A/N: A drabble. Just wanted some of that Artemis/Robin friendship stuff. It's nice. I'd love to see some of it on the show.
Disclaimer: I own nothing of Young Justice. And you guys heard about the new episode getting pushed back to July, right?
Only Human
"They just don't get it," huffed Artemis angrily as she sat on the ledge beside the Boy Wonder, the ocean spanning out to the horizon below.
The archer had just taken a brutal verbal beating from Wally, who, with the aid of Superboy, had chewed her out for missing Sportsmaster with her shot. It had merely skimmed past his head instead of piercing his skull. Artemis, of course, hadn't been intending to kill at all, but she couldn't hit him either. It was a safety measure to let him go. But that didn't stop the team's speedster from criticizing her because she "can't do anything right", as he had said.
"That we're only human?" asked Robin. The bird had been sitting on the backdoor, as Megan had called it on their tour, with a rag in hand as he polished his weapons. His staff and a few birdarangs sat on the rock to his left as Artemis was perched on his right, her feet dangling over the edge like his were.
"It's like they don't get it. Megan makes mistakes. Superboy makes mistakes. Hell, even Kaldur makes mistakes!" Artemis only caught her foul language a second too late and was about to apologize when she saw the thirteen-year-old shake his head a little bit. He'd hear worse than that in a normal school day. One little cuss from Artemis wasn't going to suddenly turn him into a swearing monstrosity. He had a reputation to uphold. The girl continued her little rant. "I'm pretty sure Wally, that complete-" She remembered to watch her language that time; Robin was, after all, still just a kid. "-jerk, has made his fair share of mistakes. From what I've heard of Miss M's first mission, she makes all my little slip ups look like molehills. Sorry if bad guys get away from me! Not like I nearly get my teammates killed!"
"Wally's got some kind of complex going on. I'm still not exactly sure what it is, but I'm working on it." Robin ran the rag along his helmet, trying to get most of the dirt and such off of it from the Amazo mission so many weeks ago. He had been feeling guilty for not cleaning his tools lately like Batman had always taught him to. The Boy Wonder wasn't looking to the blonde, but he had been listening more intently than he would let on. "And I'm pretty sure he thinks he's perfect. Don't know if you've noticed it or not." The bird gave a little grin, the rag wiping away a bit of grime off the helmet.
"It's like he is his own drug." The girl then realized her mistake. He was only thirteen, and she was cussing and mentioning drugs in front of him. Who knew who he really was under that mask? She didn't want to be teaching him bad things. It felt wrong. Again, she was about to apologize when she got a little hand from Robin.
"Don't bother. I live in Gotham."
The corners of her lips curled upwards. She knew what he meant. Gotham taught people things that they would never want to know and some things they never should know. She gave a gentle sigh, glad to be able to talk honestly with him and know he wouldn't mind what language she used. The kid wasn't half bad. "Wally's just an ass," huffed Artemis. "Like, sorry I'm only human! I mean, I am human, that's why I can't be perfect. They're not perfect. We're not perfect. The only difference between you and I is that you have more experience, yet do you get chewed out for one little mistake?"
"Every day." Robin still hadn't looked up from his work. He was intently wiping away a few spots of mud from the face mask. "You guys see Batman once a day. I get him twenty-four-seven."
Artemis winced at the thought. She could only imagine how horrible the Dark Knight was on a daily basis if he was so cruel with his cowl.
"Don't get me wrong," defended Robin quickly, "He's awesome. I mean, he's the reason I'm so good at what I do. Training every hour of the day during the summer and constant vigilance during school. Plus, I get the bonuses of having ninja skills." He still hadn't looked up. "But it is hard with him breathing down my neck all the time. I get called out on all my mistakes. I'm pretty sure Wally just hates you."
Artemis gave a disgusted little snort. "That doesn't make me feel any better."
"Not supposed to. We live with our abilities. We can't exactly do anything about our genetic makeup or where we come from. Wally gave himself his powers on purpose so he could be Barry's sidekick." The masked boy looked to the girl's slightly questioning face. "Yeah, I know, he's not a bright guy."
"So... Wally's really human?"
Robin just gave a little shrug as he continued to pore over his work. "If you look past the superspeed, then yeah. He's just like us." The boy then held the helmet up, watching the reflection of the golden sun glint off of it. "He has no right to be criticizing you. You should've seen his screw up in Santa Prisca. I've messed up alongside Batman, but he screws up a lot more than I do, believe me. He's Wally."
The girl beside him smiled as if this excuse made up for everything. Just because he was Wally. "It's just stupid how he can only see other peoples' faults." Artemis leaned back, her palms pressing into the ledge's hard stone to support her and keep her sitting upright. "We're only human."
"We're only human," seconded Robin, finishing up with his cleanup job. He began to wrap up all his gear, putting away his weapons in his belt and folding up his metal staff and putting that into his belt as well. "He's just as bad as we are even if he doesn't realize it." The Boy Wonder rose from his place; his helmet was tucked tightly under one arm. "We can all make mistakes. Wally's just a real jerk about it. More than anyone else I know." The little bird looked to the girl for the first time. "Don't let him bother you."
As she watched the young boy walk away and disappear into the cave, she knew she wouldn't let the idiot get her down. If Robin could survive Batman, surely Artemis could survive Kid Flash, even if he was a total ass about everything.
A/N: Review?
~Sky