Disclaimer: I do not own the existing characters that we know and love of Young Justice, although I do take ownership over the new characters i.e. The majority of the Team's children
A/N: Don't forget to review!
Chapter 10 – Lola Allen-Reyes
"I'm… untouchable?" I stammered, staring at Nightwing. "This is insane. You can't honestly be serious?"
"Like I said. You taught Kyle everything he knows about the world." Nightwing opened the door for me.
"Wait- what's going to happen to Kyle now?" I asked, touching his arm. "I need to know what you and Miss Martian are going to do to him."
"That is for me, Miss Martian and Superboy to decide. Now run along."
"Superboy- what's he got to do with it? Oh…" I realised that Kyle was a combination of those three superheroes DNA. Human, Martian and Kryptonian. "Father of three, eh?" I joked, before being pushed out of the room by him.
Diana and Fin approached me slowly, clearly eager to find out the truth. Diana's eyes blinked rapidly from behind her gladiator mask.
"I know you want to ask what happened, but I honestly can't explain it easily. Apart from the fact that me and Nightstar broke into a super secret Justice League building where Kyle was being held captive – like some kind of scientific experiment. I kept him at my house and this morning, we went to the Gotham Art Gallery to see a Hayden Kennedy-Dallas exhibition. Then, these helmet masked bandits broke in, looking for a 'mutant' – Ry… Jester came back and protected me from Kyle when he started to have a little meltdown and-"
"Hey Stealth!" I heard Jester call out to me from further down the corridor. "There's something I wish to discuss with you."
"Oh- I was just talking with Fin and Diana about-"
"Now. Please," he interrupted with a sense of urgency in his voice.
I winced at Diana and Fin apologetically and turned to follow Jester to one of the private rooms off one of the far end corridors. "What's up, Jester?"
Jester perched on a nearby table, ripped off his mask and I noticed the large bruise that was beginning to show on his temple and cheek.
"Oh Ryan- are you okay? That looks awful," I said, reaching out to touch his chiselled cheek. "What happened?"
"The mutant freak flipped out and attacked me and Green Canary. That's what happened." Ryan grabbed my wrists, pulling me closer to him so that I was stood between his powerful legs. "You need to think about yourself now. You cannot consult with that freak of nature. He's dangerous and- and if he ever hurt you, I'd kill him myself. With my bare hands. I mean it, Lola. I am not kidding about now."
I squirmed, trying to get away from him. "Ow- you're hurting me, Ry…"
"Sorry," he replied, immediately releasing me. "It's only because I care about you."
"Ryan. You need to remember that I can take care of myself. I'm one of the fastest people alive on the planet. Maybe even the fastest. I know I'm the fastest girl." I placed a hand on his unbruised cheek and kissed him. "See?"
Ryan sighed, putting his hands around my waist, his fingers lingering and caressing me. "God, I don't think you really how much I love you sometimes."
I froze. "You. You just said you love me."
"Yeah. I guess I did." He smiled in his typical lopsided manner before leaning forwards and kissing me back vigorously. "If you don't know that by now, there's something wrong with you up there."
I laughed softly, pulling him onto his feet. "I've been thinking. I want you to come and stay the night at mine."
"Really? You really want me to?"
"Of course. I need someone to protect me tonight, and you're the perfect guy for the job. Now put your mask on like a good little super so we can get you to Dad and Dad's house." I grinned cheekily as I walked out the door.
I sped along the corridors of the base to the girl's locker room. It was too big for the limited female supers that might visit the base. Me, Diana and Mari were the only ones so far – but I hoped that someone new would join us eventually. I didn't want to be the new kid forever. Once I was changed into a cute summery dress and strappy wedges, I untied my hair and started to play with my parting. The door opened and I took no notice at first, until Diana slammed my locker shut.
"Woah- careful Diana. You nearly took my nose off!" I snapped in a squeaky voice.
"What's going on Lola? With you…"
"What do you mean?"
Diana seemed nervous and uncertain about what she was about to say next. "You do know that it was Jester who assaulted Nightstar and that she used her starbolts in self defence. And that he blackmailed her little brother into hacking some secret files."
"Why are you telling me this?" I growled, tired of another person trying to tell me a string of issues they thought I should know about my boyfriend. "Because if you're trying to tell me I should break up with him, you've got another thing coming. I love him and he's staying the night at mine. So go be jealous somewhere else!" I opened the locker so that I could slam it on purpose and walk away.
I could hear Diana stammering about her not being jealous and that she was just looking out to me. With a roll of my eyes, I met Ryan out in the garage waiting by one of the fancy sport cars that was in the hoard of cars in the collection at the base. He was wearing a shirt and jeans combo which showed off his muscular physique. Admittedly, my heart did flutter momentarily.
"Shall we?" Ryan asked, indicating the car.
I laughed as he shot out of the garage. In the wing mirror, I noticed Finn entering the garage wearing his casuals. No doubt as another attempt to shed some darkness on my boyfriend, but I wasn't having any of it. If I was going to break up with Ryan, it would be on my terms – no one else's. Looking over at Ryan, I couldn't help but wonder what the others were even talk about. How on earth could such a caring and thoughtful person do such twisted things? It wasn't in his nature.
"Are you going to get out of the car, or are you just going to sit there staring at me?" Ryan taunted, tapping a finger on the end of my nose. "You have got the cutest little button nose, do you know that?"
"No, but do tell me about," I said, climbing out the car and looking up at the house. "This is weird. It's the first time you're going to meet DA01 and DA02…"
"Stop it," Ryan replied, slamming the car door shut and running his hands through hair, scraping it back off his face. "I've met Blue Beetle and Impulse loads of times."
"Well yeah, but this is different. You're going to meet them as Ryan Conan- not Jester. There's a huge difference, but I'm sure they are going to love you just as much as I do."
Opening the front door, I called out cheerfully to my dads who were just sitting down for dinner. "We need another place seating Dads!"
"Oh yeah, how so?" DA02 shouted. "Have you invited Mari over or something?"
"Not quite," I said, ushering Ryan down the hallway towards the dining room. "I wanted you both to meet my- boyfriend Ryan."
My speedster dad, DA02, seemed happy and stood up to greet Ryan with a handshake. "I've heard a lot about you, Ryan. She's quite taken by you."
"Not half as much as I am by her." Ryan seemed to hold his own really well. "Jaime- it's great to see you. I hear you were stationed at the Watchtower yesterday, I hope there were no severe issues to content with?"
I looked over at DA01 who appeared to be rather uncertain about the scenario that was unfolding. "Don't look so grumpy."
"Lola, can we talk in the kitchen?" DA01 marched me out into the kitchen, closing the door as if it made the room ultimately soundproof. "You know I don't like to be ambushed like this, Lola. This puts your father and I in a sticky spot. We're stuck at a dinner we never anticipated having. You're just lucky I made enough chilli for everyone. Don't forget you need to pick up some more medication tomorrow. Now, is your friend planning on staying the night?" He folded his arms in a pitiful attempt to hide his clenched fists.
"May-be…" I said, dropping my gaze down and then looking up with puppy dog eyes and a pouty bottom lip. "Please?"
"I'm not happy with this." DA01 swiped the oven gloves and lifted the large pot of chilli off the stove to carry through to the dining room. "I hope you like a bit of spice and kick, Ryan."
Dinner was slightly successful in that neither DA01 or 02 ripped Ryan's head from his shoulders. I did my best to steer the conversation to the pros of Ryan, but there were a few moments where they interpreted it differently. They both knew that I was serious about Ryan, and whilst he wasn't the first boyfriend they had met, he was the first boyfriend that I seemed besotted by. Deep down, I just hoped that they liked Ryan as much as I did.
-o-
I woke up the next morning with Ryan almost holding me in a bear hug, keeping me close to his body. His chest was emitting a huge amount of heat that I could only bear for a short while before bursting from his grips with a speedy start. Outside, the sun was starting to beamed down onto the town and as I stretched in front of the window, I could hear Ryan stirring. For a moment, the pile of pillows on the floor made me think of Kyle, but I forced that memory out of my mind.
Breakfast was delightful – DA02 had sped to the local bakery first thing this morning and fetched us all a selection of delicious pastries. My eyes lit up at the vast array and I forced myself to only have one – just in case. With a mouthful full of a Danish Bear Claw, DA02 quizzed me and Ryan.
"What's the plan for today you two?"
Ryan immediately took control of the situation. "I was thinking we went for a drive down to the coast. You know, really put my foot down on the pedals. Corr… If you ask me, the rush of a car's throttle is an immense adrenaline that you just can't get anywhere else."
DA02 noticed my expression drop. "Right- well I am sure that'll be a lot of fun. Don't forget to stop off for ice cream," he joked, smiling at us whilst leaning back in his chair.
DA01 was quick to put the chair back in its normal position, standing behind him and putting his hands on his husband's shoulders, bearing a little bit of pressure into them. "Aren't you going to go to that Hayden Kennedy-Dallas exhibit? Rumours are that she's about to do a question and answer session if you happen to get tickets. I'm pretty sure they go on sale today and it's tonight."
My heart burst into a million pieces at the thought of going to the Q&A session. "Oh Ryan, can we? That would be amazing!" I grinned, putting a hand on his leg. "You know how much I love her work."
Ryan glanced at the clock and then checked his phone, hearing a notification ping off. "Babe, I wish I could, but I promised to meet one of my teammates for dinner. We wanted to get a chat about tactics and stuff ready for the game later this week. Maybe another time?"
I frowned at his carelessness. "There won't be another time. Hayden Kennedy-Dallas is currently touring the country. Gotham is just a pitstop on the way."
"Yeah. Okay. So we can go for a drive and then I'll drop you at the gallery ready for the talk- how does that sound for a compromise?" Ryan waited for me to nod and then gave me a sharp kiss on the lips. "I think we should probably get going now. Jaime, Bart – it's been a pleasure to meet you. Lola, I'll see you out at the car, alright?" He shook my dads' hands and strode out towards the front door.
Once the door shut, I caught a glimpse of an awkward exchanged look between my two dads. I rolled my eyes and muttered my goodbye with a slam of the front door, hearing the knocker rattling from the force of the movement. Outside was bright and sunny, almost the perfect weather for us to be driving along the coast. Ryan was already waiting in the driver's seat for me, shouting a compliment that left me blushing as I got in beside him. I noticed a duffle bag in the back of the car that was slightly open. I could see the bright yellow colour that was my super suit, and also the white part of his own.
"What are they doing there? I thought we were going for a drive?"
"We are babe, we are… but Nightwing sent me a message. He wants us to sneak into R.M Tech to covertly steal some medical files. What for I don't know, but it must be useful."
"Okay- sounds like a plan," I mumbled, leaning my head against the passenger window as he shot off down the street.
I emptied the contents of my pockets into the glove compartment and noticed another phone there. One that I hadn't seen Ryan using before, but when I questioned him about it, he told me that Angel was the last person to log the car out so it must have been his. It wasn't long before we were in Star City and changing into our super suits, ready to sneak into the R.M Tech's medical facility. Ryan had mapped out the plan for me – we would be slipping in through an unused loading bay entrance during a security guard changeover. From there, we would use the corridors to sneak into the mainframe room. It appeared like a sound plan on the surface, but it relied on my speed a lot.
The loading bay was around the back of the building, and it was utterly silent there – the fact there was no wind in the area made everything all the more eerie. There was an odd howl of a wild animal as we shuffled up to the back door. Jester pulled out a steel card shaped object and forced it into the door frame by the lock and sliced it down. The door eased open as if by magic and I was a little impressed by his gadgets. From there, it was my part. I had to speed along the corridor, slapping stickers over the security cameras that I had to memorise the location of on the way there. I held the stickers ready in one hand, bracing myself to shoot off once Jester open the door enough for me to slip in.
"Good luck babe."
I didn't need luck, I was the fastest woman alive. My hands clapped the cameras, plastering stickers over the lenses to hide what was about to happen next. The length of the corridor tired me out and I felt a stitch in my side as I powered my way back towards Jester to let him know we could make our way down to the mainframe room.
"Nice job, Stealth!" Jester smirked, leading me away down a staircase. "Are you ready for another burst of speeding to cover up the next set of cameras?"
"Yeah- just give me a moment to catch my breath," I said clutching my side.
"You'll be fine, off you go." He nudged me out and I staggered out.
The next lot of cameras I had to cover where excruciatingly hard to hit the mark on all of them. I nearly missed the last one and crashed into the wall afterwards. It was only when Jester came to collect that I thought he might have suspected something. Instead, he walked into the mainframe room through some glass double doors. Pushing myself off the wall, I fell through the doors with a sense of dizziness and blurry eyes that made me take off my goggles and perch them on my forehead. Something was definitely not okay with me, but I couldn't admit that to Jester. My heart was pounding as if I was experiencing what it was like to be out of breath, something that speedsters don't normally feel.
He was plugging a small palmtop device into one of the mainframe computers, and started to download some select files.
The lack of energy in my body made me not want to ask about what we were after. Once the download line was completely blocked in, Jester unplugged the device and shoved it into his utility belt. As we opened the glass doors, the alarms started to sound off. Jester was off like a rocket and I tried to speed my way up the stairs, but I could barely keep up with him and kept whacking into the walls. I managed to reach the bottom of the stairs when I collapsed on the floor, my hands were shaking and I was almost convulsing on the floor.
-o-
When I came to, I was lying in a hospital bed. Impulse and Blue Beetle were standing either side of me.
"Dads!" I exclaimed weakly, trying to sit up.
"Take it easy, Stealth." Impulse put his hand on my shoulder.
Blue Beetle sat down slowly into one of the chairs, his yellow eyes fixed on me. "You had a hypoglycaemic attack. A lack of sugar in your blood – probably not helped by the lack of lunch today. Lola, we told you to be careful whenever you went out and sped off. So we've spoken to Firewing, and he's in the middle of constructing a utility belt for you that will have an emergency insulin stash and chocolate bars. Just in case. Because if that happens to you on an important mission, we need for you to be able to get yourself out of this."
"What were you doing in the R.M Tech medical lab anyway? We were lucky that Superboy was able to pull some string to stop Lex Luthor from informing the police about your little episode…"
I frowned – what would Superboy and Lex Luthor have to do with R.M tech? "Me and Jester were sent on a mission by Nightwing to collect some data?"
The looks on their faces were uncertain and confused, but they nodded to one another.
"Where is Jester?" I asked slowly, but they didn't respond.
The door opened and Diana walked in. She had heard of my condition and was keen to check in on me – in an effort to cheer me up, she had brought me chocolates as an additional back up stash. Blue Beetle and Impulse left the room, I flopped back onto the bed and didn't even notice the door opening again.
I heard Diana say, "No Kyle, you shouldn't be here."
Sitting up again, I saw Kyle standing at the foot of my bed behind Diana.
He was holding three tickets in his hands. "Tickets. For tonight. Hayden Kennedy-Dallas."
My heart dropped to my stomach. "You want to go?"
"Yes," Kyle replied monotonously. "You, me and her."
I nodded slowly. "Yes. I'd like that. I'd like that very much."
Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = Well that was certainly a lucky escape, wasn't it? Don't forget to review what you're thinking so far. Do you like Lola/Stealth?
