Disclaimer: Yeah. I wish.
Wally smirked at his best friend. The younger boy may have gotten the best of him in an earlier round- but it would not happen again. He'd make sure of it.
"Kid Flash: Fail" Or maybe not.
He picked himself up from the floor and ignored the boy wonder's daemon like cackle with practiced ease. That boy was absolutely, undeniably the spawn of the devil himself. There really was no other explanation.
Hypothetically of course; there's no such things.
He dusted himself off and padded over to his girlfriend.
It had been 6 months now since everything that had happened with the whole brain wash thing. Things were starting to get back to normal around the cave and with the rest of the league. There were admittedly still those who had trouble trusting. On top of that, both the bats' paranoia had increased tenfold. But all in all- life was pretty good.
He stood by Artemis and put his hand in hers. Green and red: shocking, unlikely and so incredibly right. He didn't know how he had never seen it before.
They watched an intense few rounds between Conner and Kaldur before he realised what the time was.
"Oh, shoot!" He exclaimed as quietly as he could.
"Something wrong babe?" He looked over to the aptly named archer and flashed a sheepish grin.
"I have to be home early. My grand folks are over."
The young blonde just smiled at her boyfriend's bashful look. "How 'bout I come 'round with you? I can help your mom clean the house. I have that film she lent me anyway."
Wally could not hold back his grin. "Sure. That would be awesome. Nana's always on at me at pretty girls, she'd love to meet you." He noticed the look of apprehension appear on her face. "Hay… What's up beautiful? Don't tell me you're afraid of a couple of wrinkly old timers. They don't bite I promise."
"It's not that it's just…"
"Artemis?"
"I haven't really been formally introduced to your family. Yeah I know your mom, she's great. But I never met your dad. And your grandparents… What if they don't like me?"
The last sentence was barely above a whisper. He could tell they were starting to tread in uncertain water so he decided it was time they took this somewhere more privet. His thoughts were confirmed by the guilty, embarrassed look he received from one particular meta-clone with super hearing.
He gave a look to the younger super who in turn whispered something to Black Canary. She looked over to the young couple and motioned for them to leave if they wished.
The two of them did just that. They headed off to the designated shower blocks- girls and boys respectively- for a well-deserved soak.
Wally didn't take long opting to have a quick rinse and wait until he got home to have a proper clean. Instead he elected to use his time waiting for Artemis to let his parents know that there would be one more for dinner. He knew it would be fine though. His mother adored Artemis as though she was her daughter and his farther could barely talk about anything other than his joy that his only child had found someone worth holding onto. Even after the warning about her heritage, they had collectively agree, as a family, that Artemis and Wally was a good thing. Nothing could go wrong.
The phone call was short, to the point and contained a few to many childish giggles from his mother's end. It was rather worrying really.
"Wally? What's the plan?" He looked up to a truly extraordinary sight. I seemed that Artemis had done more than simply showered. Not that he would complain.
The young archer was feeling significantly more stable after a quick yet soothing shower. She pulled on the gear she had grabbed on her way and started back to find Wally. Only she ended back by her room instead. She stepped in and glanced into her mirror with a frown. This would not do.
She kept a whole other wardrobe full of cloths at the cave for three reasons. One: she had limited room at home. Two: she didn't want to worry her mother by turning up at home in a beat up costume. Three: Ollie liked to get her nice cloths that she would not let anywhere near the scum pit street where she lived in Gotham. Not that she didn't love her home. So as it was, she thought: what's the harm in digging through a few of her nicer outfits. Nothing fancy just… Decent. She would not screw up what she had with Wally because his parents thought she didn't care enough to try.
So here she was.
It had taken a lot more effort than she had first anticipated but it had turned out all right. At least, if Wally's face was anything to go by.
Oh sweet mercy.
Apparently his brain had decided to stop functioning. As fur as Wally could tell that was what was happening. Total brain fart. But she was just so beautiful.
She had let her heir down, something she rarely did. It looked good on her, lightly curled with emerald clips in the shape of little arrows holding it so that it framed her face perfectly. He remembered getting them for her birthday two months ago. She had said she was waiting for the right occasion. Her dress was also green. It was long and flowed, the sleeves cut diagonally with the shortest part ending just above her elbows and the longest by her wrists; a large ribbon tied in the front at her waist complemented her. The look was completed by the simple emerald flats with elegant ribbons to the sides.
She clutched her shoulder bag tightly and chewed her lightly glossed lips in anxiety before shaking her head and slumped on the direction of her room. "I look stupid, I'll go get changed." She muttered only to be gently gripped at her arm.
"No, no, no, no, no. Artemis stop look at me." He waited until she had turned and was looking reluctantly into his eyes. "You look incredible." It was nothing particularly special. As her boyfriend, he was expected to say things like that. The thing was, there relationship didn't work like that. He understood her, so would never tell her things if he didn't mean them. She could feel her heart warm at the sincerity in his words and the love in his eyes. "Are you ready to go?"
"I guess so." And with that, they headed out back to Key Stone City.
You could tell something big was happening the second you stepped into the West house hold. The home seemed to be alive and buzzing like a hive. But then, from what she had seen and heard, it always was. That was just how Mary West was. She may not have a job, but by god did she work hard.
"Rudy? Is that you honey? Could you bring the shopping thorough please I'm a little busy." She sounded hurried, a little stressed, but most importantly, like she was on top of the world. That was the Wests for you though.
"No Mom, It's me and Artemis."
"That's Artemis and I, love." She corrected quite seriously. "You're earlier then I thought."
Wally zoomed into the kitchen just in time to grab the large apple cobbler that was about to tumble to the floor quite unceremoniously. "We thought we would come and help you set up."
"We? Oh, Artemis. Honestly my mind is in ten places right now. Now let me look at you my love."
Artemis blushed bright red at the attention from the affectionate women but recovered a lot faster than previous encounters. It would seem she was getting used to this family that was so very different to her own. How was it that a girl and a boy from two so very different ends of the spectrum could find a way to become so close? Or maybe the question was how did it take so long?
So she smiled in gratitude at the openness and truth behind the compliments she received as she was promptly put to work alongside Wally to peel the great sack of potato that had to feed eight people. Including two food crazy speedsters. As it turned out, the Allen's would also be joining the meal. That made since though considering these people were Iris' parents as well.
All in all, the meal was going well. Wally's farther, Rudolf West, had arrived home and taken an instant liking to Artemis. Iris had arrived first to help out with food and Barry came half an hour later after finishing up a big case. Annie and Christopher West, or nanna and grandpa, arrived last. Annie was a small women a little shorter than Mary. Her face was that of someone who had aged with grace. Her face laced with laughter lines and her hair in a bun. Christopher on the other hand was a larger man much like Wally's farther. He was smart, well-spoken and had a wicked sense of hummer rivaling Wally's own.
The evening was full of laughter, jokes and lots of love. Artemis didn't know it was possible to feel so at home at another's house, but here she was. It was like she had always been one of them. And by the time it was over, she had no idea what she was ever nervous about in the first place. How could everything be so perfect?
By the time everything was tidied away and the guests had left, it was verging on 11:30. It was Saturday but still. Artemis still hadn't revised for the calculus quiz the following Monday and she had several reports due. She needed to stop procrastinating. That was the only reason she denied the guest room for the night.
Be that as it may, it was still dark out. She was fine out in the dark, she was never allowed to be afraid of such childish things so she wasn't. On top of that, she could fight off any attacker with little to no problem. In fact she would be better at that than Wally as he ran the risk of revealing his identity should things get messy. Artemis on the other had could just clam self-defence. She grew up in the slums of Gotham. There would be no questions asked. But Wally, being the gentleman he was, decided to see her home. That was their second mistake.
The first was when they decided to date each other.
They should have been paying more attention to their surroundings, but they were kind of busy. They were so caught up in fact, they didn't notice the assassin stalking them; watching their every move. Why should they have? If he was a danger, he would have killed them already. Or maybe not. Maybe he decided at that very moment that there would be a better way. A better way to get his revenge on the hyperactive, red haired boy.
The boy who dared touch his baby girl.
And here you have my first attempt at a young justice fic. (Gotta love procrastination.) This hasn't been checked so excuse any errors and I hope to hear what you thought.
Laters friends…
