Sorry this took so long.
Between this story being updated & now, I've gone through two birthdays, three BIRTHS, and a death/funeral.
(It was my great aunt, she died of a heart attack in her sleep. Very quick, very painless. I'm saying thank you for your condolences in advanced.)
Okay so I lied. This is gonna be a three-shot.
But hey- more chapters=more spitfire
"Uhhhh, this could wind up being one of those things that sounds better in my head than outloud, but you are a real archer... No! I mean, I'm jazzed about Red Arrow. We go way back, you know? But you? You've made your own place on the Team. You have nothing to prove. Not to me, okay?"
"Okay."
"And, Wally? It sounded fine, out loud."
"I should've done this a long time ago."
"No kidding."
Central City
April 1, 2017
12:30 pm
To say that Jason "Jay" Crock was unloved by his superhero family would be an absolute bold-faced lie.
Everyone on the Team and League that had laid eyes on the pudgy newborn in the week since his birth had fallen absolutely in love with the beyond adorable first and only child to Artemis Lian Crock and the late Wallace Rudolph West.
But what actually surprised several of the heroes, was that Artemis had named him after the fallen second Robin and the second Flash insteadof Wally.
When finally asked by a curious Wonder Woman, her response was simple.
"Emotionally, I couldn't do it. I couldn't handle giving my son the same name as the Dad he'll never get to meet. And even if that wasn't the case, Wally wasn't exactly a fan of his own full name, either. So, I named him after Jason and Barry." Artemis had responded.
Nightwing- despite wanting nothing more then to hold and love the son of his fallen best friend as if he were his own- avoided seeing Artemis, fearing the reaction the new mother would have if he stepped anywhere near her little boy.
So, he settled for saving- aka stealing- copies of all the photos the other heroes had taken of Jason.
He decided that somehow, someway, he'd get Jason his Dad back.
Palo Alto
April 23, 2017
10:43 am
Brucely had made it his life's mission to always guard the one month old Jason whenever he wasn't nestled in their mother's arms.
The little boy, in his four short weeks being in the outside world, had flourished to a hefty eleven and a half pounds, and grown another two inches. His wispy blonde locks, at birth only covered the top and back of his scalp, were beginning to curl around his ears, which had been the only thing Artemis had noticed he's gained from Wally immediately following his birth.
His eyes, however, had begun to transform from their original newborn blue, to the most breath taking shade of green Artemis had ever laid eyes on, darker then the ones Wally had sported, but not quite the same shade of green as her original costume.
"Well that's two things you have from your Daddy so far, Jay." Artemis cooed, staring at the the green irises of her wide-eyed son, who was mesmerized by the mobile attached to his crib.
"How you feeling, baby girl?"
Artemis snarled, keeping her body instinctively between the crib holding her son and her Father, standing a mere five feet from them.
"How the hell did you get in here?!" She hissed, pulling a switch blade out from her back pocket and flipping it open.
"Relax Artemis- put the knife away. I'm not gonna hurt you or Jay." Lawrence said, holding both his hands up to reassure his youngest.
"Why should I believe you?!" She growled.
"Because if I was going to take or hurt him I would've done it by now." Lawrence scoffed, the tension causing Jay to fuss.
"Oh thiên thần." She cooed, dropping the blade and scooping him up into her arms to rest his head on her breast, relieved when the contact with her calmed him down. She turned back to her Dad, glaring daggers at him.
"What do you want?" She groaned. She wasn't thrilled in the slightest to see him there in the same house as her helpless son.
"To check on my baby girl and her little boy." Lawrence told her, uncrossing his arms.
"Who told you it was a boy? It's not like I've contacted you- haven't seen you since that time on Manta's ship when I was... Undercover." She sighed.
Then it hit her.
"Jade told you? Didn't she?" Artemis cried.
"It was your mother actually. Not on purpose though, so don't blame her. Went to check on her- as I have done every so often since we thought you had went and died on us- and I overheard her discussing with Jade on the phone that you had had a boy. So instead of checking on your mother, I went to check on you instead." Lawrence told her.
Artemis absolutely without a doubt did not believe him, but she was too tired to argue with her.
"So what's his name?" He asked.
"Jason Henry Crock. But I've been calling him Jay the majority of the time.
"Thank you for not naming my first grandson Wallace Jr. But why does he have our last name?" Confusion dripped from Crusher's voice.
"You're welcome. And me and Wally weren't married. And since he's... gone, I couldn't legally give Jay his last name. So because of that, he's aCrock. No matter how much I wish he wasn't." Artemis explained.
"He looks like a Crock. But you're right, the boy should be a West." Lawrence sighed.
As they had conversated, Lawrence had stepped closer to his youngest daughter and newborn grandson. He looked at the wide awake Jay and smirked.
"Oh yeah, he definetly has Flash Jr.'s eyes." He grinned.
"Oh! Before I leave, Artemis. I got the him a present- for when he's older, of course." Lawrence said, kissing her on the forehead goodbye and ruffling Jay's blonde hair before leaving out the front door.
Sighing and rolling her eyes, Artemis placed Jay back into his crib before going to search for the "gift" her Dad had left for him.
She found a large box on her kitchen table, tied with a blue ribbon.
Groaning, she unwrapped the ribbon and opened the box.
"You have got to be kidding me!" She scoffed, rolling her eyes.
Her Dad had gotten her son a flail.
Central City
May 1, 2017
6:19 pm
Mary West, in the almost fifty-five years she'd be on this Earth, never thought she'd see a little boy more precious and beautiful then her Wally.
Until the very first time she laid eyes on his Jason.
At that very moment, she knew without a doubt in her mind that she would love the only grandchild she would ever get to have as if he were her own.
As of now, Mary was relaxed on her and Rudy's couch, a six week old Jay, snug in a pale blue onesie and gray cotton pants, fast asleep in her arms, as his Mother and Grandfather cooked dinner in the kitchen.
Mary remembered the day her Wally was born so perfectly.
Her and Rudy had tried for ten long years to be blessed with a baby of their own. Some couples who struggled with fertility experienced false positives or even miscarriages and still births.
They hadn't even gotten that.
Then, one year, the day after their twelfth wedding anniversary, they got the news that they had wanted for ten long agonizing years.
They were expecting.
They had decided to let the baby be a surprise until birth. They didn't care if it was a boy or a girl anyhow. They just wanted a baby.
And low and behold, on November 11, 1994, after so many years of heart break, and a 23 hour labor of pure pain and agony (plus an emergency c-section) their perfect son was born, finally completing their wish for a perfect family.
And on June 20, 2016 they lost him forever.
"He giving you any trouble Mary?" Artemis hollered from the kitchen.
"Oh no. The opposite actually." Mary laughed, smiling down at Jay. She stood up, Jay still asleep, and walked to the kitchen.
Artemis beamed at the sight of her small son, kissing his forehead before helping Rudy serve dinner.
"Has he been sleeping through the night?" Mary asked.
"Not as much as I'd prefer him to, but he's gotten a lot better." Artemis sighed, grabbing the silverware.
"Wally was almost six months old before he'd sleep longer then three hours at a time." Rudy chuckled as they sat down at the table.
"Artemis, I have a question, if you don't mind me asking it of course." Mary said, gaining Artemis's attention.
Oh God, what is it? Did I do something? Did I upset her? Artemis mentally panicked.
"Sure. What is it?" Artemis asked.
"What are you going to do if Jay inherits the speedster gene?" Mary asked. Her question resulted in Artemis chocking on her pork chop, to the point where Rudy had to whack her on the back. Once she could breathe again, the new mom stared at the experienced mom with wide eyes.
The question had never entered her mind. She had no idea what would happen or what she'd do if one day her precious son could spontaneously run at a hundred miles per hour at will.
"I have no idea..." She said quietly, gulping.
Palo Alto
May 12, 2017
9:18 am
Artemis was both nervous and excited. Tomorrow would be her first Mother's Day. While she was putting Jay in his swing after being fed & burped, she heard a knock on the door.
She walked towards the door and opened it, pleasantly surprised to see M'gann.
"Hey M'gann. Come in." Artemis grinned, stepping aside for the Martian.
"H-hey." M'gann gave a small smile, her eyes averting to a still awake Jay, who's eyes were watching a sleeping Brucely.
"Are you okay?" Artemis questioned, lifting an eyebrow.
M'gann sighed. "Canary told me yesterday that I'm pregnant." She told her best friend, her eyes finally leaving her almost two month old Godson back to his ecstatic mother.
"M'gann! That's wonderful!" Artemis beamed, throwing her arms around her. "How'd Conner take it? Does he know?" She asked.
"Yeah he knows. He was in shock at first but now he can't wait. Says he doesn't care if it's a boy or a girl as long as their eyes are blue." M'gann gave a small smile.
That's when Artemis realized that something was wrong.
"M'gann, what is it? Tell me what's wrong?" Artemis asked, growing concerned.
"I'm due on Wally's birthday..." M'gann sighed, fearing how upset Artemis would be over the information.
Artemis smiled at her. "That's great, M'gann!" She smiled. This took the pregnant Martian by surprise.
"You're not upset...?" She asked.
"No. Why? Wally would've been thrilled to have a friend become a parent on his birthday. And besides, Jay was born on Conner's birthday, so it's only fair that you & Conner's baby be born on Wally's." She told her.
"Oh thank H'moneer!" M'gann gasped. "I was so worried you'd be..." M'gann trailed off.
"Upset? M'gann, Wally's death killed me inside. I'll be the first to admit that the first few weeks had me tempting to find some way to be able tojoin him. But I can't keep dwelling on it, especially since our son needs me to move on and stop letting it control me." Artemis told her.
M'gann gave her a soft smile, no longer as worried.
"You're going to have a girl." Artemis grinned at her.
"A girl? You really think so?" M'gann questioned.
"Oh course. You're what, twelve weeks?"
"Fourteen." She corrected her.
"So you find out in like a month. I'm telling you, M'gann! You & Conner are going to have a daughter."
Palo Alto
June 20, 2017
12:07 am
A year. It's been a year.
Artemis found herself crying in the bathroom, her back leaning against the door. It'd been a full 365 days since the love of her life had disintegrated before the eyes of his Uncle/Mentor and future born cousin.
And in that year, she had welcomed his son- the son she would never get the ability to introduce to his Father- into the world.
Artemis stared at the picture on her phone, one of the last pictures they'd ever taken with each other, and couldn't help but remember one of the few conversations they'd ever had about having kids.
"Oh come on, Arty! You never imagined what your future kids would look like?" Wally cried, flabbergasted at his girlfriend of three years.
"Nope. Didn't think I'd live long enough to have them." Artemis sighed.
Oh.
"But tell me Baywatch, what do you imagine your offspring looking like?" She smirked.
"Definitely want them to have my eyes. My eyes would look good on any gender with any hair color and any skin tone. And my love of science. They don't have to be obsessed like me- but they have to at least enjoy the subject." He grinned, jumping onto the couch in their apartment.
"If I have any sons, I hope my red hair doesn't go to them. God the nicknames some of the evil bastards I went to school with came up with! And having the name Wally didn't help shit." He grimaced. Artemis couldn't help but laugh at him.
"Oh what, you mean to tell me you don't want a Wally Jr.?" She asked.
"God no! The only name I want my kids to have in common with me is my last name. I swear my parents naming me Wallace Rudolph West should've been considered a form of child abuse!" He groaned, smacking his palm against his face.
Artemis found herself laughing so hard she was on the floor, tears in her eyes.
"Now I have a hard time believing there isn't some part of you that you don't want going to your future kids." He told her.
"Well, I wouldn't mind one of my kids being a blonde..." She shrugged, struggling to stand up off the floor.
Wally laughed, hoped off the couch and ran towards her, picking her up bridal style.
"When we have kids they're gonna be smart little science nerd bad asses." He grinned, kissing her cheek.
"When?" She questioned, a smirk forming across her mouth.
"Yes, when." He chuckled, kissing her neck.
"We're not making one anytime soon, Wallman." Artemis reminded him.
"Oh of course not! Maybe in like five or so years." He shrugged, carrying her to their bedroom as she cackled.
"He's perfect Baywatch. Jay's everything we could have ever dreamed of and more." She sniffled, leaning her head back against the door and staring up at the ceiling.
Happy Harbor Beach
July 4th, 2017
12:45 pm
The original Team was enjoying the Fourth of July on the Beach, marveling in the fact that the Team had been around for seven years now.
While Raquel and the boys played volley ball, the rest of the girls enjoyed the sun & watched Jay experience sand for the first time.
"He's starting to look more like Wally..." M'gann pointed out.
"Tell me about it. I still see a lot of me, but he's getting Baywatch's smile." Artemis grinned.
"So any names picked out Meg?" Zatanna asked her.
"Not officially. But Conner likes the name Lily." M'gann said. Artemis couldn't help but smirk. She loved being right about what M'gann and Conner's baby was gonna be.
"That's a cute name." Artemis told her, putting a whining Jay in her lap.
Zatanna smiled at the little boy, tickling under his chin.
Even though it'd been over a year, no one had gotten used to Wally being gone. His death had emotionally killed everyone, not just Artemis and the Flashes.
Nightwing, unknown to anyone else, was still desperately trying to bring Wally back. Jay didn't deserve to grow up the way he did.
Without his dad.
He just wish he knew how to do it.
Palo Alto
October 2, 2017
14:39 pm
"Jay? Jay? Jason where did you go?" Artemis panicked, frantically searching for her almost seven month old son.
She finally found him under the kitchen table, giggling, his stuffed penguin in his mouth soaked with drool.
"There you are my little thiên thần." She cooed, scooping him into her arms and kissing his cheek as he squealed with delight.
"Mama!" He shrieked, gripping her shirt between his pudgy little fists. Artemis smiled, holding him snug in her arms as stood up off the floor.
She lifted him up in to the air and blew raspberries onto his exposed tummy, causing him to shriek and kick his chubby legs.
Ever since Jay started crawling last month, Artemis had been mentally preparing herself for him to start walking.
And after walking comes going to school.
"I'm gonna make you some lunch, okay thiên thần?" She smiled, setting him down on the floor by Brucely.
While Artemis went to the kitchen to prepare a jar of baby food for him, Jay crawled over to the end table next to the couch. The infant was particularly interested in a certain photo on the table.
"Jay-Jay? What are you doing baby?" Artemis cooed, leaning into the living room from the kitchen.
"Da-da!" He yelled, grabbing at the picture.
Artemis was shocked, going towards her son, wanting to make sure she heard him correctly.
"What was that thiên thần?" She asked him, sitting on the floor next to Jay.
"Dada!" Jay yelled again, this time pointing to the picture of her and Wally from her graduation.
"Yeah, baby... That's your Daddy." She sighed, handing Jay the frame. Jay looked at the picture, running his chubby fingers over the faces of his parents when they were younger.
He looked up from the picture and saw that his mom was sad. The picture still in his hands, he climbed into her lap & laid his head against her chest.
Artemis smiled, kissing the top of his head.
"I miss him too thiên thần."
Happy Harbor
November 10, 2017
21:13 pm
M'gann's water breaks while she's brushing her teeth the night before her and Conner's daughter is supposed to arrive into the world to meet her excited parents.
"Umm, Conner?" She hollered to him.
"Yeah? Everything okay?" He asked, coming down the hallway from the living room.
"Ugh, define ok?" M'gann grimaced, staring at the puddle between her feet as more of the disgustingly warm liquid trailed down her legs.
"Oh shit." He gasped, eyes growing wide.
M'gann nodded, wincing in pain as she felt a sharp pain in her lower stomach.
"We kinda need to get going, now." She groaned, hunching over as Conner rushes to comfort her.
"The nearest Zeta tube is fifteen minutes away. Think you'll make it that far?" Conner asked her.
"I promise nothing." M'gann sighed, as she began to walk towards the front door.
She made it two steps.
"Yeah, n-no. Doubt I'll make it out of the apartment. Holy shit this hurts worst then when I got my shoulder broken senior year by Bane." She groaned in pain.
Feeling nothing but guilt for putting her through this pain, Conner helped her to their bed before calling Black Canary on his com link.
"Dinah? Yeah, it's me. I need you to come to the apartment. M'gann's water broke & she doesn't think she'll make it to the Zeta tubes." Conner sighed.
"Alright. I'll be there as soon as I can."
Happy Harbor
November 11, 2017
12:16 am
Conner and M'gann couldn't believe it.
They were parents.
All they had wanted for the majority of their relationship was a child, and now, here she was. Snuggled in a blanket in her exhausted mother's arms, was the precious little Liliana Marie Kent, a nearly identical copy of her adoring Father.
The tiny newborn, barely weighing six pounds at birth, was born just minutes after the clock struck midnight on what would've been her Godfather's 23rd birthday.
"Everything looks fine with the both of you, so I'll leave you guys alone to bond. Congratulations you guys." Dinah smiled, leaving the new parents to bond with the daughter they thought would never become more then a dream.
"She's absolutely perfect, Conner." M'gann cooed, as they watched their daughter sleep.
"She is. I can't believe we made her." Conner beamed, kissing M'gann's forehead.
Their bliss was interrupted by the gurgling and the squirming of the newborn Lily.
"Hello baby girl." Conner smiled, his finger gently stroking his daughter's cheek, her bright blue eyes staring back at his own.
"You know there's a chance we won't get lucky enough to have baby number two, right?" M'gann reminded him.
"She's worth it." He told her, carefully taking Lily out of M'gann's arms and into his own, her small head resting against his chest.
M'gann smiled as she watched the love of her life fall more and more in love with the daughter they had just welcomed into the world.
Conner turned to her, a smile forming on his face.
"Let's get married." He suggested. M'gann's mouth opened slightly in shock.
"Conner..."
"Now it doesn't have to be in the next few months, but maybe in a year or two, before Lily starts school, we could get married. It doesn't have to be huge." Conner suggested.
"Okay." M'gann smiled, earning a kiss on the lips from Conner.
Palo Alto
November 20, 2017
18:51 pm
Artemis was startled by a phone call in the middle of dinner by a sobbing Mary.
"M-Mary? Mary? What's wrong? What happened?" Artemis asked, concerned, as she stood up from the table.
"R-R-Rudy's g-gone!" Mary sobbed over the phone.
What?
"Mary? What do you mean Rudy's gone?" Artemis asked.
"A-after dinner, Rudy started having... C-chest pains. So I suggested that he go to the hospital. He declined and instead went to his o-office. I went to check on him and f-found him on the... floor! He h-had a heart attack Artemis! M-my husband is g-gone!" Mary bawled.
"Oh my God... Jay and I will be over as soon as we possibly can." Artemis gasped, quickly standing up & going to her and Jay's shared bedroom, stuffing some of her clothes into a duffle bag.
"You don't h-have to Artemis..." Mary sniffled.
"I want to, Mary. I'll call you when I get to Central City." Artemis told her, ending the call as she zipped up her duffle bag. She grabbed Jay's diaper bag and began to pack extra diapers and outfits in it.
She grabbed the sling she carried Jay in, and placed her offspring inside of it, before picking up the two bags and making her way to the Zeta Tube down the block.
Central City
November 20, 2017
19:15 pm
The first thing Mary did when Artemis arrived at her house was throw her arms around Artemis and Jay, crying into Artemis's shoulder. Artemis threw her arms around Mary as well, comforting her.
"Mary, I'm so sorry." Artemis said, frowning, as they pulled apart.
"I have now outlived my son and my husband. Dear God don't let me out live my Grandson." Mary gasped, stroking Jay's cheek.
The widow walked back towards the kitchen, allowing Artemis to enter the house. When she goes to the living room, she sees Barry and Iris sitting on their couch watching their twins play, and Jay and Joan sitting across from them on the love seat.
Artemis places a sleeping Jay inside the playpen Mary and Rudy had permanently placed in their living room before sitting next to Iris on the couch.
"Iris, I'm so sorry about Rudy..." Artemis sighed, placing a hand on the shoulder of Wally's paternal Aunt.
"Thanks Artemis. You know, there was such a big age gap between me & Rudy. I was basically an only child growing up. Now I guess you can say I am one." She sighed, watching Dawn and Don play together.
"Where's Bart?" Artemis asked, turning to Barry.
"Hm? Oh! He's on a mission in Vancouver with Blue Beetle, Robin, & Wonder Girl. I told Nightwing to tell him about Rudy as soon as he returned to the Watch Tower." Barry sighed.
"How is she taking it?" was the question Artemis wished she didn't have to ask.
"A lot better then how she was when Wally..." Joan forced herself to trail off, her eyes dropping to the floor.
"I remember Rudy telling me, a few weeks before Jay was born, that Mary had basically been suicidal because of Wally's death. Then when she found out you were pregnant, it was like the light came back on in her eyes." Jay told them, holding Joan's hand.
"I can side with her on that part..." Artemis sighed.
A few minutes of silence passed before Mary stepped into the doorway.
"Dinner's ready."
Central City
December 3, 2017
14:37 pm
It took Mary almost two weeks before she finally decided to pack up some of the junk Rudy had kept in his office that had once been Wally's old bedroom.
She had asked Iris and Artemis to help her. So while Barry and the Garricks were watching the kids, the three mother's sat in various places in the small room, going through boxes and deciding what would be kept and would would be put away or thrown away.
Artemis was going through a box when she stumbled across a small box wrapped in red wrapping paper, with a sticker on it, labeled "To: Artemis From: Wally"
"Huh? What's this? Mary, do you know?" Artemis asked, showing it to Mary.
"Oh that! Wally gave it to Rudy when he told us you hadn't really died. Asked him to hold on to it. But then he died, and I guess Rudy forgot all about it. I don't know what it is, and I don't know if Rudy did either." Mary explained.
"Open it. What's the worst that could happen?" Iris suggested.
Artemis gave the reporter a small smile, before shrugging, and unwrapping the paper. When she opened the box and saw what was inside, her hand clasped over her mouth as felt tears come to her eyes.
A diamond ring.
A small square diamond rested on a silver band, the beauty of the simplicity shining bright against the black velvet of the inside of the box.
"Artemis...?" Mary asked, her and Iris concerned.
Artemis handed Iris the box before she curled up into a ball & cried into her knees.
Palo Alto
January 1, 2018
11:45 am
Ever since Artemis had found the engagement ring Wally had bought for her, she had been wearing it on a chain around her neck. The chain was the perfect length, long enough to where the ring rested against her heart.
When Jay was older, and had found a girl that Artemis was one hundred percent sure he was going to spend the rest of his life with, she would give him the ring to give to the girl.
And maybe, just maybe, they'd have a happier ending then her and Wally did.
"Happy seven years, Baywatch." Artemis smiled, standing out on the porch, looking up at the clouds, as Jay took a nap inside.
She thought back to six years ago, on their first anniversary.
He had been so... Awkward the days before. Artemis thought something had been wrong with him.
Or with her.
But when the clock struck midnight, beginning the year of 2012, he said only two very simple, yet very meaningful sentences to her.
"Happy Anniversary, Artemis. I love you."
She her trip down memory lane was interrupted by the sound of Jay crying inside the apartment.
She quickly went back inside & found Brucely sitting on the couch while Jay sat on the living room rug, his face red.
"What's wrong thiên thần?" She cooed, picking him up. Her when she smelled the foul odor coming from his diaper, that's when she knew.
"Geez Jay how long did you hold that one in?" She grimaced, before carrying him towards their shared bedroom to change his diaper.
Watch Tower
February 14, 2018
12:13 pm
Artemis had no idea what had compelled her to even do it, but she felt like she should. She figured, eventually she would have to, so she might as well have gotten the first one done early & over with.
She had taken Jay to see Wally's memorial.
The almost eleven month old was standing in front of Wally's hologram, his hands wondering all over the plaque as he smiled at his Father's virtual form.
"Your daddy would've loved you baby." Artemis smiled, watching her son from a few feet away.
Jay laughed, clapping his chubby hands as he stared up at Wally in awe.
"He looks more and more like Wally every day." Artemis turned and saw Bart walking towards her.
Artemis smiled. "He really does, doesn't he?" She sighed.
"I'm so sorry Jay doesn't get to have him around. It's all my fault." Bart frowned.
"Bart. You didn't do this. You didn't force Wally to try to help you and Barry in the arctic. None of this is your fault." Artemis reassured him.
"No, Artemis. You don't get it. I read up on my family's history- more importantly the speedsters. None of the archives mentioned Wally dying. And I read all of them a dozen times. Me going back to the past ruined you and Wally's future." Bart muttered, looking at the ground.
"Bart, you didn't know. You didn't do any of this on purpose. It's okay." Artemis told him, her hand on his shoulder.
"Hi unca Bar!" Jay hollered, waving at Bart before going back to looking at Wally's memorial.
Artemis couldn't be mad at Bart. He didn't do it on purpose. Wally dying wasn't anyone's fault but the Reach's. She blamed the Reach for taking Wally away from her, and she blamed Dick for taking away three months they could've spent together from them.
All because of that stupid undercover mission.
Bart gave Artemis a small smile, before throwing his arms around her, giving Jay a kiss goodbye, and running out of the grotto.
Watch Tower
March 15, 2018
13:15 pm
Nightwing knew Artemis was in the Watch Tower. While she was no longer a hero, she had been helping out with training of the Team and monitor duty for the League over the last few months.
Today was the latter.
And in just one short week, Jason Henry Crock would be a full year old (with his Godfather Conner turning 24) And his "Uncle Dick" had the absolute perfect birthday present for him.
Nothing Artemis or anyone else got him would top it.
"Hey Artemis." Dick smiled at her as he walked up to her sitting in the chair, a cup of coffee in each of his hands for each of them.
The ex archer rolled her eyes as he handed her one of the cups. He then turned to her monitor duty partner.
"How's Lily doing Miss M?" He asked, smiling.
"She's doing great. And finally sleeping through the night." M'gann sighed with relief.
"Nightwing, what do you want?" Artemis growled.
'Be nice. Or atleast pretend to be.' M'gann begged.
"Waiting for Conner, Kaldur, Raquel, and Zee to get back from their mission so I can show you guys the birthday present I got for Jay." He told them.
"I don't think anything you give my son is worth having to deal with you." Artemis scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"Oh trust me, I think you'll disagree." Dick smirked.
"Recognized Aqualad B02. Recognized Superboy B04. Recognized Rocket 26. Recognized Zatanna Zatara 25." The Zeta Tubes rang out.
"Miss M, can you get them to come to the monitor womb please?" Dick requested.
"Sure."
'Nightwing wants you guys in the Monitor Womb.' M'gann informed her friends
'Why?' Aqualad asked.
'Ugh, what happened this time?' Raquel groaned.
'… I'm not sure. He mentioned something about a birthday gift for Jay next week.' M'gann mumbled.
'He better get me something or I'm gonna kick his ass.' Conner growled, causing Zatanna to laugh.
The four heroes made their way to the Monitor Womb, and were greeted by a smirking Nightwing, an annoyed Artemis, & a skeptical M'gann.
"So what exactly are you getting Jay for his birthday?" Zatanna asked.
"It should be arriving at the Watch Tower through the Zeta Tubes in three… two… one..." Dick told them, looking at his watch.
And what Artemis heard next, made her drop the coffee Dick had given her.
"Recognized Kid Flash B03
