II

After lingering over dinner, Diana walked out of the restaurant, her hand in Zari's. "You're looking exceptionally well tonight, Wonder Woman," he admired in a whisper, his mouth roguishly close to her ear. Diana's countenance remained set, but she wondered at his flattery – he seemed earnest enough. The corners of her mouth twitched.

This did not go unnoticed. "That's the first genuine smile I've seen from you all day," he said.

She didn't reply, but only drew the bouquet he had given her to her nose.

"Is everything all right?" he asked her. "You seemed upset today even in your class."

The flowers moved from her face and she raised an eyebrow. "You attended Post-Modern Political Philosophy today?" she queried. She knew that he taught in Comparative Literature around the same time.

He shrugged. "Office hours were slow, so I decided to drop by."

"What did you think?" she wanted to know.

Zari scratched the back of his neck. "Your views on Derrida we'll discuss later." He took the bouquet from her and tucked it under his arm to hold her other hand. "Tonight we're going to divorce ourselves from work and have a little fun." This was invitation enough – Diana leaned forward and kissed him. Zari's smile was interrupted when they turned to see a parking lot security guard glancing at them. The guard tipped his hat at Diana and turned away with a grin.

"Let's go dancing," Zari suggested once he had recovered from his sheepishness. "I know this great club—"

"No," she said at once.

"Oh come now, Diana. I know you've partied with the best of them. I remember reading plenty about your exploits with that Kasnian queen several years back."

"Things with Audrey were different." Diana released his hands and slipped the bouquet from his grasp. "I was younger."

"You are an immortal princess, Diana, destined to remain forever youthful and fortunate. You were made to enjoy every moment of your existence."

She sighed and slid an errant section of hair behind her ear. Some years ago when she had returned to Themyscira, Athena had commanded her to fight an insurgence spearheaded by Ares and Hebe. They had conceded in the end, but not before the vengeful goddess of youth had afforded Diana with a single streak of gray hair. Athena had decided that it was a mark of Diana's wisdom and ordered her to maintain it. And while Diana was far from vain, she was acutely aware of how differently she was treated upon showing this sign of age. Being seen in a club looking the way she did – with a man as handsome as Zari – would attract undesired attention.

By this time they had emerged from the restaurant parking lot onto the main street. He had taken her hand again and was pulling it playfully. "It'll be dark," he was convincing her, "No one will bother to—"

A loud scream rang from behind them, and the shy smile on Diana's face quickly turned into a steely frown. The flowers fell from her hands as she rushed to investigate the source with Zari at her heels. The woman who had screamed was lying in a heap in the middle of the parking lot. Even in the dim lighting, Diana could discern faintly blue coin-sized spots all along the woman's arms and legs. Her body was ice cold, and as far as Diana could tell, she was not breathing.

"Wonder Woman?" gasped the security guard, who had arrived at the scene. A handful of people had gathered around them by this time.

Zari kneeled down next to Diana. "Did anyone see what happened?" he questioned the curious onlookers. He was met with shrugs and shaking heads.

The loud rumble of an engine drowned out their scattered whispers of conversation – a motorcycle suddenly roared past them and onto the main road where it disappeared into the traffic. Diana knew instinctively to follow it. She released the woman from her grip; "Get her to a hospital," she ordered the guard, and swiftly flew out of the parking lot to trail the cycle.

It was Friday night and the roads were dense with vehicles, many of them motorcycles. But there was one bike that weaved in and out of traffic with no regard for speed limits; it was headed towards the outskirts of the city at an alarming pace. The cycle and its driver were pitch black, and once they left the brightly lit urban area, both would be rendered invisible.

But while the driver was fast, so was Diana. She soared above the traffic, narrowing the distance between her and her target with every passing second. When she was close enough, she rapidly dove in order to grab the driver when –

An eighteen-wheel truck suddenly slammed into her side. When it saw the descending Wonder Woman it had started to brake, but the impact of the hit was still enough to send Diana hurtling into a building several yards away. Without taking time to recover, she wrenched her back from the crumbling brick and rose into the air. The motorcycle in question was nowhere to be found. Furious, she yanked the shawl from around her neck and hurled it to the ground, then resumed her course of pursuit.

Her resilience was rewarded – only a few minutes of scanning led Diana to catch sight of the motorcycle again. The driver was speeding along the coast of the Buriganga River towards the largest port; ambling tourists scattered to dodge its reckless path. This time, Diana looked both ways before diving down to snatch up her target.

One of her hands seized the nape of the driver's jumpsuit, and the other one grabbed his motorcycle. Gripping both, Wonder Woman soared up into the air until the port was only a cluster of twinkling lights beneath them. She swung the driver to face her. He was wearing a full-face mask with white lenses over the eyes.

"Who are you?" she demanded of him, her tone colder than their surroundings. When he didn't reply, she shook him threateningly.

At this, he began to laugh, his voice rich with triumph. Diana's lips curled into a snarl. She then heard the distinctly muted pop of blood vessels snapping, and within seconds the bright white lenses of his mask were stained with blood.