Disclaimers: I own nothing
"You, with your words like knives And swords and weapons that you use against me.."
"This is a better souvenir." Wally seethed, leaving with the tracer Artemis had planted. The decision hurt, but no sooner had the speedster left, was Artemis being accused of being the mole by Roy.
"You have knocked me off my feet again, Got me feeling like I'm nothing."
Her own mother had said she had to beg to get her on to the team, so by now, Artemis felt like the hero she thought she was no longer existed.
"You, with your voice like nails on a chalkboard Calling me out when I'm wounded, You picking on the weaker man."
"Get traught or get dead." Robin growled.
"What does he care," Artemis thought, "he doesn't get it, we cant save them, we're the weakest, we don't stand a chance."
Y"ou can take me down with just one single blow But you don't know, what you don't know..."
The team thought Artemis had no reason to not trust them, only because the team (other than Robin) thought she was Green Arrows niece, but they didn't know that for sure, they didn't know her past.
"Someday I'll be living in a big ol' city And all you're ever gonna be is mean Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me And all you're ever gonna be is mean Why you gotta be so mean?"
I guess you could say that Gotham was a big ol' city, and everyone still was mean, but that doesn't mean Artemis was big enough so they couldn't hit her. That abuse was both physically and mentally.
"You, with your switching sides and your wildfire lies and your humiliation."
It doesn't matter what her dad says, but Artemis was not a villain. But, she kept switching side, that's right, every slip up she made just drove her to be more of the villain then the good guy. Roy's lies about her, she wasn't the mole, but he kept enforcing that she was. Wally's humiliation was enough to make her jump off the deep end.
"You have pointed out my flaws again, as if I don't already see them. I walk with my head down, trying to block you out 'cause I'll never impress you. I just wanna feel okay again."
it was bad enough that Artemis was already on a team that barely trusted her, but going to a school that nobody wanted her at made things much worse. She was only trying to prove herself on the team, but now she needed to prove herself at school, but how could she? Everyone already called her names for being poor, or having parents who were in jail, and a family that would never be whole again. Why they would point that out, Artemis would never know, she already saw her flaws.
"I bet you got pushed around. Somebody made you cold, but the cycle ends right now. 'Cause you can't lead me down that road, and you don't know, what you don't know..."
Most of the time, Artemis figured that the reason why she was treated this way, was not her fault. She figured it had something to do with the persons upbringing, maybe their past, maybe it's because of what they're dealing with right now. But, she wouldn't try to stop them, that would only lead to more problems.
"Someday I'll be living in a big ol' city, And all you're ever gonna be is mean. Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me, And all you're ever gonna be is mean. Why you gotta be so mean? And I can see you years from now in a bar, Talking over a football game, With that same big loud opinion, But nobody's listening. Washed up and ranting about the same old bitter things. Drunk and grumbling on about how I can't sing, But all you are is mean."
That's why Artemis ignore the comments, hate, and harassment. She ignored it, because she knew that someday they would run out of things to pin on her, run out of flaws, to point out, run out of words to say. It was only an opinion, that someday no one would listen to. Sure, it hurt, but that couldn't slow her down.
"All you are is mean, And a liar, and pathetic, and alone in life, And mean, and mean, and mean, and mean..."
Turns out Roy was a liar, Sportsmaster was pathetic, and Wally was alone in life. That's why they chose to point out Artemis' faults, just adding 'mean' to their list of personality traits.
"But someday I'll be living in a big ol' city, And all you're ever gonna be is mean, yeah, Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me, And all you're ever gonna be is mean. Why you gotta be so?.. Someday I'll be living in a big ol' city (Why you gotta be so?..) And all you're ever gonna be is mean (Why you gotta be so?..) Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me (Why you gotta be so?..) And all you're ever gonna be is mean. Why you gotta be so mean?"
By now, Artemis was now dating Wally, Red Arrow had left the team, and it was decided that Artemis was the good guy. Now, every morning, she jumps out of bed, and is ready to take on the world. She could have done something truley crazy when the bullying first started, but she didn't. She just rolled with the punches, and finally got to what was real. All they were was mean. That's all they were.
A/N: I can totally relate with this song. And, in the last paragraph, there is a Glee song reference. First person to get the reference gets a song fic of their choice. Thanks for reading!