To Ayda: Thank you so much! I'm so glad you like it!
To Guest: Hm, interesting! Keep reading to find out :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice or Marvel!
THE X-MANSION
September 7, 6:05 EDT
Pressing the tip of her pen to the paper, Talia carefully underlined a quote about genetic mutation that was applicable to her thesis. She made a note of the title and page number of the work it was from, adding to her pages upon pages of scrawled notes that she would eventually turn into a cohesive three-hundred-some-page dissertation.
Or so she hoped.
Talia's phone buzzed, and she looked up, blinking as she was pulled from her thoughts. She rubbed her eyes, still a little tired. She'd only just woken up, and school hadn't started yet, but she was just getting in a little early work for the day.
She reached for her phone, glancing down at the screen. Her eyes widened with surprise when she saw a text from Roy's number.
Swallowing hard, Talia opened the message, her heart beating giddily in her chest. She read his text, her excitement disappearing when she saw what it said. A small frown flickered across her face.
I need your help. – RA
Talia blinked, slightly disappointed. So it wasn't Roy Harper texting Talia Stark, it was Red Arrow texting Artillery. Sighing, she looked down at the screen. Her thumbs hovered over the screen of her phone as she tried to think of a response. Before she could text him back to ask him to specify, he sent another message.
Does this look familiar?
A photo appeared underneath his second text, and Talia tapped the screen to enlarge the picture. She tilted her head to the side, confused. Why was Roy sending her blueprints? Talia looked at the schematics, frowning for a moment. It took her a second before she realized that the blueprints were of discontinued Stark Industries' weapons: a very particular discontinued Stark Industries' weapon.
That's the Jericho Missile, she texted, still frowning. Discontinued years ago.
Right, Roy responded. That's what I thought. He texted her another image. Then what do you make of this?
Talia opened the clip, feeling apprehensive. It was a short video clip taken from a news reel covering the conflict between North and South Rhelasia. The time-stamp dated the picture to only a few weeks ago, but Talia easily recognized the Jericho Missile exploding in the background. Her heart rose to her throat.
"What the hell?" Talia muttered out loud, her brow furrowing with confusion. Her phone buzzed again, demanding her attention. She glanced back at the screen, reading the new message.
They're the same, aren't they? Roy asked her. Talia nodded to herself, texting him back with shaking fingers.
Yeah. She hesitated, and then added, where did they get these?
LexCorp has been dealing weapons to both Rhelasias, Roy responded. Your father's weapons among them.
"They're not his weapons," Talia couldn't help but mutter under her breath with a roll of her eyes even as she texted Roy back.
Where are you? Do you need help?
Taipei, Roy responded. And no. Talia could practically hear the terse, dismissive tone of his voice. She pressed her lips together, but before she could respond to insist, he was texting her again. You should really keep your comm. on.
Talia scowled. She thought about texting him to inform him that he couldn't just drop this information on her and expect her to sit by, but she knew he wouldn't listen. Setting her phone down, Talia reached for her computer.
Sticking her headphones into her ears, Talia typed the words "Rhelasian Peace Summit" into the Google search bar. As the results came in, Talia clicked on the live news feed from GBS news, sitting back against the chair of her desk.
"This is Cat Grant reporting from Taipei, where the historic peace summit between South Rhelasia and North Rhelasia has completely broken down." Talia frowned. That didn't sound good. As she watched, she absent-mindedly picked up the baseball cap sitting on her desk beside her, playing with the loose threads. The blonde reporter continued to speak as the camera panned over the two country leaders, each surrounded by heavy security.
"As a last resort, Prime Minister Tseng of South Rhelasia and North Rhelasia's General Singh Manh Li have agreed to bring in an independent arbitrator. But who is it? Speculation has run from the secretary general of the United Nations to Superman. But the Man of Steel seems unlikely, as I'm told the arbitrator is due to arrive by car, not cape, at any moment."
Talia frowned, leaning back in her chair. The newscast cut away to a reel of the history of the conflict between the countries and how both the war and the peace summit had come to be. After a few moments, it cut back to Cat Grant reporting live again. In the background, Talia could see a white limo pulling up at the building, surrounded by police motorcycles.
"The arbitrator has arrived!" Cat Grant announced excitedly. Suddenly, people on the screen began to scream, running about from some unseen source of panic. The camera panned wildly back and forth, and Talia caught a brief glimpse of a woman in a green robe and a familiar-looking mask standing on top of a vending cart.
It was Cheshire, the assassin who had been tasked with killing Roquette. Clearly, she'd taken shot at the arbitrator's car, only to be deterred by someone – Talia was guessing it had been Red Arrow.
For a few moments, Talia could only hear panicked screaming and gunshots, as the camera tried in vain to track the chaos occurring in real life. After a few moments, the video shot steadied, and Cat Grant stepped back into frame.
The woman's eyes were wide, and she was looking at the scene behind her instead of the camera. Talia could see Cheshire in the background of the shot, her hands raised as men with guns surrounded her. She was straddling someone's lap – Talia could just make out a shock of ginger hair and the red uniform to confirm that it was indeed Red Arrow.
"We have just witnessed an assassination attempt, live," Cat Grant said, sounding nearly gleeful. Talia couldn't really blame her. She was guessing that for a news anchor, being not only the one to break that story, but also having been there to see something like this was a big deal. "Thankfully," Cat added. "No one seems to be hurt, including our mystery arbitrator." The camera panned to the car, and a man stepped out of the limo.
Talia's mouth dropped open as she watched as a familiar CEO stepped out of the car, adjusting his tie as though he was unfazed by everything that just happened. He smirked coldly, probably enjoying everyone's surprise as people whispered in shock.
"Lex Luthor?" Talia gasped, shocked. Cat Grant was speaking again, but Talia was too surprised to process what the reporter was saying. She stood up, shutting her computer with a click.
Reaching for her phone again, Talia scrolled through her contacts until she found the number she was looking for. Clicking on the contact, Talia held the phone to her ear and listened to it ring. She tugged at the seam of her baseball cap impatiently, but she didn't have to wait for long. Pepper picked up almost immediately.
"Talia!" Talia's almost-stepmother greeted her. "How are you, sweetie? How's that new school?" Talia smiled in spite of what was happening. She loved Pepper, she really did. Even before she and Tony had started dating – Talia had called that, by the way – Pepper had always been a large, important part of Talia's life.
"I'm good," Talia responded, smiling despite everything. "School's fine. Um, Pep – I'd love to chat, but I actually called to ask something." Talia's voice rose at the end, betraying her unease. Even over the phone, Pepper recognized the tension in Talia's voice.
"What's going on?" Talia bit her lip, chewing on the soft inside of her mouth before she responded. She poked her finger through a tiny hole in the baseball cap as she spoke.
"Do you have someone from Stark Industries at the Rhelasian peace summit?" Talia asked cautiously. Pepper paused, somewhat surprised by the question.
"No," she responded after a moment of thinking. "Why?" Taking a deep breath, Talia filled in Pepper on everything that Red Arrow had just told her. Pepper listened in a stunned silence.
"Unbelievable!" Pepper cried when Talia had finished speaking. Talia pictured the strawberry-blonde woman pacing her office, heels clicking against the ground and eyes flashing with anger. She'd seen Pepper mad before, and it was a formidable sight.
Talia stood by the opinion that Pepper could take over the world if she wanted to.
"This is outrageous," Pepper continued to seethe. "LexCorp has no right to those weapons, either to make or to sell." Pepper took a deep breath, and then said in a much more soothing voice, "Don't worry, Talia. I'm calling legal right now. We'll take care of this, hon, I promise. Thanks for –"
"No, wait!" Talia interrupted before Pepper could dismiss her. "What if – could I go to the summit?" Pepper paused, and Talia rushed on before she could completely shut down Talia's idea. "Please, I'll just scout out what's happening – I can do this." Pepper sighed on the end of the line, but Talia could hear the smile in her voice when she responded.
"I know you'll just go anyways," Pepper replied fondly. She knew what she'd signed up with the Starks. "Be careful, okay?" Talia grinned widely.
"Thanks, Pepper!" Talia chirped. Pepper laughed on the other end, issued another warning and then hung up. Still smiling, Talia set her phone down on her desk and walked across the room.
Talia headed over to her closet, sliding open the doors and digging around until she found the clothes she was looking for. She knew that if she showed up to the peace summit wearing ripped jeans and a hole-y baseball cap she'd never be taken seriously. Instead, Talia put on a pair of dark wide-legged dress trousers that cinched tightly at the waist and a white sleeveless blouse.
Catching sight of her reflection in the mirror, Talia frowned. The blue glow of the arc reactor was pretty visible through the thin white silk fabric of her top. She hesitated, reaching for a blazer. She tugged the jacket over her shoulders, carefully buttoning it at the waist so that the glow was covered. She knelt down, digging through her closet again until she found some shoes appropriate for the occasion. She shoved her feet into a pair of suede block-heel sandals.
Talia crept down the stairs, kind of hoping to sneak out and return before anyone noticed she was gone. It was early, but unfortunately, several of the teachers were already awake. As Talia cracked the door open, someone cleared their throat from behind her.
Talia turned around, smiling sheepishly as Scott gave her an unimpressed look. Even without his eyes showing, Scott was quite expressive. Talia turned towards him, but kept one hand on the doorknob as she spoke.
"Can I go out?" she asked, smiling innocently like she hadn't just been caught essentially breaking what were practically the only rules that had been set for her. Scott arched an eyebrow, noticing this.
"It's a school day," he replied with a frown. Talia shrugged, sparing a glance at the clock. School didn't technically start for almost another two hours.
"I'll be back before school starts," she promised hastily, having no idea if that was true or not. She was guessing it probably wasn't. Scott hummed, clearly not believing her. Talia sighed, trying again. "I have first and second period free?" She offered.
That was true. In space of a double lab period for science, Talia had time to work on her dissertation, hence why she'd gotten an early start that morning. Those two periods gave Talia almost four hours worth of leeway. Scott frowned at her, still unconvinced.
"They're not technically free periods," he reminded her. "It's an independent study." Talia shrugged.
"Tomato, to-mah-toe," she replied flippantly. Scott sighed. "Besides, I have parental permission! Pepper said I could go – and she's basically my stepmother." Scott sighed again.
"What are you wearing?" He asked her, looking at her outfit dubiously. Talia wondered if she should have put on her flight suit. Maybe Scott would have let her go quicker if it looked like she was going on a mission. She smiled at him innocently.
"Undercover mission?" she replied hopefully. Scott shook his head, but he couldn't help the small, fond smile that crept over his face. Even eight years later, arguing with Talia was impossible. Sure, back then he'd only had to convince her that she couldn't eat Cheerios for dinner, or that one hour of television a day was plenty, but she was just as stubborn as she'd always been.
"I'm telling Ororo that if you're late to third period, you're in big trouble," he said, finally giving in. Then he echoed Pepper: "Be careful, okay?" Talia frowned.
"You're the second person to tell me that." She pouted as she backed out the door. "I am careful. I'm the most careful person I've ever met." Scott scoffed derisively behind her, and Talia grinned as she shut the door behind her.
TAIPEI
September 7, 20:01 NST
"Recognized: Artillery, B-Zero-Four."
Talia stepped out of the Zeta-Tube - disguised as a rundown photo booth - into a dark alleyway in Taipei. She was only a few blocks away from where the peace summit was taking place, which was good. Time was of the essence here, and Talia hated walking in high heels for too long. She ducked out of the alley, receiving a few odd looks from passersby.
Talia wasn't exactly surprised. Anyone looked kind of suspicious coming out of a dark alleyway, and Talia was dressed in a business-casual clothing, which didn't exactly compute with the whole "dark-alley" thing.
As Talia crossed the street, she carefully pressed the comm. link into her ear and turned it on, listening for the resounding beep that signified it was functional. Take that, Roy, she thought childishly to herself as she climbed the stairs to enter the building.
As she slipped through the double doors, she was glad to see that all the cameras were trained on the two men arguing on the other side of the room. They were speaking Rhelasian, but Talia was able to catch and understand every few words – the language was very similar to Korean, which Talia understood pretty well.
She didn't practice enough to be fluent in it – she still had roughly the vocabulary of an eight-year-old, given that she had only ever spoken it to her mother, and was extremely rusty – but she could still understand quite a bit.
Talia bit her lip, a pang of hurt going through her chest when she thought of her mother.
Shaking off those thoughts, Talia spotted Red Arrow and Luthor across the room and headed over. As she walked towards them, she managed to catch the tail-end of their conversation.
"Cut the crap, Luthor," Red Arrow was saying, arms crossed over his chest. "I've got intel linking LexCorp's shell companies to the sale of weapons in both Rhelasias." Talia stepped closer, choosing that moment to enter their argument.
"Weapons that include those with a patent by my father," Talia added. Both Luthor and Red Arrow swung around at the sound of her voice. The CEO chuckled, a smile crossing his face when he saw Talia. Red Arrow, on the other hand, shook his head in irritation. He should have known Talia wasn't going to just let this go as he'd hoped.
The older boy scowled, leaning forward to grip Talia by her arm. She tensed at the contact as he leaned down to hiss in her ear.
"Stark, what the hell are you doing here?" She scowled, attempting to wrench her arm from his grip, but he was too strong. She kept her eyes focused forward, refusing to look at him and acknowledge how close she was in proximity to her helpless crush.
"Now, now," Luthor chided, shaking his head in disapproval. "Is that anyway to treat a young lady? I would have thought Green Arrow had taught you better." Red Arrow huffed in irritation, dropping his hand from Talia's arm and sighing. Luthor faced Talia, his eyes glinting in cold amusement.
"Miss Stark," he greeted her formally, smiling darkly. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" Talia crossed her arms over the chest, ignoring Luthor's false niceties.
"It won't be long until more people have worked out what weapons you're selling," Talia said, lifting her chin. "You're dragging Stark Industries' name through the mud, something I doubt you're broken up about. Not to mention the fact that you're profiting off the war." She pursed her lips, looking at Luthor with steady disapproval.
"One could say your father did the same thing," Luthor said without missing a beat.
"One could say that my father has stopped," Talia replied icily. Luthor laughed again, seeming almost gleeful at Talia's presence.
"I didn't know Miss Potts was sending children to do her negotiating," he said, shaking his head.
Talia lifted her chin and squared her shoulders, staring back at Luthor levelly. She didn't answer, refusing to crack underneath Luthor's cold gaze.
"She's right," Red Arrow said, albeit sounding begrudging. "You are profiting of the war. So what's your angle?" Luthor smirked, his eyes glittering.
"War income is pocket change compared to the billions to be made investing in a peaceful, united Rhelasia. And isn't it better to have peace?" He asked the two young heroes in a simpering manner. His eyes narrowed slightly as he continued. "Even if that scoundrel Lex Luthor profits from it?" Red Arrow glared at the older man.
"That scoundrel may not live to profit," he spat back, sneering at Luthor's words. "Cheshire failed. But the League of Shadows won't stop until the contract is fulfilled." Luthor nodded his head, the smirk falling from his face to be replaced with a thoughtful look.
"Which does beg the question," Luthor replied. He turned back towards the staircase, where the two representatives from North and South Rhelasia were locked in a heated argument. "Who hired the League?" Talia frowned, crossing her arms as she watched the two men fight.
"And were you really their target?" Talia muttered, realizing what Luthor's death would mean. "Or was your death just a convenient way to sabotage the summit?" Luthor nodded his head, pulling his eyes away from Generals Tseng and Li. He glanced at the two heroes next to him, looking slightly more serious than he had a few moments before.
"Allow me to hire you two to find out," Luthor offered, turning towards Talia and Red Arrow. Talia rolled her eyes at the proposal, crossing her arms and shaking her head.
"As if," she replied, looking away in disgust. Red Arrow nodded, a similar sneer crossing his face.
"Your money has blood on it," he replied, crossing his own arms across his chest. Red Arrow sniffed derisively. "And I'm not here to make a buck." Luthor chuckled, placing a hand on Red Arrow's shoulder as he smiled, looking from Red Arrow to Talia.
"So, you'll provide your services, but for free?" he asked. Talia frowned, opening her mouth to protest. Before she could, Luthor had laughed again, shaking his head. "I can live with that, heroes." Luthor smirked as he stepped back, straightening his suit jacket. "Now, excuse me. I have a hemisphere to save." Talia watched in irritation as Luthor walked away, climbing the stairs to finally intervene and "arbitrate."
"Gentlemen, gentlemen!" Luthor called amicably, spreading his arms. "Shall we attempt some smiles for the cameras?" Talia watched Luthor go, frowning. After a moment, she turned to Red Arrow, raising an eyebrow expectantly. Headstrong though she was, she wasn't much of a leader, and Red Arrow was far more experience than she.
"Well?" she asked. Red Arrow glanced at her, and then did a double-take at the expectant look on her face.
"Well, what?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Talia frowned.
"Well, what's our next move?" She asked. Red Arrow raised his eyebrows in surprise before snorting derisively and turning away; a clear dismissal.
"I work alone," he replied coldly. "I don't want or need your help." Talia glared at his back as he began to walk away, and she stomped after him angrily.
"You can't just write me off," she snapped at him, ignoring the slight sting his words had on her. "I'm here – not to help you, but to help my father and the company. You can't just expect me to walk away from something this personal!" Red Arrow swung around on her, glaring at her from over his sunglasses. Talia lifted her chin, refusing to falter.
"Fine," Red Arrow growled. "Stay. Do your mission – but stay out of my way."
To Talia's irritation, she was unable to get a hold of Luthor at all for the next hour and a half, leaving her only about another two hours before she got in major trouble at school. She stood at the edge of the crowd, watching him "arbitrate." When he finally suggested that they take a break, Talia moved to edge of the staircase to catch him as he walked by.
"Ah," Luthor said when he saw her. "Have you caught my assassin for me already?" Talia blinked, briefly thrown off by his question. She recovered quickly.
"Red Arrow is working on that," she replied. "I have some questions for you." Luthor smiled patronizingly, shaking his head as he moved away.
"Now, now, Miss Stark," Luthor said. "An eye for an eye – you help me, I help you." Talia stared at him in disbelief, and he continued. "Go on now. I'll answer anything you want as soon as you solve my problem for me."
Talia was pretty sure that Luthor wasn't in any position to be making requests. He, after all, had stolen her father's weapon plans and sold them. But she wasn't quite sure how to argue with him, and besides, journalists had already swept in and surrounded the CEO, effectively blocking Talia from continuing their conversation.
Growling, Talia turned away, leaving the building and stepping outside. She ducked behind a corner to give herself the semblance of cover before letting the armor grow out of her bones and arc reactor and over her skin.
Artillery fired up the thrusters, rising up into the air and over the skyline of Taipei. She truly had no idea where Red Arrow had gone. She considered radioing him, but quickly nixed the idea. She'd be surprised if he even responded, and if he did she had no doubt that he would not only not tell her where he was, but also probably avoid her so that she couldn't find him.
Sighing, Artillery flew forwards, cruising over the city at a low altitude. Her HUD scanned over buildings and streets, scanning for redhaired men. Being in Taipei, the results were extremely minimal – she saw one other Caucasian male with ginger hair, and an Asian teenager who had dyed his hair bright red. But no Red Arrow.
Just as Artillery was about to give up and radio Red Arrow and insist that he tell her where he was, a loud explosion caught her attention.
Artillery swiveled around in midair, her eyes falling on the source of the sound. Her HUD zoomed in on a building, and she could see that the side of it had just exploded. She scanned the building, JARVIS automatically translating the sign from Chinese to English – it was the police station.
Of course, Artillery thought, feeling a little stupid as she began to fly in the direction of the station – why hadn't she realized that Red Arrow's obvious first move would be to question the assassin?
As she flew towards the police station, Artillery watched in surprise as a helicopter pulled into the air. Artillery could see two assassins – Cheshire and Sportsmaster – climbing into it. Frowning, Artillery started forward, raising her repulsor. Before she could fire a shot, she saw a line connect to the edge of the copter. Red Arrow was hanging off of it.
Gritting her teeth, Artillery lowered her hand in irritation. She couldn't shoot the helicopter if Red Arrow was hanging of the edge of the copter – she could hurt him. As she watched, helpless, the line that he was hanging off of was cut, and he began to fall through the sky.
"Aw, shit," she muttered to herself with a sigh. Artillery powered up her thrusters, swooping through the air and grabbing Red Arrow. She landed on a roof nearby, setting him down and letting her helmet retract. "Are you okay?"
"Why didn't you follow them?" he snapped as he rounded on her, ignoring her question. Artillery recoiled, startled at his accusation. She recovered quickly, glaring at him.
"Excuse me?" she replied. "I just saved your life!" She scoffed, looking away and shaking her head. "I suppose I should have known better than to expect a thank-you." Red Arrow rolled his eyes behind his mask.
"I would have been fine," he replied coldly. "But you should have pursued –"
"Except I didn't know that I was supposed to do that!" Artillery shouted back at him, her temper flaring. "How the hell am I supposed to be clued into your plan when all you did was ditch me? I spent the last half-hour looking for your ass and then saw it falling out of the sky. Pardon me if my first instinct is to make sure you didn't turn into a pancake on the sidewalk of Taipei."
Red Arrow grunted, not answering Artillery's tirade. If anything, she'd only furthered his low opinion of her as helpful. Instead, he pulled out a small hand-held device. Artillery watched through narrowed eyes as Red Arrow turned the device on, and she realized it was a tracker. He must have planted a tracer on the helicopter.
Without even sparing her a glance over his shoulder, Red Arrow stepped towards the edge of the roof. Artillery watched as he knocked an arrow against his bow, shooting a zipline to the neighboring roof and leaving without a word.
Artillery sighed, folding her arms and turning pointedly away. Logan's words echoed in her mind: "You used to follow people around like a rescue dog from the pound."
"Guess it really stuck," she muttered again, turning back towards the edge and leaping off the roof.
Cheshire saw the glint of red and gold in the sky as Artillery swept towards the headquarters. She'd followed Red Arrow, seemingly without the archer's knowing. The assassin scowled, pausing in her attack to glare at the incoming hero. Another presence would certainly complicate things.
"Ugh," Cheshire said to Red Arrow, glancing at Artillery in irritation. "Didn't know you'd bring a friend." Artillery smirked, sweeping up above Red Arrow and hovering in midair. Red Arrow glanced over his shoulder and sighed. She couldn't tell if he was irritated or relieved at her presence, but she was guessing the former.
"Didn't I kill you?" Sportsmaster growled, glaring at Artillery. The girl smirked underneath her helmet, somewhat amused by the irritation in his voice.
"Still alive and kicking, Jason Voorhees," Artillery said, her voice robotic through the modulator. "Kill me better, next time." Sportsmaster's eyes narrowed. He glanced back towards the courtyard below the roof that the three were perched on.
As if responding to an unheard signal, a woman stepped out into the moonlight. Artillery frowned. The woman was dressed in TAC gear, but the familiarity of it made Artillery frown. She had a mask over the bottom half of her face, like a muzzle, and googles over the eyes – it was the same type of mask and gear the Winter Soldier had worn.
The woman stared at Artillery from the courtyard. Without a word, she flicked something through the air. It hit the center of Artillery's suit, and the arc reactor began to spark.
"Not again, asshole," Artillery growled. She focused her mind, carefully separating the tech inside her body from the invasive device. When she did that, she could eject the harmful machinery with a simple mental command.
The device fell off the arc reactor and into Artillery's hand. She crushed it with her gauntlet, turning back to glance at Sportsmaster dismissively.
"Nice try."
The blond villain smirked behind his hockey mask, his eyes narrowing maliciously.
"Wait for it." Artillery was about to reply snidely, when she felt the suit retracting. She blinked in surprise, staring at her hands as the armor began to peel back. The machinery must have been able to do its work before she'd done gotten ride of it.
"What the hell?" she muttered, her voice wavering in shock. She lowered herself to the ground, grimacing in pain as the armor descended back into her skin. She cried out, falling to her knees – it was painful. Above her, she could faintly hear Red Arrow demanding what they'd done to her, and Cheshire's answer.
"Oh, Red, you should be more concerned about what we'll do to you."
Artillery fought to aware of her surroundings as the last of the armor settled back around her bones. She swallowed hard, her head spinning. The feeling of unwillingly having the armor pushed back into herself was painful – it felt similar to having a limb being bent back unnaturally, except radiating all over her body. Dizzy with pain, Artillery raised her head to look at the woman in front of her.
As she looked up, the woman spun, kicking Artillery in the face. The girl went sprawling over the ground with a loud groan of pain. As she lay sideways, Artillery tasted blood. She spit, saliva and blood hitting the ground as she drew her tongue over her teeth to make sure none had been knocked loose.
Staggering to her feet, Artillery turned to face the woman. She glowered at her opponent, flexing her wrists. As she did so, the armor responded to her command. Artillery threw her arm up and fired a repulsor blast at the villainess.
The woman went flying across the courtyard. To Artillery's surprise, she flipped in midair and managed to land on her feet in a three-point stance. The woman rose silently, any anger or emotion concealed by the mask over her face. Artillery fought back an unnerved shiver as the woman advanced towards her.
The assassin darted across the courtyard, launching a blow to Artillery's face. The heroine stumbled before quickly regaining balance. She saw the next hit coming and threw her hands up in a cross over her face. Responding to her instinctive mental command, the armor formed out of her skin and spread to create a shield.
Artillery heard a nasty crunching noise as the woman's hand collided with the hard metal of the armor. Despite the fact that the blow must have hurt, likely breaking a few bones, the woman showed no reaction as she backed away slowly. She tilted her head to the side, analyzing Artillery's fighting patterns.
The dark-haired girl lowered her arms, exhaling heavily as she circled her opponent. Whatever the machine had done to the armor had seriously sapped her strength. She was exhausted, and the fight had barely begun.
The woman lunged forward again, and Artillery raised her hand. To her shock, she couldn't fire another repulsor blast – it must be because she was too drained. Unable to recover in time to block her foe's hit without powers, Artillery fell backwards as the woman's fist collided with her face.
As her back hit the ground, the villainess spun into a roundhouse kick effortlessly, kicking Artillery across the face once more. The girl's head slapped against the hard stone of the floor, and her eyes rolled back into her head as she passed out.
The woman came to a standstill, looking at the prone body before her. She turned her head to the side slightly, and Ra's al Ghul stepped out of the shadows.
"Fascinating," he praised the woman. "I see my partner was not exaggerating." The woman gave no response, turning her head to stare forwards again. Ra's chuckled, glancing down at Artillery's prone body.
"Fascinating," he said again, smiling darkly.
When Artillery coughed her way back into consciousness, she was no longer laying on the ground of the darkened courtyard. She was laying on the stone bank of a river, dripping wet, and her chest was burning from lack of oxygen. Her head ached where she'd hit it against the ground.
And Red Arrow's mouth was pressed firmly against her own.
"Wha –" Artillery shot upwards in shock, wondering why the hell the guy she'd been crushing on since she was ten was kissing her. Red Arrow immediately pulled back. He looked at her through his domino mask, his eyes narrowed slightly in what seemed like concern.
"You okay?" he asked her, voice gruff. "I managed to grab you, but I wasn't expecting to be in the river. Sorry." Artillery coughed, rubbing her sternum gently. If she'd been unconscious and underwater, that certainly explained the burning feeling.
She began to slowly put the pieces together. Red Arrow must have been giving her CPR, not kissing her. Which, actually, made a lot more sense – he hadn't been applying pressure with his lips, but blowing air.
Artillery was just glad she hadn't done anything stupid, like try and kiss him back or something.
"Um, thanks," she said, looking past him. She focused on where the fight had been, about three-quarters of a mile away. She could see a faint trail of smoke rising into the air from the edge of the roof top. She glanced at Red Arrow questioningly.
"They cornered me after I grabbed you," he replied, answering her unspoken question. "I had to jump into the river. They didn't see us resurface – it's possible they think we're dead." Artillery nodded slowly. She glanced at the ground, her cheeks flushing when she realized how much of a dead weight she'd been in that fight.
"Sorry," she muttered, embarrassed and slightly ashamed. After trailing after him all night, she would have hoped that she could have proven herself better. To her surprise, Red Arrow shrugged.
"Whatever," he said with a sigh. He turned around so that he was sitting next to her, their shoulders brushing slightly. He flopped back against the stone bank of the river, flicking his wet hair out of his face.
Artillery reached up to her own hair, wringing out her ponytail. She glanced down at her outfit, slightly annoyed that the clothes were all but ruined – she'd actually liked this outfit. After a few moments of silence, she looked at the elder hero next to her.
"Call for help?" Artillery asked with a sigh. Red Arrow turned to look at her impassively. After a long moment he signed in resignation and reached up to his comm. He pressed down on the radio, dropping his gaze to the ground as he spoke.
"It's me," he said to the person on the other end. "I think I may be in over my head."
After Red Arrow had radioed Aqualad, the three heroes made a plan. While Aqualad got ready to Zeta over to rendezvous with them, Talia and Red Arrow headed back to summit to speak with Luthor. When they reached the building, the place was deserted – an official looking guard told the two that everyone was taking a recess.
"Where's Luthor?" Red Arrow asked, crossing his arms over his chest. The guard's eyes narrowed.
"Classified," he responded crisply. Red Arrow growled, and he and Talia exchanged a frustrated look. Before they could continue to argue with the guard, a voice called out to them. Talia turned around. Luthor's assistant and chauffer, the young woman, was standing behind them.
"Come with me," she told the two young heroes. Without waiting for a response, she turned around and began to leave, walking at a brisk pace. Red Arrow started after her, and Talia had to jog to keep up – not an easy feat in heels.
The woman led the two heroes to a hotel a few blocks away. The doorman at the lobby held the door open for her, and she exchanged quick words in Chinese with him to authorize the entry of the two heroes behind her.
Still not speaking to the teenagers, Luthor's assistant led them across the lobby and towards the elevator. As they stepped into the lift, Talia glanced at the woman. Her face was reflected in the shiny doors of the elevator as she stared forward. Talia found her silence slightly unnerving – but at the same time, she wasn't about to make small talk with someone loyal to Luthor.
The doors to the elevator slid open with a ding, revealing the penthouse suite of the hotel where Luthor was staying. The CEO was sitting at a large desk, his suit jacket slung over the back of the chair. His green eyes glittered with amusement as the two heroes walked in.
"Well," Luthor said, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back in the chair. "What do you have for me?" His assistant left the two heroes standing at the entryway and walked over to her boss. He stood up from the chair, and she picked up his suit jacket, helping him into it.
"The League of Shadows wants you dead," Red Arrow said, not bothering to sugarcoat anything. Luthor smirked, shaking his head slightly as though this was a mere nuisance rather than a true problem.
"Doesn't every League?" he quipped with a smirk. Red Arrow rolled his eyes at Luthor's comment, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. Luthor shrugged his shoulders, settling the jacket onto his back and tugging at it slightly.
"It's not just Cheshire," the archer continued. "It's Sportsmaster, and Ra's al Ghul." Luthor still seemed unconcerned, despite the fact that the Demon's Head himself wanted Luthor dead.
"I can't say I'm surprised," Luthor replied, completely unfazed. His assistant stepped behind him, adjusting the jacket around his shoulders and smoothing the wrinkles gently. Luthor continued, "Ra's is something of a…competitor of mine."
"Then maybe we should just stand aside and watch you take each other out," Talia muttered, glaring at Luthor. The CEO just chuckled. Just as before, he found Talia amusing, and about as threatening as a fly – a nuisance, maybe, but nothing more. The girl's hands tightened into fists at Luthor's dismissive laugh.
"Your stab at pragmatism is, well, adorable," he said with a smirk. Talia's jaw tightened, and she took a step forward. Red Arrow reached out, placing a hand on her shoulder and tugging her back firmly. Luthor continued, "But – the summit and the peace are at stake, remember?" Talia looked down, her cheeks flushed with anger. "Not to mention the fact that you need information from me. Information you can't very well get if I'm dead."
Talia scowled at the ground. She hated that Luthor had the upper hand on her.
"We'll increase security," Luthor responded as his bodyguard fixed his tie and fussed with the lapels of his suit. Luthor hummed thoughtfully, tipping his head to the side. "Though," he mused. "If the Shadows think you're dead, maybe we can surprise them."
"We've got a better surprise," Red Arrow responded, smirking. Talia's stupid heart fluttered at his use of "we," and she attempted to keep her cheeks from flushing. Luthor chuckled again.
"Well, then," he said. He turned towards his assistant. "Mercy, will you please see if the diplomats are ready to convene again? I believe our recess is over." His assistant nodded her head, turning to leave the room. Luthor turned towards the two heroes, smiling. "Shall we?"
Artillery stood in the corner of the room where the leaders of each Rhelasia sat at a long table, separated only by Luthor in the middle. She was only half-listening to them as they argued, her attention more focused on scanning the room for any sign of trouble. Red Arrow stood behind Luthor to get another viewpoint of the room, and Aqualad was standing in a group of reporters directly in front of the table.
"Gentlemen, gentlemen," Luthor said appealingly, spreading his arms as he tried to placate the two men. "This is mere rhetoric. Despite your differences you still share an appreciation for many things." Luthor gestured forwards. "Such as the exquisite art of the Rhelasian tea ceremony."
Artillery's eyes followed Luthor's hand as he gestured. A young woman was pushing a tea cart towards. Though her face was powdered white, Artillery recognized her immediately. She reached up to her comm.
"Aqualad, at your six," she whispered a warning. The Team's leader didn't answer verbally, but she saw him turn around. The waitress stopped in front of him as Aqualad challenged her. A scowl spread over Cheshire's face. Behind the table, Red Arrow spotted the commotion and drew his bow.
There was a moment of tense silence, and then Cheshire's mouth twisted into a smirk. Crying out suddenly, she shoved the tea cart forward. Artillery's eyes went wide, realizing that the cart contained an explosive. She heard Aqualad shout, and then he conjured a wall of water, protecting the officials behind him and himself from the explosion. Artillery saw an arrow fly through just before Aqualad managed to get the shield up, preemptively exploding the cart.
Artillery ducked behind a pillar, drawing the armor over her body hastily in order to protect herself. She saw Cheshire leap backwards, hitting the ground in order to provide herself some minimal protection from her own bomb. Everyone else in the room was safely within Aqualad's barrier.
Smoke blew across the room as the armor formed around Artillery, and she flew into the explosion, landing next to Aqualad as the shield dissipated. The Atlantean was panting, beads of sweat covering his face as he dropped his arms, letting the water splash back to the ground. Red Arrow landed next to the two Team members, drawing his bow and pointing an arrow at the prone woman on the ground.
"It's over, Cheshire," Red Arrow growled. The woman was getting up slowly, coughing from the smoke. Still, she smirked at the archer's statement as she slowly rose to her feet.
"You would think so," she responded ominously. The familiar whir of a helicopter's engine sounded, and Artillery looked behind Cheshire. The window behind the assassin had been blown apart, and a helicopter full of Shadows was hovering by the whole, and Sportsmaster was leading them. As the assassins swarmed into the building, Red Arrow began barking orders.
"Aqualad, take Sportsmaster!" He shouted. "Artillery, take care of the rest of them – Cheshire's mine!" The woman laughed, drawing her sais and sauntering forwards.
"Mm, so territorial and only our third date," she purred. Artillery rolled her eyes, swiveling and easily taking out the assassin closest to her. Aqualad heeded Red Arrow's order as well, flipping over Cheshire to land in front of Sportsmaster.
Artillery kept herself planted between the table of diplomats and the assassins, taking out the ones who got too close for comfort with missiles and repulsor blasts. All the while, she kept a wary eye out for the woman she'd fought earlier that night. Whatever technology she'd used to disable Artillery's suit was concerning, and she certainly didn't want to face it again.
However, despite Artillery's wishes, the woman was indeed there. She walked through the battle slowly, having made her way into the room after all the others had swarmed in. Her face was still covered by the goggles and muzzle of a winter soldier, different from the masks that the Shadows wore.
Artillery saw the woman coming. Before she could do anything, Artillery let the suit retract back into her bones. She was weaker without it, yes, but stronger than she would be if the woman forced it back underneath her skin.
Letting out a battle cry, Artillery ran forwards. Prior to joining the Team, she hadn't been the best hand-to-hand combatant. To tell the truth, she still wasn't. But the combined training with Black Canary and the Team, as well as the training that Natasha (aka the Black Widow) had begun insisting on, Artillery was getting better.
The woman straightened up, anticipating Artillery's attack. The girl feinted, and instead flipped over the assassin's shoulders. As she landed on the ground, she kicked off her shoes, so she could run and fight better - heels were not pragmatic for a fight. Spinning around in a fluid movement, Artillery launched a roundhouse kick at the woman's face. She aimed for the temple, one of the few exposed parts of the assassin's face.
The blow stung the top of Artillery's bare foot, making her wince slightly. She landed the kick, her foot coming down and hitting the ground in front of her. The kick made the woman stumble backwards slightly, but she regained her balance quickly.
Artillery's opponent lunged forward again, throwing a punch. Artillery ducked, but she didn't duck fast enough, and the blow caught her on the cheekbone. Grunting, Artillery raised her hands and took a few steps back, shaking her head to regain her bearings.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw the assassin flick her wrist. She scattered tiny bombs around Artillery's feet. Glancing down, Artillery took a deep breath and grit her teeth, focusing the best she could as she closed her eyes.
Along with regular academic classes at Xavier's, all the teenagers also had mandatory lessons on learning to use and control their mutations. Although all the mutants obviously didn't have the same powers, the teachers were amazingly good at teaching abilities different than their own. Professor Xavier and the other teachers had been coaching Artillery how to use her mutation from what they'd learned from her mother.
Artillery took a deep breath, focusing on the mechanics of the bombs beneath her. Though her eyes were closed, the machinery of the explosive filled her mind. She wasn't imagining it; she could actually see it in front of her – she was a part of the machine. And…off!
There was an audible click, and the bombs fell dormant at Artillery's feet. Only a few seconds had passed when she opened her eyes again. Artillery couldn't help being a little bit proud. Sure, it may have seemed stupid to use her powers to disable the tiny explosives when she could have just moved away, but she liked stretching and testing her powers.
It was also helping build her stamina – the slightest use of her powers beyond the armor made her exhausted, so she had to get used to using them in battle. Still, Artillery barely had time to be proud of herself before her foe threw another punch.
This time, Artillery did manage to catch the woman's fists. Her bare feet slid over the ground from the force, since the assassin was stronger than she was. Growling, Artillery pushed back as hard as she could, glaring into the masked eyes of the woman in front of her.
"Who…are…you?" she ground out, not really expecting an answer. "I…thought…all…of you…were dead."
By "all of you," she meant all the Winter Soldiers – after all, that was exactly what the woman looked like, even though she was with the Shadows, not HYDRA.
Although Artillery's words had been meant for the woman, Cheshire caught her question. The other woman paused in her fight against Red Arrow, glee shining in her eyes as she glanced back to the other pair fighting.
"She doesn't know?" Cheshire said, sounding surprised and amused. Artillery glanced at the assassin, confused, and her moment of distraction cost her. Artillery's opponent shoved her backwards, and Artillery lost her balance. She managed to flip into a back handspring and land on her feet, only stumbling on the landing ever-so-slightly.
Red Arrow flipped backwards as well, landing next to Artillery. The girl straightened up, her jaw tight. She glanced at Red Arrow.
"Trade?" she questioned out of the corner of her mouth. The archer nodded tightly.
"Do it." Artillery nodded. She kept her eyes fixed on her original opponent, the unidentified woman, and then rushed forwards. She jumped, letting the armor form around her in arms and chest as she flipped through the air. When she landed in front of Cheshire, Artillery immediately swept her arms outwards, firing a powerful sonic blast. Cheshire went flying, hitting the ground about twenty feet back.
The assassin groaned, rolling over and laying still for a moment. Artillery sighed, relaxing and letting the armor melt back into her bones. As she turned towards Red Arrow slightly, she saw the archer fire an explosive arrow that blasted the winter solider-like woman to the ground. The assassin's head hit the floor and she fell still.
Immediately, Red Arrow turned away, scaling a fallen pillar and knocking another arrow. Artillery, on the other hand, headed over to the woman. She knelt down next to the assassin, reaching out to pull of her mask. Before she could, the woman's hand flew up, wrapping around Artillery's wrist.
Artillery gasped in surprise, shooting backwards and cursing herself. The woman slowly rose to her feet, facing off against Artillery once more. The girl took a few steps backwards, her bare feet stinging from scrapes from the broken glass on the ground – she had developed a slight healing factor from the nanite technology, but the cuts still hurt.
"Aqualad," Red Arrow shouted suddenly. Artillery spared a glance over his shoulder to see that the archer was aiming an arrow at the sprinkler system in the ceiling as he called to the Atlantean. "Let's end this!"
Red Arrow released the bow string, and the arrow flew forwards, directly into the ceiling. The valve exploded, setting off the rest of the sprinklers as well. Water poured down out of the ceiling, a stream of it separating Artillery from her opponent.
Out of the corner of her eye, Artillery could see Aqualad raising his arms, his eel tattoos glowing an electric blue. He let out a battle cry, manipulating the water around him. The liquid slid towards him, forming into a sea serpent as it roared forwards, knocking the rest of the assassins to the ground.
Cheshire flipped backwards, landing in front of Sportsmaster – it looked liked the winter solider woman had retreated and was standing with them as well – and she threw a bomb forwards, straight into the mouth of Aqualad's water serpent.
Artillery threw a hand up over her face as smoke and steam bombarded her as the device exploded. She coughed, waving her hand to try and clear the air. When she managed to crack her eyes open again, the assassin she'd been fighting was gone. So were Cheshire and Sportsmaster.
"They got –" she began. Her observation was caught off by the one last standing Shadow. The assassin leapt over the heroes' heads, their sword raised as they jumped towards the table were the diplomats were huddled. Artillery spun around, raising her hand and letting the gauntlet form over her hand. But before she could take her shot, Luthor was speaking.
"Mercy," he said quietly, addressing his assistant. Without question, the woman raised her arm. Artillery watched in astonishment as her arm split apart, revealing a cannon. Mercy fired a shot at the Shadow, knocking them away easily. The assassin hit the ground, their sword embedded just inches away from their head.
Everyone turned to stare at Luthor and Mercy in shock. The woman, after all, appeared to be completely normal. Luthor seemed to take joy at the shock on everyone's face.
"Gives new meaning to the arms race, doesn't she?" he quipped, smiling at his assistant proudly. Mercy retracted her cannon, flexing her wrist as she lowered her arm once more. Both of the Rhelasian leaders sighed in relief, stepping forward to speak to Luthor.
"That technology is most impressive, Luthor," General Singh Manh Li said, clapping Luthor on the shoulder with a broad grin across his face.
"We owe you our lives, sir!" Tseng agreed, shaking Luthor's hand enthusiastically. Artillery's mouth fell open in shock, and she turned to look at the elder heroes behind her.
"They owe him their lives?" she asked in disgust, her eyes flashing with anger. The other two teenagers looked pissed as well, and the three of them turned to watch Luthor continue to "arbitrate" in disbelief.
Talia, Red Arrow, and Aqualad watched as the leaders of North and South Rhelasia signed a treaty that Luthor had helped draw up. It was the first step to peace, and the first step to the eventual goal of unification. Red Arrow shook his head, scoffing.
"I can't believe we just did Lex Luthor a solid," the redheaded hero muttered, sounding disgusted. Aqualad shook his head, smiling slightly.
"Not for Luthor," he corrected his friend. "For peace." The two boys began to walk away, but Talia stayed where she was. Noticing this, Aqualad glanced over his shoulder at her. "Talia," the Atlantean questioned. "Are you not coming?" The girl shook her head.
"Not yet," she replied, shooting the two boys a quick smile. "Luthor owes me some information – you can bet I plan to collect it." Aqualad dipped his head in understanding, turning to walk away. Red Arrow was about to follow, but then turned back to linger for a moment longer.
"Hey," he said, catching Talia's attention again. She turned towards the redhead, and he smiled at her gently, looking slightly embarrassed. "I just wanted to say sorry about earlier," he told her quietly. He smiled slightly. "You did good, Talia." Talia grinned, ducking her head.
"Thanks, Red Arrow," she replied, smiling back at him. There was an awkward moment, as though both of them wanted to say more, but neither did. After a beat of silence, Red Arrow reached out and squeezed her shoulder in a friendly manner before turning to leave.
Talia watched him go before she turned back to face the signing again. Her cheeks were slightly flushed from the elder boy's praise, an her heart was beating slightly faster than normal.
She couldn't help feeling a bit giddy.
Talia had to quickly snap out of it, though, because the diplomats were standing up. Luthor shook hands with both Rhelasian leaders, and then both of them shook hands with one another. There was a lot of cheering and clapping, and Luthor smiled for the cameras as flash bulbs went off rapidly. Talia waited impatiently.
After a few moments of watching Luthor schmooze with some of the other officials, the man spotted her. He smirked, murmuring an excuse to those he was talking to and heading over. Talia crossed her arms as he approached.
"Miss Stark," he said. "I suppose I owe you some information, don't I?" Talia didn't even nod, her eyebrow arched inquisitively.
"How did you get those blueprints?" She stared at Luthor expectantly. "When my father chose to freeze the production of weaponry by Stark industries, he kept a patent on all weapons to ensure no one else had permission to manufacture the weapons either." Luthor nodded, a smile spread across his face. Talia couldn't help feeling like he was still patronizing her, like this was a game he was playing.
It felt like he was the one gaining something, not her.
"Right you are," Luthor replied gamely. "So how, exactly, would I get my hands on them?" Talia stared at him, struggling to remain collected. It was clear that Luthor had the upper hand here, but she refused to budge. "Your father would have to give them to me, which we both know he'd never do. Or someone else with access to that information." Talia frowned, reading between the lines and understanding what Luthor was implying.
"No one has that clearance," she replied, shaking her head. "You're lying." Not even Pepper, the CEO of Stark Industries, had access to old weapon plans from before she was in charge of the company. Only her father did.
"Think," Luthor ordered quietly, his eyes boring into Talia's intensely. "If I haven't received any weapon plans from your father, who was another person who had access to those blueprints?" Talia shook her head slowly as she began to realize something. Luthor's use of the past tense triggered something in Talia's brain.
She swallowed hard, realizing what Luthor was saying.
"No one –" Talia began weakly, grasping at straws. She had never wanted so badly to be wrong about something. But a lot of the puzzle pieces of confusing things that had happened lately were clicking together, painting a picture Talia didn't want to look at. Luthor cut her off.
"Who?" he repeated, a small smirk playing across his face when he saw the distressed look on her face. Talia swallowed hard, her heart pounding hard for a completely different reason than a few moments before. Her former joy from Red Arrow's praise had completely faded, replaced with cold terror.
"But it's impossible," she said, staring down at the ground with unseeing eyes. She had completely given up any attempt at a confident façade. She was too shaken. Luthor shook his head, a smile playing out over his face.
"Not impossible," he replied, holding up a finger. "Unlikely." He tipped his head to the side, watching Talia carefully. "What's that saying, again? Once you eliminate the impossible…"
"Whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth," Talia finished bleakly. Luthor chuckled.
"Precisely." Talia pressed her lips together, her face pale and drawn. She took a deep, shaky breath. Luthor looked almost sympathetic as he patted Talia's shoulder gently. "Well, I believe we've both made good on our respective ends of the bargain. So…" Luthor dipped his head in mock respect. "I look forward to doing business with you again, Miss Stark."
Talia ignored the man, still staring at the ground with unseeing eyes. Luthor loosened his tie as he walked away, nodding politely and graciously as people congratulated him on his role in the peace treaty. He made eye contact with Mercy, and his assistant/bodyguard headed over to him.
"Make the call," he told Mercy. She nodded, already pulling out her phone. The two of them walked outside to the car awaiting them, and she opened the door for Luthor before sliding in after him.
Usually, Mercy would be the one driving, but not this time. The hotel Luthor was staying in wasn't far from the summit, and it only took him a few moments before he was settled back in his penthouse. Mercy went to receive his guests, and Luthor walked towards the kitchenette, pulling out the bottle of scotch he'd reserved especially for this equation.
Luthor took out three glasses, setting them on the counter. As he did so, the elevator dinged, announcing the arrival of his guests. Mercy led the other two men into the penthouse, and Luthor smiled darkly.
"Thank you, Mercy," he said. She nodded her head once, recognizing his dismissal. She turned to leave the room, and Luthor looked down at the counter.
"That went well," Luthor said. He was pouring scotch into the three tumblers as he spoke. "Both Li and Tseng were quite impressed with Mercy's…equipment. And are quite literally buying into the peace." He picked up two of the glasses, offering one to each other the other men in the room before picking up his own.
Ra's al Ghul reached out, taking the glass Luthor offered him, as did the unidentified man next to the Demon's Head. Luthor picked up his own glass as well as Ra's began to speak.
"And I must say," Ra's al Ghul said, turning to the man next to him as Luthor walked over to join the two. "Your little assassin friend is indeed very fascinating." The other man chuckled, raising his glass. He was older, with a bald head and a bushy beard. His eyes glinted with malice.
"I knew that Stark wouldn't be able to help but investigate," the man said. "It only seemed appropriate that she would be there to greet young Talia." Both Ra's and Luthor shared a chuckle at the man's words.
"I believe Talia has finally caught on to your little game," Luthor said to the other man, a slight warning coloring his voice. "She knows who you are, now." He shrugged, clearly unbothered by this new information.
"No matter," the unidentified man said, turning his drink in his hand. "This will be more interesting when she does figure it out. What does matter," he continued. "Is that our plan to ensure the eventual reunification of Rhelasia under LexCorp's political and economic…guidance…was a success." Both Ra's and Luthor nodded, and Ra's lifted his glass to propose a toast.
"And thus," Ra's al Ghul said as the three men clinked glasses. "Another corner of the world…sees the light."
Talia called Scott from a payphone at the corner – her cell phone had gone missing in one of the fights that evening, or possibly even the river. Once he picked up, she began talking quickly, not giving him a moment to tell her that she was more than an hour late and in big trouble.
"Scott, I am so so so sorry," Talia rushed out, apologizing frantically. "Really, I am. But I have an excuse – it's not even an excuse, it's true – I can't come to school today. There's a – there's an emergency," her voice wavered. "I need to talk to my dad, I'm sorry."
"Okay," Scott sounded both bewildered and concerned. "Rescue, is everything okay?"
"No," Talia replied honestly, swallowing hard. "I – I need to talk to my dad. I'm fine, I promise, but I just – "
"Okay, it's okay," Scott soothed her. "I'll tell the professor. Don't worry." Talia swallowed hard, taking a deep, shaky breath as Scott continued. "Text me when you get to the compound, okay?" Talia nodded to herself, taking another deep breath.
"Okay," she agreed. "I gotta go. Bye, Scott." The man murmured a good-bye as well, concern still evident in his voice. Talia hung up the phone, immediately heading towards the nearest Zeta-Tube.
She Zeta'd to the location closest to the Avenger's Compound – they were still working on getting one installed in the Compound – and then let the armor form around her. She flew at top speed to the Compound, landing at the front door. She stood in front of the door, realizing in a moment of near-hysteria that she didn't have her keys with her.
Before she could have a full-on mental breakdown at this stupid, stupid fact, the door flew open. Wanda was standing in the doorway, talking to someone over her shoulder. The young woman turned forwards, and she yelped in surprise when she saw Talia standing there.
"Oh my god!" the Sokovian woman stumbled backwards, muttering an oath Sokovian Cyrillic, her native language. "Talia, you scared me." Talia stared at the elder girl with wide eyes.
"…sorry," she said after a long moment, finally processing what Wanda had said. Wanda took another look at Talia, frowning in concern.
"Is everything okay?" Talia nodded slowly.
"Um, kinda," she said. "Is my dad here?" Wanda nodded slowly, stepping back to let Talia in.
"He's in his lab," she replied. "But –"
"Great, thanks!" Talia ignored the rest of whatever Wanda was about to say, heading deeper into the Compound and down the stairs towards the lab. Wanda called after Talia, sounding confused.
"I'm fine!" She called back, not even knowing what Wanda had said. Then she remembered. "Oh, JARVIS – tell Scott I'm good, okay?" JARVIS mumbled an affirmative, and Talia could hear a bewildered Wanda questioning JARVIS as to what was going on, only for the AI to respond that he had no clue himself.
To Talia's surprise, the lab door was open. She stepped inside, peeking around the room. Tony was sitting at a table in the back of the lab, writing a long equation on one of the whiteboards. He was mumbling to himself, too distracted to notice Talia's footsteps as she stepped inside, her chest heaving.
Talia opened her mouth to get her dad's attention, and then she paused, thinking. She was suddenly second-guessing herself.
What if she was wrong? What if Luthor was just playing mind games with her? Should she really open up her mouth and say this terrible thing that she didn't want to be true, that would do nothing but worry her father?
Talia closed her eyes, thinking about the past few weeks.
Ivo's MONQUIs had inserted a piece of machinery into her suit that had caused it to malfunction. A piece of machinery that they shouldn't have had access to. Ivo's casual statement, about a "he" who knew Talia; someone who had known she'd be impressed by advanced technology.
The fact that someone had taken the pains to destroy Talia's suit that had access to all of JARVIS's information, only to not take any of it. Why?
Because they already had everything they needed.
Someone who had known enough about JARVIS's system to shut him down completely, without JARVIS knowing, even from far away.
And the way someone had shut down her suit again – something that hadn't been possible, but was now – thanks to an "old friend" of Tony's.
Talia opened her eyes, taking a deep breath. She was right. She knew she was right, even if she didn't want to accept it. Yet another saying: once is an incident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern. And a fourth? Definitely a pattern, enough for a theory.
"Dad," Talia finally said, swallowing hard. Tony turned around in surprise. His gaze fell upon his daughter, and he realized that Talia was in the room with him for the first time. A broad smile crossed his face before it turned into confusion, and then a frown when he realized how shaken she looked. He crossed the room towards her.
"What is it?" he asked urgently. He placed his hands on her shoulders, concern clear on his face. "Is everything okay?" Talia's eyes flicked to her father's face, and her face twisted as she spoke the words she never thought she'd say.
"I think Obadiah Stane is still alive."
wow this is a loonnnnng chapter guys. plz enjoy.
or don't, i guess. it's a free country.
also you may have noticed by the story tags that i have (kind of) settled on a ship for talia! i'm not one hundred percent sure yet, but yeah i have another bi/pan oc.
i mean, talia was always bi, but i never thought about shipping her with zatanna...that is until i was re-watching the episodes with zee in it and realized that i'm in love with zatanna. in true me-fashion (actually probs other ppl do this too lol), i projected my crush onto my character. so yeah.
i actually lowkey ship them a lot now though, so yeah.
let me know what you think of that ship, talia, this chapter, or the story! please leave a review, i love hearing any feedback or advice you people have to give! just a few words make my day.
thanks!