fic: B-Day
Author: thecivilunrest
Story Title: "B-Day"
Summary: "Happy birthday to me." Wally, Artemis, and the big fat lady on channel eighty.
Character/Relationship(s): Wally West, Artemis Crock, Jade Crock, Dick Grayson (mentions of) Lawrence Crock, Paula Crock, Zatanna Zatara, Megan Morse, Conner Kent, Roy Harper
Rating: T
Warnings: Slight mentions (very slight) of infidelity and alchoholism.
Story Wordcount: 3200
Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable.
Notes: I'm not too sure about this one. Oh well.
(eight)
His mom said something about all of the cars in their driveway and parked beside his house blocking the street so that no one could drive through it, but Wally didn't think that was true. There weren't thatmany cars, not really. Mom was obviously exaggerating, which was something that she told him not to do a lot, which wasn't really fair if she got to do it.
But that didn't even matter, because today was his birthday, thank you very much, and that meant that he got to do whatever he wanted. Well, not whatever he wanted, but close enough. (That morning he had asked for only the orange and red gummy worms and chocolate ice cream for breakfast, but his request was denied. He would be getting ice cream later in the day, according to his parents.)
Though a lot of his friends were at his party. And by a lot, he meant all of them. His mom made him invite every person in his class, even that stinky old Abby Holland, even though she broke his crayons and stole his dinosaur stickers from his backpack.
There was a bouncy castle and face painting and a line that zigged and zagged all the way around his backyard to go on his swings and down his slide. It was a very, very good day. Even Grandma and Grandpa, as well as Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris were there, which made things even better.
Wally was about to go get his face painted (he wanted to look like a dog) when his best friend Micheal Morice tapped his shoulder. "Tag," the other boy announced, the sweat already creating streaks in his face paint, which was supposed to look something like a lion. "You're it!"
"No I'm not!" Wally yelled, only to see his friend far in front of him. "You are! I'm going to get you!"
And with that he was off and running, trying to avoid all of the people that got in his way. (Except for Abby Holland, but really, she deserved to get hit every once in a while. And his mom couldn't even yell at him for hitting a girl this time, not if it was an accident.)
One day, Wally decided, he'd manage to catch Micheal every single time they played tag.
(eight)
Mom had been crying yesterday, which only meant one thing: Mom and dad were going on a 'business trip' and that meant that they wouldn't be around for a few days. Mom always cried whenever she and dad went on their 'trips' even though she didn't used to. Artemis didn't know what had changed, only that something had.
Her parents' 'trips' also meant that while the two of them were gone, it was just going to be Jade and Artemis around the apartment for at least a couple of days.
Jade told Artemis that mom actually asked their next door neighbors to keep an eye on them so that the "CPS doesn't take us away from them" but since, "Mrs. Across the Hall has a drinking problem the size of the Pacific ocean" and "Mr. Across the Hall never comes home if he can help it, do you blame him?" the two of them were basically on their own.
Artemis woke up that morning, sunlight streaming through the thin curtains. She cracked open her eyes and realized with a jolt that it was her birthday. Her eighth birthday, which was two away from ten, which was when Daddy said that he was going to start training her. Start training her for what, Artemis had no idea, but Jade had been training under him since she was ten too, and she said that it wasn't that bad, even though she never said what they did.
She also knew that nothing was probably going to happen on her birthday, not with mom not around. Mom always baked them a cake, at the very least, when money was at its lowest. At best Artemis might get a doll or a stuffed animal. Her teddy bear, which Jade had named Maurice for her, was one such gift, and that was the reason that it was so dear to her.
Jade wasn't in her bed, which didn't surprise Artemis. For some reason her older sister liked getting up earlier than anyone in her family, even though the older girl didn't really beat dad as often as she'd like. But as they were the only ones home Jade would be the first one backtoday.
Even though she knew she shouldn't, Artemis hoped with all of her heart that there would be a cake waiting for her in the kitchen, or at the very least breakfast. Jade experimented with cooking every once in a while, and while it wasn't particularly good at least it was edible. When their parents weren't in town breakfast, lunch, and dinner were usually terms synonymous with cereal.
But, to Artemis' surprise, there were waffles on the table, steaming. A beeping sound rang through the kitchen, and Jade took another steaming plate out of the microwave. "Mom left these in the freezer," Jade said, gesturing to a blue box of Eggo on the table that Artemis was sure that she didn't see yesterday. "The toaster's broken, again, but I figured that since it's a special occasion and all..." Jade trailed off, smirking and nodding to the calender laid out before them. Sure enough, there was Artemis' birthday, circled four times in a glittery blue pen that Artemis had found at school.
Mom always said to mark the important days, and her birthday seemed to be an important enough day for Artemis, so she circled it just like her mother had done all the other important ones.
"I can't figure out, though, what day it could be today," Jade continued, her voice drawling, but her eyes glinted in a way that Artemis knew that she was playing around. She just wanted Artemis to get mad. Well, Artemis wouldn't.
"Me either. But if we get waffles..." Artemis trailed off, and Jade smirked.
"I think I'm rubbing off on you. Good." She ruffled Artemis' hair, which was already a big enough mess thanks to bed head and no brush. "Happy birthday, kid. Now hurry up and eat your breakfast. We've got a big day today. I think we need to go to the park again. Look for rabbit holes. Maybe this time when I push you down one you'll find Wonderland."
(twelve)
The cake was so good, and so filling, that Wally could barely stand it. Groaning, he waddled around the table until he made his way to the couch. He flopped down onto the lovable, comfortable piece of furniture, and was content to stay there forever. Or, if he could not be there forever, at least until his food digested.
"Wally, you should know better than to try to out eat your uncle," his mom called out, but there was amusement laced in her tone as well. "He'll beat you every time."
"I'll get him next time," Wally replied, feeling sleepy and sick. He really shouldn't have tried to shove that fourth piece down his throat quite that fast, but he had and now he was starting to regret the decision to challenge his uncle to a pig out fest. After all, they had just eaten his birthday dinner, Aunt Iris' spaghetti and meatballs.
"Sure you will, Wally," his uncle said sitting down next to Wally on the couch, which shifted the weight distribution and jostled Wally's stomach. The boy bit back a groan. "When you get a metabolism like mine, then we can try that again, alright?"
"Just you wait. After I sleep for a billion years and I digest all of this food I'm going to try again," Wally announced.
"Well, before you go to sleep, why don't I give you your present."
"Present?" Wally sat up a little bit straighter, and Uncle Barry smiled.
"Here you go," he said, handing Wally the present, which was opened in record time, even though Wally certainly wasn't the Flash.
"Oh," Wally said, looking at the watch. It wasn't what he had expected, but at least it was something, right? It would have been cooler if it had, oh, he didn't know, shot lasers out of the seconds hand, but it was good enough.
"It was my grandfather's."
"Oh," Wally repeated. That changed things.
"I've learned that time is important," Barry continued, and a look passed between him and his wife, something that Wally completely missed. "And one day you will too. Happy birthday, Wall-man."
(twelve)
He forgot her birthday.
Artemis really wasn't sure what exactly she was expecting today, but she hadn't gotten it.
Today, her birthday, had been just like any other day. She went to school, trained after school with her father, had gotten dinner and did her homework. Every day went like that, rinse and repeat, until her days all blurred together. After Jade had left (it really didn't feel like it had been two years since she had gone, but it was) there was nothing to break up the monotony of home and school.
But today was different, if only slightly. Artemis had woken up this morning, knowing that it was her birthday. Twelve years ago today, she had been born. Secretly Artemis maintained the idea that everyone knew when their birthday was, whether they had a calender or not. And Artemis had a calender.
Artemis stretched in her chair and sighed, looking at her math homework. The numbers were just listed in long, long rows, ready for her to play with them, if she wanted to. She didn't want to. Instead she twisted in her seat, trying to distract herself by the pain in her muscles when she pulled them. No doubt about it, she was going to be sore tomorrow.
"Artemis," she heard her father calling, and looked up immediately. That couldn't be a good thing. "Would you come to the kitchen please?"
Artemis took her time making her way there. This was going to be one of his tests, she just knew it. Her bow, which was the weapon that she was working on mastering now, was in one of the closets at the training facility. She went through a list of weapons that could be found in the kitchen. There were the knives, but he might have taken those away, they were so obvious. She could use a frying pan. They were light, easy to throw, and she could shield herself if she had to...
The list went on, but her father wasn't even in the kitchen when she got there. In fact, there didn't even seem to be anything there out of the ordinary.
Except. Except for the large cupcake sitting on the counter. It was chocolate, her favorite, and obviously store bought. The icing was done in a swirly, and colorful, shape and there were multicolored sprinkles on the top as well. Her father didn't know how to bake-let alone decorate cupcakes-and unless he had taken classes, something that Lawrence Crock Did Not Do, he had obviously bought it. There was also a candle, unlit, in the middle.
It was good enough.
(sixteen)
He knew this would happen. Absolutely positively knew it, which was why he hadn't wanted this party in the first place. But his mom had insisted on it, and she was enough of a nag that eventually Wally had just given in. They both knew that she was going to get her way eventually, so Wally wasn't sure why he had fought her so long.
Oh... right. Because of this. He looked over the empty room, complete with streamers and balloons, and went back to the bowl of chips. Really, they were the only ones that understood him sometimes.
He had invited his whole grade, all of them, to his party via Facebook (Since handing out invitations was so sixth grade. That and because if he did it through the internet he could pretend that something had malfunctioned and that's why no one came; they simply didn't get the invitation.) at his mother's insistence.
He had figured that they didn't all hate him. They couldn't hall hate him, he hadn't talked to at least a fourth of them.
And still, no one came. Wally didn't know what his mom expected, honestly. There was no way that he was ever going to relive his eight-year-old glory. That sort of popularity generally fizzled out at the end of elementary school.
It's not like he ever came home with friends from school anyway. His best friend from all those years ago had decided that pushing him down on the front steps was more fun than talking to him, kids he didn't know laughed at him, heck, even Abby Holland of the stolen stickers had grown up to be hot. It just wasn't fair that he was That Kid, the one that got crap rained on him all during high school.
But he was, and alone other than his parents, on his birthday.
He'd thought about calling Robin up, asking him to come so that at least he'd get one guest, but he hadn't been able to do it, so he didn't. Besides, he wasn't even friends with him on Facebook, that's how guarded his secret identity had to be.
"It's your party and you'll cry if you want to?" a familiar voice asked him, which caused Wally to whirl around.
"Rob! Don't do that, one day I'm going to have heart palpitations and it's going to be your fault," Wally told his friend, which made the younger kid snicker. Jerk.
"Hope you don't mind if I brought a couple of friends," Robin said, gesturing at the team plus Zatanna, of course.
"Not at all. Welcome, ladies," Wally said, grinning a winning grin at the three girls in question. Zatanna giggled, Megan looked confused, and Artemis rolled her eyes, of course.
"I thought I heard somethi-" Wally's mom came out the door, but she stopped mid sentence once she noticed the group of teenagers around the food table. "Oh! Wally, you liar, you said no one was coming! Here, let me go get the cheese dip," she started, turning back towards the house. He could tell that she was ecstatic that he had actual friends at his house. This was going to be embarrassing.
"How did you know?" Wally asked Robin, his voice low, when everyone was suitably distracted.
"Dude, I've hacked motion sensors. Facebook? That's nothing."
"You really are a little creep, you know that?"
"The best kind of creep," Robin replied, taking another chip.
The party wasn't actually as bad as Wally feared that it was going to be, when no one was around. It was fun, just hanging out with all of his friends without the pressure that Mt. Justice gave them.
"Nice party, Wall-man," Artemis told Wally, after Megan had persuaded Superboy to dance with her when the slow mix on Wally's iPod came on, which gave Robin the courage to ask Zatanna.
"Thanks. Planned it all out myself."
Artemis snorted. "Sure you did." Wally opened his mouth to speak again, but Artemis continued on before he could start. "Robin told us everything at the cave."
"Oh." Wally deflated.
She seemed to notice because she just looked at him for a moment before asking, "May I have this dance? Come on. Consider it a gift from me to you. That, and the fact that I didn't punch you today."
Wally snorted. "Sure," he said, and they started off across the dance floor. This party didn't end as badly as he had thought it would.
In fact, it might have been the best party that he had ever had.
(sixteen)
Telepathy should be illegal, in Artemis' opinion. That had to have been the only way that Megan had gotten hold of the date of her birthday, because hopefully she hadn't dug through files to get that information. Hopefully.
Megan decided that Artemis just had to have a big party, with lots of hoopla, so she invited the whole Justice League and the team. Zatanna and Roy are even there, and it's probably the biggest party that Artemis has ever had.
She wished that her mom could be here. Artemis had celebrated her birthday with her mom the night before-with a cake, of course. She had said that she'd wanted to get Artemis a gift, but she hadn't known what to get her. They both had ignored the words because I haven't seen you for six years that floated between them.
Artemis was thankful for what Megan was doing, really, she just wasn't sure what to do with all the fanfare. So she kind of hid in the corner, sulking.
"Happy birthday," Wally came up from behind her, almost making her jump, but he wasn't Robin. She knew that he was coming, could hear his footsteps before he was a foot behind her. "I just wanted to give you my present first, you know, away from everyone else."
Artemis raised an eyebrow at that. Artemis hadn't wanted anyone to get her any gifts; the amount of people coming to the party overwhelmed her, and the amount of gifts that she may have gotten even more so. But still, the two of them had been on better terms lately, but Lord only knew what Wally could be thinking of when he bought or made her a gift. "Okay," she said slowly.
He took a small package out of his pocket. He had obviously wrapped it, because the wrapping paper was wrinkled and the bow was sideways.
She unwrapped the gift with caution, it was in a cylindrical shape, and that could mean a number of things coming from Wally. But it was, in fact, a keychain of Kid Flash.
"Just in case you haven't gotten enough of me here," Wally said, grinning. He had done this on purpose, expecting a reaction out of her. "Now you can get some of me at home, too."
Artemis couldn't help but think back to a time when she had a crush on Kid Flash, based on what she had seen of him in the news. He had been funny, and could pull off that shade of yellow. That meantsomething. And then she had met him and had that illusion shattered.
"Thanks," Artemis told him, her voice dry. How stuck on yourself did you have to be to give a gift that was basically a statue of herself. Only Wally. But still, it was the thought that counted, and the fact that he had gotten her anything at all touched her slightly. Maybe this meant that he thought of her as something other than 'Red Arrow's replacement'. She hoped so. "Really, though, it's one of the best-"
"Artemis!" Megan called, interrupting her. "It's time to blow out the candles!"
"Thanks," Artemis said again. "Really."
"Least I could do," Wally shrugged, and zoomed off, probably for cake. But still, Artemis thought as she put his gift in her pocket, maybe this birthday party stuff wasn't all bad.
Story Title: "B-Day"
Summary: "Happy birthday to me." Wally, Artemis, and the big fat lady on channel eighty.
Character/Relationship(s): Wally West, Artemis Crock, Jade Crock, Dick Grayson (mentions of) Lawrence Crock, Paula Crock, Zatanna Zatara, Megan Morse, Conner Kent, Roy Harper
Rating: T
Warnings: Slight mentions (very slight) of infidelity and alchoholism.
Story Wordcount: 3200
Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable.
Notes: I'm not too sure about this one. Oh well.
(eight)
His mom said something about all of the cars in their driveway and parked beside his house blocking the street so that no one could drive through it, but Wally didn't think that was true. There weren't thatmany cars, not really. Mom was obviously exaggerating, which was something that she told him not to do a lot, which wasn't really fair if she got to do it.
But that didn't even matter, because today was his birthday, thank you very much, and that meant that he got to do whatever he wanted. Well, not whatever he wanted, but close enough. (That morning he had asked for only the orange and red gummy worms and chocolate ice cream for breakfast, but his request was denied. He would be getting ice cream later in the day, according to his parents.)
Though a lot of his friends were at his party. And by a lot, he meant all of them. His mom made him invite every person in his class, even that stinky old Abby Holland, even though she broke his crayons and stole his dinosaur stickers from his backpack.
There was a bouncy castle and face painting and a line that zigged and zagged all the way around his backyard to go on his swings and down his slide. It was a very, very good day. Even Grandma and Grandpa, as well as Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris were there, which made things even better.
Wally was about to go get his face painted (he wanted to look like a dog) when his best friend Micheal Morice tapped his shoulder. "Tag," the other boy announced, the sweat already creating streaks in his face paint, which was supposed to look something like a lion. "You're it!"
"No I'm not!" Wally yelled, only to see his friend far in front of him. "You are! I'm going to get you!"
And with that he was off and running, trying to avoid all of the people that got in his way. (Except for Abby Holland, but really, she deserved to get hit every once in a while. And his mom couldn't even yell at him for hitting a girl this time, not if it was an accident.)
One day, Wally decided, he'd manage to catch Micheal every single time they played tag.
(eight)
Mom had been crying yesterday, which only meant one thing: Mom and dad were going on a 'business trip' and that meant that they wouldn't be around for a few days. Mom always cried whenever she and dad went on their 'trips' even though she didn't used to. Artemis didn't know what had changed, only that something had.
Her parents' 'trips' also meant that while the two of them were gone, it was just going to be Jade and Artemis around the apartment for at least a couple of days.
Jade told Artemis that mom actually asked their next door neighbors to keep an eye on them so that the "CPS doesn't take us away from them" but since, "Mrs. Across the Hall has a drinking problem the size of the Pacific ocean" and "Mr. Across the Hall never comes home if he can help it, do you blame him?" the two of them were basically on their own.
Artemis woke up that morning, sunlight streaming through the thin curtains. She cracked open her eyes and realized with a jolt that it was her birthday. Her eighth birthday, which was two away from ten, which was when Daddy said that he was going to start training her. Start training her for what, Artemis had no idea, but Jade had been training under him since she was ten too, and she said that it wasn't that bad, even though she never said what they did.
She also knew that nothing was probably going to happen on her birthday, not with mom not around. Mom always baked them a cake, at the very least, when money was at its lowest. At best Artemis might get a doll or a stuffed animal. Her teddy bear, which Jade had named Maurice for her, was one such gift, and that was the reason that it was so dear to her.
Jade wasn't in her bed, which didn't surprise Artemis. For some reason her older sister liked getting up earlier than anyone in her family, even though the older girl didn't really beat dad as often as she'd like. But as they were the only ones home Jade would be the first one backtoday.
Even though she knew she shouldn't, Artemis hoped with all of her heart that there would be a cake waiting for her in the kitchen, or at the very least breakfast. Jade experimented with cooking every once in a while, and while it wasn't particularly good at least it was edible. When their parents weren't in town breakfast, lunch, and dinner were usually terms synonymous with cereal.
But, to Artemis' surprise, there were waffles on the table, steaming. A beeping sound rang through the kitchen, and Jade took another steaming plate out of the microwave. "Mom left these in the freezer," Jade said, gesturing to a blue box of Eggo on the table that Artemis was sure that she didn't see yesterday. "The toaster's broken, again, but I figured that since it's a special occasion and all..." Jade trailed off, smirking and nodding to the calender laid out before them. Sure enough, there was Artemis' birthday, circled four times in a glittery blue pen that Artemis had found at school.
Mom always said to mark the important days, and her birthday seemed to be an important enough day for Artemis, so she circled it just like her mother had done all the other important ones.
"I can't figure out, though, what day it could be today," Jade continued, her voice drawling, but her eyes glinted in a way that Artemis knew that she was playing around. She just wanted Artemis to get mad. Well, Artemis wouldn't.
"Me either. But if we get waffles..." Artemis trailed off, and Jade smirked.
"I think I'm rubbing off on you. Good." She ruffled Artemis' hair, which was already a big enough mess thanks to bed head and no brush. "Happy birthday, kid. Now hurry up and eat your breakfast. We've got a big day today. I think we need to go to the park again. Look for rabbit holes. Maybe this time when I push you down one you'll find Wonderland."
(twelve)
The cake was so good, and so filling, that Wally could barely stand it. Groaning, he waddled around the table until he made his way to the couch. He flopped down onto the lovable, comfortable piece of furniture, and was content to stay there forever. Or, if he could not be there forever, at least until his food digested.
"Wally, you should know better than to try to out eat your uncle," his mom called out, but there was amusement laced in her tone as well. "He'll beat you every time."
"I'll get him next time," Wally replied, feeling sleepy and sick. He really shouldn't have tried to shove that fourth piece down his throat quite that fast, but he had and now he was starting to regret the decision to challenge his uncle to a pig out fest. After all, they had just eaten his birthday dinner, Aunt Iris' spaghetti and meatballs.
"Sure you will, Wally," his uncle said sitting down next to Wally on the couch, which shifted the weight distribution and jostled Wally's stomach. The boy bit back a groan. "When you get a metabolism like mine, then we can try that again, alright?"
"Just you wait. After I sleep for a billion years and I digest all of this food I'm going to try again," Wally announced.
"Well, before you go to sleep, why don't I give you your present."
"Present?" Wally sat up a little bit straighter, and Uncle Barry smiled.
"Here you go," he said, handing Wally the present, which was opened in record time, even though Wally certainly wasn't the Flash.
"Oh," Wally said, looking at the watch. It wasn't what he had expected, but at least it was something, right? It would have been cooler if it had, oh, he didn't know, shot lasers out of the seconds hand, but it was good enough.
"It was my grandfather's."
"Oh," Wally repeated. That changed things.
"I've learned that time is important," Barry continued, and a look passed between him and his wife, something that Wally completely missed. "And one day you will too. Happy birthday, Wall-man."
(twelve)
He forgot her birthday.
Artemis really wasn't sure what exactly she was expecting today, but she hadn't gotten it.
Today, her birthday, had been just like any other day. She went to school, trained after school with her father, had gotten dinner and did her homework. Every day went like that, rinse and repeat, until her days all blurred together. After Jade had left (it really didn't feel like it had been two years since she had gone, but it was) there was nothing to break up the monotony of home and school.
But today was different, if only slightly. Artemis had woken up this morning, knowing that it was her birthday. Twelve years ago today, she had been born. Secretly Artemis maintained the idea that everyone knew when their birthday was, whether they had a calender or not. And Artemis had a calender.
Artemis stretched in her chair and sighed, looking at her math homework. The numbers were just listed in long, long rows, ready for her to play with them, if she wanted to. She didn't want to. Instead she twisted in her seat, trying to distract herself by the pain in her muscles when she pulled them. No doubt about it, she was going to be sore tomorrow.
"Artemis," she heard her father calling, and looked up immediately. That couldn't be a good thing. "Would you come to the kitchen please?"
Artemis took her time making her way there. This was going to be one of his tests, she just knew it. Her bow, which was the weapon that she was working on mastering now, was in one of the closets at the training facility. She went through a list of weapons that could be found in the kitchen. There were the knives, but he might have taken those away, they were so obvious. She could use a frying pan. They were light, easy to throw, and she could shield herself if she had to...
The list went on, but her father wasn't even in the kitchen when she got there. In fact, there didn't even seem to be anything there out of the ordinary.
Except. Except for the large cupcake sitting on the counter. It was chocolate, her favorite, and obviously store bought. The icing was done in a swirly, and colorful, shape and there were multicolored sprinkles on the top as well. Her father didn't know how to bake-let alone decorate cupcakes-and unless he had taken classes, something that Lawrence Crock Did Not Do, he had obviously bought it. There was also a candle, unlit, in the middle.
It was good enough.
(sixteen)
He knew this would happen. Absolutely positively knew it, which was why he hadn't wanted this party in the first place. But his mom had insisted on it, and she was enough of a nag that eventually Wally had just given in. They both knew that she was going to get her way eventually, so Wally wasn't sure why he had fought her so long.
Oh... right. Because of this. He looked over the empty room, complete with streamers and balloons, and went back to the bowl of chips. Really, they were the only ones that understood him sometimes.
He had invited his whole grade, all of them, to his party via Facebook (Since handing out invitations was so sixth grade. That and because if he did it through the internet he could pretend that something had malfunctioned and that's why no one came; they simply didn't get the invitation.) at his mother's insistence.
He had figured that they didn't all hate him. They couldn't hall hate him, he hadn't talked to at least a fourth of them.
And still, no one came. Wally didn't know what his mom expected, honestly. There was no way that he was ever going to relive his eight-year-old glory. That sort of popularity generally fizzled out at the end of elementary school.
It's not like he ever came home with friends from school anyway. His best friend from all those years ago had decided that pushing him down on the front steps was more fun than talking to him, kids he didn't know laughed at him, heck, even Abby Holland of the stolen stickers had grown up to be hot. It just wasn't fair that he was That Kid, the one that got crap rained on him all during high school.
But he was, and alone other than his parents, on his birthday.
He'd thought about calling Robin up, asking him to come so that at least he'd get one guest, but he hadn't been able to do it, so he didn't. Besides, he wasn't even friends with him on Facebook, that's how guarded his secret identity had to be.
"It's your party and you'll cry if you want to?" a familiar voice asked him, which caused Wally to whirl around.
"Rob! Don't do that, one day I'm going to have heart palpitations and it's going to be your fault," Wally told his friend, which made the younger kid snicker. Jerk.
"Hope you don't mind if I brought a couple of friends," Robin said, gesturing at the team plus Zatanna, of course.
"Not at all. Welcome, ladies," Wally said, grinning a winning grin at the three girls in question. Zatanna giggled, Megan looked confused, and Artemis rolled her eyes, of course.
"I thought I heard somethi-" Wally's mom came out the door, but she stopped mid sentence once she noticed the group of teenagers around the food table. "Oh! Wally, you liar, you said no one was coming! Here, let me go get the cheese dip," she started, turning back towards the house. He could tell that she was ecstatic that he had actual friends at his house. This was going to be embarrassing.
"How did you know?" Wally asked Robin, his voice low, when everyone was suitably distracted.
"Dude, I've hacked motion sensors. Facebook? That's nothing."
"You really are a little creep, you know that?"
"The best kind of creep," Robin replied, taking another chip.
The party wasn't actually as bad as Wally feared that it was going to be, when no one was around. It was fun, just hanging out with all of his friends without the pressure that Mt. Justice gave them.
"Nice party, Wall-man," Artemis told Wally, after Megan had persuaded Superboy to dance with her when the slow mix on Wally's iPod came on, which gave Robin the courage to ask Zatanna.
"Thanks. Planned it all out myself."
Artemis snorted. "Sure you did." Wally opened his mouth to speak again, but Artemis continued on before he could start. "Robin told us everything at the cave."
"Oh." Wally deflated.
She seemed to notice because she just looked at him for a moment before asking, "May I have this dance? Come on. Consider it a gift from me to you. That, and the fact that I didn't punch you today."
Wally snorted. "Sure," he said, and they started off across the dance floor. This party didn't end as badly as he had thought it would.
In fact, it might have been the best party that he had ever had.
(sixteen)
Telepathy should be illegal, in Artemis' opinion. That had to have been the only way that Megan had gotten hold of the date of her birthday, because hopefully she hadn't dug through files to get that information. Hopefully.
Megan decided that Artemis just had to have a big party, with lots of hoopla, so she invited the whole Justice League and the team. Zatanna and Roy are even there, and it's probably the biggest party that Artemis has ever had.
She wished that her mom could be here. Artemis had celebrated her birthday with her mom the night before-with a cake, of course. She had said that she'd wanted to get Artemis a gift, but she hadn't known what to get her. They both had ignored the words because I haven't seen you for six years that floated between them.
Artemis was thankful for what Megan was doing, really, she just wasn't sure what to do with all the fanfare. So she kind of hid in the corner, sulking.
"Happy birthday," Wally came up from behind her, almost making her jump, but he wasn't Robin. She knew that he was coming, could hear his footsteps before he was a foot behind her. "I just wanted to give you my present first, you know, away from everyone else."
Artemis raised an eyebrow at that. Artemis hadn't wanted anyone to get her any gifts; the amount of people coming to the party overwhelmed her, and the amount of gifts that she may have gotten even more so. But still, the two of them had been on better terms lately, but Lord only knew what Wally could be thinking of when he bought or made her a gift. "Okay," she said slowly.
He took a small package out of his pocket. He had obviously wrapped it, because the wrapping paper was wrinkled and the bow was sideways.
She unwrapped the gift with caution, it was in a cylindrical shape, and that could mean a number of things coming from Wally. But it was, in fact, a keychain of Kid Flash.
"Just in case you haven't gotten enough of me here," Wally said, grinning. He had done this on purpose, expecting a reaction out of her. "Now you can get some of me at home, too."
Artemis couldn't help but think back to a time when she had a crush on Kid Flash, based on what she had seen of him in the news. He had been funny, and could pull off that shade of yellow. That meantsomething. And then she had met him and had that illusion shattered.
"Thanks," Artemis told him, her voice dry. How stuck on yourself did you have to be to give a gift that was basically a statue of herself. Only Wally. But still, it was the thought that counted, and the fact that he had gotten her anything at all touched her slightly. Maybe this meant that he thought of her as something other than 'Red Arrow's replacement'. She hoped so. "Really, though, it's one of the best-"
"Artemis!" Megan called, interrupting her. "It's time to blow out the candles!"
"Thanks," Artemis said again. "Really."
"Least I could do," Wally shrugged, and zoomed off, probably for cake. But still, Artemis thought as she put his gift in her pocket, maybe this birthday party stuff wasn't all bad.