M'Gann had probably not felt this out of her depth since she snuck onto her uncle's ship and stowed away to earth.
She didn't even know what she was doing. She was given a photo of some guy and told to get him alone at the party Bee was attending. That was it. nothing about why Bee wanted M'Gann to separate the man from the rest of the guests, or where, or when, or what she wanted M'Gann to do once she'd managed to get the man alone. She got the guy's photo and on the way to the event Bee finally gave her a name- Cyrus Nickel.
She was so busy trying to keep track of her own identity for the night, how the hell was she supposed to pay attention to someone else? Not to mention the dress she was wearing was really annoying and her hair was making the side of her neck hot. How did fancy glamorous people cope? There were so many women with their hair down, many had it sitting over their shoulders like M'Gann was, how were they so effortlessly charming while their hair turned the sides of their necks into saunas? she supposed it didn't help her case that she was hiding weapons.
A hand ghosted along M'Gann's back and she didn't manage to stop herself from reacting before the flinch, but she played it off as best she could once she noticed it was just Bee. The monarch was standing by her side, a hand against her lower back, and giving her a disapproving gaze that had fear bubbling up in M'Gann's stomach.
"pay attention to your surroundings."
"I- I'm sorry I just... you said I can't use my powers and-"
"You need to be able to do your job without relying on a crutch," Bee said, "you have your target, get him alone, I will not accept failure."
"yes ma'am."
M'Gann swallowed down the anxiety beating away inside her chest and broke away from Bee, moving by autopilot as she manoeuvred through the crowd. She recognised some people from the news or past briefings Bee had given her. After a moment of calming her heart beat she plastered a smile to her face and started striking up conversations with those people she recognised.
"here's your mission file."
The manilla folder was about two centimetres thick, it slapped onto the metal table in front of him.
"memorise his face, name, personal details. The blueprints for the building are in the back of the folder. Memorise that, too. I want three different plans outlined by this afternoon as to how you are going to handle this mission. The guest list is also in the folder. You can take any gear that you can fit on your person."
"can I have maps of the surrounding area, Sir?"
A small smile of approval, and then a much shorter pile of papers were placed next to the file.
"thank you."
"don't disappoint me."
"I won't, sir."
Eventually M'Gann did manage to find a table of people, chatting away about something or other, where her target was sitting. She recognised one of the women there, Anastasia Gin, and the identity M'Gann was using had met the woman before as well which made it a perfect in. there was an empty seat at Anastasia's elbow and M'Gann slid in with a surprised grin.
"Annie, oh my goodness, it's been so long since I've seen you!"
Anastasia gasped as she turned to angle herself towards M'Gann more, "Delilah! Oh look at you, you're absolutely radiant, I love the braids, how long did they take?"
M'Gann rolled her eyes with an exhausted sigh, "oh my gosh, hours, and they had to redo one of them because they messed it up when they were putting the ribbons in, I don't know why I bother anymore with those people from the boutique, I need new stylists honestly."
"yes I know the feeling," Anastasia tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, "gosh when I was your age so many of those attempted stylists would just tug and weave and pull and I'd always end up thinking I could have done better on my own in my room in fifteen minutes."
"Annie," one of the girls on the table cut in, "where have you been hiding this one? How many times have I said I need more models and you had this flower?"
"Oh no, no, Melanie, this is Delilah," Anastasia said, gesturing to the whole table now as she introduced M'Gann's alias, "she's one of Bee's... well we used to call them handmaids back in the day, but I..."
"secretary," M'Gann nodded as she filled in the space Anastasia was leaving open for M'Gann to fill.
"oh I see," the woman who cut in nodded, "secretary, right, well if you ever want to get off of this continent and over to the new world," she grinned and extended a business card to M'Gann across the table, "here's my card. Melanie Flint, lovely to meet you."
M'Gann smiled politely and took it, pretending to read it and consider before tucking it away in a hidden pocket in her dress, "thank you, I'll keep it in mind."
"I wouldn't take her up on that one," said a low voice, and M'Gann looked back up to find her target smirking secretively, "I've heard all her girls end up taken care of too well. Too many complimentary cupcakes. Can't keep the model shape going."
"oh stop it you," Melanie hissed jokingly with a light slap, "this is Cyrus, he's my rival, if you side with him I'll be eternally wounded."
"you're in the modelling business as well?" M'Gann asked.
"you sound so surprised," Cyrus gasped as if wounded, holding a hand against his chest, "do I not look like a fashionista? Oh, no, goodness no, Annie has my hair gone limp? Is it the scarf?"
"calm down honey, she meant well, no need to be so dramatic," Anastasia sighed exasperatedly.
"no, I must depart and lick my wounds," Cyrus sighed, "and go to the bathroom while I'm at it." he slid out of his chair and fake pouted as he avoided M'Gann's gaze and walked away.
M'Gann waited till he was farther away before she turned back to the table and burst into giggles, Anastasia and Melanie joining in almost immediately.
"don't mind him, honey, he can't do anything halfway. Its either drama or snooze; no in between," Melanie said.
"oh I can see that," M'Gann snorted.
She split her attention between the two women with her at the table and keeping an eye. Soon she saw Cyrus in the corner of her eye once more as he left the bathrooms, and she excused herself from the table with a meaningless excuse. She wasn't sure how she'd keep Cyrus from re-joining the party, but he was still meandering the halls of the mansion the party was in when M'Gann managed to intercept him.
"did you need a break from the noise?" she asked as she stepped up next to Cyrus. The walls were lined with paintings, and Cyrus was analysing them like they held the answers to life itself.
"this building is older than my great grandmother," Cyrus said, "the only reason I bothered to come to this shindig was to have a chance to see some of the history these people refuse to let the rest of us see."
M'Gann blinked in confusion, frowned, and followed Cyrus as he stepped to stand in front of the next painting, "how do you mean?"
Cyrus gave her a confused look before he said, "you don't know who I am. Or who Melanie is."
"no."
He smiled kindly, "we're the charity invites. The diversity wins."
M'Gann still didn't understand, "what?"
Cyrus sighed, "this party is being held by the top moguls of the fashion industry, the kind of people who hold my career in their fists. For years the world of couture has been controlled by a supremist majority, but today they're called out for it," he shrugged, "Melanie is a woman of colour in an industry that demonises that. and I am Irish," he tilted his head to better see a detail in the image, "and also a very gay trans man."
M'Gann nodded slowly, "uh, right, and so you're-"
"we're here so the socialites your boss funds can look less prejudiced."
"oh."
"mmm," Cyrus hummed, "oh."
"I don't actually know much about this industry."
"well, don't start by watching Devil Wears Prada and you should be fine." Cyrus began walking further down the hall and M'Gann followed along, "are you here for networking?"
"pardon?"
"did someone ask you to speak with me so you could network, get an in, make a pitch?"
"uh, no, I just..." M'Gann shrugged, "it's very loud in the ballroom."
"you're new to this."
"a little."
Cyrus huffed, "okay, there's a room..." he turned, looking down the hall, walking over to a doorway and peeking in, "not this one..." he walked further down and opened another room, "ah, here it is."
"what?"
"I get anxiety attacks at big functions," Cyrus admitted, "so any time I go to a new place for parties I have the people who work for me find me places I can hide."
M'Gann followed him into the room, finding it was what appeared to be a guest bedroom. Considering the apparent age of the building M'Gann figured it may have even once been 'servant's quarters'. There was a bed against the left wall, doors to a wardrobe and ensuite on the right and a desk against the far wall.
"I think someone needs to catch you up to speed on this world, because you may not be working in this industry but Queen Bee seems devoted to it so you're gonna be stuck in this for a while." Cyrus loosened his tie and flopped onto a couch sitting at the foot of the bed, "okay, so, gonna start with Charles Frederick Worth. How are you on 19th century history?"
"uh," M'Gann frowned, sitting on an ottoman in front of the wardrobe.
"Oh jeez this'll be fun." He sat up and-
His head exploded, blood spraying across the couch he was sitting on, his torso slumping into the pillows.
M'Gann was frozen for a second as she failed to process that.
The bang was ringing in her ears still when she launched to her feet, running over to see if she'd actually just seen-
Yes. She was not hallucinating. Blood was pouring out of a bullet wound in the side of Cyrus' head. His eyes were still open, not even appearing shocked. He hadn't had a chance to hear the sound of the bullet before it tore through his skull. M'Gann flinched away as she made eye contact with the blank look on his face, the emptiness.
She realised belatedly, that the sniper was probably still in range.
She dived behind the bed in the nick of time. Another bullet shot through the air and tore the carpet.
If she made for the door she'd be back in the sniper's sight, if they were at all good at their job they'd fire before she could even make it to the door, and even if they didn't aim perfectly on her head in that split second they'd likely still manage to land a hit.
There was a crunch from the window, and then a crash as the glass shattered and M'Gann looked up over the bed to find someone decked in red and black, a bicolour mask covering their face, a sword on their back. she bolted for the door and when the attacker made to follow, the sword signing as they drew it from their sheath, she turned in one smooth movement and hit the button on her bracelet. A dart flew through the air and the sword cut through it before it could land. M'Gann backed up into the door, hands trying to grab and turn the handle but the assassin had already grabbed her around the neck.
The left bracelet held darts; the right was a taser.
M'Gann jammed her hand in the vague direction of the assassin's neck, her wrist colliding somewhere and causing the assassin to tense and drop her. She tried to sweep his legs but he manoeuvred out of the attempt with ease and attacked once more with a speed that spoke of enhancements.
M'Gann had been told she wasn't allowed to use her powers, but that was when her job was talking to some random target, not defending herself from an assassin who was definitely better at fighting than she was.
She grabbed the couch with her telekinesis and flung it at the assassin's head. They ducked at the last second and rolled out of the way of it to launch back at her.
She tried to make for the door once more but the assassin threw a shuriken that cut into her side, and then another that caught the hem of her dress. She grabbed a fistful of the material and tried to tear it free but the assassin was already on her, tackling her to the ground and clamping a hand over her mouth when she finally tried to scream.
She thrashed in the assassins grip and gave up on following Bee's rule, she shouted a hysteric and panic filled call for help over a mind link with Bee. There was a knife sitting under her jaw, Bee wasn't going to get there in time, she squeezed her eyes shut-
The assassin above her froze.
The voice was heavily distorted by some kind of voice altering software, M'Gann couldn't hear past it even though the assassin's head was right behind her, their original voice must have been blocked out by the mask. But even though she couldn't recognise the voice it didn't stop her from freezing in confused fear as the assassin holding her down said, "M'Gann?"
"I- how did-"
"stay down," the voice ordered, "don't make me hurt you."
"what?"
One of the hands holding M'Gann down disappeared and seemed to fiddle with a button on the mask. The distorted voice was quieter and obviously talking to someone else when they said, "what would you like me to do sir?"
There was a gap of silence as someone spoke to the assassin, probably over a comm system.
"what?" the voice hissed, and then the door opened.
M'Gann looked up to find Queen Bee, standing and taking in the scene with a raised eyebrow.
"good work Renegade," Bee said, "it seems Deathstroke has been training you well, no one in the ballroom is aware of anything."
The assassin didn't move from their position holding M'Gann down.
"you can let Megan go," Bee said, "although it's good to see you would have been capable of dealing with witnesses."
The assassin finally stood, leaving M'Gann on the floor and extremely confused.
Bee helped her with a hand, lifting her to her feet, and checked her over with a few glances.
"and you did well too, Megan dear, although it would have been good if you'd gotten him out of the ballroom earlier."
M'Gann nodded numbly, but managed to ask, "what's going on?"
"this was a test."
M'Gann whipped around to look at the assassin, the voice modifier had been turned off. She finally looked at him closely. he seemed to be in his mid teens, lean, and M'Gann didn't recognise him at all. But his voice? She was 100% sure she knew it from somewhere, it was somewhere in her memory, but it was like meeting someone again after years, small details were forgotten including the sound of the voice.
"it was, yes, but don't sound too sour, it wasn't a test on you," Bee said, resting a hand on M'Gann's shoulder, "I wanted to see how M'Gann would fare in a situation like this. And some friends needed a rival removed from the industry. You services were appreciated."
"who are you?" M'Gann finally blurted out.
"oh," Bee gave M'Gann a pitying look, "I suppose it has almost been three years, hm? What a shame to see friends drift apart. Maybe we'll have to start letting you two work together."
"what?"
"Take it up with Deathstroke," Renegade said, "is there anything else you need? I have a body to hide."
"yes, yes, I'll let you get back to work," Bee said, guiding M'Gann out of the room, "come on, time to go, your dress is ruined."
"but-"
"now, honey," Bee said, "the car is waiting for us."
Wally woke up when the car slowed, pulling into a turn and driving onwards. He cracked his eyes open, blinking away the bleariness and stretching the kink out of his neck, sitting up straight in the passenger seat. He'd accidentally drooled on the window, where his head had been resting, and he wiped it away with his hoodie's sleeve and an awkward grimace.
He took in the street they'd just turned onto. They were out past the suburbs of whatever town they were in. Dick had told him where they were, and the only location name Wally had recognised was New Jersey, after that nothing was familiar. The road was unsealed but otherwise sturdy, the houses had huge driveways, mainly gravel, and Wally thought he spotted some fenced off land with cattle behind one of them. There were plenty of trees along the roadside, giving a few of the homes some privacy. The road seemed like something that might have once been the main highway before technology advanced and a shorter route was put in. Dick drove with one elbow resting against the bottom of the driver's-side window, his hand propping his head up as the other held the steering wheel. He turned into one of the driveways, the mailbox labelled it as number 78.
Wally watched the house as they pulled into the carport. It seemed normal, grey wooden siding making up the bulk of it except for the wall that the carport shared, which was a whitewashed brick. There was a deck at the front, with an immaculate garden at the edges, and clean windows spread equidistant along. Wally found himself surprised, although he'd admit he had no idea what he'd been expecting. Not necessarily the opposite of what was in front of him, just not... this.
The carport was open to the air, with a steel roof and supports at the corners and a concrete slab. The car pulled in next to an old, battered Hilux, which sported a bulbar and a cracked windscreen.
When Dick parked the car and unbuckled his seatbelt, Wally though he might tell him to stay there, to explain that this was some contact's house and he needed to get something and he'd be right back and they'd be on their way. But he did not. he merely shot Wally a confused look when he noticed he hadn't moved, and opened his door.
Wally unbuckled his own seatbelt with still sleep-numb hands, and stepped out. There was a breeze and a chill in the air, so Wally followed Dick quickly towards the front deck, wanting to be inside sooner rather than later.
Unfortunately, Dick stopped in front of the door instead of walking straight in, and Wally considered once more the possibility that this wasn't their actual destination.
Dick took a deep breath and said, "don't be an idiot." Then turned the doorknob.
Wally was barely two steps into the foyer before he heard the sound of someone running, feet pounding against the wooden floors- which were polished and shiny- and he flinched as something crashed into Dick.
"You're home!"
Wally blinked as he finally noticed what it was that had scared him, finding a child latching onto Dick's torso like an infant koala. And Dick was holding the child back just as tightly- although Wally was hesitant to liken him to mother koala.
"You're back, you're back, you're back, you're back!" chanted the child, who then sprung from Dick's arms and bounced on the spot, "you're really back?"
Wally almost feinted because, ghosting across Dick's lips, only just barely visible in the uptick of the corners of his mouth, was a smile.
"I'm back."
"yes!" the child once more latched onto Dick, however this time they opted for hugging him with just their arms instead of the full-body latch-on they'd gone for beforehand.
Dick seemed to hesitate, and Wally just barely noticed him glance in his direction, before he focused on the child again, "I missed you too Rosie."
"I missed you more!"
And this time it was impossible not to notice, Dick was smiling as he said, "how much?"
The child- Rosie? Apparently?- let go of her hug and said, "so much, like," she held her arms as wide as they would go, "this much."
Dick raised his eyebrows ad held his hands as far apart as Rosie was holding hers, "this much?"
She scrunched her nose, then tugged Dick's hands further apart so they reached his full arms-breadth, and said, "that much times a billion."
"that's a very big number Rosie," Dick said, "do you know how much that is?"
"it's how much I missed you divided by this much," Rosie said, giggling as she held her arms apart as far as they'd go once more.
"that's a very arbitrary way to measure a number," Dick said, placing his hands on his hips.
Rosie stuck out her tongue in response, and Dick laughed lightly before scooping her into another hug.
"I missed you most."
Rose's small arm tightened their hold around Dick as she leaned into the hug more, and suddenly Wally felt like this was a private moment he shouldn't be watching. It seemed too heart felt.
Dick seemed to sense his discomfort, because he pulled away and ruffled Rosie's hair- which was long and silver, Wally found that strange for a child but he didn't judge.
"Rose, I'd like you to meet Wally," Dick said, nodding in his direction as Rose looked over, "he's going to be staying with us for a bit."
Wally waved and gave an awkward smile.
"Wally this is Rose," Dick said, then cleared his throat, "she's uh, she's Slade's daughter."
Wally blinked in surprise, looking between the little girl and Dick, and then just at the little girl. She was so adorable. How could she be the daughter of the world's deadliest mercenary? This made no sense.
Moreover, which psychopathic woman decided to get it down with Slade Wilson? That just seemed like a poor decision all around. For anyone.
"why's he staying with us?" Rose asked, frowning up at Dick.
"uh," Dick pursed his lips, "it's complicated. He needs my help."
Rose looked Wally up and down. Then stepped up to stand in front of him. She poked him in the torso, then the arm, then the leg, then frowned at his leg.
She held a hand out to him. Wally looked to Dick for guidance.
"give her your hand."
Wally hesitated but did so. Rose glared at it like it had personally offended her. She then poked the spot where his finger met his palm, running along the smooth skin there. She flipped the hand over and analysed his knuckles, then his nails. She seemed to finally find what she was looking for and leaned in as she rubbed her thumb along the callus on Wally's right middle finger. It was a huge lump borne of hours of holding a pencil and writing notes after notes after notes, chemistry, physics, engineering, the hours he put into studying in hopes of getting a full ride to college, scholarships and bursaries, the works. Now she'd found something she turned his hand over and poked a specific spot. Wally recognised it as the skin that had become course from hours holding a broom, sweeping and mopping the floors of the place he worked after school and before patrol. He didn't know what Rose found interesting about it, though, considering she couldn't possibly know about the minimum wage job he worked in hopes of saving for college.
She looked up at him and this time she was frowning less, more so considering.
"Tai Kwon Do?" she asked.
"uh, no," Wally winced, "I don't know martial arts."
She nodded, "science?"
"uh, yeah," Wally nodded, "I know chemistry, uh, physics, you know-"
"good," she cut in, then turned and started tugging Wally along, "I need help with my homework."
"I- what?"
"what's the planet sixth from the sun?"
"Saturn, but-"
"great, I was stuck on that one."
Wally shot Dick a confused look, but found his friend shaking his head and laughing under his breath as he followed the two of them from the small foyer and down the hall.
One side of the hallway had three doors, a bookcase in between the two farthest the front door. The other side was only a half-wall, leaving a free view of a lounge room with two sofas, a coffee table and a tv, behind which was a staircase. The end of the hall opened into a larger room, a dining table with chairs to the right and a kitchen to the left. A man, grey hair, moustache, possibly sixty to sixty-five years old, was leaning against the breakfast bar with his arms crossed. Along the wall were windows, a back deck with an in-ground pool, sitting area and a yard behind it all.
Rose continued to pull Wally along, towards the dining table. She tugged a chair out and sat, picking up a pencil and looking at a mess of papers spread in front of her. She circled a letter next to the word Saturn, which was in a list of answers under the question 'what is the sixth planet from the sun in our solar system?'.
"does he pass muster?" asked the old man at the breakfast bar.
"Only if he can help me write a paragraph about potential energy," Rose answered.
Wally shot Dick another confused look and asked, "what's going on?"
"you've been conscripted into helping Rose finish her school work," Dick said.
"right," Wally said, looking between the little girl and the old man, "is that... good?"
Rose tugged his sleeve, "only if you can explain the difference between kilograms and newtons."
"uh, I... can do that," Wally shot Dick a look and, finding he was still watching with amusement, pulled out the chair next to Rose and sat down.
"you two enjoy that," the old man said as he headed for the hallway, "Dick and I need to chat."
"okay!" Rose said, and Wally nodded as well, turning back to Rose and staring at the papers in front of her.
"uh, so, potential energy is like, uh..." Wally frowned as he stared at the papers in front of Rose, "how much do you already know about energy?"
Rose wasn't listening to him; she was leaning in her chair so she could see down the hall. Wally opened his mouth to ask why but she shushed him and continued to watch. Distantly, Wally heard the click of a door closing.
Rose turned back to him, "potential energy is energy held by an object due to its position in relation to other objects. It can also be referred to as stored energy, because it is energy caused by the state of an object or system that is yet to be expended."
Wally blinked, "well... yes."
Rose nodded and began writing down what she'd just said into a text box on the page. While she did so she said to Wally, "you're a civilian. But you are also not a civilian."
"how do you mean?"
"you don't know how to fight, you're hands show signs of everyday work, of study, and..." she looked him in the eyes, "how many exits are in this room?"
"uh.... Does the hallway count?"
"no."
"then, uhm," he looked at the sliding glass door that lead to the backyard, "one?"
Rose rolled her eyes, "you really think that Wintergreen or Dick would live in a house that has only one exit in any of the rooms?"
"wintergreen? Is that what that old man's name is?"
Rose huffed a breath in disappointment, "is Dick training you?"
"no?" Wally said, watching the small girl with huge amounts of confusion, "he's helping me."
"why?"
Wally had honestly expected her to ask, 'with what?' so he was thrown off for a moment. But he rolled with it.
"he's my friend."
"Dick doesn't have friends," Rose said with the same eye roll, "he has allies, a list that's very short and I know the extent of and you're not on it, or family. Which is me and Wintergreen. So who are you and why is Dick helping you?"
"I'm-"
"and don't say you're paying him, because you're not. if you were paying him this would be a job, and rule number one is that jobs do not come home." Rose sniffed, "and also because it's very clear you wouldn't have the money to pay him anyway."
"hey," Wally crossed his arms, "I could totally pay him if I had to."
"right," Rose rolled her eyes once more, "so the college drop out chic is a choice?"
"I- okay you got me, look," Wally sighed and then rubbed at his eyes, "Dick and I were friends when we were young."
Rose blinked, and then tilted her head in confusion, "young?"
"yeah."
Rose frowned, seemingly thinking very hard, "so you're a... scientist?" she gasped, "did you escape from an evil organisation and now Dick's helping you start a new life?"
Wally blinked, "no?"
"you used to be apprenticed to a scientist but your teacher has been forced to work for someone bad so you ran away?"
"no?"
"uhhhh..." she tapped her chin, "you're the son of a-"
"where are you coming up with these ideas?"
"well if you knew Dick when both of you were young you must have known him as Renegade," Rose said, crossing her arms and scowling, "the only way you'd have met him as Renegade is if you'd met him on a mission with my fa- Slade. And there's no way you'd have been associates with Slade yourself so it must have been a teacher or parent or-"
"We knew each other when we were heroes," Wally said, "when I was Kid Flash and he was Robin."
Rose froze for a moment, staring at her homework. She turned her head slowly to look at Wally. Her eyes moved up and down as she scanned him, analysing every piece of colour.
"go away," she said.
"what?"
"away." She repeated. When Wally didn't move she shoved at his shoulder and yelled, "go away!"
Wally stood from the seat and stepped back, "I'm sorry-"
"go!" Rose crossed her arms slumped into the chair as she glared at the table.
Wally winced but turned and walked away, headed for the staircase Dick and Wintergreen had walked up.
He realised his mistake when he got to the top of the staircase. He had no idea where Dick and Wintergreen had gone from there.
There was a hallway perpendicular to the staircase, with two doors on either side, a window on either end and a door in the ceiling that opened to an attic. Wally walked to the middle of the hall, straining his ears, and turned to the door nearest the stairs on the right.
It was ever so slightly ajar, just enough for Wally to hear voices now he was listening closely, he settled his hand on the handle but hesitated, listening closely. he thought he heard...
"how could he do this? After all these years, how could he betray us?"
That was... that was his uncle Barry. That was his voice. He knew his uncle's voice-
"we should have seen it coming," came a hissing accusation, and Wally recognised it as Oliver's, "all of them, we should have known, we should never have trusted them."
"after everything we did for them, everything we gave them." Black Canary. Dinah. "they threw it in our faces."
"we need to deal with them." That was Batman. That was Bruce. "we need to bring them all in, they need to be locked up. They're dangerous. He killed so many without even thinking, he's dangerous. Dick and Artemis are no better, we need to-"
Wally couldn't handle it anymore, he swung the door open, waiting to start hurling accusations, or to explain, or to beg forgiveness, he wasn't sure, but he needed to-
The room was empty. It was a bedroom, immaculately clean, navy blue walls and a grey carpet, a bed and nondescript furnishings. Wally blinked as he stared at it all.
"listening in?"
He whipped around, hearing a cold hissing voice behind him. He found his uncle glaring him down, decked in the red flash suit, lightning sparking at his finger tips.
"I- Barry-"
"we should have known," Barry scowled, "you were all jut weaknesses, fault lines waiting to be exploited, always getting into trouble, always needing to be saved."
"Barry, no, I'm sorry, please, I-"
"you were better off in the speed force, at least there you couldn't hurt anyone," he advanced on him, and Wally backed up step by step, herded towards the wall, "where you could feel all the pain you should rightfully feel for everything you've done."
His knees were weak and when his back hit the wall he slid down it, staring up at his uncle with pleading eyes and finding no mercy or forgiveness. None at all.
He buried his face in his arms and waited for his uncle to hurt him, to keep yelling at him, to grab him and drag him away into some kind of prison. He sobbed into his arms, holding his knees and curling up tighter and tighter, hoping he'd keep going until he eventually curled himself away into nothingness.
"Wally?" a pause, hesitant and concerned, "Wally, hey, look at me."
"I'm sorry." Wally breathed the words, not remembering to take a breath before letting them out. They were near-silent, practically a wheeze, high-pitched and close to cracking, just like his throat, just like the rest of him.
When had he last breathed in? he was quite sure he might have been about to suffocate himself, curled up on the ground, refusing to breathe, refusing to relax the smallest bit, a coil of energy and fear hiding away from everything, too scared that if he unravelled he'd burn everything around him.
"no-"
"I'm sorry," he repeated the words again, a little louder, now that he'd forced air back into his lungs, but the sound still seemed broken in some way, and he supposed that was just because of him. He sucked in a sharp breath and exhaled sharper, lips trembling. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I'm sorry, I can't- I can't- please, I-" the sob almost surprised him, and it escaped past his teeth with a heaving shake of his shoulders.
"Wally it's okay, I need you to breathe slowly, okay, slow."
Wally sobbed into his arms once more and sucked a breath in that hurt like fire in his lungs, and he wanted it out but-
"that's it, gentle, in and out, nice and slow, exhale." A small part in the back of Wally's mind finally recognised the voice as Dick. Apologies came to mind once more; Dick shouldn't have to deal with him like this.
But right now Wally couldn't find it in him to be selfless, he would apologise for being the world's biggest hindrance on Dick Grayson's shoulders later, for now he'd just beg for Dick to stay with him till his body stopped feeling like it was prickling with energy and anxiety.
After three breaths Wally finally dared to look up from his arms. Dick was crouched in front of him, balancing on his toes, elbows on his knees, for a moment he looked so terribly human and honest, almost ordinary, and Wally pretended for a few seconds that their childhoods were normal and that they'd gone to college together like he'd always daydreamed about when he was young, and they shared an apartment and maybe the thing that Wally was scared about were exams he hadn't studied for. He managed a few easier breaths with that pretend thought, but he had to let it go. The scar over Dick's right eye refused to let him pretend for any longer than he'd managed.
"you want to tell me what that was about?" Dick asked, voice pitched low and unobtrusive, about as unthreatening as he could manage to get himself.
"I," Wally tried to get the whole syllable out easily, but his throat felt thick and he cleared it with a wince, "I thought... I heard something, but it- it wasn't..." he swallowed, and clenched his jaw, hating everything about this feeling of weakness creeping up on him. He was a hero, god damnit, he'd faced thugs at twelve years old, why the hell was he so shaken up by all of this, "it wasn't real. And I'm sorry."
"I'd like to make a deal with you."
Wally blinked, a little startled.
Dick either didn't notice or decided to forge on, "no more apologising for things you don't have to apologise for."
"I..." Wally floundered for a moment till he managed to say, "I don't know how to tell."
"then I'll tell you when you need to," Dick huffed, "but I'm sick of hearing you say I'm sorry."
Wally nodded, a little numb, his brain felt fuzzy, "okay."
"now how about I show you where your room is," Dick said, standing in one smooth motion, "I think Wintergreen wants his back."
Wally felt his cheeks flush a little and stood, "I didn't mean to-"
"I know, he knows, you're fine," Dick said, turning and heading for the closed door.
"oh," Wally said, rubbing at the back of his neck, "and, uh, I think I upset Rose."
"not on purpose."
"she told you?"
"I have enhanced hearing Wally," Dick said, turning to look at him as he stopped by one of the doors on the left side of the hallway.
"then you- but- she," Wally frowned, looking between Dick and the top of the staircase, confused hand gestures accompanying his words, "I mean, she waited to hear the door close-"
"she knows I have enhanced hearing; she just doesn't know the extent of it."
"oh," Wally nodded, "right."
Dick rose an eyebrow, waiting for Wally to ask more questions or flounder a while longer, but then opened the door and gestured with a jerk of his chin for Wally to head in.
The room was basic, clearly a guest room, with the same grey carpet. The walls were a desaturated blue, with two windows one either side of a double bed. The windows showed a view of the backyard Wally had peeked before on the ground floor, as well as some of the roof. Wally almost snorted a laugh as he thought of Rose's comment about exits- he supposed each of the windows acted as exits. Rose clearly thought of it as some kind of standard, or professionalism, or just intelligence. All Wally could see in it was Batman's paranoia.
Although he doubted Dick would be interested in hearing that.
There was a dresser against the left wall, a desk against the right, and a bookshelf with a small armchair tucked into the corner under the window.
"This room doesn't have an ensuite," Dick said, leaning against the doorframe, "downstairs, door closest the kitchen in the hall is the bathroom."
"Right," Wally said, hands in his pockets as he meandered, looking around the room.
"I'll get you some more clothes and things, but Wintergreen's already got stuff in the bathroom for you. The other rooms have ensuites so you can basically have that one to yourself. There's a-"
"why doesn't Rose like me?" Wally asked. He'd gotten closer to the window, and he could now see a swing set on the grass, the seat swayed a little with the wind.
Dick rose an eyebrow, thought for a moment, then said, "cause she's a twelve year old."
"she's twelve?" Wally gaped, "twelve?"
"did you think she was younger?"
"older," Wally frowned, "why is she learning about potential energy and Newtons?"
Dick shrugged the shoulder that wasn't against the door, "cause that's where she's gotten to. Wintergreen home schools her, she learns at her pace, she likes science. Not maths though."
Wally blinked, staring at the swing set once more, "smart kid."
Dick seemed to chew on the words for a moment, Waly couldn't tell why, then he said, "she probably doesn't like you because you're from before," he stood straight from the door and slipped his hands in his pockets, "you're a hero to her until you prove otherwise, and therefore she sees you as a possible enemy. By being an enemy, everything about you becomes contradictory, and she doesn't like when she doesn't understand people."
"contradictory," Wally deadpanned.
"if you're an enemy you shouldn't be in our home," Dick said, and the use of the phrase 'our home' threw Wally for a loop for a moment till he forced his head back on straight, "and you definitely shouldn't be helping her with homework. As far as she's concerned she should have been able to tell exactly who and what you were the moment she looked at you closely."
"she definitely knew I wasn't some civilian," Wally frowned, sitting on the edge of the bed, "I think she just didn't want to come to the conclusion that was true."
"no," Dick said, "look, it's," he sighed, "complicated. But the fact she didn't know what you are makes her angry, on top of that she's angry at you because she doesn't think you should be here."
"but I'm here because you allowed me to be," Wally said, "shouldn't that change her mind?"
"a little," Dick said, "and I'll be sure to talk to her about it. but for now that's just how it is."
Wally nodded but otherwise didn't bother to answer.
"need anything else?" Dick said, stepping back into the doorway.
"This is... plenty, more than enough." Wally rubbed at the back of his neck, "thank you."
Dick nodded, leaving, then hesitating and turning back, "get some sleep," he said, "I'll wake you when dinner comes round, you need rest."
Wally gave him a weak smile, but nodded, "thanks."
Dick closed the door on his way out.
"Heyyyyyyyy, Atom, so uh..."
Ray looked up at the person who'd just stuck their head in the doorway, finding Captain Marvel standing with an awkward expression.
He put the tool in his hand down and sat straight, spine popping, and said, "so uh?"
"So, I know Batman tends to oversee under cover ops, and stuff, but he's busy and you're kinda the only leaguer in the watchtower at the moment who knows much about the-"
"Spit it out Billy."
"Pryce didn't show up to the rendezvous point."
Ray paused, wishing momentarily that he could go back to a few seconds ago before he had something important to do. Then a weight settled in his gut about the implications of what Billy just said. He rolled his shoulders and stretched out his back as best he could before walking out of the lab with a sigh, heading towards the communications room.
Captain marvel watched, confused and worried, as he fiddled with dials, listened to signals, failed to get a response and stared at the screens in worry. Eventually Ray had to admit defeat on contacting their undercover agent and turned to Marvel.
"I need you to get Batman and Black Canary to the board room. now."
The board room was a nick name for the main meeting room. One whole wall was a window, which seemed a bit stupid to Ray because space-proof glass logically had to be expensive and difficult to install, and an entire wall of a building as giant as the watchtower required a lot of space-proof glass, and Ray knew Bruce and Oliver had lots of money between the two of them, but he really wondered if either of them had ever reached a point where they realised that just because they had bucket loads of money didn't mean they had to spend it on hundreds of square meters of space-proof glass. Although they did spend that money on theme-based weapons in the shapes of arrows and bats so he supposed maybe they'd reached that point long ago and decided to go all in.
He paced along the length of the room, the windows to his side, as he waited for Bruce and Dinah to show up. Undercover operations were always difficult to manage and keep track of, especially when they were deep cover and smack in the middle of enemy territory. It wasn't a secret from the rest of the league, but there was no point involving everyone in the management of it. the less heads put together the less complications. So Batman was involved, because he almost always was with undercover business; Canary was included, because she was well acquainted with Queen Bee; and Ray was involved, because he knew the tech stuff.
Pryce was put in because they thought Bee was having her scientists come up with something dangerous, something important, something they'd rather stop from being made than have to stop from destroying the world. They'd been tipped off because Bee started popping up alongside some of the worse pharmaceutical moguls, or that was what Bruce told them, really Ray was dubious as to where Batman got the original information.
But once Pryce was in he'd been able to immediately tell something was up. Communications were barer than the bare minimum, because anything more would tip Bee off, but he confirmed that whatever Bee was working on was involved with medicines, or at least could be inputted into the pharmaceutical industry, which on its own was bad. After that confirmation Pryce had to go dark so he could get further in, until just a few days ago he'd hit his alarm and called for extraction as soon as possible.
The fact he didn't make it to the rendezvous spoke volumes.
The click of swift heels against concrete heralded Black Canary and Batman's entrance, and Ray turned from the rut in the ground he'd made to step closer.
"Pryce didn't show?"
"no," Ray confirmed, "and I can't get a hold of him at all."
Canary and Batman paused. Batman said, "then I think we all know what has likely happened to him."
Ray nodded. Took a breath, and said, "I managed to find his last message sent to us, just before the party he had to attend to keep appearances. It's heavily encrypted, but also scrambled, Bee's people must have caught it at the last second and tried to stop it."
"could you discern anything from it?" Canary asked, crossing her arms as she frowned in thought.
"Uh, not really," Ray grimaced, "there's snippets."
"audio or text?" Batman asked.
"audio," he pulled a hologram up from the meeting table, finding the file he'd recovered and playing it.
An explosion of static erupted from the screen, a high ringing noise in the background that got louder and louder till the static disappeared under it, then a pop, a second more of static, and then a rushed muffled voice played underneath the static barely loud enough to be heard.
"-case I don't make tonight, gotta tell you they're planning to-" the static rose higher, the shrill noise reappearing, and then the words disappeared underneath once more as if taken under a wave. They appeared a while later, quiet and incomprehensible but getting louder till they could make out, "kidnap the scare...." The wave of static crashed down once more, "... think that's how they want to administer it, but not sure, that seems less efficient than placing it in drugs, so maybe they want it for something else..." the static took over once more, and then the audio clip ended.
"That's all I could salvage," Ray said.
"Send any files related to this to me, I'll see if I can manage more," Batman said as he swept a hand through the hologram to disable it. Ray hid his eye roll but even he had to admit there was a chance Bruce would have more luck than him, anything was a possibility, and if he was willing to hand it to that whiz kid Robin of his the possibility multiplied.
"I'll get a full report together for this weeks JLA meeting, the others will want to hear about this," canary said, "Is there anything else?"
Ray nodded, "While I waited for you two I did some digging. Pryce was spotted attending the party as he said he would, but all evidence points to him having disappeared about half way through which was not the plan. Most likely Bee had someone take him from the party and then interrogate him."
"but why during the party," Canary frowned, "wouldn't you want to wait till after, or do it beforehand? That way you could avoid any possibility of suspicion or escape."
"That's what confused me too," Ray said, "then I checked what bee was doing during the night. She had a plus one, Rosalind Duplessite."
"The agent?" Canary asked.
"Assumed agent," Batman said, "she was present as a plus one? You're sure she wasn't a guard?"
Ray rose an eyebrow and brought up a few of the news reports already swarming the media on a hologram, showing the videos and photos of the two together. Batman nodded.
"That still doesn't explain it entirely though," canary said.
"No," ray agreed, "because Duplessite never went near Pryce during the party, cameras don't even show her speaking to him. But," he brought up a specific video, zooming in on Duplessite and Queen Bee, "take a look at this."
He slowed the video down so they could all watch as Duplessite leaned closer to Bee. The camera angle didn't make it clear if she said anything, but then Bee's head turned and her line of sight pointed directly at Pryce. Duplessite then leaned away and Bee reached for something the camera couldn't pick up.
"Duplessite points Pryce out to Bee," Batman said, as the video continued, "she was there to find him."
"That's what I think, yes," Ray said, pausing the capture.
"wait a minute, play again," canary said, stepping closer to the hologram. Ray hit the button and it continued to play at real speed. Canary had noticed a random man walk up to the two women, and as the video continued he broke the conversation they were having with someone else- the person seemed happy to get as far away from the man as possible. The man had his back to the camera, not one feature could be discerned aside from hair colour and approximate build.
Canary brought the hologram closer to her and rewinded, zooming in and slowing it down. At this close the screen was blurry, but she paused it as Bee held something in one hand, likely some kind of device.
She then made another screen and tracked the arrival of the man, finding other camera angles to find where he was standing before moving towards Bee. Every angle gave no more than the other, he always seemed to have his back to a camera or have something between him and the camera. But that didn't seem to be what Canary was looking for. She set the videos to the same time, just before Bee was holding the thing in her hand.
"what are you-"
"sh," she cut Ray off as she watched intensely. The video was playing slow and she stared at the screen like it held every answer she wanted provided she could find it.
Ray looked to Batman, hoping to find him just as confused by Dinah's behaviour as he was, but it was for naught. He was watching the camera now as well, seemingly having caught up on whatever she was doing.
"here," Canary played the videos back a few short seconds on a loop, "see when she gets the device, his head turns in her direction."
"what?" Ray frowned, staring at the videos. He found that Dinah was right, Bee held something up that she'd pulled from god knew where and just as she did so the man turned in her direction and began walking over.
"He works for her," Canary said, "and considering the context, it's very likely he was involved with Pryce having missed the rendezvous."
"I'll find more cameras, more angles," Batman said, then turned to Ray, "send me everything you already have of the party, I'll find more, we need to know who this person is. And we need to move Duplessite up our priority list, she's important, we need to know who she is and what she actually does for Queen Bee."
Ray nodded, making a mental list of all the stuff he had to put together.
"I think this is bigger than we originally thought," Canary said, disabling the hologram, "we need to focus more on this."
"agreed," Batman said, "we'll bring it to the next league meeting and discuss the next step forward."
Kaldur took a deep breath, and a deep exhale, forcing air out of his lungs till there was none left.
He opened his eyes slowly, feeling salt tickle at this pupils. Light filtered in through the surface of the water, patterns of winding lines waved along the floor of the pool. His gills tickled a little. It'd been a while since he'd been fully submerged like this. He didn't like taking baths anymore, and showers only allowed thin water to slide over his skin. It wasn't the same.
But neither was the pool. The pool was not at all the same.
He supposed he should be grateful that it was salt water and not chlorine. He always hated chlorine pools. But the salt wasn't much better. It wasn't the same as the ocean. It would never be the same.
He took another deep breath, feeling the water filter through his gills. He had so much spare time now, so many hours to fill. He'd researched and found out how gills work, he hadn't really known before, and human lungs too. He supposed he'd been influenced to research it when he found out his father wasn't Atlantean, he was human. A human wishing to rule a kingdom of Atlanteans. How strange.
He wanted to know how he intended to live, if he won his fool's errand of a war against Orin. And that lead him on a tangent of Wikipedia articles and PubMed reports.
But he was side tracked. Enough about lungs and gills. He hadn't been in the pool in forever.
Because the pool was wrong. It was not the ocean. Manta said he wasn't allowed in the real ocean, wasn't allowed out of the building, it wasn't safe. But he could give Kaldur this. This wrong thing. Water that wasn't right.
He should use this chance to do some other things he hadn't done in a while. like use his magic. Or think about Roy. Or breakdown.
Using his magic would be nice. He could feel a tension inside, building up, weathering at his insides, pushing at the lining of his skin like it intended to burst him. The skin along his arms prickled. Last time he'd felt like this hadn't ended well. The stormy night flashed behind his eyelids, the rolling thunder and the collapsing jetty. He refused to think about it. he pressed it all down.
It was a distinct kind of prickling. A feeling like someone was pinching at his skin with only their fingernails, squeezing tiny pieces of him together with sharp little claws, tingling like ant bites, stinging like small jellyfish.
The first time he felt it was when he took notice of the specific curl to Roy's lips when he smiled, the way he was so predictable when he did, the way you could watch it happen slowly. He'd always fight it for a short while. Kaldur had learned to see when Roy was happy without a smile. But eventually he realised the pattern to it. the way his jaw would tighten as he tried to hold it in, and then the purse of the middle of his lips as he kept fighting, but eventually the corners would lift, just a little, and his dimples would show up, and the creases at the edges of his eyes would come at about the same time as his teeth finally became visible, glowing past his lips like they were cheering to finally escape his tight hold. His eyes always glowed similarly. Like sapphires that-
The water moved. Kaldur jumped as he heard it. Sound travelled different in water, faster, not quite clearer, but it sounded heavy in his ears.
He looked up to the edge of the pool, where someone's silhouette was visible through the liquid, turning it into an abstract undulating shape. The person was splashing their boot in the water.
Kaldur unfolded himself from his cross legged position, sighing as he pushed himself up through the many metres of water. At least the pool was deep. Not an ocean and not as deep as one, but deep.
He broke the surface cleanly, till his eyes and ears were out of the water. He stared up at the manta soldier with a heated glare, the water surface tickling at the tip of his nose.
"Hello," they called down to him, "Chef asked me to come get you."
Kaldur raised an eyebrow, scowling, but he glided over to the ladder and pulled himself out of the water with smooth motions.
The soldier watched him with a blanched expression, his helmet tucked into his elbow. Kaldur noticed the rebreather installed in the helmet, an addition only the human soldiers sported in their armour.
Kaldur rolled his shoulders, annoyed by the fact he hadn't had a chance to do much in the water other than meditate. He used a bit of magic to dry himself, his tattoos glowed as the water droplets turned to steam and then disappeared. It eased the tension inside a little bit, but not much, not enough.
"Thank you," Kaldur said to the soldier, turning in the direction of the hall.
The soldier fell into step with him, as if she intended to escort him to the kitchen. More likely it was an order from his father to ensure he actually went. Manta was still a little paranoid about Kaldur taking care of himself, even though he'd been stuck there for years. Maybe he was worried that, after the horribly terribly stressful experience that was the Light meeting Manta dragged him to that got crashed by the League, he'd be lead to relapse.
And he supposed he was inclined to do it. He lost his appetite every time he thought of Zatanna falling to the ground.
He pressed the thoughts down, with the rest of them, with the memories of Roy's smile.
The soldier watched him with glances, wary and hesitant side-eyes. She finally broke the silence on the walk to the kitchen and said, "You saved my brother-in-law."
Kaldur shot him a frown filled with confusion, but didn't break step, "excuse me?"
"My brother-in-law is the captain of the patrol you were with, the one you helped when the Light meeting was attacked by the league."
Kaldur remembered the bloodied face of the captain, the feel of his heavy body as he'd helped him to the jetty, the clearness to his eyes. He had never once looked like a man making peace with the possibility of his death, only like a man that refused to be met with it.
"I wouldn't say I saved him," Kaldur said, though, because he felt it might be awkward if he stayed silent, "Just-"
"Carried him to safety?" the soldier said, raising an eyebrow.
At this angle Kaldur could notice the streaks of grey at the soldier's temple, and the maturity to her face. They weren't young, by any means.
Kaldur shrugged a little, "no need to thank me for it."
"I see every need, sir."
"Don't call me sir."
"what would you prefer, sir?"
"just- Kaldur. Just call me Kaldur."
The soldier shot him a narrowed-eyed expression, but asked, "just Kaldur?"
"Just Kaldur."
The soldier made a face, but said, "you're very much like your mother, Kaldur."
Kaldur stopped, his feet frozen with the same ice creeping up his back. hands of deathly ghost air settled on his shoulders, an embrace that was empty and dead.
"what?"
The soldier had stopped with him, looking on in worry. "Your mother."
"my mother," Kaldur said, and his tongue felt numb in his mouth, "my mother. You knew her?"
The soldier pursed their lips, but said, "yes. In passing. Briefly, not well, but-"
"When she was here?" Kaldur said, blinking at the soldier. Everything seemed a little to the left, his head a bit fuzzy, his thoughts raced in numerous directions, panting with exhaustion and running too fast, too fast, so, so very fast, that their only option was to collapse on top of each other and leave him with nothing but a ringing silence.
"Yes," said the soldier. "when she was here. When she and your father stayed here together."
Kaldur closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, trying to get control of whatever it was that had just grabbed his heart in a choke hold and was now banging it against the inside of his rib cage.
"and I..." the soldier faltered, trailing. Silence prevailed in the hall.
"I need to go," Kaldur eventually said, failing completely at getting control. He turned around, headed for a different corner in the halls, but the soldier said, "she'd be proud-"
"no she wouldn't," the words were past his teeth before he registered them.
"she would," said the soldier. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that she is not alive to say it for herself, and I am sorry you have to hear it from someone who works for the man that killed her."
Kaldur swallowed, feeling salt water at his eyes again. He turned his head so he could see the soldier in the corner of his eyes, just barely.
"there are people here, Kaldur," said the soldier, "who have been working for your father a very long time, and have long since realised their mistakes. I have no way out, nor does my brother-in-law-"
"why did you join if you don't believe the cause?"
"we did at the time."
"what changed?"
"take your pick." The words were accompanied by a light chuckle, no more than a breath of air, "Some of us are unable to get out, are in too deep. It is not the same as you, I know, and I cannot begin to understand what you must deal with being cooped up here like a caged tiger. But some of us here are not monsters, some of us can be... if not friends, company."
Kaldur didn't nod, but he knew the soldier could tell his agreement nonetheless, somehow.
"You can't expect that old paint set to occupy you forever."
Kaldur squeezed his eyes shut, feeling one tear finally manage to get out, but he refused to let any others.
"It's her's?" He asked, swallowing down the emotions clogging up his throat.
"it was," said the soldier.
Kaldur nodded, and walked away. The soldier went the other direction.
"what's your name?" He asked, at the last moment, before he turned the corner.
"Griff," she said, "Amita Griff."
"thank you."