Wonder Woman

Versus

The Dark Lady

Chapter 4.

Deceptions and Consequences

by Skytower

 Cool crisp air laced with antiseptic greeted Diana as she woke. Diana didn't move or stir despite the aches that greeted her. Her mouth tasted like she had bitten into a corpse and her stomach was empty of food but full of pain. She felt incredibly weak.

Paint isn't meant to be swallowed, Diana thought.

As she always did Diana listened before she gave any indication of awakening. The sounds of small wheels in need of oil and calm measure voices told her she was in a hospital. She wasn't nude, but she wasn't wearing the belt of strength either.

Diana opened her eyes and looked around. It was a small room. It held two beds that could be separated by a curtain. A window looked out onto the street and at the far side of the room was a small bathroom. She was in one of the beds and sitting on the other was Colleen.

Colleen was wearing a long nightgown and a blue hospital and she looked like she had been in a fight. One eye was swollen shut, her arm was bandaged from wrist to elbow and a bandage was wrapped around her forehead.

"Hey kid." She said quietly.

"What..." Diana started to ask but Colleen interrupted her.

"Listen fast, we were walking away from the theatre when a guy jumped us, you didn't see him, it was too dark." She turned to the doorway. "Major Trevor she's awake!"

Steve was at the doorway almost instantly and for a moment Diana didn't have a care in the world. As tall as she was with dark hair, blue eyes and a chiseled jaw, Steve Trevor was the one man Diana loved.

"Diana how are you feeling?" Steve said moving toward the bed.

"Not very well." Diana said letting his concern wash over her like a warm breeze. For an instant she was his, helpless but protected with no evil to fight. The instant passed but Diana reveled in it as much as her amazon instincts rebuked her for it. She sat up in bed and was grateful for his aid in doing so. Her limbs felt like they were in chains.

"Did you get a look at who attacked you?"

"No." Diana said pausing enough before she answered so that Steve would think she was trying to remember. "It was too dark."

"He had a baseball bat." Colleen said. "But alls I saw was stars."

"Colleen." Joey said coming into the room. Diana was shocked to see the look of pure concern on his face. "What happened Coll?"

"Me and Diana were coming out the movie when some guy grabbed her and tried to pull her into the alley." Colleen said. "She wouldn't go so he started treating both of us like we were punching bags."

"Who was it?" Joey asked and Diana was shocked to see that Steve and Joey were wearing the same expressions on their faces. Barely controlled fury mixed with concern. Had she been underestimating Joey? That a man who brutalized women as part of his job could share a trait with Steve was astounding to Diana.

"Too dark to see." Colleen said. "We got lucky when the beat cop heard me screaming, but he didn't get a good look at the guy either."

"Which cop?" Joey asked suspiciously.

"Malloy."

"OK." Joey said and the suspicion vanished.

"I wish I could get my hands on the guy who did it." Steve said making a fist.

"Me too." Joey said.

"Steve Trevor." Steve said sticking out his hand.

"Joey Tribiani." Joey said.

"I'll be right back Diana." Steve said. "I promised Etta I'd call her as soon as I knew you'd be ok."

He left and Joey turned to Colleen.

"What happened." He demanded.

"Luther Grekkos." Colleen said. "He spotted us coming out of the theatre and figured Diana and me were on duty. We told him to get lost. Next thing I know I'm lying the trash while he's using a bat or something on Diana's stomach. Malloy heard me screaming but didn't go after Luther because he wanted to make sure we was safe."

"Malloy's a good egg." Joey said. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. For a moment Diana saw Colleen's face soften. "You get some rest Coll, Luther, he ain't gonna bother no one no more."

"Give him one for me." Colleen said.

"I'll give him more than one." Joey promised. "Hope you feel better." He said to Diana and left.

"Here." Colleen said reaching under her dress she pulled out Diana's magic belt and handed it too her. "I couldn't take the chance they'd find it on you when I brought you in."

Before Diana could ask anymore questions Steve came back into the room. With a quick motion Diana hid the belt under her covers. She could feel it's magic flooding into her but for a moment wished she could feel weak again. It was a foolish notion and she squelched it as soon as she could.

"Etta says she'll come visit you tomorrow." Steve said.

"I think she'll have to do without me for a few days at the office."

"Never you mind, just get better and stay out of dark alleys."

"Yes sir." Diana said meekly.

"I have to go, we got a line on a German agent that was spotted in town."

"Who?" Diana asked.

"Dr. Johanas Draciana." A real bad customer. He turned to Colleen. "I want to thank you again for helping her. Diana's new to the big city."

"Hey, we all gotta help out." Colleen said.

"Take care of yourself." Steve said to Diana.

"Be careful Steve." Diana called as he left.

Colleen gave a quick laugh and Diana looked sharply at her.

"Blue blazes I thought I could play men. Honey you got talent."

"I don't really enjoy it." Diana protested.

"Yea you do."

"Colleen I am an amazon. My sisters were once horribly dominated by men, raped, enslaved. From that trauma they survived and built a paradise. But that trauma is still there and even if I wasn't there to share it I feel it. Steve is a good man, but he constantly seeks to love me and marry me. I'm not ready for that. Especially when the world needs me as Wonder Woman more than he needs me as a wife."

"Yea, and that story and a dime will get you a cup of coffee. I saw you just now kid, you were in heaven when he came on like Dick Tracy with Tess Truehart."

"That's not true." Diana said stiffly.

"It's me Diana." Colleen said her voice turning serious. "I play men for a living and I'm good at it. You play him because you're too scared to let him at you without the costume. He lets you play him because he likes it. He's no dope, you think a pair of glasses is going to fool him?"

"He has suspected." Diana protested. "But he doesn't know."

"He knows, he just won't admit it."

"What about you and Joey?"

"What?"

"I saw your face when he kissed you. You like him Colleen."

"Yea I like him. He doesn't hit unless he has too and he doesn't demand free love, but he's like most men, I'm a whore, I give him money, he knows what I do and that means he's never gonna see me as anything but a whore."

"So you don't think any man will ever love you knowing what you are?"

"Not a chance."

"Who is Luther Grekkos?" Diana asked realizing she run into a dead end.

"A bum who's about to end his days on Earth if I read Joey right." Colleen said. "After I left the paint factory I had to move fast. I got your costume off you and tossed it into the sewer, then I swung by your place, cleaned ya up a bit, put on one of your dresses and took you to the movie theater. I left you in the car and got Luther, he hangs around that theatre a lot. That lasso of yours came in real handy. I had him work me over in the alley and do a bit more to you. I know Malloy's route so I knew he'd show up sooner or later. I used the lasso on Luther so he'd think he really did it, let him go and screamed bloody murder."

"You used my lasso to frame an innocent man?" Diana asked outrage in her voice.

"Luther ain't innocent." Colleen said. "He likes to get drunk and hit women and he really likes to use a switch blade he carries. Ties you up and runs it up and down your skin, but not enough to cut you. He used it on a friend of mine once, Katy. She was a good gal until he cut her throat and threw her into the river. He got a walk because his lawyer convinced everyone he was an upstanding guy and she was a whore. Since then he's been having a pretty good run with a lot of the gals in town. Joey ain't the only guy who's been looking for a reason to take him out of this world. Joey makes a few phone calls and every pimp in town is going to be looking for Luther. If the bums lucky he'll skip town."

"You let him do that to you?" Diana asked pointing at her injuries.

"Had to make it look good." Colleen said. "I been beat up worse."

"What now then? Surely I can't continue as the Black Lady."

"We'll see about that when your outa here." Colleen said lying back in the bed. "For now get some sleep, you swallowed a lot of paint."

"What about Joey?" Diana asked. "You've sent him into danger. I saw him when he came in, he was worried about you Colleen."

"Joey's Joey." Colleen said. "He's a nice guy and he can handle himself against a mook like Grekkos."

"But he might get hurt." Diana persisted.

"He won't." Colleen repeated again. "Now shut up and go to sleep."

The next two days in the hospital were a completely new experience for Diana. The golden belt healed her completely overnight, but to maintain the ruse Colleen had built she had to feign sickness. It was different for Colleen and Diana cringed when she realized just how badly the other woman had let herself get hurt. Etta stopped by in the morning and the evening, but had no time for anything more than that. She did bring Diana some of her own cloths, replacing the scratchy hospital gown Diana had been wearing. But she could never stay long. Without Diana the work in the office had doubled. Diana was struck by how cool Etta was toward Colleen. Normally Etta Candy was the friendliest person on the planet. But with Colleen she was almost rude.

"Diana I know she helped you." Etta said while Colleen was in the bathroom. "But don't get too friendly with her. Do you know what she does for a living?"

"I hadn't asked." Diana said.

"Well... she's one... Diana, she's a prostitute."

"How do you know that?"

"Steve had me pull her file from the DA's office, he was afraid she was some sort of enemy agent."

"Etta she saved my life." Diana protested, which was true in a way.

"I know, but you can't be too friendly with her type. She hangs around with a bad crowd. Trust me on this Diana."

"She's right you know." Colleen said after Etta had left. Diana wasn't surprised that she had been listening.

"If a man pays for it why does everyone blame the woman?"

"Cause that's the way it is." Colleen said.

"Coll."

The weak voice caused both women to look up at the doorway. A pale Joey stood there, leaning against the doorway.

"Joey?" Colleen asked getting out of bed.

"Took care of him for ya." Joey said weakly sinking to the floor.

For the first time Diana truly saw the cool reserve that Colleen used to keep the world at bay crack. Joey was rushed into surgery for the knife wound in his stomach and while they waited Colleen said not a word. She sat in the waiting room, an unlit cigarette in her mouth and stared into the wall. Every so often she would take the cigarette out of her mouth and act as if it was lit, the put it back in. Diana sat next to her and put her arm around the other woman. Colleen trembled and despite the coolness of the room she was sweating heavily. Her only reaction when the doctor came into the room was too look up.

"He made it." The Doctor said.

Colleen fainted.

"You were worried." Diana said.

"Yep." Colleen replied.

They were in their hospital room. Colleen had opened the window and was sitting next to it. The sounds of Washington at night filtered into the room.

"Colleen there is nothing wrong with feeling something for a man." Diana said.

"Like you do for Trevor?"

"The situation is different. There's nothing stopping you and Joey."

"Joey knows what I do." Colleen insisted.

"Have you ever spoken to him? Talked to him outside your job?"

"We got drunk together once." Colleen said, walking over to the bed. "It was good for a night on the town, but we sobered up. Guys use whores Diana, they don't marry'em."

Diana was about to ask her about the night when Colleen silenced her with a gesture. A few seconds later Duchess Katarina Von Schwaben stood at the doorway.

"Girls." Said in a sweet voice full of concern. She was still dressed as a man and walked over to Diana. Gathering the amazon up in her arms the Duchess burried her head in Diana's hair. "I just heard what happened. Are you alright?"

"We'll live." Colleen said.

"Men are such brutes." The Duchess said. She crossed over to Colleen and hugged her. "When you are well again we must spend a weekend together."

"That would be nice." Diana said trying to keep the surprise out of her voice.

"I must go, I have so much to do." The Duchess kissed Colleen on the cheek and then went back over to Diana. The kiss she gave Diana was long and lingering and the amazon was surprised to find the Duchess's tongue forced into her mouth. The Duchess's free hand roamed over Diana's breast and down to her stomach. She pressed hard and Diana had to fight not to give a reaction.

"Be well girls." The Duchess said and rushed out.

"What was that all about?" Colleen asked.

"I don't know." Diana said. "Could she have been up to something?"

"If she's who you say she is yea, but what?"

"I don't know." Diana repeated feeling her own body. She felt vaguely like she had been the victim of a pickpocket.

Because of the Duchesses visit Diana slept lightly. So the night after Joey was brought in Diana woke as Colleen crept back into their room.

"Where have you been?" Diana asked. Something in glinted in Colleen's hand. "What have you been doing with my lasso?"

"Things." Colleen said going to her own bed.

"Colleen that lasso is a sacred trust, you can't..."

"I was with Joey." Colleen said tossing the lasso to Diana.

"What?" Diana took the lasso. Suddenly she realized what Colleen might have done. "Colleen no!"

"Only one thing stops me and him from getting together." Colleen said. "That thing ain't there anymore. I could run naked through the streets and he wouldn't care."

"You can't force a man to love you!" Diana protested.

"He already loved me ya dope!" Colleen snapped. "And I loved him, just didn't know it till the other night."

"It was the wrong way..."

"It worked." Colleen said. "Look you asked me what I was gonna do after all this? Well I didn't know. Now I know. I got the dough and I got Joey. We won't be going to no church socials but I'll make him a damn good wife."

"You've deprived him of his choice." Diana said. "What is love without free choice?"

"I'll tell ya what it ain't, it ain't me drying up and getting tossed out on the street when no guy worth his jones will come near me and it ain't Joey gettin knifed in some alley!" Colleen was working hard not to shout but the anger showed in her voice. "Remember when I said that when my jugs drop and my hair goes white I'm out? Well what'dya think happens to Joey when he gets old? If he gets old? There aren't any old pimps Diana. They're either young or their dead. First time he looses a fight Quick Louie will drop him like a hot stone. Then Joey has to pick some job haulin trash or..."

She broke off panting and Diana realized how angry the woman was. Not at Diana, or Joey, but at the world. For a few minutes they sat silently. Then Diana stood up and pulled off her nightgown. The golden belt was around her waist and she attached the lasso to it. She twirled, spinning into her Wonder Woman costume. After Diana was sure everything was in it's proper place she counter twirled. The costume vanished and she stood nude for a moment.

"I don't agree with what you've done." Diana said.

"You gonna do anything about it?" Colleen asked.

"I don't know." Diana said. She put her nightgown on. "If I do will you expose me?"

"I don't know." Colleen said.

They both said nothing else and simply went to sleep.

They saw nothing of the Duchess for the next few days. Etta and Steve stopped in to visit Diana in the morning and evening, but no one came to see Colleen. Joey recovered quickly and by the end of the third day was wandering the halls. Diana joined him and Colleen in games of cards, learning the ways of poker and black jack, and not being able to win at either. She did come to realize that Joey out of his role as pimp was not a bad person, but he was opinionated and stubborn. Joey saw the world one way and that was it, anything beyond that he ignored or hit. It was a constant battle in Diana whether or not to reverse what Colleen had done to him or leave it be. She could not deny that they were happy together, and Diana wondered at what Colleen had said. What sort of future did either of them have alone?

One day when they were playing cards Diana got her answer. They were playing in the afternoon when a tall policeman with red hair walked into the room. He was old with a lined face that spoke of far too many walks on far too many streets.

"Malloy." Colleen said in greeting when she saw him at the door. Her tone was neutral.

"Colleen, Joey." He said walking into the room. Uninvited he took a chair and sat down.

"This is Diana." Colleen said. "Diana this's Pete Malloy."

"How do you do."

"Some days ok, some days not." The officer said looking at Joey. "Bad news Joey, we got a guy says you were the last man with Grekkos."

"So what." Joey said, his voice as neutral as Colleen's.

"So we match that with that stick wound you showed up here with and the D.A. says that's enough."

"What's the rap?"

"Murder."

"For Grekkos?" Colleen protested. "He did a public service Malloy and you know it."

"What I know doens't carry beans in the D.A.'s office." Malloy said. "You might be able to claim self defense, but everyone knows you were looking for Grekkos that night."

"I wasn't the only one." Joey said. "The bum got what he got. I ain't crying over him."

"Not a lotta people are. But he's still dead and we still got laws."

"You taking me in?"

"Doc says you ain't ready yet." Malloy said getting up. "They ain't done with the paperwork. Tomorrow most like."

Joey sighed and picked up his cards.

"I ain't sorry."

"No need to be. I'll see ya tomorrow."

Malloy nodded to the ladies and walked out. Not saying anything Diana got up and went after him.

"Officer wait." Diana said. The old Irishman turned back to her. "Even if Joey did go after Luthor Grekkos he wasn't armed. Considering his wound at best he should be charged with involuntary manslaughter."

"Not with the D.A. up for re-election." Malloy said. He looked down at her and gave her the same type of sad smile Colleen often did. "Grekkos was a bum and everyone knows it, but shoving him in front of that cab was like setting off fireworks. The papers got it and the D.A. see's it as a way to get his picture on the front page instead of the war. That's worth a few votes."

"What about what Grekkos did to Colleen and I?"

"Can't prove it, you and Colleen said you couldn't see him."

"But..."

"No good lass, Joey did it, he did it dumb. He's gotta pay for it."

"It's wrong." Diana said.

"I know lass." Malloy said. Bending down he kissed her forehead for a moment appearing more like a grandfather than a cop. "And it's more than a pretty little thing like you should have to deal with. But that's the way things are."

He turned and walked down the hall leaving Diana to slump against the wall.

"Everyone says that in this world." Diana growled. "Why doesn't anyone every try to change it?"

She took a few steps down the hall and stopped, listening to Colleen and Joey.

"Get outta town ya dope!" Colleen shouted at him. "Why do ya think Malloy just dropped by? He's doing you a favor."

"It's not that easy Coll." Joey said. "Traveling ain't like it used to be. Where am I gonna go huh? This is a murder rap. Look I ain't sorry, Grekkos shoulda got his years ago."

"Look I got money." Colleen said. "You get outta town..."

"I don't run." Joey said. "I ain't never run and I ain't never gonna run. I got a good case for self defense after what he did to you and Diana."

"You ain't got nothin!" Colleen shouted. "You think a juries gonna care about me and Di? Once the D.A. tells them what we been doing?"

"They ain't never gonna here it." Joey said. "You just two girls coming out of a movie house... I'll get five, ten years tops."

"Ten years?" Colleen protested.

"It was worth it." Joey said.

"Worth it?" Colleen asked him and this time Diana heard a softening in her voice as Colleen realized what Diana had know for the past two days. Joey had killed Grekkos because of what he did to Colleen. Not because it was his job, but because he wanted too. At that point Diana also knew that what Colleen had done with her lasso would remain.

Diana left the two of them alone and headed down the hallway. Tucked into a corner by the stairs was a set of pay phones. There was a war on and if an army needed anything it needed people who could kill. With any luck Steve would be able to get Joey into the army and out of trouble. At least her other dilemma was solved. Joey was willing to kill for Colleen before the lasso. Anything she did to him that night was just a nudge and Diana could let it be with a clear conscience.

Diana stepped into the booth and was just about to close the door when the Duchess appeared. There was a small gun in her hand and a German accent in her voice.

"Come with me and make no sound." She ordered.

Diana started to protest but a slight movement of the gun stopped her. The Duchess gestured toward the stairs and Diana went through the door.

"Why are you doing this?" Diana tried to ask as they went down the stairs.

"Be silent." The Duchess ordered slapping her on the head.

At the bottom of the stairs was a solid metal door with a window on it. Above the door was the word "Morgue".

"Inside." The Duchess said.

Diana went inside and saw a small woman waiting by a cart with a coffin on it. The small woman pointed her own gun at Diana.

Before Diana could ask any more questions the Duchess stuffed a rag into her mouth and then wrapped a bandage around her head. Diana's arms were pulled behind her back and her wrist tied tightly to her elbows by thin ropes. More ropes went around her body pinning her arms to her side. With the Duchess holding her steady the smaller woman tied Diana's ankles and knees together. Then she gave Diana a slight push. Diana had a moment of panic as she fell backward, but the Duchess caught her. With the Duchess lifting her shoulders and the small woman lifting her ankles Diana was lowered into the coffin. They closed the lid slowly and silently.

The perfect way to get someone out of a hospital, Diana thought as she squirmed to get free of the ropes. It was hopeless she knew, but she squirmed and writhed anyway. The ropes bit into her skin through her clothes, cutting off some circulation.

How much did the Duchess know? That question ran through the helpless amazon's mind as she felt the coffin being rolled along. There was no way to answer that question but it ran through Diana's mind anyway and it was hard not to let fear rise in its wake.

When the coffin was opened Diana had no way of knowing how long had passed. The air that greeted her as the lid was raised was mixed with lilacs and harsh chemicals. Instead of the Duchess and the smaller woman two burley men lifted her out of the coffin and set her on her feet. She was in some sort of medical room. There was a large metal table in the center. A sink and shelves were on the wall. The shelves were filled with bottles with handwritten labels. A cart next to the table held operating instruments that were chilling to look at.

"You saying that's her?" Quick Louie demanded walking toward Diana.

"If it isn't her I think she knows who it is." The Duchess said.

Quick Louie looked at Diana. Then without warning he slammed his fist into her stomach. Diana collapsed in pain but was held in place by the men holding her.

"She ain't strong."

"Not now she isn't." the Duchess said walking over to Diana. "But she was before." The Duchess reached up and fingered Diana's hair. "Paint is a very hard smell to be rid of. I smelled it on her hair and tasted it in her mouth. I'm sure she was the one in the paint factory."

"She'll talk after a few hours." Quick Louie said smacking his fist against his palm.

"She might die before she will talk." Said a man Diana had never seen before. He stepped into the room closing a door behind him. Tall thin and cadaverous with wet black hair he seemed to lower the temperature in the room. The man wore a dark black suit and a doctor's smock. He walked over to Diana and took her chin in his hands. Cold grey eyes examined Diana and she couldn't keep the chill from her soul. There was nothing behind the man's eyes but cold, merciless logic. To him there was no difference between a human and an insect. Or her.

"I was told to examine her and discover what I may." He said turning away from Diana. "After I am done you may do with her as you wish."

"As long as I get my money." Quick Louie said.

"You will Louie after Dr. Draciana is finished with her." The Duchess said.

"Remove her clothing." Dr. Draciana said picking up one of the medical instruments to examine it.

Diana tried to fight back but it was hopeless from the start and she knew it. While the goons held Diana the Duchess untied the ropes around her legs. She easily dodged Diana's kicks and then untied the ropes around the upper half of the captive amazon's body. Soon Diana was completely untied but easily held by the goons. With them holding her arms the Duchess pulled Diana's robe off of her. She had only a moment freedom for each arm while the robe was pulled off but then her arms were held once more. The same procedure was done on her nightgown. Diana struggled and twisted making her breast bounce as they were revealed. She was pulled nearly on her back kicking as her nightgown was pulled away. Quick Louie and his men exchanged smiles that promised what was to come, but the Dr. barely seemed to notice.

"Hold her still." He said walking over to the naked amazon.

While Diana struggled he put an ice cold stethescope against her chest. After a few minutes of listening he took her blood preasure. Diana could only struggle silently and grunt through her gag. Satisfied he made notes on a small pad.

"Put her on the table and spread her legs." Dr. Draciana said. His voice infuriated Diana. He might have been doing some normal medical procedure on a willing patient. Struggling and twisting she was lifted off of her feet and held down on the table. Quick Louie took one of her legs while the Duchess took the other. Despite her best efforts Diana's legs were forced apart and Dr. Draciana sat on a small chair and began to probe her vagina. Diana squirmed and moaned as he pushed past her pussy lips and forced his hand into her. His fingers probed and felt for as far as they could regardless of the pain or discomfort to Diana. He seemed to take hours and when he finally pulled his hand from her womb Diana felf more violated than she had ever felt before. Even though nazi spies had raped Diana before she had never realized what her mother and her amazon sisters had gone through. Now Diana glimpsed the despair and humiliation they must have gone through. Dr. Draciana took a metal instrument and took a few samples from her womb. Diana gritted her teeth a the metal scratched at her most sensitive skin.

The Dr. produced a syringe and took a sample of blood from Diana's arm. He examined it in the light, labeled it and put it aside with the others.

"Turn her over." He said picking up another syringe. This was contained a clear liquid.

Diana fought uselessly as she was turned onto her stomach. She felt a sharp pain in her butte and after a few minutes the strength seemed to leave her body. She sagged in her captor's hands and they released her. Her body went limp as they turned her over onto her back. Time seemed to slip away from the amazon and all she could do was lie there. The gag was taken out of her mouth and Diana reflexively licked her lips.

Dr. Draciana shined a light into her eyes then stepped back and the Duchess bent over her.

"Tell us about your strength Diana." The Duchess said.

For some reason Diana had an overwhelming urge to tell the Duchess everything. She fought it instinctively and managed not to speak, but only just.

"Tell us about your strength." The Duchess said in a harder tone of voice. "This drug is very powerful Diana, but it is not gentle. Even if you don't resist your memory will not last, if you do resist..."

Again Diana wanted to tell the truth and she realized what was happening.

"The drug..." she whispered.

"Our drug?"

"No, the drug..."

Fighting with all her strength through the haze that was clouding her mind Diana struggled to edit her answer.

"Forbidden to tell." Diana said thinking of Paradise Island.

"You will tell me of this drug." The Duchess ordered.

"Secret... only a little... doesn't last..." Diana said clinging to Colleen's voice inside of her head. The voice was telling her to tell the Duchess what she wanted to hear.

"This is the drug that Wonder Woman uses." The Duchess said it as a statement not a question. "This is what gives her her great strength?"

"Secret..."Diana repeated. It was taking all of her will not say no.

"How did you get this drug?" the Duchess asked.

"Accident." Diana whispered.

"Could this be true?" the Duchess turned to the Dr.

He had stayed silent through out her interrogation but now the Dr. picked up Diana's blood sample and looked at it again.

"The human body responds to aggression by producing adrenaline, giving the body the appearance of slightly greater strength. An artificial adrenaline could temporarily give a person extreme strength."

"Which would make sense since we know from our agents that Wonder Woman has at times been no stronger than any other woman." The Duchess said. "Where is this drug!" she demanded turning back to Diana.

"Paradise Island." Diana replied. She had been caught off guard and forced to give at least part of the truth. There were drugs on Paradise Island that could increase a persons strength.

"That is the code name what is the real one?"

"No..." Diana whispered.

"Tell me!" the Duchess demanded.

Diana tried to talk and found to her delight she couldn't. The Dr. pushed past the Duchess and shined a light in her eyes again.

"It is no use, the drug has faded from her system. We must wait for an hour or so before we try again."

The Duchess paced back and forth in frustration and then turned to him.

"If we let these men rape her will she be less resistant to the drug?"

The Dr. thought for a moment before replying.

"She might. At any rate it will not hinder the drug."

"She is yours for an hour or so Louie." The Duchess said.

"Have a party boys." Quick Louie said to his men.

The men on either side of Diana started to unbuckle their pants.

"Not you Louie?" the Duchess asked.

"I don't like em drunk or drugged." Quick Louie said shrugging. "No life in'em."

Diana was beyond struggling as one of the men dragged her to the end of the table. Her legs dangled uselessly as his penis plunged into her. The other man massaged her breasts while kissing her. Diana let her body respond as her mind tried to seek some sanctuary in oblivion. But the demands of her body dragged her away from darkness and she found herself responding as the man plunged into her again and again. Diana matched his rhythm and rolled her tongue enthusiastically around the other man's penis as he climbed up onto the table and thrust it into her face. The double rape drove more and more of Diana's will back into the depths of her being. She began to move as the men wanted and was soon off of the table and onto the floor. On her hands and knees taken from the back and front Diana finally collapsed into darkness.

When pain at last brought her back to reality Diana was back on the table. The pain was from another needle going into her arm. She groaned helplessly as she felt the drug flood into her bloodstream. After a few minutes the Duchess leaned over her again.

"Tell me about the island."

"Paradise..." Diana said but this time she couldn't try to hide the truth. The rapes had stolen her strength and the drug had mastered her. "Island... Lived there, trained there..."

"Where is it?"

"Pacific Ocean." Diana said.

"What is the name of the drug."

"Drug..." Diana started to say and then the world blew up around them. Diana saw smoke and flames, and saw Wonder Woman enter the room and lift her up and carry her out. Then the heroine was stuffing her back into her nightgown and running away. Soon Steve's face filled her view of the world and she passed out.

Diana woke once more in the hospital, in the same room. This time Steve was there.

"You just can't stay out of trouble can you?" Steve said some of his anxiety hidden by the joke.

"The Duchess..." Diana said starting to rise.

"She got away." Steve said helping her to sit up. "But we got Quick Louie, Dr. Draciana and a few others. Would have been worse if Wonder Woman hadn't called me."

"Wonder Woman called you?"

"Yea, we got to the funeral home just as she was heading out after the Duchess. Do you remember what happened."

"I remember a drug and a lot of questions..." Diana said. "I think they were asking about Wonder Woman."

"They were." Dr. Draciana said that he was informed you were Wonder Woman, he was very angry that he was brought to the US for nothing."

"Nothing." Diana repeated as she replayed the interrogation over in her mind. She'd given away some facts, but some lies as well and how could she tell how much the Duchess believed?

"Where's Colleen?" Diana asked looking at the other bed.

"Down the hall with her friend. He's in a lot of trouble Diana."

"I think we can help him Steve."

"You could'a made him a general or something." Colleen said. It was a month to the day that Joey had enlisted over the objections of a furious D.A. Colleen and Diana sat at the table in Diana's apartment. Edgar Bergan and Charlie McCarthy argued on the radio going in the background. Diana had been a little worried that Quick Louies arrest might put Colleen in danger, but the underworld took a dim view of traitors. Insanely as it seemed the mob was patriotic. Quick Louie hadn't lasted more than a night in jail before they found him with his throat cut. His two men had been found floating in the Potomac. Diana felt strangely about that. They had raped her, but killing was still wrong, but what would she have done to them?

"The army works on merit." Diana said. "At least as a wife you'll get to see him when he's home on leave."

"Yea." Colleen said looking at the ring on her finger. She picked up a bag off of the floor and slid it over to Diana.

"You only had one copy." Diana said taking out the film and looking at it.

"Course. More copies more chance they'll be found. I knew you wouldn't call me on it."

Diana sighed and put the film to one side. She was going to take it to her mother on Paradise Island, along with a warning to the amazons that the nazi's might be looking for the place again.

"You looked as good in the suit as I do." Diana said.

"Joey thought so too. He wants me to wear it when he gets some leave." Colleen smiled. "You're just lucky that I spotted the Duchess hustling you into the stairs and that Joey listened to me. Think she'll come back?"

"I don't know. From what little she told me the drug they gave me was supposed to destroy my memory as I was answering the questions. She might be done with me for good."


Epilogue 1

Duchess Katarina Von Schwaben stood in the presence of the greatest man in the world and tried not to show her fear. Getting out of America had taken months of running and hiding. Olga was in prison, she had sacrificed herself to allow Katrina to escape. She had nearly crisscrossed the country to get to Mexico and had spent more time on a cramped steamer to cross the Atlantic paying her way with her body. Only when she reached France had she felt safe enough to reveal her identity and arrange travel back to Berlin. Through it all the Duchess had worried. Her assignment had been to capture the Dark Lady. Instead all she had was a blood sample from someone that may or may not have been the Dark Lady.

Instead of reporting to her superiors she had found an escort waiting at the train station. Fear had found her then and the Duchess wondered if her failure would cost her life. And now she stood mere feet of the man who would decide her fate. Bright blue eyes pinned the Duchess to her chair.

"I ordered you to bring me back this "Dark Lady" Chancellor Hitler said coldly. "She would have been very useful to the Reich."

"Yes my leader." The Duchess said. "But I failed."

"No you did not."

The Duchess looked up in astonishment at the change of tone. Suddenly the man seemed warmed and friendly and his eyes, far from being menacing seemed to radiate compassion.

"But I did not bring the Dark Lady to you, I did not find out the location of the island where she got the drug..."

"No, but you have given me the key to Wonder Woman." He reached into his desk and pulled out a massive folder. "Since the day she first appeared Wonder Woman has been a mystery. Agents have reported that she is incredibly strong but can be made weak, that she is immortal, that she comes from a race of amazons!" he thumped the folder with enough force to make the Duchess jump. Then he held up her own report. "All lies. You were clever enough to discern the truth. Wonder Woman is the product of an American program to develop a drug that can produce supermen. You have given us the code name of the secret base where it was developed, the fact that it will not last long once taken and even a sample of this American woman's blood. She is not Wonder Woman and from the follow up reports I have read she is no longer connected with the project. When captured and interrogated again she could remember nothing."

"Nothing?"

"That is an unfortunate side effect of the truth drug." Chancellor Hitler said. "It destroys memory as it reveals it." He stood and walked over to her, taking her hands into his and looking into her eyes. "But the fact remains you have done Germany a great service. Germany is grateful and I am grateful. We will start our own program now. If the American's have done this thing so can we."

The Duchess said nothing, merely sat there and basked in Germanys gratitude.


Epilogue 2.

"You look pretty good for a dead guy."

Captain Jack Tripper O.S.S. scowled at the joke. He'd heard it too many times in the past few weeks.

"At least I don't have to do the gangster bit anymore." He said. "Passing that black market stuff to the krauts was a lousy job but I could live with it. But I had order two guys to rape a girl."

"You want a clean war go find one." The handler said. "You got us the info on where their money is going through the swiss banks and the girl should'a known what was gonna happen when she joined the army instead of staying home where she belonged."

"I'm just saying it ain't fun."

"What we do ain't fun a lot o times. Now take a week, get it out of your system. Then get back here, the nazi's have a research station in Africa we need you too look into."

"Great." Jack said unenthusiastically.

"Think you got all the stuff on Wonder Woman?"

"Hell maybe. Better than anyone else got anyway. Gotta be a really secret project if we've never heard about it."

"Gotta be." His handler said.

Standing on the other side of the wall, an ear piece pressed to his head J. Edgar Hoover listened to their conversation. He was not so naive as to believe that the OSS told the FBI everything they learned so he had bugged their office in the war department. The handler was right of course, it was a secret project. So secret that no one had told Hoover about it. That there was a secret in Washington, in America, in the world itself that Hoover didn't know about left a sour taste in the F.B.I. director's mouth. He'd long ago decided that America could only be safe if he knew everything that everyone was doing. He'd never been comfortable with Wonder Woman from the beginning, and now he knew his instincts had been right. She had been lying from the start and that meant she wasn't to be trusted. He'd have to find out more, just in case he'd ever have to move against her. If there was one thing Hoover had learned from years of politics it was that today's ally after all, was often tomorrow's foe.


Epilogue 3

Karena Olga sat in the hold of a Spanish freighter and ate the hot Mexican dish without complaint. It was the best meal she'd had in weeks. Karena hated American food. The man across from her looked over the typewritten report.

"You have done excellent work comrade." He said. "We had no idea the American's were working on such a drug."

"Surely you didn't believe that Wonder Woman came from an island of immortal amazon women?" Karena asked.

"We did not know what to believe." The agent said. "We could not get two reports that said the same thing about her. Her strength went up and down like the tide and even her costume changes at times, as does her age and appearance."

"Now we know why." Karena said.

"Yes we do, and your service will not be forgotten. Are you sure you wish to return to Germany? The Duchess might suspect that it was strange how you escaped from the American jail."

"I am less than the furniture to her comrade." Karena said. "She will believe what I say and an hour later expect me to draw her bath."

"As ever the high born make their own ropes." The agent agreed. He held up the little glass bottles filled with the samples Dr. Draciana had taken from Diana. "These will be useful."

"The Germans will no doubt start their own program on this formulea." Karena said. "I will watch the Duchess closely in case she is part of it. We must set up a special courier to relay this information, the normal routes will be watched too closely."

"Before this ship reaches Spain it will be done." The agent said getting up to leave. "Enjoy your trip comrade. Perhaps with luck someday you will receive this drug. Then you could truly teach this high born German bitch a lesson."

Karena smiled.


Epilogue 4

Two days after the ship Karena was on left port the agent who was her contact left his embassy and walked. He walked for most of the day and at last came to a dark corner by the docks. A parked car waited in that corner. The door opened and he got in. Inside the car was a well-dressed Asian woman. She sat in the back seat while a tall black man in a chauffeur uniform sat in the front.

"Here is a copy of the report." The agent said handing her an envelope.

"Your money." She said handing him a different envelope. "And the samples?"

"There is no way to copy them." The agent said. "Also Karena would discover if they are missing. One of your other agents will have to get them."

"Of course."

"Of course if the price was right..."

She smiled and pulled another envelope from a pocket in the seat in front of her. He smiled back and handed her the small glass bottles.

After a little while the man who Karena thought to be a pure marxist left the car and walked away. Behind him the car came to life and began to move. Inside the Asian agent known to the allies as Miss Syn began to read.

End.

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