AN: And here's shot two! An anonymous reviewer requested Wally and Artemis babysitting Lian and the League meeting Wally and Artemis' kids for the first time. I kind of combined the two so I hope this works!
Also, side note on this; I'm in grad school and juggling classes, an internship, homework, job hunting, and attempting to have some form of a social life. It may take me a bit of time to get new shots out, but I will try my best to stay on top of them as you guys send them in.
Disclaimer: Nope, none of these characters are mine. Well, except for the OCs.
"I'm still not clear on why your sister thought it would be a good idea to leave her toddler with us," Wally said as he looked down at the dark haired little girl sitting on the floor of his living room. It had only been about three years since the whole blow up with the League and the Shadows, but a lot had changed. Wally and Artemis had graduated high school and moved all the way across the country to go to college in California. They still kept up with the vigilantism between classes and homework and even ran a support network of sorts for the teenagers that had been affected by the Shadow's serum but didn't want to join up with the Justice League. They probably would never be as large as the Justice League, but they did have a fair few members of their own group scattered across the globe. "We're not exactly the best people to ask to babysit."
"Her mother is also my sister," Artemis pointed out as she ran over and snatched one of her arrows from her niece's grasp. The little girl just giggled. "Clearly."
"You have a point," Wally frowned at the little bundle on his living room floor. "And I suppose we're free labor again?"
"Aren't we always?" Artemis replied before a chirping noise snagged her attention. She turned to the end table next to the couch and grabbed the communicator that was beeping at her.
"You've got Artemis," she greeted as she pressed the button to accept the call.
"Hey guys," a bright voice said, the sound of gunfire going off in the background. "It's Gravity here, and Hotshot. Um, how fast do you think you can get to Lima?"
"Peru?" Wally asked, coming to stand next to Artemis. "What are you doing down there. Last we heard you were in Hawaii."
"Yeah, well, Hotshot and I found out that our nasty little friends on the dark side were kidnapping the Dosed that have been laying low and we thought, 'Hey, you know what? We haven't given those guys hell in a while. Why don't we go stir up some trouble?' So we booked the first flight out here and well, we may have slightly underestimated this whole thing."
"How did you find out about the kidnappings?" Artemis replied. "We haven't heard anything about that."
"Well, it's all been Dosed that didn't join up with the League or network in with you guys," Gravity answered. "Oh, damn, just a sec." The speakers let out a crunching, scraping noise as though it had been dropped. "I'm on the phone you assholes!" Gravity's voiced called out, sounding slightly further away. "And flame for brains, what do you think you're doing leading them over this way?" The sound of gunfire resonated around the apartment for a moment, though screams were quickly on its heels. "Okay, sorry about that, I'm back," Gravity chirped after a minute. "So, you guys coming or what? Flame brain isn't exactly stellar back up when you want to be sneaky."
"No offense Gravity, but neither of you are really good with the whole sneaky thing," Wally chuckled. "Can you two pull out and fall back? We should be able to get there in about three hours."
"You got it Boss Man!" Gravity trilled. "Hotshot! Stop playing with your toys! Mom and Dad are on the way and want everything nice and neat when they get here!"
"I don't know why you insist on calling us that," Artemis groaned. "You're barely a year younger than we are."
"You drive this flying umbrella Boss Lady," Gravity laughed. "You keep us all in line and connected to each other. I'd say that's about what any self-respecting parent does."
"Ugh, whatever," Artemis sighed as she shook her head. "Just don't get killed till we get there, all right?"
"You got it! See you soon!" There was a short click and the line went silent.
Artemis pressed the button to close the line on her end and placed the communicator back on the side table. "So, what are we going to do with Lian?" she asked, turning to look at her niece giggling on the floor. A fond smile tugged at her lips for a moment.
"Shit, yeah," Wally said, rubbing the back of his head. "Um, I could go alone?" he suggested.
"No chance in hell," Artemis shot down. "Where you go, I go."
"Call Jade then?" the red head replied.
"I'm not interrupting date night," the blonde sighed. "The last time we did that was not pretty."
"Right, yeah," Wally shuddered. "That really just leaves taking her with us. We don't have anyone in the area that can come watch her."
"She should be okay," Artemis nodded, though a frown was pulling the corners of her mouth down as she looked down at her niece. "I mean, it's not like it's the first time she's been in the middle of a firefight, right?"
"Honestly Arty, I'd be surprised if she isn't already helping Jade on missions in some way," Wally grinned back.
It took the better part of an hour to get suited up and then find a way to protect Lian as Wally ran. Strapping her to Artemis' back while she piggybacked left them unable to make sure she was okay and sandwiching her between them was too dangerous as she could easily get squished. Eventually, they had to bundle her up as best they could and strap her to Wally's chest.
"You sure she's going to be okay?" the red head asked for perhaps the twentieth time as Artemis adjusted herself on his back, hooking her legs securely around his waist.
"It's the best solution we've got, just be careful," the blonde replied, wiggling just a bit more. "Okay, I'm ready when you are."
"Hang on tight then," Impulse said as he adjusted his googles and took off like a shot.
Two and a half hours later, Impulse skidded to a stop outside of an abandoned hotel and carefully let Artemis down.
"You made it!" a female voice squealed as a shorter girl with dark skin and purple, blue, and black hair in a pixie cut came running out to join them. She was dressed in mottled grey-green cargo pants and a dark top. "Ooohhh, and you brought our favorite little mascot with you!" she said as she ran over to pinch at Lian's cheeks. "Auntie and Uncle have you babysitting again?"
"Don't let Red Arrow here you call him that," Impulse grinned. "I think it makes him feel old."
"Oh, he's fine with it," Gravity waved off. "Well, he didn't hit me when he shot an arrow at me for it anyway," the girl grinned. "I'm taking that as a positive sign. Auntie just finds it funny."
"Of course she does," Artemis sighed. "Why don't we get inside and you can break down what we're looking at here. And tell us where you got your intel while we're at it."
"Aye, aye," Gravity mock saluted before she spun on her heel and led everyone back inside. The dilapidated exterior gave way to thread bare carpeting, doors barely hanging on by their hinges, and more broken windows than not. Gravity led the trio down a narrow hallway that branched sharply to the left at the end. Pale yellow-white light spilled out around a door near the end that was slightly ajar.
"You sure it's safe to have a light on like that?" Artemis asked as they eased their way into the small room. A broken bed frame with a sagging mattress had been pushed back against the far corner of the wall. A young man sat on top of a blanket, one arm pressed against his stomach. His other hand was open in front of him and a small flame flickered along the surface of his palm. "You're looking pretty pale Hotshot, and that's saying something for you."
"Took a bullet to the gut," the boy on the bed shrugged. "Gravity dug it out all right though, and she got me bandaged up. Bled for a while I guess."
"We didn't bring a med pack," Impulse said, stepping closer and moving the other boy's arm out of the way. "Did you burn it closed?"
"Didn't have much of a choice really," Hotshot answered. "It'll be fine, I'll heal eventually."
"All right, start talking then," Artemis said as she leaned up against the wall next to the door.
"Okay, so, we were in Hawaii right? Mostly just chilling and enjoying the sun and beach, yeah?" Gravity began, speaking quickly. "Anyways, so we're not really doing all that much when some bargain basement thugs end up at the bar Hotshot and I are hustling in for the week and they get drunk enough to start talking about this job posting on the DarkNet that's paying really well. All you gotta do is kidnap a few kids that no one's gonna miss cause they're, like, street kids or something. Then another guy says yeah, it pays well, but those kids are some of the weird ones with powers. Hotshot and I got interested, contacted Wire to do some digging, and she got us this place in Lima."
"And they've been taking Dosed kids for sure?" Impulse asked.
"Seems like," Hotshot shrugged. "We didn't see anything, but everything Wire found online indicated Dosed."
"Anyone we know missing?" Artemis asked, frowning when she thought she heard a scuffle outside. She held up a hand for silence, tilting her head a bit towards the door. She pressed closer to the wall and barely dared to breathe. For a moment, there was nothing but silence on the other side of the wooden barrier, then an echoing clang sounded from further off and she immediately sprang into action. "Hotshot, Gravity, you're on babysitting duty while we go find out what that was," she said as she pulled her bow from its holster and carefully drew an arrow.
Impulse undid the sling keeping Lian to his chest and handed her over to the bouncing girl in the corner. "Don't let her play with anything dangerous, we don't need any wars triggered," he told Gravity as he handed the little girl over, a smirk on his face.
"Look, it's not my fault she went near those launch codes," Gravity pouted as she took the two year old into her arms. "Besides, you and mom needed help. It was either put her down or let the both of you get shot!"
"Just don't let her leave this room and I think we'll be okay," Impulse chuckled before his expression grew serious. "Will you guys be okay here?"
"We've still got our powers," Hotshot reminded the red head. "Anyone that comes through the door will be flattened or charred. Gotta protect the little princess after all," he added with a nod towards Lian, who giggled and made grabby hands at the boy on the bed.
"All right, we'll be right back then," Artemis replied, carefully easing the door open. "Standard check in code when we get back." She waited long enough to see Gravity and Hotshot nod before she slipped out the door, Impulse right behind her.
The pair trod lightly through the darkened hallways, Artemis leading the way with her bow halfway up and an arrow knocked. They stopped occasionally to listen for any more sounds, but heard nothing.
"Maybe it was a mouse?" Impulse suggested after another fruitless search down another empty hallway.
A loud crash followed by a shrill scream rang out behind them and Artemis only had the brief glimpse of lighting flashing in her partner's eyes before she was scooped up and they were rushing back the way they had come. Within moments they were back in the room with Gravity and Hotshot. Impulse let Artemis down and the blonde immediately rushed to the two year old left on the bed while her partner barred the doorway, a snarl pulling at his lips and a growl building in his throat.
Impulse was all set to dash forward at the intruder pinned to the wall when he pulled up short, blinked a few times, and took a step back. "You can let him go Gravity," he said over his shoulder. "And you might as well stop trying to roast him Hotspot, it's not going to work."
The other two teens immediately complied, but shuffled back into the room and put themselves between Artemis and the intruder. The blonde huffed once as she adjusted her hold on her niece, but didn't say anything.
"What are you doing here?" Impulse asked once Superboy had collected himself. "And where are the others?"
"Missing kids," the dark haired teen answered, shifting a look at the occupants in the room behind the speedster. "We were scouting out the area and I picked up some heat signatures in here. I thought I should check it out."
"Solo?" Artemis asked as she stepped forward and handed off Lian to Impulse when the little girl made grabby hands in his direction. "Wow, that's either incredibly cocky, or incredibly stupid."
"Who's she?" Superboy asked, nodding his head towards the toddler.
"None of your business," Gravity interrupted, striding forward and glaring down the taller boy, hands on her hips. "Mom and dad have this covered so you and your little friends can just butt out!"
"We don't exactly take kindly to people that scare the little princess," Hotspot added, flames flickering across his hands for a moment. "So you've already got a black mark in our books, don't make it worse."
Superboy's eyes flickered across the other two teens, down to the much smaller bundle in Impulse's arms, and finally between the duo themselves. "Mom and dad?" he asked, before nodding his head at the little girl. "Yours then?" Suddenly his expression shut down for a moment, and then he shook his head and held up a hand. "The rest of the team is on the way, maybe explanations should wait."
Artemis pulls a face. "And exactly how much did you tell them?" she demands, though a familiar cackle interrupts Superboy before he can respond to her question.
"Dude! When'd you two have a kid?" Robin laughed.
"Artemis! Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant?" Miss Martian pouted, floating into the blonde girl's face. "I mean, I know we don't talk all that much anymore, but we're still friends, aren't we?"
"You know, for being this super sneaky, elite team, you guys are kind of oblivious, aren't you?" Impulse smirks at them as he bounces Lian on his hip. His grin stretches wider at the blank looks. "She's not ours."
"She might as well be, with the amount of time we spend watching her," Artemis grumbles under her breath.
"That's true," Impulse responds, tilting his head in her direction.
"You sure?" Robin asks, leaning in to get a closer look at the little girl. "She's got a blend of both of you."
"Neither of us has dark hair," Artemis replied.
"No, but you're half Vietnamese," Robin states as though it's obvious.
"And yet blonde and red hair are recessive traits," Impulse smirks. "Try again bird boy."
Robin frowns, but eventually inclines his head. "Okay, fair point. So whose is she? And why would you bring her on a mission with you?"
"Because when you're asked to watch her, you watch her," Gravity giggles, wiggling her fingers in front of Lian. "Auntie and Uncle don't like to be interrupted on date 'night'," she added, making air quotes around the last word.
"Anyways, any more information would be telling," Impulse stated, shooting a look in Gravity's direction. "You're the protégé to the 'World's Greatest Detective'," he added with a sly smirk in Robin's direction. "You figure it out. What are you all doing here, by the way?"
"Following up a lead on a case," Robin answered evasively.
"If it has anything to do with the taken Dosed kids, we've got this," Artemis said, a frown tugging at her lips. "When did you get a suit change?"
"When I decided to stop living under Batman's thumb," Robin replied. "Name change came with it actually. I'm called Nightwing now."
"Still the bird theme then," Impulse smirked. "Good, bird boy's stuck around too long for me to go changing you're nickname now."
Nightwing rolled his eyes, but a grin tugged at his lips. "How do you know about the missing kids?" he asked, turning to Artemis again.
"We told mom and dad, of course!" Gravity chirped in reply.
"Mom and dad?" Nightwing deadpanned as he looked between the pair, and eyebrow raised.
"If you can get her to stop, it'll be a miracle," Impulse sighed. "We kind of just roll with it now. At least she's the only one."
"That's what you think," Hotshot snorted. "We all call you that; she's just the only one that says it to your faces."
"All?" Nightwing pressed, his eyebrow ticking up higher.
"Telling," Artemis sung. "We don't share our secrets, you don't share yours, remember?"
"Okay, fine," Nightwing sighed. "I assume you've already gotten a look at the complex the kids are being held at?"
"Not yet actually," Artemis answered. "We came straight here after we got the call."
Nightwing's eyebrow ticked even further up, but he didn't say anything. "It's not too bad really, though the area around it is burnt and flattened. You two, I'm guessing," he motioned between Hotshot and Gravity.
"Guilty," Gravity grinned wide.
"That's increased the guard rotation, but it doesn't look like they've moved the kids yet," Nightwing said. "I've got the layout from a fly-by we did in the Bioship before we touched down." He pulled up his holoscreen and nodded when Artemis immediately did the same. A few quick keystrokes had the information shared between them.
"Basic, middle of nowhere, super-secret base layout," she mumbled, twisting her wrist a bit so Impulse could see when he dropped his chin to her shoulder.
"At least on the surface level," Impulse nodded. "Leave Lian here while we run their gambit?"
"Best available option," Artemis replied.
"No!" Gravity pouted, stamping her foot on the ground. "We're not leaving you two on your own."
"These guys will be going too," Impulse told her as his head nodded in the direction of the assembled team in front of them.
"All the more reason for us to watch your backs," Hotshot said, eyeing the other group with a faint sneer on his face.
"It's not that we don't want to watch the little princess," Gravity added, her voice and tone shifting to something much more serious. "But we're not comfortable leaving you two with them."
"Wouldn't be the first time we had to team up," Artemis pointed out, a soft smile on her face as she glanced over at the younger girl. "Besides, Hotshot is hurt and someone really does need to keep an eye on Lian."
Hotshot and Gravity shared a look, before simultaneous defeated sighs escaped from their mouths. "Fine," Gravity grumbled, reaching out to take the toddler when Impulse lifted her to hand her off. "But let it be known that I am lodging a formal complaint with HR!"
"We are HR," Impulse laughed, reaching over to ruffle her hair.
"Then expect a strongly worded letter in your inbox!" Gravity sniffed, before spinning on her heel and retreating back into the room.
"We'll hold off for two hours," Hotshot said, looking between the two. "Then we're coming in after you. After we call in the cavalry of course," he added with a smirk.
"I thought you said we were the closest," Artemis frowned at him.
"You were, but that doesn't mean that everyone who can get here won't make the trip if we tell them that mom and dad went in with Leaguers and we haven't seen them since," Hotshot shrugged in reply. "You'd have an army here in an instant."
"We'll see you in two hours then," Impulse laughed, shaking his head. "Just rest up and keep an eye on her."
"Don't worry, our resident manic pixie is safe with me," Hotshot grinned before he too slipped into the room.
"All right boys and girls, let's get this thing over with," Artemis said, spinning around to face the assembled group. "They're pretty serious about the two hour limit and you don't want to see what happens when they decide they need to call in the troops."
"No, I'd imagine not," Nightwing grinned at them. "Sounds like you're quite the popular parents."
"Oh no, don't you start!" Artemis shot back. "It's bad enough we get it from them!"
"It's nothing to be ashamed of you know," Nightwing laughed. "Even if we never really pegged you for the parenting type," he added with a cheeky grin.
"One hour and fifty eight minutes!" Gravity called from the room. "We have a phone tree now too, you know!"
Artemis and Impulse just laughed, shaking their heads. "Yes kids," Impulse called back into the room. "Behave while mom and I are gone."
"Really?" Artemis asked him, a grin on her face.
"If they're all calling us that, might as well not fight it," Impulse shrugged, a grin spreading across his own face.
"One hour fifty six!" Gravity called again.
"Well, you heard the girl, shall we?" Impulse asked, before he swept Artemis up into his arms and raced from the building.
AN2: So I figured I'd end it here because I feel like that was more in the spirit of the prompt. Obviously they get the kids out and Gravity does not end up needing to call in her "siblings" (much to her disappointment). Remember to send me any prompts or themes you want to see!