Disclaimer: Young Justice is owned by Warner Bros, DC Comics, and the destroyers of souls, Cartoon Network.
A/N: There were five things I refused to accept about how Young Justice ended.
1. Wally's fate, 2. The fact that Wally and Dick never reconciled on-screen, 3. The lack of interaction between Roy and Artemis, 4. The lack of interaction between Dick and Barbara, and 5. Not enough daddy Roy and baby Lian. So this is me enabling my unhealthy state of denial. Basically everyone's together and happy and nothing hurts. Enjoy.
In the wake of the narrowly avoided doomsday, Ollie and Dinah were struck with the realization of how short life is. Staring an alien invasion could do that to a person. In short, after several arguments and a blurted out proposal, the two decided to get married.
The wedding was a private affair, hastily thrown together a week after the final battle and held on the Watch Tower. There, in the presence of superheroes and friends from around the world, Ollie and Dinah said their "I do's" before the unparalleled majesty of the slowly rotating Earth and the black velvet curtain of space.
In the absence of a father, Batman had deigned to walk Dinah down the aisle as representative of the League. Though he had stubbornly insisted on wearing the cape and cowl, the Dark Knight's eyes were heavy with emotion. His trainees, who had learned to read his facial expressions expertly over the years, jolted in shock when he rubbed one eye after Dinah gave him a peck on the cowl.
Diana, in glittering ceremonial Amazon armor, stood at Dinah's side as maid of honor and a stony-faced Roy was his mentor's best man. Ollie had been holding a grudge that he hadn't been involved in his protege's wedding - due to it being shotgun in nature - and so when he extended the honor to Roy, it was less of an invitation and more of a sentencing. Not to mention it was an intimidating position considering the groomsmen were Batman, Superman, Flash, and the Green Lantern Hal Jordan. Being costumed superheroes, the men all wore black rose boutonnieres pinned to their chests in honor of Dinah's codename.
After much debate, the Team's senior operatives served as bridesmaids. M'gann, Artemis, Zatanna, and Barbara wore dresses of forest green in ode to Green Arrow, much to Artemis's delight. Rocket had refused the offer, citing it was bad luck for a fellow almost married woman to be bridesmaid, and spent much of the reception making lists about what her own wedding should include.
Though Cheshire had not been invited to the festivities - and would have refused on principle anyway - Roy's daughter Lian was carried down the aisle as the official flower girl, though she did little more than babble and drool on an unfortunate Cassie, who held her gingerly throughout the ceremony. Billy Batson had been elected ring bearer against his will. Despite the fifteen-year-old's protestations, Ollie seemed determined to humiliate him one last time as a sort of revenge for sneaking onto the League at age ten. To Billy's credit, he held his chin high with determination on his way down the aisle, but then shattered the calm facade by slapping the rings in Green Arrow's palm and stalking away.
Finally, in front of the officiating Captain Atom and a room of their friends and colleagues, Green Arrow and Black Canary exchanged rings and kissed deeply, surrounded by a crashing wave of applause and whoops and cheers.
With a wave of Zatanna's hands and a few backwards chants, the lines of chairs disappeared to be replaced by a wide empty space for dancing and tables lined with punch and cake. The reception was much more reserved than Ollie would have wanted - there had been some talk of cage dancers and a Vegas magician - but he decided to save his crazy plans for the public wedding when Queen Consolidated CEO Oliver Queen married longtime girlfriend, Dinah Lance in some ballroom at some swanky hotel. The details didn't matter. Both agreed that their private wedding was vastly better than anything Ollie's publicity reps would force on them. But for now, the after-party was a simple gathering with an alien string quartet of Green Lanterns from Oa, who had been hired by the League's Lanterns in return for the promise of additional sentry duty for all three. A fact that none of them would let Ollie forget, no matter how good the cake was.
After congratulating the happy couple and accepting a bone-crushing hug from her overjoyed mentor, Artemis straightened her dress and lingered by the wedding guests, waiting for Wally to finish hitting on Black Canary one final time.
Somehow she found herself next to Roy, who was scrubbing furiously at a stain on his tie with his pocket square and having little success. She rolled her eyes. Men.
"Here," she rummaged in her clutch for a stain remover pen. "Let me."
Roy seemed mollified at being cleaned like a child, but permitted her as long as they were facing away from the party. "Thanks," he said gruffly.
"Sure," she narrowed her eyes at the stubborn stain, which clung to the fabric for dear life despite her efforts. "How did you get this already? They just brought out the food."
"I - It's an old suit, okay? Only one I could find."
"My sister didn't help you shop?" From what she remembered there was nothing Jade appreciated more than her handsome hubby in a nice suit. She had mentioned this more than once before dropping off Lian for impromptu babysitting. Wally used to cover his ears and flee from the room, yelling gibberish to drown out the more salacious details.
"We haven't talked much since her little assassination-turned-rescue mission," he replied bitterly.
Artemis didn't press the issue. She understood the acrid sting of Jade's negligence many times over. They should start a club, she thought. Or a support group. Victims of betrayal via Jade Nguyen, anonymous. She rubbed at the stain with newfound vigor until it was reduced to a darkened spot of moisture.
"There," she proclaimed. "Good as new."
He inspected her work and nodded with approval. "That thing is pretty handy."
"You have no idea," she said. It was true; Wally tended to eat like a hurricane rather than a civilized human, and more often than not Artemis was seated in the splash zone.
A curtain of awkward silence dropped between them. Both seemed to have realized this was the longest they had spoken in several years.
The last time Artemis laid eyes on her predecessor, he had been in a sorry state. His hair overgrown like a tangle of weeds, his eyes bloodshot, the electric blue veins nearly popping from his arms, and the sour stink of alcohol on his breath. She had offered him a place to stay that night, thinking maybe he could talk a bit with Wally, take a bath, and wake up feeling like a new person. Yet he had rebuffed her. Harshly. And she did not forgive easily.
But this was an entirely new man standing before her. A man who had pulled his life together despite the adversity. In the same way he had found clone Roy when no one would believe him.
She needed to tell him something. Anything to illustrate that she was proud of him. Whatever that was worth. "I, uh, I didn't get the chance to say this before all the craziness, but you look...better," she said lamely. "Much better. I'm really glad."
Roy adjusted his collar, uncomfortable at the sudden praise. "You should thank your sister. She's the one who beat me back into shape."
"I'll tell her you said that."
"Please. Don't."
Artemis chuckled. She definitely preferred this new Roy. His hair was neat and trimmed, he smelled like spicy aftershave, and his eyes were bright with - dare she say it - a distinctive twinkle that hadn't been there before. Maybe it was the child-rearing.
Speaking of which. Artemis caught a glimpse of her unsupervised niece. "You might wanna check on your bundle of joy over there, Red."
Lian, having been left to her own devices, was holding a stalk of flowers in her chubby hand and had begun nibbling them experimentally. Roy turned three different shades of pale and sprinted off to rescue his child from her own curiosity.
Wally meandered over, casually loosening his necktie. Clearly he had been waiting for Roy to split before settling his hands on Artemis's hips and resting his chin on the curvature of her shoulder. He inhaled deeply, breathing in the scent of sandalwood perfume and hairspray, and she could feel his shoulders unclench. They had spent barely five minutes apart the whole week, and Artemis was pleased to note that it wasn't getting old.
"Hey, babe?" he murmured into her bare shoulder.
"What is it?"
Wally's voice had taken on a serious, pensive quality. "I've been doing some thinking...about the future and all."
Artemis swallowed and tried not to let him catch the flicker of anxiety in her eyes. They had not yet spoken much about the future of their relationship. All of their time so far had been spent languishing in each other's company and thanking whatever existential deity that they were alive and together. And she had seen enough romantic comedies to know that weddings made couples evaluate their futures. If Wally was ready for a bigger step, she was not ready to talk about it. Not yet, anyway.
"What kind of thinking?" she asked tentatively.
"I just wanted to tell you that this thing we're doing...I'm glad we're only doing the hero thing part-time."
Artemis relaxed at once. It was relief that they weren't about to have some heavy conversation. Yet, at the same time, she couldn't ignore the sting of disappointment in her chest.
"O-oh, right, me too. I-I liked being Tigress, but we're both still in school, and we're still young, there's so much ahead of us, and...yeah. Me too." Smooth, Artemis. Real smooth.
Wally noticed her stumbled recovery and gave an impish smile. "What did you think I was gonna say?"
She "Wally, if you think I have any idea of what goes on in that funny little brain of yours, you're crazy."
"Yeah? Well, just in case you thought I was going to talk about us..." Artemis could feel her pulse stop beating. "As for you and me, I think you already know I'm in it for the long run."
She smiled. It wasn't a proposal, but it was exactly the simple answer she needed. At once, she felt foolish for overthinking it. Clearly he hadn't. "Yeah?"
"Are you kidding? I had to live without you for weeks. And each second was more miserable than the last. Now that I've finally got you back, I'm not letting you out of my sight. Not ever."
Artemis wound her arms around his neck and pressed a kiss to his lips. "My thoughts exactly."
Across the room, Dick Grayson was feeling uncomfortable. Not because he was wearing sunglasses indoors, or even because his tie was too tight. He'd had a lifetime of training when it came to fancy parties. No, his discomfort stemmed from being on the receiving end of Barbara's infamous x-ray vision stare. Her calculating green eyes seemed to peer straight through bone and sinew, right down to his core and glean the information she wanted.
"What's on your mind, Batgirl?" he asked pointedly.
"I'm just trying to solve the great enigma that is Nightwing," she replied, scrunching her eyebrows. "Everyone else here is having a grand ol' time, but you're over here sulking. What's that about?"
"You're the detective-in-training. You tell me." His words bit with a more sullen tone than intended.
Barbara scoffed at the "in training" part, but didn't press. That was one of her better qualities. She knew when to step delicately around an issue than to pry answers out with a crowbar. They stood silently, and watched Tim work up the courage to twine his fingers together with Cassie's, causing them both to blush.
Dick chuckled under his breath. "They've been like that all week."
"Speaking of happy couples, have you talked to Wally yet?"
Dick resisted the urge to slap himself. He'd walked right into that one. "Not in so many words...or in any words, actually. Connor and M'gann were the ones who convinced him to come to the summit. Between that and the almost end of the world, there just hasn't been any time-"
"You know what I hear? A bunch of excuses from a practically grown man who's too much of a pansy to say sorry to his best friend." Barbara waved a careless hand emphatically as she spoke, letting the bracelets on her wrist click and jingle together. "I know being raised in the Bat Cave is enough to make anyone emotion-phobic, but as a girl who has been in plenty of cat fights with other girls, the only way to fix it is by talking it out."
Dick ignored the dig and gave her a sly smirk, oozing with his patented charm. "I don't know if I can. You may have to explain a bit more about these cat fights..."
History should have taught him that Barbara was immune to his charm (most of it) because she didn't even blink. "Shut up and man up, mister. I'm gonna get you an opening, so go talk about your feelings like a big boy."
"No, wait, I was kidding! Babs, don't-!"
But he was too late. She had already waved Impulse over and hastily whispered a plan of attack into his ear. The fellow redhead looked delighted at the idea and disappeared in a puff of wind.
A millisecond later he skidded to a halt before Artemis and swept into a deep bow. "May I have this dance?" He grinned under mischievously raised eyebrows.
Artemis giggled. "Of course, Bart."
She slipped her hand out from Wally's arm and blew him a kiss goodbye. Wally made several choking hand gestures as though strangling an invisible Impulse and then slumped against the table, visibly pouting.
It was as good a mood as he would ever catch him in.
Dick weaved through the dancing heroes, almost crashing headlong into Hawkman's feathery wings as he waltzed past with his mate, and sidled up to Wally. He coughed awkwardly. Wally, who had pretended not to see him approach, glanced at him briefly and then continued to watch Artemis being spun in circles by an overenthusiastic Bart.
"Hey," Dick said.
"Hey," Wally replied tersely.
The atmosphere was buzzing with palpable tension, so thick it threatened to choke them both. But the words needed to be said. "So, look," Dick started. "We haven't been able to talk since...y'know, and I just wanted to say...I'm sorry. For...y'know. Everything."
Wally glanced at him again. The temptation to forgive his best friend on the spot was overwhelming, but pride made him say, "Took you long enough."
"I know. I'm sorry."
Wally regarded him coolly for a moment, then clapped him square on the back. "We're cool."
Dick's eyes opened so wide his sunglasses almost slid down his nose. It couldn't be that simple. "We-we are?"
"Yeah, I forgave you a while ago. It was just fun watching you sweat."
Dick released a huge breath of frustration and relief. Some things would never change. He socked Wally in the shoulder, only to receive a punch in return.
They were okay. Everything was okay.
The quartet's song ended and they joined in polite applause. In the pause between songs they watched Artemis be passed along to Green Arrow, who was brimming with pride to behold his grown-up protege. She caught Wally's eye over her former mentor's shoulder and gave a playful eye roll.
Dick waved to Zatanna as she smiled coquettishly at him while twirling past with a stammering Billy Batson. "Man. It has been crazy, these past few days," he remarked.
"Tell me about it," Wally rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the knots gather by just thinking about it. "Artemis has been stressing about this wedding all week. She and the girls went dress shopping for six hours the other day. You'd think we were the ones getting married."
Dick snapped his head around. "We?"
"Did I say 'we?' Slip of the tongue. I meant...something else," he finished pathetically.
"Are you and Artemis getting married?!" Dick whispered furiously.
"No! Not yet, anyway. There's a lot to do still." He ticked off a finger for each task. "College has to come first, and once that's done we'll have to find a place to live off-campus. Then I have to get a job, not to mention a ring, and ask her mom for permission. And Ollie, now that I think about it. Even though that's probably going to end with me resembling a green arrow pincushion, but...it's gonna happen, Dick."
Dick was floored. Not because he didn't think their relationship would eventually result in marriage, but rather that his friend had put this much thought into it. "Wow. How long have you been thinking about this?"
"Honestly? Ages. But I hadn't decided on anything until a week ago. Almost dying kind of puts your priorities into perspective."
"I'll bet." Dick watched as Barbara waltzed past with Aqualad, who was the epitome of gentlemanly grace. She gave him an imperceptible wink as she turned.
"Which is why I'm glad we're cool now. It'd make for a real awkward wedding if the groom and best man were still fighting with each other."
A jubilant smile stretched across Dick's face. "Are you asking what I think you're asking?"
"Aw, who else would I ask? Roy? Or Connor, Sir Sulks-a-Lot? Or Kaldur?"
"He and Artemis did spend all that time together under cover," Dick reminded him.
Wally shuddered slightly. "C'mon, man, I was trying to forget that."
The two friends became so absorbed in their conversation they failed to notice it was time for the bouquet toss. The younger girls flooded in front of Dinah, all giggling and cheering, with the exception of the engaged Raquel. Wonder Woman leered disapprovingly from the corner.
Artemis had been abruptly abandoned by Bart, who had disappeared as he was oft to do. She turned just in time to see an onslaught of petals nearly smack her in the face. She stretched out a hand to block the projectile, found it was flowers, and her cheeks flushed red-hot. Dinah winked at her, and their more infantile team members hooted joyfully at her. Zatanna patted her on the back sympathetically, grinning from ear to ear.
In a desperate attempt to conceal her embarrassment, Artemis retreated to the back of the room to hide behind Wally's shoulder, which only incited more catcalls. Wally didn't miss the red-hot glare Green Arrow was shooting him from afar. Suddenly that hypothetical joke about being shot full of holes was becoming more plausible by the second.
Artemis looked at him, then the flowers, then back at him. "Is it just me, or is this the most terrifying bouquet you've ever seen?" she said.
"Agreed, let's just put that over here." Wally dropped the flowers on the table and put a protective arm around her.
The second part of the tradition was a bit more difficult to perform. Unfortunately for the men, there was no garter to throw. But this was no obstacle for Dinah. The Black Canary smirked and ripped off one of the legs of her fishnets, much to the shock of her new husband.
Suddenly the tradition had higher stakes than ever as the men crowded together, shoving each other roughly in an impromptu superhero mosh pit. Artemis held onto the back of Wally's collar, subtly digging her nails into the back of his neck. At the other end of the room, Cassie had stepped on Tim's foot so hard his face turned a pulsing shade of red.
Oliver crossed his arms in refusal to let any man have the honor of his wife's fishnets, so Dinah shrugged and tossed the balled up fabric high into the air before he could stop her.
Due in part to her expert aim, the stocking bounced off the shoulder of Batman, which was met with a wave of appreciative giggling. Tim and Barbara clutched each other in fits of laughter, making no effort to conceal their amusement.
The Dark Knight chilled the audience with a furious glare and threw the stocking angrily back into the hopeful mosh pit.
But before it could sail into Guy Gardner's eager hand, an arrow came ripping through the air, embodying the white-hot rage of its shooter. The arrow caught the fishnet and pinned it to the back wall with a solid thunk. It seemed the gesture was a bit too intimate for Ollie, who was gripping his bow with white knuckles and panting angrily. Dinah then elbowed him squarely in the chest for bringing arrows to the wedding, assumedly breaking a no-weapons pact they had made earlier, and the Watch Tower erupted with laughter.
Wally and Dick laughed so hard they gripped each other's shoulders for support, and Artemis peered up at them, smiling.
"Everything okay over here?" she asked.
Wally's gaze circled around the room. First at the beautiful girl under his arm, then at his best friend laughing at his shoulder, and then at the room of raucously laughing superheroes.
"Yeah," he said. "Everything's perfect."