re asking me to stay in your apartment in Paris and wait for you to come back to tell me that this alien is gone, and what if you don’t come back? I need you too. I came back from the Underworld and risked everything because it wasn’t enough. I need to be there, right next to you. It may sound stupid. I know I’m just a man and you’re half God, and if it really came down to it, I know I probably wouldn’t be much help, but I can’t bare the thought of you risking your life and I’m doing nothing other than wait. Even if it means being in an office and making phone calls, I have to do something.”

It’s the honesty in his words that completely disarms me. The anger slowly fades to reveal the fear I feel at the thought of something happening to Steve. And I get it. I get where he’s coming from, ‘cause I couldn’t just wait for someone else to fight a battle for me. Especially someone I love. But my heart and mind are at conflict. So I give it one last chance, even though I know it will be futile.

“What if something happens to you? Then what? 100 years, Steve. I thought about you everyday for 100 years, and you came back to me, against all odds, you came back. I want you safe. Please, do this for me. Please.”

I see the internal battle and I know he’s trying to find within him the one little piece that agrees with me 100%. But I know him well enough to know he won’t find it. It’s simply not who he is.

He shrugs and shakes his head. “I can’t do that. I’m sorry. Try to see it from my perspective. What if I asked you not to go? To stay with me and let the league and everyone else deal with Steppenwolf? You wouldn’t agree to that ‘cause it’s not who you are. It’s not who I am.”

I understand now why people say that being with someone similar to you is difficult. Steve and I are both stubborn; we both fight for what we believe is right, and we both try to protect each other from harm even at the risk of the other. I have no other choice but to accept that and the same goes for him, but that doesn’t mean I always have to like it. And right now, I don’t.

“Everything I fought for during all this time has always been for you and for the good of people and now, I will also fight for us. Just make sure there’s an us at the end of this war,”

I start walking towards the door and when I walk past him, he calls my name.

“I need to be alone. I’ll see you tonight.”

And with that, I exit the throne room and make my way to the highest point in Themyscira to try and find the inner strength to prepare not only my mind, but my heart for what it is to come.

Chapter Text

14

“You used to come here as a child whenever something plagued your curious little mind,” I hear Antiope say.

I’m lying down on the grass and she’s close enough now for her body to cast a shadow over me. I open my eyes to see her looking down at me with a soft smile.

“Do you remember what you said to me when I asked you why you came here so much?”

I feel the corners of my mouth lift as I remember my answer, “I told you that since this was the highest point in Themyscira, then maybe the Gods will be able to hear me better when I talked to them,”

She nods and moves to sit down next to me with her legs crossed. She pats my thigh gently and I sit up, copying her position.

“I ran into the Captain. He seemed quite distressed,”

“Did he say anything to you?”

Antiope shakes her head, “Nothing other than ask me to make sure you were okay. So are you?”

My shoulders slump and I can’t help the frustrated sigh that escapes me, “I’m anything but. I just – I’m trying to protect him. Is that so terrible?”

She moves her eyes to the ocean in front of us and contemplates her answer for a moment. “It is not terrible that you two are trying to protect each other. It is inefficient, but not terrible.”

I snort at her analysis of my situation.

“I understand your instinct to protect the Captain, Diana. But until you accept that you simply cannot protect him from everything, you won’t be able to be happy. You will be more preoccupied with making sure he does not have a scratch on him, rather than enjoying your life with him. The Gods gave you a gift. Do not waste it,”

Gift. Yes, Steve being back is a gift, but I’m trying to protect that gift. All my life I’ve always had the impulse to protect people, but when it comes to Steve, or anyone I love for that matter, that impulse increases tenfold. After everything I’ve seen in Man’s World, after all the evil I’ve fought, how can I possibly turn that off?

“I’m trying to actually have a life with him, Antiope. He wants to fight against a being that will crush him in seconds. I know what Steve is capable of. I know how strong he can be, but at the end of the day, he’s just a man,”

She turns to me, “I believe he is very much aware of that. I am not going to pretend the ego all men have is not playing a part in this, but I think the Captain has earned the right to fight this fight. I think you need to ask yourself what will happen if he is not a part of this. What will that do to what you two have?” 

Antiope asks all the right questions and the answers that come to mind are ones I would rather not think about, but I don’t want anything to happen to Steve. I just want to – arghhhh!

“What would you do, Antiope? Because right now I’m at a loss. I don’t know how to move past this. I know we both have to reach a compromise, but even that scares me,” 

She nods her head as she listens to what I’m saying. “Since you are asking for my opinion, I think you are looking too closely at this. Take a step back. You have a friend on this island who is ‘just a man’ like the Captain is, and I do not see you nervous for him. How are you okay with Bruce Wayne fighting Steppenwolf and Parademons, but not the Captain?”

I shake my head, “That’s different. Bruce is a man of many resources and a man of this century. There won’t be enough time to show Steve how the world works today before Steppenwolf and his army strike. Any technology Bruce could give Steve, he won’t understand,”

“That is a weak excuse, Diana. From what I have heard, you were at a similar situation when you went to Man’s world the first time and the Captain did not ever tell you you could not go, correct?”

I feel slightly trapped.

“No, he never told me I couldn’t go. He actually was quite accepting of my need to go and help,”

I think it has become quite obvious that I have to find a way to be ‘okay’ with this. Not that I will ever be. But I also can’t be the one to tell Steve no. Who am I to tell him that? And if I’m being honest with myself, it would very much surprise me (and not in the good way) if Steve agreed to not fight. That’s not the man I fell in love with and the last thing I want is for him to change who he is for me.

I think Steve accepted who I was way before we left the island. That’s why he barely fought me when I told him I was coming with him. Why would I deny him the chance to fight for what he believes in? It wouldn’t be fair and it wouldn’t be right. The least I could do is give him that chance, just like he gave it to me.

I let my head hung and I cover my face.

Antiope laughs, “And the Princess surrenders the fight.” – I feel her hand rub soothing circles on my back – “Everything is going to turn out okay, Diana. Your Father is not a cruel God. Why would he allow the Captain to return to take him away from you just like that? Or me for that matter?”

I would argue that he’s not the only God and after seeing the things I have seen during all this time, cruel things have happened and will continue to happen. But I don’t voice those pessimistic thoughts. Instead I decide to focus on the good and let Antiope’s faith in the omnipotent beings above to wash over me.

“I guess. I’ll talk to Steve later to see if we can come up with a plan that can satisfy both us, but not right now. Right now I just want to spend some time with you. I’m leaving in two days and we haven’t really talked,”

Antiope nods, “Yes, I agree. Let me start by saying that I am as proud as I will ever be for what you have accomplished. You were always good, Diana, and I knew one day you would do amazing things, and not just because Zeus intended for you to be a weapon. Ever since you were little I knew you would achieve things that would surprise all of us. I only regret not being here to see them happen.”

I lower my head feeling unprepared at the praise from my Aunt and teacher.

“I hope you realize what you have accomplished. It is nothing short of awe-inspiring,”

“Thank you, Antiope. I just did what I thought I needed to do. Not more, not less,”

She shakes her head at my answer, but not in disapproval. Accepting praise hasn’t always been my forte. Outside of training, that is. Back in my days of intense training, it took me so long to perfect certain moves, that when I achieved them it felt nice to receive some praise for my efforts. Of course Antiope never over did it since she knew I needed to feel like there was space for me to improve.

Sensing my slight discomfort at her praise, she veers her sentiment towards what she knows will make me feel more comfortable, “Well, I was quite impressed by the display of your powers yesterday, Godkiller. You are a formidable force. Phillipus trained you well.”

I nod, “Yes, she has a way with words. She can really tell you something and you know exactly what she means. The other day, I was having a really hard time controlling air and she told me to find the balance between my duty and whom I was deep inside. When I found that balance, wonderful things happened,”

I remember the feeling at being able to control air and think of what I wanted it to do and then seeing it happen. But I don’t think it quite matches the feeling, the raw power I felt when I was finally able to fly. I felt so free and like I could do anything. I did in fact feel formidable.

“What was the difference you felt when you found balance as opposed to before?”

I think back to the times where I fought without it. I always felt like I went from 0 to 60 in seconds. It was like a burst of energy inside me that would send me skidding across anything. I knew it was my desire to protect, but I now realize that it was also fueled by anger.

“I guess the best way to put it is that before, it was an uncontrollable, raging fire. The objective was to burn and this raging fire would do that, but not in the most productive way. But now, I can guide it. I can control the magnitude of its reach and because I can do that, my energy doesn’t run out that easily. Before, when a fight was over, I could barely make it back to my apartment. The amount of energy I would lose was incredible. But now I don’t have to worry about that.”

“It would seem that with each passing day you are getting closer to embracing your demigod status,”

I smile, “It would seem like it,”

We sit there for hours and hours. She tells me about her experiences in the Underworld and how Steve basically threatened her into letting him come with her. I tell her about my life these last 100 years and although she has always been more ‘no nonsense’ with her answers, she expressed in almost the same way my Mother did, that she was sorry at how lonely my life had been.

In this last week I’ve learnt to stop looking at the past. The way my life turned out, the way I decided to live my life was a result of the cards that I was handed. Now, I have new cards to play with. The only difference is that now I know the rules of the game and so, I will put up much more of a fight. And I’m not playing the game alone.

“I think it’s time for you to talk to your Captain,”

I lie down on the grass and complain loudly, “We’re going to end up fighting again. Whatever he tells me, I won’t be okay with and whatever I tell him, he won’t be okay with,”

Antiope stands up and stretches her hand out to me, “You are both adults. You will find a solution to this. Come on, Diana,”

I take her hand a little too hard, but she doesn’t even bat an eyelash. We walk to the palace and I drag my feet a little bit, trying to delay the talk I need to have with Steve. We eventually reach the stairs that lead to my chambers and I look at her searching for some reassurance. She nods her head and I look at the stairs and start my climb.

I linger outside my door and taking a deep breath, I go inside. Steve is standing in front of the fireplace, gazing at the flames as if hoping to find the answers there. He turns at the sound of the door opening and he looks at me a bit surprised.

“I wasn’t sure if you were going to come,”

I walk a little further into the room but I keep my distance from Steve. I feel like if I’m too close, then he might be able to get me to agree to something I might later regret. I cross my arms, feeling a little awkward.

“I told you I would see you tonight,”

There’s this silence and you can only hear the crackling of the burning wood. We both look at each other, not knowing exactly how to start this conversation. The last thing I want is to end up fighting again, but this conversation needs to happen.

“I’m not – “

“I wasn’t – “

We both share a little laugh at our timing, but the smiles turn into wistful looks.

“Diana, I strongly believe in what I said earlier, but something I failed to mention is that this time, I’m going to make sure I come out of this alive. I came back for you. I love you and I’m not planning to spend my days fighting all evils. I want to spend them with you. I want to fight this so that we can be happy. Truly happy,”

I take a step closer, his words having a magnetic effect on me. “I love you and I want to do the same, but I also know you. I don’t want you to put yourself in situations where you might feel compelled to be the hero again,”

Twice now he’s done that. The first time happened when he got on that plane and the second time, when he decided to stay back and fight Cerberus. Antiope told me. I’m afraid that even if he says he will not do that, his impulse will be stronger than his words.

“I don’t need to be the hero. Not this time. That’s for you and the league to do now. This fight is different. I’m fighting for our future and it would be counterproductive if I got myself killed again,”

I know he’s trying to lighten the mood, but I find myself unable to laugh or even smile at his remark.

“I just don’t want to see you getting hurt.” My voice cracks at that because right now, the image of that plane exploding is playing in the back of my mind and I can feel the fresh waves of pain coming closer and closer.

At the visible expression of pain, Steve comes into my space and he places his hands on each side of my face. “I’m not. I promise you the moment I feel things are getting out of control, I’ll get out. I’ll even scream for help if I have to. I mean it, Diana. I am not jeopardizing this second chance at life.”

There’s this tone Steve’s voice gets when he is passionate about something and I can hear that in his voice now. I believe every single word his saying. Why wouldn’t I? But the truth of the matter is that until Steppenwolf and his minions are vanquished, I will be scared every day for Steve’s life. But I can’t expect Steve to put his life on hold while Steppenwolf is dealt with.

So no, I won’t be okay when we fight this war because every second of it I’ll be afraid. But I have faith in good and specially, in Steve. It takes some effort to say this, but I believe it’s the right thing,

“We’ll fight together, side by side. I’ll have your back and I know you’ll have mine. Just be okay.”

He smiles and nods. “I will be. I promise,”

I nod at his reassurance and placing my hand at the base of his neck, I close the space between us and kiss him.

A promise has been sealed.

Chapter Text

15

The next two days go by in a blink of an eye. All of us allow ourselves to enjoy these days of happiness by putting aside all of our worries and future battles. Mother organized a big feast to celebrate not only my return home, but Antiope and Steve’s return and our new alliance with men.

Well, some of them.

I stand in front of the mirror watching myself in a floor length, white tunic with a plunging neckline. My hair falls in waves over my shoulders and the most unburdened look I remember seeing on my face in a long time.

I walk over to my bed and grab the golden rope to tie it around my waist. I feel a little jittery. I feel vulnerable now that I don’t have any particular mission I’m going to complete or information I’m looking to gather. Me going to this feast is just for me. No hidden agenda and no ulterior motives.

I finish tying the knot and look at myself one more time before heading to the great hall. As I descend the stairs, I hear the music grow louder and louder and I wonder if there will ever come a time when occasions like this one will become more plentiful.

I reach the bottom of the stairs and I can hear the distinct laughter of Antiope and Menalippe, who no doubt have had a few drinks in them by now. Amazons, being the mega humans that we are, have a higher tolerance for alcohol which makes our spirits quite strong.

“You look beautiful,”

I turn around to see Steve and Bruce both wearing beige pants, but Steve’s wearing a light blue shirt and Bruce a white one. My mouth falls slightly open at seeing Steve look so… modern.

“Where did you get that?” is the first thing that I think to say.

Steve points to Bruce, “Bruce lent me some of his clothes and the seamstress your mother kindly sent our way made a couple of arrangements and now it fits perfectly,”

He looks down at himself and then up at me and I can’t help but smile at the spark in his eyes.

“You look very handsome,”

He smiles at me and I feel my smile grow bigger and bigger. Apparently we were admiring each other longer than I thought because Bruce aggressively reminds us he’s here. Clearing his throat very loudly and slapping his hands together, he looks between the two of us.

“So, shall we head to the party? I have a very hot Amazon, hopefully in a stunning dress as well, waiting for me somewhere in there,”

I roll my eyes at Bruce and Steve takes a few steps towards me and offers me his arm, “Princess,”

I take his arm and nod my head slightly forward, “Captain,”

We walk down the corridor that leads to the great hall and when we reach the doors, two guards open them wide for us and as soon as the three of us come into the room, standing side by side, cheers erupt.

We make our way to the centre of the hall where Mother awaits for us with a warm smile. She hugs all three of us and raises her hand to ask everyone to be silent. 

“Today we celebrate four people who have fought against Gods, against death and against evils one should never have to face. Today we celebrate truly courageous and selfless people. Bruce Wayne; a citizen of Man’s World who has showed us that no matter where you come from, if you decide to do good then wonderful things can be achieved. For your willingness to help vanquish evil, we celebrate you. Antiope; our cherished General and my beloved sister, you have always put everyone before you and there isn’t a single person in this room who does not know that. For your bravery and selflessness, we celebrate you.

Captain Steve Trevor, a pilot who crashed into our island and changed everything for us in a matter of minutes. You showed us, showed me, that not all men are the same and that we shouldn’t condemn all for the acts of one. You showed my daughter what lay outside Themyscira, you protected her and guided her and most importantly, you showed her love. For your compassion and willingness to protect and not destroy, we celebrate you.”

I feel myself fill up with infinite amounts of pride as I look at Steve and see him with his head bowed, his humbleness not allowing him to look at my mother in the eyes as she praises him. Eventually he raises his head and I lock eyes with him and hope all of that pride and love is reflected in my eyes.

He winks at me and I can’t help the smile that tugs at my lips.

“And last but not least, Diana. You are a better Amazon than I will ever be. You don’t ever let anyone tell you who you should protect, even if that someone is me. You have sacrificed so much in your life to make sure others are safe. You always fight, even when all seems lost; even when all seems hopeless. You have a gift and it has nothing to do with who your Father is. You are truly good. You have the purest heart of anyone I have ever met and I can truly call myself the luckiest woman for having had the honor of being your Mother. I once told you you were my greatest joy and today, you are my greatest pride. For your bravery and dedication to the cause, we celebrate you,”

I feel the tears run down my cheeks as Mother raises her cup and everyone follows suit exclaiming,

“May the Gods protect Bruce Wayne! May the Gods protect Antiope! May the Gods protect Steve Trevor! May the Gods protect Diana!”

The band starts playing music again and I move to envelope Mother in a hug. “Thank you, Mother. Your words mean so much to me,”

I feel her cup the back of my head and kiss me on the temple, “It is the truth and I should have told you that earlier. I love you, Diana,”

“I love you too, Mother,”

She pulls back and rests her hand on my cheek. She looks over my shoulder and nods her head forward, “I believe you have a Captain waiting for you. Go. Have fun,”

I smile at her and turn around to walk towards Steve. I stretch my hand out and he takes it.

“I think it’s time for you to truly know what dancing looks like,”

He throws his head back and laughs, “I don’t remember you complaining at all,”

I feel the heat creep up my neck as I remember exactly what kind of dance we ended up doing that night.

“I wasn’t complaining. I was merely making an observation,”

We walk to the dance floor and I teach him the most basic of moves which involve some lifts and turns, nothing complicated, but as it turns out, Steve is actually a really good dancer and we dance for hours.

The next day we stand in the shore, duffle bag in my hand, Steve and Bruce next to me and feeling very homesick even though I’m still home.

“We shall wait for your message and we will be ready,” Mother says to me trying to stay ‘all business’ but I can hear the sadness in her voice even though it’s not obvious.

“And Bruce will send a ship to take you all to the battle scene,” I say going over the plan one last time.

She nods her head and lets a moment pass before hugging me fiercely.

“We’ll see each other again soon, Mother.”

“I know. But I will still miss you everyday. Be careful,”

I pull back and smile at her. “I will be. I’ll miss you too.”

“She’ll be fine, Hippolyta,”

I switch my gaze to Antiope and she gives me that knowing look, “We’ll give them hell,”

“Yes, we will,”

She nods her head once and hugs me as fiercely as Mother. She pulls back and looks at Steve.

“Captain,” Antiope walks a little closer to him. “We have been on quite a journey together and it seems we are going to be on it still. I wish you good fortune and until we meet again, my friend,”

Steve smiles at her, “I wouldn’t have chosen anyone else to escape the Underworld with. Thanks for everything, Antiope. I’m glad I get to call you a friend,”

Antiope motions him forward and hugs him. We all say our goodbyes one more time (including Bruce saying a very passionate goodbye to Venelia) and we get on the boat to cross the barrier to the yacht. I sit on the boat and look at Mother and Antiope and see them grow smaller and smaller until a ripple appears and just like that, they’re gone.

I turn around and see Steve looking at me with a sad smile, “It won’t be too long until you’re with them again,”

“I know,”

We reach the yacht and I momentarily forget my sadness over leaving my home because I’m too distracted by Steve’s stunned face.

“This is quite a yacht, Bruce,”

Bruce stretches his hand out to me and I take it, stepping onto the yacht.

“Oh, this old thing? I was actually going to donate it. I have better ones. I just assumed Diana would prefer the 5 million dollar yacht as opposed to the 25 million dollar one. For a woman who wears Prada, she really doesn’t like anything too flashy,”

I give Bruce a look, but he shrugs. I like wearing nice clothes. It’s one of the few things I actually spoil myself with. Plus, I work at the Louvre. I can’t exactly wear Levi’s to work.

Steve’s jaw practically hits the floor, “25 million do – Wow. You really are a billionaire,”

“Fourth richest man on Earth,” Bruce reminds him once again.

Bruce turns the motor on and we sail towards Nice. When we're near the Amalfi coast, a drone circled us for a few minutes before landing on Bruce’s feet. He leant down and opened a compartment on the drone and pulled out an envelope. He gave a signal to the camera on the drone and it flew away.

“What was that?”, I asked a little confused. Steve was even more confused, not only by the situation but by the actual drone.

“This,” – He hands the envelope to Steve – “is your way in. Inside you’ll find a birth certificate, ID, passport and driver’s license,”

Steve looks surprised at Bruce and opens the envelope. He pulls out all the documents, looking at them closely. “Steve Rockwell Trevor. Date of birth June 2^nd, 1980... How did you even do this so fast?”

Bruce points at himself, “I’m fast like that... and I have an Alfred,”

Steve frowns confused but he shakes his head, finally understanding Bruce a little better. “Thank you,”

“You already thanked me. No need to keep repeating it,” For all his grandeur and big ego, Bruce can be incredibly humble.

The rest of the trip is uneventful and by the time we reach Nice, the sun is coming out. As expected, a member of the coast guard is expecting us and he asks to see all of our documentation. He examines Steve’s passport more thoroughly as he’s an American and seems to find no problems with it. We breathe a sigh of relieve as we walk the marina towards the parking lot.

“Are you sure you don’t want the Lambo?”

I roll my eyes, “I’m sure, Bruce.”

“Okay, okay. I guess this is where we part ways. I’ll call in a week, but if you need anything, I’m just a phone call away,”

“Thank you, Bruce. For everything. See you in a week,” I hug him and when I pull back, Steve shakes his hand.

“See you later, Bruce,”

“See you later, Steve,”

With that, he gets into his car and drives off.

“Now what?” Steve asks me.

“We uber to the airport,”

“We what?”

I laugh at his confusion, “I’ll explain it to you later,”

We reach the airport and Steve cannot even believe what he’s seeing. The actual design of the airport and the little things like vending machines and scanners fascinate him. When we reach security, my heart starts beating a little faster as the true test of Bruce’s ability to falsify documents will be tested now. We try to look as unworried as possible, laughing about anything we can think of. The agents don’t even bat an eyelash our way. They scan my passport and I walk through the X-ray machine.

“Have a nice flight, madame. Monsieur,”

Steve copies my exact movements. They scan his passport, he walks through the X-ray machine,

“Have nice flight, monsieur,”

We walk towards the bar and sag with relief.

Thank you, Bruce.

We reach Paris four hours later and we take a taxi to my apartment on the Oberkampf district. We ride the elevator to the 7^th floor; I pull my keys out of my duffle bag and open the door.

“Welcome home, Steve,”

He takes tentative steps and looks around. “This is beautiful,”

“Thanks. I tried to make it mine. Although no place I ever lived ever felt like home. Maybe that will change now,”

He smiles at me, “I think it will,”

“Well,” – I lower my duffle bag next to the coffee table – “I’m making myself something to drink. You want anything?”

“I’ll take whatever you’re having,”

I see him move to the couch and sit down. I go to the kitchen and put a pod into the coffee maker and repeat the process once again. I take both mugs with me to the living room. I sit next to him on the couch, folding my legs under me. I hand him the mug.

“Here,”

“Thank you,” He takes a tentative sip. His eyebrows shoot up and he stares down at the milky brown liquid. “This tastes amazing.”

I smile at the role reversal. 100 years ago I was the one being constantly amazed at every new thing I saw and every new thing I tasted. Now I get to be the one to show him all the wonderful things this century has to offer.

“That one is my favourite – vanilla latte. The coffee machine is one of my most prized possessions,” I say with a smile.

Then I remember his watch, the most precious thing of all.

I stand up and walk to my bedroom to bring the watch from my nightstand. I feel Steve’s eyes on me, sensing the change in my mood, but he doesn’t say anything.

Everywhere I went, the watch has always been on my person, and every time I went to sleep, the watch was always right next to me on my nightstand. A constant reminder, a physical reminder that he was real – that he was here. And now I have him back. 

I walk back to the living room with the watch on my hand. He’s looking at me curiously, not noticing his watch. When I sit down next to him, putting my mug on the coffee table and leaning back, he sees it and freezes.

“My watch,” He too puts down his mug and takes the watch gently from me, rubbing the glass with his thumb. “After all this time. You kept it,” He raises his eyes to meet mine.

I feel the tears coming and for the first time since Steve’s death, I will allow myself to be seen crying in Man’s World. The last person who saw me cry was Etta, before she passed away. Every single tear I’ve shed since then has been done in the privacy of my own home. I never found a group of friends with whom I felt I could be that vulnerable with. Or, I should say, I didn’t bother to get to know anyone well enough again. I just couldn’t fathom the thought of losing someone close to me once more.

“That watch helped me so many times. When I thought I couldn’t be happy again, I would look at it and remember that you gave your life up so that the rest of us could fight for our happiness. When I was angry at the things that men would do, I would look at it and be reminded that with the darkness that all men have in their hearts, there’s also light,”

The unshed tears that were making my vision blurry spill over and I look down at my hands, feeling overwhelmed by the emotions I haven’t let myself feel in so long. I feel Steve cover my hand with his and give it a squeeze, understanding frighteningly well what I’m going through.

He doesn’t say a word.

“On the days that I would feel your absence and the pain in my heart was choking me, I would look at your watch and remember the time that we did have. And although it wasn’t nearly enough, it got me through,”

He puts his hand on my cheek and gently wipes away the tears with the pad of his thumb. My eyes close instantly at his touch. I cover his hand with mine, letting his presence anchor me.

“I have missed you every day for the last 100 years,” I feel an overwhelming urge to say, “I love you. I always have and I always will. I love you,”

I open my eyes to see him crying too. “I love you. I’ve loved you since the moment I saw you and I’m sorry I left you. We’re not wasting any more time. I’m here now. I’m still not a hundred percent sure how the hell I managed that, but I’m here,”

We both laugh a watery laugh. Both of his hands are now holding my face, his thumbs rubbing my temples. I lean forward so that our foreheads are touching.

“I promise you this time nothing will tear us apart. I’m here to stay by your side for as long as I possibly can. I will fight anything and anyone who threatens our time together, I promise you that,”

I nod my head and close the space between us. The kiss is different from all the other kisses I’ve shared with Steve. It feels like the sealing of a promise.

And we all know that a promise, a promise is unbreakable.

Chapter Text

Epilogue

We go to bed that night enveloped in each other’s arms after having connected in the most profound way yet. I find myself dreaming about a future with Steve. I’m looking down at us. I can see the happiness practically radiating from the both of us in waves. I see we’re walking on the shore of Themyscira, holding hands; the sound of children’s laughter somewhere close by.

Wait. Children’s laughter? There are no children in Themyscira. I was the first and only one.

I start to look around, trying to find the source of the most delightful sound I may have ever heard. I look everywhere near Steve and I, but I find no one. I’m surprised to feel utterly disappointed. Especially because the laughter I could hear somehow sounded familiar.

“Is that what you want?”

I jump, startled, by the voice I suddenly hear next to me.

“Father! You startled me,” I say looking at him with eyes a little wide. “What is going on? Is this a dream?”

He smiles at me and looks down at the other me down at the beach with Steve.

“It was not my intention to startled you, my daughter. Forgive me,” He puts his hand on his chest and bows his head slightly.

I nod, accepting his apology.

“Diana, everything you have done over the last 100 years has been commendable, and you have made me very proud. So I came here to bestow upon you a gift. I have seen Steve’s heart. What you are seeing right now, it is not your dream. It is his,”

I turn to look at him and try to figure out why he’s showing me all of this. I know Steve loves me. I know he wants to spend the rest of his life with me. Of course we haven’t talked about children yet, but eventually we’ll have that conversation, I assume. Why is he here showing me his dream? And what kind of gift does he want to give me?

I ask, since I can’t come up with the answers myself.

“Well, you have not answered my question yet, child. Is this what you want?”

I look down at the beach once again and I see Steve whispering something in my ear that makes me burst out into laughter. I push him lightly on the shoulder and he stumbles backwards a couple of steps. He opens his mouth in disbelief and shakes his head in mock disapproval before moving fast and picking me up. He starts running towards the water with me thrown over his shoulder. When he’s waist deep into the ocean, he lifts me up and throws me in. I emerge a few seconds later to splash water at his face. I swim the short distance between us to wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him.

“Yes, Father. That’s what I want. That and so much more,” I answer with longing in my voice.

I see him nod from my periphery, my eyes glued to the scene below.

“You are a demigod, Diana. He is a human. He will eventually die, like the rest of them. Whether it be from old age or sickness, he will die,”

I turn to look at him now. “I know that. You don’t have to remind me. But I’m choosing to focus on the present. I just got him back, I don’t want to have to think of a time where he won’t be with me anymore,”

I exhale exasperated.

Why is he doing this? Why would he stain such a beautiful moment?

“What if I told you, you do not have to ever worry about that time coming?” My confusion must be apparent on my face since he continues with his explanation. “Like I said, you have made me very proud and I believe you have earned a gift,”

He turns his body completely towards me and holds me by the shoulders.

“I will remove the biological clock of Steve Trevor, so that the passage of time has no effect on his body. He will remain very much human. He can get sick, he can be killed, but he will not age. Diana, I am giving you and Steve the gift of time. So that you may create the future you want for as long as you want it. You both have earned it,”

I stare at my Father, taking in what he just told me. Steve being back would’ve been enough. How many people can say that a loved one came back from the dead? I had considered myself the luckiest woman that day on the beach when Steve had come back. But this gift? I don’t think I will ever be able to fully understand exactly what I did to deserve such kindness.

“Father, thank you. Thank you,” And for the first time, I step forward and hug my Father.

He welcomes my hug. I feel his hand on the back of my head, cradling it.

“Your heart is the purest I have ever encountered, Diana. All you do is put everyone first and you second. I think it is time for you to come first,” He pulls back, hands on my shoulders again. “You deserve happiness and he will give it to you,”

He leans forward and kisses my forehead.

My eyes snap open and I look around to see I’m in my apartment again. I turn my head to look at Steve and see a glow over his heart. It floats there for a moment, as if assessing. Then all of that energy comes together as a tiny ball of light that sinks itself in the middle of his chest.

For a moment I think that he felt absolutely nothing and that in the morning I would have to explain to him my Father’s gift, but he sits up abruptly with a gasp and a hand flying to his chest.

“What the hell was that?!” he asks scared and confused.

I sit up and smile at him, putting my hand on top of his. “I don’t think you will believe me when I tell you,”

At the obvious happiness on my face, he visibly relaxes. “After everything we’ve been through, I think I will,”

My smile widens and I tell him all about my dream.

THE END.