Disclaimer: I don't own this amazing show.
Dick sighed, it had been almost five days since he had decided to dig into the pasts of his dorm mates and he had only been able to finish his search for three of them: Suki, Artemis, and Wally. He had looked up info on their pasts and cross referenced it with what he knew about his fellow heroes and made lists for each of them.
Suki Santiago: twenty-one years old, judo fighter, three siblings, both parents alive and not divorced, lives in Albuquerque, NM, Emerald Torch's city, brother paralyzed when she was twelve, not long after Emerald Torch got her ring, was in Dakota City at the same time Emerald Torch helped fight a gang there, same hair color as Emerald Torch and Zatanna, and same skin tone as Emerald Torch. As far as he could find, she had the most similarities with Emerald Torch, if any of the heroes.
Artemis Crock: twenty years old, archer, one sibling, both parents alive but separated, lives in Gotham City, Connecticut, sister, Jade Nguyen, is assassin Cheshire, dad, Lawrence Crock, is Sportsmaster, and her mom, Paula Crock, was formerly Huntress. Has the same hair and eye color as Artemis (hero), same name, and same skill (archery). She had a lot in common with Artemis, so he was more positive that he wasn't just being paranoid, at least concerning her.
Wally West: twenty years old, runner, no siblings, both parents alive and together, lives in Central City, same as Kid Flash, is close to his uncle and aunt Barry and Iris Allen, has same hair and eye color as Kid Flash, same hair color as Red Arrow as well.
Dick had managed to narrow the heroes he was looking for in regards to these three down to about two each, in Artemis' case only one, and when he looked at it the similarities and coincidences seemed almost glaringly obvious. There were so many of them, he was aware that he may be grasping at straws and be completely wrong, but he wasn't so sure. The next person he looked up was Zatanna.
Zatanna Zatara: nineteen years old, equestrian, no siblings, mother deceased and father's whereabouts unknown for past five years, same time Zatanna entered the hero world, lives in New York, NY, Zatanna's city, same hair color as Zatanna and Emerald Torch, same name as hero Zatanna. He decided he would need to ask her about the whereabouts of her father, though he was dreading bringing up that possibly painful subject with her.
He was about to move onto the next person on his list, Conner Kent, when Wally opened the door to their room and told him to get his butt down to the kitchen if he wanted anything for dinner. Dick sighed, closed his computer, and raced downstairs after Wally. 'What if I'm right and these people that I call my friends are actually people I can't stand?'
"So, has anyone got any family coming to support them in London?" Dick asked the dinner table as a whole. He had been reluctant to ask Zatanna about her father one on one, and Artemis and Suki about their families for that matter, and had decided that this was an acceptable solution.
"Dude, we've been here about a month and you're asking this now? We still have five months before the Olympics!" Wally asked as he turned to him.
Dick shrugged, "I was thinking about it now so I figured why not?"
"Alright, alright boys, enough, I'll answer. Dick my parents and siblings are coming." Suki responded, cutting Wally off from whatever his comment was going to be, Dick was grateful she did, he had wanted an answer from her almost as much as one from Z and Artemis.
"How many siblings do you have?" Megan asked her before Dick could.
"Three. An older sister, a younger sister, and a baby brother."
"You have a baby in your family? Wow that must be so interesting since you're an adult!" Megan exclaimed in surprise.
Suki laughed, "No, Megan, he's eleven; I just call him my baby brother since he's ten years younger than me."
Megan blushed, "Oh, whoops."
Suki shrugged, "It's no big deal, most people are surprised when I say baby brother. Do you have any family coming?"
"My Uncle John is coming, at least I think he's coming, he has a lot of responsibilities with his work so it's kinda unknown right now."
"Yeah, my parents and my aunt and uncle are coming to cheer me on." Wally said, finally deciding that it wasn't so bad to join in the conversation.
"My adoptive parents say they want to be there, though it's not really a big deal to me either way." Roy said, but it was obvious, to Dick at least, that it did mean a lot to him.
He decided that then was a good time to join in the conversation himself, "My adoptive family is coming." At least he knew Tim and Alfred were coming, Bruce he only hoped would come; he may have stopped being his partner/ sidekick, but Bruce was still his father figure. "What about you, Kaldur?" He asked, turning to the boy next to him.
"I believe someone is coming to cheer me on." He answered simply.
"Yeah, I think my parents and maybe a close family friend are going to be there." Raquel chimed in.
"I'm not sure." Conner answered in typical Conner fashion; shortly.
"What about you guys?" Dick asked Z and Artemis, who had stayed quiet throughout the conversation.
Artemis volunteered information first. "Mom can't come, she's in a wheelchair, I don't want my dad to come and I don't think he will and I have no idea what my sister will do or if she even cares, so, no I don't think anyone's coming."
"Artemis, that's terrible. Well, you know what, that's why we're here, to cheer you on." Raquel assured her.
"No it's fine, the only one of them that I want to be cheering me on is my mom and I know she will be; she'll just be cheering from Gotham." Artemis said this like she had long since accepted the absence of the other half of her family. Dick knew how that felt and suddenly wasn't sure he felt right suspecting her, or anyone else here for that matter, but chastised himself, reminding himself that you couldn't always be the good guy in detective work.
"Zatanna? Do you have anyone coming?" Suki asked gently, Zatanna had been staring at the table for the majority of the conversation.
"No, mom died a long time ago and I haven't seen dad in almost five years." The affect was instantaneous; all the girls went over to Z and comforted her while the guys said they were sorry and looked awkwardly at each other; none of them were really the comforting type. Dick hated himself for bringing this up, if he'd only let it be and not pried into the lives of his friends Z wouldn't be upset right now.
"Well, uh, hey Roy can you explain a little about archery to me?" Wally asked, desperately trying to change the subject and maybe take Z's mind off her dad.
"Um, sure, well, it's all about repetition, being able to do the same thing over and over again, and doing it right." Roy caught on to what he was doing and quickly responded.
"Really, that's actually pretty cool." Suki said as she sat back down.
Roy smirked, "What did you expect it to be?"
"Oh, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that since it was one of the only sports in the Olympics where you don't have to be super fit it might be boring, but it sounds cool."
"Well, maybe Roy could give you a lesson, Suki." Artemis said, looking between the two of them.
Dick saw Roy glaring at her but Suki seemed to think that was a good idea because she turned to Roy and asked, "Could you?"
Roy turned from Artemis and looked at Suki, "I guess I could, when do you want me to teach you."
"Um-" Suki started.
Artemis cut her off. "The range is completely clear right now. Nobody's using it and it's not like either of you has that much free time during the day so..."
"Well, does after dinner work then?" Suki asked Roy
"Sure," He replied and then they went onto talking to the others about their events.
"You're trying to set them up, aren't you?" Dick whispered to Artemis under the conversation of their friends.
"Of course I am. Can you blame me?" She replied and Dick laughed before going back to his dinner. He chanced a glance at Z and was glad to see that she looked to be in much better spirits; she was currently helping Megan explain to Conner why horse-back riding was a sport, he was having trouble wrapping his head around it.
"Alright, so how do you do this?" Suki asked Roy, they were at the archery range and he had just gotten his bow.
"Well, first you have to take your stance with your feet shoulder width apart. Then you knock the arrow on the string, listen for a little click before you do anything else, if it doesn't click, it isn't on the string properly. Next you grab the string with the tips of your first three fingers and bring your arm up to about face level. Then you draw the bow back until your fingertips reach the corner of your lip. Next you aim at the target with the sight, release, and let your hand fall back to your shoulder." Roy released the arrow and hit a bulls-eye.
"Sounds easy enough."
"Yeah, but this bow is pretty heavy, you might have some trouble pulling it back all the way."
"Roy, I'll be fine, it's not like I'm not strong, I'm just no weight lifter." Suki then proceeded to repeat the steps Roy had shown her. She was doing fine until it came to the draw. She couldn't pull it back further than the shoulder of the arm that was holding the bow. After continually trying to pull it back all the way she just stopped and proceeded onto the next steps and finally shot the arrow. It hit the very bottom of the target.
"I told you." Roy said from behind her.
"Ok, Ok, I overestimated my own strength. How do you do it?"
Roy chuckled, "Practice, years of practice. Here, let me help you." He turned her shoulders around so that she was facing the right way and then covered her hand that was holding the bow with his own.
'Oh God, I swear if he puts his arms around me-' Just then Roy put his other hand over hers on the string, effectively trapping her between him and the bow. Suki went rigid, 'I need to calm down, he's just helping me to shoot properly, nothing more.'
"Alright, go through the steps again, just like you did them before, but I'll help you pull it all the way back this time." Suki could only nod; she didn't trust her voice right now. Sometime during her mental freak-out/ calm-down Roy had knocked an arrow on the string so she went straight to bringing the bow up. As she pulled back she could feel the increased pressure of his hand on hers as he helped her bring it all the way back to her mouth. She aimed the arrow herself and then nodded to let him know when she was going to let go. He got the message and the arrow flew into the target, in the six point ring, not a bad shot for a second time.
"Yes!" Suki exclaimed, doing a little twirl to face Roy. She had almost managed to forget that his arms were circling her so she was still trapped between him and the bow except now she was face to face with him. The smile slowly dropped from her face and she felt herself move slightly closer and saw Roy do the same.
"Suki!" The pair jumped apart at the Dick's yell. "Your phone was ringing, we didn't know if it was important so I figured I should bring it to you."
"Uh, thanks Dick." Suki said as she regained her composure and took her phone from him. The screen said she had a call from someone named Jenny, no last name, which meant her phone had picked up a police alert. Green Lantern had helped her upgrade it to do that without making the bill for it skyrocket or making it noticeable to the untrained eye. "It was my friend from school; I should really call her back. Bye, Dick. Good night, Roy, I had a good time."
"Wait, Suki, what's that on your arm?" Dick asked as she started walking past him.
Suki looked down and saw an oval shaped bruise blossoming on her left forearm. "Um, I'm not sure."
Roy walked over to the two of them. "Here, let me see." He took her arm in his hand. "It's probably from the bow string. I should have warned you to keep your elbow away from it."
"It's no problem, Roy. I didn't even know it happened until Dick pointed it out, but I really should call my friend back, I'll see you guys later." She said as she walked out of the range, she made sure she was well out of sight of it before breaking into a run for someplace she could be hidden when she activated her ring. She finally ducked behind another building and changed, checking the alert. Apparently there was a break-in at the history museum. The police didn't know who it was, only that they weren't an ordinary criminal; they knew exactly what they were doing and what they were looking for. With that and the earlier incident in mind she set off in the direction of the museum. 'What would have happened if Dick hadn't shown up?'
"Do I even want to know what I just walked in on?" Dick asked Roy.
"I don't really know, Dick. But you seriously had to walk in then? You couldn't have been like two seconds slower?"
"Sorry, I thought you guys were just doing archery; I didn't think you'd start kissing."
"We weren't kissing!" Roy said, sounding slightly panicked.
"Whatever you say, Roy." Dick said slyly just before his phone rang. He looked at the screen and saw that it had picked up s museum robbery at the local history museum. "Um, I need to take this, see you tomorrow, Roy." He walked quickly out of the range and headed to somewhere he could change.
When Emerald Torch had reached the room where the theft was supposedly happening, she saw someone else already there. 'I seriously need to start getting to crime scenes quicker.' The hero that was already there was fighting two figures in pink with blades in place of their fingers. There was a small man backing away further into the exhibit and Torch was about to follow him when one of the pink figures cut her off and started attacking her. 'Well, so much for following the real thief.' She thought as she ducked under a swipe from pinky. She used her ring to create boxing gloves around her hands and started fighting back with punches of her own. Torch may have been able to get at a distance and create more versatile weapons, but she was a fighter and preferred close combat. Her opponent was quick and fought differently than Torch was used to. It was full of jumping and quick, jerky movements, hard to block or predict. It didn't look like the other hero was having any better luck and when Torch had to push her down with her as she ducked under another attack she realized it was Artemis.
She was about to ask her what the heck she was doing here when another figure darted past them. "Keep the Orientals busy, I'll get Penguin."
"Who the hell does he think he is?" Torch exclaimed as she jumped over her attackers arm.
"Unfortunately, Nightwing." Artemis replied bitterly as she too dodged and attack.
"Of course, but we still have a problem here."
"Duly noted. Any ideas?"
"Just one, duck!" Artemis complied and as soon as she did, Torch expanded her boxing gloves and hit the two Oriental masked fighters in the faces, knocking them back, but unfortunately not knocking them out.
"Well that worked well! Now they're mad!" Artemis yelled as she continued fighting her attacker.
"I noticed! What do you suggest we do?" Torch replied as she narrowly missed getting her left arm cut off, she lost the left sleeve of her jacket though. "Damn it! I liked that jacket!" She punched at pinky again with more ferocity as Artemis backed her opponent towards Torch's. She thought she understood what Artemis was doing; she was trying to get them together so she could tie them up together with one of her arrows, Torch didn't doubt she had a trick arrow for that. She was right, as soon as the two Orientals were back-to-back, Artemis shot some arrow that circled around them, wrapping them in the cord that followed behind it. "How long do you think that will hold them?" She asked Artemis as she relaxed out of her fighting stance.
"That cord takes a long time to cut, but even still, not very long."
"Well then, let's get in there and help Nightwing finish off the real thief quick, so we can get them all to jail." 'I can't believe I just suggested helping Nightwing. Oh well, it's only for justice.' She and Artemis headed inside to help Nightwing then. They shouldn't have bothered. He already had the other criminal tied up and was replacing the bird statue he had been trying to steal with the other artifacts in the Egyptian exhibit.
"This dude is our dangerous thief?" Artemis asked incredulously.
"Yeah, Penguin. He's been trying to steal this statue, and its partner, for about a year now. He wants to use them to destroy Gotham or threaten its citizens so he can take control. Most museums are warned about him when they get this for their exhibits but I guess this one just ignored it."
"Well, thanks for the current events lesson, but where's that statue's partner?" Torch asked
"They don't exhibit them at the same museums anymore. Not since Penguin got a hold of them a long time ago." Nightwing explained as he grabbed Penguin and walked out. The girls had no choice but to follow. "I'm guessing you had yours bagged up to." He said when they came upon a pile of cut up ropes and the two masks.
"Yep." Torch answered dejectedly.
"We could have kept an eye on them if we hadn't gone in to help you." Artemis added heatedly.
"I didn't ask you to, hell, I didn't need any help!" Nightwing returned.
"Both of you stop it!" Torch said stepping between them before they could start fighting for real. "We caught Penguin and we need to get him to jail, we can worry about the freaky girls with knives for fingers later."
"We won't find them, they almost always get away." Nightwing said, stepping back from Artemis.
"See, then there's no reason to fight each other. Let's just get Penguin out to the cops so we can all go our separate ways already." Torch may have been trying to play peace-keeper, but that didn't mean she liked these people any more.
"Here, give him to me, I'll take him." Artemis said. Oddly enough, Nightwing complied without question. 'Weird,' Torch though as they headed out.
Nightwing and Torch walked out as Artemis went ahead of them with Penguin in tow. He glanced over at Torch and noticed the left sleeve of her jacket was missing. He looked closer and saw that she also had a bruise on that arm. 'Like the bruise Suki has. Exactly like the bruise Suki has.' "Torch, what happened to your arm?"
"What, did you forget we were just fighting two chicks with razor-sharp hands? One of them cut off my sleeve. No big deal."
"I meant the bruise, if they had gotten your arm, it would be bleeding, not bruised."
"I don't know; I don't keep track of my injuries during a battle considering it's a battle." Torch said, to Nightwing it sounded like she was making excuses.
'This is almost too big a coincidence to not be important. I'll have to pay more attention to Suki and Emerald Torch. At least I've narrowed her and Artemis down to one hero possibility. Now I just need to be positive I'm right, and right now, the only way to do that short of asking them directly is by unmasking them. Great like that's going to be easy.' He thought as he headed back towards the dorms after they had made sure the police had Penguin in custody and were warned about the Oriental girls trying to break him out.
Wow, I feel so mean for almost giving you guys that kiss but I didn't want it to happen just yet. On the bright side, an extra-long chapter! Seriously this was like 8 pages in my Word. Now, how about a contest? If you can guess where I got Suki's name, just her name, not the whole character, that's mine, leave it in a review and if you're right, I'll give you digital cookies.
Reviewers:
ShadowStarlight: Glad you loved it. Hope you liked this one too.
booklover1498: Yay, glad you liked it.