Location: Canada

Date: Nov 27th

Time: 13:35

Emmy jerked to the right an inch. Artemis had nudged her to get the lantern to stop checking the perimeter and join in her mocking of the boys. The team had barely entered the fairgrounds when Kaldur saw a water gun game. The booth was set up with 3 rows of bright blue rubber duckies. Participants won a small prize if they could knock at least one duck off each of the three shelves in 30 seconds. The big prize was only earned if you knocked all 12 ducks off in the allotted time. A virtually impossible feat given the weak stream of the squirt gun and the deceptively heavy rubber ducks. Unfortunately for this booth, they claimed to have an Atlantis theme. Kaldur had immediately taken the 'inaccuracies regarding ducks in deep sea environments and blatant disrespect of my entire civilization and culture' personally.

It became his mission to win the booth's ultimate prize: a 5-foot-tall stuffed purple narwhal wearing a hot pink 'My dad went to Atlantis and all I got was this stupid shirt' hoodie. Their usually calm and collected leader was slowly losing his shit as each round ended without him claiming the narwhal. His blue eyes shot (metaphorical) ice daggers into the attendant of the game – a bored teenager who was certainly not getting paid enough to deal with the righteous indignation of an actual Atlantean.

"You're doing great, Kaldur," Megan smiled encouragingly.

"Not really," Artemis scoffed. "It's been half an hour, and all he has to show for it are a bunch of clownfish that none of us want."

She nodded at Connor, whose arms were currently stuffed with 14 plush clownfish of varying sizes and colors.

"That's not true," Sage frowned while snuggling her light green toy closer to her chest. "Sage Junior has knocked you down one in the friend rankings."

"Excuse you?" Artemis crossed her arms in faux affront. "I think I moved up one and Sage Jr. knocked Wally down one."

"Oh, yeah," Sage nodded. "That's a much better plan."

"Hey, I heard that!" Wally leaned away from his spot to the left of Robin to playfully scowl at Sage. He tightened his grip on Hunter's legs, so the boy wouldn't fall off his shoulders from the abrupt movement. "I know where you sleep, Spice Rack."

Sage's eyes widened. She stuffed Sage Jr. under her arm to sign at her brother, "Quick! Hunter, fart on Wally's neck."

The team cackled – except for Kaldur, who was laser focused on his latest attempt to rid the shelves of all 12 ducks in 30 seconds.

"Woah, Hunter, no," Wally reached one hand up toward Hunter's face to click his pointer and middle finger against his thumb, signing 'no' as rapid fire as he could without wandering into speedster territory. "Do not do that! I'm still traumatized from the last time that happened to me."

Rob laughed evilly, "You were the one who insisted we make baked beans before going on that mission."

"You could have warned me that your delicate little bird stomach couldn't handle it, Jerk," Wally groused.

Emmy grinned. Hunter had complained about not being able to see the action during Kaldur's third round, and Wally had swung him onto his shoulders without a second thought. The speedster's earthy brown jacket brought out his eyes in a way that had Emmy trying not to look at him too often; a truly difficult task given how cute Hunter looked on the redhead's shoulders.

"You're staring again," Artemis taunted quietly.

"I am not staring at Wally," Emmy glowered at the archer out of the corner of her eye.

"How did you know I wasn't talking about Hunter?" Artemis smirked.

"You wouldn't comment about me looking at my kid being cute," Emmy recovered.

"Sure, sure. You're only looking at Hunter, and Kaldur's doing a great job beating this game," Artemis sassed with a raised eyebrow as their team leader grumbled while accepting yet another mid-sized clownfish.

Emmy crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, "I miss last week when you were all nice and grateful that I sort of saved your life."

Artemis snorted, "I'm repaying you by forcing you to face the truth."

"And what's the truth?" The lantern scoffed.

"Wallboy's been looking too, ya know," Artemis smirked at the sudden rigidness in the lantern's stance. "I take it meeting the in-laws went well?"

"You're hilarious," Emmy deadpanned. "If the whole hero business doesn't work out, you should try stand up."

Artemis threw her elbow on Emmy's shoulder to lean on the older girl, "Touchy. Must have gone really well then."

Emmy rolled her eyes again, gaze falling briefly on Wally as he whispered a new tip to Kaldur. His hair was backlit and looked a bit like fire and warmth. Thanksgiving with his family had been great. Better than she ever expected. She kind of wanted to do it again next year, but that wasn't the kind of thought Emmy was used to having. She suddenly became aware of the fluorite crystal's weight around her neck. "It was really…nice."

Artemis looked unimpressed, "But neither of you made a move?"

"Ugh, who even says that anymore?" Emmy elbowed the archer off her. She cautioned a glance at Connor, but he seemed unaware of the conversation behind him. Rob had given the clone a special set of earplugs so the busy theme park wouldn't overwhelm Connor's super hearing. Artemis was speaking just quietly enough to avoid the Kryptonian's notice. The conniving little goddess.

"And, no," Emmy lowered her voice even more. "Neither of us 'made a move' because this is real life and not a bad Hallmark movie."

"Why do you keep talking about Hallmark?" Artemis frowned.

Emmy sighed, "Megs has the channel playing 24/7 back at the cave. It's not even December yet, and I'm already sick of high-powered attorneys learning about the power of Christmas from the somewhat attractive hot chocolate cart owner from their hometown."

Artemis grinned, "Yeah, you're more into learning about the power of Thanksgiving from the somewhat attractive dork on your team."

"Big talk from the girl who had a thing for a 13-year-old," Emmy raised an eyebrow.

"Hey," Artemis hissed. "That was only for, like, 5 minutes."

Emmy cocked her head back to grin at the younger girl.

"Shut your whore mouth," the archer punched Emmy's shoulder before pushing her way next to Kaldur's side.

Wally watched Artemis move out of the corner of his eye. He hadn't been alone with Emmy since his little revelation. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to play it cool very well, but Brandon's words were bouncing around his brain like electrons on titanium, and he was itching to talk to her. He had a half-decent plan to figure out if Emmy liked him back. He was going to act as normally as possible and objectively observe her reactions to everything.

While Wally was now acutely aware of how much of his daily focus went to Emmy, Brandon's advice had got him thinking. It was easy to tell when one of your friends had a crush because you could see how they were acting. Every blush. Every laugh that was a little too loud for the quality of the joke. Every time they stood closer to that person than they would to anyone else. All those little data points basically created a heart on a scatter plot. And Wally was nothing if not a scientist. If he could figure out how to give himself powers in his garage when he was 13, then he can figure out if a girl has a crush on him. If he has enough data at the end of the day in the "Pro-crush" column, then he is going to reject the null hypothesis that Emmy isn't interested and confess to her.

"You want to take a turn on Megan's shoulders?" Wally signed above his head.

"Sure," Hunter was only half-way through the sign when he was plopped on the Martian's unsuspecting shoulders.

Wally sidled up to Emmy before he could overthink it, "That looked like it hurt."

Emmy's eyebrows raised at his sudden appearance. The speedster hadn't replied to her text from the gym, not that she was overthinking it, so she was a little surprised at the typical comment. She was mildly concerned that things had gotten weird between them before Rob interrupted to tell her about the dual assassination of her former boss and former boyfriend.

"More than I will ever admit to her," Emmy shrugged, arms still crossed.

Wally shook his head and smiled a sunbeam at her. Emmy cleared her throat as her skin thawed.

"I think she's trying to get him to use his powers," she nodded in Artemis's direction.

Wally rolled his eyes, "Kal said he wanted to 'win the right way,' but those ducks are weighted with sand, so he's going to have to augment the water stream if he wants that narwhal thing."

Emmy's right eyebrow quirked in approval at Wally's assessment of the game's scam. Even though it happened frequently, it always threw her off when the sheltered and happy speedster cut through bullshit to evaluate a situation as it truly was.

"It's weird that he wants the narwhal so badly since I'm pretty sure you're the only one here who even has a dad."

Wally blinked, lips twitching as he chuckled, "That's messed up, Em."

"You spend a lot of time in fairs as a kid?" She evaded.

"Worse," he leaned in conspiratorially. "I worked at one."

"What?" Emmy chuckled.

"My first non-nepotism sno cone cart job was a basketball shooting game at a theme park in Kansas City," Wally rolled his eyes and held his hands out in a circle. "The rim was 1 centimeter larger than the diameter of the balls."

"Wow," Emmy bumped her shoulder into his. "Who knew the Wall-man had some scam artist in him."

He winked at her, "If you want some in you, I'm free tonight." Oh my gosh, why did I say that? Wally panicked to himself. Was that normal enough for what we usually joke about, or did that cross a line? Am I standing too close to her? Calm down, Wallman. Just objectively observe.

Emmy snorted and shoved him. Akio popped into her mind as she shoved down the mental images accompanying Wally's fake offer. Not really a flirty time, East.

"I'm going to see if I can help peer-pressure Kaldur into winning this thing," Emmy jerked a thumb over her shoulder and started moving past Megan and closer to the Atlantean.

"Okay," Wally let himself sigh a breath of relief as soon as her back was turned. That went well, I think. I was normal enough. He had been concerned he wouldn't know how to act around Emmy anymore, but adding a label to the feelings he had been carrying around didn't suddenly make them heavier. He was used to the weight by now. She laughed at his joke, but she pretty much always laughs at his quips, so was that a point in the crush column or not?

"You looked like you were going to puke," Sage quipped from near his hip.

Wally jerked in surprise. "Were you there the whole time?"

"Duh," she rolled her eyes and whacked him with Sage Jr. "You're not even that tall. Look down once in a while."

"I'm plenty tall," he crossed his arms defensively. "And all the doctors say that I'm still growing, so-"

A boisterous cheer interrupted them. Wally glanced up to see the shelves completely absent of rubber duckies.

"Yes!" Kaldur threw his hands up in the air in victory before pointing at the game attendant aggressively. "That is how we do it in Atlantis."

The teen rolled his eyes before handing over the narwhal. "Congrats, and thank you for your patronage," he replied with enough disinterest to rival even Emmy's most powerful deadpan.

Kaldur shook the narwhal above his head as the team hollered, "Victory! Triumph! Honor! That is our way."

Emmy chuckled as Hunter Naruto ran around Kaldur while the team cheered.

"Thank God that's over," Artemis sighed before smirking, "You do realize we have to carry all this around with us for the rest of the day now, right?"

Kaldur blinked and looked at the abundance of plushies in their possession as though registering their existence for the first time, "Oh."


Ten minutes later, the team was in line for a rollercoaster with only the narwhal and Sage Jr. still in their possession. It hadn't been too difficult to pawn off the clownfish to passing children, but Kaldur had refused to part with his ultimate prize.

"He is the highest honor bestowed upon me this day," Kaldur looked deep into the narwhal's dead eyes. "I shall call him Jeremy, and he shall ruminate in his shame."

Emmy raised an eyebrow, "Where did that come from? Not exactly a traditional Atlantean name."

"It's the name of that kid who was manning the booth. It's a power move," Wally whispered in her ear.

Emmy's shoulders shook with her chuckle as their group moved a few feet closer to the front of the line.

"Who knew Kaldur had that level of petty in him? I'm impressed."

"Oh, you do not want to get on Kal's bad side," Rob managed to simultaneously frown and grin at Emmy. "It's not pretty. Ask Roy about the two months he spent without eyebrows."

Wally hummed in sympathy even as his smile grew, "That was a rough time for the ginger community. He barely had them in the first place."

Emmy glanced at Wally. She had forgotten that a lot of redheads have light eyebrows and eyelashes.

"I guess you're lucky you have the red hair where your eyebrows and eyelashes look good."

Wally's eyes widened at the unexpected compliment. He hoped the cold Canadian air would mask any pink in his cheeks. He was wrong, he was not able to be normal. One comment about his eyelashes, and suddenly his mind was spiraling into a conspiracy board about whether or not that comment indicated any interest in him. It probably did, objectively, right? He's never thought about Supey's eyelashes. Well, there was that one time after Clayface, but it wasn't- Should he tell her how he feels now? No, that's stupid, the team is right there. "Uh-"

Emmy coughed and turned to talk to Sage as the line moved again. Way to think before you speak, East. Your ex-boyfriend just died, and your crazy dad is on the loose, and Wally is too good a person to get hit by Hurricane East.

She scanned the crowd again. They were bundled in winter gear to combat the cold Canadian air, but she still wasn't convinced that they were safe. Rob had worked his pouty face on the League to get them a free trip to his favorite theme park as a 'Help us emotionally recover and reconnect from the horrible training exercise gone wrong' bonding event. They were all excited for some well-earned time off, but now that an assassin of unknown origin was tracking down the Tijuana saboteurs, Emmy was a bit unsettled about being in the open like this. She knew the kids were safe since they were surrounded by 7 heroes, but Akio's abrupt death kept running to the forefront of her mind. What if they got too comfortable and the assassin slipped next to them in the crowd? What if Connor couldn't hear a knife or needle being unsheathed with his modified earplugs in, and one of them was poisoned before the others even noticed?

Emmy took a deep breath in through her nostrils and blew it out of her mouth. Calm down, East. Even if the assassin is linked to the shadows, there's no way for them to know any of us were involved. And he doesn't know anything because Bobby died before he could rat me out. Just try to have some fun.

"Mom," Hunter signed with a smile, instantly grabbing Emmy's attention, "I want to ride the rollercoasters until I puke."

Emmy grinned and tickled Hunter's chin, "Maybe just until you feel sick. We don't want you losing your breakfast before it's even lunchtime."

Their group was almost to the front of the line.

Artemis quirked an eyebrow as the cars full of screaming people swooshed by them, "It can't be that bad."

"You never been on this one, 'Mis?" Rob popped up next to her with a grin.

"I haven't been on any rollercoaster," she rolled her eyes.

Robin grinned wider, "If we weren't two minutes away from remedying that tragedy, I would be very upset on your behalf."

"This is our first time too, Artemis," Sage gave the blonde a thumbs up.

"And ours," Megan pointed between herself and Connor with an excited smile. "It will be so exciting to be in the air without manipulating the gravity around me for once!"

Kaldur hummed, "I suppose only Wally, Robin, and I have been on one before. It is a rather thrilling experience."

Emmy blinked as Megan's comment registered in her brain, "Wait, is that how you fly?"

Robin nodded in agreement with Kaldur while he and Wally started talking over each other to explain the physics of the 8-loop track in front of them. The attendant motioned at their group to move forward.

"I call front!" Sage and Robin screeched at the same time. Sage met Rob's hidden eyes and they nodded at each other once before racing to the front car.

"Sage," Emmy called after her sister. "Gimme Sage Jr.! You can't ride with that thing."

"Don't call your niece a 'thing'!" Sage demanded before chucking the fish at Emmy's head.

The lantern caught it right before it took out her eye. She glared at Sage before adding the fish to the team's cubby of belongings.

"I'm too young to be a grandmother," she moved toward the open seat near Wally. She blinked to herself. "Or aunt, I guess."

The redhead shifted in discomfort as the lantern sat next to him. She voluntarily sat next to me when there were other options. That seems promising. "Yeah, fair, fair. Plus, AILF doesn't roll off the tongue like MILF."

"What's a MILF?" Emmy raised an eyebrow as the attendants started clicking the cross-locking metal bars over their waists.

"I can't tell if you're joking or not," Wally bit his lip as the bars came down over their heads.

"I would never joke with Kid Frottage," Emmy deadpanned.

"You're the worst," Wally flicked her arm.

The carts jolted forward. Emmy's hands shot to the lap rail.

Wally raised an eyebrow with a grin. "You alright there?"

Emmy frowned at the metal. It had some patina and rust on it. "When was the last time this thing got inspected?"

Wally shushed her, "Shh. Don't think about it. It'll ruin the fun. Besides, Meg can save Sage and Hunter if they get flung out into the air."

Emmy glared at him out of the corner of her eye.

The carts started rolling backward. Emmy had watched multiple groups take their turns on the ride while the team was waiting in line. The carts slowly rolled up an almost vertical ramp, hung in the air for thirty seconds with apprehensive faces parallel to the ground, and then shot forward through multiple hoops and loops. It definitely looked like it could get your adrenaline pumping, but Emmy wasn't sure it warranted all the piercing screams she had to put up with from the ground.

"First one to scream buys funnel cake," Wally challenged as he kept his eager eyes on growing distance between himself and the ground.

"Hope you got some birthday money early," Emmy replied. Then she crunched her eyebrows and muttered, "Wait, what's funnel cake?"

Wally's horrified reply to her question was cut off by the drop of the coaster.


Emmy snorted at the intensity of Wally's pout.

"Problem, Kid Frugal?"

His glare deepened. "It was your first time on one!" He threw his arms up. "How did you not scream?"

"It was fun," Emmy shrugged. "I've just, you know, flown in loops way faster than that before."

Wally's glare graduated to a glower. "And I've run way faster than that. It's the principle of the thing."

"Uh huh, sure," Emmy smirked.

Hunter was slamming Sage Jr. against Connor's legs with one hand while half-signing and half-saying how much he wanted to go on a roller coaster again.

"I'm not sure you're going to want your stomach getting shaken around that much after we eat, Buddy," Emmy chuckled.

"Gimme back my daughter, you thief!" Sage started yanking Sage Jr. away from Hunter.

Emmy grimaced, "She's giving me heart palpitations."

Wally chuckled, "This is the arcade all over again."

He noticed her carefully. Emmy raised an eyebrow, but she wasn't getting into a defensive position at the allusion to the last place they kissed.

"How so?"

"You know…" Wally trailed off, now or never, Wallman. He got even closer to her, forcing her to tilt her face up toward his to maintain eye contact. He lowered his voice, "You freaking out about Sage growing up too fast when she's fine."

"I am not freaking out-"

He cut her off again, "You're doing a great job with them Emmy." His eyes were smoldering. "Sage isn't going to be a teen parent. And even if she did, she'd be a great one because she had you to model how to do it."

Emmy felt her eyes widening and her cheeks heating up. Holy shit. Am I getting seduced by Wally complimenting my parenting?

Wally grinned when he noticed the blush.

"I'll, uh," Emmy cleared her throat and shifted past him. "I'll get the funnel cake."

"But you won?" Wally tilted his head in confusion.

"Not really. I just made sure my screams were a lot quieter than yours," Emmy grinned unrepentantly.

"You little liar," Wally laughed.

The group had a table full of pizza, hot dogs, cookie dough on sticks, and cotton candy. Emmy returned with two white paper plates each holding a greasy funnel cake.

"Score!" Wally grinned and practically yanked the plates from Emmy's hands as he pulled her into the spot next to him. He tore a few spirals off and popped them into his mouth.

Emmy grimaced at the leftover grease on her hands. "It smells like donuts."

"Yeah, it's a similar batter and frying process," Wally took another bite, "but so much better." He yanked off another few tendrils and handed them to Emmy. "Try it."

Emmy bit into the curling dough, her distaste evident as she chewed. "Not my favorite."

"You don't like it?" Wally asked, aghast.

"I don't like donuts," Emmy shrugged.

"What?" Wally blinked at her blankly, horrified enough that he didn't even register that she tried something she knew she wouldn't like just because he asked her to. "That's the saddest thing I've ever heard."

Emmy snorted, "Whatever, Kid Fabrication. Just means there's more for you."

"Oh, yeah," Wally grinned as officially claimed one of the plates. "Good point. Feel free to dislike other wonderful foods whenever I'm around."

"Maybe try disliking broccoli next, Em," Rob smirked around his hot dog. "When was the last time you even ate a vegetable, Wally?"

"Man, that's a good point. I can't remember the last time I ate anything green," Wally's faux agreement morphed into insincere questioning. "Wait does the body paint I licked off your dad last night count?"

Emmy choked on her last bite of funnel cake. Robin punched his arm, but Wally was too busy watching a tear slide down Emmy's left cheek as Megan hit her back to feel the impending bruise. The lantern's snorts made it even harder to dislodge the offending cake stuck in her throat.

Wally missed the click of Sage's phone camera to his right.

Emmy downed the cup of water Kaldur brought her. "Thanks," she rasped, mascara a little smudged. "Dammit, Wally."

He couldn't help but chuckle. One of his least favorite phrases sounded so much prettier coming from her.

"Shit, that caught me off guard," Emmy punched him lightly, still smiling in amusement.

"Are you saying that little old me managed to catch the great and fearsome Emerald Violet East off guard?" His proud grin remained as he gently wiped away the mascara stains under her eye.

Emmy didn't look surprised at the contact. "You don't have to be so cocky about almost killing me."

"I'm not." He shrugged, letting his hand linger a little longer than appropriate before withdrawing, "I just like making you laugh."

Emmy's stomach burned near the bottom. She blinked at him. The golden strands in his bright green eyes seemed to flicker at her.

Wally couldn't tell if her cheeks were warm beneath his hand from her violent laughter or his words. He wished he could tell. It could be from me.

"You two need a room or are we going on another rollercoaster?" Robin grinned.

The two jerked apart, simultaneously glaring at the bird.

"Games first, obviously," Sage answered for the group. "We don't want to throw up everything we just ate."

Kaldur perked up at the mention of games.

"We're not going back to the duck booth," Artemis warned.

Robin chose basketball for the first game. Emmy shared a smirk with Wally, which was promptly dropped when the bird managed to get every ball through the scam hoop.

The attendant was a girl with purple hair in a ponytail who gaped in awe. "I've never seen anyone do that," she muttered while handing Robin a stuffed elephant from the top shelf and scrap of paper housing her phone number.

The rest of the group scoffed at Rob's cocky grin as he pocketed the paper. Artemis raised an unimpressed eyebrow and got all but two balls into the hoop on her turn.

"Better luck next time, 'Mis," Rob hissed in fake sympathy.

"Whatever," Artemis rolled her eyes as she picked a pink tiger as her prize.

Megan cooed, "Aw what a cute prize! I didn't know you liked pink."

"It's for my mom!" The archer snapped defensively.

"Nothing wrong with liking pink, Moon Goddess," Emmy winked.

"I didn't say there was," Artemis glared, before smirking. "You know what else there's nothing wrong with liking?"

"So, what game next?" Emmy cut off the archer.

Connor pointed to a Donkey Kong arcade game with a frown, "That one."

The team shared a look as the Kryptonian stalked toward his arch nemesis.

"I'll make sure he doesn't destroy the console," Meg reassured the group.

Connor did better than they expected, but still lost, "I hate monkeys," he frowned.

Megan patted his shoulder comfortingly.

"Well, actually, Donkey Kong is actually a gorilla which-"

The Martian elbowed Robin to stop his train of thought.

"Don't worry, Bro," Wally cracked his knuckles and stepped forward. "I'll avenge you."

The speedster did end up with the new high score on the machine, and Connor smiled a smile he usually reserved for Megan at the news.

"Rollercoasters now?" Robin asked again.

"Or Ferris wheel?" Sage pointed.

"Are you scared of going back on the rollercoasters or something?" Rob frowned.

"No," Sage scoffed indignantly. "Do you have something against an aerial view of the vicinity? That seems like something a bird would enjoy."

"Touché," Rob pushed his sunglasses further up his nose.

The group started to make their way toward the giant wheel that would give them a better view of the fairgrounds and Niagara Falls in the distance.

Emmy noticed Wally falling into step with her, Hunter now sitting on Kaldur's shoulders.

"You need to lag a little more," she offered.

"What?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Back there," she nodded her head behind them. "Yeah, you set the new high score, but you could have won the whole game if you just lagged your movements some more. It's the same reason you lost to me in Galaga. You're thinking seven steps ahead of what the game can physically do."

"Wait, you knew that's why you won?" Wally raised an eyebrow.

"Hello Wally, I didn't think I beat the resident speedster at a speed game without a handicap," Emmy snorted. "It's all aiming and avoiding getting shot. You have the upper hand because you process information faster. The disconnect is that you kept making moves that the game needed more time to react to."

His treacherous stomach clenched. He wasn't going to sit there complaining about the format of the joystick being too slow for him, but she had noticed on her own. He had been happy to let her think she won because she technically did, but he only struggled with video games because his brain and hands would be four seconds ahead of what the console could physically do. He often had people assume that he was a joke or not serious enough or a loser. This was just another instance of her paying more attention than he thought. Wally couldn't pinpoint when it started, but Emmy gave him more than the benefit of the doubt. She just assumed the best of him, even in little scenarios where it didn't matter.

"You know, I'm really sorry about being an ass to you for the first few months," he licked his lips. "I really did turn you into my punching bag, and I'm sorry. You didn't deserve any of it."

Emmy snapped her head toward him in surprise. Where did that come from? "No, I definitely deserved some of it."

Wally chuckled and shook his head. "I'm still sorry I made you feel so unwelcome and hit you with the hot and cold act."

"I get it," Emmy shrugged. "I did pop out of nowhere with a sketchy past and a superiority complex right after you had a falling out with your mentors and Roy. Not to mention I'm a little hot and cold myself."

"Nah," he waved her off with a wink. "You're definitely just hot."

This time he noticed when Emmy wiped her nose to cover to grin. "Alright, Kid Flirt," she rolled her eyes.

"How are you doing with it?" Wally raised an eyebrow.

"With what?" Emmy frowned a little.

"With Akio getting killed," Wally frowned. "It would be understandable if that shook you or made you feel like you missed him or something."

"Ah, that," Emmy tucked a green strand behind her ear. How am I doing with that? It was odd and a little painful to know that someone she used to care about had been murdered in such a brutal way. Especially since her relationship with him had been so horrible toward the end. "I'm alright, I think. I wouldn't mind bringing his murderer to justice, but I'm not devastated or anything. Is that bad?"

"No," Wally gritted his teeth. "He didn't deserve to die like that, but he definitely doesn't deserve your grief or time. He's not worth it."

You are. Emmy's mind cut through the silence. The lantern's breath hitched at the unapproved thought.

"You alright?" Wally quirked an eyebrow.

"Um," she blinked a few times. "Yes, yep. Fine. Thanks for asking."

"Of course," he still looked a little skeptical. "Are you sure you're okay-"

"Hey, Emmy," Artemis looped an arm through the lantern's and tugged her toward the front of the group. "Come settle this disagreement between me and your children about the best Transformer."

Emmy looked at Artemis, "That seemed heavy-handed."

"You're welcome, you unthankful prick," Artemis flicked Emmy. "You looked like you needed a breather. Wally do something stupid?"

"No, he didn't do anything wrong," Emmy scratched the side of her neck. "I guess I just realized-" She cut herself off.

"Oh," Artemis grinned evilly. "He did something right, then."

"He didn't do anything," Emmy frowned at the archer.

"Uh-huh," Artemis scoffed. "That's why you're blushing."

"It's 38 degrees out here. I'm cold." Emmy frowned harder.

"Interesting you know that." Artemis smirked. "Almost like you knew you would need to counter an accusation of blushing."

"You're ridiculous," Emmy pinched the bridge of her nose, even as her own mind kept turning back to Wally. Wow, okay. I have some more pressing matters, Brain. "Even if I do-" she frowned to herself. "Things didn't exactly work out well last time I brought another person into Sage's and Hunter's lives."

"Look," Artemis sighed. "I know it's none of my business, and half of this is just me teasing you as revenge for your Robin comments. But I just think you need to keep in mind that one crappy, criminal boyfriend in the past doesn't mean you can never date again in the future. Regardless of who it is or is not with, you shouldn't doubt yourself or how you feel just because you made a bad decision when you were younger. You're allowed to like someone even if you think your world is going to shit."

Emmy smiled softly at her half-sister. I wonder if she's speaking from experience, "Thanks for the reminder."

Artemis nodded, "Plus, since I am technically still in your debt for saving me from that laser beam, you earned yourself the best wing woman in the world. I never miss my target."

Emmy pursed her lips at the archer in contemplation. "You know that you don't owe me anything, right? You would have done the same thing for me, and I really wasn't thinking. I just saw you about to be hurt, and I moved without thinking because I love you."

Artemis gaped at the lantern for a moment. "You…love me?"

"Yeah," Emmy rubbed the scar on her neck. "It's like Meg says. We're all a family."

The archer blinked rapidly a few times before crushing Emmy into a hug. "I love you too," she confessed quietly. "You're like the sister I always wanted."

Emmy's stomach swooped as guilt mixed with the bile threatening to leave her throat.

"You too," Emmy tried to play it off despite her strangled voice. "Don't tell Sage."

Artemis scoffed and shoved Emmy away. Subtly rubbing her eyes as they walked. The team reached the Ferris wheel where Robin somehow sweet-talked the attendant into letting them skip the line.

Wally frowned at the Ferris wheel. After documenting Emmy's reactions today, he had started to feel about 80% confident that she liked him. He had wanted to make sure she wasn't feeling conflicted over Akio before trying to put anything else on her plate, but she seemed genuine in her insistence that she wasn't mourning him or their past relationship, even after his unexpected demise. Wally was even planning on taking Brandon's advice about confessing as they overlooked the city, but he could now see that this wheel was the kind that had buckets holding four people at once. That would put a kink in his plan. Especially since he ended up in a bucket overlooking the city with Kaldur, Connor, and Megan, while Robin, Artemis, Emmy, Sage, and Hunter squeezed into a second bucket.

"Ooh look at the waterfalls!" Sage squealed, practically shoving Robin's head in the direction she was looking. "They're so pretty!"

Emmy and Artemis snorted at the bird's discomfort as he adjusted his neck away from Sage's hands while still accommodating her request to look.

"The view really is nice," Emmy agreed, her eyes scanning the fairgrounds aimlessly until a flash of something caught her eye near the mirror funhouse. She moved her head to trace whatever had piqued her interest. A black coat, shaggy blond hair underneath a black ball cap, broad shoulders, arms hidden behind their back. She sucked in a breath. Is that…No, it can't be. She lost the man in the crowd for a moment. Where did he go?! The figure reappeared. The man kneeled next to a young girl in a pink dress and produced a blue bear from behind his back before pointing at the funhouse entrance. The girl hugged her bear tightly and nodded rapidly. Emmy's heart stopped thundering in her chest. She slouched in her seat a bit with a sigh. The build was similar, but the mannerisms and body movements were off. It wasn't her father. Get it together, East.

First, she was having unwelcome thoughts about wanting Wally, and now she was imagining her father's presence in the crowd. Maybe she really did need today off. Artemis relaxed next to her, but Emmy clocked the stiffness in the archer's jaw. Oh. I bet she thought that guy was him too. Emmy repressed a sigh. Should she tell Artemis that they're related? That Emmy really is the sister she had always wanted? Akio's death did serve as a harsh reminder that life is finite and often out of your own control.

How would I even tell her? 'Hey, Artey, you know how you've been paranoid about the team finding out about your shitty father's identity? Well, same! Literally. Hashtag twinsies, right? Except not really, because we were born six months apart because, surprise surprise, Daddy Dearest, Lawrence Crock, added infidelity to his mile long list of crimes about 17 years ago. Sorry I lied to you the whole time we've known each other.' Emmy almost rolled her eyes at herself. Yeah, that would go over well.

She'd have to tell all three of her siblings the truth at some point, but it didn't have to be now. It would lead to more questions and ruin a perfectly good day. She would tell them everything once she took Lawrence down for good.

"Don't worry, you two," Robin leaned forward to speak quietly as Sage and Hunter pointed at different objects in the distance. "I haven't seen anyone with the assassin's build or any known Shadow associates following us. No one knows who we are here, and even if they did, they would be unlikely to know about our involvement in Tijuana."

Artemis and Emmy nodded at the bird, both slightly unsettled by how easily he read their tension. I guess he is used to having full conversations with Batman just by breathing in certain ways, Emmy cracked her neck. Rob was right. Their mission in Tijuana was undocumented, but Akio and Sparks were known players and easy to track down. Their team didn't even have an official name like the League. They had a while longer before anyone figured out their involvement in the fall of the Sparks Empire.

In the other bucket, Megan pointed excitedly at all the places they had frequented before getting on the Ferris Wheel. Wally commented at all the right times, but inside he was sulking. His experiment had yielded enough positive results for him to be ready to act, but then the stupid Ferris Wheel wasn't set up for couples. A large pink blotch in his peripheral vision made him turn his head. He squinted a little. It was one of those Love Tunnel rides where you float through a dark river on a swan ride. That would be private! He just has to figure out a way to get the team on board with riding that next.

"Alright Team," Kaldur grinned as they gathered off the Ferris Wheel, somehow still commanding their attention even with Jeremy stuffed under his left arm. "We have enough time for one more ride before we need to get back to the ship. Which rollercoaster would we like to do?"

Wally nudged Hunter. The boy looked up at him with a grin.

Wally glanced around to make sure none of the group was looking as he quickly signed, "I'll give you five bucks to say you want to go on the swan water ride with Megan."

Hunter regarded at Wally with an aplomb disconcerting for someone who can't tie shoelaces yet before signing back, "I'll do it for 20."

"Oh my gosh, all of you Easts are extortionists," Wally frowned, hands moving wildly. One of the many bonuses of his power was that even when he had to think about the signs, it still looked like he was a native user.

Hunter shrugged, "I want the new Bumble Bee action figure."

"Fine," Wally signed as he clocked the group coming to an agreement about which rollercoaster to end their day with. "20 it is."

"30 it is," Hunter signed.

"What?" Wally glared.

"You hesitated," Hunter smirked.

Wally ran a hand down his face. And I want to be more involved with this family? He grinned despite himself. "Okay, 30. Be quick about it."

"I want to do the swan water ride!" Hunter yelled loud enough that Connor winced through his earplugs.

"Really? The love tunnel?" Emmy's and Sage's eyebrows both furrowed in confusion.

Hunter nodded emphatically. "Yes."

"Why?" Emmy asked with her voice and hands.

Hunter turned on every ounce of his chubby-cheeked charm and whirled it on the team's poor, unsuspecting Martian, intentionally emphasizing his speech impediment, "I want to go with Megan. I love her."

Megan never stood a chance. She melted immediately, her hand resting over her heart, "I would love to go with you, Hunter."

"Damn," Robin nodded with approval. "Take notes, Wally. That's what having game looks like."

"Shut it, Rob," Wally elbowed his best friend. "It's not like you have game."

"He did get that worker's phone number earlier," Kaldur countered.

"Not helpful, Kal!" Wally pouted as Rob cackled.

Connor glared slightly when Hunter took Megan's hand, and they led the group toward the tunnel. "What exactly does 'having game' mean?"

Robin's lips twitched, "Hunter East: Mr. Steal-Yo-Girl."

Wally snorted, "It's always the ones they tell you not to worry about."

"So, we're all just going along with this?" Artemis raised an eyebrow.

"If you think you can say no to that face, then be my guest," Emmy nodded toward her brother.

Artemis narrowed her eyes before sighing and falling in line with the rest of the group.

Emmy smirked. "Knew it."

"What?" Artemis folded her arms. "He's adorable, and I have a beating heart."

The group reached the Love Tunnel and saw that there were only a few people in line ahead of them.

"Guys!" Artemis offered a rare smile, "Look they have one of those twisting pendulum rides right over there."

Robin popped up next to her shoulder, "Oh, yeah, 'Mis has to go on one of those."

"Love. Tunnel." Hunter gripped Megan's hand tighter with a frown.

Wally was tempted to give the kid an extra 5 dollars. Or is he playing me and actually just wants to ride with Megs?

"Why don't those of us who wish to ride the Love Tunnel stay in the line, and the rest will go to the pendulum?" Kaldur offered. "They are very close together, so we should not have a problem reuniting afterward."

Wally panicked internally before calmly pointing at the tunnel with his thumb, "Yeah, I'm going to need another half hour to digest all those hot dogs, so I think I'll stick with the ride that doesn't turn centrifugal force into a weapon."

Artemis rolled her eyes as she, Robin, Kaldur, left for the pendulum ride.

"Are you staying?" Sage quirked an eyebrow up at Connor.

"Yes," The Kryptonian glared at the back of Hunter's tiny head for a moment.

"No, you're not," Sage scoffed before quickly dragging the clone with her toward the pendulum and out of earshot of the rest of the group. "He's not going to woo Megan away from you. He's only 6 years old."

"I'm only 4 months and 3 weeks old," Connor frowned.

"Oh dang," Sage's eyes widened. "Yeah, Hunter might steal your girlfriend."

"I assume you don't want to leave their date unsupervised," Wally nodded toward Hunter and Megan who were signing to each other and giggling. "Wouldn't want Hunter to get deflowered in there."

"Ha. Ha." Emmy rolled her eyes so hard they almost hurt. "You're so funny."

"I don't see a Ms. Pacman game for you to hide behind, so you'll probably have to just slouch down really low in the swan," Wally pouted with fake sympathy as Megan and Hunter climbed into the Swan boat next in line.

"Alright, thank you, Kid Funny." Emmy flicked his arm. "I get it. I overreacted at the arcade."

"I don't know if I'd say that," Wally looked at her out of the corner of his eye, willing himself to be a bit braver. "I thought some of your reactions at the arcade were pretty good."

Emmy blinked at him. Is he talking about the kiss? "Yeah? Your reaction could have been a little faster. You know, given the super speed."

Wally stepped into the swan, green eyes piercing hers as he held out a hand to help her get her footing. "You're the one who taught me that some things aren't meant to be rushed, Emerald."

"Oh," Emmy exhaled the word quietly. There were those butterflies in her stomach, once again resisting digestion. She took the hand offered to her, feeling a bit like she was accepting more than just a steadying grip.

The boat started slowly gliding into the tunnel after Megan and Hunter, but Emmy was focused on the speedster. "What kind of things?"

"Last night, for one," Wally grinned a little sheepishly. "I wasn't exactly ready for Rob to interrupt."

Emmy had no idea what had happened to Wally in the past day to make him so open with his feelings. She wasn't used to it, but she was certainly enjoying the result. "Me neither."

"Yeah?" Wally looked at her hopefully.

"Yeah, I had a good time," she scratched the side of her neck. "I mean, we all did."

"That's good," Wally smiled.

"You say that now but wait until we take up your mom's offer and crash again next year. You'll be sick of us," Emmy elbowed him lightly.

"Why wait a whole year to torture me?" Wally asked with faux levity. "Just come for Christmas."

Emmy bit her lip as the boat drifted underneath pink fairy lights in the shape of a heart. Should she really be entertaining the idea of visiting Wally and his family again? When her own was so chaotic? When she refused to tell her own siblings about their parents? And when there was an assassin potentially tracking her down?

It seemed like it was all too much. She had meant what she said when they got sushi; she had too much on her plate to consider anything else right now. With all that she had going on, was sitting on a swan ride and flirting really a good use of her time? No. No, it wasn't.

"Nah, I think you need some time for it to just be the Wests," Emmy looked at the shadows along the edge of the tunnel, dancing where the soft pink light couldn't reach. There was a thin railing on one side that could be walked by the ride attendants if a boat got stuck or someone needed help. The soft lighting did a good job of making even the walkway look romantic. "Besides, there's no way Hunter will be willing to abandon Megs for another holiday now that he's officially starting the wooing process."

The subtle rushing of the water beneath them was the only sound as they curved into a section of the tunnel without fairy lights. There was now only a single yellow lantern every 15 feet that gave off a wistfully sparse amount of light.

She turned back to Wally, "What? No comment about me overreacting and swimming over to their boat to make sure no funny business is going on?"

He was staring at her with a look she couldn't decipher.

"Uh," she raised an eyebrow. "You okay, Wally?"

Wally observed the way the pink light softened her features. Her words from the other night rang through his head: he made a move and told me what he wanted. That was all it took for Emmy to be willing to go on a date with Akio. Wally could do that. He wasn't perfect, but he was lightyears better than Akio. He could be honest and direct. He could tell her what he wanted.

In fact, he was having a hard time not immediately blurting out what he wanted. He was struggling to be alone with her now. It was like he had been looking at an image and only saw a bird, but then he tilted his head to the left and suddenly saw a cat. And now, even with his head turned back to the original position, he can still only see a cat and his brain can't even remember how it first saw the image as a bird.

"Uh," Emmy tilted her head. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Hunter has a book of pictures that can be different things depending on how you look at them."

Oh my gosh, did I say that out loud? Wally sounded mortified even in his own mind.

He cleared his throat, "So, uh, we got off to a bit of a rocky start."

Emmy smirked at him, "You call that a bit?"

"Ha," he grinned nervously before it fell. "But, uh, I would say that we get along pretty well now, right?"

Emmy raised an eyebrow at him before a moving shadow caught her attention."Yes?"

"And, when, uh, well," he coughed a little and ran a hand through his hair. "I mean, when two people get along pretty well, they generally like spending time together, right?"

"Uh huh," Emmy squinted into the darkness. Her eyes were still adjusting to the new portion of the tunnel, but something was moving. Is a worker over there? She blinked a few more times to clear her vision. There was a figure, looming, large even in the darkness. Emmy frowned. Her paranoia had already tricked her once today.

"And we get along well. Uh, and we like spending time together," Wally rubbed the back of his neck while still avoiding eye contact, "I was thinking that maybe we should go on an official-"

The figure leaned toward a lantern just enough to illuminate their face.

Her father's murderous grin appeared as he raised his pointer finger to his mouth. A silent warning to keep her own shut.

Emmy jerked to her feet in the boat, almost capsizing them. Her stomach churned. Her knees locked. Her lungs forgot to inhale.

"Woah! What gives, Emmy?" Wally looked up at her. "Are you okay?"

She could barely hear him over the sound of her heart ringing in her ears. How is he here? How did he find me? What do I do?

Hunter's giggle from the boat ahead shot through the haze in Emmy's mind. Shit. Sage was one ride over, and Hunter was only 15 feet ahead on the river. She had to get their father away from them.

Her father disappeared back into the shadows on her left.

"Emmy?" Wally gently grabbed her left hand in concern.

Double shit. Wally was in the line of fire. She had to go deal with him without endangering anyone else.

"Bathroom," Emmy choked out a little too loudly. "I need to go to the bathroom."

"Oh," Wally pouted a little in disappointment at the interruption. "Uh, I think the ride's almost over?"

Emmy's eyes flittered between Wally's peridots and her father's hulking back. "Uh, no time. Funnel cake. Enjoy the rest of the ride."

She jumped off the boat, flung herself over the thin railing, and started running after the shadows in front of her. She stopped when she came upon a door with an 'Employees Only' sign. Emmy yanked it open and ran inside. The bright fluorescent lights burned her eyes a bit, but she followed the path until she reached another door. Her heart was pounding so loudly she was worried it would give away her location. Don't puke. Don't puke. She wrenched the door open, expecting her worst nightmare to be on the other side.

Instead, she was only met with the bustle of the fairgrounds. The path had led her back into the crowd. She frowned, spinning in place as she tried to find any clues as to where he had disappeared to. She jolted to a stop. The door let out next to the mirror funhouse. The same funhouse that she had thought she saw her father next to earlier that day. The same funhouse that currently had no line because it was shut down for maintenance.

You have got to be fucking kidding me. Emmy groused as she snuck around to the back entrance and slipped past the warning tape. Of course, the bastard was going to make this difficult while also ripping off a Bruce Lee film.

She sidestepped a few broken mirrors with a frown. He could be anywhere. Would he jump out at her as she rounded a corner? Sneak up behind her while she looked at the wrong mirror? Shoot her through a mirror? Her heart tattooed the same word into her sternum with each beat: Run. Run. Run.

But she couldn't run. Not when Sage and Hunter were so close. Not when her team was so nearby. He could kill them, or worse. She couldn't let him get away without-

"Looking awfully alive there, Baby Girl," a deep, disembodied voice called out from somewhere behind her.

Emmy spun around, fists raising before she could blink. Every hair on her body was on edge. Dread crept up her throat along with bile. A part of her hoped that she had been wrong. But that voice was straight out of her nightmares. It was really him.

She took a few steps forward.

"I was so worried," Lawrence's voice taunted from a new position. "I mourned my children for years. Burned to a crisp. Only a few teeth left at the scene to identify them."

She twisted toward the new origin of his voice. Mourned? Yeah right.

"Imagine my surprise, when I'm at a business function and see my Baby Girl running around with some caped freaks," his voice turned even more threatening.

Emmy's stomach flipped. He saw me? He wasn't even supposed to be in Tijuana. That confirms that the Shadows were the buyers of the Venom we confiscated.

"Not looking dead at all," the voice sounded from behind her.

She whirled around to find her father stepping out from a warped mirror.

He frowned, "You should have located me sooner. You've gone soft."

He stepped closer, "Don't worry. Now that you're back, I'll train that out of you."

"St-stay back," Emmy snapped. Hating herself for the shaking in her voice even as she dropped lower into her defensive position. "Stay back or I kill you."

Her father glared at her for a moment before bursting into laughter. "You're so dramatic. Just like you're fucking mother."

"I'm not joking," Emmy glowered, squeezing her fists tighter to mask the shaking.

"Yeah?" Lawrence grinned harshly. "Then go ahead. Show me that fancy new ring of yours. But what would your new little group of friends have to say about you being a murderer, huh?"

Emmy squeezed her fists tighter, taking a step back as he moved forward. "Shut up. What do you want?"

"You tried awful hard to stay hidden, didn't you?" He quirked an amused eyebrow. "Well, not that hard considering all you did was run off to Bludhaven. You really think I didn't know where you were the whole time? I've worked with Sparks since before you were born."

Emmy flinched. That couldn't be true. She tried so hard to keep them hidden and now he's- she stopped spiraling and frowned. "That's not true."

"What?" He growled at her.

"You would never leave me alone for five years if you knew I was alive," Emmy smirked at him. "I bet you just found out and ran straight here to try to spare your ego."

"Respect your fucking elders, Girl," he growled.

She winced at the noise. Suck it up, East. She frowned more. "You don't get to talk to me about respect, you piece of shit."

Her father snarled and took another step forward.

Emmy gritted her teeth and held her ground, "You take one step closer, and I will show you exactly what this 'fancy ring of mine' can do."

He stopped moving.

"I'm not a kid anymore. You can't tell me what to do," Emmy glowered even as her heart threatened to beat out of her chest. "I'm Green Lantern 003 of Sector 2814, and I am not scared of you."

Shock flashed through his eyes before being replaced by a dark amusement. "Come on, Baby Girl, we both know only part of that is true."

He took a few steps back regardless of his words, "Besides, you don't need to be afraid of me. She's the one you need to be scared of."

Emmy furrowed her brows in confusion. She?

A figure skidded to a stop at the edge of the circle of mirrors. "Get the fuck away from her!" Artemis snapped.

Emmy gasped and snapped her head toward the archer. She had been so wrapped up in not losing track of her father that she hadn't heard Artemis enter.

Artemis whipped out her crossbow and aimed at Lawrence. "I knew I saw you in the crowds earlier. Who else is here?"

Oh no. Emmy stood frozen.

"No need for the theatrics, Baby Girl," Lawrence rolled his eyes. He grinned right at Emmy before speaking again.

"Don't," Emmy warned, breathlessly.

"Can't a man just want to see two of his daughters in the same room for the first time?"

Emmy sucked in another gasp, falling out of her fighting stance. He planned this. He wasn't trying to fight her. He was stalling time until Artemis showed up. Fuck.

Artemis lowered the crossbow in surprise. "What? What does that mean?"

Emmy turned toward the archer, "Artemis, I-" She trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

Artemis glanced between the two of them repeatedly, a look of horror overtaking her features. "Holy shit," she whispered.

"Sorry, Baby Girl," Lawrence did not sound sorry at all. "I thought after all this time playing dress up on the same team, Halimeda would have told you she's your older sister."

Emmy glowered at him, "That is not my name!"

He rolled his eyes, "Your mother and I gave you a perfectly good name, and you try to swap it out with one fit for a stripper. It's disgraceful."

"I'll show you disgraceful," Emmy growled.

"Holy fuck," Artemis whispered. Emmy jolted as she remembered her presence.

Her stomach dropped for the twelfth time in as many minutes. She should have denied it. She should have denied it, but he made her too angry to think logically and-

"You knew?" Artemis roared. "This whole time?"

"Artemis, I can explain-" Emmy took a step back.

"How could you?" Artemis inhaled sharply enough to cut glass. "I-I trusted you! And this whole time you- you knew that we were… that I'm-" The archer stumbled over her words in rage.

"I'm sorry," Emmy held her hands up. "But you don't understand-"

"I don't understand?" Artemis hissed indignantly. "What don't I understand, huh, Halimeda?" Emmy winced at the use of the old name. "That my father has a secret family I didn't know about? Or that my father had a secret family you did know about?"

Emmy rubbed at her eyes, "I'm sorry, okay, but-"

"You're a liar!" Artemis lunged at her.

Emmy rolled out of the way, finally noticing that Lawrence had disappeared once their argument started. "You're letting him get away!" She snapped.

"Was that part of your plan?" Artemis hissed, raising her crossbow once again, this time at Emmy.

"I'm not working with him anymore than you are," Emmy snarled. "And you're being a fucking hypocrite."

"Excuse me?" The archer growled.

"We have the same fucking lie, Artemis," Emmy snapped.

"It is not the same," Artemis hissed. "I had no idea about you. You just...you knew exactly-and you let me walk around talking about being Green Arrow's niece and how much I trusted you and-" Artemis' rage prevented her from completing a full thought.

"You died for me last week. Was that-" Artemis blinked away tears, laughing harshly. "I thought that was because you cared about me, but was that just because you felt guilty? Lying to protect him?"

"No! Artemis, I wasn't protecting him-" Emmy started to explain, horrified by the notion.

"Stop lying to me!" The archer roared. Rain gathered in the corners of Artemis' thundering eyes and her fist sent lightning crackling against Emmy's jaw.

Emmy grunted and stumbled back. She hadn't expected the blow. Her own eyes misted at the confrontation. Her jaw stung. The right portion of her lower lip was already swelling as blood pooled inside her mouth where her teeth dug into tissue and split her lip. Ruby lava trickled down her chin from the bloody cut.

Emmy spit out the initial iron wad and tried again, "Artemis if you could just let me finish a thought-"

"You said you loved me!" Artemis yelled, voice cracking midway through. She threw another punch at Emmy. The lantern didn't block that one either, feeling as though she deserved the fist that bruised her cheekbone and had her roughly sitting on the floor.

Artemis wiped angrily at the tears in her eyes. She snarled at Emmy, "I should have known. You look just like him."

Emmy flinched harder than she had from the punch.

"What is the meaning of this?" Kaldur's strong tenor reverberated through the funhouse as images of their teammates filled the non-broken mirrors around them.

Emmy's eyes widened as she shared a desperate look with Artemis. Don't tell them about us. Not like this.

Connor frowned at the sight, removing his earplugs, "I thought I heard fighting."

"We do not strike our teammates and friends, Artemis," Kaldur chastised with a frown.

Artemis scoffed fire even as she nodded in subtle agreement with Emmy's silent plea, "She's no friend of mine."

She glowered down at Emmy, "Stay the fuck away from me. If you even try to talk to me again, I'll do worse than that."

"What the hell are you two even fighting about?" Wally frowned in concern as he sped to help pull Emmy up. Megan and Rob moved to block the view so Sage and Hunter couldn't see the argument very well.

Artemis and Emmy shared another weighted look, neither ready to reveal the truth despite the circumstances.

"A guy," Artemis snarled before stomping away.

Emmy sighed in defeat. That was so much worse than I ever expected. She put her head in her hands and groaned. Everything's falling apart. She missed the devastated look on Wally's face before he bit his lip and looked away.

"We will discuss this later," Kaldur frowned. "For now, we should leave."

"I am not getting on the Bioship with her," Artemis warned.

"I'll fly back." Emmy acquiesced quietly. Still feeling as though she were in a daze. How had it all gone so wrong so quickly?

She walked back to the ship with the team in a tense and uncomfortable silence. Artemis was walking much faster than anyone else, and Emmy didn't notice when Wally sped to the ship to give himself a moment alone. She had to make sure her father didn't reappear before the team was safely flying back to the mountain. She activated her ring and followed the ship in a fugue state.

What was she supposed to do now that her father knew she was alive? Now that Artemis knew they were related, would she tell the team in her anger? Did Emmy need to talk to Batman? The corps? Both? Surely Hal or Kolivan would know what she needed to do next.

The team disbanded for the evening in silent confusion, Kaldur understanding that Artemis was in no position to have a reasonable conversation. Emmy showered in her room, mind blank and racing all at once. She looked at the mirror as the steam receded.

I should have known. You look just like him.

Artemis' words rang painfully in her ears. Emmy grimaced once again at the blue eyes staring back at her. She traced her reflection with her eyes, steeping in her self-loathing. She gasped as she noticed the remnant of the split lip her ring had not yet had time to heal, and a new thought cut through the noise: Sage.

Emmy threw on clothes and ran to her door. She had to tell Sage everything. Now. Before she found out the same way Artemis did.

Emmy paused right before her fingers hit the opening pad. Before she finds out from Artemis.

Emmy opened her door and ran to Sage's. Her hand shook as it rose to knock. She didn't give herself a chance to think because if she did, she knew would go back to her room in silence.

"Hey," Emmy took a deep breath as Sage appeared. "I need to talk to you."

Sage shrugged, "Come on in."

Emmy frowned and bit her lip, wincing as she snagged the corner of her wound. Sage sat down on her bed. Emmy sat down. Then stood up. Then sat down again. Then stood up and started pacing.

"Um, Emerald?" Sage raised an eyebrow at her sister's uncharacteristic fidgeting. "Are you alright?"

"Huh?" Emmy looked up from the floor. "Oh, uh, yeah. Well, not really. Not at all, actually. I have no idea how to go about this."

She pinched the bridge of her nose and leaned her face up toward the ceiling. Emmy had spent so many years avoiding talking about their parents that she had no idea how to broach the subject now. But she had to tell Sage herself. It would be infinitely worse if Sage learned the truth the same way Artemis had or even from Artemis herself.

"Is this about what happened today?" Sage raised an eyebrow. "With Artemis?"

"Yes. Well, no," Emmy frowned and scratched her forehead. "Yes, but not exactly."

"You're kind of scaring me, Em," Sage stood up too, unnerved by seeing her usually unflappable sister so rattled. "Are you okay? Is Hunter okay?" Sage's eyes widened. "Am I okay?"

"Yes, and I'll make sure it stays that way," Emmy assured immediately. She took a breath. Get it together, East. She forced herself to calm down and focus on Sage. She gently pushed Sage back onto the bed, sitting cross-legged next to her.

"I have something to tell you," Emmy looked Sage in the eye. "It's going to be hard to hear, and you're going to have a lot of feelings and questions about it. We'll get to all of that, but first I need you to stay quiet while I get everything out because I'm not sure I'll be able to start again if I stop, okay?"

Sage nodded once, eyes still wide and confused.

Emmy took a shaky breath and started to exhale the dark secrets she had kept hidden for so long.

"Our father is still alive, and that's not a good thing."


Not the mini cliffhanger after accidentally making you think the story had been abandoned.

Lol remember when I said I would finish this tale in January? That was funny of me.

I have rough outlines of the remaining storyline, but my schedule is wild, so I'm pulling a Michelangelo and just saying, "When will there be an end? When it is finished."

I will say that I'm already writing out some one-shots that will occur after the main storyline ends, so, don't worry, the characters won't drop out from your lives forever. Yeah, yeah, I know, 'Don't work on sequel things until you finish the original, Moron.' Sorry not sorry. My brain does what it wants, unfortunately.

Hope you're all doing well, and thank you for sticking with me 3

TheDarkAbyss

P.S. Your comments are so sweet and lovely to read, and I really appreciate them! I thought I'd address a common theme though because a lot of you have pointed out that Bialya felt out of character for Emmy, and - hot take - I agree with you. I wrote most of that chapter years before I started writing FETW and the OC had a whole different name and vibe. But I liked it a lot, and I liked the shock factor of having Emmy and Wally make out in the desert when they were still mostly antagonistic, so I edited it to make it a little more in line with Emmy while keeping most of the plot in the chapter the same. Emmy did have a history of kissing that one guy during a match when she needed to distract him enough to let the timer run out, and Wally was probing into her identity when she had no idea what was going on or how she got to Bialya, so it was a move she's pulled before (even if she enjoyed it more this time around). Then again, do I really need to explain her actions? Who among us wouldn't make out with a cute guy when we're dehydrated, suffering from amnesia, and probably have a concussion? Right? Just me?