Shayera stood outside of the Queen's bedroom. She was leaning into the doors listening for signs of anything. She was trying not to be obvious, but she knew the moment that Di had said her name, there was going to be something going on between the Amazon and Audrey. Shayera was grateful. Hopefully, she thought, there would be sparks. It had become apparent since the meeting at the lodge between them all that Di was harboring something for the blonde Queen. It seemed to be mutual. They smiled at each other at random moments and seemed to be getting closer. Shayera leaned into the doors a little further and strained to hear anything.

"What are you doing?" Diana asked as she approached the room.

"Sshhh...I am listening."

"For what?"

"Di is in there with Audrey. She came crashing through the doors frantically. They had some sort of moment, and Di asked me to leave."

"She asked you to leave?"

"Well, not in so many words, but I caught the gist."

Diana nodded and leaned against the wall across from the bedroom. She crossed her arms and closed her eyes. Shayera noticed the stance, and moved to stand next to her.

"You okay?"

"Tired."

"That it?"

Diana reached down and took Shayera's hand and drew the redhead into her arms. Shayera nestled against Diana'a shoulder and threw her arms around the other woman's waist. Diana pulled her in tighter and spoke, "Shayera, what do you want to do for the rest of our lives?"

Shayera sighed, "Meaning what?"

"Well, we got married, and once this is all over, we will go back to the League. I guess what I am asking is, well, is there more that you want to do?"

"Like?"

"LIke, I don't know, maybe take some time off. Want to see the world? Want to find a house somewhere? Maybe..."

"Have kids?"

"Yes, that too."

"Are those things that you want to do?"

"Maybe."

Shayera nodded. "Then maybe we should talk about it once this is all over."

"Okay," came the simple response from Diana. She continued to lean against the wall, holding Shayera, contemplating what their future could hold. A few moments later, she giggled.

Shayera looked up. "What? What are you laughing about?"

"I was thinking that if we did decide to have children, they would end up with Helena and Dinah as godmothers."

"And Lois."

"I would insist on Lois. We would need someone to counter balance your best friends."

Shayera smiled. "True. It sounds like you have made up your mind."

"Not really. I am content to just be with you."

"I love you Diana. I want you to be happy too."

"You make me happy."

"Most times."

Diana grinned. "Shayera, I love you too. And for all the times you aggravate me, that feeling never changes. Besides, I love it when you make it all up to me."

Shayera poked Diana in the side. "Flatterer."

Just inside the room, Di was feeling her knees starting to buckle. Kissing Audrey was nothing short of amazing. The little woman was insistent on what she wanted, and Di was thrilled to be in the spot she was at that moment. Audrey was giving back everything she was being given, and it was threatening to send Di over the edge. If Audrey's son wasn't in the room Di wondered how far this could actually go. As it was, her resolve was slipping into a very dangerous place.

She pulled back panting a few minutes later. Audrey's face was flush, and she was gasping as well.

"That was...unexpected," she rasped.

Di grinned. She waited a few moments, and then asked, "You got your breath back?"

Audrey nodded and then let out a small squeal when Di grabbed her again, pressing their lips back together once more. The Queen was shocked, not that she was kissing Di, but that she was sure it was the best affection she had ever received. Kissing the Amazon was making her head swim, and she would have been hard pressed to tell you what her own name was if she had been asked in that moment. And the pattern continued for what seemed like forever. The pair would break apart, catch their breath, and lock lips once more. Somewhere in the middle, Di eased up on the pressure, and the kiss became more languid and scintillating. She felt Audrey's hands in her hair, lightly massaging her scalp. Di moaned and her hands began roaming all over the blonde's body. She stopped her exploration on the underside of Audrey's breasts.

Reluctantly, Di pulled back once more. "We need to stop. You will have my moral fortitude disappearing soon."

"Ignore it."

"I can't. My morals will have me on my knees if I kiss you again right now."

Audrey smiled. She knew the Amazon had spoken the raw truth. She was feeling the same way. "Please tell me that we will continue this though. I need more."

Di pecked the Queen's lips. "I can't wait. Soon?"

"Definitely."

Di hugged Audrey and then reluctantly let her go. She walked back to the door and opened it. Shayera and Diana were against the wall, snuggling, and patiently waiting for the pair to finish whatever they had started.

Di cleared her throat, "Um, come in?"

Diana arched her eyebrow. Di's lips were swollen and her hair was a mess. It was obvious what had transpired between her and Audrey. "You done?"

"For now."

Shayera pushed away from the wall and brushed past Di. Her confidence was soaring. There would be no more worrying about Audrey's intentions where Diana was concerned. Diana didn't move from the wall immediately. She lowered her voice to a whisper, "Don't disappoint her. I don't want to have to kill you."

Di heard the threat clear as day. "She makes me want to be better than what I am. I will work hard not to put you in that position. Besides, Shayera would be pissed if I had to kick your ass if that ever happened. Your harpy has a hell of a temper."

Diana stood motionless glaring at her twin. "Just don't give me cause..."

"It is not necessary to threaten me. I know she is special."

"Keep it in mind."

Diana kicked off the wall and walked past Di towards the doors of the room, and suddenly stopped mid-stride. "Don't call Shayera a harpy again. It's funny, but if you land me in the doghouse for laughing, I will still kill you." Diana chuckled and then continued to walk into the room.

Once all parties were inside, Di closed the doors behind her. She stayed at a respectable distance and addressed the group. "Alindra and I caught the sniper."

"How?" Shayera asked.

"We got lucky. I just happened to catch a flash off his scope."

"He alive?" Diana mumbled.

"Yes," Di snarled slightly, and then reluctantly shrugged, "thanks to Alindra."

Audrey exhaled. "What now?"

Di answered, "I am going to question him. We will find out who he is working for. Then we will move forward."

Diana shook her head, "Oh no. You are not questioning him, especially given what you just told us. I will do it with Shayera."

Di gritted, "It isn't your place anymore. I will do it."

Shayera interjected as she watched Diana's fist clench. "Stop it you two. Now. Di, let cooler heads prevail here. Let Diana and I talk to him."

"No," Di relented, her tone softening, "I need to do it. I promise I won't kill him, unless Audrey decides that is what she wants done."

Diana spoke, "At least keep Alindra and Illiana with you. If you promise to do that, I will back off."

"Agreed. But I will need the lasso again."

Diana unhooked it from her waist and handed it to her twin. "No wrapping it around his neck. Promise."

Di sighed, "Fine. I won't wrap it around his neck. His testicles though..."

Seeing the shocked look on everyone's faces, Di laughed, "I'm kidding."

Diana didn't believe her, but she didn't respond to the comment. "There's something else. Illiana said that she had received reports on her current line of investigation. Talk to her about what she found. Shayera and I know that Helena and Dinah are in the country now. We will try and contact them, and see how successful their visit was to Fastad."

"Agreed," Shayera started, "hopefully they found something to bring the League into this."

"Then go and question the sniper now. We will meet up when you are done, and will figure out what our plan of attack will be. Can I assume that you are done making public appearances now Audrey?"

The Queen nodded. "Yes, for now, I think so."

"For now?" Diana asked.

"Until you tell me it is safe again, I will stick to residing behind these walls."

"Good. Shayera, let's go see if we can figure out where Helena and Dinah are." Diana started to walk out and stopped by Di's ear. "Remember what I said to you."

"I got it the first time. No hog-tying anyone's neck."

"You know that is not what I meant." Diana grabbed Shayera's hand and exited with the redhead.

Di's eyes twitched in slight anger, but she supposed she would be doing the same thing as Diana if the roles were reversed. Well, not exactly the same thing. There was still something revolting about thinking about hooking up with Shayera. She turned her attention to Audrey. "I guess I will be going now. I have to go find my keepers."

Audrey smiled. "It is for the best. Besides, Illiana is a part of the government. Even though we are at war with the NKFR, I would like to keep things above board as much as possible."

"I understand. I am still considering the whole testicle thing though." Di's grin was wide. "And I will give the lasso back to Diana without cleaning it."

"That's disturbing. And yet, strangely enough, I like the thought of you being my avenging angel."

"Say the word, and I would snap his neck. I almost did anyways."

"You promised Diana. But I have no sympathy for him, so do what you need to do to get the results you want."

"What happened to being above board?"

Audrey shrugged, "Break a finger for me."

Di nodded and walked over to Audrey. "No more talk of torture. I really want to kiss you again right now. Is that okay?"

"You have to ask? You clearly were not paying attention to me earlier then."

Di smiled, and Audrey jutted her chin up in invitation. Her lips parted slightly and Di lowered her head slowly once more.

As Di walked to her destination, her feelings of giddiness at kissing Audrey several times was replaced with pure ire. The sniper was about to find out what a deadly enemy he had made in her. When she reached the detention area, she saw Illiana and Alindra in a heavy conversation.

"ARE YOU SURE?" Alindra was shocked at what she had just been told.

Illiana nodded.

Di approached, "Sure about what?"

Illiana had a red folder in her hands, and passed it over to the Amazon. "The knapsack you retrieved from the sniper's nest has yielded unexpected results. We found some clothing, but we also found something else that has us reeling a bit."

"What?"

"A disposable phone. The last call received was traced back to a Senator's office. It's bad. It's the Queen's godfather's office. But there is more. Based on the earlier conversation we had, I began digging. The Senator has moved a significant amount of money into a couple of different accounts. One transfer went to an account in his name in the Cayman Islands, and the other went to a Swiss bank account. The second amount was much smaller, but we believe it is the fee for the sniper's services. Also, as discussed, I looked at the movements of the people we discussed. Senator Levinivich left the city just as the NKFR attacked. In looking at the area his office is in, there was not one bit of destruction."

Di stood silent for a moment. "Someone needs to tell the Queen about all of this. And we need to get the Senator into custody immediately. Illiana, I know this may seem irregular, but would you have any objection to sending some Kasnian soldiers with Alindra to collect the villain?"

Alindra asked, "Why do you want me to go?"

"Just in case there is more that we are not seeing. Also, given that we are also dealing with a meta-human, I don't want the Kasnian soldiers running into something that they might not be prepared to handle. Having you there will ensure we get our man."

Illiana interjected, "Do you really think he is still nearby?"

"I am hoping that the news of the sniper's capture has not become common knowledge. He is sure to flee, but maybe he thinks he has more time than he really does. Start with wherever he fled to, then his home, and then his office. We can effectively cut off his options."

"We will put out alerts to the public and private airports, as well as to other places where he could get transportation out of the country, quietly of course. While the search party looks I will have a small handful of soldiers stationed at each site strictly as observers. We will also set up a cordon around the city. Given today's events and the fact that we are at war, no one should find it odd." Illiana walked away for a moment to deliver orders to a couple of soldiers in the detention area. They nodded and waited for Alindra to join them. Illiana took out her phone and mumbled a few more orders. When Illiana walked back she looked at the other blonde. "You now have a platoon of Kasnian soldiers at your command. They recognize the importance of what we need them to do. They will take you to the various places. Be careful."

Alindra looked at Di. "You know why I was sent down here, and now you are asking me to leave. Do I need to send for Diana or Shayera?"

"No. Illiana is here. And I promised Diana...just go. I will be fine. May Athena be with you. Be safe sister."

Alindra didn't move right away, weighing the situation. Eventually she relented. She left the detention area with the Kasnian soldiers in tow.

Di turned to Illiana. "Is there anything else?"

"The only other information we have is about the weapon that was found. It's a Dragunov SVD semi-automatic sniper rifle. Max distance for accuracy is about 800 meters. I have the bullet from the podium as well. We are trying to trace the weapon now."

"Look, Illiana, I am going to be blunt here. We have the information we need to hang this traitor, but I want to play this a bit differently than you might expect. Give me the bullet, and I will also need two gold coins."

"Why?"

"Trust me. Here is what I want to do..."

The sniper sat handcuffed to a chair in a dark room. He was unable to gauge his surroundings due to the hood that had been placed on his head. He strained to listen for sounds, but there was nothing but an eery silence around him. He knew he was caught with little hope for escape, but he was determined not to answer any question.

Suddenly he heard the door to his cell open, and heard the shuffling of footsteps. Within moments his hood was forcibly removed and he was face to face with the crazy woman who had nearly choked him to death earlier in the day.

"You are wasting your time bitch. I will not answer any question."

Di gazed into his eyes, and then a malicious smile crossed her face. She turned to the blonde intelligence officer behind her and nodded. Illiana walked up next to Di and addressed the cuffed man. "Say nothing else. I will do the talking." She lifted up the lasso Diana had passed over to her twin. "This is a special lasso. When it is placed on someone, they are forced to tell the truth. A demonstration..." She uncuffed the sniper and placed the lasso around his wrist. Instantly he felt his will fade into darkness and he knew he would tell them whatever they wanted to know. Illiana began again, "Are you the sniper who just attempted to assassinate the Queen?"

"I am," he answered against his will.

Illiana removed the lasso and stood silent for a moment. She then turned to Di. The Amazon stuck out her arm, and the rope was placed around her arm. "Amazon Princess, are you the protector assigned to the Queen?"

"Yes."

"Are we planning on asking this man anymore questions?"

Di's eyes steeled on the sniper sitting in front of her. "No."

Illiana removed the lasso and sat down in a chair opposite of the confessed would-be assassin.

The sniper's eyes went wide. He scrambled and stood and was dropped to the floor with a fist to his already broken nose. He writhed on the ground in agony as blood pooled once again in the area. Di leaned down and grabbed his right hand. She grabbed his pointer finger and snapped it to the left, breaking it with a sickening crunching sound. The sniper hollered in agony.

Di spat, "The Queen sends her regards."

Di circled the man on the floor like a shark sensing blood in the water. She waited a few moments for him to stop writhing and then she promptly snapped the other pointer finger. He howled again, and she let his hand go.

"P-P-Please. What do you want to know?" he sputtered.

Illiana shook her head, "Nothing." Her face betrayed no emotion.

Di stood over the man who was now lying on his back on the floor. Sheer panic was seeping out of every pore in his body. She lifted her boot, and placed it on his right shoulder. She ground her heel in a little putting pressure on the joint. Then with lightning speed, she lifted it and drove it back into the prone man. He screamed just as the bones in his shoulder were crushed. Di backed off and stood next to Illiana. They waited for him to stop rolling on the ground, although his whimpering never ceased.

"M-Make her stop. I will tell you everything. It was the Senator. Levinivich. He paid me to kill the Queen."

"I don't recall asking you. This is information that I already have." Illiana looked up to Di. "Why is he still capable of speech?"

Di crossed once more and jerked the man up off the floor. She placed him roughly back into his seat, and grabbed his chin with her hand. Forcing his face forward to look at hers she whispered, "I told you we would meet again. I also told you to pray to whomever you serve. You are about to meet your creator. Pray he or she hears your pleas." She squeezed his jaw tightly and felt his teeth cave in at the enormous pressure she was placing on them. His eyes squeezed shut and he began to choke on his own blood.

Illiana stood and handed the bullet from the podium to the Amazon. Di opened his mouth and shoved it down his throat. Illiana withdrew her gun from its' holster, and racked the slide. She clicked off the safety and leveled the weapon directly between his eyes. "I am Illiana Stilenko, head of the Intelligence Bureau of Kasnia. You have confessed to attempting to kill the head of state in the time of national emergency and war. You were caught red-handed engaged in a terrorist act. As a duly recognized member of the armed forces, any officer in a time of war has the authority to call a summery court martial and pass sentence. Your statement will be made public, confirming that the Senator is a traitor."

She looked over at Di, who drew out the two gold coins she had requested earlier. She grabbed the man's throat and tipped him back, driving his head back into the floor. His skull splintered, and his eyes rolled back into his head with a groan. Quickly, Di placed the two coins over the respective eyes. "For the ferryman..." she growled.

Illiana waited for her companion to stand, and then she spoke. "I hereby find you guilty of...you know what? Fuck you. I'll fill out the paperwork later." She squeezed the trigger and the bullet fired lodged into the sniper's brain, killing him instantly.

A/N: Where to even begin? I really hope you all enjoyed the chapter, but specifically the last half. Di is scary when she is angry...and Illiana too. What do you think Diana's reaction will be to this? Shayera's? Audrey's? And now we know who the mole was that tipped off Helios...the Queen's godfather. How do you think she will react to that news? Are we ready for Audrey to bare her teeth? For everyone who reviews, I thank you. So much work has been put into this story by myself and my coauthor. We appreciate the feedback immensely.