This chapter. Oh this chapter. I've been agonizing over it for about a month. In my defense, a week of that month was me vacationing off in Mexico, but still... I blame my muse for taking a month long vacation. Anyway. This chapter. Really hard for me, simply because its told from Wally's perspective. And he's not cuttingly sarcastic like Artemis and he's not all taunting like Dick. He's more... flirtatious and open. But in this situation, he's really hurt and frustrated because of the chemistry that's happening between his love interest and best bro. And somehow that made it difficult for me to write. Tch Hopefully you guys liiiike this chapter and haven't completely given up on me. I'm still here!
Wally, Dick and Artemis are beautiful people under the ownership of DC and CN. I can happily rewatch Targets now. WOO! (copyright Bruce Wayne) One of the characters featured in this is a veiled version of two of my best internet buddies and at least one of the owns herself. The other one? Not so sure. Hurrhurr.
Shoot Straight for the Heart
Wally
Yeah, he had run down the East Coast down to Gotham. He spent all of two minutes zipping down the literal coast, kicking up a spray of wet sand on indignant beach-goers as he went. When the tall, grimy buildings and smog filled sky of Gotham came into view, the teenaged speedster slowed some, his feet padding through the drier sand as he turned course inland.
At the city limits, Wally actually stopped full-force, eyeing the Welcome to Gotham City sign with distrust born of one too many adventures gone wrong in the city of sin. Batman would probably castrate him for skidding around his turf, but, as Wally so maturely decided, if the Batman ever tried to incinerate him with that... Batglare, KF could always dive behind Uncle Barry and cower until the coast was clear. The older speedster had somehow built up an immunity to the BatGlare of Doom, so naturally, Wally could- and would- use his uncle as shield and take whatever scolding the Flash lay on him later rather than let Bats melt the flesh off his face.
So with a determined set to his shoulders, Wally lifted his right foot and stepped gingerly into Gotham. As soon as the toe of his tennis shoe touched the pavement within the city limits, the redhead flinched, shutting his eyes and scrunching up his nose. (Aw crap. There's gonna be an explosion. Batman's gonna find me. Batman's gonna kill me. Aw crap. Aw crap. Awcrapawcrap.)
...A second passed- and to a speedster, that was basically a minute. He still refused to open his eyes, and waited, tensed at the border.
A few more seconds trickled by. Still nothing. (Uh, Batman? I'm ready for you to jump out like some bad horror film, now.) Nothing sounded, beside the usual far off sound of cars and sirens. Definitely no whoosh of a cape or hum of a batarang. Deciding that half-a-minute was more than enough time to wait for the Batman to come and berate him, Wally opened his brilliant green eyes, casting a cautiously optimistic look around his immediate area, paying special attention to the rooftops.
...Well, now that he had successfully infiltrated Gotham, Wally had some work to do. All part of his hastily slapped together plan that he had been concocting of the very long past few hours. Stage one was already complete. It was a bid for information and it went a little something like this...
"Dude, com'on."
"No, KF."
"Dude, it's not like I'm asking for a lot here. Just a tiny, little tidbit."
"I'm quite sure I don't know what you're talking about."
"Rob, you've breached the brocode. This is the least you can do to make up for your deficit of brotitude."
"Wha- No I didn't!"
"Rob..."
"...No."
"..."
"... Fine. She'll be at Gotham Academy. Bench in the courtyard at the front of the school. Three-ten."
"Thanks bro. That's aster. Mega aster. Superaster."
"I'm whelmed, Kid Mouth. Really whelmed."
Sure, he felt a little guilty, but, in a sense, Robin deserved it. Robin, who claimed to be his best friend and then, suddenly, lookit that, his "best friend"'s secret identity is inserting himself into his time with Arty. It's just... not cool. Not cool at all. The speedster, being his upbeat, awesome self, had shrugged it off the first few times the archer had brought up the 'nerdy, scrawny, not as awesome as Wally' Dick Grayson (totally not his wording, there, scout's honor). But after a while of shrugging it off, his metaphorical arms got tired. The topic just didn't go away.
Kid Flash felt a little resentful, and not just because Artemis was hero-worshipping a mathlete; it was like everyone was pairing up. Superboy and Miss Martian, while never obvious about it, walked around with their hand interlaced, making cookies together and covertly smiling at each other. Kaldur escaped to Atlantis whenever he got the chance, coming back to Mount Justice tired but pleased, and once, when the Atlantean had passed out on the couch with exhaustion, Wally had heard him sleep mumble a name: "Tula." So that left Artemis, Robin and Kid Flash unpaired. And from the way things were going, it was going to be Kid Flash alone. Just... alone. He felt an unhappy drop- like that time he tripped mid-way over the Atlantic and went skimming over the water like a skipping stone- in the pit of his stomach. Not a good feeling.
So... maybe he could still fix it. Maybe he could still prevent himself from being alone.
Maybe... that was him being optimistic.
His green eyes scanned the courtyard of Gotham Academy and, a few seconds later, picked out the girl with long, blond hair and her back toward him. With a twinge of annoyance, the speedster realized the archer in disguise was talking Dick Grayson. What a surprise. Dick caught Wally's eye, the younger boy's gaze distant and glazed but, beneath that, there was something like regret. Wally's stare hardened, a frown crossing his lips, moving toward his two teammates. Dick's attention returned to Artemis. Wally was close enough to their bench to hear the next to words that fell from the acrobat's mouth.
"I can't."
Artemis' head was ducked, turned furiously away from her classmate. The speedster could guess what he had interrupted, if he really wanted to, but he preferred to snort contemptuously from a safe distance. Dick stood, casting Wally a sullen look, his striking eyes clouded with a set of emotions the redhead would rather not think about. The speedster nodded his thanks to his bro and the dark-haired boy looked away, hastily retreating into a crowd of rowdy football players. As the burly boys passed, Wally scanned for Dick amongst them, but Batman's ward vanished. Stupid ninja training. Wally still felt slightly paranoid. Was Dick still watching, hidden?
"He's not worth it, Arty," Wally spoke up, hesitantly, but then with more conviction. Artemis twisted in her seat, her dark eyes widening. A hint of fear crossed her face, replaced by a hard look. Well, maybe he could've planned this better. Was it something he said? Dick definitely wasn't worth it. He was always so full of secrets and hidden agendas. Even when he became leader of Young Justice, Boy Wonder had never really gotten into the habit of explaining the big picture to his teammates. He always kept them in the dark. That type of person wasn't worth a relationship. Right?
"Arty?" the blond snapped. Then she seemed to gather herself, looking down her nose at him and standing with her backpack on her shoulders. Oh, she was going to run for it was she? Well good luck out-running the fastest boy alive.
Giving her a scornful look in return, Wally sneered back, "What you really thought I couldn't find you? And you think I'm dumb enough not to recognize your ugly face?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Artemis snarled, her hand covering the Gotham Academy emblem on her jacket. Like Kid Flash couldn't see the super-sized sign behind her that said "GOTHAM CITY ACADEMY: EXCELLENCE THROUGH AMBITION." Yeah, good one Arty. His eyes narrowed defensively into glittering green slits at her harsh tone. He came to mend their broken relationship, the least she could do was be grateful. Some people just didn't know when to shuddup and let the mojo flow. "And I don't know what you think you're doing here."
"I'm standing, Crocky," he hissed lowly, closing the space between them. He felt now was a good time to make this a private conversation. He noticed how she took a step back when he approached her and how she leaned away from her, her fingers curling into a fist. She definitely wasn't feeling the mojo. Which, by the way, mojo was a completely scientific term. Just so you know.
"Shut up," her eyes glinted dangerously, and she slipped her backpack on over her jacket, careful to hide the Academy insignia embroidered on her breast pocket. Kid Flash supposed this was her way of concealing her identity. Her extremely crappy way of concealing her identity. Honestly, Superboy could put together that Artemis Crock and Artemis of Young Justice were one and the same, and he still acting like he was barely out of the test tube. Nevertheless, the amount of venom in her voice... well, a rattlesnake oughta be jealous. His expression soured.
Folding his arms, he gave her what he thought was the most disbelieving, wounded look he could muster, pressing his lips together and widening his expressive eyes. She snorted, a slight breeze passing the pair by, sounding faintly of a ghostly, humorless laugh. Wally cast a look over his shoulder, narrowing his gaze, ready to bet that he'd find the leering smile of Dick Grayson peering out from behind a bush or something. It'd be just like the Batman's protege to spy on them. A prickle ran up his spine, a feel of someone's eyes on his back. Wally pursed his lips, turning his head back to Artemis.
The blonde was glowering at him, her body language entirely closed off to him. Her hands were on her hips, polished nails digging into the fabric of her pants, eying him with something that was remarkably close to hatred. A sliver of uncertainty caused his resolution to falter. Maybe this wasn't such a solid plan. Stage two? Well, it was supposed to be Artemis realizing that Wally was such a great guy and that she should start paying him s'more attention, beca And now he was verbally fending off this she-demon all because he wanted to patch things up. How's that for gratitude?
"Hey Artemis, who's your friend?"
Wally's eyes whipped around, regarding the new person with a smirk. Sounded like someone else was interested in the Wall-Man. It was a girl with fluffy, highlighted hair. Purple locks framed her face, transitioning into glossy raven black hair. She brushed her bangs out of her face, eying Wally with interest in her eyes. Oh yeah, now here was a girl with taste. Wally opened his mouth to respond with some totally smooth response, but somehow, Artemis beat him to the punch.
"Don't waste your breath, Syd," Artemis put in snidely, waving at Wally like he was pestering fly she wanted to swat. It was insulting. "He's nothing special. He's a geek with too much time on his hands." Wally frowned. He only spewed random facts to help educate people. That didn't make him a geek, no Sir. And if Syd wanted to talk to him, well there was no law against it. Whisking over to Syd's side, while simultaneously blocking off the archer from the conversation, Wally stuck out a hand, which Syd took. He made a point to glance over his shoulder and catch Artemis in a smug glare, to which she returned with a rude hand gesture that ought to have earned her a suspension.
"I'm Wally, a friend of Artemis'," the redhead grinned. Syd squeezed his hand, scrutinizing him with an appraising look. She was totally into him. No one could resist him.
"He's more like a stalker urchin that won't leave me alone," Artemis corrected pointedly. Well, almost no one could resist him. The blond gave Syd a stern look, putting her hands on her hips. In Wally's opinion she looked like an overbearing version of Black Canary, though, significantly less hot. "Seriously, Syd. Can we get some privacy please?" The blond's gritted teeth and balled fists were more than enough to convince that poor girl that she obviously wouldn't get a piece of the Wall-Man today.
Syd threw Wally another small smile before ducking out of the conversation, saying, "It's okay, I gotta talk to Chey, anyway. Later."
"Later," Wally and Artemis said together, before glaring at each other. Syd stared then backed away, meeting up with "Chey" where they whispered hurriedly together behind their hands. They were probably talking about how great the redhead looked. It was a common topic whenever Wally showed up anywhere.
Scowling, the redhead crossed his arms. Arty still hadn't removed her fists from her hips. She looked so completely against him. Geez. Two years and he still struggled to figure her out. It was crazy. No girl should be this hard to follow. They stood, two heroes, glaring across a gap at each other. Even though Wally was a chatty person, he was not going to break the icy hard block of silence that stood between them. She'd have to wise up and talk this out. Their pane of arctic silence stretched on. For Wally, who was used to accomplishing impressive feats in the space of mere seconds, it was agonizing. Every second ticked by slower than the last. And his opponent did not seem any more willing to break their impressive silence than he did. But he bit his tongue and stared stonily at the girl before him.
Her ponytail tossed angrily, tawny hair catching the grim Gotham sunlight. It looked remarkably like horse's butt. Pursing her lips, Artemis finally cracked the quiet stewing before them. "I'm not interested in what crackpot reason you have for coming here, geek. But if you tell anyone," her eyes narrowed, glinting seriously, "and I swear, any future children you planned on havingvanish, along with your dignity." Oh no, she didn't mean that? No. No way would anyone bethat sadis- Artemis narrowed her eyes further, like she had read his mind. Her head cocked and she regarded him with a cruel smirk. "You don't think so? I dareyou to test me, speedfreak."
Well, as tempting as that sounded. Wally shook his head, saying casually, "Nah, I believe you, Artefact." He's lips quirked into a smirk, satisfied with the mutilation of her name. Her brow furrowed even further, clearly she wasn't getting the hilarity of her new nickname. And he tossed out, even more nonchalantly, if possible, "If you're wondering how I managed to track you down-" Artemis' eyes lit up, hungry for information. And he'd give her information all right- "you'll be wanting to ask that acrobat who so kindly bailed on you." The speedster gave her a pointed look over his shoulder, where Dick had vanished. In hindsight, Wally remembered that Artemis hadn't seen which direction the Wayne ward had vanished to, but he still achieved the desired effect.
Realization dawned in her dark eyes, her hands falling limply to her sides, lips parting slightly. "Wha- What're you implying, dweeb?" she retorted, but with less snap and more uncertainty. She seemed to be grasping at the pieces of her composure, hastily trying to put back together her broken facade of anger and resentment. Wally smirked unpleasantly, pleased with her obvious difficultly accepting the truth. The bare truth that her best friend and current school girl crush was actually the Boy Wonder in disguise. And of course, that was always followed by the nasty shock of 'Holy mistaken identity! Bruce Wayne is Batman?' Still, Artemis might be a little more fixated on Dick and Robin being one and the same, rather than the secret ID of the Batman. Since, apparently, she liked Dick a whole lot more than Wally.
Tapping his nose with his forefinger, the speedster grinned nastily, "If you can't figure it out, you're the reason I have so many blond jokes, Artechoke." Then he turned heel, and blasted off, leaving a trail of wind behind. As he ran, he didn't pay attention for her calling after him, demanding he explain. He wished he could say that he felt completely free. Hey, he had cleared up his issue with Artemis. Seemed like she was too much of a... female dog to spend his time chasing. But, while he wore a triumphant grin, his insides clenched unhappily. Wally didn't feel like a winner. He didn't feel like he should be celebrating. He felt like he wanted to crawl into dark pit and die. Robin might've breached the bro code, but Wally felt like he ripped the code in half. He shouldn't of told her.
But he did.
The end.
Oh God, how many of you would hate me for ending this baby right here, right meow? I would hate me for ending it right here, so I don't blame any of you who are might be clutching your hearts or swearing heavily in my direction. So, no this is not the end for our little triangle. After all, Wally just smashed the bro code into a sobbing mess and Artemis is now aware of both Robin's idenities. Holy molars, Batman! This is going to be intense. Next chapter should be our last, and we'll be hitching alongside Robin as he deals with the ugly aftermath of Wally and Artemis' conversation. For every other rich kid (or scholarship-bound kid) in Gotham, it'll be the night of the Prom. And on Prom, magicial things happen, though Wally staunchly denies the fact that there's magic during Prom and says it's most likely the product of spiked punch.
This chapter featured two of my favoritest internet buddies: Syd and Chey. You two know who you are. I just slapped their names on some vague Gotham Academy students, which ironically enough, Chey wouldn't get into because she's a slacker. Ask anyone. Just kidding, I love you. Shout out to Fallen, too, but unfortunately, I didn't think having a girl named 'McFallen Awesomesville' would fit into the story, so I'll just urge everyone to take a looksie at This Fallen Shadow. She's great with the fluff and angst.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed this latest chapter. I'll be working on my Amensia&YJ fic now, so I'll let this one dangle for good few weeks before turning my attention back onto it. Mwahaha. I truly am evil aren't I? Bless your face, yo. I love reading your reviews! Thanks for the support you guys! Hurr!