Leda careened into the wall, her left shoulder taking the brunt of the force. Behind her cinderblocks cracked, leaving dust in her hair. She was fine; there would be no scratches on her, but she’d hit the wall hard and hadn’t been able to stop herself from being thrown practically across the entire length of the room. She hadn’t even seen the blow coming, couldn’t plant herself to stop it, couldn’t run away. She was seeing red. 

“...This would be particularly effective for treating wastewater from industrial plants that use synthetic dyes. Dyes like Methyl Orange require at least four degradation steps to even begin to be considered drinkable, and currently the degraded dye still can cause harmful side effects to the drinker. These dyes pollute rivers and streams and the water table of the areas surrounding factories, causing long term health consequences for up to twenty years. And here at Stark Industries––”

Leda’s voice only faltered a fraction. Her eyes fell across the sea of faces––some politely attentive, some verging on the edge of boredom––and fell onto Tony Stark, head of Stark Industries. Original Avenger. Person who was absolutely not on the list of attendees for her presentation. 

She’d been nervous to begin with, this being her first time presenting her own research, and not working as an assistant. She’d pinned back her hair to keep herself from messing with it, and dressed in a white pant suit, keeping her bracelets on as always. After making her friends listen to her practice again and again, she stepped on the stage and told herself that if she made a fool of herself she could always change her name and flee the country. 

But once she got going, her enthusiasm and knowledge on the topic overrode any instinct to panic and she found herself at ease. Tony made her pause, however; she hadn’t known he’d be here. What if he thought it was terrible? What if he was coming to tell everyone this was a waste of time and they should just stop or––

“Here at Stark Industries,” she continued, “We’ve been working with erbium trioxide nanoparticles for three years now, and my proposal would allow us to use nanoparticles as photocatalyzers for the degradation of Methyl Orange. If you’ll turn your attention to the screen, I’ve written a formula here...”  

“...And then he just disappeared!” Leda stalked back and forth in her living room, her gestures becoming more and more animated by the second. “Gone! I got out on the street and he’d just vanished!” 

She’d gone over the events of yesterday afternoon in her mind, picking them all apart to the best of her ability. She’d swiped her keycard to gain access to her assigned laboratory and was surprised to find a man there she hadn’t seen before. One wearing a suit instead of a lab coat, and moving too confidently for Leda to ask if he had somehow become lost. Leda called out to him, barely having time to register her own suspicion before he threw equipment at her and ran away. 

She’d dived to catch the equipment––which housed very delicate and expensive projects––and rushed through the building to find him, taking the stairs, blowing past everyone who yelled in confusion after her. 

But when she made it on the street there was no sign of him anywhere, and since he was dressed like any other man out in public, her efforts turned up futile. 

It was driving her crazy. “I have no idea what he wanted, or if he took anything, or––anything! I was so mad I wanted to hit something!” and to accent her point, her fist flew out, colliding with the wall in a haze of dust. She stared at the hole, open mouthed, before dropping her head. “Oops.” 

“There is a light in thee. A brightness that is familiar as the sun.” The goddess took a step closer. “You are of gods?” She asked gently, a hand coming out to trace her cheek; fingertips feeling soft skin. “Themyscria? It sounds like a dream. A place of beauty and wonder. Of light.” 

Leda couldn’t remember what Sigyn was the Goddess of––beauty surely, and maybe she ruled over the other deities. Did the Asgardians have goddesses of kindness? She couldn’t be sure, but she knew that the feeling of warmth suddenly coming over her was not her own doing. 

She nodded. “It’s the most gorgeous place I’ve ever seen. A true paradise. Inhabited by the Amazons, that’s what I am. We were created by Zeus to protect mankind,” she started, before allowing her attention to be diverted to the blue child on Sigyn’s hip. “And babykind,” she chuckled with a wide grin. 

It was odd that she knew her. She had never seen the child before in her life. Bouncing the toddler in her arms, she examined the other slowly. A gentle tone came over her. “Do not be frightened of me.” She reassured her. “How do you know of me, child?” Of course, it was obvious, with a fully blue child in her arms. Frigga’s skin was cold to the touch, like holding ice but Sigyn was used to the chill of the Frost Giants from being married to one for centuries. They did not frighten her. She found them beautiful. 

“There are libraries filled with all kinds of accounts where I’m from, and my mom’s always encouraged me to discover new things, and I’ve always been interested in learning about people who were...like me,” she was rambling and she knew it, but she couldn’t seem to stop the explanation from tumbling out of her mouth. 

“My name’s Leda, I’m from Themyscira. It’s a realm here on Midgard.” 

            Link … HADN’T been paying attention. Attention caught up in their phone , predictably , they remained perched on their bike in attempts to figure out the address to the nearest McDonald’s. All-in-all , it probably would’ve been a better idea to just ride around and eventually find one - but then their attention was caught.

           ❝ Middle aged guy in a black suit … ❞ They trailed off , tilting their head in thought. And then they shook their head. ❝ Sounds like you’d be looking for my GRANDFATHER , but I don’t think he’s here - you’re not looking for Bruce Wayne , right ?? What , this guy run off n’ steal your wallet or something ?? I can help !! ❞

“No Link, it wasn’t Bruce,” she sighed, not even trying to cover up her exasperation. “Why would I ever be chasing after––never mind, it’s too late now. What am I going to do? Run down every middle aged caucasian male dressed for work?” she sighed. 

“They stole something from my lab––at least I think they did. I’ll have to go back and try to investigate in there I guess,” she sighed again. Leda looked at them, craning her neck to see what they were looking at on their phone. 

“Hey, if you’re getting food, can you get me something?” 

Sometimes, she wonders why she ever left the house. Today was just not the best day for the goddess it seemed. Frigga was in one of her moods, the toddler just didn’t seem to calm down. “Frigga, my moon! What bothers thee?” Sigyn sighed heavily as fingers ran through raven locks as the child’s skin started turning a light blue. An exhausted sigh left her as she cradled her in her arms more. The temperament of her father. It was no doubt that Frigga was Loki’s daughter. If only she carried the gentle temperament of her namesake. Oh, how Sigyn missed her mother-in-law.

The goddess jumped slightly as the woman spoke; having paid no attention to her surroundings. “Oh. I– I’m sorry. I did not. I was too focused on my daughter. Please forgive me.” Lips pressed together in a thin line. “Do you need help looking for them?” Perhaps it could come as a distraction from the now calm toddler. Frigga seemed to have calmed when the stranger approached. For now.

The answer washed over Leda like a cold wave. A tall man wearing a suit––truly, how high was the chance that she was going to find him? She’d only seen his face a split second, and had no idea who he was or what he wanted. In place of her disappointment she remembered her manners, and felt a sting of shame at bothering a woman trying to go about her business. She could have startled the little girl! 

“No no, I couldn’t ask that of you. I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have bothered you,” she apologized. “I will just––” she paused, her mission completely forgotten for the moment as she took in the woman’s dress, her hair, the regal way she spoke. It reminded her distantly of sometimes when she talked to her mom, or her mom’s friends or...

Oh Gods.

“You are...Sigyn of Asgard aren’t you?” They’d never met, but the circle of goddesses and demigoddesses who regularly came to earth wasn’t exactly large. “I am so sorry.” 

“I’m sorry!” she cried, not slowing a step. Outside the sidewalks were full of people going about their business, and Leda moved between them with the same attempt at care as she had before. Thankfully, this time she didn’t send anyone sprawling out into the street. 

She stopped at the crosswalk, looking all around before turning her attention to the nearest person to her. “There was a guy––Tall, middle aged I think, dark hair. He was wearing a-a black suit! He just came through here. Which way did he go?” 

Meet Leda.