chapter twenty-one.
( cold-hearted. )

Snow falls over the suburban streets of Keystone City as Yue slowly approaches the front door of the West's home. With a measly wrapped present tucked under her arm, she raises her left hand to knock on the front door. A shiver runs down the girl's spine as a gust of wind blows over her, the snowstorm only growing worse with every passing second.

The door opens in a matter of seconds and Mary West, with an apron reading Kiss the Chef, greets Yue as the younger girl smiles up at her. "Yue– Come on in, sweetheart, you must be freezing out there." With a concerned gaze, she steps aside and ushers the girl into the house.

"Thanks, Mrs. West." The house is warm as Yue steps inside and, after spending the last half-hour traversing from the city's closest zeta-teleporter to their house in the snow, she almost melts into the warmth as she shrugs her jacket off. Her eyes scan across the dining room, her lips curling into a frown as she realises her boyfriend is nowhere to be found. "Where's Wally?"

"Sleeping." Rudy, Wally's dad, answers from the kitchen table with a sigh. He doesn't lift his gaze from his newspaper but Yue can still see the hint of a smile tugging at his lips. "I guess not even superheroes are morning people."

"That's putting it lightly. You should see Bruce on his days off," she snickers. Batman hardly ever patrolled the streets during the day, only donning the mask in the darkness of night. Her eyes flicker over to the staircase, "Do you mind if I-?"

"Go ahead, sweetie." Hanging her jacket over the coat-rack by the front door, Mary smiles down at her before making her way toward the kitchen. "Let him know breakfast is almost ready."

"Will do." Placing the gift on the coffee table, Yue runs up the stairs without an ounce of hesitation; she had visited the West's house enough over the last three years to know her way to Wally's room even with her eyes closed. Slowly, so as to not create a loud creak, she opens the wooden door and peeks her head into the darkened room.

Posters of various shows, games and scantily clad women littered the grey walls, clothes were haphazardly strewn across the floor, and a line of superhero figurines took up space on his desk– not much had changed since the last time Yue spent the night, following the simulation back in September.

Tucked under the green blankets of the single bed pushed into the corner room lies Wally, his light snores echo through the silent room and bring a smile to Yue's face as she makes her way toward him. "Wally..." She whispers his name softly. "Rise and shine, babe." Her knees press into the mattress as she straddles his lap and peels the blanket away from his face.

He groans beneath her, throwing one arm over his face to shield his eyes from the small rays of light shining through the curtains– the first thing Yue notices is the lack of the cast he had been wearing for weeks now. Small drawings had once been scattered across the white surface, from hearts, to stick figures, to signatures from his friends. "Someone turn the sun off," he complains.

Her dark eyes flicker to the window. "There is no sun." She points out matter-of-factly as she observes the falling snow outside, then turns back to him with a grin. "You've got a big day ahead of you."

Reluctantly, he peeks an eye open to glance up at her, a teasing grin tugging at his lips. "There's more than the party at the Cave later?" He questions.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." With a roll of her eyes, she falls off his lap and into the spare space between him and the wall. The team had been planning a surprise party for weeks now, and though Yue tried – harder than she had tried to hide anything other than her feelings from him – to lie about it, she broke instantly under the intensity of Wally's puppy-dog eyes.

She curls up against his side, her head against his forearm as he lets his fingers gently comb through her dark hair. "Sure." He laughs, then kisses her forehead as they fall into a comfortable silence. "You know," he begins after a pause. "I think this might just be my best birthday yet, birdy."

"Oh, yeah?" She rests her palm against his cheek, her fingers brushing against the freckles that lay across his pale skin. "Why's that?"

"Well, for starters, I have a hot babe in my bed." He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively and Yue's hand falls from his face, gently shoving his shoulder as he laughs.

She rolls her eyes playfully. "Be serious, you dork."

"I am!" He defends himself with a chuckle. "I've got a beautiful girl in my bed, my cast is off," he holds his arm up to show it off, "And it's snowing. How could it get any better than this?"

How could it get any better than this? Yue had been asking herself that same question since late September. She'd been in love with Wally for three years. Now she's lying beside him and for the first time in the three years she's spent pining for her best friend, she's able to celebrate his birthday as more than that.

"Hey." His voice, as teasing as ever, pulls her out of her thoughts. "If you keep staring at me like that, I'll have to kiss you." His visage was etched with sleepiness, a soft and yet teasing smile playing on his lips and Yue hadn't even realised she'd been staring because the boy's face had long since been burned into the back of her mind.

"That'd just be a shame." She leans in to close the gap between them. Her fingers tenderly glide along his jawline. The taste of his lips and the way his hand gently presses to the small of her back, guiding her body closer to his as their legs tangle beneath the sheets of his bed, only cement the one thing Yue has known since she was fourteen.

She'll always be in love with Wally West.

The scent of bacon, sausages, eggs, and pancakes wafts through the kitchen as Mary West places another plate of steaming french toast on the table. "Happy birthday, Wally," she greets her son as he takes a seat beside Yue.

"Oh!" Wally grins as his eyes scan over the plates and bowls scattered along the dining table. "My favourite breakfast!" He stabs his fork into one of the sausages, scoffing it down before reaching to fill his plate to the brim.

Sitting beside him, Yue slides two pieces of french toast onto her own plate. "But there's piles of everything here," she points out, glancing over at her boyfriend with a raised brow.

Swallowing half of a boiled egg, he grins, "Exactly, babe."

Rudy chuckles at the head of the table. "You know, if you ever come up for air, I could take you to the DMV to get your licence after school." He flicks to the next page of his newspaper, then lowers it altogether as he turns to face his son, "This weather would be a good proving ground."

While Wally grins at his father's words, Yue can't help but avert her gaze; all too often her father used those same words to convince her that training in the middle of Gotham winter would test her focus. The snow is a good proving ground, he'd tell her. Years later and his lessons still echoed in her thoughts.

"Not really in a big rush to drive, dad." Wally shrugs as he chews another boiled egg. "Cause, ya know, I'm me." With a grin, he points his thumb at himself.

"You certainly are," his father chuckles.

"Plus, the team's throwing me a big surprise party this afternoon at the Cave." He gulps down a sip of his orange juice.

Yue's eyes widen as she spins to face him. "Wally, you weren't supposed to tell anybody!" She hisses quietly. She had a feeling his parents would connect the dots, it wasn't hard to tell that when it came to Wally West, Yue was a complete and utter pushover. "God, Dick is never going to let me live this down..."

"Don't forget Artemis, too," Wally teases. "And that's if you escape M'gann's wrath." Her eyes playfully narrow in his direction, and when she sticks her tongue out at him, he doesn't hesitate to return the favour.

"In school today, ask your teacher the definition of surprise." Rudy comments jokingly as he raises his cup of coffee to his lips, ignoring the two teens' immaturity with a roll of his eyes.

"Speaking of surprises, I have a surprise for you," Mary chimes in excitedly as she reaches for the television remote. "Or, well, your Aunt Iris does."

The television in the living room across from the dining table flickers on, and Iris West-Allen's face illuminates the screen as she smiles to the viewers of GBS. "--And a special birthday shoutout to my nephew, Wally!" She says into the microphone. "Everyone here at GBS-News is wishing him a very happy sixteenth birthday!"

Wally grins, "So cool."

"Now for school closures." Iris continues. "The following schools have declared today a snow day; Dubgue Elementary, Spiesak Junior High, Central City High, Keystone High–" Wally's eyes light up at the sound of his school's name, and he turns around to high-five Yue, who smiles back at him.

Wally grins excitedly, "Could this day get any sweeter?"

"Flamebird, B-Zero-Two." The zeta-teleporter whirs as Yue steps through into the Cave. Her phone buzzes in her jacket pocket, and when she takes it out, a message from Dick telling her 'we're ready' illuminates the screen.

"Kid Flash, B-Zero-Four." Wally enters the Cave behind her, one of his hands running through his red hair to shake out the melting snow from their walk to the out-of-order phone booth known as Central City's main zeta-teleporter. "Zeta-tube network now offline due to extreme atmospheric conditions."

Wally glances behind him. "Whoa," he sighs in relief as he strolls toward Yue. "We made it just on time."

Yue, lifting her gaze from her phone, turns to Wally with a smile and takes his hand in hers. "C'mon, we still would've made it. You have superspeed for a reason," she reminds him with a laugh. "Worse comes to worse, I would've gotten us here in the Batwing."

"Didn't Bats ban you from-?" Wally cuts himself off as they enter the Cave's living quarters; the lights instantly flick on, revealing the entire team – alongside Red Tornado and The Flash – waiting inside with a birthday banner above their heads.

They all shout in unison, "Surprise!"

"What?!" Wally lets go of Yue's hand, a faux gasp falling from his lips as he looks around at the birthday decorations littered across the room. "Aw, you guys, you shouldn't have."

"Right, not like you've been hinting for days or anything." Dick chuckles, his eyes flickering over to Yue, "And we all know Yue already told you."

Her head hangs low. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised; they were both trained by the world's best detective after all, it was only natural that Dick was the person to figure out who spoiled the secret.

"C'mon, it's time for cake!" M'gann announces excitedly, her hands clasping together in front of her as she ushers the team toward the couches. "I'll go get it!"

With a grin, Yue snatches a small birthday hat off the coffee table, then turns toward Wally as she pulls the string back to slide it over his head. "Suits you," she compliments jokingly, her eyes flickering from his up to the yellow and blue party hat, and then over to M'gann as she returns from the kitchen with two cakes floating behind her. "You made two cakes?"

"Yeah, what are you guys going to eat?" Wally jokes as he slides off the couch to sit in front of the coffee table in front of them.

"We'll split a cupcake." M'gann playfully retorts. "Now, make a wish."

His grin softens as he glances back at the cake. "Way ahead of you." Closing his eyes, he leans forward and blows the candles out. His eyes flutter open, and with a teasing grin, he glances back at Yue. "You know, babe, if I tell you my wish it won't come true."

"I think guessing falls under that, too." Yue teases him, gratefully smiling toward M'gann as the Martian hands her a small slice of the cake. She hums in thought, then leans down to kiss Wally's cheek. "Was that it?"

He pouts jokingly. "Close." Rolling her eyes, Yue plants a soft kiss on his lips. By the time she pulls away, he has a goofy grin on his face. "Wow, babe, who knew you were such a mind reader?"

"Oh yeah," she laughs, "It's one of my best kept secrets actually."

Kaldur, with a slice of cake in hand, plops down onto the couch beside Wally and as the two begin to converse, Yue excuses herself and slowly makes her way toward Zatanna and Dick.

The latter stands beside the magician with his sunglasses pulled over his eyes, an amused grin on his face. "I know this is all very new and intimidating, but I promise you," his covered eyes flicker toward the birthday boy, "Someday you'll get used to watching Wally eat."

Zatanna's lips curl into a smile.

"No promises on that, though." Yue says as she watches her boyfriend; he stays seated on the couch, almost fitting an entire slice of cake in his mouth.

For a moment, Zatanna's smile seems to falter as she lets out a sigh. "I know I haven't been great company lately." Her blue eyes, that had once been as bright as the sky had become duller in the absence of her father, glance toward the rest of the party.

Yue frowns, then slowly wraps her arm around the girl's shoulders. "It gets better, Zee," she reassures in a soft tone. "And until it does, we'll all be right here for you."

"Thank you." Zatanna leans her head against Yue's shoulder, relaxing under her touch as she smiles sadly toward Dick, "Both of you."

Artemis approaches the trio. "Think we should tell him?" She asks, turning their attention back to Wally as he watches M'gann and Conner obliviously– the Martian and Kryptonian stand off to the side, giggling amongst themselves as M'gann wipes a speck of cream from the boy's mouth.

Dick grins, "He is the only one that doesn't know."

"There's no way he doesn't know," Yue defends him. "They've been obvious since before they were even together." She couldn't count on two hands the amount of times M'gann and Conner had so obviously made their feelings clear to everybody but each other before their relationship began.

"Wally couldn't even tell you liked him." Raising a brow, Artemis grins at her. "Five dollars says he's completely in the dark."

"You're on." Yue nods.

Both girls make their way towards Wally, sitting on either side of him as Artemis leans down to whisper the so-called secret. Wally's eyes widen, his head spinning in the direction of M'gann and Conner as he gasps. "Oh, man," he complains, then glances back at Artemis and Yue. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Artemis laughs, holding out her hand toward Yue as the girl drops a five dollar note into her palm with a frown. "This almost makes up for the ten dollars Rob and I lost when the two of you got together." Her words are met with an unimpressed glare from the girl across from her.

"Attention, team." Batman's voice, as firm and commanding as it ever was, speaks through the Cave's p.a. System and effectively halts every conversation within the living quarters. "Suit up. Polar stealth. Mission briefing in five."

The team, dressed in the white-toned polar stealth suits, gather in the Meeting Chamber. Batman sits on the large screen, a look of urgency on his masked face as the Batwing soars through the snowy skies of what appears to be Downtown Gotham.

Kid Flash looks around the room, "Where's Flash?"

"Flash and Red Tornado already have their assignments," Batman answers him stoically. "A massive ice storm has paralysed North America from coast to coast. Satellite imagery has detected five flying ice fortresses, source unknown, which seem to be responsible and must be stopped."

Flamebird's brows furrow. "You think the ice villains are teaming up?" She questions her mentor, thinking back to the attack on the fourth of july. "It wouldn't be the first time they worked together."

"It's likely." Batman answers. "But we won't know until we end this."

"Can't the Watchtower blow them out of the sky or something?" Kid Flash wonders aloud. The second the name of the Justice League's secret headquarters falls from his lips, the entire team – and Batman – turn to face him, while Zatanna stares over in confusion.

"What's a Watchtower?" She asks them curiously.

Batman huffs out a sigh. "The League's orbiting headquarters is not weaponised," he states firmly. "And with both Green Lantern's off-world, I need all hands on deck."

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Robin steps forward, an excited smile stretching across his lips. "The League and the team fighting side-by-side?"

Once upon a time, it was something Flamebird would've wished for. Her dream of joining the Justice League remains ever-present but she wasn't the same naive child anymore. She just wasn't ready to join them yet. Still, she turns to Kid Flash excitedly, her elbow nudging his arm. "A team-up, and on your birthday?" She grins. "Lucky."

"Superboy, take the Supercycle and rendezvous with the Batplane at Ice Fortress One." Batman commands the clone. "You'll drop off Robin, Aqualad and Flamebird, then continue on with Wolf and meet Black Canary and Red Tornado at Ice Fortress Two." He turns his attention to the other team members. "Miss Martian, Artemis and Zatanna, take the Bioship and rendezvous with Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter at Ice Fortress Three."

"Uh, Batman?' Kid Flash takes a step toward the large screen, his brows furrowing as he stares up at the Dark Knight. "I think you skipped-"

"Kid Flash, a young girl in Seattle is in desperate need of a heart transplant." Batman states. "With all conventional air traffic grounded by the storm, you'll need to pick up the donor heart in Boston and run it three thousand miles across the country."

His smile, which had brightened under the idea of teaming up with their mentors, falls almost instantaneously. "Who's the girl?"

"Does it matter?" Batman asks rhetorically.

"No, of course not." Kid Flash shakes his head, albeit sadly. "But can't we zeta-?"

"Zeta teleportation is down because of the storm," Flamebird reminds him. "Remember?"

"Right. Then how can I say no? I guess I won't be needing stealth." He sighs and taps the lightning symbol on the chest of his suit; yellow and red bleed into the once white polar suit. "Speedy delivery boy at your service."

The communication line cuts off, and Batman's face disappears from the holographic screen as the team begin making their way toward the hangar. Flamebird spins on her heel to face Kid Flash, one of her hands slowly reaching out to take his. "It's just another run," she points out in a hopeful tone. "You've done it before."

"Yeah..." His sad whisper only brings a frown to her face and, as she softly squeezes his hand, she leans forward to peck his lips with her own. He relaxes ever-so-slightly, then raises a brow, "What was that for?"

She shrugs. "Can't I just kiss my boyfriend?" Peppering kisses across his cheek, she pulls away only when a grin stretches across his lips. "Just because you're missing a silly team-up doesn't mean your birthday isn't going to be great. In a couple of hours, you will have saved a little girl's life, and we'll be curled up on the couch eating your mom's home-made lasagna."

"Alright, alright." He agrees with a nod of his head, then leans in to kiss her cheek before she manages to step away from him. "Stay safe out there."

She smiles his way, their fingertips softly grazing over one another as they reluctantly let go of each other's hand. "You too, babe."

"I can't feel my hands!" Zatanna complains after the mission as she slumps onto the couch and rubs her gloved hands together for extra warmth. After spending all that time in the snow – an entire day – all any of them wanted to do was relax in the warmth of the blankets they had gathered from the various bedrooms in the Secret Sanctuary.

M'gann enters the room from the kitchen, seven mugs hovering in the air around her before she lowers them into the hands of her friends. Zatanna's shoulders relax as she wraps her hands around the steaming mug of hot chocolate, a relaxed grin spreading across her lips.

"Thanks, Megs." Yue chimes in. She sends a smile the Martian's way, watching with a softened gaze as the girl sits beside her boyfriend while sipping from her own green mug. They had both gone shopping not too long ago to buy each member of the team matching mugs for a day just like this.

"Hey." Artemis sits on the floor in front of Zatanna, the hood of her polar stealth-suit pulled down and her mask thrown haphazardly onto the coffee table beside the leftover paper plates from the party, and tilts her head to glance back at Yue. "Have you heard from the birthday boy?"

Shaking her head, Yue's dark-eyed gaze flickers from the Martian to the archer. Her hands wrap tightly around the red mug and her lips curl into a slight frown. "I shouldn't worry, though, right?" She asks. "I mean, maybe he's just waiting for the surgery to be over before he comes back." Wally may not have wanted to be the delivery boy while the rest of his team worked with the League, but he was a good person. He would want to know the outcome of the surgery.

Artemis nods, in what Yue can only appreciate as an attempt to quell the worry burning in her heart. "It's Wally," she points out with a shrug of her shoulders. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"Turn it up!" Zatanna raises her voice, her shoulders stiffening as she leans forward in her seat and points to the large television mounted on the living room wall. The GBS channel had been left on when the team were assigned their mission, and though they had planned to settle down for the night and watch Christmas movies while waiting for Wally's return, the news program suddenly caught each of their attention.

Kaldur is the first to grab the remote off the coffee table, hastily turning the volume up as Iris West-Allen's voice echoes through the room.

"This just in. Despite the best efforts of Kid Flash and a team of expert transplant surgeons," Iris, with a frown on her face, lets out a heavy sigh, "Young Queen Perdita of Vlatava died on the operating table at Seattle Medical Centre."

Silence settles over the team, and with a heavy heart, Kaldur switches the television off.

Yue arrived at the Cave early the next morning, with the snow finally settling down after their previous mission and her heart racing in her chest. A phone call from her boyfriend had been all she needed to jump out of bed and race over to the team's base of operations.

"Next time you decide to fake a Queen's death, give us a warning!" She gently nudges Wally's arm as they enter the souvenir room side-by-side. She could joke about it now, she didn't think she had a choice really. But it didn't take away the entire night's worth of worry she had shared with his parents when Wally didn't call or return home after the news broadcast.

Wally chuckles, almost half-heartedly, as he nods his head. "I promise the next time I meet a Queen and fake her death, you'll be the first person to know."

"I changed my mind." Yue crosses her arms with a shake of her head. "There better not be a next time, you hear me, Wal? No more fake deaths. We were all worried about you when we saw the news."

While he approaches the row of cabinets lining the back wall of the room, Dick – who had followed them into the room – grins. "Forget that," he says, then waves off Yue's remarks as he faces his friend. "Dude, you saved an entire country. Major kudos."

"What can I say?" Wally shrugs, a smug grin playing on his lips as he carefully rests a transplant container on the empty shelf. He stares up at the container, then turns back to the duo as he brags, "I'm the man."

Yue scoffs, then reaches out to grab the staff that had been left on the table at the back of the room. "You sure you don't want to hang this up?" She questions. With a grin, she wraps her hand around the silver handle and pulls the thin sword doubling as a staff out of the sheath. "It's not every day that Count Vertigo loses immunity and gets arrested."

"Nah. You can have it." Wally shakes his head, then glances back at the transplant container with a softer smile, "I have the souvenir I need."

author's note.

To everybody who commented in the last chapter, I love y'all so much, so you're getting a second update this week! The next chapter is an original and I'm a little scared to share it here despite already posting it on ao3, but it's whatever.

I wanted to involve my readers in another decision; to preface this question, I already have plans that are cemented in my mind but I'd love to know what everyone thinks!

Do we want Yue's father to grow closer to her over the timeskip and then rejoin The Light for more betrayal, or do we want him to be back in The Light from the get-go? Right now, as of act one, he's been in Blackgate for 3-4 years.