Wonder Woman Beyond #9

[Glippernip]

Wonder Woman Beyond #9

Family Matters, part one

Written by Dean Grey
Edited by Joel Sawyer


Natalie Nemos-Nikolaos had paced around the waiting room of the Gateway City Memorial Hospital for the past four hours now. Her winter jacket and skirt still stained with blood.

After she and her nephew were ambushed and attacked by the Cheetah, Natalie’s teenaged nephew, Nathan, had gotten seriously maimed in the ensuing fight. With the greatest speed, Natalie, as the new Wonder Woman, rushed her nephew to the closest hospital, changing back to her civilian identity just before entering, of course.

But now all she can do is wait and worry. No godlike strength, speed, or wisdom can help her here. All she can do is pray that the doctors know what they’re doing and that her nephew survives.

After what seemed like an eternity, a neatly dressed middle-aged doctor calmly entered the waiting room.

“Mrs. Nikolaos?”

“Yes,” Natalie anxiously said having turned around to face him.

“Your nephew is fine. Surprisingly, he’s doing quite fine to be exact.”

Natalie’s average looking face went from worried to relieved all at once. “Thank God. Thank God. Thank God. Can I see him, doctor?”

“Of course, I think he’d like that. Follow me.

[Glippernip]

When Natalie finally entered her nephew’s hospital room and saw his skinny body in a hospital gown, bandaged, and lying on a bed, she started to cry.

“It’s okay, Aunt Lee, I’m fine. Really.”

Smaller medical dressings were on Nathan’s forehead and arms but the bulkiest and largest bandage which got his aunt the most upset was the one on the side of his throat.

“Oh God, Nathan, your neck.”

Trying to calm her down, the doctor quickly spoke up. “Mrs. Nikolaos, it’s just worse than it looks. The bandages just help cover the injured area. The wound itself has already been closed.”

Natalie still seemed a bit frantic. “But the gash was so big. I saw so much blood pour out!”

“That’s odd,” the doctor said as he pushed his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose. “When we got to your nephew the wound wasn’t that big at all.”

The doctor carefully reached over towards Nathan and removed the gauze slightly away from his thin neck, revealing a narrow two inch pink scar. “You see. We’ve sealed it shut. There’s no need to worry anymore.”

“But I saw it,” Natalie insisted. “I thought part of his neck was going to come off.”

“Well you told the hospital staff when you first arrived that the two of you were attacked by the Cheetah,” the doctor replied with arms crossed. “Maybe you were so frazzled by the whole event that you thought your nephew’s wound was worse than it is. And with all the blood loss that probably got you panicking too.”

“He didn’t need a transfusion?” Natalie asked in disbelief.

“No,” the doctor answered. “Although I do admit to being stumped by how someone could lose so much blood and still be so energetic.” The doctor softly winked at Natalie’s nephew and Nathan’s pretty face smiled back. “You actually can take him home today if you like.”

“Today?” Natalie asked.

“Yes. As long as Nathan feels up to it he is free to leave. I do recommend plenty of rest for at least a week. His schooling will have to wait. And don’t worry about the scar. In this day and age, the same laser technology which sutured his wound can easily lance and remove the scar as well. That can be scheduled before he goes back to school if you wish.”

Natalie thanked the doctor for all that he had done, but in the back of her mind she couldn’t help but wonder how her nephew could recover so quickly. Especially when only hours ago in a darkened alleyway in her arms he was on the verge of death. She turned to Nathan. “You’re sure you feel okay?”

“Good as new Aunt Lee!”

“Okay then, if you two are sure.”

[Glippernip]

“Oh and one more thing, Mrs. Nikolaos. A detective had wanted to talk with you before you two leave.”

“A detective?”

The doctor held out a finger to signal “one moment” and ducked his head into the hall to address the person waiting outside. As the doctor gestured into the small room then exited, another much younger man entered.

“Ma’am? Hi, I’m Detective Maurin. You can call me Matt,” the handsome man smiled as he extended a strong hand.

Natalie gave a handshake but was more nervous than impressed. What would a detective want?

“I’m here to ask you two some questions about your incident with the Cheetah late last night,” the detective explained having pulled out a small, wrinkled notepad.

He was close to Natalie’s age; in his late 20’s. He was athletic and roughly 6’ 1”, 6’ 2”, with sandy hair. You could tell he was a detective and not a cop just by the way he dressed. Jeans and a t-shirt, with a blazer thrown on. Unshaven and slightly messy hair let you know he followed his own schedule and not anyone else’s. And he had that look that if he just cleaned himself up a bit he might appear even better looking. Nathan Nemos’ light blue eyes widened and his heart beat a little faster.

“I’ve already talked with the police while my nephew was being treated by the doctors,” Natalie explained. “They know all about the Cheetah attacking us while we were walking home.”

“Yes, I’m aware of that. I talked to the same officers after you did,” the detective impatiently said. “But something doesn’t add up. Why would someone like the Cheetah go after two innocent bystanders walking down the street?”

“Because she’s sick,” Natalie hotly replied.

“I realize that ma’am, but I’ve followed criminals for a while now. Believe it or not they have a method to their madness.”

“Sir, if you could hurry I’d like to get my nephew home.”

The detective’s demeanor became serious and no nonsense. “The Cheetah, in the past, has only gone after those connected to two people: Baqir Al Asad and the new Wonder Woman.”

Natalie got quiet and appeared a bit startled and Nathan nervously looked at his aunt.

“I still don’t--,” Natalie attempted to say, trying to play stupid. But the detective cut her off mid-sentence and continued his point.

“--The Cheetah originally went after Baqir Al Asad’s men over a month ago. Then days later she went after Asad. That’s when the new Wonder Woman showed up and stopped her. The Cheetah has never gone after anyone since then until last night....with you two.”

“I’m sorry, I really do need to get my nephew--”

“--Do either of you have a connection to Baqir Al Asad or the new Wonder Woman?”

[Glippernip]

“No,” Natalie replied clearly annoyed.

“No?” the detective asked not entirely believing her.

“No,” Natalie angrily repeated in a raised tone, looking him straight in the eyes.

“Fine,” the detective said, frustration in his voice. He pulled out a business card from inside his dark jacket and handed it to Natalie. “Here’s my card. My number’s on the back. If you have any information that might help lead me to the Cheetah, give me a call.”

“Of course," Natalie smiled. A plain grin on her face pretending that she’d be sure and phone him.

The detective nodded goodbye to Natalie and told her nephew to get better soon, which made Nathan get flushed and feel warm. Detective Matt Maurin snapped his fingers and caught himself just before exiting the hospital room, turned back around and added, “And we’ve arranged for a squad car to keep watch in front of your house tonight. Just to be safe.”

“That really isn’t necessary, detective,” Natalie replied coldly.

“Ma’am you were both attacked late last night. Your nephew could have died and you don’t want a squad car?!”

Natalie got a bit flustered, looked at her nephew then back at the detective. “It’s, um....just that I want to get my nephew home....um....and have things back to normal.”

“I understand that ma’am, but tonight I think it’s a good idea.”

“Fine, detective. Thank you,” Natalie softly, calmly said, trying not to rouse anymore suspicion.

“Remember, you have my number. If you know anything at all connected with the Cheetah, call me.”

Natalie faked another smile and waved as the detective finally left.

[Glippernip]

“Why didn’t you want a cop car in front of our house?” Nathan whispered, just in case the detective wasn’t far enough away yet.

“I just thought if I needed to change into Wonder Woman at home for some reason it would be a lot more difficult with the police around. I’m going to have to watch where I transform from now on. People like that nosey detective might be watching.”

“He wasn’t that bad,” Nathan said in a girly sort of way.

Finally alone and just the two of them, Natalie became teary-eyed and she stared her nephew in the eyes. “You really are okay?”

“Yes, Aunt Lee, I promise.”

Natalie tightly hugged her nephew from the side of his bulky hospital bed. Her long brown hair mixing with his jet black black hair. In a cracking voice she said, “Oh God, Nathan. I thought you weren’t going to make it. I never would’ve forgiven myself if--”

“--Aunt Lee, I’m fine....I’m fine.”

Natalie laughed a bit while she wiped away her tears. “Okay, okay, I get the hint. Just don’t ever scare me like that again young man, got it?”

“Got it, Aunt Lee.”

“Good, now let’s get you home.”

[Glippernip]

Star City State Penitentiary, Star City.....

It’s been over a month since Baqir Al Asad had been sent here. Drug trafficker, arms dealer, terrorist liaison; he’s done it all. People that knew him feared him. Now it’s the other way around. Today, like every day these past few weeks, Baqir Al Asad watches over his shoulder. The other prisoners don’t like rats. They don’t like those that give up information for a possible lighter sentence.

When the Cheetah initially tried to kill Baqir Al Asad, the new Wonder Woman intervened and prevented it. The police arrived and Wonder Woman handed Asad over to the authorities. But before he could be taken into custody, Wonder Woman used her Magic Lasso on Asad, forcing from him his closest contacts and their locations.

Once in this maximum security prison, the rumors spread how Asad snitched on his allies. The other inmates weren’t buying the whole “magical rope made me tell the truth” story. Here, in this prison, if you rat out somebody, you’d better watch your back.

Today Asad’s in the prison library, reading to kill the time. Another inmate, wearing the same orange prison suit as him, walked up to Baqir Al Asad’s table and threw down a newspaper.

“Hey Asad, thought you might like to read this,” the burly inmate chuckled. “You were from Gateway right?”

Baqir Al Asad didn’t answer but angrily took the paper into his mangled hands, two fingers missing from each one. It was the Gateway City Gazette, one of several out-of-state newspapers the library subscribed to.

Asad read the headline to himself: “The Cheetah strikes again! Innocent teen attacked!”

Baqir Al Asad slowly and cleanly folded up the paper with his damaged hands. The inmate that brought the news couldn’t seem to keep his laughter contained as he laughed out in the hall. The prisoners here loved giving “rats” a hard time.

Baqir Al Asad sat there trying to stay composed. The mere thought of the Cheetah made his anger rise and his dark bushy eyebrows tensed towards each other. Then he became calm again. A sinister smile grew on his round face like he had something planned.

He quietly growled in a subtle Arabic accent, “It won’t be long before my outside contacts pull through and I finally break out of this hellhole. When I do, the Cheetah and the new Wonder Woman will pay dearly for ever putting me here.”


..........To be continued.