Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice
Author's Note: Ugh fighting and action and actual movement. I am so far from good at writing this stuff so I'm sorry if this is far from good. Trust me when I say this went through a lot of work to get to the point of sharing. But hey, hopefully it works. Also, any facing kicking is dedicated to my best friend. We enjoy it when Artemis kicks people in the face.
Wally groaned and leaned back in the chair he was in. Artemis shot him a glare before looking out the window again. He glanced over at her and sighed. They had been stuck in this room since five o'clock and Wally's muscles were starting to hurt.
"Hey, Artemis, what time is it?" he called across the room.
He heard a sigh before getting the response he wanted, "It's eleven now. Please stop asking, it hasn't made the last six hours go by quickly, it's not going to make the rest of this night go by any faster."
"Yeah, whatever," Wally said. He sighed and propped his feet up on the table in front of him. The only times the two had talked during the night were to let the other know when was stepping out for a minute or when Wally would ask for the time. While he understood that their focus was to keep Dr. Melissa Franks alive, he was extremely bored.
A part of him had hoped that Artemis and he would have been able to work out the obvious annoyance they had for each other. Sure they had only known each for twenty-four hours, but the extremely dislike between them was uncanny. Unfortunately, it seemed Artemis seemed completely uninterested in his existence.
Wally placed a finger to his ear, "Hey Dick…"
"Wally, I swear if this isn't important I'm going to hurt you in very painful ways," Dick's voice said into his ear.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Look, it's about you know who," he said, glancing over at Artemis.
"Seriously, please just talk to her about your feelings and not to me, I don't have the patience to listen to you whine about her," the young boy said, sounding bored.
"Excuse me, but feelings? There is no way I would have feelings for that she-devil! I just wanted to know the best why to apologize for being an ass earlier!" Wally exclaimed in a hushed voice.
"I have an idea," a new voice said over into his ear, "try not talking about me behind my back when I can hear you."
The red haired boy grimaced and looked over at Artemis. She pointed to her own ear before placing her hands on her hips, frowning. Wally raised a hand and weakly waved at her.
"Seriously, how do you forget that I can hear all the conversations that happen over the communicators? Are you actually that much of an idiot?" Artemis asked.
"Sorry, I was asking advice on how to be nice to you," Wally muttered, turning away from her, "Next time I'll remember you like people hating you."
Wally stood up and began to pace around the room. He hated sitting still for too long and this night was the definition of too long. After a couple of minutes walking around the room, he sighed.
"I can't handle this right now, I'm going for a quick lap of the hall, I need to actually move or I'll die. You good on your own for a few minutes?" Wally asked, standing up from his chair.
"Seeing as I'm the actual trained person here, yes, I think I'll be okay," she replied, sending a smirk in his direction, "And this is probably for the best, now I can concentrate without you fidgeting."
Wally glared back at her as he walked across the large room. It was a lab in the university. Hunched over one of the tables in the room was a fairly young, blonde woman. She was looking through a microscope. Wally made his way over to her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. She jumped slightly and looked up at him.
"Hey, Dr. Franks, I'm just stepping out of the room for a couple of minutes, to stretch my legs. Just keep on working and I'll be back in a flash," he said, winking at her.
"Yes, Wally, thank you," the woman said, smiling back at the ginger quickly before focusing back on her work.
Wally grinned and casually walked out of the room, glancing back at Artemis. The younger blonde was staring out the window again, her fists tightly clenched. He stepped into the hall and began to stretch his back out, then his legs. Then he began to run.
He sprinted down to the other end of the hall quickly before slowing down to a light jog. Wally felt his best when he was running normally, but he was on edge running through the hall at that moment. He glanced around the hall and behind him. It was too quiet around him; only the sound of his breathing and the fall of his feet on the hard floor could be heard. He picked up his pace and ran back into the room, opening the door quickly. Just in time he ducked a foot flying at him.
"Watch it!" he snapped, standing up straight and shooting a glare at Artemis. He quickly shut the door behind him.
Artemis was now standing with her arms crossed, her eyes extremely narrow, "Well, maybe you shouldn't have just rushed into the room. Seriously, Wally, I could have killed you."
"Right, because I didn't easily dodge that," he said back to her.
"I was holding back."
"Really?" he asked, "And what if I was actually the bad guy? What then?"
"Will you two please be quiet? I understand I'm trusting both of you with my life, but I do actually have to finish working here!" Melissa Franks said loudly, staring at the two teens.
Wally grimaced, "Sorry, Doc, we'll talk quietly over there."
He grabbed Artemis' arm and dragged her across the room to the window. He let go very quickly once they stopped walking, as though her arm was made of fire. He placed his finger to his ear. "Dick, it's Wally, just checking in."
"Everything's fine out here. No sign of anyone or anything. How's your end? And please stay focused this time."
"It's fine, just eerie. It seems almost too quiet, if you know what I mean," he answered. He shot a look at Artemis who frowned, as if to show she understood what Wally was saying.
"Do you think they're already here and have just been waiting for us to let our guard down or something?" she asked.
"It's possible… Extremely possible, knowing The League. Okay, be on alert. Kaldur and I need to check something out. Don't leave the room for any reason now, okay?"
"You got it. Be careful, dude, okay?" Wally said quickly.
"Back at you."
"Should we tell Melissa about this?" Artemis asked, glancing over to the woman.
Wally shook his hand. He glanced out the window near him, wondering where exactly Dick and Kaldur were. He looked back at Artemis and saw her chewing her lower lip, "Let's just pretend everything is normal and we'll just hope we get through this."
She nodded and walked away from him to her backpack that was on a table at across the room. Wally made his way over to Dr. Franks and leaned against the table she was at. The woman didn't even spare him a glance.
Wally looked around the room. It still seemed too quiet. Glancing at Artemis, he could tell she felt the same way now. There was something wrong. Trained or not trained, the situation they were in was obvious. Obvious and dangerous.
Minutes and seconds ticked by and Wally was getting more anxious as each went by. Soon he began to pace again. If Artemis minded, she didn't let on. Her eyes were focused out one of the windows again. Wally stopped and stood in the middle of the room. He looked around the room slowly. If the assassins were already here, what were they waiting for? Why not attack?
Wally walked over to Artemis, flexing his hands a bit. Artemis looked up him, then back out the window. They stood together in silence for a few minutes. Wally wanted to radio into Dick, but knew that they were on their own. Wherever Dick and Kaldur were, they needed to stay hidden.
"Do you think I was wrong about my feeling?" he asked, after awhile, "Maybe they aren't here yet?"
"Oh no sweetheart, I don't think you were wrong at all," a female's voice purred behind them, "But maybe you should be asking lovely Melissa over here about that."
The two teens whipped around to see Dr. Franks was not sitting alone anymore. There was a young woman, with the same skin tone as Artemis but with wild black hair, sitting on the table and holding a sai to the blonde woman's neck. There were two men standing a bit away from there.
Wally felt his whole body begin to sweat. He had no idea how these people got in. From the corner of his eye, he could see Artemis tense. Perhaps she was as nervous as he was.
"Well, isn't this cute?" the newcomer said, grinning mischievously at the pair, "Your precious Agency sent rookies to deal with me. I'm a little insulted. I thought I would get some bigger guns to fight."
Artemis began inching over to her backpack very slowly, glancing quickly at Wally. He took the hint and stepped forward.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm not a rookie," Wally said, shrugging. Every instinct inside of him was telling him to run, but he was never one to do the smarter thing. He needed to distract these three so Artemis could give them an advantage, hopefully, "So, why do you guys want Melissa anyway?"
"Oh, we don't care about her at all. We're just doing what we're being paid to do," the dark haired woman said, sliding off the table. Melissa tensed more, sitting up completely straight in her chair, "Now, if you would just stay still and let us finish our job, you'll get to live and hope the next mission goes a bit better."
"Shockingly, I'll have to pass. See, I'm actually super invested in Dr. Franks' work, so I kind of want it to get finish," Wally said, trying to smile sweetly. He began to move forward again. The woman grinned back at him, twirling the sai in her hand, "So, how about you three live and hope your mission goes better next time?"
The next thing Wally knew was that he was barely dodging a sai flying at him. His arm ended up with a rather deep cut, but he could barely feel it, adrenaline charging through his veins now. He charged towards the three, hoping Artemis had his back. The black haired woman ran forward, but he had other plans. As she started to throw another sai, Wally dropped to the ground and somersaulted pass her. Getting to his feet quickly, he charged the two men. Thankful he had the element of surprise for a brief second, he managed to knock them both off their feet for a few moments.
"Melissa, get behind those tables!" Wally shouted, pointing to the other side of the room. The woman nodded and grabbed a vial in her hand and ran.
Before he could check if she would make it, Wally felt his feet come out from under him. He hit the ground hard. Gasping, he tried to focus on what happened. The two men were now standing, grinning down at him. They pulled out a pair of knives each. Wally placed his hands behind him, using them to vault himself into the air, kicking one of the assassins down.
"Wally, get down!" Artemis' voice rang through the room. He dropped as three arrows flew right above him, pining the guy behind him to the wall.
Wally was about to thank her when he felt pressure on his chest, and he flew back, hitting the door to the room. He slumped to the ground, and looked up. The man he had kicked was slowly walking towards him. Wally looked pass him and saw Artemis now raising her leg up. She kicked the black haired woman in the face. He would have grinned for his partner if she had not been knocked to the ground almost immediately afterward. The woman lowered her head to Artemis and began to whisper something, but Wally had bigger, and closer, things to focus on.
They definitely needed back up, and soon.
As if on cue, a dark form came crashing throw the window. Dick slammed feet first into Artemis' attacker; send the woman across the room into a few chairs. The younger boy threw his own personal version of a throwing star at Wally's attacker. They hit the man in the shoulders, causing him the grimace and turn to the thrower. Wally slowly stood up, using the door behind him as support.
Dick was now trying to take the man down and Wally realized the woman had gone missing.
"Where's the black hair lady?" Wally shouted, taking a couple long strides forward. Artemis looked over at him and her eyes widened. Before she could open her mouth, cold metal touched his neck.
"Be a nice boy and keep moving," the woman's voice purred behind him, "Any funny moves and you'll lose your neck. Which would be a pity, it's such a nice neck."
Wally tensed and walked forwards slowly, feeling the sai press into his neck a bit more. After taking a few steps, he felt his body get flung forward. He went crashing into his younger friend and they both flew into the far wall.
Wally grimaced as he pushed himself off of Dick. He looked up to see the woman run out of the room, the door now wide open. Before he could do anything, Artemis charged after her.
"Artemis, wait!" Dick shouted from under him. It was too late, and the blond was already out the door, "Damn it!"
"I wouldn't worry about her just yet," a voice said above them. While the man Dick was fighting was lying on the ground unconscious, the man who had been pinned to the wall had freed himself from Artemis' arrows.
The two boys tried to stand up quickly, but they were not fast enough. The man kicked them both back down. Grinning, he pulled out a knife. He raised it above his head to throw, and Wally felt for the first time that he might actually die.
Suddenly, the man crumpled, his knife falling from his hand. Wally and Dick looked up from the fallen man and grinned. Kaldur was standing there, looking far better than the two boys on the ground.
"I am sorry it took me so long to reach you both, I got caught up fighting a few assassins outside. I hope you two are in good conditions still," Kaldur said. He reached a hand down to them. Wally took it and grimaced as his body screamed in protest, "I take it Dr. Melissa Franks is all right?"
"Yes," her voice called from the other side of the room.
Kaldur walked over to her as Wally helped his friend stand up. Wally moaned as his arm started to throb from the cut he had gotten at the beginning. While he normally enjoyed working with Kaldur and Dick, the loss of adrenaline afterward always sucked.
"Where is Artemis?" Kaldur asked, helping the scientist sit down.
"Good question," Wally muttered, making his way to a chair of his own. He was about to sit down when Artemis made her way back into the room, slowly, "Well, nice of you to come back. Did you at least stop her?"
Artemis looked up at him and frowned, "No, I lost her."
"Darn, what a shame," Wally said, walking towards her. He stopped in front of her and crossed his arms rather stiffly, trying not to wince as he did so, "Well, the rest of us managed to stop the other two, very little help from you. I'm glad that you at least got to run off alone and try to take a single one down, Miss Hero."
"Wally, lay off. She tried her best," Dick said, walking up behind him.
"I trusted her to have my back and I almost died until you and Kaldur showed up. And, as I was so often reminded, she was the trained one. She should have been able to take at least one of them down," Wally said, glaring at the girl in front of him.
"Well I'm sorry I was busy trying not to die. And I'm pretty sure I was actually saving your ass back there when I pinned the one guy. And, in case you didn't notice, Jade was kind of a tough opponent," Artemis snapped at him.
"Jade?" Wally asked, cocking an eyebrow at her. Artemis' mouth fell open a bit, her eyes widened, as if she had said too much.
"Jade was the name of the assassin, Jade Nguyen to be precise. She's a top-ranking assassin. The fact that Artemis was able to hold her own at all against her is extremely impressive. So back off, Wally," Dick said firmly. Wally just looked at his friend, unsure of what to say.
Artemis looked down, her shoulders falling. Wally looked back her and frowned. He lifted his hand as if to touch her shoulder or arm, but he let it fall instead, "Fine, whatever. I'm probably just annoyed I let myself get hurt as badly as I did… You were fine."
Artemis looked up at him. She did not smile, but her face was softer. "Right."
"If that is all, we still have the rest of the night to guard Dr. Melissa Franks. Wally, I would see that you tend to the cut on your arm before it gets any worse," Kaldur said.
Wally groaned but nodded.
"I have some bandages in my backpack, come on," Artemis said quickly, making her way to her backpack.
Dick patted his shoulder and walked over to Kaldur. Wally made his way to where Artemis was sitting with her bag, bringing a chair with him. He placed it next to her and sat down. "Look, I'm sorry, I just-"
"Can it, I don't care. I get you don't trust me yet, and that's fine," she said, reaching into her backpack, "I'm not here to impress you. I'm here because I want to make sure people like Melissa Franks don't die."
Wally nodded. He grabbed the bottom of his shirt and dragged it up slowly, wincing as he did so. Soon his shirt was off and he was looking away from Artemis. He winced again as the girl began to clean his cut. As she began to wrap it up, he finally started to relax a bit.
He watched Dick and Kaldur tie up the two unconscious assassins and watched as Dick called in the attack to the Agency. He glanced at Artemis, who was now finishing up on his arm. He muttered his thanks and pulled his shirt back on. Once his head popped through his eyes met Artemis'. She smiled faintly before cleaning up the medical supplies she had used.
"You're a pretty good archer, by the way," Wally said quickly.
"Thanks… You're not a bad fighter yourself," she replied.
Wally stood up and made his way over to Kaldur, a smile spreading across his face. He would never deny that she was a huge pain in his ass already, and he was convinced that she would probably remain one for a very long time. He was also sure that they would never become close friends. But Wally was beginning to feel as though she was someone he could definitely trust.