The Return of Ares

1 - 100 years

Author's Note
By the time you're reading this, Justice League would've been released in cinemas. However I began writing this book and releasing the first 4 chapters before Justice League premiered. Therefore the timeline of this book takes place between the end of Wonder Woman and the beginning of Justice League. It's not a very large timeframe but I will try and incorporate elements of Justice League into this book as it is part of the DCEU now.

For now, enjoy the book!

~~~

Diana sat at her office desk, lost in thought once again. It's been almost 100 years. 100 years since she last saw her brother. But to label him as a brother would be to elevate him above what he really was: a power-hungry and destructice monster.

"Miss Prince," A voice jolted Diana back to reality, "I picked up a parcel from reception for you."

"From whom?" She looked up and took the parcel from her secretary.

"Mr Bruce Wayne. He left a note saying it was important and confidential."

Diana carefully tore the brown wrapping off and surveyed what was inside. It was an old photo taken in the village of Veld. She stood in the middle, with Charlie, and the Chief on her left, and Sameer and Steve Trevor on her right. Not a day had gone by where her heart didn't ache for Steve, he was her one and only love after all.

But the ache felt different from before. Diana wasn't sure why. It felt deeper, like something inside was unsettling her, or an old wound had reopened. It wasn't the first time she felt this way, it had been so for a few years now.

"Julia?"

"Yes ma'am?"

"There's a saying that time will heal, but do you ever feel like you've lost something and the pain never goes away?"

"Well, I suppose the important thing is not whether we feel the pain or not. We are human after all. It's what we do in response to it."

Julia was right, Steve was gone and nothing was going to change that. All Diana could do was give Ares what he deserved.

"I can always count on you for encouragement," She smiled and Julia took her leave.

"Oh, and Jules?"

"Yes ma'am?"

"Please, just call me Diana."

The secretary nodded sheepishly and slowly closed the door behind her.

Diana knew she could always count on her. There were few people she could trust as much as her. But even so, not everyone could be trusted with everything. There were some secrets that would never be divulged to anyone, and whether she knew it or not, this had put up walls between Diana and the people around her. Perhaps she was meant to be a lone warrior on this world. It was just the price she had to pay for being a hero.

She ran her fingers over the photo and sat it on the corner of her desk. A few spreadsheets and phone calls later, it was finally the end of another work day. Diana  shut her laptop and grabbed her purse. She locked the door to her office and her high heels clicked as she walked down the empty hallways to the lift.

"What a coincidence to bump into you again, Miss Prince." A stout blonde man, no younger than 30, appeared from behind a corner.

Diana sighed and avoided any eye contact, "Don't be so gracious, Phillip. I saw you waiting outside my office."

He adjusted his hair and tried to put on his most dashing smile, "I happened to be running errands just next door, I couldn't help myself."

It took all of Diana's strength to resist rolling her eyes. Phillip had been her stalker colleague since she first joined the company 5 years ago. Rumour has it that he even put a fake word in for Diana after her first interview to help her land the job in the first place. He has neither confirmed nor denied this but it certainly wasn't beneath him to do such a thing. His unfailing persistance was admirable, though some might say foolish. He didn't quite seem to get the signal that the raven-haired beauty wasn't in the least bit interested. Perhaps he was a fan of a certain teen fiction novel where the girl falls in love with her creepy stalker, but real life doesn't quite work that way.

Phillip pressed the down button at the lift and Diana saw her chance to get away. "Actually, I have to go upstairs to drop something off first. Please go ahead without me." She pressed the up button and the lift arrived surprisingly quickly.

"Oh..." He defeatedly raised his hand, wriggling his fingers as he waved goodbye, "See you Diana."

She let out a sigh of relief and took the lift up a floor. After waiting for a few minutes to make sure Phillip wasn't waiting for her, she took the lift back down again. For what felt like the tenth time, the thick metal doors closed and the lights flickered from one floor number to another.  As if a long work day wasn't enough, she had to finish it off with Phillip of all people.

"What could be worse– No, don't jinx it. You know anything is possible these days."

When the lift doors reopened, a bellhop at the lobby ushered Diana to her black Rolls Royce. She got in swiftly and kicked back. Her rest, however, was interrupted by a phone call.

"Diana Prince speaking."

"Hello Diana. Bruce Wayne here."

"Oh, hello Mr Wayne."

"You got my parcel, I assume?"

"Yes I did. Thank you very much for sending it over. If I may ask, how did you find it?"

"How should I put this... Being rich has many benefits. But I digress, I was wondering if you'd like to meet and we could talk more in person."

"Well, Mr Wayne, I am rather busy..."

"I'm sure you can make some time for a quick chat? You're always welcome at Wayne Manor. How does 5pm tomorrow sound?"

"I suppose if you insist, I will be there."

"Alright then, it's set! See you then Miss Prince."

Diana hung up and raised an eyebrow. What could Bruce Wayne possibly want from her? He was already digging deep into her past and her secrets, but why was he so interested in the first place? All her thoughts would be answered later that day, so for now she decided to enjoy her peaceful ride home.