"Ugh, why do we have to do this?" Artemis complained, tugging at the green dress she was wearing. "I hate this dress, how am I supposed to fight?" Wally stood behind her, adjusting his yellow tie in a dark gray suit and white undershirt. Looking just as uncomfortable in a suit as Artemis did in her dress, a pout on his face.
"We are simply here to gather information." Kaldur reminded her, wearing his own light gray suit with a light blue tie, "hopefully there will be no fighting."
"This is still the most ridiculous thing I've ever worn." She tugged on the silky fabric. The hunter green dress with light green trim went down to her ankles. Her hair was in her usual ponytail, several strands falling around her face.
"Well I think everyone looks great tonight." M'gann said dreamily glancing at Conner. She had a red dress, a pink wrap around her middle that came down to her knees with fluffy pink shoulder sleeves. She was in her human skin right now, her red hair up in a messy bun with strands framing her face, a light blush gracing her cheeks.
Conner had a unpleased look on his face, standing there in his black suit with a red shirt underneath in a slouched position as if to protest his being here with bad posture.
"What exactly are we here for Kaldur? It would have been nice if we were given some more information before coming here."
"Sh! It's starting!" Artemis elbowed him as they all turned to the stage. The lights in the room dimmed and the spotlights came on. The curtain opened to reveal an elegantly dressed man with dark hair and a commanding presence along with a boy of about thirteen with a bored look on his face.
"Thank you everyone, for being present at the Wayne Foundation charity banquet for the new wing of the Children's Hospital!" A round of applause from the adult members of the audience.
"Hey, sorry I'm late." Zatanna whispered as she pushed through the crowd to the others. Her hair in a high ponytail but curling at the ends, large sparkling ear rings dangling from her ears. Her dress came down to mid thigh, with black stilettos and the black clutch she was holding.
"No problem, now that everyone is here, the mission-"
"Wait, where's Robin?" Wally cut Kaldur off, the others looked around, noticing their definite lack of bird themed sidekick.
"Busy. Now, the mission..."
Artemis wandered the crowd, her arm looped in Wally's. Their role was to play a young couple, children of two separate out-of-country corporations. They were assigned accents and everything.
"You'll need to go talk to Bruce Wayne. Artemis, you are from Italy, your father runs a fabric company that is very popular. And Wally, you're from England your parents are both in Parliment." Fakest fake identities ever, but they'll go with it.
"England? Really? Why couldn't I get a cool country?" He whispered to her as they floated their way towards Wayne.
"Well, Ireland would probably be the most obvious choice looking at your hair, but I'm willing to bet you can't pull off an Irish accent." She looked around before pulling him in a different direction. He grinned.
"Not to save my life." As they approached Wayne, Artemis grabbed Wally's hand, intertwining their fingers.
"Remember to really drive home the whole couple thing"
"Let me do most of the talking." Dragging Wally by the hand, she approached Wayne just as some fancy girl with a baby fox wrapped around her shoulders walked away.
"Hello , it is such a pleasure meeting you. My name is Cloe Ricci. On behalf of my father, Adolfo Ricci, it is an honor to meet you." She gave a small nod then leant on Wally's shoulder. Her Italian accent surprisingly accurate.
"Ah, the pleasure is mine Miss Ricci. It is an honor to have you here. May I ask who this young man accompanying you tonight is?" She appeared to be surprised, then embarrassed.
"Oh yes! How could I have forgotten! This is Adam Smith." She rattled off the introduction. They shook hands.
"A pleasure." Wally said, managing not to sound unBritish.
"The pleasure is mine, shall we sit?" Wayne gestured to some highly decorated table with a glass vase of roses and full silverware. Artemis smiled and dragged Wally over, sitting in the proffered chair without a second thought, as if she was used to this kind of thing. Wally quickly followed.
"So ..."
M'gann glanced around at the large crowd of people, awkwardly standing next to Conner.
"You two are a couple on your first trip to the United States. Find anyone interesting in the crowd and see what you can get out of them. But be forgettable. Don't linger on one person too much."
They've been here for 5 minutes and still haven't moved. No suspicious activity and they certainly don't look like a happy lovey-dovey couple. I mean, Conner is standing there with his hands in his pockets and M'gann is staring around nervously.
Yeah, very convincing.
Zatanna waltzed through the packed room and made an effort to look like she belonged there.
"Your job will be Wayne's ward, Richard Grayson. Find him, get friendly. Se what vibes he's sending off."
Vague directions much Kaldur? She looked around, spotting her target leaning against the wall looking bored. She checked to make sure she looked presentable before she walked over, adjusting the spaghetti straps of her dress on her shoulders and fluffing her hair. Finally pleased with her look, she walked over, giving just a little more swing to her hips than usual.
"Richard Grayson?" She asked, he looked over at her with a slightly pouty expression, that dissolved into one of intrest when he saw her. His blue eyes bore into her, analyzing.
"Who wants to know?" He asked back, turning his body to her and crossing his arms. She smirked.
"No one much, a fan maybe?"
"Maybe?" He grinned. She grinned right back. He was cute.
"Yes, maybe."
"Well I can't give an autograph to a maybe fan." She scoffed. He slid a hand through his flawless hair.
"Who is asking for an autograph? If I were any kind of fan, I would have asked for a hug and a selfie already." She joked, leaning on the wall next to him. He laughed. Man his laugh sounded kind of familiar. His smirk was rather familiar too.
"Don't think I've seen you around before. What's your name?" He asked. She didn't falter for a second.
"Alysia Flynn." She reached out a hand, he took it, kissing it with an amount of over formality. She giggled.
"Well, nice to meet you, Miss Flynn."
"Likewise, ." He glanced around at the party, the rich guests talking and laughing, the servants walking around with trays of champagne in thin glasses. The expensive dresses, the soft music playing in the background.
"So, what's your real reason for talking to me?" He asked after a while.
"Hm?" She glanced at him, surprised, then looked back at the crowd, "Well, you looked bored." She answered honestly. He raised an eyebrow, but grinned at her.
"I was, I hate these kinds of things." He frowned, "Ya wanna go cause some mischief?" She grinned.
Aqualad wandered through the room, going over everything in his head to make sure he didn't leave anything out. He was so consumed in his thoughts, he didn't notice as he collided with a body in front of him.
"Oh, my apologies!" He said, looking up into a pair of familiar brown eyes. "Rocket?"
"Kaldur?" She gasped, she was wearing a black evening gown, an intricate design in glitter on her left shoulder and glitter in her hair. "What are you doing here?" She asked, looking him up and down.
"Covert mission." He whispered. She smiled at him.
"Of course, I'm here with a friend."
"Who?" He raised an eyebrow. She glanced around.
"No one important, ditched me the second she spotted some poor fool she could manipulate." She waved her hand dismissively, "but as long as we're both here..." She snatched a champagne glass from a nearby tray.
After the party
"Did anyone find anything?" Kaldur asked on the way back to the cave in the bioship. Artemis went first.
"Not only does Bruce Wayne have an extensive knowledge of Italian history, but he also has several connections to Italy, and now the Ricci fabric corporation is about to get a major donation. And I won't get even a thank you note." She crossed her arms.
"Wait, Ricci is an actual fabric manufacturer?" Wally asked.
"Of, course. I'm not stupid enough to make up a completely fake name for someone with a business. What if he looks into it? The Riccis are a friend of my fathers. The oldest daughter used to babysit me, I'll email her." Aqualad sighed and moved onto the next person.
"M'gann? Conner? Anything?" He asked. M'gann shook her head.
"Zatanna?"
"Well," she started, "Grayson is a major troublemaker. Took me back in the kitchen and had me help him prank the cooks all night." Zatanna looked over at them, crossing her legs, "Sweet kid though, very smart."
"Right, I ran into Rocket and didn't really get much of anything done." Kaldur finished.
"So, was the mission a failure?" M'gann asked. Kaldur sighed.
"That's for Batman to decide."
"You have all done well." Batman said, Robin stood next to him, arms crossed and a smirk on his face.
"But, none of us found anything!" Wally said.
"I know," he looked at each of them, "the mission was not for you to gather any sort of top secret information, it was to see how well you would do under cover." He got several looks. "It's late, go home." And with that, they were dismissed. As they all walked away, Robin walked up next to Zatanna.
"So what were you guys trying to find out anyway?" She stopped in her tracks.
"You know what, I don't even know."
Well, this is as random as it gets. Enjoy!
Have a nice day! B-)