Ch 3: Corroboration
None of the previous disclaimers have magically stopped applying.
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John's annoyed when he gets Batman's page to return to the detention level, and downright furious when the man tells him what he wants.
"I am not going to escort a known villain to the med-bay just because she wants to see the man she helped torture!" Batman tries to pass him, but John punches the wall, cutting off his exit.
"She was not one of his tormentors. She was his rescuer."
"What, she told you that and you just believed her? Since when does Batman trust anyone's word, much less a villain's?" Damn this man and his cryptic insecurities.
"Since he's apparently been working with her even before this." Clark came striding around the corner, his furious look matching his tone.
His eyes snapped back to the black cowl. "What?"
The Man of Steel joins him in leveling a glare at the Caped Crusader that would leave lesser men cowering in fear. "She's been feeding him information on the Legion. He even told her his Secret ID!" That can't be true. If there was one thing John knows about Batman, it's that Batman doesn't trust. Not anyone. Heck, if it weren't for the Invasion, he doubts any of them would have ever learned the Bat's true name.
"Technically, I didn't tell her."
"That's not the point, Bruce! You've been keeping secrets. Big ones. Again."
"Clark's right. You can't keep doing this! I will not compromise the safety of the Watchtower, of Wally, just because some woman who knows your name has been passing you info."
"Do you even know what she's been doing for the Legion? How many she's hurt or killed to 'maintain cover' for you?" Like Wally, he thinks. "God Bruce, I know you're all about the mission, but I thought you were against killing; do you think it doesn't count just because it's your lackey instead of you pulling the trigger?"
"Do NOT imply that I killed – that I even allowed killings – again." Batman nearly shook with rage as he stared down the most powerful beings on the planet. "Tigress designed her skill set to be as minimally damaging to us as possible while still gaining enough trust to get the information we needed. Don't think I didn't monitor her as closely as I monitor you all."
"You monitor us?"
"Of course." Because Batman would think monitoring his friends and allies, his fellow heroes, was an obvious course of action.
"If I may put in my own opinion on the matter?" In the heat of their argument, no one had noticed J'onn phase through the floor from the detention center. "I agree that Batman has crossed a line, and it needs to be discussed. Rationally. But we are three people too short to have this discussion. We should convene a full meeting – after the Flash has healed – so that Batman and Tigress may explain how and why they planted a mole within the Legion of Doom. In the mean time…"
Here, he hesitates; something John had never seen the Martian do.
"I believe we should allow Tigress to see Flash. I had previously believed that the worry emanating from her was for her own situation. Given her relief upon learning of the Flash's health and the emotions I felt from Wally when they appeared, I believe we should allow her to see him. Then Batman can explain some of the things that have transpired between them. He's 'her' Wally?"
"That's not my secret to share."
"Because that's stopped you before." John mutters under his breath, but lets it drop. He's still angry, furious, but he could see J'onn's point. And he does want to see Wally, so he'll play along. "Fine, I'll take her down to see him."
"But we will be discussing this later. At length." Superman asserts.
"As you say." The Dark Knight turns and strides away, somehow managing to make it feel as if they were the ones retreating instead.
He runs his hand over his head, a habit he picked up before the Marines made him crop his hair. "I'll go escort the prisoner – Tigress – to the Med Bay then."
"I wish you well. I must return to the Monitor Station. I have been absent too long as it is." With that, the Martian phases through the ceiling of the corridor.
Superman turns to him. "Take care of him, okay John? If Bruce says she's trustworthy, she probably is, but…"
"I won't let him hurt our favorite speedster. I don't believe in Question's doomsday theories, but even I know how many people would be… upset if something happened to him. I think these past few weeks have proved that."
"True enough. I'll see you for the meeting later, then. I need try to raise Diana again. Make sure she knows what's going on, and everything."
John leaves him at the first intersection, heading to the vil- Tigress's cell. He pauses in the doorway to study his friend's 'ninja girlfriend.' Her back is to him, and her head is bowed. She doesn't react to him, just plays with her necklace, but he doesn't doubt that she's aware of his presence. Not with how easily she noticed Batman. Her sword, belt, and other equipment had been confiscated, but they had left her mask. She had removed it almost immediately and it still lay on the table. Her costume was covered in now-browning dried blood, contrasting with her suit, which was a bright orange that John might have called gaudy if he hadn't spent so many years working with the Scarlet Speedster. He clears his throat and she looks turns to look at him.
"I'm heading down to see Wally, if you want to come with me."
She pushes her long, dark hair out of her face and nods. "Thank you."
He's not going to let her at his back, so he doesn't let her follow him. Instead, they walk side by side. She picks up enough of his body language to look confident as they take each turn and intersection. Luckily, the few heroes they pass are dissuaded from questioning her freedom by his glowing green gaze and general 'do not question me right now' aura.
They're almost to the last set of elevators when she stops suddenly.
"Problem?"
"This door, it leads to the cafeteria, right?"
"How did you…?" It makes him nervous that she might know the layout to the Watchtower.
"Wally will complain less about waking up in a sick bed if he has something to eat."
That's true enough, and he allows their path to detour through the mess hall. He watches her pile a tray with random, but seemingly carefully chosen, food items. He does note that by the time she seems ready to continue, she's covered all of the major food groups on the tray. Even dessert. It's this that allows him to think that maybe she really did know Wally before… something.
Wally's awake when they make it to his room. He's talking to an obviously relieved Shayera.
"So then I was like, no soap, Clock Radio! Get it? 'Cause… Oh, hey GL! Come to visit me on my apparent death bed?"
"More like I've come to rescue poor Hawkgirl from your big mouth, Hot Shot."
"Hey! Shayera likes my stories! Right Sis?"
"You just keep telling yourself that, Little Brother."
"Ouch Shay. I said I was sorry! It's not like I meant to get caught by the Legion of Doom."
"That doesn't mean you didn't take unnecessary risks. Sometimes I think we oughta- what is she doing here?" Hawkgirl had finally noticed his unwanted companion, who was hovering in the doorway uncertainly.
"Artemis!" Flash's obvious joy at her presence just barely kept Shayera from making threats against the orange-clad woman, who gave the speedster an odd smile and hefted her tray.
"Hey Baywatch. I see you've been able to stay out of trouble without me around."
"Hey, that's not totally on me. How was I supposed to know the Legion had upgraded to unstoppable ninja babes? Last I knew they were still on the balding billionaire/grumpy gorilla models."
John decides he should cut this conversation off. He feels like he's missing things, and doesn't like it. "That's still not an excuse for what happened. You can't keep rushing into these things."
"Not you too!" Wally groans and falls back into his pillows. "Is everyone going to give me these lectures? You weren't even there!"
John and Shayera share a glance. They both know that Flash has been a little… coddled since they almost lost him during the Cadmus incident. But now that everyone knew what he meant to the League, to the World, and had almost lost him… Question was most vocal about it, but consciously or not, no one in the League wanted that to happen again, and he was clearly getting fed up with it. But to get into that discussion while the younger hero was still lying in a hospital bed after being tortured for weeks? Not at the top of his to-do list. Luckily, Tigress had seemed to have it under control.
"Can you blame them for worrying about you? You have this uncanny ability to worm your way into everyone's hearts."
"Yeah, I know what that's like." The speedster replies, looking pointedly at Tigress. She fidgets with her necklace again under his stare. "GL, Shay? Can we have a little time alone?"
"No way!"
"Yes."
"What? John, you can't be serious!"
"I'll explain outside, okay?"
Hawkgirl's eyes narrow, but she stands to follow the Green Lantern out of the room. She pauses directly in front of the other woman on her way out, though, and stares straight into her eyes. "Do. Not. Hurt him."
"I won't." And there's enough passionate honesty there that she continues on out, leaving a villain with the hero that considers her his big sister. That she might consider her little brother.
The door slides closed behind them, and finally they're alone, if likely monitored. She'll take it.
"I, uh, brought you your favorite." She says, hefting the tray. Then, smirking, she adds, "Everything."
"Babe, you rock my world."
"You remembered!"
"Hey, I remember things."
"Just not Valentine's Day?"
Their affected enthusiasm drops. He closes his eyes and covers his mouth with his hand. "It really is you. I wasn't sure, once I started getting over the drugs and the blood loss, if I had just dreamed it…"
She nods, and takes his hand in her own. "No. It is me. And you."
"Babe, please forgive me. I thought I was going to die, in the Arctic. Instead…I wound up here… I didn't know how to get back. How to find you. I had to make a new life…"
"I don't blame you. No one else will, either. We thought… there were no traces of zeta energy. You should be dead. We would have looked for you otherwise. We wouldn't have ever stopped… You know Nightwing and I would never have given up. No one in the Team, the League, would have…" And she's crying now, for the years and tears that were wasted. Because her stupid, self-sacrificing, wonderful boyfriend had to save the world one more time.
"Babe. Arty. Look at me." She turns back to him, but her eyes are down cast. Gently, he cups her face, and forces her eyes to meet his. "You didn't know. We didn't know. So we had to move on with our lives, and that's okay."
"Right. Move on…" And there was a fear she hadn't even considered. Wally was just so… Wally. He needed to be around people, and certainly the others could see how amazing he was. She knew the Flash was a flirt, but how much of that was persona, and how much was Wally? Had he taken any of them up if they asked him out? Would he still want to, now that she was here with him again? "I … Do you… still love me? Is there someone else? I… I'd understand. I'll back off."
"No! Beautiful, there's no one else. I tried to get over it, there were a few flings, but it's been hard. No one else ever come close to measuring up to you."
"Yeah, I know what that's like."
"Hey, happy smiles only. I still love you, you still love me, it's all good."
"I don't know can you say that. They hurt you, Wally. They hurt you so much…"
"Hey, it was worth it. I got to be rescued by my Angel. You know – they live on the moons of Lego? They're said to be the most beautiful creature in the world…"
"Ugh! You promised you would never bring up the Star Wars prequels in front of me. Even to flirt."
"Hey, all's fair in love and fandom rivalries. Dialogue is one of the many reasons Star Trek will always be superior to Star Wars."
"Please, the prequel trilogy barely counts – and I know you're trying to distract me, Trekkie."
"Trekker! I'm a Trekker." She's silent, but her stare says everything to him. "Really, Beautiful, I'm fine. You're here to chase the bad thoughts away for me, aren't you? In fact, I'd say I'm actually pretty lucky. I bet I'm the only one who can see what you really look like here. I get to keep your gorgeous face all to myself."
"Are you saying Tigress is unattractive? Well, no snacks for you then." She says playfully, pulling away the yet-untouched tray of food. God she had missed his smile, his ability to crack jokes in any situation. She knows she shouldn't let him deflect, but joy is what they need right now, or they're both going to spiral down into the darkness of 'what ifs.'
"Ar-te-mis!" He whines. "You know I'm not good enough with words to dig myself out of that kind of hole. And I'm hungry!" She laughs at his antics and leans over to kiss his pout away. It's so much like old times. Like good times.
"You're right. I do know that. Just eat before I change my mind again."
"As you command, My Lady." He affects a fake bow and complies. They may joke about him eating and liking everything, but as he picked through the food, he noticed there was a definite trend towards foods he preferred, mixed in with high-nutrient foods that would best help his metabolism. Just what the speedster doctor ordered. When he picks up a bowl of mixed fruit, he can't help but grin. He quickly pulls out every strawberry in the pile and puts them on a separate plate before offering it to Artemis. "Are these still your favorite?"
A grin splits her face and she takes them. He really does remember. "They are. Thank you."
"Just like old times." He grabs her hand and twines their fingers together. They share a look, and though pain and sadness permeate both their gazes, there is more than a small spark of happiness.
"Yeah, just like old times." Their hands twine, and they attempt to kiss the hurt away.
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An: That's right. I went there. Because Wally would know the 'No soap, clock radio' jokes. Who's laughing with us?
Also, I mean no derision towards either Star Wars or Star Trek. In the comics, Wally has a model of the Enterprise in his room, so he must be a Trekker. It's my head canon that Artemis (who we always forget is actually very smart – especially at science) is secretly a Star wars fans, and it's one of the things the two snipe at each other for; the other's 'clearly inferior taste in sci-fi.'
Unrelated request:
You guys are already so wonderful that I hate to ask anything else of you, but I need a favor. So, for my HASS class, Fans and Fan Culture, I have to write a research paper on an international aspect of fan culture. I chose fanfiction. I was wondering if any of my readers, especially my non-US readers, would be willing to answer a few questions about their thoughts on and experiences with fanfiction? It shouldn't take long and you only have to answer what you want, but it would help me out a lot. Thank you guys.