Hey everybody! So, I got bored and was reading up on my latest chapter for my story Into the Madhouse *cough if you haven't read it check it out cough* and I decided that the five year gap seemed too open to me. I was like 'Kaldur died, and I didn't show them dealing with it at all.'
So here, some Artemis/Robin angst about them dealing with it in the form of a beautiful one-shot. I honestly don't know why I never thought of posting one-shots about what happens between the two stories… blonde moment.
Enjoy, and leave your thoughts!
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It was an unusually dry day, the sun shining brightly on such a gloomy city. The sky was blue, children were laughing outside her apartment, birds had even been chirping outside her window upon her awakening. This normally so sad, so dreary city was now so full of happiness, so full of life and laughter and cheer.
It made Artemis Crock want to be sick.
Don't misinterpret that; Artemis Crock was a go-getter. She didn't let life kick her in the stomach without a damn good fight. She'd never been one to stay down after a hit, and this time was no exception.
But this time was a lot harder for her to hide from everyone. This time she had to force a sarcastic comment, and they weren't nearly as witty as they usually were. She had to purposefully add the bitter tone to her voice, and that was just something she wasn't comfortable with doing. It made her feel weird, like her life had become a mask.
She'd been permitted from hero work since the incident, as had the rest of the Team. She had to practically sneak into school, and once she'd been discovered doing that, she'd gotten a baby sitter from the League at all times.
Not going to lie, though. Green Arrow wasn't exactly the hardest superhero to sneak away from. Artemis could compile a small list of easier ones, but he was no Batman.
All these thoughts raced through her blonde-haired hand as she stared into the sky from the top of Wayne Towers. It was a bit ironic, honestly. Batman's own building wasn't ultra protected, and would probably be the last place any of them would look for her.
"Hey."
Except him.
God why did he have to find her? He'd been the hardest for her to face as of late. Not any particular reason that she'd like to admit to. Things were different now. She still loved all of her team like family, but him?
She saw him differently.
Robin.
Dick Grayson.
She'd have never guessed that Robin had had such a tragic past as Dick had, and she'd have never guessed that they were one in the same (although, now that she thought about it, it was a pretty safe guess…).
She turned, forcing that smirk that she could hardly stand. "Fancy meeting you up here." She teased as she propped herself up on her elbows so she could properly see him. He looked sullen, though she was unsure why she was shocked about that.
He was in his civilian identity, no shades to hide his stunning blue eyes. A baggy grey hoodie hung loosely on his young frame, slightly over hanging the light blue skinny jeans he wore. They weren't skin tight skinny jeans, as he usually wore. She found that odd, for some reason. She understood why, but it was still odd to her. She'd think if he wanted to baby the several cuts and bruises he had throughout his body, he'd just skip the skinny jeans altogether.
She herself had stopped wearing tops that showed off her mid-riff. She had one-too-many fresh wounds on her stomach that made it just look wrong to wear such a shirt.
"What are you doing up here?" he asked, his voice blank. She furrowed her eyebrows, trying not to show him sympathy. She'd hate to be sympathized with; she could only assume he would too. "Bruce has practically the entire League searching for you."
Artemis scoffed slightly. Figures. Since he himself was out of commission for a good, long while, Batman had decided to make keeping a very close eye on every member of the Team his pass time. "I couldn't take it anymore." She said.
Mentally slapping herself, the blonde archer looked expectantly at her young friend.
His expression hadn't changed much, his eyes still down cast and his hands deep in the pouch of his hoodie. He shrugged slightly, probably in understanding. "I know the feeling." He said, his face hardly moving. "Mind if I join you?"
Artemis nodded, scooting over. "Come on down, Boy Wonder." She sighed, laying back down and counting the clouds. Not determining their shapes, just counting them. They enjoyed the silence for a few good moments, the sounds of cars and the bells on shop doors as they swung in their hinges drifting up to them from their perch.
Robin turned his head towards the archer, his once void eyes now full of emotion. She tried not to notice the nervous way he looked at her, the way he bit his lip as if trying to think about how to word a question he wasn't sure he wanted to ask.
Finally, he seemed to build up the courage to speak.
"Hey, Artemis?" he asked, shifting his gaze back to the sky, although he continued to glance in her direction.
"Yes, Dick?" Artemis responded. She didn't look in his direction, expecting him to merely be making conversation.
"A-are you okay?" he asked, bringing his hands out of his pockets just to wring them nervously. "I mean, with everything that happened and all. Are you-"
"Robin," she interrupted him, now sitting up and leaning her back against some sort of ventilation system that kept the air within the tower at a comfortable temperature. She could feel it vibrate, which did nothing to soothe her bruised muscles and aching bones.
He followed her lead, sitting up and leaning over, onto his crossed legs. He looked at the ground, as though he expected her to be mad at him. It broke her heart, actually. Right down to the core. To see the fierce teen vigilante so broken and frightened, ashamed of himself, made her wonder how far she could fall if she were in his position…
"Robin, look at me." She ordered, her tone deadly. He did as told, and she saw how lost his eyes were. "Are you okay? Out of everyone on the Team, you have the most right to not be." She wasn't lying, not this time, not about this. Robin had seen nearly everyone he cared about tortured and almost killed. And he'd been forced to stay strong throughout the whole experience. He'd been forced to choose between his friends' lives and his own sanity, and he'd barely scraped away with both.
Dick's eyes shifted uncomfortably, his mind racing to try to find the words to describe his answer; words that could describe how he felt about this whole scenario, ones that never seemed to come (which was astonishing, considering the boy's knack with words). "No, I don't." he answered finally. "I have no right to feel sorry for myself after what all of you… After I left you… after I let Kaldur d-"
Artemis slapped Dick across the face, harder than she'd meant, but she was still satisfied she'd gotten her point across. He muttered a small whimper and an 'ow' as he rubbed his cheek, but otherwise silenced himself.
"Dick Grayson don't you dare finish that sentence." She scolded, as though she was chiding a small child. "You didn't let Kaldur die. You can't save everyone, no one can. Honestly, I'm surprised Kaldur is the only death in this whole mess…"
He looked up at his friend, her stormy grey eyes quite fierce for someone in her position. Just earlier, she'd been up here trying to escape all the sadness the incident with the Joker had brought. Now she was the one cheering him up, when he'd come to the rooftop to do just that for her. He felt it was the least he could do…
"So, I'll ask again." She said after a long pause. "Are you okay?" her voice softened on the last sentence, her face going from stern to concerned. And it was then he realized she was genuinely concerned for his well-being. He was momentarily baffled, but inwardly smiled. I always knew Artemis was a softy, he thought.
"Not really." He admitted. She watched his hand subconsciously go to trace the marking Joker had left on his chest. She'd seen it, they'd all seen it. It was big, bloody, and ugly. It would never go away, and Dick would always remember how he got it. "I have nightmares, and Alfred can never wake me up from them. I'm scared all the time. I can't even go into the Bat-Cave anymore. Do you know how hard it was to climb this building?" he asked. When had he started crying?
She couldn't help a small smile. At his questioning look, she elaborated. "I just took the elevator."
A small smile cracked on his face, blooming into a huge grin and eventually turning into a full on laughing fit. Artemis soon joined, neither able to contain their laughs. At one point, they actually began rolling across the rooftop, holding their sides.
It felt good. Just laughing and having a good time, pretending the world wasn't so fucked up. Artemis' lungs felt better, having stretched and laughed. She hadn't laughed this hard in forever. Robin was getting a good dose of fun too, a much needed one. For a brief moment, both forgot why they were up on the roof, they forgot why they were laughing.
"You know, Pixie Boots," Artemis said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye as she finally caught her breath. A huge, lazy grin had rested upon her features. It wasn't her usual sarcastic smirk, it was a content smile. "We really should do this more often."
Robin, who had just recovered from laughing so hard himself, sighed, also insanely happy at the moment. "Yeah, 'Mis." He said. "Meet me here tomorrow?" he looked at her, his smile stretching as he tipped his head back, his hair falling to the ground as his forehead connected with it.
Artemis grinned. "Deal, Boy Blunder." She said, tossing her head back and no longer looking at him. "You'll have to come up with a better nick name than 'Mis for me though. One that is as clever and witty as Pixie Boots."
Dick laughed. "Yeah, because I've never heard that before." He chuckled.
"Jesus Christ, Artemis!" both teens whipped their heads, their smiles immediately vanishing. Oliver Queen, in his full Green Arrow ensemble had just climbed the roof, and he looked insanely exhausted. "Do you know how pissed Batman is?!" he cried, rushing over and practically dragging Artemis towards the edge of the building.
He continued to mumble about, going on about something or other as he shot a grapple arrow and jumped, expecting Artemis to follow. She turned back to her rooftop companion.
"See ya tomorrow, Pigeon." She smiled. She genuinely smiled. Sure, there was a hint of sarcasm in it. But it was at least 99% real. Today, she'd actually felt better. She'd felt like, for once in a while, everything would actually turn out okay.
She didn't know how wrong she was until five years later.
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So yeah, in order to understand that, you'd have to have read my Over the Limit story, which I understand if I should've told you that before the story, but I am far too lazy to scroll ALL THE WAY back to the top. So if you read that and had no idea what was going on, I apologize.
Please Review and tell me how everything was. I feel like I was a bit out of character, for both Robin and Artemis. So just a friendly note, constructive criticism. That kind of thing. They are greatly appreciated, which I know everyone says that. But it's different when I say it because I'm Charlie and that's what I do. XD
~Charlie~