A/N: Well so the idea for this fic came to me after approximately 3 cans of soft drink and sleep deprivation.
So it all makes sense when you look at it.
Although I actually did do research into the reason eyes are grey. And I don't actually know whether caffeine would affect speedsters in different doses or not. But from what I gathered from 'The Flash' their metabolism and immune systems are way faster and more active so maybe they would burn through caffeine without it affecting them?
Disclaimer: *picks up phone* "Oh what's this? You want to sell Young Justice to me? Oh you shouldn't have." Welp. Looks like I own Young Justice guys. Show's over.
"We might need you guys to come in as backup to help evacuate civilians once we're done with the Injustice League. Stay on alert. Batman out."
10:00 PM
Wally groaned as he paced back and forth around the lounge room of the Cave.
"Dude just calm down. Batman'll probably call for us in an hour or so, and then you can go back to your, oh so precious test experiment."
Robin adjusted his position on the couch and took another chip out of the packet.
"What's so bad about chilling with us anyways?" Artemis shot out from the corner while sharpening her arrows.
"Yeah well it's not that I don't want to enjoy your company Blondie, but I kinda have a timed experiment running at the moment, and I really need to make sure that I can collect qualitative results on all stages of the process."
Artemis stared blankly up at him for a moment before turning to Robin. "Translation please?"
"He wants to be able to take pretty pictures of his mould."
Artemis sighed and resumed her arrow sharpening.
A companionable kind of silence descended upon the room, only interrupted by the occasional scuffing of Wally's feet as he paced the room. Dick was tapping away at his wrist computer, and the slow steady grind of Artemis sharpening her arrows all blended together to fill the room with the comforting sounds of inhabitance.
Sighing, Wally flopped down onto the couch next to Dick. "Well, if we're going to be here for the rest of the night, I may as well show you guys one of the latest things that I cooked up."
Reaching into his backpack, he brought out a single thermos.
"I call it, the Super Ultra Triple Strength Espresso Shot."
"It's one of the only things that can actually affect speedsters, since our metabolism burns through most chemicals in a matter of seconds."
Crowding around him, the rest of the team stared at the thermos in amazement.
"Sure doesn't look like much" snarked Robin from the side.
"Well would you like to try some?" said Wally.
"I mean, if it's as weak as you obviously think it is, then drinking a full cup each will be no problem right?" His grin at this point suddenly seemed to grow in size. "That is, unless if you're scared."
"Me, scared?" "Scared of your little coffee concoction?" spluttered Artemis.
"That's right Blondie. You chicken?" he replied.
"Of course not. Give me that thermos and I'll drink the entire thing." growled Artemis. Reaching for the thermos, she started to pull it out of Wally's grip.
"Uh uh Rapunzel. Not so fast. I know you're desperate to get your caffeine fix, but if you drink too much it may overload your systems. Let me measure it out first." He sped over to the kitchen and soon had six cups filled with the dark steaming liquid. "Let's do it all together guys!" M'gann's exclamation was met with nods and yells of "This is gonna be great!"
"On my count." Wally's voice rang out through the cave.
"3." Wally's face was deadly serious as he counted down.
"2." Artemis rolled her eyes at Dick, as the Boy Wonder continued to grin and bounce around in anticipation.
"1." Kaldur looked faintly resigned to his fate, and was waiting for the final number.
"0."
Within seconds all of the cups were emptied. "You know what that was a surprisingly good cup of coffee KF," said Robin. "I mean it doesn't quite compare with the stuff made in Vienna, but still quite good. It's a shame that the caffeine hit is basically non-existent."
Slinging an arm around his best friends shoulders, Wally started laughing. "Rob you do realise that it takes at least an hour for the caffeine to come into effect. Quick stuff doesn't work on speedsters remember?"
Artemis slumped down into one of the couches and resumed her arrow sharpening. "What a waste of my time Baywatch. Didn't even do anything to me."
"Patience Artemis patience." He grinned. "After all, all good things come to those that wait."
11:00 PM
It had been approximately half an hour since the caffeine had kicked in.
Robin had disappeared into the air vents with his signature cackle, dropping stink bombs on anyone who strayed to close to an opening.
Kaldur was trying to get inside of the T.V, which was set to a documentary on fish. M'gann had changed into a goat, and was happily frolicking around the room, chewing up the carpet and upholstery. Superboy had jumped straight out of the Cave's roof and had yet to come down. And Wally and Artemis were busy staring into each other's eyes. Literally.
"Hey Artemis." Wally.
"Yeah Wally?" Artemis.
"Did you know that you have really pretty eyes? They're all grey and blue and clear and they kind of reflect light but also capture it. Did you know that the reason that the iris of eyes are grey, is due to the increased levels of collagen in the stroma, which means the light that is reflected from the epithelium undergoes Mie scattering instead of Rayleigh scattering?"
Artemis just kind of nodded distractedly and stared at Wally before slowly reaching up to wrap her arms around Wally's neck.
"You know that my Dad is actually Sportsmaster?" she whispered.
"And he used to torture us, Jade and I, making us spar until we were bleeding from everywhere. And it just hurts so bad, knowing that I'll never be normal, and it's all his fault."
Wally started stroking her hair as she started crying into his chest. "I know. I had a pet rabbit that died once." He replied sympathetically.
Looking up at him, Artemis smiled faintly. "Then you know exactly what it's like."
Slowly their heads moved closer, and closer together until suddenly –
Superboy crashed back through the ceiling.
"WHO PUT MONKEYS IN MY SOUP?"
At this proclamation, M'gann changed from a goat into a baboon and started hooting and jumping around Conner like he was one giant banana.
"MONKEYS!"
"I HATE MONKEYS."
12:00 AM
"And so I look at Batman and I'm just like, are you sure that we should really drive the Batmobile through that wall? And of course he just kinda looks of into the distance and goes; I'm Batman, in that classic tone he can do. I mean Bruce just cracks me up when he does that, cause it's so obviously fake and yet the criminals still pee themselves whenever he says it."
Robin was sitting on one of the couches, as the rest of the Team crowded around him. Although he was less being listened to and more acting as an impromptu referee for the gigantic game of football taking place in the main room.
As Artemis sped past him with her socks on, Robin continued to ramble to himself, occasionally allocating goals to random teams based on criteria such as, team spirit, athletic ability, and cookie eating prowess.
Wally skidded past the couch, stealing the bundle of clothes that classified as a ball, and began sliding over to his goal. But he was easily tackled by Kaldur as the Atlantean passed the clothes over to Connor. Artemis then jumped out from behind the couch, shooting a foam arrow at the clone before making a break for it. "Hey no powers you cheater!" Connor's angry shout was lost beneath the yells of both Wally and Artemis, as they passed the bundle between them, dodging Kaldur's frantic attempts to stop them. As they approached the goal, even Robin stopped his rambling to watch as their flawless teamwork made them move progressively up the room, dodging electric shocks and couch pillows thrown their way.
"And the clothes are being passed back and forth between the team, in an incredible show of teamwork and cohesion!" M'gann had taken the form of a commentator off the television, and was yelling into a microphone which somehow managed to amplify her voice.
"Artemis has the ball, Wally, Artemis, Wally, ooh a low tackle by the star of the other team, Connor Kent. But the team keeps on going, with the momentum gaining with each successive pass."
Lifting off the ground and hovering closer to the action, M'gann's commentating seemed to increase in intensity. "And we've got 20 yards to go, and the other team is getting desperate!"
Kaldur pulled his water-bearers off his back and started sending a variety of water based projectiles at the duo. Connor lifted up the couch that Robin was sitting on and threw at the pair, as they advanced up the room.
Artemis simply flipped over the projectiles and fired a fire arrow at Kaldur, causing him to fall to the floor unconscious. As the couch thrown neared the duo, Wally simply created a mini-tornado around the couch, causing it to land safely.
"And did you know that he's actually afraid of cats? I mean the big bad Dark Knight of Gotham is afraid of cats " rambled Robin.
"We're coming to the final few yards before the touchdown, and both members of the opposition team seem to be out of the count!" yelled M'gann.
"5 yards!"
""4"
"3"
"2"
"1!"
"TOUCHDOWN!"
Wally and Artemis dumped the bundle of clothes down on the ground and ran to each other, hugging and celebrating. M'gann simply dropped out of the sky out of sheer relief and both Kaldur and Connor slumped further onto the ground.
And of course, Robin was laughing at all of them.
2:00 AM
Recognised 02 Batman.
Recognised 04 Flash.
"Bats did you see how I took down Count Vertigo?"
"I mean he didn't even see me before I just knocked him down and-"
Both Barry and Batman froze as they saw the scene before them.
All of the children were unconscious in various positions on the floor. One of the couches was in the middle of the floor, and there were arrows embedded in the floor and walls.
"Barry." growled Batman.
"Did you make sure to activate the Mountain's defense mechanisms before going to fight?" Although not visible, Batman's jaw was clenched tight.
"I s-swear I did Bats, I mean I made sure to activate the turrets and cloaking field."
Barry's denials echoed out across the room, rousing Robin from his sleep.
"Oh hey Batman." Robin waved lazily from his position on the floor as Bruce strode up to where his protégé lay. "What happened Robin? Who attacked you?" asked Batman. "Attack? Oh no there was no attack here. We was just, having a bit of fun y'know?" grinning slightly, Robin wrapped his arms around Batman's neck.
Batman got up and carefully carried his protégé to the Zeta Tubes. "And we played football, with clothes! And Wally's coffee was actually really good and I remembered that you're afraid of cats and -" With a sudden silence, the Zeta's came into effect and Batman and Robin were gone.
As Barry walked over to his nephew and contacted the rest of the mentors, he mumbled to himself, deep in thought. "Did he just say afraid of cats?"
Well that was strange.
Anyways please Read and Review.