302 Perez Boulevard

302 Perez Boulevard was a well appointed Brownstone five blocks from Holiday University, tucked safely in the good part of the city. Modest 80 years ago. Extravagant with today's home prices.

Jack could feel his mouth water at the sight of it.

Old money. He told himself.

Even if he was here to get a job he would never be able to afford anything like this. Not unless he won the lottery or started committing crimes for Lex Luthor.

Still, it was a nice house.

He knocked on the door.

"One second," he heard from the other side.

A moment later the door cracked open. Doctor Minerva stood on the other side, balancing awkwardly on. "About goddamned time," she muttered as she saw him, stepping aside and waving him in.

The interior matched the exterior: quietly impressive. Tapestries, manuscripts, ancient artwork, and relics from her travels overseas spilled across every available surface in varying states of disarray. Without the context, it looked like a disaster zone.

To someone who knew what they were looking at, it looked like the British Museum met an earthquake.

"Where the hell have you been kid? I've been calling," Barbara asked, hobbling into the kitchen.

"I'm sorry ma'am, my phone--it um--it got busted in the. The giant attack?" Jack said. Spread out on the table was a series of sketches of various ancient Greek battle armor and weapons, all specifically modified and... Feminized? Amazonian? Jack thought.

"And you haven't fixed it?" Barbara asked. "And here I thought gen Z couldn't last an hour without TikTok or whatever."

"Well, I, uh. Haven't exactly had the time," Jack said defensively. Don't let her know you're desperate.

"It's whatever kid, I'm just being cranky," Barbara called out from the kitchen. "Chronic pain and your 30's will do that to a girl."

Her head popped out of the kitchen. "You want a drink?"

"Um..." Jack looked at the clock. 10:14. AM. "I'm good."

She poured herself a glass and carried in the bottle. Jack held out a chair for her as she came in on crutches. She picked a different seat.

"So, um," Jack began. "What did you need to see me for?"

"Me? Nothing," Barbara began. "My friend asked me to set this up."

"Your friend?" Jack asked.

"To be honest kid you were my second choice for the position," Barbara said casually.

His heart dropped.

Barbara took a drink. "You're resume's good. Three language majors and Ancient Greek as a side hobby doesn't make for a bad start, but to be completely transparent I find most men have a hard time working for a woman half their size and twice their intelligence and while you blew up in the interview it was a little bit too literal for my taste."

He didn't know what to say with that. His internal feminist argued with his self-esteem. "And you couldn't have told me this over an email?"

"Again my friend asked me to set up an introduction," Barbara motioned with her hands. "So here we are."

"And again your friend is?"

"Barbara," a familiar voice called out from upstairs. "You did not tell me he had arrived."

Wonder Woman descended the staircase in nothing but a towel. It was the most beautiful sight Jack had ever seen.

Tall, with wet dark hair and long tan legs poking out from a towel....

Was saran wrap on her arm?

"You were in the shower darling," Barbara refilled her glass. "She needed a shower," she said to Jack.

"Wonder Woman?" Jack asked, his voice returning to him slowly.

She smiled at him. God, what a smile.

"Please call me Diana if you like," she said.

"Yes, yes, Jack, Diana. Diana, Jack. You've been introduced." She waved her hand impatiently. "You had some sort of message?"

Diana held up her wrapped hand at the message.

"Yes, you instructed me that it was urgent?" She said, voice filled with passion.

Jack felt his emotions ping ponging between disappointment, rage and lust. He took a deep breathe. He could at least face the barrage with dignity.