Caught in the Act

~Wally + Artemis~

~Day Four: Fate~

Kent Nelson was getting quite fed up.

It wasn't that life inside of the golden Dr. Fate helmet was all that bad. It was nice, actually. Quiet, calm, and of course Nabu was there to keep him company. He learned much inside the helmet, exploring new magic, watching new things. And, of course, there was always his beloved Inza to think about, when the days would get long. He would come to her someday.

No, nothing about being inside Dr. Fate bothered Kent. It was what was outside of Dr. Fate.

The helmet made its residence on top of a collection of dark brown shelves, resting delicately next to a grinning cat mask, a slender arrow, a red cowl, and a single robotic eyeball. These partners were also not what bothered Kent. On days when life inside the helmet got boring, he would actually look out at them and imagine exactly who (or what) they must have belonged to.

But, of course, these souvenirs were not the only thing in the room. Or in the building, for that matter. The helmet was located inside Mount Justice, the base for the teen superhero team Young Justice, where the kiddos spent a good amount of their days and nights. Most of the time, Kent would ignore them, let them go about their business. Heck, they were kids.

But sometimes he would keep his eye on one pair, when Nabu was too busy doing whatever it was that Lords of Order did.

Wally, for one. He had met Wally, liked the kid quite a bit. He was more than a bit stubborn, and refused to think about life from a less scientific point of view, but Kent liked him nevertheless.

And then there was Artemis, who reminded Kent more and more of Inza every day. Perhaps it was the way she carried herself, with the proud chin and her hands on her hips, daring anyone to try. Just try and make a fool of her. Or perhaps it was the knowing eyes, the gaze that would flit back and forth every now and again as if she suspected something. Kent had only had one conversation with Artemis, back when he was alive, but it was plain to see she was smart. More than smart. Intuitive.

The last time Kent had seen Wally, he'd left the cocky red-head with a piece of advice. Find your own little Spitfire, one who won't let you get away with nothing. It was simple enough advice, given in a straight-forward manner, with a clear motive and meaning. It wasn't some riddle or code for the kid to crack. And yet Wally was certainly treating it like one.

Either that, or he had just completely thrown the piece of advice out the window. Eh, the guy's an old man. What's he know? Kent smiled. It wouldn't really surprise him. It wouldn't have been the first time.

But sometimes Kent really wondered if Wally had a brain in that thick skull of his, somewhere beneath the countless layers of scientific defense mechanisms. Kent had obviously had someone in mind when he had given Wally the advice. And considering Kent only knew of two of Wally's female friends, he had to of been thinking of one of them. Kent, personally, thought he had made it rather clear which one. And yet Wally continued to prance around the Martian like a chicken with its head cut off.

Not that there was anything wrong with the Martian girl. She was sweet and certainly a lovely young lady. In that sense, she too reminded Kent of his Inza.

But she was too passive. Absently blushing away at Wally's foolish flirtation, letting it slide, ignoring it. Unlike the other girl—Artemis—who wouldn't take a single word of it.

Kent chuckled. Oh, teenagers.

Regardless, Kent would sometimes watch the kids' interactions if they happened to pass by or through the room in which the Dr. Fate helmet was kept. And, after a few weeks of staying up on that shelf, Kent was realizing just how oblivious Wally was. To the point that, on some days when there was very little to do, watching Wally and Artemis interact was actually quite amusing.

"Did you take out the trash?"

"No."

"…Are you expecting me to do it?"

"Sure."

A day later.

"Do you wear the same outfit every day? I mean, really. The collared shirt and khaki pants."

"I dunno, do you ever get tired of bearing your midriff?"

"…I'm surprised your vocabulary is expansive enough to even know what that means."

"I'm surprised you're still talking to me."

And again.

"You know, you never did thank me for saving your butt against Amazo."

"That wasn't your arrow. That was Speedy's."

"Uh-huh. Still holding onto that excuse, huh?"

"Well, considering you never thanked me for picking you up and saving you from a bunch of Bialyan tanks, I think yeah. I'll still hold on to that excuse."

"You're a jerk."

"You're a newbie."

The jabs went on and on. But Kent Nelson was an old man and knew a thing or two about youngsters. The jabs always meant more than they seemed to. And that Artemis, she had a backbone. Maybe it was strong enough to whip Wally into some shape.

And finally, one day, it did.

Kent had been keeping Nabu company that day, practicing some magic and looking at the world through the eyes of a Lord of Order, which was always more complex than it sounded. When he heard something that sounded like the screeching of a cat, only a little bit deeper-toned and on a slightly more musical pitch.

"And you can tell everybody, this is your song. It may be quite simple but…now that it's done. I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind—"

It took a moment for Kent to realize it, but that certainly wasn't Nabu. And there weren't any other voices inside the Dr. Fate helm, and so it had to be on the outside. In Mount Justice.

Kent stood up, turning to face forward and peering out of the helmet's large, glowing white eyes.

Then he put his hands on his hips and smiled, shaking his head.

Wally West was singing. Singing Elton John. Badly, mind you.

"Anyway, the thing is, what I really mean…yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen. I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind, that I put down in words…" The poor boy sang to himself, as he took down the arrow souvenir and ran a cloth over it. "How wonderful life is, while you're in the wor—"

"Well, hello, Elton. I didn't realize you'd passed back into the prepubescent phase of your singing career."

Wally whirled around, his eyes wide, holding the arrow in his right hand and looking like he had just been caught robbing a bank. And, naturally, standing in the doorway was Artemis, giving him a smug grin, her arms crossed over her chest.

It was all Kent could do to keep from throwing back his head and laughing.

For a second, Wally just stood there. And then the excuses came tumbling on through. "I—I—I was making fun of the song. I wasn't really singing, just, uh, pretending that it was, you know, actually worth listening to or singing whatsoever. I really just think it's a lot of romantic st—"

Artemis dismissed this bunch of baloney immediately, with a wave of her hand, just as Kent had known she would. "Oh, shut up. You can sing whatever song you want to sing, long as you tone it down a bit. I swear, I could hear you over an elephant stampede."

Wally flushed a very deep and obvious red. "I don't even listen to Elton John."

"Sure you don't. And I bet you don't collect chemistry sets in your basement either." She rolled her eyes when his blush became even brighter. "Come on, hotshot. It's dinner time." She turned around, still smirking, and began to walk away.

A few seconds later, you could just barely hear her begin to hum the tune Wally had been singing.

Wally stood there for a few moments longer, as if he were still recovering from the initial shock of being caught wailing like an incessant fangirl. He slowly lifted a hand to his head, scratching his bright orange hair in some combination of amusement and bewilderment. Then he blinked, and turned back to the shelf, grinning to himself.

"Eh, she likes me."

Kent chuckled. Well, it was about time.

After all, it was only fate.