YJ - A Shot in the Dark (part 5)

It had been hard enough to believe the Team had gained Batman's seal of approval to be in the Watchtower, injured or otherwise. Kinda trippy seeing the holograms of all fallen heroes now displayed together in a kind of atrium on one of the upper levels-especially since he'd been able to see his own image smirking back at him just before they shut it down. Which explained why they used holograms instead of actual statues. Heroes never really died, after all.

Having his own room, though. That was what hit him like a curve-ball to the head. Yeah, it was about the same size as that college dorm room he'd had Freshman year, a shoe box to say the least. On the plus side, this one had no roommate. But it didn't measure up to the fact that the other one had been occupied by Artemis half the time when his roommate wasn't there or that he'd left on-campus housing in favor of that great little apartment with her and their dog.

Bruno was currently with Wally's parents, having a ball of a time with the back yard and easy walks to the park. Wally knew it was temporary, or at least he told himself it was, so he let the dog enjoy it as much as he could. His parents too for that matter. Mom's bio-clock seemed to be ticking loudly now and she kept dropping hints that she wanted grandkids. Something Wally didn't know how to look forward to anymore.

Yeah, he'd wanted to be a dad. But that was before. Before he'd come back to find her gone. Before he'd left. Before he'd agreed that they should get back in the game and suit up.

He pulled the red cowl off and ruffled his hair. The locker room where he'd taken refuge was empty now. Most heroes were having dinner or on missions or home. He, on the other hand, had managed to tuck himself into this tiny corner at the end of a row of lockers where there was just barely a gap between the metal and the wall.

Wally closed his eyes even though he knew there were bittersweet images waiting for him. But he would settle for the bitter so long as he could at least have a tiny amount of sweet. He could see her perfectly, as though she were standing in front of him. Smirking as she was prone to do and about to flick his nose for being Kid Idiot.

Her footsteps weren't the ones that came closer though.

"Figured you'd come looking," he said, not opening his eyes.

"You're starting to worry people," Nightwing informed him, sitting on the nearby bench. "Seriously, with what you just came back from, you should be eating twenty-four-seven. Not skipping snacks."

Wally shrugged. He was still fast enough to get things done. He still smiled for the cameras and put up with reporters who had a personal dislike of him for no reason. No one had died on his watch.

Food, though, it wasn't the same. It didn't taste as good anymore. Aromas wafting from kitchens didn't make his stomach growl. It was a necessity to function, but he honestly didn't care about eating the equivalent of a mini-cooper. He was fully focused on his new hero duties. Outside of that, he'd fully delved into his civilian work life as the new lab-tech in the same CSI unit as Uncle Barry.

Come to think of it, that was probably how his best friend knew. Thanks alot, Barry. Wally looked up to find the raven-haired man still watching him, the white lenses of his mask narrowed to practically slits.

"What's the big deal?" Wally griped, moving to sit up correctly as he faced his best friend. "I'm just not hungry."

"The big deal?" Nightwing repeated, his voice rising a little. "The big deal is my best friend just came back from-essentially-the dead! And now he's doing things that'll get him killed! What? Are you trying to leave us again?"

"No!"

"Tell me the truth, Wally," Nightwing demanded. "Or I will have Batman bench you for the rest of the month."

"Only five days," Wally pointed out, unable to fight the smirk that came with it.

"Wally!"

"What do you want me to say?" Wally snapped. "I just don't want it, okay? My mind isn't always on food, you know."

"That's not-."

"No! No, I know," the speedster all but shouted as he bolted to his feet, pacing slightly. "Wally West not thinking about food? Must be blasphemy!"

"Calm down," Nightwing commanded, his surprise and initial shock quickly tapering off to a disapproving frown that easily could have belonged to Batman. "That's not what I was saying and you know it. But maybe you should go see Canary-."

"And what?" Wally demanded, rounding on the "Bat-Brat" with a look of mingling anger and desperation. "Talk about it some more?! What's talking going to do? Nothing!"

"She can help you get-."

"Over her?" Wally finished for him, his eyes livid. "She's not dead. She's missing. And missing means she can come back."

"Artemis went into hiding for a reason, Wally," Nightwing reminded him. "She may not be able to come back."

"Bull!"

"You were dreaming!" Nightwing shouted.

"Dreams don't feel like that!" he snapped, backing the younger man into the lockers as he raved. "They don't sound like that or smell like cinnamon! I've been running through nightmares for the past three years-I know what a dream is!"

"A hallucination then," Nightwing interjected. "I've told you before. She wasn't really here!"

"She was!"

"No, she wasn't! You need to get a grip, Wally."

The agitated growl was the only warning the circus child had before Wally's fist came speeding towards his face and it was only from years of sparing practice that Nightwing was able to avoid looking like the dented locker behind his head. Instead, the former boy wonder threw a punch to his friend's knee, then jabbed the ginger's chest with his elbow before sweeping the speedster's feet out from beneath him. effectively sending Wally crashing to the floor.

For good measure, Nightwing pinned him there by sitting on his stomach, scowling down at the redhead and fighting the smirk that came with the memories of having done this many times before when they were kids. He'd just opened his mouth to speak when he was cut off.

"I want it back."

"Huh?" He looked down at Wally in confusion.

But the other man was staring straight up at the drop-ceiling tiles with such a despairing expression that Nightwing was suddenly wondering if he should have let his friend have a moment alone.

"I want it all back," the redhead repeated, a glassiness filling his eyes. "All of it. The tuition bills, exams, the slower speed, the nosebleeds from trying to go through walls, all of it. If it could give her back to me, I'd take it. Arguing at two in the morning because of something stupid, like I'd eaten her ice cream. Letting her beat me at video games just so she could tease me. Losing at basketball and getting reamed for it."

Nightwing sighed and scooted off his friend, but Wally didn't move even when the younger man pulled himself onto the bench again. Crouching on the edge like a living gargoyle, the young hero took off his mask and Dick gave a sad smile. "She always was better at it than you."

"She was better at strategy," Wally complied. "And keeping secrets. Hiding..."

A moment passed. A long one, though strangely the man who thought it was long wasn't the speedster. Dick was almost about to speak again when Wally shifted to look up at him.

"You'd tell me, wouldn't you?" he pleaded. "If you heard she was... in trouble? You'd tell me."

Dick hesitated, mulling over his options of an answer. He licked his suddenly too-dry lips and sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, of course I would," he promised, giving the redhead a reassuring smile. "But... you've gotta remember, she's got the same training as the rest of us. And possibly more resources. If she doesn't want to be found... there's a good chance that she won't be."

.- .- .

"He's that bad." It was an easy observation after Dick's story. Clearly Wally wasn't as good as he pretended to be. But, really, Wally was one of the best pretenders she'd ever known.

"Worse."

Artemis cringed, rotating the base of her coffee cup on the table as she lightly chewed her lip. Dick flexed his fingers against his own cup before lounging back and looking like the leading man in one of those trashy novels. It might have looked strange, Dick Grayson with a small channel news reporter. But as far as anyone in the world could care, Linda Park was just having lunch with one of the Wayne heirs as an interview. But it was so much more.

"Halloween," she said, finally letting the cup come to rest flatly on the table. "It's because of Halloween."

Dick raised an eyebrow at her.

She knew she was blushing, even as she glared at him behind her sunglasses. To which he smirked and leaned forward like the little troll he was. "Really now," he drawled. "Do tell?"

"Halloween was our thing," she said after a moment, where an unconscious smile came to her face at the memories. "When we got our apartment, he'd go full out with decorations and we'd dress in tandem. You know, one year we attempted a haunted house. And Wally's friends from class came to help and it was full hydraulics and dry ice and lights... They managed to convince one of the department chair that it could qualify as practicum credits for their major."

The smile on her face had grown brighter at the memory, her spirits rising with it until she was laughing by the end. Dick's face mirrored the delight at even imagining Wally and his drove of nerds persuading some hoity-toity school official that their goofing off could be considered course work. He'd heard about it from Wally, of course, but it was nice to hear Artemis talk about it too. For her to actually look happy again.

"So far as I know," she continued. "The science club's been carrying on the tradition ever since. Having moved it onto the campus, actually..."

"Maybe I should do one this year," Dick commented.

Artemis gave a snort. "Yeah, because Bruce would definitely let that happen."

"Sure he would," Dick insisted playfully.

"Oh yeah, sure," she said, nodding as though she agreed. "In a cave."

Dick mouthed at her indignantly, before giving her a dangerous smirk as she laughed.

"Seriously," she said. "My 'uncle' would be more likely to do a haunted house."

"Yeah, if he wasn't so busy throwing raves in his club," Dick countered.

"The only way you know about those is if you've been," Artemis pointed out with a sly smirk.

The younger man blanched a little, then pulled at his collar before smiling at her conspiratorially. "I won't tell if you don't."

Artemis snickered, but nodded. Dick, in turn, gave her another charismatic smile.

"But I am hosting a party," he informed her. "Figure it'd be nice to relax for a change. Plus all of us boys at the Wayne house have an image to uphold."

"Uh-huh. Like competing with Oliver for playboy of the year?"

"Hey, someone's gotta keep him on his toes," Dick said with a grin and a shrug. "Plus, it's not like he'll be keeping that title in the future."

Artemis smirked back. It was true, Oliver would give up that title and tick off half the women of America if Dinah had her way.

"But, really," Dick continued. "I'm thinking Masquerade."

Her smirk fell and her brow furrowed as she looked at him. But the boy wonder was more interested in his pumpkin danish at the moment. She knew what the invite meant. Dick was trying to save Wally's sanity by giving her a perfect setting that wouldn't blow her cover. Theoretically.

"You don't even have to come as you," he assured her, sensing her unrest.

Anyone listing would have taken that as an obvious statement, but Artemis could barely attempt a smile. She didn't have to show up as Green Arrow's protege. She could be anyone else, if she needed to be.

"I can ask Zee to help out, if you need it," he added.

Even more security. She could probably wear one outfit while everyone saw something else. Or be in Keystone and Gotham at the same time. With Zatanna throwing the spells, possibilities were endless.

She tensed, nearly jumping in surprise as Dick's hand closed around hers, and Artemis found herself staring into his still astoundingly blue eyes. His sunglasses were lying uselessly on the table, a sign that he was serious.

"You really want me there, don't you," she all but whispered.

Dick smiled. "Yeah," he assured her, then his smile turned into a smirk. "Anything to keep Wally's mopey self away from me."

Artemis found herself laughing, though her eyes had started to sting a little. "An ulterior motive!" she accused. "I knew it!"

His smirk broadened to a grin and he leaned back in his seat as he slid the sunglasses back onto his nose. "Of course," he joked along. "What kind of best friend would I be if I didn't hunt through heaven and earth to find the one person who can get him away from me?"

She gave a snort as one eyebrow shot up. "You realize that made no sense, right?"

Dick shrugged. "And that's mattered since when?"

Artemis let out a small groan before taking another swig of her coffee. Who could argue with the guy who's been screwing up the English language since he was nine?

"So you're coming?"

He looked somewhat serious again. Just like the Robin she used to know. And Artemis chewed her lip a little as she hesitated.

"Let me know what time."

A/N: Uumm... Sorry, as you can tell, I kinda started this around Halloween *sweatdrop* But, never fear! I'm going to try to get more of this story (and other ones) up soon! Or at least sooner than these last time gaps... But, for now, consider this my YJ Christmas present! ^_^