Part 2 – "I got lost in my own building."
Everything went fine until they entered the building. Artemis looked around the reception area and then turned back to where Bruce Wayne should have been standing.
"Where'd he go?" Superboy questioned, noticing a moment after her.
"I will search for his mind," Miss Martian said, closing her eyes. It was easier to ignore the strange looks in her direction that way.
Artemis just huffed and decided to grill the receptionist. First, she asked if they saw where Bruce Wayne went. Nothing. Then she asked if they could be escorted to his office.
"Well?" Superboy asked Miss Martian when she opened her eyes. She shook her head.
"I can't sense him," she admitted, confusion in her tone. It wasn't like this was a dense area, she should have been able to find a specific person with little trouble.
"No, I do not have a meeting with him," Artemis growled, her voice rising. Both Miss Martian and Superboy stared at her. The archer looked moments away from impaling the stone-faced receptionist.
"We should stop her," Miss Martian commented. Superboy nodded and walked over, apologised for Artemis and herded her back over to the door.
"This is ridiculous!" Artemis complained.
"We need a plan," Superboy pointed out.
"If Robin was here, we could get him to hack the security or something," Miss Martian sighed.
"Well, he's not," Artemis responded, jealous that the little hacker seemed to get a free pass on this annoyance of a mission. "M'gann, can you get up to Mr. Wayne's office? Go intangible or something and sneak up, see if he's up there?"
[Hello, Megan! Of course! I can do that,] Miss Martian admitted, going invisible. She flew up and tried to find her way to wherever it was Mr. Wayne worked in this building. She followed the fire escape route maps to a large office.
A large office with Bruce Wayne's name on the door.
'Found it!' she thought to herself, floating in. It seemed empty and she made herself visible and tangible again.
"Well, that's pretty cool." She jumped at the sound of Bruce's voice. The man was standing behind her, his back to the door with a suitcase in one hand and a black lacy bra in the other.
Miss Martian flushed. She knew what a bra was and had an idea of the sequence of events which would lead to a man having possession of one.
"Um… that…" she mumbled.
Bruce laughed, holding the lacy thing up for her to see.
"Yeah, nice isn't it? The lady of this port has fine taste." He raise an eyebrow at the frozen Martian. "I'll meet you back at the entrance then?"
She nodded and vanished.
Once he was certain she was gone, Bruce turned on the screen of his computer. He had been using it to see if he could track Talia down in the confines of Metropolis.
Artemis paced back and forth, irritated and annoyed. Miss Martian had returned ten minutes ago, flushed and muttering something about Mr. Wayne and 'lady friends'. Artemis found herself in the ridiculous position of having to explain what 'lady of this port' and about Bruce Wayne and his many girlfriends.
Miss Martian didn't seem to understand why he needed more than one, after all, she believed that girlfriends and boyfriends were exclusive.
At this point, she was willing to believe that Mr. Wayne had been kidnapped.
"Ah, thanks for waiting, kids!" he called, stepping out of the elevator with a smile on his face.
"Where have you been?" Artemis demanded to know, hands on her hips and feeling a lot like her mother.
"I got lost in my own building," Bruce said as way of explanation with a smile and a shrug.
Bruce used changing into the navy suit for the gala as an excuse to speak freely with Dick. They stood side-by-side in the master bedroom while Alfred did up their ties.
"Talia's coming tonight?" Dick questioned.
"She's not hiding," Bruce pointed out as Talia had registered as 'Head, T', the name she had used when they first started dating. "And I don't feel comfortable with you going. Not with the threat on my life and Talia's assassins being there."
"I can handle a few ninja assassins," Dick responded.
"Finished. Do not undo my work, sir," Alfred said to Bruce. Dick tilted his head up as Alfred knelt down to do up his tie.
Bruce's hand automatically went for the noose around his neck but Alfred shot him a look. Bruce sighed and dropped his hand. This was going to be an uncomfortable night; in more ways than one.
"Can you handle ninja assassins while the team is watching?" Bruce asked. They needed to always be aware of the risk to their identities.
"I'll work something out," Dick responded. Kid Flash knew who he was so he figured his friend would cover for him in an emergency.
There was a knock at the door and the scarlet speedster in question popped inside.
"Ready to go yet?" he asked, fidgeting.
"Kid Flash, I'll be counting on you to watch after Dick," Bruce said to him, in a moment of seriousness.
"Yes, sir!" Kid Flash responded, amazed that he had be tasked with protecting his friend. That Batman, well Bruce, trusted him to look after Dick made him feel capable.
"I can look after myself," Dick frowned.
"As can I," Bruce responded, adjusting his jacket. "Let's go, can't leave our bodyguards waiting."
Artemis was quiet and looking everywhere but at Dick and Bruce, but mostly avoiding Dick. The team had managed to squeeze into the limo with Miss Martian flying above the vehicle in camouflage and Kaldur and Superboy having left earlier to check out the venue.
"You're Artemis, right?" Dick said, smiling as Artemis hid a flinch. He had been planning to leave their identities alone but, she was making it too easy to mess with her.
"That's right," she responded defensively.
"You know, I know a girl called Artemis. We go to school together." He paused for dramatic effect and started patting his pockets. "I have a picture on my phone-"
"Dick," Bruce stated. A warning. The poor archer was close to hyperventilating. Or shooting him with an arrow. "Artemis works with the male green archer."
"In Star City?" Dick questioned innocently, looking over to Artemis for confirmation.
Artemis nodded, letting out a little bit of tension.
"Oh," Dick slumped and put a disappointed tone in his voice. It wasn't hard, he just drew on his feelings of not being able to tell the team who he was. "Gee, I guess that makes sense. You wouldn't use your real name as a hero name."
"Of course not!" Her smile was a bit too wide and her eyes were darting away from him every few moments.
Someone needed to teach this girl to lie in a high stress environment. Or maybe she just wasn't comfortable sitting next to Kid Flash. Who was snickering and not helping the situation at all.
"We're here," Bruce said as the car stopped in front of the hall. There were ropes set up, keeping the reporters and star chasers away from those entering.
Kid Flash was the only one who could think of something to say;
"Whoa."
"It's the who's who of Gotham and some of Metropolis," Dick explained excitedly.
"Too bad Lex Luthor isn't coming," Bruce lamented. He meant it. Meeting with Lex would not only be a good chance to gather information but also a way to keep an eye on the corrupt businessman. Also would annoy Superman who insisted that Luthor was his problem.
Kid Flash and Artemis exchanged looks.
"Isn't he a bad guy?" Kid Flash whispered to her before being shushed.
"Ready?" Bruce asked them and they resisted the urge to cower. For a moment, it looked like he was leading them to a slaughter.
"What's wrong with you two?" Superboy later asked obliviously.
Kid Flash and Artemis were pale and sweating.
"It was loud," Artemis said, "and I'm never doing that again."
Kid Flash nodded in agreement. Superboy had no idea what they were talking about.
"MR. WAYNE! MR. WAYNE! WHO'S THE LOVELY LADY YOU'RE HIDING FROM US?"
"YOU WERE CAUGHT AT A BOUTIQUE ON-"
The Gotham reporters surged forward, bellowing questions on the off chance he might answer them.
"IS THAT KID FLASH? WHAT'S KID FLASH DOING HERE? MR. WAYNE, CAN YOU EXPLAIN?"
"RICHARD! WHAT DO YOU THINK OF 'S NEW GIRLFRIEND?"
"RICHARD! ANY COMMENT'S ON GOTHAM ACADEMY'S RECENT REFURBISHMENT? WERE STUDENTS REALLY BEHIND THE DESTRUCTION THAT TOOK PLACE?"
"WHO'S THE BLOND? KID FLASH'S GIRLFRIEND?"
"We're not together!" Kid Flash and Artemis bellowed in sync. Unfortunately, the reporters didn't accept that. They started with rebuttals, shouting statements and more questions. Not matter what they said, it didn't stop.
Kid Flash bolted for the door.
As Artemis followed Kid Flash inside, she was certain Bruce Wayne was laughing at them.
"Come on!" she motioned to the man.
"Sorry!" Bruce said to the reporters with a wide smile. "I've got extra security tonight and it looks like they want me inside."
"Plus his date is already inside!" Dick added with a similar smirk.