Diana's sudden, but not unexpected, emotional collapse was a short lived one. Feelings bottled up for too long had just burst, she needed that melt down and with a couple of tricks up Steve's figurative sleeve like that wonderful neck massage he had just given her, it was quickly forgotten. They moved over it fast, and the long, warm bath they shared helped them both relax, forgetting the panic attack, and the time spent lazing in the tub got them the chance to talk about more stuff that had happened while he was gone.

"Tell me about your mother," he whispered in her ear. "How are things going on Themyscira?"

Shrugging a little, she pressed her back against his chest to get more comfortable, "Same old, I guess. I told you, I haven't been there in a while. They're still secluded, guarded by any interference from Man's World by the Gods' protection. Each time I return, they make a big fuss about it, but I just want to go home for a while, breathe some fresh air and forget. Instead they want to hear what it's like out here."

"And Hippolyta?"

"She's more understanding. Ever since Antiope died… she's more thoughtful and careful when she talks to me. She knows I know, but she doesn't want to talk about it."

He shifted a little, behind her, and he grabbed her right hand and entwined her fingers. "You mean you never talked about your father, with your mother?"

She shook her head and watched as the movement caused soft ripples on the surface of the steaming water. "She seems to be ashamed of it, for some reason. I've talked to the senators, to my tutors, to Menalippe and they were all aware of it. They didn't know the details of my mother's arrangement with Zeus, only that my mother got pregnant and nine months later, I was born. That's it."

"I'm sure one day or another you'll find a way to talk about it. Does she know about me?"

"She does. And she wasn't exactly happy, when I told her about you. What I felt… feel, for you. She thought you were a distraction, that I would have found Ares faster, if I hadn't left my heart numb my mind."

"We were both fooled by Sir Patrick. Who would have guessed he was behind everything?" he asked her, his free arm wrapped around her shoulders and his thumb tracing ghostly lines over the wet skin of her arm. "Did you go back to Themyscira, after the war?"

"Not immediately. I got used to Man's World, with Etta's help, then I went back. I stayed for a while, then I went back to London. I did things, here and there. Worked a lot, during World War 2, helped smuggle Jews and others away from Occupied territories so they wouldn't be killed and… ended up working at the Louvre, six years ago."

They slipped in a comfortable silence, just enjoying each other company and vicinity, until Steve posed a question she was expecting, ever since she ended up mentioning the event the other day. "What happened during World War 2?"

That sparked a lengthy conversation, the description of the horrors of the war and Hitler's Final Solution, the invasion of Russia, the middle eastern front, Japan's involvement and Pearl Harbor. She provided photos and videos and used her own memories to tell him the story of the war that, barely twenty one years after the end of the Great War had wrecked the world tore half of it to the ground again. He listened and asked questions from time to time, but as a veteran of the Great War, a person that was fought to end it, with as little victim as possible, he was furious. He had sacrificed his life to end that war, and people just started it all over again, even worse the second time around. More victims, more brutality, more efficient, and systematic, ways to kill as many people as they could.

"Is there any literature I can read, about it?" he asked, when she finally reached the end of her gruesome tale, just as they finished their dinner.

"You're more interested in the general history, the socio-economics of World War II, military history and tactics or anything else? Because there's enough literature about World War II that it would take you your whole life to read them all."

"Let's start with military and socio-economics. I want to know how and why they fought. Then I'll move forward with every major conflict of the century, up to now."

She grabbed her phone and did some magic on it. "Alright, let me see. Here, these should be a good place to start. You should have your books tomorrow morning."

"Wait, what?" he asked her, puzzled to no end.

"Ah, the magic of online shopping. That's a whole new level of technology, you need to grasp the basics before you get there."

He didn't ask, he just helped her with the dishes. And after that, they spent the evening watching a movie on Netflix. Like a normal couple. Hell, Diana found herself smiling for no good reason, just enjoying the domesticity of it.

"Is this what you meant, that night in Veld?" she asked. "When you tried to explain to me what people did when there was no war?"

He sighed. "I don't know. I said so many things that night, most of it was gibberish. You see, in my time there was nothing like this. I grew up in a farm, in the middle of nowhere. We didn't have electricity, or running water, or any commodity of the sorts. My father was a farmer, my mother was a seamstress. They worked hard, rose with the sun and went to bed very early. Their lives was dictated by the rhythms of their job. My brother and I… we had school, a job here and there… and then came the war, we were conscripted in the army and such. I… I really don't know what it means to live in a normal family when there's no war raging on. What did you do on Themyscira, before going to bed?"

"The eldest told stories, most of the time. Some went to their quarters earlier than others, alone or with someone else," she explained. "It was quite boring, after a while, but sometimes someone found a book that had been forgotten, so we would read it altogether. Philosophers, historians… a play here and there. We had ways to keep us entertained, but after a whole day working the fields or in the pastures, and training, most of us went to bed early."

"What do you do, when you come home from work?"

"I read, most of the time. Sometimes I watch a movie, if I can find something that strikes my mind, but I tend to use the TV mostly for keeping up with what's going on with the world than for entertainment. Sometimes, but it's a rare occasion, I would go out with a colleague or two for some drinks. I'm boring."

"You're not boring, just reserved." He kissed her temple.

Her phone buzzed on the coffee table. Slightly irritated, she reached for it and checked the message. It was from Bruce. I'm doing a fundraising gala to gather funds for the rebuilding effort, next week. You and Steve are welcome. I'll text you the details as soon as Alfred has them.

"Oh great, Bruce is doing a gala, next week. Want to go?"

He shrugged. "Why not? As long as he doesn't plan to bomb a nearby village with mustard gas, I'm. I need a suit though."

"And I need a dress. Guess we'll go shopping some more, tomorrow. And maybe I can fix that girls night out with Lois. Let me text her quick."

She knew he was observing every move she made with her phone, so she was deliberately slow with each press of her thumbs on the touchscreen, to show him how the thing worked. They hadn't tackled smartphones yet.

Bruce just texted to invite Steve and I at a fundraising gala next week. We need suitable clothes for it, I was thinking of hitting the shops tomorrow. Want to go out tomorrow night? She typed quickly, then sent the text.

Lois' reply didn't take long to come. Who's Steve?

Gods, she didn't know. Remember the man I told you last year, about my time during World War One? That guy.

But you told me he blew up with that plane! Then came a lot of angry emojis.

He did! But Flash went back in time and brought him back!

You're shitting me!

Lois was one of the few people she had shown the photograph that had been taken after the battle in Veld, she knew how he looked like, so she had an idea. An idea she found extremely uncharacteristic herself, but in that moment, she thought it fit. She climbed closer to him and extended her arm away from them. "Smile!" She snapped a quick selfie and sent it to Lois. It was a nice photo, she noticed, both of them were smiling bright, though Steve's looked a bit dopey, between the scruffy beard and a little bit of weariness from the day spent learning new stuff.

Crap, it's really him! What's going on, a resuscitation mania? First Clark, now Steve. Wow! Anyway, about going out tomorrow, yes, I'm all for it. Where are we going? That place we went to last year?"

Yes, the barmaid was good with drinks. I'll text when we're done shopping?

The next text from Lois was filled with little hearts. You know, now that I look at him better, Steve looks really good, nice pick! Anyway, come straight here when you're done. Clark wants to meet this guy, the could go out for drinks on their own.

"Uhm, you think you're ready to go out for drinks with a humanoid alien that could lift the moon if he wanted, that just got back to life?" he asked him.

"You mean your friend Clark? Yeah, why not? We have something in common, I bet we can find enough common ground to start a conversation."

Steve would love to. Says that since they both cheated death, they can find common ground. Sounds like us last year.

Yeah, only this time they're alive and we're celebrating it.

Absolutely yes! No room for dark and gloom, we're going to have so much fun!

Can't wait! See you tomorrow, Diana!

Unconsciously, Diana smiled at the phone. Sure thing. See you, Lois. Say hi to Clark.

"A good friend?" asked Steve.

She set the phone back on the table. "Probably my only friend. She's curious, smart, and she knows how to keep a secret. She's great, truly."

"Can't wait to meet her then."

The next day, the hunt for the perfect suit and dress didn't last as long as they had thought. Steve was built in a manner that made sizing easy, and most of the suits he tried looked perfect on him. They settled on a black tuxedo, pretty basic everything considered, but the simplicity of the cut made it look great on him.

Her dress, that was another matter. She had lots of dresses that would be great for Bruce's gala, but she had left them all in Paris, finding one that fit her was a bit tricky. But as she finished trying them and settled for a simple but very elegant strapless black gown, worried out of her mind that Steve would get bored out of his mind, she realized she had underestimated him. When she finally decided on a dress she liked, she came out of the dressing room only to find him sitting on one of those posh armchair as he waited for her, tinkering with her phone.

His face was scrunched in concentration as his thumbs tapped the screen. She wondered what he was doing, since it looked like he was typing some kind of message.

"Hey, what are you doing with my phone?" she asked.

"Chatting with your friend Lois," he replied, tongue sticking out a little bit as he typed. "She's a fiery one!"

"Don't I know it? So, how are you doing with smartphones and touchscreens?"

"Buttons are too little for my fingers, but I can manage. How do you send photos?" She touched a button on the screen and the chat screen was replaced with the view from the frontal camera. "Heck, this thing is fantastic! Say hi!" The subsequent selfie he took was one of the dorkiest she had ever seen, with both of them sticking their tongues out and Steve going cross eyed for a moment. Diana thought about chiding herself, as taking selfies like this wasn't exactly her modus operandi, but ever since Steve was brought back into her life, she felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders, and that she could more carefree with the way she acted. Not that she was a complete ice queen, most of all when she was among friends, but she had that feeling that maybe she could let go of the high society persona she had created, to keep herself from hurting again the way she had with Steve.

Barely ten seconds after he had sent the picture, Lois replied with another selfie of her and Clark. From the little background she could see, Diana guessed they were in the living room of their apartment, actually not that far from there. They looked very happy if a little tired, but she could easily guess why.

"You're having fun, uh?"

"Yeah, kind of, I mean… I was bored waiting for you and this thing buzzed and… it's easier than I thought!"

"I'll get you one of your own, if you want. Come, I'll pay for these then we can go and meet Lois and Clark."

"Aren't you splurging a little too much on me these days?" he asked, picking up the box with his own suit.

Diana hooked her arm around his and shrugged. "I kind of used all your money to settle down in Man's World. It's time I pay you back."

"You don't have to, you know? I mean, I saw the price tag, I get it that things now cost more but my suit alone costs more than what I earned in my whole life in the army! And I had a pretty dangerous job, with lots of bonuses!"

"I earn a lot to, more than enough to afford this and even more. I've lived alone for so long, with no reason to spend money… allow me to splurge a little, now that I have a reason to do so now."

"Alright, but the moment I get a job, I'm going to splurge a little on you. You still like ice cream right?"

She chuckled. "Or, now more than ever.

Despite the damage done by their battle against Steppenwolf, Metropolis was quickly going back to normal. After all, most of the battle had taken place in the area that had already been damaged the previous year, they had done a good job with damage control, but some commercial and residential building had been harmed and police and firefighters were having a hard time keeping scavengers out of the area.

As Diana drove, Steve stared outside of the windows, wide eyed and shooting question after question. Most of all about how cars had evolved. He seemed to like the sleek look of the Mercedes she had rented for the day.

"Man, everything improved with the years, right?

"Yeah… except humanity. That remained pretty much the same."

"Encouraging. Anyway… how does it work, these days, going out with a friend?"

"If it's only among friends, people usually gather at a pub or wherever they serve drinks or where you can have something to eat, you get a table or you sit at the bar and talk. That's it."

"And if you want to go out with your wife or fiance?"

"Same thing, only you go to a different, less casual type of place, like a good restaurant or a place with a different atmosphere. I have to be honest I haven't dated in a long while so I'm kind of out of the scene, I don't know what people do these days on a date," she explained as she looked for a parking place close enough to Lois' place. "Why? Want to go out on a date?"

He shrugged and smiled. "Why not?"

"I guess we can come up with something. Ask Clark! Lois always told me he was great with dates."

"Yay! More things to talk about with the other guy that came back from death! Tonight's looking great!"

Diana laughed, hard, and she had to slow down in order to not impact with the car right in front of her because she was distracted. "We're going to have some fun. You sure you feel up to it?"

"Hey, I have to start somewhere, right? Getting to know more people, reintroduce myself in society... Why not start with your friends?"

"Well, Clark isn't exactly a friend, we haven't even spoken that long, but we work together. We'll have time to become friends, I guess. Oh, finally, parking!"

A couple of minutes later, they were in front of Lois' front door. "Alright, now I'm nervous," he whispered when she knocked.

"Oh don't be You'll do great."

When the door finally opened, they found Clark's massive form filling the frame. His hair was messy and his face scruffy with the dark stubble that covered his cheeks and chin. His blue eyes shined when he saw them. "Hey, finally! Come inside, Lois is nearly ready to go."

He gently hugged Diana and shook hands with Steve. "It's good to see you, Clark. And not in battle gear."

"It's good to see you too. Lois filled me in, seems like a lot has happened in the past year." His deep voice had a jolly note as he spoke, he seemed relieved of a weight, something that kept his broad shoulders curved. He was now standing tall, filling the dark plaid shirt to its fullness. "And you must be Captain Steve… Trevor, right?"

"Yes, but call me just Steve. Clark, right?"

"Most people know me as Superman, but yes, call me Clark."

"Diana!"

Lois' scream echoed down the hallway where she came from as she ran towards the friend. The shorter woman crashed against her in a bone crushing hug. "I missed you so much!"

Diana laughed and hugged the friend back. "Me too, Lois, me too!"

Lois let her go and turned towards the two men. "Oh and you must be Steve!" She hugged him too, much to his shock and disbelief. "Welcome to the twenty first century!"

"Well, thank you. You must be Lois, right?"

She nodded and finally shook his hand. "Lois Lane, pleased to meet you. So? Everyone's ready to go? I so need a drink tonight, Perry had me write non stop about this Steppenwolf thing, my fingers are cramping. I presume Wonder Woman is not willing to give us an exclusive interview?"

Diana smiled. "You presume right. Wonder Woman doesn't give interviews."

"Duh… Perry's gonna kill me. Revenant Superman? Easy, I live with him. Batman's a recluse, it's easier to get an interview with his alter ego. Wonder Woman? She lives on the other side of the Atlantic, most of the time!"

"Hey, don't look at me, I'm a pilot turned spy from The Great War, I'm not material for the press," joked Steve.

"You may be surprised, we print anything that could be even mildly interesting these days, I could always write you off as an historian writing a book about World War One."

Clark intervened then. "Come on Lois, stop talking about work. I know you're hyped and stressed, tonight is time to decompress. Take good care of her, Diana."

"I will, don't worry. Take good care of him!"

Clark shrugged. "Alright, I'm not going to let him get smashed."