Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice
Author's Note: Sorry. School and personal stuff took over. But good news, there was freezing rain where I live so I literally have nothing to do so I got this and chapter 14 written. Woo. 15 and 16 should be finished within the next two weeks. Unless some other disastrous thing happens.
Wally glanced at his watch then back down at the street. It was now getting into the late evening and there was still no sign of either of the League agents. They had been there for hours at this point and the ginger was getting bored. They had already played enough rock, paper, scissors to last him a lifetime. He leaned against the ledge of the roof and groaned. He heard the girl next to him laughing and he rolled his eyes.
Looking up at her and she was biting back a smile, trying to keep her eyes stuck on the street below them. He reached over and poked her side, causing her to jump slightly. She shot a quickly glare at him before smiling, "Jerk."
"Well don't laugh at my boredom. You're stuck here, too. God, I hate surveillance," Wally muttered. "Thanks a bunch of this job, Roy."
"So when do we get to rub it into his face he's wrong?" Artemis asked glancing down at her own watch.
"I don't know, but I can't wait to watch you go at him," he answered, grinning at the girl. "It will definitely be the most amazing thing I'll ever see. Watching you yell at someone who's not me, heaven."
"Well, I'm sure I kind find a reason to yell at you again," the blonde said, reaching over to him and giving him a light punch. "You are, after all, one of the most annoying people I've ever met."
"And you love it," he said, smirking. He turned his gaze back to the street and still no one was down there.
He could feel time move by slower and he was ready to give up. They obviously were not at the right place and he honestly didn't want to deal with Roy being the hero of the day. He sighed before rubbing his face.
His thoughts began to wander. This mission felt strange for some reason. He couldn't shake how odd it was that Roy came to them directly and not to the Agency. Sure, he had his problems with them, but the ex-agent was still an ally. There was something off about this whole thing. He began to wonder if he should tell Dick this.
"Wally," Artemis said after awhile. He looked over to her, being pulled out of his thoughts and the girl nodded down to the street. At the intersection they were watching, a blond man was standing. He was periodically checking his watch, waiting for something or someone. He fit the image of 'Crusher' perfectly. Artemis raised her hand to her comm as she quickly informed Roy and Kaldur.
"Good, now don't lose him," Roy's voice said into their ears. "There's been no sign of Nguyen yet, but stay on alert for her. She's tricky."
"Got it," they responded together before falling silent.
They looked down at the man and waited. Wally regretted complaining about his boredom cause now the waiting was actually unbearable. Anything could happen now and he couldn't calm down. Artemis was tense again, though this time he couldn't blame her. Waiting was never really either of their thing. He wanted this night to be over.
"How long is he going to just stand there?" the boy muttered. From the corner of his eye he could see the girl shrug. This was getting more than unbearable.
"Nguyen's arrived and is receiving her package, standby," Roy's voice said and they glanced at each other. Still no sign of Crusher getting a package. They held their breath, waiting for any sign of change. The seconds ticked by and Wally was about to lose it when the other ginger's voice came back. "Nguyen's moving, you two stay there and keep an eye on Crusher. Do not leave."
They looked at each other a moment before Artemis swore under her breath. Before Wally could say anything, the blonde was making her way to the roof's exit.
"Artemis!" he hissed after her, watching her run.
She looked back at him once and he could see the apology on her face, then she was gone.
"Shit!" the boy muttered, turning back to the target. There was no change with him, but now Wally was short an archer and had no way to stop him if it came to that. "Shit! This is bad, this is really bad."
And, as if on cue, a car pulled up in front of the blonde man. The ginger couldn't tell what was being said, but he could see a bag being passed onto Crusher. The boy swore again as he began to talk into his comm.
"Crusher just received his package and Artemis has run off. Do I go after the dude?" Wally asked, already making his way to the exit.
"I am waiting outside your building, Wally," Kaldur's voice said. "We will follow him together."
Wally ran as quickly as he could down the stairs and met his friend outside. They jogged in the direction of their target for a while before the ginger said anything.
"Why are you here, Kaldur?" he asked, not sparing a glance. He was already taking a risk by speaking; he wasn't going to give them an even harder time but not watching out for Crusher.
"Roy wanted me to check on you and Artemis. I told him it was a bad call but he would not listen. I am sorry, I could not get him to trust Artemis," Kaldur answered, he eyes glancing down briefly.
"Well, I can't blame him now," the shorter boy muttered. "I have no idea where she ran off to."
"Do not worry too much, I am sure Artemis would never purposely do anything to harm the mission," the agent said. "We will figure that out when we get to there."
Wally nodded, turning his attention back to finding the man. They ran for ages, but couldn't find any trace of him. They stopped every once and awhile to catch their breath and trying and find anything that would lead them in the right direction.
After a while of searching, they both received a message from Roy on their phones.
I've found Nguyen, Artemis is with her. Meet me at the old clothing factory at the harbour. Hurry.
The boys glanced at each other before breaking into a run. Panic was surging through him. Everything was going wrong. But that made sense, luck was not really a thing to rely on. So of course when things finally start working out between him and Artemis they get thrown a curve ball. He just hoped it would be one he could catch.
He thoughts made their way to their mission at the desert and the idea of the mole. Were they set up? He didn't really think it was Artemis, but maybe she being used. Somehow she could have been blackmailed. He shook his head, trying to get the thoughts out of it. Artemis was going to be fine, there is no reason for her to betray them. After this mission he was asking her out, they were going to finally get their date and he was going to kiss her. It was going to happen. Nothing bad was going to happen tonight.
They reached the factory in about ten minutes and found a side door opened. The two boys slowly made their way to it, trying to not to make any sound. They pushed through the door, and blinked a few times as their eyes adjusted to the light inside, or rather lack of it. Wally glanced at his friend, always impressed with how quickly Kaldur could focus. The ginger's thoughts were still all over the place.
"This way," the blonde said, gesturing to their left. As the made their way in, they started to hear voices. The redhead gulped and hoped things would be under control. They pressed on, trying to get to their friends quickly, beginning to ignore the need for silence.
In a few minutes they found the room Roy and Artemis were in. Both had their bows drawn and pointing at the League's assassin. The woman glanced over at the two boys who entered and smirked.
"Oh look, Arty, more of your friends are here. I wonder if they'll be as nice about our chat as handsome here was," she sneered, beginning to side step.
"Shut up!" Artemis yelled, though Wally could see that her hands were shaking.
"Don't listen to her, Crock. She's toying with you. With me. Give it up, Nguyen, you're clearly out numbered," Roy shouted. Wally and Kaldur ran up to them as if to emphasize their friend's words. "Give us the package and we'll let you go."
"You're right, I clearly can't defeat any of you," Jade laughed. Slowly she placed the brown package she was holding and stepped away from it. She glanced over at Wally and Artemis who were standing fairly close to each other. "Seems you found something, Artemis. I'm glad. Hopefully I didn't hurt him too much last time so you can actually have your fun with him before breaking his heart."
"I'm fine," Wally snapped, taking a step forward. Artemis glared at him, but continued pointing her bow ahead.
"Well, I guess I'll just say goodbye now. And Roy, what a lovely date this has been. We should do it again sometime," she said. She winked once at the taller ginger before turning and running from the room.
Everyone stayed still for a few moments before letting out a collective breath. Both archers lowered their bows, Artemis turning away from the ex-agent. Wally reached out and squeezed her shoulder before making his way to the package.
"Well that wasn't great," Roy snapped, putting his arrow back into his quiver. "No thanks to blondie here."
"Well excuse me!" Artemis shouted back immediately. She turned to the other archer, her face flushed. "I'm sorry didn't follow your plan perfectly, but I did find her!"
"Well good job stopping her!" the ginger shouted back.
"Roy, she is not the only one who made mistakes tonight. Wally and I were unable to stop Crusher. He got away with whatever he was given," Kaldur said, calmly placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Yeah… and speaking of those packages. I think Crusher had the real one cause this one is beeping," Wally said, sprinting back to his friends.
Roy swore and started for the door. The other three followed after him, weaving their way through the halls. They just made it outside as the blast went off. No one looked back as they stumbled to the other side of the street. Once they were a safe distance away, they turned to look at the now burning building across from them.
"This mission was a failure. No one should be proud of how they acted tonight," Kaldur said once they had returned to the warehouse. Wally and Artemis were sitting together on a table, heads hanging. Roy was standing a ways off, back turned. Dick was quietly sitting at the computers, glancing between everyone. "I will inform the Agency of this mission, but know, I will no gloss over anything."
"Then you better know everything she did wrong," Roy snapped, turning around to them. "This mission failed because of newbie."
"What's your deal?" Wally shouted, standing up. Artemis tried to stop him, but the boy shook her hand off. "Okay, yeah, she went after Jade on her own, but she did find her! Kaldur and I were the ones that let the real package go!"
"Did she tell you want she did when she found Nguyen?" Roy asked, crossing his arms.
"Well obviously she held her off until you showed up, why would I need to know more?" the young ginger asked. He glared at his friend.
"Wally, just drop it," Artemis said, standing up as well.
"Seriously dude, just let this go. Everyone screwed up tonight, let's just leave it like that," Dick said. The blonde girl looked over to him, a questioning look all over her face.
"No, I want to know what his problem is! He shows up after ditching us and thinks he can just take charge again. I want an explanation," he shouted.
"Are you telling him or am I?" Roy asked, looking over the boy's shoulder at Artemis. The girl looked down, avoiding his gaze. "Fine. It'll be worse from me though. Your girlfriend was just talking to Jade. That's all. Just having a friendly little chat. She didn't have her bow up. Kaldur said you guys think there might be a mole in the Agency? Well I'd start with her because clearly she has something to hide."
The room went silent when the oldest boy stopped talking. Wally was completely silent, staring ahead blankly. Finally he took a breath in, turning to the girl behind him. "Artemis?" he asked, trying to keep his voice calm.
"Wally, please just let it go," she said, not giving him her gaze.
"Are you seriously that worried about proving yourself? Has almost four months on this team meant nothing to you?" he asked taking a step towards her. "You run off to prove yourself and all you do a chat with the enemy?"
"Of course it meant something!" she said, looking up to him. "And that was not what… Wally, please."
"Then why? Why go off by yourself, what did you have to prove? What were you doing?" the ginger asked. His voice was low and filled with venom. No one could ever say they heard that tone from him before.
Artemis shook her head, "Please, just let this go."
"Well you definitely proved that you're selfish and insecure," he snapped. "I thought we could trust each other. I guess not. Try not to let anything slip to your pals in the League."
The boy walked passed her, not trying to avoid bumping into her. He grabbed his jacket before starting for the door. He looked back once, frowning, "And I think it's safe to say our plans this weekend are cancelled. I don't know if I would be able to trust you to show up."
And then he left.