A/N: Written for YJAM 2015. Posting here to save it. The prompt was The Mission Goes Sour and The Blame Game Begins.
They have bumps, bruises, and blisters, but the tension in the bioship is what hurts the most.
Artemis fumes in her seat, unable to look at anything but all the cuts that line her hands. They were supposed to be better than this. The kinks had been worked out, hadn't they? She makes a shaky fist and blood spreads across her fingertips. The stinging is the worst. She grits her teeth, completely over this mission. It's so stupid. And it's not even close to being over. There's no way they can go back to the cave and explain this to Batman. They've gone through too much to get this far, and one little mission isn't going to ruin it all.
A roll of bandages appear on her keypad, just before a gust of wind sends her hair flying back and forth. Artemis narrows her eyes at the olive branch in front of her. It's a nice gesture, but it doesn't change the fact he threw off her perfect shot and broke her bow. The bow is replaceable, but the shot would have ended the mission before it went to hell. She takes the roll of bandages, tosses it backwards, and suppresses a satisfied smirk when the silence in the bioship is broken by an offended speedster.
"Are you serious?" he gasps from behind her.
She spins around in her seat to face him. "Yeah. I am."
"Why are you-" he huffs before he crosses his arms and leans back in his seat. "You know what? Whatever. Bleed out. Be my guest."
"KF." Robin chides his friend from the front of the ship.
Artemis rolls her eyes. He's exaggerating and it's exactly what she doesn't need right now.
"Wouldn't be bleeding if someone hadn't ruined my shot," she mutters, turning back to her keypad before pulling a piece of first aid tape from her belt. Quick fix. Before she can finish cutting the tape, he's standing in front of her.
"Seriously?" he snaps. "The building was going down."
"I felt it," she stands to meet his eyes, "I just needed three more seconds."
"You didn't have three seconds, trust me."
"I had the shot," she shouts, slamming her hands down on the keypad and holding back a yelp when her palms begin to burn and sting.
Wally's focus travels from her hands to her face. "But not the time."
"Not my fault the building started to cave," Artemis huffs, side-eyeing Conner. He doesn't appreciate the action.
"I said I was sorry," he says pointedly. "Mallah saw M'gann flying in camouflage and charged-"
"Please don't drag me into this," M'gann gasps from her seat. "I was just getting closer to keep a visual of Robin. Those lightning blasts were about to charge-"
"Hey, I had that handled," Robin interjects. "The disruptor in Artemis' arrow would have shut it down and resourced the energy safely back to the village."
Artemis nods approvingly and motions towards Robin, "See? He trusted me to take the shot."
Wally bristles. "You didn't have the-"
"All of you: Calm down," Kaldur orders, one hand holding his aching head. "This mission is not yet a failure. If we focus on the matter at hand, instead of the past, we can still recover the weapon and rescue the villagers. In order to do that, we need to stop fighting each other and figure out a plan to fight the real enemy."
A guilt-filled silence permeates the air. Wally drags his feet as he goes back to his seat, and Artemis stops to pick up the bandage roll before she sits down. Robin pulls up a holo-screen and gets to work mapping out their next drop. The mental conversation is forced and robotic, and the tension in the bioship doesn't fade at all.
Artemis continues to seethe as she wraps her hand.
They're supposed to be better than this.