Author's note: Hello, all! This is my first foray into the Young Justice fandom. I wrote (horrible) fanfiction a very, very long time ago and just recently came back. That being said, this is basically my first piece in about seven years. I would appreciate any comments you have for me so that I can improve upon my writing and character portrayal (I'm a bit nervous about that part, to be completely honest). Reviews would be most helpful!
This is set in between Insecurity and Usual Suspects. For those of you who like timelines, that's about three weeks. Perhaps I read into it more than necessary, but I found the tension between our favorite Spitfire to be rather whelming. Flashbacks are in italics.
I own nothing. This was done for entertainment purposes only.
Ne vous inquiétez pas
At that point in time, he knew that he was being blatantly ignored. And he was totally fine with that. Yep, everything was just peachy. Nothing to get worked up over here. Especially over her. God (as an exclamation, logically speaking), even just thinking about her made him shudder.
"What do you want?" She typed furiously on her phone. "I'm in class, so make it snappy." The last part of the text message was, for Artemis, a pretty lame reasoning tool. She never missed an opportunity to briefly depart from the torturous lectures given by, quite possibly, the most boring, stuffy (and ridiculously ancient) teachers at Gotham Academy. Thankfully, Wally lacked the ability to shut up even over text messaging, so distraction was pretty easy to find.
Unfortunately, his inability to shut it applied not only to easy-going Wally, but also to pissed off and betrayed Wally.
To be completely honest, Wally West was extraordinarily happy to be free of that snarky blonde and her nagging and bickering. From there on out, he could enjoy a somewhat peaceful existence (save being shot at by masked criminals who danced around in lycra, but that was just part of the gig).
"You're in class? Would've thought you'd gone off to, oh I don't know, learn everything yourself," he responded. Another text followed rapidly. "Since you like to do that sort of thing."
"Shut it, Wall-man." She smashed the buttons down on her phone, hoping that her anger would somehow transmit through the message. "You have no idea what you're talking about. Don't even try."
"Lame attempt for a burn from Artemis: 1. Successes: 0."
"What the hell do you want?"
"Oh, the one-woman show asks a question about someone else? I. am. surprised."
"Whatever. You're so thick, seriously. And immature. …not that I should be surprised."
"Pot? Is that you? Kettle here."
Artemis angrily shoved her phone into her backpack, ignoring it for the remainder of the day. Why the hell did he have to make everything so freaking difficult?
And anyway, were people ever just ordinarily happy?
He'd have to ask Rob about that one.
The calm before the storm is one of the most intriguing phenomenon on earth. Sometimes storms are preceded by the righteous fury of nature, unleashing her wrath upon the defenseless earth, only to do so again with ten-fold the anger. Other times, there is that moment when everything stills—the birds, the clouds, and the wind. Tension so heavy one can almost feel the pent up energy coursing excitedly through every molecule in the air.
It's unsettling.
That calm makes you supremely nervous, for you have no idea when all hell will break loose. Even the smallest thing, it seems, could ignite that tension.
That is how the team felt around Wally and Artemis after the events in New Orleans, to say the least.
"Are you so freaked out about Red Arrow joining the team that you had prove yourself by bringing down the bad guys solo? Please tell me I'm wrong."
"Yes, you are so wrong, Wally West. You seriously have no idea, do you? Those 'bad guys,' they've made me who I am. What do you think of that? I'm trying to fight on the side of the angels, but my family are no saints." She had wanted to say. "They're murderers. Criminals. And they taught me everything."
Instead, her breath caught in her throat, and she lowered her eyes in shame.
Was she insecure? Hell yes.
Who wouldn't be?
The duo had mastered an astonishing skill together, although unknowingly. It was the art of mutual avoidance, and they were at the top of their game. Obviously, their line of extracurricular activities made it impossible to physically avoid one another, so they resorted to placing as much distance between themselves as possible. Speaking to one another was totally out of the question, too.
A silent Kid Mouth was an unnerving sight.
He even stopped flirting with M'gann.
Robin had tried to snap him out of it.
Wally sat at the counter at the Cave shoving his face full of whatever food he could find. He always felt justified eating when miserable; he was a speedster after all, and his hyper metabolism needed the extra energy.
But…he wasn't miserable, of course. Not about her. Nope, everything was just fine. Great, even. He couldn't remember such a nice, quiet day at the Cave in a long time. He could get used to it. (Liar.)
"KF! How's it going?" Robin asked, with his usual (creepy) smirk on his face.
"Just peachy, dude," Wally said through bites of oreos and peanut butter. 'Oh sweet oreos, you are the divine offerings from the heavens. If they existed…you would be my angels in this dark, dark time, my sweet, beautiful oreos.' He thought fondly, looking at the nearly empty package.
"Peachy? Since when have you said peachy?" Robin asked, crossing his arms, still smirking. "You haven't talked about—"
"There is nothing to talk about, bro," said Wally, cutting off the younger teen. "Everything is just fine in the Wall-man's world, nothing to report here." (Liar.)
"Are you ever going to talk about what happened? About Artemis?"
"Nope. Nothing to talk about, man." (Liar.)
For all intents and purposes, Wally was in denial (and had been for some time, as Black Canary had pointed out a few months previously). He was so lost in denial that he was pretty sure he would be dead by week's end from starvation, if it were a real place. Damn. Why didn't he pack anything in his cupboards for this?
To him, Artemis was a ridiculously strange and indecipherable creature. His logically geared mind didn't appreciate this, because it made her that much more difficult to figure out.
In fact, he couldn't figure her out at all, and that was infuriating. But strangely hot.
She was so prideful. And selfish. Immature. To the point where she was willing to throw her own teammates off course to finish off the baddies by herself. Why did she have to do this? Was this some kind of contest to her? Artemis: 1, the world:0? He seriously couldn't figure it out. She was a part of them. One of the team. And still she had to go pull asinine stunts like the New Orleans debacle. (And don't even get him started on how Cheshire escaped again. Because of her.)
"Why are women so confusing?" He asked no one in particular.
"Because they just are," said no one in particular.
"I was so desperate to make sure none of you found out…" Artemis said heavily. She felt relieved as the crushing weight of her past lifted off her shoulders. But the fear of rejection based upon said past quickly replaced it. Oh God, what would Wally think? And why is he the first person I'm thinking about? Artemis asked herself. But it doesn't matter. She looked down at the monitor, trying to avoid the speedster's gaze. Because at this moment of vulnerability, she didn't think she could handle it. His rejection.
But that never came.
Suddenly, everything made sense to Wally. The secrets. The betrayals. The half-truths and untruths and everything in between. Artemis wasn't ruled by pride or selfishness. No, she was ruled by shame and guilt, based upon something that was totally out of her control. His disappointment turned into understanding. Because seriously, if everyone could pick their families, they totally would. No one would choose to have convicts for parents (well, most people wouldn't). But you can't, and sometimes you just land in the most god-awful situations and there's nothing you can freaking do about it. So you cope, make the best of it, or try to bury it in your past. And he understood that.
As if guided by some kind of magic (could it be called hormones?) he found himself breaking off their pact of mutual avoidance and moved closer to her.
"But it never mattered. You aren't your family. You're one of us."
Somehow, a thirteen-year-old kid managed to capture every emotion Wally had about Artemis (but couldn't piece together) in a simple sentence.
Nah, this time, Kid Mouth was not necessary. Rob got that one covered, thanks buddy, he thought.
Wally laid a hand on Artemis's shoulder, as if to say, "I honestly suck at this sort of thing, but Rob is totally on target and I agree one hundred percent."
Sometimes the storm destroys everything and everyone in its path. And sometimes, the storm never comes.
Wally leaned on Artemis's shoulder, smiling as she relaxed under his touch (because seriously, avoiding her was the worst experience ever, but he wouldn't ever admit that). That infuriating, strange, stubborn yet intriguingly hot archer. Taking responsibility for what she couldn't control.
He definitely didn't mind that his peaceful existence on earth was probably over forever (and oh God, how boring those three weeks were).
But it never mattered, none of it did. She was a part of them. One of the team. And he was okay with that.
A/N: I am an idiot and drank espresso before bedtime, thinking, naaaah, I'll fall asleep anyway. So it's now three am, and this is a result of my idiocy. I hope you enjoyed and please, do let me know what you think.
Ne vous inquiétez pas – Don't worry