Chapter Eight — Infiltrator
"Do not let it be so, do not leave me where without him."
Because he got out in early June, as opposed to early July, school for Wally West started in early August which is why on the boys first day of Sophomore year Arley found herself at the West household.
Rudy West was at the stove making pancakes as he didn't need to be at the bank for another two hours and Mary West, dressed in her flowery scrubs, with a piece of toast in her mouth was half way out the door. Wally however, next to Arley, dressed in his usual civilian clothing sat at the table with his shoulders slumped low.
'This is so unfair," Wally muttered, "First time Miss M goes to the beach and I miss it."
Arley took her eyes away from the small television in in the corner of the room— it was placed on top of the counter at an angle that allowed both the people at the kitchen table and the person cooking to watch whatever was on —and with a clenched heart look at the boy.
"There'll be other days Wally," Arley told him, "M'gann and Superboy don't start school until September, like the rest of us normal people." Arley had seen aliens with four arms and others with none and yet the girl always claimed that weird was the state of Missouri's school calendar.
"Yeah but she'll be wearing a bathing suit today," Wally said as his eyes glazed over and he more then likely imagined the green skinned girl in an incredibly small and incredibly tight bikini; jealousy bubbled up in Arley's throat. Petulantly Arley looked down at her mostly empty plate,
"And how's M'gann wearing a bathing suit any different from me wearing one?" Arley wondered before she could stop herself, What made M'gann so special? Wally snorted, and his father seemed to still in front of the stove, the same way someone watching two cars about to crash would.
"You're kidding right? Ars you're my best friend," Wally told her, Arley's brows knitted together,
"And we're both girls what's so different about M'gann wearing a bathing suit?" Arley asked. Mr. West picked up the remote that was next to the stove and began to flip through the television channels that were on.
Wally blinked, "I dunno," he shrugged, "M'gann's uh well, she's beautiful."
And Arley knew Wally didn't mean to say it to hurt her, she knew he hadn't even said it as a way to imply she wasn't beautiful and yet hurt panged through her body and Arley's face fell; the girl leaned back in her chair away from the speedster as Rudy West flipped to the news just in time to see his sister Iris covering what looked to be a bank robbery.
Iris West-Allen, with her red hair pinned up and in front of police barricade could be seen motioning to the very same bank Rudy was due at in two hours time. Rudy raised the volume.
"Awesome a bank robbery!" Wally jumped up, only for Arley, still frowning— her heart was heavy in her chest whilst she continued to try to push down the near stifling feeling of inadequacy —grabbed the sleeve of Wally's undershirt and roughly pulled the boy back down into his chair.
"Hey!" Wally cried looked at Arley as if she'd grown a second head, "What was that for!"
"In case you forgot you have school," Arley said as she stood up from the table; her uniform, as her ring glowed warm on her finger, appeared over the clothes she had been wearing, her mask materialized over her face, "I got this."
"But-dad!" Wally turned to his father who even after several years of friendship between Arley and Wally still looked impressed at the girls transformation, Rudy West looked at his son,
"Arley has a point you have school in a half hour." On the television, behind Iris the banks doors blew open with a flash and a white man with long brown hair and an eye patch holding a gun to a hostages head— he held the young woman out in front of him, using her as a shield —rushed out of the smoke; a large duffle bag stuffed with either cash or other valuables was slung over his shoulder.
"That's Plunder!" Wally whined, "Come on!"
Plunder, or as he was actually named, Jared Morillo was the first criminal Wally had stopped publicly stopped and while the speedster was never going to go as far as to call the man his arch-nemesis there was certainly no love lost between Wally and the criminal.
"You have school Wally," Rudy said and the younger red headed slumped down in his seat.
Arley floated up into the air, her face dry as she looked at Wally. If she just ignored the feelings inside her, and just pushed down on them a little harder then she wouldn't hurt anymore; if she could just get a hold of herself she'd be fine.
"I'll let him know that next time he decides to rob a bank to do it on a weekend," she told the speedster before she turned to Rudy West, "Thanks for the breakfast Mr. West."
"Anytime Arley you know that-uh—" Rudy West scolded as Arley made her way to the door, "—Backdoor." The tips of Arley's ears burned,
"Right sorry." And with zoom Arley was off in the direction of Central City's bank, ready to save the day.
...
And save the day she had, though doing so— capturing the Plunder, saving the hostage and handing over the stolen money and jewelry the man had snatched off hostages —had made Arley late to meet up with the rest of the team at the cave.
Wearing a dark forest green one piece, with her red boogie board under her arm Arley walked into the Mount Justice living room Arley found the others sitting on the couches, chatting among themselves, laughing.
Dick, with his glasses pushed up against the bridge of his nose shinned under the caves lights; the boy was seated on the edge of the living room couch covered in sunscreen. Under his legs was a beach ball.
M'gann was in a bright yellow bikini looking beautiful as she smiled at something Superboy had said and Arley hated how the sight of the Martian girls bright and brilliant smile sent a new and unfettered wave of jealousy through her because M'gann was her friend who was head over heels for, Superboy. There was nothing for the sector Lantern to be jealous of, at least not really, and yet the human girl couldn't help it.
"There's the hero," Dick grinned as Arley moved closer, forcing a smile on her face— fake it 'till you make it, if Arley smiled enough then she would no longer feel the need to scream at the top of her lungs because of her bruised heart —Arley ran her fingers through her bangs.
"You guys saw the news?" Arley guessed.
"You did good work," Kaldur commented and Arley smiled much more genuinely under the praise.
"Thanks, uh, M'gann," the Martian girl turned from Superboy and to Arley who held out her boogie board, Arley looked up over the Martian girls head rather than at her. "Here. It's no surfboard but trust me when I say you'll have fun."
Though she had been on Earth for just over two months, and though Superboy had been depodded for about thirty-four days and counting, neither of the alien teens had yet gone to the beach despite it only being a few feet outside the cave doors.
M'gann's smile seemed to widen as she accepted the board and Superboy was the first to get to his feet, his towel tucked under his arm and the cooler one of the other three team members had packed in his hand.
"Can we go now?" Superboy wondered, Aqualad and the others got to their feet; Dick picked up the volleyball that had been between his feet and tossed it into the air before catching it. M'gann sped by Arley, rushing towards the back of the cave to the secluded beach area that the five of them had planned on using.
"Hello Megan!" M'gann cried once in the sun, her arms outstretched, "We should hit the beach every day!"
"First though," Dick said, "A moment of silence for our absent comrade."
"Poor Wally," M'gann said bowing her head, Arley's eyes narrowed as she looked out at the water at the mention of speedster his words— how he had said them in such a-well-isn't-it-obvioussort of tone —echoed through her head.
M'gann was beautiful and that was where she and Arley differed; Arley had never vain but she was still a teenage girl and Wally was the boy she was head over feet for, so to hear that, that was where M'gann and her differed— what made Arley in her bathing suit and M'gann in hers so different —hurt.
Arley sucked up a breath of ocean air and turned to Kaldur as he laid his blanket out on the sand close to where he had put own the portable grill, Arley simply dropped her towel and let it roll out as much as it could by itself,
"Race you!" Arley shouted at the Atlantean before taking off towards the water.
Kaldur had gotten to the water before her, as had Superboy— though Dick and M'gann reached the ocean's edge after her —and the dark skinned boy had dove straight into the blue waves, cool droplets of water splashed back from Kaldurs dive and onto Arley's face, the Lantern let out a shrieking laugh as her hands flew up.
A large splashing wave of water hit Arley's back and the girl turned to see Dick smiling impishly at her, his arms out in front of him; the girl raised a brow.
"That's how it's going to be?" She wondered before splashing the boy back. Kaldur emerged from the water as dry as he had been before entering it. M'gann, as she laughed moved out of the way of another splash of water Arley had sent Dick's way only to splash the Lantern back once she got hit; none of the three young heroes had time to move before Superboy came crashing down between them, his legs tucked to his chest as he cannonballed into the water drenching his teammates.
The five of them staid in the water long enough for Arley's stomach to start to growl.
"Hey who else is hungry?" She wondered and four sets of hands shot up into the air at the question, Arley let out a breathy chuckle as she turned to get out of the water. Sand stuck to her feet and her ankles as she moved up the beach to where Kaldur and Superboy had left the grill and cooler.
Arley beamed at the sight of the Kosher hot dogs once of them had packed at the very top of the cooler, she turned to the five wading teens, "How many hot dogs do you guys want?"
"Two!" Dick called out as he began to move from the water,
"Two for me as well please," Kaldur called out, Arley turned to Superboy and M'gann who had looked between themselves as Dick reached the beach. The boy moved towards where he had dropped his beach bag and towel and grabbed his volleyball from his belongings.
"Megs, Supey, I'll let you two have the first ones and how about you guys let me know?" Arley asked as Dick wondered if Kaldur would help him set up the collapsible volleyball net he had brought with him.
"That works!" M'gann shouted as she and Superboy began to get out of the water as well, Arley threw a thumbs up as she formed a pair of scissors with the power of her ring and cut open the large pack of hot dogs. The girl as Superboy moved to help Kaldur and Dick set up the volleyball next turned on the grill and found M'gann kneeling next to her in the sand.
Perhaps if she wasn't in love with Wally Arley would love M'gann because the speedster was right, she was beautiful. The green girl looked at Arley with caring eyes as the Lantern waited for the grill to heat up.
"Are you okay?" M'gann asked.
"What?" Arley questioned back, "Yeah, of course," she said, "Why wouldn't I be?"
M'gann's cheeks seemed to pinken at the question and the Martian girls eyes flickered to the reddening coals on the grill.
"It's just-I know I'm not supposed to read your guys is minds and I didn't," M'gann swore, "But you seemed angry on the news this morning."
Had she? Arley couldn't quite remember if she had done anything that may have given off her true feelings so the girl just shrugged.
"Someone tried to rob a bank using a hostage Megs, I'm fine," Arley denied, M'gann though, didn't look she bought it. Arley's shoulders fell, "I'm being stupid that's all, I swear okay? I'll get over it." I always do. Arley began to put hot dogs on the heated grill and with a fork whoever had packed the cooler had brought moved the meat products around.
"You're sure?" M'gann wondered, and Arley's heart clenched because of course Wally thought that sweet and kind and all around wonderful M'gann was beautiful.
"Yeah of course," Arley nodded, because she would be, once she had a minute to breath and stuff her feelings for Wally back in the tiny box she usually kept them in she would be fine, at least until the next time Wally's mouth moved faster than his feet.
"Miss M!" Dick called out, his hands cupping his mouth, "Are you playing?" M'gann looked at Arley who waved the girl off, behind Dick, on the other side of the net Superboy frowned in Arley's direction.
"I'm fine, I promise." M'gann hesitated before she turned to Dick her own brilliant smile shining, as she got up.
"I call being on Superboys team!"
...
Hours later after the beach and suited up in their usual crime fighting gear Batman and Green Arrow, with a girl no older then either M'gann or Arley stood in the caves zeta-beam room. The girl, with a quiver on her back and a green mask over her face shifted her stance every few seconds, crossing and uncrossing her arms every few seconds.
When Batman had called the five teens to meet him at the zeta-beam tube Arley and the others had expected the Dark Knight, though in a rush, to give them a mission, obviously that wasn't what he or the Leagues resident archer had in mind.
"Recognized, Kid Flash," the usual robotic voice echoed through the room as the zeta-beam came to life, "B-zero-four." Arley's eyes widened at the announcement and she looked to Dick and Kaldur who had looked at each other; the three of them, so enthralled at the prospect of a mission had forgotten to tell the speedster just who was in the cave with them.
Arley didn't even have a chance to temp the universe by hoping Wally would, dressed in normal civilian clothing, walk out of the zeta-beam tube in a completely un-Wally fashion.
"Oh Nortz," Arley breathed as Wally with a beach ball and cooler of his own appeared in the zeta-tube. The red head wore yellow and red swim trunks and his goggles over his eyes with a white dab of sunscreen over his nose.
Arley— as Wally announced that, "The Wallman is here!" —ignored the boys bare chest and the ripple of abs that hid behind the towel he had draped around himself. Instead, as she pointedly ignore the speedster, she focused instead on the girl that had half behind Green Arrow.
"Now lets get this—" Wally tripped the beach ball flew up and into the air and Arley found herself rushing forward towards her friend as he fell flat on his face, his goggles skewed before she could stop herself.
"Wallman, huh?" The female archer wondered as Arley dropped to her knees and began to help the speedster up, "I live the uniform, what exactly are your powers?" Arley pulled away from Wally the minute the speedster had gotten to his feet.
"Who's this?" he wondered, he looked to Arley who with her gaze locked on the floor nodded, and then to Kaldur.
"Artemis," she introduced with a whirl of her bow, "Your new teammate."
"Kid Flash, never heard of you," Wally respond shortly. He moved towards Arley, who just as he pressed his shoulder to hers moved away from him, closer to Dick. The speedster as Green Arrow stepped forward looked woundly at the Green Lantern.
"She's my new protégé," Arrow said. Wally's head snapped to Arrow,
"What happened to your old one?" At that the robotic voice echoed throughout the zeta-beam room once more,
"Recognized, Speedy, b-zero-seven." Arley and the others turned to the tube where with a flash of light Roy had stepped into the room like a man on mission, his shoulders set forward and every stride he took thumped against the cave floor loudly and purposefully.
"Well for starters he doesn't go by Speedy anymore," Roy said, "Call me Red Arrow."
"Roy," Green Arrow blinked, "You look—"
"Replaceable," Speedy remarked cynically. The foster kid in Arley felt that and she frowned behind the archers back; she knew exactly how being replaced felt.
"It's not like that, you told me you were going solo," Green Arrow said to Roy as the red headed archer moved past Arley and the other teen heroes to his old mentor.
"So why waste time finding a sub?" Roy asked snidely, "Can she even use that bow?" He wondered rudely, not even glancing at the new girl. The new girl— Artemis —stepped forward, her shoulders back and her eyes narrowed as she got closer to Roy.
"Yes she can," Artemis said.
"Who are you!" Wally demanded.
"I'm his niece."
"She's my niece," both Green Arrow and Artemis said simultaneously. Arley's eyes narrowed at that because she knew Oliver Queen didn't have nieces or nephews— his sister had died years ago —and that his only family was Canary and Roy and the rest of the League.
"Another niece?" Dick asked.
"But she is not your replacement," Kaldur told Roy, "We've always wanted you on this team and we have no quota on archers.
"And if we did, you know who'd we pick," Wally said.
"Whatever Baywatch—" Arley's lips quirked up into a smile at the nickname "—I'm here to stay." Arley could feel Wally puff up, ready to say something back to the female archer; she stepped forward, her eyes on Roy.
"You came to us for a reason?" Arley wondered.
"Yeah, a reason named Dr. Sterling Roquette," Roy said and with a press to his gauntlet gloves Robin's face was washed in a blue light as a hologram appeared.
"Nano-robotics genius and claytonics expert," Dick read from the woman's bio, "At Royal university in Star City, she vanished two weeks ago."
"She was abducted two weeks ago," Roy corrected, "By the League of Shadows." Arley's chin tilted up as Dick gasped.
"You want us to rescue her from the Shadows?"
"Hardcore," Wally hissed as he and Dick fist bumped.
"I already rescued her," Roy told them, Roy pressed a button on from his belt and like Dicks gauntlets a hologram appeared; "The only problem, the League had already coerced her into creating a weapon."
Images of what the doctor had created appeared, "Doc calls it the Fog, it's comprised of millions of microscopic robots. Nanotech infiltrators capable of disintegrating anything in their path. Concrete, steel, flesh, bone, but it's true purpose isn't destruction, it's theft. The infiltrators eat and store raw data from any computer system and deliver it to the Shadows, giving them access to weapons, strategic defense, cutting edge science and tech."
"Perfect for extortion, manipulation, power brokering, yeah, sounds like the Shadows," Artemis nodded as she leaned against her bow.
"Like you know anything about the Shadows," Wally remarked only to be answered with a knowing smirk, the speedsters shoulders fell and his arms flew out in front of him, "Who are you?"
Arley swiped her fingers through her bangs, "So what, we have to get the machine from the Shadows?" She asked, Roy shook his head,
"Roquette working on a virus to render the fog inert."
"But if the Shadows know she can do that—"
"—They'll target her," Roy finished Dicks thought, "Right now she's off the grid, I stashed her at the local high schools computer lab."
"You left her alone?" Green Arrow asked.
"She's safe enough," Roy shot back, "For now."
"Then lets you and I keep her that way," Green Arrow purposed.
"You and I? Don't you want to take your new protégé?" Roy asked childishly, Batman placed a hand on Green Arrows shoulder.
"You brought this to the team," Green Arrow said diplomatically, "It's their mission, which means it's hers now too." Roy clicked his teeth.
"Then that means my jobs done." The red headed archer started to walk out, the robotic zeta-beam voice announced that it recognized Speedy, Roy turned his head up at the cave ceiling as he stepped into the zeta-beam tube. "That's Red Arrow, B-zero-seven, update." And with a flash the young archer was gone.
Wally turned his head with narrowed eyes and glared at Artemis who glared back at the speedster, Arley however moved to Artemis, away from Dick and Wally with her hand outstretched.
"It's nice to have you on the team, Notz knows he could use more girls around here," Arley said with a smile, Artemis' brow moved behind her mask as she uncrossed her arms and placed them on her hips.
"Nortz?" There wasn't anything mocking about how Artemis had said it, nor was there rude in her tone; the girl had sounded genuinely bewildered. Arley blushed, she hadn't done anything wrong— sometimes she just forgot how isolated humans were —and yet the amused look the archer was sending her made the Lantern feel more as if she were being laughed at then with.
"You don't even know what Nortz is?" Wally shot from behind Arley and the Lanterns lips curled together, her hand feel out of the air away from Artemis as the female archer bristled.
"I'm going to recharge my ring," Arley muttered before stalking forward towards the library; it was where she had put her battery while she and the others had gone to the beach.
...
The Happy Harbor High school looked like a normal, everyday high school, and it was, which was what made it such an inconspicuous place to hide a world renowned scientist as she tried to develop a virus to stop the fog.
Arley, Miss Martian and Superboy were on the roof of the high school, Miss Martian sat perched on the edge of the high school whilst the bioship floated invisibly above them; Arley looked out at the schools football field and the trees behind it as Superboy leaned against the schools bell tower.
A crushing weight pressed against the inside of Alrey's head and the girl, keeping her eyes open for any suspicious activity the girl grit her teeth.
"Everyone online?" Miss Martian wondered through the newly connected mental link, Arley could hear Artemis groan in her head,
"This is weird," the girl thought.
"And distracting," Roquette added snappily, "Coding a distributive algorithm virus on a kiddie computer with less ram then a wristwatch is hard enough. Now I have to hear teen-think in my skull?"
"Lady do you always complain when someone tried to help you?" Kid Flash asked as he bit down on a chocolate bar.
"Pot, kettle, have you met?"Artemis asked.
"Hey, hey, I do not need attitude from the newbie who drove Red Arrow off the team!"
"That is so not on me!" Artemis snapped defensively, Arley could feel the girls indignation rise up in her own chest.
"Flash, Artemis, do we really have to do this now?"Arley asked, she looked to Miss Martian, "Can you take me out of the mind link?" Despite hours and hours of training since their first mission Arley still wasn't used to the Martian mind trick; it was hard enough to use her ring with so many thoughts in her head, it would infinitely much harder to use them if Kid and Artemis continued to bicker.
"You can't use your powers?" Roquette focused on Arleys thought, "How long have you been doing this, what good are you!"
Arley's face fell at the older woman's inquiry, the feeling of insecurity was back and Arley felt more like the eight year old street kid she'd been before the ring then ever before. Arley could feel her teammates protectiveness surge through her; it moved through her like liquid fire.
"Hey!" Kid Flash snapped at the scientist in defense, "Lantern's great at what she does!"
"The fate of the world is at stake and the League sent the Lantern who can't use her powers!"
The bad one wasn't said but Arley felt the implicature behind the woman's words. The fate of the world was at stake and the League sent her the bad Lantern.
"You know what?" Artemis said before Wally or anyone else could retort, "How about I help Lantern, Miss Martian and Superboy patrol the perimeter?"
"Good idea," Aqualad murmured mentally as Artemis walked out of the computer lab.
Arley looked out at the football field and forest once more, her chest tight, she ignored Wally and the others.
Guy would've snapped back at Roquette, he would've waved the woman off and continued on with his head held high because what would she have known, John would've scoffed, he would have looked at the woman like she had grown another head and Hal would've let the woman's words roll right off his back because he most certainly wasn't the bad Lantern.
Roquette was right, Arley was the bad Lantern; the girl ignored the lump in her throat. Concern that wasn't her own rolled through her and Arley couldn't quite pinpoint whose it was, just that it was there.
"The virus will not be of much use if we cannot find the weapon, can you track it?" Aqualad asked Rouquette.
"My utility fog is not a weapon, it's science, brilliant science—"
"—And you can use a spear as a walking stick but that doesn't change it's nature," Arley cut in her voice cold, if she could just ignore everything inside her— push down everything, she was feeling and be okay —then she'd be fine, "What you built was a weapon. Now like Aqualad asked, can you track it?"
"Of course I can track it but I'd have to go online, might as well rent a billboard with this address and assassinate me written in neon," Roquette responded.
"We will protect you," Aqualad swore and Roquette— Arley could feel the woman fold the moment she did —turned on the computers internet connection.
"Tracking the fog now." Arley though she couldn't exactly see it, felt the ghost of an image appear in her head, it was of a map, of a plane in Philadelphia.
"Who's going to get it?" Robin asked Aqualad, she could feel the Atlantean boys mind race as he looked between Robin and Kid Flash only to reel out of focus and turn and look down to Artemis, who with Miss Martian were standing at the schools front gate.
"That boy," Artemis hummed appreciatively as she stared at Superboys turned back, Arley's eyes flickered to Miss Martian who with an angry and scandalized face, had looked at Artemis.
"He can hear you," Miss Martian said indignantly, "We can all hear you."
"Oh," Artemis said shamelessly, "I know."
"Miss Martian," Aqualad thought, "Dr. Roquette has located the fog, reconfigure the bioship so that Robin and Superboy can pursue."
Arley, as moved to the edge of the schools roof saw the bioship drop from the sky, visible. Superboy and Robin, who had run out of the school, both darted onto the bioship; the back of the ship closed up and like a rocket the Martian spacecraft took off towards Philadelphia.
Arley, still at the edge of the school looked down at Miss Martian and Artemis, the Martian girl had her back turned and her arms crossed away from the archer, and the archer, with her bow ready was half turned from the green alien.
"You embarrassed Superboy," Miss Martian scolded. The pressure in Arley's mind seemed to lessen; Robin and Superboy were outside of Miss Martians telepathic range. "Must you challenge everyone?" Miss Martian hissed, Artemis glared at Miss Martian, and Arley began to feel heavy; like she was water logged, it was the same way she felt when she'd get caught in the rain.
"Where I come from that's how you survive," Artemis snapped.
Arley's lungs tightened in her chest for no other reason then they did, for no other reason then one of her teammates lungs had. With a frown Arley tried to focus on whose lungs she had bet tighten only for Aqualad to shout through the mind link.
"M'gann, Kid, Artemis, Lantern, we are under attack in the computer lab!" The three girls shot off inside the school, Arley's lungs began to burn.
"On our way!" Artemis replied. Artemis lead Miss Martian and Arley through a pair of swinging doors and down a hallway only for the Lantern to stop short in the air, Wally, he had been inside the school with Aqualad so why wasn't he with the Atlantean?
The water logged weighing her down continued to increase when it hit the female Lantern.
Arley turned back and whipped around the hallway corner in the direction of the school's pool, she burst through the pools doors and saw Wally in his darkened stealth tech suit half way to the bottom of the pool; forgetting that her ring could make constructs— saving Wally was the only thought reverberating around her mind —Arley dove head first into the chlorine filled water and grabbed the speedster from under his arms and kicked her legs out and up.
Arley rolled the speedster onto the concrete side around the pool, flat against his back— Arley couldn't tell if the water running down her face was from the pool or from her own eyes —the Lantern tilted the boys jaw up so that his airway was clear, and paused for a split second to see whether or not his chest was moving.
It wasn't.
Arley pressed her hands, one over the other and the fingers tightly interlaced, on Wally's chest, over the lighting bolt and began to press down as hard and fast as she could for the next thirty seconds; after that Arley pinched Wally's nose shut and on autopilot she bent down and pressed her lips against his as she blew two quick breaths into his mouth.
When she pulled back and saw that Wally's chest still was not rising she pressed her hands against his chest once more, after that once again she pressed her lips against him and exhaled into the speedsters mouth and she continued to do so. She wouldn't stop until someone pulled her off of him and made her.
"Please," Arley begged as she pressed against the speedsters chest harder, "Please you can't leave me, not you." She pressed two more breaths against Wally's pale lips and once more began to beat against his chest when they did nothing.
"You can't leave me," Arley begged, "You promised you wouldn't." Wally had sworn to always be there besides her when they had been children and their friendship had still been fresh but he had promised and if there was one thing Wally West didn't do it was lie to her.
Arley beat against the speedsters still and unmoving chest.
"I love you," she confessed in a heartbroken and whispered tone, "Please." And the red head began to choke on the water he had in his lungs. Relief filled Arley's lungs. Arley let out a thankful sob; moving his elbows under him Wally tried to push himself up only for Arley to throw herself against him; she wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders.
"Wally-Wa-Wally," Arley cried, tears streamed down her face and Wally stilled under her touch at the sound of her voice, "Just stay still for a minute."
Before Wally had the chance to hug her back, Arley moved from the waterlogged speedster away and gently pushed his goggles up over his eyes; Wally stared up at her disorientated, he looked at her with a dazed expression on his face.
Arley's dripping wet hair clung to her face.
Wally's hand drifted up from the young Lanterns back and almost, as if to check if she were real, he cupped Arley's cheek in the palm of his hand; Arley leaned into the touch as fat, red hot tears of relief dropped onto the boys face.
She had almost lost him and that, next to losing Hal and John, was one of the scariest things Arley could think of.
"You're okay," Arley said and slowly Wally pushed himself more upright. Once more Arley threw her arms around his neck and burred her face under his ear, Wally's hands wrapped carefully around Arley— his hands were splayed out between her shoulder blades —as her shoulders shook under the palms of his hands.
"The Shadow," Wally rasped, "She's—"
"—Aqualad," Arley gasped, she had completely forgotten about Aqualad and Miss Martian and Artemis the moment she had seen Wally's half sunken body. "The Shadow-I-we-stay here!" Arley told Wally as she got to her feet. Wally, not listening got to his.
"Excuse me?" His raspy voice hissed.
"Wally you almost drowned to death stay here!" Arley ordered and Wally, before Arley could fly off, grabbed the girls hand,
"You go, I go," Wally told her with a note of finality in his voice and Arley looked at the speedster trying to decipher the hard look in his eyes— she could see the panic in them, the terrified look of someone who had just avoided death in them but not the other burning emotion in them —and what emotion exactly laid in them but they didn't have time, Arley looked towards the doors she had flown into from and then at Wally.
"Okay come on," Arley said and though Wally had to drop her hand so she could fly as he ran next to her the boy stayed as close as he physically could to her as they rushed towards the computer room; Miss Martian was standing in front of the Doctor.
"—Maybe a little too interesting," the masked assassin said as Arley and Kid Flash entered the room; the Shadow wore a cat themed kabuki mask and broken arrows laid at her feet. As the Shadow swiped another arrow that Artemis had shot out of the air— and Aqualad with twin swords formed from his water barrers stepped closer —the criminals other hand darted to her belt; the assassin pulled out a tiny bead and rolled it between her fingers before throwing it down at the floor.
Kid, as a flash of light and then thick smoke filled the room, leapt forward at the assassin only to stumble into Artemis on the other side of the room.
"She's getting away!" The doctor cried at the five teens, "You're letting her get away!" Wally turned to Artemis,
"This is all your fault!" He cried at the archer, "You were on perimeter! How'd that Shadow get in?" Reaching out Arley put a hand on the boys bicep, the speedster turned to her, his own hand reaching up and covering hers,
"Flash that's not really fair," Arley told the boy.
"Yeah," Miss Martian piped up, "Green Lantern and I were outside on perimeter too."
"Outside, being distracted by her!" Wally defended, using his other hand to point at Artemis. Wally's angry look seemed to melt behind his goggles as the Martian girl stepped closer to Artemis. "Besides," he said through the mind link to Miss Martian, "I can't be mad at you beautiful."
"We heard that!" Aqualad, Arley and Artemis snapped through the mind link.
Beautiful, Arley's hand slipped from Wally's shoulder, out from under his hand and the girl took two steps back from the speedster; next to Miss Martian she wasn't even noticeable.
She was never noticeable to Wally; the speedster looked at Arley with a confused expression and the Lantern turned to Aqualad and the scientist.
"I didn't do half as well during my first battle," Miss Martian said kindly to Artemis, "And I know you can't have been Green Arrows sidekick for very long."
"Focus everyone," Aqualad said, "The Shadows will be back—"
"Robin to Aqualad," Robin's voice broke over the communicators, "We're over Philadelphia, we've located the Shadows next target-we're too late," Robin said in disbelief, "It's destroyed, totally destroyed, the fog decimated it."
Arley looked over Aqualads shoulder and at the scientist, "This is bad, Star Labs is cutting edge science," Robin said, "And now their secrets are in the hands of the enemy, what's our next move?"
Aqualad turned to Dr. Roquette before speaking into the communicator.
"Rescan for the fog, we're moving the doctor."
...
The team, after having left Roquette and Arley at an internet café— despite Roquettes protests that leaving the Lantern behind with her was tantamount to leaving no one —Artemis had picked the lock too, moved down the road to a seafood restaurant that laid half on the towns boardwalk.
Arley as Rouqette's fingers flew across the keyboard, coding the virus the team needed to make the fog inert, had her shoulder against the glass door of the café. Her eyes continued to sweep the street back and fourth.
She could feel Artemis and Kid Flash down the road glaring at one another as they protected Miss Martian who had shifted herself into a Roquette look alike.
Arley's eyes darted to the scientist as she worked and the Lantern decided that perhaps the woman was lucky it was Arley tasked with protecting her and not another Lantern; Hal would've swept for the assassins outside, Guy would've done nothing but bicker with her and John probably would've found something harsh enough to say to the woman to make her cry
"Stop it," Aqualad said through the mind link to both the archer and speedster, "Both of you."
"What?"
"We can feel you glaring," Arley told the both of them; she didn't mention how she could practically taste the others dislike the same way she could feel her own emotions. Arley's heart beat in her chest because she knew that Aqualad was about to set his plan into motion and lure the Shadow out into the open by baiting her; she knew her friends, while she, down the road, were going to be in danger.
Lanterns follow through on the mission, they were willful and strong and too suborn to ever give up, but they also never left their comrades behind and yet that was exactly what Aqualad as asked Arley to do while he and the others fought the masked woman that'd been sent after Roquette.
"Can I ask you a question?" Arley wondered aloud.
"Why do I feel like you're going to anyway even if I say no," Roquette drawled, Arley shot the woman an unimpressed look from the corner of her eyes.
"Probably because you have all the answers Doc," Arley snarked, "The fog, if it wasn't supposed to weapon then what was it supposed to be, I mean you built the thing to eat through flesh and bone."
Roquette paused, her fingers hovered in the air above the keyboard and her lips pressed together.
"Nothing," Roquette said, "It wasn't ever supposed to be anything, when I drew up the plans for it I just wanted to see if I could, just to test myself."
"So what you're Frankenstein and the fog's your monster?" Roquette looked at Arley over the rim of her glasses, her eyes were guarded and hard and her lips didn't even twitch up and in the same sarcastic drawl she had used when Arley wondered if she could ask the question the scientist nodded,
"You could say that." Arley could feel Aqualad be thrown against a van and the Lantern straightened up as she turned back to the street. There was more then just the woman in the kabuki mask.
"Work faster," Arley said to the woman, "The Shadows are here."
"Shadows?" Roquette emphasized the s at the end of the word, "They're here-as in here?"
"Down the block with my team so hurry up." Arley felt Artemis get knocked to the ground by one of the Shadows heavy metal hook hands and she felt Miss Martian who was disgusted as Roquette get knocked to the ground, the female assassin over her.
Opening the door Aqualad entered the internet café. Shutting it quietly behind him Arley moved back from the glass so that the Atlantean boy could press himself up against it; in his stealth tech he was less likely for someone to spot. Arley pressed her hip against the desk Roquette was working on and looked to her leader.
"I've almost go it," Roquette said.
"The next target's the Waynetech facility," Robin said over the communicators. "In theory its systems software could be used to hack the—" Robin cut himself off over the communicator and Arley knew exactly what the masked boy was going to say. The League, in theory Waynetech softweare could be used to hack the Justice League systems because they were one in the same.
"Waynetech operates in a twenty-four hour work force, we'll never evacuate the building in time!" Arley felt Kid Flash's annoyance ripple through him as Artemis ran after the masked woman.
Thumps, a moment later, echoed over Arley and Aqualads head.
"We have company," Aqualad said and Arley hovered above the computer cafe's floor, her back pressed against Aqualad's as he faced the from door, twin swords formed in his hands and a war hammer formed in Arley's.
"Uploading now, and by the way you said you'd protect me!" A smoke bomb rolled into the room and though no one emerged from the smoke three arrows shot down from the ceiling and embedded themselves in Aqualads shoulder, Arley moved from behind Aqualad and stood directly in front of Roquette.
"Let's test the limit of your jellyfish immunity, shall we?" The masked assassin said as she dropped to the floor, Aqualad rushed forward, swinging his swords; the assassin ducked down and out of his reach only to kick the boy in the stomach and onto the floor, his swords disappearing as he hit the ground. "There, limit tested."
The masked assassin turned to Arley and Roqette as she took out a sai from its holster.
"Now Doctor, time for my appointment."
"Sorry but the Doc's not taking any new clients," Arley replied, her war hammer transformed into a hunting knife, it wasn't something Arley was completely used to using but compared to the war hammer it was the better weapon of choice.
"That's alright, I guess I'll just have to get rid of her old ones."
"Guess so," Arley said seriously, "Cause that's the only way you're getting to her through me." The Shadow rushed forward, her sai swinging wide and Arley threw her right arm up to block the hit, the hand holding the glowing green knife Arley had constructed crossed as the Lantern tried to bring the green blade down into the assassins arm only for the masked woman to bring her knee up and into Arley's side. The Lantern though stumbled to the left threw her body back in front of Roquettes, blocking the scientist.
Arley threw a punch and the assassin grabbed Arley's fist and tossed the girl forward into the floor, though Arley tucked and rolled as she fell and quickly came to a stand, her knife out in front of her defensively.
Arley attacked, pushing off the ground, the Lantern girl lunged at the masked woman only for the assassin to duck down before bringing her closed fist up into Arley's stomach, knocking the wind out of her.
The constructed knife in Arley's hand vanished as she stumbled back. Arley as the assassin turned to Roquette formed a shield around the scientist trapping her in green bubble.
"Like I said," Arley told the assassin, "Over my dead body."
Arley could see Roquette blink at her through the protective bubble and the assassin snorted from behind her mask as she twirled out a second sai.
The Shadow rushed forward swinging her sai's widely and Arley moved back with every step forward the woman took until the Lanterns back was against one of the computer cafes tables and the small of her back was press up against a monitor.
Arley's leg shot out as she tried to kick the assassin away only for the masked woman to catch it and bring it close to her her body; the Shadow spinning, swung Arley away and across the the desktops behind her.
With a groan Arley hit the floor and the assassin, who had jumped up onto the desks she had thrown Arley against dropped onto Arley's back, pushing the girl back down before she could get to her hands and knees.
Moving to get up Arley tried to buck the assassin off of her as the Shadow spun her sai in her hand and turned to face the Doctor only for the assassin to lift her foot and bring it down hard against the back of Arley's head causing the girls forehead to bounce against the ground, knocking the her out.
Arley wasn't sure how long she was out, just that the space above her brow line was sticky with blood and that the person above her, with their fingers pressed to the pulse on the side of her neck was Doctor Roquette.
"You're alive," Arley blinked as she sat up.
"The virus was uploaded," Roquette said and Arley looked at the woman waiting for a snarking comment about failing to protect her to come only for the woman to help Arley to her feet, Aqualad a few feet away was still knocked out on the floor, his water bearer just out of the reach of his webbed fingers.
"Aqualad!" Arley moved from Roquettes side and to her friend and team leader, pulling the boy so that he was on his back and on his stomach Arley shook the boys shoulder; his sea foam green eyes blinked open and with a groan the boy closed them again.
"Roquette?" He asked,
"Alive," the scientist sounded from behind Arley, "The Shadow?"
"Gone," Arley answered as she began to picked Aqualad up off the floor, Roquette moved and threw the boys other arm around her shoulder; together the two females started to move out of the half destroyed internet café only to be met with Artemis, four arrows stuck out of the ground.
"Artemis?" Aqualad panted, "Where's the assassin?"
"She—" Artemis turned, "—She got away." Kid Flash appeared next to Artemis and the red head turned to the archer.
"Oh?" He asked, "From you, big surprise. Notice we got ours." Kid motioned to Miss Martian and the two other Shadow members who floated behind him, Kid's eyes traveled the street and he locked onto the mast that teetered on the sidewalks edge, his eyes brightening.
"Cool!" Kid moved and picked the females assassins kabuki mask up off the ground, "Souvenir." Arley moved from under Aqualad's shoulder and looked at the mask in her friends hands,
"Her mask?" Arley turned to Artemis; Wally turned to Arley, his smile slipped off his face, "Did you see her face?"
"It was dark," Artemis defended herself.
"It is fine," Aqualad said, "Robin and Superboy neutralized the fog and Doctor Roquette is safe thanks in no small part to you." Artemis turned, "Welcome to the team."
Aqualad and Miss Martian stepped up to Artemis and Arley moved to step forward as well only for Kid to catch her elbow, his fingers hovered over the bloody spot above Arley's brow, the spot was still tender but Arley didn't feel her skin stitching itself back together so she knew the wound itself was gone.
"You're okay?" He asked as Miss Martian placed her hand on Artemis' shoulder, the alien girl smiling brightly and beautifully at the archer.
"Yeah," Arley nodded, "The ring healed me, and you?" The image of Wally, pale and waterlogged flashed through her mind.
"Course I am, you saved me after all," Kid Flash told her, his voice kind and soft and Arley blushed under her mask because he had spoken it in the same obvious tone he had that same morning when he had called Miss Martian beautiful. He said it as if there wasn't any other option then him being okay because it had been her who saved him.
"I've always wanted a sister," Miss Martian said, "Here on Earth I mean, I have twelve back on Mars but that's not the same, now I have two here!" Artemis looked visibly thrown by the statement.
"I wouldn't know, but, uh-hanks," Artemis nodded and Arley as she tugged Kid over to the three nudged the speedster,
"Right," Kid said unenthusiastic "Yeah, welcome." Artemis stuck her hand out for the speedster to shake and Kid, though without his usual smile, took it, pocketing her hand after Kid had let go of it Artemis looked at Arley,
"Nortz I'm glad to be on the team?" The archer tried and Arley's lips tipped up at the girls effort.
"Nortz knows," Arley corrected, "It's sorta like the Bolovaxian word for god."
"Bolovaxian?" Artemis asked.
"Alien race, my training officer on Oa was Bolovaxian." Artemis looked confused but she nodded anyway.
"Right," Artemis blinked straight faced and Arley couldn't help but giggle at the girls reaction because she was trying and that was what mattered to Arley; Hallmark was right, it was the thought that mattered most.
