To Save the World, Part 1: Act IV
As the night officially fell over San Francisco, Jim tore through every obstacle in his way to the Federation Headquarters. It was only a few minutes, yet the way his blood rushed through his ears told him that - somehow - it wasn't fast enough. There was a weight in his chest, just like there had been when he'd known the Enterprise was going down unless he kicked her crystals back into alignment. It was the same weight that had settled in his stomach just before they'd been attacked by Krall's swarm.
It was the sensation that the other shoe was about to drop, no matter what he did.
Jim just had to hope it wasn't the bomb.
He heard a horrendous squeal from somewhere in the distance, then caught a flash of light somewhere in the direction of Starfleet Command. As he pulled the bike up to the Federation Assembly building, he swung around to look towards the buildings he knew like the back of his hand.
Judging from the flares of light, the fight was somewhere around Building 2, home to many of the admirals and higher-ranking personnel. They would have evacuated by now, but that didn't mean anyone was safe. The two powerhouses had crossed the length of the city in less time than it had taken Jim to get just across the downtown area.
The longer he stared at the halo of light just peeking through in between the buildings between campuses… the colder that weight got in his stomach.
Jim glanced back at the Federation Headquarters, knowing that he should go inside. But, even if he did, there was every indication that Doctor Anderson wouldn't be in there. He needed to find her. Scotty wouldn't have anything new to tell him.
A streak of golden light shot upwards, soaring over the buildings in his view.
Instantly, he knew.
"Diana…" Jim kicked the bike back into high gear and tore off towards Starfleet Command. Not that he could do anything, but he had to see how she was doing. If he needed to evacuate the crew…
What had lingered for eternity for Diana happened in but an instant for him.
One moment, Jim had swung the bike around, straining to see what precisely the Swan and Diana were doing, locked in combat in the clouds. He even jumped off of the vehicle so he could run into the grass between the buildings, rapt with attention.
The next minute, he watched Diana jerk once, then twice as flashes of silver reflected the light of the lasso.
And then there was a blossom of color. Amber and reds mixed together in a brilliant ball in the sky. Jim had to blink the stars out of his eyes, but tried to keep his eyes on them both.
He only barely saw the lasso dim as Diana and her opponent plummeted.
"No…" His heart stuck in his throat as fear - the same fear he'd felt when he thought Spock was going to die on Nibiru - gripped him tightly. "Please, no…" She kept falling… and falling… he kept expecting her to catch herself, to soar back upwards.
And then he saw the Swan's wings, lanced through Diana's body for just a moment.
"DIANA!" Her name tore from his throat, yet it sounded a million miles away.
Diana hit the top of the building with a horrific crash. The building, clearly in the throes of a fire, began to crumble around the gaping hole she had clearly left.
Starfleet Headquarters collapsed on Diana.
And Jim could feel her… let go.
"No, no, dammit - " Jim gasped, his vision momentarily blurring as sheer, irrational panic threatened to overcome him. He had to get her out, he had to… somehow… she couldn't be gone.
"Jim!" The voice came from behind him, distant but most assuredly not from a communicator.
He turned, at a loss, only to spot Chief Engineer Scott on other side of the street. He had clearly sprinted all the way from the assembly building, but for the life of him, Jim had momentarily forgotten why.
Diana was gone. That was all that he could feel, could think. For one, terrifying moment, he hadn't been there.
Then, he remembered why Scotty would be looking for him.
Just like that, all the pieces clicked back into place. The panic subsided as Jim's mental awareness and willpower gripped the irrational fear tightly and shoved it back down.
Diana could survive - and had survived - anything.
"Ye didn't answer your bloody communicator, sir!" The Scotsman bellowed as the captain approached.
Jim didn't bother to address Scotty's concern. "Mister Scott, we need to get Diana out of there! Now!" He ordered as he sprinted back over to his crewmate.
"Diana, I…" Scotty looked lost for a moment, clearly having pursued the captain only when it became clear he wasn't answering his communicator. "Oh, heavens, no…" He breathed, shocked as he realized what had become of Starfleet Command. "She's not… I mean, she's in there?"
Jim nodded, mind racing as he tried to put himself back on track. There were still lives at stake, but he had to make sure he did everything he could. "Yes, and I need everyone down here. Dig her out with your bare hands if you have to, but we've got to get to her."
Scotty nodded dumbly for a moment. "A-Aye, sir. Get right on it. But, I found Adrianna Anderson, and it's… it's bad, Jim."
He wasn't sure anything could be any worse than the way his stomach was rolling. "How bad?"
"She's on her way to a shuttle in an evacuation zone. There'll be tons of civilians. We cannae just send a security detail - "
Jim shook his head, already three steps ahead of his engineer. They would dig Diana out. She would come back from this. Nothing kept her down. He was in denial about the very notion that he was in denial. It wasn't denial if he was certain she could survive. "Just give me the coordinates and I'm on it."
Scotty motioned to Jim's side. "Sent it to ye tricorder."
Jim glanced down, as if he had just remembered the device at his belt. He rested a hand on the tricorder, then turned to face the smoldering wreckage of the Command building.
"Jim…." Scotty breathed beside him, clearly watching it as well. "No one could survive that. The temperature's gotta be hot as… well…."
"Hot as a Romulan warbird's phaser?" Jim asked, not buying the skepticism. He turned to Scotty, stony-faced and determined. "She didn't even break a sweat that time. Don't be so sure about this one."
Without waiting for a response, Jim flipped open his tricorder with one hand to check the coordinates, then moved for his communicator. Mounting the hoverbike again, he quickly oriented himself before hailing his ship.
"Kirk to the Enterprise!"
"We read you, Jim." Spock's voice was the closest thing to a comfort he was going to get in that moment.
Jim swerved around an upturned car. "Spock, I need as many people as we can spare down at Starfleet Command, right now! And tell Bones to bring any of the equipment contaminated with chronitons down to the site, too! Scotty will give you precise coordinates!"
The pause on the other end was most assuredly his first officer trying to asses the situation. Not for the first time in Jim's life, he wished his friend would just act. "What has occurred at Starfleet Headquarters? Are you alright?"
"It's not me you need to be worried about!" Jim said as he glanced down at the nav output on the bike. He was across town from Anderson. "Diana's buried under a building and I think Vanessa - the Silver Swan - is with her! She looked…" Jim hesitated, then abandoned the thought altogether. "Just get down here! She has to be alive, which means the Swan could be, too!" He made a move to end the transmission, then stopped.
He honestly wasn't sure how the crew would get to Diana, and if the Swan had survived, then they could be in danger.
And Cale was somewhere on the planet. They were up against two masterminds and a very dangerous puppet that Jim couldn't tell what state she'd been in when they fell. This was a job for more than a Starfleet crew. It was a job for...
Jim thought fast, darting through traffic. "Patch me directly to Admiral Kent on the Farragut!"
If Spock had any objections to that, he was careful not to voice them. Instead, there was a moment of silence on his communicator as Jim tried to cross another blocked street, only to find himself truly at an impasse when he realized his bike couldn't get over a delivery truck. He pivoted and swung around just as he heard the voice on the other line.
"Kent here. Kirk, what's going on?"
Jim's mouth moved as fast as the bike did while he was forced to backtrack. "Diana's down, and I don't know for how long. I think she might have taken the Silver Swan with her. It's what Vanessa started calling herself when she saw Diana. But, she's trapped under an entire building, I need to find Doctor Cyber and I have no idea where Cale is, but I'm sure she's somewhere down here."
His bike came to a sharp halt as he realized his only other way to get down the street was now a collapsed roadway. He couldn't pass it with just the bike, it was too steep. But, there was a makeshift ramp from a fallen sign…
"Listen, Diana said it herself: She used to have a team. And that team took care of people. Now, I am going to find Doctor Cyber, but I can't be everywhere at once. And neither can my crew. There are civilians who are scared, I don't know if Cale's working with anyone else, but I can be damn sure she has to have some kind of contingency plan. The fact is, we don't need a Starfleet Admiral." Jim said, pausing to rest the communicator against his forehead for a second as he chose his next words carefully. He finally brought the speaker back to his mouth as he said, "We need a member of the Justice League. So, if you happen to know of anyone who fits that description, then you find them and get them down here." When Kent didn't immediately reply, Jim sighed and decided to play hardball. "Kirk out." He slapped the communicator shut, then glanced at the roadway.
As Jim took the jump using the road sign, he could only tell himself that if nothing else, he believed with all his heart… Diana was in there.
She just needed a little time.
It was warm.
The scent of lavender mixed with the ocean breeze danced lazily through her senses. The sounds of waves lapping the shore, the distant laughter of her sisters at play, they all began to lull her to her surroundings.
Diana shifted from her prone position. Warm sand slipped through her fingers as she stirred. Even though her closed eyes, she saw the amber glow of sunlight on her face. There were drums in the distance, sounds of hooves beating the sand.
Sitting up, Diana opened her eyes to the paradise around her. The crystal clear ocean with its vibrant blue depths, the very cliffs that had been both barrier and protection for her people. The very shores that her mother had given thanks to the gods daily for. It was all before her. It was not the planet they had transported to.
Her heart was at peace. She was as a child for a brief moment, whose only thoughts of Man's World were in the time before history had been written. She scrambled to her feet, at ease in the old leather training garb and sandals of her childhood.
She was home.
"You know, it doesn't matter how many times you described this place to me, it's never quite the same as seeing it for myself." The husky and charismatic voice brought a sudden well of emotion, tears suddenly warming her eyes. It had been two hundred years since she had heard the man behind her. Two hundred years since she had been forced to say goodbye.
"Bruce…" Diana breathed, turning to face the man who had helped remind her to step out of the shadows, to be a leader. Their friendship had been fraught with conflict and differing opinions. Where he saw darkness, she saw light. Where he saw smoke and mirrors, she saw magic. If perhaps they had been a bit less contentious, she would have embraced him now. But, Bruce was never the sort for physical gestures.
She had never seen him as at peace as he seemed. He looked… young. Hints of grey to his hair, but clearly younger than she remembered knowing him. And in light khakis and a white button-down, Bruce Wayne was nothing like the dark knight she had met all those years ago.
Diana's heart sank as she realized why. "Am I…"
"Diana, I think we both know I'm precisely the wrong person to ask about whether or not someone is dead." Bruce said, slipping his hands into his pockets as he walked over to her. He was barefoot, toes playing with the sand. "But, I know I am. Or, at the least, I'm not in Gotham."
"How could you be in Elysium?" Diana asked, reaching out almost hesitantly as he came to stop before her. Her hand brushed his shoulder, half-expecting him not to be there at all. "You've never professed to be a man of faith, Bruce." It had been another bone of contention for them. Yet, all of that seemed insignificant in the knowledge that he was here. That his life of service to his city had been rewarded.
Bruce smiled at her, silent for a long moment. It had been so long since she had seen him smile, seen him at all. But, in the end, he had pushed Damien away, pushed Selina away, and even Diana. It was a poignant reminder of how she had not been ready to give her heart to anyone, even if he had wished for it. "I'm not. But, I believed in you. Your message, your abilities. And…" Bruce shrugged a bit. "Apparently, helping you retrieve the sword of Achilles won me a spot in the Greek hall of heroes."
"Then, shouldn't you be in Gotham? With your family?" Everything felt right, but… strangely so. She knew what others saw in Elysium, what the promise of eternal paradise should have been for her. But, she couldn't quite remember why she knew it so intimately now. Someone had been in Elysium recently, but her mind wished to focus only on the memories before her.
"I spent too long training myself to know when things were too perfect. Starro, Brainiac… They always used the memory of my parents and the perfect life they envisioned for me. I imagine any 'heaven' I'd have earned would have driven me mad in a week. I'd be looking for the man behind the curtain.." Bruce turned away, motioning to the cliffs above. "But, as one of your siblings told me, they could give me somewhere else to go. So, Odysseus, Jason and I have plenty in common."
As her gaze followed his to the cliffs, she spotted two men fighting with short swords and shields. She gathered that those were the heroes in question. Bruce had been placed among the greatest warriors of her people.
"It's not a bad way to pass the time." He remarked, although she got the impression there was a sense of… waiting to the statement. Quirking an eyebrow, she stared him down until he elaborated. "One of these days, we'll get called back to a life of service. I guess."
"Only you could have heaven and be bored with it, Mister Wayne." The playful attitude, the razor-sharp wit…
"Lois!" Diana grinned and whirled around to face the newcomer. Without hesitation, the two embraced. She did not question how and when Lois had arrived, she only recognized her long-lost sister. She was young and full of life, dressed as another one of her Amazon sisters. "Oh, I have missed you, sister…" She held Lois tight, unabashedly and greedily making up for the time they had been separated.
"I've missed you, too, Diana…" She breathed, running her hand along Diana's back to ease and comfort her. They had not been so close until Conner's birth.
The thought of Lois's son and husband gave Diana pause. She pulled back, resting her hands on either side of her friend's face. "Kal and Conner miss you, too. Every day. I wish they could see you now."
Lois's radiant smile faded a bit at the mention of her family. "I know. I've been keeping an eye on them, against your mother's objections. But, you know me, if I want something, I get it."
Diana's heart skipped a beat. She wasn't sure if such things still were possible in Elysium, but the sensation felt real. "My mother." Her grip shifted to Lois's shoulders, squeezing gently as she quietly pled. "I wish to see her. Can you take me to her?" Diana's voice trembled at the very thought of seeing her mother once more. It had been too long. Far too long.
Lois searched her face for a long moment, but she didn't know what the woman hoped to find. Instead, she nodded and pat Diana's hand gently before pulling free and motioning for her to follow. "Of course. She's not the only one who wants to see you, either."
As the two of them began to cross the length of the beach towards the great doors leading back to the city, Diana realized that Bruce was not following. "Will you not join us?"
Bruce chuckled a bit, then shook his head. "Diana, you don't need me where you're going. I just really wanted to see you. One more time." He motioned to Lois beside her. "As per usual, Ms. Lane has all the answers."
Diana nodded, albeit perplexed, then turned to leave.
Behind her, Bruce added, "I'm glad he found you. Or you found him." She began to pivot back towards him for a moment. "I can see why it was so hard for you. He's a tough act to follow, in any life."
Diana furrowed her brow, then felt Lois tug her arm.
Who was Bruce referring to? It wasn't that the person wasn't important, but… it was if his name just… had not occurred to her.
"Steve." Diana muttered as the memories returned. The very real connection of the pilot, her lover, the man who had waited literal lifetimes in Elysium, only for her to never arrive. The man who had made a deal with the gods themselves to be reborn as - "Jim." Diana's voice was more certain now, the simple haze of contentment starting to clear as she and Lois walked a path that climbed up to the great temples of Themyscira.
She had been in San Francisco. She had been fighting… Vanessa.
Diana was dead. And Jim was on his own.
"This place makes you forget things you don't want to remember." Lois said, as if she could read her mind. "And most people have their own personal little… paradise. But, some people don't. Or, they can't accept what it is."
"Like Bruce," Diana replied.
Lois nodded as the two of them passed one of the temples. Diana knew that the distance from those shores to the temples should have taken much longer, yet somehow they were nearly to the great Senate Building. "I couldn't, either. There was always Clark, always Conner, always Martha…" She shrugged. "But, it never felt right. There was never a time when Supernan was needed in my paradise. And that wasn't Clark. He was a hero, even when he owed the world nothing. So, I kept looking for ways to see Clark: the real Clark."
"And so, you came here?" Diana glanced around, more aware than ever that she was in the Nexus.
"More or less." The two of them paused as they reached the Senate building. As Diana's feet came to a halt, she recognized that something seemed… off. The sun was warm, but not as warm as it should have been. The lavender was in the air, but there were no accompanying smells of orchids. Everything was carefully keyed to a specific tone and aesthetic.
"Jim said Steve never left the bar in Veld." Diana said, recalling the conversations they had had regarding this near-death experience. "He couldn't come here?"
"Oh, Diana," Lois said with a sigh. She smiled a bit, shaking her head and reaching up to touch her friend's arm. "He didn't need to. He got a better offer."
The doors to the Senate building opened before Diana could ask why Lois hadn't asked the same of herself, the same for Kal.
Diana had lost so many in her life, but none had ever pained her as much as losing Hippolyta, her mother, the Queen of the Amazons. And yet… there she was.
Diana heard her name on her mother's lips, desperate, raw, and disbelieving. She turned to face her, eyes widening as her mother rushed towards her. She wasn't entirely sure certain how she reached her mother as she seemingly blinked and was in her mother's arms. Those strong arms that had carried her since she was a babe embraced her with unrelenting, unbridled joy. The graceful and powerful hands that had taken Diana's face in her hands to comfort gripped her daughter tightly and held her close.
"My Diana…" Her mother wept. "Oh, my Diana…"
Diana turned her face towards her mother's golden hair, holding her tightly. Her tears fell unabashedly as she found herself in the very warmth and loving embrace that she had missed for so long. "I'm here, mother…" She breathed, all thoughts of the world beyond this moment gone. "I'm here…"
It would have been easy to let the torrent of emotion overtake them, allowing mother and daughter to spend all the time they desired to weep with joy. But, her mother had never been one to let such emotions rule over her for long.
Hippolyta pulled back, reaching up to brush hair out of her daughter's eyes, smiling as she did so. "Let me look at you." After a moment, she pulled her daughter back up to her feet.
Diana couldn't help but beam back at the mothering attention. "You look wonderful, mother."
Another voice answered her, before her mother could. "And you look strong." Diana looked past her mother towards the other guests that had accompanied her mother from the building.
It had been over three hundred years since Diana had seen General Antiope, her aunt and mentor. In that time, she had only her memory to hold onto, save for the few tapestries and vases crafted in the woman's honor.
But, they all paled compared to the real thing.
"Antiope." Diana's voice disappeared for a moment as her throat chose that moment to close up again with more tears.
Antiope simply watched her like a hawk, her own eyes warm with tears, yet they stubbornly remained unshed. The general was not the kind to shed tears. It was her words that truly touched Diana's heart. "You have worn my symbol well, Diana. You have made me very proud."
Diana smiled through her tears, then took a deep breath to collect herself. Her hand trembled as she brushed tears from her eyes and nodded in thanks. She had made Antiope proud, her mother proud… through her deeds on Man's World. A world that she was distinctly absent from in that moment.
When she finally spoke again, she was sure to keep her voice steady. "I didn't think I would ever see any of you again." Diana's expression darkened as she found herself, once again, confronted with the reality of such a blessing. She turned to her mother once more. "I'm sorry, mother. I promised to make myself worthy of our people, but… I'm here. I'm not protecting them." As the words came to her, Diana began to remember that which Elysium had held back from her. Vanessa, the Swan, the bomb threatening countless lives, and Cale's evil spreading across the galaxy. "I couldn't even save Vanessa."
"But, my princess, it was never about saving me."
Vanessa stepped out from behind a few of the onlookers, women that Diana only now realized were her fellow sisters, once that had fallen against foes. The Germans, Steppenwolf… Darkseid himself. They were all here now.
And so was Vanessa Katalepis, looking as youthful and as excited to see the world around her as she had the day that Diana had looked into the girl's mind. No hint of Borg or Starro, just Vanessa. With her dark hair now in ringlets to rival any goddess, beautiful and free, she was the picture of peace.
"The Borg had already taken so much from me, Diana." Vanessa said, her voice soothing and somehow without any of the blame that Diana carried on her own shoulders. She stepped forward to meet the woman who had been her Princess, her Ambassador to Man's World. "This was never about saving me in that life. It was about making sure I was still worthy of this place."
"But, I promised I would bring you home…" Diana began, only somewhat aware that her mother had moved aside so that her daughter could meet her subject. Her hand ran down Vanessa's cheek, free of blemishes and implants, of the torture and scarring.
"I asked to see the shores of Themyscira, my princess. This is what I wanted." Vanessa reached up to touch Diana's hand gently in return, as if she could sooth all ills. "You stopped me from killing anyone else. You saved me from a Tartarus of my own making."
Diana's eyes widened at the turn of phrase. She understood. "The Nexus creates the world it thinks you want. If you had been turned into a killer…"
"It would have fed that dark part of me for eternity." Vanessa spoke that which Diana couldn't bring herself to. "I never would have seen my mother, my family again. In my own Elysium or anyone else's."
"But, even so... " Diana sighed. "Even with such a blessing… there is still so much more I must do. I am not ready to leave Man's World."
"Nor are you forced to, Diana." Antiope's voice cut through the air, blunt and honest as ever. She stepped past Vanessa and took Diana's hand, pulling her over to face the shining sea beyond the island. In a moment, Hippolyta was at her other side.
"You know your heritage now, Diana." Hippolyta said, resting her hand on her daughter's back. "You are not like us."
Antiope turned, clenching her fist and gesturing to the sky. "You faced Ares. You destroyed Ares, because only a god can kill another god."
"Diana, my daughter…" Hippolyta reached up, resting her hands on Diana's cheeks as she had done those many years ago. "You saw what can happen to a god. They do not die. They sleep. And that sleep lasts as long as they wish."
"What… what are you saying?" Diana's stomach turned as she tried to understand. But, something told her she already knew.
"You have been my greatest sorrow while were parted." Hippolyta brushed her thumb across her daughter's cheek, smiling. "But, you will always be my greatest joy. Because, you have fulfilled your destiny." The significance of the words rang true, but she didn't know what to think of them. Her mother pressed on, more direct. "Diana, gods are not mortal. There are no doors that you cannot open."
"I'm a goddess…" Diana breathed. It was the Truth, flowing from her lips like honey. Even if she didn't know what that meant… it was The Truth. "I did hear Athena speak to me… She welcomed me to my birthright." She looked up at her mother, then to Antiope. "I am the Goddess… of Truth."
"And once the truth is known, it is absolute." Lois echoed Diana's own words to Jim, when he had begged for her to remove Steve's life from his mind.
Death was not her destiny. She would never remain in the Nexus. She could… pass freely to and from it, as Apollo could. Because Apollo had given her the birthright of Truth.
She was a goddess.
"You have spent so long trying to be one of us, Diana." Lois said with a smile. "But, that's what makes you so wonderful. So, own it." The patented Lois Lane attitude came back in full force, breaking through the gravitas of her family's heavy words. "Be the Goddess of Truth. Because, they need you. You make everyone better. Including my family. So go back there and tell Clark he's run for long enough."
"Lois…" Diana breathed, not sure what to say or how to say it. There were not words to adequately thank her, or to promise her that she would do as requested.
Voices began to echo around her. Not those in Themyscira, but somehow… beyond. Familiar voices.
"See?" Lois said. "Can't you hear them?"
I can't see her! Spock, help me move this!
"Nyota." Diana recognized the voice instantly as it came into clear focus.
She has to be alive! Don't give up on her!
She could hear Leonard McCoy, his mind screaming for her to come back, running calculations about something called chronitons.
Lassie! Help me! There's got to be a way we can lever this free!
Montgomery.
Diana could hear them all. She could hear the words, spoken and in thought only.
She could hear Spock calculating the odds that she was alive, while fervently hoping that she would defy them.
She could hear Jim. One thought, even as he was further than all of them for some reason.
Come on, Angel. I believe in you, Diana. I need you.
"Your worshippers call to you, Diana." Hippolyta breathed, slipping an arm around her daughter's shoulders. "Make sure you are worthy of them."
Being the captain of a starship meant that the name James Kirk went a lot of places, got him through a lot of tough spots. Unfortunately, it couldn't make him stop people who didn't know him from Adam from evacuating. And he couldn't risk grounding every shuttle until they knew precisely what was inside that bomb.
Yet, there was the catch. If Doctor Cyber was the key to seeing inside those holograms, Jim had to find a way to get to her.
His captain bars got him into the evacuation zone, but he had to ditch the hoverbike from that point on. And that did not help.
There was an order, a rank and file to Starfleet operations, and that normally extended to the local police force. But, since Khan's attack on the city years ago, even with the Augment movement, there was only so much that the city could do to deal with a mass exodus of one of the largest populations on the North American continent.
The evacuation zone was choked full of people in various states of panic and worry.
Jim had spent a lot of time trying to point out all the ways he was a more evolved Steve Trevor, but in truth… there was a lot Jim had never seen.
There was a part of him that he knew he had lacked before the events on Delphi. It was the part of him that could compartmentalize the suffering of others for the objective at hand. It was the part that could tell himself that law enforcement would get all these people out of here…
But, Jim had to stop things from escalating.
As he wormed his way through crowds of people, he checked the tricorder to see if Scotty had been able to send updated coordinates. No such luck. Jim wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing. Best case scenario, they had found Diana. Worst case…
Jim toggled his screen for a picture of Adrianna Anderson and vehemently stopped thinking about the worst case.
He had a knack for picking people and things out of crowds. He'd done it when researching the original terrorist attack by "John Harrison", and he'd done it chasing down Edison. As long as he could get a good look at the woman in question, he would be able to spot her.
As with all too many people in Jim's life, Adrianna Anderson seemed completely innocuous. There was nothing to suggest that she was anything more than a Starfleet science officer, yet Jim knew that Diana had been absolutely certain that the cochlear implant she had housed an ancestor… who happened to be a… terrorist. Criminal. Supervillain. Whatever.
Jim tried to keep that in mind as he kept navigating the crowds.
The ones that are here have already been triaged, he told himself.
Unbidden, he found himself thinking of the No Man's Land outside of Veld. As the days had worn on, much of Jim's memories as Steve had faded into obscurity. As promised, the good ones had stayed. The bad ones… they were hazy, almost like trying to remember his first babysitter.
But, he could still remember the way he'd trudged through mud, telling himself to keep looking forward. Normally, that wasn't Jim Kirk.
Right now, it had to be.
As he passed a shuttle check-in station, Jim caught sight of a line of evacuees. Their shuttle was about to land, kicking up dust around the platform. Families, business owners, civilians that had nothing to do with grandiose galactic politics, they just served coffee and sandwiches. Without meaning to, Jim found himself drawn to one of the families. The parents were wrangling their young kids while another adult - sister, aunt, maybe? - tugged her long coat tighter and stepped closer to them as the shuttle completed its landing procedure. As they spoke, he caught the conversation. The man was worried about the flowers in his shop while his wife reminded him that there was still plenty of time in the season to get more if the supply was lost. They seemed well to do, sure, but casual. Hard-working people.
But, hard-working folk didn't wear Starfleet regulation boots.
The woman tagging along with the family in her long coat clearly did. And the more Jim watched her, the more suspicious she seemed.
"Hey!" Jim called, pushing past a few more people as he tried to get over to the shuttle pilot letting people on. "Stop! Don't let that woman on!" He knew the chances that they'd hear him over the shuttle's idling were slim to none, but enough people started to part as they realized a uniformed Starfleet captain was trying to cross the zone.
Jim pulled his phaser as he finally cleared a path and began to sprint towards her.
Anderson turned towards the commotion and spotted Jim coming towards her. She swiveled, as if to jump onto the shuttle, but the pilot had spotted her and grabbed his phaser. In the blink of an eye, her expression twisted from one of worry to frustration and fear. She turned, dropping the long coat and sprinting away from the shuttle zone.
She broke from the crowd, heading off onto the grass towards a row of old visitor buildings, long since condemned and scheduled to be demolished in the next few months. Without hesitation, he sprinted after with a burst of adrenaline.
He'd been getting a bit worn out trying to sprint across town earlier, but now that he had his prize in sight, the emotional high spurred him on like an Olympic athlete. He couldn't afford to lose her now, not when everything counted on it.
Anderson ducked behind a building and Jim followed, trying to pivot faster than his feet could keep up. He dropped, sliding along the gravel as he gripped his phaser tight and tried to get off at least one stun in her direction. It didn't land, but it did throw her off.
He caught himself on a crumbling wall and used the momentum to get back to his feet just in time to watch the woman stumble and fall as she tried to avoid another few phaser hits.
Quickly collecting himself, Jim rose the phaser in his hands, poised to fire as he slowly approached her.
"Give it up, Anderson," He ordered as she tried to scramble back a bit, facing him. Oddly enough, he didn't see much fear. Just calculating and cold survivalist instinct. "And don't bother to deny it, I know who you are, Doctor. Who you really are." The woman halted, tilting her head as she tried to get a read on him. Jim made sure she didn't get too long to think about it. "Diana's told me enough about you to know I don't like you, Doctor Cyber." Anderson's eyes flickered with an uneasy, clearly cybernetic charge. "So, you tell me how to disarm your nasty present for the Federation Assembly, and maybe I won't plug you into a potato while they figure out what to do with you."
"There are plans within plans here, Captain," Anderson said, smiling in a way that made his skin crawl. "The statistical likelihood that you will be able to discern the location of the secondary trigger means that even if I told you the maximum yield and frequency of the weapon, you're not going to be able to stop it." The woman had backed up to an old trash can, pulling herself up to a standing position. Behind her, the old glass panes on the visitor's center reflected the smoldering wreckage of the Starfleet Command building in the distance. "Veronica and I took great pains to ensure that Wonder Woman would be unable to assist."
"The Silver Swan isn't a threat," Jim said, hoping that in this case, no news had been good news. He could see her cochlear implant blinking behind her ear in the reflection of the glass. "And Diana's pretty resilient. If I remember correctly, Vanessa could handle a lot of Borg implantation, yet her body kept rejecting it."
"Yes, it was a unique scientific opportunity, that's true," Anderson said with a cruel little smile. "But, the Starro allowed me to conquer that particular obstacle. In fact, I would be willing to discuss it with you, but that implies you'd even grasp the basic understanding of nanotechnology and xenobiology necessary - "
"You're stalling." Jim interrupted.. "Your secondary detonator isn't as sophisticated as what you planned, or I'd be hearing about it. Which means the only reason Jaylah couldn't hack into your holo-program is because you've never had the detonator." She quirked an eyebrow at him, clearly confused. "You were just the diversion."
Before Anderson could open her mouth to reply, Jim took aim at the cochlear implant and fired. The implant flared, then popped loudly before the outer casing fell off of Adrianna's ear.
Jim was there as fast as he could, barely managing to catch Adrianna with one arm and lowering her to the ground. With one hand at her neck, he checked her pulse to find it strong, then turned her head so he could see what his shot had done. Unfortunately, frying the Cyber implant had left her ear black and burnt, but… she was alive.
He stood and made his way over to the spot where the implant had fallen. After a second of rooting around for it, he picked it up in one hand and holstered his phaser with the other. It certainly looked dead…
Jim's gut said that was the right call. But, he wouldn't know until he heard from the source. He grabbed his communicator and hailed Jaylah. "Kirk to Jaylah. If I just did what I think I did, that hologram is gone."
There was a long pause on the other end. For a terrible moment, he was sure he'd miscalculated and lost one of his crew, his -
"The hologram is deactivated! How did you know to do this?"
"Tracked down Doctor Cyber and she kept talking. I realized if she had the ability to detonate the bomb, she would have. Then I remembered what you said about anything in the bomb being old and mechanical." Jim turned as two of the police finally caught up to him, clearly looking confused. He made sure to speak a little louder for their benefit, too. "Pretty sure Adrianna Anderson's about to wake up very confused, but she was the glue holding the holographic barrier together. You should be able to disarm the bomb, but if you can't, we need to find Cale. Fast."
"But, where? I do not know this Cale, I do not know how she thinks." His ensign had mastered the art of answering rhetorical questions, but he had to agree with her on that. Not even Jim had a good notion of where she was. Diana was the only one who really knew how she thought.
Which was why they had to help her.
Jim began to walk idly in the direction of Starfleet Command. It would take him well over a half hour to run back to it, but having it in sight gave him some small comfort.
"I know. Look, you work on the bomb. If there's still a detonator, then there has to be a way you can track it. Don't rule anything out. Cale's been around for the last two hundred years, which means there might be some unorthodox technology. Just like with Krall. Kirk out." Quickly, he switched to another hail as he watched the fireglow in the distance, stomach churning. "Come on, Scotty..."
"You know, I have to say, you mortals are so predictable." The presence had snuck up behind him out of nowhere, but instantly, he knew who was behind him. He'd only heard her voice once before, but… it was impossible. "You're always 'oh, boo-hoo, woe is me, the princess is dead! How shall I hope again?' Ha! Try turning someone into a pig. If that doesn't put a smile on your face, I don't know what does."
Jim slowly turned, chilled to the core as he faced the newcomer. "Circe."
Sure enough, the sorceress of Althea, the 'witch-goddess' as Diana had called her, stood before Jim in all her glory, a full three feet off of the ground. Bathed in an eerie lavender halo, she looked just the same as the last time he'd seen her. Flowing purple hair that went to her waist, manicured nails, all edges and curves in the wrong ways.
And she was looking at Jim like he was on the dinner menu.
With a flourish of delicate hands that he could still remember burning against his skull, she bowed a bit at his acknowledgment. "Captain," She purred, grinning with nothing but pure malice. "This has been lots of fun, but promises are promises." Her hand began to glow brightly with a ball of pure energy, not unlike the ones he'd seen on his bridge. "And I promised Diana I would make sure I took everything away from her."
"How are you even here?" Jim asked, beginning to go for his phaser. She caught the motion and reached out with her other hand.
"Ah-la-ta-na-ka." She intoned, the words ringing through his skull as if she'd been in his head all over again.
Jim groaned, falling to his knees as something threatened to split his head in two.
Circe lowered herself to the ground, striding across the grass until she could crouch down and face him.
"Did you have something to say, piggy man?" She cooed, clear that her throat wasn't just for the sake of poetry. "Keep squealing, I'd love to see how that turns out for you."
Jim forced his gaze up to hers, even as his body felt like it was weighed down with the force of an ocean. He didn't speak. He had a feeling she'd tell him what he needed to know anyway. She was just like Nero. The revenge ran so deep, she was dying to tell someone.
"I don't owe you an explanation as to my motives, but I would take great pleasure in explaining what I will do." Circe breathed, lips practically caressing the words. "First, I'm going to kill your crew. Your little band of merry men and women, her little cult. And then, I'm going to kill you. Then finally, I will rip her soul from Hades myself just to tell her what I've done."
Jim's heart thudded in his chest as she very plainly laid out her intentions.
"So, you just sit right there and watch a weaver work." Circe said with a smile, patting his cheek condescendingly before standing and backing up. She was, clearly, a performer. She didn't just want to do it. She wanted Jim to know.
The energy began to swell in her hands. He'd seen her channel energy on his ship, but this… this was so different. Circe's fingers moved, drawing sigils in the air before a great bolt of energy appeared before her. Reaching out, she took the power in her hand and held it aloft like a javelin. It was clear that it was concentrated, that if that made impact…
His crew… his family.
Diana. He didn't know if Diana was alive. But, he certainly believed it with every fiber of his being.
Bones had once told Jim that he was the most responsible irresponsible man he'd known.
He didn't think about the cost. He never had.
Jim didn't know what he must have looked like to Circe as he pulled himself to his feet, magic snapping off of him like purple wires, sparking into the darkness.
His phaser was up in his hand and fired.
Circe's explosive magic slipped from her hands as the phaser bolt caught her in the shoulder.
And the world blossomed in light and fire before Jim was blown clear off of his feet and into the buildings behind him.
END OF PART ONE.
TO BE CONTINUED...
