AN: I'm really sorry guys, I didn't mean to leave you hanging this long. Life kinda hit in one big burst and things got a little crazy. I was on vacation in Cali and then it was my brother's birthday and then it was my birthday and then I finally (FINALLY!) got query letters out to agents to see about getting my original work published (fingers crossed on my end :D). Then I got replies from schools on grad school and had a bit of a freak out on my end because of it... Anyway, long story short, I apologize for leaving you with that cliffhanger from last chapter for so long. As always, a huge thank you for everyone that took the time to review. I love hearing what you guys think and I hope I can live up to all your expectations and not disappoint you guys as the story progresses. Thank you for all of the new alerts and favorites as well, I'm glad to know that new readers are liking this as well. In short, you guys all rock ;D Oh, and thank you for the OCs that you guys have submitted. I can't promise that they'll all have a very big part, but I can say that they've definitely all given me ideas on where to place them and how to work them in. If anyone wants to still submit one, I think I can take three more for the story. So, the first three to PM their OCs will get in, everyone after that I will try, but I can't make any definite promises :) Happy reading guys and enjoy the next chapter! :D
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own. If I did I'd explore why Wally and Artemis are suddenly getting along a lot better. Seriously, am I the only one that thinks that kinda came out of nowhere? Especially when he went after Roy for being a jerk to her? And then the kiss at New Year's? Yeah, I was happy it happened, but seriously, that pretty much came out of nowhere. Oh, and I definitely wouldn't have jumped ahead five years with absolutely no context or explanation and remove three of the original characters without so much as a comment as to where they went and what happened to them. Not sure if I really even like the new Young Justice honestly...
A slow clapping reverberated through the room, quickly followed by deep, amused laughter. "Wonderful, no hesitation at all. So, how does it feel to make your first kill?" Sportsmaster asked as he made his way over to Wally and Artemis.
"You can drop the act," Artemis spat back. "We didn't kill anyone."
"Didn't you?" Cheshire asked. "I could have sworn I saw you pull that trigger baby sister."
"If you're going to play games with us, then we're gone," Wally snarled viciously. "We don't need you nearly as much as you need us."
"Tell me, how did you know?" another male voice asked. Wally and Artemis turned to see the figure on the left stand and pull the bag from his head, revealing Ra's al Ghul. The figure on the right rose as well and pulled off her own bag to reveal his daughter Talia.
"If you were trying to make us think you were innocents you did a pretty piss poor job of it," Artemis replied. "Let's start with the fact that neither of you had your legs bound to the chair. If you were being held against your will, no one with even half a brain around here would leave your legs unbound."
"Let's also add the fact that neither of you were begging for your lives, not even after we were told to kill you," Wally added, his tone slipping into flat and bored.
"Perhaps we were unconscious," Talia interjected. "There would be no need to bind our legs if we were not conscious nor would we be able to protest our situation."
"I thought of that," Artemis admitted. "But that was easy enough to see through if you know what you're looking for. Neither of you were breathing deep enough to indicate you were asleep or unconscious."
"And how would you be able to tell that?" Ra's al Ghul pressed, his tone curious. "The hoods covered our faces and we kept our heads down to obscure our chests."
"Obviously no one told you what I could do," Artemis replied with a triumphant smirk. "I was there when Wally's accident gave him his powers and got some of my own."
"I confess, no one told me anything," Ra's al Ghul returned. "I was under the impression you were simply an archer."
"An archer with damn good aim," Wally interjected. "There's a reason she never misses."
"My eyes function like a telescopic zoom when I want them to," Artemis answered dismissively. "You may have been wearing a hood, but you would still cause it to move when you breathe. All it took was a simple zoom in for me to read the signs. The rate at which both of you were moving the hood with your breathing wasn't consistent with the rate it would be at if you were asleep or unconscious."
"And the final clue to this little puzzle was the weight of the guns," Wally said. "We may never use them, but that doesn't mean we're completely ignorant. We know the weight of a gun loaded with real bullets compared to a gun loaded with blanks."
"Fascinating," Ra's al Ghul replied thoughtfully, looking between the pair in front of him. "And you communicated all this between the two of you with nothing more than a glance and a nod; that is quite the teamwork and trust you have in each other. It appears you may be quite useful to us indeed. Assuming you pass this next test of course."
"I thought this was the only test," Artemis said suspiciously.
"As a pair, yes, this was the only test necessary," Talia responded. "However, we need to know how capable you are on your own as well. Teamwork such as yours is extraordinary and quite useful, but it can also be quite crippling if you cannot function separately."
"So what do you want from us?" Wally asked.
"It's quite simple really," Ra's al Ghul answered. "The two of you will be blindfolded and taken to separate locations. Your jobs will be to survive and make it to the safe point where you will be picked up and returned here."
"How long will this test take?" Artemis asked.
"Well, that all depends on you, doesn't it?" Ra's al Ghul returned.
"And this will be the last test?" Wally demanded. "We're not in the mood to be jerked around by another set of assholes."
"If you survive it, I assure you it will be the last test you need to accomplish," Ra's al Ghul returned. "You will be considered mission ready after its completion." He paused and looked Artemis and Wally in the eyes, an amused smile tugging at his lips when neither of them flinched or looked away. "I have to say though, neither of you seem to concern yourselves with how to act around your seniors."
"We have problems with authority," Artemis dismissed. "It comes with the territory."
"I see," Ra's al Ghul replied. "Well, are you two ready for your final test?"
Wally and Artemis shared a quick glance. Their faces remained neutral, but their eyes danced with the wild light of thrill and anticipation. Beneath their eager thrill of a fight was an undercurrent of worry for the other and a silent promise to return to each other safe and sound.
"Bring it on," Wally replied, a smirk tilting the corners of his lips for a moment.
When Artemis finally heard the little voice in the comm link they'd shoved in her ear tell her to remove the cloth over her eyes, she didn't know whether to be pissed or amused at her situation. Everywhere she looked she saw nothing but rolling hills of sand, cacti and twiggy, dead looking plants that barely had the right to call themselves bushes. She opened a duffle bag at her feet and found her bow, twelve arrows, a compass and five bottles of water. The voice filtered in through the earpiece once more, telling her that her destination was eighty miles away and warning her that the earbud would be self-destructing in fifteen seconds. Hurriedly, she ripped the little electronic device from her ear and tossed it as far as she could. She glared at the little sand cloud the explosion created and finally decided to be pissed with her situation.
"A desert, lovely," she growled as she hiked the bag up onto her shoulder. "They couldn't even give me a vague direction to travel." She looked around once more, pushing her sight a bit and sighing when the large sand hills prevented her from seeing too far. "Guess I'm climbing one of those then," she grumbled as she set off for the tallest hill, the sun beating heavily on her back and shoulders.
It took the better part of the afternoon to get up the hill and in retrospect, Artemis reflected that she probably should have waited until the hot afternoon had passed to begin her climb. She grumbled under her breath, glaring poisonously at the torturous bright yellow sun hanging above her head, as she finally crested the large dune. She paused long enough to take a long pull from one of the water bottles before setting about her task of finding her checkpoint. Even with her eyesight zoomed as far as she could make it, she saw nothing in front of her, behind her, or to her left. Finally, with an irritated, and slightly weary (though she would never admit it) sigh she turned to her right and frowned. Off in the near distance she saw the blurry image of an oasis. She pushed her sight a little further, determined to find out if is was some sort of mirage, and almost let out a sigh of relief when the sight came into sharper focus the closer she zoomed in. She hesitated for a brief moment, calculating the distance to be about twelve miles, and wondered if she should even bother. A quick look back into the duffle bag, noting only two and barely a half water bottles remained full, and decided she'd have to risk it. Besides, she reasoned with herself. It's not like those assholes bother to give me any food. I'll probably be able to hunt something down in that oasis, even if it does put me in the wrong direction. Without giving herself time to change her mind, she set off back down the dune and for the distant, slightly shimmery image of the oasis.
By the time she finally made it to the small island of vegetation in the sea of sand Artemis was ready to declare war on the sun itself. She wasn't weak, not by any means, but spending all day in the burning sun with no shade and no way to cool down would try even the most patient of people. She finally let herself collapse underneath a particularly leafy palm tree, leaning back against the rough, uneven bark and letting the meager shade cool her down slightly. She had been resting for maybe two minutes when she heard it; the sound of an engine and rubber tires rumbling across the desert sand. She cracked her eyes open and scowled at the jeep coming ever closer to her spot. Couldn't she just have a minute of peace? Was that really too much to ask? She entertained the thought that maybe they weren't really coming for her; they were just random people out in the middle of nowhere desert making their way to the oasis; the only oasis she happened to see while running some stupid test for the League of Shadows. Grumbling irritatedly to herself, she hauled herself to her feet and snagged her bow from the duffle bag, knocking an arrow expertly as she sighted her shot. The jeep was still a ways out, much too far for her shot to reach, but she could still zoom in and get a better look at her opponents. Three men, all wearing desert camo masks and army fatigues were piled into a small, sand brown jeep and at least two of them were carrying heavy black guns.
"Of course," she snarled before gauging the distance once again and, compensating for the slight breeze that had picked up, letting the arrow fly. She smirked to herself when it flew true and hit home just in front of and to the side of the jeep, exploding on impact and causing the vehicle to swerve dangerously, almost toppling over in the sand. Without waiting to see if the men were already up and coming after her, she darted further into the oasis, hiding in a small copse of leafy bushes growing close to the water. She frowned when she realized it was the only reasonable hiding space and therefore the first place the men would look, though she hoped staying hidden would at least make them pause for a few precious, crucial moments.
Unfortunately, her luck didn't hold and the men immediately darted for her sparse cover, automatic fire from their guns already spraying in her direction. Growling to herself, Artemis leapt from her cover and dived to her left, narrowly avoiding the bullets that ripped the bushes to shreds. She rolled up onto her knees, pulling an arrow from her quiver and notching it in one fluid motion. She took a brief moment to aim before letting the arrow fly. It slammed home into the chest of the nearest soldier and the tip immediately burst on impact, releasing a noxious gas meant to knock out anyone unlucky enough to breath it in. She heard all three men begin to cough and smirked to herself in silent victory before she noticed something small come flying out of the cloud of gas and straight into the small oasis pool. Artemis watched its path, zooming in to get a better look at it, but she couldn't make out anything specific other than it seemed to be a small white pill. Her attention quickly focused back towards the cloud when she heard three thuds. Cautiously she rose from her crouch and made her way over to the men lying prone in the burnt golden sand. A quick visual scan led her to believe they were all out for the count, though to be sure she carefully edged her way up to each one and nudged them with the toe of her boot. All three groaned when moved, but otherwise didn't stir.
With one threat averted, Artemis made her way back over to the oasis pool and knelt to fill her water bottles when she noticed a green film beginning to coat the water's surface. "Damn it!" she hissed, rising and kicking sand into the water. She turned around and carefully scanned the landscape, trying to find another oasis within walking distance. Her gaze finally landed on the jeep the soldiers had been driving and she frowned in thought for a moment. "Might as well give it a shot," she mumbled to herself, hiking her bag up her shoulder a little more and slinging her bow across her back.
It took a few minutes of walking, but Artemis finally made it over to the jeep and found a whole trunk filled with water strapped to the back as well as some sort of case locked down tightly. She eyed the case, debating about the benefits of spending time trying to crack it open when the radio crackled to life.
"Well done," a voice told her, barely filtering in over the static bursting through the speakers. "The shadows are pleased to see you've made it this far. Disable the tracking device on the jeep and the case and then make your way east in the vehicle. You will reach the checkpoint just after sunset if you hurry." The radio fizzled back out of life just as suddenly as it had turned on and Artemis glared at it for a minute.
"Assholes," she grumbled under her breath, though she quickly stowed her duffle bag and bow and arrows within easy reach of the driver's seat before quickly setting about locating the tracking devices. She hesitated for a minute when she went to disable them when a better idea came to mind. She made short work of removing the tracking devices and keeping them in one piece. She spent a few minutes looking around before she spotted a lizard wiggling through the sand nearby and quickly scooped it up and attached the tracers to its back. After she let the squirming lizard out of her grasp she climbed into the driver's seat of the jeep, shoved the case into her duffle bag, adjusted the mirrors and took off across the scorching sand. "Wally would get me there a lot faster than this stupid jeep," she sighed. "This landscape would be perfect for him."
When Wally came to his first thought was directed solely to wishing a living hell on whoever had knocked him out in the first place. His head still throbbed slightly with every beat of his heart and the side of his neck itched uncomfortably where he had been jabbed with the needle. The worst, though, was how completely lost he was. By knocking him unconscious they had rendered the internal GPS-like instinct he had acquired with his super speed (1) completely useless for finding his way back. He could orient himself to the points of the compass, but he couldn't tell you which way he'd come from and the fastest route back there. He grumbled complaints under his breath and sat up, ripping the blindfold off as he did so. He hadn't felt well and truly lost in a long time and, if he were to be completely honest, it unnerved him more than he would have expected. A sudden, low buzzing in his ear had him sitting at attention and listening carefully.
"Your checkpoint is 150 miles due north," the electronic voice chirped in his ear before the line immediately went dead with a loud burst of static in his ear.
Wally scrambled to get the offending earbud out of his ear and scowled at the little device when the feedback grew particularly loud and irritating. With an annoyed snarl he chucked the machine against the nearest tree and smiled in satisfaction when the feedback was cut short as the bud shattered into even smaller pieces. Turning to face north, Wally saw a small black backpack sitting against a tree near where he had been laying. Curious, he walked over and snatched the pack, finding it held a few protien bars and energy drinks as well as an empty water bottle and a few water purification pills. He didn't see any weapons, but was glad to see they at least thought to toss in a pair of high impact goggles. He pulled the goggles out and fit them over his head before he slung the pack over his shoulder and started walking.
"Could they have picked a worst place to dump me?" he grumbled as he began his trek north. "Seriously, trees are better for Arty to move around in."
For the first hour or so, Wally tried to maintain a brisk speed, but found himself constantly having to slow down to avoid running into the tightly packed trees. He considered figuratively flipping this stupid test the bird and vibrating through everything in his way but quickly dismissed the idea as the fastest way to tire himself out.
"Halt!" a voice suddenly called from his left. "You are in restricted military space!"
"Of course I am," Wally groused to himself with a roll of his eyes. "Because this whole extremely irritating hike through the woods wouldn't be complete without someone trying to gun me down for illegal trespassing." He let his pack slip from his shoulder, hitting the forest floor with a soft "whump", as he turned to face the voice, hands raised.
"Look," he began calmly. "There's no reason this has to get ugly. How about I go my way, you go yours, and we pretend never to have seen each other."
"Quite prisoner!" the man barked as he stepped out from behind a tree, his gun leveled at Wally's chest. "You've trespassed onto a secure military facility, as of this moment you are under arrest."
"Do I get any leniency for being a minor?" Wally pressed. "And you might want to put that gun down; I seriously doubt your superiors will be all that impressed that you gunned down a defenseless sixteen year old boy in the middle of the woods."
"Stop talking!" the man barked at him. "Now turn around and put your hands behind your back."
"It would have been a lot easier for you if you'd just let me go," Wally sighed before a wicked smirk tugged at his lips. "But I suppose the fun way works just fine for me."
Without another word Wally zipped forward, deftly dodging a bullet the soldier fired in reflex before his fist slammed home in the man's stomach, sending him doubled over to the forest floor.
"Intruder...in sector...B," the soldier managed to gasp into his radio before collapsing, unconscious, to the ground.
"Wonderful," Wally groaned as he turned and snatched his pack up from the ground. The radio crackling static had him spinning back around to face the man, wondering if he'd somehow woken up already.
"While toying with your prey can be amusing, it wastes time to engage in what some would think is witty banter," a darker, deeper voice told Wally over the radio. "Still, when you acted you took him down very effectively. Find their mobile base, retrieve the silver case and then make your way to your checkpoint. Do not fail." With the instructions delivered, the radio clicked back off and stayed silent.
"I have a better idea," Wally hissed to himself, eyeing up the nearest trees to find one suitable for climbing. "Why don't you people get off you lazy asses and do this yourself. It would have been nice to know the objective a little earlier!" he added a little louder, sending a general glare up into the sky. "Like, I don't know, before you sent me to an active military sight!" Grumbling under his breath, he let the pack fall back to the ground and made a running leap at the lowest branch of the tallest tree he could see from his point.
He made short work of climbing as high as he dared as was pleased to find himself higher than most of the trees around him. "I wish I had Artemis' eyesight," Wally mumbled to himself as he scanned the area. A sudden burst of panicked birds drew his attention to the south and he rolled his eyes. "So I'll be backtracking," he grumbled as he quickly climbed back down the tree and took of in the general direction of the dust cloud. "Assuming this is them of course."
It didn't take him long to reach his destination, especially as the trees began to thin out a little more the further south he went. Grinning briefly, he let loose on his speed only to come screeching to a halt a few moments later and duck quickly behind a thick tree trunk. Just around on the other side of the rough bark two rows of soldiers marched on either side of a large, white vehicle.
"Well, there's the mobile base," Wally mumbled to himself as he carefully peaked around the tree. "The big question is, how do I get in, especially with these guys on alert." He risked another look around the tree trunk and smirked as he scanned the ground. Loose gravel, dirt, twigs and leaves littered the forest floor; a perfect cover if he ran fast enough. He pulled his goggles down over his eyes, made sure his pack was secure on his back and took off as fast as he dared.
Wally heard warning shouts and the sounds of guns being fired as he literally ran circles around the soldiers, kicking up a blinding cloud of dust and debris. When he was sure no one could see him he dashed forward for the mobile base, braced himself and quickly vibrated through.
"Shit!" he hissed when he came through in a large, one room lab stocked full of shocked scientists in white coats and more than a few guards.
"He's in the base!" one of the guards yelled over his walkie-talkie before guns were raised and pointed at the red haired boy. "Be warned, he's a meta!"
Wally didn't give them a chance to start shooting as soon as he spotted the small, silver case lying on the table. "Of course it's through you guys though," he complained, gesturing towards the scientists and guards. "All right, look, I'm just here to run an errand," he said a little louder. "So I'll be taking this," he added as he zipped between the people blocking him to grab the case. "And I'll be out of you hair." Wally smirked and offered a mock salute. "Keep up the relatively poor work guys, it just makes my job all the easier."
Rather than risk trying to vibrate through and failing, Wally made a dash for the exit, kicked the door open and took off into the woods, leaving angry shouts and gunfire behind him. He'd been running for maybe ten minutes, slowing down a bit at the tree growth thickened, and thinking that he was probably in the clear by this point when the heavy, deep sounds of helicopter blades slicing through the air reached his ears. He risked a look back and growled when he saw the sleek black chopper making its way towards him, guns already trained on him.
"Well isn't that just fan-fucking-tastic!" he yelled. "You guys are absolute assholes!" he added, not sure whether he meant the soldiers chasing him or the Shadows that had dumped him here in the first place. After a brief moment's consideration he decided it didn't really matter who he meant; it fit either way. Growling, he picked up the pace as fast as he dared, darting between trees and doing his best to avoid the reaching braches and roots that tangled the ground; the sound of the helicopter firing urging him to run even faster. He hissed in a pained breath and nearly fell when one of the shots got lucky and grazed his side. As it was, he stumbled and quickly dove to the side to avoid the helicopter's pass by.
"Damn it!" he growled, pressing his hand to his side and pulling it away just as quickly when the pressure caused his side to erupt in pain. He glanced down and saw his hand was smeared with crimson beads of blood and a glance down confirmed that his shirt was torn and bloody. Suddenly, he heard shouting behind him and he quickly burst to his feet, swaying slightly and shaking his head vigorously to clear it. He took a moment to shove the silver case into his backpack and thought about snagging one of the protein bars, but as the shouting and crackling of walkie-talkies grew closer he settled for dashing off instead and hoping his energy held.
Twenty minutes later he had left the searching soldiers well behind him and he was lucky enough not to have heard the helicopter for a while. He slowed to a normal paced trot and took a few deep breaths before glacing down at his side again. He frowned when he saw blood still trickling out, coating his side and making his shirt stick to his skin. He sucked in another deep breath and pressed his hand back to his side, hoping to slow the blood flow further until he had the chance to restore the energy he had lost so his skin could knit itself back together. Wanting to get this whole experience over and done with, he started forward again at a much slower pace and hoped he found the checkpoint soon so he could chuck the stupid case at whoever picked him up. Sure, it wouldn't be all that productive, but at least it'd make him feel better.
After hijacking the jeep, Artemis found the checkpoint easily enough and handed off the case before being bundled on a puddle-jumper (2) and sent off to the nearest airport. From their she boarded a private jet and was in the air before she even had a chance to really figure out where she had been. About three hours later the plane landed in a private airport and she stood, expecting to get off, when she was told that this was not the final stop. Curious, and annoyed, she looked out the windows and saw nothing but forest on either side of the private airstrip. Her attention quickly turned to the doorway when it was pulled open and someone shuffled in. She bolted out of her chair when a familiar head of red hair trudged in, looking in distinctly less better shape than she had left him in.
"Wally!" she cried as she ran up to him, looking him over. He was breathing a little heavier, he looked a little pale and one side of his shirt was torn and soaked with dried blood. "What happened?"
"I got into a fight with a helicopter," Wally replied, an easy smile on his face when he caught sight of Artemis. "Would you believe I actually won the fight? Well, technically anyway."
"Where did they send you that you fought a helicopter?" the irrate blonde demanded, already glaring around, looking for someone to take her anger out on.
"Out there," Wally replied with a wave of his hand to the forest surrounding them. "Apparently at least part of it is a secure military compound and I was sent in blind to swipe a case for them."
"Same here," Artemis said after a moment. "Though I was in the middle of a desert. They had me steal a case out of a jeep I 'happened' to cross paths with."
"What a happy little accident for them," Wally replied with a roll of his eyes. "Any idea where we are or at least which country we're in?"
"None," Artemis reported with a shake of her head.
"Same here," Wally grumbled. "The bastards knocked me out with something heavy duty and completely messed up my GPS as a result." He wobbled slightly on his feet and had to blink rapidly for a few minutes when he felt Artemis grip his arm and pull him gently to the long bench seat on the other wall.
"Sit," she commanded, her tone no nonsense, before she disappeared back towards the bathroom. She came back a few minutes later to find Wally already stretched out on the bench, his wounded side facing her and his shirt peeled off. "I've trained you well," she joked, a ghost of a smile crossing her face as she knelt at his side and looked over the long gash on his side. "Why hasn't this healed over by now?"
"Besides the fact that it just happened a little over two hours ago?" Wally replied, a weary smile on his lips. "Probably because I've been running hard to get away from the soldiers on my tail so I haven't had a lot of time to actually replenish any energy."
"Then we're disinfecting this, wrapping it up and then you're eating something," Artemis returned.
"Yes ma'am," Wally quipped back, before hissing in a breath wehn Artemis pressed an alcohol soaked clothe against his side. "Well that was less then pleasant."
"Suck it up," Artemis returned before leaning over and pressing a gentle kiss to his lips.
"See, that was much better," Wally said when she pulled away, a teasing smile on his face. "How about we have more of that and less of the burning cloth from Hell?"
"Think you can sit up so we can wrap it?" Artemis asked, pointedly ignoring him, though an amused smile tugged at her lips.
"A slave driver, that's what you are," Wally mock sighed even as he levered himself up onto his elbows. "Your boyfriend is mortally wounded and you order him around."
"No, my boyfriend is just fishing for sympathy even though he knows full well that this scrap will be gone within a couple hours at the most," Artemis retorted, amused. Carefully and quickly she bandaged the wound on his side, relieved to see that it was already looking a bit better, and wrapping it in gauze before she kicked the first aid kit aside and sat down behind Wally, letting him rest his head in her lap. "I'm glad you're okay," she told him sincerely, her fingers twining gently in his hair.
"Me too, Beautiful," Wally replied, his hand coming up to gently her face in his palm. "I was worried about you."
"Well, of the two of us, it looks like you were the one to worry about," Artemis joked.
"See, that's what I get for taking on a chopper in a fight," Wally said with a self-depreciating mock sigh. "At least ones with guns. I think a regular helicopter would be no match for me though."
"I'd rather not test the theory," Artemis laughed. "I don't need to be running around after you trying to keep you from picking a fight with every helicopter you see. You'd completely trash our image in a matter of seconds, and we can't have that. Not that you're geekiness doesn't already cause us enough problems," she added with a teasing smile.
"Oh shut up," Wally chuckled. "You love me and you know it babe, so what does that make you?"
"An idiot," Artemis grinned as she leaned in close. "But a very happy idiot that doesn't want this to change."
"Good," Wally whispered, his lips a breath from hers. "Cause it's forever and always with us, Beautiful."
"Forever and always," Artemis promised in return before she kissed him again, content when Wally dragged her down to lay next to him and wrapped her in his arms.
They stayed like that for a few minutes, enjoying being together again after their forced separation, even if it was short, when Wally's gaze fell on his discarded pack and the black duffle bag that sat by Artemis' chair.
"So, you looked in your case yet?" Wally asked.
"Actually, no," Artemis replied, a mischievous smirk curling her lips upwards. "But that doesn't mean we can't now."
Smirking at each other, the pair pulled themselves off the bench and dragged their bags back over. They pulled the cases out and Artemis immediately set about inspecting the locks.
"They're both electronic," Artemis said. "Give me a few minutes and I'll have them disabled," she added as she immediately went at both digital displays. Before long, both locks gave a soft beep and the cases clicked open. "Done!" Artemis crowed triumphantly.
"Nice job, Beautiful," Wally returned, briefly kissing her cheek before turning his attention to the cases, pushing them both open.
Inside the smaller case Wally had been sent to retrieve was a small chunk of glowing green rock. "Kryptonite?" he questioned, leaning in closer for a better look. "No, it's too porous." He sat back, stunned. "I honestly have no idea what this is. I suppose it could be radioactive, but without the right equipment I have no idea." With a frustrated sigh he slammed the case lid back down and shoved the whole thing back into his pack.
"And this stuff?" Artemis added, gesturing to her case. It was full of parts and wires, all snugly nestled in their place.
"Aren't wires and parts your specialty?" Wally asked.
"Yes, but that doesn't mean I can tell you what they're for when it's just a bunch of parts," Artemis grumbled, closing her case and shoving it away as well.
"Guess we're just going to have to wait and be surprised," Wally replied.
"I hate surprises," Artemis complained.
"I know," Wally said, eyeing both bags critically. "So do I."
The flight lasted longer than the pair would have thought, though Wally did enjoy the time he had to rest and replenish the energy he had lost running around and healing. When they finally touched ground he was almost back to 100 percent, though his side still ached if he pulled it the wrong way.
"So," Wally began as he stepped off the plane, Artemis right behind him. "Where are we crashing tonight? Since we can't exactly go home while our mothers think we're on a summer long trip we can go anywhere we want."
"What about back home with us?" a young voice asked from the tarmac.
Both Wally and Artemis tensed and growled dangerously when they spotted the whole team on the runway below them.
"What are you four doing here?" Artemis snarled.
"We could ask you the same thing," Aqualad replied, trying to keep his voice calm and placating. "We received a tip that agents of the Shadows were landing here with stolen equipment. Imagine our surprise in finding you here instead."
"Well, not exactly how I planned the reveal to go," Wally laughed harshly. "But if you really think you're getting what we stole then you've lost even more brain cells since we left. And let's be honest, none of you had that many to spare in the first place."
"You stole?" Miss Martian questioned. "Do you mean you joined the Shadows? Why?"
"Give the alien a prize!" Artemis mocked. "She only had to be given a glaringly obvious hint to figure it out."
"Guys," Robin tried, his voice sounding hurt, but wary. "Please, you don't have to do this. Whatever they're blackmailing you with we can help you fix it."
"Funny," Artemis began conversationally, looking over to Wally. "I was under the impression that we joined the Shadows willingly."
"I was just thinking the same thing," Wally replied. "I mean they offer pretty good benefits and such a great retirement package that thought it just made sense to join."
"Wally, Artemis, please," Aqualad tried again. "We can work this out. Just come back with us."
"So you can lie to us again?" Artemis snapped. "Not likely."
"We didn't mean harm," Miss Martian protested almost tearfully.
"Oh stuff it!" Wally yelled. "We're not in the mood to be tricked and manipulated by a bunch of backstabbing assholes."
"Ironic, given your new allegiances," Superboy interjected, an angry scowl on his face.
"We know what we're doing," Artemis shrugged, unconcerned. "And we knew what we were getting into from day one."
"You realize that if you persist in this we will have to stop you, do you not?" Aqualad said. "Are you prepared for that?"
"I think the better question it, are you?" Wally asked with a dangerous smile and a wild light brewing in his green eyes, giving them a poisonous hue.
"Do you really think your rag tag group has what it takes to stop us?" Artemis continued, a feral storm flashing in her grey eyes as a taunting smirk tugged at her lips.
"We will if we must," Aqualad returned and, as if on cue, the whole team shifted stances and launched themselves forward.
Wally and Artemis dropped their bags and met them head-on. Artemis ducked under a punch Superboy threw towards her face and used his momentum to send him flying over her shoulder, only to take a kick to the shoulder from Robin. She stumbled forward, snarled at the Boy Wonder, and sent a roundhouse kick to his ribs that the younger boy just barely managed to block, but sent him crashing into Superboy as he tried to stand.
For his part, Wally was easily dodging and running circles around Aqualad and Miss Martian, at least until the Atlantian spread water all over the tarmac and sent the young speedster slipping all over the place, giving Miss Martian a chance to stop him telepathically. Frozen in place, all the red head could do was snarl and curse. Artemis frowned, found she had a moment while Robin and Superboy tried to disentangle themselves, grabbed her bow and fired an explosive arrow at the Martian girl. No sooner had she gotten the shot off before she was tackled to the ground and pinned by both Robin and Superboy. She didn't bother struggling; instead she ducked her head as best she could to shield it from the blast.
Miss Martian had to drop her concentration on Wally to block the explosion, the fire and debris the explosion kicked up blinded everyone for a moment. Wally quickly pulled his goggles down to shield his eyes, zipped over to Artemis and scooped her up before taking off. He remembered just in time to speed back in and snatch their packs and speed back off into the night.
"That went less than stellar," Wally sighed when he finally came to a stop, miles away.
"We weren't ready for them," Artemis reasoned. "And we'd both been out running a mission that left us tired and less than at top performance."
"Well, let's hope that's all it was," Cheshire's disembodied voice drifted from the shadows around them. "Because, quite frankly, that little fight of your sucked, and they weren't even putting in their A game. Probably some do-gooder notion of trying to get you to come back," she added with a flippant wave of her hand as she stepped out of the shadows. "If you really want the Baby Justice club left to you, you're going to have to do a lot better than that in the future."
"Why are you here Jade?" Artemis demanded.
"To pick up your objectives, of course," the older girl answered. "Oh, and I suppose to tell you that you've both passed," she added as she tossed them each a small, dark colored cell phone and a dark handbag to Artemis. "The Shadows will call when they need you. Until then, use your…signing bonus to take a minute or two for yourselves. Hotwire a Lotus, steal more toys for your experiments, do whatever it is kids your age do these days." Without another word, the masked assassin grabbed both packs and slipped back into the night, disappearing as completely as her namesake.
"I think it's about time we found a place to crash for the night," Wally said as he knelt down so Artemis could climb on his back.
"There's got to be some place in the Middle of Nowhere, U.S.A that's backwoods enough to hide," Artemis agreed as she unzipped the bag and found it stuffed with cash. "At least we won't have to worry about funding."
"One problem down then," Wally replied. "Think it's safe to head back to our base and grab our gear and our bikes? I'm not keen on the idea of just leaving our stuff for the League to grab."
"We should be good if we hurry," Artemis answered.
"Hey, remember who you're talking to," Wally teased. "There's no way they'll beat us back to Gotham." Waiting just long enough for Artemis to take a deep breath and duck her head down, he took off for Gotham.
AN2: So, chapter 17 is finally posted, I'm so sorry again for the wait. I've been accepted to graduate school and life got rather hectic sorting all that out. A huge thank you to all readers, reviewers and alerters, you guys always make me smile. Please don't forget to drop a review before you go (hint hint, wink wink ;P) Oh, and just a reminder, I am still accepting OCs to work into this story, but only THREE more are guaranteed to be in it (after that, I'll try, but I can't make any promises) and remember, you have to PM me (the more details you provide, the better so I can try and keep your character as true to your vision as possible). Thank you to all of you that have already sent me your OCs, I'm loving them so far :D
(1) So I may be wrong on this, but I was under the impression that all speedsters had some sort of innate sense of direction that allowed them to keep on track and reach their destinations while traveling at super speed; basically like an internal GPS (though one that never tells you it's "recalculating" of course ;P)
(2) Puddle-jumpers are what my family call those really small (like no more than eight rows of seats) planes, most of which still have propellers. I wasn't sure if anyone else called them this, so I thought I'd clarify.