153Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League, or any of its characters. I only own the oc character that appears in the chapter, and the one that's mentioned.
I came up with the idea for this some time ago after watching the JLU episode 'This Little Piggy', and thought "What if one of the guys at the meat packers was smart enough to figure out the pig with the bracelets was really Wonder Woman, and this is what I came up with.
A Not so Average Night at Work
Hector Anderson was normally a calm man, and not often prone to be overly expressive, safe for certain situations. But at the moment, he was having a bit of a hard time hiding his annoyance and lack of interest as one of his co-workers kept rambling on about something or other during break time. Hector's job, as it had been since he was eighteen, was at place called Hansen Meatpackers, where the single product being processed was pork. "And then I was like 'Hey, baby, wanna to the bar? I know this awesome place that serves some killer beer.' And when we get there and start drinking, she's getting a little tipsy and starts talking about this time she worked as a waitress in this dump where she spent half her time avoiding perverts trying to grab her ass. And I just have to pretend to be kinda interested and she's eating it all up and stuff. I'm telling you dude, she was so easy it was unbelievable."
"Sounds pretty interesting, Larry," Hector muttered, nodding absentmindedly. 'What a fool,' he thought to himself, resisting the urge to sigh. 'He just keeps going on, and on, like there's no tomorrow. Why did I volunteer to work a night time shift during the weekend? That's right, because I decided I was going to take Cassandra to see that magician Zatanna's show for her birthday and I needed to put in the extra hours to be able to afford it. Oh, the things I'll do for my little sister.' Hector smiled a little at this, thinking of how surprised and happy his fifteen year old sister would be when he'd tell her what he had planned for her birthday. Hector was suddenly distracted from his thoughts when he realized that Larry had asked him a question and was waiting for his answer. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"
"I asked when you planned to start going out hunting for a girlfriend." Larry asked.
"I just haven't really thought about it that much," he admitted. "I've been pretty busy with work looking after Cassandra, and about fifty other different things. Besides, I'm not sure I'm much of a prime candidate for women."
"Seriously, are you kidding? Dude, you're 25 years old, you're big and tall, as tough and strong as an ox, not to mention you've got the kind of looks a lot of women would go for. Plus, I heard you can cook as well as any master chef. Trust me, the odds are way in your favor. You just need to go out there and get em."
"Sure, if you say so," Hector replied in a modest manner. "Well, if you don't mind, I've got to use the can before I get back to work." He then stood up and walked to the bathroom, idly thinking about what Larry had said. After he was finished and was washing his hands, he looked at himself in the mirror. His reflection showed a young man in his prime, standing at an imposing six feet six inches tall, very fit and well built, without any bulk or fat. And despite being modest about his own appearance, he could certainly be called handsome, with his clean shaven face, short black hair and deep green eyes.
"Hey, Hector!" someone called from outside the bathroom, banging on the door. "We've got a bit of a problem here."
"What's wrong? Did one of the machines break down, or did someone hurt their back picking something up off the floor?" he asked, drying his hands off, then going to open the door, seeing another of his colleagues standing there.
"Neither. One of the pigs got off the line and Scott's chasing it all around the place. You're pretty fast and smart, so you should be able to catch it easily. Plus, you've got a hell of a grip, so when you get your hands on that pig, I'm sure it won't be able to escape."
"Okay, I'll get right to it." Hector then walked out into the main part of the plant, and after a few short moments, he found Scott, who was looking around with a flashlight, holding a shotgun in his other hand. "You found that loose pig yet?"
"No, but I'm betting it's real close."
The two men walked together for a bit, searching for the escaped pig, until Hector spotted something in the shadows. "Hey, I think I see something. Shine the light over here." The other man did as requested, at which they could both see a relatively small pink pig that, interestingly enough, had a pair of silver bracelets on its front legs. Upon being spotted, it started running away, until reaching a large stack of barrels, turning around only to see Hector and Scott standing in its way.
"Say good night, pork chops," the other man said, cocking his gun. However, when he fired, the pig put up its front legs, causing the bullet to be deflected off of its silver bracelets. Obviously, neither one of them had expected something of the sort to happen, although Hector's surprise was hidden behind a pensive frown as he tried to make sense of this. For his part, Scott, who was clearly confused by such a turn of events, opted instead for cocking his gun and trying to shoot the pig again. This time, the four legged animal in question ran out of the way, causing the shot to hit one of the barrels behind. Seeing that the stack had become unstable, Hector quickly grabbed his colleague by the back of the collar and pulled him away just in time for the barrels to not fall down on their heads. "Whoa, quick thinking there," Scott commented in relief. "Thanks."
"You're welcome," Hector said as he helped him to his feet. "Listen, why don't you just put the gun away for now and go find a few of the others guys to help. And in the meantime, I'll try to find the little porker so we can catch him."
"Good luck with that thing. It's a slippery one, that's for sure."
'Let's see…' Hector thought as he walked around with a flashlight, looking for the pig. 'Silver metal bracelets that can deflect bullets means Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman is a part of Greek Mythology. Turning people into pigs was a trick used by Circe, who also happens to be a part of Greek Mythology. So, if that wandering pig really is Wonder Woman, then I should make sure the others don't get their hands on her. Therefore, I'd better find her before them.'
In the midst of his search, Hector came across a small spot of water with what looked like a pair of pig tracks in the midst of it. He then knelt down to see what direction the tracks were pointed, placing one hand flat against the ground. As he was looking closely, he could feel a slight tingling sensation in the back of his mind, almost as if he was sensing vibrations running through the ground. Intrigued, but not particularly concerned, Hector continued his search, and ended up in a corner at the back of the plant, which, at the moment, was devoid of anyone but himself and one particular pig. "Well, I didn't expect to find you this quick," he muttered out loud. "I must have a six sense or something."
The pig looked at him, grunting as if in confusion, apparently not feeling as threatened of him alone as it had been when he was with Scott. Hector started to approach slowly, taking care not to seem menacing, and knelt down before her/it. He then reached for its left front leg, gently grabbing a hold and lifting it up so as to be able to better examine the silver bracelet. Unfortunately, at that moment, one of the other guys came around, his loud appearance and exclamation startling the pig, prompting it to flee yet again. "How'd you let it get away?" Larry. "You practically had it in your hands."
"I'm pretty sure that pig isn't exactly what you think it is. Besides, you're the one that startled it so that it ran away."
"You mean it isn't just another pig?"
"How many pigs come in here wearing silver metal bracelets?" Hector asked as he followed in the direction she/it had gone, with Larry tagging along.
"Umm... not a lot, I guess."
"And how many of those bracelets are capable of deflecting bullets fired from four feet away?"
"Even less, I'd imagine."
"And isn't it strange how those bracelets look just like the ones Wonder Woman wears?"
"Yeah, that's kind of weird."
Hector remained silent after this, moving along until they reached the point where a few of their colleagues had already grabbed a hold of the pig, tied up its legs and had just dropped it onto a conveyor belt. Upon seeing this, the young twenty five year old man made a beeline for the conveyor belt, grabbed the pig with one hand, lifted it up and set it on the ground. "Hey, wadda you think you're doing?" Scott asked.
"Look, calm down guys," Hector said, holding his hands up in a sign of peace. "Just give me a moment and I'll-" A flash of bright light suddenly erupted from where the pig was lying, and a few seconds later, Wonder Woman was floating a few feet off the ground, snapping the ropes around her hands like it was nothing. Upon seeing the not so happy look on her face, all the guys turned around and ran, pulling up a metal door through which they hastily made their exit, despite the swarm of pigs that emerged. "Excuse me, Wonder Woman?"
"And who might you be?" she asked, a wary look on her face.
"My name's Hector Anderson, I work here at Hansen Meatpackers. Well, I actually work on days during the week, but I volunteered because I needed the extra hours. Anyway, you were kind of transformed into a pig up until a minute ago, which I'm assuming is the sorceress Circe's doing. Somehow you ended up in this place, and while you were running around, I figured out who were really were and managed to stop the guys from putting you on the line and through the grinder. So… yeah, that's about it. Speaking of which, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, thank you," Wonder Woman said in a more relaxed tone. "I should probably get going now. Although I am curious, why would you need to volunteer for more work here?"
"Well, I promised myself I'd take my sister to see that magician Zatanna. She's turning sixteen soon, and I wanted to give her something special for her birthday."
"That's very kind of you to think of your sister like that. What's her name?"
"Cassandra. And before you say anything, my father was a great fan of Greek Mythology."
"I see… Well, despite circumstances, it was nice meeting you."
"Same to you."
"Goodbye, and may Gaia smile upon both you and your sister."
Wonder Woman then flew out of the building, heading off to who knows where. "Well, Cassandra's never going to believe me when I tell her what happened tonight."
So, I hope you liked it, and please review. Constructive critism is accepted.