Wonder Woman.

“Diana Prince,” said the Amazonian warrior, offering you a handshake and a smile. She was… tall in real life. An imposing figure. And that figure… You couldn’t help yourself and looked the wondrous woman up and down: Her bare, wide shoulders, those long muscular arms and shining silver, signature bracelets. Her glimmering body armor. The sparkling W-shaped breastplate that actually seemed to resemble a stylized eagle design now that you were up close. There was the golden lasso, coiled like a whip at her waist. Her skirt was made of something like thick leather straps, studded with gold emblems at the ends. Those thighs beneath it… those thick muscular thighs, strong long legs in tall, tough red boots.

When you found her face again you lost your breath. The golden tiara she used to keep her long and luscious brunette hair out of her face gave off the same sheen as her beaming, beautiful smile. You couldn’t note a single flaw on her perfect face. Not a bump or blemish on that impeccable nose like she was sculpted by the greatest artist to ever lay his hand on the clay.

You took her hand and even the handshake was amazing. It was firm, authoritative, but her hands felt surprisingly soft and supple.

“I… I’m... John?” you said, suddenly uncertain about everything, standing here before the most powerful woman in the Justice League in nothing but your bathrobe.

“Doctor John Doe,” she said kindly, finishing you off for you with a smile. “I’m glad to meet you.”

“You could have at least let me vet him before dropping your civilian name like that,” said the woman in the labcoat who now stood next to Wonder Woman and was looking you up and down too.

“Tina, please, we need to build trust with the doctor,” countered Wonder Woman.

Tina McGee was as statuesque as the superhero was, though a lot of her bulk was just the illusion of her wide labcoat. She did have supermodel height and looks, which held up pretty well next to the Amazonian with all due respect. She was wearing a tight, forest green pencil skirt and dark black stockings.

“He’s in a bathrobe,” said Tina, crossing her arms. “You should have just let me follow the process, go through the procedure, do all the tests, then, if we were sure he’s the one to-”

“We do not have the luxury of time any more,” Diana interrupted her. “You should know this more than anyone.” You also didn’t like being ignored while at the same time people were talking about you in front of you. And you realised they would’ve kept arguing if you didn’t speak up.

“Doctor McGee!” you chimed in, raising Tina’s eyebrows while Wonder Woman didn’t seem at all phased. “It is… I’m thrilled to be meeting you,” you said, trying to stand up straighter to the pair of tall women. “I’ve been following your work for years and I’ve read all of your published papers.” You saw the scientist purse her lips for a moment then tilt her head curiously at you.

“My… published papers?” she questioned you, catching your specific word usage.

“That’s right,” you nodded. “Groundbreaking stuff. And of course, I’ve heard about a number of other studies you’ve done or have been trying to do, that were roundly ignored by peer review and the scientific community at large due to the subject matter but… if you don’t mind just… humoring me... I would love to read the work you couldn’t get officially published while I’m here for… whatever it is I’m here for.”

Tina couldn’t help the small smile you put on her face and she seemed to warm up slightly to your presence.

“It seems you have fans too,” noted Wonder Woman teasingly. Doctor McGee sighed and uncrossed her arms.

“Whatever, hero,” she said, a weak retort to her obvious friend but at least the terseness seemed to have left Tina’s demeanor. “I’ll still need to do the tests before we do anything else. I’m sorry to have been rude, Doctor Doe.” Now she offered her hand and you shook it professionally. She was soft too. “It’s just that you were brought here at such short notice. There are procedures in place for a reason. There are security considerations, not just for us but for you as well.”

You nodded understandingly but you had to admit that you were still in the dark about the nature of your call out. Well… you had a bit of an inkling about it. But didn’t want to get too far ahead of yourself.

“In any case, I greatly appreciate you coming,” said Wonder Woman, her gratefulness as genuine as her smile.

“Let’s get you into the lab then,” the doctor said, inviting you into the room. You followed behind your two hosts, getting a good look at the exposed back and shoulders of the greatest female hero of all time. And those calves, holy moly. “What kind of briefing did you get before you arrived, Doctor?” Tina asked, giving you a glance over her shoulder.

“The brief kind. All I was told was that this was an emergency. I have no idea why I’m here,” you replied. She sighed and shook her head.

“Typical,” she noted. Now you were offered a seat at a long metal workbench, the three of you sitting together at one end. “You don’t need to be here for this part,” she told Wonder Woman, who was making herself comfortable on her chair. “You got the introduction you wanted.”

“I’d like to get to know the doctor. And answer any questions he might have,” Diana replied. She crossed her legs, indicating that she would be staying put.

“Fine fine,” Tina sighed, deciding that she was done having her suggestions ignored. “So you have no idea why you’re here? At all?” she said to you now, eyebrow raised.

“Okay well, typically my call outs are for… my…” you began, sort of embarrassed to go on with Wonder Woman just sitting there across the table from you.

“Specimens,” Tina finished. For the first time tonight you saw Diana’s expression shift and she looked away from the people she usually kept eye contact with in conversation, staring at the floor now instead.

“Uh… that’s right,” you said. “I’m a high level donor. But I’m also an expert in the field. And so in these unusual circumstances I can only guess.”

“Well that’s what we need you for. Your specimen and your expertise,” confirmed the doctor. You felt your heart skip a beat and a twitch under your bathrobe, but managed to keep your pokerface.

“Who is the patient?” you asked. You saw Tina narrow her eyes for a moment and purse her lips.

“I am,” Wonder Woman answered quickly. Somehow you kept your stoic mask on, even as you looked over to the clearly embarrassed Amazon who still couldn’t meet anybody’s eyes in this moment. She then took a breath, composed herself and looked at you. She smiled bravely, tight lipped.

“I didn’t know Amazonians could get the disease,” you said, genuinely surprised but also doing somersaults inside.

“Amazons,” she corrected, though still smiling. “I am the first case.”

“It’s rare in metahumans,” added Tina, who was now tapping on the surface of the workbench which you realised was lighting up in sections like a screen, because that’s what it was. “And each metahuman it’s affected has been showing different and unique symptoms than the general, unpowered populace.”

At that news, that there were other metahumans affected, your mind exploded with possibility and you stirred again beneath your robe. But then you looked over to the worried, brunette superhero and your focus was able to narrow again. “For Diana, her symptoms are mild, generally,” Tina explained. “In fact she is able to operate at full capacity about 95% of the time. Superheroics and all.”

You nodded. It made sense that this goddess had a resiliency to the condition atypical of most cases. “But when episodes do occur, they can be severe,” Tina went on, and at this Wonder Woman gave a slight nod too. That definitely had you wondering. “Which means her treatment requires… a very potent specimen.” Upon realising that you were meant to fit the bill there, you shifted uneasily in your seat. God you hoped you would pass the test. “Roll your sleeve up,” the doctor demanded. “I need a blood sample.”

You complied readily and only winced a little when she jabbed the tiny needle into your arm. In fact the device she used looked more like an epipen than a syringe, and barely required more than a drop of your blood. She plugged the sample into the workbench where it then sank into the table and analysis began to happen in real time. You leaned over to see what Tina was reading on the screen, Wonder Woman deining to do the same, but this was showing much more complicated and indepth data than you were used to studying. “Hmm… the markers are not as impressive as I was lead to believe,” the doctor noted. This made your heart sink a little and you worried about her furrowing brow as she flicked through the data. She even started to shake her head. “This isn’t… the glucose levels should be higher for one. I mean they’re better than average but… we need them to be higher.” You then saw Wonder Woman’s eyebrows turn.

“Blood samples aren’t as reliable as-” you began to interject but Tina was growing more frustrated.

“This isn’t going to work, Diana,” she said. “I thought his numbers were the best, and sure they’re up there but for your treatment I don’t think it’s going to be enough. That’s not even taking into account his metabolism and recovery rate. This is… it’s a disaster!”

“Tina, calm down,” said the hero. The dynamic did seem a little reversed with how this apparent bad news seemed to be going.

“Diana, without proper treatment you could die. You need at least two high quality doses a day to keep those symptoms at bay.” Tina made a noise and struck the surface of the console with the side of her fist.

“Tina, it’s okay I…” tried Wonder Woman again, but whether it was the time of night or the mounting pressure or her concern for her friend, Tina was growing too agitated by the feeling of helplessness to the situation that she had.

“It’s not okay! We aren’t any closer to finding a cure and these ‘treatments’ are just a bandaid!” she got to her feet, heated and angry but you weren’t exactly sure who or what she was angry at. Diana stood as well, hands up trying to placate the doctor.

“Let’s just do more tests first. There are always more tests right?” she suggested. At those words Tina did seem to simmer down slightly, enough for her to consciously take a breath and calm herself.

“Right,” she conceded. “We don’t have a lot of time but I guess we- Diana?” the doctor stopped midsentence because the Amazon started to sway. You finally got to your feet too just as Wonder Woman appeared to lose her footing and fell to the floor. Tina half caught her, but the superhero was a lot of muscle and armor and they both landed hard. “Diana!” The doctor was shaking her by the shoulders and the Amazon blinked tiredly, squinting up at you as if the lights were too harsh for her eyes. “You need a dose,” Tina realised. “She needs a dose.” Both women were looking up at you from the floor now. You didn’t know what you should be doing, searching both faces, trying to get a clue. The doctor frowned, thinking. “Diana, can you make it to the dosage room?” she asked, to which Diana shook her head.

“I don’t…” she began, but the doctor seemed to already have had this conversation at least once before.

“I know you don’t want to use it but we can’t just let him…”

“It’s okay,” Wonder woman said. “Here. It’s fine.” Tina didn’t seem quite ready to concede the point but the superheroine was growing weaker which meant she was getting heavier in Tina’s scientist arms.

“Damn it! Alright John, are you ready?” she called to you, sounding urgent. You looked down, still dumbfounded and frozen. “Can you do it now? Right now? You need to... produce a dose.”

“You mean, right here? Right in front of…” you said, incredulous and unable to finish the sentence.

“Yes…” you heard wonder woman say, her voice weak.