Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice
Author's Note: One day I just thought how perfect it would be to have a camp au for Young Justice and just went at it. Hopefully I can capture how quickly camp happens and how amazing it all it. This is super heavily based off a camp I worked at, though that was a scout camp (really the biggest difference), and it also based loosely on personal experiences I have had. I hope you guys enjoy. Chapters will come out as soon as I can get them out, but they're going to all be fairly long and time consuming to write. My plan is to finish this by new year's eve. It's a tentative plan.
Artemis had her feet on the dashboard of the car, watching the scenery fly by. Her mouth was shut tightly as she actively willed her lunch to stay in her stomach. As lovely as the forest they were driving through was, and no matter how much work was done on the road, Artemis felt like if she would hurl if she didn't get out of the car soon. She leaned forward, resting her head on her knees and praying the road ease up on all the hills.
"Are we almost there yet?" she groaned, hoping that only words would come out.
"Almost and don't you dare throw up in this car," the driver answered. "Mom will have my head for that and you'll be gone for six weeks and won't be able to take the blame."
"I'm not going to throw up, Jade," Artemis snapped. "But seriously, we need to get there now."
Jade laughed to herself as she focused on the dirt road again. Artemis leaned back in her seat, turning her attention back out the window. She thought that maybe counting the trees would help her ignore her stomach, but that only reminded her how quickly they were driving over all the bumps in the road.
Her eyes closed slowly as she began to wonder if it was just the motion sickness making her queasy. While she couldn't think of a better way to spend her summer, six weeks away from home seemed too good to be true. She knew that it was selfish of her to think this, but getting away from her family life was basically a gift. But with every bump in the road, those six weeks almost seemed too good to be true. The universe was definitely going to find a way to run it and all she would be able to do is wait for that to happen.
All the possible scenarios began to play through her mind, making her head spin more than it already was. Maybe everyone would hate her, maybe she would just plain suck at her job, or maybe she would end up getting eaten by a bear. She smiled at the last thought, thinking how ridiculous she was being. So what if they didn't like her, she knew that she was amazing and they would just have to keep up with her.
Artemis was jerked out of her thoughts as the car stopped. She opened her door quickly, fumbling with her seatbelt, trying to free herself from the leading cause of nausea. Once she was out of the car, she took a couple very deep breaths, trying to fight the nausea that was still consuming her. The moment she felt like she had it under control, Artemis looked around.
There was a large cabin, which she could only assume is the dining hall. It rested on top of a hill overlooking a lake, and was definitely the easiest thing to post on the property. The dirt road continued past the building to what Artemis assumed were the staff lodgings. She smiled as she confirmed with herself that this was still a good idea.
"Hey sis, you might want to start grabbing your things before I get bored and leave," Jade called, opening the trunk of the car. Artemis walked over grabbing the green duffle bag from inside. Hitching it over her shoulder, she watched her sister close up and lock the trunk.
"Where to now?" Artemis asked, looking at Jade.
"The dining hall. I'm not going in with you, I think your bosses will fire you on the spot if they see me," she answered, smirking. Artemis rolled her eyes and began to walk away from her sister. "But when you see Roy Harper, tell him I say hi."
"I definitely won't," Artemis called over to her. "See you in six weeks."
Artemis made her way to the dining hall and slowly opened the door. She wasn't quite sure what to expect on the other side and could feel her nausea coming back a bit. She had been hired last minute and she knew that joining late into any group could be tricky. But hey, new staff were hired everyday, that didn't make her an outsider. She had nothing to prove.
"Oh! You must be Artemis! You finally got here!" a voice greeted her as she stepped into the building. It was a completely open space, aside from the kitchen to the left of her. There were rows of tables along the right side next to a wall of windows. There was a group of teenagers standing in the open space of the hall that all turned to look at the blonde. The one who spoke was a ginger girl with freckles all across her cheeks. Around her were two black haired boys and another ginger girl. Artemis wondered if her hair colour met the camp's requirements.
"Uh, yeah, hi…" Artemis said, waving faintly at the group.
"Welcome to Camp Luvenis, Artemis," the younger dark haired boy said, making his way over to her. They met half way and he held a hand out to her. "I'm Dick, the happy one in Megan, the surly looking one is Conner, and the current apple of my eye is Barbara."
"Right," she answered, mentally going over the names in her head. "So… where do I go? Not that it isn't great meeting you, but I just kind of want to get settled here, you know?"
"Of course! Well, you're in my cabin, so I'll show you where it is and you can drop your stuff off and all that," Megan said, skipping over to the girl. "The other first year staff members and the L. are out on a hike right now with some of the senior staff members, so you'll meet them later. But for now, I'll introduce you to whoever we find."
"That sounds good," Artemis said smiling. "Um, what are all your jobs here, if you don't mind my asking?"
"Hello Megan, of course you want to that! Well, I'm one of the cooks here; so you know, let me know any dietary restrictions. Conner here is on the rock wall with Dick, who is senior rock wall. And Babs works in the office, doing all the administration work," the girl said quickly, pointing to each person as she spoke about them. Artemis felt she got a hang of these quicker than the names. Dark haired boys work with ropes, ginger girls indoors. Got it.
"You're archery, right?" Conner asked, pulling Artemis' focus to him. She nodded, looking the tall and broad, very broad, boy over. "Cool."
"Hey guys, have you seen Kaldur around? I can't unlock the storage room to get the damn spinal board," a voice called from the doorway. The five teens turned to see who it was. A tall, somewhat gangly, teen with extremely vibrant red hair was standing there. Artemis could tell from where he was standing that he had the most intense green eyes she had every seen. She also couldn't help but notice he was just wearing swimming trunks.
"Yeah, he's off with Mal fixing bikes. Do you want me to grab the spare key?" Barbara asked.
"Nah, it's fine… Who's this?" the boy asked, walking over to the group.
"Artemis, new staff member, archery," the blonde answered, placing her hands on her hips.
"Well, Artemis, if you ever need anything, you can always come to me. The Wall-man is here to serve," he said, taking a small bow.
Dick began to laugh and shoved the ginger in the shoulder, "Ignore him, he thinks every pretty girl he meets will fall for his charm. His name is actually Wally. He's on waterfront."
"Dude! Come on, I'm just being nice!" Wally groaned.
"Wally? People are still named that?" Artemis asked, smirking at the ginger.
"Actually, yes. It's a fantastic name with a great variety of nicknames," he said, lifting his chest up. Artemis' eyes danced over him, completely admiring the view. "And besides, you shouldn't judge, us unique named kids need to stick together."
"Right…" she said, cocking an eyebrow at him. "What's your middle name, we can then find out whose name is actually unique."
"Artemis, want to head to the cabin now?" Megan asked making sure the conversation avoided any unkind directions. She linked her arm with one of Artemis'.
The blonde nodded, still smirking at the ginger, "Well, I'll see you guys around."
Wally smiled at her, maybe a bit too widely because it earned him a smirk from Dick. The ginger elbowed his friend as the two girls made their way out. Megan was giggling and Artemis felt like being a part of this camp was going to be a lot easier than she originally thought, especially if one way would be through teasing the green eyed dork.
The two girls made their way down the dirt road as Megan began to explain the camp and describe everyone who worked there. There was Karen who also worked in the kitchen with Megan and her boyfriend Mal who was in charge of mountain biking, though apparently either one could do whatever they wanted they were that good. There was Kaldur who was senior waterfront. He, Dick, and Wally had worked together at the camp the longest of the junior staff and apparently caused many problems for the senior staff. Then there were the other first year staff members: Logan and Zatanna who were both on waterfront and Raquel who was on rock wall.
Artemis' head spun from what felt like an overload of names and facts. She wasn't used to meeting and hearing about this many people all at once. But these thoughts quickly left once they reached the cabins.
"Well, here we are," Megan said proudly. They were standing at the bottom of a small hill that had six decently sized cabins on it. "We're in cabin two, the other girls are in cabin one. The boys are in cabins three and four, and the L. are in cabins five and six. Senior staff live further down the road and what are basically houses, it's completely unfair."
Artemis nodded, a faintly smile on her face. They walked up to their cabin and the blonde was even more impressed once they opened the door. There was a small room that was first half of the cabin with a coffee table and two couches, while the second half housed two bunk beds, a wall in between. There were also dressers and a couple bedside tables in the second half.
"Oh, I could get used to this," Artemis said dumping a bag on a top bunk. "Which bed is yours?"
"I'm under you and Karen is in the other bottom bunk. Warning, we get up at 6 every morning, just a heads up," Megan said, standing in the doorway between the two sections.
"I get up that early anyway, morning jogs," the girl answered, looking around the room again.
"Oh, good," the ginger girl said, smirking.
"What?"
"Nothing, morning jogs are fun," she answered, eyes darting away, and Artemis could have sworn the girl said something about running with a certain person, but she couldn't be sure.
"Okay… Well, what should I do now?" Artemis asked, walking over to the other girl.
"The hike should be back soon, so let's head back to the dining hall. You'll have to meet your bosses eventually," Megan said, linking arms with the girl again.
The blonde smiled and they headed out of the camp. Artemis could definitely see living with this girl for six weeks. She still wasn't sure about the whole camp thing yet, and she was still nervous about how she was going to fit, but she knew she was ready to tackle this experience headfirst.
The next morning started of somewhat mixed. Karen and Megan were up just before her and the three turned out to move easily around each other. Artemis thought that the start of the day was pretty good until she went on her run. Her plan was to run to the main entrance of the camp and back, hopefully taking no more than an hour. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one with that plan.
Wally was already outside his cabin in running gear when she walked out of hers. They both frowned and Artemis stubbornly put her headphones in. They had gotten into a heated argument over dinner the night before and she definitely didn't want to start her morning off with him.
The run became more frustrating by the second, what with Wally showing off how good of a runner he was, but mostly because whenever he got out of her sight she would find he had stopped to wait for her before charging off again. By the end of the run Artemis was ready to kill. She couldn't think of anyone she'd rather strangle than Wally.
Breakfast was a bit better. She made sure that she wasn't sitting near enough to Wally to have any kind of conversation, which meant she got to talk to more of the other staff members. She could already tell that Zatanna, another first year staff member and the only girl on waterfront, was going to be a close friend this summer. The two of them were having a fierce conversation about what celebrities were actually convincing in action roles when one of their bosses, the program supervisor Roy, stood up.
Artemis gulped a bit. She could still picture the events of meeting him the day before perfectly. The double take on her name and the groan when he made the connection. She hoped he wouldn't hold her family against her. The last thing she really didn't need some asshole holding her back because of a fling four years ago.
"Okay everyone, so camp starts in two days which I guess is exciting," Roy said, looking over a clipboard he was holding in his hand. "Which means that today is going to be extremely busy. If I catch anyone of you slacking one bit, you'll get toilet cleaning duty while everyone is at the campfire tomorrow night, got it?"
The group of teens nodded, though Artemis could have sworn that the senior staff table was trying their hardest to keep from laughing. She decided that this 'toilet cleaning threat' was just that, though that didn't mean she was going to test it.
"Alright, so jobs. This morning we're going to make sure that this camp looks amazing or so help me I will find a way to withhold your payment. Cleaning up the main road one last time will be Wally, Raquel, Dick, and Kaldur. Start at the rock wall; go down to the front entrance. Painting the picnic tables by the front entrance and the parking lot will be Artemis and Zatanna, ask one of the older staff members where the paint stuff is. And doing a garbage sweep will be…" Roy's voice continued, though Artemis stopped paying attention after her instructions.
She gazed lazily over the other staff members, eyes landing at the senior staff table. She had spoken to all of the members of the table the previous day, but could safely say that she was up for waiting a long time until speaking to some again. There was Bruce Wayne, head of the financial side of the camp, and apparently many, many other things, and Oliver Queen, another very wealthy man in charge of the camp, but the 'fun side'. Both of them were on her 'avoid talking to again' list. Bruce because a conversation with his was maybe the most stressful thing she had ever done. How could someone so intense work at a camp? Then there was Oliver, who she had met before because of her sister's fling. He was definitely a lively character and had taken quite a liking to her since the job interview and arriving here. She had never been questioned about her entire life so quickly than in a conversation with him. But thinking about how nice he had been did make her smile.
"Okay, so now that it seems that we're all done eating," Roy said, ignoring Wally protest about never being done eating. "I want everyone to head out to their jobs. I asked the kitchen to take their time with lunch, so you're working until one-thirty, no complaining. Go put your dishes away and get to work."
Artemis and Zatanna sighed at each other as they stood up from the table. Zatanna took Artemis' plate and headed off to deal with them as Artemis made her way out of the dining hall. It was a sunny day, which she was extremely thankful for, the paint was going to dry quickly.
"Hey, Artemis, the paint is here in the tool shed, grab the green," a voice called to her. She looked for the owner and rolled her eyes. Wally was at the tool shed, grabbing tools for his own job.
Artemis made her way over to him, smirking as she got an idea, "So Baywatch, want to have a race?"
The ginger's eyes lit up at the word race. She could already tell what his favourite thing to do was, "I'm listening."
"Whoever finishes their job first has their laundry done by the loser for the duration of camp," Artemis proposed. She leaned against the tool shed, waiting for the boy to think it over.
"Deal," he said after a few short moments, sticking his hand out for her to shake. "But be warned, Kaldur is a very hard worker and I've done this job before. You're going down, Blondie."
"Whatever you say," Artemis replied, giving his hand one firm shake. "Now let me get my paint."
Wally laughed and headed over to his team. Artemis started pulling out cans of paint as Zatanna walked over to her.
"Do you know how many picnic tables we have to paint?" the black haired girl asked.
"For what I gathered from Roy, all the picnic tables in the world," Artemis joked, putting a couple of paintbrushes in her back pocket, as well as a screwdriver. "We'll just have to wait and see how many are down there. I say we start heading down there now unless we want to be cleaning bathrooms as a second job."
Zatanna mimed vomiting as she picked up two paint cans. Looking at them she sighed, "Carrying these down to the other end is going to suck, but my arms will look fantastic by the end of the day."
The blonde laughed and picked up two cans herself. The two girls started down the road, Artemis glancing back and smirking at the ginger getting ready to head off in the opposite direction. He sent a wink her way, earning him a very dramatic eye roll.
Turning back to Zatanna, she frowned. The younger girl was smiling her, an eyebrow raised.
"What?" Artemis demanded.
"Nothing," the girl answered. "So, tell me, when did you get into archery?"
They made it down the camp's entrance after a fifteen minutes walk. They had talked mostly about their excitement over starting to actually work with the kids. Zatanna apparently had always wanted to work at an overnight camp and had finally worn her dad down to let her do it. Artemis was extremely thankful for that.
Once they did get to the entrance, they quickly realized that Roy had them in over their heads. There had to be over fifteen picnic tables scattered around the grounds.
"How are we supposed to get this all done in a couple hours?" Zatanna asked horrified. "It's like slave labour."
"Oh come on, Zee, we can easily get this down. Also I have my laundry on the line," Artemis said, grinning. "This is so not going to best us."
The dark haired girl smiled and they made their way to their first table. Artemis opened a paint can and placed in on the table. Handing a brush to Zatanna, she looked over the fade wood.
"Start at the top, I guess?" she said, dipping her brush into the can.
"Wanna race to see who can finish their side first? The competition will make it more fun." Zatanna said, dipping her brush in afterward.
"You're on." the blonde grinned. Both girls started painting while laughing. They quickly finished the top of the table before Artemis started talking again. "So, what's it like working with the returning staff members? I haven't really gotten to know them all yet."
"It's pretty good," the other girl answered, her brushing dragging along the side of the table. "All the waterfront staff is pretty amazing. Though I'm pretty Wally and Logan are going to kill each other. Wally doesn't seem to know when to shut up and Logan's a bit of a hothead. Kaldur is a good guy though, very calm."
"That sounds like it could be a nightmare," the blonde said, starting to paint the bench of the picnic table. "I'm so thankful the archery is taught alone."
"I think it'll be fun. I could totally mess with them all summer. I'll make it work," Zatanna said laughing.
"Well you seem to be able to handle annoying people better than me. I would probably end up murdering someone," Artemis joked.
"You and Wally seem to have hit it off pretty well," the black haired girl said, smirking. "I think you're very capable of handling annoying people."
"Please, that boy and I have already had a shouting match. I don't think that qualifies as hitting it off," she answered, picking up two of the paint cans. Both girls had finished the table and were heading off towards the next one. "He was the worst the morning on our morning jogs. Our very separate, not together at all jogs."
"Uh huh," Zatanna laughed. "I totally get it. It's camp, cute boys everywhere, I'm not judging. I've already got my eye on one."
"Oh, which?" Artemis asked, keen on stirring the conversation away from Wally. She was starting to regret the bet she made with him. If people were already talking about them, she would have to imagine what would happen if she ended up doing his laundry all summer.
"Dick Grayson. Artemis, he has the body of a god." Zatanna sighed, starting on the new table.
"Wait, I thought he was with Barbara," the girl said.
"They're just best friends, well for now at least. But no, he is entirely single and completely up for the grabs. But have you seen his butt?" Zatanna asked, reaching over and grabbing her friend's hand. "I swear, the body of a god."
Artemis laughed and the two girls continued to gossip as they worked. Zatanna brought her up to date on all the couples at the camp. Megan and Conner had been together since basically their start at the camp. Karen and Mal were dating before they started working together. And, much to Artemis' discomfort, Oliver and Dinah Lance, the camp nurse, were more than dating. She then got a list of all the attempted hooks up the girl had heard of from previous years. Apparently Wally always struck out, and the blonde couldn't lie that knowing the boy was completely available.
They talked about plans for after the summer. Artemis confessed she was a little nervous about starting college while Zatanna was freaking out over the idea of getting ready to go. They grinned at each other, knowing that they were definitely going to become close. So what if it started at camp painting tables, they were made for each other.
They sped through painting the tables quickly. When they were half way through them all, they decided a quick dip in the lake would be a good break. Their clothes dried quickly; the sun was extremely bright that day and soon they were sweating again as they worked under it. They finished painting at around one o'clock and Artemis couldn't be more thrilled.
"I won!" she shouted as she closed up a half used paint can. "I'm doing no laundry this summer!"
"What exactly are you talking about?" Zatanna called from the hose she was using to clean the brushes. "You mentioned this before. Spill."
"Wally and I made a bet that whoever finished their morning job last would do the other's laundry for the summer. I won, no laundry," Artemis explained.
"That means he's going to touch your underwear," the girl pointed out.
"Wow, you just had to ruin that, didn't you?" the blonde said smiling. Zatanna grinned and curtsied to her friend.
"No! I seriously thought we would have finished faster!" someone shouted from behind them. Grinning, the girls looked over to the main road. Kaldur, Dick, Raquel, and Wally were walking down towards them; the ginger looking like Christmas had been cancelled. "I hate doing laundry."
"Wait, what happened?" Dick asked, glee dancing in his eyes.
Artemis' grin widened as she began to explain her bet. Soon the six of them were on their way back to the dining hall. Dick and Wally started throwing acorns at each other, the others trying to avoid being hit by the stray ones. They took their time to get to the dining hall. Once they get there, Artemis and Wally take the supplies back to the tool shed.
"So, how was your first job here at camp?" Wally asked, taking the paint cans out of Artemis' hands.
"It was pretty decent, I managed to get out of doing laundry for six weeks, so I really can't complain," the blonder said grinning. Wally grinned back as he locked up the shed after putting the paintbrushes away. "How did your job go?"
"It went well, though I unfortunately seem to have twice the amount of laundry to do now. So, you know, that's a bummer," he said laughing.
Lunch went by quickly, Roy seemed to be impressed with the amount of work that got done. He announced that the reward would be waiting down for them at the lake and that everyone needed to go put on a bathing suit. Artemis started to smile but when Wally groaned slightly, she frowned.
"What's he talking about?" Artemis asked.
"The dock, we're putting in the dock," Wally sighed. "Make sure to be in the water, it's a lot easier."
Artemis nodded, trying to hide her confusion as they stood up to leave.
"So how exactly does this work?" Artemis asked, now kicking in the water she was in. She was pushing an extremely large plastic block that was floating on top of the lake.
"We just push these into place, Ollie, Roy, and Wally put it together. And then, voila! Our dock is put together," Megan said, swimming along side her. "Just be grateful we're in the water. Dick and Kaldur take getting the sections in with us very seriously."
"Good to know," the blonde said, thinking she should thank Wally for the tip.
The two girls continued their way over to the half put together dock. When they made it over, Wally caught Artemis' eyes and smiled. The girl grinned back and placed the dock piece in place. Oliver jumped on it, saluting the girls.
Swimming away, Megan smirked at her friend.
"Why does everyone keep giving me these looks?" Artemis exclaimed when she noticed the ginger girl. "Is there something up with my face?"
"It's nothing," Megan said, turning around to swim backwards towards the shore. "You and Wally just really seemed to have hit it off."
"I swear if another person says that…" she muttered under her breath. "We aren't even hitting it off that well. I mean, I'm close with you and Zatanna after one day, why aren't people talking about that?"
"Well first off, I'm taken," Megan said laughing. "And secondly, Wally has never been this not sleazy around a girl before. I think we're all just hoping he doesn't strike out again when he's being such a good human being."
"And what if I don't like him?" Artemis asked.
Megan merely cocked an eyebrow and swam off to the next dock piece. Barbara and Jaime, one of the L.I.T.s, swam by her with another piece. Artemis rolled her eyes as she went to catch up with her friend.
"Can we talking about something else?" Artemis asked. "Tell me about why you started working here, no more boys."
Megan smiled as she moved their piece in front of them. "My uncle is friends with Bruce and Oliver for years now. So after a couple of summers at home not doing much, my uncle thought it would be good for me to work here. It's a lot more fun here than at home. I have a lot of siblings, so getting away from them every once and awhile is kind of the greatest thing. Basically, this is my escape from home now."
Artemis nodded, understanding her friend. This camp was definitely going to be her escape from real life as well. She frowned slightly as they began to push the piece.
"What about you? How did you hear about the camp?" Megan asked.
"My sister worked here a few years ago as an L.I.T. and I don't know, needed an escape for a few weeks," Artemis answered. "Nothing too special."
"Well, I'm glad you came. I bet it's weird following in your sister's footsteps a bit though. I couldn't even imagine coming here if my sisters had been here before me," Megan said, cringing a little.
"Well, only the senior staff knows her, so it isn't that bad. Not going to lie though, I was a bit worried they wouldn't hire me because of her. She… was kind of a trouble maker, only did the one year," Artemis admitted as they pushed the dock piece in place.
Wally stepped on it and squatted down, "So ladies, how's the water?"
"It's great, Wally. You should totally join us," Megan said, splashing the boy.
"And stop my fantastic work up here? Pass. Besides, how would anyone be able to handle all this wet?" He asked, gesturing to himself. "Safer for me to stay out of the water."
"Right, I think they'll survive," Roy said, now standing behind the younger ginger. Using his foot, he pushed Wally into the lake, Oliver laughing on another part of the almost completed dock.
"Dude! Not cool!" the now wet boy shouted as his head came out of the water.
Artemis laughed while looking him over. His hair seemed to have intensified in colour from the water and she enjoyed watching the water slide down his face, magnifying a freckle every now and then.
Grumbling, he swam back to the dock, lifting himself out quickly. Artemis' eyes danced over his body, watching the now very wet shirt cling to his back. Megan coughed quietly to grab the blonde's attention. Blushing, she glared at her beaming friend.
"Roy, you're lucky you're my boss now," Wally muttered, wringing out the front of his shirt.
"Yeah well, that's what you get for flirting when you're supposed to be working," the older boy responded, walking over to the still laughing Oliver.
Wally made a face at his friend before turning back to Artemis and Megan, "Well, I just I'm getting back to work. Catch ya both later."
He reached fro the bottom of his shirt and began to lift it as Artemis dived under the water. When she came up for air, Megan was swimming towards her laughing.
"Shut up."
Artemis was grabbing a bow from the archery shed when she heard a twig snap outside. She had been at the archery range all afternoon, finally getting the chance to set it up. She had organized all the arrows and bows, having tested a few out. She was about to test a final bow when she heard the snap. She stepped out and was tempted to grab an arrow and shoot. Wally waved at her and then shoved his hands into his pockets. She smiled back and went back into the shed. After a few moments she came back out with a handful of arrows.
"Don't shoot," Wally joked, stopping a few feet away from her.
"Please, I'd wait until the end of camp to shoot you, I need the money," Artemis said.
Wally laughed and sat down on a bench by the range, "Good to know I have about five more weeks to live."
"Only if I'm shooting to kill," the blonde laughed, placing the arrows she had in a container. There was a short, wooden fence in front of her attached to the wooden deck she was on. Several feet away where targets. "Thankfully, I'm pretty against the whole killing thing."
"I'll thank my stars every day," the boy answered.
She turned to look at him and asked, "So, what are you doing here anyway? Don't you have waterfront stuff to do?"
"Nah, we just finished. Roy wanted someone to come and check on you so I volunteered. Chance to see if this new archery girl is any good," he explained. "So, care to demonstrate?"
Artemis smirked and grabbed an arrow. She attached it the strong of her bow and lifted it up. She pulled back and began to aim. Her muscles moved with ease giving her a joy she only ever felt when she had a bow in her hand. She felt an energy move through her body, igniting it all. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breathe in and let it out. Opening them again, she let the string go, watching the arrow leave her. Seconds later the arrow lodged itself into the bull's eye of the target. Grinning, she looked back at Wally who whistled.
"Well, I can definitely say I'm impressed. I could never do that," the ginger said, getting up from his seat. He made his way over to her on the deck and picked up an arrow. "Think you get hit the bull's eye over there?"
She followed the arrow he was now pointing at the farthest target and smirked again. She took it from his hand and got her bow ready. She glanced at him quickly before letting the arrow go. It hit its target and Wally let out a cheer. He clapped a hand on her back before jumping over the fence to retrieve the two arrows.
"I got to admit, you're pretty amazing," he called from the farthest target. "These kids will be super impressed with you."
"Thanks," Artemis said, leaning against the fence.
"Where did you learn to use a bow like that?" he asked when he got back to her. He stayed on the other side of the fence and handed her back the arrows.
"My dad taught me before… Well, he taught me when I was younger. I guess it just clicked so I kept it up," she said, shrugging as she gathered up the other arrows. "I mean, everyone's got their thing. Yours seems to be running."
"I am a star when it comes to track, it's true," Wally said, grinning. "But seriously, you're amazing."
"Thanks," she said again. She turned away from him to head over to the shed and frowned. Roy was standing at the mouth of the trail out of the archery range.
"Wally, I said to collect Artemis, not flirt with her. Hurry up here, dinner's almost ready," Roy said, arms crossed in front of him. Artemis looked back at Wally who now had a blush dancing across his face, and ears to her delight, and was avoiding her gaze. "I'm not going to let everyone wait for you, five minutes."
Roy started to leave as Artemis headed back to the shed. She placed the arrows and bow back and grabbed the lock and key for it. As she locked it up, Wally made his way around the fence and waited for her at the trail. She ran lightly over to him and they began to make their way back.
"Excited for the camp fire tonight?" Wally asked, his hands in back in his pockets.
"Actually, I am. I've never been to a campfire before," she answered.
"What?" he shouted tripping over his feet at the word. "Like never never? Jesus Artemis, what rock have you been living under?"
"We just never camped in my family."
"Well, you're in for a treat tonight. Dick and I have been running the campfire since we got here. They're probably the greatest ones to ever exist," the ginger said excitedly. "Oh man, you've got so many songs to learn tonight. Artemis, I will gladly teach you campfire songs beforehand if you want."
"I think I'll just pick them up tonight, I'm a quick learning," she said, laughing.
His enthusiasm was getting her excited for the night to come. She listened as he began to ramble about the past campfires he had run and all she could do was smile. They walked into the dining hall and Artemis tried to ignore her new friends' smirks as the two of them walked over to a table. Zatanna grinned next to her and received an elbow in her side.
Wally was beginning to tell the table about her lack of campfire experience and how excited he was for her tonight. Smiling, Artemis started to understand why everyone smirked when they were together. Camps were fast passed and new. The turning feeling in her stomach around Wally was just that. Taking a deep breath, she promised herself to take at least this slowly, even if it meant enduring her friends' looks. If this was going to happen, it was going to be more than just a quick summer fling.
Dinner went by quickly and soon Artemis found herself being dragged down a pathway. Soon she saw a campfire pit and smiled. After a play by play from Dick and Wally of last year's campfire, she couldn't hide her excitement anymore. Quickly, the staff members all sat on the log benches around the large looking woodpile. They sat around chatting as they waited for the fire to start.
Suddenly they heard a loud crashing sound and Wally and Dick came running down the path with two larger branches on fire. They danced around the pit a few times before lighting the fire. Everyone cheered and Wally announced they were taking Artemis' campfire virginity so this was the most special campfire he's ever thrown.
The night continued on the same energy level. Songs went by, some Artemis picked up quickly, other not as much. Wally forced her to do all the songs with actions to them. After awhile Megan brought out marshmallows out and Conner passed out sticks for roasting them. Wally tried to start an eating contest but everyone denied it, knowing he would win in the end.
At some point in the night Artemis found herself pressed up against Wally, both of them sitting on the ground and leaning against a bench. His arm was around her shoulders and they were laughing about how she had gotten the words to multiple songs wrong. She smiled as he tried to feed her a marshmallow, which resulted in the majority of the staff throwing marshmallows at them.
At around midnight, Bruce stood up and announced that they all needed to get to bed since it was an early start in the morning. Artemis' stomach turned, knowing that the camp would be officially starting when she woke up in the morning. She was both excited and nervous. She wasn't sure what to expect, but for once in her life, not knowing seemed okay. The people she had gotten to know over the last couple of days seemed to help ease her weariness of the unexpected. For once, she felt ready to take on anything and everything unknown to her.