Title: Lonely Christmas
Rating/Warnings: T for the mention of a sexual relationship.
Word count: 1,261
Characters: Wally, Artemis, Dick, M'gann
Pairings: Wally/Artemis/Dick
Summary: Artemis would be spending Christmas alone this year. And truthfully, she hated that. Lucky for her, a certain ginger haired speedster and former Boy Wonder aren't going to let that happen.
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.
Author's Note: So uh, I did this for the Tumblr secret Santa exchange ages ago, and I'm just now posting this. Anyways, Rush! I may not have your Dick/Arty fic finished but I figured you could at least enjoy this (:
Artemis hated Christmas.
Truthfully, she hated all holidays. Thanksgiving, Halloween, Valentine's Day—especially Valentine's Day—and even Flag Day. Honestly, what the hell was Flag Day even for?
Holidays were just too exuberant. Too many decorations, too many people clogging up the roadways, too much of everything, really. And Artemis was not a girl who liked things that were over the top.
She reflected on these thoughts as she paced around her apartment's living room.
It was emptier without her mother, she thought. No longer could Artemis hear the squeaking wheels of her mom's chair or the incessant banging of pots and pans that occurred whenever her mother took to the kitchen.
Her mother had passed just a year after Artemis had joined the team. It had been officially ruled an accident, but Artemis knew better. Her father—if you could even call him that—had felt the need to break their family even further.
Now it was just her. Alone and quiet.
Sighing, she reached under her pathetic little four foot tree and plugged in the lights. It flickered to life and seemed to brighten up the room a little, but…
It still wasn't enough.
Artemis plopped onto her couch, wondering why she had been so quick to refuse Dick and Wally's suggestion that they spend Christmas together. Artemis had argued that it would be too odd.
Whatever this thing was that the three of them had going on, definitely wasn't something she wanted to share with the world. Wally liked to joke that it was because she had commitment issues, but that wasn't it.
Honestly, what would people say? Dick wasn't even a legal adult yet. And as far as the team was concerned, Wally and Artemis were still at each other's throats.
No one knew about the them that included Wally, Dick, and Artemis. All together. Preferably in a bed. But not always, of course.
Artemis was pulled from her thoughts as the obnoxious ringtone Wally had picked out started screaming from her pocket.
She flipped open her phone, rolling her eyes as she caught sight of the caller id. "Hello Megan."
"Hey Arty!" Megan's obnoxiously cheerful voice filtered into her ear. "Merry Christmas!"
"Yeah, you too," Artemis grumbled, idly twisting a lock of her hair around her finger. "What's up?"
Megan giggled suddenly and in the background she heard the distinct sound of a bottle popping open. Artemis shook her head. She hadn't known that Megan and Conner had any desire to drink.
"I just wanted to say that the offer for you to spend Christmas with us still stands," Megan said, once she had stopped giggling. "I know it must be hard without your mo—"
Artemis exhaled sharply. "That's really, uh, sweet, Meg. But I've got it covered."
There was silence at the other end of the line. "Are you sure? Because Conner and I are totally fine if you want to—"
"Megan," Artemis said firmly. "I'm fine. I've got my own plans."
Lie.
" Y-you do?" Megan's voice sounded so happy and Artemis hated herself for having to lie to her best friend.
"I do," Artemis sighed. "So go have fun with Conner. I'll be okay."
"O-okay," the Martian said. "Merry Christmas Arty! Have fun!"
"Right," Artemis muttered as she hung up the phone.
She glanced around her still empty apartment and rubbed at her temples. This was going to be a long night.
After cleaning her entire apartment and making enough ramen to feed a third world country, Artemis found herself seated back on her couch with the movie A Christmas Story playing.
Slowly, she twirled her fork around the noodles on her plate and slurped them into her mouth.
A knock sounded at the door and Artemis almost choked on her noodles.
"We're not home!" she half-called, half-gurgled.
A more insistent knock was followed by a call of, "Come on Art."
Artemis groaned, hopped off the couch, and opened the front door. Noodles hanging out of her mouth and all.
"What do you—Oh. Hey Dick. Wally." Artemis moved aside and held open the door for her two—what was she supposed to call them anyways?
Dick grinned, a grocery bag in hand, and stepped inside her apartment, followed swiftly by Wally who was toting a large wrapped box.
"Merry Christmas Arty," Wally said jubilantly. "Mind if I put this under the tree?"
Artemis groaned shutting the door before putting her hands on her hips. "I thought we agreed on this. No presents. No Christmas."
Dick opened his mouth to say something, but Artemis waved him off. "Whatever. Since you guys are here, you may as well have some ramen."
Dick snorted as Wally walked over to Artemis' tree and set down his big box. "We are not eating ramen, Art. Especially not ramen that you cooked. I brought Chinese takeout from that place on 3rd."
Artemis sighed and flopped onto the couch, settling into her previous spot and turning her attention back to the movie. "You know where the plates are."
As Dick walked into the kitchen, Wally sped over to the couch and plopped down next to her. He snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her up against him, ignoring her groans and attempts to create space between them "What's wrong, Beautiful? Thought you'd be happy to see us?"
Artemis rolled her head and fixed the ginger haired speedster with a flat look. "I'm just—I don't know. I was expecting to spend Christmas alone."
Wally grinned, leaning over to plant a soft kiss on her lips. "Well now you don't have to."
"Kung pow chicken and chow mein?" Dick called from the kitchen.
"You know it," Wally boomed back. "And make it a double. I'm starving."
Artemis laughed, leaning her head against Wally's shoulder. Maybe spending Christmas with these two wouldn't be so bad.
Dick walked back into the room, plates balanced carefully in his arms and sat on the other side of Artemis. Wally almost knocked the two of them off the couch to get to his plate, eliciting a groan from both the blonde archer and the former boy wonder.
"It wouldn't be Christmas without Wally scarfing down takeout," Dick shrugged, glancing over at Artemis' plate. Dick smiled at her before grabbing a piece of kung pow chicken from her plate and popping it into his mouth.
Wally mumbled something with his mouth full, that neither Dick nor Artemis could understand and turned away slightly. He swallowed and cleared his throat. "You know that you're glad we came."
"You're such a dork," Artemis mumbled, hooking her ankle around the ginger-haired speedster. She rolled her eyes. "Both of you are. But I am glad you showed up."
Dick wrapped his arm around her waist and pressed a small kiss to her forehead. Artemis burrowed into his side, a small smirk on her face as Wally scooted a bit closer.
Artemis smiled to herself. Maybe she couldn't spend Christmas with her mom or with her sister, but she had these two. And for her, right now, that was enough.
"Merry Christmas, Artemis."
