I really need to stop with these one-shots.
Disclaimer mentioned, acknowledged, and applied.
I apologize for any OOCness that happens, I usually have the show to fall onto for references on all of that but since Netflix dropped it I'm in the middle of the waiting limbo for Amazon to ship the BlueRay disks of both seasons.
I don't hate Roy... Hate is a strong word, let's use dislike heavy on the 'Dis'.
Artemis sighed heavily taking the mask off that made her Diane Danger in that circus ring, the quiver was light on her back empty of its trick arrows from their last performance. She unbuckled the strap from her chest and placed it next to the mask and bow. Her hands shook slightly and she closed her eyes to take in a deep breath. Her hands fell to press fully on the table in front of her. She didn't realize that she had a fear of watching someone fall, it was in that one moment that seemed to stretch into infinity when Robin had missed Megan's hands that caused her fear.
She breathed out slowly and pushed away from the table, she rolled her shoulders back and cracked her neck.
"Thank God for barrels." She heard Robin quip as the rest of the team entered the private space that 'The Dangers' were afforded while they were performing. Tomorrow everything would be coming down, but tonight it was sectioned off for just them.
Artemis turned towards the many frowns that were aimed at the sweating boy's form. "No, thank God that Dean was there." She muttered and picked up her mask to fasten it back to her face. She ignored the sharp look from Roy, Conner, and the Boy Wonder himself. "I'm gonna go get some air." She gave a small wave and walked past the frowns, she needed a bit more time to get over this.
She must have missed something because Roy is following her with a scowl on his face, but she ignores him and exits the tents. It's chilly out here, her breath comes out in a fog as she walks to the train. She knows Roy is right behind her but her eyes are closed as she leans up against the wall of one of the train cars. The metal is almost painfully cold against her shoulders but she let her head fall back to look up towards the cloudy sky, it was likely going to snow.
"What is wrong with you?" Roy snarled at her. She tilts her head down to look at him, her eyes land on his figure but they don't actually see him. She closes them briefly and he comes into focus in front of her.
"What's wrong with me?" She echoes with a quiet rasp, she doesn't want to talk, she doesn't want him near her. A scowl takes over her lips and a glare settles in her gray eyes, "Oh, I don't know, might be something to do with a friend nearly falling to his death earlier." Sarcasm and scathing worked hand in hand with her and dripped from her words that fogged out of her system.
He growled at her, "He isn't your friend."
She pushed him away from her, she isn't sure when he had gotten so close to her, but she didn't want this thing anywhere near her.
She nearly falls after face planting into Ray's chest as she turned the corner. He grabs her shoulder to keep her from landing on the ground, that would have been just perfect after running from Roy. "Whoa, slow down." Ray chuckled keeping her on her feet.
"Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." She gave a lopsided smile and walked past him towards the tent curtains.
"Are you okay?" Megan asked as Artemis stumbled into their designated area. Megan grabbed her arm to help keep the girl up.
"No." Artemis manages before completely sagging against Megan's side, "I don't know what happened, I was feeling just fine before I came back in here." Her eyes were shut tightly, the world was slightly spinning and for some reason, only Megan was here. Megan helped her to a seat and placed her hand on Artemis's forehead.
"You're hotter than Ro-Dan," Megan states worriedly and gently cradles Artemis's face in her hands as she opened her eyes. "Come on, let's get you changed and wrapped in a blanket.
Artemis agreed, but it sounded faint like gurgling from the back of her throat. Megan has to hold Artemis up, Artemis has never been good when she had a fever. Her body was wracked with chills, heavily shivering and her balance was always compromised when she was sick. Megan got her out of the 'Danger' costume that they were wearing earlier, leaving her in a pair of black undies and a black sports bra that clasped in the front. Artemis tried helping her, she really did, but the world was spinning and she was desperately trying not to throw up.
An oversized t-shirt was pulled over her head, it was one of the many Artemis had stolen from her best friend back at Gotham North, if he was still alive he would probably laugh at her for a while. Megan gave up after managing to get the pants out of Artemis's duffle, they were too tight for her to struggle onto Artemis at the moment. Megan grabbed a blanket and wrapped Artemis up nice and tight. The blonde fell asleep cradled in Megan's arms, her head laid on the other's chest.
"Dawn, have you seen Diane?" Roy, Conner, and Robin walk into their area.
"She caught whatever Dan has." Megan sighs as she runs her fingers through Artemis's silky blonde tresses. "But, worse."
Conner frowns heavily, "What do you mean worse?"
"I've never seen her stumble before," Megan looks at the three boys with wide eyes, she is stunned and frankly scared. "She almost fell."
Robin frowns and presses a hand to Artemis's forehead, "Definitely burning hotter than I am." He is still sweating but standing on his two feet.
Artemis's eyes blink open, they're glassy and pained. "Trash-can." She attempts to push away from Megan but all she manages to do is crumple forward and into Robin's arms that save her from face planting on the floor. She turns her head away from him and heaves, luckily Conner had grabbed the waste basket the second he heard her call for it. She empties her stomach into it, her body still quakes with shivers.
Megan holds back Artemis's long blonde hair with a worried frown, this was already ten times worse than Robin's. "Where did you go?" She directed the question towards Roy who looks perturbed hovering over Robin's shoulder.
Roy frowned, "She went outside-"
"Without a coat?" Robin frowned looking over his shoulder still carefully cradling Artemis's shaking form, she had stopped upchucking.
Roy growled, "Was I supposed to stop her? I'm not her babysitter."
"No, but it's your fault she's like this." Conner glared, he really didn't like Roy.
"Dangers, that was a wonderful performance." The team straightened around Artemis as Hal walked into their area. "Gave us all a heart attack with that stunt you pulled, Dan." He gave them a grand smile that froze and fell when he caught sight of Artemis. "Oh, dear, is she alright?"
"She'll be fine, I think she caught the bug that's been going around." Megan soothed back Artemis's hair and laid the unconscious girl back onto her chest.
"Give it about a day to work through her system, we'll be fine by the next stop." Robin removed his arms from around the blonde.
Hal frowned, worry lines appeared between his furrowed brows. "Of course, I do hope that she recovers quickly."
"Thank you." Megan smiled at him over Artemis's head.
"Hey." Robin smoothed Artemis's bangs back, her eyes were still glassy but less pained and more confused.
"Rob?" She croaked seeing him completely decked out in his 'Robin' costume.
"It's me," He gave her a small grin, "We are going to head out to see if we can't catch this guy, just stay put and rest okay?"
"Okay." She mumbled and he pulled the blanket further up her body to tuck under her chin. Her eyes fluttered closed.
"Let's make this quick." Robin turned to the other team members who were already dressed and ready to go.
Artemis woke up slowly, inch by inch, breath by breath, she became aware of a lulling 'clack, clack, clack' that slightly rocked whatever it was that she was laying on. There was a thick blanket draped over her body. She could smell sandalwood, peaches, and a spicy smoke smell. She turned her head slightly hearing murmuring and feeling something firm but mostly pliant under her head had her opening her eyes. The first things she saw was Megan wrapped in a blanket on the bench opposite of the one she was sure that held her own prone form. Megan didn't look so good as she leaned heavily into Conner, Roy sat near Megan's feet with a scowl and crossed arms. Roy was talking about something, but she couldn't really catch what was coming out his mouth, her head felt like it was filled with cotton.
She groaned and attempted to sit up, only to have someone lay her back down. She looked up and met Robin's eyes from behind his 'Dan Danger' mask, they didn't cover his really blue eyes, at all. His eyes were really pretty she decided staring up at him, she blinked catching his mouth moving. "Huh?"
"Good to see you awake." He smiled down at her.
She blinked several times, she was so confused. For a moment she was convinced that the boy holding her down was that little freshie from school that had taken sweet pleasure in following her around with stupid pick up lines, or cheesy jokes falling from his lips, but this was Robin and not Richard. (He gets so frowny whenever she calls him that instead of Dick, it's super cute, but she won't ever tell him that.) "I was asleep?" Artemis felt stupid in that moment, but she was pretty out of it. Normally her heightened senses would kick in the moment she awoke but it felt like she was trudging through mud.
Robin-Richard-Dan-whoever it was, laughed and pushed her bangs out of her face. "Yup." She watched his lips curl as he popped the 'p'.
She attempted to sit up again, she had to brush his hands off her but eventually was able to right her body. She lightly held her head that had started to throb, "What happened?"
"What do you remember?" Robin asked carefully tugging on the blanket to better cover her bare legs.
"Taking a walk," She frowned and peeked open an eye to glare at Roy, "He followed me and pissed me off, I remember running." She rubbed her face and sat back in the seat, she wrapped her fists around the blanket in her lap. "I nearly ran down Ray. After that, I can't really remember much." Which was a lie, she could remember Megan's sweetness and Robin's arms but everything else was more than a blur.
"That's funny." Robin frowned and looked over at Megan.
"Ray tried to help me with some equipment earlier," Megan rasped with a frown. "I started feeling not so good a little after that."
"Did you have contact with him?"
"His hand touched mine, but not for very long." Megan's brows furrowed.
Artemis scrubbed her hands over her face and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "I feel like someone hit me with a sledgehammer, several times." She whined and dropped her head backward. She blinked and then looked down at her lap, "Uh, where are my pants?"
The boys froze.
Megan looked over at her, "Sorry Diane, I tried helping you change into something more comfortable but I couldn't get the pants on you."
"Right. I sort of remember that, thank you." Artemis pushed back her hair, she couldn't wait to be done with this mission and back home to her hair ties.
"She wasn't wearing pants the entire time?" Robin squeaked with red cheeks.
Artemis laughed and hit his shoulder, "Don't worry about it. If you didn't see anything, don't think about it." The red on his face made him look just like Richard when she would answer him back with a lame crack at a joke or a lame pick up line that she had heard on the subway earlier that day.
He coughed, "Right, okay."
Artemis frowned heavily at Roy, "You know all of us would do anything for this team." She stood up wrapping her blanket fully around her body like a cape making sure not to flash anyone. "Just," She sighed and the glare was gone, she was tired and this whole 'mole' thing was taking all of her energy. "Keep an open mind." She turned and left the cabin, she didn't know where she was going but Robin had already disappeared, she couldn't see Megan or Conner anywhere.
Artemis walked aimlessly for a while. She ended up outside walking along the side of the train looking at all posters that were stuck to the sides. She traced the lines on a particular poster that held a woman on a suspended hoop. The woman was dressed in bright blue and had a blue feathery mask tied over her eyes. Artemis could distinctly remember a time when she was younger and training, wishing that she could leave Gotham for the circus. At the time it had felt like a dream watching people soar over the crowds with swings. She had even convinced her father to teach her how to Ribbon dance, she later learned how to use the suspended hoop, and she had taught herself how to twirl batons, she even remembered learning how to fire dance. It had been easy to convince Sportsmaster to teach her these things. He had indulged her fancies for a while when Mom was still around in her younger years.
Artemis sighed and pushed away from the poster and continued on down the train's side. She pulled the blanket tighter around her frame as she walked on. Her eyes trained on the posters. She stopped again when she came across the 'Flying Graysons' poster. Her heart thudded harshly against her rib cage. Grayson, Richard Grayson. Oh, my God. Artemis forced herself to keep walking down the train. Robin was Richard. No wonder they looked so similar, who else could practically be a bird born in the rafters if they hadn't been flying since they could walk. It made so much sense now. Toni Zucco had been the very first villain Robin had put away, the mobster responsible for the Flying Grayson's death.
Artemis sighed heavily and leaned against the side of the train, she felt like such an idiot.
"What are you doing out here?" She nearly leaped out of her skin, normally when she wasn't sick she couldn't be caught off guard, but right now her senses were muddled. She turned to see Ray raising an eyebrow at her blanket-clad form.
"I needed fresh air." She shrugged and pulled the blanket tighter. "I didn't realize I was outside."
He chuckled, "Well, being out here isn't helping your flu, little lady. Let's get you back inside." He reached out and touched her covered arm to steer her back into the train. He helped her up the stairs and grabbed her blanket when it got caught and slipped off of her shoulders. He shook his head with a laugh and wrapped her back into the blanket, his skin touched hers several times and she knew that the others were going to kill her when she got back. "Better get back to your siblings."
"Thank you." She gave him a smile and walked swiftly back to their cabin. Why did he purposely touch me?
"Diane?" Megan asked with wide eyes watching Artemis knock into the door frame of their cabin trying to get in.
Artemis already feels weak but her time to be the damsel is long over. She eyes the three boys sitting on the bench across from the wrapped up Megan before grabbing her duffle bag, digging through it, she downs four capsules of ibuprofen dry and rubs her forehead harshly. She feels like collapsing, her knees are shaking trying hard to keep her on her feet. "Did we figure out what's going on?" She could vaguely remember them going out without her last night.
"Whoever 'he' is, is trying to open a black hole." Robin doesn't mince his words, a frown on his face.
She squints at him and lowers herself as carefully as she can next to Megan, who pulls her against her side and rests her head on Artemis's shoulder. "Okay."
"For him to do that though, he needs a particle accelerator." Roy crosses his arms over his chest.
"And conveniently, there is one in Geneva." Robin sighs.
"Our next stop." Artemis lays her head a top of Megan's. "You mentioned earlier that Ray touched you before you felt sick?"
Robin nodded, Megan made a noise of agreement.
"I think we should pay a visit to Ray." Artemis breaks out in a sweat and she swallows thickly, the cabin was starting to spin a little.
"Maybe you both should stay here." Robin goes to stand, Roy is already on his feet, Conner is halfway up.
Artemis frowns at him. "No."
Megan stands up keeping the blanket wrapped around her, "In the words of a friend, 'I can manage'."
Artemis stands carefully, her blanket slipping off her shoulders and pools on the seat behind her. "I need pants." She frowns looking down at her body, the shirt just barely covers everything.
"No time." Roy starts to shove the other two boys out of the cabin.
"Of course not." She grumbled but grabbed the blanket before following after Megan.
"Wait, I need to ask him a question." Artemis breathed moving in towards Robin, Agent Faraday, and Paracite who remained in cuffs and collar.
Agent Faraday looked up with furrowed brows, his eyes raked over her body for a moment with a frown. "Shouldn't you be sitting down or something?"
She frowned at him, "Paracite hit me twice, I want to know why."
"What do you mean twice?" Robin frowned and folded his arms over his chest.
She looked at him blankly, "Just what I said, the first time was an accident. The second time he deliberately made contact. I want to know why." She turned to frown at Agent Faraday, "May I ask him?"
Agent Faraday's eyebrows lift in surprise, "Intriguing, Paracite attacking a regular human twice? I would like to know why as well." He gestures towards Paracite that is being held up by another agent a few steps away.
Artemis stalks forward knowing that the two others were following her, her lips pulled into a grim line. She gets the sinking feeling that whatever he tells her it's just going to make everything worse.
"Ah, the extraordinary human." Paracite grins maniacally at her the second she steps into his eyesight. "How are you fairing? The second drain wasn't nearly as satisfying as that first one. Full body contact tends to do that, you know."
Artemis narrows her eyes, "Why come to me for a second time?"
"No beating around the bush with you is there?" He laughs, it sends chills down everyone's back. "Why ask me? Unless you really don't know." He leers at her. "Of course you don't know."
"What don't I know?" She asks through gritted teeth.
"Have you noticed that your senses are dulled barely even there?"
Her eyes narrow to slits, her fists clench. "Is that what you did then? Take my senses?"
"Mostly. Your senses are dialed to eleven, what you are experiencing right now is mostly normal for regular humans." Paracite offered her a sharp grin, "You are something else, Eagle-Eye."
Artemis sucked in a breath, turned to Agent Faraday and Robin. "I kind of wish I didn't know." She walked away from the two, who are wearing practically identical looks of surprise on their faces.