Hey! I know that I've put up the past few chapters pretty quickly, but, as you noticed, it's been awhile since the last chapter. I apologize. My life's just been kinda….hectic. Summer's here, so the next few chapters will come out a quicker, I promise.
Batman-defeats-all, MyLittleAngelxxx, Angel of Mysteries, Jedi Ani Unduli, candi711, nequam-tenshi, romeondjuliet4-ever, and Nessa671 have my gratitude for reviewing.
Special thanks to romeondjuliet4-ever and Little Karma for submitting the last OC's.
Re-edit: Thank you to all of you who submitted OC's! I will now NO LONGER take any OC's.
I'd also like to apologize to nequam-tenshi for messing up and leaving Gentil out of the list by accident. I hope one of the last parts of the chapter helps to make amends.
Here's what I have so far:
Villains: Stake
Blast
Lilac
Midnight Prowler
Shadow
MockingJay
Black Rose
Dark Angel
Gamble
Heroes: Sin
Jeta
Halfte
Gentil
Insight
Night Bird
Shadow Tamer
Mystery
Morph
P.S. If anything of this is wrong, you MUST private message me to let me know (or leave it in this chapter's review).
Italics = thoughts, "telepathic communication"/ "radio communication"/ "on television", time stamps, flashbacks
Bold= exaggerated words
This is the Buried Secrets version of Usual Suspects.
Warning: Characters are most likely OOC, and profanity is used at certain points in the story.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Young Justice.
Geneva
December 24, 04:09 CET
"Did you get the case?" A loud, booming voice echoed across the dark room.
"Relax," a girl came into the light, "Interpol still hasn't noticed the other missing artillery I've stolen from the factories. Like I thought, Parasite's little independent stunt bought me cover."
Somewhere in the room, the man was pleased. But he still continued gruffly, "Did any surveillance catch you? Are you sure that not a single soul knows of what you stole?"
The girl rolled her purple eyes, "If you're worried about the kiddie sidekick team, then you don't know them at all. They were so wrapped up in proving the circus innocent and capturing Parasite that they didn't notice a thing. Not even the Boy Wonder suspects anything."
"Excellent," the man stepped out of the shadows. His slightly brown face had three long, pale scars across his face. "The Light is very pleased with you, Mirage."
"Thank you," Mirage smiled slyly, "But if we're done here, I got a little…family bonding time waiting for me in Gotham."
Gotham City
December 25, 8:24 EDT
"Merry Christmas!" Alice smiled from besides the tree. She was beaming brightly with a red- ribonned gift in her hands.
Artemis only rubbed her eyes in response. After they had caught Parasite, Artemis promptly went back home and slept for the rest of the day. She woke up in the evening to patrol with Red Arrow, only to crash back onto her pillow in the early morning. Needless to say, Artemis was still deprived of sleep. Not to mention, she really needed to focus on her grades at Gotham Academy if she wanted to keep her scholarship.
"I got you a gift!" Alice beamed as she gave Artemis the gift in her hands.
"Thanks," Artemis smiled gently at her. Little-or rather not so little- Alice had certainly grown on Artemis.
Alice leaned in towards Artemis, cupping her hand over her mouth as she whispered, "Mom wants to see a certain boy for Christmas dinner. You apparently brought him home before."
It didn't take long for Artemis to realize that Alice was referring to Roy. She hadn't brought anybody from the Team home with the exception of him; and as for Gotham Academy, who was she kidding? She was lucky she just didn't sit by herself at lunch time. Bette sat with her occasionally (she was always busy doing lunch-time activities to pad her college application), but Artemis spent most of her time with Barbara Gordon and her eccentric-yet-completely-relatable-to friend Richard Grayson.
"Ugh," Artemis groaned so Alice wouldn't get the wrong idea, "I told her that I'm barely just friends with the guy."
Alice tilted her head, "Is he one of your extracurricular team mates?"
"He wouldn't happen to be named 'Roy', right?" Alice added, the corners of lips twitching upwards.
Artemis gave her a horrified look. Different scenarios of how Alice could have discovered him ran through her head. None of them were really that realistic, but they were all horrifying either way.
Upon seeing Artemis's expression, Alice rushed to explain. "You mumble that name in your sleep sometimes."
Artemis flushed a deep red and her cheeks burned. Had she really?
Alice giggled, "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me!"
Artemis groaned and plopped down on the couch, burying her face in shame.
"Good morning, girls!" Paula beamed as she wheeled herself in.
Alice rushed over to her excitedly, "I got you a gift. Come and see!"
Paula chuckled good-naturedly, "Alright, alright. I got a gift for both of you, but I'm afraid you're going to have to wait awhile to receive it."
As Alice dug underneath the tree for Paula's present, Paula turned towards her still-groaning blonde daughter.
"Is there any chance that my future son-in-law is going to be here tonight?" Paula teased, her eyes twinkling in merriment.
In response, Artemis groaned and chucked the pillow she had been burying her face in.
Paula dodged it and thunked Artemis on the head lightly. "I'm just trying to help you! Your social skills are just….not as good as your archery skills!"
Artemis couldn't help but REALLY wish she didn't wake up yet.
Washington D.C.
December 30, 09:16 EDT
"You are watching the live coverage of the Justice League's induction of its five newest members," Cat Grant announced. "Looks like the entire League showed up to welcome the new blood. Everyone from Batman to Captain Marvel."
Wally chewed on an apple, "I'm glad they didn't kick Billy out."
He added, "And I love the fact that there's a ten-year old on the League!"
"There is?" Rocket, or Raquel Ervin, the newest addition to the Team inquired.
Robin elbowed Wally in the ribs, "Way to keep a secret, genius!"
"Ow!" Wally protested. "Hey, she's on the Team now, right?"
"Superman is now handing out official League membership cards."
Artemis scrutinized the television screen. Roy had finally gotten what he wanted: Justice League Membership. She felt happy for him, she really did, but she couldn't help but feel a little envious too.
"Starting with Dr. Fate," Cat Grant began to report.
Zatanna bit her lip and looked down sadly. Artemis wanted nothing more than to reach out to her, but Robin beat her to it by putting a reassuring hand on Zatanna's shoulder.
"Atom, Plastic Man, and Icon," Cat finished.
"You know," Rocket exclaimed indignantly, "I was the one to convince Icon to become a hero in the first place. I should be outside celebrating with him. Not hidden away in here!"
Kaldur smiled slightly at her, "Welcome to our world."
"Well," Rocket grinned, clearly charmed by the Atlantean, "I suppose there's an upside too."
So is this what's happening here? We're all pairing off one by one into couples? I mean, there's M'gann and Superboy, Robin and Zatanna, and now possibly Kaldur and Rocket!
"Finally, Green Arrow welcomes his former protégée, Speedy, now known as Red Arrow, to this roster of heroes."
"Way to go, Roy!" Wally cheered loudly.
Artemis smiled fondly at the television screen. "Way to go, Roy!" she echoed quietly.
In her mind, she thought of what she could say to him when he came in. Congratulations, you finally made it? It was hard coming up with something sincere that didn't make her feel like she was groveling at his feet.
"At last, he gets his wish," Kaldur stated.
"The first of us to make it!" Robin grinned, "No one will call him a sidekick anymore."
"Wait," Rocket cut in, "Since when is being a sidekick a bad thing? You sidekicks were my inspiration!"
"Well see," Robin started to explain, "six months ago it-"
He was interrupted by a beeping sound on his wrist watch.
"Cheshire was just spotted by the facial recognition features at the Ashville Regional Airport!" Robin announced.
Jade? What the hell does she think that she's doing?
Kaldur frowned, "If that's true, we must depart at once and apprehend her."
"Ooh!" Rocket squirmed in obvious delight, "Finally! Some action!"
Wally took a last bite of the apple and pumped his fist in the air, "Yeah! Let's go kick some assassin butt!"
Then he faltered, "Wait. Shouldn't we wait for Roy?"
Artemis, Conner, and M'gann had been quiet the whole time. But now Artemis spoke up, "He's part of the League now. We don't have to wait around for him. He can manage his own."
In truth, Artemis preferred to keep Roy away from her sister. But it was only out of concern that they'd end up in a relationship in which they'd end up hurt…..at least….Artemis hoped that was the reason why.
M'gann stood up, still holding Conner's hand. "The bio-ship is still parked in camouflage mode outside. I'll go summon her."
Robin only grinned in the meanwhile, "Kaldur, Wally. Am I the only one getting a sense of déjà vu?"
"And how did I know you guys would pull the disappearing act?"
To the whole Team's shock, Red Arrow was sitting down in the pilot chair of the bio-ship with his arms folded smugly.
Artemis huffed and pushed past him and the others to her own seat. "Shove off, Speedy."
"I don't think so," Red Arrow said, looking at all of them. "You're up to something and I want in."
"Well," Wally began.
Artemis cut him off, "I would have thought you out of all people would've been celebrating your League Membership. Now I see that you only want to flaunt it in the rest of our faces."
Red Arrow raised his eyebrow and, for a moment, Artemis actually thought he was going to let her out-of-the-line comment go.
"Gee, Artemis. Jealous much?" he retorted instead.
Artemis snorted, "Of you? No way in hell!"
"Okay, what's their problem?" Rocket turned questioningly to M'gann.
M'gann smiled sheepishly, "They've always had this kind of rivalry. I think it's best that we, um, ignore them for now."
Everyone sat down in their seats, and Red Arrow confidently stood up from the pilot's seat to take his own behind Artemis.
He leaned forward to mutter in Artemis's ear. "Try to tone down your jealousy, will ya?"
Artemis merely exhaled in obvious exasperation and looked out the window.
Smokey Mountains
December 30, 10:48 EDT
"Okay, so are you going to tell me what we're doing or what?" Red Arrow's voice boomed across the silence.
"We're going after Cheshire, aka Jade Nguyen," Robin answered pulling up security footage. "Facial recognition features spotted her boarding flight 1398 at the Ashville Regional Airport."
"Artemis, Red Arrow, you've both seen Cheshire without her mask. Is that her?" Kaldur asked, folding his arms in seriousness.
Red Arrow seemed uncomfortable, "I was too busy getting Cheshire off me to really take a look at her face."
Artemis snorted, "Of course you were. Anyway, there's no doubt about it." She stared intently at the face on the screen before her, "It's Jade. Cheshire."
"Well," Robin started, "it's not her that we're particularly interested in. It's what she has."
He zoomed in to show that Cheshire was holding a case.
"Is it the same case you saw in New Orleans, Artemis? The one that got away?" Kaldur questioned her.
And it was. The same case that she should have gotten, but she choked. And Roy had taken full advantage of it.
"Yes," Artemis admitted sorrowfully. She didn't like being reminded that she had failed to Jade, Roy, and Daddy Dearest.
"Okay," Rocket cut in, "I'm guessing by the mug shot that this 'Cheshire' is the bad guy, but what's so important about the case?"
"Remember the Injustice League?" Robin asked as the pictures on the screen changed.
"And their giant, evil plants?" Rocket sarcastically answered. "Uh, yeah!"
Kaldur took over for Robin, "The Team and the League put them in prison, but their allies still scheme. Whatever is in that containment case seems important to their plans."
"We had a chance to catch in New Orleans," Kid Flash somberly interrupted. "But someone," he glared at Artemis, "screwed up."
Artemis narrowed her eyes right back at him, as if to say, Oh please, like you've never messed up before.
"Approaching Cheshire's jet!" M'gann announced.
Everyone in the bio-ship leaned forward in anticipation. The sight before them made them all wince and look away.
"Looks like there were no survivors," M'gann said softly.
"You okay?" Artemis asked, concerned. She reached out to put her hand on his shoulder, but she hesitated and put it back at her side.
"I'm fine," Red Arrow rubbed his temples with his fingers crossly. "I just feel a bit of a headache coming on."
"Again?" Artemis folded her arms in suspicion. "You've been having them a lot lately. Maybe you should sit this one out."
"I said," Red Arrow gritted his teeth in obvious aggravation, "I'm fine."
With that, he stalked off to join the others in looking through the wreckage of the plane.
Artemis huffed before kicking the snow in annoyance. Why did he always have to push her away when she was just trying to help?
She began to walk to where the others were grouped.
"And because Cheshire and that case represent our unfinished business." Kaldur was saying.
"Where are the bodies?" Conner asked as he threw what remained of the left wing away.
Artemis blinked in realization. For a moment, Artemis was worried that something had happened to Jade. And though Jade had backstabbed her, Artemis couldn't help but feel concerned for her.
"Here's one," a sudden voice cut across the air.
Everyone turned to look towards the source.
Jade.
"And it is stunning." Cheshire continued arrogantly.
She posed and blew a kiss to Red Arrow, "Nice to see you again, Arrow."
Artemis smiled in relief, but it was short-lived.
"I am flora, not fauna. I am foliage, not trees." Another voice came from behind and above Artemis.
She spun around in surprise and was shocked to see many people in white carrying Apokoliptan weapons.
"What am I?" The Riddler grinned as he snapped his fingers.
Poles shot up from the ground and formed a green force field dome around them. They were trapped.
"C'mon," Riddler frowned, "You can get this!"
Artemis instinctively reached for an arrow from her quiver. This guy was getting on her nerves.
"I am shrubbery, not grass. What am I? I…." Riddler trailed off.
"Ambush," Robin completed, frowning as he took it all in.
The Riddler laughed in response, "Didn't you think we'd be tipped you were on Cheshire's trail? We're tired of your interference, kiddies. This is your endgame, ordered from above and executed by their master strategist…moi."
"Miss Martian," Kaldur asked, "Is everyone linked?"
"Yes," M'gann answered as she brought what looked to be her game face on.
"Go!" And with Kaldur's simple command, the Team swung into action.
Artemis growled as she swung her bow at her sister. Cheshire had easily deflected and dodged her earlier arrows, and Zatanna's blizzard spell was kind of making it hard for Artemis to see anyway.
"It's like old times!" Cheshire said gleefully as she spun and attempted to low kick Artemis. "Dad pitting us against each other."
Artemis's eyes narrowed behind her mask. Mustering all her strength, she pushed her bow against Cheshire's swords. Then she began to turn, hoping to knock Cheshire over with a blow to the face. However, when Artemis turned around, Cheshire was already lying on the ground.
Artemis raised her eyebrow at the scene in front of her before blowing a strand of blonde hair out of her face irritably. "You couldn't let me finish her off on my own?"
Red Arrow grinned from where he was, about a foot away from Cheshire with an arrow drawn. "Not a chance, Blondie."
Artemis rolled her eyes, but smiled back at him anyway. His arrogance had started to grow on her a bit.
"SB, you're flying!" Robin shouted in surprise through their telepathic link.
Sure enough, Superboy was going crazy in his fight with Mammoth. He was even flying and using heat vision! Artemis was so distracted by Conner's sudden display of those skills that she didn't notice the cliff side above her beginning to collapse.
"ARTEMIS!" Both Cheshire and Red Arrow screamed as the rocks started to collapse right over her head.
Artemis's eyes widened as she looked up, and before she could do anything, the wind was knocked out of her.
"Ugh," Artemis groaned as she rubbed her head. As she opened her eyes, she saw a tan hand extended to her.
Still wide-eyed, Artemis accepted Cheshire's help in standing up.
Cheshire had tackled Artemis out of the way, therefore saving her life.
Upon spotting Artemis's confused expression, Cheshire huffed exasperatedly. "Okay, fine. We're sisters; I don't actually want you dead."
With that Cheshire disappeared, leaving a still very confused and distraught Artemis in her wake.
"Artemis! Are you all right?" Red Arrow asked, assessing her for any injuries frantically. He had arrived almost a moment after Cheshire disappeared.
"I'm fine," Artemis grumbled, still brushing herself off. Her pride was once more knocked off its tilt in front of Red Arrow.
Red Arrow suppressed a chuckle, "And how does that lie sound familiar?"
"Ah ha!" Artemis pointed a finger accusingly at him, "So you admit you were lying!"
Red Arrow rolled his eyes, but the smile was still there. "C'mon, the battle's not over yet. We still have work to do."
Mount Justice
December 30, 15:45 EDT
"You hacked League systems, disobeyed protocol, and endangered your lives. And your initiative resulted in the capture of three escaped felons, proving Warden Strange runs Belle Reve as a cover for criminal activity," Batman droned stoically.
Then he actually smiled from behind his cowl, "Well done."
Everyone smiled as they looked at each other in triumphant victory. Kid Flash even offered Artemis a slight grin to show that there were no hard feelings.
"And then there's this," Batman stepped forward to allow Icon to show them the containment case. "Bio-technology integrated with some form of nano-circuitry."
The reddish-purple chips glowed eerily in the light of the briefing room.
"Though I am…..unfamiliar with this species, the bio component is clearly not of Earth," Icon imputed as he examined one of the chips up close.
"Well," Batman seemed thoughtful, "We'll further examine this at the Watch Tower."
With that, Batman, Red Tornado, Black Canary, and Icon turned to exit through the Zeta Beams.
Artemis spun around to Red Arrow. "Shouldn't you be going with them?" Artemis asked softly, "You know, celebrating?"
Red Arrow's expression morphed into something more hesitant. "I think…." He paused thoughtfully before smiling at her, "I'll stay here."
"Besides," he narrowed his eyes in Conner's direction, "I have some unfinished business…"
"Roy!" Artemis's hands instinctively reached for Roy's arm. "Don't."
"Fine," Roy grumbled. "For now….." he muttered underneath his breath.
Robin turned to address the whole Team. "You realize we were set up?"
"Yes," Kaldur turned thoughtful, "Cheshire and Riddler were….tipped and ready for us."
The conversation seemed so familiar, and Artemis quickly realized what it was leading to.
"Ugh," Artemis groaned putting a hand to her head in exasperation. "Not the mole thing again!"
"Mole thing" Rocket was confused. "Again?"
Kid Flash jumped in, "We had intel that there was a traitor on the Team."
Conner angrily pushed through the rest of the Team through the back, "Mainly Artemis, M'gann, or me!" He glared at Roy.
Oh no. Mount Harper about to blow in 3...2...
"I don't know what your real problem is, Superboy, but you almost got Artemis killed when you were fighting Mammoth!" Roy growled at Conner. "And I got two words for you: Anger. Management."
"Funny," Conner snorted, "I could say the same about you."
"Enough," Kaldur stepped in between the two. He turned to Conner, "And the mole situation is more complex than you realize."
"Whatever," Conner scoffed as he stalked off. Then he paused, suddenly clutching his head.
"Superboy!" M'gann levitated towards him. "Are you alright?"
Conner straightened, "I'm fine. There's just something I need to do."
Gotham City
December 30, 19:26 EDT
Artemis heaved a sigh as she silently closed the apartment door behind her. Surprisingly the television was off. Normally Paula would've been watching the news, or Alice watching the history channel.
Instead, Alice was kneeling next to the coffee table playing cards with someone whose back was to Artemis.
"Oh hey," Alice said, not looking up from her deck. "Mom went out for an errand. She's supposed to be back in about ten minutes."
Truth be told, Artemis was pleasantly surprised to find that Alice had found a friend. Knowing the cruelty of some Gotham children, she was almost afraid that the girl who had quickly become a sister to her would be bullied due to her way too mature personality.
"Four tens!" Alice announced to the other player.
"You're lying," the other player accused calmly, not looking up from his hand of cards.
Alice sighed, "You're supposed to shout 'BS!'. A little more emotion would be ideal."
He seemed puzzled at her response, "But it is so rude! The words are not kind and a loud voice may disturb the neighbors."
"Whatever," Alice shrugged nonchalantly, but you could tell she was smiling by her voice. "I'm going to the kitchen to grab a drink. Do you want anything, you guys?"
"No, thanks," Artemis and the boy declined politely at the same time.
As Alice got up to leave, the boy stretched his arms and turned around to face Artemis.
"What are you doing here?" Artemis grinned, once she saw who he was.
Si Nguyen smiled, "I'm here to visit, of course. My train was delayed, so I couldn't come in time for Christmas, but I'm here for New Years!"
"That's great!" Artemis beamed, "And I guess you've met Alice too."
"Yeah," Si looked troubled. He took a deep breath, "Can I tell you something, Artemis?"
Artemis nodded uncertainly, "Um, yeah."
Si took a step closer to Artemis and cupped his hand to the side of his mouth, as if he was telling a secret. "Alcee has been having troubles."
"Alcee?" Artemis asked, slightly puzzled. In truth, she wasn't really, but her mind desperately hoped it really wasn't who she thought it was.
Si bobbed his head up and down, "Alcee is the nickname I gave her. Anyway, she's extremely fragile and sickly for her age."
Artemis gave him a weird look, "She's about the same age as you, Si. Besides, what do you mean she's sickly? She seems perfectly healthy to me!"
Si shook his head, "No. When I was playing capture-the-flag with her earlier, she was constantly stopping to catch her breath, even in the first few minutes. She was pale and it looked like she was going to collapse." He gestured to the cards still lying on the coffee table, "That's why I suggested we go inside and play cards or something."
"Well, thank you, Si, for looking after Alice," Artemis smiled briefly at him before casting a worried glance towards the kitchen. Alice was currently rummaging through the cabinet for a clean cup.
I've been so wrapped up in my own personal stuff, that I forgot to think of Alice and how's she adjusting to her new life. Artemis realized.
"But that's not all," Si told her somewhat sorrowfully. His blue-gray eyes looked so sad. "The neighborhood kids bully and make fun of her because she's not really part of your family. They call her 'Street Rat' and teased her mercilessly when she found their flag. They said that it was because she knew every nook and cranny from sleeping in the streets every night. She managed to ignore them, but I think she was about to cry."
"What?" Artemis thundered angrily.
I am SO dealing with them later!
Si looked down ashamedly, "I'm sorry to say that I lost control of my temper and started yelling at them. I think I only made it worse."
"No, Si," Artemis protested, reaching out to put her hand on his shoulder comfortingly. She then pulled him into a hug, "You did what we all would have done. You protected Alice, and that's what matters."
"Am I interrupting something?" Paula seemed amused as she wheeled herself into her apartment.
Artemis smiled as she pulled away from hugging Si, "Oh, hey, Mom!"
"We were just….." Artemis trailed off. Should she tell Paula? It seemed a good idea until Artemis thought of how upset Paula would be.
After a few moments of silence, Paula shook her head, chuckling. "I will never get my daughters."
Upon hearing the word "daughters", Artemis stiffened. She was still confused over Jade. Her older sister, despite betraying her and leaving her to her own devices against their dad, saved Artemis's life by pushing her out of the way. Then Jade refused to fight her and the Team. True, it was different from her usual attitude towards Artemis, but it didn't exactly make them sisters again.
Paula smiled, but not for the reason that Artemis was upset about. "Yes, Artemis, my daughters." She brought out a stack of papers from her pocket. "Here's your late Christmas present."
Artemis frowned as initially read the papers over her mom's shoulder. Then, as she got towards the end, she began to beam.
"Oh, mom!" Artemis hugged Paula happily, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"What did I miss?" Alice walked in, confusion written all over her face.
Artemis ran across the room and enveloped her in a hug, "Welcome to the family, Ally!"
Artemis was too preoccupied with her own happiness to notice the tears brimming from Alice's eyes.
For those of you who don't understand the ending, Alice has finally officially been adopted by the Crock family! Sadly, the adoption didn't happen until one of the last chapters of Buried Secrets. Yes, this story is coming to an end (which you guys will REALLY hate).
Yes, I know Roy wasn't in the battle with Cheshire and the Riddler, but hey, he's one of the major characters of the story! Besides, I couldn't stand it that Roy missed out on the sidekick's own mission AGAIN. Hopefully I won't lose some readers after I write this, but: Buried Secrets is NOT going to be a WallArt fic. I might scatter a few hints throughout the story, but WallArt fans already won because WallArt and CheshRoy are CANNON. So I'd at least like to get a somewhat RoyArt ending in my own fanfic.
I cut out a few parts, but after the next chapter, the time skips will be explained through flashbacks. Just a warning, I might go back and fill it in later when I have the chance for this chapter. If that happens, I will put up that I changed the story on the summary.
All the submitted OC's will be in the sequel to Buried Secrets.
I know I haven't updated in awhile, and I'm going to Europe for the next three weeks (with no internet!), so I REALLY wanted to give you something before the hiatus got too long. I hope you enjoyed it!
Please give me your comments, opinions, and suggestions!