Ah yes, the breather chapter. Many thanks to Lara for looking this over and listening to my brain tempest! And also, Cat is wonderful with her wonderful motivating graphics; Emma is a gem, naturally; and I love Libby and so should you.
Also, writing missions and plotting squads out is hard; I am never doing it again.
But hey, I just wanna take a second to say that aside from thanking the usual people, I also want to deeply and sincerely thank everyone who's reviewed and favorited this fic? Every single review I get from you guys keeps me so motivated and confident and just, wow, you guys are really great and nice and I really really hope you're enjoying this and I hope to see you until the end!
Artemis is back on the Team in less than a week. Three days, really. Christmas flits by in favor of cleaning the blood from her Tigress costume and waking up before the dawn on the day she's supposed to report to the Watchtower.
It becomes immediately clear the moment she convenes with the rest of the Team for a briefing to reintroduce her that, in her absence, very little has fundamentally changed, but even just standing near them makes it incredibly easy to figure out that, in the six months since July, they've all… moved on. They're all fine, and they're all okay, and their eyes pass over the memorial hologram garden without halting.
It's business as usual: Bart egging innocent Jaime into hijinks, most of which end in Red Tornado supervising them as they scrub their messes out of whatever impossible crevice they've gotten to; Gar and Robin covertly geeking out whenever Superman or Batman enters the room; Mal and Karen devoting their energy evenly between bantering and making out (to Gar's vociferous disgust); Conner and M'gann sending each other a lot of sidelong glances and bashful smiles indicative of a private mind link (and really, Artemis saw that one coming a long time ago); La'gaan and Cassie bragging and joking and high-fiving, often finding themselves roped into Bart and Jaime's schemes; Kaldur trying in vain to keep everyone in line but inevitably resigning to pinching the bridge of his nose and muttering in Atlantean; Batgirl watching it all impartially, masking her indulgent smiles with expertise.
Since they all share the space with the League, they cross paths with them quite a lot. On Artemis's first day back, while she's catching up with M'gann, Batman goes swooping by in a brisk stride and spots her. Even after six years of knowing the guy, Artemis instinctively straightens.
He looks over her for maybe less than a second. When he speaks, he doesn't address her by either of her professional names.
"Good to see you're back," he says gruffly, and then he leaves without waiting for (or showing any signs of caring about) a reply.
Wonder Woman shakes her hand. Superman salutes her. Martian Manhunter inclines his head and smiles. Aquaman claps her on the back.
And then there's Ollie.
"Artemis!" he blubbers out after tackling her in what she can only describe as a bear hug. Of the panda variety. "Good grief, kid; it's so good to see you. How dare you fake your own death, young lady; I thought I taught you better – you scared me half to death! And then you drop off the grid before I can even give you a piece of my mind, and a hug – I gotta make you some chili; I've been worried sick, out of my mind, how could you? Do not move; I'm not letting you go for at least forty-eight hours, tricky miss."
"All right, Ollie; get a grip," Dinah sighs fondly, prying him off.
Ollie's goatee seems to be both drooping from dejection and bristling from joy, and his eyes are glistening. He blows his nose into a handkerchief from his pocket and it makes a distinct honking noise. Artemis unexpectedly finds herself biting her lip to keep from laughing.
Dinah smiles at her in her usual terrifyingly understanding way, and puts a hand on her shoulder.
"Welcome home, Artemis," she says with undeniable love.
Artemis's smile is small, but real, and it makes her whole face feel lighter. She nods in gratitude before turning to a sniffling Ollie.
"I missed you, too, Ol," she says quietly, which just prompts Ollie to start bawling and fling his arms around her again. She pats his back for a few good seconds before resigning herself to returning the gesture. It feels… really nice.
She only spots Barry once, in passing, and she goes back the way she'd come so she can avoid him. He's talking to Batman, who watches her with disapproval, but doesn't give her away.
There are a few spots in the Watchtower she makes sure to never pass through, among them the new souvenir room, the costume cases (Wally's first Kid Flash suit is there, tailored to a short and scrawny mess of limbs, its red goggles bright as the eyes that had once been behind them), and the memorial hologram garden. Once, she makes the mistake of cutting through a hallway that comes out at a spot that gives her a perfect view of Wally's hologram, a flickering ghost with still eyes and an even stiller face; as she stares it down for the first time in months, willing her heart not to quicken, she refuses to let it fool her into any reaction, and she pivots around on one foot and swallows down the bile stinging her throat and never goes there again.
Despite the bumps, the Team welcomes her back with open arms, or, in one case, tightly encircled ones. She's sure that, when Bart finally manages to get a hold of her, she's going to suffocate. His arms seem to fit around her more snugly every time she sees him.
"Why're you in stealth mode?" she asks him in bewilderment when she's gathered enough air to talk again, and he shrugs, looking at the floor. The Kid Flash suit is black and drab-looking.
"Yellow and red only look good on so many people, y'know?" he mumbles back with a stiff smile, and Artemis nods silently, clasping his shoulder without really knowing whether it's to steady him or herself.
They don't really have any missions, not really – apparently villains like to take the holidays off. Artemis's fingers itch for destruction and unsettlement, but she keeps the desire tampered down, even around the ambling fingers of M'gann's finely tuned mind. She realizes very early on that Kaldur isn't aware of her recent… activities with Jade, nor, apparently, is anyone else. (But Batman probably knows, because he's Batman.) It stands to reason that if he did know about any of the things she'd done, bringing her back onto the Team would be his last priority.
It doesn't matter, she supposes. All too soon, it's New Year's.
Kaldur calls all Team members to the Watchtower at one in the morning for what he describes as something they all "need to see." Artemis is the first to get there, and Kaldur merely gives her a dark look, bowing his head. She frowns at him and opens her mouth to prod him, but then M'gann and Conner have entered, and Gar with them, and Mal from his quarters, too, and then the zeta tubes are buzzing and bursting with activity and, within ten minutes, the entire Team is assembled in the yawning mission room, lined up in front of the stars.
"What's going on?" La'gaan finally demands, though not brusquely.
Kaldur sighs through his nose, pulls up a holographic control pad, and taps a button with his thumb. One of the enormous screens pops up above them, playing the evening news.
"Today the world celebrates the New Year as well as the election of Lex Luthor to the coveted position of Secretary General of the United Nations," Cat Grant is saying to the camera with a smile that, for all her charm, seems a tad forced. "Luthor replaces former Secretary General Tseng after last year's debacle with the Reach, who are now a household name since their attempt to destroy our planet. Through resourcefulness and his prestigious company's advanced tech, Luthor easily saved Earth from certain destruction, and today, we hail and honor him as a hero to all – the man responsible for saving the human race and stopping the Reach once and for—"
Conner, apparently unable to take any more, surges forward and slams his fist down on the mute button. It does nothing to alleviate the hateful glowers aimed up at the screen.
Bart's whole face is twisted and red. Kaldur's arms are clenched and M'gann's fists are shaking, pearly at the knuckles. Conner's glare is deep and unblinking, Mal is shaking his head, and Jaime's eyes are fixed on the floor. All of them are radiating spite in varying degrees, but none with such ferocity as Artemis.
In fact, the rest of the Team's attention darts intermittently between the screen and Artemis, who is standing at the front of them all. She has never looked more like her costume's namesake, coiled with rage and ready to pounce, to rip with teeth and claws.
"I think I'm gonna be sick," Bart finally says with darkness that doesn't suit him.
"I feel you, hermano," Jaime agrees in the same tone. "Aqualad, isn't… isn't there anything we can do to make sure the world knows what Kid Flash did for them?"
Bart flinches just the slightest bit.
"I am afraid not," Kaldur sighs with a bowed head. "To do so would prompt an investigation of this Team, and the League with it. Aside from which, to go against Lex Luthor would be… unwise, considering our already frail public reputation."
"Who cares about reputation?" Cassie demands hotly, pounding her fist into her open palm. "All Luthor did was hand out those egg things; where was he when Wally—?"
"It does not matter," Kaldur interjects sharply. Cassie immediately eschews, as anyone is wont to do when Kaldur takes the tone he is taking now. "As ironic as it may seem, in war, it is unwise to create competitions. Attempting to discredit Luthor would only make this Team seem petty in the eyes of the public, and would ultimately dishonor Kid Flash's memory." His face is drawn. "Regardless… at present, we must be on our guard more than ever before. As Luthor's power grows, so does that of the Light."
"Neptune's beard," La'gaan growls vocally. "This is driving me nuts! The world needs to know how much of an eel that Luthor is, and if they can't see it, well, it'd be my pleasure to tear him limb from limb instead!"
"I wouldn't recommend it," Conner deadpans. "He probably has insurance."
No one laughs.
Artemis, M'gann mentally prods. Are you okay?
I'll kill him, Artemis thinks, over and over and over. Her eyes are still fixated on the freeze frame of Luthor.
"Team," Kaldur announces. His voice sounds hoarse, and wearier every day. "We are done here."
Everyone nods wanly and mutters amongst themselves and disperses – all except for M'gann, who Artemis can sense lingering behind her. The screens shut off and vanish, leaving behind a familiar view of the blue Earth and the boundless space surrounding it.
Artemis stares blankly out at it. She's not entirely sure how she feels, having Team headquarters so far off from the planet they're supposed to protect. It doesn't look like home anymore; it looks like something to keep an eye on without ever touching. When she'd stood next to a lanky boy who made poor jokes and didn't like to let go of her hand if he could help it, it had looked like a treasure, every wave and mountain and satellite entrusted to her red hands – now she's certain she's too far away from it to ever see it as anything but a marble.
"I remember when he kissed you," M'gann murmurs, plucking her from the pensiveness. "I'd never seen either of you look so happy."
Rather than hurting, Artemis gives a tiny smile.
"You and Conner looked pretty cheery, too," she retorts, folding her arms so her fingers grasp her elbows.
M'gann floats forward to stand beside her, smiling wistfully down at the world.
"You know, it's funny," she says. "Looking at it from this far away, you'd never know—"
"How bad it is?" Artemis finishes. Her voice is cold with cynicism.
But M'gann shakes her head.
"How much everyone… every single person on it matters," M'gann corrects her. Artemis frowns at her, askance, to see that she's hugging herself and looking down at the planet with a shaky smile. "I never got much of that on Mars. We were more of a collective, you know?"
Artemis hums in affirmation, even though she doesn't know, not really.
M'gann's voice breaks. "I miss him so much."
Artemis stands there, immobile, as M'gann's eyes start to well over with large, round tears.
"It's – it's like there's a hole… in my mind," she continues in a whimper. She has to cut herself short because of a sob that doubles her over slightly, but she sniffles in and continues. "It's not as… big now as it was when he—" She rubs two fingers on her left temple and the tears start coming faster. "I-It's like there's this gaping emptiness and all I have to fill it with are memories, but they'll never be enough. He's just gone."
"I'm sorry," Artemis whispers, not knowing what else to say.
"I just—" M'gann covers her eyes with her hands and muffles herself, but after a moment, she lowers them so that they're only folded at her mouth, clasped as if in prayer. "I don't know whether to not let myself get my hopes up, or just… let go and believe it, believe everything. There are so many people down there, Artemis, but we lose just one and it's enough to rip us all apart."
"Well, to be fair," Artemis says quietly, "it was Wally."
M'gann doesn't say anything much after that, so they both slip into a silence that, despite its sadness, is comfortable.
After a while, Artemis hears herself say, "It would've been six years today." She chuckles humorlessly. "I didn't even remember his birthday."
M'gann smiles through her tears and reaches over to clasp Artemis's hand. Artemis feels her fingers squeeze M'gann's icy ones appreciatively.
"Well, who knows," M'gann laughs a bit sloppily, clearly still emotional. "Maybe this time next year you'll have another chance. For both of those."
"Yeah, right," Artemis pretends to joke.
She and M'gann stay like that, fingers loosely tangled, for what feels like a long, long time. Artemis absentmindedly runs a hand through her hair. She's surprised to discover that it's past her chin.
She spends the night in one of the spare rooms that night, at M'gann's insistence. Gar bounces around at the foot of her bed and insists on telling her a bedtime story of his own design, involving elephants and rocket ships and sharks who can talk and build airplanes. (Or maybe that's just her sleep-deprived imagination, because she's pretty sure she's out by the time he gets to the rocket ships.)
She's awakened the next morning, at six o'clock, by Kaldur's voice over the tower's intercom.
"Team," he says, and her eyes fly open. She's out of bed and halfway down the hallway before she even hears the full message – she already knows what it is, after years of hearing that single word said in that single tone.
"Report to mission room."
When she reaches the mission room, it takes every ounce of self-control in her not to stop in her tracks.
Kaldur is in his usual spot, underneath the screens playing international news (and Lex Luthor's face is on every one of them), but it's the young man standing beside him who concerns her. His hands are in the pockets of his lab coat, but she can tell by the hesitant expression on his face that they're only there because he doesn't know what else to do with them. He's clean-shaven and wiry and his eyes are a limpid blue, and it's obvious that his blonde hair had perhaps been combed and kempt an hour or two ago, but is now back to its natural state of slightly rumpled.
She manages to approach them fully from the other end of the room, but her legs feel stiff. Kaldur notices her right away and his posture visibly loosens.
"Artemis." He extends his arm to indicate the man beside him. "This is Dr. Adam Strange. I am not sure if you have met."
"Nope," Artemis says coolly, her eyes fixated on Strange. He fidgets just slightly under her gaze, but she doesn't smirk at the upper hand.
"It's a pleasure," he tells her with a small smile, offering his hand. She takes it and grips it hard when she shakes it, and he winces, drawing back. "Uh… quite a grip you've got there. You're… Tigress, right?"
"That's me," Artemis answers deliberately.
"I'm glad you're here, actually," Strange says. Kaldur glances between them with vague perplexity. "There's something I'd like to discuss with you, if you've got the chance."
Artemis opens her mouth to reply, but Kaldur gently halts her.
"Mission assignment first," he declares, gentle but firm (a combination she's never known anyone else to be capable of accomplishing).
As he says this, the rest of the Team starts to arrive, from zeta tubes and sleeping quarters alike. Artemis doesn't think she'll ever grow accustomed to how overwhelming it is, the gathering of so many people in such a short amount of time – she finds herself briefly aching for the days when there had only been six of them, plus an intrusive Roy, who consistently excused himself by saying he'd typed in the wrong location code.
When they're all finally gathered in a small throng in front of Kaldur (Bart and Jaime elbowing each other and muttering mutinously; Tim swatting Gar's curious hand away from his utility belt), the inactivity-faded screens spring to life again, each one showing a different location across the globe. Artemis stares up at them in surprise. She's still used to the whole "one Team, one mission" mentality that had started before she and Wally had retired. No one else seems fazed, however.
"Your missions are as follows," Kaldur announces, linking his arms behind his back. "Alpha Squad – Lagoon Boy, Beast Boy, and myself – will travel to Santa Prisca to investigate reported Kobra Venom shipments. Beta Squad – Wonder Girl, Kid Flash; you will both travel to Cairo to assist Doctor Fate in his pursuit of Klarion. Gamma Squad – Batgirl, Robin – the Joker has broken out of Arkham and you are to assist Batman in securing his capture. Epsilon Squad – Superboy, Guardian, Bumblebee, Miss Martian; we have received intel that Project Cadmus is building a new facility somewhere in Metropolis; you will follow up on this lead. Tigress, Static, Blue Beetle – you, as Zeta Squad, are to track down and attempt to recruit a group of adolescents calling themselves the Runaways."
Artemis jumps slightly at the unfamiliar name and looks sharply behind her. There's a boy she doesn't initially recognize among the rest of them, his dreadlocks spilling out from underneath a blue baseball cap. He's holding a… manhole cover?
She blinks at him and feels tempted to kick herself. She'd forgotten all about the new kid. Then again, she hadn't exactly given herself much time to get to know him before she'd gone off the Team.
"What?" Static – no, Virgil; that's right – exclaims with wide eyes, staring at Kaldur. "Man, we've talked to them a hundred times; team-playing just isn't their style."
Kaldur sighs wearily.
"It is my hope that you and Blue Beetle will be able to sway their decision," he explains. He glances to Artemis with a wry smile. "Aside from which, I believe it is high time Tigress met them."
"Oh, they're a barrel of laughs, trust me," Jaime says sarcastically. "You'll love Tye; he never smiles."
"You got it, boss," Artemis says to Kaldur. It's a private joke between them, a remnant of their time together on the sub. It always makes him grimace, but only with something best described as embarrassment.
"Reconvene at the Watchtower within twelve hours," Kaldur tells them. "Good luck."
The squads all come together and disperse in clumps, heading for the zeta tubes or the hangar. Kaldur gives Artemis a parting nod and leaves, until it's only her, Virgil, Jaime, and Strange left in the room.
"Well, what're you waiting for?" Virgil prompts her with impatience reminiscent of herself in her younger years. "Let's get this show on the road."
"I'll meet you at the zeta tubes in a minute," Artemis replies a bit sharply. "I just need to discuss something with the doc here."
Virgil and Jaime both blink at her and she shoos them with her hand, rolling her eyes and repeating, "I'll be right there."
They both linger for a moment, but Jaime finally shrugs and jets off down the hall to the zeta tubes. Virgil sends Artemis one last skeptical glance before following in a jog.
Artemis turns to Strange. Her ribs feel tight.
"I'm sure Nightwing's been keeping you up to date," he says in a mutter.
Artemis nods once.
"He said you have a hypothesis." She tilts her head. "That's not much to go on."
Strange looks ruffled, frowning down at her and straightening.
"Well, you don't expect me to just have a solution overnight, do you?" He huffs, then: "I'm sorry. It's just that I care about getting this guy back just as much as you do, so—"
"No, you don't," Artemis says frankly.
He's silent for a moment, and then sighs in defeat.
"Right," he murmurs. He sounds exhausted. "Anyway. Do you have it?"
Artemis reaches into the back pocket of her costume and produces the Father Box. It warbles and beeps at the exposure.
Strange's eyes are wide. "Where were you, uh… keeping that?"
"Trade secret," Artemis replies. She tentatively extends the Father Box to him. "You're sure this is going to help?"
"Yes," Strange affirms, taking it from her with care and ill-concealed fascination. He holds it up to the light, gazing at it with round eyes. "What an incredible piece of technology."
"What's so incredible about it?" Artemis asks with a raised eyebrow.
Strange laughs a little, but not in mocking.
"Are you kidding?" His voice betrays his boyish excitement immediately. "Its capabilities are magnificent! Your zeta tubes can help you hop from continent to continent, sure – but this little baby…" He marvels at it, turning it over in his hands. "He can take you across the galaxy, across dimensions. The power in this thing is… indescribable. Just. Wow."
"So that's why you needed it." Artemis folds her arms, trying not to smirk at how much of a total nerd this guy is. "Not so much for its actual function, but for—"
"The power and sustainability it contains, yes," Strange finishes enthusiastically. "If I can tap into the source of those two things, then… we might be able to get somewhere."
Artemis, on instinct, glances over her shoulder to ensure that they're alone before the leans forward and speaks again.
"And the chronotron tech?" she asks in a hush.
Strange blinks down at her for a moment before his brain seems to catch up with him, and he snaps his fingers.
"I've been looking into that, too," he answers. "It's looking like a good avenue to explore. Gotta say, though – you're lucky this Nightwing guy decided to transport that time machine up here instead of keeping it in the mountain.
Artemis's eyes shift once more to the Father Box.
"So… if I'm understanding this right," she says as professionally and evenly as she can manage. "You're going to combine that with—"
"Tigress!" She jumps and whirls around to see Virgil standing in the hallway leading to the zeta tubes, glaring at her. "Everybody else already deployed; can we please go now? Missions take priority!"
Artemis bites the inside of her cheek and looks back to Strange. He waves a hand at her.
"Kid's right," he tells her with a helpless shrug. "You should go. I'll still be here when you get back; cross my heart."
Artemis says nothing more to him, turning on her heel and running to Virgil. She doesn't miss the annoyed roll of his eyes at her delay, but she keeps her gaze focused straight ahead of her. Jaime is armored up and waiting for them at the line of zeta tubes, tapping his foot.
"So," Artemis says before either of them can get on her case. "Where're we heading?"
Jaime sighs and rubs the back of his head.
"Well, they were last seen in Smallville," he replies. "They're kind of, uh, on a mission to screw over Luthor. Which is dumb, but it's them. So they sabotaged part of LexCorp Farms last night. I mean, I'm assuming they're still around there. Somewhere." He pauses. "I don't see you providing any suggestions, genius!" Another pause. "Well, you can't. Because you're a bug."
"I'm never gonna get used to you doing that." Virgil shakes his head. "But yeah. I got a text from Ed that they're gonna be in Smallville for a while, so if we just follow the sounds of chaos and skateboards, we should find 'em just fine."
"Perfect," Artemis mutters flatly. "All right, boys; let's do this."
To her shock, both of them bow and gesture to the zeta tube.
"Ladies first," they say in unison.
Artemis snorts and elbows the both of them.
"Don't tell your boyfriend you're doing the sync thing with another guy, Blue," she quips.
Jaime scowls at her, but Virgil busts out a clap of laughter.
To Artemis's admitted surprise, finding these "Runaways" is far easier than she'd imagined. In fact, it only takes her, Jaime, and Virgil about twenty minutes upon arriving in Smallville to track them down.
"Is that a giant golden person made out of light," Artemis deadpans, her head reared skyward to gawk at the enormous being holding what looks like a white van in its expansive palm.
"Tye!" Virgil hollers, waving. "My man! What's happenin', big guy?"
Artemis is frankly horrified when the giant pauses whatever he's doing (they can't see because several skyscrapers are in their way) to turn to them. She immediately crouches, pulling out her crossbow (for some stupid reason, yeah, good choice, Crock; that'll stop him) and aiming.
"Hey, easy," Jaime tells her, waving a hand. "That's one of the guys!"
"Uh," Artemis retorts. "I don't know if he'll fit in the Watchtower."
She hears a distinctly female yell from the left and turns just in time to leap out of the way as a girl with what look to be glowing sonic booms at her disposal fires herself toward Virgil. She cuffs him around the midsection and bowls him over onto the street.
Artemis whirls around to aim at her, but lowers her weapon when she sees that Virgil's laughing.
"Is… that another one of the 'guys?'" she asks dryly.
"Heck yeah she is!" Virgil replies ebulliently.
"Watashi wa anata o nogashita!" the girl is in the process of exclaiming with gusto, beaming. "Watashi-tachi wa—"
Before she can finish, another boy with wild hair and a yellow scarf drops straight out of the sky in a burst of light. Artemis leaps back with a stricken expression, but none of the four teenagers in front of her take notice, chattering over each other to the point of indistinguishability.
Artemis hears a thunderous noise from behind her and spins around to see that the golden giant is shrinking down to normal size. Within a few moments, a sullen-faced boy with long black hair and a bandana jogs up to join them. The apathy in his eyes dissipates the second he spots Jaime, and the two of them pound fists before yanking each other into a hug.
"Been a while, bro," he comments. Jaime shrugs with clearly feigned smugness.
"Well, y'know, saving the world takes up a lot of my schedule," he replies. His friend shoots his eyes skyward and shoves at his shoulder.
"Where the heck've you been?" the boy with the yellow scarf demands of Virgil, who is finally getting back to his feet after the girl has disengaged.
"I'm – on the Team now," Virgil answers with a blink. "I told you guys that, like, sixteen times."
"Yeah, well, you could've stood to come back for a seventeenth." Only then does it become clear that the boy is joking, as his face splits into a smirk. Virgil loosens visibly with relief.
The girl, after grinning for a few seconds more at the apparently reassembled group of friends, takes notice of Artemis. She raises a hand in a wave.
"Hello!" she greets her cheerfully. "Dochira sama desuka?"
Artemis struggles to remember her semester of elementary Japanese.
"Uhh…"
"That's Tigress," Virgil interjects. "Tigress, this is Asami, Eduardo—" He jabs a thumb at the boy with the scarf. "—And Tye." He nods to the boy with Jaime before spreading his arms wide. "The Runaways!"
He says it like he's introducing a vaudeville act. Artemis narrows her eyes – an expression often used to intimidate anyone within range into total silence – and it works on the four boys, but Asami points to her costume with a smile.
"Tora," she says, looking proud of herself, and then she gives two enthusiastic thumbs up. "Cool costume."
Artemis blinks. "Thanks."
"So," Tye breaks in, slipping his hands into his pockets. "What d'you guys need?"
Virgil and Jaime glance at each other, and then they both look to Artemis. She scowls at them for conspiring against her, but lets out a breath in defeat.
"We'd…" She tries to think of a way of saying this that they maybe haven't heard before, but she doesn't come up with much. "We'd like you to join the Team."
Eduardo immediately groans enormously, causing Asami to jump.
"How many times do we have to tell you people?" he barks, glowering at her. "We don't roll with any teams but ours. You think we're gonna let you use us and then lose us? You're the ones who screwed Arsenal over in the first place; how do we know you won't just kick us off?"
"Where is Arsenal?" Virgil asks before Artemis can reply. It's probably a good thing, since she was seconds away from unleashing a lot of very annoyed hell on the kid.
Tye scratches the back of his head. "He, uh… he bailed."
"Turns out he wasn't a fan of being a team player, either," Eduardo adds. Artemis absentmindedly notices that whenever he speaks, he always sounds like he's on the brink of shouting, no matter what he's actually saying. "Plus he sucked at boarding. So he went off to do his own thing. Who cares?"
"Come on, Tye; we need you guys," Jaime implores. Tye's already naturally low brow furrows.
Virgil nods vigorously in agreement.
"Plus you'd get free room and board," he adds. "In space. Space, you guys! The view is killer. And we get tons of missions, and combat training with Black Canary – yeah, Black Canary – and I swear they're way more lenient about following rules than you think they are; otherwise Jaime would be long gone."
"Hey, I am not responsible for what Bart drags me into, okay?" Jaime interjects, crossing his arms. There's a beat. "Oh, okay; why don't I just call down a Reach Exterminator and we'll see how you do."
"You guys want revenge on Luthor, right?" Artemis asks the three of them, ignoring Jaime's apparently quite heated debate with his scarab.
Asami, Eduardo, and Tye exchange several looks. Tye is the one who finally shrugs and simply replies, "Yeah."
"So do we," Artemis says.
Jaime stares at her with what she can only assume are raised eyebrows, but doesn't call her out on anything.
The three teenagers consider her. Asami is frowning as though it's taking her a moment to process the information.
"I say, we go!" she finally declares, pounding her fist into her hand and grinning. Tye and Eduardo glance at her out of the corners of their wide eyes. "Team sounds fun. We get rooms!" She looks at the other two encouragingly. "Rooms."
"What do you wanna take down Luthor for?" Tye inquires, his eyes narrowed just slightly with suspicion.
Artemis shrugs coolly.
"For a friend," she replies. She's unable to keep the intensity out of her voice. Eduardo, however, looks to be the only one who notices. Realization dawns subtly on his face, but he says nothing to explain it.
"How about this," Jaime offers, gesticulating. All attention is redirected to him. "You guys can have a… a trial run. One month with the Team. If you decide you don't wanna be permanent fixtures, you can op out, but if you wanna stay, you're welcome to. You can just give it a shot and then decide for yourself."
"What've you got to lose?" Virgil finishes, smiling triumphantly.
Asami reacts with almost contagious zeal, pumping her fists in the air. Tye and Eduardo hop away from her, and wisely so, because the exuberance causes her to bounce up on one of her purple force funnels.
"Nothing to lose!" she exclaims, clattering back to the ground. "Yes, yes. We will do it; yes, please, thank you!"
Tye smiles at her with soft fondness that gives him away.
"If Sam's in, I'm in," he declares, stepping over to clasp her hand. She grins at him.
"Tye is in!" She pivots to Eduardo, her fingers still linked with Tye's. "You in, bro?"
Eduardo glares churlishly at the lot of them, slouching slightly. Artemis cocks an eyebrow when he glances furtively over at her.
"Yeah, whatever," he finally mumbles, which causes Asami to cheer.
"We all in," she says officially, as if Artemis, Jaime, and Virgil hadn't deduced that. Her hands go to her hips. Her smile is almost wicked.
"For a trial period," Eduardo appends with pointed enunciation.
Virgil steps forward and slings one of each arm across Asami's and Tye's shoulders. asami reaches over and yanks Eduardo into the chain despite his yelp of protest in Spanish.
"Well… cool!" Jaime says, his face bright. "That was way easier than I thought it'd be. You guys can come check out the Watchtower now."
"Cool," Asami echoes, giving another thumbs-up.
The six trail in a line back to the zeta tubes — the three Runaways actually roll along on their skateboards, but at a slow enough pace — and when they arrive there, Jaime and Virgil go through first, leaving Artemis to quickly type in the guest admission code, multiply it by three, and step aside to admit the new gaggle of prospective team members.
Asami races ahead, staring wide-eyed at the zeta tube as it hums to life and transports her. Tye goes next, saluting Artemis lazily over his shoulder, leaving only her and Eduardo to stand in the dusk behind the general store.
Artemis glances over at Eduardo when he makes no movement to enter the tube.
"Uh, you can go ahead; it won't hurt you," she prods him.
"Hey… this is gonna sound weird, but… have you ever gone by Artemis?" he asks her suddenly, in an uncharacteristically hushed tone.
Artemis bristles, bewildered, but nods.
Eduardo's face tightens into something between a wince and a frown.
"I got a message for you," he says quietly. "From, uh… from 'Wally?'"
Artemis freezes up. It takes her what feels like a long time to conjure up anything resembling a response to that.
"What?" she finally rasps, taut and wide-eyed.
Eduardo shakes his head, kicking at a rock until a cloud of dust blooms up around it.
"Sometimes when I'm – y'know, in between places, I hear stuff," he explains. His voice is heavier than it had been moments ago. "People. Lots of people. I've never heard anyone as clear as I heard this guy, though; he was – loud. And going fast. Like he was pushing me." He blinks something back and Artemis hears his breath shake. "It was only for a second, but… I dunno. He told me to tell Artemis hi for him. Just hi. Like it was an everyday thing. So yeah, that's it." He lifts his head and looks her in the eye, sounding unsure of whether to feel guilty or not. "Wally says hi."
Silence stretches between them. There are no crickets because of the season, so it's even emptier than the usual beats of Smallville quiet. Eduardo starts to fidget.
"You can go ahead," she hears herself repeat. "It won't hurt you."
Eduardo blinks at her, looking surprised, but grasps her implication fairly quickly.
"Sorry," he mumbles, and then he shoulders past her, stepping into the zeta tube. It announces a recognition number and then he's gone, in a flash of bright white.
Artemis is alone.
She gets several inquiries into what took her so long when she finally screws up the nerve to return to the Watchtower. Kaldur is in the middle of debriefing the Runaways, smiling warmly at them all as though he's genuinely pleased to see them.
Artemis doesn't stick around for the tour the three of them get, and Jaime and Virgil give a quick and efficient run-down of the events that had transpired before Kaldur releases them. Artemis slips out of the mission room and walks to the training facilities, stripping her mask off and sitting down on a bench press.
She's not sure for how long. What she is sure of is that she thinks about a great many things, among them why she had been momentarily caught off-guard by hearing Wally's name spring from Eduardo, as though its implications were a memory she hadn't carried with her in a long time. She curls and uncurls her fists in her lap and lets her mind wander and waver and every corner it finds is dark, but it doesn't balk; it lingers in each one, and thinks dark things, and then it goes on its way.
Kaldur announces over the Watchtower-wide intercom that the following Team members must report to the mission room immediately: Tigress, Superboy, Miss Martian. Artemis snaps out of the labyrinth and looks to the clock on the wall — it's nearly evening. Everyone must be back from their missions by now.
She frowns to herself, wondering why Kaldur had only requested the original members. She shrugs off the uncertainty and strides back down the empty hallway and into the mission room.
Kaldur, Conner, and M'gann are all gathered around Adam Strange. Along with someone else.
"Oh, you're alive," Artemis says in lieu of announcing her presence professionally, coming to a halt beside Dick. "That's nice to know."
Dick's mouth twitches with amusement and he raises an eyebrow at her over his aviators.
"What, you think I'd miss out on this?" he retorts. "No way."
"And what is this, exactly?" Artemis demands, turning on Strange for an explanation. He puts his hands up defenselessly.
"It's… it's a formal announcement, kind of," he explains hurriedly.
"I don't understand," M'gann says, looking between Artemis and Strange with a puzzled crinkle over her nose. "What's going on?"
"Get to the point, Strange," Conner adds gruffly, but Kaldur puts a hand on his shoulder.
"Please, my friend, be patient," he says. Conner grumbles, but quiets.
Strange, when he notices that all eyes are on him, clears his throat and flushes at the ears.
"Well, the fact of the matter is that… Nightwing has been in contact with me since July of last year," he says. "Following the 'ceasing' of one Kid Flash."
Something starts to dawn on M'gann's face. Conner's, too — his blue eyes are wide, and his expression is beginning to unravel into one of shock and comprehension.
"I've been conducting my own research and investigation into what happened," Strange continues. "The second I heard about it, I knew something was fishy. So I've been immersing myself in… trying to figure out what exactly that was. I'm not going to beat around the bush here. In short…"
He breathes in deeply as if to steady himself for what he's about to reveal.
"In short," he repeats, and then looks at all of them. "I think I might… might… be close to developing a machine that can…"
"No," M'gann whispers in disbelief, her hands flying to her mouth.
"That will," Strange corrects himself, and then a small smile quirks over his face, and he starts to sound breathless. "If all goes well… bring him back."
The only thing that Artemis really registers after that is the sound of M'gann's tearful, unstoppably elated laughter. She feels Dick's hand on her shoulder and, though her eyes don't move from the point in space on which they're fixed, she leans into him, and maybe her face starts to wobble with exhilaration, too. She's too dazed with disbelief to be sure.
"Again, this is all tentative," Strange warns them, but the grin on his face is betraying him. "It's… it's going to take a long time. Possibly months. I don't want to reveal too much yet; it… could get us ahead of ourselves. But from this point on, you'll all be kept updated with everything I find."
"What is our job going to be?" Kaldur asks. His voice sounds off-kilter with emotion. "Is there anything we can do to assist?"
Strange smiles wryly.
"Uh, you can make me coffee," he jokes, and then, more seriously: "And you can wait."
Artemis is sure, when M'gann flings her arms around her and shrieks with joy, that she could gladly wait a hundred years or more if it meant breathing again. She looks over the top of M'gann's head and catches Dick's eye.
They nod to each other with twin shaky smiles. Kaldur claps Strange on the back, and congratulates him, and thanks him.
Artemis wishes Tigress would vanish for a moment, just so she could do all of the unabashed rejoicing she wants to.
