Chapter 3

The flight to Germany and the preceding flight to London was uneventful. The following months provided nothing new on the research front either. Every expedition to retrieve anything on Hydra, be it weapons or intelligence, was met with heavy losses in men and supplies. On a few occasions, Diana considered retrieving the information herself, but convinced herself that they just needed more time to come up with a strategy.

But these months also gave her time to reflect. Her choice to come to the human world seemed to be full of loss and pain. Humans are fragile. Their lives a mere moment compared to hers. More susceptible to sickness and injury and death. But they also had something that she never experienced so intensely; emotion. They know their moments together are fleeting and fill them with as much emotion and feeling and music and dancing and life as possible.

Why was it so easy to love something that could just as easily be taken away?

On the other hand, it was nice to have friends again. Peggy had proven to be a very interesting and accomplished woman who Diana had a lot in common with. While neither would say they were very close friends, they appreciated having someone female to talk to in a camp flooded with testosterone. However, it was obvious that they were both reluctant to really open up to the other.

It was raining. Diana normally loved the rain, but the amount of mud it was creating was leaving her cursing her supposed father. Stark had asked her to bring their progress reports to Colonel Phillips claiming he had a few more ideas he wanted to play with; Diana suspected it was just because the rain would ruin his hair. She was just passing the makeshift stage when she caught sight of Steve Rogers sitting under an awning, hunched over something in his lap. Interested in seeing what he was doing, she made her way over. She simply watched the man for a moment, letting the sound of the rain hide her presence.

"You are very good," Diana said abruptly.

Startled, Steve jumped and nearly dropped his pencil. He almost didn't recognize the woman shaking out her umbrella; her attire having changed to a more functional blouse, long skirt, and trench coat.

Embarrassed about being caught off guard with his enhanced senses, he opened his mouth to reply and promptly shut it after realizing he forgot what Diana had said.

The Amazon laughed at his stunned look and nodded towards his lap. "You are very skilled."

Rogers managed an awkward thank you and squirmed in his position.

She smiled and gestured next to him, "May I sit?"

Captain America's cheeks flamed and immediately slid over to give the Amazon a little more dry space to sit. How could he have forgotten his manners? When Diana made no move to start a conversation, Steve went back to drawing, albeit rather stiffly. They sat in companionable silence with the normal sounds of a military base being drowned out by the pouring rain.

The Amazon's thoughts began to wonder and her gaze drifted out to the tree line.

"I know what it's like," Diana said suddenly, drawing Steve's attention from his illustration.

He turned his head to look at the woman next to him.

"To be destined to do something and being forbidden from doing it." She returned her gaze to confused, sad, blue eyes. "It's even worse when the people around you do what you cannot."

Steve studied her for a moment, trying to find meaning behind her words and how they could possibly apply to her. "What did you do about it?"

She smirked as she stood up, managing to make opening an umbrella look regal. "I did it anyway. In secret."

As soon as the words left her lips, Peggy came into view and raised a single eyebrow in question.

"It was good to see you again Steve." The Amazon turned to continue her mission giving Peggy a knowing wink causing the agent's cheeks to color. They were friends, after all.

Diana reached the Colonel's tent a few minutes later and poured two cups of coffee before navigating through several secretaries to reach the largest desk. She may be a demigod, but she wasn't above bribery.

"Ah, Ms. Prince," the Colonel greeted in his borderline sarcastic 'happy to see you' voice. "What can I do for you today?" he asked as he reclined in his chair.

Diana smiled and placed one of the mugs in front of Phillips before handing him the manila folder. "Just dropping off our reports."

"Figures Stark would make you bring it in this weather. I'll get to it later," he said, one hand making a dismissive hand motion while the other reached for the coffee.

Diana turned to leave just as a distressed looking Steve Rogers came running in followed closely by a concerned looking Peggy. She shot Peggy a questioning look, who only shook her head with a raised eyebrow. Steve looked around before bulldozing his way to Colonel Phillips and asking about someone named James Barnes. After being informed that said person was most likely dead and being dismissed Steve stormed back out of the tent closely followed by a chided Peggy Carter.

"And you," the Colonel said pointing at Diana, "don't let them do anything stupid."

The Amazon hid a smile as she finished her coffee.

Diana made her way back to her tent and knelt by her bed. She reached under and felt for the chest that Etta Candy had specially made or her. It hadn't been opened since the last war when she put the only items she had from her home in it, but it never left her side. Diana ran her fingers over the intricate design carved on the lid before opening the clasps and flipping the lid open. And after over two decades, she finally donned her armor.

Diana made it to the air strip with seconds to spare as she walked up the ramp.

"I'm coming with you."

Steve and Peggy both looked at the Amazon with the same startled look. "What? This isn't..." Steve managed to choke out.

"You are planning to rescue your friend. I am coming with you." Steve looked at Peggy and shrugged.

"We're gonna miss our window!" Howard called back

"Ready for takeoff Howard!" Peggy called back after a moment.

With that said, Diana set the large, military-grade duffle bag on the ground with a clunk and took a seat a few down from Steve.

"How did you know we were leaving?" Steve asked once they were in the air.

Diana laughed. "Because this is what I would've done."

Diana watched the scene in front of her with mild amusement mixed with concern. Howard was being himself, Steve looked uncomfortable with the conversation, and the goddess could not find another parachute anywhere. Not that she needed it. Of course it would also be hard to explain how she survived jumping out of an airplane.

Her musing was interrupted by the plane shaking from the force of an explosion, and the next thing she knew Captain America jumped out of the plane. Diana immediately gathered her duffle and stood by, not knowing how she could help Steve at this point.

"Steve!" Peggy cried.

"What happened?" Diana demanded as she ran to look out the window, just catching a flash of white in the aftermath of another explosion.

"His parachute was hit!" Peggy was pale. "Steve…"

Peggy didn't even get to finish her sentence before Diana jumped.

A/N:

The feedback you guys are giving me makes me so happy and it truly motivates me to write.

Soooooo sorry for the long wait! My muse took a vacation and the JL movie made me depressed, though it did give me some good ideas! I'm really excited for the rest of the story so expect an update soon! I've already started the next chapter!