All This Time

Parisian Nights

She had learned to love Paris pretty quickly. London had been difficult to leave, yes, but after Etta's death and losing contact with Charlie and Sameer, it felt like the right thing to do. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to make it any easier. The only reassurance was Steve's constant presence at her side during the journey and the knowledge that there was nothing waiting for their return.

As the first city Diana and Steve settled into together, Paris easily became their home. They were never gone longer than a few years, just long enough to start over when they returned and not raise any suspicions. Even when Diana found a friend in Bruce Wayne and Steve started flying again for the US Air Force, they stayed in Paris. Something about the city seemed to call to them and they could never bear to part with it for long.

"You know, I have a perfectly good residence available if you ever decided to move overseas," Bruce reminded her over the phone. Although he couldn't see her, Diana rolled her eyes and shook her head. "There's no reason to keep flying back and forth every few weeks."

"I've told you we like it here." Stepping out onto the balcony, she smiled down at the sight of pedestrians walking and the sounds of cars honking. "It has more charm than Gotham."

On the other end of the phone, Bruce grumbled something under his breath. "Eventually you'll be paying for your own jet fuel if I have to keep sending one of mine to come get you every time."

"Was there a reason you called other than to berate me for using your jets?"

Behind her, the apartment door opened and closed and Diana knew Steve had finally come home. The cool night breeze blew open the balcony door behind her and she turned to smile at Steve. He grinned back, holding up a bag of takeout and mouthing I'll wait while Bruce said something Diana didn't catch.

"Sorry?"

"Clark is heading to Paris in the morning," Bruce repeated, sounding a little disgruntled. "Alfred picked up on some strange interference, so we need the two of you to check it out."

Diana sighed and ran a hand through her hair, looking out over the see of city lights flickering in the darkness. "Alright."

"Don't sound too excited," Bruce muttered, "You might fool me into thinking you enjoy saving the world."

"I'll talk to you later, Bruce," Diana said, smiling at his grumblings.

"Yeah, yeah. I expect a full debriefing."

"Of course." With a smile, she added, "Goodnight."

Without giving him time to argue about it only being night in Paris and hardly late afternoon in Gotham, Diana hung up her phone and stepped into the apartment. She left the balcony door open and joined Steve in the kitchen.

"Was that Bruce?" he asked, sliding one hand around her hip and pulling her to him.

"Yes." Steve frowned. "There's something strange he wants me and Clark to check out tomorrow."

"Is it dangerous?" Steve asked, offering her a full plate before dishing out a second one.

Diana hummed, taking the plate and nibbling on a piece of chicken. "Only as dangerous as strange things usually are."

Steve's frown deepened, but when Diana leaned forward to kiss him, it melted away.

"I'll call you when I'm done, yeah?" she murmured. Steve nodded and leaned forward to kiss her temple. "You know, you don't have to worry about me out there."

"I know." He nodded. "But I love you, so I'll always worry. It's what I do."

Diana smiled softly and leaned against him, setting her plate aside in favour of wrapping her arms around Steve instead. Even after so many years of quiet evenings and goodnight kisses, it never got old: hugging him.

Steve set down his own plate and turned so he could wrap his arm around Diana's shoulders, allowing her to tuck her head under his chin and close her eyes.

"You good?" he murmured, holding her tighter.

Against his chest, Diana nodded. "Sometimes I just want to hug you, is that so bad?"

Steve chuckled softly and shook his head. He tipped his head down to press his lips to the top of her head and smiled. "Well, I'm here whenever you want to."

And with the noise of Paris as their background music, Diana didn't think that it could get any better than this. Even when she came home bruised and beaten the next afternoon and Steve looked like he would rather be anywhere than somewhere Diana had to fight, Paris was still home and she would never trade it for anything else.