chapter thirty-two.
( beneath the depths of despair. )

The West-Harlow apartment is silent aside from the faint voices of the television and the even fainter footsteps emerging from the bedroom. Yue drops the duffle-bag containing her suit onto the kitchen-table, then carefully places two gift boxes beside it.

In one box sits a plush-cat, a children's toy for Lian Harper-Nguyen. The other holds an array of scented candles for Raquel's upcoming bachelorette party, it was just one part of the gift she, Artemis and M'gann had bought for their friend.

"You won't forget to hand them off to Arty, will you?" Yue's voice breaks the heavy silence that had haunted their apartment all afternoon. Wally sits on the worn-out couch behind her, his emerald eyes narrowing at the television as though it were more interesting than the inevitable goodbye that was heading his way.

With the tap of a red button, the television is silenced and Wally glances over at her. "I remember the gifts."

"Raquel's could be given to Megs, or Artemis, too." Yue continues her rambling as she runs a hand through the long length of her ebony hair.

"Yue." Wally's voice is louder this time. He stands up from his spot on the couch and approaches the woman standing with her back to him, slowly wrapping his arms around her waist as she hesitantly leans back into his embrace. "We've been over this a dozen times, babe. I remember the gifts, who they're for and who I need to give them to."

Yue, with a frown on her face, sniffles as she nods her head. Carefully, she turns around to face her boyfriend, her dark eyes watering up the longer she stares at his freckled face. "Thank you." She whispers, holding his face between her soft hands.

She had his face committed to memory by now – Yue had loved Wally West since they were both fifteen, and being twenty-two and living together had only ever been a dream of hers that finally came true – but neither of them knew how long she would be undercover, and the mere-idea of forgetting what Wally looked like terrified her more than the unknown of the mission ahead.

What would she do when, for the first time in years, she couldn't wake up beside the man she loved? When she couldn't see him every-day, or even have the promise of knowing he'd be there when she fell asleep? She didn't know if she'd be coming back from this in order to make the future they had spoken about, one with two daughters and a house of their own, a reality.

"I don't like this." Wally voices for the umpteenth time

"I know," Yue replies to his complaint as she always does. "But... After what happened to Jason, you know why I have to do this, Wal."

When Jason died – when he was murdered – three years ago, all alone and afraid in Qurac, Yue made a promise to herself. The last thing she was going to do was let her family follow his footsteps. She wasn't going to let any of them put themselves in danger like that again.

"I know but it shouldn't be you." Wally explains. "Dick's my best friend– he's your brother, he shouldn't be putting all of this on you. It's not fair."

Dick had given her every chance to back out of the mission, it was her mind that was made up. She failed her brother, she wouldn't fail Artemis – her sister in all but blood and name – too. Her lips quirk upward, a sad smile painting itself across her visage.

"When has it ever been fair?" She asks quietly, her thumb gently rubbing against his cheek as she stares up into his eyes. When he doesn't reply, she speaks again, "Nothing's going to happen to me, Wal. I was trained by the world's greatest detective, remember?"

What if it's not enough? Wally bites back the question. Wordlessly, he pulls her closer and buries his face in the crook of her neck. "Just... promise you'll come home to me, Birdy." He mumbles.

"I will." She says firmly. "I'll always come running back to you."

A chill runs through the Cave's meeting-hall as Dick, Conner, Mal and Yue gather inside the large room. The holographic-screen was lit up, with the images of both Bart Allen and Roy Harper – the original Speedy, who had been saved by Red Arrow and Cheshire mere weeks ago – painted across it.

Standing off to the side, Yue adjusts her mask every few seconds. Tonight was the end of a nine-year crusade as Flamebird. She knows it's for the best, they couldn't have The Light tracking her down while deep undercover, but it still brings a bitter taste to her mouth. For nine years, it was all she had ever known and in a couple hours, she would wear her mask for the last time.

"They're both gonna wind up our responsibility, aren't they?" Mal, as he stares at the screen with his arms crossed over his chest, questions.

"Not necessarily," Dick shrugs. "Bart- Impulse is staying with Jay and Joan Garrick in Central City. Roy, the original Speedy, is recuperating at Royal Memorial Hospital in Star City. Arrows, Green and Red, are watching over him."

Yue grins, then nudges Mal with her elbow. "They're totally gonna end up being our responsibility." The smile on her face threatens to falter as Mal looks away from her. She needed to put on a brave face, she needed to act like their worlds weren't going to come crumbling down in a few short hours.

If she doesn't, she's sure to break and let it all out in the open.

"Doesn't everything?" Conner scoffs as he glances toward Dick. "I mean, where are we on identifying The Light's new partner?"

Dick pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs in frustration, "No progress."

"We'll find out who they are." Yue turns to face Superboy. "It's just a matter of patience and optimism, Supes."

"I don't think patience and optimism are going to track down The Light and find their partner for us, Yue." He grumbles, crossing his arms over his long-sleeved Superman shirt.

She grins. "Point taken, but I still think I'm right."

M'gann's giggles float from the hallway and into the Meeting Chamber as she, with La'gann walking by her side, enters through the main doors. A plate of small crab cakes hovers in front of the Atlantean. "La'gann," she laughs as her boyfriend tosses two crab-cakes into his mouth. "Don't eat so fast."

He smiles up at her. "I can't help it, Angelfish. The idea of cooking crabs is amazing enough but the idea of making them into little cakes–" He tosses one more into his mouth and earns another giggle from M'gann.

"You're going to choke," she points out amongst her laughs.

Conner rolls his eyes and mutters, "If only."

Pressing her lips together in an attempt to hide her smile, Yue knocks her arm against Conner's playfully before turning to face their two teammates. "Megs, do you still want to see the ring?" She calls out in an attempt to distract the girl before Conner grows more irritated.

M'gann's eyes light up, the plate she had been levitating with her powers drops into La'gann's hands as the Martian flies forward until she's standing in front of Yue. "Of course!" Her smile brightens as she watches Yue carefully tug the chain out from beneath the collar of her suit; the ring dangles from the middle of the necklace and she leans in for a better look.

"Oh, it's beautiful, and so you! I didn't think Wally had an eye for these types of things." M'gann meets Yue's gaze.

"Iris helped him pick one," Yue answers with a laugh. She still remembered all those late nights in M'gann's room, going over fashion magazines and helping the Martian with the binder full of ideas for the dream wedding that she had been thinking about since before leaving Mars. If anyone was more excited about the engagement than her, it would be M'gann.

"Okay, Gamma Squad, listen up." Dick's voice drags Yue and M'gann's attention to the front of the room as he steps in front of the holo-screen. With a click of a button, the screen shifts from images of Bart and Roy to the Ferris Aircraft preparing to launch in a few hours. "The mission is Cape Canaveral– covert op to safeguard the first Earth-Mars com-sat. There are people out there who don't even like the idea of aliens, and will do anything to scrub this launch."

The smile slips from M'gann's face as she takes in Dick's words and, without a second of hesitation, Yue reassuringly places her hand between the girl's shoulders and smiles. "Not all of us feel that way," she reminds her. "And besides, I'm sure every person on this team wouldn't hesitate to prove them wrong."

M'gann smiles softly at her and the gnawing feeling returns to her gut like a punch straight to the stomach. Dropping her hand back to her side, Yue averts her gaze back to the screen. After tonight, she wouldn't deserve such a soft smile from M'gann. She wouldn't deserve to fondly remember the years they spent together. It would be a miracle if she, or anyone else on the team for that matter, forgave her in a few months time.

"So, why are you going?" Mal, with his arms crossed over his black long sleeve shirt, questions the team leader.

Dick grins back at him, "Let's just say after running this team for a whole year, I'm peckish for a little action." As the team disperses to ready themselves for the upcoming mission, the two Gothamite heroes share a look behind them.

A few more hours until everything changes.

Standing in the scaffolding overlooking Ferris Aircraft's headquarters and the rocket, Flamebird watches with a faint smile as the sun sets over the ocean. "At least it's not snowing," she comments jokingly, her arms crossing as she leans against the metal railing in front of her. "I mean, this isn't at all what I thought my last view would be, but anything is better than snow."

"You've thought about it?" Nightwing questions, his brows knitting together as he glances over his shoulder to meet his sister's gaze.

"Every time I put on the mask, I go out there knowing it could be the last time," she answers. With her hands against the railing, she pushes away from it and turns to face Nightwing. "I'm sure you've thought about it too." A faint, sad smile tugs at her lips.

Yue Harlow knew she wouldn't die of old age, surrounded by the people she loved and cared for most in the world. All thoughts of her eventual passing led her back to the mask, because the truth nobody tells you about being a hero is that there's always a price to pay for it. She had long since accepted that fact.

She sighs, "I just wish it didn't have to play out like this."

Behind her, Nightwing frowns. "It won't be forever," he promises. "You'll be back with the team, and Wally, before you know it."

"Yeah... Speaking of that." Her head hangs low, stray strands of hair that had fallen from her ponytail hang over her face as she stares down at the metal beneath her feet. The words weren't so hard to say when it was just her and Wally in the quiet of their apartment, but she can barely bring herself to meet her brother's eyes as she whispers, "When this is all over, I'm going back into retirement. For good this time."

"Seriously?" His voice doesn't sound too shocked, almost as if he had already guessed it. She can't stop herself from smiling at the thought. Of course she hadn't been able to hide her plans from him, he was a master sleuth before she had even gotten through Bruce's first training lesson.

She hums in response as she nods and looks up at him. "We talked about it. Wally and I. We want a normal life," she explains. "It's kind of hard to have that with the suits sitting in the back of our closet."

Flamebird wasn't sure if it was something her brother could understand. Just like her, the mask was all he knew. Nine years with no end in sight. Still, the corners of his lips curl into a smile and though he doesn't say anything in response, he doesn't have to. She has known him long enough to know that whether he understood leaving it all behind or not, he had her back.

Nightwing raises a finger to activate his comms-device, "Miss M, link us up."

The familiar presences of her friends and teammates fill the spaces in Flamebird's mind as it splinters under the pressure of Miss Martian's mind-link. What had once given her headache was now commonplace on every mission. Miss Martian's voice echoes through her head, "Link established."

"Good." Nightwing raises his binoculars to his eyes. "Begin aerial sweep of the Capes perimeter."

"Hey boss, I'd be happy to join my Angelfish on the assignment." As Lagoon Boy speaks, the darkened waters of the ocean flash through Flamebird's mind; flickers of everything the Atlantean was seeing as he swam through the corals.

"Negative, Lagoon Boy. You're right where I need you," Nightwing disagrees. "Giving me maximum coverage in the water, on land, and in the air in case there's any attempt of sabotage." As the sky begins to darken above them, he lowers his binoculars and glances at his sister, "I know I'm not Wally's favourite person right now. But I'm sorry."

Flamebird shakes her head in response. "Don't be. No one wants to make the hard decisions, but they have to be made," she assures him. As the silence washes over them once more, she grins in his direction, "Look, I know you're going to miss me and everything but don't miss me too much, Nightwing. The team's gonna need you after this."

Nightwing scoffs as he turns around, the small of his back pressing against the metal railing. For a moment, the smile on his face is reminiscent of the boy he used to be. The young boy she called her brother, who sat across from her at the dining table and relentlessly teased her about her obvious crush on their best friend.

"Heads up, Minnows. We got bad guys; Black Manta's troopers. They're working some kind of platform beneath the surface just offshore. I'm taking them down!" In a matter of seconds following Lagoon Boy's announcement, the boyish grin falls from Nightwing's face. Suddenly his gaze is hardening and he's back to a dull copy of their mentor.

"Belay that!" He orders. "Wait for backup."

"I'll scrounge a rebreather from the cargo-hold and help the rookie out," Superboy offers. Flamebird can taste the anger that spikes through Lagoon Boy like it's her own in response to their teammate's words.

"Rookie!" The Atlantean growls, "Neptune's Beard! I don't need any help from the boy of steel!"

Flamebird scowls. "Lagoon Boy, stand down," she instructs with a hiss. Not only was it extremely dangerous for him to go it alone, especially knowing his impulsiveness, but he could ruin the whole mission for her and Nightwing. Her eyes scan across the beach, widening as they land on a squad of Manta Troopers emerging from the water.

"Sorry, you're breaking up." Lagoon Boy made static-sounding noises through the mind-link, causing Nightwing to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration.

He snaps, "There's no static on a psychic link!"

"Nightwing." Flamebird glances over her shoulder, then passes her binoculars over to him as she nods her head in the direction of the troopers, "We've got company down there."

Nightwing steps over to her, peering through the binoculars to watch the Manta Troopers rush onto the sand. A conflicted look washes over his face before he huffs out a sigh. "Flamebird and I are going to hold them off," he informs the team.

In unison, the two Gothamite heroes fire their grapple-hooks into the nearby tower. Flamebird swings down and, once she's close enough to the ground between the rocket and the concrete barrier separating it from the beach, she lets go of the grapple-gun to tuck-and-roll. Joining Nightwing at the barrier, she presses her back against the concrete with a frown.

Faintly, she could hear the Manta Troopers shooting in their direction. "We're pinned down!" She announces to the team. "Superboy, please tell me you've found the rebreather."

"Negative." Superboy complains, "La'gann didn't restock."

Nightwing and Flamebird share a look as more Troopers surface from the water, each of them firing their weapons in the heroes' direction. "Then take the helm," he orders. "Miss Martian, gill up and help Lagoon Boy. Superboy, we need cover fire down here."

"Acknowledged. Bioship reconfigured for manual flight," Miss Martian states. "La'gann, I'm on my way."

When she heard the familiar sound of the Bioship approaching, followed by the noises of it shooting down at the Troopers, Flamebird peeked her head over the barrier. Most of the Troopers had taken to hiding from the blasts. "That's our cue!" She calls out, pressing one of her hands against the concrete as she begins to rise.

Suddenly, a hand wraps around her own and pulls her back down behind the barrier as a shot soars above their heads. Nightwing glares in her direction, "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Flamebird fights the urge to grin at the irony of his words.

A missile soars through the sky above their heads, only to be shot down by the Bioship as alarms begin to blare from the launchsite. Smoke billows from the rocket's engines and the walkway begins to rescind as it readies for takeoff. "We need to get out of here," Flamebird says as she glances at the 'warning: blast zone' sign behind her and Nightwing. "We're on the wrong side of this wall."

A second missile fires from beneath the ocean and, just as it breaches the surface of the water, Superboy shoots it down from within the Bioship. The bright light that emits from the explosion causes each of the Manta Troopers to flinch.

Flamebird and Nightwing peek over the barrier, watching as the Manta Troopers rise to their feet once more, before dropping back into a crouch as they glance at each other with knowing looks. "That's our ticket out of here," Nightwing says with a nod of his head. "You ready?"

Subtly, Flamebird moves a small pill from the confines of her utility belt and drops it into her mouth, tucking the capsule under her tongue before taking a deep breath. "Ready as I'll ever be." She carefully pulls herself up onto the wall, pressing two fingers against the side of her mask and activating a bright flash of light from the lenses.

The henchmen let out various shouts of pain, while Nightwing pulls himself over the wall. "Move!" He shouts as he drops down on the side. Flamebird leaps off the wall, her boots digging into the sand as she lands on the beach. Taking advantage of their momentary blindness, both heroes sprint toward the Manta Troopers.

She unfurls her bo-staff, swinging the weapon down on the henchman's arm and forcing the gun out of his hands. Swiftly, she kicks the gun away as she brings her staff back up to harshly slam against the side of the trooper's head. He crumples onto the ground as another turns in Flamebird's direction.

As he fires at her, Flamebird ducks out of the way and sprints in his direction. Her hand wraps around the bottom of the gun, pushing it upward and away from herself as the henchman fearfully fires it into the sky. She brings her leg up, harshly kneeing the trooper's stomach and watching as he hits the ground with a pained groan.

Above her head, the Bioship soars over the beach and shoots another missile out of the sky before it can hit the rocket.

From the corner of her eye, a gleam of silver sparkles in the moonlight. The trooper she had just taken out slowly rises to his feet, grasping a dagger tightly in one hand as he rushes in her direction. "Flamebird, look out!" Her brother's warning echoes loudly through her mind and – as she notices him sprinting toward them and the henchman swinging the knife at her from behind– she twists herself around.

Her leg swings up, knocking the small dagger out of his hands, before her heel slams against the side of his helmet. As he hits the sand with a thud, Flamebird's eyes flicker back to her brother and she reassuringly smiles his way. The smile, as quickly as it came, disappears again as the familiar sight of a blonde head of hair appears behind Nightwing.

Cautiously, the Gothamite turns around to follow her gaze. The world seemed to slow as Kaldur'ahm emerged from the depths of the water, a sinister look in his eyes.

"They've got La'gann!" Miss Martian cries out. "I'm going after him!"

"The priority is the missiles," Superboy reminds her not even a second later. On the sands below, Flamebird flinches as a missile explodes above their heads while another strikes the scaffolding where she and Nightwing had stood just moments prior. "There are too many, I'm not keeping up!"

Flamebird's heart pounds in her chest as the mind-link falters and the minds of her teammates are ripped apart from hers. Something happened to M'gann, she could feel it, and yet she was unable to tear her gaze away from Kaldur'ahm as he glared in her and Nightwing's direction.

It was hard to believe the man standing in front of them was once the same boy who would've sacrificed his life for theirs; she knew he was still in there, somewhere deep down she knew it, but it was hard to remember this was all an act when he stared at them with such malice.

"Kal," she calls out softly. "We don't have to fight!"

"I believe we do." The water around Kaldur'ahm begins to rise as he moves his water-bearers. A funnel of water forms behind him and, with one sweeping movement of his arms, the water shoots toward Flamebird and Nightwing. Engulfed in the wave, the two heroes are thrown back into the sand.

Flamebird jumps back onto her feet, then glances over her shoulder as the spacecraft launches behind them. A small grin tugs at her lips as she watches the rocket shoot higher and higher into the night sky– if nothing else, at least the mission to protect the com-sat would succeed.

The smile soon slips off her face as she catches a glimpse of a small missile heading straight for the spacecraft. Pressing her finger against her ear-piece, she calls out, "Superboy!"

"I'm on it!" Superboy's response comes back just as a laser fires the missile out of the sky. Its explosion gets engulfed by the fires of the spacecraft's engine as it continues its ascent. Flamebird's relief is only short-lived and, though she knows once again it's all part of the plan, she can't help but curse herself for letting her guard-down as Nightwing shouts her name.

She turns around, her wide eyes watching as Kaldur'ahm bats her brother out of the way with a large war-hammer before charging in her direction. She swings her bo-staff down at her old-friend, only for him to knock it away with practised ease. Swiftly recovering, she spins toward him with a clenched fist. Before she has the chance to hit him, Kaldur'ahm's war hammer shrinks into a sword that wraps around her ribs.

Flamebird bites down on the pill she had kept under her tongue, a gasp falling from her lips at the bitter taste that fills her mouth while her eyes flick up to meet Kaldur's. The centre of the weapon pricks at her ribs, not deep enough to cause a scar but enough for blood to pool against the red and gold of her suit as Kaldur leans in. "It's good to see you again, old friend," he hisses, pulling the sword away from her.

Her hands shoot up to press against the superficial wound as she stumbles back.

"Flamebird!" She can distantly hear Nightwing shriek as she falls, away from Kaldur'ahm and into her brother's arms. Her vision begins to dot black as Nightwing gently lays her against the sand, his voice shaking as he calls out, "Just hang on!"

If she hadn't known Dick Grayson for the majority of her life, hadn't grown up and trained alongside him to perfect the same abilities, she would've believed his whole act. Maybe in another universe, he would've gone on to be an actor after the circus– he played the role of a grieving brother almost too well as she went limp in his arms, her pulse weakening under the two fingers he held pressed against her neck.

Yue Harlow knew she wouldn't die of old age, surrounded by her closest friends and family. She had always known the mask would be the thing to take her life prematurely, that she would die alone like the heroes that had come before her.

She had never thought she would die with her brother at her side.

"Move out! The mission is a failure." Kaldur'ahm orders the troopers, heartlessly turning his back on his old friends as he tucks his water-bearers away. He glances over his shoulder at the last second and, ignoring Nightwing as he holds his sister close, watches the spacecraft explode in the night sky. His face turns grim, "We are done here."

The thundering sounds of the explosion don't seem to phase Nightwing, who doesn't tear his gaze away from Yue even as Kaldur'ahm and the injured Manta Troopers escape back into the water. Superboy jumps out of the Bioship, stumbling forward a few steps as he sprints toward his friends, while Nightwing starts to perform CPR on the girl in front of him.

Miss Martian leaps out of the water and joins them on the beach a second later, she doesn't stop running until she's by Superboy's side, the two heroes watching in shock as Nightwing continues to administer CPR.

"I don't..." Superboy starts quietly, then stops as his hands ball into fists and he screws his eyes shut to prevent the tears from falling as he carefully listens for any sign of life. "I don't hear her heartbeat." A shaky, heartbroken whimper falls from Miss Martian's lips in response as her hands shoot up to cover her mouth. She turns away from the scene, unable to watch any longer.

After a beat, Nightwing pulls his hands – covered in his sister's blood and shaking visibly even through his teary-eyed gaze – away from Yue. He falls back into the sand dejectedly and, with his gaze still focused on Yue's pale and bloodied figure, he knows it's up to him to announce what they'd all been dreading. "She's dead..."

It wasn't the first time he had uttered those words to the grieving families of other heroes who died in battle. It wasn't the first time this duty fell onto his shoulders, and in the back of his mind he knew she would wake up in a few hours and his last memory of Yue wouldn't be of her dying on a beach far away from home. Yet as he watched Miss Martian fall to her knees with a loud cry, he forgets it all because his sister is dead.

And her blood is on his hands.

Wally West had already been in Bludhaven when Dick arrived at the warehouse, one he converted into a base of operations a few months prior, with Yue's unconscious body in tow. It was something out of his worst nightmares, something he saw every night her missions ran longer than expected; watching Dick enter the warehouse while Yue was still limp in his arms and covered in blood.

Her heartbeat was faint then, but more noticeable than it had been on that beach in Cape Canaveral.

Now he sits in the back of the warehouse beside the only bed, Yue sits cross-legged on it in front of him. Her hand's wrapped around his and a reassuring smile is plastered across her face as her free hand reaches out to cup his cheeks. The colour had been slowly returning to her face since she woke up half an hour ago, and now that she was out of her blood-stained suit and back in civilian clothes, Wally's heart no longer raced fearfully in his chest.

With a sigh, he leans into the warmth of her palm. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?" He whispers, his hand tightening around hers as he glances up at her.

"It was only a small cut, Wally," she points out lightheartedly. "I've been hurt a lot worse than that before."

"That's not what I meant," he murmurs. He tilts his head to the side, gently pressing a kiss to the palm of her hand before he lowers it from his face. Subtly, he glances over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of Dick and Kaldur, who stand by the large monitors carefully going over the next stage of their plan while waiting for the couple. "You don't have to do this, you–"

"I think we've come too far to go back now." The smile falls from her face as she leans forward to kiss his forehead, before rising off the bed. With her hand in his, she walks over to where their friends are waiting. Her eyes flicker to her brother as he turns around to face her. "So, how did it go with the team?"

"Successful," he answers, then sighs. "Almost too successful, the team and the League are mourning. They'll probably never forgive me for orchestrating this."

"They won't forgive me ." Yue reminds him stubbornly, her hand squeezing Wally's softly, as regret and sorrow wash over her. In time, they would learn to forgive Dick for lying because he was the leader and if any of them were in his shoes, they would have no choice but to make the same decision. They wouldn't forgive her for lying about her death though, and she couldn't blame them.

She couldn't forgive herself either.

"And still, only we four know the secret?" Kaldur questions, glancing between the heroes standing around him.

"Yeah," Dick nods, "How'd it go on your end?"

"Successful as well," he says. "I've proven my loyalty to my biological father. He is moving me up the ladder, bringing me closer to the Light and their unknown partner."

"Not without cost, Kaldur." Dick points out, "The com-sat wasn't supposed to be destroyed, and La'gann definitely wasn't supposed to be captured."

Yue frowns at the reminder. She had already been half-dead to the world when the explosion happened but when she had woken up to the news playing in the background of Wally's relieved whispers, all she felt was sorrow. This mission, though it gave her the opening she needed to infiltrate their enemy, was a failure in every other way that mattered.

"It was the only way to save his life and maintain my cover," Kaldur explains grimly, his lips twisting into a frown.

With a sigh, Dick steps forward and rests his hand on his old friend's shoulder. "I'm not blaming you," he says. "I know you've been forced to make impossible decisions; like being forced between saving the Kroloteans on Malina Island–"

"--Or saving my friends. And I will find a way to help La'gann," Kaldur promises, "You have my word."

Yue spares her fiance a quick glance, then faces her brother and former-leader with a frown. They all had a job to do. "So what now?" She asks. Wordlessly, Dick turns around and wraps an amulet around her neck.

"Uh, dude?" Wally raises a brow, "Why are you giving bling to my dead fiance?"

"Glamour charm courtesy of Zatanna," Dick explains to the three of them. "Physio-morphic spell, I think. She said it backwards." He takes a step from Yue and she watches as both Kaldur and Wally move to his side for a better look.

"Wow, babe. You look exactly the same." The grin on Wally's face has Yue letting out a laugh, while Dick playfully nudges him with his elbow.

"To the four of us, and only us," Dick informs them. "But to anyone else, you're an entirely different person."

She had been over the file countless times, tested over a dozen similar charms all in preparation for this phase of the plan. Yue Harlow died on that beach in Cape Canaveral, and in her place, Arlene Hart was born. Cardinal, she would be called on the job; a mercenary for hire that Kaldur himself would be vouching for when they boarded Black Manta's ship together at the end of the night.

"I'd love to know how you got something like this from Zee without revealing who or what it was for," Yue comments with a grin. Even the tone of her voice had changed with the amulet, now deeper with a twinge of a British accent she would've thought sounded cooler had it not come out of her own mouth.

Dick smirks, "We have a history."

While Yue rolls her eyes at his comment – he and Zatanna had dated for a few weeks over five years ago now, and it certainly wasn't long enough to call it history, but who was she to complain? Whatever Dick had done to get the charm off Zatanna worked, after all – Wally snorts and nudges his friend with his arm. "Dog," he laughs.

"It is time." Kaldur takes a step forward, his eyes flickering between Yue and Wally as a silent hint for them to say their final goodbyes.

Without an ounce of hesitation, Yue throws herself forward into Wally's arms. Behind them, Kaldur picks her duffle-bag, the one containing her clothes and the new suit, off the ground and guides Dick away from the couple. But she doesn't pay them much mind as she wraps her hand around the back of Wally's neck and pulls him in for a deep kiss; it's only when they're both breathless that they finally pull away from one another.

"Promise you'll come back to me," he whispers against her lips, his hands pressing against her back in an attempt to hold her closer to him. His emerald eyes scan over her face, taking in every inch, as though it was the last time they would see one another.

"I promise." She reluctantly lets go of him, tugging her ring off her finger and placing it in his open palm. Gently, she closes his hand and holds it between both of hers as she meets his gaze. "Hold onto it for me, okay?" She asks, unable to stop herself from tearing up. "And don't you dare try to propose again when I get back. We already have the story I'm going to tell our kids, I'm not letting you change it."

"I would never," he laughs softly. He cups her cheek in his hand, wiping away her tears with his thumb as he presses a kiss to her forehead. "No promises on not starting the planning without you, though– hey!" He winces lightheartedly as she slaps his shoulder. "Most people would be grateful that their very loving fiancé is willing to do all the planning while they sit at the bottom of the ocean and plot evil things."

"We should be going," Kaldur calls out from behind them.

With a roll of her eyes, both at Kaldur's interruption and Wally's comment, she steps forward to hug the love of her life. "It'll only be a few months," she says, though she doesn't know if the reminder is for Wally or herself.

Wally's arms tighten around her as he pulls her back in for one last embrace. "I love you, Yue," he whispers into the crook of her neck. They stay like that for a few moments, silently embracing one another in the shitty half-put-together headquarters, before she reluctantly pulls away from him.

"I love you too." Yue squeezes his hand one final time before walking away. If she didn't leave now, she wasn't sure she ever would– and she had to.

The world is depending on her to see this mission through.

AUTHOR'S NOTES.

   ✶     So, how are we all feeling after that? You guys can't see me but I am in fact smirking so evilly right now as I edit this chapter.

   ✶     I've had this planned since way back in act one (2022 when I was actually writing that act), when I was planning out how best to have Yue involved in season 2's plot. Of course, this meant taking Artemis out of the fold but don't worry, I have plans for our favourite archer and she isn't completely removed from the story-line. This chapter has big ramifications going forward and I can't wait for everyone to read what will happen.