"You know, I have to thank you."
Renegade spun 360 degrees, swinging both of his swords, slashing numerous aliens at the same time. He raised an eyebrow under his mask. "For what exactly?"
Wonder Woman tried to keep a straight face but failed miserably and burst into a sincere and liberating laugh that she had rarely ever had. "For the photo of Batman in a pink tutu. You know, me and the other heroes made fun of him so much in the meeting three days ago." she giggled.
The young assassin also burst into amused laughter, mentally filing away the sound of her laughter.
One of the best sounds he has ever heard.
"Yeah, well, it was my gift to him for his not welcoming -and for once it wasn't his fault- when I went to the Batcave to use his zeta tube to teleport me to the Watchtower."
The Amazon grabbed an alien by the throat and threw it with all her strength, violently hitting five other aliens and sending them flying far away. "Batcave?" she repeated with a raised eyebrow.
Dick groaned inwardly.
Not again. Why can't anyone get there on the first try?
"His secret base. You know, his car is the Batmobile, his weapons are batarangs, his computer is the Batcomputer, his plane is the Batplane and so on."
The superhero hit an alien with a powerful kick, causing it to collide violently with three others. She gave him a flat look. "Are you kidding me?"
He smirked at her. "Absolutely not." he ducked, dodging several tentacles, and jumped up again, cutting the alien in front of him perfectly in half with a swing of his sword from bottom to top. "It makes a lot of sense and I reserve the copyright to it."
"Are you serious?"
"What would you call Batman's bat-shaped weapons?" he challenged her with a smirk. "You can't call them "throwable bat weapons of different types", you know. The name batarang is thus more practical and easier."
That… is a damn valid point, dammit.
The demigoddess snorted, her lips lifting a few inches in an amused smile as she looked at him with genuine affection. "You are something else, Renegade."
The mercenary sent her a bright smile that made her heart beat slightly faster than usual. "Thank you, Princess!" he thanked her warmly, his smile growing in size when she returned it with one of her own that always made him feel good.
Over the next few minutes the two continued to repel the alien invasion while chatting casually and pleasantly until Dick came up with an idea that he humbly thought was brilliant.
"Why don't we play twenty questions?"
Wonder Woman gave him a strange look as she swung her sword to the side, killing two aliens. "Now?" she asked confused, surprising herself when she realized that if literally any other person had asked her this, she would have quickly dismissed the idea as ridiculous.
Why do I do things with Renegade that I don't do with anyone else? Another mystery to solve.
"It's the best chance we have to get to know each other better: the hero closest to us is literally at least fifty meters away from us if not more. No one will interrupt us." the mercenary pointed out, happy when she agreed with a nod, before starting to fidget. "If you want to get to know each other better, of course."
A sweet smile appeared between her lips. "I wouldn't mind." she began, giggling softly when she saw him light up like a Christmas tree. "But can I know the reason first?"
"Well, now that we're friends it's customary to know more about each other."
She tilted her head to the side, thinking for a few seconds about the word "friends" he had just used, before sending him a warm smile. "It seems right to me. You start." she stated, pushing the buzzing voice of her mother out of her mind as she began scolding her in a disappointed tone.
A demigoddess, princess and warrior like you must not get involved in such cheap nonsense with people inferior to you, especially with a man and during a fight. I raised you better than that, Diana.
Renegade felt the sensation -which was becoming more and more familiar and hell did he like it!- of heat and excitement building in his chest. "Good. So, favorite color?" he asked with a smile, deciding to start off lightly with the questions.
"Red. Your favorite color?"
"Blue."
This actually surprised the Amazon. "Really? I would have thought black or red." she said, vaguely mentioning the colors of his armor.
"Of course, I like these colors and use them because, especially when combined, they are effectively intimidating." he explained, getting a nod of understanding from the woman. "Blue is more of a color of hope and justice, something I can't identify and relate to."
Wonder Woman frowned and opened her mouth with the intent to point out to him that through his killings, he brought so much justice, comfort and hope to the world, for which she appreciated him greatly, but unfortunately he went ahead with the questions.
"Favorite animal?"
She sighed, disappointed that she had missed the opportunity to let him know, and responded after angrily decapitating some aliens. "I don't have a favorite but it's definitely not the cheetah." she joked, smiling when she heard his amused giggle. "Your?"
"Are you copying my questions, Princess?" he playfully teased, chuckling at her flat look. "Elephant."
She raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Really? There must be a particular reason behind it: after all, it is a very specific and unconventional response."
"Elephants are very intelligent and empathetic animals, much more than they are given credit for." the assassin began to explain. "I grew up with an elephant and she was my best friend from childhood."
Wonder Woman's eyes widened in surprise at the revelation, knowing full well that this could be a detail that could lead to his identity. But she knew that he trusted her and that she wouldn't spill such important details to the rest of JL.
And in fact he wasn't wrong.
She cared deeply about his trust and respect for her and would never betray his trust, no matter what.
She owed it to him for so many reasons, one of which was because, after all, they were friends.
And Diana never betrayed her friends.
"It must have been a great childhood growing up with an elephant."
"Very much." he nodded with a melancholy and sad sigh and she had the distinct feeling that he had not seen his best friend elephant for many years, which made her sad. "What is it like to work at the UN?"
She gave him an unimpressed look, not surprised that he knew her civilian job, and huffed when the little shit just giggled. "Often tiring and irritating but sometimes it pays off. You can't imagine the stress I accumulate every time I interact with my colleagues, politicians and ambassadors from the US and other nations: most of them are disgustingly greedy for wealth and power but hide their selfishness behind a mask." she shook her head in disgust.
Renegade made a sound of agreement. "I am glad that the United States has you as one of its representatives. It goes without saying that you are obviously the best of all: almost the only one who is coherent, with healthy principles, dedicated to justice and who truly wants the good not only of the US but of the entire world. In fact, there is a reason why you are the main diplomatic and peace ambassador, as well as being the main symbol of true feminism and not of the false and toxic one which in recent years is unfortunately prevailing over the real one."
Wonder Woman felt her chest being overwhelmed by a wave of pleasant heat and she willingly embraced that sensation, even if she couldn't identify it. She was truly moved by his beautiful and fantastic words that no one else had ever said to her.
It was really nice to have confirmation that she was advancing her goals in the political, social and diplomatic worlds and that her efforts were not proving futile.
She sent him a bright, warm smile, hoping to convey to him all the gratitude and happiness that his words had brought her. "Thank you so much, Renegade. I really needed to hear these words."
The smile he sent her back let her know that she had succeeded.
She pondered her next question, absentmindedly cutting several aliens in half with her blade. "You go to high school, right?"
"Is that your question?" the acrobat joked, chuckling at her glare. "Okay, out of the goodness of my heart I won't count that as a question." he saw her roll her eyes but didn't miss her slight smile. "Anyway, yes. I'm in my senior year."
"Favorite and least favorite subject?"
It's truly shocking that the world's second deadliest mercenary has yet to finish high school. I never thought I would ask him this question.
"Smart of you to pack two questions into one." Renegade pointed out, chuckling at the sly, mischievous smirk she gave him. "My favorite subject is mathematics and my least favorite subject is English. Not to brag or anything but most people I know tell me I'm a math genius. Probably because when I signed up and took an assessment test, it resulted in me being at least two grades ahead in math. I also won all the national and even international mathematics Olympics."
The Amazon let out an impressed hum. "Then there is no shadow of a doubt that you are a mathematical genius." she began, not missing his smile. "But why is English your least favorite subject?"
"Because English grammar makes no sense and I hate it. Why the hell are some people overwhelmed, others are underwhelmed and not just whelmed?"
She stared at him flatly and in response he chuckled his damned creepy laugh.
"You are clearly not feeling the aster right now, Princess."
Wonder Woman shook her head and dropped the subject, not even wanting to risk going crazy trying to figure out how the hell her mind worked. "Now I understand why you hate the English language. You are literally mangling it."
"That and English is not my first language." Renegade giggled at the super-heroine's surprised look. "Hell, it's not even in the top five languages I've ever learned!"
"You're fucking kidding me." she declared abruptly, on the verge of hysteria.
Renegade is going to drive me crazy at this rate.
"No uh." he shook his head with a smirk. "I promise on my mercenary honor."
"How many languages do you know?"
"Wait your turn, Princess. Now it's my turn." he pointed out and if looks could kill, he would surely be dead now. "Favorite food?" he asked stabbing several aliens with his blades.
"Italian. How many languages do you know?"
"More than fifteen languages, including sign language and Morse code."
The demigoddess's head whipped around in his direction, her blue eyes clearly showing her shock. "Now you're kidding me, right?"
"Again, no, it's the complete truth." he said, sending her an amused smile. At her unspoken question he shrugged. "In my childhood I traveled around the world. After Deathstroke took me in, I continued to pursue my passion for languages."
Wonder Woman eagerly absorbed the information she received, easily guessing among other things that Deathstroke was apparently not Renegade's biological father but more likely an adoptive father or perhaps a close relative.
That wasn't what she was most focused on anyway, even though it probably should be, but she was still shocked and amazed by the fact that Renegade knew about twenty languages.
She didn't think a human could know so many languages: not even Batman knew so many and he was one of the most intelligent and versatile people she knew. And although it was obvious that Renegade was technically not human, it was obvious from his words that it was not as if he was born with the ability to know all these languages but rather he learned them because it was a passion of his.
Diana was discovering so many things about Renegade and was happy that she agreed to play this game despite the situation. And the knowledge that she was the only person in the JL who knew so much about the mercenary made her feel like someone special and deserving of knowing such information.
It made her feel warm inside every part of her being and it was a pleasant and welcome sensation to say the least.
Renegade was proving to be an increasingly interesting person to get to know and the demigoddess was genuinely looking forward to getting to know him even more.
"What was it like growing up on Themyscira?"
Wonder Woman felt her lips twitch into a grimace.
The question brought up many mixed feelings in her and even though she didn't want to answer, she knew she owed it to him.
She couldn't act selfish and keep him from knowing more about her, not after everything Renegade had revealed about himself to her and also trust her that she wouldn't spread that information to the rest of the JL to find out his civilian identity.
After all, we are friends and friends should know each other better.
No one in Man's World, not even her teammates, had the full picture of her story on Themyscira but she felt something push her to reveal her full story to Renegade for the first time, knowing he would never judge her.
It was really nice to finally have a person with whom she could talk freely about even the most painful topics and she didn't care at all that this person was the second most dangerous mercenary in the world.
"It will be a very long and delicate answer." she warned him, killing several aliens. The young assassin nodded and gave her a reassuring smile that she didn't hesitate to return, feeling his trust, kindness and thoughtfulness wash over her in a calming way. She took a deep breath, mentally contemplating where to start. "One of the reasons why I almost always had a formal, rigid and regal attitude was precisely because of my education in Themyscira by my mother: Queen Hippolyta.
"Since I'm a princess, my mother thought I should grow up with the most intense training to become the best of all the Amazons -which I'm proud to say I am- but mostly she thought that joking and such things did not suit me as the future queen of Themyscira." she began in a voice that showed irritation and anger and she didn't miss how the mercenary frowned.
"Long story short, throughout my hundreds of years in Themyscira and since my childhood, I have never been afforded the luxury of having fun, relaxing and simply letting go: I have always been subjected to rigid, professional and formal attitudes suited to my noble title.
"Only in the last period, since I abandoned Themyscira almost 20 years ago to be able to finally explore and get to know the Man's World -a world that over time I began to like more than my native island to the point that I made the decision to move permanently among the men, to the great shock, horror and disappointment of my mother and all the other Amazons who I still consider my sisters or those very few who were my former romantic partners- I realized that life wasn't just about seriousness, formality, rigidity and royalty but it could also be leisure, fun, laughter and smiles that could be achieved through countless different activities.
"It made me realize that basically my entire life has been wasted because of the way I was raised and I'm not even talking about the fierce warrior training that was probably the best thing I genuinely liked about Themyscira: while there were undoubtedly many fun moments shared with my sisters, those very few former romantic partners and occasionally even my mother, I was only able to explore the other half of life -the Dionysian component- in Man's World, helped above all by those who, a few years after my arrival among the men, would become not only my teammates but true friends.
"So to answer your question, growing up on Themyscira was pretty boring. The daily routine was practically the same with many hours of intense training, small moments of fun with the other Amazons but nothing special and still training. The natural environment of the island is one of the few things I miss: it is a natural beauty nothing short of marvelous that I have rarely ever seen anything like in Man's World."
Once she finished her speech she continued to kill the aliens around her and cast a curious glance towards Renegade, noticing his deep frown and she could practically feel the gears in his brain turning to absorb all the information she gave him. "I have some questions, if I may."
Diana nodded but sent him a smirk. "Since you allowed me a question before, you can only ask one. For the others you will have to wait your turn."
The acrobat chuckled. "Sounds right to me." he then became more serious. "What did you mean when you said that your mother and the other Amazons didn't take it well at all when you decided to permanently abandon Themyscira to stay here?"
"Just what I said. As I imagine you know, other Amazons don't think much of men." she wasn't surprised when he nodded and she continued. "So when I told the other Amazons that I was leaving the island forever to be in Man's World, well, like you said, they didn't take it well at all. Especially my mother.
"All I wanted was both to explore the Man's World that I always heard about but had never personally visited and to try to understand why the opposite sex of humanity was so repudiated by the Amazons. I simply wanted to feel free for the first time in my life. To be my own person with my own mind and my own actions and not under my mother's control since her every word on the island is law and you cannot rebel. I wanted to satisfy my curiosity and my desire to finally be free.
"Hippolyta thought it was an act of rebellion on my part, an act of defiance or something. She told me that I was clearly superior to all humanity and that I should not mix with ordinary, mortal people. That I shouldn't stoop to their level. That she raised me better than that. That men and humanity in general did not even deserve to bear witness to my mere presence. A regal, strong, authoritative but above all divine presence.
"When she realized I was serious and was leaving Themyscira, to say she was disappointed, horrified and angry at me would be the understatement of the century." Wonder Woman snorted bitterly. "I'm not saying she disowned me or anything like that but just…" she sighed and shook her head. "We haven't seen or spoken to each other since I moved to Man's World almost 20 years ago."
"You're basically telling me that if your mother could see that you were joking and laughing during a fight, even more so with a man, she would lecture you about how that behavior doesn't suit you because you're a princess and warrior and shit like that ?"
The woman snorted in amusement. "You got the point, yes."
Renegade pursed his lips, feeling the familiar feeling of anger boiling furiously in his chest. "If I ever see your mother, the first thing I will do is punch her in the face."
The demigoddess blinked, initially too shocked by his words.
Then she burst into uncontrollable laughter, barely resisting the urge to hold her stomach from laughing too much.
Renegade is practically the only one that manages to make me burst into laughter like this. I swear that in my entire life no one has managed to make me have fun and laugh as much as Renegade did and I've only known him for a few months. It's something incredibly strange but pleasant.
When she finally managed to muffle her laughter, although she still had a few giggles to escape, she stared at Renegade who was looking at her with a genuinely affectionate and tender smile.
How can anyone think he's evil? He is literally one of the best people I have ever met.
"I don't know how much it suits you to punch my mother aka the queen of the Amazons and Themyscira in the face." she began, unable to help but snort in amusement as she imagined the scene in her mind. "You would have all the Amazons who would want your head."
"Yeah, well, I'd find a way to take them all down anyway. If I managed to defeat the notorious Wonder Woman, a demigoddess, the best among the Amazons and capable of standing up to Superman himself and even beating him, twice, even if only by using your own lasso against yourself and not in real hand-to-hand combat, I am confident that I am capable of defeating any Amazon in a 1VS1." the assassin stated with a casual shrug, absentmindedly blowing a dozen aliens into thousands of pieces with another explosive shuriken.
"It should also be considered that, while I have held back a lot, the other Amazons would not." she pointed out, driving a ferocious fist into what could be considered the alien's chest and it fell backwards dead.
"I'm not surprised that you also held back a lot in our two fights. I know that if you fought without restrictions you would inflict many mortal wounds on me and since you have no real weakness unlike other powerful heroes like Superman, Dr. Fate etc, that's why I consider you the most powerful and most difficult Justice League member to defeat ."
Diana shivered, feeling the heat stirring in her gut at his casual doling out of compliments for her and she would be lying if she said she didn't feel honored by Renegade's true thoughts of her.
"However you have to consider that I also held back a lot in both battles and still managed to defeat the entire Justice League. And I'm sure that the other Amazons, while unquestionably strong, are nowhere near your level, probably excluding Hippolyta. In any case, I would be able to defeat them all in a 1VS1."
Wonder Woman was amazed at his self-confidence: it wasn't arrogance and pride at all, even though his words could be mistaken for such, but it was more as if Renegade had already analyzed and studied a mental scenario of a hypothetical fight between him and the other Amazons and had immediately understood the final result.
It was such a fascinating and surprising thing.
Furthermore, his point was damn valid and Diana genuinely found herself thinking that in a hypothetical 1VS1 the other Amazons, not even at their 100%, would be able to take down a Renegade who was still holding back, let alone if he stopped holding back. The only ones that she thought could have really given him trouble, other than herself, were her mother, Troy, Bana-Mighdall and maybe even Sandsmark who had enormous potential, despite her current young age.
"Eh, you're right." she finally admitted with a shrug. "Anyway, it's my turn to ask the question." she saw him nod and she thought what she could ask him. "Were you born with your meta-human abilities?"
"No, I only got them later." he replied, shaking his head. "Why do other Amazons hate men so much?"
"Because in the past it was the order of the day for women to be oppressed, enslaved and subservient to men and they generally believe that man as such is inevitably flawed, belligerent and cannot be trusted because, according to them, this form of patriarchy and male domination is responsible for all the evil in the world. For this reason they retreated to Themyscira, prohibiting the presence of man and raising their daughters to be strong, valiant and independent warriors."
The Talon let out a disbelieving snort. "It seems to me to be a very misandric attitude and ideology." he bit not without a hint of indignation and bitterness.
"And you're not wrong." the princess of Themyscira admitted with a sigh, not being able to blame him at all. "At the beginning I too had the same opinion because I was induced for many centuries by my mother and the other Amazons and I maintained this belief even for the first period in which I settled in Man's World. Only with time did I understand that it is not the male gender that is guilty of the evil of the world but they are individuals: after all, women can also be as intrinsically evil and violent as men, even if it is talked about less in the media. This is how I understood that I was raised with a doctrine rooted in me for centuries that was completely wrong and that generalizing an entire genre solely because of asshole and mentally ill individuals is not right."
"Totally agree with your words, Princess." Renegade nodded, his respect for her growing even more, something he didn't think was possible.
Wonder Woman smiled genuinely. "How did you get your meta-human abilities?"
As soon as her words left her mouth she saw him visibly stiffen, the smile slipping off his face. Despite the deafening sound of the ongoing battle she heard him swallow heavily and she swore she even saw him briefly shiver, though she couldn't be sure. In any case she began to worry about him but waited for what would happen.
"I-I…" Renegade opened his mouth but no sound came out, which is why he closed it with a shaky sigh and mentally cursed himself for his moment of weakness. "I-I'm so sorry, Princess." he began, clenching his jaw. "I don't feel ready to reveal that part of me yet. I am sorry." he apologized again, turning his pain into anger and venting heavily on the aliens around him.
Diana felt her heart sink and once again mentally lashed out at those who hurt Renegade so much.
Just the thought of what Renegade, one of the strongest, most confident and fearless people she had ever known, was forced to go through and suffer in such a way that he was still so visibly shaken and traumatized by it, honestly scared her very much.
It was a genuinely scary thing and her heart ached on behalf of the mercenary who was the last person in the whole world to deserve so much pain and suffering.
"There is nothing to apologize for. Don't worry." she assured him with a reassuring voice and smile. "Just know that if you ever want to tell anyone about it, I will be there for you and I will listen to you without any judgment on my part." she stated, meaning every single word.
Renegade tilted his head slightly, sending her a faint smile. "Even if I were to break into your house?"
The demigoddess snorted in amusement. "Even in that case, yes." her eyes softened. "My proposal is always valid. After all, everything I told you about Themyscira and the rest I didn't tell anyone else." she revealed, chuckling at Renegade's shocked look. "Not even the other heroes. They only have a partial and incomplete vision of the thing. However, with you I was able to open up completely, something I had never done, because I know you wouldn't judge at all and, well, I just felt like you were the only person I could talk to freely and for that I thank you." she admitted with a small genuine smile, ignoring the slight blush on her face.
For his part, Renegade was so shocked by her words that he missed her blushing. "I-I… I'm truly honored by this, Princess. I'm serious."
As she ripped three aliens in half with one blow Diana smiled happily, her chest blooming with barely contained joy. His reverent and respectful tone towards her would never cease to amaze her.
"If you wanted someone to vent to about something or just talk to… well, I'm sure you can find a way to contact me." Renegade continued with a small smile.
"I know and I will if I ever need to." the super-heroine accepted without hesitation, finally happy to have someone with whom she could talk freely about certain topics.
After all, any of her civilian acquaintances and friends were out of the question as was Batman who was not known for his social skills, Superman since he only had an optimistic and hopeful view of things even when objectively there were none, and even the rest of her team for numerous reasons.
Renegade was the most balanced and objective person she knew and had a perfect balance between optimism and realistic pessimism, between aggressive attitude and milder attitude, something that, in one way or another, her teammates lacked.
So yeah: she accepted Renegade's offer because he was one of the people she trusted most in every way and she knew she could talk freely with him without any judgment on his part and also knowing that he would stay objective.
But on one condition.
"As long as you come and see me too if you ever want to talk freely or vent about something. Whatever the reason, no matter what. Just like you did to me."
Renegade's entire posture immediately softened at her words and he sent her a warm smile. "It seems right to me. Thank you, Princess."
"Thank you, young warrior."
The two smiled at each other and that feeling of warmth that was becoming more and more familiar to both of them spread even more in their chests, making them happier and more content than they had been a few moments before.