It took us a while to convince M'gann the risks of telling Artemis about Wally's current situation.
"She needs to know!" M'gann persisted, trashing against Conner who was restraining her.
"But we don't know is Wally even still out there! Everything could be just another false hope. I-if he isn't and she had begun to hope…" I bit back the lump that was forming in my throat, "She would be crushed," My voice broke at the last word, pain leaked through my collected pretense.
M'gann broke down into a little sob, she is really mulling over the problem of hoping now. I walked over and soothed her, "I promise, as soon as we can confirm Wally is coming back, we WILL tell her. I would want nothing more than that." After a minute, she gave a slight bob nod and composed herself.
"So what do we do now? And if we run into Artemis, what do we say?" Conner quizzed. He didn't like the idea of lying and deceiving Artemis, it felt like betrayal to him. But he trusted us enough to go along with our choices.
"Well, as soon as Flash wakes up and Atom returns, we can start helping him with the heavy load and stuff. As for Artemis…" I chewed on my lip and glanced at Kaldur for help.
"We will go about as usual around her and avoid conversing with her about Wally. She would get suspicious if we say more," Kaldur continued.
An hour later, we were all standing in the Arctic shivering. Barry at once started giving orders on what to do, "Cordon off the area in a half mile radius with those," gesturing over to the pile of construction materials I bought online yesterday. Then immediately got work on a machine with Bart and Ray, that was to collect Wally's molecules.
"Do you sense him?" I felt myself hoping again.
M'gann concentrated, "I can't say that I do… but… there is… something lingering, I'm not sure what b-but…" she tried focusing more.
"Hey, that fence isn't going to build itself," Conner grumbled, struggling under the weight of the steel poles. I left M'gann's side and rushed to help Kaldur.
We finished the perimeter soon enough; when you have a (half-) Kryptonian around, nothing is ever too heavy. The scientific part of the project is still a long way from done though; Barry says it could take about a few more days maybe even a week and they couldn't do it in the Watchtower and have to connect it and build it whilst it was running on a not-so-portable power source. We wanted to stay and help but Barry insisted we go back to the Watchtower after a while of us standing around doing nothing as the project was too complicated for us.
"M'gann you ready to go?" M'gann had been sitting a few meters away from us the whole time, floating and eyes glowing, trying to find a link to our supposed lost friend.
She drifted to the ground and wobbly stood up. She didn't meet our eyes and hung her head, "I couldn't get a fix on who or what was out there… but I was so sure I sensed something! It was weak and kept fading in and out of my mind link."
"Hey, we'll find him," Conner consoled as he eased her back to the Zeta-tubes.
Recognized: Nightwing B01, Aqualad B03, Superboy B04, Miss Martian B05
"Nightwing?"
I mentally gulped, "Oh hi Artemis!" M'gann let out a quiet 'eep' while Conner and Kaldur paled.
"What's wrong? You look like you've just seen a ghost, and it's Tigress now," she smirked.
"Oh, it's nothing, it just has been a while since I last saw you, and how have you been?" I gave her an awkward hug.
"Not at my best recently, but I'm getting better," a hint of sadness slipped through her words. No, she wasn't 'getting better'. She was just putting up a strong frontage… like me. "So what are you doing here?"
Shoot… "Err…" I looked down; I had donned my Nightwing costume again as my winter wear for our little trip to the Arctic. "I'm rejoining the team," I lied fluently. But my mind was going: "Are you crazy?! That was all you could come up with?! Seriously?"
M'gann and Conner's eyes widen a little but other than that, showed no other signs of shock. While Kaldur remained poised and took over, "I've asked Nightwing to rejoin the team as Gamma Squad is close to finding a connection to where War World is and I would prefer to have as much help as we can get if we are to face Vandal and Klarion again."
"What he said," Conner added.
"Well, welcome back then Nightwing. It has been quiet around here lately; it would be nice to see another familiar face," she mused, "I'm gonna go get a cup of coffee before my night classes, you coming?"
"You go ahead," I replied, perhaps a little too quickly. Artemis's eyes narrowed slightly, she may not have been trained by Bats, but she is as good as catching lies in her own right. But, luckily for us, she shrugged it off and nodded.
"Kay," and she walked off to change out of her costume.
Only once when she was out of sight, we all heaved a sigh of relief. Then M'gann mind linked us up.
(M) Phew That was a close one.
(C) I'll say.
(K) So I assume you will have to rejoin the team after this?
(D) I guess I am then. Sigh. At least my costume still fits snug.
(C) Guys, I'm not really the best of liars you know.
(M) Ditto here.
"This is turning out really asterous" I thought sarcastically.
(M & C) We heard that!
(D) Sorry…
(K) What is important now is that we find a good cover story for Flash, Kid Flash and Atom's constant absence.
(D) I'll think of something.
(C) Of course you will, seeing as you're the best liar out of all of us. Just remember to keep us in the loop this time?
(D) I will. I held back an insult, I guess I did deserve this.
Recognized: Nightwing B01
I left them up at the Watchtower to announce my return to the League; it didn't really call for a celebration so I excused myself and went home.
I plopped down in my bed. Barry says everything is going to be alright… Do I dare to let myself hope? I closed my tired eyes.
Hope, it is the only thing we've got now. And for once, I fully embraced the feeling of bliss hope had granted me. I will see my brother again, I know I will. Wally, just hang in there…
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