Where do we go from here
Author note: Sequel to morning after, But no need to read that one.
Set after the DCEU Wonder Woman movie.
I'm very certain that this is completely AU.
I have to confess that I almost didn't continue this story because of a fic by a other author. I have the feeling that her story and mine will be very similar. So maybe I won't finished this. But I already wrote 3 chapters. It will be to bad not to publish them. Had fun writing it.
Dutchie; working on her English Skills.
The echo's of the war remained, a broken world, with broken men.
The battle was won, but the war is still here.
It got worse with Charlie, no better after the fight.
They had won the battle, they had saved the day but his dreams grew more violent, full of nightmares of what he had seen. He had lost his comrades in the first months of the war and now he had lost Steve on the last moments of the war.
"It's okay" Diana started when her hand on his shoulder "I'm here".
His screams in the nights had awoken her. She knew it was not really allowed in this world to come to the bedroom of a man. But his screams where terrible, full of horror of the war. She couldn't leave him alone.
Ludendorff had been wrong. War is far from beautiful. It turns brave soldiers into broken man, not only because injuries but also because the nightmare in which they live, scarring them forever.
Losing friends, family, turning them in something they aren't. It was terrible.
Charlie jumped out of bed and faced his friend with a frightened look.
This time he accepted Diana's presence, unlike the first time she witness his nightmares in the forests in Belgium when he pushed her away.
"I'm sorry Diana" he said, his voice broken "I didn't want to wake you".
"It's fine Charlie, really" Diana said with a warm smile "We are all here for you" revering to Etta, Chief, Sammy and herself.
Charlie nodded "Thank you" he said "For everything, I'll be fine".
Diana gave him a warm smile "always", and then left her friend alone to get some sleep.
"His ghost are getting stronger" Chief said with his calm voice when he saw Diana getting out of Charlie's bedroom.
Diana faced her friend who sat by the a fire.
"Is there something we can do for him?" Diana asked "It's been 4 weeks now and he had these nightmares every single night."
Chief shook his head.
"The war destroyed him," he answered "It's still present in his head, maybe he will defeat this battle against his ghosts of the past. But it will take a long time. All we can do is to be here from him"
Diana nodded "The battle is won, but the war is still here"
Chief nodded silently.
For the very first time she understood what her mother had meant all those years ago.
War wasn't just a battle you could win, It was like a poison, scaring the world.
War was never something to hope for.
After the war Diana and the rest of her friends decided to stay for a little while in London. Diana, Chief and Charlie stayed over at Etta's house. Sammy had his own apartment in London. Chief actually wanted to stay just for a few days; he didn't like London. He needed the woods, he wanted to feel free and London wasn't really doing a good job with that. But when Charlie's condition deteriorated, he felt compelled to stay. To help his friend.
"Why do you stay?" Chief suddenly asked "Steve had told me about where you from, why do you stay in this terrible world when you have a paradise to return to?"
"After the war Steve wanted to show me the good world, the world where he was fighting for.." Diana's voice cracked "..Died for"
With a sigh she took place next to chief at the couch, facing the fire.
"He confessed that he barley remembered it and he didn't life to see this good world again" she said looking up from the fire to face Chief.
"I want to be a part of this good world, the world he was willing to die for, the world what meant so much for him"
Chief nodded silently.
"So I stay. I want to believe that humankind can be good, I need that after what I saw on the battlefield"
"Besides.." she followed "This way, he is still in my life and I have you, Charlie, Sammy and Etta. How can I just go home and forget what we've been through"
Chief smiled "I hope you will see the good world" he said "I hope that humankind can be better".
"What happened with you people?" Diana asked, remembering their conversation in Belgium.
"Not every story is ready to be told" Chief answered with a sad smile "Someday I will tell you what happened" and with that he left her alone at the fire
Eventually she would go home, she though. But maybe when her mortal friends where all gone.
"Here" said Etta the following morning "I found this at the office, I think that you will like it" and with that she handed a thick brown album to Diana.
Diana flipped through the album, photos of people they did not know.
"It's Steve's family album" explained Etta "There are also some pictures of him"
"Thank you" Diana said with a smile while she fought off her tears.
"Though you wanted to see him again" Etta said with a sad smile.
There weren't a lot of photos in it. Just a few taken on special events.
Like the first day in the armor.
She could barely recognize him.
He was even younger than on the photo on the memorial board, but it was him, she was sure of that. An handsome young man, looking at a plane.
Steve's first flying lesson – was written under it.
A sad smile formed on Diana's face.
She had known him for just a few days but she will miss him forever.
Without him the world would still be at war, but no-one will know that.
How could one man have such a impact on the world, on her..
A soft tick suddenly came from her bedside table and then another tick and another.
Diana put the book away and walked to her bedside table.
A single object lying on it.
Diana picked it up and studied it; Steve's watch,..
.. it started ticking again.
"How" Diana asked herself, cherishing the small object.
The end of a bloodline – remembering what Chief had told her.
It had stopped ticking on the exact same time as the heart of Steve stopped beating.
It had meant as a reminder of her al those weeks, a memory.
"Why are you ticking?" she asked the small object, like it could answer.