Archive of Our Own ^beta

The best part about Steve, she thinks, is how much like her she is.

And she knows that sounds weird, sounds selfish, sounds narcissistic, but that’s not what she means at all. She, Diana, Wonder Woman, is exceptional. She always has been. Her skills, her faith in the innate goodness of the world, her power, everything that makes her a superhero, all of it makes sense. This is how she is. You can’t grow up as the only child on a magical island full of immortal, otherworldly women (and turn out to be an actual god???) without being kind of special.

But Steve, he isn’t like that. He’s just a man. A man. A man from a world so much more complicated than her own, who doesn’t have god-given powers, who wasn’t the only person like him growing up, just a random kid from a family who happened to like airplanes in a world full of so many other kids from other families who like lots of things. He shouldn’t be different than any of the men Diana brushes past on a daily basis. But, Steve. Somehow, he’s the most special person she’s ever met. He matches her – in every way – step for step, blow for blow, he’s the same. And yeah, when they’re facing gunfire they have the same basic motives save those people in the way as fast as possible, but it’s so much more than that. He’s not magic, hasn’t seen the world the way she has, with impossibility woven around every corner, but he believes in things, believes in kindness, believes in love, believes in protection, and safety, and joy just as much as she does.

He doesn’t have any reason to – not like she does – but he still knows. He believes in her. And yeah, she’s Wonder Woman, she was a princess, she has lots of people who believe in her, but he’s so different. And he’s a warrior, like her he’s a warrior, but he wasn’t raised his whole life like that, it isn’t a mandate for him, isn’t a destiny, it’s just a choice. It’s a life he lives, even though he doesn’t have to, because he thinks it will make things better. He thinks things can be so much better, even when she can’t get past the fog of danger that seems to surround this whole world. He is ready to fight, fight and bleed and forge ahead and sacrifice, always sacrifice, when even she, Wonder Woman, Diana, whoever she is right now, can’t stomach it.

He does the right thing, every time, holding her hand the whole way. And it isn’t because he’s a god, it’s because he’s Steve. Steve, who always does the right thing, for the right reasons, because he believes in the tiniest specks of goodness, the quickest flashes of love, their ability to expand and multiply and overwhelm, Diana they just need a chance! He’s the best person in the world, the best person she’s seen in all her many, many years with humanity, and he’s hers. He doesn’t need to be this way, isn’t meant to, but he is, and she loves him for that.

She’d deny it, find it embarrassing, but she’s an amazon, she is her mother’s daughter, she’s Wonder Woman, and so she’s smart enough to know that love isn’t a weakness.

Some nights, still, even after all these years together, she wakes up in the middle of the night and finds herself pulled into his chest surrounded by his breath, and she can’t tell if she curled up there, or if he guided her in. She looks at him, the face she’s loved for as long as she can remember, the hands that link with hers at any opportunity, that stroke her back when she can’t sleep, the chest that holds his strong ribs, protecting the giant (bafflingly soft) heart he makes all his decisions from (and they’re always smart, always right, always exactly what he should do, because he’d give himself away to save the world in a heartbeat, and that’s just not how people are supposed to work). She breathes in the way he smells, like shampoo, and cologne, and something that she thinks is probably sweat, but really smells like home, and shuts her eyes.

How did she ever think they weren’t going to be ok.