Author's note:

Hello dear reader! Happy new year! I know this sequel is long overdue but life got in the way and also, major writer's block. I realize that two people may read this and if you're one of them, thank you so much! This is my first attempt at writing a proper story with an actual villain. If you haven't read my first Wonder Woman fic, I recommend you read it before continuing ('Making My Way Back' it is called), but feel free to read this one first if you wish (even though some things might not make sense).

The first idea I had for this fic was for Diana and Steve to find out they're having a kid and them not having planned for it at all. I thought it would be fun to see them navigate through the whole process of them actually having no idea, to finding out and then dealing with the pregnancy. I also call this 'part one' of the fic. I also want to explore the friendship of Diana and Barbara Ann Minerva and how important that relationship is for both of them (you can read the two-shot I wrote about the first time Diana met BAM called 'Nothing Stays A Secret for Long') and how it affects Diana when BAM eventually becomes Cheetah.

So as you can probably tell this is going to be a long ass fic. So far I've only written 5 chapters and usually I wouldn't upload unless I had half of it, but lately I've found myself thinking about the story a lot and not actually writing out of sheer laziness and this is my way of making myself write. Please forgive me if I take a little while to upload between chapters. I'm probably just figuring it out.

I won't bore you anymore. I hope you enjoy this prologue.

Prologue

Mon Dieu. When is this trip going to be over?

Yeah, sure, the Château de Versailles is beautiful and all, but I've been here a bunch of times before. Mum loves to come here when there's a little too much on her mind and I know she likes it when I come with her, which is why I come a lot. It's not really that much fun without her. Plus, our guide keeps saying the wrong things about who used what or who slept in this room or that room. I almost feel like correcting her, but I can practically hear mum's voice telling me to be nice and dad next to her telling me to not be a smartass. I smile knowing mum would smack him on the ribs for using that language in front of me.

I look at Anne and roll my eyes mouthing,

"So boring,"

She widens her eyes a little and also mouths,

"I know,"

As we move on to the next part of the tour, we walk by a roped off hallway, a sign that reads 'staff only' hanging from the red velvety rope.

An idea pops into my head.

The first time Mum and I came together about two years ago, we were allowed to walk through it and it lead us to a private garden – a really beautiful and quiet one.

I walk closer to Anne and very discreetly motion towards the hallway. She looks confused at me, so I grab her arm gently and stop, letting the rest of the class walk ahead of us.

"What? We're going to lose them and I don't want to be walking around in circles,"

I ignore her comment.

"See that hallway?" I motion towards it again.

She looks at it and then back at me. "It's an off-limits hallway. What of it?"

"Let's go. There's a private garden on the other side of it. This tour is boring. Let's go chill there for a bit. We'll catch up to them in like thirty minutes,"

Anne looks at me as if I just suggested we should steal the Mona Lisa.

"Are you insane, Maia?! We're gonna get in trouble. Besides, Madame Laurent is watching us like a hawk. I'm actually surprised she hasn't noticed we've stayed behind yet. And how do you even know there's a garden at the end of the hallway? What if we open the door and walk into a room filled with screens and security guards?"

I give her my best 'really?' face. "Mon Dieu, Anne. Relax. My mum and I come here sometimes. We once ran into the director for events and him and Mum had worked together before, so he showed us around. The garden c'est très jolie. You'll love it. There are a bunch of tulips in there."

Tulips are Anne's favourite type of flowers.

"Really?"

I smile and nod, knowing there's no way she's saying no now.

"Want to go see them?"

Anne looks at the hallway and then back at our class, who are now standing in front of a bust on the far side of the room. If there was ever a face that had 'conflicted' written all over it so clearly, I would actually be surprised.

"30 minutes, Anne. That's it. Like I said, I've been here loads of times. The tour we're being given lasts an hour. We've been on it for 20 minutes, we'll stay in the garden for 30 and we'll sneak back in for the last 10. No one will notice."

She looks at me for a couple of seconds and then she exhales loudly, her shoulders sagging.

"Fine. But if we get caught I swear to God, Maia…"

"Yeah, yeah. You'll kill me. Now let's go!"

I take her by the hand and pull her towards the hallway. I stop a few meters away from the rope, look left and right to make sure nobody sees us, take a few quick steps closer to it and then I jump over it. I turn to look at Anne and see her go over the rope very slowly, as if touching it would trigger some kind of alarm.

"Can you go any slower? I really don't think you were trying hard enough to get caught."

She walks up to me and shoves me forward. I chuckle.

"You know perfectly well I'm clumsy. I don't think face planting will help us in our escapade,"

We walk a few more steps and then turn left to find the door I know leads to the garden.

"There it is," I whisper excitedly to Anne, even though there's no one around.

I take hold of the door knob, but freeze before I turn it.

"What? Don't tell me you're getting cold feet now,"

I look at her. "Of course not. It just occurred to me that there might be an alarm of some kind."

"God, Maia! You think of this now?! You said you've been here before!"

"I have! But it was two years ago and we were with the events' director. I can't remember if there was some kind of security here. I was 9. You don't pay attention to that stuff." I say a bit defensively.

"Okay, well, it was fun while it lasted. Can we please go now?"

Anne turns but I grab her arm.

"Wait a sec. Look around. There are no card swipe machines, code verification or a barcode reader. Nothing. And look, the security cameras are turned off,"

She swings her head to the top right corner where I'm pointing to the turned off red light of the device.

"That's weird. Why would they be off? There's so much security in this place."

I shrug. "I don't know, but I'll take it as a good sign."

"Wait, Maia!"

I turn the door knob and push the door open. I hear Anne squeal and she covers her ears. We look at each other and wait for the shrill of an alarm – but it never comes.

"After you m'lady," I step aside and do a sweeping motion with my arm.

Anne drops her arms quite unceremoniously and stomps her way through the door.

"I swear one of these days you're gonna give me a heart attack,"

"At least you'll die happy," I say closing the door softly behind me.

"I think you mean terrified."

I walk up to her and throw my arm around her shoulders.

"Nope, happy. Look," I point to the right where a big, beautifully carved stone arch stands at the entrance of the private garden.

I feel Anne stand straighter and I don't need to look at her to know her eyes are as big as saucers.

"Wow. It's gorgeous. It almost doesn't look real!"

It is very beautiful. The grass is so green, it makes the yellow of the tulips and the red and white of the roses pop. They almost look fake because they're so perfect.

Oh and it smells so good!

The smell of the flowers and the grass are only made better by the sound of trickling water from the small pond on the corner of the garden – purple lily pads float there peacefully.

Anne walks amazed towards the tulips and kneels down in front of them, taking one of the buds and bringing it closer to her nose – her eyes close immediately.

I smile, glad that I was able to share this place with my best friend. I lie down on the grass and close my eyes as well. I feel the warm rays of the sun hitting my face and I relax.

A little while later, I feel Anne lie down next to me.

"Maia?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for showing me this place,"

I smile. "Glad you broke the rules now?"

She laughs. "Yeah, but let's not make it a habit. We're bound to get caught at some point."

I open my eyes and pull out my cell phone from my skirt's pocket. "Let's enjoy it while it lasts then."

I lift up my arm and bring my head closer to Anne's. "Smile,"

I take the photo and bring my arm down. I tap on the bottom right corner and the photo comes up. I show it to Anne.

"Aw, that's a great pic. Too bad we won't really be able to show it to anyone. At least for a while,"

I take my phone back and open the camera app again. "We should take more pictures then. We're probably never going to be here again."

I look at Anne and she says,

"Goofy faces, levitation and #livinglife pics?"

I stand up and stretch out my arm to Anne.

"You get me,"

For the next 10 minutes we take dozens of photos. We pose and laugh, and I never thought I could have so much fun on a school trip. I look at the time and see it's been 25 minutes.

"Let's take one more picture. We have to go."

I look around trying to find a spot we haven't taken a picture on. My eyes land on a section of the wall that's covered with vines that have tiny orange flowers coming out of them.

"There. Come on. Hurry up,"

We walk fast towards the wall and sit down in front of it. Anne takes my phone and snaps the picture.

"We'll look at them later. I really want to get back now, Maia,"

I nod. "Yeah, come on."

I'm 11 years old. I'm an only child. I live in a ranch in Versailles. My dad works in Paris and mum runs the ranch (we raise horses), and she also takes care of me. I've never in my entire life been in danger. Like actual danger. I mean, sometimes I misbehave and put myself in positions where I can get hurt (like that one time I decided to soak my hand in alcohol and light it on fire. I like fire), but I've never been at someone else's mercy.

Which is why I freeze when I open the door to the hallway and a big, tall scary looking man with a goatee is standing on the other side of it. He seems surprised for a second, but then he takes a few menacing steps forward making us back away. His dark eyes bore into mine. I feel Anne take my hand.

Without breaking eye contact, he reaches his hand into his back pocket and pulls out a radio. He brings it closer to his mouth, pushes on the button and says,

Skshhhh-pha. "I thought you said the garden had been cleared,"

Skshhhh-mmit. "It was. Why?" The man on the other side of the radio says exasperated.

"I have two little girls staring at me. What should I do with them?"

"Get rid of them,"

The tall man smirks at us and puts the radio away. "You chose a bad day to stray away from your school mates, girlies."

Anne lets out a cry and I move to stand directly in front of her, putting myself between her and the man.

He chuckles.

"Oh, look at you acting all brave. Don't worry. It'll be fast."

He pulls a gun from under his shirt and before he can point it at me or at Anne, I take a step forward and kick him in the crotch.

He lets out a scream and drops his gun. I kick it to the opposite direction.

"Anne, run!"

I wait for her to run ahead of me and then I go to move, but I feel an arm wrap around my waist and stop me from escaping. I let out a yelp.

"Maia!"

I see Anne has made it to the door. She goes to take a step in my direction but I stop her.

"No, go! Get help!"

She hesitates for a second but then she runs through the door.

Even though I'm pretty sure I'm about to get killed, I feel a sense of relief at the fact that my actions didn't get my best friend murdered.

I start to thrash in his arms and when I don't feel like I'll be able to get loose, I bite down hard on his arm.

Gross, by the way.

He screams again and his arm loosens enough for me to get away from him. I take a few steps back and look at him.

"You are going to regret that. I'm going to enjoy killing you,"

I don't know what comes over me, but I run towards him, prepared to kick him again, but he sucker punches me on the mouth. My head whips back from the force of it and I feel my lip burst open. I fall to the ground; a rush of dizziness making everything spin around me. I feel the steady trickle of blood run down my chin.

I hear him chuckle once again.

"Not so tough now, huh?"

I'm vaguely aware of him picking up his gun and then I hear him cock it. Then he's pointing it right at me.

"Any final words?"

I feel the tears slide down my cheeks and I think of my parents. A feeling of utter impotence descends heavily on me, knowing there's nothing else I can do.

Funny though, how emotions can change so quickly.

A second later, a feeling of relief washes over me– and I get a little cocky.

"If you don't put the gun down, you're going to regret it,"

He bursts out laughing and waves the gun around a bit.

"Those are your final words? And who's going to make me regret it? You?"

I shake my head. "No. Her,"

He whips around and he doesn't even get a chance to react before Wonder Woman has him by the neck. His gun falls with a heavy thud on the grass. She lifts him up and slams him so hard against the grass, I'm pretty sure I felt the ground shake. He's strong though and he doesn't lose consciousness. He tries to reach for his gun, but Wonder Woman brings her foot down, smashing it to pieces. She takes hold of his neck again and lifts him up from the ground once more.

"Does it make you feel like a man? Hitting young girls and threatening them?"

He claws at her arm, but she doesn't even flinch. His face starts to turn purple and his movements become weaker. She drops him and he falls to the ground in a heap. He coughs and takes a loud, shaky breath. He starts to crawl away from her, but Wonder Woman uncoils her lasso at lightning speed and wraps it around his neck, yanking it back, making him land on his back.

"Why are you here?"

The lasso grows brighter.

"I – ahhhhhh!" He screams.

Wonder Woman walks closer to him and kneels down by his face. "The Lasso of Hestia compels you to tell the truth. If you lie, it'll hurt. So, don't. Why are you here?"

You can see by the way his face is contorting that he doesn't want to answer her question, but the lasso grows brighter and he lets out another scream.

"We were going to steal some art," He says through clenched teeth.

"What for?" She asks.

"To sell them. He needs the money,"

Wonder Woman frowns. "Who's he?"

He moans painfully, still trying to fight it. "Cadulo,"

I don't know who Cadulo is, but the name obviously means something to Wonder Woman.

"How is Cadulo involved in all this?" She asks a bit more impatiently.

"He needs the money so he can do as Urzkartaga asks,"

Anger is suddenly evident on her face. "Thank you for your answers…"

"Axel,"

"Thank you for your answers, Axel,"

She punches him so hard on the nose, this time he really does lose consciousness. I don't need to see his face to know he's bleeding. She unwraps the lasso from around his neck just as police officers burst through the door with their guns on the ready.

When they see Wonder Woman, they lower them.

"Officers. We need medical attention immediately for the girl and this one" – she says with disdain pointing at Axel – "I'll be glad to give you my statement regarding his confession. He wasn't acting alone. There are more in the building,"

"Oui, Wonder Woman."

Some of the officers go to cuff the passed-out jerk and one of them calls for an ambulance, the rest run back through where they came to chase the rest of them. I see Wonder Woman walk towards me and I stay on the ground, frozen. My eyes are glued to her. She kneels down next to me and looks concerned at my lip. She grabs my chin gently and moves it to the side, examining the open gash.

"That's going to need stitches."

I nod slowly. "Yeah, it feels like it does." I'm only now starting to become aware of the throbbing on my lip and I can feel a headache coming.

"What are you doing here? This garden is not part of any tour." She asks a little harshly.

I hesitate to answer, but I do anyway. "The tour was boring. I just wanted to have fun with my friend,"

"And did you?"

I feel the sting of tears at the back of my eyes and a knot in my throat, so I only manage to shake my head.

"Where is she?"

"I managed to distract him long enough for her to run,"

She raises her eyebrows a bit surprised.

"Thank you for saving me," My voice trembles a little.

I see her face soften and she touches my cheek, wiping the tear that's sliding down it with the pad of her thumb. I throw my arms around her, a sob I can't quiet control makes its way out. I feel her hand cup the back of my head.

"Do you have any idea how much you scared me?"

I sniff. "I'm sorry, Mum."

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. My parents are Steve Trevor and Diana Prince, a.k.a Wonder Woman.

Author's note:

Oh my gawd! You read the first chapter! I hope you liked and if you feel like doing so, I would really appreciate a comment. Drop a comment even if you didn't like it (be nice though! Let's begin 2019 being respectful). The plan for now is to update once a week (probably on Mondays) but like I mentioned before, I might miss a few updates starting chapter 6. I hope you give this fic a try. If not, thanks for reading this chapter anyway. See you on Monday!