asterous

chapter six

chapter six - infiltrator

•

MOUNT JUSTICE
AUGUST 8TH — 11:58 EDT

the sun shone brilliantly outside, its rays reflecting and refracting due to the crystal-clear ocean. dick sighed, already annoyed at the near-lethal heat.

"beach day! this is so exciting!" m'gann grinned, turning to the entourage of boys behind her. "aren't you excited?!"

kaldur looked adamantly at the water, whilst superboy stared into space. dick rolled his eyes at how predictable they were, thankful that his sunnies were 100% tinted.

"sure, we are," he replied, "moment of silence for our absent comrade?"

"moment of silence," kaldur repeated.

the four of them stopped, putting their heads down for a moment, before resuming their walk. "it's so sad that wally can't be here," m'gann said, crossing her arms. "we should hit the beach more often!"

"it's the first day of senior year; he can't really miss it." dick shrugged, trying not to be a clingy boyfriend. trying being the key word.

the others didn't look impressed at the remark, which dick didn't blame them for. none of them had been educated american-style, which was a good mix of school shootings, incompetent teachers, and violent bullying. let's goooo.

the team set down their things, running into the water and splashing each other adamantly. though dick wasn't particularly a Beach Boy™️, he actually enjoyed it quite a lot. kaldur and m'gann were both vehemently fun and/or lovely to hang out with and superboy was surprisingly having a good time. 

they played some volleyball, surfed some waves, and even managed to have a sandcastle building competition. m'gann won, but dick attributed that her to being able to move the sand with telekinesis.

after a few hours in the blinding sun, though, they all needed a break. the four collected up their beach equipment and returned to mount justice with smiles—or rather, burns—on their faces.

immediately upon entering mount justice, dick was pulled into a soundproof room by batman. it wasn't necessarily the first time this had happened, but it was unpleasant nonetheless.

"uh, hello," dick greeted his mentor with a salute. "fancy seeing you in this soundproof and dimly lit storage closet."

even with a cowl on, bruce wayne managed to roll his eyes at his kin. dick knew he got it from somewhere. "listen up, we're bringing a new protégée in."

dick expected him to continue on, but apparently that was the end of his sentence. "uh, okay. who? has roy finally stopped rubbing the mint?"

"no, and that's not an idiom-"

"it is in romania." dick shrugged.

"it's green arrow's new protégée, artemis. she aced both the fi-"

"artemis?!" dick interrupted, "as in sportsmaster-and-huntress artemis? how did g.a. even get her?"

"she's been practicing vigilantism with oliver for a while, she's quite skilled and has a passion for what she does. i intend for her background to be kept a secret."

"so, is she based in star city? i thought huntress was living in gotham still."

batman nodded, smirking at his partner's wit. "both. zeta beams are quite the invention. she'll be here at three, and she'll be oliver's niece."

dick nodded at the angle. "don't worry, b. i will walk around the painted crow."

"also not an idiom."