Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.
The air was suffocating as the large bus rumbled down the dirt road. Children aged 10 to eighteen were all crammed into the metal death trap like it was a giant yellow sardine can. They had come from all over America, each one stuffed into a bus for hours until all of the buses made it to the 'meeting spot'. The 'meeting spot', as it had been creatively dubbed, was an outhouse on an old country road with a dusty bench in front. Then they all had to wait, in the boiling heat, as a singular bus shuttled as many kids as possible through the woods, to the camp. The bus to the 'meeting spot' had taken five hours, the wait for the shuttle bus had been two hours, and now the final bus was scheduled to take another three hours. Wally was pretty sure that he wouldn't make it.
"You're hyperventilating again." Dick said, glancing nervously at him.
Wally swallowed, trying to even out his breathing. "Sorry. It's just, road trips aren't exactly my favorite, you know?"
Dick grimaced, nodding his head. He knew all to well the claustrophobic tendencies that speedsters had. Combining that with the extreme summer heat and the long hours spent stuck in one area, well Dick could understand why Wally wouldn't exactly be happy about this arrangement.
"Remind me, again, why we couldn't have found an alternate way to the camp?" Wally groaned.
"The camp's location is a highly guarded secret. The public isn't aware of where it is."
In other words, Robin knew exactly where the camp was, but Dick Grayson and Wally West were supposed to be as clueless as everyone else.
"Right." He sighed.
Sometimes Wally hated the complexities that came with having a secret identity. He turned to face Dick to tell him that, covertly of course, when suddenly the bus jerked to a stop. All of the children were slammed forward, still following the buses momentum. Wally found himself flung face first into the sweaty leather of the seat ahead of him.
"Well, looks like we're here," Said Dick, trying to smother his laughter at Wally's situation. He gave up, deeming it a lost cause and openly laughed at him.
Wally scowled as he peeled his face off of the back of the seat. How was the leather already sticking to his skin? He sat back with a huff. That leather could work as a replacement for duck tape. I wonder if someone could stick to walls using only leather?
Wally's head snapped up when the doors of the bus creaked open. This is my chance to get out of this torture chamber! The other kids were still shaken from the abrupt stop, picking themselves off of the floor and unpeeling themselves from the leather seats. He jumped up, grabbed Dick's hand and was barley able to restrain his speed as he bolted out the doors.
Fresh air! Wally collapsed to his knees and kissed the dusty terrain.
"You know, I wasn't aware that was actually a thing that people do." Dick commented as he freed his hand from Wally's. "I think I've lost all feeling in this hand."
"It's a small price to pay for freedom," Wally retorted, as he got off the ground. "Is this the camp? It looks like one strong gust of wind will knock it down."
"Well, this is what average summer camps look like, right? And this is, of course, an average summer camp."
"Of course," stated Wally, "How could I forget. 'Lex Luthor's Camp for Gifted Children' is obviously as average as it gets."
The camp was in a small clearing surrounded by the woods. There were ten wood cabins, which stood in a semi circle at the edge of the clearing. Each cabin was numbered 1-10, but two of the cabins seemed to have lost their numbered plaques. In the center of the camp there was a flag pole waving an American flag with a campfire pit underneath. The pit was over grown with weeds and looked like it hadn't been lit in years.
The rest of the kids made it off of the bus and were staring at the camp with growing apprehension. They were herded away from the bus and underneath a giant sign that read 'Lex Luthor's Camp for Gifted Children'. At least that was probably what it was supposed to say, but it was missing most of it's letters and ended up as 'Ex Luhor's Camp for Ited Chilen'.
As they gathered at the front of the camp, a counselor stepped in front to address the group.
"Welcome campers! Just a few things we need to go over before you can go off and have fun! So first things first, the woods are off limits. We don't want any campers to get lost, so please stay away from forest. Secondly, any area marked 'Staff Only' is also off limits to campers. Any camper found in an off limits area will be appropriately dealt with."
Wally and Dick glanced at each other. Those off limit areas were exactly where they needed to go. Although they hadn't been aware that the woods would also be off limits, that might make their plans a little bit more difficult.
The counselor's overly cheery voice continued, "You can sort yourselves into your cabin groups. Four kids to a cabin. Cabins 1-5 are for the boy's and Cabins 6-10 are for the girl's. Curfew is at 9:00. Anyone found violating curfew will be appropriately dealt with. Any questions?"
A young girl at the front of the group immediately raised her hand.
"Where are the other kids?" She asked.
"The other kids?" The counselor repeated, confused.
"There are only 40 of us here. There were 200 of us at the 'meeting spot'. There were 4 groups of 40 kids ahead of us. 160 kids are missing. Where are they?"
"Oh. Well, the camp is divided into different sections to give you all more one-on-one attention. Don't worry though, you'll get the same experience as the other kids. Now, try to pair up into your cabin groups and pick a cabin." She finished, before she walked away down a path leading into the forest. The path was marked with a sign reading 'Staff Only'.
"We should try to get cabin 1." Dick said eyeing the cabins. Cabin 1 and Cabin 10 were the cabins on the ends of the semi-circle arrangement. They would be the easiest to sneak out of because they weren't flanked on both sides like the other cabins. Cabin 10 was designated as a girls cabin though, so their best option, barring a complete costume change, would be Cabin 1.
Dick grabbed Wally's hand and marched off towards his ideal cabin. He was probably gripping the redhead's hand a little too hard, but didn't feel bad. In fact, he counted it as payback from when Wally had dragged him off of the bus. He wasn't kidding when he said that he had lost feeling to the limb.
They arrived at the cabin and looked inside. It was small, consisting only of two bunk beds. The walls were plywood and it had no windows. Jutting out between the bunk beds was a tall box. Upon closer inspection it turned out to be a hastily made plywood port-a-potty.
"So, I guess I'm waiting to use the facilities until we get back. What's your plan?" Wally said, staring at the port-a-potty with thinly veiled disgust.
"I don't think we need to worry about it. We should be in and out of here, as long as everything goes well, tonight."
Wally groaned, flopping down onto the bottom bunk. "It might take longer though if all of the woods is a restricted area. We'll have to search it all. Plus that little girl was right, we're missing campers. Who knows where they are or if they need help."
"I don't think Luthor would try anything on the first day of camp. He made this camp to find the smartest kids of our generation. He isn't going to make any moves without testing us in some way. The other kids are probably in identical camps hidden throughout the woods." Dick reasoned, sitting down on the other bottom bunk.
Wally stared at the ceiling, "Makes sense. Smaller groups are easier to control and if something goes wrong in one camp the other four can be relocated. He's not putting all of his eggs in one basket."
The sound of footsteps walking up to the cabin caused the boys to go quite. They stared at the door, waiting for it to open.
Two boys around the same height as Dick walked in. They both had black hair, but that's where the similarities ended. The one boy had dark brown eyes and a slightly crooked nose. It almost looked like it had been broken and then wasn't set right afterwards. His hair was greasy and long, hanging down of off his head like it was trying to escape. He had a dark look on his face, and Wally didn't need to be telepathic to know that this kid did not want to be here.
The other boy's gray eyes were hidden behind his thick black glasses. His black hair was cut short and was brushed neatly away from his face. He seemed shy, as he opened his mouth to say something but thought better of if and just stood there in silence.
"Are you guys joining our cabin?" Dick asked.
"It's the only one left," The moody one said, almost as an after thought he added, "I'm Micheal," he nodded his head towards the other boy, "That's Andy."
Andy gave a small wave.
Wally beamed, "Nice to meet you! I'm Wally, what categories are you guys signed up for?"
Micheal scrunched up his face. "Categories?"
"Your area of expertise. The reason you were picked to come here. There are four categories, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. They give out scholarships for S.T.E.M. programs to the top five kids in ever category. My category is technology." Andy answered while pushing up his glasses. He walked over to bunk beds and climbed to the top bunk, claiming it as his.
"Oh." Micheal paused, still standing in the doorway. "I guess my category is Engineering."
"I'm in Science." Wally stated, before jabbing his thumb in Dick's direction. "This is Richard, he's in Mathematics."
Micheal glanced around the room again. "When are we getting our bags back?"
Dick grimaced, their bags had been taken as soon as they had gotten on the first bus. They had told them that they would be getting them back, but Dick had his doubts. Luthor really didn't want anything to mess up his plan. Most likely they would be searched from top to bottom and placed in a warehouse until they were on the return trip home. If there is a return trip home. That's why Wally and him were here in the first place, kids were going missing from this place at an alarming rate. Luthor had been using his political influence to convince everyone that the missing kids had runaway or had gotten lost in the woods. The Justice League was immediately skeptical. Batman launched an investigation, but he wasn't able to collect enough evidence to shut the camp down.
So, It was certainly a shock when Wally and him were unexpectedly invited to the camp. Wally because of a mini particle accelerator he built for his science fair and Dick because he was the MVP of his mathlete's team at school. The letter had come in the mail, sealed in wax and trimmed with gold, with 'Luthor' printed in giant gold letters. While Wally's first reaction had been to rip the letter up, throw it in a fire and laugh, Dick had brought the letter to Bruce and had asked him to let Dick run an undercover mission at the camp. At first Bruce had refused, stating that it was too dangerous for him to go alone. However, when they learned that Wally had received to the same invitation, albeit torn up and a little charred, Bruce relented.
The Justice League trusted them to complete this mission.
It was a lot of pressure to put on a kid's shoulders, but he couldn't complain when he was the one who asked to run the mission in the first place.
Dick sighed, running a hand through his hair. He glanced up realizing that Wally was still conversing with their cabin mates.
"So, anyone know whats happening tomorrow?" Dick cut into the conversation smoothly.
"Oh my god!" Andy jumped, almost falling off of the top bunk. "I forgot you were there. Man, you almost gave me a heart attack."
"Yeah, he does that." Wally laughed, happy that his best friend was no longer brooding in the shadows of his bottom bunk. Now that his mind was clear from the panic induced haze that comes with claustrophobia he was beginning to be concerned for his friend's mental health. The kid had just spent a good five minutes scowling blankly at the wall. Wally was extremely glad that he was also put on this mission. He knows that his young friend just wants to prove himself but he also knows that Dick is still young. I need to make sure that the pressure doesn't get to him. With that thought Wally pulled himself up and said, "He's got a point though, what are we doing tomorrow?"
Andy frowned and scratched his head, "I don't know. I didn't get an itinerary."
Micheal also frowned, but didn't try to answer the question. He shrugged his shoulders in the universal sign of I could care less.
"Well," Wally said, sharing a glance with Dick. "I guess we'll find out tomorrow."
Let me know what you guys think. This is my first fic so please be nice! Also let me know what pairings you guys want. I wasn't planning on adding any, but if you guys really want a specific ship I will be sure to add it.