THERE ARE NO wonderlands for people like us.
Those words rang like an infinite echo within Jaye's mind many days later, soaring through the night sky on yet another patrol through the city as the night provided it cover.
Why was it still even coming out? Taking out those who plagued this city like a disease?
What do you think you're trying to prove?
There wasn't even any crime tonight, and that in itself was almost laughable. Unbelievable — it couldn't find a single crime in Gotham City.
Some hero it was.
Rumbling deep within its throat, the wyvern ducked its head, curved its wings, and carved a steep banking turn, arcing over the city by the glow of silver moonlight peeking through the heavy clouds which barricaded the sky, cloaking it in pale silver.
The night air had done little to clear its head, and instead had seemed to further enrage it as it had more time to think about how utterly useless everything it and Artemis had done would prove to be. Gotham City was no safer with a dragon patrolling it, just as the world would be no different if it weren't here.
Its existence, in the end, didn't matter.
Releasing a deep groan from the depths of its throat, Jaye angled its wings upon seeing the apartment it called home, glimpsed a lone figure sitting on the rooftops, awaiting its return.
Artemis.
Plunging its enormous figure into a dive toward the ground, the wyvern relished, if only for a moment, the feeling of the wind blasting its reptilian face. But, like all things, it didn't last long before it was forced to fan out its wings to slow its descent, landing on the roof with enough force to rattle the walls.
The blonde archer turned to face her friend, arching a single eyebrow. "Find anything out there?" The question drifted through the warm air, and the beast rumbled softly with a slight shake of its massive head in response.
Artemis sighed, walking to the edge of the building again and kneeling down, her gray eyes flashing over the streets once more as though willing for something to happen.
Shifting so it was only the size of a large dog, Jaye came up beside its friend, gazing out across the city wistfully. The air smelled strongly of smoke and grime, nothing fresh about it, and yet . . .
. . . and yet its lungs craved it each night like a drug, desperate for unfiltered, natural air, no matter how polluted it was.
It nudged Artemis with its snout, giving a deep growl at her to draw her attention away from the city lights, a way of insisting it was time to return to their shared room before Paula became suspicious of their silence.
Its friend nodded once, getting to her feet elegantly and laying a hand on Jaye's nose, a sorrowful smile painted on her lips. Then, she swung over the side of the building and through her bedroom window, followed a moment later by the dragon.
As soon as it landed on the bed, however, there was a call from just outside their room.
"Artemis! Could you come out here, please?"
Jaye glanced sideways at the blonde archer, feeling a generous dose of confusion at the tone of Paula's voice.
"And . . . your pet? Could you bring it out as well?"
There. An unspoken signal. Jaye knew that Paula meant for it to remain as a wyvern for the moment, so it jumped off the bed, maintaining its size and growling deep in its throat. "Um, sure, mom. Just a sec . . ." Artemis replied, grabbing a robe that hung off her bed and pulling it on over the outfit she wore during the night in order to hide what it represented.
The wyvern snorted and curled its tail around the legs of its friend, lowering its head before watching the blonde open the bedroom door and head out.
Jaye followed her, the spines on its back rattling in aggression as the two exited their shared room and entered the short hallway leading out into the living room.
When it emerged after Artemis, it was immediately on edge upon glimpsing two other figures standing in the living room, where Paula currently sat off to the side in her wheelchair.
Two men occupied the sitting area, one standing close to the wall while the other actually sat on the sofa, elbows resting on his knees as he watched the two enter.
"Batman . . . Green Arrow . . . " Artemis muttered, her gaze flashing to the wyvern tailing her before she stepped toward her mother. "Mom! What did youdo?"
Jaye growled, lashing its tail as it glared between Paula and the two famous superheroes. It noted how Batman's gaze remained on it, shifting over its scales for a long moment before his attention turned to the blonde girl. "We're here to seeyou."
Green Arrow shifted his weight to face the two, which caused Jaye to growl once again at him when he met its gaze. "Artemis, we know what you and your . . . dragon . . . have been up to."
The blonde archer kept her costume hidden with her robe, narrowing her eyes into a glare. "And you came to stop us?" She growled, setting one hand on the wyvern's nose. "Well, you can just forget - "
"No." The Caped Crusader interrupted, his eyes narrowing even more if that were possible. He took a deep breath, glancing between the two they had come to see. "The Justice League has formed a covert team of young heroes, as I believe you and your friend already know."
Jaye rumbled softly, moving forward so it was standing directly beside its friend, watching the two cautiously. It could tell that they were both wary of its presence, and it couldn't blame them. It was, after all, a creature of myths — a wyvern in the flesh.
It was a threat.
By reading the sudden change in body language coming from Artemis after Batman spoke, the beast was well aware that his words had struck a nerve — one causing it to panic within, although the panic barely reached its eyes before it vanished, smoldering away beneath the natural fury it held within.
But what the masked man said next caused the dragon's attention to be focused on him immediately, feeling its throat heat up instinctively.
"We'd like you two to join the team."
"If you expect an apology for saving Kid Flash's—" Artemis froze, his words sinking in as she focused her gray gaze on him, body stiffening even more. "Wait. What?"
Green Arrow suddenly got up, causing Jaye to growl at him in warning. He halted, gazing down at the fire-breathing reptile before slowly approaching them, placing one hand on Artemis' shoulder. "We think you'd both make great additions to the team." He told her, his eyes sliding toward the dragon still growling at her side. "If it's alright with your mother."
Paula, who had been silent up until now, spoke up in her soft, rasping voice, "You have my permission."
Jaye fixed its orange gaze on the disabled woman, staring right at her until she became uncomfortable and looked away, hands on the wheels of her chair.
Artemis was silent for a long time, shifting her eyes toward her mother, fists clenched at her sides before returning her attention to the man in front of her. "One condition," she finally spoke, her voice steady despite the emotions flowing off her, "you don't tell the team who we are . . . who my family is." She placed one hand on Jaye's nose, running her fingers along the horns of her best friend. "I'm sure you know that Jaye isn't—"
"Your private life is your business," Batman interrupted, but his gaze showed that he did, in fact, know what the dragon was truly. Not just the beast standing before him. "The Justice League knows who the both of you are, and that is enough."
Green Arrow snorted. "Not like you're the first heroes to have secret identities." He told them, eyes glimmering. "We'll introduce you as my protégé and my niece." A smirk graced his lips. "Hey, we're both blonde."
"And your dragon will be introduced as your partner. When the time comes, you may reveal . . .itsother form to your teammates." The Caped Crusader raised an eyebrow at the wyvern, meeting its gaze until both were staring one another down.
Beside it, Artemis finally allowed herself a dazzling smile. "Then we're in. We'resoin!"
Jaye felt warmth creep through its scales now, keeping its eyes locked on Batman.
Looks like we just found our rabbit hole, after all.
