AN: Hello my friends, readers and reviewers. I'm sorry this update is a little late. I meant to have this out over last weekend but I got caught up in my own original work (I'm almost done with the first book in a trilogy I have planned!). Anyways, a huge thank you to all of my reviewers, old and new. I'm always happy to read what you think. Glad you all love this so far and I hope you enjoy chapter seven. Don't forget to leave a review ;)
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any of its characters. This work is purely fan made.
The next few days between the two groups were tense. Wally and Artemis made it a point to avoid the other four whenever possible. They were still having trouble digesting the fact that the four teens they had come to regard almost as friends were part of the Justice League. For a while, Artemis refused to even look at any of them and Wally wouldn't say so much as one word when they were around. By Thursday M'Gann had enough and cornered Artemis at breakfast.
"Come on," she exclaimed excitedly as she pulled the archer away. "You and I need a girl's day away from the boys." She kept chirping happily as she made her way to the front doors, Artemis in tow. "We're going to have so much fun."
Artemis shot Wally a pleading look and he started toward her until Dick blocked his path and Kaldur and Conner threw restraining arms across his shoulders. "Well, while the girls are out, how 'bout we do something," Dick suggested. "I heard some of the other guys mention a really sweet laser tag place just down the road."
"But," Wally began, trying to duck out beneath Conner and Kaldur to go after his best friend. "Artemis."
"She will be fine," Kaldur assured the redheaded boy. "In the meantime, we shall all get to know each other better. Laser tag would be a fun way to do so."
Wally watched after Artemis for a moment before a sigh escaped his lips. "Yeah, fine. Let's go then," he said dejectedly. Perhaps he shouldn't be so standoffish, but he really hadn't made up his mind about them yet and he was loath to be separated from Artemis.
"Well don't sound so excited," Dick said with a roll of his eyes. "Look, I know you're still wary about us, but trust me when I say you don't have to be."
"Trust is a hard thing to come by with me," Wally said with a shrug of his shoulders. "But let's just see how this plays out."
It was a short walk to the laser tag arena and just by walking through the doors Wally could tell it was a high end, serious gamer, place. The score boards outside the arenas were all electronic and fully user friendly. A player could tap the screen over their codename to get a more in depth look at their stats and a few more taps could have them printing out a detailed breakdown for them to look over. They even had access to video footage of their match and, if they wished, could e-mail themselves a recording of the whole game or just bits and pieces. The main area itself was set up rather plainly, with a few tables and chairs dotting along the walls and arcade games set up in a second room, but it was still clean and fresh and new. Wally had to admit, he was impressed and more than a little excited to start playing, especially since it didn't seem too packed. He recognized a couple people from school, but it didn't look like there were that many people here.
"So, what do you guys want to do?" Dick asked as he walked back to them, a pamphlet in hand. "This says there are five different arenas to choose from and three different games to play," he added as he scanned the piece of paper.
"What are the arenas?" Conner asked.
"Let's see, we've got a jungle arena, a desert arena, a city arena, a forest arena and a blackout maze arena; it looks like the only lighting in that one is a black light" Dick answered.
"They all sound rather interesting," Kaldur replied thoughtfully. "It will be hard to choose just one."
"Then don't," Wally told him. "Why can't we play a round in all five arenas? It's only ten bucks a game for students," he added as he pointed to the sign. "I've still got enough spending money to cover five games."
"Why not?" Conner asked. "I'm up for five games if the rest of you are."
"Bring it on," Dick said with a challenging smile. "I can definitely do five rounds."
"Well, now that we've gotten that figured out, what type of game shall we play?" Kaldur asked as he took the pamphlet from Dick. "It looks like we can do a team battle, a capture the flag type of scenario, or we can play every man for himself."
"Every man for himself," Dick answered as though it were obvious. "We get enough of the team stuff every other day, why not see who's really the best on the team?" he added with a mischievous grin.
"I'm not on your team," Wally reminded the other boys before a large smirk spread across his face. "But I'd be more than happy to show you all how it's done."
"We'll see about that," Conner replied. "I'd say we're all pretty evenly matched if we're limiting ourselves on this."
"Who says we're holding back?" Dick asked suddenly. "Why not make this interesting and say anything goes." He dropped his voice low. "Powers and all."
"I don't know if you've noticed or not dude, but there are cameras in there," Wally said with a jerk of his thumb towards the arenas. "We'd be caught on tape using our powers and I doubt your League would be all that thrilled with you for that."
"Cameras are electronic and hooked up to an internal server so they can record," Dick began. "I can hack them easy and put them in a loop of previous games while we're in there. No one will be watching," he finished with a wicked smile. "We can go all out and no one will know."
Wally regarded him silently for a moment before he burst out laughing. "I like the way you think man. This should be interesting."
Five minutes later the four of them were at the ticket counter, paying for round one in the blackout maze arena. Dick had already hacked the internal server and had full access to every single camera in the building. As they got ready to go into the first room he quickly typed in a few codes on his wrist computer and grinned up at the other three. "Cameras are down and a loop of old games is set up to record. We're running free here guys," he said as they walked into the arena.
"Good luck," Wally said with a smirk tugging at his lips. "You're all going to need it." Without another word he zipped away as the other three scattered around the room as well. Though he still didn't know what to think of the other three boys, Wally couldn't deny that his earlier philosophy of "avoid them at all costs" had changed; their first round of laser tag hadn't even started yet and he was already having fun. Maybe, he thought. Maybe they're not that bad, for being part of the Justice League anyway.
At first, Artemis was ready to throw herself into the ocean and refuse to surface. When M'Gann had pulled her out of the hotel lobby doors babbling about having "girl time" and "going shopping" Artemis was already dreading her day. However, the second they were out the door and a ways from the hotel, M'Gann stopped pulling and turned to Artemis with a bright smile.
"We don't really have to go shopping," she told the blonde archer. "I just figured that if that's what I told the boys we were doing, they'd be less likely to want to come."
"Why are you so keen on spending time with me?" Artemis asked, a hint of suspicion in her voice.
"Well," M'Gann began almost awkwardly. "I'm the only girl on the team and sometimes it gets a little…lonely to be around just guys all the time. Don't get me wrong," she backtracked quickly with a wave of her hands. "I'm glad I'm on the team and all of my teammates are wonderful friends, but sometimes it's nice to have another girl to talk to, you know what I mean?"
Artemis watched the other girl for a moment. Her face was so open and honest, so sincere, that she had a hard time coming up with a reason not to trust her. "I can't say that I do," Artemis answered finally. "It's always been me and Wally and that's worked really well for me. But," she said with a small smile at the girl in front of her. "I suppose I don't mind seeing what this 'girl time' thing is all about."
M'Gann squealed happily and took hold of Artemis' arm once again. "Great! We're going to have so much fun! I admit, I thought about going shopping, but you're not really the type to want to do that, are you?"
Artemis shook her head. "Not even close," she answered. "My philosophy is; get in, get what you need and get out. There's no reason to spend hours looking at clothes."
"That's what I thought," M'Gann nodded. "That's why I thought maybe we could go scuba diving. I've never been, for obvious reasons, and I thought it would be fun."
"Yeah, sure," Artemis replied before she paused. "So, can I ask you something?"
"Of course!" M'Gann chirped.
"Where are you from, really?" Artemis asked bluntly. "I know you're not from Earth."
"No, I'm not," M'Gann replied. "I'm actually from Mars. My uncle is Martian Manhunter, from the League. He brought me here to be a member of Young Justice. I had always wanted to come to Earth and it was a dream come true when my uncle brought me here," M'Gann added with a happy smile.
"I see," Artemis replied.
"You don't like me very much, do you?" M'Gann asked suddenly.
Artemis shrugged her shoulders. "Honestly? I don't know what to think of you. Wally and I have spent most of our lives despising the League and then we find out that you're a part of it," Artemis trailed off with another shrug of her shoulders. "Well, it's going to take time and some thinking to get used to."
"I understand," M'Gann replied. "And I don't wish to pry into why you dislike the League. I just hope to reassure you that I truly wish to be your friend."
Artemis stopped walking for a moment and looked at the other girl. "I suppose I can give it a shot," Artemis said with a smile. "Wally's the best friend I'll ever have, but sometimes he just doesn't get it."
"Oh wonderful!" M'Gann squealed as she pulled Artemis into a hug. "You'll be like the sister I never had. Well, at least on Earth anyway. I have twelve sisters back home."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Artemis said. "Let's take this one step at a time, huh? Let's see if we can even be friends before you declare me your sister."
"Right," M'Gann replied sheepishly as she backed away. "Sorry, I can get a little carried away."
"I noticed," Artemis replied with a smile. "Now let's say we get to scuba diving, huh?"
"Right," M'Gann said with a bright smile.
The Martian girl took off at a skip down the road and Artemis watched after her for a moment before following along with a shake of her head. Today would be interesting, to say the least.
Artemis and M'Gann enjoyed two hours of scuba diving in the clear blue waters of the Keys. After two hours of being in the water the girls started to get hungry and decided to surface and grab lunch. They went to a nearby burger joint and decided to sit and talk for a while.
"So," M'Gann began, taking a sip from her water. "What's up with you and Wally?"
"What do you mean?" Artemis asked as she took a sip from her chocolate shake.
"Well, what's going on between you two?" M'Gann clarified. "You two are rather close."
"He's my best friend," Artemis replied. "The only person in the world I do and will ever trust."
"There's nothing else?" M'Gann prompted. "Nothing deeper than friendship?"
"Like what?" Artemis asked, confused.
"Nothing, never mind," M'Gann answered with a smile and a shake of her head. "So how long have you known each other?"
"Since second grade," Artemis answered. "I got into a fight with some fifth graders and he came over to help." She laughed lightly. "We didn't win, in fact we got pretty beat up, but we've been together ever since."
"Wow, so you've known each other for a while then," M'Gann said.
"Yeah," Artemis replied. "I can't imagine my life without him anymore; it's like he's always been there."
M'Gann smiled into her drink. "I think it's amazing that you two are so close," she gushed.
Artemis just rolled her eyes. She hadn't expected to get along at all with M'Gann at all when the other girl had dragged her from the hotel. Surprisingly, she found herself actually almost enjoying the other girl's company. She wasn't the type of girl that Artemis usually got along with, in fact she generally made it a point to avoid her type, but she found herself not minding being around M'Gann all that much. After lunch, the two girls spent the next couple hours just talking and wandering around the shopping area. Though it wasn't something Artemis enjoyed, not by a long shot, she felt that some sort of concession could be made. M'Gann had been willing to forego shopping so Artemis could have fun; she thought she could do the same.
Four rounds of laser tag later and the score between the four boys was tied. Conner had won the blackout maze arena due to his ability to see in infrared. Kaldur snagged the next win in the forest arena, followed by Dick taking the jungle arena. Wally snagged the last win in the desert arena, finally having the room to run free. The four boys were lounging at a table, resting up before their last match.
"Huh, looks like you three aren't so bad, for Leaguers anyway," Wally smirked. "You managed to keep the score tied."
"If I remember correctly, you were the last to get a win, Wally," Dick replied.
"That may be so," Wally said with a shrug. "But we were all within single digit points of each other by the end."
"Maybe," Dick replied dismissively. "But the last round is in the city arena, my kinda place," he finished with a grin.
"You're not the only one who fights in the city," Wally reminded him. "I run the city streets as well."
"You two seem awfully sure of yourselves," Conner said. "What makes you so sure you'll win this one? City fighting isn't that different from anything else we've done so far."
"I agree," Kaldur added. "In fact there are more places to hide while in the city."
"Well then, we'll just have to see then, won't we?" Wally said with a smug look on his face. "I haven't even really opened up yet."
"Oh, so it wasn't just me that was holding back," Dick smirked. "I thought I would go easy on you guys, but maybe I shouldn't have."
"You're all going down," Conner said as he cracked his knuckles.
Suddenly their group was called in and all four boys grinned at each other. They walked into the entry hall to the last room and picked up their guns. The countdown timer above the door that would lead them into the last arena began to tick the last thirty seconds away.
"Here we go guys," Wally said as he readjusted his gun strap across his shoulder. "Hope you're ready for this." The doors opened and all four boys dashed in, scrambling to find places to hide and high vantage points to shoot from.
About forty-five minutes later the four boys dragged themselves out of the last arena. Wally was barely standing as he made his way over to a table and sat heavily on a chair. "Geez, I'm beat," he sighed. "I need a nap," he added as he dropped his head into his arms.
Dick laughed as he slipped into a chair next to him. "Come on man, we can't sit here for too long. Conner's got a text from Megan and he says the girls are going to meet us back at the hotel so we can all go grab dinner."
"Ugh," Wally mumbled.
"Dude," Dick laughed again. "Come on, Artemis will be waiting for you."
That got Wally to lift his head. "Yeah," he replied. "Yeah she will. All right, give me a minute to catch my breath and we can go."
Dick was quiet for a second, watching the boy across from him. "You two are really close, aren't you?"
"Yeah man, we are. She's my best friend and the only person I trust," Wally replied.
Dick nodded. "Yeah, I get that."
Wally was quiet for a moment as an awkward silence fell between them. "Hey, uh, where are Conner and Kaldur?" he asked after the silence grew too long for him.
"They're getting the final scores," Dick said as he pointed towards the scoreboards. "As a matter of fact, here they come."
"So, are you guys ready for this?" Conner asked as he walked back to the table.
"What's the final score, who won?" Dick asked.
"Wally managed to sneak into first with one point more than the rest of us," Kaldur replied. "We were tied right up until Wally's last shot."
Wally smirked at the memory. "You've got to admit, that was an epic shot." The four of them had been locked in a firefight when Dick had pulled out a compact grappling shooter and shot off to higher ground. Not one to let someone get away, Wally took off after him and dashed up the side of a building. Dick had already swung ahead and Wally was falling behind. Deciding it was no or never, Wally leapt off from the side of the building, twisted around in midair and brought his gun to the back of Dick's target vest. Acting quickly before he lost the shot, he pulled the trigger to his laser gun and racked up one more shot. Just as he and Dick landed on the ground the buzzer sounded to end the match. "That last move wiped me out," he added. "But it was most definitely worth it."
A sudden beeping noise had all four boys turning their attention to Conner's pocket as he pulled out his cellphone. He flipped it open and quickly scanned the message before sliding it back into his jeans. "That was Megan," he said by way of explanation. "She says she and Artemis are wondering where we are."
"Tell her we're on our way," Dick said as he stood. "And also let her know that the four of us are probably going to want to shower before we go to dinner."
"There's no probably about it," Wally commented as he stood. "After five intense rounds of laser tag, I need a shower." He wobbled slightly and had to place a hand back on the table to keep from falling over. "And some rest," he added. "It looks like I also need some rest."
"Are you all right?" Kaldur asked as the other three boys closed in around the redhead.
"Just way out of juice," Wally replied. "I'll be fine once I get some food in my system and catch some z's."
"Can you make it back to the hotel?" Dick asked.
In answer, Wally lifted his hand from the table and tried to take a step forward. He only succeeded in making the room spin a bit before falling backwards into the chair. "Nope," he finally replied. "I can barely stand it seems." He laughed suddenly. "Geez, a whole night fighting Gotham's baddies never tires me out too badly but five rounds of laser tag with you three has me too weak to stand."
"Here, let us help you," Kaldur said as he moved next to Wally and slung one of his arms across his shoulders. He managed to get the redheaded boy to his feet before Conner came over and pulled Wally's other arm across his own shoulders. "We can get you back to the hotel and see about getting you something from one of the vending machines to tide you over until dinner," he added as the four of them made their way to the door.
"I hope that vending machine is stocked then, 'cause it won't be by the time I'm done with it," Wally joked even as he focused on keeping one foot in front of the other.
Artemis and Megan had been waiting in front of the hotel for the boys for about ten minutes when they finally came around the corner. Though Dick had been leading the way, the first thing she saw was Wally being half dragged along between Kaldur and Conner. "Wally!" she exclaimed as she ran towards them. "What happened?" she demanded. "What did you do to him?" she accused the other three boys even as she pushed Kaldur and Conner away and slung Wally's arm across her shoulders even as her own snaked around his waist.
"Relax Arty," Wally soothed. "We just played five rounds of all out laser tag so I'm just a little drained right now."
"Oh," Artemis responded as she shot the other boys apologetic glances. "What about taking a protein bar?" she asked her best friend. "I thought you bought some the other day after the island fiasco."
"I did," Wally replied sheepishly. "But I, uh, kinda ate them all already."
Artemis rolled her eyes at him. "Seriously? There were twelve in there and you just bought them the other day!"
"I was hungry!" Wally tried to defend himself.
"You're always hungry," Artemis retorted, a smile on her lips. "You're just lucky you've got an amazing best friend to look out for you," she said as she reached into her bag with her free hand and pulled out an energy bar.
"Artemis, you're awesome," Wally replied gratefully as he took the bar from her. "I don't know what I'd do without you!"
"Some days, neither do I," she joked before turning to face the four other teens. "Let's say we met back down in the lobby in an hour? It'll give us all time to rest up and clean up before we go to dinner."
"It sounds good to me," Dick replied.
"That's perfect," Megan added. "It will give me time to pack away all those new outfits I bought!"
"Great, see you then," Artemis said as she began to help Wally into the elevators. Once the doors slid shut behind them she let out a sigh of relief and leaned back against the back wall.
"So, you really went shopping?" Wally asked around a mouthful of energy bar. "I thought you hated that."
"I do," Artemis answered. "But we went scuba diving first. I figured if M'Gann could make allowances to accommodate me, I could do the same for her."
"Understandable," Wally replied with a nod. "So how was your day then?"
"Interesting actually," Artemis answered. "For being League flunkies, these guys don't seem all that bad."
"My thoughts exactly," Wally added. "We'll have to be careful about what we say around them, but I think we could maintain a relatively good friendship with them."
"We can try anyway," Artemis said as the elevator doors pinged open. She moved to place Wally's arm around her shoulder, but he waved her off.
"I'm fine," he told her. "That energy bar gave me enough juice to get to my room at least."
"I don't think so, Wally. You're not brushing me off that easily," Artemis said as she scowled at him. "I want to make sure you're okay and that you get enough rest before we go to dinner with them."
"What about you?" Wally asked as the headed down the hall to his room. "Don't you want to shower and change?"
"I'll shower in your room," Artemis said with a shrug. "It's not like that'll be a big deal. And I don't need to change; I'm fine with what I'm wearing."
"Always looking out for me," Wally said with a low chuckle as he slung his arm across Artemis' shoulders. "I really appreciate that, you know," he added as he pulled her tight against his side in a one armed hug.
"I know," Artemis replied as she wrapped both arms around Wally's torso to hug him back. "It's no less than you do for me. We're together forever and always."
"Forever and always," Wally echoed.
AN2: I had originally planned to end this chapter a bit differently, but then I wrote this and decided, what the heck. Why not end on a sweet moment between Wally and Artemis. So things are progressing with the Young Justice group; our favorite pair have at least decided to give being friends with them a shot. That doesn't mean they're on the team though; just thought I'd clear that up. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed chapter seven and don't forget to leave a review please; I love hearing your thoughts on this :) Oh, and just to let you know, updates may be a little slower (I promise I'll try not to be) as I am just about done with my first book in my original work series and I'm working hard on finishing that.