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"Good evening, can I please take your names?" the older man, dressed in a very formal suit attire, asked.
"Ariel Jackson and Everett McNeill" the woman told him with a smile on her face, while hanging herself on the man's arm.
After scrolling through the pages in his list searching for the given names, along with an inspecting look, the man finally gave the couple permission to walk in.
"Enjoy your night, Ms. Jackson and Mr. McNeill" a cordial smile appeared on the man's face as he gracefully indicated the way in with his arm out and his gloved hand right open.
Following the directions, the couple walked in, making their way down the fancy hallway leading to the ballroom, still hanging on each other, just like a romantic couple.
"Oh Ari, babe" a smirk appeared on the guy's face. "I'm so glad we got to spend this amazing night togheter"
"Jason Peter Todd" she warned discreetly, under her breath. "Behave"
"Sure thing, Red" he whispered back, wrapping his arm around her hips as they stepped into the ballroom. "I'm just keeping up my cover"
Quickly reading over the crowd with their eyes, the duo quickly spotted their target: the Penguin.
The Outlaws wanted his most recent shipment, they had heard it was a pretty great arsenal coming in, but on that specific night, Penguin was hosting a special ball for the elites at the Iceberg Lounge. It could work on their favor, keeping him busy while the shipment came in, but the Outlaws knew the old man well enough to know he would personally check on it still. Plus, they were having trouble getting all of the necessary information for their plan to work, and if anything went wrong, it could endanger innocent people at the event. Their only option was to sneak in and go undercover.
And for that reason, Jason and Artemis were now undercover at the Iceberg Lounge, acting as a couple under the false names Bizarro hacked into the system a few days ago. Artemis' long hair had temporarily been dyed black and her emerald eyes were now a shade of blue, while Jason had his his jet black hair and signature white streak under a ginger wig, making him look a lot like his archer best friend, along with some green lenses on his eyes.
Artemis had mocked him over his last "disguise" to go undercover at the Lounge, which was an absolute fail, so she took care of it this time. And she had done a pretty good job.
Their job was to gather the needed information and give it to Bizarro through the comms, who was ready to blow the first attack before Jason and Artemis could join the party.
"There he is" said Jason. "We need to keep an eye on his every move"
"We do" added Artemis. "But we can not give it away like a certain someone did a while ago"
"Alright, I said I'm sorry!" he said, raising his hands up as a surrender. "Now, would my princess like to have a dance?"
Artemis stared at his held out hand for a few seconds, with a slightly raised brow as she studied the game Jason was about to play. She should have known he would have taken this opportunity to tease her at every chance he had, but if that was the game he wanted to play, then so be it: she would join it as well.
"Of course, my dear" a smirk took place on her lips as she took his hand, following him to the dance floor.
Finding an open spot by the dance floor where they could stand at a great angle to watch the Penguin, all while being close enough to notice any conversation, the two began moving their bodies against each other, their eyes discreetly studying the room.
"You're not so much of a bad dancer as I thought you were" Artemis took the chance to tease him first this time.
"Wow, thank you for the consideration" he said, placing his hands upon her hips and moving closer to her.
"Always" her hands were placed on top of his, then slowly sliding up his arms and sending shivers down Jason's spine.
"What do you say we grab a drink, Ari?" the man asked, looking her in the eyes.
"Hm, no, thank you" her arms moved up to wrap loosely around his neck, as she reached over to whisper in his ear. "We're on duty, Jason. Do I need to remind you of how much of a lightweight you are?"
Jason opened his mouth to protest, but something over Jason's shoulder caught Artemis' attention and she quickly backed away, placing her index finger over his mouth to shut him up and improvising in the moment.
"What do you say we move to somewhere more private, baby?" Artemis sounded, seductively, as she discreetly kept an eye out on the action taking place in front of her.
"Hmm, may I know what for?" Jason understood her message immediately and grabbed her hand, waiting for the woman to guide him the way.
Leading the way through the crowd, Artemis took them to an emptier corner on the room, next to the staircase, where Penguin had just moved to in order to receive information from his goons.
The duo watched them, keeping their trained ears as attentive as possible to catch any important details through the loud music blasting through the speakers. However, while this happened, Penguin suddenly decided to turn around and Artemis' brain was forced to work at a thousand to prevent them from getting caught in the act of spying.
In a swift movement Artemis grabbed Jason by the shoulders and turned him around, his back turned to Penguin to give her coverage, and her lips were pressed against his, taking Jason back for a second.
The man suddenly didn't expect it, but damn, did he feel a tickling sensation inside him. Unconsciously, his hands dropped to her waist to pull her closer as he gave into the kiss, getting way more into it than he probably should. But Jason couldn't control himself. She had taken over his mind for the moment.
Breaking the - rather intense - kissing session after a while, her lips moved down to his neck, where she could observe everything over his shoulder without being caught. Jason felt goosebumps down his whole body, he didn't know how to react. Sure, he knew it was all a cover up, but Artemis had such power over him. She could control him anytime she wanted. Jason had let himself go for the moment.
And deep down, Artemis did so too.
"Ar..." was all Jason could speak after such an overwhelm of sensations.
"Shhhh" she whispered, cutting him off. "Hear this"
The two directed their hearing to catch Penguin's words through the noise of the room, all while Artemis worked as the camera, watching every single move from the group.
"Sounds like the party is just getting started for us" Jason whispered, taking Artemis' hand and now leading the way out, the two making their best to look like a runaway couple, sneaking out to have their own private party.
After they were finally out of the building, the two rushed towards Jason's motorcycle parked in the back, all while informing Bizarro through the comms.
The party was really just getting started.
------
After loading the van with the shipment and taking a minute to admire their work of fallen goons, bleeding on the dirty concrete floor of the docks, Jason turned around to look at Artemis, who casually brushed her hands off and tied her hair back in a ponytail.
Approaching her, Jason was about to open his mouth and talk about their night.
"You know Everett, I miss the white streak" she began. "But who would have thought my color would suit you so well"
"Well, black isn't exactly the color that comes to my mind when I hear the name Ariel" replied Jason, sticking his hands in his pockets.
"Yes, I assume it isn't" she continued. "But red certainly isn't the color that comes to my head either when I hear the name Jason Todd"
"Wait-... How do you-?!" looking up at her, Jason was met with a smirk.
"I have my sources" she slid a photograph out of her purse and handed it to the man. "In contrary to your belief, going undercover requires some research as well"
Jason just stared at the picture, dumbfounded. It was a picture of him when he was younger - so much younger, before his hair began to darken and way before the streak appeared - with red hair. There were a few ways she could have gotten that picture from, but Jason's train of thought over who could have done it was quickly cut off by the same person who gave the picture to him.
"Let me tell you, it looks great on you" she teased him, making her way back to the van. "Who knows, maybe if you go back to it, you could "hit me up", as you people say"
"I thought there was only space for one redhead in a relationship" Jason teased back.
"And who said I was talking about Artemis and not Ariel?" she replied, smirking at him before getting inside the van, making Jason shake his head and chuckle before rushing his way towards the van.
Ah, that woman would be the death of him!