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Chapter 10 – Enemies Old, Enemies New

Poland, Lublin – January 31th, 1944

Steve didn't realize what was happening at first. All he could feel was an incredibly softness on his lips, the caress of a breath, the tickle of a hair strand on his face; then he opened his eyes.

Diana was kissing him. And before he even knew what he was doing, he was kissing her back.

She stopped for a second, noticing he had woken up, looking deeply into his eyes; Steve held her face delicately, his fingers feeling the skin of her cheeks, touching her lips. He leaned and kissed her, closing his eyes, delighting in the sensation, feeling his heart beating faster than he ever remembered…

The sound of a radio echoed loudly in the quiet room.

"It's Peggy, do you copy?"

As if their lips suddenly had caught on fire, both him and Diana jumped back, away from each other. They turned to look at the radio on the table, their eyes wide, as if just now they noticed what they had just done. Diana turned to Steve and when their eyes met she quickly looked down, walking a few steps away from the bed he was on, her hands moving franticly.

Steve was filled with guilt, even if he wasn't the one who started the kiss. He had, after all, kissed her back. He got up, not exactly knowing what he was going to do, when the voice on the radio spoke again: "Is anybody there?"

"I'm here, I'm here!" Steve said, running to the radio and responding.

"Thank God! Bucky told me what happened, are you alright?"

"I'm… I'm fine, I think."

"And what about Lublin? There were still some Nazi soldiers around, according to what Bucky said."

Steve didn't know, but since he was here, still alive, and not in a cell it was safe to say they had won and Lublin hadn't been destroyed by the HYDRA weapon. Before he could speak, however, Diana did.

"The Nazis retreated, the ones who couldn't are either dead or captured. Majdanek is free now."

"I still do not know how you people could accomplish that, but I'm certainly not complaining. The Red Army is moving to secure the city, they should be safe from now on. Howard is flying there tomorrow with a plane big enough to transport the parts of the weapon and some key witnesses back to London."

"What about the rest of the German occupation?" Steve asked. "Are they moving to try and reclaim Lublin?"

"As far as my contacts can tell, they don't appear to be moving towards Lublin, no. And now with the soviets approaching in numbers, it won't matter anyway."

"That is certainly a relief," Steve said, sighing.

"You are unharmed then, Steve? And what about you, Diana?"

Both of them deliberately avoided eye contact.

"We are both alright, Peggy," Steve finally answered. "We can tell you all about it when we get to London, tomorrow."

"I'll be looking forward to it. Stay safe."

And the radio turned off. There was almost a minute of silence, not Steve or Diana even daring to move or look at each other. But it didn't last long.

"I can't believe I did this to Peggy," Diana whispered and Steve turned to see her taking her hands to her face. "I-I'm sorry, Steve, I didn't, I wasn't thinking, I don't know wh–"

"Diana, please, it wasn't your fault."

"I kissed you!" she exclaimed.

Steve looked down for a moment, sighing.

"And I kissed you back too. We… We both made a mistake."

Diana looked at him, pain etched in her expression, but she didn't disagree.

"Yes, a mistake. That was all it was."

Then she turned to leave. Steve, once again, didn't know what to do and he wanted to punch himself because of it. He liked Peggy. She was the first woman who ever truly looked at him, passing through his exterior, back then when he was a small, weak man and now that he was Captain America. She saw him for what he was and he saw in her an incredible woman with whom he quickly began to fall in love.

And then there was Diana. The woman who saved his life, who fought by his side against HYDRA, who helped him not to sell his own soul when he decided to destroy the weapon instead of trying to save Lublin and Majdanek. They had become friends over the many days they spent together, confortable with one another, to the point Steve was having trouble sleeping when she wasn't by his side. She was one of the purest souls he had ever seen, not one grain of evil in her, and Steve could honestly say he admired her.

Now he was realizing he might be feeling something more than just that.

Steve didn't know what to do, but he knew that he couldn't just let Diana leave, not like that. His fault or not, he had hurt her and that wasn't something he could let pass. So he ran after her, exiting through the door one second later, her name already leaving his mouth.

Only to be completely silenced by the enormous crowd waiting in the street just outside the house.

The moment the people waiting there realized Diana and Steve got out from the house they started to cheer, singing, clapping and laughing. Men, women and children, their faces illuminated by huge bonfires built all around. They approached, touching them as if they were religious symbols, as if they simply wanted to make sure they were real. And at every moment they were chanting something.

"What are they saying?" Steve asked, his eyes wide, as he and Diana looked around surprised.

She turned to him.

"They are singing 'Captain America'," Diana translated, looking at the happy crowd again and hesitating for a second. "And 'Wonder Woman'."

Russia – March 30th, 1992

Diana walked through the abandoned military base, surrounded by trees and mountains, her feet taping the concrete of the landing zone as she approached the maneuvering airplane. The sound of the turbines was too loud and the wind made her hair flutter as she waited for the plane to turn around and stop, Natalia waiting quietly by her side.

She counted herself lucky to have connections in high places, because otherwise she would have a lot more trouble to deal with the situation she was in right now. In the van parked behind her were all the little brainwashed girls she rescued from the Red Room, all properly drugged and restrained; Diana didn't even want to think about how she would do to leave the country with them without help.

But she did know people who had the means to do that. And right now she couldn't stop herself from smiling as she saw her sister coming out from the airplane, her hair swaying in the wind.

"It's very nice to see you again, Peggy!" Diana greeted her, hugging her best friend when she got closer. "I didn't know you would come too."

"Well, I did have ulterior motives," Peggy said, smiling, as she held Diana. "I missed you, Princess."

They held each other for a few more seconds and then stepped back. Diana looked around, seeing some agents positioning themselves around the airplane, their trained eyes checking the place for any potential threats. Peggy's eyes, however, were on Natalia.

"So, who is this?" she asked, knowing very well who Natalia was.

"Natalia Alianovna Romanoff," the red haired girl answered, also looking at Peggy. "And you are Margaret Elizabeth Carter, founder of SHIELD."

Peggy raised a single eyebrow.

"I see the Red Room still remembers me," Peggy remarked.

"Dorothy Underwood's files about you were extensive," Natalia answered, in the same unconcerned tone.

Diana saw a smile appearing on Peggy's lips for a fraction of a second, but it probably disappeared too fast for anybody else to have seen it.

"Dottie was pretty unforgettable too," Peggy summarized the rivalry she had with the old Red Room operative. If the stories Diana heard weren't exaggerated, "unforgettable" was a very abridged version of all the things she had done. "So, Diana, you said you had rescued some people?"

Diana nodded, looking at the van.

"The children from the Red Room," she said. "They are in there, unconscious and tied up." She looked at Peggy again. "I need you to take them from here and take care of them."

Peggy looked in Diana's eyes for a long time and then she sighed.

"I'll do what I can, but I can't promise anything," Peggy answered. "If they are too far gone… Then keeping them under surveillance is really all we can do."

"They are not gone!" Natalia countered, her voice not detached anymore.

Peggy's eyes turned to Natalia and then back to Diana.

"I believe her," Diana announced, her voice full of confidence.

There were a few seconds of silence.

"Then I'll do everything in my power to help them, you have my word," Peggy promised, looking at both of them.

"Thank you, Peggy," Diana said, feeling relieved. She looked at Natalia. "Natalia, show the agents where the girls are, please."

Natalia hesitated for a second, but nodded and guided the men in suits to the van. Diana turned back to look at Peggy.

"What are you going to do with them?" she asked, her voice very low.

"I will train them to become agents," Peggy answered. "You know as well as I do that they will never have a normal life. I can't just send them to foster families and hope everything will be fine. These girls are victims, but they are also incredibly dangerous and I won't leave them unsupervised. But I can at least guarantee that they won't be used anymore. No more assassinations, no more spying, not unless they are willing to work for us when they are of age."

Diana looked down for a moment.

"I trust you, Peggy. If anyone can help them, it's you."

"Even after everything I said?" Peggy asked. "About the Red Room."

"You know better than most what these kids went through," Diana said. "And regardless of what you may think about them, I know you won't just execute them. You wouldn't be my sister if you were that kind of person."

There was a brief smile on Peggy's face. Both of them watched in silence as the agents removed the girls from the van, taking them carefully to the airplane.

"What are you going to do now, Diana?" Peggy asked, looking at her. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"More or less," Diana said. "I have the location of Baroness Paula von Gunther's base. She is the only clue I have of the Winter Soldier. If I find her there, maybe I'll find him."

Peggy didn't answer for a time, thinking.

"The von Gunther family is a very old enemy of the SSR and SHIELD, as I'm sure you already know," Peggy finally said. "They poured an obscene amount of money in Hitler's pockets and then in Schmidt's. To know that this woman is planning something with the Winter Soldier unsettles me."

"According to Madam B. she is obsessed with the occult, just like the Red Skull was," Diana added. "So I share your worries."

Peggy's eyes turned serious.

"It's more than just that," she said, her voice now barely a whisper. "The Winter Soldier killed Howard because he managed to replicate the Super-Soldier Serum. That means that whoever ordered him to do that has the Serum." She approached even closer, speaking almost in Diana's ear. "We all know what the SSR managed to accomplish with Captain America. Diana, this could mean the rebirth of HYDRA."

Diana's eyes widened.

"HYDRA is finished," she said, her voice equally low.

"But is it?" Peggy questioned. "I wish I shared your certainty, but I don't know anymore. I said before that I was sure that Howard had replicated the Serum for a reason. Maybe that was the reason. Maybe he knew, somehow, that our old enemies are not as defeated as we thought. Maybe that is why he is dead."

It couldn't be… If HYDRA was still around they would know. SHIELD would know.

"Do you really think she is trying to bring HYDRA back?"

"I don't know anything more than you do, Diana," Peggy answered. "But I do know that if Paula von Gunther is the one behind this, this mission just became more important than ever. She can't, in any circumstance, be allowed to use the Serum. I can't even imagine the damage HYDRA could cause with super-soldiers in their ranks."

But Diana could imagine. She knew what Steve was capable of, she saw most of it. That power in the hands of HYDRA… If they could make more soldiers like Steve, loyal to them, trained by them, with the von Gunther fortune funding HYDRA's growth they could take over countries. Start a new war. One that could be won without anyone even noticing.

Paula von Gunther needed to be stopped.

"I won't allow everything Steve fought for be destroyed," Diana promised.

"I know you won't," Peggy said, touching her shoulder.

They shared a moment of silence, simply content in staying close to each other, watching the agents finishing to take the girls to the airplane; all the girls, except for one.

"What about the red haired one?" Peggy asked, noticing this.

Diana sighed.

"She… wants to come with me."

This time Peggy's reaction was more obvious than before, her eyes widening.

"And you'll take her with you?"

Diana sighed again.

"I know, it's stupid, but–"

"I think it's a wonderful idea," Peggy interrupted.

Wait, what?

"Wonderful idea?" Diana repeated. "Taking a child with me to hunt a madwoman?"

Peggy smiled.

"Well, not that part, no. Even though she isn't a normal child." Peggy looked in Diana's eyes, touching her face. "But the part where you are opening yourself again, trusting someone? That part is wonderful."

Diana didn't know what to answer to that.

"You closed yourself to the world to avoid feeling the same pain you felt when Steve was lost," Peggy continued, still holding Diana's face. "You pushed Howard away. You pushed me away. You hid yourself for half a century because of it. So yes, Diana, to know that you are finally allowing yourself to care again fills me with joy."

The words fled Diana's mind as she thought about what Peggy had said. Not on purpose, she looked at Natalia, seeing the little red haired girl approaching. And definitely without meaning to, she felt herself filling with warmth. She cared about her, more than she imagined at first, and Peggy made her realize that.

She just hoped baring her heart wouldn't result in her finally losing it after all this time.

"Anyway, I got you a present," Peggy added, making Diana look at her.

She took something from her pocket, a small controller, and pointed it to an empty space by the airplane, pressing a button. As if materializing out of thin air, a Quinjet began to appear, its hull glowing like a mirror for a few seconds before turning to black, revealing inch by inch the full aircraft.

"You bought me an invisible plane?" Diana asked, shocked, her eyes glued to the Quinjet; she didn't even notice the aircraft arriving, probably because the sound of its engine was muted by the sound of the bigger airplane.

"Well, I hope it can make up for five thousand or so missed presents," Peggy answered, smiling. "You still remember the lessons Howard gave you, right? Good. You should be able to approach von Gunther's base unnoticed then."

Saying this, Peggy hugged her again.

"And what do you want for your birthday?" Diana joked, hugging her tight.

Peggy released her and looked in her eyes.

"Bring me the last head of HYDRA."

Poland, Lublin – January 31th, 1944

"WONDER WOMAN, WONDER WOMAN, WONDER WOMAN!" the people of Lublin chanted nonstop, as Diana turned to look at them, eyes wide. "CAPTAIN AMERICA, CAPTAIN AMERICA, CAPTAIN AMERICA!"

Everyone, men, women and children, were singing, their faces lit with happiness. She saw some of the people she recognized from Majdanek, thin and sickly looking, but with glowing eyes full of glee; people from the town, finally free from the Nazi occupation, clapping and dancing; and of course, the Howling Commandos, maybe louder than anyone, singing with them as well.

Still too shocked to talk, Diana barely reacted when Bucky pulled both of them, putting her fur cape on her shoulders, giving her sword and shield back to her and making Steve hold his vibranium shield. As if they were one, the Howling Commandos positioned themselves around them, leaving Diana in the middle of Steve and Bucky.

"Smile for the picture!" Bucky laughed, pointing to a man operating a strange contraption.

FLASH! Diana didn't exactly know what had just happened, but she didn't have the time to ask, because as soon as the man gave them permission, they all grabbed her and Steve and pushed them against each other, Bucky picking her sword and shield back from her as Dugan did the same with Steve's shield.

As if she didn't have any self-control whatsoever, Diana felt her own arms getting around Steve, just as his arms held her. They both looked at each other again, their faces red-tinted, the words they had a few minutes ago fresh in their minds. But even so, neither of them could stop their own bodies as they began to dance together. Slowly, clumsy and uncertain, their steps began to sway them to one side to the other.

"I don't know how to dance," Steve apologized, his feet moving with extremely carefulness.

"I don't know how to dance this kind of song either," Diana answered, getting closer from him despite what she said. "I guess we will have to practice, right?"

Not being able to help themselves, they began to smile. And as they saw each other smiling they began to laugh. They would have to have a talk, soon, but tonight? Tonight they would celebrate.

Russia – March 30th, 1992

Natalia watched through the windows of the Quinjet, seeing the white clouds passing under them, as the aircraft moved with incredible speed across the sky. After her fellow operatives – her friends, she corrected herself – had been moved to the SHIELD's airplane, under the protection of Margaret Carter herself, she and Diana had entered the new aircraft and taken off.

Neither of them said anything for a long time, content in simply staying in a confortable silence, until Natalia couldn't help herself anymore.

"Are you really a goddess?" she blurted out, suddenly, looking at Diana.

That was what Madam B. had said in the Red Room and Diana hadn't denied. Natalia hadn't believed in any sort of god for a long time; it was, after all, difficult to keep believing in someone when every pray for help remains unanswered. But looking at Diana she couldn't help but wonder if that was true.

The things she could do… Natalia knew that there were exceptional people out in the world, but Diana was something else. And she looked like a goddess, or at least what Natalia thought a goddess would look like. Diana was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen in her life, but it wasn't just that; it was how she felt by her side. Warm, safe… loved. Something she hadn't felt in a very, very long time.

Diana sighed, looking at her.

"That is a matter of perspective," she finally answered.

Natalia frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"I am the daughter of Zeus, King of Olympus," Diana said and Natalia widened her eyes. "My mother is the Queen of the amazons, Hippolyta."

"So you are a demigoddess?" Natalia questioned, trying to understand what Diana was trying to say.

Diana smiled.

"Like I said, that is a matter of perspective. The Olympians were a very ancient, very powerful race; when compared to humans. To you, they might seem gods. Immortals, strong, wise… But compared to other races, maybe not so much."

"So you aren't a goddess?" Natalia risked.

"It depends on your definition of the word. If you mean an omnipotent, omnipresent being, that created the universe and everything in it, then no, the Olympians weren't gods and therefore I am not a goddess. But if by god you mean an unbelievably powerful being, ancient and capable of doing things that you can barely understand, then yes, they were gods and so am I."

Natalia thought about what Diana had answered for a long minute, trying to understand exactly what she was trying to say.

"You sound like the Greek gods were just called gods because they were powerful," she said.

Diana smiled again.

"Gods are worshiped or feared for a reason and that reason is power. But like I said, power is a relative matter. Compared to you, I am very old and very powerful. But there are beings out there in the universe as powerful as I am. Some even more powerful. They certainly wouldn't see me as anything out of the ordinary."

"But what about God, with a capital 'G'? The being that created everything. Is he real?" Natalia asked.

She shrugged.

"I've never met him, her or them, so I don't know," Diana explained, activating the auto-pilot and turning to Natalia. "I was taught as a child that Zeus was the one who created humanity. That all this was his work. I never thought to question this until I left Themyscira, but once I did I realized that what I considered certainty wasn't true. Or at least, not literally."

"So your… father, didn't create us?"

"If you mean that he snapped his fingers and mankind appeared, then no. But he did give mankind a push during their numerous trials. A little tweak here and there, to make them smarter or more resistant to certain diseases, a little help against the elements… And, of course, protection against beings set out to hurt mankind."

That did sound terribly ominous.

"But, like I said, I don't know if someone actually created us and, if someone did, I don't know if all this was intentional," Diana continued. "In the end, I guess it doesn't really matter, does it?"

Natalia was too surprised with the revelations to actually ponder this question. Gods were real. Zeus was real. She didn't know if there was someone that outranked him, but the fact that a single so called god even existed was amazing. And, frankly, a little bit intimidating.

What was she compared to an entity that powerful?

"Is every god from the mythology real?" Natalia asked, suddenly, trying to get a real answer on how humanity ranked in the natural order.

"Most of them are or were real," Diana said. "Or at least they are based on a real being."

Not even noticing she was on the edge of her chair, Natalia got even closer from Diana, her surprise growing at each word she spoke.

"Have you ever met any of them?"

"I met Ares, the God of War, once." She stopped for a second, then added: "My half-brother."

"How was he?" Natalia asked.

"Not very nice. Turns out he was responsible for most wars in the world, including the two world wars. I had to defeat him."

"You killed Ares?!" Natalia exclaimed, barely containing her excitement.

Diana chuckled.

"That is a long story. Have you ever heard of Captain America?"

The snow filled landscape took the entire horizon as the Quinjet flew over Siberia, the cloaking device making sure they passed unnoticed through Russian airspace. Diana was a little bit uncertain when she got inside the aircraft, staring for a long minute at the controls, but it turned out that flying was like riding a bike; at least it was when the person who teaches is Howard Stark, Diana considered.

The Quinjet was a lot more sophisticated than what she remembered, but the basics were still the same, just like when Howard took her out for a few lessons. And the sky, Diana knew, was her territory, so she had nothing to worry about, being the daughter of the sky god and all that. She always felt safe between the clouds.

Natalia had finally quiet down after she told her a little bit about her story, remembering some of the good times she had with Steve. Diana still wasn't sure if bringing her here was a good idea, she could get hurt after all, but right now she wasn't regretting it. She couldn't remember the last time she had this much fun remembering the past, telling it to someone else, relieving the memories.

Usually, remembering brought pain; this time it brought her happiness.

The time to reminisce would come later, though. Right now, Diana needed to focus. According to the controls, Paula von Gunther's base was not far; the only reason they were flying without getting shot was probably because of the cloaking device. She would have to thank Peggy later.

Diana had no idea what she would find down there and that worried her. Could the Baroness really be trying to restore HYDRA? Was she really the one who controlled the Winter Soldier? In that case, was she in possession of the Super-Soldier Serum? Had she used it or tried to replicate it?

She didn't have any of those answers and that was making her tense. Diana knew she was powerful, powerful enough to defeat anything they threw at her she was sure, but HYDRA wasn't something to be underestimated. Peggy was right to be concerned. If Paula von Gunther was really trying to bring HYDRA back using the Super-Soldier Serum, things could become catastrophic very soon.

World War III kind of catastrophic.

Captain America was one of the reasons WWII hadn't been lost; Diana didn't even want to think in the possibility of HYDRA making soldiers like Steve to fight against them. Looking at Natalia, she imagined the horror it would be to fight brainwashed soldiers possessing Steve's abilities.

And, of course, there was the Baroness's obsession with magic, gods… herself. Schmidt was a truly dangerous man, but even he wouldn't become that much of a threat without the Tesseract. Could von Gunther have found something of similar power? Unlikely, because Infinity Stones weren't easy to find. But there wasn't a lack of powerful artifacts lying around the world, her own job proved that.

What started as a hunt for Howard's assassin had become a mission of the utmost importance. It wasn't just about avenging her old friend now, but about stopping the beginning of a new world war against an enemy she knew all too well. If Paula von Gunther truly wanted to bring HYDRA back, Diana would do anything to stop her.

The controls of the Quinjet began to beep when they approached the coordinates, indicating they were there. With a delicate gesture, Diana brought the aircraft down, landing it on top of a rock, her eyes never leaving the bunker a few kilometers from them.

"We are here," she announced, getting up.

Natalia got up just as quickly, following Diana to the back of the Quinjet. Without turning to her, Diana removed her long coat, allowing her amazon armor to shine in the weak light, and got her sword and shield, putting them on her back; Antiope's tiara was on her head, as always, and the Lasso of Hestia was on her hip.

Following the same ritual, Natalia prepared herself too, grabbing several pistols and ammunitions, strapping all of them to the skintight black vest she was wearing. A big sniper rifle, almost as tall as her, was on her back as well.

Diana knew Natalia was a very dangerous assassin, despite her age, but she would probably be outclassed by the dangers they would find in that base. Once again she thought if it wasn't for the best to leave her in the Quinjet, but she quickly decided against it; Natalia was willing to take the risk and she was more than capable to defend her.

Which, of course, didn't make taking precautions a bad thing.

"Here, take this," Diana said, giving the girl her own shield.

Turning to her, Natalia hesitated when she saw what Diana was offering.

"If things go bad, and they will, use it to protect yourself," Diana explained, forcing the girl to take the shield. "It will protect you against anything."

With the shield in hands, Natalia touched it, feeling its texture for a second. She looked at Diana with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice almost inaudible.

"You are welcome," Diana answered, smiling at the girl.

It was time. With her fist, she pushed the button and opened the door, the freezing wind entering the Quinjet almost immediately. The cold didn't deter her for a moment, but Natalia shivered for a second, before controlling her own reaction. Without looking back, both of them jumped to the snow, beginning the walk to the bunker.

Siberia's winds were howling and their feet dug through the snow as they advanced, Diana walking in front of Natalia to shield her from the cold; and from anything else. Her eyes moved quickly across the landscape, unbothered by the strong winds, looking for signs of defense, trying to find the threat before it found them.

It didn't take long for her to find the entrance. And its guardian.

"What is that?!" Natalia asked, almost yelling to be able to talk with the noise of the wind.

"That is a relic from World War II," Diana answered, beginning to grin.

A Sleipnir with a Mjölnir mounted on top of it. The nostalgia almost made Diana sigh, the memories of her and Steve fighting it in the streets of Lublin, the Howling Commandos with them. And, of course, the presence of an old HYDRA weapon here indicated that Paula von Gunther really did have connections with them.

Kneeling on the ground, her hand bringing Natalia down with her, Diana studied the soon-to-be battlefield. It was a snowy plain, no cover anywhere, and the door to the bunker was directly behind the immense tank, hidden on a rock formation. Well, Diana thought, grinning savagely, she didn't have a choice then.

"Stay here," she ordered Natalia, getting up and starting to run in Sleipnir's direction.

Natalia yelled something at her, but she didn't even hear it, too busy preparing herself to fight. Her feet moved through the snow with incredibly grace, as if she was gliding, not once getting stuck in it. A big cloud of snow rose behind her, as her speed increased. It didn't take long for the tank to notice her and the familiar blue glow of the Mjölnir shone.

Diana had a full blown smile on her face when Mjölnir fired in her direction, the thunderstorm like sound making the entire place shake. She lifted her arms, crossing them in front of her face, using the bracelets to defend herself just like she did on Majdanek during the war.

But she was not the same woman she was then.

The blue energy hit her directly with enough strength to wipe out an entire city, but Diana didn't even move. Instead, the blue energy simply stopped, the Bracelets of Submission swallowing it, absorbing the barrage of pure power into them, the familiar noise covering even the sound of the cannon. The snow around her began to melt, turning into mist, and in a matter of seconds the whole place was lost into fog.

And then the weapon finally stopped.

There was a second of silence, when Diana was the only one who could see anything through that mist. She grinned again, seeing the blue energy dancing on her bracelets, and looked back at the huge tank. And then she clashed the bracelets together.

What followed was a huge explosion of blue and red, her own godly power guiding the Tesseract energy towards Sleipnir and Mjölnir, just as she did against Ares once. The blue energy became a beam of light, so bright that the sky glowed blue, until it hit the tank.

The blue energy didn't stop when it collided against it, passing through, leaving in its place just vaporized steel. The big bunker's doors behind it also disappeared, the whole thing melting instantaneously, as if ice struck by an active volcano. Diana felt her arms shaking as the energy flowed through her, but in any moment she lost control, using her powers to keep it focused, restraining the power so it wouldn't destroy everything around them.

When it finally ended, there wasn't anything in their way anymore, except traces of molten metal, smoke and mist leading to a now open entrance. Grinning, Diana picked her sword and looked back.

"Come on!" she called a paralyzed Natalia, beginning to run towards the bunker, her feet barely marking the snow under her.

She crossed the melted doors, running through the dark corridor, following the trail of destruction the energy beam had left behind. The walls were cracked and the floor mostly liquefied, but that didn't stop Diana from running across it, stopping only to make sure Natalia would have a path to step on.

The corridor ended on an elevator, now completely gone from being hit by the Mjölnir's energy attack, but that wouldn't be a problem for her. Waiting a few seconds, she soon heard Natalia's faint steps behind her and before the girl could even realize what was happening, Diana caught Natalia and tossed her over her shoulders, jumping down; to Natalia's credit, she didn't scream, even though Diana felt her muscles straining under her hands.

It was a long way down to the sublevels and they were falling fast. Usually, Diana wouldn't have bothered to slow down, but Natalia would get hurt, so she sank her hand on the stone walls, using the friction as a brake. The stone cracked under her fingers, leaving a trail of dust behind, but Diana barely felt it. And then, after a few long seconds, she let it go.

Diana landed with force, her feet breaking the ground under her. Almost immediately, she put Natalia down and dashed forward, going through a factory like place, the rooms on both sides filled with piles of objects. She went up a small set of stairs, arriving in an ample space filled with steel bars, like a jail.

And then there was a gunshot.

She was already moving when the air around the bullet shifted, her arm crossing the distance between her and the shot, the bracelet hitting it and deflecting it back towards the shooter. There was a yell and then a series of shooting again. Diana was spinning in place, her bracelets deflecting the rain of bullets as if they weren't any threat, while her eyes darted around to find the ones shooting at her.

There were soldiers moving around her, hidden behind the stone pillars, waiting for an ambush. All evidence would point out that Diana had fallen in their trap, but the evidence wasn't counting on her godly gifts. Jumping, Diana allowed the bullets to pass under her, as she rose all the way to the ceiling; then, when she turned in air and her legs touched the ceiling, she pushed back, propelling herself like a missile in their direction.

The soldiers didn't have the chance to defend themselves, Diana simply crashing against one and already beginning to spin with her sword to hit the others. There were gunshots and yelling as blood and body parts flew everywhere and then additional firing, when Natalia arrived in the corridor and began to help her.

In less than 10 seconds the place was silent again.

Swinging her sword in air to clean it from the blood, Diana sheathed it again, giving one look at Natalia, who was loading her pistol with practiced calm. She waited until Natalia was by her side and began to move, going towards a big, round entrance, following the sounds of hearts beating.

They approached slowly, Diana first, crossing the round entrance carefully and arriving at a huge place. The room, differently from the others, was tall, the ceiling almost too far up to see. The illumination was bright, yellow, and several stone pillars reached all the way to the top. It had a circular shape.

What marked that room as special, however, wasn't its size, it was what was in it. Differently from the other rooms, that looked like common bunkers and storages, this one was built like a temple. There were statues all around, fancy decorations on the stone, braziers burning. Old, rare artifacts were in exposition, swords and armors, piles of books, spears and shields. There was even a fountain. All that shared space with weird technological machines that Diana didn't know, computers and weapons.

Diana, however, saw everything in barely a second; because inside the temple/lab there were also five people.

Four of them, lined just in front of her, were holding rifles pointed at her. They were soldiers, professionals by the looks of it, wearing black skintight clothes that left their prominent muscles in display. Three men and a woman, all looking at her without blinking.

And in the middle of them, sitting on a throne like chair, was Baroness Paula von Gunther.

Paula von Gunther was an austerely beautiful woman, with icy blue eyes, very dark hair and pale skin. She had an arrogant air, like someone used to have their orders followed, and an aura of authority few people possessed. Her appearance, however, didn't surprise Diana; what surprised Diana was what she was wearing.

Amazon armor.

She would recognize it anywhere. The shape, the details, the material… Paula von Gunther was clad in an armor similar to the one Diana was using, complete with golden gauntlets and a sword.

Diana had no idea where she had found that armor, but she had no right to wear it.

Stepping forward, without hesitation, Diana started walking towards her; all the rifles were pointed at her and she was already preparing to defend herself, noticing Natalia hiding behind her shield at the entrance. The bullets, however, were never fired.

"Enough!" Paula von Gunther said, her voice echoing in the room.

Obeying her immediately, the four soldiers lowered their rifles. Diana raised an eyebrow, looking at the Baroness. Holding her stare, Paula von Gunther got up from the throne, walking slowly in her direction. Without saying a word, she grabbed the sword from her back as she approached, being imitated by Diana, their movements almost the same, as if they were reflections in a mirror.

Still in silence, her icy blue eyes staring deeply at Diana, Paula von Gunther walked until she was right in front of her, maybe a meter away. Both of them gazed at each other, their breaths synchronized, their stances mirroring one another.

And then, without a word, Paula von Gunther kneeled, looking down respectfully.

"I have been waiting for a long time, Diana, Goddess of War."

Hey guys, new chapter! Sorry for the delay, but life is incredibly busy right now. Anyway, review, favorite, follow! Thanks for everything!