AN: Gosh, I love Spring Break! This would've taken me so much longer to write if I had school this week. Enjoy!
Feliciano Dimuerte! Does that sound evil? Dimuerte means the dead and Feliciano enables Whisper to call him Felix and tease him...so, yeah. Eh, review and tell me if it does sound evil, please.
And 23 reviews? You guys are making me cry from happiness! I put some humor in here to balance out the emotions from last chapter (But wait until the end of this one...).
Now, because there is no Zatanna-joining-the-Team and no Light, the plot is going to be pretty different. The reasoning for different evil acts will be revealed eventually, I promise! This is the chapter where the differing plot really starts to become evident, so bear with me! This will include the Whisper-verse version of what happened in 'Secrets', 'Coldhearted', and 'Misplaced', so, yeah. Enjoy! (Did I already say that?)
Grinning up in what he hoped was an innocent manner at a group made up of angry Leaguers, a stoic teammate, and a anhgsty red-headed archer really encouraged Whisper to marvel at how he had gotten into such a situation.
Sure, maybe it had something to do with him declining to join M'gann, Conner, Wally, and Artemis at the Happy Harbor High School Halloween dance. It wasn't his fault he was positive he was going to instinctively attack any student dressed as a villain present. Although, his desicion to stay at the Cave may have had something to do with Artemis' realization that M'gann and Conner were going out; it also wasn't his fault he wasn't good at consolation.
And it might have had something to do with the face that Whisper had...'overheard' that a secret meeting was going to take place in the Cave that evening. And honestly, what teenager can resist the temptation to spy on said meeting?
Okay, and possibly that that led to Whisper crawling along in the vents until, lo and behold, he found the room he had been searching for.
But, it definitely wasn't his fault when he fell through the vent covering after losing his balance; if Harper hadn't mentioned Artemis and Whisper being the most likely suspects for moles, then the teen wouldn't have stiffened and the vent wouldn't have broken. Therefore, all the blame for that was to be placed on Spee-Red Arrow.
Those events combined seemed to have gotten Whisper where he was at the moment. He was so not feeling the aster.
"I thought the room was secure," Red Arrow demanded angrily.
Whisper winced slightly from his place on the floor. "I may have kinda hacked the computer?" An adorable smile finished his sentence, hoping to ease the scoldings he knew he would receive.
Grabbing Whisper's upper arm, Batman gently hauled the teen to his feet. "As long as you're here, feel free to add your input."
Six eyes trained onto Batman in surprise while a sassy archer loudly protested.
"Enough."
Red Arrow's rants were cut short and Whisper shrugged before plopping down in a chair. "Sure thing, Bats. Where were we?" Spee-Red Arrow didn't miss the devilish smirk sent his way by the newly arrived hacker.
"We were discussing the possibility of you or Artemis being the mole," Aqualad provided.
"Since we know nothing about you and Artemis' not Green Arrow's niece," intervened Red Arrow.
Whisper's eyes narrowed as Aqualad made a noise of surprise. "Yeah, that's true, but that doesn't mean either one of us would betray the Team. Even if Artemis is related to...never mind."
"Remind me again how it is that you know almost everything about the Leaguers and the Team but we know nothing of your backstory?"
"Honestly, it wasn't that hard to figure out your 'secret' identity," Whisper snarked. "Not when you emit boatloads of angst both as Roy Harper and Red Arrow."
"Says the kid who turned into a robot after going through a failed stimulation."
Whisper stiffened. That punk of an archer did so not just go there. Fortunately for Red Arrow's nose, Batman wisely decided to intervene.
"Everyone has a right to a secret identity." The youngest in the room relaxed back into his chair. "I'm more concerned about Superboy. We still know very little about what Cadmus programmed into their weapon. Conner could be the mole and not know it."
A certain sideki-solo hero took that moment to spread dissent elsewhere; Whisper's eye twitched. "And what about Miss Martian? She is Manhunter's niece, but he told Black Canary he has a few hundred nieces and nephews. And the first time he met M'gann was five months ago, when she stowed away on his last trip from Mars to Earth."
"This changes nothing. I have fought side-by-side with these people. None are traitors."
Whisper slumped down into his chair. He hoped Aqualad was right.
Only an hour after Zatara put on the Helmet of Fate to stop Klarion from using the Ambre Jeune Perdu, the Team heard about it.
Batman came to tell them personally, along with the fact that his daughter, Zatanna, would be staying with relatives, but she might eventually join the Team. While the majority of the Team just felt bad for Zatanna, Whisper wished he could meet her. He could definitely relate to how she was feeling. He just hoped she didn't get kidnapped by assassins like he was.
A brief, wry grin appeared on Whisper's face, but it went away quickly; Batman still noticed.
Whisper was healing, smiling and laughing more, and that was all Bruce could ask for.
"Surprise!"
Whisper laughed quietly as Wally gave an overdramatic, "Whaaat? Aw, you guys, you shouldn't have."
"Right, not like you've been hinting for days or anything."
The group moved to gather around the coffee table, where a pile of food and presents awaited. Whisper grabbed a party hat and plopped it onto Wally's head, laughing at the speedster's surprised expression.
Wally sat down on the floor in front of his plate as M'gann explained, "We made two cakes!"
"Awesome! What'll you guys eat?"
"We'll split the cupcake. Make a wish!"
Whisper clapped happily as the redhead did just that, before rolling his eyes at Wally's 'subtle' flirting. He still couldn't believe the speedster hadn't noticed M'gann was with Conner yet.
As Wally began devouring his birthday cake, Whisper mumbled to himself, "Someday, I hope I'll get used to watching Wally eat."
The clicking of heels sounded behind Whisper and he turned around, only to come face-to-face with Artemis. "Think we should tell him?" Was there a reason she sounded so...devious?
Whisper smirked. "He is the only one who doesn't know."
"Then, please, allow me." As Whisper observed Wally's crestfallen face and Artemis' evil smile, he decided he found the reason for her devious tone.
Whisper's thoughts were interrupted by Batman's stoic voice over the intercom. "Attention Team. Suit up: Polar Stealth. Mission briefing in five."
Cake and a mission? Whisper wished he had Wally's luck when it came around to his birthday.
Whisper completed another flip, leaving a decently sized explosion in his wake. Okay, maybe all the flipping wasn't necessary, but who could blame him for being excited?
(And maybe he was just showing off a little bit for Batman.)
"...So then, I see this assassin-looking dude holding up a trooper by the throat. I set him free and bird-boy and I start fighting. We-."
"Wait a second," Whisper interrupted. "Bird-boy?" The teen internally worried over the fact that 'assassin' and 'bird-boy' were used to describe the same person.
"Yeah," responded Wally. "He was wearing mostly black with some other colors mixed in to look like feathers. And he was wearing this weird mask that looked like it had a beak on it. Really- dude, you okay?" The speedster took notice of the slight paling of his friend, along with the troubled expression.
"Y-yeah, I'm...I'm fine. Let me just go check something."
Wally watched with narrowed eyes as Whisper left in the direction of the bedrooms, only to shake his head and dismiss it as nothing.
Whisper hurriedly pulled up his holo-computer once he closed his door and disabled all hidden cameras (Nice try, Bats.) If the Talons were involved in this, then that might mean that they were actually paying attention to the younger partners of the League. If they were, that spelled disaster for Whisper.
Accessing his password-protected files, the teen sat on his bed. He had something he needed to do...
AN: Due to Robin's short appearances in these episodes and other episodes being switched around because of no Zatanna, I just put all three episodes together. And in case you're wondering, in case of Vandal Savage attacking Wally, it was a Talon. And Klarion was messing around with the gem from 'Displaced' but Zatara stopped him by putting on the Helmet.
And as for the second question I asked you last chapter, it seems you guys want to see a lot of banter and fluff, but you want Whisper to suffer (Can anyone say evil? ;D) Right now, I'm going toward Whisper being in really bad shape and unconscious, but when he wakes up, tons of Bruce and Dick fluff and bantering and the whole nine yards. Hope that will satisfy.
-GSDLover