Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice.
Title: Arrows And Hugs
Summary: 'Artemis flinches every time M'gann calls her 'sister.' But when she stops herself, Artemis frowns and her eyes drift to the floor.' Artemis is complicated, and M'gann knows that. But she still tries.
Author's Note: So... Fluff, fluff, and more fluff.. in a Young Justice story. Yeesh.
Setting: So, this is pretty much just a season 1 thing.
Warnings: Might be a little AU or O.O.C. (I hope not)
...
Artemis flinches every time M'gann calls her 'sister.' It's hard to spot- she's great at hiding things, after all-, but she notices the wince out of the corner of her eye.
But when she stops herself, Artemis frowns and her eyes drift to the floor. M'gann isn't sure which is better and which is worse; Artemis is a complicated young women, and M'gann suspects that they'll never truly understand her, or her reasons.
At least, that's what it feels like, back then.
Artemis isn't much of a talker.
Sure, she had a witty retort for practically everything, and was more than capable of sticking up for herself (not to mention her love of challenging authority of any kind), but when all of that was rendered ineffective, she shut her mouth and stayed that way. Silent.
M'gann tries to get her to open up more, but the girl is a wall. She'll say what she deems as needed to be said, and calmly store away whatever was leftover, good or bad. The martian couldn't quite understand it. Years of rejection and isolation had left her always looking to talk and converse and be included. Artemis seems to want just the opposite.
But she also understands. She lends an ear every time M'gann starts talking, never really saying anything, content to listen, whether she was talking about magazines or old sitcoms or what she was making for dinner. Artemis wasn't all that interested, per say, but she didn't interrupt unless she needed to. ("M'gann, breathe. I don't care if you need air or not. Take a second and breathe.")
M'gann wonders if, in its own way, that was Artemis' way of including herself. By listening.
Sometimes, Artemis acts like she honestly believes she's replaceable, and it makes her want to scratch her head. Or lightly smack her upside her own. ("Hell-lo Artemis. Welcome to reality. We're not that cruel.") Or something.
Even Wally, the one who had been so intent to get rid of her, doesn't really understand it. Artemis had more than earned her place, but she acted like she was an option, when things got tense and her motives were being questioned. Like everything, trust and love and respect, was ice-thin and already cracking under her.
And, maybe, in her mind, it was. And that was just sad.
M'gann isn't all that surprised when she finds out Green Arrow isn't really their archers uncle. Not really. No one really is, once they get past the whole 'she-lied-to-us,-her-team,-why?-Why-does-she-think-she-needs-to-hide-from-us?-We're-family-,doesn't-she-get-that?' part of it all.
Artemis has the hair, but that's about it. Different skin tone (She's part Vietnamese, she finds out later. Green Arrow's completely Caucasian. It explains a lot.), completely different facial features, different personality (she ought to be even the littlest bit like her 'uncle', which she isn't, which raised some eyebrows in the first place) (Specifically Robin's, they find out later as well. Little troll knew from day two.)
When confronted, Artemis splutters and glances at her mentor, who looks just as surprised as she does as he shrugs. It's all the answer they need.
It'd occurred to her from the moment she met her that Artemis had probably never had a real family.
Don't get her wrong, the girl must've had someone at least semi-decent in her life for her to have turned out so well, but that was probably it. And M'gann had been raised on sitcoms. The old cheesy ones. (Don't get her wrong, though. Those were the best.)
Families were supposed to be weird and dysfunctional and filled with bad puns and have problems that were solved in wacky ways in under half an hour and love and hug each other and laugh good-naturally when all was said and done. She doubted Artemis had ever had that. She doubted any of them had ever had that, herself included, because real-life didn't work that way and she knew it, but it was still a blow to her childhood.
But... Well, they were a family, and they were pretty dysfunctional, so it could count as the same thing, right? Give or take a few things, obviously. Wally had plenty of bad jokes, which were on par with puns, and some of their problems had been solved in wacky (destructive and sometimes horrible) ways.
So, in M'gann's mind, the team was a family. No matter what.
And she didn't doubt that Artemis felt the same way. She just fought it (and herself) more.
Artemis was to proud to admit she liked hugs. M'gann found the notion foolish and strange.
And it wasn't just hugs. (because she could deal with a no-hugging rule. She wouldn't like it, but she could deal with it.) Physical contact of any kind, good or bad, from punching to hugging, was rejected with gruff efficiency, even if her excuses were rather see-through, and they all knew it. (You don't take on someone who can and will pin you to a wall with arrows, so no one really complains.)
And that just wouldn't do. There was something inexplicably wrong about not being able to lean against a battle comrade during movie night without having them lean away.
M'gann took things slow, but Artemis was stubborn. She didn't need the link to know what she was doing, and she loudly disapproved. But M'gann was stubborn to, when she wanted to be, and they all knew that the archer had a soft spot for her fellow teammates and her complaints weren't real. If they were, she would know.
Artemis didn't lean back or initiate contact. M'gann didn't expect her to. But there was something about Artemis sleeping a cushion away from her on the couch, injured and unwilling to go home to her mother bleeding, curled up in a tight ball with her bow held close like a big metal teddy bear, that made her feel oddly proud.
Artemis never slept around people willingly (being drugged/knocked out didn't count), and she certainly never slept in a semi-public area. It was always her room or bust.
It was a definite start.
Artemis was from a family of cons. (Well, one of them was an ex-con, but that was beside the point.)
Only one thought went through M'gann's mind when she heard those words. They were also the general consensus of the team, give or take Wally and Robin.
'Well, that explains a lot.'
Because it really did.
She supposed she should be afraid or distrusting like Artemis so obviously feared, but this is Artemis, for pete sake. The girl who'd taken a particle beam for them, simulated or not (she shuddered). It'd take a lot more than some bad eggs in her genes to make her distrust her.
And its not like she hadn't been keeping her own share of secrets. 'Bald M'gann', true form, huh? Puh.
If anything, part of her isn't quite sure what to make of how easily she can attack Sportsmaster and Cheshire, then turn around and banter with them while she was doing it. It just doesn't feel right for a family to act like that.
(But, then again, they were never Artemis' true family. It was all more or less a professional relationship, albeit a rather restrained one.)
(Although, if she focuses hard enough, she can detect a small hint of familial love shared between Artemis and Cheshire, but its long been beaten down and hidden, so it doesn't really count. Artemis probably doesn't even know her sister cares about her.)
It doesn't really sink in until she hears Sportsmaster call Artemis 'Baby Girl' before slamming her into a wall. And when it sinks in, it sinks deep.
That night, M'gann cries for how much Artemis had lost over the years and how confused and broken she must have been, once upon a time, a hero in a villains world wearing a villains face. It isn't a loud or gut-wrenching, Conner-summoning cry, but it's more than enough.
M'gann falls in love with Paula (in a 'step-family' sort of way) after she meets her, and Artemis finds it highly amusing.
She's also extremely grateful for her, because this was that semi-decent person in Artemis' life that made her who she was today, and that made her the sole reason she had the archer for an earth sister. (Twelve on Mars, an ever-growing number on Earth. Sheesh. She never could do things in the single digits, could she?)
Paula lets her ask questions about her legs some wheelchair-bound people don't like to answer ("How did it happen? Does your legs/spine ever hurt?" Things like that.) and they bake some cookies together. Artemis tries to help, but her mother gives her a look like she's missing a few screws and shoos her away to go do homework. ("Artemis, I let you use the kitchen once, and it almost cost us our home. No.")
"I must thank you for all of this."
"Huh? Oh, it's no problem, really. I like baking."
"I know that." It occurs to her that Artemis probably tells her mother what they get up to instead of hiding it like most heroes do, considering what she used to do for a living, and it makes her wonder what all she knows, what other quirks she's been made aware of. "I meant thank you for Artemis. She hasn't been this happy in a very long time." 'Ever.' She finishes in her mind, and M'gann catches the word by accident.
"She's happy with us?" Artemis had always been pleased with her profession and had no real complaints about the team, true, but no one really knew what she was thinking. Not her, at least. "She... never says much about it."
Paula's lips quirk up into a smile. "My daughter isn't the most... obvious with some of her emotions, true, but, after knowing her for so many years, I'd like to think I know her pretty well."
Yup. Definitely the good role-model in Artemis' life. M'gann hoped she'd get to talk to her like this more often. "Paula, can I ask you something... kinda rude?"
"Go right ahead."
"Well, do you think that Artemis... takes after Sportsmaster, in any way?" She'd wondered about it, but she knew better than to ask the archer. It'd tear her apart to be compared to her father like that.
"Besides the hair, you mean? Of course. She is his daughter, after all. Artemis is every bit as stubborn and bull-headed as Lawrence ever was."
"Oh."
"But she's all heart. Don't get me wrong, M'gann. My daughter is rough around the edges and not afraid to admit it. But, thanks to all of you, those edges are beginning to smooth out, just a little. Any chance of becoming like her father, she's lost. And I'm thankful for it every day."
Later on Artemis admits that she's the first on the team she's trusted enough to bring home and introduce to her mother. ("Don't get me wrong, she could kick all of your butts with her eyes closed, but I still worry, you know?") M'gann couldn't feel more humbled.
Artemis always flinched when M'gann called her 'sister.' She turned away when she stopped.
M'gann continued calling her her 'Earth Sister' until the winces and the frowns fade away.
Artemis didn't talk much. She was awkward and uncoordinated in normal conversation, too blunt and a bit too confrontational. She knew it, and stayed silent.
M'gann (well, the whole team, obviously) helped draw her out of her conversational shell, if only a bit.
Artemis was too proud to accept hugs and possibly be considered 'weak' by the people looking on.
Now, when M'gann runs up and hugs her tight, she hesitantly wraps a hand around her waist, light but strong. It's a definite start.
Author's Note: I have to admit, I'm not the biggest fan of Young Justice.
Don't get me wrong, I love the characters and the teams and the plot and, well, pretty much everything, but I'm just not good at getting into stories with more twists and turns in the plotlines than a bendy straw. I just can't keep up. But I love the characters (Artemis and M'gann especially, obviously) and I've watched a good chunk of season 1, and this came out as a result.
I'm not gonna lie. This could quite possibly have some AU in it or M'gann and/or Artemis could be O.O.C. and I wouldn't know it. I certainly hope not, but it's possible.
Oh, and this is my first Young Justice fanfic. There's that too.
No flames! Don't like don't read! Review!