Hey, everyone. This is my first Young Justice fanfiction, so I'm a bit nervous about this. It leans towards Traught, but it can be taken as strictly platonic. This wasn't what I expected when I started to write this, but it's what happened.
"You sure?"
Artemis stared at him, hoping, praying, he would say no, desperate to believe that she wouldn't have to press the button that would blow up Mount Justice.
She had given up that life years ago, never really wanting to leave, missing the thrill every moment she was away from it. She had come back at Nightwing's request. That didn't change what the cave meant to her.
No, that wasn't it, exactly – it wasn't the cave, but the memories she had of it. Mount Justice had been the place where someone who knew who her father was had accepted her. It had been the place where she had had friends. The place where she had realized she was a hero.
Throughout her childhood, she had admired people like Green Arrow and Batman, heroes that protected the innocent. And while she had been sure she could never be like them, they had been her inspiration to be not like her father.
Now she was. She wasn't Artemis anymore. She was Tigress. A villain.
She had fought with Nightwing – not just sparring, like they used to do all the time – and placed the collar around his neck. She had electrocuted him. How could she forgive herself for that?
He would tell her that it was okay, that she had to do it. He would tell her that it was for the greater good. That didn't change the way Artemis felt about it.
She didn't have her bow and quiver with her. It didn't feel right. During just about every dangerous situation she had ever been in, she had had her bow. It had always felt like a part of her body. It had been part of what had made her Artemis.
That wasn't her anymore. The bow had belonged to Artemis. Tigress didn't use one weapon.
When she and Nightwing had been fighting earlier, he had been smiling. Almost as if he could forget the circumstances. Almost as if it were just another day, another sparring session. His smile hadn't comforted her. She had been blinking back tears.
They had always sparred together. Artemis had always preferred sparring with him to anyone else. He was the only one who really understood her, understood her need to prove herself. He had to train just as hard as she did to be on the same level as all their super-powered friends. They had helped each other become the best they could be. He was the best friend she could have ever asked for.
She had electrocuted him.
Before he had become Nightwing, when he had still been Robin, they had worked better together than with anyone else. Their partnership had grown strikingly similar to the partnership between Robin and Batman. They didn't need words to communicate.
Their fight in Mount Justice had been painfully familiar. He could anticipate each of her movements and vice versa.
She had just seen him. But she missed him so much already.
If everything went according to plan, he'd be safe. Everyone in the cave would be safe and manage to get away. She and Kaldur would be trusted completely.
"Do it."
Artemis stared down at the detonator in her hand. She hesitated for the slightest moment.
She remembered something Robin had told her once, just before he had become Nightwing: Artemis, he manipulates, pulls strings! He'll do anything to get he wants. I don't want to become like that. I don't want to be ruthless.
He was nearly there. He wouldn't do anything, but she didn't know where he would draw the line. She didn't know him quite as well as she had. All she knew was that she was becoming the same. They would change together.
Stay safe, Nightwing.
She pressed the trigger.
