AN: Hey guys. First off, a huge thank you to all my reviewers and everyone who favorited/alerted this story. You have no idea how awesome you guys are; it never fails to make me smile that you guys are still enjoying this story. Secondly, I apologize for slower updates. I'm applying for graduate school programs and between that and work a lot of my time is being eaten up each week. You'll have to bear with me on this, but I promise I'll update as often as I can. Thirdly, I believe a reviewer (my apologies, I can't remember who) asked why I changed Wally's name to Impulse but left Artemis' alone. The reason is because I'm trying to stick to the Young Justice feel of things but still do my own thing, hence why Artemis is still Artemis and not Tigress. However, I changed Wally's name to Impulse instead of Kid Flash because, at the beginning of the story they didn't have nor want any connection to the Justice League so it wouldn't make much sense for Wally to call himself Kid Flash. I wanted to stay in the DC universe though so I chose to adopt the name of one of my favorite speedsters instead. Hope that clears that up . Now, on to chapter eleven!
Disclaimer: I never can think of anything witty for this thing… Suffice it to say, no, I do not own Young Justice (no matter how much I wish I did).
Impulse couldn't be sure how much time had passed, but he knew he and Artemis sat crouched in the darkness behind the low wall of the observation deck for what felt like an eternity. They listened as the men below spoke callously about the teenager that had died, treating him as nothing more than a failed but humorous lab rat. Impulse wanted nothing more than to speed down there and tear them apart, to see true terror on their cold, laughing faces, but one glance at Artemis kept him by her side. Though she appeared outwardly calm and collected anyone who knew her as intimately as he did would know she was only one small step away from breaking. When the voices finally died away and the lights below went out, Impulse risked pulling down his goggles, switching them to night vision mode and peaking over the edge of the small wall.
"It's clear," Impulse told Artemis as he settled down beside her. She had turned so her back was to the wall and she had drawn her knees to her chest, her arms wrapped tightly around her legs. With a worried frown, Impulse reached over and pulled the blonde to him. "I've got you," he whispered softly into her hair. "Always and forever."
"Right," Artemis whispered back as she turned slightly to wrap her arms around his torso and bury her face into his chest. "Always and forever." She took a deep breath and squeezed Impulse tighter for a moment, letting the soft motions of his hand running up and down her back soothe her, before she let go and pulled away. "We're on a mission," she stated matter-of-factly. "I don't have the time or the luxury to break down right now."
"That's my girl," Impulse said with a gentle smile as he ruffled Artemis' hair affectionately. "We'll finish this up and then we'll deal with that bastard."
"Right," Artemis replied with a soft smile of her own. The boy across from her hadn't even stopped to consider the idea of leaving her to deal with this alone. Without even pausing to reconsider, he had promised to be right there with her. Her smile widened briefly at the thought. My dad may have abandoned me, but at least I still have Wally, and that's more than enough, she thought to herself.
No sooner had the pair stood to leave the room than Robin's voice echoed in their heads. Guys, Aqualad and I were spotted in the science labs. They know we're here. Grab what you can and scatter. Meet back at the bioship.
Without missing a beat, Impulse knelt down and waited for Artemis to climb onto his back. He stood as soon as he felt her arms wrap around his neck, making sure to secure her legs to his sides in the process, before taking off down the hallways in a blur of red, blonde, dark green and grey-black. He skidded to an abrupt halt as they entered the large distribution floor not even a moment later. The pair looked around for a moment, taking the scene in. The rest of the team seemed to have made it to this point as well, only to be stopped and stuck in battle with floor workers and people dressed vaguely like ninjas. Impulse buzzed with energy, but paused long enough to let Artemis slip from his back, an arrow already nocked and drawn, released the second her feet touched solid ground.
"Perfect shot," Impulse said with an amused grin as her arrow flew true and knocked one of the ninja wannabes back into the hard wall behind him.
"You expected anything less?" Artemis threw over her shoulder. She smiled widely at her best friend, already caught up in the frenzy of battle, as her eyes danced with a wild light. "Plenty of bad guys and no need to stay hidden anymore," she told him bluntly.
A feral smirk quirked Impulse's lips upward as well. "You're absolutely right," he told her cheerfully. "I think it's time we had a little fun, now that we're out of the shadows for this job," he added as he cracked his knuckles. "It's been a little too long since I was able to just let loose."
"Just make sure not to overdo it," Artemis cautioned. "By the end of this I'm not sure I'll have enough left to drag both of us back, thanks to those drugged up nutjobs from earlier."
"I'll be careful, I promise," Impulse replied solemnly, his smirk disappearing. "Just make sure you come back out in one piece as well. I'm not the only one that took a beating earlier."
Before Artemis could respond, Impulse was gone; zipping around the room in a red, grey-black blur. She gave herself a moment to make sure he was all right before focusing her attention on her own fights. She sent more arrows flying into a group of armed men coming down the hallway before retreating a few steps and scrambling up a high stack of shipping crates, well out of anyone's reach from the ground. She was a bit battered and bruised from her fights in the village and, if she was being completely honest with herself, she was still shaken at finding her father here, in the heart of things no less. No, she growled to herself. Stay focused. Who cares if you're too banged up to help in hand-to-hand combat, at least you can still pick off these cockroaches with your arrows. Not sparring another moment for those darker thoughts, she shut down every train of thought except the methodical process of draw-aim-release.
The rest of the team were in various states of fighting through a crowd of people. Impulse had stopped his mad dashes around the room and instead had started backing away from a larger group of thugs trying to back him into a corner. He kept glancing behind himself, seeing the wall looming ever closer, even as he heard a few of the henchmen snicker in supposed victory. He feigned being worried for a moment longer until he was sure the group was close enough together to pull off his plan. With a dark smirk at the men advancing on him, Impulse suddenly raced forward and around the group, corralling them closer together and creating an air vacuum at the same time. He kept circling the group until every last one of them had hit the ground, gasping for breath and unable to do anything but try to force air back into their deprived lungs. Once he was sure that group was taken care of, he moved back into the melee, rolling with the punches and coming back up swinging with his own. He didn't have the energy to move at super speed any longer, but that didn't mean he couldn't slow down and fight hand to hand.
Robin was flipping circles around the thugs, almost literally. Not one of them seemed to be able to land a hit on the Boy Wonder as he flipped over and around them, all the while lashing back when thy left themselves exposed. He used his terrain to his advantage, disappearing when it suited him, only to reappear behind his current opponent and take him out before moving on to the next. At one point he briefly took note that Impulse and Artemis had joined the fray, the latter taking up position to provide cover fire and keep more people from making it onto the floor from any of the adjoining hallways. The dark smirk on Artemis' face and the wild enjoyment in her eyes when she sent yet another man to the cold concrete, unconscious, and Impulse's somewhat twisted laugh of amusement as he snapped another man's arm in two places, unnerved the Boy Wonder, but he didn't have time to dwell on his observations when a group of three men with guns suddenly attempted to surround him. Rolling his eyes behind his mask; Please, they almost make this too easy, he made a front handspring onto the shoulders of the man in the middle and used his momentum to force the man to spin, taking out his compatriots in the process. Robin leveled a well-placed kick to the back of the man's head as he dismounted, already looking for the next angle of attack.
Superboy, in true, invincible super powered fashion, was making his way through his own group of thugs by strong-arming and sending them flying out of the way. He didn't flinch when the thugs managed to land a blow every now and then. He just kept rushing headfirst into fights, flinging people out of the way fairly easily.
Aqualad was making excellent use of his water abilities as he forced the fire sprinklers around him to burst open and continuously spray water down on the thugs below. Their slipping and sliding left him plenty of room to take them down and make sure they stayed down. When they occasionally managed to find their feet he would use his Water Bearers to pull the water out from under them, sending them crashing to the soaking concrete regardless.
Miss Martian alternated her time between mentally assaulting her opponents and attempting to reach the bioship. She knew the team would be hard pressed to make it back through the jungle and to the ship, even if there wasn't the possibility of being followed back. Having to divide her attention between focusing on her fights and trying to bring the ship to them meant the whole process was slow going and she wasn't sure how much time the team really had; all of them were in various states of exhaustion. She risked a glance at the rest of her teammates after sending yet another man hurtling backwards. Everyone doing all right?, she asked tentatively through the mental link.
Little busy actually Miss M, Robin replied shortly.
I am in need of being able to focus for now, Aqualad added.
Could be better, Superboy grunted. These guys just don't stop coming.
On it, Artemis interrupted before practically cackling. A loud boom had the team all turning to her before looking over at the smoking pile of rubble that had once been a hallway. Take that you assholes! Let's see you get in here now!
You did not...kill anyone, did you?, Aqualad asked tentatively after a moment.
Psh, who cares if she did?, Impulse questioned dismissively. Nice timing on that, by the way. If we can take care of the rest of these guys in here we'll be home free.
Uh, right, Robin responded. Well, let's get moving then.
Almost immediately after Robin had finished speaking, alarm bells began to blare through the room as red flashing lights lit up the area with a bloody glow. "Self-destruct sequence initiated," a mechanical voice boomed over the speakers. "Destruction imminent. Three minutes remaining."
"We've got to move!" Robin yelled even as the remaining henchmen turned tail and ran for the nearest exit. "Miss M, how far is the ship?"
"It's coming, even faster now that I don't have to keep these guys off me," the Martian girl answered.
Without another word, the six teens regrouped and took off down one of the hallways still open. Robin lifted his left wrist and tapped some keys in his glove and a blue, halo-map of the floor plan sprang to life over his wrist. "This way," he called as he dashed down a hallway to his right.
The team ran, uninterrupted, for most of the hallway before a door a good fifty feet in front of them swung open. A large man came out, carrying a bag filled with clinking objects over his shoulder. The six kids screeched to a halt and Artemis drew her last arrow in one, fluid motion, already training it on the man.
"Don't move," Artemis growled. "This last arrow is steel tipped."
"Well, I suppose it was too much to hope that you got stuck on the factory floor," the man chuckled as he turned to face the teens.
"Sportsmaster," Robin seethed. "Should have known you and the Shadows were behind this."
"On the contrary, little bird, we're only part of something much bigger." He turned and looked at Impulse and Artemis, his smirk growing. "Picked up two new members I see. Very interesting."
Impulse glared hatefully at the man in front of him, even as he noticed Artemis' arm waiver slightly. "What's it to you," he hissed.
"Nothing, nothing at all," Sportsmaster chuckled. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I must be going. You're welcome to stick around if you'd like, enjoy the fireworks." Without another word he turned and began to melt into the shadows.
"Artemis, shoot him!" Robin yelled.
Jolted into action by the sound of her teammate's voice, Artemis let the arrow fly. Instead of her usual, impeccable aim, the projectile flew wide, missing her target by feet. She thought she heard the man laugh (she refused to think of him as her father, though she knew she couldn't stop that small voice in the back of her mind that whispered who he was) but then he was gone, leaving the six teens in the exploding building.
"Move!" Superboy yelled as he heard the explosions starting up, further away in the compound.
They didn't wait around; instead they made a mad dash for the nearest exit and burst through into the surrounding forest a minute later. The bioship was waiting for them and the team quickly scrambled on board. They had just barely gotten their seatbelts buckled before the ship rocketed into the sky and took off, leaving the exploding compound behind them.
"Well, that was whelming," Robin commented after they had taken a moment to breath. "What happened back there?" he added to the blonde archer of the group. "Your shot completely missed him."
"I don't know," Artemis grumbled back, refusing to meet his eyes. "I'm exhausted; I probably just pushed myself to hard."
"Really? Are you sure?" Robin questioned skeptically.
"Dude! Back off!" Impulse yelled. "She's tired and bruised, just like the rest of us. We're not perfect, especially when we're as run down as we are. She pushed herself too far and missed, that's all there is to it."
"Right, yeah," Robin replied as placatingly as possible. "Sorry man, just a little irritated we couldn't stop him."
Impulse regarded the younger boy for a minute before nodding warily. "We can't win them all," he said aloud. "But at least we know who's behind all."
"Perhaps," Aqualad interjected. "Remember, Sportsmaster said that he and the Shadows were only part of a larger whole."
"So the bastard was lying then," Impulse replied with an unconcerned shrug. "We caught him there red handed."
"Maybe," Aqualad conceded. "But we should still keep our minds open, just in case."
"Whatever you say," Impulse said before turning his attention back to Artemis.
The team didn't talk much at all on the flight back into the States and to Mount Justice; most of them even dozed fitfully for a few hours here and there. However, by the time they reached the headquarters they were all exhausted and ready to collapse where they stood. M'Gann guided the ship into the docking bay and the six teens stumbled out almost the moment the walkway was down. No one was there to greet them, though they knew the League members knew they were back.
"Bed," Dick mumbled sleepily. "Sleep sounds whelming right now, very whelming."
"Don't wake me up in the morning," Conner groused. "I'm sleeping straight through to noon, maybe later."
"Batman will want to debrief us in the morning," Kaldur warned before he yawned loudly.
"Then he's going to have to deal with half zombiefied, sleep deprived teenagers," Wally retorted. "Now, if you don't mind, I want to get out of this suit, drop on my bed and get intimate with the insides of my eyelids; not necessarily in that order."
The mumbled good nights lasted only a minute longer before the teens made their way to their own bedrooms at Mount Justice. Wally had just finished stripping off his suit and throwing on his pajama pants when he heard a soft knocking at his bedroom door. He opened the door without looking, already knowing who it was.
"Aren't you cold?" Artemis as she stepped into his room and took in the fact that he was shirtless. She herself was in a long sleeved night shirt and pants and was still finding it a little difficult to stay warm deep in the base of the mountain.
"Nah, fast metabolism means I'm pretty warm year round apparently," Wally replied. "Plus one more perk to this whole thing I guess." He turned and looked at her with worried green eyes. "Are you sure you're all right?"
If anyone else had asked her that, Artemis would have probably blown up in their face about doubting her and questioning her strength. However, this was Wally, and Wally deserved the truth, probably already knew the truth anyway. Wally was the only one allowed to see her broken, at her weakest, because she knew he would be there picking up the pieces and helping her fit them all back together again, no matter what. Instead of answering right away she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his back and buried her face in his shoulder. She held on a little tighter when she felt Wally's own arms lock around her waist, holding her as close as he could get her. "No," she mumbled into his shoulder after a moment. "No, I'm not all right."
Wally let go of Artemis long enough to scoop her into his arms and walk back to sit on the bed, carefully situating her in his lap. He sat quietly, running one hand up and down her back while the other was wrapped securely around her waist. He knew she'd talk when she was ready and he wouldn't push her for information she was still trying to piece together in her own head first.
"That was my father," she said at last. She had turned in Wally's arms so she was snuggled into his chest, her arms still wrapped around his torso, though her face was no longer in his the crook between his shoulder and neck. "My father's been a part of all the bad things we've seen lately; he's responsible for that boy dying today."
"I know," Wally whispered to her. "I know."
"I always knew he was a bastard, but I wasn't expecting this. Wally, what do I do?" Artemis pleaded. "What if I end up like him? That's what he was training me for."
"You won't," Wally told her fiercely. "You're Artemis Crock. My best friend and the most amazing girl I know." He held her tighter against him. "You won't go down that path," he whispered sincerely. "But no matter what happens, I'll be right there with you. You're not alone Arty, I promise. I told you we'd be together forever when we were kids and I meant it, still do. I'm not going anywhere as long as you want me with you."
"I know," Artemis replied; too content to berate him for calling her Arty. She squeezed him in a tighter hug. "I hope you realize that means you're stuck with me forever then," she said with a teasing smile on her face.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Wally chuckled. "Now, you staying here for the night or am I walking you back to your room?"
"I think I should go back to my room. No telling what our mentors might say if they come looking for me and find me in your room and I'm not in the mood to deal with that. But I don't want to walk, so how about you carry me," Artemis joked, even as she yawned widely. She yelped softly when she felt momentarily weightless and looked around to see that Wally had swung her up into his arms and was carrying her towards the door.
"I'm afraid I'm too tired to run, but I suppose I can carry you," Wally told her when she looked up at him questioningly.
"I was just kidding, Wally. You don't have to carry me," she replied even as she shifted to make herself a bit more comfortable in his arms.
"I know I don't have to, but I figured I would anyway," he said with a soft smile on his lips. He stopped suddenly in front of the door marked with her name in simple black letters and carefully set her down. "Good night," he told her simply. "And remember, I'm just right down the hall if you need me."
"I know Wally," Artemis answered with a smile. "Now get to bed before you fall over, you look exhausted," she added before squeezing him into one last hug. "Thank you."
"Always, you know that," Wally said as he returned the hug for a moment. "Now, I can hear my bed calling my name. See you in the morning Arty."
"Good night Wally," Artemis responded as she watched her best friend walk a little ways down the hallway before turning into her own room.
The next morning turned out to be a nightmare and a half for the six teens. First, they had to deal with the Bats practically wringing every last detail he could out of them. As far as Wally was concerned, he asked way too many questions and wanted way to complex and in-depth answers from a bunch of sleep deprived teenagers at seven thirty in the morning. If that wasn't bad enough, when Batman finally let them go (each of them planning on spending more quality time with their mattresses) Black Canary spotted them and decided that right then was the perfect moment to go "Crazy Den Mother" on them. She ushered all of them into the medical bay and fussed around each of them until she was satisfied they were all just fine.
"You realize this means I'm going to be training you harder now, right?" the older heroin asked as she finally let them leave. She chuckled slightly when six, strangely harmonized groans answered her. "No complaining, you need to be ready in case something like last night happens again."
"Will it?" Wally asked. "Will we be in a situation like that again? Not one of you really tell us anything around here."
"I can't say," Black Canary answered with a shrug. "None of us are entirely sure what's going on, but I can promise you, you'll know more as soon as we do."
Wally grumbled while Artemis rolled her eyes, but otherwise the six teens seemed pacified for the moment and began trudging back to the living quarters of the mountain base. Though of course the Universe had it out for them today (Seriously, Dick was practically positive the Universe spotted them and singled them out to pick on mercilessly that day. Why else would everyone and their dog seemed determined to keep them from going back to sleep?). Just as they were passing by the zeta tubes a bright flash of light and a mechanical voice announced the arrival of someone else.
"Recognized, Speedy. B03," the mechanical woman's voice chimed.
"Who's Speedy?" Wally asked just as a slightly older male voice barked "That's Red Arrow!"
"Obviously someone with identity issues," Artemis commented to her best friend as a strawberry-blond boy, maybe three years older than them, walked out onto the main floor.
"And they are?" he asked abruptly, eyeing Wally and Artemis in turn.
"Oh, that's Wally West, also known as Impulse, and Artemis Crock, also known as Artemis," Dick answered immediately. "They were small time until Bats found them and they joined the team. Guys, this is Roy Harper, also known as Spee…, er Red Arrow. He was Green Arrow's sidekick before he decided to quit the League and, uh, go solo."
"Small time?" Roy asked, looking the pair over again. He was silent for a moment before snapping his fingers. "Right, Impulse and Artemis. You two were working the slums of Gotham. Underground intel says you don't care much for the JL, so what are you doing here? I can't believe you'd join willingly."
"It wasn't willingly," Artemis groused as she glared at Roy. She didn't particularly hate him, as a matter of fact; under different circumstances she might have even liked him a bit. He had decided to stick it to the Justice League as well and was therefore a kindred spirit in a way. But right now he was one more obstacle in the way of returning to dream land and she was not in the mood to deal with it.
Roy raised an eyebrow, but decided not to ask. A quick glance told him all of his younger compatriots were practically dead on their feet. "Rough night I'm guessing," he commented after taking in their particularly haggard appearance. "I'll make this quick then. Do you have a mission assigned tonight?" he asked and waited as six heads shook in the negative. "Good, cause it looks like I'm going to need a little backup on a case I'm working."
"We are not going to be of much assistance to you at the moment," Kaldur admitted. "We are all still trying to recover from our mission last night and we could do with some sleep."
"Some?" Wally snorted. "Speak for yourself. I'm planning on sleeping through breakfast and lunch, and that should tell you something."
"I won't actually need you until later tonight," Roy replied. "If I come back around eight, do you think you can be up and ready to go. That'd give me time to explain the particulars and just what I need from you."
The six teens shared a look and nodded to each other almost imperceptibly. "Yeah," Dick said at last. "I think we can be ready to go by then."
"Good," Roy said with a nod. "Make sure you rest up, I'm going to need you all operating at 100 percent for this." Without waiting for an answer, he turned around and disappeared back through the zeta tube.
"I can't quite decide if he's not that bad, or just plain annoying," Artemis said aloud after Roy had left.
"At the moment, I'm going with demanding," Wally answered. "Though, to be fair, I'm still a zombie and therefore liable to lash out at any given moment here."
"Roy's not that bad," Dick interjected. "He's just got a lot going on that he's got to learn to deal with now that he's on his own. I think the three of you would get along pretty well if you give him the chance."
"Right, well, at the moment I only want to get along with my sheets and my pillows," Wally replied. "I'll be up for dinner, but try and wake me any earlier and I will not be held responsible for any damage you incur as a result."
Mumbles of agreement and acknowledgement rumbled from the other teens as they dragged themselves back to their own rooms, determined to sleep the rest of the day away.
AN2: Whelp, there you have chapter eleven; I hope you all enjoyed it. I brought Roy in cause I just couldn't leave him out any longer, lol. Also, just a heads up, a friend of mine talked me into doing the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and that means I've got to pump out at least 50,000 in the month of November. I promise I will try very hard to get to this, but please be patient with me. I love my friend, I do, but she can be quite scary when she wants to be ;P Anyways, that's all I've got to say. Catch you all next time and please leave me a review! I thrive better when I know what you guys think of this story!