So this is a series of one shots that all kind of correlate together, but they can all be read separately and still make since, but anyway they are basically all Artemis at school with Dick and such. A bit of Dick/Babs and Dick Artemis friendship!
Artemis , Gotham Academy
To say she disliked her school would be an understatement, to say she wanted to scoop out her eyes with an arrow would also be an understatement. For words couldn't seem to really describe just how much she hated seeing the little bratty faces of all the rich kids here.
They all had everything they could every need and want, while the archer was stuck barely scrapping by with her wheelchair bound mother. Yes, Artemis realized she wasn't the only scholarship kid, but it was hard to tell who was and who wasn't. Whoever was here on scholarship hid at as best as they could, because let's face it getting a scholarship to one of the richest and snobbiest schools in the country is social suicide.
Although, there was one girl that didn't hid the fact she was here on scholarship. It's not like she flaunted it or anything, but it was hard for Barbara Gordon to shrug off the shadow of her father, forever alienating her from almost all the kids at school. Artemis had come to observe her, she found it intriguing actually. Barbara was pretty smart, and pretty sassy, but she was also the top gymnast, as she had learned from the multitude of trophies lining the school hallways.
And Barbara was not totally alienated; there was one boy she always hung out with. In fact it was the same black haired blue eyed boy that had taken Artemis' picture of the first day. The two seemed to click very well.
So Artemis watched, not realizing the subconciece feeling of hollowness that started to fester inside her. The fact that she was always angry with the school, because no one wanted to know her and she was fine with that really, or so she told herself. But did it matter? She was living a double life; there was no way for her to every hold a relationship or even friendship like Barbara's.
The archer did eventually find out who the boy was. And she of course felt so stupid for not realizing it before.
Dick Grayson. Orphaned acrobat, ward to Bruce Wayne billionaire.
How could she miss that? If Batman knew she had slipped up like that, letting a major detail such as the richest kid in the city pass under her nose, well then being grounded would sound like a treat compared to what the Dark Knight would have had her done. But he wasn't here, so there was nothing for her to do but feel slightly stupid.
But why would the richest kid in the city hang out with Barbara? How had they become joined at the hip?
"Scholarship kid," Artemis heard someone scoff as they passed her, waking the archer from her musing and bringing her into the harsh reality that she was back at the hell hole called Gotham Academy.
Artemis' long blonde hair whipped around as she turned to glare at the speaker. Said person kept walking, not even looking back to meet the archer's angry eyes. And that was just the start to her day.
So Artemis walked away, trying to release her anger as she walked to her locker. She couldn't let this affect her, she just couldn't. She had promised her mom no fighting. She had promised that she wouldn't come home with bloody knuckles like back when she was at Gotham North. She had to stick to it, and she also had to keep her scholarship, which would surely be yanked if she got anywhere near a fight while on campus.
At lunch, she pulled out her bag lunch, not having purchased the school food and sat at an empty table, alone, as usual. Looking down, the archer took a sandwich at and was about to take a bit when she felt something shift across from her. Preparing for the worst, after all with a father like hers who could blame her, Artemis glanced up, shifting her body in a position that would more easily allow her for an escape or fight.
She was met with two pairs of blue eyes, one a steal gray blue with a look of concern and the other a beautiful gem blue with a glitter of amusement in them. Completely caught off guard, the blonde looked around to see if maybe the two in front of her had friends waiting behind them, but no, they were alone, but that was usual for the two.
"Um," she started, mouth almost hanging open, which seemed to make the gem blue eyes brighten with unshed laughter.
"Barbara Gordon," the possessor of the steal gray blue eyes said, her hand flipping her flaming red hair over her shoulder, while her other hand was extending toward the archer who took it numbly, totally and utterly surprised and off her game.
"And that little troll is Dick Grayson," the girl continued, eyeing her younger male friend who still hadn't spoken, but now wore an amused smirk.
"Troll? That's the best you have, Babs? Come on, you can do better than that," he said with a cackle glancing at his red haired friend. "Come on even, Jeff Longley had a better name, circus freak? Although I prefer the term 'Circus Brat' much more fitting in my opinion," the black haired boy continued still smirking at the confused archer.
Barbara, noticing Artemis' confused face, continued, "Anyway, I'm in tenth grade with you, and Dickie over there is only a little freshy," she said with a smirk eyeing her shorter best friend, who in turn raised his eye taking her statement as a challenge.
"Freshmen I may be, but let's not forget who's ahead academically? And the prize would go to- who is that- oh wait that's right, ME," his voice taking on a joking tone as he pointed to himself. Then he glanced over at the blonde taking in her face and continued, planning on throwing her a curve ball because he just was a little troll like that, " And you are Artemis Crock, transfer from Gotham North," he said confidently.
Artemis looked the boy over, finally getting out of her daze at being ambushed by the two, he was puny that was for sure, and he seemed kind of self-absorbed and a little big headed, and did he really think that knowing her name and old school was something special, I mean for crying out loud she was friends with the World's greatest detectives protégé. This Dick kid got nothing on him. Artemis rolled her eyes, finally cataloging Dick into the mathlete group with his math text book resting on the table and everything, and for some reason the eye roll only made the ebony's smirk grow, the twinkle in his eye brightening.
-BREAKLING—
Life seemed up at school for the blonde archer. Well as up as you could get with a school full of snobs. Her time there had gotten better with the friendship of Dick and Barbara. Although she did start to notice more and more as she observed the two, many times from afar. Like the fact that the two were probably the single two most bullied students to ever go to Gotham Academy.
It was everywhere, 'Circus Freak', 'Charity Case', 'Scholarship Kid' and the list goes on, getting to the lesser names such as dweep or mathlete, but still she didn't understand how the two could take it, but they stuck together through the end.
And Artemis saw it one day, something she had never really seen before, the look of steel entering Dick's eyes. It had all started as the regular bulling session, but things had escalated, and the archer watched stunned about ten feet away.
"Well well well, what do we have here? The little Circus Freak, out again with that little trash of a girlfriend. Sucking out all the money from the school for charity cases like herself," said none other than Jeff Longley, the infamous school bully. Meanest kid around, or for high school at least.
The gearing laughs from his friends didn't help Dick or Barbara much who had turned away when he started talking, in fact the laughs of his friends only made he want to try harder to get the two misfits, "What's wrong, Circus boy? Mommy and daddy not here to stand up for you?" this of course got a huge reaction out of Barbara, who turned around her hand flying up to take on the bully, but was stopped by a strong grip from her ebony haired best friend.
"Awww, look his little girlfriend will stand up for him! How cute, she'll be just like her dad, standing up for all the freaks," the older and larger boy spat at the two. Barbara's face flinched slightly, not being able to hid how much that statement had gotten under her skin, but Artemis watched Dick, whose eyes took on a look of steal.
No one else noticed, of course, but who would think that the little mathlete was even that much of a threat anyway. Artemis noted how well Dick was able to hid the rest of his reaction and emotions, she also noticed Barbara grip the boy, the other girl had also noticed the blue eyed boy's reaction.
"Oh Little Miss Scholarship didn't like that, did she?" Jeff sneered, "Didn't like to hear the truth about little old daddy? Oh to bad, everyone knows the old crack pot is off his rocker, one of these days he'll die and we might actually have a real police commissioner," and Dick jumped into action at the mention of death.
Had Artemis not been watching the boy, she would have missed the movement. She would have missed how he sprung forward and jumped into the air summersaulting over the older and larger boy. She watched as Jeff's gaggle of friends scattered as the former acrobat landed neatly next to them. The archer watched the bully's baffled face, not understanding where the small freshmen had gone.
A familiar cackle sounded and Artemis listened, not placing the sound, but feeling a nagging feeling in the back of her head. And she watched as the freshmen boy, at least a foot shorter than the older boy in front of him, leaned forward on his tippy toes and whispered into Jeff's ear. She couldn't make out any words but watched as the bully's face paled and he nodded his head vigorously.
After a few moments the raven haired boy pushed the older one in the small of his back, causing him to stumble forward, and Artemis watched in shock as a grinning Dick Grayson grabbed Barbara's hand a turned to wink at the archer herself.
She watched for a few moments as the ebony pulled the red head away from campus, letting go of her hand after a few moments and started rolling into cartwheels. This boy was something else.
And looking back at the retreating backs of the bullies, the archer thought that maybe just maybe she might actually enjoy herself here.
Yes, I know slightly short compared to my other one shots, but this will probably have a lot more chapters coming. Hope you enjoyed! And please review!