Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice
Author's Note: Not much action yet, but that's because I wanted to ground the relationships and characters a bit more and make you all think I'm a 'great' writer but that's cause I haven't tackled any action yet. Don't worry, next chapter will have tons and make you all realize I'm not at all that good of a writer.
Wally sighed and leaned back in his chair. He glanced out the window of his classroom. The sun was shining and he couldn't think of a worst place to be. Soon the bell would ring he would be free from his English class, but until then he knew he would be suffering. He glanced back to the front of the room and sighed again. The teacher was discussing who knows what and if another student in the class started up another debate, Wally was sure he would scream. He slumped in his chair.
His thoughts began to wander as the teacher droned on about something he could care less about. His eyes drifted back to the window. Wally smiled thinking about the lunch break that day. Megan forced Artemis, and the rest of them, into a tour of the school during the first half. Then in the second half, they all laid around in the grass, enjoying the sun. Dick and he had begun wrestling under the watchful eyes of their friends and quizzical stare of Artemis. Though, be the end of the lunch break, he could swear he caught her smiling at them. It was moments like that, which made Wally forget his two closest friends risked their lives almost everyday, and that he did the same frequently.
Wally couldn't wait for the classes to end. Today was going to be the first time since the school year started that Dick and Kaldur were going to have the night off, and Wally had been dying to spend time with them. He was also excited, though would never admit it to anyone, to show Artemis around the city. Happy Harbor was actually a fun place to spend the warmer months of the year and he enjoyed giving tours of it. His eyes drifted closed a bit as he thought about walking around the city with Artemis and taking her to his favourite restaurant.
Just as Wally was about to fall asleep in his chair waiting, the bell finally rang. He jerked up and shook the thoughts of the most frustrating girls he had ever met out of his head. He grabbed his things and quickly made it out of the classroom. The end of the school day was always the greatest moment. At this point, he just wanted to get to his friends as quickly as possible. He reached his locker and quickly opened it. He dumped his books in quickly and grabbed the jacket he had stuffed in there earlier that day. He closed the locker and almost yelled out of shock. Next to him the girl who had infested his daydreams was leaning against the wall of lockers.
"Artemis," he said cautiously.
"Wally," she replied, looking him up and down, "are you heading out now?"
"Yes, to go spend time with my friends," he said shortly. He hitched his backpack over one shoulder and looked her over quickly, "Why?"
"Can I come with you? Kaldur said I was invited join you guys after school to get a tour of this place, but I don't know my way around this stupid building yet, even after Megan's tour. I was looking for Megan or Conner to show me where you guys were going to meet, but your stupid red hair was the first thing I saw," she said, avoiding his eye contact, "I don't really want to ask you for any kind of help, but I can't find anyone else. So unfortunately, you're my only hope."
Wally glared at her then sighed. He was pretty sure that Megan made sure she was hard to find. He was going to have to talk to her about this before it got out of hand.
"Yeah, whatever, come on," he answered and started walking down the hall. She ran to catch up to him and fell in place next to him. Wally glanced over at her and smiled. She looked really frustrated walking next him, her eyes darting around the hall trying to get her bearings. Even after her first day and extreme tour from Megan, he could tell she still had no idea how to navigate the building yet. He liked how she looked frustrated. She chewed on her lower lip and her brows were furrowed. He looked ahead of them and smiled. He didn't notice Artemis eyes landed on him.
"So, what do you guys do for fun when Kaldur and Dick aren't busy?" Artemis asked.
Wally looked back at her, startled out of his thoughts, "What?"
"What do you do for fun around here?" she asked again, rolling her eyes at him, "And please don't say 'oh, we just hang out and stuff' or I'm asking The Agency to transfer me somewhere else."
"Oh, we just hang out and stuff," he answered, smirking. Artemis shot him a dirty look and his smirk turned into a genuine smile, "No, but seriously, we do sort of just hang around. We all see a far amount of action and all, so we just hang out and relax."
"Oh… That seems nice actually," she said slowly, "Is that what you guys are planning on doing today?"
"Yeah, sort of, but you're definitely not invited," Wally said, smirking.
"What?" her eyes widened and she looked at him genuinely hurt.
Wally gulped and rubbed the back of his head, "I was joking. Obviously you're invited. We're giving you a tour of the city; we kind of need you there for that. We might not get along, but it's not like I'm in charge of the group."
He had stopped walking and she stopped as well. Artemis stared at him before turning from him and walking away quickly. "Asshole," she snapped to him as she made her way through the front doors of the school.
Wally sighed and jogged to catch up with her. It didn't take him that long to reach her, his running capabilities were one thing he took great pride in. Her arms were crossed and she refused to look at him. He rubbed the back of his head again and was about to say something when he saw Megan waving at them. Artemis quickened her pace. He sighed and trudged on behind her.
"You already pissed her off that much?" Dick asked as Wally stepped beside him, "Class literally just ended. We were hoping you guys would flirt a bit or something, not fight immediately."
"Shut up, I was trying to be funny," Wally replied, shoving his heads into his pockets.
"No one thinks you're funny, you should just stop trying. Okay," Dick said, now turning to the rest of the group, "so now that we're all here, we're sorry to say that we aren't hanging out."
"What?" Wally gasped. Megan and Conner looked at each other before looking back at Dick, worried. Wally looked from Kaldur to Dick quickly, and continued, "No, but we're going to show Artemis around and watch a movie or something."
Wally glanced at Artemis to see her quickly look away from him. He sighed. Sure, he didn't like the girl, but he still felt bad about his ill worded joke.
"It will have to wait. We've been put on a group mission and leave within the hour," Kaldur said calmly. Artemis eyes lit up and she smiled. Kaldur smiled back her before continuing, "Wally, I assume you will be wanting to join us."
"If it's cool with you guys, I know you have rookie here to deal with," he responded, shrugging.
"All the more reason, you can help her learn the ropes. You two will team up," Kaldur explained.
"What!" both Artemis and Wally shouted before glaring at each other.
"Relax, tonight will probably be really low key, anyway," Dick said, slinging an arm around Wally's shoulder. The taller boy had to slouch a bit to accommodate the younger one.
"What exactly is the mission?" Artemis asked, still glaring at Wally.
"Assassination prevention."
"Her name is Dr. Melissa Franks and she's supposed to be finishing up an experiment tonight that is probably going to be making a huge advancement in the medical world. It could lead to a bunch of cures and it is extremely important that she finishes this," Dick explained, "The Agency got a tip that Dr. Franks' life would be attempted on tonight. She's working at the local university here in an attempt to keep her whereabouts low key and hidden."
They were standing in a warehouse that housed a couple very large computers. Megan was sitting at one; her knees were brought up to her chest. The rest of the group was standing around her, though Dick was standing next to her. Conner and Kaldur stood between Wally and Artemis, though it didn't keep the two from periodically shooting glares at each other.
"So," Kaldur said stepping forward, "the four of us will be staying with her the whole night to assure this does not take place. Artemis and Wally, you two will be with her in the room. If either of you ever need to leave during the night, do it in turns. Do not, any point, leave her alone. This is of the highest importance. Dick and I will be stationed outside to keep anyone from entering the building."
"Do you know who is trying to kill this woman?" Artemis asked, her arms folded across her chest. Her blonde hair was up in a tight ponytail. She had a dark green leather jacket and black leggings on. Wally glanced at her, noticing how nicely the green complimented her skin. He shook his head quickly and focused back on Kaldur.
"We are not entirely sure who it is, but we think it might be The League, you know, the top rate assassin organization," Dick said nonchalantly, quickly glancing at Artemis then back to the rest of the group, "We aren't sure though. So, you know, be prepared for anything."
Wally looked over at Artemis and noticed that she seemed rather tense. Just as he was going to ask if she was up for the mission, Kaldur began to speak, "Artemis and Wally, you will arrive there first. Wally, you will drive over there with Artemis. Do you have your bike here?"
"Yeah," Wally said, sighing. He quietly added, "Unfortunately."
"Good, we need you two to get there as soon as possible once we leave. Kaldur and I will be right behind you, but you won't see us. Hopefully, if all goes well, the next time you see us will be tomorrow once Dr. Franks is finished the experiment," Dick said, smiling.
Megan stood up from the chair and handed out four small earpieces, "Please don't lose these? They aren't cheap and I don't want to deal with The Agency again about civilians using them." She shot a look at Wally, who grinned as he placed his in his ear.
"Try not to talk to much over them, they're just for emergencies," Dick said.
Everyone nodded and began to get ready. Wally grabbed a black leather jacket with red and yellow detailing on it, with a yellow collar that was resting on a nearby table. His black pants matched with yellow knee guards. He pulled it on jacket over his black shirt and zipped it closed. From the pockets, he pulled out a pair of gloves.
"That's not a very covert outfit you've got there," a voice said behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and grimaced at the person. Artemis frowned back, "Well it's not."
"Well no one asked you," he retorted. He turned to look at her. Her ponytail was gone and now what replaced with an extremely neat braid. He gulped before continuing, "And besides, I've worn this plenty of times on missions. No one has died, thank you very much."
"All right, whatever," Artemis said, holding her hands up in a mock surrender. Wally rolled his eyes.
She stood still, eyeing him. Wally sighed and looked over at Dick. The young boy grinned at him before turning back to say something to Megan. The ginger girl smirked before typing something into the computer she was sitting in front of again. Conner was standing next to her with a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you ready to go?" he asked, looking back at the blonde. She nodded and picked up the backpack next to her he didn't notice earlier, "What's in the bag?"
"Protection."
Wally frowned. While he loved working with Dick and Kaldur, he always hated when weapons were brought along. He understood why they were necessary, but it made him sort of queasy.
"You two ready?" Dick called over to them. Wally responded with a thumb's up and Artemis merely nodded, "All right, head out now then. And try to stay whelmed, both of you. See you in the morning."
Wally nodded and looked at Artemis. She let out a sigh and began to head for the exit of the warehouse. He grabbed a yellow and red helmet that had been resting next to his jacket and quickly followed after her. When they were outside, he turned right and walked over to a black and yellow motorcycle.
"Wow… this is actually a cool bike," the girl states when she reaches it, "I'm impressed."
Wally opened the back compartment of the motorcycle and pulled out a plain black helmet. He handed it to her and cocked an eyebrow, "Impressed? Why, what do you think I owned when it was said I had a bike?"
Artemis took the helmet in her hand and placed it on her head, hiding the blonde mass. Wally climbed onto the bike and put his own helmet on. She quickly sat down behind him. Her arms snaked around his waist and he took a sharp breath in, hoping she wouldn't notice. Whether she did or not, she didn't lead onto it when she replied, "Oh, like a pretty lemon yellow Vespa or something."
Wally looked back at her as he started the motorcycle, a smirk just visible through his helmet, "Well, this is much cooler than a Vespa. And a hell of a lot faster."
With a roar from the engine, the two took off down the street. Artemis let out a small whoop as they raced down the road. Wally smirked as they weaved around cars and made quick turns. Her arms began to hold on tighter, her chest pressing into his back. Wally couldn't tell why his heart was racing so fast. It normally got accelerated from riding his bike, but never like this. It was true that this was the first someone had ever ridden behind him before, but he couldn't have cared less about it being Artemis. When he had gotten on the bike, he was ready to get off to avoid having her sit behind him. Now he would give anything for them to stay on this bike and drive through the city without any cares.
Soon, they reached the university. Wally parked the bike a bit of a way down the road. Artemis climbed off, and for a half second, Wally missed the warmth of her body pressed against his. But quickly he followed suit, pulling his helmet off at the same time. Artemis was smiling, looking at his motorcycle.
"Ready to hopefully not fight some bad guys and save the girl?" the ginger asked, grinning over at the blonde. Artemis looked up at him, still smiling. Wally's chest tightened for a brief second.
"I most definitely am, are you? I mean, what do you even do on these mission? Distract?" Artemis asked, her smile turning into a smirk.
"I happen to be amazing at track and I have been taught to fight," Wally said, lifting his chest a bit, "Dick taught me everything I know, thank you."
"So… the best skill you have to offer is running away?" she mocked, then turned on her heels and headed towards the university.
Wally gaped and followed after her, after grabbing the keys to his bike. He was fuming. Any confusing feelings he was having a minute ago that were caused by her were gone and rage replaced them. He couldn't believe how quickly the mood changed, but more so, he couldn't believe it had changed. He didn't understand the feelings he got when she was around. It went for some sort of attraction to complete and utter hatred. Wally was ready for this night to be over and it had only just begun. There was not a single part of him looking forward to spending a whole night with her. Things had definitely gotten out of hand.