Happy V-day, guys! Thank you for your readership this far! And very, uber special thanks to foxfire flamequeen, my beta, who worked very hard with a tough schedule to get this chap beta'd for you guys before V-day!
Rating: T (for swearing)
Timeline: reference to chapter 5/their pj's (PFFFT), can be taken in any context (probably all before mole suspicion?)
Standard Disclaimer.
As part of the bro-pact, Valentine's Day is a bro night.
Or rather, Wally and Robin don't have anything else to do, so they hang out at the Mountain. They would've slept over at one of their houses had Wally's parents not been fighting again or had Bruce not brought some lady named Selina home. They really would have. Because at the Mountain, Artemis has been brooding all day. All. Day. Or maybe all week?
The brooding has messed up Robin's sense of time. Wally wishes Arty would get some chocolates and shove them in Kaldur's face already. M'gann and Connor really want some lovey-dovey alone time. They had planned it all out: dinner, movie, and a romantic walk. The thing is, though, that Robin and Wally are still going to be at the Mountain when they get back. Coming home from a date to two teenage boys yelling at each other through headsets does kinda ruin the 'moment'.
Wally and Robin do what every lonely soul does on Valentine's Day. They get each other their favorite chocolates (Robs has a soft spot for anything white chocolate and Wally loves Kit Kats) and then they hunker down with pillows and blankets by the TV for all-night gaming and TV-ing.
Wally will never tell his peers in school about this, but frankly, he prefers this over whatever smoochy-grossness other people will be doing on this day. After all, bros before hoes, right?
Except, no one actually imagined zombies suddenly appearing.
-o-
"Fuck! What are these things?" Artemis is shooting them, one after the other, but unless her trick arrow is one that explodes, it doesn't slow them down. She's ripped the arm off another, but it keeps moving.
At first, the team thinks they're local civilians. No one realizes what the… things… are until they hear the drone of voices, "Kiiillllllll…" and notice the way they walk. Like they're tired.
In the moonlight it's hard to see, but if the glare catches right, Artemis can also see how their eyes are glazed over and clouded white. Perhaps signs of the undead. She's seen enough horror movies to get it and she is pissed. Who they hell sets loose a bunch of zombies on Valentine's Day?
It's unnerving too, because they haven't decomposed much, if at all. They look pale and saggy. Attacking them is weird. But they're heading towards the city, and that's bad. Artemis begins to panic. What if the stupid zombie apocalypse shit is coming true? She doesn't know the first thing about the living dead, except what she learned from movies (which isn't a whole lot… The Walking Dead only shows how to kill them … And her money is Shane dying by the end of this season…). And she's running out of arrows. Shitshitshit.
Then there are gunshots and it's all she can do to not stop moving against the oncoming tide of zombies. She hopes she doesn't get shot at.
She takes a quick look around. Superboy is literally tearing the things part, limb form limb. M'gann, ever so empathetic, is telepathically forcing them away… or together? She hears Kaldur blast through her mind with a thought. "EVERYONE EVACUATE."
The last thing she sees over her shoulder while running for her life is a massive blaze of light and feels the earth shudder violently beneath her feet. Then she is thrown back as she feels a giant wave of heat. Stupid explosions. Can't have a mission without one, right?
-o-
"I would give this a solid 10."
"More like, 10 to the power infinity! That was awesome!"
"I can't believe our zombie apocalypse plan was actually needed."
"You must mean, you can't believe we needed our zombie apocalypse plan so soon!"
Robin laughs his laugh that makes it seem like nothing is wrong in the world. That no bomb has been detonated, wiping out the freak army of the living dead and that Batman isn't coming in five for a debriefing of what the fuck happened. The one night all the adults thought they'd be okay without babysitting…
Robin almost snorts out the chocolate milk he's drinking. "Can you imagine Batman's face when he hears about this?" Bruce isn't going to be having a nice night after all. Mwahahaha!
Wally laughs loudly. He can't imagine Batman trying to be a normal person on Valentine's Day, only to receive a call saying there's been a large explosion in the vicinity of Happy Harbor. The falling body parts and debris weren't the only shockers for people on Valentine's Day. This had been like one great troll and mission of epic proportions all in one!
Unfortunately, it seems as though the only person in the room who carries similar sentiments is Robin. No one has had the chance to actually get clean, per se. Artemis managed to wipe off enough of the zombie blood, but it's turned a rusty brown on her clothes and she looks like she's going to smack something or rip someone's balls off. So Wally shuts up.
Kaldur sighs heavily. Perfect for a freak attack to happen on a night like this.
Connor hasn't even bothered to get any blood off, and M'gann gets a wet towel and cleans his arms and face at least.
It's mostly silent. They feel like they've been waiting for Batman forever, until… "What was your zombie apocalypse plan?" M'gann asks. She's curious. It's so strange how the two boys seemed so in-sync with each other and so calm during the entire attack. Like… like they had been prepared for a situation like this.
"Well, Miss M, it is 2012, so we expected some sort of apocalypse. That could include a strange viral strain that makes people zombies or freak science that disturbs the bodies and makes them rise from the dead. Either way, 'zombies' is only one of the plans we've got," Wally brags and Robin kicks him under the table as he finishes off his milk.
"Ix-nay o-nay lans-pay!" He smiles as he wipes his lips with the back of his hand. He finished his cup of chocolate milk. Out of the entire team, Robin is the least covered in blood and gore.
Wally rolls his eyes and continues, "Anyways, Mr. Conspiracy and I here-"
"You are a way bigger conspiracy-buff than I am, Wals…"
Wally swats at his hand, like Robin is a fly, giving him a Look. "As I was saying, we prepped for stuff like this. I mean, it was all theoretical, but we had plans if we were separated, if we were at the Mountain, or other stuff. We had safe zones pre-planned, meeting points, bags with necessities if it got to that, and so on. But we knew we could make an easy line of explosives with… um…" Wally falters. He doesn't want to unnecessarily incriminate himself in front of the Batman.
The looming Dark Knight comes through the zeta tube and Wally shuts up.
"The League is cleaning up after your mess. Explain."
Kaldur manages to do a good job. It had been a rather calm evening and he'd gone outside for some air. He'd seen a hoard of people approaching the Mountain and Happy Harbor. It became evident that they were some sort of… "living dead".
Batman narrows his eyes at the word and almost seems to glare at Robin. Robin immediate shrugs and shoots him his best innocent look, because for once, it's not his fault.
Nevertheless, Valentine's Day is sort of ruined now. Fighting zombies and clearing the Mountain of dead body parts aren't always the best ways to celebrate a day for lovers… Batman excuses them. It's been a long night.
M'gann calls it a night first. It has been an unnerving experience. She could hear their monosyllabic thoughts, but couldn't control them. She takes a long shower and hopes the musty smell of dead bodies will disappear if she uses a large amount of lavender body soap.
Artemis must've had the same idea, because when she comes out of her shower, she smells like 'Japanese Cherry Blossoms' (apparently. She thought it smelled like soap, but her mom had gotten it for her so…).
The girls share a smile.
"Lavender?"
"Yes! Is that the Japanese Cherry Blossoms line?"
"Yup. I like yours though."
Girl talk. It's nice.
They hear yelling down the hallway and immediately feel their hearts jump a little. What's happening now?
It's a sight to behold.
The guys are already in their nightwear. Robin, who's wearing an oversized Flash shirt and black basketball shorts, is hanging off Connor like a monkey. He's hooked a leg over the Kryptonian's shoulder and is trying to lift himself up to… scoop icing out of a bowl onto a giant… Valentine's Day bakery piece?
It's a baked good for sure. Maybe pre-ordered?
Wally sees their shock and gets to explaining. "So, usually Robs and I don't do anything of epic proportions of V-Day, but there's this bakery in Central that has this deal thing… It's like, get a five-tier cake, y'know, like those wedding cakes, but not like for couples and stuff. So Robin and I got one and it was probably the best thing we ever did. Cuz we were all like, can we get it a little cheaper, because we want to decorate it and stuff and the bakery lady owner was like 'Aww, yes!'"
Robin almost falls off Superboy, laughing. He puts in his two cents. "I swear, I don't think it occurred to her that the neither of us even looked like teenagers, let alone legal. But whatever. We're going to eat this cake."
They've been planning this for months. Wally went to go pick it up earlier and after TV and video gaming, the two were going to attack the cake with spoons and batches of icing.
Unfortunately, the zombies happened, but the night is still young!
Artemis sees it suddenly. She starts laughing. Wally smiles too. "I know, right? Insane! But this is going to be delicious!"
Artemis has to gasp for a breath. "N-no! Oh my god!" She's laughing really hard now. "Are – are you wearing a Robin shirt?"
Wally's pajama ensemble is a Robin T-shirt, and dark red PJ pants. He shrugs. "What? Bros buy each other's merch, big deal."
The cake never does get decorated.
But a lot of icing is eaten straight from the bowl. Robin and Wally eye each other from their respective sides of the table. Robin points to his nose and Wally sticks his tongue out and licks the icing off his own. Robin giggles. They continue their unspoken conversation and it's not until the room is absolutely silent that they snap out of it.
"You're doing it again!" M'gann cries, half-frustrated, half-laughing.
"Doing what?" Robin asks, rather innocently. But he grinned like a fox.
"That talking thing where you just talk, but it's not really talking!" She tries to explain. Kaldur supports her.
"You two have an odd method of communicating silently."
Wally starts to chuckle and catches Robin's eye. He mouths "Aliens" and mimics the meme of that Alien tracker on the History Channel. Robin laughs hard.
Artemis shrugs. "Maybe it's just a Robin and Wally thing." She picks up a chunk of cake and takes a bite. No forks, just fingers. It tastes really good.
A good Valentine's Day. "Man, I love you guys." Wally says as he wipes a tear from laughing too hard with Robin.
R&R always! And I'm open to all new prompts/suggestions! I love you guys and my beta so much! Thankyouthankyouthankyou! YOU guys make my V-Day awesome!
xoxo, Stamps
