Just a plot bunny that kind of evolved into something that has somewhat of a plot. I don't know, I have intense Daddy!Bats!Artemis feels sometimes, and this is the product of one. I hope you enjoy!
Artemis furiously wiped a hand across her eyes as she stepped out onto her fire escape. She quickly started to crash down the rusty stairs, the steps creaking and clattering behind her. For one brief moment, she wondered if her mom would try to follow her as far as her wheelchair would allow, before shaking off the thought. Her mom probably didn't care enough to check.
Sure, things with her mom had been better since her release from prison, but she was still cold in everything she did, and hadn't quite found a way to stay good, honest. Somewhere, deep inside, her mother was still Huntress, the heartless villain. It was hard to find the person Artemis knew her to be, sometimes.
The blonde ignored the annoyed shouts from the apartments she banged past, and almost stepped on a cat's tail as it rested lazily from the window. Artemis really just didn't care right now.
She turned the corner and jumped the last flight. She landed off balance, and slipped on the hem of her jeans. Artemis' legs flailed out on front of her, and she fell backwards, landing on her butt and probably bruising her tailbone. Standing quickly, she rubbed the sore spot, and grimaced when she felt the grainy wetness that could only have come from a muddy puddle.
Perfect, just freaking perfect.
Artemis tucked her hand inside her beige jacket's pocket, and started walking down the street in the brisk pace most people used in this section of the city.
The only thing that raced through Artemis' mind was her sudden need to help someone. She could prove to her father that she was in this for the long run. Artemis was a hero, and she was incredible, in absolutely every way.
Wasn't she?
Her father's voice bounced around her mind, and rang in her ears with every step. It's time to switch sides, Artemis.
An overwhelming urge to hit something, or someone, washed over her. Artemis was regretting not grabbing her costume, or even her bow. She reached down and pulled her small back up crossbow from where it was tucked inside the back of her jacket. If she wanted to do vigilante work tonight, it would have to do for now.
Artemis stopped walking suddenly, and looked around her. Was she really doing the right thing?
Once upon a time, when Artemis was just a little girl, hiding behind her bedroom door and praying for something, anything that resembled a family, she would have jumped at the chance to be working beside her father again. She would have read too far into the offer, and thrown away any chance she had at a normal life.
But things were different now. Artemis had found a new family, a family who accepted her, and trusted her.
Or at least they used to. Artemis wondered if things would ever be the same after how much she screwed up the mission today.
Artemis shook her head, trying to clear it. Everything was so foggy and clouded in her life. Becoming a hero had seemed like the perfect solution at the time, but it was getting harder to keep the line between her family and her new life from blurring and tangling together in a disgusting mess of good and evil.
She started trotting down the street again, turning the corner and warily scanning her surroundings. Nobody was walking the deserted street, not at this hour of the night, and especially not in this part of town. A few blocks away, the pounding beat of music echoed from one of the night clubs.
A scream broke through the night, garbled by the music, and could be easily mistaken as someone who was partying a little too hard. Artemis started running towards the sound, feeling around in her deep pockets for her collection of modified darts, and fitted one into the collapsible cross bow. She took off at a run towards the sound.
Artemis raced around the corner, and shot down an alleyway. She burst out of the other side, next to a Chinese takeout place. Another shout echoed down the silent street. She stopped long enough to identify where the noise was coming from, and started sprinting towards a building to her right. She paused outside the door, and once again wished she had her mask.
She slipped through the door, treading softly on the floor and not making a sound. There were three men, all surrounding one woman, who was kneeling on the floor, broken sobs coming from her mouth and ringing around the room.
"No….. please….. don't…. I can't… I don't…" she pleaded, curling in on herself and clutching her hands to her chest. The woman made a gagging sound, and turned her head away from the men.
One of the men raised his hand, and grabbed her collar, lifting her towards him.
Artemis raised her cross bow and fired one of her darts. The arrow sliced through the air, and impaled the man's sleeve, forcing the arm down and pinning it to a table behind him. A chorus of "What the hell's" sounded from the three men. The lead goon dropped the woman in a heap on the floor, and ripped the dart out of his shirt, warily glancing around.
"Don't just stand there," he shouted, gesturing angrily with his hands. "Find him!" His two sidekicks scrambled over each other to start searching the corners of the shadowy room.
The blonde smiled to herself. She loved this part, watching the crooks squirm as they tried to locate their attacker, anticipation running through her veins and adrenaline pumping through every limb in her body. When she was working solo, before the team and before Green Arrow, Artemis would do the whole job invisible, hiding in the shadows and laughing quietly.
Though she was loving the crystal clarity of watching the scene unfold, Artemis really wasn't in the mood to wait tonight. She stepped out of her corner, fitting another projectile into her bow. She fired, the blunt edge of the arrow hitting the man closest to her, knocking him to the ground, unconscious.
The leader of the gang looked flustered, he pulled on the collar of his shirt and frowned. "A girl?"
This made Artemis frown as well. They had assumed a man, maybe even Batman, to be lurking in the shadows. "Yeah," she said coldly. "A girl."
Artemis threw herself at the man, landing on top of him and landing a swift punch to his nose, snapping his nose like a twig. Hands grabbed her shoulders, and ripped her backwards. She followed the momentum and propelled herself over his head. She landed in a crouch behind him, and knocked his legs out from under him with a sweeping kick.
The teenager dug her knees into his back, and slammed her bow down on the back of his head. The man's body went limp, but Artemis swung again, splitting his skull open and letting blood flow freely.
Something cold and round poked Artemis' back, and she immediately stiffened, recognizing the metal as the barrel of a gun. She straightened slowly, and raised her hands, cursing herself for being so foolish; she should have made sure they were all down before giving into her violent tendencies.
"Stand," a raspy voice demanded, and Artemis obeyed, moving stiffly and putting her hands behind her head. Something hard slammed into Artemis' head, and she felt herself fall on top of the body beneath her.
Everything seemed to fade out, her vision blurring and the sounds around her quieting until they were only a low hum, ringing in the back of her head. Something grabbed Artemis' shoulder, roughly lifting her before it was ripped away, and she fell to the ground again.
Consciousness flooded back to her as if in fast forward, rushing through what she must have missed. A crashing window. The flap of fabric. A big black blob taking down the man in front of her.
Artemis pushed herself up, stopping when she was sitting upright and clutching her forehead as the room spun.
She wasn't given much time to get her bearings. Just as the room slowed, arms wrapped around her and Artemis was flying. The air was rushing past her ears and drying the moisture in her eyes, making them sting. She whizzed by the broken window, into the smog that always surrounded Gotham. She felt herself being lifted onto the rooftops, and flung across the top of a few.
They stopped moving after a few minutes of vigorous travel. Artemis was placed back on her feet, and the hold around her waist disappeared.
Now supporting herself, the blow to her head rushed back to her. She felt herself wobble, and she threw her hands out, desperate to find something to steady herself. Her palm connected with someone's chest, and fingers wrapped around her elbow. Artemis looked up, and locked eyes with Batman. The majority of his face was covered, but the stiff set of his lip conveyed the unasked question.
"I'm fine," she panted, pulling her arm away roughly, straightening and tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear. Artemis tugged at the hem of her jacket and ducked her head away from Batman.
"You're not."
Artemis didn't argue; her head was spinning and she was sure her words would come out slurred. Instead, she shrugged and ignored the urge to sit down on the damp rooftop.
"That was stupid," Batman said, crossing his arms over his chest and staring down at the younger girl.
"I know, I know," Artemis said sighing. "I can't do any hero work in my civvies; it was rash and could have compromised the whole League. I've heard the speech from Green Arrow."
Batman shook his head, and took a step closer. "You can't-"
Artemis suddenly clamped her hand over her mouth and leaned forward, nausea waving over her. She pulled her hand away and threw up all over Batman's shoes. He stepped away as she heaved again.
"Oh, god," the blonde said as she straightened, her cheeks still tinged green. "I'm so-"
Batman raised his hand, cutting her off mid-apology. "You can't let your emotions rule you when you're in your hero persona. Don't fight for what's happening during your civilian life."
Rolling her eyes, and trying to erase her blush, Artemis sighed again and rubbed her temples, her head throbbing. "Why else would I want to be Artemis then? What's the point of fighting if you're not fighting for something?"
He shook his head again, but didn't elaborate, only stared evenly at Artemis as her hands trembled and her pale cheeks flushed as she swayed, unsteady on her feet. She definitely had a concussion, how severe? She wasn't sure.
"Come on," Artemis said, jutting her chin out and ignoring the throb at the base of her skull. "There has to be a reason for doing all this. It's not like you had power thrust upon you or anything. You chose to do this. Why?" She realized this wasn't the most prudent time to start an argument with the Dark Knight of Gotham, but her overwhelming fury from earlier was slowly trickling back into her system.
It seemed like that answer was drifting to close to the topic of his identity, and he quickly changed the subject. "What were you doing tonight? Besides being reckless, sloppy and injuring yourself." He asked in his deep gravelly voice. The implications of a challenge edged his words, or at least Artemis decided to take it that way.
"That's none of your business," Artemis said, feeling childish as she turned her head away. Twisting her hips and planning to dramatically stomp away, Artemis wobbled on her heel.
Batman reached his arm out and grabbed her wrist, gently pulling her towards him and placing a hand on her shoulder.
Artemis looked up into his face, just barely able to see his eyes through the dark cowl, and in that second, she knew. She knew that he had seen her flinch away from Wally's playful jabs when they played baseball in happy harbor, or the suspicious glances she sent towards Ollie, wondering when he was going to turn on her.
That was when she knew that Batman was the one person who knew everything about her. Artemis really shouldn't have been surprised, seeing as he was the first one to seek her out (Except now she knew her mother had more to do with her recruitment than any actually talent). It was unreasonable to think he hadn't done any background check. It couldn't be hard to find her medical files, and all the unexplained injuries.
"I know," he said, tightening his grip on her shoulder before letting go and stepping back.
Artemis closed her eyes and took a deep breath, not really understanding what he knew, but letting the words sink in anyway, clinging to them like a life vest as she felt herself drowning.
"Go home," Batman said, and when Artemis opened her eyes, he was gone, leaving behind the faint sound of a swishing cape and a teenage girl who was slowly falling apart.
After a moment, Artemis started putting herself back together, and pushed open the door to the stairwell, not trusting herself to climb down and into a window on the side of the building.
As she walked home, (surprised that Batman had carried this far from where she had started) Artemis is almost positive she can see the black silhouette of the Hero running along the rooftops above her out of the corner of her eye.
For the first time in a long time, Artemis felt safe as she climbed the stairs to her apartment building, knowing that there was someone out there watching her.
And maybe, everything was going to be okay.
God, Artemis needs a father figure, and for some reason, I think Batman would be better at it than Green Arrow would. I still love Arrowfam fluff though, I think I'm going to have to write one of those next.
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