Fic: Comes The Thunder (1/1)
Title: Comes The Thunder (1/1)
Author: BradyGirl_12
Pairings/Characters: Steve/Diana
Continuity: Wonder Woman (2017)
Genres: Angst, Drama
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Spoilers: For Wonder Woman (2017)
Summary: Diana and Steve philosophize around the campfire while the guns of war thunder in the distance.
Date Of Completion: March 6, 2020
Date Of Posting: June 3, 2020
Disclaimer: I don’t own ‘em, DC and Warner Brothers do, more’s the pity.
Word Count: 562
Feedback welcome and appreciated.
Happy Birthday,
starsandsea! :)
Comes the thunder
With crack and groan,
Comes the lightning
With snap and moan,
Slicing across
The sky
Scattering stars
And clouds
In wild fury.
Corporal Edwin Strunk
Royal Fusiliers
"View From The Trenches"
1918 C.E.
“It sounds like thunder.”
Steve nodded as he poked at the campfire with a stick. “It’s the big guns.”
“Chief said that.”
“He’s right. You spend enough time on the front, it becomes background noise.”
“At home, I would sit outside and watch the dark clouds approaching the island. The storm was wild and powerful and a little frightening.”
Diana and Steve were the only ones awake. Their comrades were sleeping, undisturbed by the distant sounds of war. Diana sat cross-legged while Steve cooked the miniature hot dogs from one of Chief’s tins.
“Well, you could say the guns are wild and powerful and a lot frightening.”
Diana looked troubled. “Ares has Man’s World by the throat.”
The firelight flickered over Steve’s face and hair. “War has always been part of man’s story.”
“The Gods did not wish it so.”
Steve smiled faintly. “Sorry we disappointed them.” He rotated the hot dogs on the sticks he held.
The booming of the guns maintained a rhythm. This far away from their range, many soldiers fell asleep to their cadence.
“Big Bertha is the nickname of one of the biggest German guns. One projectile wiped Fort Loncin in Liege, Belgium, right off the map.”
Diana looked up at the stars. The chill of the autumn evening was mitigated by the campfire. “There’s still beauty here,” she murmured.
“You mean despite the mud, craters, half-dead trees, and barbed wire?” Steve smiled. “Sorry. I guess an artist could see the beauty, or an Amazon.”
Diana pointed upward. “The sky.”
Steve looked up. “You’re right. The sky’s safe because we can’t figure out a way yet to use it as a battlefield, though dogfights between pilots probably count.”
Diana’s tone was sad. “I am sorry for your cynicism.”
“I’m not.” Steve offered one of the sticks to Diana.
She took it. “Why?”
“Because a cynic is an idealist who’s seen too much of the world.”
“Oh.” Diana bit into the hot dog. She realized that she was hungry.
“I guess you can adapt to anything, like the guns’ thunder.”
“I hope to bring your world a way to live in peace.”
Steve ate his hot dog. “Princess, if you can do that, the world will thank you. Well, not the munitions makers, but everyone else.”
Diana reached out and grasped Steve’s hand. “The world is capable of great beauty. I have seen it in Paris, in the great churches, in the remnants of such in the villages. When Ares is defeated, your world will be free to keep its beauty and to create new wonders.”
Steve looked affectionately at her. “I’m glad you’ll never be a cynic.”
Diana did not quite understand but she squeezed his hand. The booming of the guns grew louder.
The couple ate more hot dogs and Steve said, “Get some sleep, Diana.”
She nodded, curling up under a tree, confident that Steve would keep watch. She listened to the guns’ boom-boom-booms and fell asleep.
Steve looked down at her sadly. “The storm isn’t coming, Princess. It’s been here a good, long time.”
He sat down wearily beside her as the fire popped and the guns thundered.
This story can also be read on AO3.
This entry has been cross-posted from Dreamwidth. Comment on either entry as you wish. :)