A/N: No, this is not a trick. Merely an update from a very uninspired writer. Enjoy!
…...
Gotham City
March 17, 2:23 AM
Artemis' mind was racing as she stepped out of the rusting phone booth. Sportsmaster had been in her room. He'd talked to Wally. How much had he told the speedster? Or more importantly, had he hurt her teammate? She tried not to overthink how nervous the thought made her. Wally had sounded relatively fine over the phone, slight worry only audible in his voice. As she ran down the vacant streets towards her flat, the soles of her shoes slapping against the pavement -wet after the snow had melted, the archer was on edge. Without even realizing it, she was picking up speed, catching herself when she skidded around the corner and almost tripped. Grabbing a street light to keep her balance, she continued to sprint, now keeping her -or Wally's- speed under control.
When she finally arrived outside the large block, barely out of breath even though she'd been running at top speed (for a human, not for a speedster) for the past five minutes, she stepped into the small room and pressed the doorbell for her own flat. Seconds passed before the intercom crackled. "Who is it?" Artemis rolled her eyes as she stepped closer to the apartment buzzer. She hadn't even known her voice could sound so tentative. "The queen of England." Silence. "It's me, you dork. Open up."
"Oh. Right."
The door buzzed and the archer pushed it open, slipping inside as she started sprinting up the stairs. Making it to her floor in record time, she had to grab the stair railing to prevent herself from crashing into the door. Damn it. Stopping in this thing (meaning Wally's body) was damn near impossible. She knocked quietly on the door and barely a second passed before it was swung open and she was greeted with a very disheveled looking blonde. "Arty. Thank god," Wally breathed in relief, running a hand through the long, blonde hair. She winced inwardly at how bad it looked. Poor her hair.
Artemis stepped past Wally, who closed the door carefully behind her. A thought crossed her mind and she turned to face him. "Did you check on-"
"Paula? Of course. She's fine."
A small smile found it's way to Artemis' lips before she caught herself and shook it off. He was just doing the right thing. It wasn't like he cared or anything. No, that couldn't be it. She shook the thought away. "So?"
"So?" Wally parroted and the archer sighed in exasperation. "What did he say?" she pushed, slightly irritated.
"Oh. Right." The speedster' fingers twitched and he seemed to be collecting his thoughts before he spoke. "Has... has Sportsmaster been blackmailing you?"
Artemis felt her stomach drop in shock, green eyes wide. "What?" she asked, voice barely over a whisper. Her dad had tried to pull that crap on Wally? And now he knew. Nobody was supposed to know. Wally's eyes still refused to meet her own and he wrung his hands uncharacteristically. "Your dad was trying to blackmail me. Said he had some offer and that if I didn't comply, he was going to tell the team about your big family secret." The speedster added quotation marks with his fingers when he spoke the last three words and Artemis almost laughed at how silly it made ''her'' look. Almost.
"Is it true? Has he been blackmailing you?" Wally continued to pry and the archer could feel her defenses building up. She stubbornly pushed them down. She'd already told Wally about her family, might as well spill about the whole deal. With a small sigh, she stepped to the side to lean against the kitchen counter. The speedster followed her eagerly, eyes waiting and strangely soft -meaning strange both for her own eyes and for Wally. She'd thought he was incapable of soft. Or caring.
"He's been trying. Cheshire, however, succeeded. Remember our first mission?" Artemis spoke slowly, quietly, still reluctant to let the words slip past her lips. She still felt bad about letting her sister go that night since it could have saved them a whole lot of trouble down the road. Oh well, what's done is done. No need to kick yourself over it. Her own encouragement didn't help. At all. Wally nodded in regard to the question and she took a deep breath before she continued. "I had her. I could have brought her in. But..."
Wally placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, the feeling of her own hand strange but maybe not entirely unwanted. It was actually a bit comforting. So she continued. "She asked me if I thought my position on the team was... secure enough. She asked me how I thought all of you would react to the truth. About me and my family. I... I couldn't risk it." She averted her eyes to the floor, cursing herself for how shaky her voice was. Suck it up, Artemis.
"Risk what?" Artemis looked up, Wally's goofy grin plastered across her face. She still wasn't used to that. "Do you really think we would've kicked you out just because your family's all... evil?"
"You would have fought for it," the archer noted with a short, slightly dry chuckle. "You loathed me."
Wally moved the hand on her shoulder to rub the back of his neck awkwardly, his grin turning sheepish. "Well... that was before I knew how awesome you were." Something in his expression shifted, his face becoming slightly more serious. She would know, since no one could read her own face like she could. "You're part of the team now, Artemis. Don't ever think otherwise." The archer's lips quirked into a small, almost shy smile, and if Wally peered, he could see Artemis behind his own green eyes.
"I look cute when I'm embarrassed," he thought aloud and the archer scoffed, pushing him away and walking into the living room. "Way to ruin the moment," she scolded and the speedster followed her, hands raised in an 'oh, come on' gesture.
"That wasn't a moment!" he defended himself and Artemis rolled her eyes halfheartedly as she plopped onto the couch.
"Whatever, Baywatch."
…...
Gotham City
March 17, 7:23 AM
Paula Crock slowly moved out of her room, tired limbs pushing the wheelchair forward. The door to her daughter's room was open and she craned her neck to look inside. The bed was unmade and empty and her eyes lingered briefly on the other tidy, unmoved bed before she rolled down the hall. Artemis wasn't in her usual spot sitting at the kitchen counter and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion until she heard a light snore coming from the couches.
She saw her daughter along with an unfamiliar redheaded boy resting comfortably on the couch. Artemis was crushed against the back of the sofa, arms enveloping the boy who was snuggled up to her. Paula smiled fondly before she cleared her throat. The young boy was jolted from his sleep, looking disoriented for a moment before his eyes landed on Artemis and he fell off the couch, landing with a thud. "Morning."
As the redhead struggled to pull himself off the floor, Paula smiled. The boy looked down at Artemis, over at her, back at Artemis and finally at himself. A quiet groan escaped his mouth and he finally turned to the waiting woman. Artemis still slept peacefully. A bit strange since she was usually very alert to the sounds around her and the boy's racket should have easily woken her up. Said boy smiled at her and she mirrored the gesture. "I'm Paula."
"Wally," he answered, sounding a bit unsure of himself as he spoke the name, is if it didn't fit rolling off his tongue. He glanced back at Artemis and was that a blush creeping onto his freckled cheeks? "I'm not his- I mean, she's not my girlfriend."
Paula continued to smile as the boy awkwardly explained himself, eyes moving to Artemis. Was she... snoring? Never before had her daughter snored, even as lightly as she was doing now. "Would you mind waking her up? She'll be late for school."
Instead of answering, Wally turned to the blonde and poked her shoulder harshly. "Wake up," he hissed, causing Paula's eyes to narrow slightly. The poke still seemed to work since Artemis groaned and rolled over, almost falling to the floor. She finally sat up, stretching out her arms as she took in the situation, grey eyes looking confused. "Oh... Oh!"
She smiled sheepishly and looked to her mother, blonde hair all over the place. Again, very strange since Artemis never allowed it to get messed. "Get ready for school, Artemis," the older woman said simply, rolling into the kitchen. "Sure thing," her daughter's voice called back before she heard footsteps shuffling into the hallway.
"This is all your fault!" Paula heard the boy hiss and her daughter let out an undignified huff. "My fault?"
"Yes, your fault. It wasn't me who 'didn't want to be alone'."
"I never said that!"
"If it makes you feel better, dork. Just get yourself to school. I'll deal with you later." Wally stepped back into the living room, smiling broadly at Paula. "Nice meeting you," he said sweetly before pulling on his jacket and rushing out the door. Artemis appeared seconds later, sitting down at the counter. "I don't like your friend, Artemis."
"He is a bit violent, isn't he?" Wally smirked to himself, skin still tingling after the night spent cuddled so close up to someone.
…...
Central City
March 17, 8:30 AM
Artemis stepped out of the zeta-tube, knowing how late she was but not really caring. It was just Wally's school record she was putting a blemish on. The thought made her smirk. That little scene on her couch was destined to cause awkwardness for at least a month, which meant she'd have to deal with the shit Wally was making her do. Extremely unfair. Although, the cuddling had been kind of nice. Not that that meant anything, since in theory she had been cuddled up to herself. So basically, she was nice to sleep next to. That's it. Her thoughts were cut short when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and sighed at the text. Another mission? Really? Evil really didn't take a vacation.
She did a full on 180 turn, walking straight back towards the zeta-tubes. Guess it didn't matter that she was late after all.
Barely a minute later, she stepped into Mount Justice. Robin, along with the only residents of the cave, being Conner and Megan, were the only ones there. "What is it?" Artemis asked as she walked up to join the group. "Trouble."
She barely flinched at the dark voice, used to Batman's 'appearing from nowhere and being all brooding' act. "What kind of trouble?" she pushed, turning to face the vigilante.
"I'll explain when the whole team is here," he said shortly and Artemis sighed. Fun. We'll just wait here in silence, then.
One by one, the rest finally arrived, Wally being the last. He was still wearing the school uniform (again, Artemis felt her cheeks tint red at the though of Wally being able to see her half naked. Not that she could admit to her eyes not having lingered ever so slightly. Wally wasn't exactly scrawny) but the blonde hair was let out of his scrunchie. It made her eyes narrow. She always wore her hair up in a band. What was he doing?
She didn't have time to pursue answers since Batman was waiting in the middle of the room. Everyone rounded up and he glanced over the group. "Computer, show the analysis of the weapon the Justice League examined."
A large holoscreen appeared, an image of the gun Artemis had snatched from that warehouse slowly spinning, all sorts of information regarding the weapon in small frames around it. "Turns out, we're dealing with something more than just your average weapons."
The image of the gun dismantled, revealing a glowing blue ball of energy nestled in the middle. "Wow!"
All eyes turned to the blonde, confused at the sudden outburst. Wally shrugged and Artemis rubbed the bridge of her nose. Okay, he was definitely doing this on purpose. "'Wow' would be an understatement, Artemis. This particular power source is nothing like we've ever seen before. This source powered the machine you found in the desert. The one that dimmed Miss Martian's telepathic powers."
Megan averted her eyes slightly and Superboy placed a hand on her shoulder, smiling softly. Despite everything, it made Artemis' lips quirk into a small smile. She was a bit jealous, sure, but it was nice that her friend had someone that cared about her so much. Her attention turned back to the front of the room when Batman continued to speak. "It's definitely not of this world and even Martian Manhunter was unsure of it's origin."
"So what now?" Robin piped in. With a wave of his hand, Batman had produced a keyboard and as he typed, two more smaller screens popped up. "There are two missions. Normally, this would be considered League worthy but we are low on heroes at the moment. That's where you come in." One of the screens enlarged, revealing the same dock they'd visited yesterday. "Me, Robin, Miss Martian and Kid Flash will head back over to New Mexico and confiscate all of the weapons to stop any further dealing since that seems to be their main transport area." The mentioned heroes nodded and the other screen took over.
The screen showed the image of a large factory. A- "Car factory?" Artemis asked, skepticism audible in her voice. "On the outside, yes, but we tracked the energy source to this place. The weapons are being manufactured underground, hidden from the public. Artemis, Zatanna, Superboy and Aqualad. Your mission is to shut it down. Whatever they're using to produce the weapons, destroy it by any means possible."
The four teens nodded and the holoscreens disappeared. "My team will find out where the leader is by talking to some of the distributors and we move from there. Get dressed. I'll send the coordinates to the bioship which your team will take, Aqualad." The atlantean nodded and then Batman walked off. Everyone scurried off to dress in their uniforms and Wally and Artemis were ushered along, not getting the chance to speak before they were pushed into separate dressing rooms. Just before the doors closed, Wally gave Artemis a thumbs up, mouthing 'you'll do great.'
The archer smiled back, wondering just when encouragement from Wally, of all people, had made her feel so confident. And warm. "Get your head in the game, KF," Robin said as he threw over the yellow suit, Artemis barely catching it as she delivered a glare to the young boy. The dark haired boy simply chuckled as he moved away to slip on his mask.
…...
Hong Kong
March 17, 15:12 PM
"Is that it?" Superboy asked as they flew over the large factory. Aqualad confirmed the guess and Wally swallowed thickly as he slowed down the bio-ship. It lurched slightly, but the jolt was significantly lesser than the last time. He smiled as he gave himself a mental pat on the back. "What's the plan?" Zatanna questioned from her place sitting next to Kaldur and the atlantean unbuckled his seat belt. "Me and Artemis will make our way past the security system and make a clear entrance for you and Superboy to get inside. From there, we split up. We need to search for an engine room but if that fails, we need to have located the main machine or the power source."
Wally was barely listening as he struggled to land the bio-ship, finally managing it and ignoring the beads of sweat forming under the green cowl. He opened up the hatch, letting in the stuffy air. "Is everyone ready?"
The speedster unbuckled himself, watching as Superboy and Zatanna did the same, grey eyes moving over the three people. He picked up Artemis' quiver, throwing it over his back after he'd pulled out the bow. This would go fine. It was just like any other mission. The one yesterday had gone smoothly. Then again, he'd been waiting in the bio-ship. Get yourself together, West. If Arty can control your powers, you can shoot from a stinking bow. Just relax. You got this.
He drew in a deep breath, stuffing the small com into his ear before he nodded. "Ready." Wally ignored how shaky the words that left his mouth sounded. He wasn't scared. This would be easy. Mind running over everything Artemis had tried to teach him in the last few days, he walked outside via the open hatch on the bio-ship, following his teammates as he braced himself. Here goes nothing.
…...
A/N: What even is up? Seriously, I have no excuse for the lateness of this update other than a lack of creativity. I'm also gonna pin some of the blame on the hiatus. Okay, Imma pin all of the blame on the hiatus cause I can. I'm so sorry I had you guys wait for so long and to those still reading this, I really hope this chapter was worth the wait. To give you a little preview of the next chapter; shit's about to go down. It's as basic as that. The next updates should be soon because I'm going to try to get my shit together, just for you guys 3 Oh, and in regard to the guest questioning the plot; this is it. The weapon manufacturing and Wally's admission into the League are the main plot points of the story, sort of like the missions they have to solve in each other's bodies. But if you feel the storyline is dull, I guess there really isn't anything I can do about that. Again, here's hoping this is up to par because I haven't written Spitfire in forever so finger's crossed~