Song for Eurydice, Part 1: Act I

Diana, Queen of the Amazons, Ambassador of the Federation, Wonder Woman, and Champion of Themyscira, prided herself on exercising restraint and patience, even in the most trying of circumstances.

She didn't know if she could live up to the standard she held herself to on this day.

The revelation that Jim Kirk was Steve Trevor's reincarnation, in body and soul, had swept the rug right out from under her and left her reeling. She'd spent the last few days questioning every interaction they had. How much of her desire to trust him had been because he reminded her of Steve? Would she have still found herself willing to be charmed by Jim Kirk if he'd looked like someone else? Would her heart still have fluttered and occasionally reminded her of how intense those same blue eyes could be staring at her from across the room?

She wanted to think better of herself. Diana was genuinely personable, but more reserved than Jim was. In many ways, he also reminded her of Sammy and Barry: chatterboxes with hearts of gold. So, to some extent, she could find comfort in that fact. Jim was his own person. She had known as much before this information had been thrown in her face.

But, if she couldn't speak to him about it, how would she be able to move past?

It had been a week since Circe had left her mark on the captain of the Enterprise, and in that time, she'd only seen him for maybe an hour altogether. He was avoiding her. Quite deftly, she thought, begrudgingly impressed.

First, the repairs to the bridge meant all non-essential personnel were to remain off of the deck. Even Diana was willing to admit that as an ambassador with no understanding of hardware repairs in this time and place, she wouldn't be able to help. Dr. McCoy had been too focused on Jim's condition and any latent side effects from Medusa's Curse to study Diana's vitals, so she had found herself at loose ends on that front as well.

She had hoped she could speak with him when the doctor finally called her during one of Jim's physicals, but, he'd suddenly started babbling about Etta and how she worried over nothing.

And as far as she knew, he had not changed his mind. When they reached Yorktown in a few days, he would want her off of the ship. She couldn't help him if he wouldn't at least let her stay. She didn't know how she would get though to him if he continued to avoid her, but she refused to simply give up and leave.

Diana's heart ached as she tried not to think too much about the effect Steve's memories had on him. This was torture. To see him was to remind her that she still needed to understand her own mind around him, but it threatened to overwhelm his mind and put him at risk. She had only tried to spare him the doubts that now plagued him. You only wanted to spare yourself the pain of trying to project Steve onto him. You know you would never forgive yourself… She could not even force herself to be angry with him. She knew that this was her failure.

Jim was the cure to her unease. She only twisted the dagger in his mind.

Unable to reach him, unable to help him, Diana had done the only thing she could do in the meantime. She searched the databases for every byte of intelligence, great or small, that still existed on the foes she had faced in her youth. For many of the villains she'd faced, death had come from old age or as a casualty of the Eugenics War. But, Diana had to admit that there were names that had simply… not appeared.

People that she felt like she should have been able to find copious information on, but couldn't.

Queen Clea had disappeared after the war, most likely due to a pullback by Arthur and Mera. When Atlantis had isolated themselves from Man's World during the war, Clea had probably made a play for the capital. Cheetah, once an archaeologist named Barbara Ann Minerva and an old friend of Diana's, had last been sighted somewhere in Bwunda, the Okarango region. If she was still alive, she was most assuredly still cursed by the old god Urzkartaga. But, Diana doubted it. The god had cursed Barbara Ann with many things, but immortality had not been one of them.

Trying to search for gods was impossible, even with the few aliases and standard disguises she knew some of them used.

But, the name that she couldn't seem to find bothered her more than it probably should have. Veronica Cale. The former CEO of Cale Pharmaceuticals. She had been the definition of a self-made woman and - for reasons Diana never quite understood - resented Diana's position and power. She'd worked with many of Diana's enemies and no matter the charge, it didn't stick.

Which was why it was suspicious to her that a woman of such renown had not lasted the annals of time to make it to the Starfleet database.

So, she pivoted to start combing through any ancient text that still remained in the Federation Archaeological database, but that had proven just as difficult. She could find a myriad of references to reincarnation and past life regression, but the truth of the matter was that the affliction Jim had been struck with did not coincide with how the Greeks had traditionally believed in the afterlife.

It wasn't to say that Elysium or Tartarus were the only two options, but the Fates held many secrets in their loom and wheel that no one had learned. Not even the Amazons.

Bruce would say she was spinning her wheels, and that if she couldn't solve the problem, it was time to step away for a moment.

And he would have been right.

Diana couldn't remain cooped up in her quarters or bouncing between Sickbay and the Observation Lounge in a futile attempt to find Jim, or at the least, some sense of peace. For a moment, she considered if sleep could be a sufficient distraction, but she hadn't felt rested in days. Every time she woke, there were words and images that left just before she could commit them to memory. A place…. Vibrant colors and a woman…

Why did her mind want to steer her towards a temple that she had never visited? It had been before her time. There is no Oracle, there is no temple. Delphi is but a city now.

What she wouldn't have given for a chance to spar with Kal again on the shores of her island…

Her door chime was a welcome distraction.

It chirped once, then again, before she rose from her desk and strode over to the door. Tapping the panel, the doors whooshed open to reveal an officer in a gold uniform. Her heart twisted, conflicted, as she recognized that this was not the officer she'd hoped to see. Yet again, she could see everyone except Jim.

Lieutenant Sulu smiled brightly at her, as if he didn't have a care in the world, then waved. She caught the singular silver band of his rank on his uniform sleeve as he did so. "Ambassador. I hope I'm not interrupting."

To her credit, Diana showed nothing less than enthusiasm to see him. She knew it would have been so easy to let her concern for Jim color everything, but if his crew could carry on with smiles, then she had to as well.

"Lieutenant, please, call me Diana. I'm not on duty." She said with a smile.

"Then, call me Hikaru. I got chased off the bridge by the captain. He said I needed to go stretch my legs and get away from my console." Sulu crossed his arms across his chest as she spoke. "So, I thought I would take the opportunity to see if you were busy."

Diana chuckled, thankful for the distraction. It was good to know Hikaru had wanted to get to know her better and that she'd warranted some of his precious off-duty time. "I'm flattered. Please, come in."

"Actually…" He winced a little, as if embarrassed even through his light tone. "I was kind of hoping that we could talk elsewhere."

She didn't know much about the helmsman outside of their few conversations when she had first arrived, and many of those conversations had been with Chekov, so the ensign had dominated them. But, she did know that Hikaru was married and had a young daughter.

And that he loved to fence.

"You want to spar." She finished the thought before he even had an opportunity to elaborate.

The boyish grin on his face suggested that Hikaru needed the distraction as much as Diana. In truth, if Jim could not accept her help to sort his own mind, then it probably meant he had pushed away much of his crew. She couldn't help but recall McCoy's accurate assessment of the captain: He didn't like to share his skeletons with anyone.

"Yes, I want to spar." He said eagerly. "I've heard the stories from the captain about how you took down those Romulans. And you said it yourself, you've studied every form of combat on Earth. I want to learn from the best, and you're the best."

She rolled her eyes and propped a hand on her hip in a playful challenge. "I have no desire to send you to the Sickbay today, my friend."

"Ah, but fencing's all about being fast." Hikaru quipped back. "And besides, we never know what we're going to run into out here. Learning from you may help me, I don't know, with a Klingon or a Gorn or something." He was playful, but there was truth in what he said. As she had found since Circe's arrival, her instincts were more in tune. She would need to keep them honed, so noting his honesty helped her remember how it felt to sense it.

She chuckled and shrugged. "Very well. If you wish to be beaten so badly - "

"I would appreciate a little bit of a leniency as we get started - "

"Then, yes." Diana conceded. "I would be glad to teach you what I can."

Diana decided then that when Hikaru Sulu smiled, one of two things would happen: someone had won his friendship… Or he was planning mischief.

She determined it must have been the latter.

An incredibly sore arm and an hour later, Hikaru was questioning his decision to ask Diana not to go too easily on him. While he really wanted to learn from her, he was fairly certain he should have picked a different day to do it. The moment the two of them started the quick-footed dance of a match, she would lose herself in the battle and Hikaru's teeth would rattle from the impact of some of her blows.

Fencing was all about touches, not impacts. He was glad that he had spent a few years to expand his training with the security officers, but Diana really was just… a superhero. He couldn't describe it any other way. He was studying with a master swordswoman and he didn't have time to absorb it all.

Well, his arm was absorbing plenty, and most of it was concussive force.

Diana had begun working with the rapiers that Sulu provided, but he could tell it wasn't her preferred style of combat. He wasn't all that surprised and had expected as much. Unfortunately, his misstep was in allowing her to choose the next set of swords, at which point she pulled a broadsword for each of them.

That was when the force became more punishing, and Hikaru was trying to figure out how to suggest that they take a break without giving her the impression that he couldn't handle it.

Diana swung at him again and he barely managed to get his sword up to block in time. Hikaru shifted back, then pivoted and pushed the blade away before pressing with an attack of his own.

He opened his mouth to say something to her, but nearly got walloped with the flat end of the blade in his backside before he rolled out of the way.

"Okay…" He finally conceded with a laugh. "I think I might not be qualified for this level of difficulty." Hikaru got back up to his feet and walked over, handing Diana his sword with a slight bow of his head. "I appreciate the lesson, but my arms will be sore for a week." He was competitive, but not a masochist. He would be replaying those matches for days now.

She chuckled and quirked an eyebrow. "I did warn you…"

"I know, I know." Hikaru sighed as he made his way over to a bench where his uniform shirt was neatly folded along with hand towels to wipe sweat off of his brow. "I just didn't realize quite how differently you fight."

Diana followed after him and rummaged through one of the cargo containers until she found a bottle of water. The Enterprise didn't have a formal gymnasium for this sort of combat training, so the crew had taken the time to stock this part of Cargo Bay 2 with water bottles and equipment. It was a small haven in the vast ship that offered stress relief. There seemed to be so little for that in Starfleet.

That was a poignant reminder for Hikaru as to why he had dragged Diana out of her quarters. The crew was worried about her, on top of worrying for the captain, and he had to hope that he'd helped her in some way. So far, a physical match hadn't done much to make her open up. And she didn't speak enough during a fight to wage that war on two fronts.

Hikaru toweled his neck and shoulders off. The standard issue tank top he wore would need to be washed, so he didn't want to put his uniform back on until he'd had a chance to get back to his quarters. Out of respect for Diana's sense of smell, he made sure to keep a wide berth as he looked over at her and debated how he could engage her in conversation again.

"You don't talk much in a fight." He finally offered as a way to open the floor.

Diana polished off an entire bottle of water before replying. "Talking draws your focus away from the fight, and can lead to letting your guard down." Her gaze drifted away from Hikaru for a moment. Judging from the nostalgic smile on her face, he assumed she had brought herself back to Themyscira for a moment. "When I was a child, I used to escape my tutors so that I could watch my sisters fight. There was very little chatter on the field. I was enthralled."

"Well, you were part of a warrior culture." He said with a shrug, shifting so he could take a seat on the bench.

"I was, but I was also the princess of the Amazons. My mother wished for me to be different from my sisters." She moved to do the same and settled beside Hikaru. "It did not occur to me at the time, but she was trying to protect me from Ares. She knew that if I trained, learned how to tap into my inner strength, it could awaken the great power simmering within."

Hikaru nodded, not entirely sure how to respond. On a practical level, he and the rest of the crew had come to accept the idea that Diana was incredibly long-lived and part of the Amazons of mythology. He could understand that she was Wonder Woman from the records that existed in Starfleet's database, but… there was an aspect to her divinity that still seemed so far-fetched. It was one thing to accept telepathic species and molecular changes to a person's DNA or surroundings. It was another to accept the idea that Diana was something… divine.

Sulu was an astrophysicist. He left this kind of debate for wiser people. He could certainly get behind the idea that people were capable of more than they thought they were, and he didn't need to understand Diana's power to understand her compassion and soul.

"My aunt, Antiope, trained me herself." Diana continued. Sulu's reverie had only helped spurn her on. "She was the greatest General my people had seen. The diadem I wear when I am in my armor, it was hers."

"Was?" Hikaru noticed the way her voice trailed, the heaviness. Grief. Old grief. He thought of how his mother spoke of her father. He'd died long before Sulu had been born. Faded, but still present. When he looked over at her, he found that she was staring across the room, as if she could see the events unfold.

"When I met Captain Trevor, he was not alone." She said softly. Hikaru winced. By now, the senior staff knew that Steve Trevor's memories were - somehow - imprinted onto Captain Kirk and that he was avoiding Diana because of the risk it posed. He had only found out earlier that day exactly why that bothered the captain so much. "When I rescued him from the plane he crashed, I had only just gotten him to shore when the Germans came through the barrier. They attacked and made landfall just as my mother and the Amazon army came to investigate." Diana brushed her hair out of her eyes with one hand. He could tell it was difficult for her to speak of the event, and he had a feeling he was about to find out why. "I had spent so long training, glorifying the noble art of combat. But when the Germans started to fire their guns against my sisters with arrows and spears, I watched this foreign army cut a swath through the women I had thought to be invincible."

"She was one of them?"

"Yes, but, not in the way you think." A sad smile graced her features. "Antiope rode into battle. The entire cavalry, including my mother. A force of nature, fury of the gods. They took down the Germans with expert finesse, the kind of battle I thought I had longed to see. I even got into the fight, but I wasn't watching. I had let my guard down, just as my aunt warned me not to. One of the men trained his rifle on me."

When she didn't finish, he put the pieces together. "She took the bullet for you."

Diana simply nodded.

"I understand that sacrifice." He finally said, turning to face her more. "And… I get it. I understand why you focus on the fight. Because, it's not a game."

Diana smiled softly. "Yes. Precisely."

He went quiet, considering that burden. He couldn't exactly identify, but it had struck all too close to home. He thought of Altamid. He thought of the way his heart had stopped when he found the Yorktown databases in Edison's possession. "Were you angry with her?"

Her brow furrowed and she shook her head. "No. She gave her life protecting me. I could never be upset with her sacrifice. My anger was reserved for Ares and his role in the war." He swallowed and accepted the answer, looking down at his hands clenched together in his lap. Diana seemed to know where his mind was even though he didn't know how to say it. "Your daughter. How old is she?"

"Four." He replied, not surprised that she'd cut right to the heart of it. "And I nearly lost her and Ben on the Yorktown when it was attacked last year."

"But, you didn't." She said softly.

"I know," He agreed. "But, that doesn't change that I'm still out here. I love Starfleet, but it doesn't come without risks. And I… I don't know how I'm going to explain that to Demora as she gets older."

Diana mirrored his position, clasping her hands together and huddling closer as if she was about to impart a great secret. Maybe she was. "I have never been a mother myself, but I was told on more than one occasion that I have fostered many. And more importantly, I watched Superman and his wife make the very difficult decision to have a child, even in the world that we were struggling to build. And Conner had the same questions that you're afraid Demora will probably have. The important thing is to be honest about why you are here. It may take time, but she will understand." She paused, considering her next words. "Duty and honor do not come easily to children, nor should they. They expect us to show them the way. By honoring Starfleet with your service… who knows? You could inspire her to join and lead her own crew one day. If you live your life to its fullest, if you share that passion with her, then I have faith she will always look upon you as fondly as I have Antiope. Or my own mother." She reached out to rest her hand on his shoulder. Her words were soft, kind and exactly what he needed to hear. "You are a good husband and father, Hikaru. I do not doubt that."

He swallowed down a lump in his throat, not entirely sure when it had gotten there. "Thank you…" He breathed. In a moment, she had bled months of tension and worry away from him.

"The captain was right. You do have a way of putting things into perspective." Hikaru said, glancing over at her with a smile. "And you… Diana, you care so much. When I think about how long you've been among us, the things you've seen humanity do… it's amazing that you can still see the best in people when I'm pretty sure we don't deserve it."

Diana chuckled, sitting up. "Nonsense. No one is perfect. Including me."

"Captain Kirk would beg to differ." He said with a grin. He couldn't help himself. He knew how the captain looked at her, and he could tell that Diana valued the captain's friendship. He hoped it was more, to be honest. The captain had seemed much more grounded since she'd arrived on the ship. Without her around these last few days, he wasn't the man he'd settled into over the last couple of months.

The way Diana's eyebrow quirked up made Hikaru's grin widen, "Jim Kirk has a bit of a reputation with the crew that when he falls, he falls fast. We've all been with him for several years now, so we know his quirks." Hikaru moved over to lean against a storage container and took a sip of his water. "And it's clear the two of you were getting really close."

"I didn't think it was that clear." Diana's lips pursed in a way that reminded Hikaru of Nyota when she suspected someone was about to out-gossip her. He had finally made a parry that had landed.

"When you're in free fall the ground always seems further away until it's right under you." He chuckled some, "I heard a rumor there were a few crew members who got in trouble with Commander Spock. They were engaging in some.. er… lucrative speculation on when and where you and the Captain would finally admit to being a couple."

"Lucrative spec— They were betting on us?" The indignation was adorable. "Wait, how do you know this?"

Another blow landed! She might have defeated him in hand to hand sparring today, but so far he was ahead on the verbal score. "I am a senior officer. I also… might have been present."

"And participating?" Ahh, he'd given away too much. Diana's eyes had narrowed at him, but there was still a twinkle of mirth in them, and the farthest corner of her mouth had tugged up the slightest amount. Hikaru was Japanese, this sort of contained enjoyment was quite familiar. Every time he'd made a childhood teacher or elder crack up in a situation where they knew they must remain stony faced. Verbal Sparring victory was close at hand.

"Maybe." He admitted. "But in the end, Spock was more interested in correcting the logic of our wagers than actually shutting us down."

Finally a smile cracked Diana's face. "That's terrible, Hikaru. My relationship with the captain…"

"Is your relationship. I know." He finished the thought for her, "But we all love the Captain, too. We worry about him. He worries about you, that means we worry about him worrying about you."

"You keep mentioning him," Diana said, the smile had faded. Hikaru tried to hide his guilty look, but it must not have been quick enough. She stood and stared him down, the mirth disappearing from her expression. "Did Jim send you to… to, what? Distract me?"

Damn. A point lost. The match was slipping out of his favor. Hikaru stood to face her, holding his hands up in a state of apology and to ease her. "Not exactly, no."

"What do you mean, 'not exactly?' He's been avoiding me for days. I can't even help him make sense of what's going on, because he simply won't talk to me. So instead he sends you?" He could sense that there was more to the situation than he knew. Diana didn't seem angry, per se, but certainly unhappy with the situation. "He did not tell you what he said to me, did he?"

"No? Diana, please, let me explain." He half-expected her to cut him off. When he didn't, he took the opportunity to speak and made sure to make efficient use of the time. "The captain has been on the bridge almost every waking hour he has. I have been on duty with him for most of those shifts, and when I attempted to get him to take a break, he told me it wouldn't do him any good and he ordered me off-duty instead.

"He might have suggested that I speak with you because he knew I was looking forward to something like this." He motioned to the broadswords that had since been put into their cargo container. "But, truth be told, I think that was just a smokescreen, because I think he's worried about you. It wasn't like he told me 'Hey, go spy on Diana and tell me how she's doing.' I think he just... wanted..." Hikaru's words were failing him. At this rate, the match would be a devastating loss.

"That is… appreciated, but completely unnecessary." The ambassador turned away from him and began to pace the length of the training mat. When she reached the end, she pivoted and began the long strides back towards him. "I do not need a minder. I need to speak with him and he knows that."

Before Hikaru could say anything else, Diana had made her way over to the console on the wall and had flipped the switch for verbal query. "Computer, what the current location of Captain Kirk?"

CAPTAIN KIRK IS IN THE BRIEFING ROOM.

He could see the letters, red and blocky, even from where he was sitting. He wasn't sure there was a point in trying to stop her.

Any lingering sensation to stop her disappeared when she turned back to him, jaw set and her eyes clearly troubled. "Please know, I'm not upset with you. I'd like us to do this more, provided we have the opportunity. This is… my issue with Jim. I need to work it out with him."

Diana turned and left. The cargo bay doors shut with a mechanical thud after her.

He sighed. It was hard to tell which sparring match he had failed at more. That was… not how he had hoped to help the captain. Or Diana.

Days like this, he missed Pavel. Maybe the Farragut had less complicated personal relations.

Hikaru chuckled at himself and shook his head, grabbing his uniform to head to his quarters.