As the sun went down, the temperatures dropped and the air finally got breathable as a cool breeze swept through the streets coming down from the hills. As Dionysus and the rest of the restaurant staff started preparing for the evening service, the rest of the small group separated and let the young god get back to his job.

"So…" started Hades, shoving his hands in the pockets of his black jeans. "Diana, Steve, hear me out. These are the car keys for the Alfa Romeo. It as a push device to turn it on, so you will need them only to open and close it, as long as this little thing is close enough to the car, it will turn on pressing a button. Leave it to Poseidon when you sail to Themyscira and call Persephone when you're back here, she'll come and take it in her custody. It's fully accessorized and the engine runs superbly. Just… avoid going too fast and respect the speed limits, or I'll divert the tickets to you, alright?"

On the other hand, Persephone pulled a small package of sheet. "And here's the documentation you need, just in case you get pulled over or whatever. There's the address of the restaurant, a copy of the documentation of the boat, just in case Poseidon forgets it. He's a little lost in his world, you know? Oh, I almost forgot! Here's the hotel reservation for tonight. It's close enough to the entrance of the highway, a little bit on the outside of the city. We already checked in for you, thanks Steve for the copy of your documents. Those are the keys," she explained pointing at two keycards. "You should be set to go. Say hi to the girls from me!"

"And from me too," added Hades. "I kind of miss them, you know?"

"Oh, definitely, they were great company, back in the day. Anyway, we won't keep you any longer. Take your time to walk around town for a while, I know it looks kind of dead but just because it's August. It's a pretty lively city when people are not on vacation." Persephone gave them a quick hug. "Have a nice trip and enjoy yourself."

"Thanks, Persephone," replied Diana. "I really appreciate the help."

With a smile, the Queen of Underworld gave her a quick pat on the shoulders. "I just wish your father had come to you earlier. I would have loved to meet you earlier, but he wouldn't let us get close to you before he did."

Her husband rolled her eyes. "Egocentric bastard…" he mumbled. "He's always been like this. A good ruler, mind it, but damn it's always his way or the highway."

Steve barely suppressed a chuckle. "Now I know where she got that from," he replied, nudging her in ribs with his elbow. She decided to let it go, mostly because she knew he was right. At least partially.

"Hippolyta can be just as hard headed though, don't forget that. Two strong characters and dispositions like those couldn't really conceive nothing less than someone like you, Diana. Now go and have some fun. I'll go back to my place then, Hades. See you in a couple of months, alright?"

He nodded and leaned closer and kissed her. "Alright my love. I'll be waiting for you."

"Love you!"

"Love you too!"

For a moment, they watched as Persephone walked away, and Diana noticed a tear slipping down Hades' eye and into his beard. "Hey, everything alright?" she asked softly, a hand on his shoulder.

He shrugged and sighed. "Yeah it's just… it's hard, you know? Watching her walk away like this. I know she's here for a good reason, to keep the seasons going, but… I miss her. A lot. It never got easier, despite the fact we've been doing this since before time was even conceived. It tears my heart apart every single year."

"Hey, come here." She hugged him tight and felt him deflate, like tire that just got punctured with a large nail. He did miss her, and it hurt him a lot. "She'll be back sooner than you think. Just keep yourself busy and everything will be alright."

He nodded against her shoulder and sobbed a little more. "I know, it's just that it feels… Damn, you know it very well how it feels, I don't even have to explain. He helped, you know? I was selfish, I didn't let him go to his allotted and well deserved place, I kept him close so I could have some company, when she was gone." He pulled himself up and wiped his face and nose with a tissue Diana was handing to him. "He's a good friend, wise beyond his age."

In the corner of her vision, Diana noticed Steve shrugging, slightly embarrassed, trying desperately to look as small as he could. "Yes, he is. I'm glad he was in good company, and so were you."

Hades gave her a curt nod. "I'll right, I got my moment of meltdown. Happens at least once or twice a year, don't worry, I'll be just fine… now that I think about it, there's a nice place where we could… Ah, nevermind the musings of an old deity, just go and enjoy your evening. I'll find a place where I can drink good beer and lick my wounds. It's nothing you. Now go and have some fun, there are tons of places worth visiting round here, just feel free to roam around as long as you want."

"Are you sure you'll be alright," asked Steve, definitely worried for Hades. Those two were thick as thieves, apparently, and he looked genuinely distressed for the God Of Underworld.

He waved him off. "I'll be fine. We've been doing this crap for thousands of years, what could two months more be? Agony? Nah, I'll be just peachy, just give me time to calm down. Go and start your vacation. I'll see you two when you're back from the island. And I count to see some killer tan on you both, just remember sunscreen. See ya when you're back!" He waved at them then pushed his hands in the pockets of his jeans, hunched his shoulders and headed west, alone and in grief.

"You were right," said Diana when the God had got out of earshot. "He's really a nice guy."

"Told you. Should we really leave him alone now? He seemed pretty down."

She sighed. "I think he wants to be alone. I have the feeling they broke some kind of unwritten rules, meeting before Persephone was allowed to go back to the Underworld. I don't really want to think about the possible consequences. So, what are we going to do?"

After an evening spent roaming around the narrow medieval streets, enjoying the warm but not scorching air and the local tourist attractions, they finally got to the hotel for the night. They had a pretty early wake up call if they really wanted to reach Amalfi before lunchtime so they just went to bed. The next morning, after breakfast and nearly enough espresso to give them palpitations, they were getting ready to leave town when Steve's phone ringed. Looking down at it, he released a sigh that looked both like a sigh of defeat and on of contempt. "The director of the FBI. Damn that man doesn't know how to take a no for an answer." He swiped his thumb on the screen and picked up. Diana could just watch him deal with what was his job now: public relations. "Yes, director, how can I help you today? Again, director, I won't release any specific detail on any member of the Justice League. You can insist as long as you want, you can pester me with phone calls at six AM local time, but I won't give them away. I was hired to keep their privacy intact, and that's what I'll be doing until I take my last agonizing breath, got it?."

He shook his head and Diana couldn't help but smile at him and run a hand through his thick, dark blond hair. She was ready to start the engine and leave, but she wanted him to finish with the call before she moved. "No, I am NOT going to do anything that would endanger the private lives of my employers. That's it, we're done. Case closed. It's been months and you still keep asking me the same questions over and over at alarmingly regular intervals, it's increasingly starting to look like stalking, so unless you have new questions and new matters to discuss, we're over. Also, I'm going on vacation on an island without cell reception for a month, so you can suck it up and learn to live with the certainty I will never give away details about the League other than what is already public knowledge. Now, if you agree, I'm going to hung up and turn off this phone, because I'm totally fed up with this crap you're putting on. And I don't care if you're the director of the FBI, I'll still hang up on you. Have a nice day. Or night, given the time difference. Good night."

He hung up and turned off the phone, then for good measure threw it on the backseat. "That man is so full of shit he must be really hard to stand close to him." He took a deep steadying breath. "We're on vacation now, officially."

"Yes we are. Shall we?"

Steve nodded. "We shall."

Diana pressed the button to start the engine and its low hum filled the cabin, before she also turned on the radio and music overpowered it. "To Amalfi?"

"To Amalfi!" He waved his fist out of the windshield in a moment of frenzied happiness. "Last few hours on soil for how long exactly?"

"Three to four days depending on the wind. Let's hope we get Poseidon on our side and he keeps the sea calm enough until we get there."

"Hey, let's concentrate on the task ahead. We have 625 kilometers ahead of us and according to this thing," he looked at the GPS screen. "Traffic is regular and it should take us about six hours to get there. Let's go then!"

So early in the morning, the roads were almost empty. As soon as they got on the highway and Diana could push the car a lot faster than standard roads, the incredible landscapes they encountered left them breathless. First the mountains with their slopes covered with green trees and dotted with pastures and fields, the small towns nestled between the peaks or on top of them, bright spots hit by the morning sun, shining like small pearls in a sea of dark green. Then the hills and the vineyards, the planes around Rome and only later, when they finally approached their destination, the deep blue hue of the Tirrenian Sea, dotted with white speckles that in reality were ships and boats coming and going from the numerous dockyards that lined the coast from north to south. It was mesmerizing.

They had been travelling for about an hour when big green signs that measured the distance from Firenze started appearing at regular intervals, when Steve interrupted their inconsequential chatting. "You travelled a lot during the past century, have you ever been in Italy?"

"Of course I have, but never this way. I mean, driving so far south. I lived in Roma for a couple of years while attending university for the umpteen time, visited many other places like Milano, Torino… Venezia. Never this way though. I would usually fly wherever I would need to go, but I admit this is nice. What about you?"

"Mostly frontlines," he explained. "I spent about a month coming and going from Austria. I was one of the few that could speak German fluently enough to pass like one, so I would move behind enemy lines, befriend one or two soldiers, steal the plans and orders then go back and deliver them to the Italians. About a year before I crashed on the island. All I know about Italy comes from books, newspapers and now internet. It's… refreshing, you know? I never knew all of this existed."

"It changed a lot, during the past century. The economic boom of the early sixties brought a sudden wealth they weren't exactly prepared to face. When things got harder a decade later, the economy sort of crashed and it never really got back to its feet. Not to mention the criminal organization, the corrupt politicians… it's a mess, but the country itself is absolutely astounding. The coast of the southern regions are probably the closest places to Themyscira I've ever seen."

"Do you mind if we come back, sometime next year? Not to Themyscira, to Italy I mean. I would love to visit Rome."

"Sure thing," she replied, actually glad of his suggestion. "I'd love to go back, enjoy the city as a tourist and as a student. Not that the studying part was bad, just a rehash of things I already knew, but it had to respect demands, then work so I could afford university… you know, being immortal sometimes is more a hassle than a blessing. I need to move from identity to identity, often changing field of work completely… It's tough. Each iteration of Diana Prince has to…"

Steve stopped her, placing a warm and slightly calloused hand on her own as she held the clutch of the shift. "I understand, Diana. I also know that one day, not too far away, I'll have to do the same. You'll have to teach me!"

"How about we let Bruce do the dirty work? He's done amazing job with your documents, I think I'll let him work his magic next time. Also, what do you think about learning how to drive, since you have a license?"

He shrugged his shoulders then stretched a little in his seat. "You seem to enjoy driving a lot!"

"As a matter of fact, yes, I do enjoy driving, but that's not what I meant. What if one day I'm not there and you need to go somewhere where the subway can't go or trains don't reach? It's not so different than the cars that were built in your time, things just go… smoother, I guess."

He laced his fingers at the back of his head. "I know… I guess I'll will relearn how to drive. You know what I would like though? A motorbike. I've seen some great models around, black and chrome and so freaking gorgeous… I would love to have one of those."

Diana smiled. It wasn't the first time he expressed his appreciation for twenty first century bike designs he had encountered during the past months, she knew he would have loved to have one. Maybe she could use his desire as a leverage.

"Let's make a deal. As soon as we come home, you will reacquaint yourself with modern cars and driving, then when you have mastered the art of driving on a four-wheeled vehicle, we'll start looking for a bike, alright?" she proposed.

He opened his mouth to reply, but closed it as soon as he realized the magnitude of that statement, his face scrunched in the cutest smirk she could imagine. It actually made her laugh a little bit. "That's… neat."

Oh he so loved that word. "So? Deal?" She extended her right hand, which he grasped and shook.

"Deal! I'll learn to drive and then we'll try to find a bike we both appreciate. Oh I can't wait to take you out on the weekend when the weather's good!"

"Is this the reason you want a bike?"

"One of the many. I always loved the freedom bikes gave you, both as a the fact that they move quicker in traffic and that you can actually feel the wind, you know… it's the closest way to feel the rush of flying without actually flying."

"I see your point. And I have to be honest with you, I'm very fond of motorbikes too. I used to own one, ages ago. I sold it when my job at the time wouldn't allow me to use it as much as I would love to, so instead of letting it rot in the garage, I let someone else drive it. Fun guy, he had just got his license, he was really young. Turned out he married a musician I appreciate a lot."

"And that would be?"

"P!nk."

They reached Amalfi a little later than half past noon, after a drive over six hundred kilometers long and only two brief pit stops to refill the tank and walk around a little. When Diana parked the car in the lot just beside the restaurant owned by her uncle, Steve immediately jumped off the car and stretched his back. He took a deep breath and wore his sunglasses. "Oh man this place is awesome!"

She couldn't agree more. Nestled in a sweet spot right in front of a pristine, sandy beach with the sea washing ashore with a low, rhythmic thrum, the restaurant was a little jewel. It looked like a very old stone building, probably a fisherman's hut given the presence of an old wooden dock where there was a fishing boat anchored to it, but it had been completely restored to look both ancient and new at the same time. Bright white walls with stoney foundations, green wooden shutters, flowers at every window… it was really cute and evocative.

The sun, now at the apex of its trek in the sky, was really hot and she could feel it on her skin, while a slight but not intrusive breeze helped mitigate the effect. Around them, people came and went, some on foot and some by car. Good thing. With customers around, in case something didn't go as planned with Poseidon, he couldn't really lash out too bad at them, or else he would possibly ruin the reputation of his venture.

"So? Are we going in?" she asked.

Steve nodded. "Sure thing. Let's go!"

She wished his enthusiasm could be contagious. As much as all her recent meetings with gods had been pleasant, in the back of her head there was that nagging sensation that something was going to go incredibly wrong. Not that it was bound to go wrong, but she was still very preoccupied about this specific meeting. According to Hades, his brother Poseidon was moody and voluble, just like the sea itself, while all the other gods she had met, Ares excluded, were more poised and down to earth.

"Hera give me strength," she mumbled as a prayer. It had been ages since she had used that formula. It felt a little strange, like a ghostly shiver down her spine, but the weird sensation disappeared the moment Steve grabbed her hand and gently pulled her towards the entrance.

Once inside, she was pleasurably surprised by the inside of the restaurant. It had a cozy, familiar feeling, like the atmosphere itself welcomed the customer from the very moment. The interior wasn't that big, barely enough room to place tables and chairs for fifty people. Only about half of the tables were occupied at the moment, and the air was filled with the amazing scents of grilled fish and cooked shellfish and molluscs, not to mention the pungent but not overly so scent of the typical frittura di paranza, the traditional dish of the area made of fried small fishes caught by a specific type of boat typical of the gulf of Napoli and the coast of Campania. Suddenly, she was hungry.

"Welcome, table for two?" asked a girl in her twenties in Italian with a thick accent.

"Yes," replied Diana in the same language, minus the accent. "We have a reservation, for Diana…"

"Prince!" someone screamed in the back of the restaurant, probably from the kitchen. "Diana Prince!" the same deep voice repeated. It belonged to a fifty something man with short dark hair streaked with grey at the temples, a long, bushy dark beard and piercing green eyes. "Don't worry Giulia, I'll take care of them, she's my niece."

The similarities with both Zeus and Hades were undeniable, the same build, the same thick beard and hair, and the same eyes. They could have been triplets, if they hadn't decided to show different ages or have different hair styles and styles of clothing. Maybe Hades was a little leaner than his younger brothers.

"Oh, alright boss," she replied with a smile. "Just call me if you need help."

"Well, finally you're here. My brother just called, he wanted to know if you had arrived. He was really worried about traffic. How was your trip?" He guided them to a table in the corner of the room. "Sit down, I'll alert the cook you're here, she came up with a special menu just for you. Give me a moment. Want something to drink in the meanwhile?"

Steve looked at her and she shrugged. The other gods had described him as moody and irascible, but the god they had in front of them, despite the deep, gruff voice, looked like he was a nice person in the end. "Uh, water I guess. For now."

"Right, I'll have Giulia bring you a couple of bottles right away. Do you drink wine? I just got a shipment of wine that would go great with some of the food, do you want to try it?" He seemed kind of worried about their wellbeing.

"Yes, that would be nice," replied Steve. "But don't worry too much about us. Just… do your thing. We'll wait here."

Poseidon nodded, a sharp movement that shook his long beard a little. "Alright I'll…"

"Pietro!" someone screamed in the back, and Poseidon rolled his eyes. Evidently that was the name he usually went by when among mortals. "Are they here?" the voice asked, in Italian.

"Yes, they're here! You can start cooking." He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "I'll bring the beverages. Wait here." And he walked back towards the kitchen to fetch whatever he was going to bring to their tables.

"Didn't your father describe him as a grumpy old bastard?" asked Steve.

"I'm as baffled as you are. He surely doesn't look like he could impersonate Santa Claus, but he looks way less grumpy than what I had thought. Or maybe he wants to leave a good impression."

"Could be. The place looks great though. And with this delicious scent coming from the kitchen, I'm getting hungry!"

Poseidon came back with a bottle of white wine and two bottles of water, which he placed on the table, then he sat on the spare chair, in front of Diana, crossing his arms at his chest. "So, I heard you're going to embark on a journey to the unknown."

"Sort of, if you consider that not so many people know the way there," she replied.

"I know. Actually, if you think about it there's no mortal who knows the way to Themyscira. You don't, right?" he asked Steve.

"No, I crashlanded there when my plane got hit by enemy fire. One moment I was flying from Turkey to Greece then next my engine was damaged and I crashed near the coast of the island. An island I never knew existed."

"And it's better this way." Giulia, the young waitress, arrived with three plates of appetizers. "Thanks Giulia. Anyway," he continued when the girl was out of earshot. "I'll make sure to keep the sea as calm as it can while maintaining a decent wind be for the duration of the trip. The boat is a top of the line modern sloop. It can be manned by one expert person alone, together you two can make it sail easily. If I made my calculations right, and when it comes to seas and winds I'm rarely wrong, as your friend Arthur can attest, you should get there in about two days and a half, three if you slow down for the night. It should be a pleasurable sail, I'll give you a couple of maps where I've drawn the currents and the winds myself, it should be enough to optimize your trip."

As Poseidon spoke, calm and stern about some little things he had devised for their trip, including some upgrades to the sailboat itself, Diana listened, slightly enthralled, at his explanation as she ate. He spoke with authority of thousands of years of reign over the seas, but not preachy at all. Even Steve seemed to be affected by the way the old God of Seas spoke. Despite the gruff tone that made his voice slightly raspy, it was light the washing of a wave on a rocky shore heard from a slight distance. It was oddly hypnotic.

It didn't help that whoever was cooking in the kitchen was feeding them a ton of fresh fish, crustaceans and molluscs perfectly prepared, no matter if they were grilled, fried, broiled or used a condiment for the largest plate of spaghetti allo scoglio she had ever seen, of which the more than abundant sauce had Steve's face covered with red tomato - and that the supply of wine from his cellar was steady and equally good. Not that such small quantities of alcohol could really make her drunk, or Steve, but too much food, no matter how great, could make her groggy.

"Now, with the matter settled, tell me: how's the food?"

Diana looked down at the now half-empty plate of grilled fish in front of her and smiled. "Amazing."

Steve chewed hard on the bite of paranza he had just shoved in his mouth and swallowed to answer. "Fenomenal! God, this is so great! Loved the spaghetti."

"Sure your napkin loved them too!" Poseidon smiled, looking down at the smeared white piece of cloth hanging from Steve's collar. "Anyway, let's finish here, so I can take you to the dock where Zeus' sloop is anchored and you can leave."

It was after they finally reached the last course that Steve was introduced to the concept of caffè e ammazzacaffè, literally coffee and coffee-killer. The all-Italian ritual consuming a small shot of liqueur, in this case limoncello, after a cup of espresso. The child-like wonder on his face as he discovered such little details of a nation he had only experienced through the pages of books made her heart melt. Diana knew he could be ruthless spy, a cunning smuggler and at times an efficient killer when need arose, but deep down, Steve Trevor was a good man and an explorer. His nature drove him to discovery, to knowledge. Perhaps it was the reason why he had gotten used to life in the twenty first century so quickly, despite keeping some quirks from 1918 too, like the gallantry.

They finally rose from the table well into the afternoon. "Come with me, the sloop isn't too far from here," said Poseidon. As they walked out the restaurant, he gave a shout to the cook to report that the lunch had been greatly appreciated and told the waitress he was going out for a while, but he would be back in less than an hour. "Take your baggages," he instructed them.

Right as he had said, the boat was close, less than five minutes on foot from the restaurant. It was a magnificent modern sloop, with two sails and a white painted hull. Printed on the bow there was the name of the sloop, Olympian. "Nice name!" quipped Steve.

"Apt, too," commented Poseidon. "Here she is. You're free to go as soon as you want to. There's enough foot to last a few weeks, unfortunately it's nowhere near as good as what you had today, be it freeze dried or canned."

"We can manage, Poseidon," replied Diana. "It's not like we're going to live off of this forever."

"I like the way you think. Now… all the documents are downstairs in a small safe, the combination is 22071942 and it's written here." He slipped a tiny piece of paper in her hand. "Enjoy your sail, the seas will be favorable."

Diana nodded. "Thank you, Poseidon. I really appreciate what you did for us.

Smiling, the old God shook his head. "No Diana, it's me, us, who should be thankful for what you did. Where would we be, if it wasn't for you? It's the least we could do. When was the last time you went back home?" he asked.

"About eleven years ago," she told him. "I… lately I haven't been feeling too welcome so I kind of stopped going."

"I see. Well, listen to the delusions of an old man: flip the haters off. You don't need their approval. Your mother allowed you back on the island and she would do the same for anyone that would decide to leave so… go back and be proud."

"How do you know that…"

He raised a hand and shushed her. "We gods have our methods. Not intrusive, but very efficient. Now go, before you lose the tide. You should manage to pass Scylla and Charybdis before sundown. After that, it's open sea until Greece. Be sure to answer any single call from any coast guard you will encounter because with all the refugees incoming both in Italy and Greece, many military ships patrol the coasts. They could request to board too. The documentation it's legit, so you don't need to worry about it. In any case, don't avoid the law enforcement."

"Will do. Again, thank you. We should be back in four weeks, maybe five."

"There's a satellite cell phone on the boat. Use it as soon as you're out of the fog surrounding the island to call me, the number is memorized in the phone's memory bank, and you can come back even in November for all I care. Now go. And say hi to Hippolyta and Menalippe."

"Are you aware that Antiope…"

He nodded. "Yes, I am. For real though, go. I can't control tide, that's Selene's task. Go, before you lose it."

And so they sailed, heading first south and then east, as soon as they turned the southmost point of Calabria. As Steve helmed the boat, she took care of the sails, but the wind was stable enough that she didn't need to work much with them and once she got them set correctly for the amount of wind and its speed, she sat for a moment on the bow, facing forward in the open sea.

She felt like she was walking to the gallow's pole. And she was sure someone back on Themyscira wanted her to literally walk to the gallow's pole, be it literal or metaphorical. She just hoped her mother would welcome her and Steve back on the island, or that vacation would be the shortest one she had ever taken.