PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THIS BEFORE YOU READ: I have not read any of the Percy Jackson books in years so even though this takes place in the Percy Jackson Universe this is my own spin on that universe. Additionally, none of the Percy Jackson characters are in here, except for Chiron and mentions of Dionysus.
I've been working on this monstrous thing for 3 months and I'm finally posting it - I'm scared but excited to see what people have to say. Some quick thank you's, specifically to my history professor for being so monotone and boring that I had to occupy myself by writing fanfic AU's and finally to my lovely tumblr followers that encouraged me throughout the making of this fic. This is dedicated to you!
And to think this all started off as a silly little tumblr post and has now blossomed into my longest fanfic. I hope you enjoy! :)
Wally remembers eating dinner with his sibling at the Hermes table. He's stuffing his face with grapes and making lame jokes when Chiron comes in with Kaldur at his side; the satyr looks disheveled like he ran 12 miles in the last two minutes. There's a girl around his age standing with them. She has blonde hair that is messily pulled into a ponytail and strangely reminds him of Rapunzel, her tanned skin is covered in dirt, there's a nasty scratch on her arm that is definitely going to leave a scar, and her eyes remind him of fierce storms. He pegs her as a daughter of Athena, but he doesn't really know for sure.
Chiron makes a speech about how she straggled into camp after being chased by monsters across the state, and with the help of Kaldur has come to camp. He asks that all of the campers welcome her with open arms. The centaur sticks her at the Hermes table to eat since that's where all of the unclaimed kids go. The new girl takes a seat across from Wally, next to his brother Bart. Bart's a blabbermouth, so he is instantly bombarding her with questions.
"How'd you get here? Where are you from? Are you hungry? Don't eat too much ambrosia or you'll get sick and die. Has anyone claimed you yet? I bet you're one of Athena's. It's the eyes."
Blondie glares at Bart for a second. Wally can't tell if it's supposed to be threatening or whether she's trying to understand Bart's rambling. New Girl shrugs her shoulders, but decides to answer.
"Ran away from home, grew up in New York. Definitely not hungry – getting chased by monsters for the past two days has made me lose my appetite." She says with a wave of her hand, as if telling Bart all of this information were some sort of burden. "And no, no ones claimed me that's why I got stuck here." She finishes, seething at Bart.
The atmosphere is tense after that. Both boys glance at each other warily. Bart is looking a little uncomfortable after the blonde's comment, mostly because he feels bad – but still, she had no right to be so rude. So, Wally clenches his fists and returns a glare in her direction.
"Hey, he's just trying to make conversation," He snaps at her. The blonde looks surprised, like he dare get angry because she was mean to his younger brother.
She snorts and ripostes, "Well, maybe I don't feel like making conversation."
"Who are you anyway? I mean the least you can do is tell us your name, seeing as you'll be living with us." Wally huffs, crossing his arms on the table.
New Girl heaves a sigh and gives him her "signature" glare, "Artemis."
Wally can't help the chuckle that graduates slowly into a resounding laugh. "Well, Artemis, you're sure in the right place."
To his surprise, Artemis gives a slight smile before returning to her natural, unenthusiastic look.
Artemis has been at Camp Half-Blood a couple weeks and still hasn't been claimed. Honestly, she's not appalled, she's been bouncing around foster homes since she was three, so being unclaimed is another thing to add to her long list of disappointments she should've expected. Even her foster dad, who kept her around for three years, only kept her around to be his punching bag.
Today, the Hermes Cabin is headed to archery. She's a little excited, but the rest of the cabin is less than enthusiastic – they'd much rather be pulling pranks than shooting arrows – especially Wally. The cabin has specifically appointed her the duty of getting the redhead out of bed this morning. Usually the siblings take turns, but today they stuck the newbie with the chore… Assholes.
Wally's definitely not her favorite, but he's not her least favorite. They have a tendency to bicker, but she doesn't mind because it keeps her on her toes, and she and Wally are good at putting pranks together, which keeps her mind off the fact that no one has claimed her yet. They had pulled a good one on one of the Hephaestus kids, Dick Grayson. The duo rigged his computer to play hardcore heavy metal music non-stop between the hours of midnight and three in the morning at full blast. Dick was currently plotting revenge.
Artemis goes over to Wally's bunk and yanks the covers off of him. He whimpers pathetically and pulls his pillow over his head while simultaneously curling up into a ball. The rest of the cabin is already at the range, so it's just the two of them in the cabin.
"C'mon, Wally!" Artemis scolds him, putting her hands on her hips, which is supposed to be menacing, but it's lost on Wally since he's curled up into his pillow, "We gotta go to archery."
"Archery sucks," is his lame reply as he rolls over so his back is facing her.
The blonde sighs at the redhead and goes about trying to pry the pillow from his face. His grip is strong and she only succeeds in seeing a glimpse of his terrible bedhead. Artemis grabs a pillow from the bunk above him and hits him hard.
"Ow!" He groans, "Watch it, Blondie!"
"Please, Wally. Just get up!"
"And why should I? I hate archery. It's lame and I suck at it, so why go?" He huffs, removing the pillow from his face and looking at her dead on. She can see that his eyes are still clouded from sleep, but the challenge is still there. Artemis decides that the only way to get him out is to make things interesting.
"If you don't go, you'll miss me getting three bulls eyes in a row." Artemis smirks, throwing the pillow at his chest.
His reflexes are a little slow, but he still manages to catch the pillow before it hits him in the chest. "I highly doubt that's possible, Arty."
She flinches at the nickname, but continues, raising an eyebrow, "How do you know unless you come see?"
Wally, never one to back down from a challenge, especially one he knows he's going to win, says, "Let's make it interesting then. If you don't make it, you have to do my chores for the week." He smirks, eyes full of mirth.
Artemis knows she's got him, hook, line and sinker, but still ponders his offer for a second purely for dramatic effect. She sticks out her hand, "It's a deal."
Wally shakes her hand and they race to meet the rest of the cabin at the archery range. When they get there, the whole cabin is shocked that Artemis actually got Wally out of bed. Usually by now, they would've given up and accepted the fact that Mr. D would yell at them for having someone absent.
"What'd you do? Sell your soul?" Bart chides as the two stride over to the Hermes siblings.
"Nope, Artemis just has to do my chores for the week." Wally smirks.
Artemis elbows him in the side, "That's not true!"
"Yeah it is! That is unless you make three bulls eyes in a row, which I highly doubt, Blondie. The probability of that actually happening is impossible." The redhead explains critically.
"Well, I guess we're about to find out." Artemis snaps, grabbing a bow and three arrows.
She stands at the line and preps herself, setting her bow, notching an arrow and aiming for the center of the target. She takes a deep breath, steadies herself, and let's her mind go blank. Artemis isn't dumb; she knows there is no way that she could make three bulls eyes in a row. But she was as stubborn as they come and dammit, she was willing to try. So she sets that aside for the moment and focuses solely on the target.
Artemis lets the arrow fly and it strikes the dead center.
She can hear a low whistle come from one of the Hermes kids, but she can't tell which one it is. Before she can think about her dumb luck, she's notching another arrow, takes another deep breath and it's flying through the air once more. This arrow splits the first one down the center. Two bull eyes in a row.
The blonde grabs the final arrow, doesn't think twice before letting it go. She blinks and almost misses seeing it hit its target. Artemis blinks and cannot believe her eyes, the third arrow had landed exactly like the first two. She had actually made three bulls eyes in a row.
Artemis turns around to see a dumbstruck Hermes cabin. Except they aren't looking at her bulls eyes, or even her for that matter, they're looking at the space above her head. She cautiously looks up and sees a lyre illuminated over her head. Her jaw drops instantly and looks back to see Wally staring back at her, not at the lyre floating over her head.
"I told you." Artemis smirks at him, gray eyes meeting green ones, sparks of electricity passing across the field.
Wally can only nod his head in agreement. That is until Bart is tapping him on the shoulder. "You were wrong, she's not Athena's. Cough up your twenty bucks."
The redhead sighs and begins digging through his pockets for his wallet.
Wally finds himself staring at her empty bunk more than he expected to. Artemis was the only one who challenged every word he said and the only person who would chastise him for talking with his mouth full (all of his siblings simply look away in disgust). She would make ridiculous bets with him, like that she could find the flag that the Athena cabin hid before he could. She knew he could find it first, he's been playing capture the flag at camp since he was 10, he knows their tricks, but that doesn't stop her from trying (Wally even claims that he let her win when she finds it first).
He admits that he misses having Artemis in the cabin, but he's happy she's been claimed. Everyone deserves to find out who their parents are.
Bart catches him staring at her abandoned bed and elbows him in the ribs. "Dude, it's not like she died! She's literally our neighbor!"
Wally sighs, "I know, I know. It's just weird not seeing her all the time."
"Oh ho, you've got it bad." His brother laughs.
Wally raises an eyebrow at Bart, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"You totally like Artemis! Which is good considering Dad doesn't have any grudge against Apollo – unless you count that one time Dad broke his lyre, and besides that Demeter girl, Megan, is totally into that Athena kid, Connor. So your chances with her are ziltch. Plus-"
"Okay!" Wally shrieks, effectively halting Bart's rant. "I get it, but I don't like her like that. Artemis and I are just friends. Barely even friends, more like… casual acquaintances."
Bart rolls his eyes, "Casual acquaintances? The sexual tension between you two is practically a physical being!"
Wally dismisses his assumption with a wave of his hand and leaves the cabin to get some fresh air (but mostly to escape Bart's ridiculous relationship "advice"). He turns away and goes to seek out Dick in the Hephaestus cabin. Sure he's plotting revenge against him and Artemis for their heavy metal prank, but Dick is also Wally's definitive best friend at camp.
The redhead walks across the quad to Dick's cabin – it's hot outside and he's practically soaked his Camp Half-Blood t-shirt in sweat, but Wally doesn't really care at the moment. He's halfway there when he glances over at the Apollo cabin. Aphrodite is surely tampering because he immediately finds Artemis who's chatting with one of her younger siblings, Cissie. The blonde catches him staring at them and gives a small smile accompanied by a wave. Wally reciprocates despite the fact he's covered in sweat and in his distraction almost runs over a young Demeter kid named Garfield. He dodges the young boy and catches Artemis laughing at his expense as he trips and stumbles from the close encounter.
Wally smiles and is happy that Artemis has found her place at camp.
At first it's weird moving into the Apollo cabin. When she looks around at her siblings, she's got nothing in common – at least physically. They all have golden eyes like the sun. But, hers are gray, like the moon on a clear night. Artemis feels out of place, like Apollo clearly made a mistake in claiming her. Even the cabin leader, Roy Harper, thinks their dad was clearly drunk on nectar when claiming Artemis. She outwardly doesn't care, but it stings a little because even amongst her so-called "siblings" she's an outsider. She'd never out rightly admit it, but late at night, when she's having trouble sleeping, Artemis misses Wally's obnoxious snoring and Bart's sleep talking. She'll never say that to their faces though.
It's not until the Apollo cabin is at archery that Roy and the other kids become more accepting. She has to hit ten bulls eyes in a row, (beating the camp record of eight) before they concede that she has to be one of Apollo's kids. One of her sisters, Cissie, comes skipping up to her, throwing her small arms around Artemis' waist, and begs to have her older sister teach her how to shoot like her. The blonde can't help but smile as she pats her sister on the head, "Sure thing, kid."
The next day, when Artemis wakes up, she finds a collapsible bow and a quiver full of celestial bronze tipped arrows at the foot of her bunk. She runs her hand along the bowstring, in awe of the intricate carvings along the curve of the bow and it's sleek silver coloring.
"Dad must be impressed that you broke the camp record."
Artemis' head snaps up to find Roy standing next to her bed. "He gave me a similar one when I broke the record too."
The blonde nods her head, still mesmerized by the beauty of the bow. She almost feels bad for breaking Roy's record, but she feels like she earned this – the validation that she was good at something.
"Save it," Roy says, placing a hand on her shoulder, "It'll come in handy during a quest."
It was in that moment that Artemis finally felt like she belonged in the Apollo cabin.
Today the camp is engrossed in a game of capture the flag. The sky is overcast and the humidity is almost unbearable, but that doesn't stop the cabins from being overly competitive. Red team is Demeter, Poseidon, Hades, Athena and Apollo. Blue team is Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hermes, Zeus and Ares.
The game is in full swing. Red team makes the first point when an Athena kid, Barbara, manages to grave the blue flag by strategically sneaking behind enemy lines and slinking back over into red territory like some sort of ninja. The blue team retaliates. Zatanna, a daughter of Aphrodite, expertly charmspeaks the location of the flag from poor, unsuspecting Garfield; the blue team has Wally and Bart retrieve it – they are the fastest kids at camp, almost capable of being orange blurs even when they aren't wearing the sneakers their father gave them that grants them super speed. The brothers are able to dodge the arrows the Apollo siblings use to defend their flag. In the end, it's not enough and blue team gets a point.
It's match point. Barbara has sent a group consisting of Megan of Demeter, Connor of Athena and Artemis to capture the flag. Megan and Connor provide diversions so Artemis can snag the object of their mission. As she sneaks away, Artemis can see Megan parry blows from Dick, while Connor fights with one of Zeus' kids.
The blonde proceeds carefully. When Hephaestus, Ares, and Hermes are on the same team, it is necessary to watch out for booby traps. Artemis remembers one time tripping a wire and being catapulted back to her side of the field. This time she was determined to not make that mistake again.
Artemis sticks to the brush and carefully proceeds to where she knows the flag is hiding. If she knows anything about the Hermes cabin – and arguably she knows quite a lot – they usually put the flag in a noticeable spot. Typically they put it right besides this giant oak tree and surround the perimeter with traps.
She tiptoes around the obvious pitfalls and avoids all of the trip wires before eventually coming up to the flag. She's just about to grab it and make her escape when someone tackles her from the side. She grunts from the air suddenly leaving her lungs and goes tumbling down the hill with her assailant. They land in a pile of limbs on the forest floor and Artemis finds herself staring at fierce emerald eyes and a freckled nose.
"Wally!" she shouts at him. "What are you doing? You should be on offense!"
Wally is hovering over her, his weight supported by his hands and knees. She's effectively pinned underneath him, meaning that he has officially captured one of the red team's ringers.
He cannot believe his good luck.
"I was, but I saw you trying to sneak to our flag. So, I followed you instead." Wally explains, grinning from ear to ear at his success. "You know you're not a good ninja like Babs." Artemis rolls her eyes at his comment.
They're both sweaty and breathing heavily. The pair could barely hear the game continuing on around them. Wally notices Artemis' eyes are like the calm before the storm, swirling, gray and full of crackling electricity. It seems like time has slowed down and Wally can't figure out why, but he likes it. Just the two of them – his body over hers, staring at each other. She can pick out all of the individual freckles on his face and he can see the beauty mark hiding along her hairline. They hear a twig snap and the moment is gone.
Wally's grin slowly morphs into a smirk when he hears the sound of Dick rejoicing, screaming about their victory over the red team. The redhead later finds out that the Ares kids organized a full frontal assault while Cassie Sandsmark managed to grab the flag.
"Looks like we won, Blondie." Wally chides. Artemis glares at him and punches him in the shoulder.
"Just get off of me!" she remarks, using all of her strength to push Wally off of her. Artemis sees Dick walking over to them. He has a cocky grin on his face, meaning he's at least seen Wally on top of Artemis.
"Congrats, dude! You've finally caught a chick."
Wally's face burns bright red to match his hair. He gets up off Artemis and offers his hand to help her up. She accepts his offer and he hoists her to her feet. "Not funny, Dick." Wally growls, but proceeds to run over and jump onto Dick's back in celebration. The smaller boy almost falls onto his face from the sudden force, but regains his footing. They both begin whooping and hollering about their victory and immediately begin smack talk when they realize Artemis is there.
"You feeling the aster, Artemis?"
"Yeah, Blondie, how does it feel to taste crushing defeat?"
"Yeah, yeah, keep it up! But you won't be too happy when we win next time, Mailman!" she yells back.
"Ha!" Wally scoffs, at the nickname, "I'd like to see you try!" He hollers as they turn around to celebrate with their team.
It's not until Artemis has returned to her side of the field when she realizes she misses Wally's warmth and his body hovering over hers. She shivers and knows, deep, deep down, it's not because she's cold.
Camp is winding down to a close. There's only a few days left and Chiron has the entire camp go canoeing. Wally's grateful for a chance to relax. He feels like he's been working extra hard in hand-to-hand combat, plus his swordsmanship has vastly improved this summer. He's also spent a considerable amount of energy dodging pranks from Dick – who's slowly recruiting a team to help get revenge.
Wally is wandering the beach looking for a partner to canoe with when he spots Artemis sitting on a bench far away from the water. She's sitting with her knees curled into her chest and her head is resting on top. He strides over and sits down next to her.
"Not up to canoeing?" He asks.
Artemis shrugs her shoulders, "Not really feeling it today." Her eyes look like steel as she stares out over the Long Island Sound. It's a gorgeous day with not a cloud insight and the water looks like glass. A perfect day for canoeing.
"C'mon, Blondie! It's such a nice day! One last hurrah for us." Wally elbows her side. "C'mon, Arty, you know you want to."
"No thanks, Wally." The blonde replies menacingly as she continues to watch campers pass by them on the water. Wally is about to retort with a snarky comment when Chiron comes galloping down the beach.
"Well you might not have much of a choice now." He mutters, pointing out Chiron who was beginning to come to a halt beside the bench.
"Alright you two, last camp activity! Into the canoes! Chop, chop!" The centaur says, a smile upon his face.
Artemis looks up at him with pleading eyes, silently begging him for mercy. The blonde does not feel like canoeing and she certainly does not want to get into a canoe with Wally West of all people. Mostly because Wally West is going to try to cheer her up, which would make her more miserable in the end. Or try and ask her what's wrong, which she also does not want to do. But Chiron's gaze clearly says otherwise, as if this was the centaur's plan all along – to get her in a canoe with Wally in order to confront the inner demons nipping at her heels.
Finally, Artemis relents and stands up from the bench. "Fine, fine, let's go, Baywatch."
She stomps across the sand to a canoe, Wally following in her wake.
"Baywatch?" the redhead asks her once they're in the canoe and paddling down the sound, tailing Bart and his best friend from the Hephaestus cabin, Jaime Reyes.
Artemis snorts, "It's not because you look like David Hasselhoff. Trust me."
Wally grins, cause at least she's attempting conversation now and not sulking. That is until he turns around and sees that her lips have relaxed into the same frown that was on her face when he found her at the bench.
He frowns at her before asking, "When are you gonna tell me what's wrong?" He sets his paddle inside the canoe and cautiously turns to face her.
The blonde immediately turns on her defensive exterior. "I have no idea what you're talking about, West." She snaps, crossing her arms across her chest once she's dropped her own paddle into the canoe.
"Oh, quit the tough girl act!" He bites back. "You think that you can sweep me under the rug, Arty, but it sucks for you cause I won't let you."
"Don't you dare call me 'Arty'." She growls, her raspy voice low in her throat. She looks about ready to pounce and rip his throat out.
Wally swallows his fear and plows on, "Oh ho ho, I will dare all I want, Arty. Arty, Arty, Arty." He emphasizes the nickname to piss her off more. "Will you just-"
He doesn't get a chance to finish because Artemis has slapped him across the face. Wally doesn't even register it until his hand is clasping his cheek and he realizes it hurts like hell, but all he can see is Artemis' painful expression and the fact that he put it there.
"I said don't call me that!" She screams, angry tears running down her cheeks. "It's so patronizing! Arty this, and Arty that! You wanna know why I hate it, Wally?" She's seething – the tears are beginning to amass a steady flow down her face, "My foster father, you know? The one who used me as a punching bag for three years? He used to call me that! But hey! At least it was home! All of you guys get to return to your cushy lives with your parents and I'm stuck here with only Chiron and maybe Kaldur for company. So sorry I didn't feel like canoeing earlier cause I'm still trying to cope with the fact that I'm being abandoned once again!"
Wally stares at her, his jaw slightly open, still in awe at her outburst of emotion. Artemis wipes her nose with the back of her hand and brushes the tears off of her cheeks and chin. He's never seen her cry – granted not many people have – and he hates that he's part of the reason why.
"And to think," she mutters quietly – she probably thinks Wally can't hear it, but he totally does, "I was finally beginning to feel at home… Like I had found something permanent."
The redhead is about to reply when the canoe rocks and the pair are sent careening into the water. Artemis shouts a string of expletives that would make Hades blush as they hit the Sound. They both resurface, coughing up saltwater from their lungs. Dick's cackling is heard right beside them and Wally whips his head around to see his best friend with Bart, Jaime, and a few of Dick's siblings, laughing at them.
"Revenge has never been so sweet." Dick says, showing off a toothy grin.
Wally barely acknowledges his friend as he looks to see Artemis swimming towards shore. Once she reaches the sand, she doesn't even look back at him as she runs towards the cabins.
"Dude, so not a good time."
Last day of camp means a lot of goodbyes.
Artemis doesn't plan on saying goodbye to Wally. After abandoning him a couple of days ago, she decides that she doesn't deserve to see him off – she's lost the right. However, she does give a few farewells.
The blonde has to practically rip Cissie off of her when the younger girl's parents show up. Artemis wipes away the girl's tears like the fabulous big half-sister she is and promises to stay in touch.
"Next summer will be even better," she promises, giving Cissie one last hug before sending her off to her parents.
Roy gives her his standard clap on the back and if for some reason Chiron sends her to Boston, she can crash with him. Artemis gives her brother an endearing smile and promises to keep the cabin in tip top shape for when they come back.
Dick gives her a parting gift of a cellphone he made. It's lame cause you can only use it to call other people over Wi-Fi (which the camp severely lacks unless you're in the Hephaestus cabin (hello, of course they have their own connection) or in the Mess Hall), but it has Dick's number programmed in, as well as Bart's, Zatanna's, Barbara's, Megan's and Wally's. She gives Dick a big hug for that instead of a punch to the shoulder that he deserved after throwing her into the ocean with Wally.
Her last goodbye is to Zatanna. The daughter of Aphrodite gives her a bracelet she made out of silver and says that it goes with any outfit – even the orange camp t-shirts. Artemis can't help but giggle and waves goodbye as Zatanna runs down the hill to rejoin her family after a long summer.
With that final goodbye, Artemis' summer is officially over. She heaves a heavy sigh and is about to head back to the empty Apollo cabin when she feels a tap on her shoulder. Artemis spins around to find Wally standing there looking sheepish instead of his usual over-confident self. She's ready to runaway and curl up in her bunk, but he starts talking.
"This may be one of those things that sounds better in my head, but you do have a family." He says and grabs hold of one of her hands before he looses his nerve. "You may not think it right now, but Roy, Cissie, Bart, Dick, Zatanna, Megan, and myself are your family." Wally places a couple of drachmas in her hand. "So, if Chiron is giving a boring lecture on Troy or if Mr. D is being his usual sarcastic and rude self, you can always Iris-message me."
Artemis looks at the drachmas in her hands for a second before looking back at Wally. Her eyes are beginning to water of their own volition and before Wally can be a loser and apologize for making her cry happy tears, she wraps her arms around him and pulls him into a tight hug.
They stay there for a moment, lingering in their embrace, when Artemis breaks the comfortable silence, "Wally?" she whispers into his collarbone. "It sounded fine… Out loud."
For once in his life, Wally is at a loss for words.
It's only the second week and Artemis has run out of things to occupy her time. Her days mostly consist of training: she's been practicing her archery, and has challenged practically every nymph or satyr to spar with her (she even asked Mr. D, but he laughed in her face). She's so bored out of her skull that she's cleaned the already spotless cabin, twice.
Now, she simply wanders camp. She tends to find herself in front of the Hermes cabin to sit on their porch and let her mind wander. Artemis thinks about her friends and how they have school coming up. Chiron says that he'll start giving her lessons in the coming week, but she's not that excited. School is school, even if a centaur is teaching it. She thinks about how her summer had gone so far, and wonders what Wally is up to. She wants to call him or Iris-message him, but she wants to give him his space (and save her drachmas). He's got to get ready for school and Artemis convinces herself that he doesn't want to hear about her woes.
Currently, she's sitting on the steps of the Hermes cabin when Kaldur walks by. She waves to him solemnly. Kaldur frowns and walks over.
"Are you okay, Artemis?" He questions, he's on his way to the Big House, but he can spare his friend a couple of minutes to talk. He knows she's bored. Once camp ends, it get's really quiet and it always takes him a couple of weeks to become accustomed to the silence once again.
Artemis sighs, "Yes, I'm fine. Just bored out of my skull, like usual." She drops her chin into her hands, which are propped up on her knees. "It's too quiet around here. I swear Kaldur, I might go insane from the silence."
Kaldur chuckles and pats her shoulder in sympathy. "How about you come to the Big House with me. It'll give you something to do."
The blonde nods her head, "It's better than sitting here wishing I was doing something else."
They leave the Hermes cabin and make their trek to the Big House. They enter and find Chiron on the porch, reading a book.
"Ah, Kaldur." He says, setting the book down on the coffee table and looking towards the satyr. "And Artemis." He adds.
"Hi, Chiron." Artemis waves, "Kaldur told me I could tag along, I hope you don't mind."
Chiron gives a chuckle that stems from deep within his belly, "Of course not,"
Artemis smiles at him, but Kaldur is business as usual, "Chiron, what is it that you wanted to ask me?"
Chiron clears his throat and trots into the main room of the house. He moves over to his desk, grabs a folder, and hands it to Kaldur. "I want you to go undercover in Los Angeles. I've been getting reports of monster activity surrounding a Jason Todd. Now, I have no proof and Gods knows the Gods won't tell me, if he is a Half-Blood, but I cannot just sit by and watch a kid be trampled by hellhounds."
Kaldur nods his head, "Understood. When do I start?"
"I still need you at camp for the rest of September to help break things down. So you'll be enrolled at the end of October. You'll leave at the beginning of that month." Chiron explains.
"I want in." Artemis says to Chiron in the most authoritative voice she can muster.
The centaur looks shocked, but nods his head as an indication for her to continue. "Kaldur may need some extra back-up and since I'm the only one here, I'm the obvious choice." She declares proudly.
Chiron smiles down at her, "Is this an excuse to travel across the country to visit Wally in Kansas?"
Artemis pales instantly and looks to the ground so Chiron and Kaldur can't see the blush spreading across her face. "No!" she splutters, "What the hell would give you that idea? You think I actually want to see that numb skull? I'd much rather face a dozen hellhounds."
The centaur and satyr share a knowing look. Kaldur nods his head at Chiron and says, "I don't see why not."
"Alright Artemis, pack your bags! You're officially going on a quest." Chiron declares, smiling warmly.
Artemis beams up at him and bounces out of the Big House buzzing with a newfound energy and excitement that only comes from getting put on a quest. She's on the porch, bounding down the stairs when she hears Chiron shout something at her.
"And if you want to visit Wally while you're traveling, I'd be fine with that!"
She growls obscenities at Chiron that he shouldn't be able to hear now that she's heading for her cabin. The centaur, on the other hand, could only sigh and face Kaldur.
"Young love is just so refreshing. Don't you think, Kaldur?"
The school year is back in full swing in Kansas City. It's mid-October and Wally's in his English class listening to his teacher drone on about Ernest Hemingway. He's propped his head on his hands and his eyes keep threatening to close. The teacher's monotone voice has already put four other students to sleep and Wally is ready to join them. He remembers hearing something The Old Man and the Sea before his hands can't hold his head up anymore and he's face down on the desk following the other students into dreamland.
However, that serenity is broken when Artemis comes crashing through the window, quiver strapped to her back with her bow in hand. Everyone in the classroom is screaming bloody murder after Artemis makes her grand entrance. It's more the shock of her rolling through a shower of glass than the fact that she has medieval weaponry on her.
The students scatter immediately and Wally races to Artemis' side after quickly recovering from the disbelief of her showing up at his school in Kansas and his brief three seconds of sleep. "What the hell are you doing here?" He growls, helping her up while brushing glass off of her clothing.
"Oh, I don't know, West. Just saving your ass." She banters, "Nice to see you too, by the way." He can't help but notice that she looks nice in clothes that aren't distinctly orange – like boots and leather jackets and a t-shirt that's (surprise!) green.
Wally swears he can't help the smile that crosses his face.
"Now," Artemis says curtly, but nonetheless, returns the smile, "Back to business." She notches an arrow and aims it at the Hydra making it's way towards the school. "Hydra, attacking your school. Time to get to work."
Wally nods his head and grabs the sneakers that give him super speed from his backpack and strap them on. "You got a plan?" He asks as he races towards the Hydra to provide a distraction. Two of the three heads try to crush him between their jaws, but he manages to avoid his imminent doom.
"Not really! Chiron never covered disabling Hydras when he agreed to let me see you." Artemis yells to him as she sends an arrow straight into one of the Hydra's eyes.
"See me for what?" Wally shouts.
"Can we talk about it later?" She pleads with a blush on her face that Wally doesn't notice. Artemis is starting to run low on arrows and her brain is running on overdrive. Camp totally did not prepare her for the adrenaline rush of a proper battle with a real monster.
"Sure." He pants, running up to stand beside her. "Quick question though, you got a blow torch in your quiver?"
Artemis falters slightly with her bow and succeeds in stuttering out a "Huh?" as she dives to avoid a swinging Hydra head.
"Yeah, cause in the original myth, Heracles cuts off the heads and burns the stumps before they can grow back." Wally explains as he races around the Hydra effectively making the creature dizzy.
"Sorry, definitely low on blowtorches." She quips, aiming an arrow and shooting it where she assumes the Hydra's heart is.
The arrow hits it mark, burying itself into the monster's chest and Artemis and Wally are showered in gold monster dust. They both are in shock, their jaws flying open in awe. Awe gradually develops into glee and Wally sprints to Artemis and spins her around in the air – both smiling and laughing at their sheer dumb luck. Wally stops spinning her and hugs her tightly.
"You know, I forgot to do something when I left camp." He whispers, suddenly emboldened by the adrenaline coursing through his veins. Wally looks into her stormy eyes, still clouded with her own adrenaline from battle and there's dirt covering her face and some blood running from a cut on her forehead. He can't help but think that she looks the same way she did when Chiron brought her into the Mess Hall all those months ago.
"And what's that?" Artemis' voice is a low rasp and her breath ghosts over his lips and Wally swears he's gonna kiss her. Kiss her soundly on the mouth and he's so close he can practically taste the peppermint tic tacs she had probably been eating before the Hydra attacked.
"Artemis! What the hell did you do?" Wally hears Kaldur yell and the pair jump apart like they are two opposing magnetic forces.
"Kaldur," Artemis sighs, "Don't worry about it."
"Don't worry about it? Artemis the camp cannot afford this damage!" Kaldur whisper yells – his satyr legs are unrecognizable due to the Mist (to bad it doesn't disguise Kaldur's sense of ethical values) and he's trying to avoid more attention by the steady flow of students gathering around.
Wally takes a moment to survey the damage. They were still inside the classroom, but the entire wall that faced the outside was completely knocked down and the wall facing another classroom was obliterated, reduced to rubble by the Hydra. Not to mention, if Wally looked outside he could visibly follow the path of destruction that Artemis and the Hydra had left behind.
Kaldur's pinching the bridge of his nose trying desperately to keep his anger under control, but barely succeeding. "We need to go, now." He says with urgency, grabbing Artemis' wrist, while she in turn grabs Wally's and they are both dragged by Kaldur out of the school and down the street.
Wally can hear police sirens in the distance. His mom is totally going to murder him when she finds out. He's definitely grounded the rest of the year and will probably end up being homeschooled. Wally's counting all the various punishment his mother could possibly come up with when a thought occurs to him.
"Hey! You never told me why you're here in the first place." Wally asks Artemis – Kaldur's still dragging them down the sidewalk towards the outskirts of the city.
"I got a quest." Artemis doesn't usually squeal, but it slips out a little as well as a wide grin that shows off all of her teeth.
"You mean I got a quest." Kaldur corrects her, "You get to come along."
"Oh whatever." She says, rolling her eyes at the satyr. "Kaldur," she corrects, "got a quest and I'm tagging along, so we decided to stop by and say hi."
"And your definition of 'stopping by to say hi' includes destroying my school?" Wally asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't think Kansas City, of all places, would have Hydras, of all things. How do you even survive around here?" Artemis rambles, yanking her wrist out of Kaldur's grip and letting go of Wally's in order to gesture to the city.
"It's a big city, usually I can avoid it." Wally answers sarcastically.
The trio end up at Wally's house and his mom is absolutely livid. She yells until her face matches her hair and Wally swears that his mom is going to murder him right then and there until Artemis intervenes. She apologizes profusely and taking all of the blame. His mom softens considerably and Wally let's out a sigh of relief. If he knew that to avoid his mom's wrath was to bring home Artemis, he should probably do it more often. (Don't tell Artemis.)
Mrs. West explains that the school called and due to the Mist, the whole debacle with the Hydra looked to mortals that a bulldozer had smashed into the classroom. Wally's teacher had been freaking out that Wally had gotten hurt in the mess when they couldn't find him once the debris had cleared. Mrs. West, knowing better, assured the teacher that if she knew her son he'd be home soon. And she had been right.
The three of them move into the living room. Kaldur is munching on some carrots Wally's mother offers and the satyr relaxes considerably. He usually isn't so on edge, but having Artemis around to attract monsters and property damage has him a little stressed out, hence his uncharacteristic shouting.
"So, explain this quest to me." Wally is sitting on the couch next to Artemis while Kaldur makes himself cozy in an armchair.
Kaldur is the first to speak up, "Chiron has me keeping an eye on a potential half blood out in California. Artemis and I are to go undercover at his school as transfer students and provide any necessary protection."
"And when Kaldur says protection, he means me." Artemis remarks slyly, pointing at herself.
"Only when necessary." Kaldur counters, "Remember what Chiron said."
"Yeah, yeah," Artemis waves a hand to dismiss his oncoming lecture and counts off Chiron's points on her fingers, "No unnecessary force, try not to set the school on fire, and most importantly don't attract attention. I remember."
"And you're doing such a great job of that." Wally says sarcastically, causing the two to start their usual squabbling.
Kaldur smiles at the scene – he's glad Artemis convinced Chiron to let her come along. Kaldur knows that she was going crazy at camp by herself, practically buzzing with energy that not even constant training could keep under wraps. Plus, this "mission" gave her the chance to see her friends in person and not just via Iris-message. The satyr also knows she was missing Wally the most. Artemis probably doesn't realize that he would see her lingering by the Hermes cabin, sitting on the steps thinking.
"So, you're just stopping by?" Wally asks, breaking up their bicker battle. He's trying to hid his disappointment because – he's not gonna lie – it would be cool to go undercover in a school. He knows his mom and stepfather would not be too keen on the idea, plus he's got commitments to his high school track team (they would kill him if he left in the middle of the season), so the dream ends there.
"Yup." Artemis replies, "We already saw Dick in New York and Babs and Roy in Boston and once we leave here, we stop in Vegas to see Zatanna and then off to Los Angeles. It's really exciting, actually. I've never been out of New York before." Her eyes are shining with excitement.
Wally grins at her before spreading out his arms with gusto, "Well, welcome to Kansas!"
Kaldur and Artemis have to leave shortly after that (Kaldur claims that it's because they need to be in Los Angeles by the end of the week, but Wally thinks it's because Kaldur would probably lose it if Artemis accidently attracts more trouble before their real mission even starts) and after that brief visit, Wally doesn't hear much from her. It annoys him, but he can't do much about it. Zatanna tells him about their brief adventures in Vegas, but other than that she's practically disappeared. It's not until New Year's Eve that he gets a call from her.
He picks up the phone and barely manages a "hello" before she's rambling nervously – which is usually his thing, but he's glad the roles have been reversed for once.
"I'm so sorry I haven't called you. I've been trying to, really I have, but I can't really Iris-message in the dorms and it's risky to even talk to you in case people start asking questions. And this school has really high academic standards for someone with dyslexia and ADHD and have I mentioned the uniforms they make us – "
"Whoa, whoa, slow your roll there, Blondie." Wally interrupts her, "I missed you too."
They both are beet red, but neither can see.
In late March, he gets an Iris-message from Artemis. They go through the usual catching up – "How's school?" "Fight any monsters in the past week?" "Did you win your track meet?" "How's Kaldur?" and once all of those topics have been expunged it gets quiet.
"Wally?" Artemis is looking down, fiddling with the skirt of her uniform – which she despises because the colors are drab and she'd much rather be in jeans and her camp t-shirt.
"Yeah?" Wally asks, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.
She heaves a huge sigh, there's no turning back now. "Remember back in October, when Kaldur and I saw you and I wrecked your school and everything?"
"How could I forget, I'm still cleaning up that mess!" He chides, winking at her for good measure.
Artemis clears her throat, "Well, you said that you forgot to do something before leaving camp and –" her face is a flush pink across her cheeks and nose, "- I was wondering what it was."
Now, Artemis Crock is by no means dense. She's fully aware of what almost happened and after months of wresting with the idea and what she was feeling towards Wally, plus some helpful advice from Kaldur, she'd come to the conclusion that what she was feeling was more than a mere platonic attraction – it was an all out magnetic force. All she needed to know was how Wally felt about the whole thing and if that almost-kiss in Kansas was anything to go by, Artemis already had her answer. So she puts on her best innocent face and hopes Wally doesn't see through her ploy.
Artemis watches Wally's face turn from its normal shade to a flaming red in .05 seconds. She hides a smirk that is threatening to come to the surface, but her eyes still hold that mischievous glint. He's fallen for it hook, line, and sinker.
Wally's arms start flailing about, "Well, uh, I was just thinking about, you know – um," His brain and mouth were not in sync at all – not to mention he's one hundred percent positive his brain has gone into panic mode and he can't even regain function of his arms, which are still flailing about, "You know! There was a giant Hydra, my school was destroyed, and you came crashing through the classroom like some sort of vigilante medieval superhero-"
He can hear Artemis full out snorting through his panicked rambling and suddenly he's at a loss for words. His mouth abruptly stops producing sound. He's about to gain his composure and actually tell her that, 'Yes, I wanted to kiss you' but his mom walks in.
"Wally! You seriously need to start washing your own dirty underwear!"
"Mom!" He shouts, once again becoming embarrassed and instantly cuts the connection with Artemis, who he is positive is going to bust her gut laughing all the way in Los Angeles. His face, if possible, is burning more and it takes a whole hour to finally get it to not resemble a fire truck.
Needless to say, Artemis got her answer.
Artemis is definitely upset. Camp started two weeks ago and she can't be there. The stupid school that she has been going to with Kaldur doesn't end until this upcoming Friday and it pisses her off. Artemis misses her siblings and her friends. She wants to see Zatanna and hear about her latest attempt at charmspeaking some poor soul into buying her expensive jewelry and ask Barbara about her latest hacking of FBI databases (and not getting caught). She wants to see Dick's new inventions and give Cissie a hug and ask her about her school year. Artemis also wants to see Wally really badly – which, admittedly, is still weird for her despite coming to terms with her feelings for him.
As much as she would like to pack up all of her things and hitchhike back to the east coast, she can't. Kaldur is counting on her to protect this Jason Todd kid. The one who is attracting tons of monster attention. This semester alone has had Artemis battling hellhounds, harpies and griffins (oh my!) and she's in desperate need of restocking her quiver.
Kaldur assures her that once Friday rolls around they can get in the chariot Apollo has lent them – oddly enough, it looks like a Lamborghini in the Mist – and go back to camp. Chiron only sent them to protect this kid, Jason, and once school is over the mission is done. They are only allowed to reveal themselves if the danger is too grave and Artemis can't hold back the monster.
They find this out the hard way when a Minotaur starts attacking Jason during the boy's gym class. The boys are running around the track when the monster appears out of nowhere and almost runs over Jason. Thank Gods Kaldur is with him and they hide underneath bleachers while the satyr gives the younger boy the basic rundown. Y'know, the typical, "you're a half-blood, the Greek Gods are real, yes that is a real Minotaur trying to kill you, we're taking you back to camp. Blah, blah, blah." Jason is so shocked he's actually angry and Kaldur's trying badly to calm him down in order to not attract the Minotaur's attention.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Jason yells at Kaldur, "Are you mental?"
Artemis can practically hear him on the opposite side of the field where the girl's gym class had been before they scattered in fear of whatever it is the Mist conjures up for their mortal brains. Artemis begins sprinting across the field, grabbing her bow that she had stashed under a bush before class started.
"Hey Ugly!" she yells at the Minotaur. The Minotaur whirls around, a major feat for a creature the size of a bulldozer, and snorts through its nose at her.
The blonde begins rapidly firing arrows at it, trying to keep it distracted from Jason and Kaldur underneath the bleachers. None of the arrows stick into the thick skin, but it seems to piss the Minotaur off enough and his eyes turn red with anger. The creature snarls at her and charges her. Artemis narrowly avoids becoming road kill by rolling out of its path of destruction.
The Minotaur ends up running into another set of bleachers and its horns get stuck, temporarily disabling it. Kaldur's in the middle of successfully convincing Jason to come back to camp with them (Kaldur's really good at this kind of thing – a natural leader and just oozes a presence that makes you believe everything he says) when Artemis skids to a halt at their hiding spot.
"We gotta go!" Artemis states matter-of-factly, nervously glancing back to the Minotaur who is beginning to break free of the bleachers and then to her diminishing quiver.
"Wait! You're in on this too?!" Jason snaps at her.
Artemis gives him a cold glare and retorts with her usual flare of sarcasm, "What? No thank you for saving your sorry ass?" She wants to keep ripping this kid a new one until she hears the Minotaur roar, obviously free now.
"Like I was saying, lets go!" She cries, already in a mad dash for the chariot they parked in the woods surrounding the school.
"What about our stuff?" Jason shrieks, as they finally get into the chariot and are underway, already putting a considerable distance between themselves and the Minotaur.
"We'll just have the school ship it to camp, I bet Zatanna can convince them." Artemis says to Kaldur, she's honestly trying to hide the fact that she's excited to go back to camp a whole week earlier than expected, but Kaldur can hear the disguised glee in her voice.
"I have faith that she can do that." Kaldur says, driving the chariot towards the Long Island. It's going so fast that Artemis is pretty sure they'll be back at camp before sundown.
"But what about that bull thing?" Jason asks, he's a little shaken and Artemis is pretty sure that with Kaldur driving, she'll be in charge of re-explaining everything to the kid.
"The Minotaur?" She clarifies.
Jason nods his head in reply.
"I'm sure Animal Control can handle this one." She explains with a smirk on her face as they chase the horizon home.
The sun is hitting the horizon, causing the sky to erupt into hues of vibrant pinks, oranges, and a slight purple rippling throughout. It's the perfect end to, what was supposed to be, an average day at Camp Half-Blood. Of course, it starts off normal, but once Chiron makes an announcement about the Minotaur's attack and Artemis and Kaldur's early journey back, everyone is slightly excited.
The missing piece of Wally's summer was finally coming back earlier than originally planned, which made him both excited and extremely nervous. Wally has been pacing anxiously around camp since. Dick has been trying to help him calm down, but only succeeds in making Wally worse.
"I mean, what if she got a boyfriend?" Wally asks pacing around the wooden log Dick is perched on in the dwindling sunlight. The redhead is wringing his sweaty palms together and the realization that he is sweating makes him sweatier and more frenetic.
"I doubt that," Dick rolls his eyes, "If anything she's decided you aren't worth her time and has given up on you. I mean you had the chance to kiss her: you didn't do it. She asks you if you wanted to kiss her: you didn't tell her. Not just definitively but finitively over you." The younger boy smirks at Wally, which only increases his pacing.
"No! That can't be true. Right, Dick? Yeah, no! Not true. But what if it is? What am I gonna do? I haven't even lost her, but I already have to win her back?" Wally's hands are in his hair causing it to stick up at odd angles and his tone is hysteric. Dick thinks that if this keeps up his best friend may be committed to a mental institution.
"Dude! Sarcasm! Emphasis on the casm." Dick remarks, "You seriously need to take a chill pill. Feel the aster. Stay whelmed."
Wally glares at Dick and is about to continue to freak out again when Megan comes running up to them. She has a flower crown perched on her head and two matching ones in her hand. "Wally! Dick! Artemis and Kaldur just got back with the new kid!"
Wally's face drains of color, but Megan doesn't notice or rather doesn't care as she grabs the two boys by the wrists and drags them toward the Mess Hall. A steady group of campers have amassed around the building – presumably welcoming Artemis, Kaldur, and, by association, the new kid. Wally believes his name is Jason, but Artemis rarely mentioned him by name when they talked, so he can't be too sure.
Megan weaves her way through the crowd with Wally and Dick in tow until they find Artemis, who is currently hugging Zatanna while holding hands with Cissie. Megan unceremoniously crowns her with the matching flower tiara from behind. Artemis whips around and barely suppresses a girly squeal when she sees Megan. They embrace in a hug and Artemis can see over Megan's shoulder, Wally, standing there like the doofus he is, completely dumbstruck by the chaos surrounding them. The blonde lets go of Megan, who in turn goes to give Kaldur his tiara, and takes her hand out of Cissie's to walk over to Wally.
The son of Hermes is taken out of his trance and suddenly becomes very aware that Artemis is finally back, finally home. His nerves flow out of him and he hugs the blonde fiercely – breathing in the unique scent of monster dust and the underlying scent of whatever shampoo she had used that morning.
"Missed you," he murmurs into the crown of her head, his words get jumbled when he accidently gets a couple of flower petals from Megan's crown in his mouth.
Artemis pulls back in confusion and then starts laughing when she sees the petals from her crown in Wally's mouth. He's spitting them out on the ground and his face is a bright red from his forehead all the way down to his neck. Dick claps him on the back, laughing as well.
"Nice one, buddy." Dick's smile is mischievous, and Wally knows he's about to go in for the kill, "Way to stay whelmed." Even though Dick is the only one who understands the joke, it doesn't stop Wally's body from turning his face a shade redder.
Artemis raises an eyebrow skeptically, "What's going on? Did something happen while I was gone? Cause I'm pretty sure I'm the only person to make Wally turn that," she points to his flaming cheeks, "color."
"Nothing!" Wally dismisses, clapping a hand over Dick's mouth before the younger boy could reveal to Artemis what had happened before she arrived," You know, just Dick being a dick."
Artemis rolls her eyes and brushes some of her blonde hair over her shoulder, "Wally, you never cease to amaze me with your dorkishness."
The redhead flashes a smile that makes the blonde's heart skip a beat, "So I amaze you?"
Artemis flushes a light pink and is ready to give a snarky retort until Bart runs to the blonde and barrels her over. The two of them fall on the ground, Bart already asking a million and one questions about her quest at the speed of light. The daughter of Apollo was usually good at fielding out Bart's questions, but after being knocked flat on her ass she's a little disoriented, dumbstruck, and honestly, has no words for Bart as he continues his endless line of questioning.
She looks up to see Wally and Dick hunched over laughing so hard that Dick has tears in his eyes and Wally can barely breathe. She can't quiet understand if it's because Wally's younger brother has trampled her to the ground or that she looks horrified by the multitude of questions being directed towards her. Either way, she's pretty embarrassed by the whole thing and her light flush turns into an all out redness that spreads across her cheeks and nose.
Wally gathers his composure and shouts to her over Bart's questions, "Welcome home, Blondie!"
Her smile is the biggest Wally's ever seen it.
In celebration of their early arrival and to welcome Jason, Chiron decides to have a camp bonfire. All the campers are gathered in the bleachers surrounding the fire pit. Roy Harper brings his guitar and starts to strum a few chords to make sure the instrument is in tune.
Wally worms his way out of the Hermes section, where Bart is chatting with (or more accurately, kindly interrogating) Jason (who passive-aggressively answers), and sneaks over to where Artemis is sitting on the edge of the bleachers. Most of the other Apollo kids, like Mia Deardens and Connor Hawke have guitars to accompany the sing-along, but Artemis doesn't really play, just prefers to watch her siblings play instruments while she hums along gently.
The Hermes boy plops himself next to her just as Roy beings the tradition of singing James Taylor songs at camp bonfires. Artemis hums the words softly, so that only Wally can hear and intertwines their fingers together as she lays her head against his shoulder. Their bodies sway back and forth in time to the music. The blonde begins to sing quietly to her companion, her voice somehow not losing itself amongst the other campers singing along.
"In my mind I'm going to Carolina. Can't you see the sunshine; can't you just feel the moonshine? Ain't it just like a friend of mine to hit me from behind? Yes, I'm going to Carolina in my mind." She sang to Wally as his head rested gently on top of hers.
And that's how they stayed for the entire sing-along. Their hands intertwined, heads resting against one another and Artemis singing along to Wally. Well, except for a brief interlude when they start playing Britney Spears and Wally flawlessly and unashamedly belts out the lyrics to Toxic at the top of his lungs. Or when Roy waves Artemis down to lead the camp in a round of Bohemian Rhapsody and she hits the high notes like a boss.
Once the fire has begun to die down and the Apollo cabin has finished the last notes on their last song, everyone begins heading back to their own bunks.
Well, except Wally. And that's mostly because Artemis is fast asleep on his shoulder and he knows better than to wake her up (they did share a cabin for a month). Not to mention she's exhausted. The girl fought off a Minotaur, trekked across the country by chariot and managed to travel from one coast to the other in less than eight hours (she's earned some sleep). Wally gently shifts the blonde, cradles her in his arms, and begins the walk to the Apollo cabin.
Wally is walking down the trail when Roy comes up and offers to take her. Wally is a bit reluctant because, really, he doesn't mind, he likes holding Artemis like this. Every now and then he can feel her head nuzzle into the crook of his neck and her light breathing gives him goose bumps along his body. And, he's not gonna lie, it feels nice.
"I promise I won't drop her, West." Roy rolls his eyes, "She is my sister after all."
The Hermes boy nods his head and begins to trade Artemis over to her brother, but she beings to stir when the boys begin their little exchange.
"Put me down, West," she grumbles, "I can walk on my own."
Both redheads give her skeptical expressions. Artemis sighs, wiggles her way out of both of their arms when they won't let go voluntarily, and sets her feet onto the trail to the cabins. She's still in her gym clothes from that morning and thanks to Zatanna's skills all of her stuff, Kaldur's and Jason's included, should be their tomorrow morning (she requested express shipping). But that doesn't make her anymore comfortable in the standard gray shorts and school t-shirt she's forced to wear. She would kill for her favorite pair of denim shorts and camp t-shirt and not continue advertising for the fearsome wombats. (Although, she should thank the Gods that it's her gym uniform and not school uniform, now that would be uncomfortable and embarrassing.)
Artemis rubs one of her eyes and looks at her brother, who is staring at her like she has sprouted three heads like a Hydra. "I'm fine," she emphasizes for him, "Just go to bed, Harper."
If possible, Roy looks at her like she's grown an extra head, in addition to the three that are already there. Wally is giving her a similar expression, but she chooses to ignore him for now in favor of focusing on her brother.
"You aren't coming?" Roy asks, "Are you okay? Did that Minotaur give you a concussion?"
"No," she says icily, and Wally notices a slight blush on her cheeks and her glare falters slightly when she continues, "I wanna talk to Wally for a bit."
Thank the Gods it's dark outside because Wally knows Roy would never let him live down how red his face becomes. As it is, Roy is never going to let Artemis forget this, if his mirthful smirk is anything to go by.
Roy ruffles his sister's hair affectionately, "Sure thing, kiddo."
Artemis returns this affection with a glare equivalent to Medusa's and Wally is surprised Roy hasn't become a statue before his eyes. Her brother walks away and the two teenagers are left alone with only the other person and their flush faces for company.
She's still glaring daggers at her brother's retreating form when Wally clears his throat to break the palpable tension.
"So… You wanted to talk to me?" He asks quietly.
Artemis whips her head around and her ponytail hits him in the face.
"Ow!" He moans and he's afraid of waking up half the camp, but God's that hurt!
Artemis tries to stifle a laugh, but it still escapes her lips.
"Hey! Don't laugh!" He's cupping his cheek, Artemis has rested her hands over his own, and it feels pretty nice, kind of like how holding her had felt really nice.
"I'm so sorry," she's genuinely apologetic and her gray eyes hold sincerity. Wally is mesmerized by them. "This is definitely not how I imagined this going."
Wally swallows a lump in his throat, and in the process most of his nervousness, "How did you imagine it going?"
Artemis looks up at him, even though it's pitch black out, she can see his eyes pierce through the darkness and find her own. She removes their hands from his face and intertwines them.
"I was thinking," she whispers, low and raspy, her eyes dart to his lips quickly and then return to his face, "You could finish what you started in Kansas City."
Wally smirks and wraps one hand around her waist while the other goes to cup her cheek. "I should've done this a long time ago." He says, pulling so close that his breath ghosts over her lips.
"No kidding," she replies a split second before their lips come together.
He pulls her closer to him as their lips move in sync against each other. Artemis wraps her arms around his neck and relishes in the kiss, taking in his taste that is so distinctly Wally. She can't help but feel like this is where she was heading all along. When she decided to run away from her previous life, her previous home, she had no idea she'd end up at Camp Half-Blood. Had no idea that she had a couple dozen siblings waiting for her at camp, or that she had amazing friends waiting for her to show up, or that Wally was destined to be in her life. But as she and Wally stand there, kissing under the moonlight, Artemis can't help but feel like she'd finally found something permanent to hold onto.
When they separate, Artemis takes in Wally's ridiculously wide grin and can't help but want to kiss him again. However, before she could, Wally spoke.
"Well, Artemis I think it's safe to say that you've officially come full circle."
The blonde archer smiled widely, "You helped," she replied before stealing another kiss.
"Wait! This isn't considered incest, right?"
"Just shut up, Wally."
And he does, by covering her mouth with his own.
Thanks for reading! :)