As luck would have it, Tigress doesn't have to wait long to rub her lead in Flash's face. The very next day, she gets to let her smug grin do the gloating as Aqualad goes over the mission plan to rescue some scientist from the Cult of Kobra. Flash pretends like he doesn't notice her watching him, but the way his pen digs into the paper on the table in front of him tells her she is right where she wants to be: under his skin.
"Tigress."
Tigress quits gloating (for now) and snaps her attention to Aqualad.
"Yes, Boss?"
"Stop calling me boss. You'll keep watch at the south end of the base," Aqualad says, pointing to a shack on the side of the mountain on screen. "You'll be out of range for the mind link, but you'll have eyes on the entire field from that position and we can't have any surprises. As we will be under radio silence until we clear the mountain, you will not be able to contact us if there is trouble outside."
"Got it, Boss," Tigress says, nodding.
Aqualad internalizes his sigh and moves on.
"Finally, Flash, you will stay at the vantage point with Tigress. If something troubling arises, you run close enough to reestablish the mind link and let us know what's happening outside. For the most part, we are not expecting any interference from beyond the confines of Kobra's base, but we do not know when the Shadows are expected to make the trade for the doctor."
"Quick question," Nightwing says, raising his hand unnecessarily high. "Does Tigress get the point for spotting the Shadow or does Flash get the point for telling us about them, or do they both get points? No points?"
"Is this something that needs to be discussed right now?" Aqualad asks, not surprised in the slightest that it came up.
"There were a few complaints after the last mission so I thought it might be better to clear these things up before we go. I'm saving you a headache later," Nightwing explains.
On Tigress's left, Rocket snorts and whispers, "Someone's a sore loser."
Aqualad addresses everyone at the table. "We should hope that neither wins a point and the mission goes uninterrupted."
"Like that'll happen," Superboy scoffs, leaning forward in his seat across from Aqualad. "I say Tigress should get the point."
"No way," Nightwing says, shaking his head. "Flash is the one doing the leg work, literally. He should get the point."
Superboy snorts. "Spotting a Shadow takes more skill than being the human equivalent of a walkie talkie."
Tigress doesn't miss the way Miss Martian's glowing eyes narrow at Superboy. She also doesn't miss the way Superboy balks and sits back in his seat. Tigress briefly contemplates asking for a point for not missing a damn thing at this meeting.
"Hey! I thought we were friends," Flash says, crossing his arms.
"Enough," Aqualad says sternly. "Let us agree to play the point situation by ear and focus on the mission. If I see this bet getting in the way of the team's performance, I will shut it down."
That quiets the room, but it doesn't mean the arguments stop. As Aqualad moves on to detail the logistics of the mission and the importance of maintaining a good relationship within the team, Miss Martian, using her alien-equivalent-of-a-walkie-talkie powers, lets everyone know their dutiful leader is less neutral than he appears.
Aqualad bet me a monitor duty shift they'd tie, Miss Martian says.
Wow, shut that gambling ring down, Zatanna says, hurt. All sub-bets are supposed to be placed with me.
We are not tying, Tigress says.
Flash agrees. Yeah, no ties. We'd have to do a sudden death round or something.
All in favor of sudden death being stealing the Batmobile? Nightwing suggests.
Abso-fucking-lutely not, Tigress says, before anyone can raise their mental hands in favor of sending her to hell.
Ditto, Flash says. Been there, done that, never want to do it again. The nightmares aren't worth it.
"If anyone has any questions related to the mission, you can ask them on the Bioship," Aqualad says, standing up (and snapping everyone's attention back to him). "It's time to go."
"Oh, nice," Flash says, leaning over to watch Tigress unpack her gear, "you brought the big bow."
"Did anyone teach you how to be a lookout?" Tigress asks, organizing her equipment against the wall of the shack. "Were you absent the day they taught that you're supposed to be quiet and actually look for things?"
Flash sighs melodramatically as he leans against the wall. "I have been looking, and according to the infrared scanner on my goggles, the only things around here are cute little woodland creatures and us."
"Still failing at the whole quiet part," Tigress notes, picking up a pair of binoculars and trying to do her job.
"Oh, come on, T. Humor me," Flash says, zipping to and fro in the shack before plucking an arrow from her quiver and holding it towards her. "You and I are always getting stuck with the fringe jobs. You have to admit it gets boring after awhile."
It does, but contrary to what he says, she doesn't have to admit it.
"Did Nightwing smuggle you caffeine just to spite me?" Tigress asks, taking her eyes away from the trees to give Flash a look. "How can you be bored already? We've been here less than five minutes."
"Well, you've been ignoring me the whole time," Flash notes, tossing the arrow between his hands at too-high a speed.
Tigress rolls her eyes. "You know that arrow could fill this shack with smoke if you keep that up."
"Noted." Flash quickly places the arrow back where it belongs.
Tigress returns to scanning the treeline and sighs, "God, you're like a puppy."
"I am pretty cute, aren't I?"
He is, but that is so not where she was going with that.
"You're needy," Tigress explains, checking another route for any movement. "You need constant attention. You have a ridiculous amount of energy. You eat so much."
"Hey, I can't help that last one," Flash says, and Tigress has to imagine the pout on his face as her eyes catch some movement in a far clearing. Just a deer.
"Yeah, yeah, your metabolism, whatever. You're still distracting."
"Distractingly hands-shit–"
Tigress takes the time to put her binoculars down, turn, and investigate his curse. Her eyes widen as she catches him cowl-less and smiling at her.
Tigress's breath catches in her throat for a half-second before she yells, "Don't do that! We're exposed out here!"
"Calm down. I was hearing feedback," Flash pulls his cowl back over his face and adjusts his ear piece covers. "So much for being quiet..."
The tense silence between them is broken by the sound of an owl hooting in the distance, and it is only then that Tigress snaps back into the moment.
"We're on a freakin mission. How could you take off your cowl just like that?" Tigress asks, scowling behind her mask as her foot bounces against the floor.
"It's fine," Flash shrugs and shakes his head. "It's just us. It's not a big deal."
"It is a big deal," Tigress counters, roughly turning back to her lookout duties. The binoculars refuse to remain still in her shaking hands. "There are a million reasons why it's a big deal. It defeats the purpose of having secret identities. If someone sees your real face... First, they find your face, then they find your name, and then they find you. Or worse– they find the people you care about."
Flash steps closer. "I know the reasons, T."
"Then for such a smart guy, you are incredibly stupid. You won't catch me flashing my face around anytime soon."
Flash snorts. "Come on, Tigress, we both know that's not your real face behind that mask."
Tigress stills before she lowers her binoculars and turns to face him again. The smug look she'd expected to find isn't there. Instead, she's struck by the small, knowing smile he sends her.
"You knew?" Tigress slowly asks, her eyes locking with his.
Flash nods. "I had a feeling– and I recognized the glamour charm. Zatanna made one for Aqualad so he could come to Guardian's bachelor party sans gills."
Tigress fights the pressure building in her chest. Flash has managed to evolve from distraction to major life disruption. It was only a matter of time.
"If you tell anyone, I will use you for target practice," Tigress says sharply, turning back to look through the binoculars and away from Flash.
"I won't say a word. You can trust me. Scouts honor."
Flash leans against the window frame and watches her. This goes on for a full minute, and with every passing second, Tigress finds herself wishing for the silence to end. Why couldn't they just go back to picking at each other?
Tigress snaps, "Stop looking at me. Do your job."
Flash sighs and walks over to the only other window in the shack. He lowers his goggles and does as she says, but the silence eats at them both.
Tigress puts her binoculars down and catches him looking at her again. "Seriously, it's like I can hear you thinking about it. What do you want? A medal? World's Greatest Detective?"
"No, I just have questions."
"Will you drop it if I answer one?" Tigress offers.
Flash launches into a string of questions. "Are you actually that tall? Can these charms change height? Who chose this disguise: you or Zatanna? Do you ever take that thing off? And is your hair really that color? Or have all of those ginger jokes you've been hurling at me since we met come from personal experience?"
"I said one," Tigress groans, even though she asked for it. She goes back to looking out the window before four quiet words slip past her lips. "I might be blonde."
"Hmm," Flash says, practically appearing at her side and appraising her mask-covered profile, "I can't see it."
"That's the point," Tigress says, narrowing her eyes at the blurs coming into focus in the distance. "Q&A over. We have trouble."
Flash straightens his stance. "Where?"
"Northeast quadrant. There's movement in the trees, heading towards the east entrance. I can't tell from here, but it looks like two people. You need to– no, wait, it's too late for that. If Aqualad's on schedule, they could be coming out of there any minute now."
Tigress tucks her binoculars back into their pouch before she grabs her bow and plucks an arrow from her quiver.
She sends a quick look to Flash before she turns back to the trees and aims. "We have to stall the Shadows before they get to the mountain."
Tigress lets the arrow fly and watches it arc through the air until it lands just to the right of where she last saw the Shadows. There is a three second period of silence before the arrow explodes. The sound echoes through the valley.
Now they all know they are not alone.
Tigress shoulders her quiver and latches her bow to her back before she turns back to Flash and says, "The Shadows should change course to investigate. We need to stall them."
"On it," Flash says, and before Tigress can blink, she's in his arms and they're zooming through the woods.
"Nice one, genius," Tigress says, a bit breathlessly, as Flash puts her down at the edge of a clearing. "Half of my gear is back there."
"You won't need it," is all the warning they get before they catch sight of the blades flying in their direction.
Too close.
Tigress starts to turn around to let her quiver take the hit, but Flash shoves her out of the way and most of the blades end up in the trees behind them.
"Ouch," Flash says, pulling a shuriken out of his arm, "that stings."
"You okay?" Tigress regains her footing and pulls her bow out in an instant.
Flash nods. "Just a scratch. I'll be fine."
"Where are they?" Tigress asks, scanning the treeline.
"One o'clock. Just one," Flash answers, his goggles glowing. "The other one is still heading for the gate."
Tigress launches her arrow at the center of the field and a cloud of white smoke fills the clearing.
"I'll keep this one busy. You go after the other one," Tigress orders. "You can't let them reach the doctor!"
"I'll be right back," Flash calls out, jogging backwards into the forest. "Keep your comm on."
"Got it."
Tigress fires another arrow into the cloud of smoke, and this time, it sends the smoke into the air, leaving her target exposed. The figure at the edge of the clearing gets clearer as it runs right towards her. Tigress launches an arrow at the feet of the figure, but they jump in time to avoid the netting that releases from the tip. As they descend, they fire another barrage of shuriken at Tigress. Tigress rolls out of the way and pops up with her bow at the ready. She shoots at the ground between them and a sonic wave knocks her opponent off of her feet. Tigress moves in on her prey, slowly walking towards the fallen assassin. Hmm. The grinning cat mask in front of her confirms her hunch about her opponent, as if the sais and shuriken weren't telling enough on their own.
"Don't move, Cheshire," Tigress says strongly as she aims her arrow at Cheshire's mask. "It won't end well for you if you do."
Cheshire stands up as she appraises Tigress, and everything about her, from her fixed posture to the stagnant smile on her mask, sends a chill up Tigress's spine. Her reputation may proceed her, but no one could have warned Tigress about the unnerving feeling of facing Cheshire in the flesh.
"Cute," Cheshire says, easily twirling her sai in her hands. "Wish I had time to play, kitten, but I have bigger fish to fry."
Tigress steels herself and narrows her gaze at her target. "Don't move. Last warning."
Cheshire keeps twirling her sai. "My partner says Aqualad's out there. It's been awhile since I've had some fun with him. I think it's time for a rematch, don't you?"
"I told you to stop moving," Tigress says, releasing her arrow without hesitation.
There is strong satisfaction in watching someone try and dodge an arrow that releases a boxing glove before impact. Tigress has to work to tame her grin as the glove gets a good half of Cheshire's mask and sends it flying into the dirt.
Cheshire's face pinches as she bares her teeth at Tigress and charges, a mess of wild black hair and loose green fabric. Instead of the sai, or the sword, or the sudden screeching emanating from the valley, it's the dark, determined eyes shining in the moonlight that have Tigress's full attention.
It registers in slow motion, a feeling akin to an off-centered gear clicking back into place somewhere deep inside, and Tigress can't do anything but lower her shot and let Cheshire tackle her to the ground as she realizes exactly who she's fighting.
"Jade?" Tigress gasps, her mind snapping back into action as she instinctively blocks Cheshire's incoming punch.
"What?" Cheshire–Jade– snarls, going in for another hit.
Tigress manages to free her legs out from underneath Cheshire and kick her back into the dirt.
"Jade," Tigress repeats tightly before she sits up and asks, "is that you?"
"Who are you?" Jade says from the ground, breathing hard from the strength of the kick.
Tigress quickly takes off her mask and tosses it to the side. The million reasons to keep it on are outweighed by the million and one reasons to take it off for the woman in front of her.
"Jade, it's me," Artemis says, ripping the glamour charm from her neck and letting it fall to the ground beside her mask.
For a long moment, the only sounds in the clearing come from the wind rushing through the trees.
"Artemis." Jade looks at her like she's a ghost, and Artemis knows her own face must mirror her sister's because for the longest time–
"I thought you were dead," they say, breaking their stunned silence in unison.
Jade holds eye contact with Artemis as she stands and holds her side.
"Dad said–" Artemis's voice fails her, as do her legs as they refuse to move. "Dad said you were dead."
"He'd like that, wouldn't he?" Jade says, stopping just a foot away from Artemis. "I can't believe you're here right now. I've been to your grave."
Jade holds out a hand and Artemis takes it and it feels so wrong. Artemis stands and faces her sister, hoping with all her might that this is not some trick.
"I had to disappear," Artemis chokes out, never having thought she'd have to explain herself to Jade. "He wanted me to replace you. I didn't– I wouldn't–"
"You couldn't," Jade says darkly.
"You– How–" Artemis's question is cut off by the voice in her ear.
Miss M neutralized the Shadow before I got there. On my way back to Tigress.
"I have to go," Jade says, looking back and forth between the mountain and Artemis.
Jade presses her hand against her ear as she starts walking backwards, towards the edge of the clearing. "On my way."
Artemis takes a step forward. "Jade– you–"
Jade shakes her head, picks up her mask, and continues sinking back into the treeline.
"Don't worry about Dad," Jade says, quickly donning her mask. "I'll take care of him."
"Jade, wait!" Artemis calls out, echoing the last words she'd spoken to her sister so long ago. "Don't go..."
Her heart sinks as Jade disappears into the trees and it takes every bit of strength she has to not collapse to the ground right then and there.
Jade is not dead. She didn't know her actual life could feel like a bigger lie than the one she constructed for herself. She's so consumed by the thought that she doesn't even hear Flash stumble through the trees.
"T? What happened?" Flash asks, slowing to a stop beside her. "Did you get yours?"
Artemis doesn't dare look him in the eye. Instead, she focuses on what she can see: the tear in his suit and the blood on his arm.
"Give me your arm," Artemis instructs, mechanically pulling a wound dressing from her belt.
"It's no big deal. I'm already healing." Flash cranes his neck away from her as he extends his arm towards her. Artemis doesn't need to look at his face to know his eyes are closed. "Where's your Shadow?"
"Gone." Artemis presses the dressing against his cut and applies pressure. "Cheshire uses poisoned blades. You might burn through it, Mr. Metabolism, but it's going to take awhile for the wound to close."
"Cheshire? Was that– uh, you know your glamour charm is off, right?" Flash trails off uncomfortably.
"You can look at me," Artemis says, checking that the dressing will hold. "It's fine. I don't need it anymore."
He keeps his eyes shut. "The reasons–"
Artemis cuts him off and looks up. "My reasons aren't reasons anymore."
Flash opens his eyes, takes a good long look at her, and frowns. "You're shaking. What happened?"
"Oh," Artemis says, looking at her hands, "I am. Yeah, that's– uh, that's probably the shock."
"What happened? What do you need?"
Tigress, Flash. We have the doctor in the Bioship. Heading to the pick up location. Confirm your status, Aqualad's voice buzzes in their comm lines.
"Zatanna," Artemis whispers, crossing her arms as she tries to quell the shaking. She shuts her eyes tightly and tells herself to get it together, but she can't. "No one else. I need Zatanna."
Flash responds to Aqualad. "Not ready for pick up. Had a run in with Cheshire near the south entrance, but she got away. Heading back to the shack to collect our gear."
Cheshire? Are you two okay?
"Yeah, we're fine. Just a little cut up, but it's nothing we can't handle. You guys should get the doctor out of here in case she called for backup."
Cut up? Cheshire uses blades laced with jellyfish poison. Did either of you get hit?
"Maybe once, maybe three times," Flash says, drawing out his answer. "I'm starting to feel it. I would be grateful if Zatanna could pop in at the shack with one of her antidotes."
Sure thing, Zatanna chimes in. I'll wait for you there.
"Great, thanks," Flash says. "The rest of you can get out of dodge. We'll use the nearest Zeta-Beam to meet you at the Watchtower."
Alright, Aqualad relents. Be careful. Kobra's men are fanning out into the forest to secure their perimeter.
"Got it. Flash out."
"Thanks," Artemis says, opening her eyes. "Did you really just call off our ride?"
"You didn't want the whole team around right now," he explains, before he nods in the direction of the shack. "We should start walking."
"Right," Artemis says, nodding. After a second, she adds, "Are you okay? I only saw one cut."
"Yeah, I'm fine. It was just the one. Had to play it up for the boss."
Artemis snorts lowly. "He doesn't like it when we call him boss."
"Then it's a good thing he can't hear us," Flash says, tapping on his comm.
The forest is rocky, but not enough to slow them down. They follow a trail up the mountain, and though Flash tries to play off every little slip or sway, Artemis makes sure to stay within arms length of him, in case that poison is affecting him more than he cares to admit. Her slight worry subsides the minute he starts talking again.
"So," Flash starts slowly, "now that I can see the blonde, I have to admit it. It works for you."
"Thanks," Artemis says shortly, walking past him to lead the way.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asks.
"Nope," she answers quickly, but the word leaves a sour taste in her mouth.
"O-kay," Flash says, not pushing it further.
They walk in silence for awhile longer, giving Artemis ample time to regret her decision. Jade said she'd take care of their father and something tells her Jade's definition of taking care of things hasn't gotten any more tame with age. If anything, she wouldn't be surprised if she found out tomorrow that Sportsmaster had been broken out of Iron Heights only to have his ass kicked right outside the prison gates. She's not sure Jade's reached the point of patricide, but what does she know, right?
When the shack comes into view, Artemis abruptly stops walking and turns around. Flash nearly walks straight into her, but stops about an inch away before he takes a step back. Artemis knows that the second she sees Zatanna, she will break down, so this has to happen now.
"Actually, yes, I want to talk about it." Artemis says, exhaling loudly. "I need to– I should practice saying this."
"Okay then, think of me as your practice dummy," Flash says, jerking his thumb at the lightning bolt on his chest.
There's a joke there, an easy one, but Artemis lets it go unsaid and gets straight to the point.
"Right, well," Artemis stumbles over her words before she shrugs her shoulders back and says, "first off, my name is Artemis."
Flash extends his hand towards her for a handshake and says, "Nice to meet you. I'm Wally."
"Wally." Artemis pauses. "Really?"
"Hey."
"Okay, okay... uh, next thing. When I was seventeen, I– uh, faked my own death," Artemis says, speeding up towards the end.
Flash stops shaking her hand as his grip tightens.
"You what?" he asks, eyes wide.
Artemis pulls her hand away as she hurriedly shrugs and explains, "Well, it was either that or kill someone."
"What?" Flash repeats, waving his hands at her.
"This is why I need practice," Artemis says, wincing as she throws her hands in the air. "Forget it. Let me start from the beginning. My name is Artemis. My dad is a bad guy. Literally. He's Sportsmaster. My mom is an ex-con. She was Huntress. I had a sister. I have a sister. That's Cheshire."
"Okay," Flash says, holding a hand to his head as he paces back and forth. "Okay, okay, okay."
"Stop that." Artemis swats at him. "It's really complicated, okay?"
"Okay!" Flash yelps, unintentionally throwing water on the grease fire that is this conversation.
"Stop saying okay!"
"I don't know what else to say!"
"Stop yelling!"
"You stop yelling!"
"Both of you: piz ti!" Zatanna whisper-shouts at them from the door of the shack. "You're going to get us caught. Now get in here."
Zatanna waits to unzip their lips until she's done applying antidote to Flash's wound and Artemis is finished packing her gear, much to their silent and much-mimed protest. After Artemis's first three weak words (Cheshire is Jade), Zatanna looks at them both and promptly throws their plan into the wind. Instead of taking them to the nearest Zeta Point, she opens a portal, pushes them through, and they end up sitting in a line on the couch in the living room of Artemis's apartment.
Artemis places her pack on the coffee table before she stands up and turns to face her supposed best friend.
"What the hell, Zee?" Artemis says, waving at her sparsely furnished living room. "Why'd you bring us here?"
Flash's "Is this your place?" goes largely ignored as Zatanna stands up and grabs Artemis by the shoulders.
"Jade is Cheshire?" Zatanna asks, her bright eyes boring into Artemis's.
"Yeah," Artemis exhales.
The jitters she'd been feeling since seeing Jade fade, giving way to an aching emptiness in the pit of her heart.
"Cheshire is Jade," Artemis repeats, her voice wobbling.
Zatanna's eyes steel as Artemis's eyes fill with tears. As she engulfs Artemis in a hug, Zatanna slowly leads them toward her bedroom door.
"Stay here," Zatanna says, as Artemis buries her face in Zatanna's shoulder. Zatanna is the only reason she's still upright.
Artemis kicks the bedroom door shut behind, hoping it will muffle the pained sob that claws its way past her lips. That one and the next one and the next one.
Artemis's swollen eyes open painfully slow, giving her time to use her other senses to gather her surroundings. The faint smell of coffee in the air coaxes her into full consciousness, partly because she craves it and partly because Zatanna is still snoring next to her and she doesn't remember setting the timer on the coffeemaker before falling asleep. She slips out of bed, careful to not wake Zatanna, who'd so gracefully taken on the role of human tissue dispenser for the night.
Artemis tiptoes her way to the door, opens and closes it without so much as a click, and heads towards the light emanating from the kitchen. She stands in the doorway for a moment, taking in the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and the sight of Wally pouring himself a cup.
"You're still here?" Artemis asks, stepping into the kitchen.
"Oh, yeah," Wally says, twisting around to face her. "No one told me to leave and I fell asleep. That is a really comfortable couch. You want a cup?"
"Yeah, thanks. I didn't think we'd be so long. Oh shit," Artemis groans, rubbing her palm against her temple. "Aqualad–"
"Taken care of," Wally interjects as he pulls another mug from her cabinet. "I told him we'd debrief later. Took a little creative license with the reason why."
Artemis takes a seat on the barstool by the kitchen counter. "What'd you tell him?"
Wally laughs to himself as he fills her mug and holds it out to her. "You had bad clams for lunch."
"Thanks," Artemis says, rolling her eyes and taking the mug in her hands, "if only. Is it weird I wish that were the reason?"
"Nah," Wally says, shrugging as he leans against the countertop across from Artemis.
"What a night," she mutters into her mug before taking a sip.
"It wasn't all bad."
Artemis snorts. "Easy for you to say."
Wally places his mug on the countertop and "Look at it this way: we rescued the doctor. No major injuries. Mission accomplished."
Artemis leans forward, rests her head on her hand, and flatly asks, "What else you got, Mr. Brightside?"
"You have a sister again, and well, I don't know about you, but I made a new friend," Wally says, smiling as he takes a sip of coffee.
Can't argue with that, Artemis thinks, pursing her lips as she watches him. He's made himself comfortable here, rifling through her cabinets with his cowl down and taking a nap on her truly exquisite couch. She likes that he likes the couch, for some reason. The thought makes her sit up straight and take a long swig of her coffee. The coffee is watery, not at all as strong as she'd like it, but it's still nice. She cradles the mug in between her hands as she speaks again.
"So, Zatanna shut us up before I could finish practicing," she starts, looking up from her mug resolutely. "Do you think we could try again?"
Wally nods and puts down his mug. "I'm all ears."
Artemis exhales softly before she starts over. "The abridged version is that my mom, Huntress, got sent to Lockhaven and my sister, Jade, started to tag along with my dad on his jobs. Jade was a natural at it. That kind of life suited her, obviously."
"One night, my dad came home without her. He said Jade had made a mistake and gotten herself killed for it." Artemis snorts, restlessly tapping her fingers against her mug. "I should've known that was a lie. Jade never made mistakes. I should've known."
"Dad started training me after that. I had to be better than Jade, but I couldn't– that wasn't me," Artemis says, her mind flipping through the harsh memories of early training days and late night crime sprees.
"I ran into Zatanna during a stakeout, and when she asked me what I was doing on top of the museum, I literally couldn't stop myself from telling her the truth. She cast a spell on me," Artemis says quickly before she stops tapping her fingers, looks to the bedroom door, and softens her expression. "We've been friends ever since."
"Uh-huh," Wally says, entirely for Artemis's benefit, as his level of actual understanding could be qualified as so-so, tops.
"When I was seventeen, my dad started to suspect I was throwing fights and trying to get him caught. And, well, I was, but I didn't want him to know that. It wasn't pretty when he confronted me about it. After that, he said I had to get my act together or I'd end up just like Jade."
Artemis watches Wally's eyebrows pinch, a subtle movement made plain by the pure amount of effort he's putting into keeping a straight face.
"When I told Zatanna about what he'd said, we came up with a plan, she made me the glamour charm, and everything kind of spiraled out of control from there. I set up a fake job to ruin. With a little acting and a lot of magic, we convinced him I was dead and that was the end of it. If Artemis was dead, he wouldn't come after me. I wouldn't have to claim him. I wouldn't have to worry about people doubting me as a hero."
"When I look back at it, I see there were several, less-severe solutions to my problem, but Zee and I were scared and under no adult supervision so we went straight for the nuclear option," Artemis laughs humorlessly. "After we did it, I visited my mom and told her the truth. She still had a year left in Lockhaven, but she– she supported my decision. I think she only did it because Jade was dead. I lived with Zatanna until she joined the League, and then I got my own offer. Dream come true, really. I had to tell Batman the truth, and Black Canary knows, and Green Arrow knows, but besides them and my mom, no one else knew before today."
Artemis crosses her arms and nods, mostly to herself, as she says, "That's it."
"Of all the reasons you'd have a glamour charm, I never would have guessed it being what you just said," Wally says, exhaling softly. "I really thought you were just Nightwinging to the extreme."
Artemis can't help but snort. "Does Nightwing know you've adjectivized his name?"
Wally smiles. "Not yet. Should I tell him soon?"
"I don't know. He might think you're treading into his territory," Artemis warns, unfolding her arms to grab her mug once more.
Wally rolls his eyes. "Pfft, he doesn't have a monopoly on wordsmithing."
They share a light look as they take sips from their mugs and ease back into the heavier half of the conversation before them.
"Hey, uh, Artemis?" Wally asks, placing his coffee mug down on the countertop.
Artemis looks up from her mug. "Yeah?"
Wally leans against the countertop and looks her in the eyes. Even in the low lighting, she can make out the faint freckles spanning the edges of his cheeks and the bridge of his nose.
"You don't have to worry about people doubting you. You're, uh, one of us. Have been for awhile. You're– I mean, the numbers don't lie. You're a great hero and–" Wally takes a breath. "Look, what I'm trying to say is this: if you decide to tell the League, the only thing that'll change for us is your name, and your face, and your hair. But who you are will be the same. That's all that matters."
"Thanks," slips out before Artemis can put more words together to express how much she really means it.
Wally smiles. "And, if your dad does find out, he's going to have to fight a whole lot of people before he gets to you."
Artemis smiles as she leans in to take another sip of her coffee. "Well, what do you know? Flash and substance."
Wally laughs into his mug.
Artemis's nose wrinkles as she nears the end of her drink. "And sub-par coffee making skills. I'll make the next pot so you can see what real coffee tastes like."
"Everything's a competition with you, isn't it?"
No one asks any questions when Flash and Zatanna return to the Watchtower that morning with a blonder, darker Tigress. They don't have time to ask, really, because Tigress takes off her mask and explains it all the same way she did to Flash (albeit a bit more coherently). When Nightwing tries to break the tension by asking who won the point for the mission, Flash makes a show of lamenting the result and calling it a tie.