It was a bright, damp morning that broke over the next day. Steve and Diana walked the path to the little house in the corner of the campus, both of them preparing mentally for their interrogation. Steve didn’t really wanted to think that particular word, but what else was there to say?
Diana’s mind was churning with thoughts and possibilities. Despite the seriousness of their mission, she couldn’t hold back the shadow of a smile, or the brightness in her dark eyes.
“Now remember, just at least
try to let me do the talking?”
Diana stopped walking to fold her arms, but picked her pace back up quickly. “I don’t see why. I happen to think I’m just as useful as you are. Who knows, perhaps even more.”
Steve fought to keep his eyes from rolling. “I’m sure you’re gonna help. But this is my job, and I’m a professional, and you’re not. So just let me handle things.”
Diana shrugged her shoulders, but made a point to beat Steve to the doorbell. He stared for a second at her almost smug look, but quickly shook himself back into a professional mindset when the door opened.
Julia Kapatelis ran over her two visitors with calm, confident eyes. “May I help you?”
Steven reached into his breast pocket and showed her the badge in his wallet. “Steve Trevor, Inter-Agency Defense Command. Is this the home of Vanessa Kapatelis?”
“Why?” Julia asked, looking alarmed.
“We have reason to believe that Vanessa may be involved in an information trade, and I need to talk to her,” explained Steve calmly. “If I could just have a few moments of your time—“
“What? What do you think she’s been doing? Not my daughter!”
“Professor Kapatelis, if you could just—“
“She can’t have done anything so wrong, she can’t!”
Diana stepped in front of Steve and into Julia’s sight. Her eyes looked straight into the professor’s, with a calm strength to counter Julia’s panicking gaze. “We think your daughter may be in danger.”
Julia’s words left her, and after a moment’s pause, she stood aside to let Steve and Diana into her home. Steve shot Diana a look of half gratitude, half annoyance as they walked inside. Diana only smiled at him.
“Vanessa?” Julia called into the house. “Come downstairs, right now!”
But the footsteps that they heard belonged to Donna Troy instead. She laid an easy hand on the rail as she came down the stairs. “Nessie went out, Professor.”
“What? When?” Julia demanded, nearly advancing on Donna as she reached the ground.
Donna spared a look at their two guests before answering, “I don’t know, she just said she was going out. Maybe half an hour ago.”
Julia’s fists clenched, and she tried to calm herself. Diana stood as observant as ever, and took the floor. “Are you Donna Troy?”
“I am.”
Diana studied the girl—barely younger than herself, it wasn’t fair to call her a girl. She whispered something quickly into Steve’s ear, and he nodded. “May I speak with you, Donna? I’d like to ask a few questions.”
Although confused, Donna nodded, and led Diana to a small office where the two of them could talk.
Steve and Julia were left in the hallway with an awkward silence hanging over their heads. It was Julia who finally broke it, asking, “Would it do any good to talk to me? Or at least, could you tell me what my daughter has gotten into?”
Steve sighed quietly. “I understand that this must be hard for you, Professor. We have…suspicions that Vanessa is involved in a chain of people selling top-secret information. We were able to track her name and this address from one of the envelopes we confiscated.”
“What?” Julia sank into a chair, and Steve hurried to sit down as well, hoping to keep her off of the edge. “But she’s only seventeen! What could she possibly be doing?”
Steve shifted uncomfortably. “That’s why I need to speak with her personally. I need to determine how she’s receiving the information, and who she’s sending it to besides the one we caught…it’s entirely possible that she isn’t aware of what she’s doing,” he added, hoping to comfort Julia.
“Good God, I hope so.”
*****
Donna found herself talking easily, sprawled back in her swivel chair, as comfortable as if she had known Diana for years. Somehow, their conversation had meandered to Donna’s own problems, and neither of the women seemed to mind very much.
“…and I just feel like something’s wrong, you know? But I can’t put a finger on it. Doctor Williams is great to me, and I mean,” she hesitated for a moment, but admitted, “I was even going to stop treatment so I could date him. Told him so last time I was there.”
Diana listened intently, her piercing eyes fixed on Donna’s. “What did he say?”
The other girl opened her mouth to answer, but stopped short. “I…wow, I don’t remember. That’s so weird…I know I asked him…” Donna ran a hand through her own black hair as she tried to recall the day. “Oh my god, I have no idea what happened.”
Diana blinked, and let Donna continue without asking anything more.
“This is…that’s it, there’s something totally wrong here. I don’t know how I’ve been missing it. It’s almost like….like…”
“Like he’s controlling you?”
Donna turned her head sharply, and looked clear into Diana’s eyes “What…what makes you say that?”
“Because that’s what Steven and I think has been happening,” Diana replied grimly. “Did you know what he asked you to mail?”
Astonished, Donna shook her head.
Diana glanced at the door. “I believe Steven can explain better than I can. We will help you, Donna. I believe you,” she added with a warm smile that Donna couldn’t help returning. Diana stood from her chair, and Donna followed her lead. Together, they walked back into the hall, where Steve had begun to explain the situation to Julia.
“…been passing information through her, to get from one link to the other without being identified. Are you sure that this Young is the only one you can think of?”
Julia nodded, then shook her head. “Well, the only one I can think of, yes. I…I can’t be sure that she tells me about her friends. But I sent her to Doctor Young months ago, how long has this been happening?”
“We don’t know.” Steve looked up from his conversation to Donna and Diana. “Anything?”
“Hang on,” said Donna, “You don’t think it’s Nessie’s doctor too? That’s way too much of a coincidence.”
“If it is one…” Steve met Diana’s eyes, and they both nodded. “I’ll start checking. You see if you can’t find Vanessa. Professor Kapatelis, do you mind if we work from here?” He asked, already unfolding his laptop computer.
“Not at all.”
“Then I’ll be going.” Diana walked quickly to the door and set out to leave.
Before she reached it, Steve caught up with her and said in a soft voice, “And Princess?”
“Yes?”
“Good work.”
Diana returned his smile, and walked out the door.
*****
Vanessa’s light head bounced to the music in her headphones as she walked along the path. Although she looked relaxed and even oblivious to the rest of the world, she was watching intently, to make sure that no one she knew was around. Her instructions were very specific, and the good Doctor would be upset with her if he knew they weren’t being followed.
At first, she didn’t care about the black-haired woman on the other side of the street. Just another stranger to her eyes. No one to worry about. Within a minute she’d be gone, and Vanessa could continue on her way.
But when Vanessa next looked over, the woman was still there, walking parallel to her, eyes focused on her. The girl glared and turned down the volume, but decided to keep on walking. If some stranger wanted to follow her, she could see how she liked the Doctor’s friends.
Despite her mental bravado, Vanessa’s temper flared up a block later, when the dark-haired woman was still on the other side of the street. “What do you want?” She yelled angrily.
Diana smiled calmly and almost seemed to glide across the pavement. “You are Vanessa?”
“Who wants to know?” the girl asked in response, hoping to sound tough and dangerous.
Sensing this, Diana only laughed pleasantly, and took away the viper’s fangs. “I’m a friend, Vanessa. My name is Diana. I’d like to talk to you, just for a few moments.”
“I gotta be somewhere, I don’t have time.” Vanessa ducked past the hand that Diana held out, and kept walking down the sidewalk.
Diana showed no displeasure on her face, and merely walked alongside the teenager. It took only another few seconds for Vanessa to look back at her in frustration. “What?”
“I only need a few words. I’ll wait until you’re ready.”
Wanting to fume, Vanessa could only stare, finding herself already strangely trusting of the woman. “Not supposed to talk to strangers,” she said.
“That hasn’t stopped you before, has it?” Diana laughed.
Vanessa couldn’t help returning the smile. “Okay fine. Go on then, talk.”
They spoke for some time, Vanessa’s legs taking her to the familiar spot even as her attention was focused on Diana. There was something in the woman’s face that invited, even demanded trust. Vanessa barely noticed the topics that they talked about—her mother, her schoolwork, her friends, her doctor. It was only with the mildest hesitation that she confided her love for Doctor Young, but Vanessa refused to reveal what happened in their meetings. She had been told not to, after all.
Before she knew it, Vanessa was turning the last corner to the old building where she was to leave her letter, stuck through the mail slot in the door. She hastily looked away and tried to focus Diana’s gaze on the park nearby, and not the shady man on the corner, but Diana wasn’t fooled. She let no understanding show on her face, though, and nodded pleasantly when Vanessa said her farewell. “You’ll speak to me again soon, I hope?”
“Soon,” the girl promised, and ran across the street, leaving Diana biting her lip to keep from interfering.
*****
Donna Troy fought back the sick feeling in her stomach as she followed both girls to a place that she knew too well.
“No, Nessie, no,” she whispered, watching as her friend shook off Diana and raced across the street. She knew that building. Only a week ago those had been her hands slipping an envelope through the slot. How could Vanessa be here?
When she had offered to tail Diana, Donna only thought she was looking out for her mentor’s daughter. She’d figured that Vanessa would be at one of her friends’ houses, getting into mischief or sitting in front of the TV. It never really registered to her that the girl could be involved in something as dangerous as this. Vanessa was seventeen—she couldn’t be in trouble with the government.
But if this was any indication, she was. While Diana walked away slowly, Donna crept closer, darting into the park for cover. But once the letter had left Vanessa’s hand, the girl started away, giving a guilty look back at the building before going back the way she had come.
Donna was all set to follow Vanessa again, or to run back to the house before the girl got home, but before she could leave, a man stepped out of one of the alleyways and toward the building. She froze behind a tree and watched the man look back and forth before he pulled out a key and opened the front door to pick up Vanessa’s envelope. Watching with careful attention, Donna tried to memorize every bit of the man’s appearance, to bring the information back with her where it was needed.
But her gaze was too strong—the man looked up and caught Donna’s eyes before she could duck back into hiding. She gasped and ran immediately, hoping that she wasn’t being watched.
*****
She was.
The man held the envelope close inside his jacket, ignoring the beads of sweat on his brow. He pulled out a cell phone and quickly dialed.
“What.” The voice on the other end was sharp and rasping, and nowhere near patient.
“I’ve got a tail. Woman, black hair, young, kinda tall. Might be one of them.”
Edgar Cizko swore loudly. “She see you?”
“Think so.”
“Follow her. I’ve only got one like that—she’ll take you to the college. Do NOT let her get away.” Cizko slammed down the phone and started to pace in his ruined house.
He could feel the heat from all the way over here. If Donna’d started to sneak around, it was time to get the hell out of the kitchen. But not before taking her out first. Oh no. Now she was just asking for it.
He only hoped that when he took out Donna, and probably that mentor of hers for good measure, he could spare the blonde. She might still be useful—for a little while.
*****
It was with shivering hands that she opened up the trunk, and looked again on the bright fabric and shining metal. Diana drew in a reverent breath as she placed her mother’s golden tiara over her black hair, feeling for the first time its weight on her head.
The soft fabric of her costume hugged close to her skin, making her stand taller in blue and red and white. She stood quietly, pulling on and settling the gold breastplate that shaped her mother’s symbol. The cold metal of her twin silver bracelets sent up goosebumps all along her arms. Her legs were left free, unhampered by the leotard that molded to the shape of her hips, and Diana spared a glance to the mirror, smiling at the look.
But she quickly shook herself out of it. There would be time later to admire the costume, and she had more than a sneaking suspicion that Steve would do all of the admiring that needed to be done.
Right now, Wonder Woman was needed.
But before she left, there was one more piece to her costume. It was with only a slight hesitation that Diana reached down onto the guest room bed, where she had left her civilian clothes. With a smile, she picked up the final piece, the one that would make her different from Hippolyta—the coil of golden rope that she had taken to wearing under her clothes.
It felt nice, somehow, to have it out in the open. It could breathe this way; it could help her this way. Diana smiled, and the coil glowed softly.
She handled it with tender care and wound the rope around a clip on her thin belt. Any observer could see it’s use as a lasso, and Diana could indeed put it to that purpose. But she alone knew the lasso’s true power.
She smiled a secret smile and walked out the bedroom door.
She didn’t make a point to say goodbye to Steve and Julia when she left. Diana had her instructions from them, and time was always of the essence. It didn’t occur to her to put off her mission any longer than necessary.
With her lasso glowing softly at her hip, Wonder Woman slipped out the Kapatelis’ back door into the late afternoon.
*****
Cizko cursed and swore as loudly as he dared as he shoved a few meager possessions into a breaking suitcase. He supposed it was inevitable that the plan would fail eventually. He should have done away with Donna Troy before she had the chance to start working for the other side.
The little man growled to himself and looked around the house. It was such an absurd hideout, and yet so wonderfully perfect. It was almost a shame that none of the victims had ever been smart enough to see past the illusion. But then, that’s just how good he was at his job.
It made him curse again to remember how close Donna had gotten. He spat on a particularly moldy patch of floor off to the side, and got ready to leave.
He had places to go, and things to do if he wanted to save the rest of the operation. Before he set off, he took the little time he needed to set up a nice surprise for whoever might be coming here after him.
He hoped it wasn’t Donna, though. He was going to make a special trip to take care of
her.
*****
Diana soon realized that the bright colors of her costume were less than ideal for sneaky missions. So she was glad to reach the ordinary-looking house nestled in the middle of the neighborhood. A shiver passed down her spine. She didn’t need the address that Donna had given her to tell which home she needed. Something about this one stuck out horribly, but she couldn’t tell what.
“Go check him out,” Steve had told her back at the house, when she returned from her talk with Vanessa. “He’s got to be involved, and we can see if Young knows anything about Williams. My info is turning up a lot about this guy. If you can, get him back here to me.”
Diana scoffed again, remembering. She was more than capable of questioning a man on her own. And with her lariat free, she would be more useful than ever.
Wait until I see the look on his face, when I bring him the information myself. All the same, the Princess of the Amazons hesitated before she pushed open the door to the house.
It was dark inside. Very dark. So dark that the black of Diana’s hair melted into the walls, lending her the camouflage that her costume denied her. The only light in the front hall was coming from her lariat, and its soft reflection in her gold armor.
A door opened, and a very short, very grubby man stepped out. Diana immediately set herself to attack. “Who are you?”
“Think that’s my question to ask, sweets.” The little man looked her up and down with an unnerving glint in his eye.
Diana only glared back at him, trying to make sense of the strange feeling she still had. Something was very much not right. About the man, about the house, about all of it.
“So go on, Toots, who’re you?” He asked, pacing around behind her.
“Diana of the Amazons,” she replied curtly, stepping around the little man to keep him in front of her. “Daughter of Queen Hippolyta. And certainly not ‘sweets’.”
“Oh-ho, fancy little chick. Thinks she’s special, I bet.” The man grinned, and Diana shivered as he bared yellowing teeth. “Just like all the rest.”
“What do I have the displeasure of calling you?”
He laughed. “Doctor Psycho. Fits, don’t it? Especially ‘f I’m goin’ against the
famous Wonder Woman.”
The way he spoke made her skin crawl, but Diana was anything but a coward. She curled a hand around her lasso for comfort…and suddenly, something became clear.
“Don’t think I didn’t know I was gonna get found out eventually. My fault for letting that bitch Donna go out. Shoulda just kept her upstairs, eh? Couldn’t cause any trouble there.”
She felt like a wildcat, hair rising on the scruff of her neck in anger. But Diana kept herself under control. She had to, if she were going to understand this all.
She’d looked up at the ceiling, and tightened her hold on the golden rope at her hip. The second floor had disappeared.
“ But you know all about causing trouble,” Psycho went on, pacing again. “I heard about your tramp of a mother. Whole world heard. Guess what
princess, you know what people remember? Cleavage.”
Diana had to grit her teeth to ignore him. “You’ve admitted to stealing classified information,” she said, hoping to keep herself on task as much as to move him to another topic. “And you’ve admitted to using innocents as pawns in your game.”
“Worthless pawns, but all the same.” He shrugged his shoulders and shot her the same disgusting grin.
Diana only kept glancing around as the house melted away before her. What used to be a pleasant, even wealthy home was quickly turning into a rotting shack, filthy and tiny.
She looked back over at the little man, and saw him fade away into nothing. “Ya know, the whole warrior bit really doesn’t suit you. You’d look a lot better in my kitchen.”
Every muscle seized up, and Diana nearly leapt at the projection. “Where are you?” She yelled, stirring up a bat that had made its home in the ceiling.
Psycho looked worried for a second, then pensive, then satisfied. His smile was even worse than before, full of predatory teeth. “I’ll give you the brain, then. How’d you know?”
“I know the truth,” was all she would say to answer him. “You’re only an illusion, a fake. Where are you?”
“Such a smart gal, you figure it out.” The figure of Doctor Psycho laughed wildly, before all of the illusions vanished before Diana’s eyes in a bright, hot flash. She raised her arms to cover her face, and by the time she lowered them, everything was burning. Her breath sped up and she coughed on the sudden smoke, fire and heat bearing down on her in the ruins of the house.
Diana coughed again and forced her legs forward, her eyes narrowed in furious determination as she went toward the door. The fire had begun in the doorway, and here it was strongest, but fresh cold air was only a few feet away. With a battle cry tearing from her throat, Wonder Woman barreled past the flames, and stood gasping in the air while the ruined shack began to crumble behind her.
“Donna…” She muttered to herself, shaking the smoke and the shock away from her mind, and racing back down the streets with all the speed she had.
*****
When Vanessa had first walked through the door of her house, the only thought on anyone’s mind was keeping her there, to get the final piece of the puzzle. But Vanessa’s protests at being followed, and Donna’s and Julia’s worried reprimands had been pushed to the side with a broken window, and the three men who smashed their way inside.
“Get back!” Steve yelled, blocking the girls and running plans through his mind. Diana still wasn’t back from the mission he’d sent her on.
Good, thought Steve,
she’ll stay safe there. Got to keep all of them safe. He looked over the intruders carefully, searching out weaknesses. It wasn’t in the two tall, muscled goons that he sensed the most danger—it was all concentrated in the short, greasy man in between them.
The man grinned to see Steve in the room. “Noble boy. Wastin’ your time. Hand over the brunette and maybe I’ll go easy on the rest of you.”
“Who are you?”
The little man sniggered and slowly began to grow and morph, replacing himself with a tall, handsome blond.
“I knew it!” spat Donna, coming up next to Steve and glaring as she recognized her doctor. “I knew you were a dirty liar!”
Williams smirked, and let his eyes fall on Vanessa. The girl’s eyes were wide, her mouth open in shock. “Doctor Young?” She squeaked in disbelief.
“Your one and only.” He laughed and let the illusion fall away again. “Now give me Troy.”
“Go to hell!”
Steve winced inwardly, but couldn’t fault Donna for antagonizing him. He knew they had to be careful, though. The greasy dwarf was more than he seemed to be.
Vanessa was barely aware of the danger, and the fight about to happen. She stood quite still, trying to process what she’d just seen, trying to make it make sense. “Doctor…”
Psycho had come into the house with a plan all thought out, but he was never one to pass up a better opportunity if it showed. He grinned and stared at Vanessa, eyes boring into her mind, and watched with satisfaction as her face went blank once again. “Vanessa?” He said, with a sickening lilt in his voice, glancing over at her mother and friend, and at the man trying to protect them all.
“Yes?”
“Who am I?”
The girl was oblivious of her mother’s wide eyes, and Donna’s seething glares as she answered. “Doctor Young. You’re my doctor, and my friend, and my love.”
“Vanessa!”
“And you’ll do anything I tell you to, won’t you, pet?” He went on, ignoring Julia’s cry.
“Yes.”
Doctor Psycho chuckled and winked at his partners-in-crime. He let his eyes fall on each person in the room in turn, before giving the order. “Kill Donna Troy.”
“Vanessa!”
“You little piece of—“
“Donna, get down!”
Steve shoved Donna to the floor just in time to get her out of Vanessa’s way—the girl had leapt forward, intending to shove her into the wall or the table nearby. Julia let out a scream and shot back from the action, pressing herself against the wall as far away as she could. Psycho was laughing, Julia was crying, Donna was unnervingly still, and Steve’s mind was racing, trying to find some way out.
And then the door burst open, and it was over in a flash.
“If you move one muscle of that stunted, vile body of yours, I will rip your arms out of your sockets with my bare hands.”
Steve blinked, and stared at the scene before him. Wonder Woman stood on Doctor Psycho’s leg, her hand on his shoulder pinning him to the ground, her golden lasso wound around his throat. No longer Diana—Wonder Woman was almost a different person, without a trace of Diana’s gentle humor or her ego. There was black fire in her eyes, dangerous and inescapable. Wonder Woman only meant business.
And that outfit…Steve quickly shook his head. But there was nothing the costume did for her but improve the look, no matter how strangely singed it was. Her strong muscles were clear, and the power seemed to radiate from her body. The fabric hugged every curve, and the gold and silver sparkled and lent her a glow.
“….Donna?” Came a soft voice from behind him, and Steve looked back. Vanessa had a hand on her temple, and was shaking the older girl’s shoulder. “Donna, Donna are you okay? Oh god…oh god, Donna what did I do?”
Julia stepped up to her daughter and knelt on the floor beside her. Moving her arm around Vanessa’s, she lay a hand on her intern’s stomach. “She’s breathing,” Julia said quietly. “She must have hit her head…”
Vanessa threw herself into her mother’s arms and began to sob.
The Amazon Princess spared a glance and a smile, but kept her weapon tight on the enemy’s neck. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
Psycho gave her a nasty glare, and spat. “You just wait, you’ll get what’s coming to you, bitch.”
It was with an air of dignity and even royalty that Wonder Woman stepped off of him, and used the lasso to sling him into Steve’s custody. She stared into his face, and gave Steve a satisfied, if tired, smile. “You’re welcome.”
*****
It was a few hours before the Kapatelis home was calm again. As the last police car rolled away, Steve hung up his cell phone and went back into the little house, not sure what sort of emotion he would find inside.
Donna’s eyes had fluttered open, and she sat with an ice pack on the back of her head, wincing slightly from time to time. Julia was handing her a mug of tea, and she took a long sip from her own. Vanessa had confined herself to her room as soon as she had been released from questioning, and refused to come down.
Diana stood waiting at the doorway, still in her costume. “It’s over?”
With a barely audible gulp, Steve shook his eyes away from the gold breastplate, and nodded. “All taken care of. I’ll have to do up a report, but it can wait a little bit.”
She made a soft, understanding noise, and Steve could see that the fire had left her eyes.
“You were great,” he said to her, moving to put a hand on her shoulder, but thinking better of it and drawing his arm back. “I…Thanks. I couldn’t have done it without you. I really couldn’t.”
“You did quite alright yourself, Steven.” She smiled warmly.
“No, I mean it. If it weren’t for you…I don’t know what would have happened in here. You were just in time.”
“Well thank you.” Diana ran her fingers through the coils of her lariat fondly, but some of the smile fell off of her face. “You’ll need to go back, then. To your home.”
“Yeah…” With nothing to say at her disappointed look, Steve shoved a hand in his pocket and looked away, watching Julia help Donna with her ice pack.
Diana sighed. “I suppose I’ll go back to the hotel. I can’t go home yet, and if you won’t have me living with you, I understand.” Steve started to say something, but Diana held up her hand to stop him. “It’s alright, Steven. It…wasn’t fair of me to ask you. I’ve been demanding, and I apologize.” She smiled, but sighed again. “How long will I have at the hotel, though? I’ll need to make plans to provide for myself, your superiors couldn’t pay for my entire journey…”
“You…you could stay here?”
Every eye in the house turned up to the top of the stairs, where Vanessa sat, speaking hesitantly. “If…if it’s okay,” she added, looking to her mother.
Julia thought for a moment, and walked up to Diana. “We do have a room…yes, of course you can stay. We need to thank you, after all.” The woman smiled, and Diana felt herself return the expression.
“You saved my life by breaking that asshole’s hold on Nessie,” said Donna from her chair. “Least we can do is put a roof over your head for a while.”
Diana carefully placed the tiara on the table, and beamed. “I would be glad to. I thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I…I feel that we will be close, in time.”
“Like sisters,” offered Vanessa, coming down to the first floor, and crossing to take Donna’s hand.
The other girl grinned back, and winced slightly. “Like sisters.”
Diana could feel a warm, comforting happiness in her heart, and when Donna stood and held out her arms, all four women came together in a hug. “Like sisters,” Diana whispered, and, for the moment, felt at home again at last.
