#taken me seriously and offered advice even if she didn't understand. because she always made an EFFORT to understand.

[lunarwondcr]

relentlessperplexity​:

Steve hummed, smiling softly. “I suppose they are, yeah.”

That automatic honesty had become such a staple of their relationship that it had been a literal lifetime since he had seriously thought to question it, to really sit and think about everything Diana had done to earn something that wasn’t actually second nature for Steve (except, sometimes inexplicably, with her). But of course she had, in so many different ways. 

“She has gotten better at hiding it.” Another necessary evil, he supposed, and one of those habits of man’s world that he couldn’t help but feel those twangs of guilt for. He wasn’t arrogant enough to presume that Diana wouldn’t have found her way here without him, because of course she would have, but that didn’t change the fact that he had been the one to crash on paradise and then accepted her help with a false promise and no thought to the consequences. Somehow that made Donna’s existence, her return, feel all the more like a miracle and while he was loathe to encourage taking on such a burden so soon after her return, he also couldn’t help but feel relieved to know that there would be someone with Diana always, making her a priority in a way that Steve simply couldn’t right now due to their circumstances. “Though I might have to ask for tips if you can actually get her to take your advice.”

His smile said he wouldn’t really ask her to betray any sisterly secrets, though it sobered quickly enough leaving Steve quiet for long enough that passing trees started to turn to run-down buildings once more. Steve continued to check his mirrors for any new tails, to the point where it felt like he spent more time looking backwards than with his eyes on the actual road. But nothing, nerves slowly easing, and the checklist of important information (which would inevitably have to be fleshed out by Diana) dwindled down to just the one thing. Because it was important, something she should know if they happened upon each other anywhere but here or the Mousehole. And he could only hope that he had been proven himself trustworthy enough by now that she wouldn’t immediately turn into a flight risk.

“I wish I could offer more, something that would actually help you acclimate, but I’m need-to-know only myself, here for work,” he shot her a look laced with warning and it was almost automatic now that he added, “Don’t go in the woods. Because it’s dangerous, but also … well, we got lucky. That I wasn’t with my team today.” Steve shrugged. “We work for ARGUS.”

Donna hummed softly, consideringly, before nodding once. "I can't say that surprises me. She was good at it even before I...passed. It doesn't surprise me that she's gotten better at it since," she said quietly. Donna had been doing her best to make sure she didn't give into the swells of guilt roiling in her chest - it had hardly been her fault that she had died in the pursuit of doing the right thing, it had been an honourable death after all - but the fact that she had left her sisters behind was something that she was struggling to forgive herself for. Still, she was here now. Donna saw no reason for Diana to continue to suffer silently and carry her burden without aid. No longer.

As the landscape around them changed, Donna watched Steve's frame began to ease, some of the tension leaching from it as they got further and further away from the location they had stumbled across one another. "It's quite alright. I understand that it's complicated here," she murmured, even as she held his gaze firmly. Donna was not afraid of death, not now she had faced it head on, but she was also clever enough to know it wasn't wise to court her a second time. Then came the real reason she wasn't supposed to go into the woods and eyebrow ticked up slightly, curious but not quite as tense as one might expect. Steve had proven himself to Diana and he had taken her in. She saw no reason to fly off the handle yet.

"Ah, I see. And I  must assume that not everyone in your team would be as amenable to helping me out as you were?" Donna said with a cant of her head. Donna had been aware of enough regarding the direction ARGUS had taken after the Accords to know that it was a very safe assumption to make.