answers to reviewers questions or statements:
Trition0501: Well Darkseid also took Diana away from him, so he's not going to exactly be happy with him or Apokolips.
shadespace: To be fair, Peter isn't exactly a social butterfly, he's content keeping to himself and those associated with Apokolips. He only ever came to earth for the Soul Stone, now that he has it, he sees little reason to interact with people that've resisted his father on so many occasions and generally hold views that he personally dislikes. And Peter hasn't been giving many people a reason to actually like him. Diana didn't blame Peter for not de-escalating things, she simply asked if he did everything on his end to do so. She was also willing to hear him out and explain his reasoning for being at Oscorp in the first place unlike the majority of the League, again that's not stupid. And her being a trained warrior since she was a child is exactly why she's not reprimanding the League for allowing the Teen Titans to operate despite their lack of experience and training, it's because she knows that their still learning and that they are going to make errors in judgment, such is the life of a warrior. It's unfortunate that this error in judgment cost Wally a literal leg, but again that's the life they chose.
REX5678: Diana, Bekka, Psylocke, Warbird, Faora, at the moment.
Spider-Menace76: That's the goal.
chimera629: At what point did I ever say, hint, or mention that Intergang uses lower level tech compared to Apokolips? When did I ever say, mention or hint that Peter somehow uses tech that's beyond what his society uses despite the fact he's mentioned that he helps invent and modify their current arsenal? How did he save Starfire's life? What because he forcibly ended the fight by leaving?
Shinobi scribe of the kage: Literally the only ones that 'pushed him around' were Flash and Superman, the most powerful members of the entire Justice League. And even than, it was hardly pushing, barely even a shoulder check.
War Sage: It's not so much their mad that they got hurt, their pissed that a 'supposed' ally was the one behind it. Your implying they need an excuse in the first place, one of them could look at Starfire's homeworld and be like 'You know what? I want that place'.
superpierce: He referred to Peter as such because he believes that because Peter is 'weaker' than Diana, and from Apokolips, than she should be able to keep him in line.
The great gamer: It was also Peter's way to keep the League's focus on him instead of Warbird.
Laffurt: Kid Flash didn't attack Peter, he just swiped the odd mysterious glowing cube from his is all. It's not so much as Peter didn't mean for it to happen so much he didn't have time to plan this out in a way that'll ensure the League wouldn't be able to come after him because of it. Carol sadly threw that out the window and instead he switched to attempting damage control.
spiderfan: It's more of why a supposed ally is crippling their allies.
AnonAJ: He's not collecting the stones to annul the marriage, he's been collecting them because they piqued his interest and he's curious as to how they work, why they exists and if they can be used for Apokolips's gain.
trinity seven: Well to be fair they were called there by Oscorp an when they arrived they saw guards were dead, Oscorp was under attack and Peter seemed to be fleeing the scene. How they handled it was wrong, but it's not surprising that a bunch of teenagers with little real time experience made the wrong conclusions.
MR. NO BO DY: True, but she's seen people on Apokolips who have shown a surprising amount of compassion to others, even Darkseid showed something resembling it to his youngest, Armria, even if it's to ensure her loyalty later on. But Peter's showing a lack of empathy that even some of his siblings don't, and that's what's bothering her, she believed that as bad as he could be, he was still leagues better than most of his siblings. You also seem to forget that Diana hasn't been unfaithful either, and she has helped him on a few occasions even when she didn't have to. She wasn't blaming Peter for Bruno's death, she knew the man's days were numbered, she's just surprised that Peter killed him so quickly and he did the deed himself rather than have Warbird or the Parademons do it.
Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or DC characters seen, mentioned or used.
"This place sucks"
"It's not that bad"
"It's so boring that I can't even tell if I'm even awake right now because of how bored I am"
"Peter... we've been here all of thirty seconds"
"Thirty seconds that I will never get back, thank you for that beloved wife"
"Anything for you my 'charming' and 'handsome' husband"
"..."
"..."
"...Okay, now your just being mean. Flattering and honest, but still mean"
Diana rolled her eyes as she wandered into the kitchen of the home of Scott Free and Big Barda. After a few days of staying on the Watchtower, and having to suffer through snide comments from the likes of Guy Gardner, who Diana was on the verge of punching out, and Green Arrow's side glances and equally snide comments, Diana had decided that she and Peter will be staying somewhere else for the foreseeable future.
The Kent Farm was out of the question, Diana dared not to taint the hidden sanctuary of peace with Peter's presence, especially with Kara still there, a rebellious teenager that could be set off as easily by Peter as it takes for Diana to blink. She briefly considered the Themysciran Embassy before the memories of her mother and Artemis's interactions with Peter flashed through her mind. Donna offered to share her home with Diana, it was more than large enough for the three of them, even with the Parademon escort that Peter insisted on keeping with them. But after hearing that Dick Grayson was now staying with her little sister, Diana politely declined.
She didn't wish to be there for when things... came to their inevitable conclusion.
Finally Peter offered his own choice, the home that Scott and Barda used to live in when they were both still a part of the Justice League and lived on Earth for a time. Apparently Scott had approached Peter before Diana had arrived at the staging ground where they'd depart for Earth and offered it's use for the duration of their mission. When Diana questioned why Peter never stayed there beforehand, his response was along the lines of 'You really want to sleep in the same bed that Scott fucked Barda in?'.
"How could he live in a place this small?" Peter said as he scanned the house with his lenses, flashing through a number of spectrums and analyzing everything from the number of atoms in the room he was in, to the type of materials were in the paint on the walls.
"Scott and Barda were never ones for overindulgence" Diana said as she examined the kitchen and found it's surfaces covered in a thin layer of dust "I'm surprised you didn't know that given your relationship to Scott. You two seemed close"
"He's only recently accepted his place in my warped family in the past few years after his long awaited reunion with his father and New Genesis didn't go exactly as planned" Peter said with a grim chuckle.
"What happened?" Diana asked.
She was curious as to why Barda and Scott had returned to Apokolips, after all they sacrificed to stand against Darkseid and his minions. When she questioned Barda, the Fury had changed the subject before Diana could even finish her sentence where's Scott would always find a convenient excuse to end the conversation earlier and leave. She didn't sense any sort of pain in their responses, more of a profound sense of disappointment... and bitterness.
"Like I said, things didn't go as they both had hoped" Peter remarked as he slipped into the kitchen and made a face at all of the dust "This place is filthy. It's going to take days for you to clean it"
"Excuse me?" Diana turned towards Peter with a look of bewilderment.
"What?" Peter said with a shrug "You don't expect me to clean this place do you? And don't even get me started on the Parademons, we'll be lucky to have a house left of their done 'cleaning'"
"Than I suppose YOU should get started" Diana said as she brushed past Peter and headed for the master bedroom to begin unpacking her things and start up a bath to soak in.
"I'm not cleaning anything!" Peter protested as he followed after Diana with a scowl.
"Than I guess we'll be living in a dust infested house!" Diana replied as she entered the bedroom and began to unpack her bags and organize them in the closet that Barda used to use.
Peter scowled at Diana as she removed her clothes from several bags and stored them in a series of drawers in a small walk in closet before she stored her weapons in a small locker within the closet.
Though Peter noticed that Diana placed Jarnbjorn beside the bed, within her reach.
With a huff, Peter turned and left the room.
...
Somehow, Diana just knew that Peter wasn't going to clean the house.
After she emerged from the bathroom clad in only a scarlet red robe that was just a tad bit too large on her, obviously custom fitted for Barda's generous size, the Amazon warrior had found that the house was still largely covered in dust on many of it's surfaces. The only place that had been touched was the master bedroom, and that was because Diana figured she could at least contribute to her and Peter's temporary place of residence while her bath filled up.
"You are beyond ridiculous" Diana said in a deadpanned tone as she entered the kitchen to see Peter staring out the window up towards the full moon outside.
"I'm not cleaning, it's beneath me" Peter scoffed as he continued to glare out at the nighttime sky "Besides, I was helping the Parademons get settled in the basement"
"I still think you should've sent them back to Apokolips" Diana huffed as she adjusted the grip she had on the laptop in her hands and took a seat at the kitchen's stove top island "They'd be happier there instead of sitting around until their told to do something"
"How they feel isn't my concern, only that they do their jobs when told them" Peter remarked as he spared a glance at Diana "Your care for how they feel is ridiculous"
"You'll be singing a different tune when one of them saves your life in a fight" Diana said as she opened up her laptop and powered it on.
She used the sleeve of her robe to brush away some dust before she stopped and sighed as it got on her keyboard "Is your suit sealed?"
"I beg your pardon?" Peter said as he turned towards Diana as she got up and adjusted her bathrobe.
"Open that window please" Diana nodded towards the window Peter was looking out.
Peter stared at the amazon for a moment before he slowly reached over and gripped the window's glassy surface and forced it up, breaking the lock that was keeping it secured. Diana rolled her eyes at Peter's actions and quickly began to spin in place, creating a vortex that began to suck up all the dust in the kitchen. Peter stumbled forward as he felt the pull of the vortex his wife was creating and quickly had his feet stick to the floor and gripped the counter for good measure. The dust slowly began to fly in from the other rooms of the house as Diana increased the speed and power of her vortex before the small funnel of dust she made was 'aimed' and shot out the window that Peter 'opened'.
"Huh... that was... one way to clear the dust out... most of it at least" Peter said as he stared at the dust that laid in the yard outside before he glanced back at Diana "Congratulations dear, if being a warrior never pans well for you, you can always help my father's slaves with the citadel's upkeep"
"Kiss my ass" Diana muttered with some annoyance as she retook her seat and opened her email.
"Is that an invitation?" Peter asked with a raised brow "I'm not really one for things that include your rear, though Faora loved it when I gave her's attention. Especially when she wanted me to take my cock and insert it-"
"No it wasn't an invitation, please stop describing your sex life with a Kryptonian war criminal please" Diana held a hand up to cut off Peter's story.
"What's wrong, jealous that someone else knows my touch and yet have yet to fully experience it?" Peter asked with a smirk.
"No..." Diana said as she glanced at Peter and made a point to give him a brief once over "Though I'm sure the experience would be quick and rather unsatisfying. words I'm sure you've heard before"
Peter seemed to deflate at this "Rude"
"Says the man that told me to clean simply because he's a spoiled brat" Diana said with an eye roll.
"I'm not spoiled. I just don't like cleaning up other people's messes, that's all" Peter said with a gesture to the housde around them "Barda or Scott should've cleaned this place before offering it to us"
"Oh yes, they should've, how dare they" Diana said in a sarcastic tone.
"Exactly" Peter nodded with a satisfied grin on his face before it vanished and was replaced with a scowl "Your making fun of me still, aren't you?"
"When did I stop?" Diana asked as she saw something that caused her to pause in scrolling through her emails "Odd..."
"What is it?" Peter said as he brushed some dust off the countertop that Diana's vortex missed somehow.
"An e-mail-... an electronic message from Batman" Diana said as she opened it and read what the dark knight sent to her.
"What's it say?" Peyer asked with curiosity.
"Oscorp and Veronica Cale, a tech and pharmaceutical giant, are planning a joint venture of sorts. Since Cale is an old adversary of mine, and you've discovered that Oscorp has ties to Intergang, he must've thought it prudent to inform us of this development" Diana stated as she read the message closely.
Peter made a humming sound as he leaned against the countertop "Makes sense I suppose... he say what this venture of theirs is?"
"No... though he said he'd keep looking. His alter ego is the head of a major company on Earth, he may use that to uncover what it is that Cale and Osborn are up to..." Diana said as a plan began to take shape in her mind "We could use this to gain access to Oscorp"
"How?" Peter asked with doubt in his voice.
"Veronica won't enter a partnership with anyone unless she has a way to either blackmail or harm them in the event of an attempted double cross or the deal doesn't weigh in her favor" Diana said as memories of her own encounters with Veronica came to mind.
"So we get to Oscorp through this Veronica woman?" Peter asked.
"It'll undoubtedly be more complicated than that, but yes, in a sense, we go through Cale to get to Oscorp" Diana nodded.
"I guess that means we'll need someone that works for this woman to help us gain access to Oscorp's data archives" Peter said with a look of contemplation on his face.
"So it would seem..." Diana said as she leaned back in her seat and stared at the email for a few moments before an answer came to mind "Julia..."
"Hmm?" Peter sounded as he glanced at Diana in confusion "Julia?"
"Julia Kapatelis, she works for Cale" Diana revealed as she turned to Peter "She could help us. I know she'll help us"
"She's Vanessa's mother, right?" Peter said as his mind flashed back to the night of the gal and the alluring red headed Vanessa.
"She is, and a senior member of Cale's company" Diana nodded, unaware of Peter's train of thoughts "I can speak to her and see if she'll be able to learn more of what it is that Oscorp and Cale had in mind and perhaps use that as a way to gain access to Oscorp's archives so that way we can-"
"Does Vanessa work for Cale as well?" Peter interrupted Diana.
Diana blinked at this before her brow furrowed slightly "...She does, why?"
"Why not have her help us instead?" Peter asked with a frown "She's more likely to get farther than Julia will"
"How so?" Diana asked with a frown as she folded her arms across her chest.
"Your two's relationship isn't exactly bubbly anymore" Peter teased with a smirk before it vanished at the glare he received from his wife "Plus, she's bound to draw less attention, the negative kind at least, from her employer and Oscorp... especially if it's me, not you, that approaches her. True they'll be rightly suspicious, least Oscorp will, but this Veronica woman might not be if she's an enemy of yours and perhaps sees some sort of kindred spirit in Vanessa"
Diana's eyes narrowed at this "And what's to stop Veronica from barring Vanessa from helping? In all honesty, I doubt that Julia or Vanessa would be able to involve themselves even if that weren't the case simply because Cale doesn't want them anywhere near this on the off chance they tell me what it is and force my involvement in some manner"
"We're assuming that whatever this project is, it'll affect you in some way" Peter pointed out "If it doesn't, Veronica may not see a reason to turn them away. In fact, turning them away may do more harm than good and invite unwanted scrutiny. Scrutiny that Oscorp may not want at the moment and may force Cale to go along with it to ensure that"
"That's a very large 'If' Peter" Diana said with an unsure look on her face "She'll be watched like a hawk no doubt"
"At first, yes, but after a while they'll ease up once they see that Vanessa isn't reporting to you on every little thin that unfolds. Besides, if it doesn't affect you in any real way, which it might not, they may not care that she's 'spying' on them. They know you won't try anything so they have little reason to take any measures to ensure that you don't" Peter said.
"I still don't like this" Diana said with uncertainty in her voice "There's still too many unknowns in all of this"
"True but it's better than my alternative" Peter said.
"And what's that?" Diana asked, already having an idea.
"I take the Parademons and re-pay Oscorp a visit" Peter said with a dark look in his eye "They'll find I won't be driven off quite so easily as last time"
Diana stared at Peter with a displeased look on her face as she considered her options, either she drew Vanessa into this and risk her life, or let Peter storm Oscorp in a all out assault that could cost dozens, maybe hundreds of lives and perhaps even he data he seeks. True she could also just have Batman see to this and relay the relevant information they need, but Peter would likely distrust it or accuse Bruce of withholding something, which Diana knew he might which in turn could cause Peter to react... violently. It would also be the same with just about anyone else that Diana asked for help, be it Oracle, the Question, hell, maybe even Detective Chimp or Elongated Man.
"I want assurances that she won't be harmed Peter" Diana said with a pointed look "I mean it"
"She won't be" Peter assured the immortal beauty.
"Say it"
Peter blinked at this "What?"
"Say she won't be harmed" Diana said as she looked at Peter with a deep piercing gaze that almost caused him to flinch from the intensity "I need your word that you'll make sure nothing happens to her"
"I think you underestimate her" Peter said with a frown as he attempted to regain control of this conversation.
"No, you underestimate how cruel the people we'll be asking her to spy on will be to her if they feel threatened" Diana said with a shake of her head "I've never met Norman Osborn in person, but he's a man that the likes of Lex Luthor and Veronica Cale have given a wide berth to unless their interests align. and even than, they make it a point to end the alliance as quickly as possible-"
"All right, all right..." Peter interrupted Diana with a huff "I give you my word that I'll do everything in my power to ensure that Vanessa won't be harmed for undertaking this task for us"
Diana stared at Peter for a long moment, forcing him to advert his gaze, he never liked those sorts of looks that Diana was giving him. The kind that said they'd hold him to his word and if he failed to keep it, their trust, little as there was, would never be re-gained.
Finally Diana relented her gaze and nodded "Thank you..."
Peter nodded at Diana's words before something occurred to him "Uh-oh..."
"What is it?" Diana said with a raised brow.
"I just realized that one of us has to convince Vanessa to agree to this" Peter said.
Diana blinked at this before realizing that he was right. This entire time she's been worrying over Vanessa's fate, and Peter assuring her that she'd be the best candidate for this, it never occurred to them until now that Vanessa could easily turn them down and refuse to aide them.
'Gaia give me strength' Diana thought with a mental sigh.
Tomorrow should prove very interesting.
...
Vanessa hated her life sometimes if she was being completely honest, hated it since the day that Diana of Themyscira moved into her house when she first came to 'Man's World'.
At first it wasn't so bad, she finally had a friend to talk to, someone that didn't talk about ancient civilizations or cultures like her mother did. Diana would come into her room whenever she wasn't working with her mother and she'd ask Vanessa all sorts of things about the modern world. Sayings that confused her, why people kept calling her 'Xena on Steroids', 'who Superman was', 'her favorite ice cream flavors and why it wasn't served for every course of meals' and the list went on and on. But eventually Diana stopped coming to talk with Vanessa.
When she wasn't hogging all of her mother's attention, who only ever acknowledged her with a reprimand by that point, she was out dressed like a hooker punching evil Gods in the face or alien invaders from some random ass planet. At first Vanessa thought it was kinda cool, she was living with a insanely beautiful immortal warrior that fought supervillains, but the novelty quickly got old and Vanessa was left feeling nothing but relief whenever Diana left for long periods of time for her 'missions'.
But those were some of the worse moments, her mother Julia would spend hours worrying over Diana's safety, far more than she ever showed Vanessa.
'Joined a gang and shaved half my hair off and got a few tattoos and piercings to go with the look, never noticed. Lost my virginity at seventeen to a guy old enough to be my dad and had a pregnancy scare, didn't notice. Turn down my scholarship at some college that specialized in archeology, brings down the fucking hammer on me like she just found out I snorted a line of coke off my boyfriend's dick' Vanessa thought as she made her way back to her office after a meeting with a few other Department heads, one of whom was her own mother.
Thankfully, Vanessa worked in a different department compared to her mother, though that insufferable hag never missed an opportunity to bring that up and exclaim her disappointment in her 'daughter'.
'She's just pissed that my department will be getting more funding and attention from Cale than her's will' Vanessa thought with a nod as she slipped into her office and let out a sigh of relief at being back in her private sanctuary.
Though it was likely that Julia was still pissed at Vanessa for the 'outburst' she had at the Gala not too long ago. Vanessa didn't regret what she said that night, didn't regret that she hurt her mother and all but destroyed her 'friendship' with Diana. She'd been waiting for the chance to finally say what she needed to say to those two and she finally got it and damn it felt great.
The only thing she did regret about that night however, was that she never got that dance from Peter.
And maybe fucked him as one last 'fuck you' to Diana.
'Oh well, a girl can dream...' Vanessa thought with a chuckle as she made her way to her desk and slid into her chair and let out a sigh of content as she settled in the leather.
She shouldn't have been just lying there, she had about a dozen reports to write up, most of which were overdue, but right now, all Vanessa cared about was how nice the cool leather of her chair felt against her.
'Best. Chair. ever!' Vanessa thought with a giggle as she closed her eyes and basked in it's comfort before her phone went off, shattering her illusion of peace.
Vanessa gave it a moment to see if it would stop and the person on the other end would just leave a message. But after sparing a brief glance at the small screen to see who the caller was, the red head groaned.
'So much for some peace and quiet... fuck my life' Vanessa thought with a tired sigh before she answered the phone by hitting the speaker button "Yes, what is it?"
"Uh, you have a friend here to see you Miss Kapatelis" the receptionist said with some uncertainty in her voice.
Vanessa mouthed the word 'friend' in confusion before she responded to the woman on the other end of the line "Did you get a name?"
Several moments passed as Vanessa waited for a response before a new voice spoke up from the phone, causing Vanessa's eyes to widen in recognition.
"Afternoon Miss Kapatelis, I hope you don't mind this terrible inconvenience, but this humble God of Apokolips was hoping that you'd spare him a few moments of your precious time"
"Peter...?" Vanessa said with surprise at the New God's voice.
"The one and only" Peter chuckled on his end of the line "Hope you don't mind if I didn't make an appointment, but I've always been more of a walk in sort of guy. But if you want I guess I can go through the hoops if it means a chance to glance upon you, if even for a moment"
A small grin appeared on Vanessa's face at hearing Peter's words. While she wasn't exactly the kind of girl that would swoon at such flattery, hearing a God say such things to her did feel nice. The fact that it was coming from Diana's husband added a sort of taboo to it that excited her in more ways than she'd care to admit. True it's very likely that nothing will come of this but if Peter flirting with her drove Diana up the wall in any shape or form... well, who was Vanessa to deny the lusts of a God?
Especially one so... yes.
"It's fine" Vanessa said after a few moments of silence on her end "You can come in"
"As you wish" Peter responded before Vanessa heard shuffling on his end of the line "Oh and uh, you might want to give your receptionist a extended break"
"Why?" Vanessa asked with a furrowed brow "What's you do?"
"Nothing, though I may have startled her a little when I suddenly appeared next to her to speak into this intercom... and I may have forced her to step back with the threat of a Venom Blast to the face if she tried to touch me" Peter said the last part with obvious embarrassment.
"Well thank you for having such obvious restraint" Vanessa said with a sigh, suddenly dreading this little encounter.
Five minutes later Vanessa was just tiding up her office when the door was suddenly opened and Peter strode right on in, clad in some sort of dark armor with odd yellow lights glowing on different portions of the arms, legs and torso with a large spider like emblem on the chest. The mask, which possessed two ominous glowing yellow lenses, retracting to show Peter's grinning face. Vanessa felt a stab of annoyance at herself for being a bit taken back by how good Peter made the dark foreboding armor look, it seems she never quite outgrew her attraction to men that screamed all sorts of wrong for her.
'Oh well...' Vanessa thought with a mental shrug as she stood up to greet the New God before he shook his head and gave Vanessa a deep, if slightly exaggerated bow.
"Good afternoon my lady, I'm happy to see that your every beautiful out of a dress as in one" Peter said.
"Does that sort of thing usually work?" Vanessa asked with a smirk as Peter rose from his bow.
"I don't know, is it working?" Peter asked with a mixture of amusement and curiosity.
"Let's just say that there's a thing known as 'overdoing it'" Vanessa said as she took her seat behind her desk and stared at the New God with narrowed eyes "So... why are you here?"
"What I can't visit my favorite red headed human?" Peter said with a snicker as he fell into the chair in front of Vanessa's desk and propped his feet up on the desk's edge.
"You could..." Vanessa said as she slowly reached up and pushed Peter's feet off her workspace "But considering we've only met once, and talked all for five minutes which ended with me exploding on my mother and your wife, I'd like to know why a New God decided to take some time out of his day to visit little old me"
"Well... I may have already been here for another reason before deciding that visiting you would be much more preferable to my original reason" Peter admitted with a shrug.
"Shocker" Vanessa said with an eye roll.
"I need your help" Peter revealed as he glanced around Vanessa's office "Oscorp is in league with a couple of rebellious Intergang Cells that defied my father. I've been sent to find them. And to do that I need to get into Oscorp's main data archives"
"Okay and I'm supposed to help you out how?" Vanessa said with a confused frown as she threw a thumb towards the logo on the wall "In case you hadn't noticed, but I work for Cale, not Oscorp"
"True, but Cale and Oscorp seem to be meeting to discuss some sort of joint venture that involves the creating of some sort of new algorithm that will supposedly 'revolutionize' medical technology and practices... according to a source that my wife has" Peter said with a snort of grim amusement before he leaned forward and stared at Vanessa with a weighted gaze "I need you to use that to help me get back into Oscorp"
"How?" Vanessa said with a frown.
"By getting involved with whatever it is that Oscorp and Cale have in mind for their little joint venture" Peter revealed with a shrug "Diana believes that your mother would be more suitable given her experience with Cale and being a senior member of this company, I disagreed"
"Oh, and what can I do that my mother can't?" Vanessa said with a scoff.
"Your not close to Diana anymore" Peter pointed out with a thoughtful look on his face "Your little 'outburst' back at the Gala has all but burned that bridge, and I'm willing to bet your employer knows it"
"She did congratulate me on tearing into Diana" Vanessa hummed with a look of amusement on her face "Said it made her day to see that 'insufferable woman' almost reduced to tears. She sent me a fruit basket that I swear costs more than my car"
"So your employer already likes you. Good, good, that already makes infiltrating her little inner circle easier and helping me gather the info I need" Peter said with a pleased expression on his face.
"And what info is that?" Vanessa asked, intrigued but also suspicious.
"A way into Oscorp's data servers if there is one. Diana assured me that Cale likely has a way into it in the event she needs blackmail or something if Oscorp tries to screw her" Peter revealed.
"And if she doesn't and this turns out to be a huge waste of time?" Vanessa said with a raised brow "I could lose my job. Hell, Veronica could make sure I end up dead in a ditch somewhere"
"She won't hurt you, I'll make sure of that" Peter said with a wave of his hand "And if this turns out to be a huge waste of time, than I'll just go through with my original plan for Oscorp"
"Which was?" Vanessa asked before a sense of foreboding hit her as Peter leveled a dark grin at her, his eyes briefly flashing red and sending a dark chill up her spine.
"I storm Oscorp and find out what I want... and destroy anything that gets in my way"
...
"I don't like this" Diana said after Peter had exited the Cale Corporation's building and rejoined Diana on the rooftop that overlooked it a few minutes later.
Vanessa agreed to help Peter, and by extension Diana, in exchange that the New God can guarantee her safety. Which Peter will, after all, the red head had earned his attention for the time being and if she proved useful and exceptional in her task... well, Granny Goodness may be getting a new addition to the Furies before too long. Not that Diana knew or needed too, not until she strode into the Furies personal training room and saw Vanessa in all her newfound glory.
Peter knew he'll catch hell for it, but the risk would be all so worth it if Vanessa accomplished her task with flying colors.
"You don't like a plan that will work far better than your own?" Peter said with a confused frown.
"I don't like you putting Vanessa in such danger" Diana corrected him with a displeased look on her face.
"She's not going to be in any real danger" Peter said with a eye roll "If anything, this Cale woman and Osborn will be"
"You don't know Veronica Cale like I do Peter" Diana said in a worried tone as she glanced at the Cale building "She's ruthless and uncaring. She won't hesitate to have Vanessa killed if she suspects her for even a moment of trying to sabotage her work. She once had the daughters of one of her chief engineers kidnapped and sold off to sex traffickers' because she believed the man purposely sabotaged a project he was part of that could've made Cale billions"
"She's not sabotaging anything so I doubt anything serious will happen to her" Peter said with a snort as he retrieved his Mother Box and opened a Boom Tube towards Scott and Barda's house "She's gathering info is all, there's a difference between that and sabotaging. Trust me, I know"
"Tell that to Veronica" Diana said as she followed Peter into the portal and found herself almost instantly in Barda and Scott's living room.
"Maybe when this is all over, I will" Peter said with a shrug as the Boom Tube portal closed behind the duo and left them in the dimly lit living room "I'll even speak in slow, layman's terms for her since I know how dumb most humans can be. and one glance at the woman's portrait has me convinced that big words are hard for her to grasp if it's not in the shape of a man's dick and can be ridden"
"Oh yes, talk down to her like she's just above a sex craved animal in your eyes, I'm sure that'll go over quite well" Diana said with a shake of her head in disbelief at Peter's casual arrogance when it came to his standing among humans.
Peter smirked at Diana's remark as he made his way into the bedroom and had his armor detach itself from his body before having it hover towards the closet and store itself. Diana followed suit, though she retreated to the bathroom to change rather than just strip down to her bare form like Peter did. Honestly, has the man ever heard of modesty? After a few moments, Diana finally emerged from the bathroom, clad in a simple nightgown that still looked a bit too erotic on her if she was being honest. It looked like she was intending to seduce Peter though thankfully the New God seemed completely oblivious to Diana's current attire.
Or perhaps he wasn't, it was difficult to tell sometimes.
She could be wearing the most eye catching lingerie Diana's ever seen in her life, let alone wore, and Peter will barely bat an eye at her. But walking around in her current 'Wonder woman' uniform, and she'd find the man's eyes following her every move with an intensity that would almost cause her to blush in embarrassment.
'Perhaps being surrounded by so many warrior women has caused him to develop some sort of odd fetish for women dressed for war rather than making live' Diana thought as she slid into the bed "Now that Vanessa has agreed to help us, what's next? This is likely going to be a long wait"
"All we can do now" Peter said as he followed Diana's example and slid into the bed himself and let out a sigh of relief "Short of storming Oscorp Tower in full force and take what we need"
"And risk the data your so desperate for being destroyed in the crossfire?" Diana said with a raised brow aimed at her husband.
She omitted the lives that would be lost, Diana knew that Peter wouldn't care for them. All he cared for was getting that information on the renegade Intergang Cells, if there was any. Anything else, didn't even seem to register in Peter's mind at all. The lives and destruction his way would cost seemed as inconsequential to him as a pile of dead leaves were to a mountain.
"It won't" Peter said with a wave of his hand.
"It could, a lot can happen in a fight such as the one you want to ignite with a full front assault on Oscorp" Diana pointed out with a frown "Osborn may have the data wiped just out of spite alone"
"If he's smart, he wouldn't do that" Peter said, his eyes glued to the ceiling out of boredom.
"Desperation can make anybody do something they may come to later regret" Diana said as she rested one of her hands behind her head while the other rested on her abdomen.
Peter made a 'hmph' sound as he settled into his spot on the bed before he slowly let sleep overcome him. Diana remained awake for a while longer as her thoughts traveled to Vanessa. She was still deeply hurt by the woman's words the other night, and now she was worried about her safety after Peter dragged her into his hunt for the renegade cells. Vanessa wasn't trained in espionage, and Cale had undoubtedly learned of Peter's meeting with her by now. With the resources she has at her disposal, Diana doubted it'll take Veronica very long to piece together the fact that Peter is Diana's spouse.
She hoped that whatever it was that Cale was working on with Oscorp, it was simply some typical joint venture made by two massive companies looking to make a profit. Because if it wasn't, and Vanessa dug too deep too fast, it may cause Veronica Cale to react... unkindly. And that was just Veronica, Hera knows what Norman Osborn would do to Vanessa if he felt compelled to. Some of the things that Bruce told her about how Norman took care of 'trouble makers' left her feeling terrified for the red headed woman's safety.
Diana may have already failed Vanessa as a friend by being blind to her pain and jealousy, but she'll be damned if she lets her come to any sort of harm.
And she'd make sure Peter answered for it if it came to past, be damn the consequences.
...
And done.
Next chapter, Date night?! And unexpected arrivals...