Disclaimer: I don't own anything!
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Previously in An Unforgettable Trip: story A
"Will we be able to see him?" Kid Flash asked excitedly. Nightwing looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Perhaps" he replied, the mischievous smirk back in place.
That smirk was still bothering them, it was just so familiar. Where in the world had they seen it before?
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Chapter 14
Flash was the first to arrive, heading for the Nest immediately after receiving the call from Tempest. They heard the computer announce him, but all they saw materialize from the zeta tubes was a blur of red. Then he appeared, cowering behind Nightwing who glanced back at him, but didn't comment. Moments later Artemis arrived with her bow drawn and an arrow pointed at Flash, or Nightwing, since Flash was trying to hide behind his slightly shorter friend.
"Artie, don't point that thing at me" Nightwing said, seemingly unconcerned that he was a mere whim away from having an arrow plunged into his person.
"WHY NOT!" she yelled staring past the bird to her cowering husband with an almost feral look on her face. Nightwing just raised an eyebrow.
"Because I don't want to have to attack a pregnant woman who is threatening me while on a hormone high" he replied calmly.
"But he keeps running from me" the adult Artemis said, some of her anger ebbing away.
"Because you're trying to KILL ME!" Flash exclaimed, poking his head up from behind his friend's shoulder to look at his wife. Suddenly all of her anger was gone.
"W-why are y-you shouting at m-me" the archer sobbed, tears starting to roll down her cheeks as she dropped her bow to the ground with a clatter. Flash was immediately at her side.
"H-hey, I'm sorry alright? I didn't mean to shout at you" he said soothingly. The team watched this occur, their confusion evident on their faces. They turned to look questionably at Nightwing who mouthed the words 'mood swings' to them. They nodded their understanding. Flash continued to sooth his wife who was no longer sobbing, but the occasional tear still fell. After several minutes she stopped crying all together and the couple sat chatting quietly.
"She has crazy mood swings" Superboy commented quietly to the rest of the team.
"I agree" Aqualad said. Kid Flash and the teen Artemis glanced at their older selves and shuttered slightly.
"How does that even happen?" Kid Flash asked.
"Oh please, everyone saw it coming for years" Nightwing said, suddenly standing right behind Kid Flash who jumped about three feet of the ground. The older hero gave him an amused look.
"Don't do that! Jeez, you're just like Rob" Kid Flash complained. "How do all of you bats move around so silently?" he asked turning to look at Nightwing who was just smirking at him in an annoying 'I know something you don't' kind of way, 'why is that so familiar' the speedster thought, frustrated that he couldn't place where he'd seen it. He was torn from his thoughts when the computer announced the arrivals of Tempest, Ms. Martian, and Kon-El.
"Ok, now that everyone's here, I can tell you what we'll be doing" Nightwing said moving back to the computer and bringing up a map of South America.
"What's going on in South America that involves all of us?" Kon-El asked.
"Zatara is went missing while investigating a magical disturbance that we suspect was caused by the Injustice League" Nightwing replied.
"I do not understand. Why would Batman want us in particular to go after him?" Tempest asked.
"Because Zatara is the only one who can accurately send the team back to their own time" Nightwing said. The adult heroes were shocked.
"But if they don't get sent back, wouldn't we cease to exist?" Ms. Martian asked. Nightwing looked over to where she stood with Kon-El.
"They do get sent back, because we save Zatara, and if we don't, then we find someone else who can control this spell" he said.
"How can you possibly know that?" Flash asked.
"Because if we didn't, then you all would never have been sent back in the first place, so you would never have come to exist as adults in this time. The team would have arrived here and grown up eight years from their time. The fact that you five are here now proves that we save Zatara and send them back" Nightwing explained glancing at each of the other adult heroes.
"That makes sense…I guess" Flash replied.
"So… now what? Do we even know where to find Zatara?" the adult Artemis asked.
"Batman is working on finding his location. Once he does, we'll meet up with him and head to South America. Until then we just have to wait" Nightwing said as he went back to working on something with his computer. The others clumped into groups and talked while they waited for Batman to call.
(Tempest and Aqualad)
"So…how is everything in Atlantis?" Aqualad asked.
"All is well. The heir is growing up cunning and strong. My King and Queen are very proud." Tempest said with a small smile.
"I am glad" Aqualad replied also smiling. "What of Garth and Tula?" he asked, noticing the way that Tempest cringed when he mentioned Tula's name. 'I thought that I would be fully over her, even now I do not feel too upset with talking about her. I wonder what happened?" he thought.
"They are doing…well" Tempest replied with the slightest bit of hesitation.
"I see" Aqualad said still wondering about his older self's reaction to his mention of Tula.
They started talking about other changes in Atlantis and life on the surface world to pass the time.
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(The speedsters and archers)
Kid Flash and the teen Artemis sat as far apart as possible on one couch while Flash and the adult Artemis sat right next to one another on the couch directly across from them. The teens stared at their future selves with looks of mild disgust.
"I'm sorry, but how did you two end up getting married?" Kid Flash finally asked. Flash shrugged.
"We finally saw that all of our arguing really was like flirting" he said.
"Yeah, just like what Robin kept telling us" his wife added.
"Do you guys ever see him?" Kid Flash asked. The couple glanced at each other with slightly confused faces, suddenly the adult Artemis smiled, a mischievous grin also forming on Flash's features.
"Yeah, we still see him" he replied with one of those 'I know something you don't' smirks that were becoming far too common.
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(Martians and supers)
When the alien and clone couples went to sit down M'gann noticed the rings on the older couple's left hands and let out a happy squeal.
"You two are married?" she asked excitedly. Ms. Martian smiled and took Kon-El's hand in hers.
"Yes we are" she said.
"For how long?" the younger Martian continued in her bubbly way, Superboy smiling slightly at his girlfriend's excitement.
"Three years" Ms. Martian said proudly.
"Oh my gosh, that's so great!" M'gann said. "Do you have any kids?" she asked. Kon-El snorted in amusement and Superboy glanced at him questioningly.
"Yes, we have some children" Ms. Martian replied.
"Some" Kon-El mumbled under his breath so that only Superboy could hear him. When he noticed Superboy staring at him he just shrugged.
The Martians started talking excitedly about earth and its strange customs while the clones watched them with a loving amusement.
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(Back to everyone)
Batman appeared on the monitor screen and everyone stood and walked to stand in front of it.
"Good, you are all here" Batman said.
"Did you find Zatara?" Nightwing asked.
"Yes, he is being held at the Injustice League's new headquarters in an abandoned town deep in the Andes Mountains about an hour's flight from Cuzco, Peru" the bat replied.
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Yeah, so nothing really happened in this…what? This is just a filler chapter? *laughs nervously* Of course not.
Are they going to figure out who Nightwing is? Yes, but the question is when.
Anyway, Artemis is having crazy, hormone-driven mood swings, yay fun. Also I made up the 'hormone high' thing, but I kinda like (hopefully it doesn't mean anything bad).
Oh and I promise I'll explain the thing with Tempest and Kon-EL, you'll just have to wait.
BYE!