Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice
Author's Note: That's it. That's the end. Finally got there, wow. First I just really want to thank you guys for reading all of this. You're all silly for taking the time to read 16 chapters of my fic cause it's not even that amazing but you guys really made me feel like it was. Thank you for all the comments, likes, kudos, etc. It means so much to me. Some special thanks to my friends (Gwen and Kaitlyn specifically) for listening to me whine about this story and all my freakouts and complaints and worries. But the biggest thanks goes to Heather who was my beta. She edited… 90% of this fic for me even though she's a 4th year university student who doesn't actually have the time for this, but she's actually beyond perfect so that how she managed it. Thank you so much for sticking through this with me. You're a saint. But wow… This is it. This is the first multi-chaptered fic I have ever written and it's really weird to say goodbye to it. It was a huge challenge and I'm so happy that I took it on and actually finished it. It feels amazing to be here finally. I hope you all enjoyed it. Thank you so much for reading it. Au revoir!
Kaldur signalled for the two behind him to move before heading down the hall himself. Wally and Artemis followed after, the ginger glancing over his shoulder quickly. They hadn't run into anyone at this point, and he was beginning to wonder when their luck was going to run out. He knew it was going to happen, it was always just a matter of time until they were caught. It always was with their team. (Maybe if they all survived into the New Year they'd be able to start changing that fact.)
The Agency's headquarters wasn't the tallest building in Happy Harbor, but the idea of getting around it undetected was unlikely. The three of them were on the seventh floor, trying to find the device that was going to ruin the city. They had split their team in half to take out both the device and the toxin at the same time, ensuring this would be stopped completely. So far, close to two hours into their searches, nothing had been found.
They went from room to room; hoping that every room they entered wouldn't hold any surprises.
"Where is everyone?" Artemis whispered as the made their way to the eighth floor. "I get the agents are dealing with Luthor's pawns out in the city, but you would think there would be someone here."
Kaldur glanced back at the girl before opening the door to the new floor. Worry was etched onto his face. It was clear that none of them knew how this night was going to end.
Wally brought up the rear again, watching the hall as the two agents checked the rooms lining it. His blood was rushing the fastest it ever had and he couldn't keep his thoughts straight. They kept jumping from regret to regret. He hadn't told his parents that he was doing this. He had never asked Artemis out, let alone kissed her. Dick and he had never done their cross-country road trip. He had never been asked to join the agency.
Floor after floor, empty room after empty room. Eight turned into nine, nine into ten. Still, they couldn't find the device to release the toxin. If they had been anxious before, the minutes seemed to be ticking away even faster. They made their way onto the eleventh floor and repeated the search pattern.
They reached the end of a hall, again with no results, wondering how the other half of their team was doing. Making their way back to the stairs, they heard voices in the stairwell. Wally grabbed Artemis' hand and moved quickly into one of the rooms. Kaldur slipped into a room across the hall.
Trying not to breathe audibly, the two teens shared a glance before trying to focus on the conversation on the other side of the door.
"Have you found the tiny agents yet?" a man's voice asked. Artemis mouthed 'Luthor' to the ginger next to her before returning to focus to the conversation. "If they ruin this plan while their mentors stall out there, I can assure you that we will not be working together again in the near future. Do you understand, Vandal?"
"Relax, Luthor," Vandal Savage said. The voices were now moving past their room they were in and becoming to harder to hear. They moved to the crack under the door to try and catch the words better. "A group of high schoolers won't be able to stop us. But if it worries you this much, I will send more men up to the device."
"Good. Now hurry, make sure the toxin is ready. It's less than an hour till we release it," Luthor answered. They heard a chuckle followed by the opening and closing of a door from down the hall.
Holding their breath and praying, they listened to Savage make his way back down the hall to the stairs. The sound of the stairwell door closing allowed them to exhale finally. Waiting for her to take the lead, Wally tried to remember how to breathe. Artemis waited a few minutes before moving back into the hall. Kaldur was already there, waiting at the stairs.
The three of them quickly, but as quietly as they could, made their way to the top floor.
"The roof. It will most likely be on the roof, or the top floor. We must take it down now," Kaldur whispered gravely. He looked over the pair following him before continuing his climb of the stairs. "We are not splitting up though. I will not risk one of us on our own. Not today."
Artemis nodded, clenching her bow. Wally frowned and tried to focus on moving one foot in front of the other. He stole a glance at his watch and went back to his feet. The minutes ticking by were only adding to the tension. They still had a few more floors to climb.
Where were the others? They had all decided radio silence was the way about this mission, and they were going to follow that this time. The closer midnight drew, the more Wally worried about their other teammates. Had they found the toxin yet? Was it already destroyed? Were they all lying somewhere, slowly dying?
"Wally…" a voice said bringing him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see a weak smile and worried eyes. They had reached the top floor and Kaldur was waiting for them to be ready.
"Let's just do this," he muttered, stepping up next to her. He accepted the quick hand squeeze from her as their leader opened the door slowly.
First, they heard the guns firing, and then they saw the blood pour from Kaldur' shoulder. If the boy noticed, he didn't seem like it. The three of them rushed into the room, doing everything in their power to avoid being hit by the bullets flying at them. Artemis was the first to take a goon down. Kaldur followed with the second.
The top floor of the building was designed to hold multiple office spaces, but as one open room, giving a few hiding places throughout behind desks and the occasional pillar. Better than an open hallway.
Wally followed after the blonde girl, both ending up behind a desk. The girl got three arrows ready as the ginger looked over the desk, flinching as a bullet grazed his cheek. "Now," he said. Artemis quickly stood, firing the arrows in succession, hitting each of her targets.
She dropped back behind the desk to get ready to fire another round. Wally went back to watching the men firing at them. Kaldur was across the room now, taking down a few more men of his own.
"How many more?" Artemis asked.
"About ten, hopefully no more join them," he answered. The moment the words had left his mouth, the sound of the stairs' door opening reached them. About five more men entered the room, already aiming their guns.
"You just had to add that on, didn't you?" the archer groaned, loosening an arrow at one of the new attackers.
"Sorry!" he answered, vaulting over the desk. He grabbed one of the knives on his belt and hurled it at one of the men. He promised himself that the first thing he'd do when he saw his best friend was kiss him; the hand to hand combat lessons throughout the years was definitely going to get him through this night.
Unfortunately, the training didn't seem like it was going to be enough. Five minutes into fighting without Artemis' arrows covering him, the ginger felt a sharp pain in his side. He glanced down, and only saw a dampness spreading through his shirt. He winced as he continued fighting, trying to quickly make his way to either of the blondes around him.
"Get down, Wally," Kaldur said once the ginger reached him. He dropped to the ground as the taller boy quickly dealt with the final goon. They all tried to catch their breath as they scanned the room. "It appears that the roof is where we are headed."
"Wonderful," Wally grimaced as he made his way back to his feet. He grabbed onto a desk to keep him up right. "Though, I'm going to ask for maybe some bandaging up before we go, you know, for good measure."
Artemis rolled her eyes as she joined the two boys. Kaldur helped the ginger into a chair as she pulled out her first aid kit. They all worked quickly to dress the wound. As the girl tied it off, she winced slightly.
"Hey, are you okay?" Wally asked, his hand moving to her cheek. "Did you get hurt?"
"It's nothing, chest wound," she replied, batting his hand away. "Seriously, focus on yourself, I really don't want to deal with you being dead."
"So you do care," he joked, pulling his shirt down over the bandage. He let his friends get him standing again. "I thought you were just hanging around for my mad skills."
"Neither, I just don't want to fill out paper work to explain your death," Artemis said, smirking. Wally grinned back, leaning into her as she helped keep him up right.
"We need to move," Kaldur said, almost apologetically. "Will you be able to make it up the stairs?"
The boy nodded. As they made their way, Artemis took a few cautious steps forward as the two teens figured out a pace the ginger would be able to handle. The way up the stairs was much tenser then before; the slow pace and the knowledge that the League was aware of their presence are weighing down on them.
The door the roof opened easily, and before the slower two were even through the doorway, Kaldur had taken down the men. Wally leaned against the wall as the two blondes did their best to bar the door.
"Hopefully that will hold up," Artemis said, the pessimism oozing from her voice. She looked around and her frown deepened. "There's nothing up here…"
Kaldur quickly moved away from the door, looking around almost frantically. She was right; the roof seemed to be empty. The three teens quickly spared looks at each other before the two more mobile ones began search the roof. The ginger stayed near the door, ready to give any warnings needed.
Now time seemed to slow down completely. Every staggered breathe out of Wally made him that more tense. What if they didn't find it? They would have to pray the Dick and the others were successful, though that route didn't comfort him. The boy glanced at his friends before turning his attention back to the door. What if the guards caught up with them? He was going to be a goner before he ever really got to do anything…
He shook his head as he heard a cry of joy. Turning to the sound, a bit too quickly, he saw Artemis head behind a vent, Kaldur following after her. A second later, they called for him.
"Did you find it?" Wally answered, slowly pushing himself off the ledge. He took slow steps, trying to ignore the pain that shot through him with each one. "Because if you found like, a really cool bird or something we're going to have to check out your priorities."
"Just get over here, we need you to double check how to disarm it, Science Nerd," Artemis said.
"I thought we could just blow it up," the ginger replied, stopping for a moment. His side felt like it was on fire and he really didn't want to pass out before seeing them save the day.
"We would rather avoid that," Kaldur's voice came over to him. While it was focused, the injured boy could hear the slight trait of amusement in it. "We do not want to draw attention to ourselves once we've destroyed it. I do think we all want to make it out of here alive."
"Yes, that would have been the smarter plan, wouldn't it?" a cold voice said behind the paused teen. Before he could react, a cold, metal blade pressed against his neck. The boy slowly straightened, trying to move away from the knife, wincing from the strain on his injury.
Artemis came out from behind the vent, an arrow already pointing at his captor.
"Vandal…" she hissed.
"Yes, yes, I know. You at least thought that you would have destroyed the device before someone caught up to you. Well, we're sorry we disappointed you, but we aren't going to let a couple of children ruin everything we've worked towards," the man said, knife pressing more into the boy's throat. "Luthor should be catching up with your little friends any second now."
"Hey Artemis, you know, anytime you want to show off you archery skills, that would be gre-" Wally said, stopping as the knife began to break the skin, barely drawing blood.
"Yes, show us how good your skills are, little girl. Do you really think you're fast enough to not hit him? Let's see what Lawrence was able to teach you," Vandal sneered.
The blonde's arms dropped an inch before moving back into place. There was a tension through her body and the ginger knew that comment had hit her hard. He just hoped that a miracle would happen at that point, for all of them.
"Vandal, I do not believe we really need to worry about her aim," Kaldur said, moving out to stand next to the girl. There was a slight smirk on his face. "Though, perhaps you should."
"What do you mean, boy?" the man asked, clearly amused.
"Detonators," Kaldur smirked, before nodding at Artemis. She turned quickly, letting her arrow sore behind the vent.
The next second took an eternity. The ginger watched the arrow disappear and waited for the explosion. Before Wally even realized it had gone off, he had be pushed away and slammed into the ground. Artemis and Kaldur had managed to get a good distance away, lying on the ground as well.
When they were able to move again without fear of the explosion, they looked around for Vandal.
"Damn it, of course he's gone," Artemis grumbled, scuffing her boot against the ground.
"Hey, we can only be so amazing," the ginger said, grimacing as he got himself into a seating position. "And you know what would top off you being amazing? Helping me up."
The girl rolled her eyes, but walked over to him. Once up, she wiped the tiny amount of blood on his neck. "What did I say amount getting hurt tonight?"
"Yeah, pretty sure you said don't die, actually. And, pretty sure I managed that much… Only pretty sure though, there is a chance I could be dead right now," he answered, smiling at her softly.
"No, I can assure you that you're alive," she said. "I have to put up with you still."
"Can we go home now?" the ginger asked. "I'll be more up for witty back and forth banter back at the warehouse."
"Agreed. We will find the others and then head out," the taller boy said, making his way over to them. "Will you be well enough to help as we search?"
"Look no further!" a voice called from the door. The three teens turned and saw the other four from their team jogging towards them. Megan was the first to reach them, wrapping her arms around Wally and Artemis, beaming. Dick arrived next, grinning. "Nice explosion, we heard it from the basement."
"Is the toxin destroyed?" Kaldur asked, clasping hands with Roy.
"Definitely. And the computers and such. I doubt we'll be seeing this move being played again," the youngest of them said smugly.
"Good work, everyone," the blond boy said. "We should all head out now, the Agency will be wondering where we are. It must be late now."
"What time is it, anyway?" Conner asked, stepping up beside Megan.
Wally glanced down at his watch and grinned. "You're all going to accuse me of lying, but I promise you I one hundred percent am not. Happy New Years everyone."
"Yeah, you're definitely lying," Artemis said, reaching for his wrist. Once she grabbed hold of it she groaned. "I can't believe it…"
"Kaldur, just so you know, I'm not kissing you. I know we're both kind of leaders, but for that very reason I just don't think that it would be a good idea," Dick said, walking over to his friend. Kaldur rolled his eyes but smiled.
"Well, if no one minds…" Megan said, grinning. She turned to Conner as she pulled him down into a kiss.
Wally took a breath in before looking back to Artemis. She was still holding his wrist and he felt the surge of energy he felt back in November resurface. The blonde slowly brought her gaze to his and he let the breath out.
"So…" she said quietly, her hand slipping into his. His other arm was draped over her shoulders. He shifted to stand in front of her, grateful as she steadied his movements. "You really should sit down."
"First," he whispered, moving so his hand was cupping her cheek. She tightened her grip on his, sucking her breath in. Wally knew they must have looked ridiculous; caked in blood and dirt, but suddenly he didn't care. He kept his eyes locked with hers and smiled slightly, "there's something I think we should have do a long time ago."
He leaned into her, moving forward slowly but not wasting a moment. He was a breath away from her when she let go of his hand and pulled him to her. Their lips pressed together and electricity surged through them. It was almost like they weren't meant to kiss; they fit so perfectly together. More than anything, Wally wanted to scoop her up into his arms and ignore the world around them. He wanted to be pressed against her for the rest of his life. He wanted to whisper all the thoughts and emotion he had when she would spare him a glance. He wanted to stay this way forever.
A cheer cause them to pull apart. Sheepishly, Wally looked over at his grinning best friend and Artemis rolled her eyes.
"Seriously? Cheers?" she groaned, avoiding the ginger girl's beaming face.
"Of course cheers! Now we don't have to deal with all the stupid 'will they, won't they' tension we've had to deal with since September," Megan said, leaning against Conner.
"Yeah, it was pretty tiring," the dark hair boy said, shrugging.
"Wow, even you, Conner?" Wally asked. He began to leaning onto the girl with again and began to feel lightheaded. "Okay, as much as I'm sure everyone wants to stand around and tease us, I'm about to pass out so if we could perhaps relocate this to the warehouse?"
"Come on, bucko," Artemis said, pulling his arm back around her shoulders.
They all turned, making their way to the roof's exit. Roy and Kaldur took up the rear, readying their weapons. They all knew there was a chance of a final attack, though those chances were probable on the low side. Dick pulled out a phone, making the call that the mission was done and they were heading back.
But at this point, Wally didn't care. Passing through the doorway, all the boy could think about was how things were perfect. He finally got to where he wanted with Artemis. He had his friends. He had an interesting after school activity.
But most importantly he was alive. He had never been more alive. Sure, the adrenaline from the night was wearing off, but if anything that just reinforced it. He was alive and ready. Ready for everything that was going to come at him next. Ready for the next fight, ready for the next test, ready for the next struggle. Ready for the next late night where he and Dick got told off for not paying attention. For the next time he is forced into cleaning up after baking all day with Megan. The next time Kaldur and Conner try to convince him to go work out with them. Ready… More than ready for the next time he can kiss Artemis. He was ready, completely and utterly ready for the next step in his journey.
And he knew he wasn't going to take it alone. They would all take it running.