2012-08-22 Rise of an Amazon

Predictably, the Themysciran Embassy is very busy during the day. People coming and going through

the lobby room. That particular room takes up most of the main floor, and has a large statue of

Athena in the center - small alcoves around the room provide homes for smaller statues of other

goddesses. And while most of the people are down here, only a few go upstairs, to where Diana's

office is (and beyond that, the living quarters). No visitors dare go further up than Diana's

office. That's just not allowed. The second level, with the living quarters, does provide a

balcony that overlooks a huge room in the back of the embassy that serves as the training compound

as well as a garden. Both of which are used by the Amazons to teach classes and to keep themselves

busy.

It is this balcony where Diana can be found. Finally granted a moment's peace, she is leaning on

the balcony, looking down at the class below - a gardening class taught by one of the other

Amazons. Today's class has moved onto growing fruits and vegetables, a step which requires more

care than the flowers they've been handling so far.

Fairchild wanders out from the room she was granted in the living area, and has been exploring a

little, just in awe of this place. Beautiful marble, ancient goddesses, and everyone is so

friendly! She's freshly showered, and wearing a borrowed white summer dress, her radiant red hair

cascading down her back.

Caitlin lights up when she spots Wonder Woman and makes her way over, the little silk slippers she

was lent making that 'wisk wisk wisk' sound on the stone as she approaches. "Wonder Woman." she

says, smiling.

"I'm, not disturbing you am I?" the girl says, stopping and looking down over the class before

looking back a little nervously. Wonder Woman shakes her head. "No, of course not. And please, my name is Diana." She gestures to

an open place beside her. "I hope you slept well. I apologize we didn't have pants." She smiles

gently. "I'm pleased we had something in your size among our more traditional clothing, however."

Of course given the Amazons are skewed towards 'hella tall', it's not too hard to imagine they'd

have something that would fit Caitlin. "One of my Sisters offered to head to a local store to buy

you something you might be more comfortable with."

Caitlin moves to the open spot and places her hands on the balcony railing, smiling softly.

"Diana." she repeats, nodding her head. "I slept....amazing." she says, the faint hue of a blush

creeping up on her cheeks.

"And the fact that you have anything that fits a girl like me is just...wow." she continues. "I

really seem to fit it around her. Physically at least. I don't think I've seen so many tall

girls....ever."

Caitlin looks sheepishly down at the floor when the offer to purchase her something comes.

"I..couldn't." she stammers. "You have already given me so much." Wonder Woman smiles again, gesturing below. "Caitlin, we hold classes here, at our own expense, to

teach things to women who can't afford to go to school." Granted, nothing... really scholarly -

those lessons are smaller and run by an Amazon named Mnemosyne. "I think we can manage to find

some clothes. Unless you'd prefer to be stuck in Amazon clothing." At least it is well-made. "I'm

glad you slept well. I know sometimes one can be used to sleeping lightly, and the pacing of the

guards can jolt one awake."

"I slept like a rock, actually. The guards walking made me feel like I was back at..." Caitlin

starts, before clamming up and clearing her throat. She looks down at the class a moment and then

grasps at a subject change. "Ummmmm..." she starts, before finally settling on a topic. "These

aren't so bad." she says, fingering the white dress. "Wouldn't wear it out and about much...but

for wandering around in here it feels kinda fitting. I half expect to run into a priestess or

something, having a sword fight with a dragon. This place is right out of a fairy

tale."

Wonder Woman gestures to the one Amazon teaching the gardening class. "She is a priestess-in-

training, Cybele. Her mentor teaches another gardening class on Thursday nights." the Amazon

Princess answers. As for sword fights, the guards train on the weekends. Dragons... well, we don't

have those." She smiles and does not ask about the sudden jolting of the topic at hand. No, if

Caitlin wants to talk about it, Diana will let her bring it up on her own accord.

"So then you guys really are the ancient Greek all woman tribes? With the bows and the men

stealing and everything?" Caitlin asks, showing that she knows about as much about ancient Greece

as Hollywood has thought to teach the general American public. "That's....really cool." she says,

trailing off a moment and fidgeting.

"So...I don't mean to sound ungrateful or anything....but I keep wondering what all this is gonna

end up costing me." she says, motioning around a little. "I've kinda lost faith in the random

kindness of strangers and governments." she says, holding her gaze steady on the class below. She

knows that if she looks over now, her resolve will falter and her shyness won't allow such direct

questions.

Wonder Woman shakes her head a little. "We are a tribe, yes, if you want to use that word, a tribe

of women created by what you know as the goddesses of Ancient Greece. We do not steal men." She

then falls silent and allows Caitlin to continue, before she responds. "Nothing, Caitlin. I know

that... I know that in this day and age, in this country, the kindness of strangers is a faded

memory. That many are jaded. I promise you, Caitlin, that we want to help. You may stay with us as

long as you want. We have many others here who are like you in a way - homeless, nowhere to go.

Some on the run. We offer them a home. We offer support. You asked for asylum, and as the

Ambassador and Princess of my people, I will give it to you, and it will not cost you anything. We

will be here for you as long as you need us."

Caitlin looks over, a slightly startled look on her face at being told upfront that nothing is

required of her. "That's...really generous." she says, shaking her head lightly. She seems to be

pondering something, chewing on her lip a moment before she reaches into her bra and pulls out an

ID card, and holds it out to Diana.

The card is a student ID card from Princeton University, of one Caitlin Fairchild. The picture is

of a mousy, tiny little girl with brown hair, brown eyes, and glasses. Nothing like the tall, well

built, red haired and green eyed woman holding out the ID, save that, just for a moment, the woman

looks down to the floor and flushes faintly, in the same exact pose as the girl in the picture.

"This was me, five years ago." Caitlin starts.

Wonder Woman looks from the ID presented to the woman before her. "May I ask what happened?" she

asks softly. She's tried to familiarize herself with the ways in which people develop powers, but

she's come to realize a truth: there are as many ways as there are people.

"My second year in, I got offered a prestigious government internship with the Defense Department.

I was told that it was a great honor to be selected, and went through this long selection process

with it, and got offered the job. It was supposed to look good on my resume." Caitlin continues,

her eyes getting that far off look as she turns to lean her back against the balcony railing.

"Turns out, it was a CIA research project, known as Genesis. I was selected not because of my

academic skills, but because I showed the right type of DNA or something. I went in thinking that

I was getting my foot in the door for future employment, and instead got pumped full of a hundred

and one different flavors of chemical cocktail." she explains.

"The drugs did this to me." she frowns, looking down again and motioning to her body. "Made me

this giant freakish stack of power. And then the training started. I'm strong, Diana. Really really

strong. And the government spent years and a lot of money training me to fight people that are

stronger and faster than me. And....I'm coming to discover that it's a short list."

Wonder Woman frowns deeply. "This is the second time I've heard a tale of someone being trained to

be a weapon." She points down the hall that stretches out beyond the room they're in. "A few doors

from you is a girl named Molly. She came to me at the insistence of a girl I am training. She has

no home. I offered her one, much as I did you, and she told me how time and again others have

tried to use her as a weapon because of her great strength." She sighs, disappointed and saddened.

"The world must truly be in sad shape if your own government resorts to covertly training

weapons."

"I suppose with people like you and Superman running around, the government feels like it needs

its own soldiers." Caitlin suggests. "Which is stupid as hell, if you ask me. But needless to say,

I escaped before they could completely work over my mind into a killing machine, and they've been

after me ever since. I even have a record now too. I'm listed as an AWOL soldier, with

instructions to arrest and detain on sight, and contact Project: Genesis immediately. Makes doing

anything really hard."

"Add that to the fact that all the ID I have says I'm five nothing, a hundred and nothing, with

brown hair and eyes." Caitlin confesses. It seems like this is the first time she's really shared

the story in a long time.

"So every time I use my powers to help, I pop back up on the radar and Genesis tracks me down. So

far, I've been lucky and escaped. But I'm worried. The last place that offered me any sanctuary is

a smoking crater in California."

Wonder Woman considers this for a while, going silent as she mulls over the story. She looks to

the garden below. Cybele finishing up the class. "I'm not... fond of lies, Caitlin. When my

goddesses answered my mother's prayers and created me, they made the truth an intimate part of my

person. I cannot tell a lie, and I can detect them when spoken." She turns to face the girl. "That

said... you want to know what staying here will cost you, and I promised you owe us nothing. You

further have the problem of your government wanting you in their hands, and I have given you

asylum, and you desire to help others." She paces slowly, around a table. "Learn about my people,

Caitlin. About my homeland. Our philosophy. Our way of life. We will call you Amazon. Sister. And

it will be the truth."

"Even knowing that just by being here I'm putting you all in danger?" Caitlin asks, her

startlement at being offered a place among the Amazons overcoming her shy nature. "That...that

would be amazing." she says, looking down again. "But I don't...I can't....will I....." she

stammers, before taking a deep breath and lightly stamping her foot. It's obvious from her facial

expression she's telling herself to get a grip, as she lets the held breath out. "Yes. That

sounds...wonderful Diana. I would be honored." she gets out at last, before blushing and tilting

her head forward enough that her hair falls over her face.

"Even knowing," Diana replies. She then offers her hand, and shakes Caitlin's firmly, then draws

her into a tight hug which lasts for a few seconds. "We're happy to be here for you," she answers.

"Have you eaten yet? I had been taking a moment to enjoy not being in a meeting when you found me

and haven't had a moment to eat. I wouldn't say no to having company during supper."

"I'd be glad too. Eat. With you. I'd be happy to join you for supper." Caitlin manages to stammer.

She hugs back a little awkwardly, in that hesitant manner of one used to the world around her

being made of fragile glass. "Thanks, Diana." she nearly whispers, a little over come with emotion

for a moment, before she laughs at herself, and rubs her hands against her eyes. "So...how do I

get started?" she asks, moving to follow with a bounce in her step that wasn't there earlier.

Hasn't been there for a while now, actually.

Wonder Woman gestures for Caitlin to follow, and she makes her way to the kitchen. "At the easiest

point," she answers. "Ask me anything you'd like to know about my people, and I will answer - and

don't worry, you won't offend me, so don't worry about asking anything."