Prompt Post - Part Four [CLOSED TO NEW PROMPTS]
THIS PART IS NOW CLOSED. YOU CAN CONTINUE POSTING FILLS, BUT PLEASE PROMPT ALL NEW THINGS HERE.
Part one here!
Part two here!
Part three here!
Feel free to reprompt posts from parts one, two, three in part four once. If you do so, I'd recommend leaving a link to your fill on the original prompt, in case somebody is tracking the first thread.
Please ( Read more... )
~@~
“The Penguin is acquiring a new club,” Batman growled. “He's been moving out of Gotham and into new cities, and we have his potential base of operations in Happy Harbor located. You will infiltrate the location, and find the Penguin's men. If we can make expansion seem unwise, the Penguin will go crawling back to Gotham where we can keep a proper eye on him.”
“We're infiltrating a club?” Wally asked. “Sweet!”
“We're underage, or did you forget?” Artemis said, poking him in the side of the head.
“What kind of club?” M'gann asked, drawing th focus back to Batman, who shifted his weight and looked away.
“A 'gentleman's' club,” Robin answered, nose in his wrist-comp. “We've worked out that the scouts will be there next Friday. So we get in, set up the bust, and ba-da-bing, Fanny's your aunt.”
“Who's Fanny?” Superboy wanted to know.
Everyone ignored him, and Wally said, “Wait, they're using a strip joint as cover for illegal deeds? Isn't that counter-intuitive?”
“If you think about it, it's actually a great plan,” Robin said. “I mean, loud music, dim lights, and no one's looking at anything but the stage. And no one looks beneath the surface layer of corruption. Plus, heroes would stick out like a sore thumb.”
There was a moment of silence as everybody pointedly avoided looking at Black Canary or saying, Mostly.
Batman nodded, and all eyes fixed on the front of the room. “You will enter undercover. Two positions outside, and four inside. Assign them as you see fit.”
Kaldur and Robin stuck their heads together immediately, and the rest exchanged looks. M'gann looked confused, Wally gave a what-can-you-do shrug, Artemis frowned and stared at the table, and Superboy eavesdropped shamelessly.
Finally Kaldur sighed, and sat back up straight. “So basically, we're putting Superboy as a bouncer, myself behind the bar, Wally on surveillance, and Robin and one of the girls as waiters, and the other as a performer.”
“What?” Wally exclaimed, and Robin chose to believe his friend was upset over putting one of their own on stage instead of being outraged that he wouldn't be inside to see the show.
In any case, he cut in to keep his friend's foot out of his mouth. “It makes sense,” he nodded. “We get a thorough check of everyone through the main entrance, plus someone to watch all secondary exits. People talk to the bartenders, the wait staff circulates, and if that fails, we've got someone in the best viewpoint in the house.”
“But won't the stage lights blind the performer?” Wally asked. “So, how would they see anything?”
Robin snorted. “Trust me, in a situation like that, you notice who isn't looking at you pretty quickly.”
“Have much experience with it, do you?” Wally needled him.
The grin Robin shot him was sharp and bright. “I'm a performer, KF. I was born in the center ring, and I'll be performing 'til I die. And maybe longer.”
“That's nice and all,” Artemis said, “But I'm still stuck on the bit where one of us girls is on stage?”
~@~
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There was a lady on stage, a statuesque beauty, tall with taller heels. She looked them over, and then frowned. “Kids?” She asked, in a voice grizzled with nicotine and tar.
Kaldur stepped up to the front, and gave a slight bow. “We apologize for our lack of age,” he said smoothly. “Unfortunately, the League is unavoidably detained, and we were dispatched to provide you with the help you requested.”
And she really couldn't say anything to that. So instead she swayed over to the stage, and the team approached.
“So we've got a bouncer, a bartender and waitstaff, and one performer, right?” She asked, looking at Superboy, Kaldur, and Robin and the girls in turn.
“Yes'm” they all responded, more or less in unison.
She looked M'gann and Artemis over closely. Artemis stood up straighter, but Megan flushed under the scrutiny, and green seeped back up her fingers.
Artemis stepped forward and slightly in front of the other girl. “I'll go,” she said, and the lady nodded.
“Blondes do get the best reactions,” she said. “Come up here, let's see if you can work a pole.”
So Artemis climbed the stairs, a strange, heavy feeling in her stomach as she approached the pole.
The lady quickly demonstrated a basic hold, and then let Artemis at it, giving her impatient, barked instructions the whole way, until Artemis somehow ended up upside-down, legs in front of her face.
“No, lower,” the dancer said impatiently, and Artemis growled.
Sensing an imminent disaster, Robin jumped in. “Straighten your knees a little, and bend at the waist,” he advised, and Artemis's feet did drop a few inches.
“Huh.” Artemis stretched, straightening her legs, and finally achieved the position.
“Great. Now, dismount.”
She moved her feet up a few inches, then down, and then started to shift to a side, but quickly righted herself. “How, exactly?” she snarked.
The dancer stared at her for a second, and then flapped a hand. “Just, you know, reverse the process.”
But they could all see that the girl's arms were shaking, and her grip was sliding a bit at a time.
“Hey,” Robin said, “Breathe.”
And she did.
“Now,” he continued, mounting the stage, “Just arch your back a little more, straighten your knees, but don't lock them.” She did so. “Perfect, great. Now, when I say, just straighten your body upwards. Kick up, like a handstand. You'll feel like you'll overbalance, but trust me. Let your legs fall the other way, and you can grasp the pole between your thighs, okay? Now, I'm going to help guide your legs, okay? So, one, two, three, and here we go, just like a bowstring...”
And then she was fully upside-down and panting, but Robin was there, putting a gentle hand on her back. “There you go, perfect. Now, here's the hard part. You're going to have to let go with your hands, and do the biggest sit-up of your life. But I've got you, I'm spotting, and I'll help take your weight, okay? So on the count of three, that's one, and two, three-up we go!”
And Robin did something complicated with his arms to brace her, and she was sitting in midair, clutching the pole for dear life.
“There you go,” Robin said, letting go and stepping back. “Just let your legs straighten, and slide down the pole a bit, and you're off.”
And then Artemis was standing on her own two feet again, and she looked down at her trembling hands. Because, at the end of the day, she was an archer. Her upper body strength was enviable, and she was nimble, but she was not an acrobat or a contortionist. And she did not like being upside down.
“I don't think I'm a good choice for this role,” she said, and her voice came out even.
“It's okay,” Robin said soothingly, and he placed a hand on her arm. “You can be on the wait staff.”
And then she made the mistake of looking up. Because she could see Megan's face, M'gann who had trouble holding a human form through a whole school day. And Artemis could not make her almost-sister go through the stress of performing, not if she was that stage-shy. “It's okay,” she whispered, but just hearing the words strengthened her resolve. “It's okay, I'll do it. Let me try again.”
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Artemis was probably still a little shocky, because she went. The dancer, on the other hand, looked the scrawny fourteen year old up and down and said, “You're going to do it?”
He shrugged, and hit the release for his cape. And then he walked up the pole, and made magic.
It was just a quick demo, without music or choreography, but it was more than enough. “I've never seen anyone that...bendy,” the lady said. “Most people don't use the top foot of the pole. And what was that one move, the climbing one...?”
“Trade secret,” Robin said, and laughed from his position wrapped around the metal at the very top. He let himself dangle a bit, and then dropped, heels over head, to land in a comfortable crouch. “So, we done here?”
“Um, no. Because I don't care how skilled you are, you're still a boy. A rather young boy. And we don't cater to that particular crowd.”
“Oh, that? Won't be a problem. You said blondes, right?”
Finally, the lady just threw up her hands and said, “Whatever, kid.” Then she more strutted than stomped off the stage, but either verb was quite the feat in heels that tall.
Robin strolled to the edge of the stage and sat down, swinging his feet. “Now that that's worked out-”
“Worked out?” interrupted Artemis. “How about the part where your secret identity is secret?”
“Or that you're not a girl?” Superboy added.
“And not blonde?” Megan threw in.
Wally just smiled, and Robin waved a hand. “Let me worry about that. But as long as we're here, let's talk logistics.”
~@~
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“Two tables on my rounds that scream bad company,” she admitted. “I'm glad we left the other boys outside, though.”
“If you need back-up-” He offered, because the crowd was rowdy and a little bit lecherous, and even he didn't feel comfortable here.
“Thanks,” she smiled. “Good to know I've got a knight to protect my virtue.” And she picked up her tray and wandered off.
Megan took her place. “Just the one table to keep my eye on,” she reported. “It's hard to hone in on thoughts when there are so many thinking the same thing so loudly.” And she shuddered a bit, because some of these minds she'd rather not dive into.
“I'm sure you're doing your best,” Kaldur said, trying to get her to smile. “What's bothering you?”
She bit her lip for a minute, and then sighed. “I'm just worried about Robin,” she admitted.
“I'm sure he'll be fine. But if we want to make sure....”
“We do our jobs right,” Megan finished, and picked her tray back up. “Thanks, Kaldur,” she said. And then she pasted on a smile, and waded back into the crowd.
A trio of girls took the stage, dressed in lingerie, and that was a generous way to describe it. They sang a catchy little cabaret number, and Kaldur averted his eyes when they danced.
Then the announcer called, “And all new, tonight only, we have a very special guest for you!” and Kaldur perked up. That was probably Robin, if 'tonight only' was anything to go by. The stage name the crowd applauded was not only ridiculous, but also vaguely insulting, Kaldur felt. But it didn't matter, not really.
And then 'Chastity' sauntered onto the stage, and Kaldur's eyes almost fell out. The five foot and change girl was...generously endowed, to say the least, with a slim waist and curvaceous hips. What she was wearing could not actually be called an outfit, with the low-cut halter that covered her sides and back, but showed off far too much front, and the lower-cut shorts that were practically painted-on panties.“Hi, boys~” she said, and her voice was the smoke in the dark, everything dangerous you couldn't help but want.
This was not Robin. Kaldur looked decisively down at the glasses he was cleaning, trying to erase the blush high on his cheeks.
And then the crowd roared, stamping and yelling and clapping and cheering. Kaldur looked up before he could think about it, and 'Chastity' was high up on the pole, hanging on with her knees, turning slowly, and leaning down in such a way that no one was looking at her face.
And by all that was holy, Robin had pulled that move earlier, during the demo. And that was just all kinds of wrong, and he really should look back down and not be ogling his friend or wondering how his teammate got such real-looking breasts and hips. They jiggled, for goodness' sake!
But he tore his eyes away, and glanced around. Artemis and M'gann had paused in their rounds, though some of the other waiters were still moving. He hissed under his breath, and then balled up some napkins.
The first bounced off a chair and rolled under a table. The second got the guy at table six, and Kaldur intently polished a glass for a count of ten before he deemed it safe to look up again. The third one finally pegged Artemis on the side of the head, and she looked furiously around before catching his eye. He jerked his head towards M'gann, and Artemis glanced back up at the stage, then nodded.
And with them circulating, it was indeed very easy to find the table in the corner focusing on the papers between them instead of the not-girl on the stage.
He activated his earwig and described the guys to Superboy and Kid Flash, who would follow them upon their exit. M'gann was headed their way with another round of drinks, hopefully to pick up some information.
The music ended, and the crowd went wild. A few even staggered to their feet, one almost bumping into M'gann.
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“They're leaving,” Kaldur warned the beta team. M'gann collected the somewhat soggy papers, Artemis slipped out towards the back, and he glanced at the stage just in time to see 'Chastity' take her final bows.
Oh, he thought again, and, next time, we really should videotape that.
~@~
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“Have you got them?” Kaldur asked via communicator.
“Yes,” Superboy answered, walking quite a ways behind them.
“'Course we have!” Kid Flash crowed. He was perched on a rooftop, watching from afar and swinging his legs over the ledge. “We've got them right where we want them. Fastest kid alive, you know; it's pretty hard to give me the slip!”
“Focus,” Kaldur said, just as Superboy rounded the corner and stops.
“Where'd they go?” he asked.
“Huh?”
“Where are they? They're not here anymore!”
Wally was by his side in a second. “I...have no idea where they went.”
Conner punched a dent in the brick wall next to him. “This is your fault! Where are they?”
Wally ducked away, hands up. “Hey, easy there, big fella....”
“Looking for something?” purred a voice from the alleyway a few feet in front of them.
“Yeah, his common sense--” Superboy started, but paused when a girl stepped out of the shadows.
She twiddled her fingers at them, and then jerked a thumb over her shoulder and said, “I left you a present.”
“Really?” Kid Flash asked, leaning against the wall and raising an eyebrow. “In heels, even?”
“I was trained by the best, darling,” she said, and blew Superboy a kiss. “I can do anything in heels.”
“Do you know her?” Conner asked, looking between the two of them.
“Conner, Chastity. Chastity, stop laughing. Now we all know each other.” Wally said, waving a hand between them halfheartedly.
Over the comms, there came the sounds of sputtering and choking, and Artemis said, “How it hell did he get there before us?”
Chastity giggled, and M'gann said, “Well, I suppose he is still Robin.”
Conner blinked, and then managed, “Wait, say what?” He looked around to get a better look at his apparent teammate, but all that was left on the street was Kid Flash with a lipstick mark on his cheek and a familiar little giggle.
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