We Were Lost
Author: shallowesque
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Summary: Arrowette's less than happy to be stranded on a desert island with Empress.
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It's a beautiful island. The waves around it are a striking cerulean blue, the sand is sparkling white, the sky is bright and cloudless, and the air is fragrant, the hint of a salty breeze keeping it from being too hot. It is, overall, the kind of place one expects to see on a postcard, or in a travel commercial. "Come visit beautiful--"
There's just one problem: the island is about the size of Cissie's backyard, with only a little clump of trees and bushes in the middle, and she has no boat and no plane and no flying car. On top of that, she's stranded with Empress, of all people.
"'Come help us for this one case, Cissie'," she grumbles to herself, trying to wiggle back further under the tree she's hunched up under. "Why did I listen to Impulse? Things are never that easy!"
The case itself had been pretty straightforward and archery-based, which is why Cissie had agreed, albeit reluctantly. In fact, it had gone down as planned--Cissie's job was to pretend to be a girl who'd been helping the resistance in a country ruled by an evil despot who'd decided to go the Sheriff of Nottingham route and trap her with an archery competition. Instead, when Cissie had won the tournament, Young Justice had sprung their own trap, capturing the overlord and saving the girl. Even though there had been a language barrier, Cissie had liked the girl; she was a great archer and a determined fighter. It had felt good to help her out, but not good enough to make Cissie miss the crime fighting lifestyle.
The problem had hit on the way back. They'd dropped the former evil leader off with the proper authorities and were in mid-flight over the Pacific Ocean when the Super-Cycle had suddenly disappeared out from under them, taking the boys with it and dropping Cissie and Empress down into the ocean. Luckily, it hadn't been much of a drop, and they'd only been a short swim from this island. Unluckily, they were stranded on a desert island with no way of communicating with the outside world.
Cissie sighs and shifts against the tree again, trying to find a comfortable position. The nice thing about the sun is that her costume is mostly dry already, aside from some of the thicker parts of it, but it's also hot and uncomfortable, and she's getting really thirsty.
Empress doesn't seem to mind the heat. She's doing something on the beach, a little off from Cissie's clump of trees, involving a container she'd somehow made out of tree parts and a pit and water. Cissie should go see what she's up to and if she needs any help, but...
Not for the first time since they'd ended up here, Cissie desperately wishes it was Wonder Girl with her instead, and not off doing something with Wonder Woman. Not only would Cassie probably be able to fly them home, but she's also one of Cissie's best friends, whereas Empress is...not. It's not that Cissie hates her, not at all. She just doesn't know what to make of her. Empress is an unknown in so many ways, and Cissie's just not sure she trusts her. Plus--it stings, seeing Empress in the team where Arrowette used to be.
Cissie knows it's ridiculous to be jealous when she's the one who decided to leave in the first place, but it's not like jealousy is rational to begin with.
Empress looks up at her, like she can somehow sense what Cissie is thinking. Maybe she can. Empress's powers are as mysterious as her past and motives, as far as Cissie can tell.
But, Cissie reminds herself, Empress is doing a good job on the team. She'd seen that herself on this mission, and she knows Robin wouldn't be okay with Empress on Young Justice if she hadn't proven herself to him somehow. Cissie just needs to get over herself and her issues and be nice, even if thinking that is easier than actually doing it.
Step one, she thinks, is actually talking to Empress and not just sitting here under a tree, sulking. If they're going to get off this island, they're going to need each other's help, anyway.
"Stupid Super-Cycle," Cissie says, then stands up, brushes as much sand off herself as she can, and steps out into the bright tropical sun, squinting a little as the full force of it hits her. She walks over to where Empress is building some sort of stick-based teepee and stands there awkwardly for a second.
"Hey," she says, and Empress turns to look at her. Cissie desperately wishes that Empress's mask were a little more revealing, because the completely covered face thing is a little creepy. Still, she's pretty sure the other girl is regarding her with surprise, not annoyance.
"Arrowette, hi," Empress says, sounding--pleased? Cissie shifts a little, balancing her weight in the sand.
"So...what are you building?" she asks.
"I'm hoping I can find a way to clean out the salt from the water," Empress says, "although I'm not sure it'll work." She looks a little rueful, maybe.
"Through voodoo?" Cissie says.
Empress laughs, a warm, rich sound that Cissie is surprised to find makes her smile a little.
"No, no--I was going to light a fire, and put something over this..." Empress launches into an explanation, complete with gestures and a diagram in the sand.
Her plan is a little beyond Cissie's understanding of chemistry and physics, which is based mostly in a lot of classes taught by burned out middle aged men, but it sounds solid enough. She's actually pretty impressed--she'd have no idea where to even start on something like this.
"Wow," she says, and Empress scuffs her toe in the sand, looking down at the tripod of sticks she currently has set up. "That's really amazing. Can I help?"
"Of course, mon!" Empress says, a little too quickly, and Cissie raises an eyebrow. "Can you tie knots?"
So Cissie ends up sitting in the hot sand, tying together some vines for a purpose she doesn't entirely understand, while Empress works beside her. They're quiet, but it's not the quiet of awkward silence. Instead, it's the kind of calm quiet that comes when people are working at their own thing. Cissie is a little surprised, really--Empress isn't exactly like she'd expected her to be. She seems almost...shy, a little bit awkward around Cissie in a way she doesn't seem to be around the boys. Maybe it's just that they don't know each other yet.
"So, have any other ideas? Maybe one to get us out of here?" Cissie asks after a while, looking up from her work and flexing her fingers. She smiles when Empress looks up, because she knows that sometimes she sounds a little mocking even when she's not. It's something she inherited from her mother, unfortunately.
"Well," Empress says, somehow managing to look thoughtful even through the mask, "Maybe we can tie some vines to an arrow and shoot it at the next plane that goes by?"
Cissie laughs at the unexpected joke. Maybe Empress isn't so bad after all. It's not that Cissie suddenly trusts her completely, or is entirely happy with Empress taking over her role in Young Justice. But now she feels like maybe she will be, eventually, when it's all a little less raw.
They spend the rest of the afternoon trying to rig together the water purification system. It's sort of pulling together, although bits of it keep falling apart on them and needing repairs. Cissie has no idea if it'll work, but she really hopes it does; she can't remember the last time she's been this thirsty. The ocean is starting to look tempting, even though she can still clearly remember the brine taste it left in her mouth when they'd been dumped into it earlier.
Then, just as the sun is starting to set, the Super-Cycle reaappears on the horizon, a jarring monstrosity against the painting-perfect light spilling out across the waves.
"They're back!" Cissie yells, grabbing Empress's arm and jumping up and down a little as the Super-Cycle turns in their direction. They both start jumping and waving and soon enough, it's landed on the beach. All the boys are in it, looking a little worse for the wear.
After Cissie and Empress have had some water from the bottle Robin inexplicably had on him ("What aren't you prepared for?" Cissie had asked him, but he'd just smiled a little mysteriously), Empress asks them, "What happened?"
"There was this crazy hell dimension--"
"And this guy with, like, eight heads--"
"Andaboutahundredgirlswhoalllookedthesame--"
The story gets told in fits and starts, as crazy and impossible as most of their missions, and by the time Robin's finished correcting some of the more exaggerated parts of it, they're back above solid land.
"I'm glad you two were okay," Robin says, and the other two chime in with their agreeements.
"I've always wanted to be stranded on a desert island," Bart says, inexplicably wistful, and Superboy looks at him with amusement.
"You can't even stand being left alone in the headquarters for five minutes," he points out, and Impulse shrugs and says, "Yeah, but it'd make a great story! Plus I could always just run home if I got bored."
Cissie laughs. She misses these guys, if not the stress and trauma that comes with spending too much time around them.
"Were you alright for the time we were gone?" Robin asks, ignoring Bart and Kon scuffling in the back seat.
Cissie glances over at Empress, who's looking back at her.
"Yeah," she said. "It was actually a little fun."
"A bonding experience," Empress says, and Robin raises an eyebrow, but doesn't comment.
They drop Cissie off first, and she takes a deep breath as she steps off the Cycle, not looking forward to the lecture she's sure she's going to get from her mother. She hugs all the boys goodbye, then pauses in front of Empress before giving her a quick hug as well. Empress makes a little surprised noise but hugs Cissie back, holding on for a few seconds extra before letting go.
"Thanks," Empress says, and Cissie blinks at her, but doesn't get to ask what Empress means before the Super-Cycle takes off once again, leaving her standing in the park down the road from her house alone. She watches it go, seeing Empress's silhouette in the spot where she used to sit, and for the first time in a while, thinks that she's okay with that.
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