Woah this took months.
So I saw a thing on Tumblr where someone had edited Artemis's face onto Rapunzel and Sportsmaster's face onto Gothel and the first thing I thought was 'FANFICTION.' Yes I know I made Lawrence a cross dresser and changed the ending but shhhh. I tried.
Title: No kidding
Characters/pairings: Artemis, Rapunzel, Wally, Flynn, WallyxArtemis, FlynnxRapunzel
Summary: Artemis has spent her whole life trapped in her tower, and when a red-headed jerk breaks in, she smells an opportunity. (Young Justice and Tangled crossover)
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice, Tangled or any of their characters.
The soft hum of the Sphere as it chased him and the wind in his ears was nearly all Wally could hear as he sprinted away from Mount Justice, the home of Queen Dinah and King Ollie, with the Royal guard on his tail. The fruit of this latest mission of his was in the compartment on his arm – the jewel encrusted, golden bow. A triumphant grin appeared on his face as he heard Superboy and Aqualad (two of the guards) debating how to catch him. With their ideas, he was going to get away easily. It was only a matter of time until he could take cover and watch them ride past him, thinking he was still running. Or, so he thought. A large wall of ice appeared ahead of him, probably three inches thick, preventing him from running any further. He cursed, turning on his heel to see the Stabbington Brothers approaching him.
"Your not going any further, Flash Boy," Klarion started, stopping in front of the speedster. Wally scowled, biting back an 'Its Kid Flash!' and wincing at how the boy's winy voice grated against his ears. "Until you give us the bow." His brother, Icicle Jr, nodded beside him, mimicking Klarion's expression. Wally could see the guards advancing behind them.
"After all we've been through," He said, putting a hand to his heart and wearing an expression of mock betrayal. "You still don't trust me?" The brother let out a noise of disapproval and glared at him, making him do so in return and offer the bow. "Ouch." He turned to the wall of ice as Icicle Jr made it melt away and ran forward. He ran for a while, trying to go as fast as he could, but soon ran into a tall, solid rock cliff. He thought for a moment, before turning and shouting to the Stabbington Brothers - who were still trying to catch up;
"Give me a boost!"
Kid Flash stood on the edge of the cliff, standing proud, looking down at Klarion and Icicle Jr, who were standing precariously, one on top of the other, against the cliff. "Now, help us up, pretty boy," Klarion told him, reaching up a hand for Wally too take and scowling. Wally just smirked and reached for his sleeve. He started to back away, and pulled out the golden bow, amused by the look of surprise and anger on Klarion's face.
"Sorry, my hands are full,"
Wally ran, and as he did so, he could hear Klarion's distant voice, screaming,
"FLASH!"
"Gotacha!"
Robin felt a hand grab his tail, and he yelped as he was yanked upwards and hung from it. He scowled at Artemis - who had grabbed him – and she couldn't help but think that he looked oddly human. His mask didn't help. She smirked in return, and swung him slightly. "You make this too easy." Robin pouted and Artemis shrugged, placing him on her lap. "Okay, what do you want to do?" Robin's face lit up, and he raised his tail and pointed it enthusiastically outside, only to be shot down by Artemis. "No, Dad would kill me. You know what he's like."
Robin frowned, and Artemis swung her legs round and walked back into the tower, Robin in tow. "Oh, come on, Robin – it's not too bad..." She glanced down at him. He was looking up at her sceptically. She laughed. "Okay, maybe it is that bad, but we can put up with it." She sat down and sighed, resting her chin in her palm. "I've done everything. I have nothing to do now!" She heard some rustling, and turned to see Robin trying to pull a log out of the fire. It hadn't been lit in a while, so he wouldn't get burned. She understood immediately and grinned. "Good idea,"
Artemis sat, cross-legged, on her double bed, knife in hand. Five intricately carved, wooden arrows were splayed out beside her, and she was currently carving the tip of her next one, the remaining half a log sitting in front of her. Robin sat on her shoulder, watching her work. Whenever she finished one, she held it up for him to examine, and if it was acceptable, he would nod and she would begin another.
"ARTEMIS!"
She went stiff as she heard her name being called, dropping her arrow. She sighed and carefully set down her knife. "Shoo," She muttered to Robin, gesturing towards the curtain. Robin nodded, jumped off her shoulder and hiding behind it. There was no point in blending in with the wall, his mask would only give him away. Artemis stood and walked out to the window, leaning over to see her father standing on the grass, a basket in his hand, an impatient frown in his face. Artemis took a step back so he wouldn't see her and smacked her hand against his forehead. Great. He's wearing it again. With a long-suffering sigh, she looped her long, blonde hair on the hook and lowered it down. Upon feeling the pressure of him grabbing it, she started to tug. She hissed slightly. He was heavy.
Sportsmaster landed on the floor of the tower with a soft thump, releasing Artemis's hair. She tugged it off the hook. "Morning, Dad," As soon as she said it, Artemis felt like smacking her forehead again. His head snapped towards her and he scowled.
"What did you call me?" He growled, taking a threatening step towards her, his black, frizzy wig swaying and a strand if it falling over his mask. Artemis restrained an eye-roll.
"Morning, Mother,"
"Good," Sportsmaster nodded, turning his back to Artemis and setting a basked down on a table. She made a face at his back. "But you need to remember that next time." He turned back to Artemis and she stopped making faces. "Will you?" He glared.
Artemis sighed and slowly nodded. "Of course I will, Mother,"
"I'm here to give you some more resources. In that basket, you'll find fruit, a bit of cheese, milk and flour. You said that you were running short?"
"Yes,"
"I also need you to heal me. I received an injury on my latest mission," He sat down and held out his left arm. Artemis inwardly sighed and made her way over to him. He pulled up his red, silk sleeve and Artemis wrapped her hair around a deep cut about halfway up it. She took a deep breath and began to sing, her voice light but still rough.
Flower, gleam and glow,
Let your power shine,
Make the clock reverse,
Bring back what once was mine.
Heal what has been hurt,
Change the fate's design,
Save what has been lost,
Bring back what once was mine,
What once was mine.
The whole time, Sportsmaster sat, watching her. After she had finished her song, he inspected his cut. It was completely healed. She watched as he made his way to the window. His voice was deep and gravelly, not fitting with the blood red dress he was wearing. "Lower me down then, I have business to attend too," He glared at Artemis "That is much more important than you,"
Wally ran through the woods, bow safely hidden, goggles lost somewhere in his momentary panic. The Sphere chased after him, its mechanical buzz constant in his ears. Wally had lost the guards after climbing that cliff, but somehow this machine had followed his trail. Wally was irritated, understatement.
He could hear the buzz becoming louder. Wally strained to run faster, but he was already at full speed. Cursing, he hoped for something, anything, to happen in his favour, a miracle maybe. Then he stopped, skidding a few feet forward.
He was in the middle of a clearing, and Sphere was catching up.
He cursed, scanning his surroundings for something that could lead to a cunning escape. A wall of trees, a very, very large rock, a boulder, a log- wait, a boulder! Perfect. Wally leaped and hid behind it. He waited for a couple of seconds, and was about to peek out when he heard that hum. He traced it with his mind, using that sound to determine where it was searching. It searched all around the clearing; round the outside, under rocks, behind trees, not behind the boulder. As soon as he heard it driving away, Wally stopped hiding. It was gone.
He sighed with relief. Once again, he had eluded the authorities and gotten away with his prize. Now all that could complete his story was getting the girl. He could just go to his favorite tavern later - he heard that there was fetching girl called Megan there. But, for now, he had to find somewhere to sleep for the night. He leaned against the rock behind him, ready to start thinking, when he fell backwards through the leaves. So it hadn't been a rock. He let out a small cry of surprise and fell onto the grass with a thump.
He scrambled up to his feet. At first he was just surprised, looking from side to side for threats, but then he had a thought and grinned, seeing that he was alone there. This was the perfect hiding place. He could just wait it out here, wait for it to be safe for him to go steal some supplies. Anyone walking past would think what he had, that those leaves were leaning against an extremely large rock. He may be adventurous, but he wasn't dumb. He knew that if he tried now, he would be caught. The Royal Guard would probably double by numbers for a while, but he would just wait until things cooled down and the rules loosened again. He walked back wards for a few steps, before turning round. His jaw dropped to the floor.
Before him stood an amazingly tall tower that seemed to touch the sky, its pointed roof painted purple. There was a window with no glass about three quarters of the way up, and the rest of the tower was built of cream-coloured bricks with vines grown around it. They had obviously never been cut. Flowers also scaled the sides, ranging in colour from purple to yellow, and the side of the roof had intricate markings that Wally couldn't make out from such a distance, but they somehow still seemed beautiful.
'Perfect.'
Wally took the final step into the tower, breathing deep and heavy. That tower was tall. It had taken nearly all his effort to climb it, and he had pretty good upper-body strength. He sighed, raking a hand through his hair. He suddenly wasn't sure if this had been as much of a good idea as he had initially thought. He would have to climb down again, so that would tire him out. He figured that he would just have to get comfy here for a bit. There was bound to be food somewhere. He sighed, partially with relief, partially with exhaustion.
"Alone at las-"
THOMP
"Back already, Da- Mother?"
Sportsmaster stood at the window of the tower, arms crossed over his chest, blood red dress swaying at his ankles. Artemis sat at a table near the stairs. She had been working on her arrows, but had hid them quickly when she had heard him coming. Artemis's voice was full of sarcasm, but he didn't seem to notice. "I'm just here to tell you that you have to make those resources last," He stated, sounding menacing. Artemis still couldn't take him seriously, thanks to his attire.
She frowned. "Why?"
"I've been hired," Artemis sagged on the outside, trying to make it look as if this was the last thing she wanted. On the inside, she was having a party. He was leaving! Sure, not for that long, his missions usually only took a few days, but still. "I'll have to travel quite far, so I will be gone for a minimum of three days. Stay in this tower and do nothing out of the ordinary. If you don't, I have a punishment waiting. Do you understand?" Artemis nodded.
"Of course, Mother,"
Wally's head hurt.
He could almost hear his head pounding as he sat somewhere, eyes closed, no idea what had happened. The last thing he remembered was finding a tower, climbing it, being exhausted afterwards and then...then, he was where he is now, with a cruel headache that threatened to rip his head open. As he slowly woke up, he began to grow aware of his immediate surroundings, even without opening his eyes. He could feel pressure against his wrists and ankles, but it felt too...smooth to be rope. He couldn't decide what it was, exactly, but it definitely was not rope. He felt that he was sitting on something hard. Judging by the shape, Wally took a wild stab at the dark and guessed that it was a chair, probably wooden. After a while of faking unconsciousness and trying to determine what was tied around his wrists, he finally opened his eyes.
He's sitting on a wooden chair - just as he had thought – that was painted a hot blue, and was positioned in the centre of a pool of light, the corners of the room and any space above him hidden in shadow. The floor was decorated with different colours: blue, yellow, mainly a muted pink. He was tied to a chair by silky, yellow- wait, is that...
"Is that hair?"
Wally followed the blonde hair that bound him with wide, curious eyes. It trailed along the floor in front of him, then rose. He followed it winding over wooden beams and through small piles that shimmered in the dim light. Eventually, it stopped at a shadow. The first thing he could tell was that the silhouette belonged to someone female. Oh, she was definitely female. Next he noticed her dress that seemed to only just reach her ankles, then the fact that she was holding something he couldn't make out, and then he registered how truly long her hair was. "Don't try anything," A strong, confident voice lined with venom came from the shadows. "I'm armed," He followed the silhouette of this girl as she hopped down from the beam she had been standing on, then to another. She jumped until she landed on the stone floor with a soft thud. She took a tentative step forward, then another, until she was visible. Wally felt his mouth open slightly with surprise. She had blonde hair (He had already known that, obviously), Asian features and stormy grey eyes that glared at him. She had a lilac dress with gold stitching on the skirt and puffy shoulders, and held a frying pan in a defensive position- Wait, a frying pan? An Asian girl with super long blonde hair wielding a frying pan? Wally was sure that he was hallucinating. "Who are you and how did you find me?"
Artemis wished she had a bow. She didn't have the one she got of whoever this guy was because she wanted to use it as bargaining material. As soon as this creep had entered her tower, she had grabbed the first thing within her reach, and she happened to have been cooking at the time. She had been training with a bow and arrow since she was five years old, and excelled in it every training session. Her father was impressed – not that he would show it - up until Artemis was pushed over the edge one day. She had gotten sick of her father and her training and her tower and her father so she had reached for a weapon and found her bow. Then she used it against him. Big mistake. Her punishments have gotten worse since that day. That was the day she learnt that she should never go up against her Dad. He took away her bow and arrows. She has never got them back. Instead she has been training in martial arts, not so much lately, though.
Wally regained his composure, realizing that she was expecting an answer and probably wouldn't hesitate to use that frying pan. He cleared his throat in preparation and widened his eyes. "I know not who you are, nor how I came to find you, but may I say," He paused for effect, ignoring the confused looks she was sending the frog on her shoulder, before grinning charmingly. "Hi," He dragged out the 'i', and Artemis stared at him like he had just grown another head. "The name's Kid Flash," He waited for her reaction, hoping for her to soften. Who could resist his charm, after all? But, to Wally's dismay, she just let out a noise of annoyance and gripped the frying pan even harder. "Look, Blondie-"
"Artemis," She stated, her voice like steel. She glared at him. She hadn't expected him to be such an idiot. He wakes up, tied to a chair by hair – that he probably came here to steal – and by someone armed – well, kind of – and he starts flirting? Artemis may have lived in a tower here whole life, but she wasn't ignorant. She knew about things like this. And she knew to ignore this guy's 'charms'.
Wally shrugged (As much as he could – he was tied to a chair). "Whatever," Artemis scowled at him. "What I was going to say was that I didn't find you; I found this tower. Long story short, I was being chased, I needed somewhere to hide, I stumbled upon this tower and my whole brain went 'What the hell?'" Artemis leaned back, holding her frying pan casually, with a look of suspicion on her face.
"Really? You're not here for my hair?"
"Why on Earth would I want your hair?" Wally asked, baffled by her suggestion. Sure, her hair was long – how long did it take for her to grow that out? - but why would he want it? It's hair. What would he do with it? "The only thing I want is my bow- Wait, woah, hold up...I still have my bow, right?" He panicked as he finished his question, his voice growing higher in pitch, praying that she hadn't taken it.
She grinned and placed her hands on her hips. "I've hidden it, somewhere you'll never find it," Her voice was confident and her face glowed with her small victory. She was disappointed when his face grew unimpressed and he flicked his hand towards a decorative pot in the corner of the room.
"It's in that pot, isn't?"
THOMP
Wally woke to the familiar feeling of smooth, clean hair wrapped tightly around his wrists and ankles and a throbbing in his head. He slowly opened his eyes, groaning. When he saw the girl – Artemis – standing with her back to him, muttering and still holding that frying pan in her hand, he scowled. "Stop doing that!"
She jumped, started by his outburst. Her small frog – he still couldn't figure out what it was exactly - yelped and somehow managed to stay in her palm as she turned (So she had been talking to that...). She glared daggers at him and pointed her frying pan at him threateningly. "I will use this," She told him, her voice low and unforgiving. Wally would have laughed if he hadn't noticed the murderous glint in her eyes.
Wally sighed. "Fine, Blondie-"
"I swear to God, if you call me that one more time, I will castrate you."
"-What will it take for you to let me go and give me my arrow?"
Artemis smirked at him, in a way that gave him a feeling of foreboding. She leaned back, placed a hand on her hip - the green thing had moved to her shoulder - and help the frying pan in her other hand loosely.
"I have a proposal for you, Flash Boy."
"So... why are you wrapping your magical hair around my injured hand?"
The night was cold and the only warmth they could manage was a feeble fire in the center in a camp-site-like scene they had found in the wood. The flickering light of the flame danced and illuminated Artemis's face, which was frowning slightly. They sat on a log parallel to each other, Wally holding out his left hand and Artemis slowly and carefully wrapping the end of her long hair around it. Wally watched her as she worked, oddly interested in the way she was biting her lip as she was doing it. Once she had finished, she let go, heaving a sigh and looking up at him reproachfully. She winced.
"Just... don't freak out, okay?"
Wally blinked and watched her as she closed her eyes and sat up straight, hands rested on her lap respectively. She looked like she was posing. Her back hunched slightly at the last minute and she frowned. 'What is she doing?' Wally thought, staring at her with a confused and slightly concerned (she did look quite worried - he had a right to be concerned, he was her friend) frown. She opened her mouth, and - to Wally's surprise - started to sing.
Flower, gleam and glow,
Let your power shine,
Make the clock reverse,
Bring back what once was mine.
Heal what has been hurt,
Change the fate's design,
Save what has been lost,
Bring back what once was mine,
What once was mine.
Wally sat there in a stunned silence, gazing at her. Her voice was rough, like it usually was, but it was... soft at the same time. It sounded beautiful. But, that wasn't why he was stunned. As she sang, her hair began to glow again, and sure, he had seen it before, but it wasn't any less confusing. Plus, the hand wrapped in her hair felt... strange, like there was someone stitching it together. She finished her short song with a small sigh and opened her eyes before turning her gaze to him. He watched her hair lose its glow and slowly unraveled the hair around his left hand.
"Wha... bu... you..." He sucked it some more air, staring at the palm of his hand in shock. The cut was gone, leaving no trace. Not a scratch. That was impossible. But, then again, so was a girl with magical glowing hair. Before he could let out a noise of pure shock, she held up her hands.
"Don't freak out!" She blurted. Wally stopped himself, letting his hand fall to his side. He had no idea how to handle this. So, he went with his first instinct - act casual. He rested his head in the palm of that hand that should have a cut on it and shrugged in one fluid movement, words spilling out of his mouth.
"I'mnotfreakingoutareyoubecauseI'mnotwho'sfreakingout?" he said without taking a breath, his voice getting higher and higher as he went on. Artemis winced again and sighed, shaking her head. When he had lost the fake grin and had seemed to relax, she began to explain.
"That's why I stayed in the tower. My hair has healing abilities. My father told that people would try to take me, try to use my hair... he told me that was why I was training so much, and that I wasn't ready for the outside world. But then you broke into my tower and... I don't know. I didn't think about it, really." She shrugged, watching the fire. She was frowning and Wally could see the reluctance and doubt in her eyes. He smiled sadly and thought for a moment.
"Wally."
She furrowed her brows in confusion and raised her gaze to meet his. "What?"
"My... my real name. It's Wally. Wally West." He told her, smiling slightly. She smirked and he was glad to see the sadness lift from her grey eyes.
"Your name's Wally?"
He winced. "You see, that's why I don't use it."
She laughed, a contagious one that made Wally want to laugh too. She smiled at him. "No - I like it. Wallace West."
"No, it's just Wally." He laughed, shaking his head. He noticed the light illuminating her face decreasing and glanced at the fire. It was dying. He stood, surprising her, and gestured to the woods. "I'm going to go get some more wood from the fire, okay? It looks like it's burning out."
She nodded, and he smiled before turning away and trudging into the dark wood. In a matter of seconds, darkness seemed to eat him and she was alone with her thoughts. She wondered why he was ashamed of the name Wally. She loved it. It suited him, somehow. It went with his messy ginger hair and sparkling green eyes. She smiled slightly and thought of how he had brushed of his shock at her healing hair and not let it effect his opinion of her. He really was a nice guy.
"Having fun?"
Artemis stiffened and her eyes widened as she heard a deep, sadistic voice from the shadows behind her. It was familiar - it was the voice she heard sometimes when she was having a nightmare or when she thought of her relentless training. It was not a welcome voice. She narrowed her eyes and stood, turning on her heel to see Lawrence Crock standing there, glaring at her. "Dad?"
He scowled. "You've made your point, Artemis. Now, you're coming with me." His hand lashed out and he grabbed her wrist, but she shook him off.
"No."
"Excuse me?"
"I said, no. I'm going with someone else."
Lawrence crossed his arms and glared at his 'daughter'. "Oh, yes, the wanted thief." He said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow. She scowled at him once again.
"Don't talk of him like that. He's a good person. And... and, I think he likes me..." She trailed off, staring at a root on the ground and blushing slightly. She thought of when he had first met her and immediately flirted with her. She thought of when they were being attacked and he had helped her without question. She thought of the look on his face when she had told him about her hair. 'Maybe he does like me...'
Her father scoffed, breaking her out of her trance. "Don't be an idiot. He's only using you to get to the bow."
She scowled at him. "What? No, he's not!" 'Wait... how did he know about that?' She thought afterwards.
Lawrence grinned. Everything was going to plan. After a moment, he reached into his bag and pulled out something gold, decorative and expensive. The bow. "Oh, really? Prove it." He threw it at her, and she stumbled with the sudden weight of it as it landed in her hand.
She stared at it for a moment, mouth agape. 'That's how he knew.' She thought dumbly, before raising her head and gazing at him, sticking out her chin defiantly. "Okay, I will." Her dad smirked at her and she heard a rusling. She whirled round in alarm to see that Wally was coming. She looked over her shoulder to tell her Dad to go away, but found the area where he had last been empty. She panicked for a moment, before shoving the bow behind one of the other, larger logs, where he wouldn't see it. She quickly sat down again and was staring at nothing in particular when he walked over, weighed down by small pieces of wood. he dropped them on the ground.
"Hey, you okay?" He asked, sitting down next to her and noticing her slight frown. She jumped, like she had forgotten he was there, and sent him a shaky smile.
"Yeah, just... lost in thought, I guess." He grinned back at her and stood, starting to arrange the wood and putting some of it on the fire.
"So, do I have, like, super strength in my hand now?"
There were just so many lanterns.
Artemis sat, gazing at them, leaning over the edge dangerously just so she could get a better look at them, because she was finally there. She could finally see the lanterns, what she had been dreaming about her whole life, the beacon of hope she had been holding onto that made her believe that there was something more. Wally sat staring at her, eyes wide, because suddenly, he saw something.
He saw Artemis.
Like, he really saw her. Saw her as a girl who had gone through more hardships in her childhood than most people would have in their life, without even leaving her tower. He saw her as someone who had dreamed of fresh air and freedom, things he had taken advantage of for years, a girl who dreamed of lanterns. A girl that was so annoying, so infuriating that it made him want to tear his hear out.
A girl that was really beautiful in the lantern light.
It flickered over her face and Wally thought of the time in the woods, where he had seen the fire light flicker across her face, where he had found out about how insecure she had been, seen it in her eyes. And he felt like hitting himself because he was only just seeing it. He should have taken note of the feeling he had gotten when she laughed and how it made him feel lighter. He should have noticed how truly beautiful her singing voice was. He should have seen how brave and courageous she was and how she protected him with her life, despite only knowing him for a couple of days.
He should have seen how much he truly loved this girl.
He touched her arm lightly, and she looked down at him in surprise. He had pulled out two things he had been saving until then, two things he had bought in the town while she had been having her hair plaited. Her face lit up and she dived at one of the lanterns. They both had a purple symbol of the sun on them and decorative patterns of swirly lines near the edges. She raised it and let go, watching it float up into the sky, into a sea of others like it. Wally let out his own, and they flew together, turning round in a circle. Wally looked back at Artemis and saw her digging into her bag behind her.
"I was going to give this to you sooner," She said quietly, and Wally's eyes widened as she pulled out the jewel-encrusted bow. She held it out to him, watching the floor of the boat and smiling shyly. "But I thought that... once you got it, you'd..." She stopped, frowning. Wally took the bow and placed it beside him, dimly aware of what he was doing. It's like his body was acting on it's own and his mind was somewhere else, watching.
She looked up at him in surprise as he cupped her face in his hands and started to close the gap. Her eyes were shining and he was smiling softly and everything was perfect, the light from the millions of lanterns reflecting off her golden hair that had caused her so much trouble, but Wally thought it was beautiful. They closed the gap between them, both closing their eyes.
And all Wally could think was 'Finally.'
When their lungs began to protest, they pulled apart slightly so that their mouths were mere centimeters apart. He rested his forehead against hers and smiled. "I should have done this a while ago." He whispered and she smiled too, cupping his face in her hands like he had done to her.
"No kidding."