A lazy morning and a satisfying spar. Thea rolled her shoulders and felt good—genuinely, physically good—for the first time in days.
"Let's go shopping, hmm?" She'd barely gotten the words out when her phone buzzed. She glanced at it.
Two minutes later she held it out to Diana with a look halfway between amused and resigned. "Look at this. The Golden Vanguard just cannot sit still. Shampoo ad, now a sportswear line, and apparently he's producing his own superhero film."
"That is completely shameless." Diana's tone went flat with disapproval. "Heroes aren't supposed to use their position for personal gain. A hero's purpose is to protect—to put your abilities in service of others. That man is addicted to the spotlight."
Thea didn't particularly share the outrage. Honestly, every headline about him was a headline not being written about someone else. On balance it was probably useful.
"Come on, I saw a dress last time that would look great on you."
The sky was a clean blue. Close to noon, but the light wasn't too harsh yet. Foot traffic was light— entirely female, as it was throughout this city. The two of them walked past without drawing a crowd, though they weren't entirely unnoticed.
Diana had high standards and tended to be decisive. Their shopping routine was usually Thea proposing options—sometimes conventional, sometimes off-the-wall—and Diana approving or vetoing.
"That wrap dress—color works well on you, but the back panel opens up quite a bit."
"Mm. That belt, though—really flatters your skin tone."
Diana already had height on most people, and she favored heeled boots and fitted skirts, which added to it considerably. Thea had an eye for this—her sense of aesthetics sharpened to a fine edge over years of absorbing divine artistic insight—and could put together something striking without relying on cut-outs or low necklines.
By the time they finished, Diana had two pairs of long boots—one flat, one heeled—two skirts, and a belt. Thea herself, despite being one of the wealthiest people on the planet and owning more clothes than she could wear in a season, picked up two T-shirts and a pair of ankle boots.
"Her legs go forever..."
"They're so close—I heard they're actually..."
"Someone check the forum, there are posts saying the taller one is Wonder Woman—"
They'd passed through a dozen storefronts, and at each one staff whispered in corners they assumed were out of earshot. Unfortunately for them, those whispers landed perfectly in two pairs of very sharp ears.
Thea bumped Diana's shoulder. "Your cover's slipping. Ha."
It was inevitable, really. They didn't make any effort to hide what they were to each other, and face-blindness only went so far. Sooner or later someone with a functioning pair of eyes would put it together.
"Let them." Diana managed to look almost pouty, which was an unusual look on her. "My other job is finished."
"I'll take care of you," Thea declared, hand on her own chest.
They both laughed—and both understood perfectly well it wasn't going to happen. Diana's personality was too strong for her to sit idle. She'd need work, purpose, forward motion. She always did.
They'd been wandering contentedly for half an hour when a small complication found them.
"Dr. Queen—there's a girl here who wants to see you." One of the staff approached, towing a young girl behind her.
The girl had golden hair, a slight build, was a little thin, and looked around sixteen or seventeen. Blue domino mask. Blue bodysuit with a large gold star emblazoned across the chest—from a distance it looked like she'd wrapped herself in stars and stripes.
The costume was just a costume. What caught both women's eyes were the belt and staff the girl wore: dense with energy, and not a small amount of it.
"I intercepted your communications signal. I'm a hero too. Why didn't you invite me?" The girl had a bit of an edge to her voice, though even when annoyed she chose her words carefully.
Another eager kid. Thea's expression turned thoughtful. This one seemed less volatile than some — indignant, but organized about it.
The girl was clearly here for Thea. Diana stood quietly and let her handle it.
Thea schooled her expression into something businesslike. "All right, little one—what can you do? What have you actually done as a hero?"
The girl shifted, grip tightening on her staff, suddenly looking like she was interviewing for a job. "I —I can fly, and I can manipulate energy..."
Clearly sensing that her words alone weren't making much of a case, she raised the staff and fired a burst of energy at a large rock nearby. The boulder shattered in a flash of gold. She looked back at them, uncertain, waiting.
"That's a solid power set," Diana said first, her tone genuinely approving.
Thea read Diana's stance — agreement. And honestly, the Women's Justice League wasn't exactly on a mission to save the world. The whole spirit of it was casual, informal, a little chaotic. One more or one less made no meaningful difference.
She considered for a moment. "Before anything else—full disclosure. Being a hero isn't a game. I can see clearly that you don't have inherent superpowers. Everything you're using comes from that staff and that belt. Without your gear, you're vulnerable. If you want to do this, you'll need to complete basic combat training—nothing extreme, but enough that in a bad situation, caught off guard and without your equipment, you can protect yourself. On your own terms, not your gear's. Understood?"
The girl nodded, looking only somewhat clear on what she'd agreed to.
Thea pressed a hand to her forehead. Every time. Kids this age—running on enthusiasm and good intentions, zero plan, zero preparation. Classic.
"What's your name? I need to contact your family before anything else."
"I'm—" The girl's eyes darted sideways.
Ran away from home to do this, didn't she. Thea had seen this particular scene play out enough times.
"Not going to say? Fine. You flew here, which means satellites tracked your route. Give me a second." She held up her phone and started pulling data.
The girl watched with clear skepticism. She wasn't convinced anyone could identify her that quickly.
Queen Consolidated's satellite grid combined with the Watchtower's monitoring array: the girl's flight path was flagged immediately, cross-referenced against local resident records, run through facial recognition modeling. Start to finish: under two minutes.
"Courtney Whitmore?" Thea showed her the screen with a satisfied smile.
The girl looked stunned. She'd spent two full evenings putting that disguise together.
Thea made the call—a long one, talking things through with Courtney's stepfather. When she hung up, she looked at Courtney, who was watching her with barely concealed anticipation.
"No solo missions until you finish basic training. Come up with a code name."
"Stargirl." Immediate, no hesitation. "I want everyone to call me Stargirl."
Thea nodded. Recruited. One more self-sufficient addition to the roster.
There was a deeper reason she'd said yes. Whatever team or league Stargirl ended up with, she walked around in a stars-and-stripes motif that was practically born to be a symbol—close in spirit to the neighboring Captain America, a natural face for any team. A genuine crowd-pleaser in the making.
"Alex—would you add this one to your training group? Her name's Stargirl."
She pulled open the training room door. It also happened to rescue Kara, who was barely standing at this point.
One student or two—no difference to Alex. She loved teaching. She grabbed Stargirl by the arm without a second thought and pulled her into her little classroom.