June 19, 2016. 05:24.
Watchtower.
~~Emma~~
"I am now officially returning command of the team back to you."
I breathed a sigh of relief as I watched Rick shake Kaldur's hand, witnessed by Red Tornado, the old 'droid, and Aquaman. After a year of being in charge of the team, I was looking forward to not having that sort of responsibility as well. Kaldur did it better than Richard and I could, anyway.
Willow grinned at Kaldur encouragingly and Aquaman congratulated his prodigal apprentice.
"This is unnecessary." Kaldur said. For some reason he avoided looking at me. "The both of you have done brilliant work, leading the team under the most trying of circumstances."
"Which is exactly why I'm thrilled to have this particular monkey off my back. Job's all yours, pal." Richard assured Kaldur jokingly.
A loud "BOOM" shook the Watchtower, and a boom tube appeared in the air above us. I whipped out my bo staff and Nightwing grabbed his eskirima sticks, waiting for an ambush.
But instead, Captain Marvel, Black Lightning, and Black Canary- who had just taken a shift watching the Warworld's key chamber -were thrown out of the portal, landing unconcious on the floor of the Watchtower's mission room.
"Dinah!" Willow screamed. She ran over to her mother, cradling Dinah's head on her lap. I quickly checked on Billy and Black Lightning, making sure that all three of them were still alive.
A dull hum outside the Watchtower's windows signaled our biggest fear. The Warworld had been reactivated.
"It's leaving Earth's orbit! Heading out into space!" Richard exclaimed as we all watched.
Willow looked at all of us uncertainly. "Um...Is that good news or bad?"
"That, I cannot comprehend." Red Tornado said dully.
Aquaman picked up Black Canary and began to carry her towards the Watchtower's medical bay. "But you let us worry about that for now. You four deserve to celebrate with your team, and to rest up before your final attack on the Reach tomorrow morning."
We were reluctant to do so, and he knew it. But who argues against the king of over seventy-five percent of the world?
"Recognize; Nightingale, B00. Nightwing, B01. Aqualad, B02. Wildfire, B08."
"You're back!" Wally ran over and collapsed on his knees in front of us, desperate pleading on his face.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"MY LITTLE PONY IS NOT TERRIBLE, AND YOU ARE GOING TO WATCH IT AND YOU ARE GOING TO LIKE IT!" Mara screamed from up in the loft.
"That." Wally whimpered.
"Wally, stop being dramatic. You're twenty years old, for crying out loud!" Artemis chided as she walked down the stairs behind Connor and M'gann. Everyone, except for the four of us who'd just gotten there, were changed into civvies.
"It's not that bad." M'gann said.
"I've watched worse." Connor mumbled.
I sighed, but smirked at the four of them. My Little Pony was one of my favorite TV shows to watch when I was growing up, but obviously my friends felt otherwise. "You guys feel like you're being tortured here, don't you?"
"Yes!" Wally almost screamed. He hugged me around my waist like a little kid. "Don't make us stay here!" He begged, nearly in tears.
"Relax, Wall-Man, I got us covered." Willow relaxed her shoulders and cupped her hands over her mouth. "Hey guys! We're going out. La'gaan's in charge, okay?"
"Wait, what!?" La'gaan fell out of his seat as all the kids shouted an oblivious "Okay!" In response. Karen and Mal had both gone home to get some sleep, so they lucked out.
"That was mean," M'gann hissed as we all walked outside.
"Don't kid yourself Megalicious, he deserved it!" Wally said, arm comfortably settled around Artemis' waist.
"Well, Willow," Connor took her hand, "You said the eight of us were going out. Where should we go?"
"Oh." Willow obviously had just used it as an excuse and hadn't thought this far ahead.
I giggled, "We could have a movie night?" It was just a suggestion, I mostly meant it to be inspiration to find something better to do together, but everyone took me seriously.
"Well, it's not night anymore." Willow said, shielding her eyes from the rising sun
"Where would we have it? The kids have already claimed the TV here." Artemis pointed out as Wally kissed her cheek again. I would have protested the PDA, but the two had been apart for three months now, they could be a little touchy-touchy.
Rick shrugged, "With Tim and Mara here, Wayne Mansion is pretty much abandoned-"
"Heck yes! Alfred's cookies!" Wally interrupted.
That seemed to seal it. Everyone grabbed their own duffle bag as we took the zeta-tubes to the Bat-Cave.
"No matter how many times I'm in here, I'll always remember my first visit." Willow sighed dreamily, looking around the cave and all the computers. Like always, Wally stayed back a bit to admire Bruce's trophy room, but he caught up with us eventually.
I myself lingered on the top step, remembering when Rick and I first found this place. It didn't feel the same without Bruce.
Taking a deep breath, I reminded myself that Bruce would be back soon, and that he would be back, along with Shayera and everyone else, and followed my friends into the mansion.
It was going to take a while to get clearance to zeta to Rann, but once we did, Miss Martian, Superboy, and Adam Strange were going to bring the Light's confession to light. Ha ha.
"Choose a movie," Rick told the others, already halfway up the stairs, "Emma and I will be back in a moment."
We went to change, and I chose my blue quarter-sleeves shirt with a white shirt sewn under it, along with some skinny jeans and a matching headband to relieve my normal ponytail. I also brought along a Batman hoodie, since Alfred liked to keep the TV room chilly.
I headed back downstairs to find Wally and Willow arguing over which movie to watch, as usual.
"It's vintage, it's sweet, and you know it, West!" Willow smirked, crossing her arms as if she'd already won. Kaldur, M'gann, and Connor looked as if they didn't care what we watched, they just enjoyed watching Wally and Willow squabble. It was good to feel some sort of "normality" amidst this big alien invasion and everything else going on these past few months.
"What's the big movie this time?" I asked, taking a seat next to Kaldur on the brown leather couch.
"Singing In The Rain." Connor sighed.
"We watched that last time!" Wally complained, "Can we please watch Iron Man?" He held up the DVD case.
"Artemis, back me up!" Willow demanded, holding the case for her movie protectively.
Arty sighed and raised her hands in surrender, "I am not picking sides this time, Will." she apologized as Rick came in, wearing some old jeans and a shirt that clearly showed off his muscles.
Wally sighed in defeat. "Fine, you win," He tossed the case for "Iron Man" on the coffee table and scooped up Artemis bridal style, sitting the two of them down in the loveseat together.
"He doesn't sound that disappointed." M'gann whispered while Rick helped Willow set up the TV.
I giggled, and stiffened as I felt something behind me. Rick took his usual seat in the chair to my right, Willow plopped on the couch between me and Connor and Kaldur quickly moved his arm out of the way, probably hoping that I didn't notice.
But I did, and I wondered why he didn't leave his arm there, or try to put it there again as the lights dimmed and the credits began to play. With a possessive yowl, Justice leaped up onto my lap, and hissed at Kaldur.
"Down boy," I soothed him, "Kaldur's our friend, remember?"
Justice said nothing, but walked around in a circle on my lap before choosing a comfy spot with his back facing Kaldur. Kaldur himself pretended not to notice.
Alfred came in with snacks and drinks, like a good butler, and left us to our movie. Wally quickly claimed most of the twizzlers and the pineapple juice as his own, while the rest of us took a few more polite-sized portions. Although Willow pretty much devoured the entire bag of Sour Patch Kids on her own.
"Dude, where is all this coming from?" Wally asked her as she reached for another cookie.
"Willow, you're gonna crash." Connor warned.
"I am not going to-" She fell asleep on his shoulder a second later.
"Called it, Arty!" Wally said, holding out his hand. Artemis grumbled good-naturedly as she gave her boyfriend a five-dollar bill and a kiss.
Connor fell asleep soon after that, followed by M'gann. The bowl of popcorn falling on the floor signaled Rick had lost consciousness as well, and Artemis and Wally were snuggled close with their eyes shut.
It had been a long night for all if us, and I smiled at Kaldur, who had also fallen asleep leaning his head on mine. With no one to witness, I planted a kiss on his cheek, appreciating full well the memory of five years ago when the team discovered our relationship in a setting not dissimilar to this one.
"I love you, Kaldur." I whispered. Did he think about the kiss back on Santa Prisca the way that I did? Was everything that M'gann, Rick, and even Raquel told me really true? Did he really care?
Pushing romance out of my mind, I carefully picked up Justice- asleep as well -and placed him on the kitty bed in the corner next to Jay.
I found myself with a sudden weird craving for popcorn, and eyed the bowl spilled on the floor. Though Alfred kept everything nit-picky clean, I definitely wasn't craving carpet popcorn. so I headed for the kitchen to make some of my own.
I was pouring the buttery-hot contents of the popcorn into the bag when Wally came in, rubbing the back of his neck tiredly.
"You guys were just faking it to see if Kaldur and I would kiss again, weren't you?" I accused.
"Well, I actually fell asleep, if that makes you feel any better." He yawned. "And now Willow owes Artemis five bucks."
"Ha, ha." I threw a popcorn kernel at him, which he caught in his mouth. Thankfully, he didn't choke.
"Hey, Emma?" His tone was serious now.
"Yeah?"
"Can I ask you a question?" He leaned his elbows on the kitchen island as I popped another bag of popcorn in the microwave.
"You just did."
"Fine, I need your advice."
I wiped my oily hands on a towel and sat on the stool across from him.
Slowly, Wally reached for something in his back pocket; I could see him vibrating nervously as he placed a small, black, velvet box on the island between us. My detective skills kicked in, and I immediately knew what was inside.
"Woah, woah, Wally, I love you, but not in that way!" I joked, scooting back and taking the second bag of popcorn out of the microwave.
"Emma, seriously." Wally deadpanned, uncharacteristically unamused. "I may not show it, but I am freaking out inside."
"Okay." I took a deep breath. "You're going to ask Artemis?"
"Yeah." He admitted.
"Why ask me for advice? You know she'll say yes!"
"Well, I was gonna ask your brother, but you're a girl, so-"
"I'm more qualified to know of such "girl" things?" I clarified, taking a peek inside the box.
"Yeah." He said sheepishly. "I just wanted some validation that I'm not going crazy."
I grinned. "You gonna ask her now?"
"Well...I was gonna save it for when we drive the Reach off-world, you know, when it's over. I feels fitting, sort of like a victory celebration."
"That makes sense..." I mused.
It was quiet for a moment, the two of us sitting there with goofy grins and a magnificent secret between us.
"Bleep! Bleep!" the familiar signal from the Bat-computer began to blare throughout the house.
"What is it?" Wally asked. The two of us ran back to the TV room, to find the others all wide-awake and gathered around Rick.
"Who is it this time?" I set the popcorn bowl down on the coffee table and joined the others. Justice and Jay had scattered at the noise, but Justice ran to me as soon as he saw me.
"Joker." Rick growled, his sneer illuminated by the glow of his watch computer.
The two of us made a beeline for the clock in the West Wing, when we stopped, sharing the same thought at the same time.
Rick grinned at our friends. "Wanna come with?"
"Can I drive the Bat-jet?" Wally asked, arm around Artemis.
Arty smacked his chest. "I just got back to you, Baywatch, I am not loosing again." She scolded sharply.
"He's at Gotham National Bank." Rick consulted his computer again.
"Don't the freaks come out at night?" Connor ran a hand through his hair.
Willow had a finger to her chin, "Probably thought Batman would be too tired to deal with him first thing in the morning." She shrugged.
"Are you guys coming or not?" I asked, exasperated.
No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't hide their excitement. Their smiles were enough to know.
-------
"Good morning, Gotham!" The pale-skinned, purple-suited, green-haired Clown Prince of Crime crowed to the terrified crowd now trapped inside the bank at gunpoint. He swung his beloved crowbar back and forth with glee, surveying his group of victims.
"Hand over the money and you only loose a limb!" He cackled to the teller behind the bulletproof glass. One of his goons grabbed a middle-aged woman who had been cowering on the floor and held a gun to her temple. Needless to say, the nervous teller complied.
Joker cackled as she opened the lock with trembling hands. "Do it now!! I want cookies!!! And bombs!!" He pretended to cradle a bomb in his arms. "Rock-a-bye bombie, in the tree-" A bolt of lightning shot out of nowhere and knocked the crowbar from his hand.
"Hey! Who did that to my, poor, defenseless crowbar?" Joker shrieked, picking up the crowbar from where it had landed and smashing against the glass.
"That crowbar is anything but defenseless, Joker."
Eight young adults stood on the indoor balcony hanging over the lobby of the bank. One archeress aimed an arrow at the goon with the hostage. One Martian girl floated in the air next to her half-Kryptonian friend, while a dark-skinned Atlantean formed two swords out of his water-bearers. A redheaded speedster grinned back at Joker from his spot next to his best friend, Bird-Boy Number One, but the scariest-looking were the two girls standing side-by side in the middle of their friends. Dragon-Girl and Fire-girl.
"Aw, Batman's little birdies!" Joker laughed, as if the whole thing were a big joke, "And they brought the whole flock with them!"
Nightingale shook her head. "We're more than just a 'flock', Joker."
Archeress shot her arrow at the goon and freed the hostage, Flash boy grabbed the teller from right under Joker's nose, Martian girl grabbed the guns from Joker's goons, and Dragon-Girl and Fire Girl jumped down in front of him.
Wildfire cracked her knuckles threateningly. "We're a team."
She punched him in the face.
Almost forgot to thank NinjaWolf103 for her help with Joker's dialouge. XD Thank you, DragoNinja!