All right, all right, fine. [Wally fires of another text -though he doesn't have a lot of hope for it- and rubs his face.] Do you have any flashbang arrows or anything like that?
Flashbang's important. Maybe explosive, too. What do you know about this guy? [Wally taps his comm against his thigh anxiously, compulsively checking for an answer every five seconds.]
[If it sounds suspicious, that's because it is suspicious. Everything Artemis knows about the Shade came from her dad, and that means it is not something she has ever intended to share with Kid Flash.
Then again... she doesn't even remember that much, but if it'll help find Robin...]
He's smart, okay? Not your average evil-doer. If he did go for Robin, then he's probably working with someone else who wanted Robin for some reason. That's it, that's all I know. Because I, uh, watch the news.
The Shade could've done it for any number of reasons. And he could just be lying to screw with me, we'll probably never know if he doesn't answer me back.
[Maybe it's the crack in her voice when she admits it or maybe it's because Wally's tired of being unsure. Maybe it's because he knows the Shade isn't scared of him, has no reason to be, and he knows he has to confront him. He'd eventually have to do it anyway.
Either way, he finds himself falling into a role that's pretty unfamiliar to him, but still fits surprisingly well.]
Hey. It's fine. I don't know either. [He fiddles with his gloves, pulls them on a little tighter.
Barry always made a point to try and keep Wally away from the most dangerous stuff, but some danger was inevitable. There was one time when Cold and Wizard had teamed up and frozen half of Central. Barry and Wally had to take care of them without League support and they'd both almost died; Barry had broken a leg. Wally was actually sick afterwards, which had become an unheard-of thing since his immune system got a speedster boost.
It helped hammer something home though, something that Wally can always fall back on once he's done panicking and scrambling and trying to do things he's just not built for, things he wasn't ever meant to do. It's something he recalls along with the image of Barry clutching his leg, blood dropping red onto the ice below him, teeth pink and gritted as he says to Wally,
Just do what you can, Kid. All you need to do is what you can.]
Which is why we're just gonna do whatever we can. Step one is talk to the Shade. Anything after, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. All right?
[Artemis catches the change in Wally's tone. At first it reminds her of the Green Arrow--the Green Arrow is her hero, after all, and Ollie is (and she'll never admit this, even to Black Canary) more of a father to her than her own dad has ever been. And she's only known Ollie for a few months.
But no, it's not the Green Arrow talking--that is pure Flash. And it scares her, because as much as she idolizes the heroes she sees on the news, the kids on the team have always been accessible. Normal. The kids she could have been if she hadn't been the daughter of two super villains.
Wally is annoying--he is annoying incarnate--and he's no more a Justice Leaguer than she is. Except he apparent has this iron core of heroism. Maybe it's genetic.
What does she have? Well, right now she has her team, and that means Robin and Kid Flash. That's going to have to be enough.]
All right. [She nods, subconsciously reaching back and squeezing her bow, though it would be pointless to draw it.] Just let me know when we start crossing bridges.
[Wally was half-expecting Artemis to make fun of him, tell him he's not the Flash so to stop trying to sound like him. He's pleasantly surprised when she doesn't.
[The run there is quick and mostly painless. Once they arrive, Wally chases off the handful of teenagers smoking pot underneath the bleachers while Artemis looks for the floodlight master switch.
He finds her a moment later, hands on his hips.] Okay, so I'll text him and let him know to come here. I'll talk to him and keep him busy; if you see him do something or like, if I scream in pain or something, you throw that. Flashbang him in the face too for good measure.
[She nods curtly, already in mission mode. She's not happy with the position of the master switch--she'll have plenty of cover, but she's too far back to do much good if the lights don't work.]
Keep him on this end of the field, if you can. I'll be able to see you, but flashbang arrows don't have great range.
[And even at the best of times Artemis can't shoot the length of a football field.]
Yeah, it'll probably be fine. [theyre gonna die] He probably won't like...try to kill us or anything. Probably. It'd be too much trouble for him to deal with. [so gonna die]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
action
Okay, then tell him you're going to meet him somewhere.
[She checks her quiver and bow then turns back to Wally.]
We'll make our point in person.
action
action
action
action
[If it sounds suspicious, that's because it is suspicious. Everything Artemis knows about the Shade came from her dad, and that means it is not something she has ever intended to share with Kid Flash.
Then again... she doesn't even remember that much, but if it'll help find Robin...]
He's smart, okay? Not your average evil-doer. If he did go for Robin, then he's probably working with someone else who wanted Robin for some reason. That's it, that's all I know. Because I, uh, watch the news.
action
action
[It might be a better excuse than "I saw a ninja movie" but... not much. Artemis is still a terrible liar.]
action
[Kid checks his comm again.]
The Shade could've done it for any number of reasons. And he could just be lying to screw with me, we'll probably never know if he doesn't answer me back.
action
[Artemis doesn;t have anything to follow that statement up with besides maybe "we just need to have Robin here so one of us has a clue."]
... I don't know. I don't know, okay?
action
Either way, he finds himself falling into a role that's pretty unfamiliar to him, but still fits surprisingly well.]
Hey. It's fine. I don't know either. [He fiddles with his gloves, pulls them on a little tighter.
Barry always made a point to try and keep Wally away from the most dangerous stuff, but some danger was inevitable. There was one time when Cold and Wizard had teamed up and frozen half of Central. Barry and Wally had to take care of them without League support and they'd both almost died; Barry had broken a leg. Wally was actually sick afterwards, which had become an unheard-of thing since his immune system got a speedster boost.
It helped hammer something home though, something that Wally can always fall back on once he's done panicking and scrambling and trying to do things he's just not built for, things he wasn't ever meant to do. It's something he recalls along with the image of Barry clutching his leg, blood dropping red onto the ice below him, teeth pink and gritted as he says to Wally,
Just do what you can, Kid. All you need to do is what you can.]
Which is why we're just gonna do whatever we can. Step one is talk to the Shade. Anything after, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. All right?
action
But no, it's not the Green Arrow talking--that is pure Flash. And it scares her, because as much as she idolizes the heroes she sees on the news, the kids on the team have always been accessible. Normal. The kids she could have been if she hadn't been the daughter of two super villains.
Wally is annoying--he is annoying incarnate--and he's no more a Justice Leaguer than she is. Except he apparent has this iron core of heroism. Maybe it's genetic.
What does she have? Well, right now she has her team, and that means Robin and Kid Flash. That's going to have to be enough.]
All right. [She nods, subconsciously reaching back and squeezing her bow, though it would be pointless to draw it.] Just let me know when we start crossing bridges.
action
His comm dings.]
...okay. We need a place. I'm thinking a stadium.
action
We can use the flood lights.
action
action
action
Okay. C'mon, we need to get there before I tell him, 'cause we won't beat him there once I do. [He holds open an arm; he'll have to carry her again.]
action
Let's go.
action
He finds her a moment later, hands on his hips.] Okay, so I'll text him and let him know to come here. I'll talk to him and keep him busy; if you see him do something or like, if I scream in pain or something, you throw that. Flashbang him in the face too for good measure.
action
Keep him on this end of the field, if you can. I'll be able to see you, but flashbang arrows don't have great range.
[And even at the best of times Artemis can't shoot the length of a football field.]
action
action
[It's not helping.]