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The Girl Who Falls
Diana had resented being asked to keep an eye on Metropolis for Superman. Of course she had. Being asked to guard the city being neglected by your former lover while he was off with your other former lover was...more than insulting. It was so insulting, in fact, that it had gone through insulting and come out the other side. Clark had that ability, sometimes.
Still, it was a beautiful city. It reminded her, in certain rosy lights near dawn and dusk, a little of Themyscira. She would never feel at home here, but she didn't feel as utterly out-of-place as she had in so many other locations.
The first time she saw Lois Lane plummeting from the sky, she was briefly tempted to simply let her drop. They had spent too much time glaring at each other across some handsome man or other for it not to cross her mind. But she swooped in and caught the reporter by her wrists, jerking her out of her fall and to a nearby ledge.
"Ow," said Lois peevishly, rubbing her forearms.
"What is it, Lois?" She didn't have time for this.
Lois sighed. "A smuggling ring, on the 56th floor." She pointed to the building she had fallen from. Diana left her stranded on the ledge while she dealt with the thugs, returning to find the other woman trying to make her way down safely, her skirt billowing in the wind.
"You'll just fall again."
"Well, next time just let me. Don't knock yourself out, Princess." She spat the title like an insult. "I don't need my ex-boyfriend's latest cast-off to save my ass." Diana just hovered, waiting. Lois scowled.
"You're going to need help getting down from there."
"...I know. Damnit."
Diana picked up Lois and deposited her on the ground rather like luggage. She turned to go without a word...then hesitated and turned back.
"You know...it doesn't have to be like this."
"What?" Suspicion lit Lois's eyes, and Diana realized the other woman had jumped to the wrong conclusion.
"I mean, there's no reason you can't take better care of yourself."
"Yeah, I'll just go get me some flying ability. Why didn't I think of that?"
Diana tried to keep her temper. "Lots of non-metas can handle falling off a building. Catwoman has no powers. Green Arrow has no powers. Ba...Nightwing, Robin, none of them can fly."
"They all have years of training."
Diana didn't want to say anything more, but she was too far in now. "I could give you some training."
"I don't want to be a superhero. I've already got a job, and it doesn't involve dressing up like a dominatrix."
"You're too old to achieve that level of ability now anyway."
The jibe was so over-the-top that Lois's eyes merely sparked laughter and she raised her hands in a clawing motion. "Mmmmrow."
Diana laughed. "Anyway, I'm willing to give you some basic training, just enough to get you out of some tricky situations."
Lois's eyes narrowed. "Why would you be willing to help me, Amazon?"
"The less time I have to spend catching you, the more time I can spend protecting the people in this city who'll actually appreciate it."
Now it was Lois's turn to laugh. And somewhere in between those two laughs they seemed to have agreed on it.
Pygmalion
Diana caught Lois just before she hit the water. Lois squeaked and threw her arms around the Amazon. "Not my fault, that one!" she yelled breathlessly over the wind and the sound of the sea. "I took out a couple but there were just too many."
Wonder Woman landed on a rock near the coast. "Wait here, Lois." When she came back, Lois was--astonishingly--still waiting there, hunkered down on the stone. In her gray coat, she almost blended into the boulder. Her arms were wrapped around her knees, and she frowned at Diana as the goddess drew near.
"I'm tired of being a hassle to you. It's not fun, like it was with--" she broke off and stared out at the harbor.
Diana sat down next to her. "I think your average is down to only one save a month. Not bad."
Lois sighed and stretched her legs out. "Still."
Wonder Woman put a hand on her shoulder. "It's not such a huge hassle. I catch a lot of people."
The other woman shook the hand off and stood up like she was springing from the rock itself. "Maybe I don't want to be a lot of people." She started to walk off, her black hair blown by the wind, her steps lithe. Diana looked away over the water.
"Princess." Lois was waiting, looking at her. "I'll see you Saturday?"
"You'll never get that reverse throw right, sister."
"Just you wait. Sister." And then she was gone.
My Fair Lady
Wonder Woman was too far away. She wasn't going to reach Lois in time. The reporter was at the 40th floor...the 30th...the 20th...
What was Diana going to say to Clark?
And then Lois reached out and caught a flagpole--Diana was close enough now to see her face contort with pain as her arms snapped taut--and flipped herself to a bone-jarring but safe landing.
Wonder Woman streaked straight on past her to deal with the Ultra-Humanite and his thugs, not allowing herself to feel the relief that wanted to course through her. The fight was vicious but short, and in a moment she was landing in front of Lois, who was stretching her arms and grimacing and trying not to look proud of herself.
And then Diana was tasting her lipstick, her breath, her tongue, and in a dim cloud of mingled black hair they started laughing together for the first time. Wonder Woman stepped back and Lois smoothed her hair against the wind. "I could use a lift to my apartment, Princess."
"I think you can get there by yourself."
"I could. But a lift would still be nice."
Diana stepped forward. Lois put her arms around the Amazon.
Together they fell upward into the sky.