E8: Wonder Woman #6

[Spider-Man Beyond]

E8: Wonder Woman #6
School Hard Part 2 of 3

Written by Colee Wisemiller (Wondy)
Edited by Daniel Dyer (Spider-Man Beyond)

Thou shalt not be a victim. Thou shalt not be a perpetrator. Above all, thou shalt not be a bystander. --- Holocaust Museum, Washington, DC

The waiting room at the hospital was empty with the exception of two people sitting as far away from each other as possible. One was a blonde young woman who tolerantly waited for any news concerning the patient they were there for. The other was a young man nursing his most recent hangover. To his relief, the hours of silence helped.

Doctors passed the two on various occasions, unfortunately none held any useful information. As minutes turned into hours the blonde crept from her seat and with speed all too inhuman sat next to her company. “Why?” she asked as she surveyed his tensed face.

He was unaware of her presence until she spoke. Slowly he opened one eye and replied, “Why what?”

“Why drink if it results in this?” she cupped her head just as he was doing to his to mimic his pain.

“It’s fun,” was his shallow reply.

“Fun?” Milton was almost beaten to death by one of his drunk teammates, how could that possibly be fun?

“Yeah, ya know, go out with the guys and drink a few beers. Get lost in the moment.”

“Why not just do productive things you enjoy? Why not use your energy to help people?”

He shrugged. “You only live once. Besides, helping people isn’t really at the top of my list of fun.” He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as his head continued to pound.

“I don’t believe that.” She crossed her arms.

Despite the pain it brought, he let out a chuckle. “You know me so well, do you?”

“I know people. Everyone wants to help, most are clouded by the material world to realize it,” she answered matter of factly.

Before he could respond, a doctor approached them. “I’m sorry, you two are here for the Marsten boy?”

“Yes,” they replied in unison as the man sitting opened his eyes. They all but jumped out of their seats to shake the doctor’s hand. “How is he?” the blonde asked.

“There was moderate internal bleeding in his abdomen. We operated right away and now the only thing we can do is wait. He’ll have some rough patches ahead with the healing process but thankfully he should survive. That was quite a beating he took. He‘s lucky to have friends like you.”

“Can we see him?” the young man asked.

“He’s been sedated but I’ll give you five minutes.” The Doctor lead the two to Milton’s room.

The trio stopped just short of the door. “I’m so embarrassed to do this but you’re Adam Schumacher, aren’t you?” He watched the young man in front of him nervously brush his hand through his hair.

“Yeah.”

“My boy is a big fan of yours. He wants to be just like you when he grows up, forget Dad. Once your in the pros I’ll be out of the picture. Would you mind signing this for him?” The Doctor presented him with a blank piece of paper. “His name is Sean, S-E-A-N.”

Adam scribbled a brief message and gave the paper back. “Thank you so much. He’ll be thrilled!” The Doctor put the paper in his pocket and pushed Milton’s door open. “Five minutes.”

As Adam followed his friend inside, the Doctor walked away and took out the piece of paper. It read, “Sean, save lives like your father, don’t waste one like me. Adam Schumacher #23.” He couldn’t help but smile.

~*~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Several tubes connected Milton to various machines. His breathing was shallow. His skin was deathly pale with the exception of the red bruises and a few cuts scattered about his body and face. Adam offered the chair to his companion. “Thank you but I’ll stand.”

“I can’t believe this happened.” Both stared at the victim of a terrible and senseless hate crime.

“You almost hit him yourself earlier,” the girl neutrally pointed out.

He took his eyes off Milton and stared at his only conscious company. “I’d never hurt anyone.”

“But you almost did.”

“I told you before, I wasn’t going to.” He doesn’t notice the rise in his voice.

“Then why act like an ass to him?” She wasn’t afraid of an argument, not when she knew she was right.

“God, Cassandra, I’d never hurt him. He’s annoying but so is my grandmother when she pinches my cheeks. I’d never hit her, so why would I hit him?” Something in him needed her to acknowledge he wasn’t a monster. “It’s not like I hate him,” he added in a low voice and looked at her.

Still Cassandra didn’t take her eyes off of one of the few people she was fond of at GCU, and yet Adam hoped beyond hope she’d look at him. “We should leave,” she declared.

~*~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

The two walked out of the hospital in unison. Adam debated his next words carefully. “Want a ride home?”

“I’ll walk.”

“I’ll walk!” he mimicked. “Who in their right mind would walk the streets of Gateway City at four in the morning? You’re joking, right?”

She raised an eyebrow at his third question.

“You’re not,” he said more to himself than to her. “There’s no way I’m letting you walk by yourself. It‘s not safe, besides, it‘d take you hours!”

“I appreciate your offer, but I’m fine. I’ll find a way home.”

“I’m driving you home and that’s final. I don’t care if you’re Supergirl herself, I’d still drive you home.”

Cassandra offered him a smirk. “What if I said I was Wonder Woman?”

“I’d drive her, too!” he replied in irritation.

She couldn’t help but giggle at the inside joke.

“What?” he asked in annoyance.

“Slap happy,” she sheepishly offered.

~*~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

A blue corvette stopped at the drop off point of Lex Tower, one of two apartment complexes in Gateway City owned by President Luthor. Adam parked the classic and hurried to the passenger side to open Cassandra’s door.

“I think I might’ve been safer on the streets,” she joked.

“Was that a stab at my driving?”

She nodded.

He looked the tower up and down. “I’m still shocked you live here.”

The two walked to the front door and Cassandra asked, “Why?” She was genuinely curious. Her biggest concern about keeping her duel identity was how easy she could be exposed. She refused to act anything other than proper in both but agreed with Dee Dee and Veronica to keep a low profile while she was herself. Wonder Woman was the show. Cassandra was the life.

“You’re nice.”

“Anyone could be nice.”

“Not people like us.” Her face was blank telling him instantly she did not understand. “Rich kids. We‘re selfish, ignorant and spoiled. You aren’t.”

Humphrey, the doorman, saw the couple and quickly approached them. “Ms. Sandsmark!” He was a tall man in his sixties with a thick mop of grey hair. His years in the service aged his body and destroyed his hearing.

“Humphrey!” she shouted back. “What’s the good word?”

The elderly man stopped in front of Adam and looked him over as if deciding whether he approved of him. “We’re alive to see another day.” Humphrey was a born again Christian ever since his wife passed almost a decade before. Whenever he’d converse with Cassandra God was sure to make an appearance in some form. A few times she had to bite her tongue to prevent herself from revealing how false his religion was. In the end she approved of his faith as long as he did not harm others.

Adam grumbled something under his breath. He was sure neither heard him until Cassandra shot him a glare. “I better get going. I have a few hours to take care of my hangover before practice.” An awkward beat passed as Adam was unsure how to say good-bye. He decided on a wave. “It was nice meeting you, Sir,” he offered to Humphrey. “I’m heading to the hospital after school if you want to come.”

Cassandra replied with a slight nod.

“See you at school.” He gave one final wave and within moments the Corvette sped away.

Humphrey guided Cassandra into the building. “I don’t like that boy.”

“Aren’t you not supposed to judge?” she offered innocently.

“I don’t like the way he looks at you.”

This time she blushed.

“Don’t get involved with no one until you’re married.”

Marriage was the furthest thing on her mind. She never thought of it on the Island because it was nonexistent there. She couldn’t recall daydreaming about it when she was younger. Besides, getting involved wasn’t something she was planning on. It would be too complicated with her duties.

“Ms. Cale is looking for you.”

“Thanks.”

“Ms. Sandsmark?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t stay out so late. You never know what crazies are out there.”

~*~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Cassandra fumbled with her keys as she tried to open her door. Sensing someone on the other side she froze in place. The door was unlocked from the inside and slowly opened. Preparing herself for anything she stood in a defensive stance.

CREEK! The door opened completely and Dee Dee stood in front of her. “Kiddo, hurry inside.”

She did as she was told and found Veronica standing with the morning’s paper in her hand. She looked tired, something rare for her. Cassandra looked back and forth between the two and deduced they had not slept. She further presumed they knew about Milton. “Hi.” She decided to test the water before she jumped in.

“Cassandra,” Veronica started, “we have a lot to go over.” Veronica walked over and handed her what she was holding. It turned out not only was she looking at the morning paper from that day but five other papers from the past several years.

“What’s this?” Cassandra started to speed read through each issue.

“We have reason to believe Milton’s attacker was not acting in a proper state of mind.”

“I was there, Veronica. I saw what he did to him. No one does something like that without knowing what they’re doing.” She tossed the papers on to her love seat.

“Cassie,” Dee Dee picked them up and handed them to her again, “Ronnie and I have been doing research all night after reading the police reports.”

“Police reports?” Cassandra didn’t realize how much power the two people talking to her had. “What are you talking about?”

“Milton’s attacker, a Bradley Smith, reported memory loss throughout the whole event. Elizabeth Thomas, the sole eye witness throughout the whole catastrophe, reported him repeating ‘psycho’ while beating him senseless.”

“So he had a blackout. He unconsciously blocked out what he was doing because he knew it was bad.”

“I don’t believe so.” Veronica pointed at the papers in Cassandra’s hands. “Each of those feature a story about a beating similar to the one given to Milton.”

“And in each of them the perpetrator couldn’t remember doing any of it,” Dee Dee finished.

“People are beaten all the time. Parties get out of hand everyday. You want me to believe Bradley didn’t do any of this purposely? What was it then, mind control?” She offered a sarcastic laugh.

“Actually, yes.” Veronica nodded.

“We don’t know for sure, we’re confident we can find connection between the stories. So far all we have linking the victims is their attackers attended major universities and repeatedly used the word psycho. We’re looking for a stronger connection. Veronica and I are going to investigate this. We want you to be on the lookout for any suspicious behavior at school.”

“Which brings us to this morning. You will not attend classes.”

“Okay?”

“Wonder Woman is scheduled to appear and give a speech about violence.”

~*~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Practice was unusually difficult. It wasn’t because of Adam’s headache. Nor was it because of his lack of sleep. It was because he couldn’t clear his conscious. Normally before practice he’d rid his mind of anything that didn’t involve football. He literally focused all his energy on the game. Today he couldn’t get the image of Milton’s blood covered body in Cassandra’s arms out of his head.

He wasn’t like this, he didn’t care about anyone, not even the girls he dated, he came to realize. He cared about success, not some poor bastard who had little significance in the grand scheme of things. Milton was an ant and ants were constantly stepped on without a second thought.

He was relieved when the coach looked past his sloppy footwork, but he was even more relieved when he didn’t scold him for his numerous incomplete passes. He could hear his teammates whisper about Brad and Milton to each other. He could hear them talk about him and the new girl. What bothered him was how they joked. It was as if they lacked any morality.

He never thought he’d be happy to be in Professor Prince’s class but the day was full of surprises. He was the first to arrive and nonchalantly took his seat.

“Are you feeling alright, Mr. Schumacher?” Professor Prince teased after she looked up to see her first student of the day.

“I don’t know,” he replied with honesty.

A somber expression crossed her face. “If you want to talk about it, I’m here.”

He nodded. “Thanks.”

His peers began to enter the room. Elizabeth Thomas noticed him right away. She sat at the seat near his side. “Hi.”

He was unresponsive save for a look of disgust.

“Adam -”

“How can you live with yourself?” He surprised even himself with his harsh words.

“I didn’t know,” she breathlessly replied.

“Save it.”

“Adam, I swear to you I didn’t know. Brad said he wanted to play a joke. He didn’t say he wanted to pound away at him.”

“I don’t care. Why would you ever want to treat someone like that?” Tears began to well up in her eyes.

“Since when are you a saint?” She left him to think and chose another seat near the window.

A saint? When did he ever call himself one? Memories fluttered through his head like butterflies. Grade school, middle school, high school and now college, the popular kids made so many people’s lives a living hell and just now he was realizing it.

Heidi walked past him and sat in her seat. He waited for Cassandra, the only person he wanted to see. Class began and he still waited.

~*~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

“I’m sure most of you have heard of last night’s incident,” Professor Prince surveyed her class. Most were more than likely at the very party where Milton William Marston the third was almost beaten to death. She was disgusted to think humanity had not evolved past brutal violence. Her whole life was a battle against it, and here she was now, trying to give her kids a lecture about responsibility while remaining calm.

“There were several dozen witnesses and not one of them came to the rescue of their fellow student. Not one of them stopped their suffering. Instead they watched, some even reportedly cheered.” She lifted the mornings paper so all could see. “This was in the paper today. Can you imagine how ashamed I felt to know that students I’ve known for years,” she glanced at Adam, “and some I’ve only just met allowed a fellow living creature to experience so much pain?”

This made several students sink into their seats. Never before had they seen her this way which made many of them feel as if they truly let her down. She was always their friend and looked past their shortcomings. She didn’t ridicule the not so bright ones by putting them on the spot, she didn’t pressure her students to make top marks. All she ever asked from them was to act responsibly with compassion and do their best. So many had failed her on both accounts.

“In lieu of last night the school has made an arrangement with the U.S. government. We will all go out to the courtyard to receive a speech from a very special guest. I was planning on holding off of all assignments until we started the text book but I’ve decided to do otherwise. I want each of you to write a letter to someone you have wronged. It will be due on Friday.”

~*~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

The entire campus waited restlessly in the courtyard. Their guest speaker was unknown to everyone with the exception of only a handful of faculty members. Miguel Cruz, the Dean of Admissions, was standing behind a podium in front of the campus’s oldest tree.

He cleared his throat. “We’re ready to begin.”

Someone dressed n a black Dolce suit and dark sunglasses nodded.

“You are all here because of the events of last evening involving two students. I want to assure all of you that this campus is one of the safest in the country. We are constantly going above and beyond to ensure the wellbeing of our students and faculty alike.

“The incident in question is a travesty and the fact that students watched such a thing and stood on the sidelines allowing it to occur has shocked me. Gateway City University takes pride in its humanitarian stance and will not stand for such ignorance. Rest assured, I have names and each and everyone of those names will be investigated.”

Miguel could sense uneasiness from a few students. They were scared which meant his job was partially done. “With that said, I’d like to introduce a very special speaker who has agreed to take time out of her busy schedule to approach this matter directly. Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome Wonder Woman to the stage.”

A gust of wind came out of nowhere and before anyone could blink, Wonder Woman stood proudly before them. Her golden hair hung just below her shoulders and glistened in the hot, summer sun, as did her tiara and lasso. Her costume had gone through a few variations since she first appeared. Nothing major but she added the gauntlets Hippolyta gave her and the golden lasso of Zeus. It came in handy when criminals chose to be difficult with answering questions.

None of the students expected to see her. They were all in awe, even if they weren’t a fan. The papers always mentioned how beautiful she looked, with her soft features and lean body, but seeing her in person was a whole different story. She was gorgeous in a respectable manner. Her face was full of hope, just looking being in her presence made everyone feel better. Women idolized her and men were ashamed to think of her in less than innocent ways.

Everyone waited for her to speak. “Thank you Dean Cruz.” She had a faint accent that many believed to be Greek. In simple truth, it was a mixture of dialects to disguise her true voice. “Violence is not a way of life. People are not born to destroy. We are here to improve. Everyday we are presented with opportunities to help those around us and everyday we are given the ability to create peace and harmony.”

“Then why are there wars?” a student shouted out.

“Wars are the result of ignoring opportunity. Men and women have been taught to yearn for control over their neighbors, whether they be fellow men, the animals or even the plants that make the gift of existence possible. We are taught to take the way that benefits us, no matter what the cost is for everyone else.

“Last night one of your fellow students ignored opportunity and indulged himself in destroying another. This is one of the worst crimes possible. Again, we are not here to destroy.”

The same student who shouted raised their hand.

“This time you have manners?”

The students and faculty chuckled.

“Go ahead.”

“You have powers. Superman had powers. Everyone in the Super family has powers. We’re just normal people, why don’t all of you heroes stop the wars? Why don’t you guys prevent the nuclear war?”

“I am glad you are here today. That is a very good question. Why not destroy all the weapons? Why not prevent the long rumored nuclear war from occurring? In simple answer, we cannot do that without going against what we stand for. Humans have the privilege of free will. With that comes responsibility. You are all responsible for your actions and are expected to chose the path that will not harm.”

She waited a moment to let them think about her words. She glanced over the crowd and saw several classmates as well as teachers. Professor Prince was listening intently. Adam was paying attention, something that she wasn’t expecting. Professor Parks was standing behind him and… squinting? Squinting as if he was focusing all his attention on the quarterback. Suddenly a flashback reminded Cassandra of his class the day before. Brad was talking to him after school and he had that same look.

She made a mental note and continued, “You may not have super strength or super speed or the ability to leap buildings in a single bound but you have your heart. If someone is suffering and you can alleviate it then why not help them? Even the smallest gesture of kindness gives hope for a better tomorrow. If you feel the situation is too difficult for you to handle then please report it to someone who can help. If you have any information about last evening then I urge you to let your teachers, counselor, the police or even myself know. Never be afraid to do what is just.

“I am going to leave you with a quote that is a result of one of the worst hate crimes this millennia. ‘Thou shalt not be a victim. Thou shalt not be a perpetrator. Above all, thou shalt not be a bystander.’ Holocaust Museum, Washington, DC. Millions of innocent people were murdered and people all over the world knew about it but did not act until the war was in their backyard. Please, do not wait for the war to come to you.”

She watched as claps erupted from her audience. Her speech was a bit much, she had to silently admit that, but it conveyed the point of violence being fruitless. She saw Dean Cruz out of the corner of her eye. He was fidgeting a bit as he looked in the direction of Professor Parks. It was as if he was doing a horrible job at hiding guilt of some sort.

Before she flew off she looked at Adam. His eyes betrayed his body and showed his tiredness. Her relationship with him, whatever it was, was odd more than anything else. He was quite typical for a man of Patriarch’s World, yet he was the only one who insisted he’d travel with her and Milton to the hospital. Of course his offer made it impossible to fly there, as she had originally planned (it was an emergency, after all), but for some reason she didn’t mind his company.

He stayed there throughout the late night and early morning. Not once did he complain about the hours of being in the dark concerning Milton’s condition. He had sat there, obviously nursing a hangover, and waited. She could not deny how significant his gesture was. As he had told her earlier, people like him were supposed to not care. He clearly did.

~*~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Cassandra spent most of the day doing Wonder Woman’s duties. She made several appearances throughout the world to endorse charities she carefully chose. Time managed to fly and before she realized it she was due to soon meet Adam at Gateway hospital.

She stopped in her apartment and quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a red button down blouse. Her golden hair hung loosely in a messy bun. She washed the makeup she wore only as Wonder Woman off her face and headed out.

In the lobby of Luthor Tower she was greeted by Liz Thomas. “Cassandra, I’m so glad you’re here!” It was as if the two were best friends since childhood.

She couldn’t help but doubt that. She didn’t even know Liz knew her name, they had only met each other through a few glances the previous day, let alone where she lived. “Liz.”

Cassandra felt a slight tug as the girl guided her away from the crowd of people. “I need to talk to you.” Her voice was weighty.

Cassandra took a moment to scan her face before she made a reply. “Me? Don’t take this the wrong way, but we’ve never talked before.”

The crowd around them seemed to grow at a rather speedy rate. Liz looked around almost as if she were paranoid of someone hearing. “Is there some place… private?”

“My apartment,” the golden haired girl replied without thought.

“Can we go there? Now?”

The last word stood out as a command. She was now positive Liz was in a state of panic and for some reason felt Cassandra would remedy that.

~*~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Liz was holding a glass of water, the only beverage Cassandra had in her apartment. The two had been in deep conversation for the past several minutes and Cassandra was still trying to figure out why the girl was there. “The way he looked, his eyes, they were so dark, so empty, I should‘ve known something was wrong. I thought he was going to do a stupid prank, something like high school, I didn’t know he was going to beat him. I swear.”

She was on the verge of tears. “I had to tell someone who cared. I tried talking to Adam but the way he looks at me… he won’t listen.”

“Why come to a stranger?” As soon as she let the question out she regretted it.

Liz looked like she was going to break down because of it. “You aren’t a stranger, we had a few grades together back at Sloane Elementary. You went to my birthday party in kindergarten.” Her puffy eyes stared at her once friend “And you saved Milton. No one else did.”

“Adam -”

“Adam tagged along. He’s just as bad as the rest of us.” Her voice changed, her guilt was replaced by anger.

“What do you think happened?”

“I don’t know. But that wasn’t Brad last night. It was like he was possessed or something.” Liz took one last sip of water and placed it gently on the coffee table in front of her. “I have to go.” She started to get up, then stopped. “Something is going on, something bad. People have been acting differently. I thought if I found someone who cared then everything would be better.”

~*~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

An hour had passed since she last checked the clock. Adam was probably already visiting Milton. Liz Thomas, she thought the name was familiar. Now she knew why. Her life before all this, before her training, felt like a blur. It was so unimportant when she looked at the bigger picture, but now she wished she held on to her memories a tad bit tighter. Kindergarten… birthday parties… it was no use. She couldn’t remember any parties, she couldn’t remember Liz.

She checked her messages, there were two. One was from Dee Dee letting her know they were still working on everything but so far nothing useful showed up, the other was from Adam.

“Hey, um, you weren’t at school today so I’m not sure if you’re still going. Meet me at the main parking lot on campus if you want a ride. Practice ends at six-thirty. Bye.” How he managed to obtain her number was beyond her. She’d have to talk to Dee Dee about that, it could be a security risk.

~*~

[Spider-Man Beyond]

It was six o’clock on the dot. Cassandra sat in the stands of the football field and watched as the Gators finished their game of skirmish. Adam’s eyes instantly flew to her direction. A few of his teammates who had their backs facing her turned around and followed his gaze. She watched as they hit his arm in a teasing matter and had to surpass a laugh. If Artemis saw what she was witnessing she would surely zoom down there and scold the men for behaving like pigs. They were talking about her, she could hear her name and a few scattered words, many of which she was sure were inappropriate to say to her face. This, of course, made her frown.

Adam took off his helmet and gave his teammates a look that would turn even Medussa to stone. He returned his gaze, now softened, to her and held up his right hand. “Give me five minutes,” he yelled and disappeared into the locker room along with the rest of his team.

The five minutes alone gave Cassandra more time to question what she was doing. She was here, back in Patriarch’s World, on a mission. Why did she let this… man get so close? It was dangerous and selfish. She could have easily prevented Milton’s beating if she wasn’t preoccupied with him. There was no room for distractions, she knew that, so why was she so eager to be with him again?

Lost in thought, she failed to notice Professor Peters leaving the locker room. He hurried out, as if he was running from something. He looked all around, doing his best to ensure no one saw him leave. Then he spotted her in the stands and froze. She was staring straight ahead, lost in her own thoughts. He was sure she did not spot him, but he still had to be safe. “Unanimis, deleo memoria,” he chanted in Latin. “One mind, erase your memory.”

He focused on her intently, as he did with Adam and Brad before. Beads of sweat began to drip from his forehead, he was experiencing resistance but that was impossible. No one could resist him, his mind was far too powerful for hers to be a match.

The door to the locker room rustled and began to open. Professor Peters’s face went white and he had to quickly chose, cover his tracks which might not even need to be covered or leave before he was discovered. He could control small groups of people at once but it would take too much energy for it to be worth it. His stubby legs carried him at a surprisingly quick pace and he was gone before he could be noticed.

Adam was the first out and he wasted no time in meeting Cassandra. “I wasn’t sure if you were still going.”

“Yeah, I gathered that from your message,” she teased. Sarcasm was easy enough to pick up. It was like riding a bicycle, once you did it you’d never forget how.

“I thought you’d be in class today.” He opened the door to the stairs and they trekked down them.

“I was beat, from staying up all night. Slept in.” She was lucky her tolerance for lack of sleep was so strong.

“You do have dark circles under your eyes,” he pointed out.

“Gee, thanks.” Or maybe it wasn’t? Self consciously she looked at her reflection as they passed a mirror that hid a security camera in the corner. There were no dark circles under her eyes. She found slight annoyance in his fib. Not because he lied, but rather because she believed him and actually cared. Quickly she justified her concern as being about keeping her identity a secret, although she knew that was a stretch.

As if he was reading her mind he casually continued the conversation, “You missed Wonder Woman.”

She gave him a weak smile and tried to sound convincingly interested. “Wonder Woman? Where?”

“School. She gave a speech. It was short, really short thankfully but everyone seemed to listen.” They reached his car and stopped.

“What was the speech about?” She continued to act as if all this was a surprise. Maybe she should pursue acting with all the practice she received throughout her daily life?

“Milton and Brad. How everyone just watched. She didn’t mention any names but it was like she was there. The looks she gave some of the people who were right there doing nothing when it happened… I’m just glad I wasn’t one of them.” He opened her door for her.

She didn’t realize she cast such a judgmental glare at those who stood by while Milton suffered. She’d have to watch that next time. The last thing she wanted was to have her peers hate her for being arrogant. Wonder Woman couldn’t be seen like that. “Did she?”

He nodded. “I think she even looked at me for a second. I’m not sure. For some reason part of it is a blur.” As he tried to recall the brief moment he tensed. He could not muster anything despite his great attempt to do so. “I just…” he trailed.

“What?” She was watching him intently. The lack of light made it difficult to see but she could have sworn she was looking into clouded eyes for a brief moment.

“There was a voice… I think?” He stood there with her door open and continued to try to grab whatever he could from his memory. “Let’s just forget it.” He tried to laugh it off. As he bent down to move the papers from his passenger seat Cassandra saw a glimpse of his eyes. They were normal, nothing but baby blues.

“Okay,” she replied but hesitated to get in. She could hear something, someone was in the shadows close by. As she focused on the sound more she heard a muffled voice that was vaguely familiar speaking Latin under its breath. She did a quick once over but the lighting was too poor to reveal anything.

“Ready?” He was unaware to everything. Obviously the person was not so close. Her super human hearing meant they could be virtually anywhere in the several story parking lot.

She nodded and took her seat. He closed the door behind her and sat behind the wheel. “Remember, we want to arrive alive,” she joked more to pacify her mind than anything else.

“I’ll try,” he replied with a wink.

She let out a soft laugh and eased into her seat. Her comfort betrayed her, for she did not see his eyes swallowed by a cloud of darkness.

Continued...