(A/N: Okay this is a nice, random one shot inspired by the "The Last…" challenge in the YJ forums ^-^ angsty so bewares! *but it has Spitfire in it so =D*
The prompt I got was this – Characters: Artemis, Green Arrow – Topic: "The Last…" Time I Saw You.
Enjoy~)
"Easy now Robin, don't hurt yourself," KF coaxed as he and Superboy helped their injured teammate into the Cave after a hard mission. Artemis and Megan were not far behind them and Kaldur was up ahead preparing the medical room for Robin. Zatanna rushed over in her civvies when they arrived, worry in her eyes.
"What happened?" she asked, walking with the boys as they continued to lead Robin along.
Robin looked up, half-a smile on his face. "It's nothing –" He coughed "– just a few scratches."
Superboy grunted. "Okay, so a broken leg, about seven gashes and lots of bruises counts as 'just a few scratches' that's nice to know."
"Who was it?" Zatanna all but demanded.
KF sighed. "It was Ra's Al Ghul's stupid 'man servant' Ubu." KF rolled his eyes. Zatanna opened her mouth at this, about to comment, when Red Arrow came into the room. He'd been on the team for about a year and a half now. The Team itself had been around for three years as of last month and their membership had gone up a lot. Within the first year, Zatanna joined. Then, more people began to slowly trickle in after that. Barbra became Batgirl in the first year and joined the next, Red Arrow finally agreed to join that year too. Dona Troy, Wonder Girl, had joined within the past half a year, and Garth and Tula also came in occasionally when needed…
That was unimportant right now, though, what mattered was the soon to be Angry Arrow that would be upon them.
Roy zeroed in on Robin in a second and he growled at the boy's state and instantly charged over.
"What happened? When? And WHY was I not there?" he barked rapidly.
Artemis quickly stepped between the Flaming Arrow and her boyfriend, placing a hand on Roy (who'd become like a brother to her)'s chest to hold him back.
"Calm down hot head," she said firmly. "When the League called, you weren't here and it was urgent so we had to leave right away. I'm sorry, it happens, now just CHILL and help us help Robin."
Roy nodded and sighed. "You're right," he agreed grumpily. Then, he pushed past Artemis and quickly scooped up his little brother (practically) in his arms and sped walked off to the infirmary despite the raven-haired boy's protests.
Artemis sighed and KF came over to her, resting one elbow on her shoulder. "Thanks for standing up for me," he said in a smooth tone.
Artemis rolled her eyes and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before shoving his elbow off of her shoulder. "Anytime Kid Smooth, now come on, we should check on Dick."
Wally nodded and quickly scooped up Artemis, like Roy had Dick, and rushed them to their friend.
…. …. …. …. ….
About an hour after the Team had gotten back from their successful mission (despite the injuries), the mentors showed up, having received the call from Roy that Dick had been injured.
Batman was the first one into the room. He shot Artemis a glare before checking on his son. Artemis wasn't one to feel like things were "her fault" all the time, but the look made a shoot of guilt surge through her. It sort of WAS her fault that Robin had been injured, she'd been helping him fight Ubu and Batman knew that. She could have helped, blocked the blows or just… just did MORE, but she hadn't been able to. Robin had always protected her, and when she'd gotten a nasty blow to the head (which was starting to swell) he'd completely taken over. If she could have just been stronger –
"Dad, really I'm fine," Dick soothed Bruce, rolling his eyes. "It actually would have been WORSE if Artemis hadn't been there. Speaking of which," the blue eyed boy turned to look at her, a concerned spark in his eyes, "you got a pretty bad blow to the head, are you okay?"
Artemis nodded, her hand unconsciously going to the bump. "Yeah I'm fine."
KF, who had been closer to Robin, instantly looked at her and came over, pushing her head forward very gently. When she tried to resist he simply turned her around. "Just let me see," he said, becoming the worried boyfriend in a second.
Artemis sighed as KF examined her head (with all of his medical knowledge, of course) while she looked at the Dark Knight who was now staring at her. She opened her mouth, about to speak when someone else came in.
"What's going on? What happened?" Green Arrow asked impatiently and KF suddenly had his hands by his side. Green Arrow was actually quite protective of Artemis and he never liked to see her and Wally's PDA.
Roy sighed, pushing himself off from where he was leaning against the wall across from Robin's bed and headed over to his former mentor's side. "A mission had some injuries, it happens all the time. You, of all people, should know that."
Oliver wrinkled his nose. "What is THAT supposed to mean?"
Roy grinned and patted Oliver's shoulder. "Whatever you WANT it to mean old man."
Oliver snorted and rolled his eyes. After a beat, though, his gaze went to Artemis. He glared slightly at KF but, surprisingly, the boy didn't budge. Oliver sighed and looked at his protégé again.
"Are YOU okay?" he questioned and she nodded, rubbing the bump on her head unconsciously.
"Yeah, it's just a bump," she said, wincing when she felt dried blood.
KF pressed his lips into a firm line. "Yeah, 'just a bump' that needs stitches because it's split open."
Oliver was at Artemis's side in an instant, examining the bump as KF had. He swore softly just as Martian Manhunter and Dinah came into the room. The Martian instantly went to Robin's side and began to take care of his injuries while Oliver pushed Artemis to sit on another bed and Dinah came over to her side.
"She needs stitches," Oliver told Dinah and she nodded. She wasn't very medically knowledged but she knew enough to do something as simple as stitching up a wound.
Artemis sighed and Dinah sent her a knowing smile as she cleaned up the cut. "You'll only feel a tug sweetie, you know the drill."
Artemis nodded and Wally came and sat by her, cowl down. She took his hand and squeezed it while Dinah made quick work of the needle and thread.
After Artemis was done getting patched up, Manhunter asked for everyone to leave (minus Batman, of course) so he could set one of Robin's bones.
KF pulled Artemis aside when they got out and gave her a kiss on the lips. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked her and she sighed, rolling her eyes.
"Seriously, I'm fine, the stitches don't mean anything. Besides, Robin is the one you should be worried about now, not me," she told her boyfriend firmly, poking his nose when he wrinkled it.
Wally opened his mouth to speak when the couple heard someone clearing their throat behind them. The two quickly disengaged when they realized it was Green Arrow. Wally grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck while Artemis looked smug. She, like Red Arrow, didn't mind annoying Queen every once in a while and she KNEW it annoyed him when KF showed any PDA with her.
"Um… I think I hear my uncle calling," Wally mumbled lamely when the situation started to get a bit awkward, he quickly gave Artemis a kiss on the cheek, despite GA's presence, before zipping away.
"Artemis, we're going home," Oliver told the girl simply after a moment. Artemis and her mother had been living at the Queen's manor for about a year now, so she no longer lived in Gotham, even though she still went to college there.
Artemis knew what he meant when he said that, she understood the underlying message: he wanted to talk. Well so did she, so, without arguing, she followed her mentor over to the Zeta Beams and they flashed out of the Cave.
Queen Manor
The two stepped through the entrance to the Zeta Beam in the lower levels of the manor without hesitation. Once the whirring died down, the two stopped and faced each other.
"Are you sure you're okay? The bump looked –" Oliver started to say but Artemis cut him off.
"Look, I'm fine okay? WHY are you so protective all of the time?" she snapped.
Oliver instantly grew angry. "You were NOT out there fighting against some low case villain, Artemis; Ra's Al Ghul is NOT a person to just scoff at. He's the real deal."
Artemis rolled her eyes. "Yes, I understand that but we handled him just FINE, and besides it hasn't just been this time! I've noticed you getting more and more protective recently. Oh, and something else that's been bothering me for a while is this – BACK OFF of my boyfriend! He's a good kid, you've known him almost all of his life and you liked him BEFORE so why can't you just leave us ALONE?"
"BECAUSE Artemis, just because I know he's a good kid, doesn't mean I don't think he's right for you! That kid has been and always will be a huge flirt with a big ego. You deserve BETTER!" Oliver snapped back.
"He's NICE to me, he cares for me and supports me, unlike what YOU seem to do sometimes," Artemis all but shouted, her voice quick and sharp.
Oliver just fumed for a second before exploding. "That's IT, off to your room young miss!"
Artemis growled, hands clenched into fists at her side. "Every time you start to freak out over our arguing you can just 'send me to my ROOM', it won't work anymore Ollie!"
"And WHY NOT?" Oliver challenged, scowling fiercely.
"Because, I'm LEAVING!" she shouted without thinking. "I get why Roy left now, you're just a crazy, rude, CONTROLLING idiot! GAH!"
And, with that, Artemis stormed off. She left the manor, true to her word and never looked back.
Oliver only stood there, frozen, as she went. After a bit he sunk to the floor and sobbed. The reason he'd become more over protective of her recently was because of two things: one, he simply cared and felt like a father to her, and two… she had reached the age that Roy had been at when he left…
Present – 2 Years Later
Arrowette was currently perched on top of one of the buildings in Star City. She hadn't been here in a LONG time, not since The Fight.
After she'd left her mentor, Artemis stuck with the Team for about a month, but finally, she simply split off. She couldn't stand it; it was too hard for her with Dinah around and GA continually trying to stop by. She'd always managed to leave before she could see her ex-mentor, no matter how hard Dinah tried to get them back together, she wouldn't do it.Even though Roy was supportive and the rest of the Team stuck by her, she simply couldn't do it, so she packed up and left. She was of legal age and she'd promised to be there if really needed, but, at the moment, she also needed space.
Artemis had stayed true to her word even though she'd left. She kept in contact with her teammates and her and Wally kept going out for about a year. She'd even gone on several harder missions with them as back-up.
Now though, here she was, single, alone, and confused as she looked at her old home through her binoculars. Arrowette sighed, she'd come back on a promise to M'gann to go to a Team "reunion" of sorts (the Team had broken up the year she'd stopped keeping in contact, which was right after Aqualad had died). Dick had offered a place at his house, but she'd declined it. Gotham held a lot of bad memories for her and, also, she already had a hotel room booked in Star City of all places. She wasn't sure why she'd booked it here when she could have booked it in Happy Harbor but something had compelled her to do so and now it was too late to change that.
Arrowette sighed and stood up, about to continue on patrol when she felt a hand on her shoulder. In an instant, she spun around, grabbing the person's arm and nailed them in the jaw with her elbow. She quickly twisted the arm she had grabbed hold of and pinned it behind the person's back, pushing them onto the ground, face first.
Said person grunted as they hit the rooftop with a thud. "I'm getting to old for this…" they groaned and Artemis instantly reacted. She knew that voice. And here she was praying she wouldn't run into them, well, it WAS their city…
Arrowette released the green figure and took a step back, a mask coming onto her face as she crossed her arms over her chest. "WHAT do you want?" she asked sternly. This was the first time the two had spoken in years, heck it was the first time she'd SEEN him in years too. She'd made sure to completely remove him from her life when she'd left, and now all of that was coming undone with her reappearance on the east coast.
Green Arrow stood up stiffly, rubbing the arm she'd pinned while he did. He looked up to meet Arrowette's gaze only to wince when she turned her head away.
"I came to say hi," he told her. "This IS my city you know."
Arrowette scowled and looked at him. "Then 'hi', now can you go –" she started to snap but Green Arrow cut her off.
"No, Artemis –" he began.
"It's Arrowette now," Artemis corrected harshly and Oliver grinned.
"Arrowette, I like it. It's definitely more creative then what Roy thought up, though he's changed it by now," Green Arrow mentioned and Arrowette couldn't help but smirk. Then, she realized what he said.
"Changed it? What is it now?" she questioned.
"Arsenal," Oliver told her and Artemis grinned.
"I like it – wait, you're distracting me," she growled, going from happy to snappy in an instant.
"I know, I'm sorry, but look, Arrowette, I don't want to be 'fighting' with you anymore! It's been two years and I'm ready to say sorry," Oliver pleaded and for once Arrowette didn't have a quick response. The statement caught her off guard; of course, she knew she should have expected as much from Oliver, he wasn't one to hold a grudge.
"I'm listening…" Artemis said slowly after a bit. She wanted to make up with Oliver, too, but she wasn't about to make it easy for him.
Oliver smiled slightly at her acceptance before quickly continuing.
"Look, our argument all of those years ago seems stupid now, but I still understand what I did wrong. I caged you up, I was rude and a bit over protective, but I was starting to care for you as my own daughter and maybe it was wrong to force my fatherly role onto you, so if it was, I'm sorry. I know back then I was terrible, I was immature and selfish and quick to anger. Dinah has changed me though and I get it now! I really just want to make up with you. Every relationship I've had on a mentor protégé level has ended badly but I've tried really hard to fix it! Roy and I are on speaking terms and I'd at least like to be on that level with you as well," he pleaded. "Please, say you'll forgive me."
The two stared at each other for a while, one with a pleading gaze, the other with eyes unwavering.
Oliver sighed after a bit. He knew he'd lost. He looked at the ground, opening his mouth to say, "I understand," when he was suddenly enveloped into a hug.
Oliver didn't know what to do at first, a bit too shocked to react, but finally he moved his arms to hug his ex-protégé back.
"I forgive you Ollie," Artemis told him, looking up to meet the archer's gaze and Oliver beamed.
"Thank you Artemis," he replied, "thank you."
(A/N: OKAY so I assume the prompt figured it'd be the LAST time they saw each other, but it was in the memory xD that is how I perceived it okay?
I hope you all enjoyed it, I know I had fun writing it ;D
And there you have it, my one-shot with Artemis and Oliver! PLEASE review and tell me how I did!
~KKCopper)