Author's Note: I'm really trying to crank these out for you guys. Been super busy, but I did have time to make a Tumblr account. If any of you are interested, here is the link: .com/tumblelog/awakeforthenight. If you have a Tumblr I'd love to follow you and I'd love for you guys to follow me (: Also, to those of you who expressed concern that I would forsake this fanfiction to write my Artemis/Roy fic, I can assure you that will never happen. This fic is like my child and I'm definitely going to finish it (: Anyways, here's the next chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.
Chapter Nineteen: Party
For the second time that month, Remy was on a plane—well the bio-ship—seated next to Artemis.
The team's latest assignment had them headed to Monte Carlo. Remy was not excited in the slightest.
Remy had always wanted to visit Monaco, but not while she was working. It was supposed to be a very beautiful place, a wonderful vacation spot. Unfortunately for her, Remy was working overtime in the worst possible way.
Protecting some old fat prince from Monaco was not her idea of fun. Remy hadn't ever really seen Prince Ferdinand, so maybe the fat judgment was a bit preemptive, however she still didn't like the idea of integrating into his security system.
"What's wrong with you guys?" Robin asked, curiously staring at both Remy and Artemis.
"Nothing," they answered in unison.
"I think Rob is referring to the fact that you both aren't at each other's throats," Wally put in helpfully from the other side of Remy. "Or at mine, for that matter."
Remy shared a glance with Artemis who, in turn, shrugged.
"Perhaps the retreat Batman sent the two of you on allowed you to work through some of your—" Kaldur struggled for the right words, "—unresolved feelings toward each other?" Kaldur suggested.
"We worked it out," Artemis shrugged. "No big deal."
"What she said," Remy waved her left hand at Wally.
"Where was the—" Wally's eyes widened. "Wait, what's that on your wrist?"
Oh shit. "What are you talking about?" She asked, glancing at her wrist—the one without the tattoo. She held the right one up and showed Wally, pretending to be oblivious. "Nothing there."
"The other one," Wally scoffed.
Remy groaned and held up her hand, revealing the black set of numbers.
"What's it mean?" Robin asked.
"None of your fucking business that's what," Remy growled, much to the surprise of the team. Wally shared a concerned look with Robin over his head.
"Artemis," Megan interrupted. "You have one as well. The tattoo, I mean."
"She does?" Wally craned his neck over to get a look at Artemis' arm. "That date supposed to mean something?"
"Mind your own goddamn business," Artemis barked, turning away from him to face Conner. She gave the clone a meaningful look.
"Why are you staring at me?" Conner asked innocently.
Artemis groaned and face forward, throwing a sideways glance towards Remy.
"Seriously what is it?" Wally asked. "Did you and Arty—"
"Don't call me that, Baywatch," Artemis put in hotly.
"—join a secret club or something? Get engaged? Adopt a child?" Wally snickered.
"No," Remy rolled her eyes. "It was the final day of our retreat."
"Then why weren't you at the team's Thanksgiving brunch?" Megan inserted quietly. "If the last date was the twenty-second after all."
"Cause we were on a plane home," Artemis explained irritably.
"It took you that long to get home?" Robin asked, suspiciously.
Wally nodded. "Batman didn't say where you guys were, just that you had gone on some kind of spiritual retreat."
"We were in Budapest," Remy said as Artemis spit out, "we went to Tibet."
Remy swiveled her head to fix Artemis with a look. Then she said, "We were in Tibet."
"—in Budapest," Artemis finished as Remy did.
"Which is it?" Megan giggled.
"Both," Artemis said, glancing at Remy. "We backpacked through Tibet and then hit Budapest on the way back. It was life changing, now can we please drop it and discuss the mission details? Kaldur?"
Wally shared a look with Robin, realizing that maybe this was a girl thing or something weird like that.
Kaldur shifted in his seat. "Yes of course, Artemis is correct, we need to decide upon the appropriate positions for the team. I have a few ideas…"
Remy tugged at the hem of her strapless red dress irritably, turning around to glance at herself in the mirror. The sparkles on her gold high heels caught the light from the hotel lamp, creating a golden kaleidoscope in the mirror.
"Stop checking out your own ass," Artemis muttered from behind her, tugging on her waitress' uniform. "It looks fine."
Remy rolled her eyes, examining her powdered face, her eyes encased in liquid liner, her hair perfectly coifed and curled. It was so foreign to her, to be this dressed up.
"I'd trade you jobs in a heartbeat," Artemis promised.
"Not my fault the prince prefers brunettes," Remy smirked, secretly delighting in Artemis' envy.
"Could you guys please try and keep it down? Remy looks gorgeous and Artemis looks appropriately dowdy blah blah blah." Robin said, from the hotel desk. He was staring intently at the computer screen split into smaller visuals of the various locales at the Hotel Renoir. "This job is pretty whelming."
Robin was set up in this hotel room on the seventh floor to coordinate the team through a series of comlinks. He was basically the eye in the sky for tonight's operation.
The prince of Monaco had been one the receiving end of some very nasty death threats courtesy of—oh the irony, Remy thought to herself—the League of Shadows. Ra's al Ghul had put a hit out on Prince Ferdinand quite some time ago, and the assassins were getting closer to completing their goal. Not a month before this night, the Shadows had managed to blow up a decoy sedan that was believed to have been transporting the Prince.
Tonight was the celebration of the day that Monaco had become its own country, finally breaking free of French rule to establish their own monarchy. Prince Ferdinand was holding one of the supposedly most epic parties in all of Europe for this occasion at the Hotel Renoir.
It was the perfect opportunity for the Shadows to take him out. There would be thousands of people in the crowd at the Hotel, all of them wanting to celebrate their country in style. A skilled assassin could probably figure a way inside the building, despite the drastic security measures being taken by Prince Ferdinand's top level security team.
Of course, with so many people there that night, it was also the perfect time to get Prince Ferdinand out of the country and to his family's hidden estate in the Swiss Alps.
That was the objective.
As such, Artemis was tasked with acting as a roving waitress—of course she wasn't filling actual drink orders, it would be a distraction. She was supposed to keep an eye out for any known Shadows operatives from the rap sheets Batman had given us before we left.
Of course, the other team members needed those rap sheets to be able to identify many of the Shadows operatives. Remy and Artemis did not.
Megan was set up as one of the blackjack dealers near the stage where the festivities would begin. Conner had been set up as a bartender opposite one of the exits. Robin of course, was coordinating the Young Justice team, while Wally was acting as a personal body guard for the Prince. Kaldur had been assigned to coordinate with the perimeter security should anything happen outside the Hotel.
Remy, on the other hand, had the most wonderful job of all. She was his date.
For security purposes only, but still… This was just awkward. Prince Ferdinand had been informed that the Justice League would be sending covert help, and he had been shown pictures of Remy, Artemis and Megan in human form.
He had chosen Remy immediately, much to her dismay.
"This guy is probably a total jerk," Remy announced, scrutinizing her reflection in the mirror once more. "His ego is probably the size of Monaco itself."
"I'm not going to disagree," Artemis shrugged.
"Shh," Robin held up a hand. "All right, they just called for all workers to report down to the hotel lobby. They're letting the first guest in in about an hour. That's you Artemis—Megan? Oh yeah, I got you, you're linked up—take this comlink and link up to frequency four alpha zeta."
Artemis took the small earpiece off the table and slipped it into her ear, clicking it on. "You got me?"
Robin didn't turn around, he merely signaled with a thumbs up. "You're locked in Conner. Yeah—Wally and Kaldur have been set for the past forty five minutes. Wally's bringing the Prince to our room now. I'm getting Remy linked up now—hold on let me check, I—"
"Hey," Artemis said quietly, grabbing Remy's wrist. "Watch yourself out there."
"I'm sorry about Thanksgiving," Remy blurted, surprising herself by the admission of guilt.
Artemis stopped whatever she was about to say and laughed. "Never thought I'd hear those words come out of your mouth."
Remy narrowed her eyes. "Don't make this a big deal. It's not."
Artemis held up her hands. "Understood. But hey—" Artemis glanced over at Robin, furiously relaying instructions to Conner at the moment "—check my duffel side pocket. Just in case."
Remy raised her eyebrows, nevertheless nodding her head, walking over to Artemis' duffel bag.
"Artemis!" Robin cried out. "What are you doing? Get down there! Remy get your comlink. Now."
Artemis sighed, knocking on the wall before heading out the hotel room door. Remy unzipped the pocket to reveal a handgun.
Remy struggled to keep herself from grinning. Since joining the team, she hadn't dared trying to replace her stash of firearms for fear of Batman discovering them. To have her hands on what looked like a brand spankin new one…
Oh and so nice, Remy thought wistfully.
Artemis had been thinking ahead. If it came down to it and Remy was forced to shoot someone to save her or the Prince's life she would have to do it.
"Remy, now is not the time," Robin said from the desk. Remy bolted upright, shoving the gun into her garter, making sure the safety was on. "The Prince is almost here with Wally. I need to get you set up on the comlink."
Remy sauntered over and picked up her ear piece putting it in. As Robin was about to relay the instructions, Remy stopped him. "Four alpha zeta, I know."
Robin nodded. "Good. Now before they arrive… what's your name?'
"Natasha Alenko," Remy recited, putting on her fake accent. "A young and sophisticated British woman that just so happens to be the second cousin, twice removed of Prince William."
Robin turned to stare at her. "That's what you came up with?"
Remy shuffled her feet, clicking her ear piece once more until she could hear static. "Wally's idea. Do you have me?"
Robin shook his head. "Try clicking it back a few more times."
Remy did as she was told, searching for the annoyingly cheerful voice of Miss Martian on the frequency. "Why can't Miss M just link us up?"
"Too many people," Robin reminded her. "She might accidentally link up some random stranger and then we'd be screwed."
Remy nodded, clicking the earpiece again until Robin instructed her to stop.
"You're all linked up—" a knock sounded at the door "—and they're here."
"I'll get it," Remy told him, seeing the struggle at whether or not he should get the door or stay and watch the feed from the security cameras clear on his face.
"Remember, be nice," Robin said. "Don't—well don't be you. Be Natasha."
Remy ignored him and opened the door to reveal the Prince of Monaco. She breathed out a sigh of relief to see that he was, in fact, quite dashing. He couldn't have been more than twenty five and he was definitely neither fat nor old. He even smelled good.
"So you are to be my escort for the evening then?" The Prince grinned roguishly, his voice silky smooth. She noticed he had a bit of a French accent. "I had no idea my protector would be so extraordinarily beautiful. Perfect."
He reached out and took her hand in his, kissing her lightly on the knuckles. Remy struggled not to roll her eyes. Extraordinarily beautiful? Yeah right.
"Natasha Alenko," Remy smiled prettily, her voice lighter than usual. "It's a pleasure Prince Ferdinand."
"Just Ferdinand," he insisted, taking her arm in his.
"We should depart to the restaurant. Sir." It was just then that Remy realized Wally had been standing there the whole time.
Oops, Remy thought to herself, taking in Wally's appearance. He was dressed in a dark black suit and it seemed to be in such contrast to his personality. Wally was never serious, not even when he was discussing science.
Wally was the last person she would ever expect to wear a suit. He did look good though.
"Very well," Ferdinand smiled. "I hope you're hungry, Natasha. The Hotel Renoir's dinner course is simply delightful."
"Brilliant," Remy smiled, fluttering her eyelashes for good measure. Wally shut the door behind himself as they started for the elevator together.
Wally studied Remy's face for a moment, seemingly in shock. Maybe at her appearance; Remy had to admit it was quite a drastic change.
As they entered into the elevator, Robin's voice crackled in through the comlink. "You are way too good at the fluttering your eyelashes thing. It's ironic really."
"Oh shut up," Remy whispered.
"What was that?" Ferdinand asked.
"Nothing," she said, smiling so brightly it hurt. "Nothing at all."
Two hours into the celebration and everything was running smoothly.
Well for the most part.
Kaldur had already stopped several people with suspicious looking items on their person at the door and had apprehended two of them. Not to mention, the Prince's team had picked up someone trying to sneak in from the roof.
Robin had been serving as the gofer between the Prince's security team and the Young Justice team the whole night, relaying the Princes' location at all times.
Remy had been glued to the Prince the whole time, with Wally lurking right behind them like a shadow. So far, neither had been approached or confronted by anyone who could've been an undercover Shadows operative, but the night was still young. They couldn't move the Prince for a few more hours at least.
The Shadows had to be under the impression that he was there to stay.
The only downside so far was that Prince Ferdinand was very popular with his people. They were constantly being approached by loyal citizens and friends of the royal family, which meant Remy had to actually be pleasant for a change.
It wasn't helping that the Prince seemed to be getting friendlier and friendlier as time went by. Remy was pretty sure that his hand was permanently glued to her ass.
Pretty soon, however, it would be time for Prince Ferdinand to grace the stage and give a speech about independence and freedom and all that crap.
The perfect opportunity for someone to gun him down or cause an explosion somewhere in the vicinity.
As they made their way there, Ferdinand's hand on Remy's lower back and Wally hovering behind with an irritated expression on his face, Remy was rudely shoved back into the Prince as someone forcefully bumped her shoulder.
Ferdinand righted Remy, looping his arm around her waist, not bothered in the slightest.
Remy's eyes zeroed in on the rapidly disappearing figure. Just as he was about to disappear behind a rather large man, he turned around, revealing stormy grey eyes and a very familiar face.
Remy's heart caught in her throat as the man winked at her.
Ares.